this is bbc news, with the latest headlines: talks with regional leaders of a tighter coronavirus restrictions continue says the foreign secretary as he accuses the mayor of manchester of holding the government over a barrel. we can't have a situation where andy burnham is effectively saying, unless you give us what we want, we are not going to do the right thing in terms of following the new rules which will protect the very people of manchester he was elected to represent. "damaging to public health" — a warning from scientists as the standoff between regional leaders and ministers over covid restrictions intensifies. it comes as more than half of england's population will be living under high or very high alert restrictions from midnight tonight. what do you think about the new restrictions in your area and the

impact they could have? do get in touch with me... details on screen below. hundreds of thousands of hospitality jobs will below. hundreds of thousands of hospitalityjobs will be at risk as a result of the new restrictions, according to the industry trade body. joe biden accuses his rival donald trump of panicking in his handling of the coronavirus pandemic as the pair take part in separate tv events. good morning and welcome to bbc news. i'm annita mcveigh. tensions are growing between local leaders and the government over regional restrictions — as a scientific advisor warned that

continuing the row is a "very dangerous route to go on". the director of the welcome trust told the bbc... —— wellcome trust. he said that would be very damaging. it's after the mayor of greater manchester, andy burnham, rejected plans for the area to move to the highest risk category — which would force bars, pubs and gyms to close. he said the north is fed up of being pushed around. foreign secretary dominic raab accused andy burnham of trying to hold the government over a barrel on money and politics when he said, we need to take action. from midnight tomorrow over half of england's population will be under further restrictions as london, essex and york move into the high alert tier. from six o'clock tonight, pubs and restaurants in

northern ireland are due to close for the next four weeks. meanwhile bbc news has been told that a limited circuit—brea ker lockdown for wales could be announced in the next few days to curb the rise in covid cases there, but the brooj government says no decisions have been made yet. —— the welsh government says. our political correspondent nick eardley reports. fighting coronavirus has never been easy but, as the virus spreads and cases rise, the government's lockdown plans are coming under real pressure. it wants greater manchester to face the strictest measures, closing pubs and banning households mixing in most places, to try and get covid under control, but mayor andy burnham is furious, saying the government's plans are flawed, and don't offer enough support for local people, whose workplace might be forced to close. this was his message to the government yesterday... greater manchester, the liverpool 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 prevent the expense of what is truly needed. this is an important moment. greater manchester will stand firm. many conservative politicians in the region are unhappy too. this morning, there will be more talks to try and reach agreement. the final decision is one for ministers but they desperately want local support. all the while, uncertainty for people and businesses over what happens next. and some scientists are worried about political division. i think we have got to come together as a country. this fragmentation and, frankly, making this either a north—south or a party political issue, that is a very, very dangerous route to go on. if you look at the countries that have controlled this well to date — china, singapore, vietnam, korea, germany, new zealand —

they have had a national consensus about the way forward, and what we do not want now is a fragmentation, confusion, one area or city or region pitched against another. i think that would be very, very damaging to public health and the country's ability to respond. talks are also continuing in lancashire, like here in burnley, which could soon face the toughest tier of restrictions. local politicians are considering whether to agree to a package of support being offered by the government. this evening at 6pm, northern ireland will go further, introducing a circuit—breaker — closing pubs and restaurants for four weeks except for takeaway. alcohol sales are being banned after 8pm in shops, schools will be closed for a fortnight from monday. from tonight, wales introduces new restrictions too, telling people from covid hotspots elsewhere in the uk to stay away. and today, in london, is the last day that households can mix indoors before a ban comes in at midnight.

millions of us are facing significant restrictions on our lives once again, and there may be more to come. nick eardley, bbc news. our political correspondent helen catt is at westminster. good morning to you, helen. the tensions between central government and andy burnham in manchester, reflected in an interview with the foreign secretary dominic raab this morning. first let's get the viewpoint from manchester, the leader of manchester city council has been talking about this. what appears to be at the moment is a stand—off between authorities in greater manchester and the government, over whether they will move into the very high tier of restrictions. largely, it comes down to the impact on the economy that leaders in manchester say this is trying out a regional lockdown strategy but without putting the necessary money behind it to make sure that the damage to the economy

isn't too great. they are not convinced that it would work. the government is saying there is a support package on offer, and that greater manchester needs to move. why this is important is because it could impact on whether this tier system actually works. dominic raab speaking to us earlier said the scientific advisers had told the government that if they can implement this tier system fully, then they can stave off a national lockdown, but to implement it fully, they need local leaders on the side. where are the talks at? we are not entirely sure, to be honest, as to where they are this morning, sir richard leese, the leader of manchester city council said that there are not currently any talks in play. we had a meeting yesterday with representatives from the government in the morning. we agreed to have another meeting later in the day. that has been postponed. it has

