the prime minister sets out a new, three—tiered system of restrictions e m ‘uzr euer e‘fir ”fl; unu— euer f.“u.:r ”fl; ncu— v—"m north—east england, and further west there will be a mix of clear spells across england to try to get and showers will stop most spaces holding up around five, six, 7 coronavirus back under control. degrees. could be a bit colder than for much of england, that for parts of south—west there‘s no change — scotla nd that for parts of south—west scotland and northern england. so as only liverpool city region is placed we head into tomorrow, low pressure under the most severe restrictions. there, pubs and bars will close. still in charge, this frontal system it follows a dark bringing a spiral of wet weather warning from the nhs. gci’oss bringing a spiral of wet weather across the british isles. you can if we do not take measures see that rain across parts of to control the spread of the virus, scotla nd see that rain across parts of scotland to start off, pushing down the death toll will be too great to bear. into northern england, parts of but in other areas with very wales as well. some hefty showers high infection rates pushing southwards across the such as the north west, the prime minister hasn‘t put them south—west of england. something a in the most severe category. little drier and brighter towards the south—east of the uk, although some rain may return to some eastern there are changes, though, coasts later, and certainly it will to nottinghamshire, east and west cheshire and a small part brighten up for northern ireland and of the peak district, scotla nd brighten up for northern ireland and scotland with sunny spells and just which will have some a small chance for a shower. windy additional restrictions. this is not how we want to live our though, particularly across the lives, but this is the narrow path northern half of the uk and that wind coming down from the we have to tread between the social and economic trauma of a full north—east, never a warm wind direction, so temperatures at best around 11, i2 direction, so temperatures at best around 11, 12 or 13 degrees. as we look ahead to wednesday, there will be showers around, chiefly i think as we go through the day across england and wales, something dryer

developing for much of scotland and northern ireland. the strongest of the wind is down to the south at this point, they get some shelter from the north—easterly wind, 15 possible in plymouth but generally 12,13,14 possible in plymouth but generally 12, 13, 1a degrees. then as we head to the end of the week, high pressure is going to try to take charge of our weather. you can see various frontal systems around the edges but i think this high will fend those off of the most part. so it is looking largely dry, but it will often be quite cloudy and temperatures will continue to struggle, with highs between ten and 30 degrees. —— ten and 13 degrees.

hello there. this is bbc news, with me, ben brown. a look at the latest headlines: borisjohnson me, ben brown. a look at the latest headlines: boris johnson announces tough new local coronavirus rules in england. the three tier system will have various levels of restrictions to stop what is called the heavy spread of the virus. this is not how we wa nt spread of the virus. this is not how we want to live our lives, but this is the narrow path we have to tread between the social and economic trauma of a full lockdown and the massive human and indeed economic cost of an uncontained epidemic. we have tried to give the prime minister the benefit of the doubt, but it increasingly feels like the prime minister is several steps behind the curve and running to

catch up with the virus that he has lost control of long ago. the liverpool city region has been placed in the highest tier, with stricter restrictions for around 2 million people. from wednesday, pubs, betting shops and casinos will be legally forced to close. the prime minister said financial support would be available for areas affected. and most gcse and a—level exams in england next year will be delayed by three weeks, the education secretary has confirmed today. controversial plans to shake up the premier league pitch fans and some clu bs premier league pitch fans and some clubs against each other. so, in the last hour, borisjohnson has announced a new set of restrictions designed to curb the rapidly rising number of coronavirus cases. the prime minister told mps that every area of england would be

placed into medium, high or very high alert levels. mrjohnson said they would be no return to a national lockdown, but the stark reality of a second wave of covid meant the government could not let the virus rip. here he is explaining those three alert levels. just as we simplified our national rules with the rule of six, we will now simplify and standardised our local rules, by introducing a three tier system of local covid alert levels set out medium, high and very high. the medium alert level will cover most of the country and will consist of the current national measures, this includes the rule of six and the closure of hospitality at ten p m. the high alert level reflects the interventions in many local areas at the moment. this primarily aims to

reduce household to household transmission by preventing all mixing between different households 01’ mixing between different households or support bubbles indoors. in these areas, the rule of six will continue to apply outdoors, where it is harderfor to apply outdoors, where it is harder for the to apply outdoors, where it is harderfor the virus to to apply outdoors, where it is harder for the virus to spread in public spaces as well as private gardens. most areas which are already subject to local restrictions will automatically move into the high alert level. as a result of rising infection rates, nottinghamshire, east and west cheshire and a small area of high peak would also move into the high alert level. the very high alert level will apply where transmission rates are rising most rapidly, and where the nhs could soon be under unbearable pressure without further restrictions. in these areas, the government will set a baseline of prohibiting social mixing indoors

and in private gardens and, i'm sorry to say, closing pubs and bars. we wa nt sorry to say, closing pubs and bars. we want to create the maximum possible local consensus behind this more severe local action, so in each area, we will will work with local government leaders on the additional measures which should be taken. this could lead to further restrictions on the hospitality, leisure, entertainment or personal care sectors. but retail, schools and universities will remain open. as my right honourable friend the chancellor has set out, the government will expand its unprecedented economic support to assist those affected by these decisions, extending ourjob support scheme to cover two thirds of the wages of those in any business that is required to close and providing

those businesses with a cash grant of up to £3000 a month instead of £1500 every three weeks. we will also provide local authorities across england with around £1 billion of new financial support on top of our £3.6 billion town's fund. and for very high areas, we will give further financial support for local test and trace and local enforcement, and assistance from the armed forces, not for enforcement but rather to support local services if desired and the local area. that was the prime minister in the commons a short time ago, and in response we heard from the labour leader sir keir starmer, who said that while his party recognises the need for the action, it seems, he said, that the government is reacting too late. we are at a critical moment, a tipping point, to quote the deputy chief medical

officer. we have all seen the clear and alarming trend in infection rates. the virus is now spreading in all areas of the united kingdom, though much faster in some areas than others, and as the prime minister said than others, and as the prime ministersaid and than others, and as the prime minister said and the deputy chief medical officer said, there are now more patients in hospital with covid today than when the country went into lockdown on the 23rd of march, and deaths are rising. nobody should be underany and deaths are rising. nobody should be under any illusion about where this is heading or of the need for decisive action. the question today is whether the restrictions announced by the prime minister can bring the country back from the brink, whether they can regain control of the virus and provide the support and confidence that local businesses and communities need. that's how high the stakes now are. so we will consider the package, we will look at the small print of the prime minister's statement. we will discuss them with local mayors, councillors and leaders in the areas

most affected, and we will scrutinise the economic package that sits alongside them. but i have to say to the prime minister, i am now deeply sceptical that the government has actually got a plan to get control of this virus, to protect jobs or regain public trust. we have tried to give the prime minister the benefit of the doubt, but it increasingly feels like the prime minister is several steps behind the curve, and running to catch up with the virus that he has lost control of long ago. it was less than three weeks ago, the 22nd of september, that the prime minister came to this house to announce new restrictions. he said then that the measures he would root introducing then word, andl would root introducing then word, and i quote, curb the number of daily infections, that those restrictions were carefullyjudged to achieve the maximum reduction in the r number. that hasn't happened. those measures have not worked. we wouldn't be here today if they had.

