a few more of those as we go through the rest of the day with temperatures, sunshine or cloud, below average for the time of the year. this is bbc news. by the end of the day the headlines... a few of the showers at the east may drift further west towards the midlands and north millions of people in england face tougher coronavirus wales, and the west country. restrictions from this weekend — cloud rolling west across scotland. with no households mixing indoors. damp and drizzly in places. london and some surrounding areas will move from the medium still some light showers to high alert level — but there's still no agreement across parts of england and wales. about greater manchester. temperatures will fall a little in other areas, currently lower, prolonged clear spells, in the second tier, maybe a few in western scotland, where discussions are ongoing, starting tomorrow close to freezing. no further decisions have tomorrow, probably more cloud yet been made but we need than we have seen today. still some sunny spells to make rapid progress. in south—western then, south wales, northern ireland and northern discussions were held this counties of northern ireland. morning about moving a light breeze from the east. greater manchester into the highest still some cloud across level — but local leaders say they need a better financial deal. eastern part of the uk. still with a few light in places. there was unanimous fury on that call about the process, about the evidence base, and about the economic support packages on the table. hello this is bbc news. the headlines —

we want action. the labour mayor of greater manchester andy burnham says he will stand firm but it has to be the right action. against plans to put the area in the very high the latest test and trace figures coronavirus alert category. for england show the highest number of positive cases since the system they are asking us to gamble our was launched in may. residents‘sjobs, homes the pub chain marston‘s is to cut they are asking us to gamble our more than 2,000 jobs, residents‘s jobs, homes and saying it's been badly hit businesses, and a large chunk of our by the coronavirus restrictions economy, on a strategy that their own experts tell them might not and the queen carries work. out her first engagement outside millions of people in england a royal residence for seven months. face tougher coronavirus good afternoon. twenty eight million people

across england will be living under the two highest covid alert levels from this weekend, as the government announces increased restrictions across the country. however there's still uncertainty as to whether greater manchester will be placed in the highest level of alert. a call between local leaders and downing street this morning ended without agreement. the region is currently on the high alert level, a move to the very high level would see pubs closed, and different households banned from mixing, except in public outdoor spaces where the rule of six applies. it was decided this morning that people in london, essex, parts of surrey and derbyshire — alongside york and barrow—in—furness, will face tougher restrictions from this weekend — with a ban on households mixing indoors. 0ur political correspondent helen catt has the latest. by the weekend, more than half the population of england will be living under extra coronavirus restrictions. in london, that means another 9 million people being moved onto high alert.

it is my expectation that the government will today announce that london will shortly be moving into tier two for the high alert level of restrictions. i've had a meeting this morning with the secretary of state for health, and mhclg, as well as london leaders and scientific advisers. it means by saturday there will be bans in place on meeting friends and family anywhere indoors in most of england's major cities and across essex, york, north—east derbyshire, barrow in furness, chesterfield, elmbridge in surrey, and erewash. we must take firm, balanced decisions to keep this virus under control. this is the only way to protect lives and livelihoods. and we must act now. delayed action means more deaths from covid, more non—covid deaths, and more economic pain later because the virus comes down slower than it goes up.

in some areas, such as essex and elmbridge, local leaders have backed moving on to high alert but downing street could face a tougher call in areas already under those restrictions that it wants to move to very high. in other areas currently in the second tier, where discussions are ongoing, no further decisions have yet been made but we need to make rapid progress. a meeting between number ten and local leaders in greater manchester failed to reach a decision on whether or not to move it onto very high alert. it would mean pubs and bars would have to shut completely and no household mixing at all apart from in places like parks. downing street wants it to happen, local leaders don't agree. there was unanimous fury about the process, about the evidence base and about the economic support packages on the table. we want action, but it has to be the right action because we have lived in tier two now for nearly three months and it has not worked. ultimately the government can just impose restrictions on an area

but it is thought they will be more effective if local leaders back them and now that labour is pushing for a short national lockdown that the scientific advisers recommended, there is even greater pressure on the government to show that its decision to go for a different, what it says is more balanced plan, will work. the government has offered a package of support to areas where it wants stronger restrictions. it still hopes to bring local leaders on side, ahead of what will be a tough time for an increasing number of people. helen catt, bbc news. 0ur political correspondent in westminster is iain watson. it's hard to keep up at the moment, isn't it? jane, it is. the consequence of this regional approach, local lockdown approach, call it what you will, that the government is pursuing rather than taking any new national measures. it means there will be differences in different areas, different levels of agreement or resistance from local

government leaders and indeed from local people. as we were hearing in that report, sadiq khan here in london, the mayor of london, very keen to see more restrictions imposed, london moves into the high level, essex arguing for more restrictions, the government has done so. there is still the very least, a couple from the london mayor over the level of financial support that will be given, that has become a major sticking point in other parts of the country, areas in so—called tier two, the higher alert level already, the government wants to move them into tier three and they are very resistant for a number of reasons. firstly, the financial package, they don't think it's generous enough, no new money offered by downing street this morning to greater manchester, for example. also, another problem in greater manchester is this. as you we re greater manchester is this. as you were hearing from lucy powell, one of the mps in the region, they've already lived under a form of restriction in any case for several

months, that is the ban on household mixing and it has not driven infections down so there is scepticism both from the labour party and conservative mps in the region that what is being offered, these enhanced restrictions in tier three, the closures of large swathes of hospitality, that in itself would be enough either, and i was told at a meeting of the greater manchester mps with the health and social minister helen wakeley today, there was actually an inadvertent consensus being built by the government because they seem to have united both conservative and labour mps against them. they were very clear they did not want the region to move into tier three as it currently stands but whether that consensus breaks down is what ought to be done instead and labour mps are backing their own leadership on this and calling for a shorter, sharper, many lockdown if you like, circuit breaker of two to three weeks which would see more widespread closures, including nonessential retail, they think that might be more effective and some conservative mps simply think the

government is doing more harm than good by effectively undermining the local economy and they want to keep as many things open as possible and the difficulty for the government is forging a consensus and one final thing, the government can impose new restrictions on any local area, westminster is sovereign. chris whitty, the chief medical officer for england, said he did not have confidence a kind of measures that have been talked about in tier three, the very highest level, we get the infection rate beneath one, in other words, restricted in the way the government wanted to be restricted, enhanced measures, flexibility and the government is dependent on local authorities to cooperate in that and impose greater measures for that might be necessary. if they do not play ball, the infection rate may not be driven down in the way the government once and therefore there will be more pressure on boris johnson and therefore there will be more pressure on borisjohnson to do something at a national level. we

wait to see. thank you. well, as we've heard, millions of londoners will face new restrictions from midnight tomorrow. the capital, and essex will move into the high level — banning any mixing of households indoors. london's mayor sadiq khan says the virus is spreading rapidly in every corner of the city — and insists the new measures are vital to save lives. 0ur correspondent anna o'neill reports. cheering and applause. it was like piccadilly circus, in fact, it was. when pubs and clubs shut at 10pm last weekend people continued their night out on the street until police moved them on. like other london venues, the soho club gay has sacrificed much to stay open and the announcement today is adding more confusion as to what the new measures will mean. what we need is, is for the government to work with hospitality, work with other businesses,

to make everybody safe, but to make things workable, and this tier two regulations are completely unworkable but nobody is working with us to make it workable. london's coronavirus cases are on the rise and the london mayor says that moving into tier two is right. nobody wants to see more restrictions, but this is deemed to be necessary, in order to protect londoners by myself, london council leaders and ministers. and this is why. the latest figures show at least three london boroughs are above the threshold of 100 cases per 100,000. in ealing, there were more than 144 cases per 100,000 people, in richmond, more than 137, and in hackney, more than 128. in greenwich, there were 73 cases per 100,000 people and in bromley, just 70. bexley has the fewest cases of covid—19 but its council leader

agrees that going into the highest risk tier is for the best. it became a case of when, not if, and hopefully, by going in that bit earlier, we can turn it around. for the mayor and others the measures do not go far enough. some politicians would like to see a short nationwide lockdown. if we don't act with greater determination, following the advice of the scientists, it is going to get worse, that's why liberal democrats, having read the advice of the sage experts, believe that now is the time for a short national circuit—breaker. that is not going to happen for now, but further local restrictions across the uk haven't been ruled out. anna 0'neill, bbc news. so the government and local leaders in greater manchester and lancashire have failed to reach agreement about the level of restrictions there. 0ur correspondent dan johnson is in bolton. yes. this part of greater

manchester, the whole of the greater manchester, the whole of the greater manchester region, was put into tier two region yesterday but there was an expectation they would have to move to tier three because of rising cases and that was expected to be agreed at a meeting between local leaders in government this morning but it appears there is no such agreement yet partly because of the level of support on offer for workers who would be disrupted by the closures that will be necessary under tier three, the highest restriction levels. in terms of how that meeting went, let me read you a little bit from sean fielding, the leader of 0ldham council down the road who says the greater manchester meeting is now was a masterclass in how not to do it. he says the opening line from the government was we either do tier three with you or we either do tier three with you or we will impose it. and he has raised the possibility that the support is not there for workers and that's why they haven't been able to agree so far. the council leader here in bolton had this to say to us a little earlier. there is a stalemate, you could say, between local leaders and local mps who feel that there are parts of tier three

that there are parts of tier three that are unacceptable and that includes particularly from the closure of hospitality and the u nfortu nate closure of hospitality and the unfortunate lack of additional financial help which is needed to sustain that sector. well, other parts that have been considered for tier three include most of the rest of lancashire, there are concerns there about rising case numbers and there about rising case numbers and the need for further restrictions but still, that hasn't been agreed either today. people left wondering. and i was speaking to people in blackburn this morning who said they did think extra restrictions were needed. it's a serious, what we are going through. if we need to have restrictions to make people understand and stay safe, that is what it is, that is what we need. people are thinking the rules don't apply to be, but they do. it's not just one age group, it's every age group. it's like, all the uk was the same, i reckon there would be less cases. they lock you down, you know,

don't you, but if they keep coming back, going down, the virus will go up back, going down, the virus will go up again, wanted, really? so the expectation is those further restrictions will come in right across lancashire, greater manchester, they have been calling out for those extra restrictions but the sticking point is the level of support that is on offer for workers and that seems to be why an agreement has not been possible between local leaders and the government yet. it certainly inevitable there will be further restrictions, as part of the country willjoin restrictions, as part of the country will join liverpool restrictions, as part of the country willjoin liverpool in that highest tier and we could see those further restrictions extent to even more parts of the country, perhaps by the end of the week, early next week. that was dan johnson with end of the week, early next week. that was danjohnson with the latest in bolton. let's discuss the different alerts and increased restrictions. inafew

in a few moments, we will be joined by professor sian griffiths. but first, sarah alexander, maddie dunn, the owner and manager of a bridal shopin the owner and manager of a bridal shop in merseyside. hello, good afternoon to both of you. goodness, this is the first time i probably, ina very this is the first time i probably, in a very long career, have interviewed people with their names on their shirts! that is most considered, given how very busy we are, we are all a little wary. lovely to have you with us, thank you so much forjoining us. my goodness, you must have been having such a difficult time, in terms of the business. just explain, sarah, what the last few months have been like and what things are like? it's been horrendous, to be honest. since we came into lockdown, we started to get busier. and then, with all the restrictions that have been put in place, we just restrictions that have been put in place, wejust don't restrictions that have been put in place, we just don't know where we stand. from the 1st of october i e—mailed our local authority after

brides contacted us to say are they allowed in the shop with their mum and their maid of honourfor their sister? it can only be the bride and to people with her. and the response that we got was yes, that's fine, if you need to do that to operate your business, then that is absolutely fine. there has since been new tier three restrictions announced on monday. i re—contacted them to ask for the information that they had given me the week before in writing, just so that we could confirm to our pride that we have had it in writing from the local authority that they can't come in with their mum and sister or maid of honour. now, when i spoke to them, their response was they cannot do that and we now need to tell brides to go on to the website, the local government website, the local government website, to see what the restrictions are. if our brides then

do that, the advice on there, the restrictions on the law, is that they cannot mix. my goodness. so complicated for you and for everyone who wants to come into your shop. maddie, you are the manager. we all know about the restrictions on weddings and receptions anyway, in terms of numbers but the people that you have had coming through the door, what are they saying to you about all of this? i saw because the experience within the shop, i work on the busier days in the shop and before it we could have six brides in here, with back—to—back appointments and it is a personal experience for us now, we are only allowed to have three because of the cleaning procedures involved. but we are still putting 100% into those appointments, trying to fulfil and exceed brides expectations within the shop and we cannot do not win