not been rearranged yet. so at the moment the rather meetings in the diary between us and the government and, asi diary between us and the government and, as i understand it, there were meetings due to take place in other parts of the north were postponed as well. so we are and a bit of a vacuum at the moment in terms of any sort of meaningful discussion with government, and that's not the situation we want to be in. that is really interesting, isn't it, because not only is their disagreement over the substance of the talks but about the actual status of the talks, whether they are going on or not. so, in all of that, is there any possibility of agreement between the two sides?- the moment they both seem to be digging in. the question is, ultimately, the government could choose to impose restrictions on greater manchester, so we could just say you're going to have to go into t3, and certain restrictions would automatically come in like the closing of pubs and bars, but it doesn't want to do that because of

the reason i stated earlier, that it may not go far enough to actually do what they hope with the tier system and stop the virus spreading. dominic raab was speaking to us earlier. he said it is up to greater manchester to move. if manchester and andy burnham is pulling up the drawbridge and saying we will not proceed unless more money is coming m, proceed unless more money is coming in, idon't proceed unless more money is coming in, i don't think that is an appropriate way to proceed. we have put ina appropriate way to proceed. we have put in a very generous package of support. obviously those higher risk areas affected will get more support for testing, tracing, forjobs and businesses. that's right. we support all that. but we cannot have a situation where andy burnham is effectively saying unless you give us effectively saying unless you give us what we what we will not do the right thing in terms of following the new rules, which will protect the new rules, which will protect the people of manchester he is elected to represent. there seems to be the circular argument going on with andy burnham saying the government seems happy to introduce restrictions in his region that they

don't want to roll out across the re st of don't want to roll out across the rest of england, and you have got ministers saying, andy burnham appears to be objecting to restrictions that labour would be keen to roll out, because labour backs a 2—3 week short, national lockdown. thank you very much for that, helen, in westminster. so let's remind you of what the new covid alert levels in england mean. until yesterday, most areas were 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".

i can now speak to eamonn o‘brien, who‘s the labour leader of bury council, an area which will affected by any changes to the alert level in greater manchester. very good to have you with us today. thank you very much for your time. could you bring is up—to—date on the infection rate and number of cases in yourarea? infection rate and number of cases in your area? absolutely. something we are looking at on a daily basis. for my borough, we stand at a worrying 367 cases per 100,000 with a positivity rate of offers of about 13% and, when you compare that to when our additional restrictions first came in, when we were about 20 per 100,000, you can quite clearly see that we are in a difficult position in bury and that is reflected across greater manchester. given that, does the area of bury

and greater manchester need to be in tier three, the highest level of restrictions? from my perspective it needs more action. whether it is tier—3 is clearly the big debate at the moment. the serious doubts i have and other colleagues have is that the government‘s own scientific advisers, the people we turn to for the clear, objective advice on these issues, they say it‘s not going to be enough. they say that it will not bring the r right down, it will not bring the r right down, it will not bring infections down, and that worries me greatly because those restrictions come with economic and personal hardship for my residence. so, yes, something has to be done. might have to be something more than macro one, but it is probably inadequate and probably won‘t do what it sets out to achieve —— more than tier—3.

what it sets out to achieve —— more than tier-3. dominic raab says the government is being advised that if they cannot implement this tier system fully that reduces the chances of staving off a full national lockdown, so this is really confusing for people, because they are healing different politicians at local and central level quoting scientist saying, apparently, different things. i'm sure it is, andi different things. i'm sure it is, and i can certainly sympathise with the confusion around the message, because as i say, sincejuly, we have been dealing with additional restrictions. just to give you a good example of how confusing it has been, across greater manchester at one point, there were different levels of restrictions and with a place like greater manchester, before covid my commute took me between four different local authorities on any one day. you could have four different types of restrictions. it was confusing. we

didn‘t make sense. and ultimately lead to more people breaking it. i‘m not wanting to comply. in principle, do you think i tier system is beneficial, is it clearer, overall, obviously does not agreement on it but in principle, do you think it could be a clear way of getting that across? i actually do, and i welcomed it when the government spoke about having a clear and consistent tier system. the question is the implementation of that and the specifics, but most importantly these support package in place to make sure that the impact on our residents and businesses is as minimalas residents and businesses is as minimal as possible. i cannot, residents and businesses is as minimalas possible. i cannot, in good faith, commit my residence to hardship, when i‘m not even convinced that what is in tier—3 is actually going to work. are you saying that even though cases are going up and we see them going up every 2a and was, and we know that

exponentially, that is what happens, are you saying that ultimately if there was more business support then that would be what helps bring the case down, eventually? that would be what helps bring the case down, eve ntually7|j that would be what helps bring the case down, eventually? ithink it is one aspect. but on a personal level i believe that the advice from sage around a circuit—brea ker i believe that the advice from sage around a circuit—breaker makes more sense. we need something quite severe to bring down the levels of infection. we know it is affecting older people, there is more at risk of being in hospital are dying from this. we know that hospitalisations are increasing and i don‘t think tinkering around hospitality is actually going to make a difference in that respect, so i do think something like a circuit break might have that impact. effectively you are saying you think your area need something more severe than tier—3 for the cases to come down? something more severe than tier—3 for the cases to come down7|j something more severe than tier—3 for the cases to come down? i think thatis for the cases to come down? i think that is what the science is telling