that was sir keir starmer in the commons. we can speak to elisabetta groppelli, virologist and lecturer in global health at st george's university in london. thank you for being with us once again. these three tiers announced by the prime minister, do you think they go far enough. they are certainly welcome, because they do add clarity, and they make it true for the entirety of england rather than having localised measures. does it go far enough? we need to wait on the details as to how this is going to be implemented, but however, this is about household mixing, and this is about household mixing, and this is only a part of the bigger picture of transmission, so we'lljust tackling one part b enough? u nfortu nately tackling one part b enough? unfortunately the data is missing and only time will tell. and from

what you can see, what exactly is the virus doing now in this country? because we heard from the government's scientists early on that more people are now in hospital with the virus than they were at the time of lockdown back in march, and yet the death rate of those going into hospital has actually fallen quite significantly. i think this is something that we should expect, in a sense what we have learned about covid—19 is that at first we do see an increase in the number of cases, which is then followed by hospitalisation, and then it is followed by increasing number of deaths, so it mightjust be a matter of time before we see a sharp increase in the number of deaths, and that has been spelt out this morning by the deputy chief medical officer, saying that the data that we're looking at now, the new case, is already embedded in this data, it is already embedded in this data, it is what is going to happen in the next few weeks, and that is not going to be a positive picture. so it looks like the data right now,

the numbers are not going in the right trajectory, and they will be carrying on over the next few weeks. again, the action that is going to be taken right now, starting from wednesday for example in the north west, a re wednesday for example in the north west, are actually going to have some effect, yet we are going to have to wait for a few weeks and therefore again will it be enough, what is going to be put in place right now? it was interesting listening to the prime minister in the commons. he talked about how they were different voices, some saying that there should be much tougher restrictions all across the country. but of course there are others in the scientific community, and you will have heard their voices, saying actually we don't need to do all of this, we could effectively let the virus continue, and geta effectively let the virus continue, and get a kind of herd immunity, shield and protect the older, the more vulnerable, and let the younger people in the community do what they want. i think it is nice to

obviously have some kind of scientific debate, but we also need to consider that the science doesn't just exist in labs or in models, it exists in real life, and the reality is that when we say this is a novel virus, it means there are still a lot of things we don't know, and specifically the category that we consider a lower risk, notjust low risk, they are lower risk, they still carry some risk, so in terms of younger people, they can still have severe covid or have severe long covid, so letting the virus go through society is a very risky situation that we can't afford to have, and herd immunity is a very important concept when it comes to vaccines. it doesn't really have a place when it comes to natural infections of any of the virus infections of any of the virus infections we have been dealing with for the entirety of humanity. so i don't think we have a choice. as we wait for vaccines and a better cure,

of course. at the moment it is within our powers as individuals and then as authorities to do what we need to do to stop the virus and stop transmission, because we cannot afford to let itjust run wild. good to talk to you, dr elisabetta groppelli, virologist and lecturer at saint georges university in london. let's get more reaction now. councillor judith blake is the labour leader of leeds city council. thank you for being with us. you are in tier two now, so what is the difference? it will now be illegal for households to mix indoors, in indoor venues, at the moment that is only covered by advice, but the rule of six will actually be applicable for outdoors, so actually in terms of outdoor spaces, and i understand that his outdoors in terms of venues

but also in gardens, which is quite a major change, people will be able to meet under the household rule of six that exists across the country. what we are concerned about is the level of business support that will come to areas that are in two. at the moment hospitality and businesses are suffering because of the restrictions, so what we don't know is whether the further restriction on no household mixing in those venues is going to have a greater impact. there is an enormous amount of greater impact. there is an enormous amount of concern. greater impact. there is an enormous amount of concern. we are looking at what the support measures might be that we could work on to help, but we don't know how long we will be staying in tier two, we don't know how long we will be staying in tiertwo, and i think thatis staying in tiertwo, and i think that is a big question for all of us, talking to our health colleagues, there is real concern about the numbers of people who are going into our hospitals, into

intensive care, the impact that that is going to have on normal hospital business, and of course there is a delay on seeing whether those additional cases work through to seeing higher death rates in two or three weeks' time, so quite a lot to look at, and a lot of detail to go through, which we haven't had a chance to have a look at. but the major question is, will this work? will this actually bring about the behaviour change that we need to happen to help bring the infection rates down significantly? and what are the infection rates in your area, in leeds? today we are around 415 per 100,000. area, in leeds? today we are around 415 per100,000. i area, in leeds? today we are around 415 per 100,000. i think that brings us in at about tenth on the list of local authorities across the country. so we have seen a spike going up, but we have been in close contact with our universities. there isa

contact with our universities. there is a sense that the numbers there are beginning to level down as a result of the measures they have taken, working with the student cohort. but clearly the numbers are higher than we would want them to be, and the numbers going into our hospitals, the trust, are rising on a daily basis as well. and just a brief question. we have heard from other local leaders, mayors, regional leaders, that they want more consultation from the government. in fact, they want to be empowered to do much more in terms of fighting coronavirus and to make this less of a national government thing and also a more regional and local thing. would you go along with that? do you feel you have been properly consulted on these measures? we have been arguing all the way through this for more powers, more resources at a local level, and running alongside the support for business, what we are saying is that the government really

must give us more resources to build up must give us more resources to build up an effective local test and trace to enable us to do the boots on the ground work to help people to self—isolate, that is absolutely critical. we need to have a massive public awareness raising campaign, there is a lot of confusion. so we didn't have consultation before the announcement in the press last thursday, which triggered immense outcry right across the north in particular. we are starting to have conversations with government. the muting music from government is saying they want to work with us more closely, and they want us to help produce an shaped any further measures that come in, but obviously we are going to have to wait and see whether that translates into meaningful activity in our areas. we are obviously all going to be keeping in touch with the liverpool city region to see what transpires

there and how we can all pull together, really at a local level, which we are doing more and more to come up and recognise, and local authorities in the north are struggling with the double whammy of dealing with the virus and dealing with the hit in terms of our finances, looking at taking millions of pounds out of our budgets next year. this isjust not a sustainable position to be in. the government needs to really make a step change, demonstrate that they recognise the role that local government can make, and work with us, but support us, financially and with additional powers, so that we can do the work that we know will make a difference. judith blake, labour leader of leeds city council, many thanks for being with us. scotland will develop its own coronavirus tiering framework and will look to align as closely as possible with other uk nations.

but the scottish first minister, nicola sturgeon, said in her daily briefing earlier that advisers told this morning's cobra meeting that the very minimum level of tier three is probably not sufficient to get the r number under 1. i don't want to go into the detail of what will be in england, because thatis of what will be in england, because that is for them to finalise and announce. but one of the things that i think it's perhaps relevant to the bars and i think it's perhaps relevant to the bars a nd restau ra nts i think it's perhaps relevant to the bars and restaurants divide, and i don't know what the final shape of that will be in england or what areas of england may going into that tier three category, but what was broadly accepted on the cobra call is that the very minimum level of the tier three that might be published in england today will not be sufficient to get the r back under one, so it will be something

that will be needed to be discussed with local areas that is above that bare minimum, but these are the factors we will take into account when making decisions here, and it is for others to reach these decisions in their own way and based on the evidence they have. let's speak to steve rotheram — the metro mayor of the liverpool city region, hejoins me now. the liverpool city region being put on to tier three, the highest level. what is your reaction to that? on to tier three, the highest level. what is your reaction to that7m has come as no surprise to us, because we already knew from the lea k because we already knew from the leak in the newspapers last wednesday that we were going to go into tier three. what we have done is to ask the government why it is that we need to go into tier three, and of course how do we get out of tier three back down to 22—macro as soon as possible. the reason why is the very high of cases in liverpool