the shop and we cannot do not win the natural expectation is to be able to bring their mum and the bridesmaids. we are having to ask them to wear masks, to have their temperatures checked, to sit socially distanced within the shop, two metres apart, and again, it is a natural expectation for the mother to be able to take a picture of her daughter in her wedding dress but how can she do that when she is so far away from her daughter? it has been hard, we are trying to keep spirits up. to make it that experience that brides do want and desire but we are trying and finding it difficult to uphold it come all these new, uncertain restrictions. you know, i haven't even really thought about that, a woman would be trying the dress on and she would be wearing a mask, it'sjust trying the dress on and she would be wearing a mask, it's just not the same effect, is it? it's not. it's not at all. she cannot even see herself, how she will look in the address on the day, when she has this mask over her face. and a hard

thing is, the appointments we are dealing with, if a bride has her dress, without mask on, we are such a friendly, orientated business, you become part of the family, in essence , we become part of the family, in essence, we want to hug and celebrate with that bride. we cannot do that. it's so annoying! of course! it's so radically different from what you are used to and from the atmosphere that you want to create in your store. sarah, you are the owner. what do you even think about the coming weeks and months, as we go into winter stop how do you keep your business going, how do you employ people, what are your thoughts in a practical sense? well, this is it. we don't even know, the current restrictions are down to 15 ata wedding. current restrictions are down to 15 at a wedding. that is lost custom through that. price keep postponing and postponing, my husband is a wedding photographer, he had 37

weddings booked in for this year and has only done five of them and now all of them have moved. brides are still talking now from april onwards, how will the restrictions change? we are not going tojump from 15 back to 100. but we just simply don't have the answers. well, it's so good of you to talk to us, thank you very much. it's been a pleasure but every one ‘s heart goes out to you in so many businesses in your predicament. thank you. sarah and maddie. the owner and manager of the bridal boutique. all the best tea in the team. as i said, let's talk to our next guest. i'm joined by professor sian griffiths — a professor of epidemiology at the chinese university of hong kong. a classic example of two women trying to run a business. your heart goes out to so many business owners in the situation, doesn't it? absolutely. really sympathetic to the difficulties they find themselves in. 0bviously, now that

in the very high risk areas, there will be no wedding receptions, i suspect the numbers of weddings will go down even further. and you can see it from both sides. you can see it from the side of the shop owners who really have done all they can to make it a covid secure environment, albeit one they would prefer not to be in but they make it a covid secure environment and the bride comes and she does not have the same experience she would have if it wasn't covid secure environment that it needs to be and she also needs to be taking social distancing measures, using hand sanitiser, wearing a face covering and all theseissues wearing a face covering and all these issues make it a very less than ideal experience at a time, at a very special time. all of that said, from a pure science perspective, i mean, the picture today, my goodness, so different

depending which part of the uk you live in but in terms of what we know so far, talking this afternoon, is your sense that there is any alternative to these tougher restrictions that are being introduced? no, i think restrictions that are being introduced? no, ithink there is restrictions that are being introduced? no, i think there is no alternative. i think the rates are going up, the rate of disease going up going up, the rate of disease going up and particularly in the north—west and the northern part of the country. as the rates of disease go the country. as the rates of disease 9° up the country. as the rates of disease go up there is a time lag but we start to see hospital admission is increasing, we hear of more patients in intensive care and that will inevitably lead to more long—term ill health as well as unfortunately some people dying from covid. u nfortu nately, some people dying from covid. unfortunately, from the scientific, health perspective, these measures are health perspective, these measures a re necessary health perspective, these measures are necessary and the levels in the community are high, they are particularly necessary. so, u nfortu nately, particularly necessary. so, unfortunately, you could not say to the bridal shop, because it's such a

special time you don't need to wear a mask, you don't need to deep clean between clients. you couldn't say that safely. it would not be safe. and unfortunately, probably, the best advice to anyone planning a wedding is to wait until the rates of disease are going down because then you will be able to have larger receptions and you know, at less constrained event. professor, always good to talk to you. i am sorry we have to leave it there, exceptionally busy afternoon but thank you for your perspective and we will be speaking again, i am sure. thank you. we are going to talk to an mp in a moment his constituency is amongst those affected. let's remind you, if you are struggling to keep up. and wherever you are across the uk, if you want to check the rules in your area now — you can search by postcode — that's on our website — bbc.co.uk/news, or via the bbc news app. more now on news that london

is now subject to stricter coronavirus controls from the weekend. let's get some reaction to this news now from the labour mp for ilford north, wes streeting. good afternoon. good afternoon. was there an alternative? let's hope so. if there is one thing london knows, arriving late to the party, as it was, in terms of duty restrictions, it's forever these local restrictions have been put in place, across the country, infection rates have gone up so clearly the government ‘s current strategy is not working. that is why the independent scientific advisers from sage have told the government to consider a circuit breaker which would give us two or maybe three weeks of a national lockdown that would give the government the chance to reset its strategy, to get the testing, tracing and the isolating system working so that we are not in this position where infection rates

go up, we have piecemeal approaches to lockdown restrictions and measures, and as we have heard, from the really powerful interview from two business owners, these measures are not only not working, they are hurting not just are not only not working, they are hurting notjust people's lives but livelihoods. so i think what the chancellor has to weigh up is the cost of inaction is now greater than the cost of just cost of inaction is now greater than the cost ofjust plodding along with this strategy that is risking lives and jeopardising livelihoods. so your constituents who are going to experience greater restrictions from midnight tomorrow, what would you say to them, to any business owner, in that situation where you are, ilford north? i want to reassure businesses in my constituency and others affected, i am acutely aware that things like pubs, restaurants, other businesses, they will be open effectively in name only because they will open their doors to customers who will not be coming in because normally, when people go for

a meal or a night out, because normally, when people go for a meal ora night out, it because normally, when people go for a meal or a night out, it is often with friends from other households and yes, there may be families going out to dine, let's hope that helps those businesses, but what we have seenin those businesses, but what we have seen in other areas as businesses openin seen in other areas as businesses open in name only and without the economic support from the government to compensate them for their financial losses. all of us are paying now a very heavy price for the failure of the government. we are seeing that price and the public outside, infection rates going up and already we are seeing now more serious hospital admissions and inevitably, there will be people dying as a result of this disease. we are also seeing the economic cost, the cost to businesses and the economy as a whole, going up so let's not pretend that the strategy is working and let's not pretend that this strategy isn't costing the country dearly and that's why different approaches are needed, let's get back to following the scientific advice, let's listen to what sage have said and let's now come together, go through the collective pain of a circuit breaking moment to get the strategy

right, to get the country back in the right direction because the short—term pain will be nothing compared with the longer term cost to our country, both in terms of the impact of lives and livelihoods, of the government ‘s failure to get a grip of this crisis. west street, labourmp, we must grip of this crisis. west street, labour mp, we must leave it there but thank you. the first minister of wales says there will be extra police patrols on main roads into wales to ensure the travel ban on people coming from uk covid hotspot is adhered to. the police federation claims the law will be "unenforceable". i think ithinki i think i am right in saying that restriction comes into force tomorrow. with me now is mark bleasdale, the welsh lead from the police federation of england and wales. very good afternoon to you. good afternoon. what will the police be doing specifically about this issue

of the travel ban in us? that is still a matter for the chief co nsta bles still a matter for the chief constables to start issuing direction to officers across the country. —— into wales. it depends what the situation is around demand and the point we want to make is for the last couple of months, it is effectively been policing as normal in terms of the incidents and demand police officers on the front line are having to deal with. and although the reasons for this may seem very although the reasons for this may seem very laudable, practically, how it's going to happen, i think is the matter we have to work through before 6pm tomorrow night. because, is your point is that you would need simply more bodies, more manpower, to be able to deal with every other client that sadly we know goes on and your people have to investigate, along with patrols of this nature?

in reality, if those patrols are to be set up, it has to be at the expense of something else that is going on stock right now, 60 tomorrow evening, when... when you talk to government or welsh leaders about that, what response have you had? we haven't had the opportunity to do that at this stage. this is quite a fast time it has come in but if we did have the opportunity to do that, i think we would have to say there has got to be some considered messaging to members of the public in england, in those areas, to avoid travelling to wales because that is what has been instituted in wales. to get that message out to those tier two and tier three areas in england. is there an argument to say this system did broadly work much earlier on in the pandemic so why shouldn't it work again? i've heard that mention this morning and yes, it broadly did work and did have an effect but that was the last week of

may. that was when both countries we re may. that was when both countries were coming out of lockdown measures. in reality, they weren't actually a number of people out and about on the roads and travelling backwards and forwards, most people we re backwards and forwards, most people were still, a lot of people still working at home at that time as well. well, we will see how that works over the course of the weekend. thank you for now. mark bleasdale. much more to come in the next half an hour. we will look at the weather prospects wherever you are. nick miller has those. hello. west is best for sunny spells. more cloud in the east. a few showers arriving on the easterly breeze. a few more of those as we go through the rest of those as we go through the rest of the day. temperatures below average. by the end of the day a few of the showers in the east may drift across the north midlands and maybe into the west country. a lot of

cloud across scotland. damp and drizzly in places. light showers across parts of england and wales. temperatures will fall a little lower. prolonged clear spells in western scotland. into tomorrow, probably more cloud than we have seen today. still some sunny spells, more especially toward south—west england, northern ireland and northern counties of england. a breeze bringing in some cloud in eastern parts of the uk. a few light showers in places as well. hello, this is bbc news with jane hill. the headlines: millions of people in england face tougher coronavirus restrictions from this weekend, with no households mixing indoors. london, essex, york and areas in derbyshire will move from the medium to high alert level from saturday. discussions were held this morning

about moving greater manchester into the highest level — but local leaders say they need a better financial deal. the latest test and trace figures for england show the highest number of positive cases since the system was launched in may. the pub chain marston's is to cut more than 2,000 jobs, saying it's been badly hit by the coronavirus restrictions. and the queen carries out her first engagement outside a royal residence for seven months. it's time to catch up with the latest sports news. here is jane dougall. good afternoon. clubs in the english football league are meeting to decide if they'll accept a bailout from the premier league worth £50 million. the offer will help teams in league's one and two, but not the championship. it comes after clubs in the top

flight unanimously rejected the more radical changes proposed by project big picture. here's our football reporter simon stone. there was too much nuance in terms of voting rights and the way the league would be structured in favour of the six biggest clubs in the league for the rest of the premier league to act. but what they do understand is that the efl level, especially league 1 and league 2, there is an acute need for finance. so they made this £50 million offer. it is in the form of a grant. and a loan. that is now being discussed today. my understanding is that of the chairman of the efl and the chief executive, rick parry and dave baldwin, a meeting with clubs from the championship first of all. league one and league 2. then they will come to some sort of agreement with the efl board about what they

are going to say to the premier league. my understanding is that even the championship clubs might need to say that this £50 million should be accepted, but whether it will be accepted in the form it is being offered remains to be seen. it does appear as though the efl will reach some kind of an agreement about this £50 million. simon stone. england boss gareth southgate has defended harry maguire after his red card at wembley last night. the manchester united defender was dismissed just half an hour into england's nations league match against denmark, which they went on to lose 1—0. maguire looked short of confidence before the red card, southgate says the defender has his full support, but there have been calls for him to be rested. he is playing like he has got the world on his shoulders,

with stuff that is going on and off the field. he does not look the player that he was, but he is still a really, really good player. he will come through this. he will come through it stronger and a better player because he is that type of guy. i have met a couple of times and he is a very confident guy. it is really hard when things go wrong for you, you know, you really think why is it happening to me? bit of history for scotland, who are on form at the moment. they beat the czech republic 1—0 at hampden last night, and are now eight games without defeat — their best run in more than 30 years. they top their group, as do wales, who beat bulgaria 1—0, but northern ireland lost to norway. salford red devils have been dealt a blow in the run—up to their challenge cup final at wembley, after two players tested positive for coronavirus. dan sarginson and jack 0rmondroyd will miss out on saturday's match against leeds, after returning positive tests. it comes on top of a spate

of injured players also being ruled out of one of the biggest games in the clubs history. it looks like conor mcgregor may be coming out of retirement again. the former two—weight ufc champion says he's agreed a date to fight the american dustin poirier in texas next year. the 32—year—old had announced his retirement in june, but that was his third retirment in four years. he says the fight will take place on the 23rd january next year. that's all the sport for now. thank you. european union leaders are meeting in brussels to discuss the stalemate in negotiations with the uk, about a post—brexit trade and future partnership deal. it's the first time in months they've had in—depth discussions about the issue. with the latest, our europe correspondent nick beake is in brussels.