us that is what the science is telling us and my response to that as a politician, locally, is to say, if thatis politician, locally, is to say, if that is what the scientists and experts are saying, then we need to make sure the government supports that put a package but i will not be supportive of a tier—3 system as it currently stands that doesn‘t go far enough potentially, and hurts the livelihoods of my residence. has the balance tipped too much away from the medical, health, towards the political, in all of this? sadly, i think it has. that‘s very clear, when we go into meetings with number ten and government advisers, and they tell us that there is no more money. i‘m sorry, there‘s plenty of money. i‘m sorry, there‘s plenty of money out there for contracts, other projects that have been an absolute waste of time and money. they‘ve had absolutely no impact whatsoever. and yet, when we say that we need a little bit more money to protect the

livelihoods of our residents and businesses we are told, sorry, there is no more money so i don‘t accept that argument and i think more needs to be done with a more generous package. you might have heard us talking before we came to you about differing opinions between central government and local leaders like andy burnham, and whether they are actually working at the moment, going on at the moment. would you be encouraging andy burnham, is a fellow labour party member, whatever the strong words that are being exchanged between him and central government at the moment, to actually pursue these talks, absolutely to the hilt, to try to get the solution? i would do. myself and the other leaders, including, actually, conservative leader in bolton, we have been united as ten council leaders with andy burnham, making that case to government and we have always said from the

beginning of this, we will always work together, and we will always try and find something that works for the government and for our local residents are the problem we have is that the approach from the government has far too often been ta ke government has far too often been take it or leave it, and that‘s simply not a basis for a proper discussion and it is certainly not something i am willing to engage further in until the government show that they are at least willing to acknowledge that the fair points we have made our the impact on our residents. thank you very much for that, the leader of bury council, eamon 0‘brien. the headlines on bbc news... damaging to public health, the warning from scientist as the stand—off between regional leaders and ministers over covid

restrictions intensifies. it comes as more than half of england‘s population will be living under high or very high alert restrictions from midnight tonight. both were asked about the coronavirus and criticised each other‘s response to the pandemic. aaron north america correspondent david willis reports. it was a prime—time split screen showdown, the presidential candidates competing for eyeballs in debates. a stark reminder of how strange this entire campaign has been. and when it came to the pivotal issue of the day, a virus that has claimed more than 215,000 american lives, the two men seem to occupy notjust rival channels but competing orbits. he

said he didn‘t tell anybody because he was afraid americans with panic. americans don‘t panic. he was afraid americans with panic. americans don't panic. he panicked. president trump insisted america had turned the corner on the coronavirus. many people are getting this disease that was sent to us by china, and it shouldn‘t have been allowed to happen. for his part joe biden pledged to take a vaccine once one becomes available and said he would urge others to do the same. one becomes available and said he would urge others to do the samem the scientists say that this is what is ready to be done, and it has been tested and has gone through the three phases, i would take it and encourage people to take it. under sharp questioning president trump was called upon to dispel qanon, the post—conspiracy theory that democrats are part of a global paedophile ring. he declined. i know nothing about it. i know that they are very much against paedophilia. the president was pressed on claims he owes hundreds of millions of dollars to foreign creditors. more than anything else, the deal debates

emphasise the contrast in styles between the two candidates. with your undecided voters now than four yea rs your undecided voters now than four years ago, their impact on the impact may be limited. a second face—to—face debate is due to take place in nashville next week. david willis, bbc news, los angeles. in some areas, this means people from different households can no longer mix indoors. and that of course is going to have a big impact on businesses, particularly the hospitality industry. let‘s go to our business presenter, sima kotecha. what are you hearing from businesses about what faces them in the days ahead ? businesses about what faces them in the days ahead? we know that hospitality is one of the worst affected sectors from this pandemic. 0ne business told me this morning it was on a cliff edge, and it was just

a matter of days before it was pushed off the edge. there is a real sense of anxiety at this new tier system coming into place. some saying that the 10pm curfew along with table service only has already worsened their situation. this tier system they argue will make things even more bad moving forward. someone particularly worried about this and how it will affect many hospitality businesses is emma maclaren, the chief executive of the british base and pubs association and shejoins british base and pubs association and she joins me british base and pubs association and shejoins me now. thank you for coming on. can you convey how your businesses are feeling at the moment? those people you are speaking to on a daily basis. our businesses are struggling to survive. it is a daily task we are having to do, to face what new restrictions there are, see what has changed in terms of regulations, and try to keep businesses afloat. it is becoming almost impossible, and the