region, and the high number of hospitalisations as well, we gather. we a cce pt hospitalisations as well, we gather. we accept that both our hospitalisations and certainly if you have a look at the number of people and the capacity issues that we have currently got, the frightening prospect that we could be overwhelmed in just a few weeks, thatis be overwhelmed in just a few weeks, that is one of the factors. the second part is the exponential rise in covid transmissions in our city region, so that is another factor. but we wanted to know what the scientific basis was for the decision to put us into tier three, because we want to know how we can get out of tier three as quickly as possible. what you think the economic impact will be on the liverpool city region? it will be massive. the problem is that whilst the chancellor did the right thing in march when there was a national lockdown, and had packages of support that reflected the severity

of those lockdown measures, tier three is probably similar to what happened all the way back in march. there are comparable lockdown issues in each of those two dates, and we are not getting anywhere near what the national lockdown restrictions got in regard to a financial package all those months ago, and if it was right then, it has to be right now, so that is what we are in detailed negotiations with government to try and sort out. and are you clear about all the details of what tier three actually means. for example, what is the difference sometimes between a pub and a bar and resta u ra nt ? between a pub and a bar and restaurant? one can seem rather like another. it was one of the first questions when we saw the suite of additional restrictions, we said what is the difference between those two things? and the government have

been asked by myself and some other metro mayors for the legal definition. but if we are getting into what is the legal definition between a restaurant and a pub that sells food, i think that is going to be really confusing for the public, and we need to simplify things so that we can get the message in writing. i thinkjoe anderson, liverpool mayor, said originally maybe there should be a circuit break kind of level of restrictions. would you like in some ways the authorities to have gone further in the liverpool area and had a com plete the liverpool area and had a complete lockdown for maybe a week or two? what we have always said is that any decisions made about additional restrictions in our area have to be scientifically based. it is not about putting our fingers have to be scientifically based. it is not about putting ourfingers in the airand saying, is not about putting ourfingers in the air and saying, we think this work or that might work. so what the scientific evidence will show to us is whether it is community transmissions, whether it's through

schools or students, or whether it's hospitality. that's the basis, really, for us to attack the exponential increases that we have seen write their way across the city region over the last five weeks, and if we get that, i think we will do a betterjob of ensuring we get out of tier three very, very quickly. we know there is a review every four weeks, there is a sunset clause in the legislation that the government have to review it, and we want to know, if we go into tier three because they have told us that we have to, how do we get out of tier three and back down to tier two. and looking at other cities with a very high rate, to people in liverpool have a sense of being unfairly treated because my other cities have not gone on to tier three, a liverpool house. you introduce the issue by saying that our rates are higher than anywhere else in the

country, and of course that's true. and therefore i understand why additional restrictions need to happen in the city region, and the leaders of the six districts and myself have been working all week to better understand all of this information, but whilst we understand the government have said further restrictions, it was they who decided that we are a tier three combined authority area. if the government have made that decision, then therefore they should be providing the level of support that was previously meted out to the whole country when it lockdown in march. i think the prime minister mentioned you by name in his statement, and was thanking you and other leaders in the liverpool city region. do you feel you have been properly consulted by the government? do you feel that you have enough powers yourselves, or whether you should be doing more and may be national government should be doing less on all of this. i'm not

sure it's helpful for the doing less on all of this. i'm not sure it's helpfulfor the prime minister to mention me or anybody else in the livable city region, because we have worked together over the last, since friday night, literally burning the midnight oil overfour literally burning the midnight oil over four days to try and get the government to understand our position. and if that is an acknowledgement that we have done ourjob to get the government in the right space, then that's fine. but we are not here to get the government to roll over and tickle our bellies, we are here to stand up for the 1.6 million people in our city region, and for those businesses that will be severely impacted by the additional restrictions. and what you will know, and many other people watching, that the particular sector that will be most and hardest hit by this, hospitality, that has a lot of people who are low paid, some on minimum wage, and i'm afraid that

67% of their wages doesn't cut it. they can't pay two thirds of their gas or electricity, or when you going to the shop, they can't say can you cut that by a third. we need the government to work with us so that we can provide packages of support, that one secures the likelihood that our businesses can come out the other end, two, it ensures that people stay in jobs, and three, that our overall economy is not severely impacted post—pandemic by the measures taken by government today. all right, steve rotherham, thank you, good to talk to you. we will have much more at the top of the hour, but now i look at the whether with ben rich. good afternoon. it will turn dry and a little brighter as we head through the week, but rather chilly. into

the week, but rather chilly. into the evening, outbreaks of rain pushing eastwards, and if anything that rain will start to spill back into eastern scotland and north—east england through the night, some showers moving through northern ireland into wales in the south—west, a fairly cool night particularly across parts of south—west scotland in the far north of england. into tomorrow, outbreaks of england. into tomorrow, outbreaks of rain continuing to spiral around an area of low pressure, some drier weather to the south—east and also for scotland and northern ireland. but here, a brisk north—easterly wind, so it is going to feel rather chilly, in fact all of us seeing those temperatures pegged back to between 11 and 13 degrees, and it stays rather chilly as we head through the middle of the week towards thursday and friday. but it will be drier if often rather cloudy.

this is bbc news. the headlines... boris johnson announces tough new local coronavirus rules in england — the three—tier system will have varying levels of restrictions to help stop the ‘heavy spread' of the virus. this is not how we want to live our lives, but this is the narrow path we have to tread between the social and economic trauma of a full lockdown and the massive human and indeed economic cost of an uncontained epidemic. we have tried to give the prime minister the benefit of the doubt, but it increasingly feels like the prime minister is several steps behind the curve and running to catch up with the virus that he has lost control of long ago. the liverpool city region has been placed in the highest tier with stricter restrictions for around two million people.

from wednesday, pubs, betting shops and casinos will be legally forced to close, but the prime minister said more financial support would be available for areas affected by the new measures. and, most gcse and a level exams in england next year will be delayed by three weeks, the education secretary has confirmed controversial plans to shake up the premier league pitch fans and some clubs against each other. in the past 90 minutes, the prime minister has announced a three tier coronavirus alert system in england. speaking to mps in the house of commons, borisjohnson said that the coming weeks and months would "test the mettle" of the country as it faces

an increase in covid—19 cases. the "medium" level — which will cover most of the country — consists of the current national measures. so that's the rule of 6, and a 10pm curfew in bars and restaurants. the "high" level will ban all mixing between different households indoors —— but will allow the rule of six outdoors. most areas which are already subject to local restrictions will automatically move into this category, as well as nottinghamshire, east and west cheshire and a small area of high peak. and the "very high" level — which we know will apply to the liverpool city region from wednesday — bans social mixing indoors and in private gardens, with pubs and bars also forced to close. areas in the top tier will be able to impose extra restrictions if they choose — across merseyside this will also mean the closure of leisure centres, gyms, betting shops and casinos. the prime minister said he did not believe that a full, national lockdown would be the "right course" — citing damage to the economy, and children's education.