i think the chances of a major breakthrough in the next 48 hours are breakthrough in the next 48 hours a re pretty low. breakthrough in the next 48 hours are pretty low. that's largely because the british won't be in the room for this meeting. this is a summit of the leaders of the remaining 27 eu countries. interesting, borisjohnson has said today was to be the deadline for getting an eu, uk trade deal. clearly that hasn't happened. the latest from downing street is that borisjohnson will be listening to what may or may not be agreed between eu leaders will decide what steps to take for the uk. it certainly both sides are saying in public they want a trade deal, but they won't assign one at any cost. it can't be detrimental to their key principles. it was interesting. some of the eu leaders arriving today, we had a quick chat them, notably the irish leader, tee shot martin. he told us that covid and the resurgence of the virus was going to focus minds and no leader would want to inflict what he called the shock of no deal on people when they are

struggling with his health emergency. he said he was confident the talks would intensify in the coming days and weeks. we also spoke to the dutch prime minister and he was confident the man he described as his friend, borisjohnson, would honour the divorce deal that was agreed last year. in terms of a huge breakthrough i don't think that is in the offing. it certainly a crucial meeting of these leaders who have not had a chance to discuss brexit for quite a few months. nick beake. the pub group marston's is to lay off 2,150 staff as a result of coronavirus restrictions on hospitality. the company said the rules, which include mandatory table service, the 10pm curfew and limits on group sizes, as "hugely disappointing". the group said pub workers currently on furlough support will be impacted. the queen has carried out her first public engagement

outside a royal residence in seven months. she wasjoined this morning by her grandson the duke of cambridge, at the defence science and technology laboratory at porton down near salisbury. earlier i spoke to our royal correspondent nicholas witchell. well, this, as you say jane, well, this, as you sayjane, the first formal agreement —— engagement outside of a royal palace since march, the queen looking relaxed with prince william, but no facemasks. 0n the basis, i suppose, this was a visit to the government's very secret defence science and research laboratory in porton down, where they take things like antiviral safety and all safety very seriously. the queen and the prince had tested negative for coronavirus. social distancing, of course. no elbow bumps or anything like that. you can't really imagine it, can you? staff involved in anti—terror explosive detection, scientist involved in the novichok incident in 2018, and a scientist involved in the national response to covid—19,

porton down closely involved, the queen observed at one point. now it is doubling itself again. she listened carefully, as the number of questions. but the important thing, she is out and about again for a first formal outing outside a royal residence, but with understandable caution. nicholas witchell talkingabout the queen's first public appearance there in seven months. let's take a few minutes to talk about something a little different. this year's london film festival is currently underway. the festival runs for 12 days, ending this sunday, and this year, festival organisers have planned a mixture of cinema premieres and at—home offerings due to the coronavirus pandemic. one of the films being shown this way is wildfire, which has also been shortlisted for the iwc schaffhausen filmmaker bursary award in association with the bfi. that is an award given to a british writer or director whose first or second feature film premiers at the

london film festival. we can speak now to writer and director cathy brady. hello. hello, how are you doing? very well. it is a delight to talk to you and many congratulations. thank you very much. tell us for those who sadly have not seen wildfire yet, tell us a little bit first of all is a scene setter how it came about, what your film is all about? absolutely. the film is set in borderland northern ireland present—day, where i'm from. it is a good centre the story. it is an intense sibling bond. it is really about a family and i suppose a country struggling to overcome a trauma from the past. and i guess unlike most films, i cast the film before i even had an idea of what it was. i had worked with the two lead actresses before. i was blown away with their sense of fierce fullness

and vulnerability. i wanted to tell and vulnerability. i wanted to tell a story with them as a part of it. i took it back to borderland northern ireland where i was from. that was before brexit was even on the horizon. 0ver before brexit was even on the horizon. over the years as we drilled down to the personal of the story, it became political and it became a film that sort of doubt with the aftermath of the troubles both in a community level but also atafamily both in a community level but also at a family level. i think i am right in saying at the toronto film festival in canada. but is this going to be the first test for it, if you like, within the uk? yes, we had ourfirst if you like, within the uk? yes, we had our first screening if you like, within the uk? yes, we had ourfirst screening in if you like, within the uk? yes, we had our first screening in the if you like, within the uk? yes, we had ourfirst screening in the uk on sunday, which was virtual, through the london film festival. because it was virtual it meant we had —— anybody from the uk could tune in. it was fascinating, the feedback, in terms of bringing the story so close to home and actuallyjust how

contentious the border is the idea of the good friday agreement being in difficulty at the moment, what will happen next. yes, absolutely. we talk about that a lot. what would it mean to pick up the bursary as well? it is a sizeable award. it is the prestige but it is also £50,000? well, yes. it is the biggest bursary in the uk. i've always admired the talent shortlisted. those that have won, i have always held an aberration. for a start it's incredible to be selected. i am really honoured. to win it, i guess, do you know what? in a year that's been incredibly turbulent, all of us, and creatives, it would feel like a it really would. yes. i was locked down for you? was it a time to be able to write, to work on your

next feature ? to be able to write, to work on your next feature? what was its impact?|j guess next feature? what was its impact?” guess kind of like everybody i was so consumed about reading the use and understand what was happening next, i had little time for storytelling and creativity. i guess kind of what i did was i took a step back and i started painting. i hadn't painted a couple of years. that allowed me to have some headspace to think about was next. and only now i'm really getting fired up about the next story. that is really exciting. yes. just before we let you go. it is lovely to talk to you. ijust we let you go. it is lovely to talk to you. i just want to have a final word. you mentioned you had worked with the two lead actresses prior to shooting the film. very difficult circumstances in relation to one of those actresses, and i guess she is very much in your thoughts and is a lwa ys very much in your thoughts and is always with you in that sense? absolutely, yes. unfortunately, we had been working on the film for five years together. while i was in

postproduction nico got a very fast illness and she died during the postproduction. it has been incredibly difficult to finish the film and 2% of the film without her. but i think anyone watching this film, it is such a testament at such a legacy that she has left us with, and it is an absolute gift. i am excited about people seeing her work. absolutely. we wish you all the very best for your next feature as well. and good luck with the bursary. thank you very much indeed. lovely to talk to you. thank you very much indeed. cathy brady, one of the three film—makers shortlisted for that annual bursary, which is in conjunction with the bfi. in the next hour, after half past three, i will be talking to francis lee, one of the other film—makers who is nominated for that bursary. you might have seen god's own country, which he made a year or two ago.

the headlines on bbc news: millions in london and other areas in england face tougher restrictions as they move from the medium to high covid alert level. discussions were held this morning, about moving greater manchester into the highest level — but local leaders say they need a better financial deal. the latest test and trace figures for england show the highest number of positive cases since the system was launched in may. scientists are learning more about the long lasting effects of coronavirus. a new review suggests that some people are living with a rollercoaster of four different syndromes after getting the virus. the national institute for health research says thousands of people could be living with so—called long covid, and experts want more help for those affected. katharine da costa reports. jo house, a lecturer at bristol university, was never tested for coronavirus and didn't need hospital treatment. but more than six months

on she still can't work or lead a normal life. i have a lot of shortness of breath, i get really crushing fatigue, brain fog with difficulty concentrating and memory. i have difficulty swallowing, i get heart palpitations. i've got pain in all myjoints. researchers looked at the wide range of experiences people with ongoing symptoms have, whether they are recovering after a long stay in intensive care or had mild infections that were never officially diagnosed. the review found a wide range of symptoms affecting people's brain, gut, breathing, heart and even skin. as well as affecting different parts of the body, researchers found symptoms could come and go at different times and with different levels of intensity. and that crucially, long covid could be up to four different syndromes, including permanent organ damage, symptoms resulting from time spent in intensive care, severe fatigue and continuing

symptoms of covid—19. we want to start better data collection of people who are presenting with these symptoms which will actually help us understand the nature of the problem, but also give us an opportunity to research better and see if there really are these four differences, if people are at different risks for different syndromes and how we treat the different syndromes. lesley macniven still suffers from ongoing fatigue seven months after contracting the virus. she works for a long covid support group with more than 25,000 members and says it affects people's physical and mental health. if you can imagine how hard it would be living under restrictions, but if you are also doing that and every single day you felt tired, fatigued and restricted in what he could do, even within your own four walls because of lack of energy and lack of breath. it's thought tens of thousands of people could be living with ongoing conditions caused by covid—19. the boss of nhs england has said

£10 million will be spent on more long covid clinics across england. campaigners want to see them across the whole of the uk so that those with debilitating symptoms get the care and support they need. katherine da costa, bbc news. a mother of a young boy with down's syndrome has made a series of cue cards, which lets people know what language is appropriate to use in relation to the condition. she created the cards after she experienced unintentionally hurtful comments about her son. a hospital in cornwall has recently started using them. anna varle reports. can you say "bubbles" ? b-b-b-b... when i had arthur, one year ago, i did not know he had down syndrome, so when i was told, it was a real shock to me and i realised that i had really outdated, negative visions around

down's syndrome. where's arthur? there he is! so i thought, "where do these views come from?" and then i realised they've come from language. through the year, i heard it on a daily basis and each time it really hurt. can i have a kiss? becca developed a series of cards online during lockdown to change the language that people use to talk about down syndrome. rather than saying "a down syndrome baby", arthur is a baby first. he's arthur, who is a baby who has down syndrome. this is probably one of the most important to me. i hear it and it really hurts this one, this is "with a typical baby", so sometimes someone will say, "well, with a normal child..." i think, he is normal. he's not typical — he's normal. in just weeks, they have been shared worldwide. charities, such as mencap, are making them a part of their national campaign

and becca's local hospital is showing the cards on every screen, in every department, 24 hours a day. evan when we really try to get it right, sometimes we can get it wrong. so, this kind of initiative helps us hugely, both our staff and anyone coming into the hospital can have an opportunity to read and see it and there is an opportunity to understand what it's like, the emotional impact that the language we use has for them. angie is helping becca share the cards far and wide. she trains midwives, gps and consultants all over the country in how to speak to parents who have a child with down syndrome. we've come a long way in this country and across the world in how we talk about down syndrome and refer to people and treat people with down syndrome, but there's a lot more work to be done. so, becca's cards have come at a good time where she has simplified things right down to some simple and accessible messages.

becca is now aiming to get these cards in every hospital and school in the country. let's, all together, make an inclusive world, so i don't have to hear these things, so arthur does not have to hear them growing up and they are such a tiny shift in language and they mean so much, notjust to me, but one in 1,000 babies has down syndrome, so that's hundreds of thousands of people these cards will make a difference to. anna varle, bbc news. a line of news coming through from the us in relation to the presidential campaign. we are just hearing that kamala harris is suspending travel after a member of her staff tested positive for a covid. we know no more than that. that is what we are being told at this stage. joe biden's running mate, senator kamala harris. we have recently

mate, senator kamala harris. we have rece ntly ha d mate, senator kamala harris. we have recently had the vice presidential debate. we have talked a lot about the president and the first lady having to run a virus. so we are hearing that kamala harris will suspend travel. we await more details about what the impact might be unreadyjust details about what the impact might be unready just the details about what the impact might be unreadyjust the last details about what the impact might be unready just the last few weeks of the campaign. right now, we are going to talk about something quite different. looks quite scary, doesn't it? cliffside camping requires a head for heights and nerves of steel — but the views are second to none. the bbc‘s tim muffett has been to try it out. well, at least you do not have to pitch a tent. hi, tim, how's it going? this is it then? yeah, this is it. portland in dorset, where eddie young is a finding that a lot of people want to try cliff camping. the idea of cliff camping is you come to the cliff edge, you make sure you have some safety equipment on, then you abseil, you have a really nice relaxing

evening, as relaxing as it can be, and then we leave it to have a good night's sleep. because everybody has been literally cooped up for such a long time, i think they just want to escape. the tourism industry has been transformed by the pandemic. during the summer there were days when the uk's beaches were packed. foreign travel for many no longer an option. but many went to the seaside on last—minute day—trips so hotels and bed and breakfasts did not necessarily see the benefit. visit britain's latest forecast is for a 49% decline in domestic tourism spending this year. that is £45 billion loss to the economy. at the moment, the rules and regulations are changing so frequently, a lot of the outdoor centres have diversified to offering camping so that's been a saving grace for them. this feels so weird. how's that feeling? i have done a few camping trips but nothing quite like this.