new restrictions going beyond the rule of six and curfews, discouraging people from travelling on public transport but also mixing in an indoor environment, it isjust going to decimate businesses. we heard dominic raab on the today programme this morning saying that the economy was trying to be saved and said that local lockdowns were protecting these businesses from a national lockdown, saying that if it went to a national lockdown, the situation would be more detrimental. what would you say to that argument? there is a great deal of uncertainty over time affecting our businesses. each of those layers of restriction that are added harms public confidence and we see dramatic drop in footfall, and it affects the brewers with their tax been turned off so there are hundreds of thousands ofjobs that are at risk in the beerand thousands ofjobs that are at risk in the beer and pub sector alone and

tens of thousands of pubs that to be closed by this. these restrictions being layered on again and again make it harderand harderto even get to break even. those businesses then become unviable for the long term, and we are still being asked to contribute to the job support scheme which is going to replace furlough and we need action within a matter of days if we are to prevent massjob losses so matter of days if we are to prevent mass job losses so we need that additional support from the government in terms of the financial contribution. ministers would argue that this is about people‘s health, this is about preventing death and loa n this is about preventing death and loan covid. this is why these measures have been put in place. surely some of your members understand that. of course. we have been playing our part in the fight against coronavirus, investing millions creating that safe socialising environment that is covid—secure. people are coming into our regulated environment where we are adhering to all of those

obligations within the restrictions. unfortunately what we see is that people not coming to the pub has led to people having parties at home. transmission is right, they are. we know that transmission is less than 396 in know that transmission is less than 3% in hospitality and the reality is we are the people, the pure focus of these restrictions, will they affect these restrictions, will they affect the infection rates, i suspect they probably won't and we will go into full look down but those businesses may have already gone before then if we don't get that urgent support we need now. this is people's livelihoods we are talking about. thank you, emma mclaren, there. now, she said this at about the people‘s livelihoods. this is what i have been hearing from so many of the businesses i‘ve been speaking to. notjust businesses i‘ve been speaking to. not just about the sole proprietor of the business but about those people who actually work for those businesses. so, as this tier system comes into place tomorrow, many will

be watching closely to see how the situation unfolds. absolutely, thank you very much for that, sima kotecha, our business presenter. we can talk now to ruth cottle, who is a new mum, receiving cancer treatment. she says she is worried about social isolation and the impact that further measures could have on her care. ruth, thank you very much forjoining us today. your little girl born on the 1st of february, eight months old at the moment, she is very quietly napping, i cannot hear anything in the background. i know that you have just finished chemotherapy last week. so tell us how you are. i'm doing pretty well, actually, thank you. i‘ve just finished doing pretty well, actually, thank you. i‘vejust finished chemotherapy and the side effects, and was starting to look forward to more of a normal life again before i have more treatment coming up in

november. i mentioned your little girl was born on the 1st of february, before lockdown. i wondered if you have managed to have a chance to get to any new parent and baby groups, all of the things that a new parent would normally do. we managed to go to a couple of classes for 2—3 weeks back at the start of march, which was lovely to get out and meet some new mums and other babies. since then we have not been able to do anything outside of our home. we have done some online classes, but we haven‘t been able to get out to meet new people, because of the different restrictions. for both without me. presumably you have been shielding. i was lucky i started chemotherapy after shielding finished but i had greater restrictions that needed to adhere to. i wasn‘t able to go inside places, although i was able to go out for walks and meet friends in the park and stay two metres apart a

lot of the time. great that you are able to do that, but what has been the impact of not being able to get to those classes you normally would have done if we were not in midst of this pandemic, both for you and your baby? yes, absolutely. iwas expecting to be able to meet new mums, and was conscious that it is an isolating time, having a baby, andi an isolating time, having a baby, and i wanted to get out and meet new people, new babies, and compare how the babies are developing and how they are doing, so it has been quite isolating do not have that level of support. doing video calls is not the same as being able to get out there, and i‘m conscious that some of these baby classes are great for my daughter‘s development. how can we make sure that she is still developing as she should do, given that we had to do things more within the home instead. how are you feeling about london moving into the higher level of restrictions, especially as we head into winter?

i‘m pretty worried, to be honest. i‘m pretty worried, to be honest. i‘m worried in terms of the rise in cases, making sure that myself and my cases, making sure that myself and b cases, making sure that myself and tay cases, making sure that myself and my baby stay safe and that my treatment goes ahead, with coronavirus restrictions but i was hoping to get out and see friends a lot more, especially as we are getting into autumn and winter and we don‘t always have the best weather to be be able to go into parks these days, so isolation, and getting that contact and that mental strength and support from other people is key for me as a new mum and isa people is key for me as a new mum and is a cancer patient, so i‘m looking at, how can i still get that level of support even though it is not face—to—face in someone‘s home, so what can i do online, what support and services are available for me, within social media and instagram, to still get that community feel that is so important asa community feel that is so important as a new mum and as a cancer