in response, labour leader sir keir starmer said ‘it increasingly feels like the prime minister is severeal steps behind the curve' and questioned whether today's announcement ‘can bring the country back from the brink‘. let's listen to more of what the prime minister had to say. the medium alert level will cover most of the country and will consist of the current national measures. this includes the real other six and the closure of hospitality at ten p m. the high alert level reflects the interventions in many local areas at the moment this merely aims to reduce household to household transmission by preventing all mixing between different households or support bubbles indoors. in these areas, the rule of six will continue

to ply outdoors where it is harder for the virus to spread in public spaces as well as private gardens. most areas which are already subject to local restrictions will automatically move into the high alert level. as a result of rising infection rates, nottinghamshire, east and west cheshire and a small area of high peak will also move into the high allergy level. the very high alert level will apply where transmission rates are rising most rapidly and where the nhs could soon be under unbearable pressure without further restrictions. in these areas, the government will set a baseline of prohibiting social mixing indoors and in private gardens and i am sorry to say, closing pubs and bars. as the prime minister outlined the new three tier system. he said it would be a mistake to go into a second national lockdown but neither

could they abandon the fight against the virus. more people in hospital with covid—19 than when we went into lockdown on a march 23 and deaths are already rising. of course, there are already rising. of course, there are those who say that on that logic, we should go back into a full, national lockdown of indefinite duration, closing schools and businesses, telling people against stay—at—home, as we did in march. once again, shattering our lives and society. i do not believe that would be the right course. we would not only be depriving our children of their education, we would do such damage to our economy as to erode our long—term ability to fund the nhs and other crucial public services. on the other side of the argument, there are those who think that the patience of the public is now exhausted, that we should abandon the fight against

covid—19, stand aside, that nature ta ke covid—19, stand aside, that nature take its course and call a halt to these repressions. the labour leader, sir keir starmer told the house of commons that the prime minister did not appear to have a plan to bring the virus under control. we tried to give the primaries the bennett of the doubt but it feels like he has several steps behind the curve and running to catch up with a virus that he has lost control of long ago. it was than three weeks ago, 22nd of september, that the prime minister came to this house to announce new restrictions. he said then that the measures he would introduce then would curve the numberof daily introduce then would curve the number of daily infections, but those restrictions were carefully judged to achieve the maximum reduction in the art number. that has not happened. those measures have not worked. we would not be here today if they had. there is a

pattern here. on the firstjuly, the prime minister told us of his new strategy to control local outbreaks. 20 areas have now been in restrictions for over two months. 19 have seen their infection rates rise, summer by very large amounts. so those measures have not worked either. sir keir starmer said the poor performance of the test and trace system highlighted that the government needed to hand over its handling to local authorities. in may the prime minister boasted of a world beating track and trace system. he told us it would be a real game changer in the fight against the virus. we debated this many times since but last week, the figures with the worst yet. the prime of are promised 100% of test results would be turned around in a 24 hours. the latest figure, mr speaker, for in—person testing is

just 24% being turned around in that period. our deputy political editor vicki young is in westminster. just listening there, he was quite strong in his criticism of the prime minister and what the prime minister was saying today? yes, he was, he has been broadly supportive up until now of the measures being taken and today he was suggesting that he thinks the prime minister should have gone further although he didn't com pletely have gone further although he didn't completely spell that out. he just said asa completely spell that out. he just said as a criticism that he felt the prime estate was behind the curve. what is more telling today is the criticism coming from some conservative mps and most strikingly probably from the mayor of the west midlands, andy street, he is a conservative himself. he is pretty upset that most of the west midlands he says is going to go into tier two. he says people there have worked hard over the last few weeks, saying they have managed to get the

situation under control than it was. really going by the guidelines. what he says now is that the main difference there is going to be for people is the ban on households mixing in hospitality venues. he says it is something that latest local statistics do not support, he is disappointed that the government is disappointed that the government is pressing ahead with this and he says that he once government to review the decision as soon as possible because what is happening here is that we haven't seen the detailed regulations yet but the suggestion is that restaurants and possibly pubs that serve food will be able to stay open but what will happen in tears two and three is that the only people who can go there is if you are with your own household. that, lots of people are saying, is going to curtail the kind of business that will go on there, it will help these harm profits and yet some of these businesses will not be able to get any government help to that a lot of criticism coming from areas and other places

to where they say it is not fair that we are being put into the same tier as a city nearby because our statistics are very different and as we would have expected, this is going to cause all sorts of unhappiness. the aim originally was to try to simplify it but i think until we see that long list showing the detailed regulations of what it means, plus where each local authority has been put, then it is rarely ha rd to authority has been put, then it is rarely hard to see the bigger picture. just looking at some of the figures, we have got world which is now in tier three, 286 cases per 100,000. nottingham is it hunted in 30 but that is in tier two to a lot of these areas will point to these inconsistencies. yes, they are. the government says about all of this that they don't want it to be purely based on case numbers. that is because as you have pointed out there, nottingham for example, they do have the thought that it is very

much contained amongst the student population. so they don't want that to skew the budget figures so if you are going to university and he are testing thousands of students, most of whom are don't have symptoms, they are now showing a positive but thatis they are now showing a positive but that is skewing the numbers because they are hoping that actually come up they are hoping that actually come up with other restrictions, it does stay a little bit more contained and they will keep an ion that and whether it transmits to more older and vulnerable people but they don't wa nt and vulnerable people but they don't want that to be the only criteria. they will look at how fast it is spreading and look to add hospitalisations, those who are getting seriously ill with covid—19 because they think that is a far better gauge of what is going on within the community. this is pretty nuanced and a lot of people will say that it nuanced and a lot of people will say thatitis nuanced and a lot of people will say that it is right that it is because you don't want these blanket huge areas going into restrictions that they don't really need but as ever,

it's all under review and they will be watching closely to see whether any of these new restrictions do make a difference in trying to suppress the virus. many charities are warning that further restrictions to protect the most vulnerable need to be more transparent and clear than they were the first time round. we can speak now to charlotte augst, the chief executive of national voices which is the umbrella group for patient charities. charlotte joins me now via webcam from south west london. there was a suggestion from the prime minister that people who were shielding at the height of the first wave of the coronavirus of pandemic i going to get updated guidance on what they need to do, in other words the most vulnerable on what they need today yes, we cannot really judge the kind of data that underpins these different risk levels and we cannotjudge the efficacy of the control measures that have been announced but were to

be rna very strong position to have a view on is, people have told us what they need right now on the way through the summer we have worked with people who are in this category and are being clinically vulnerable to the virus and they have said very clearly to us that they feel abandoned, that there was not enough information and what information there was was confusing and contradictory and late and sometimes absent. it is very disappointing for people who have ongoing health and problems who have not been mentioned in the house today and that the announcements did not explain what this means for people who need to be extra careful not to catch the virus because they're vulnerable to has not changed. so are you saying the government to be more clear on that and to be up front right away in terms of what those sort of people need today right now? we definitely need today right now? we definitely need tailored information for people who have ongoing health care needs

who have ongoing health care needs who remain vulnerable to the virus. but we also need the government to think through what people need in terms of practical and emotional support, so if you are of a working age and a lot of the parking honourable people are in working age, you need to understand what this means for your employment and your benefits and your protection. we have written to the government, we have asked for answers on what this means for people whose workplaces cannot be made covid—19 safe and we had not yet had an answer. this is the peanut good enough. those people need to that i can enough. those people need to that i ca n safely enough. those people need to that i can safely stay—at—home, they won't lose theirjobs, can safely stay—at—home, they won't lose their jobs, they can safely stay—at—home, they won't lose theirjobs, they can claim benefits if need be, a bit like we are making announcements about protecting businesses affected by these restrictions, we need to explain and provide guidance to people who are affected because they are vulnerable and. but generally, do you welcome the new three tier system that the government and prime minster has announced this afternoon? i think it is definitely