unless you are a climber, going into the biggest top mountains, you do not really get this experience. so this is where i'm supposed to sleep. how do i go to the loo? it's a bit graphical to...can you see this tube that we've got down here? if you do need to go, when you have to go then you've got to be very balanced and delicate and you need to aim it into a plastic bag and then put the plastic bag in that sealed unit. we do not want to do is have an effect on the environment. i might wait till the cameras stop. fantastic. if you allow me escape as well, that'd be great. many businesses are having to adapt to survive. offering something different can help and, when it comes to camping, this is different. right then, time to get into my sleeping bag. the most socially distanced camping experience you could wish for. tim muffett, bbc news.

nothing would persuade me. but anyway, well done tim. an 11—year—old liverpool fan has had his anxiety about moving to secondary school eased — after receiving a letter from his hero. lewis wrote to the club's managerjurgen klopp in the hope of getting some advice about how to deal with nerves — the manager responded with a heartfelt note, admitting even he gets nervous. i like this bit. it says, "your support means a lot to me and eve ryo ne support means a lot to me and everyone at lfc. so i hope this letter shows that we support you too." i was worried about meeting the teachers and starting it because the teachers and starting it because the school look pretty big when i went on the tour. and i was also like a bit nervous making new friends, but now all the teachers are friends, but now all the teachers a re really friends, but now all the teachers are really nice. i've got new

friends and the school doesn't seem really big now to me. good news. now, the weather with nick miller. hello. know weather drama at the moment. it is all looking fairly quiet. reasonably settled going into the weekend. a weather pattern favouring south west england and south wales which will have the lion's share of the sunshine in the next few days. the further north and east you will see cloud. even though we have got high pressure, the chance of seeing a few showers as we are today. around that area of high pressure this easterly breeze is bringing in some cloud and some showers. most of those this afternoon are across parts of eastern scotland, especially towards the south—east, north of england and eastern england. to go deeper into the day, some of these will drift further west, may be drifting towards north wales, the north midlands and the west country. these temperatures, sunshine or cloud a

little bit below average for the time of the year. as we go into tonight we keep the cloud moving in. from the cloud ringing towards england and parts of words, you may pick up some showers. it made towards the south of northern ireland later. for most of us, temperatures above freezing. if you get clear spells in scotland towards the west you may end up close to freezing as we start the day tomorrow. into tomorrow it is a mix of some sunshine but some cloud. more than we have seen today. south wales and south—west england, northern ireland and northern counties of northern england is where we'll see the most of friday's sunshine. the chance of light rain in scotland. temperatures not changing much. they won't over the weekend. winds reasonably light. a fairamount of weekend. winds reasonably light. a fair amount of cloud. some sunny spells. most places reasonably dry. you could pick up a light shower on

saturday, perhaps some light rain or drizzle with the cloud is thickest. similar picture on sunday. very little really is changing over the next few days. wall—to—wall sunshine, fairamount of next few days. wall—to—wall sunshine, fair amount of cloud, a little damp in some spots but nowhere particularly wet, just cooler in scotland by the time we get to sunday. there are changes in the weather going into next week. high pressure clears away, no pressure comes back. by the middle of next week the weather is much more active, whiter and windier.

this is bbc news, i'mjane hill. the headlines... millions of people in england face tougher coronavirus restrictions from this weekend — with no households mixing indoors. london and some surrounding areas will move from the medium to high alert level — but there's still no agreement about greater manchester in other areas, currently in the second tier, where discussions are ongoing, no further decisions have yet been made but we need to make rapid progress. discussions were held this morning about moving greater manchester into the highest level — we'll be hearing from the region's mayor andy burnham in the next half hour the pub chain marston's is to cut more than 2,000 jobs, saying it's been badly hit by the coronavirus restrictions

and the queen carries out her first engagement outside a royal residence for seven months good afternoon. twenty eight million people across england will be living under the two highest covid alert levels from this weekend, as the government announces increased restrictions across the country. however, there's still uncertainty as to whether greater manchester will be placed in the highest level of alert. a call between local leaders and downing street this morning ended without agreement. the region is currently on the high alert level: a move to the very high level would see pubs closed, and different households banned from mixing, except in public outdoor spaces where the rule of six applies.

it was decided this morning that people in london, essex, parts of surrey and derbyshire — alongside york and barrow—in—furness, will face tougher restrictions from this weekend — with a ban on households mixing indoors. 0ur political correspondent helen catt has the latest. by the weekend, more than half the population of england will be living under extra coronavirus restrictions. in london, that means another 9 million people being moved onto high alert. we know from the first peak the infection can spread fast and put huge pressure is on the nhs so we must act now to prevent the need for tougher measures later. working closely with the mayor, with cross— party closely with the mayor, with cross—party council leadership, local public health officials and the national team, we have together agreed that london needs to move to local covid alert level height.

it means by saturday there will be bans in place on meeting friends and family anywhere indoors in most of england's major cities and across essex, york, north—east derbyshire, barrow in furness, chestergield, elmbridge in surrey, and erewash. we must take firm, balanced decisions to keep this virus under control. this is the only way to protect lives and livelihoods. and we must act now. delayed action means more deaths from covid, more non—covid deaths and more economic pain later because the virus comes down slower than it goes up. in some areas, such as essex and elmbridge, local leaders have backed moving on to high alert but some london mps are not convinced by the capital approach. number of us regarded as neither targeted, nor appropriate to use a

london wide average in such a large area for so little commuting is now taking place, we will reflect upon this in the future and will he speak today to the chancellor to see what support can be given to hospitality businesses in the london suburbs who are suffering as of now as a direct consequence of his decision? surely we need to look again at the nature of this london wide tier two position because there could even be regional areas that could be taken out. they're are big disparities, please think again, otherwise as one constituent has rung me today and said, is this, in fact, a london wide tier two to stop the north south divide argument running? a meeting between number ten and local leaders in greater manchester failed to reach a decision on whether or not to move it onto very high alert. it would mean pubs and bars would have to shut completely and no household mixing at all apart from in places like parks. downing street wants it to happen, local leaders don't agree.

call between ministers and greater london mps did not go well. —— greater manchester. there was unanimous fury about the process, about the evidence base and about the economic support packages on the table. we want action, but it has to be the right action because we have lived in tier two now for nearly three months and it has not worked. the meeting we had earlier today was pointless, we may well have talked to of all, quite frankly, mr speaker. when are we going to be properly consulted, learn about measures through the right channels rather than via the media? ultimately the government can just impose restrictions on an area but it is thought they will be more effective if local leaders back them and now that labour is pushing for a short national lockdown that the scientific advisers recommended, there is even greater pressure on the government to show that its decision to go for a different, what it says is more balanced plan, will work. the government has offered a package of support to areas where it wants stronger restrictions. it still hopes to bring local leaders on side, ahead of what will be a tough time for an increasing

number of people. helen catt, bbc news. as we've been hearing, a final decision has yet to be made on whether greater manchester should be moved into the "very high" alert level. we have reflected there where those discussions this morning. worth mentioning to you, we have learnt in the last hour... we expect to hear from its mayor — andy burnham — in around 15 minutes' time. in fact, we believe round about the hour. we will come of course, bring that to you. liverpool city region is already there. the point being, will the greater manchester region be put in the absolute highest level of restrictions? joe anderson is the labour mayor of liverpool, hejoins me now

good afternoon to you. good afternoon. first of all, your thoughts about what faces liverpool, how people are able to cope, how businesses are able to cope with this? well, businesses aren't going to be able to cope very well, i'm afraid. it is an enormous blow to them, the fact that they have been forced to close and the impact on them is going to be, i think, long term as well. some of them may have to close. some of them are going to be closing for the month, if not longer, we don't know. staff as well will be laid off and forced to accept will be laid off and forced to a cce pt two will be laid off and forced to accept two thirds pay rather than theirfull accept two thirds pay rather than their full pay and they still have to pay all the bills so it's a disaster for businesses, disaster for people who work in them. but, you know, we have a situation where the virus is out of control, next

week our hospital admissions are set to push our hospitals to the limit in terms of full capacity, they are operating now round about 80%, 90%, in intensive care. so it is a worry and concern for us but the damage to businesses as long term that is why we argued in the same way the other leaders in other cities have argued, for full leaders in other cities have argued, forfull compensation leaders in other cities have argued, for full compensation package, full economic package for businesses and people. all of that said, you talk about the rocketing cases, you had suggested the idea that schools were going to have effectively, and extended half term, a regular one week would be moved up to two weeks, week would be moved up to two weeks, we gather that is not happening so what is the reason? we talked, my officers at the council talked to head teachers, other organisations, you know, including the hospitals, police, because key workers are very

much involved in this, they need to be involved in this because of their children that they have to care for and they will have to if we extend it for a week so we communicated with them, we talked to them. we know that is going to have a huge impact on them so we have pulled back from it, we have said no, that will not happen now but we reserve the right, we have to try and bring this r rate, we have to bring it down really quickly. and we have a month, otherwise we then go into another month. so we reserve the right to look at this again because whether we like it or don't, the schools are a real hot spot for this in terms of infection rates. we have about 260 pupils at the moment of school, covid positive, 206 staff testing positive for covid so it's a serious problem for us and we don't know... the infection rates are, where there is human contact and it

is something we are going to have to live with, whether we can bring the virus under control. what would you be saying to all local and regional leaders who are, it seems, having pretty testy conversations with central government at the moment in terms of greater manchester and areas, what it should do. what would you say to them and what are you saying to them about what their approach and focus should be?” saying to them about what their approach and focus should be? i am having conversations and discussions with them because they are my collea g u es with them because they are my colleagues and local government, especially in the north. but of course everybody is in a different place, different position. in terms of the infection rate. we've all got different levels and i think, when we look at the higher levels of infections, for instance, in greater manchester, a lot of that is around young people and students and if you ta ke young people and students and if you take those figures out, it seems to reduce the level in greater manchester and liverpool, if you do that it doesn't. it stays stubbornly high. so there are differences and there are things that need to be

considered by government before they introduce these measures. what i'm concerned about, as you would expect, as liverpool and of course, working with my colleagues in the liverpool city region, so we have got to try and make sure that we work with government, whether we like it or we don't, to bring that virus down. the message that they have imposed into tier three restriction areas are legislated by them and like you, your commentators said, what local government leaders are saying is the government has insisted that these measures, whether we like them or we do not, are going to be enforced on us. joe anderson, we must leave it there but many thanks for your time. to anderson, mayor of liverpool. we expect more about greater manchester of course coming up maybe around half past the hour but let's take a minute to talk about the situation in the capital. well, as we've heard, millions of londoners will face new restrictions from midnight tomorrow. the capital, and essex, will move into the high level — banning any mixing of households

indoors. london's mayor sadiq khan says the virus is spreading rapidly in every corner of the city — and insists the new measures are vital to save lives. 0ur correspondent anna 0'neill reports. cheering and applause. it was like piccadilly circus, in fact, it was. when pubs and clubs shut at 10pm last weekend people continued their night out on the street until police moved them on. like other london venues, the soho club gay has sacrificed much to stay open and the announcement today is adding more confusion as to what the new measures will mean. what we need is, is for the government to work with hospitality, work with other businesses, to make everybody safe, but to make things workable, and this tier two regulations are completely unworkable but nobody is working with us to make it workable. london's coronavirus cases

are on the rise and the london mayor says that moving into tier two is right. nobody wants to see more restrictions, but this is deemed to be necessary, in order to protect londoners by myself, london council leaders and ministers. and this is why. the latest figures show at least three london boroughs are above the threshold of 100 cases per 100,000. in ealing, there were more than 144 cases per 100,000 people, in richmond, more than 137, and in hackney, more than 128. in greenwich, there were 73 cases per 100,000 and in bromley, just 70. bexley has the fewest cases of covid—19 but its council leader agrees that going into the highest risk tier is for the best. it became a case of when, not if, and hopefully, by going in that bit earlier, we can turn it around.