patient. how has it been out and about in terms of other people, and respecting social distancing and so on? most people would look at you, young women with a small baby and not think that you would be in a vulnerable group. absolutely. at times it has been quite scary. i need to keep two metres away from people even when the restrictions have changed to one metre plus, and people do not expect me to be that vulnerable, and it is quite worrying, because if i was to get anything at any point, my treatment would be delayed for a couple of weeks at least to allow me to recover from that, and what is the long—term impact on my health was not what i want to be able to continue my treatment plan as the doctors have set it out, and it is a worrying time to be able to go out and try and maintain our normal life as much as we can within a global pandemic and, as you say, people don‘t expect me to be one of those

vulnerable people, and sometimes i have to say something if people get a bit close, but it is a very difficult situation all round, really. ruth, i hope you're able to com plete really. ruth, i hope you're able to complete all of your treatments as planned. and all of us here wish you the best in your recovery. take care. ruth cottle, a new mum in london talking about her experience over the last few months as she has been undergoing treatment from cancer. he has been sending in your thoughts on these restrictions, ec says iron in manchester and i‘d not leave any restrictions will bring infections down, people are not listening, it will only affect businesses negatively. they continue that local leaders would not be rejecting these restrictions if they were compensating people properly. they expect people to live on two thirds ofa expect people to live on two thirds of a living way, it is a living way.

another deal aside how can a widely popular restriction be enforced? —— another few essays, how can? some people are saying there needs to be tougher enforcement with examples made of people breaking restrictions. charlie says, sick of listening to news today, political parties and mayors arguing over restrictions. my father—in—law died earlier this week. my wife is devastated. 0n earlier this week. my wife is devastated. on top of everything else we are worried about breaking the law just to else we are worried about breaking the lawjust to see her mother. just stop bickering. a you and your wife on the loss of her father. charlie calling for politicians at local and central government level to stop giving and reach an agreement. we will be bringing you much more news on all of the measures, the impact of those

measures, and reaction to them. —— stop arguing and reach an agreement. now it‘s time for a look at the weather with sarah keith—lucas. hello. the weather‘s looking largely dry and settled for many of us, notjust today but through into the weekend as well. we will have quite a lot of cloud out there, particularly across parts of scotland. for england, wales and northern ireland, variable amounts of cloud, thick enough for the odd shower in parts of northern ireland and also through parts of east anglia, the midlands into wales, we could see a few showers as well. but they‘ll be hit and miss, there will be some bright intervals developing. temperatures about 11 to 1a degrees today, but particularly for scotland we will keep quite a lot of cloud through the day, especially in the east. some clearer spells towards the west. through this evening and tonight, then, the cloud thickens across the uk, working its way in from the north, so with more cloud than we had last night, temperatures won‘t feel quite as low. still quite a chilly start to saturday morning with overnight lows of about four to 9 degrees. through the day tomorrow, a similar day to what we‘ve got today. still a lot of cloud around, some brighter spells, that northerly wind bringing perhaps one or two more showers

across northern parts of scotland and temperatures between about nine to 13 degrees. and temperatures between about nine bye for now. and temperatures between about nine hello, this is bbc news with annita mcveigh. the headlines... talks with regional leaders over tighter coronavirus restrictions continue, says the foreign secretary — as he accuses manchester‘s mayor of holding the government over a barrel. "damaging to public health" — a warning from scientists as the standoff between regional leaders and ministers over covid restrictions intensifies. it comes as more than half of england‘s population will be living under high or very high alert restrictions from midnight tonight. hundreds of thousands of hospitalityjobs will be at risk as a result of the new restrictions — that‘s according to the industry‘s trade body. joe biden accuses his rival donald trump of panicking in his handling of the coronavirus pandemic as the pair take part in separate tv events.

sport, and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here‘s mike bushell. good morning. there‘s another plan to reform english football, after league clubs rejected the proposed £50 million bail—out from the premier league. a group of prominent figures from sport and politics, has launched an initiative called saving the beautiful game. one of the main sticking points of the rejected offer is that it would have helped teams in leagues one and two, but not the championship, and the sum offered was well short of the amount the clubs feel they need to survive. and many in the game feel it‘s time for a reboot. i think football has needed a reset certain times we are in at the moment has made it more of an urgent need. from that point of view, you would not like to state is a blessing in disguise, because thousands of people had died because of age, but something had to stop,

it could not keep going how it was, and hopefully when it gets restructured, football, it will be for the better. olympic champion adam peaty returns to competition this weekend, at the international swimming league in budapest. he‘s one of 36 britons involved in the event — the first since the covid—19 pandemic wrecked the sporting calendar and led to the postponement of the tokyo olympic games. they‘re all in a six—week bubble — and new father peaty says that‘s a challenge, but neccessary. it is difficult, i won‘t lie. i was crying when i had to say goodbye. it was tough. but this is myjob, if i was tough. but this is myjob, if i was in the army i would still have to go away, if i had another career, i would still had to go away. she treated exactly like that. it is tough on any family straightaway, but this is my career. i need to get some really good preparation for the olympics in ten months, nine months,