welcome that the government seems to have thought through the need of supplication of these messages. we have picked up very clearly from talking to people that people got me confused about what was what and it was obviously not helped by semipublic examples of noncompliance from seniorfigures semipublic examples of noncompliance from senior figures across all parties. simplification is a good idea and creating more trust in the reliability of these levels and the guidance that underpins them, i think, is a really good idea but in order to re—establish this trust, we need to now really focus on what people who are the real users of the services actually need now and that means they need emotional support, practical support and they need really good guidance on how they can keep themselves safe and what that means for them going forward. the headlines on bbc news... boris johnson announces tough

new local coronavirus rules in england — the three—tier system will have varying levels of restrictions to help stop the "heavy spread" of the virus. the liverpool city region has been placed in the highest tier with stricter restrictions for around two million people. from wednesday, pubs, betting shops and casinos will be legally forced to close, but the prime minister said more financial support would be available for areas affected by the new measures. let's get more reaction on the new three tier alert system that's been announced for england. i'm joined by professor sir chris ham, who's the nonexecutive chair of the coventry and warwickshire health and care partnership and nonexecutive director of royal free hospitals. he's also a former chief executive of the king's fund. this three tier system, the prime minister said some people wanting to go that far, others want him to go

further but he feels this is the right balance. do you agree? he is trying to tread a middle path here between those who would say these measures don't go far enough, we need tougher lockdown is to stem the exponential rise in cases, and those on the other hand including in his own party, who would say, we need fewer restrictions and trust people to make their own judgments. fewer restrictions and trust people to make their ownjudgments. the risk is, he will satisfy neither of those cams because he is striking a compromise. is it a compromise that will work? we saw some of the government scientists earlier on setting out with on their graphs exactly what the virus is doing around england, it was quite a scary picture in parts and a very substantial rise in places like liverpool in the number of cases and hospitalisations, so is this going to be enough? a three tier system by itself will not achieve anything. on the one hand, we need to have a test and trace and isolate system that is

working effectively. we were promised that back in may when the introduction of the so—called world beating system was announced by the prime minister and we are a long, long way from having that. people struggle to get tests, the turnaround protests is still very, very slow. many of us have been saying that is the fundamental building block and it is not yet in place. the other thing that is to regain the lost public trust you are talking about with one of your other interviewees because all of this depends on each of us playing our pa rt depends on each of us playing our part following the rules on hand washing, social distancing, on wearing facemasks and sadly, some of that trust has been lost in recent months so those are the things that need much more attention and having a three tier system on its own but not deliver that. as i was saying earlier, some in your scientific community say we should go for herd

immunity, we should let the virus ta ke immunity, we should let the virus take its course, we should shield and protect the older and more vulnerable but let the younger people do what they want to. we heard people from oxford university advocating that course of action. there are scientists who argue that but the majority of scientific opinion is in fact the opposite. we should not seek to achieve herd and unity, is not going to be possible to do that and indeed the death toll would be unacceptable where any government or indeed any officials minded to go in that direction. the other issue that is fully important here is that with the rising cases, the impact on patients who are not suffering from comic but he has heart disease, lung conditions, cancer, that could be very serious indeed if we are not able to stem the rising demand for hospital care and intensive care and that will not enable us to restart those

non—covid—19 services and that could mean the impact on peoples health from the non—covid—19 services will actually be as great if not greater than the impact of more covid—19 cases. is that the sort of argument you need to put young people who may be saying at the moment, look, the average deaths from covid—19 is 82 yea rs of average deaths from covid—19 is 82 years of age, if you are 21 and at university, you're thinking this is something that does not apply to me. absolutely, that is the argument we need keep on putting. this will affect all of us for as long as we don't yet have a vaccine. the argument to younger people must be about their older relatives and the risk they are being put at by the behaviour of younger age groups in the population but particularly the impact on the nhs which simply will have to slow down the impressive restoration of the non—covid—19 services because people in the nhs have been working very hard to get the services back up and running.

routine operations for hips, knees, storing cardiac surgery in particular cancer services, good progress has been made on that but that will be lost if we see hospital beds being occupied by more and more covid—19 cases. beds being occupied by more and more covid-19 cases. good to talk to you, thank you so much. scotland will develop its own coronavirus tiering framework and will look to align as closely as possible with other uk nations. but the scottish first minister, nicola sturgeon, said in her daily briefing earlier that advisers told this morning's cobra meeting that the ‘very minimum level of tier 3‘ is ‘probably not sufficient to get the r number under 1‘ i don‘t want to go into detail of what will be announced in england, because well, obviously it is for them to finalise and definitely for them to announce, but one of these things that was, and i think it is perhaps relevant to the bars, restaurants divide, and i don‘t know what the final shape of that will be in england, or what areas of england may be

going into that sort of tier three category, but one of the points that was made, and i think broadly accepted on the cobra call was made by some of the professional advisers on the call is that the very minimum level of the tier three that might be published in england today is probably not sufficient to get r back under one, so probably what you needed something to be discussed with local areas that is beyond that bare minimum, but of italy those other factors we will take into account when making the decisions here. that is for others to reach these decisions in their own way and based on the evidence they have. the number of cases in liverpool is much higher. our correspondent has been gauging the mood of the city.

case numbers have been rising here in the last couple of weeks despite extra measures already being in place and the number of people going into hospital is also a big concern to people recognise that more action is needed and they are realistic that this will mean life is getting harder again. we are talking about pubs, bars, betting shops and casinos closing. there is a question mark over restaurants. a big disruption to social life again and there are concerns about the knock—on effect for the economy. talking to people in the city this morning, notjust people who live here but people visiting from across the country, you get a sense of how the country, you get a sense of how the city does rely on tourism. there are big concerns about how that could be affected. i have seen a lot of places struggling and closing down due to the new restrictions so iam not down due to the new restrictions so i am not sure what else can be done but i think it might not be the right pad to go down. but i think it might not be the right pad to go downlj but i think it might not be the right pad to go down. i think the

whole country should be locked down, notjust areas. it whole country should be locked down, not just areas. it should whole country should be locked down, notjust areas. it should be whole country should be locked down, not just areas. it should be all whole country should be locked down, notjust areas. it should be all the country. even if they case numbers are not the same? yes. i really love liverpool and i want to save the city and the people. are you right about the economic impact? absolutely. the bars and restaurants and social amenities. it is about your own safety, you got to do what your own safety, you got to do what you got to do so where your mask, be sensible about it, don‘t go out getting drunk and hanging around with people you don‘t know, it‘s about being sensible. people seem to know that there are extra measures on the way, perhaps as early as wednesday. the city mayor says there are going to be these disruptions but the reason it has not been agreed and put in place yet is because he is holding out for more support for workers to be provided from government. he thinks the two thirds effectively further furlough payments for people and industries that will be affected may not be enough to support those

workers and spending the weekend here talking to people who work in this industry, the taxi drivers who could be affected as a knock on but won‘t qualify for that support, it is those sorts of people that local leaders here say need to be supported and that is what they are still talking about, trying to put in place. they also want a guarantee ofa in place. they also want a guarantee of a way out of these restrictions, what are the ways to make sure they can be relaxed in future so that the city and others like it are not stuck in a local lockdown is four months upon months. ahead of today‘s announcement, the chancellor rishi sunak announced a new package of financial help — including more grants for businesses forced to close, and wage support for workers. but many firms are still very anxious about their future as they face the new rules. our business correspondent sarah corker reports. limiting social contact in parts of the north and the midlands will mean more economic pain. from pubs and casinos to gyms and leisure venues,