for the mayor and others the measures do not go far enough. some politicians would like to see a short nationwide lockdown. if we don't act with greater determination, following the advice of the scientists, it is going to get worse, that's why liberal democrats, having read the advice of the sage experts, believe that now is the time for a short national circuit—breaker. that is not going to happen for now, but further local restrictions across the uk haven't been ruled out. anna 0'neill, bbc news. so let's remind you of what the new covid alert levels in england mean. until today most areas had been put on the ‘medium alert level‘, where the rule of six and the 10pm hospitality curfew apply. the ‘high level‘ of restrictions mean no household mixing indoors, and the rule of six applying outdoors. the most severe alert level is ‘very high‘ — meaning no mixing of households

indoors or outdoors — that includes homes, private gardens and hospitality venues. people are allowed to meet in groups of six or less in certain outdoor public spaces, such as parks. pubs and bars must close unless they provide what‘s called ‘substantial meals‘. quite hard to keep up, isn‘t it? maybe we will test you later. not true that many of us would pass! anyway... wherever you are across the uk, if you want to check the rules in your area now — you can search by postcode — that‘s on our website — bbc.co.uk/news, or via the bbc news app. just an update, threw in the last few moments, about the snp mp

margaret ferrier, we are hearing she is not going to face any further police action after she made that journey after she tested positive for coronavirus. you remember she travelled on a train from london to glasgow after testing positive but scotla nd glasgow after testing positive but scotland yard saying the regulations on self isolation came into force after she was tested. she will therefore face no further action. that is just through from the last few moments. the time isjust that is just through from the last few moments. the time is just after a quarter past three. the headlines on bbc news... millions in london and other areas in england face tougher restrictions as they move from the medium to high covid alert level. discussions were held this morning about moving greater manchester into the highest level — but local leaders say they need a better financial deal.

we expect to hear from the mayor of manchester, andy burnham, in the next few moments. the pub chain marston‘s is to cut more than 2,000 jobs, saying it‘s been badly hit by the coronavirus restrictions more now on news that london will be subject to stricter coronavirus controls from the weekend. it all begins midnight tomorrow. it means london moves into the high level. to remind you, that means a ban on any mixing of households indoors, that is the key restriction. sam everington is a gp in the east end of london as well as chair of tower hamlet‘s clinical commissioning group and clinical lead for london. very good afternoon. good afternoon. art these new restrictions for the capital, millions of people of course, are they the right way forward in your opinion? definitely

the right way forward. and we should have done some of them earlier, we we re have done some of them earlier, we were actually calling for the household restriction a few weeks ago. what worries us most is the pressure on the nhs and it‘s not just about covid. already we are seeing hospitals very full with covid issues, it‘s the non—disease—macro issues which are equally a great concern to us so there has been research which shows, for example, potentially we are going to have 18,000 excess deaths from cancer and so, keeping the nhs running for covid and non—disease—macro is crucial and anticipating a head, so we can level of covert, is absolutely critical for everyone. i think what is good about london as we are doing this together and it sets the principal that we are all in this together. so the sadness is a lot of this has

slipped in the last few weeks so in general practice, for example, we have not had any great episodes of outbreaks or anything like that because we‘ve been consistent with managing infection control, with eve ryo ne managing infection control, with everyone wearing masks when they come into surgeries. with our lot of video consultations, we have been consistent and we have managed to control it so there is great evidence that if you have consistency, clarity of message, and that we all do it together, even at lower areas at risk, actually, that is the way we get on top of it and protect the nhs. it's interesting you mention other conditions and of course that has been a huge concern, things away from covid and i was very struck, chris whitty, a week or two ago in one of the downing street briefings, he made that plea, he said remember the nhs is open for business, it is open for people to investigate other conditions. i‘m struck by what you say about gps

because one of the difficulties throughout this pandemic is, frankly, getting a gp appointment. i mean, they‘ve barely been happening face—to—face, could there be any change to that? i would challenge you. if anything, the access to general practice has been much, much better than it ever was before. if you take any gp in tower hamlets, you take any gp in tower hamlets, you can reach or do a consultation online and have that sorted the same day. but my point is you cannot physically see someone, sit with someone face to face. a doctor. you can‘t automatically ask for that but there is a very good reason, it is about your safety and the safety of other patients. what you will get is a video consultation or a telephone consultation online and if you need to be seen, you will be seen. that is the issue. yes, it‘s not like it was before. but this is about keeping patients and staff safe. and keeping patients and staff safe. and keeping the staff safe is really important because actually, that is what is keeping the service going. you know, if we get staff going off,

that would be catastrophic for the nhs so keeping staff and patients safe in primary care is crucial so the access has gone up, whatever you hear, but it‘s because people were very used to, and we miss it as gps, we all miss not having that face—to—face contact will actually, access is better now and it‘s safer. people absolutely understand why the system is operating the way it is operating but i‘m wondering to what extent you and your colleagues feel that perhaps, let‘s say, older patients who aren‘t au fait or don‘t have the equipment and aren‘t in a position to do a video call, video consultation, are they being disenfranchised, are they being put off, perhaps reporting something that should be reported? well, quite the opposite because the more young people who use the technology, the more time we have the older age group stuff we‘ve been seeing them all the way through covid, doing

blood tests, every practice in tower hamlets can do blood tests, that‘s not the case across the country and we have been pushing government to enable that to happen because that would massively support patient care and then we are doing social prescribing which means we have a list of all these elderly patients and they are being run rung on a regular basis. interesting to hear your perspective. thank you and we will talk again, i am sure, during all of this. the pub group marston‘s is to lay off 2,150 staff as a result of coronavirus restrictions on hospitality. the company said the rules, which include mandatory table service, the 10pm curfew and limits on group sizes as "hugely disappointing". the group said pub workers currently on furlough support will be impacted. european union leaders are meeting

in brussels to discuss the stalemate in negotiations with the uk, about a post—brexit trade and future partnership deal. it‘s the first time in months they‘ve had in—depth discussions about the issue. with the latest, our europe correspondent nick beake is in brussels. i think the chances of a major breakthrough in the next 48 hours a re pretty low. that‘s largely because the british won‘t be in the room for this meeting. this is a summit of the leaders of the remaining 27 eu countries. interesting, borisjohnson has said today was to be the deadline for getting an eu, uk trade deal. clearly that hasn‘t happened. the latest from downing street is that borisjohnson will be listening to what may or may not be agreed between eu leaders and will decide what steps to take for the uk. certainly both sides are saying in public they want a trade deal, but they won‘t sign one at any cost. it can‘t be detrimental to their key principles. it was interesting.

some of the eu leaders arriving today, we had a quick chat them, notably the irish leader, micheal martin. he told us that covid and the resurgence of the virus was going to focus minds and no leader would want to inflict what he called the shock of no deal on people when they are struggling with his health emergency. he said he was confident the talks would intensify in the coming days and weeks. we also spoke to the dutch prime minister and he was confident the man he described as his friend, borisjohnson, would honour the divorce deal that was agreed last year. in terms of a huge breakthrough i don‘t think that is in the offing. it‘s certainly a crucial meeting of these leaders who have not had a chance to discuss brexit for quite a few months. nick beake. talking about brexit. we are going to return to the story of the day.

covid and decisions on what to do with the greater manchester area. we know there have been difficult conversations. let‘s get more from iain watson at westminster. that is when we are putting on, difficult conversations. greater manchester local government leaders have been told they would move into an enhanced set of restrictions, so—called tier three, but no agreement reached on the financial packet with downing street this morning, negotiation is continuing, no final decision taken but there was a meeting with the health and social minister with local mps from the area. i can‘t speak to one of them now. sir graham brady. who also chairs the influential backbench 1922 committee of conservative mps. sirgraham, you have 1922 committee of conservative mps. sir graham, you have been very sceptical on the question of imposing potentially more restrictions on your area, what did you tell government ministers today? i think there are two fundamental points, one was about the process,

in my view, it would simply be wrong to impose restrictions if they were opposed by virtually all members of parliament representing greater manchester, the mayor a greater manchester, the mayor a greater manchester and all ten local authority leaders as well. i think these things can only be done with wide public consent and obviously having the consent of the elected representatives of the public is a key measure in getting to that place. we are certainly not there at the moment. the other question is about the efficacy of these measures in themselves. we know now having had a full lockdown earlier in the year, for three months, that only had the effect of pushing the virus into the future, it did not get rid of it, we then in greater manchester, most of us, have had a further two and a half months of additional restrictions since the end ofjuly. additional restrictions since the end of july. that additional restrictions since the end ofjuly. that process hasn't worked. and we now find ourselves in tier two, but most importantly,

hearing from the deputy chief medical officer, professorjonathan van—tam, he does not think tier three restrictions would be sufficient to do the job. you made that clear, robustly, did you not, to the health minister today, inadvertently uniting conservative and labourmps against inadvertently uniting conservative and labour mps against the government ‘s current position and it seems to be the id if you close down hospitality it may have a marginal impact on the virus but a huge impact on the economy? huge impact on the economy, huge impact on people's lives, we are social animals as human beings and i think having some element of human interaction is rather important but also, i would say, from my own perspective, looking at the town of altrincham in my constituency, which has had a massively successful regeneration over the last few years, which was driven by the hospitality sector, we used to be the kind of poster child for a ghost town britain with more empty shops

than anywhere else but over the last few years, it has been an immense success few years, it has been an immense success and to few years, it has been an immense success and to see few years, it has been an immense success and to see that ruined, fought restrictions which have been shown not to work, already, would be tragic. how, given that you keep your ear very close to the ground with conservative colleagues, how much anger with derby in the party having done the consultations, if government leaders impose something that does not wanted?” government leaders impose something that does not wanted? i think members of parliament take a very close interest in the science, they ta ke close interest in the science, they take a close interest in all of the competing evidence that is coming from different places, the experience of other countries and are increasingly aware of the down sides of some of the policies along with the supposed upsides so, you know, i think seeing things imposed for it is not clear that they would have the desired effect, where we know they would cause massive collateral damage, i think that would cause considerable concern. matt hancock said in the commons

chamberjust matt hancock said in the commons chamber just around the matt hancock said in the commons chamberjust around the corner from us right now, any further delay will cost lives. are you effectively playing with the lives of your constituents by holding out against the regulations that he clearly wa nts to the regulations that he clearly wants to impose? i think we all know by now that whatever path we choose asa by now that whatever path we choose as a cost and to go for the lockdown of the economy with the loss of livelihoods, with the poverty, with the mass unemployment that comes with that, the experience we had earlier in the year of people who should have been receiving diagnoses and treatment for cancer or for heart disease or stroke, who either because they wanted to give the nhs more space to get on with treating coronavirus, or because they were frightened of going into hospital, people who haven't had the treatment that they should have had, we know that they should have had, we know that there is a real human cost on both sides. of this equation. it's an unenviable set of choices that

the government has got to face but i think it's important we recognise these art decisions that are going to have to be taken by all of us and we have to strike a balance. there is no cost recourse. one of the things which many mps have said, particularly labour mps, if you are going to hit the hospitality sector and some of the areas where the virus is prevalent, there has to be an enhanced package of support, do you agree or do you think the current measures don‘t go far enough? i don't want to see a further lockdown but i do think it is very straightforward, if you force people to close their businesses, if you force people not to go to work, then i think there is a moral obligation to step up to the plate and make up the difference. and you simply cannot require businesses to close, put people out of work in their millions and say, you know, we are not going to make good the losses that you are suffering. sir graham brady, thank

you. one of greater manchester mps who was in the briefing this morning with the health and social minister and conservative and labour mps saying as things stand at the moment they do not want to see greater manchester moving into the higher tier of restrictions, tier three, the very high alert level, partly concerns about financial packages, partly concerns about the measures but interestingly, i think, that temporary consensus between labour and the conservatives will break down on the issue of a short, sharp shock, the idea of a circuit breaker, many lockdown which sir keir starmer is advocating and some labour mps say they prefer that to a longer period of fewer restrictions, some of the conservative mps think the existing restrictions are already harming the economy too much. will ian watson at westminster. we we re will ian watson at westminster. we were talking as well about events in brussels. discussions in brussels. we arejust brussels. discussions in brussels. we are just hearing that ursula von der leyen, the eu commission

president, has left the summit to go into isolation because a member of her team has tested positive for covid—19. she said, "ijust her team has tested positive for covid—19. she said, "i just been informed a member of my front office has tested positive. i myself have tested negative, but added a precaution i am immediately leaving the european council to go into self isolation. "so the european council to go into self isolation. " so leaving the european council to go into safe isolation, even though, ursula von der leyen herself has tested negative for the virus. continued ramifications there of positive covid tests. now the weather with nick miller. hello. west is best for sunny spells today. more cloud in the east. a few showers arriving on an easterly breeze. a few more of those as we go through the rest of the day with temperatures, sunshine or cloud

below average for the time of the year. by the end of the day a few of the showers at the east may drift further west towards the midlands and north wales, and the west country. cloud rolling west across scotland. damp and drizzly in places. still some light showers across parts of england and wales. temperatures will fall a little lower, prolong clear spells, temperatures will fall a little lower, prolong clearspells, maybe temperatures will fall a little lower, prolong clear spells, maybe a few in western scotland, starting tomorrow close to freezing. tomorrow, probably more cloud than we have seen today. still some sunny spells in south—western then, south wales, northern ireland and northern counties of northern ireland. a light breeze from the east. still some cloud across eastern part of the uk. still with a few light in places. hello this is bbc news with jane hill. the headlines: millions of people in england face tougher coronavirus restrictions from this weekend, with no households mixing indoors.