it will come around much faster than we think. and there‘s coverage from the isl on the bbc — all events featuring peaty‘s team, london roar, as well as the semi—finals, and finals, will be live on the bbc sport website, app and the bbc iplayer. that‘s all the sport for now. and now on the news channel, it‘s time for your questions answered. millions of people in london, essex, york and other areas face tougher tier two measures for midnight, meaning half of england‘s population will be living under high or very high alert restrictions, restrictions coming in northern ireland as well, wales is considering further measures, as it scotland. you have been sending a lot of questions about the new rules. to answer some of those we are joined rules. to answer some of those we arejoined by rules. to answer some of those we are joined by professor clare

wenham. —— to answer your questions is professor clare wenham, assistant professor of global health policy at the london school of economics, and professor jonathan ball, professor of molecular virology at the university of nottingham. we had so many questions being sent infor we had so many questions being sent in for this discussion. tony, "i don‘t live with my dad but regularly see him any restaurant all—purpose, cani see him any restaurant all—purpose, can i still do this in london?" the guidance on this is you should not be meeting anyone outside your household also puts bubble in a pub or restaurant, so unless your father is part of your support bubble, it makes no difference if he is your father, friend or stranger, you should try to limit your contact with anybody in hospitality and stay home as much as possible. as decided the only option? absolutely, and why not try outside for a bit if it might makea not try outside for a bit if it might make a difference? check the weather forecast and try outside if possible, we do not know the ages of

those concerns but hopefully there is still that option. w verity asks, "will my relatives in london, soon—to—be tier two, be able to come and visit me and will check, tier one?" it is tier two now, that has come in. a very interesting question, jonathan? the rules, the tiers, apply to you and the place you visit, so if you are in a higher level of tier then the rules that apply to that tier apply to you. in terms of visiting somebody any different area between tiers one and two, no problem but you can knock meet indoors, only outdoors, unless pa rt of meet indoors, only outdoors, unless part of a support bubble. so if you are travelling from an area with higher restrictions to one with lower, you should really carry the

higher level of restrictions with you, as it were, in terms of your behaviour and where you meet someone and so on? you inherit those restrictions, for want of a better word, the reason is that it is an acknowledgement that because you live in a higher risk area, there is an increased chance that you might be infected and you have to take that extra care. clark, it is not work the opposite way, if you‘re going from an area of restrictions to hire, you had to adopt stricter measures? yes, it is based on where you are living although you are going to, whichever is highest, you should follow that guidance. you should follow that guidance. you should not be travelling outside of a higher level tier unless it is for work or education. sue harrington says, "can i travel from tier two to tier one, for example from london to

norwich and back? " you are only meant to be travelling from a higher risk to a lower risk peer edited for work, educational caring responsibilities, you should not be giving it full so shall or holiday reasons. sue, it's very much depends on the reason for your travel —— you should not be doing it. a holiday reasons. martin says, "my wife and i live in solihull, we want our three young grandchildren from london to visitors during half term, is that allowed ? " visitors during half term, is that allowed?" there is a degree of exemption for children under 13 quality childcare bubbles, but has to be for childcare rather than as a social visit, so unless there is locally available childcare then you should not really be moving into furlough between household, —— you

should not really be moving between household. if you need the children looked after while you work or go to hospital, for example. so specific circumstances? yes, and it also applies only to children, i think it is aged under 13, unfortunately the older children, you had to treat them as if they are adults and it should not be —— they should not be mixing across households. so it is all about avoiding socialising. kate says, "i live in a london borough on the ionian have a support bubble with my daughter who lives in surrey. —— london borough on my own. cani surrey. —— london borough on my own. can i still meet her in her house?" .0ris can i still meet her in her house?" .or is bubble can i still meet her in her house?" . or is bubble that is fine to travel between tiers and meet inside, that is one of the exemptions allowed. it is all about that support bubble, they still had special exemptions? absolutely. 0ne

dealer in bromley says, "i don‘t understand the measures in my borough of bromley as we live in the border of kent, can we mix in pubs intent?" unfortunately not, if you are ina intent?" unfortunately not, if you are in a tier two area, and you would have to tell me what tiers they are in, if you tier two area or are living in one, then enjoy socialising between households is simply not allowed and even if you see your friends by accident in a pub, you might be able to say hello from a safe distance from two metres that you certainly then cannot sit at the same table and start socialising. there is a little bit of repetition on these questions, everybody has their own individual circumstances, they are just trying to figure out how it applies to their daily lives and what they

might ideally want to do, it highlights the difficulty, complexity and confusion about what people can all continue. selena had this question, "to the new london restrictions mean i can‘t visit my mum in kent?" so i think that is going from an area of higher—level restrictions to one with lower. that is similarto restrictions to one with lower. that is similar to the last one, you are not able to go and meet indoors or stay overnight with someone in tier one if you are in a tier two zone, you might able to meet the modules within the rule of six that you cannot meet them in their house in that instance. it is keeping out of households, no mixing. michelle 0wen brent says i work saturdays and sometimes in data as a hairdresser and have either my parents also step in to my house to look after my children. —— saturdays and sometimes