these are some of the businesses that could be impacted by the top—level restrictions, told to close by law. this newcastle bistro is already seeing capacity down by 40%. we‘ve got bills coming in all the time. you know, we‘ve got stock that we‘ll lose if we have to shut. we‘ve probably got 300 quid worth of stock that we‘d essentially be putting in the bin or trying to give away or something so it all adds up and each time we get told to shut and reopen, it‘s a cost. the government is grappling with the conflicting demands of protecting health and keeping the economy going. this pub owner in leeds says a second lockdown could finish them off. any more restrictions would just be a killer to many in this industry, really. already the restrictions are ruining trade by at least kind of 50%. and we‘re in the suburbs and kind of not as bad as city centres so i think any more restrictions would be... we just would be losing thousands per week. some argue restaurants and pubs which have to be covid—secure

to operate may be safer places to socialise than homes or university halls. and the hospitality industry has said it will take legal action to stop the forced closure of pubs and clubs. today, if boris says shut down greater manchester, then we‘re taking it to judicial review because, do you know what, they‘ve never engaged with the operators and we keep saying to them, show us the scientific evidence. the government has said it will give businesses forced to close by lockdown up to £3000 a month and will pay two thirds of workers‘ wages up to a maximum of £2100 a month. and one estimate is that more than 440,000 employees could be using the new scheme by november. large parts of the north have been under tighter restrictions for months and all of this has a huge knock—on effect on the wider supply chain. we‘ve had no direct grants,

no business rates relief, no rent assistance so what we‘re calling on the government for is to extend business rates relief to the wholesale sector because we‘re the ones that are supplying food and drinks to all of these vital sectors of the economy. what‘s really hurting businesses is the uncertainty ahead, not knowing what the rules will be next week or next month, and how long these new curbs could last. sarah corker, bbc news. now it‘s time for a look at the weather. good afternoon. it will turn dry and a little brighter as we head through the week, but rather chilly. into the evening, outbreaks of rain pushing eastwards, and if anything that rain will start to spill back into eastern scotland and north—east england through the night, some showers moving through northern ireland into wales in the south—west, a fairly cool night particularly across parts of south—west scotland

in the far north of england. into tomorrow, outbreaks of rain continuing to spiral around an area of low pressure, some drier weather to the south—east and also for scotland and northern ireland. but here, a brisk north—easterly wind, so it is going to feel rather chilly, in fact all of us seeing those temperatures pegged back to between 11 and 13 degrees, and it stays rather chilly as we head through the middle of the week towards thursday and friday. but it will be drier if often rather cloudy.

hello, this is bbc news with ben brown. the headlines: borisjohnson announces tough new local coronavirus rules in england — the three—tier system will have varying levels of restrictions to help stop the ‘heavy spread‘ of the virus. this is not how we want to live our lives. but this is the narrow path

that we have to tread between the social land and economical to come ofa social land and economical to come of a full icon and the massive human andindeed of a full icon and the massive human and indeed economic cost of an uncontained epidemic. —— full lockdown. we try to get the primacy of the benefit of the doubt but any critically feels like the prime minister is of the steps behind the curve . minister is of the steps behind the curve. in running to catch up with the virus but he has lost control of long ago. —— we have tried to give the prime minister the benefit of the prime minister the benefit of the doubt. the liverpool city region has been placed in the highest tier with stricter restrictions for around two million people. from wednesday, pubs, betting shops and casinos will be legally forced to close, but the prime minister said more financial support would be available for areas affected by the new measures. and most gcse and a level exams in england next year will be delayed by three weeks, the education secretary has confirmed. controversial plans to shake up the premier league pitch fans and some clubs against each other.

let‘s get more on this story in the sport from jane dougall at the bbc sport centre. hi, jane. thank you ben. an official spokesperson for the prime minister has criticised the radical plan to shake up english football, known as “project big picture“, saying that "this type of back room dealing "undermines trust in football‘s governance. the plan, led by liverpool and manchester united, would see the top tier cut to 18 teams, with the league cup and the community shield scrapped. the government said they‘d already been given assurances that no efl club would be allowed to go bust due to covid and they stongly urged the premier league and efl to come up with a deal that offers a package of support for the whole football family. if you look at premier league, i believe during the last transfer window come over £1 billion are spent, more than the four largest cups in europe after the premier league but together. there are other

resources that and i have to say if they can i get together and work together to sort this out, we will have to return to what we promised in our manifesto which is a fan lead review of football governance because many fans would be concerned about what they are reading today. the liverpool supporters‘ group ‘spirit of shankly‘ say the project big picture and pay per view plans show "a complete disregard for fans and they‘ve written to the club to voice their anger. in a statement they say the £14.95 charge per match is "disgraceful", adding. "the hedge funds and billionaire owners of our paul scholes has been made the interim manager of league two side salford city after they sacked graham alexander. scholes is a part—owner of salford, along with former manchester united

team—mates nicky butt, david beckham, ryan giggs and the neville brothers. salford are still unbeaten this season, and are fifth in league two. finn russell is back in the scotland squad after missing the six nations matches in february and march for a breach of team protocol. the star fly—half is named in a 40—man squad for the autumn international series, which starts against georgia a week on friday. they also have their final six nations game to play against wales the week after. russell was suspended and later criticised head coach gregor townsend in a newspaper interview, but the pair‘s relationship has been repaired since the six nations was halted because of the coronavirus. lock richie grey and back row blair cowan also return to the squad. three—time champion jockey frankie dettori admitted he shed a tear when he learned that the record—breaking mare ‘enable‘ was to be retired. trained byjohn gosden, she‘s the only horse to win the king george vi and queen elizabeth stakes at royal ascot three times.

she also won the prix de l‘arc de triomphe twice and the breeders‘ cup turf in the united states. dettori was aboard for all but the first of her 15 victories. ‘enable‘ will now be moved to her owner‘s stud to begin a breeding career next year. baketball great lebronjames has led the los angeles lakers to their first nba title in ten years. they beat the miami heat 106—93, to seal a 4—2 series victory. star manjames was at the centre of everything, scoring a triple—double, with 28 points, 14 rebounds and ten assists. the lakers have now won the title 17 times — they‘re level with the boston celtics for the most nba championships. thinking i had something to prove fuels me. and it fuelled me. over these last year and a half. since my injury. it fuelled me because no

matter what i‘ve been in my career come up until this point, there is still little rumblings of doubt or compare me to the history of the game and has he done this or that. so having it in my head and in my mind, saying to myself why not still have something to prove come i think it fuels me. we‘ll have more for you in sportsday at 6:30. thank you, jane. let‘s talk more about the new restrictions announced today by the prime minister. those three tiers of restrictions. susan hinchcliffe the leader of bradford council — who also standing to be the labour candidate for mayor of west yorkshire next year. thank you forjoining us. brashear is in tier two. what is your