london, essex, york and areas in derbyshire will move from the medium to high alert level from saturday. discussions were held this morning about moving greater manchester into the highest level — we‘re due to be hearing from the region‘s mayor andy burnham very shortly the pub chain marston‘s is to cut more than 2,000 jobs, saying it‘s been badly hit by the coronavirus restrictions. and the queen carries out her first engagement outside a royal residence for seven months. just to remind you, we are waiting to hear from andy burnham, just to remind you, we are waiting to hearfrom andy burnham, the just to remind you, we are waiting to hear from andy burnham, the mayor andy burnham. as soon as that news briefing gets under way we will go there because it is going to be very interesting to hear what he says in light of those conversations that we re light of those conversations that were had this morning with downing street. no sign of him just yet.

that might mean we can squeeze in a few minutes of sport. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here‘s jane dougall. no pressure! i will try to be as entertaining as andy burnham might be. clubs in the english football league are meeting to decide if they‘ll accept a bailout from the premier league worth £50 million. the offer will help teams in league‘s one and two, but not the championship. it comes after clubs in the top flight unanimously rejected the more radical changes proposed by project big picture. here‘s our football reporter simon stone. there was too much nuance in terms of voting rights and the way the league would be structured in favour of the six biggest clubs in the league, for the rest of the premier league to act. but what they do understand is that at the efl level, especially leagues one and two, there is an acute need for finance. so they made this £50 million offer. it is in the form of

a grant and a loan. that is now being discussed today. my understanding is that the chairman of the efl and the chief executive, rick parry and dave baldwin, are meeting with clubs from the championship first of all, league one and league two. then they will come to some sort of agreement with the efl board about what they are going to say to the premier league. my understanding is that even the championship clubs might say that this £50 million should be accepted, but whether it will be accepted in the form it is being offered remains to be seen. it does appear as though the efl will reach some kind of an agreement about this £50 million. simon stone. well, speaking ahead of his sides premier league match with manchester city on saturday, arsenal manager mikel arteta says clubs must help each other to "make football more sustainable" after plans for project big

picture were rejected. i think we have to protect the lower leagues as well. this is our obligation, to produce grassroots and opportunities for everybody in this industry. we have to find a way that works for everybody, that can make this game sustainable. and that we can still evolve regardless of the context we are in at the moment, which is important as well. it‘s not what it was 20 years ago. we have to move, we have to share ambition. because at the end of the day it is for the benefit of everybody. two st mirren players have returned positive covid—19 tests, while a further member of the first team squad is also self—isolating as a precaution. the cases were detected in routine screening on monday, and all three will miss saturday‘s scottish premiership match with motherwell. it is the second time this season the club have suffered an outbreak. salford red devils have been dealt a blow in the run—up

to their challenge cup final at wembley, after two players tested positive for coronavirus. dan sarginson and jack 0rmondroyd will miss out on saturday‘s match against leeds after returning positive tests. it comes on top of a spate of injured players also being ruled out of one of the biggest games in the clubs history. three days after winning the women‘s french open, 19—year—old iga swiatek says she has still not recovered from the whirlwind of taking the title. she beat sofia kenin in the final at roland garros, becoming the only unseeded player to ever win the french open. actually, i didn't have time to reflect. actually i did not even have time to unpack from the whole trip, so really, it‘s pretty crazy here in poland. i have to

learn a lot. i am still going to need some time to look at the whole tournament from a different perspective. amazing achievement. 0nly perspective. amazing achievement. only 19 years old. that is the sport. more in the next hour. thank you very much. see you later. as we are waiting for andy burnham and others to talk about the situation in greater manchester, there is no more news coming through about wales. we are just hearing from our political editor, laura kuenssberg, that the bbc understands the welsh government is likely to announce a limited lockdown in the next few days. the phrase a circuit breaker we keep using, that is one of the ways it is being described. but anyway, a limited lockdown in the next few days. no duration has been given. but apparently the government is likely to announce one. also, we are hearing the welsh secretary, simon hart, has written to the first minister of wales

asking him to commit to giving businesses enough time to prepare if indeed a circuit breaker goes ahead. so he wants more time to prepare. right on cue let‘s head to manchester and join the mayor, andy burnham. myself, the mayor of manchester, two deputy mayors and the leaders of our council two. today we communicated our clear and unanimous view to the government. it is wrong to place some of the poorest parts of england ina some of the poorest parts of england in a punishing lockdown without proper support for the people and businesses affected. to do so will result in certain hardship, job losses, business failure. it will cause harm in a different way people‘s mental health and is not certain to control the virus. last night de deputy chief medical officer told greater manchester

leaders that to bring the infection rates down, any regional lockdown would require widespread closures way beyond pubs, to stand any real chance of working. and that would have to be done in tandem with other neighbouring regions. and even then it wouldn‘t be certain to work. he was the point. the government is not giving city regions like ours and the liverpool city region the necessary financial backing for a full lockdown of that kind. that is why we have unanimously opposed the government‘s plans for tier three. they are flawed and unfair. they are asking us to gamble our residents‘s jobs, homes and businesses and a large chunk of our economy on a strategy that their own experts tell

them might not work. we would never sign upfor them might not work. we would never sign up for that. while this is not necessarily the view of greater manchester, the deputy chief medical officer also told us last night that the only certain thing to work is a national lockdown. but the government told us this morning it is unwilling to do that because of the damage it will do to the national economy. and yet that is what they want to impose on the north—west. so was our conclusion from the number 10 meeting this morning. they are willing to sacrifice jobs and businesses morning. they are willing to sacrificejobs and businesses here wa nt to sacrificejobs and businesses here want to try to save them elsewhere. greater manchester, the liverpool city region and lancashire are being set up as the canaries in the coal mine foran set up as the canaries in the coal mine for an experimental regional lockdown strategy as an attempt to prevent the expense of what is truly

needed. the very least they should be offering the people of greater manchester, who will be affected by these closures, is a full and fair 80% furlough scheme for all affected workers, 80% income support for people who are self—employed and a proper compensation scheme for businesses. so far, they have not been prepared to offer that. imposing damaging regional lockdown is in this way won‘t work. it will level down the regions and make recovery here longer and harder. to those who say this is all politics, let me remind you that ten weeks ago myself, two deputy mayors and all the litres, became the first in the country to work with the government in accepting regional restrictions. the people here have been struggling under them ever since. this is an

important moment. greater manchester will stand firm. we are fighting back for fairness and for the health of our people in the broadest sense. i will now invite sir richard leese to make a statement followed by deputy mayor, baroness beverley hughes. thank you. thanks, andy. i will be brief, not least because that statement is one that's been shared and agreed by all the leaders in greater manchester. there have been attempts to divide us from each other. we will not be divided. there have been attempts and there still are attempts to divide us from other areas of the north. i can almost say we are an almost hourly contact with colleagues from yorkshire and the north of england intends to stand firm and stand together about making sure that we get a fair deal for the

north of england. what we were told la st north of england. what we were told last night by the deputy chief medical officer, i will go a little bit further than andy, was that, what we were asked to do was accept a proposal which the government's own advisers say will not work. why would we accept a proposal that their own advisers say won't work? clearly, there is a shared agenda with government, and let's be clear about this. there is a shared agenda that we want to break the number of covid cases under control —— bring the numberof covid cases under control —— bring the number of covid cases under control, and in particular we want to protect those people who are most vulnerable, from the virus. we put forward a number of proposals about how we believe we can do that. some of those were put forward four weeks ago. we could have been on with delivering those by now. we are still in a position that we are prepared to work cooperatively with the government, but we are not going

to have acceptance of a deal that will damage thousands of people in the city region for no apparent benefit. thank you. i just like to benefit. thank you. ijust like to make two additional points. the first is that any additional points. the first is that a ny level of additional points. the first is that any level of restriction is only as effective as people are willing to comply with it. and it‘s increasingly obvious to us here over the last two months, that whilst the majority of people and households and businesses have tried their best to comply, there is a growing and significant minority of people who are unwilling to do so. and the main reason for that is that they have lost confidence in the government‘s ability to deal effectively with this crisis. they are confused by the contradictions in the government messaging. and the about turns that we have seen. if the government impose this very, very poor deal

under the people of greater manchester, i have great concerns about their willingness to comply in the future and that will make it very difficult for the police and the local authority and enforcement officers who are trying to do their best, to keep the people of greater manchester say. the second point is this. you know, it is actually the police and the local authority social services who see families at the sharp end of things. i‘m enormously concerned about the implications for child welfare. for the incidence of violence in the home. of the impact of increasing mental health and anxiety when people can‘t pay their bills. and can‘t feed their children. and i would like to ask the government, what is the rationale for feeling that the people of greater manchester can manage if they are laid off on 60% of their income,

when the previous lockdown gave people 80%? what is the rationale for imposing that extra burden of hardship on the families here? so we are standing firm. and we are standing firm not least in the interests of those people. thank you. well said. we have got time for a few questions. we have got the leader of 0ldham in a nonspeaking part! we do have the leader of 0ldham. what was the tone of the meeting with number 10 today? and secondly, you can't actually stop the government imposing tier three on greater manchester, and the virus isn't waiting for a political agreement, it's marching on. so do you think it is going to happen in the coming days whether you want it or not? and how worried are you

about the public health situation if you don't implement new restrictions quickly? on your first question, beth, it was obviously a direct exchange but it was respectful. all the way through this we have offered to work with the government. so many offers have been made. richard referred to some. all year we have been saying, let‘s work more in partnership on test entries. is there more we can do on enforcement? that has been our spirit all the way through this. but we hit a point where we just can‘t see the jobs of people here in this city, their homes to be put at risk, as bev said, their mental health be put at risk, because the government are saying, we will give you a second—class deal compared to the one given to everybody else earlier in the year. how could we ever accept that? we won‘t accept that. applause. we will stand up for people here.

make no mistake, if there is a widespread lockdown people‘s out will be damaged and their help will be damaged in a different way. we don‘t in any way take issues with relation to the control of the virus likely. we will take the steps that are needed to protect people. we have been doing that all year. and we will work with the government to ensure that our nhs can cope, the nightingale hospitaljust over there is being re—mobilised. we will take every step necessary. but at the end of the day, we can‘t simply be treated, in effect, as second class citizens where the government can impose an underfunded regional lockdown honours. and all the damage that that would entail. so we made our view very plain to the government. we understand their view. they relate that back to us.

we are waiting for further engagement. this is nothing to do with politics. this is doing what we are put in our positions by the people to do, to speak for them at a time like this and we are trying to do that to the best of our ability. applause. cani applause. can ijust applause. can i just add applause. can ijust add one thing? it was the la st can ijust add one thing? it was the last part can ijust add one thing? it was the la st pa rt of can ijust add one thing? it was the last part of the question about the virus not waiting for us to come to a political conclusion. that is absolutely right. and there is a risk that hospitals become overwhelmed. but we now, and government knows, and indeed it something else we discussed with the deputy chief medical officer, who is and isn't at most risk of hospitalisation from covid—19. its e, hospitalisation from covid—19. its age, older people, particularly in very elderly people. it is people with certain underlying conditions, diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity. if we really want to stop

our hospitals being overwhelmed, government could instantly put in measures in order to be able to support those most vulnerable people from keeping them safe. there are things that we can do quickly that would make a difference. it is not the package that the last thing to add to your question, if the government are convinced that this approach will work, a regional lockdown approach, where the cmo and the deputy chief medical officer are both saying it has got to be comprehensive, they have two back that properly, fully, financially, so it has a chance of working. they cannot do this on the cheap. if they try and do it on the cheap. if they try and do it on the cheap they will damage people‘s lives in a different way. inaudible. they have said there is no money left, there is no money for them to put on the table. to be honest with you, i don‘t believe that for one second. when i look today at some of the fees they are

paying to consultants on the failed test and trace scheme, when i look at the billions that have been thrown at his game that isn‘t working, not for greater manchester, money that has been found for other things this year, the argument i make is, support people now, support people right now when they needed. because by supporting people now you will save jobs because by supporting people now you will savejobs and because by supporting people now you will save jobs and businesses that will save jobs and businesses that will be able to then restart of the minute we find a vaccine, the minute the recovery is on. it will cost the country the recovery is on. it will cost the cou ntry less the recovery is on. it will cost the country less to support people now rather than let businesses go to the wall. let manchester but —— let manchester airport be damaged by what‘s happening and then the recovery ta kes what‘s happening and then the recovery takes a lot longer than it would otherwise have done. if it was good for the country in the early pa rt good for the country in the early part of the year, why is it not good for the north west of england right now when we need the support? i think in the end it will cost less to support people in this moment thanit to support people in this moment than it would to let people struggle.