sundays. will they still be able to do that? it depends on the age of the children, if you need to get childcare, so that you can go to work, that is fine, those arrangements are fine, but only if the children are not able to be independent and look after themselves, if they are 13 or less, you can provide that child support bubble, otherwise, unfortunately not. is that the official delineation between a child that requires childcare support and one who doesn‘t? 0ne requires childcare support and one who doesn‘t? one might say my ten—year—old is really independent, another person might say that 14—year—old need somebody to supervise. it highlights some of the problems around trying to interpret this, which is why enforcing the law is quite quickly turn tricky and we do not see too much law enforcement. we need to ask what the guidances

trying to do, it is trying to minimise indoors, that is the highest risk, therefore, wherever we can find a way to make arrangements in our life that avoid that, that will always be worth it does and health authorities would wish you to do, but there has to be an a cce pta nce do, but there has to be an acceptance that sometimes it is not possible. avoiding that social contact, the very stuff of life, but it needs to be reduced to get the cases down. stuart in west london says, "what happens to children whose parents are separated, can children still stay over if it is a mother or father‘s weekend you have the children?" as i understand it, the children?" as i understand it, the tiers to not affect separated pa rents the tiers to not affect separated parents and children living between two parents living separately in separate houses, that should be exempt under the tier guidance. we will try to squeeze more end, this

in enfield asks, "will the new london restrictions apply to all london restrictions apply to all london boroughs? boris johnson london restrictions apply to all london boroughs? borisjohnson said tier two was for areas where cases are over 100 per 100,000, tier two was for areas where cases are over100 per100,000, in tier two was for areas where cases are over 100 per 100,000, in enfield we have 85, below the national average, why are we have 85, below the national average, why are we we have 85, below the national average, why are we being put in tier two? "we saw something very similar in leicester and nottinghamshire, where i live, and there is always a problem of how do you enforce, they are not artificial boundaries, but as far as the fibres is concerned, they are. if two areas are in close very proximity, unfortunately it makes no sense to have the higher alert level simply because the virus will move very quickly if people are not as aware and socially distancing as much as they should —— unfortunately it makes more sense. it is very difficult to try to make it too

fragmented without the risk of increased transmission in those areas. that is the key points. luke in east london says," if my partner andi in east london says," if my partner and i live alone in separate houses, can we stay with each other? what happens to the bubble methodology?" we are not meant to be mixing with people outside of our hotels unless they form part of a support bubble, so if you and your partner are in a support bubble and within different houses, you can still meet indoors and outdoors. but it'll be had time for, thanks for getting to a lot of questions, czech, assistant professor of global health policy at the london school of economics, and professorjonathan ball, the london school of economics, and professor jonathan ball, professor of molecular virology at the university of nottingham. lots of questions about travelling between areas with different levels of restrictions, if you are going from an area with a higher level of

restrictions to one which does not had such a high level, ask yourself, you really need to make thatjourney and, if you do, you need to carry with you the kind of behaviour you should be adopted in that area with a higher number of cases. i hope we have managed to make that clear and a nswer have managed to make that clear and answer a lot of your questions. a british company has cut the price of medical cannabis, meaning it‘s now cheaper than illegal street cannabis. despite the government allowing prescriptions, they‘re only given rarely on the nhs — that‘s because of the high cost, guidelines saying they should only be offered when all other options have been exhausted, and the fact that some of the products don‘t have a licence. private prescriptions can cost hundreds of pounds, meaning they‘re too expensive for most patients. but that‘s now set to change. chris hemmings reports.

i started using cannabis around about 2007, i was getting lots of nausea from anxiety, not going out at all, i woke up one morning and could not stop being sick, i was going into hospital a lot to have panic attacks cheated and i came across cannabis, basically, took a couple of puffs and within minutes the nausea i had been getting com pletely the nausea i had been getting completely vanished. since december last year, leigh has been treating his anxiety with medicinal cannabis oil. he went to the nhs but was told it was unlikely he would get a prescription, so when private meaning, like many others, he had to foot the bill. the first project i received from canada cost £300, that lasted about a month, it was just so expensive, really expensive, and at the time i was on benefits, i wouldn‘t zero—hours contracts and it was a nightmare trying afford it.