reaction? hereto is at the moment in branford, since the beginning of june. —— in bradford. the prime minister was clear, talking to local authorities come he sees the prospect of more places going to tier three and there‘s not a lot of call for celebration today to be in tier number two. are people and i worry that you might end up like a liveable city region in tier three with all of the edit restrictions that involves? that‘s in liverpool. certainly. but we have to be really clear that this is a really major health crisis going on during this country at the moment especially in the north of england. i absolutely see day by day infections rising across the districts we see a number of hospital admission going up and thatis of hospital admission going up and that is very concerning for me as a leader of this place. and therefore i want to make sure we can to get that infection rate down and save

the nhs and save lives the course. that has to be everybody‘s key concern. everything we can. do you think the government is doing everything it can? certainly i would like to see more health interventions, we saw some research from king‘s college last week that set only 18% of people self—isolate when they have symptoms. that number is very concerning. across the whole country. we need to have more incentives to self—isolate. if they are not, that will be spreading a lot faster. i would like to see more money spent on local tests and trace, more home testing, thinks we going very much in the district, i have people on the streets all the time talking to people going home testing and i can only focus the most intense resources on the four wa rs most intense resources on the four wars and would like to do that and 12. there‘s a lot more than is to be done on the ground. —— for words. it is labour—intensive but it needs to happen. do you think local regional leaders like yourself to have much more power in this? that you know your city better than people at

westminster do and that you should really be in control of whether or not to impose more restrictions and you should be policing the restrictions? i think it has to be a good partnership between national and local government. has to be a national framework for us all to operate in otherwise people don‘t see fairness across the country. very important to any rules applied needs to be fair weather in liverpool or bradford or leeds or sheffield. fairness is something that can be put into place by the national government, but luckily we do know our cities and we know what works and what people are saying to us. when they say they find it difficult to stop isolate or they are in danger of infection and we need to be able to act on that quickly. we need to savour the good partnership between national and local. the government says they want a better relationship with local leaders. i hope they hold true to their word. you say you know what works. you also know it doesn‘t work, why do you think the virus is rising and bradford in particular, from your knowledge come in the down to students, a people and households

mixing, what are the key drivers?|j think mixing, what are the key drivers?” think a lot of people are tired of it. they are tied to the restrictions. and they are tired of seeing that it didn‘t seem to be making a much progress as they will like it to make. the simplicity as well, we need to see more simple programme across the country. so people know if the restrictions are. just changing week will not help. so some of that in terms of level that they are talking about would be helpful and provides more simplicity. and something more straightforward. i think people are generally tired and they see themselves going into a winter was six months in the dark and restrictions, and that obviously is the motivating front that we needed people that have hope that there is a way to do this and we will come to the end of it but we need to stick together and stay apart, wash her hands, face coverings come and stay isolated if you get sickness. if we all stick to those come it should prevent the infection rate from rising further. thank you for talking to us.

a level and gcse exams are to go ahead in england next summer, but later than usual. the education secretary gavin williamson has announced they‘ll be pushed back by about three weeks, and will cover less content. school leaders have called for a ‘plan b‘ in case the pandemic means exams can‘t go ahead at all. speaking in the house of commons this afternoon the education secretary told mps it‘s important that each child gets the education they require. i think every member of this house recognises the value that all children gain from being in school, being with the teachers come having the opportunity to learn. that is why issuing the direction of continuity of education, making sure schools are held accountable for delivering education, even if pupils are having to isolate at home, it is so incredibly important. we need to ensure that every child, whether they are in the classroom or whether they‘re at home are getting the education they require.

let get the reaction of conservative mp robert halfon who is the chair of the education committee and joins me now from westminster. thank you for being with us. a delay of three weeks. does that make sense to you? asi of three weeks. does that make sense to you? as i said to the secretary of state in the house of commons this afternoon, i think it is right to delay the exams, what i want to be sure of is that there is a plan b and a plan c, what a be sure of is that there is a plan b and a plan c, whata man bya plan b is that if students are sent home for one reason or another because of covid—19 related issues or so—called bubbles, being sent home, that the stu d e nts bubbles, being sent home, that the students have a continued learning programme, provided by the school, with support from organisations like ofsted working with the schools as friends because we have to keep children learning again. we can‘t face a situation where we had during the lockdown where despite the effo rts the lockdown where despite the efforts of many teachers and many schools, we know now that millions

of children did barely any learning at all. if heaven forbid the situation with the virus is not much better in the summer, is it realistic to have exams then? we need to do everything possible to try and ensure that exams take place. even if they are delayed because they are a fair form of assessment and it is very difficult with teacher assess grades because of knowing under prediction and over prediction as well. there has to be that plan b in terms of students who are at home and they get a proper learning experience and of course that has to be a plan see, in case there has to be a much wider closure and if lessons are disrupted for a long—awaited time. what system the government would move to under those extreme circumstances. so are you saying that the government, your government, has not got a plan b or a plan see? i think that the government said today that they were

working on to make sure that children were learning during the lockdown, we know that later in october or early november the government will set out further plans on this in case you are the ladies or school closures. i would like to have that information as soon as possible. the government also previously said to me that they would be working with the schools to assess all pupils and exam years so we can find out how much loss learning there has been how much catch—up is actually needed, so they can make sure that they get the exams, the everybody can get the exams, the everybody can get the exams ready for the students next year. an example less content. does that make sense as well to you? yes, i think that makes perfect sense. i thought that was inevitable. off call have set up some of that but the exams regulator, we expect them to set up more information over the next few weeks but it makes sense

given how much loss learning there has been but the crucial thing if stu d e nts has been but the crucial thing if students are sent home, we cannot have a situation where many of the children are not learning hardly anything. we have to keep the children learning online and i‘m glad the government announced more la pto ps for glad the government announced more laptops for students who don‘t have them, but they have got to be distributed quickly and efficiently, we have to keep ensuring our children are learning every day whether in school are out home. and we had the fast go this summer with the exam grades fourth of do you think the government has learned his lesson from all of that come the pun? —— the fiasco this summer. lesson from all of that come the pun? -- the fiasco this summer. that was a really tough situation. that exams was a really tough situation. that exa ms co ntrove rsy was a really tough situation. that exams controversy should never have happened. we make very clear in that in the select committee. they have got to learn the lesson. it is right that exams are delayed. if there are extreme circumstances and major school closures, the has to be a

serious plan to deal with that and how teacher assess grades would work, my own preference is that if there were a teacher assess grades it would also be a human, not an algorithm but a human assessor with algorithm but a human assessor with a pride of checks and balances to the teacher assess grades but at the moment it is right that schools do everything to work towards exams albeit delayed exams next year. thank you, robert. we can get more reaction to those three tiers of coronavirus restrictions. let‘s talk to the chief executive of liverpool chamber of commerce, paul cherpeau. thank you for being with us. what do you think will be the economic impacts of liverpool city regions being put into tier three, the highest here? i can't really speak very positively about the impact and honesty, ben. businesses across liverpool are pretty frustrated,

bordering on anger at this point in time. we had a week a speculation about these measures coming in to play. several mixed messages over the weekend, even at this point but less tha n the weekend, even at this point but less than 48 hours before they were implemented, still areas of clarity required. there is a clear requirement i think to understand the evidence behind some of the restrictions that have been imposed on certain businesses get notjust us. many businesses here in the city and across the north and the uk have invested considerable amounts of money to make the premises covid say. some of the investment will now be unfortunately challenged and potentially wasted. finally, we need to understand how quickly financial measures can be shipped to the front line and businesses that are desperately in need of support during this lockdown period and we also need to understand what the exit strategy is as well. when you