well, feelings are running very high there in manchester. my goodness, you could feel it in andy burnham‘s voice. the mayor of manchester along with his deputy, richard lees, the head of the council. labour mayor of the city of manchester. andy burnham was keen to say that he doesn‘t believe anybody is playing politics with this. he said this is in essence about a lot of practicalities. a very strong phrase quite near the beginning where andy burnham said that greater manchester and lancashire are being used as canaries in the coal mine for an experimental strategy. he did cite as well that he wanted some very concrete proposals. in essence, all of them saying they want to support if manchester and those other areas are going to go into the area of the very highest restrictions, because he said, we want an 80% furlough scheme, the 80% that has been running until now, and 80% of wages are people who are self—employed. and help for business as well. so

saying that there just isn‘t enough support in the package that has been promised. 0r being talked about. much more on all of that to come. all of this coming on the day when millions of londoners, as we know, going to face new restrictions as well. they kick in at midnight tomorrow. it affects the capital and essex, moving up a level, which in essence means no different households mixing indoors. the restrictions very much indoors. i think we can talk to the london mayor sadiq khan, who hasjoined me. good afternoon. what do you say to those businesses who are inevitably going to suffer with this strategy? if groups can‘t gather, different households can‘t gather, they can‘t go to pubs and restaurants, what you say to those businesses who are going to suffer? none of the options are good options. what we are seeing in london is an increase of this virus in all parts of the city. all

the indicators we have, not simply people testing positive, but hospital admissions, people testing positive, but hospitaladmissions, icu people testing positive, but hospital admissions, icu admissions, those above 60 being tested positive, are all going in the wrong direction. so we continue to lobby the government to give businesses in london additional financial support, councils in london additional financial support, and individuals and workers in london additional support. it‘s really important that even though we are in a tier two situation tomorrow, not a tier three, we don‘t have a situation where even more businesses are on the verge of going bust or going bust, and even more londoners are made redundant. you are a labour mayor. do you echo andy burnham there? he says if we have the restrictions i want people to have 80% of furlough, people who are self—employed have 80%?” 80% of furlough, people who are self-employed have 80%? i have been speaking to mayors across the country in the last few days, including andy. 0ne country in the last few days, including andy. one of the concerns we have is that central government appears to treat us with suspicion

and as adversaries, rather than being politicians on the same side as the government, trying to get to grips with this virus. what we‘d hoped was that the measures taken from march two this summer would have given the government time to have given the government time to have an effective and fully functioning test and trace system. they failed. and because the government has failed, we have seen the increase of this virus. that is why these measures, none of which are good, need to be brought in. it is important we don‘t have —— allow a health catastrophe turn into an economic catastrophe. that‘s why i support andy matt —— andy burnham and all the mayors across the country when he says we need our economy to be ready for the recovery phase. but if there is no more financial support forthcoming, what happens then? tfl has got problems. the transport system. its revenue massively done by definition because people are being urged to work from home. how does what should be a world beating city get back on its

feet? the government should do what the governments of other countries around the world are doing. you speak to mayors and leaders in germany, france, norway, other parts of the world, south korea, there are government to guarding former do not any make sure there are effective test and trace systems, but support businesses through this difficult time. but we in london, tfl, rely upon thousand passengers to bring in reve nu es to upon thousand passengers to bring in revenues to pay for our services. the government should recognise londoners have done the right thing by working from home is advised to do so by the government. instead of punishing them for this, by not giving tfl financial support, what they are doing is attaching conditions to any standard andy burnham. iwant conditions to any standard andy burnham. i want to work with the government and have worked with the government and have worked with the government in

this is bbc news. i‘m rebecca jones. the headlines... millions of people in england face tougher coronavirus restrictions from this weekend — with no households mixing indoors. we know from the first peak that the expression —— disease can spread fast and puts huge pressure on the nhs, so we must act now to prevent the need for tougher measures later on. discussions are held about moving greater manchester into the highest level, but the region‘s mayor andy burnham says he remains opposed. they are asking us to gamble our residents‘sjobs, homes they are asking us to gamble our residents‘s jobs, homes and businesses and a large chunk of our economy on a strategy that they make their own experts tell them might not work.

london, essex, york and areas in derbyshire will move from the medium to high alert level from saturday. the pub chain marston‘s is to cut more than 2,000 jobs, saying it‘s been badly hit by the coronavirus restrictions. and the queen carries out her first engagement outside a royal residence for seven months. hello and welcome to bbc news. 28 million people across england will be living under the two highest covid alert levels from this weekend, as the government announces increased restrictions across the country. local leaders in greater manchester have rejected plans from the government to move the region into the

highest covid alert level. the city‘s mayor andy burnham said the government was asking them ‘to gamble our residents‘ jobs, homes, and businesses‘ on a ‘strategy that their own experts tell them might not work‘. the region is currently on the high alert level: a move to the very high level would see pubs closed, and different households banned from mixing, except in public outdoor spaces where the rule of 6 applies. it was decided this morning that people in london, essex, parts of surrey and derbyshire — alongside york and barrow—in—furness, will face tougher restrictions from this weekend — with a ban on households mixing indoors. 0ur political correspondent helen catt has the latest. by the weekend, more than half the population of england will be living under extra coronavirus restrictions. in london, that means another nine million people being moved onto high alert.

we know from the first peak that the infection can spread fast and put huge pressure on the nhs, so must act now to prevent the need for tougher measures later on. so working closely with the mayo, cross— party working closely with the mayo, cross—party council leadership and local public health official officials and the national team, we have the gather agreed that london it needs to move to local covid—19 alert level high. it means there will be banned meeting friends inside and across essex and york, north—east of derbyshire barrow in furness and alfred in surrey. we must take firm and balanced decisions to keep this virus under control. this is the only way to protect lives and livelihoods. we must act now, delayed action means more deaths from covid—19, it means more deaths from covid—19, it means more non—covid—19 deaths and it

means more economic pain later. because the virus comes down is then it goes up. in some areas, such as essex and elmbridge, local leaders have backed moving on to high alert but downing street could face a tougher call in areas already under those restrictions that it wants to move to very high. should we need to look again at this london wide to a two position, because they can even be regional errors that could be taken out there, there is a big disparity. discussions between local leaders in manchester and government have failed to move a decision to move it to the very high let, meaning pubs and bars which are to shut com pletely and bars which are to shut completely i know how to make thing at all, except in places like park park. downing street wanted to happen, local leaders do not agree, and agree —— make the call between local mps and northern mayors did not go down well. there was unanimous theory about the process, the price —— make the evidence base

and the economic support packages on the table. we want action, but it has to be the right action. we have lived in tier two now for nearly three months and it is not working. the meeting we had early today was entirely pompous, i may as well have talked to a wall, quite frankly, and when we going to be properly consulted, learn about measures through the right channels, rather than by the media? ultimately, the government canjust than by the media? ultimately, the government can just impose restrictions on an but is not there will be more impact —— make more successful if the local is back in, but now government is looking for a short local lockdown, there is even greater pressure on the government to go for a more balanced plan that will work. the government has offered a package of support to areas where it wants a strong restrictions, but it still hopes to bring local leaders on sides ahead of what will be a tough time for an increasing number of people.

well, in the last few minutes the mayor of greater manchester andy burnham described plans for his region to move to tier 3 as ‘flawed and unfair‘. today, we communicated our clear and unanimous view to the government. it is wrong to place some of the poorest parts of england in a punishing lockdown without proper support for the people and the businesses affected. to do so, will result in certain hardship, job losses, business failure, it will cause harm in a different way to people‘s mental health, and is not certain to control the virus. last night, the deputy chief medical officer told greater manchester leaders that are to bring the infection rates down, any regional lockdown would require widespread closures, way beyond pubs to stand a real chance of working and that would have to be done in tandem with other neighbouring regions. and even

then, it would not be certain to work. but he was the point, the government is not giving city regions like ours and the liverpool city region the necessary financial backing for full lockdown is of that kind. that is why we have unanimously opposed the government because my plan 43. they are flawed and unfair. greater manchester and the livable city region and lancashire are being set up as the canaries in the coal mine for an experimental regional lockdown strategy as an attempt to vent the expense of what is really needed. to prevent the the very least they should be offering the people of greater manchester who will be affected by these closures is a full and fair80% of affected by these closures is a full and fair 80% of furlough scheme for all affected workers, 80% aiken

support for people who are self—employed and a proper compensation scheme for businesses. so far, they have not been prepared to offer that. imposing damaging regional lockdown is in this way will not work. it will level down the regions and make recovery here longer and harder. to those who say that this is all politics, let me remind you that ten weeks ago, myself, two deputy mayors and all the leaders became the first in the country to work with the government in accepting regional restrictions and the people here have been strongly —— struggling under them ever since. this is an important moment. greater manchester will stand firm. we are fighting back for fairness and for the health of our people in the broadest sense. 0ur political correspondent

in westminster is iain watson. iain, what is the reaction at westminster? it is very difficult situation because it is a government that wa nts to ta ke because it is a government that wants to take a regional situation lockdown when the virus is most prevalent, they are trying to soften up prevalent, they are trying to soften up the mps from greater manchester yesterday, because they had a medical briefing with one of the stars of the press conference, jonathan van tam, but before you say 0k, jonathan van tam, but before you say ok, that is fine, we know the virus is going up, but crucially, it was a scientific advisers to the government and themselves that said that closing hospitality for example, would only have a marginal impact on the virus. what has been interesting is that in greater manchester, the political consensus has formed, is forming between the layer might labour mayor andy belling and some of the regionmy conservative mps and indeed one local conservative leader as well that the government should not be imposing these tier three restrictions, the most severe and

restraining restricting restrictions, i greater manchester in this way, so there is that push for more generous financial packages, which was not forthcoming in the meeting this morning at downing street, but there‘s also some concern again it‘s the conservative mps and the restrictions on and if i would further damage the economy. we‘re talking to sir graham brady who was one of the advisers, but crucially he also chairs a meeting of 22 backbench committee of conservative mps, so very influential, it was remarkable —— remarkable just mps, so very influential, it was remarkable —— remarkablejust how mps, so very influential, it was remarkable —— remarkable just how he was able to with what i do but i was saying that he did not want to see any effectual measures imposed that would cause to close down hospitality and have a disproportionate sex on that sector this mightjust disproportionate sex on that sector this might just put disproportionate sex on that sector this mightjust put in effect, and would did not agree on that don‘t like that they should be penalised so the government now faces a choice, either to put more resources into the area or to simply impose

these restrictions and if it does that, then the difficulty and is the point made by beverley hughes, the deputy mayor of greater manchester, and she basically takes charge of policing and for the police, any effect, unless you have local buying, that you are more likely to get resistance to the measures, you‘re more likely to find it difficult to enforce the measures, so the government could be going through all this pain, but the virus remains prevalent and in fact increases in that particular area. there is one other routes that boris johnson could take it, but he so far shows no sign of doing so and that is of course to do something which the mayor of london here, sadik khan, supports, andy burnham, support as well, that instead of having some of these attractions, but going for a short sharp, show circuit breaker, a more expensive restrictions for perhaps two or three weeks, to something that is backed by the late labour leadership and is unlikely to be endorsed by borisjohnson.

and is unlikely to be endorsed by boris johnson. thank you. well, as we‘ve heard, millions of londoners will face new restrictions from midnight tomorrow. the capital, essex and other areas, will move into the high level — banning any mixing of households indoors. london‘s mayor sadiq khan says the virus is spreading rapidly in every corner of the city, and insists the new measures are vital to save lives. 0ur correspondent anna 0‘neill reports. cheering and applause. it was like piccadilly circus, in fact, it was. when pubs and clubs shut at 10pm last weekend people continued their night out on the street until police moved them on. like other london venues, the soho club gay has already sacrificed much to stay open and the announcement today is adding more confusion as to what the new measures will mean. what we need is, is for the government to work with hospitality, work with other

businesses, to make everybody safe, but to make things workable, and this tier two regulations are completely unworkable but nobody is working with us to make it workable. london‘s coronavirus cases are on the rise and the london mayor says that moving into tier two is right. nobody wants to see more restrictions, but this is deemed to be necessary, in order to protect londoners by myself, london council leaders and ministers. and this is why. the latest figures show at least three london boroughs are above the threshold of 100 cases per 100,000. in ealing, there were more than 144 cases per 100,000 people, in richmond, more than 137, and in hackney, more than 128. in greenwich, there were 73 cases per 100,000 and in bromley, just 70. bexley has the fewest cases of covid—19 but its council leader agrees that going into the highest risk tier is for the best.

it became a case of when, not if, and hopefully, by going in that bit earlier, we can turn it around. for the mayor and others the measures do not go far enough. they would like to see a short nationwide lockdown. if we don‘t act with greater determination, following the advice of the scientists, it is going to get worse, that‘s why liberal democrats, having read the advice of the sage experts, believe that now is the time for a short national circuit—breaker. that is not going to happen for now, but further local restrictions across the uk haven‘t been ruled out. anna 0‘neill, bbc news. councillor gareth roberts is the liberal democrat leader of richmond council which currently has one of the highest rates of coronavirus cases in the capital, very warm welcome to news. thank you for joining very warm welcome to news. thank you forjoining us. we welcome this moving of london into the high alert

level? yes, we are seeing that the rise of the virus across the capital is an issue for concern for us all and we need to take further measures to restrict that spread. do you support the move to put the whole of london into this level? given that there are disparities. high levels in richmond, that we might come the moment, but much lower levels as we we re moment, but much lower levels as we were hearing there in somewhere like bexley. it is very easy to have a patchwork quilt approach to london, boro by burrow, but two weeks ago, we we re boro by burrow, but two weeks ago, we were in that same position at bexley there now, so it is not really that easy to say that they have a low rate, they have a high rate, therefore there should be different restrictions, but the key thing that we need from these restrictions is clarity. easy to understand restrictions which apply to all of london is going to be far more effective than having difference restrictions the different boroughs. that is just about recipe for confusion disaster.

0k, about recipe for confusion disaster. ok, so why do you think numbers are so high in richmond with mike there are various so high in richmond with mike there are various reasons. so high in richmond with mike there are various reasons. the main one that we can identify is that there are usually students, we cannot say this, but it stands to reason that young people aged 18 to 29 are being tested in university towns, such as durham, exeter, manchester, contracting the virus, they have been tested there, they say living there but because they their home address is registered as hearing richard, they are classed as a richmond case. of course, debt may be one of the people who have not got to be students... and that is why we have to be slightly guarded with the language, but people in a long way away are now being tested and classed as richmond. it is artificially inflating our figures. it does not sound like there is a whole lot you can do about it though, there is no? not match, and which are tough to keep lobbying the government to sort something out.

the government could do something, they could make sure that any tests which are being conducted in a particular place are reported as tests in that place and this is why it is one of the calls that we have been making, is for localised controls of tests because we know the outbreaks, we know where we must be testing, we would be able to control the data much more efficiently than eight mega multinational corporation like psycho that since making a big pig ear of it. we know that the government‘s scientific advisers have said that clothing hospitality will only have a marginal impact on the virus, would you be in favour of a so—called circuit breaker, a short sharp lockdown but across the entire country with mike i think that the evidence from sage is compelling, to be honest. and they are advocating this. i think that the government is refusing to go along this line, either out of cowardice or because they do not want to play politics

with the whole matter. the government have always had great from the beginning, from the beginning they are following the signs, they are making sure to listen to weeds make decisive action, the three tier system that we have got at the moment is a welcome step, however, we have seen that some of those restrictions which have been put in place in other northern towns, which london is about to go into, simply have not worked, so yes, i would support a more drastic and short approach, such as a two—week circuit breaker lockdown. again, it is a measure which would which would be absolutely clear, absolute clarity on that message, of what the restrictions are. and that is rather thanif restrictions are. and that is rather than if i live in tier one or tier three? the difficulty is and i'm sure you will have a richmond, many local businesses that will be affected by this latest move, that stage, the government‘s economic, emergency committee, is advising the committee, does not have economists sitting on it and the government is

sitting on it and the government is sitting on it and the government is sitting on a very fine line between balancing the need to save lives and the need to save livelihoods? have you got sympathy with that? absolutely. there is always sympathy when no difficult choices to be made, but at the moment we are seeing a scale of increase of the virus which we have not seen for months, and we do need to take decisive action to stop it. what has to underpin all of those types of drastic steps is the full financial support from those businesses which would be hitting the hardest. hopefully, as it‘s such a short sharp remedy, the bill won‘t be as high as it would be needed if we did nothing orjust high as it would be needed if we did nothing or just relied high as it would be needed if we did nothing orjust relied on the three tier steps that we have at the moment, which could go on for many months and we could see many businesses going to the wall because they do not have the certainty as to when the restrictions are going to be lifted. ok, councillor gareth roberts, the "double democrat leader, thank you for reading it back for your time.

so let‘s remind you of what the new covid alert levels in england mean. until today, most areas had been put on the ‘medium alert level‘, where the rule of 6 and the 10pm hospitality curfew apply. the ‘high level‘ of restrictions mean no household mixing indoors, and the rule of 6 applying outdoors. the most severe alert level is ‘very high‘ — meaning no mixing of households indoors or outdoors — that includes homes, private gardens and hospitality venues. people are allowed to meet in groups of 6 or less in certain outdoor public spaces, such as parks. pubs and bars must close unless they provide what‘s called ‘substantial meals‘. so are the tougher measures enough to stem the spread of the virus or would a short limited lockdown, a temporary national ‘circuit—brea ker‘ as called for by the labour leader sir keir starmer, be more effective?

let‘s talk to dr michael tildesley, associate professor at the university of warwick and an expert in infectious disease control. welcome to the programme. i must start with asking that question, what is your view? targeted local measures or a short sharp national lockdown? which would be most effective? i think it is pretty clear if we look at the local lockdown that have been put in place as far, but sadly, even though there may be some evidence that it‘s slightly reducing translation, they are —— make the infection rate is still critically across one across the whole country, but it remains to be seen whether this new tier three level would have an effect, but i think the raid concerning thing is we are going forward from this point is that cases are rising nationally, i accept that some regions may say, well, the cases are still relatively low, but the fact that the infection rate is greater than one nationwide me that mike shows that a circuit breaker could have an effect. when it does is that it is a clear

strategy, it also enables us to reset the epidemic to where we were seven months ago, as your previous interviewee said, it also enables us to minimise the longer—term impact on the economy if it is in place very short period of time, and hopefully that gives us a bit more time to say when pap testing and tracing, and also by this time in the longer term for something like mass text —— like testing or vaccine to be available. there might be people watching say that we went through all those weeks of lockdown and few of the things that you have just suggested actually took place. why would it be different this time? we just risked why would it be different this time? wejust risked squishing why would it be different this time? we just risked squishing down the virus and eliminate the lockdown restrictions are eased, it comes back again. of course, this is one of the problems and i think we are ina of the problems and i think we are in a situation, very clearly, where no control policy that we can do from this point forward is ideal. there is no good way out of this. there is no good way out of this. the problem is that it is absolutely true that you are just something

there so kicking the can down the road, as you say, to have a circuit breaker, but it is also very clear that customisations are now at the level they were when we went into lockdown back into march, but i accept they are not going up as rapidly as they were, and of course we have better drugs to treat our patients in hospital, but it is really clear that the evidence that we have is that if we do not do something more severe, then in another three or four weeks‘ time, we could start to see the nhs being overwhelmed. 0f we could start to see the nhs being overwhelmed. of course, lovable, thatis overwhelmed. of course, lovable, that is already happening, in the intensive care capacity is very high in liverpool, the intensive care occupancy, and there is a real concern if we do not act now, then we will have a real problem is you get into the winter months when of course demand on the nhs is already higherfrom other course demand on the nhs is already higher from other causes. indeed, one member of the scientific advisory group for emergencies has already said that ministers have left it too late for eight national lockdown. but there is not enough time to prepare, but if the

government continues with its policy of these regional more targeted lockdown is, can you see a situation where we might also bounce from shorts lockdown to short lockdown and then come up for a bit, and go back into restrictions for another short while? firstly, iwill say that this is not quite what the professor said when he said it was too short a time to prepare, he was showing very specifically that to put in the short circuit breaker over the half—time break, and the idea of a circuit breaker is that to give the hospitality sector time to prepare to minimise losses, so that is what professor was referring to, but it is not ruling out the idea of a circuit breaker at all, but of course, in response to your other question, it is absently right there as sadly a city pull the plug on that circuit breaker, you might expect to cater to go back up again, and it may be something that you need to do at a later time if you do start to see cases go back up. the one advantage with this as we can

have these in regular intervals and then enables us to prepare for them and of course, enables the public to have a certain level of certainty. 0ne have a certain level of certainty. one of the difficulties, that people have with control is the uncertainty level regarding when they might be lifted, with a tv lockdown, hopefully, if people know categorically that this is happening for two weeks, and then it will be lifted, we might expect that adherents might be a bit higher, but it is better for people‘s well—being and mental health, knowing it is only in space for a short period of time. interesting, looking longer term, i think i‘ve been talking to people, they seem to be a lot of people, they seem to be a lot of people feeling very down about the news that has been coming out this week. the thought that all of this is returning and we might be returning to some sort of lockdown, what techniques can help us get through the winter in these darker colder months? i have huge sympathy. at the end of the day, we are all

human beings, whether we are advising the government or whether we are a key worker or whatever, whatever work we are doing, whether we are at home or not, i think it is a real challenge, but! we are at home or not, i think it is a real challenge, but i do think actually, the biggest difficulty we are struggling with, i know i struggle with myself, if this uncertainty, this never ending aspect of it. i think actually, it really goes down to, needing some clarity from the government in terms of where we are going to be going forward. the three to assist helps somewhat, i think, forward. the three to assist helps somewhat, ithink, but forward. the three to assist helps somewhat, i think, but i think if we are going to do these circuit breakers, it is knowing that there isa breakers, it is knowing that there is a defined start and end points, what we do not want is say, you put emotion a couple of place for four place in a couple weeks, and then actually that negative just continuing on bye week by week. is he going to windsor, it is a bit more difficult to get through the winter months anyway, and we need that clarity, in the winter months, getting on top of this. thank you

for your thoughts. really good to talk to you. the uk pub group marston‘s is to lay off 2,150 staff as a result of coronavirus restrictions on hospitality. the company said the rules, which include mandatory table service, the 10pm curfew and limits on group sizes as "hugely disappointing". the group said pub workers currently on furlough support will be impacted. and wherever you are across the uk, if you want to check the rules in your area now — you can search by postcode — that‘s on our website — bbc.co.uk/news, or via the bbc news app. the metropolitan police will not take action against the mp margaret ferrier, who travelled from london to glasgow despite receiving a positive covid test. the force looked into

whether ms ferrier had breached legislation which requires people to self—isolate. but it found the regulations were not applicable, because the test was taken before the rules came into force. let‘s speak to our political correspondent nick eardley. nick, is this an end to the matter? ido nick, is this an end to the matter? i do not think it is, quite, it is worth remembering that exactly —— but what exactly happened here. margaret got symptoms on a saturday, but started to feel better, but then went to westminster on the monday. she got a positive test on the —— a positive test result, on the monday and travelled back to glasgow on tuesday morning. we met were looking into that jerk journey from tuesday morning. we met were looking into thatjerkjourney from london back to glasgow but because she had taken the test on saturday, after legal advice, the forces decided that it does not have any power to ta ke that it does not have any power to take any action against her and essentially, in their case, it has now been dropped. they have referred her back to police scotland however,

who have said they are going to look 02:29:02,888 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 into the circumstances. this is