say people are angry, which is understandable, are the angry at the decision to put liverpool city region into tier three or angry at the lack of communication as they see it about the whole strategy and the timing of the? i think two strands there. the first is the latter is the case. the communication of recent days and weeks has been extremely challenging with a multitude of different regulations coming in come almost incessa ntly, regulations coming in come almost incessantly, that is been incredibly difficult to keep up with. i think there is an acceptance that we are in the midst of a pandemic. to public health emergency and measures needed to be taken. but the lack of a click of the strategy is a massive problem at the stage. that‘s a clear exit strategy. especially for our visitor economy and hospitality businesses who comprise largest private sector proportion of

employment in the city and the percolating effect on the wider economy is considerable, so we need to make sure that we can show that particular part of the economy see through this what we hope will be a short—term economic shock so that as we build economic recovery it is built upon a strong base that is meant develop so well over the lack ten, 15 years, one that is built on culture and the visitor economy so that we can diversify our economy and what we hope will be the post covid—19 world sooner rather than later. thank you for talking to us. good luck to you many thanks. go back to the top story. let‘s return now to our top story, the prime minister has outlined the government‘s latest plan designed to stem the rising number of coronavirus infections. borisjohnson told mps that every area of england would be placed into "medium",

"high" or "very high" alert levels. mrjohnson said there‘d be no return to a national lockdown — but the stark reality of a second wave of covid meant the government could not let the virus "rip". the labour leader, sir keir starmer, said he was "deeply sceptical" the prime minister had a plan to get control of the virus. let‘s have a listen to what was said in the commons today. just as we simplified our national rules, with the rule of six, we will now simplify and standardise our local rules, by introducing a three—tiered system of local covid alert levels in england, set at medium, high and very high. the medium alert level will cover most of the country and will consist of the current, national measures. this includes the rule of six and the closure of hospitality at 10pm. the high alert level reflects the interventions in many local areas at the moment.

this primarily aims to reduce household to household transmission by preventing all mixing between different household or support bubbles indoors. in these areas, the rule of six will continue to apply outdoors, where it is harder for the virus to spread, in public spaces as well as private gardens. most areas which are already subject to local restrictions will automatically move into the high alert level. as a result of rising infection rates, nottinghamshire, east and west cheshire and a small area will also move into the high alert level. the very high alert level will apply where transmission rates are rising most rapidly and where the nhs could soon be under unbearable pressure without further restrictions. in these areas, the government

will set a baseline of prohibiting social mixing indoors and in private gardens and, i‘m sorry to say, closing pubs and bars. we want to create the maximum possible local consensus behind this more severe local action, so in each area, we will work with local government leaders on the additional measures which should be taken. this could lead to further restrictions on the hospitality, leisure, entertainment or personal care sectors. but retail, schools and universities will remain open. as my right honourable friend the chancellor has set out, the government will expand its unprecedented economic support to assist those affected by these decisions, extending ourjobs support scheme to cover two thirds of the wages of those in any business required

to close in providing those businesses with a cash grant of up to £3000 a month, instead of £1500 every three weeks. we will also provide local authorities across england with around £1 billion of new financial support on top of our 3.6 billion fund. and for very high areas, there will be further financial support for local test and trace and local enforcement and assistance from the armed forces, not for enforcement, but rather to support local services if desired in the local area. nobody should be under any illusion about where this is heading. or of the need for decisive action. the question today is whether the restrictions announced by the prime minister can bring the country back from the brink, whether they can regain control

of the virus and provide the support and confidence that local businesses and communities need. that is how high the stakes now are. so we will consider the package, we will look at the small print of the prime minister‘s statement, we will discuss them with local mayors, councillors and leaders in the areas most effective. we will scrutinise the economic package that sits alongside them. but i have to say to the prime minister, i am now deeply sceptical that the government has actually got a plan to get control of this virus, to protectjobs or gain public trust. we have tried to give the prime minister benefit of the doubt, but it increasingly feels like the prime minister are several steps behind the curve and running to catch up with the virus but he has lost control of it long ago. it was less than three weeks ago, 22nd of september,

that the prime minister came to this house to announce new restrictions. he said then that the measures he was introducing then would, i quote, curve the number of daily infections, that those restrictions were carefullyjudged to retrieve the maximum reduction in the r number. that has not happened. those measures have not worked. we would not be here today if they had. there‘s a pattern here, on the 1st ofjuly the prime minister told us of his whack a mole strategy to control local outbreaks, 20 areas have now been in restrictions for over two months, 19 have seen infection rates rise, some by very large amounts, so there measures have not worked either. in may, the prime minister boasted of a world beating track and trace system and said it would be a real game changer in the fight against the virus. we have debated this many times since, but last week, the figures were the worst yet. the prime minister promised 100% of test results would be turned around in 24 hours, the latest figure, mr speaker,

for in—person testing is just 24% being turned around in that period. this serialfailure, combined with the repeated leaks and briefings to the newspapers in the last few days have eroded public confidence, just when we need it most. so can you prime minister tell us what reassurance can he give us that these measures that today will be sufficient to get the virus under control? will he finally accept that trace and isolate should be handed over to local authorities, as we have been saying for months? will he accept that the support packages announced by the chancellor simply will not work for many thousands of people, particularly those on minimum wage? mr speaker, there is huge anger about this in areas under lockdown and there is a huge gap in the government‘s plan. will he confirm that mayors, local leaders, council leaders and others will be fully involved in any future decisions?

hello, good afternoon. it hasn‘t exactly been the brightest of starts to the new week, not the warmest of starts either. it is cool, it‘s cloudy, we‘ve had some outbreaks of rain in many places. things are set to change through the coming week. it will turn gradually drier, but it will stay rather chilly with temperatures just a touch below par for this time of year. through the rest of today, a band of rain pushing eastwards. the further west you are, skies brightening with some sunshine, but one or two showers, some of which will be heavy across northern ireland and western parts of scotland. those are the temperatures as we head into the evening — just eight or nine degrees for some north sea coasts, and elsewhere 11 or 12 degrees. a cool afternoon leading into a rather cool night. as we go through the night, we will see these outbreaks of rain lingering for a while across the south—east of england and then starting to feed back in across scotland and north—east england, and further west there will be a mix of clear spells and showers. most places holding up around five, six, seven degrees. could be a little bit colder

than that for parts of south—west scotland and northern england. as we head into tomorrow, low pressure still in charge. the frontal system bringing a spiral of wetter weather across the british isles. you can see that rain across parts of scotland to start off, pushing down into northern england, parts of wales as well. some heavy showers pushing southwards across the south—west of england. something a little drier and brighter towrads the south—east of the uk, although some rain may return to some eastern coasts later, and certainly it will brighten up for northern ireland and scotland with sunny spells and just a small chance for a shower. quite windy, though, particularly across the northern half of the uk and that wind coming down from the north—ast, never a warm wind direction, so temperatures, at best, around 11, 12 or 13 degrees. as we look ahead to wednesday, there will be some showers around, chiefly as we go through the day across england and wales, something drier developting for much of scotland and northern ireland. strongest of the winds down towards the south at this stage. where you get some shelter from that north—easterly wind, 15 degrees is possible in plymouth, but generally 12, 13, 14 degrees.

as we head towards the end of the week, high pressure will try to take charge of the weather. various frontal systems around the edges but i think this high will fend those off for the most part, so it is looking largely dry, but it will often be quite cloudy, and temperature will continue to struggle with highs between 10 and 13 degrees. 01:29:26,877 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 tier.