for most people, that meant black market cannabis is more affordable, but never british company has produced a product maghera cheaper than getting it from dealers. produced a product maghera cheaper than getting it from dealersm cost £80 and lasts for two months, on the black market i was paying up to 70pa on the black market i was paying up to 70p a week. so what has happened that mean leigh and others can get this in legal, medicinalform cheaper than other? until now, medical cannabis distributed in the uk came from various companies are different steps along the supply chain and cost was added at each step. a british company is not the first in the uk at every stage of the process, removing those additional costs. the co—founder is ed mcdermott. we have taken a vertically integrated approach, meaning we control cultivation, processing, manufacturing and distribution, essentially cutting out middlemen. unfortunately it is still a private market, not publicly

funded, so prices a significant part of that. by bringing the price down and allowing a supply chain to work efficiently and create cost savings, we can pass that on. they grow the flower in portugal and extract the sites in spain, then it is exported to the north—east and turned into medical cannabis oil. doctor michael platt is a consultant pain specialist for the nhs but also works for sapphire medical clinic, the first medical cannabis clinic approved by the care quality commission. there are many patients who have had to give it up because it was too expensive, so although it is ok it was too expensive, so although it is 0kfor it was too expensive, so although it is ok for nhs use, a lot of nhs bodies cannot afford it so they have not been able to access it, and patients are in a lot of pain because of that. there is no doubt that in the last couple of months, our number of patients has increased quite genetically and i think it is

the realisation that price has come down so much, right down from well over 1000 p a month to about £120 to 100 and 50p, depending on the medication. if i could 100 and 50p, depending on the medication. ifi could sum it 100 and 50p, depending on the medication. if i could sum it up in two words, it would be freedom and safety, defeated to move on with my life, not have to worry about the police, and the safety of buying it off doctors and using something to a heated —— pharmaceutical standard, it is massively life changing. laura drummond is ao—years—old and lives in hampshire. she has a two—year—old daughter and previously worked as a midwife and nurse. she has a cannabis oil prescription for herfibromyalgia — shejoins me now. laura, thank you so much for talking to us today. tell us a bit more of your condition, the impact of data, and how long you have used medical cannabis to treat it? i was

diagnosis fibromyalgia in november 2015, this is after an injury while i was working as a midwife about a year—and—a—half previously. basically the condition has com pletely basically the condition has completely changed my life. i know longer work, everyday everything a com plete longer work, everyday everything a complete struggle trying to get out of bed in the morning feels like you are wading through treacle. the pain element is one that you also get more exhausted from, it is relentless, constant. this is why i have looked for alternative treatments, really. and what difference would you say the medical cannabis has made to the pain and other aspects of the condition? cannabis has made to the pain and other aspects of the condition7m was slow to start, but since i

started it in may of this year, i had seen quite a romantic effect. the pain levels are in the low numbers ——i the pain levels are in the low numbers —— i had seen quite a dramatic effect. i was living with pain other rant about seven or eight out of ten everyday, now it is probably three or four, it is more manageable and makes your life a little bit easier. had you tried lots of other treatments before moving to medical cannabis? absolutely. i had tried hyperbaric oxygen therapy, acupuncture, all different supplements. i think as a relatively young woman having this condition, you kind of go into denial that this is happening to you

and you are constantly looking for something that will be the magic bullet that will make everything go back to the way it was. so have you got this medical cannabis on prescription or are you having to pay for it yourself? i have access to two sapphire medical clinic, a friend of mine who also has fibromyalgia started using it probably a year or so before i found out about it and she told me about it and out about it and she told me about itandi out about it and she told me about it and i had to consultation during lockdown over zoom calls and decided to give it a try. the massive barrier at that point was the cost, basically about ten days worth of medical cannabis, which is what i

was needing, dosage wise, had mills would last me ten days and that was costing me £125, so £125 every ten daysis costing me £125, so £125 every ten days is an awful lot of money, and trying to budget that, it has made such a difference that my husband andi such a difference that my husband and i decided we will do whatever we need to do in order to pay for this, because it was making such a good effect on my life and therefore the life of my family and my daughter. now that this british company has cut the price of medical cannabis, will that penetrate you entrance of the amount you have to pay? absolutely, i have gone from almost £500 a month down to just over £80. you obviously have a medical background, does anybody ever

queried the possible risks and side effects and that side of things? the main thing that people ask me about is whether you have to smoke it. i explained that, no, it is like any other drug, it has less side effects than the traditional pain medication that i am also taking at the same time, it seems to make my regular painkillers work better. laura, i am sorry to interrupt you but we are just about to be out of time, but thank you so much for telling us your story, laura drummond thank you so much for telling us yourstory, laura drummond in hampshire. it is time for the weather forecast with sarah. hello. the weather‘s looking largely dry and settled for many of us, notjust today but through into the weekend as well. we will have quite a lot of cloud out there, particularly across parts of scotland. for england, wales

and northern ireland, variable amounts of cloud, thick enough for the odd shower in parts of northern ireland and also through parts of east anglia, the midlands into wales, we could see a few showers as well. but they‘ll be hit and miss, there will be some bright intervals developing. temperatures about 11 to 1a degrees today, but particularly for scotland we will keep quite a lot of cloud through the day, especially in the east. some clearer spells towards the west. through this evening and tonight, then, the cloud thickens across the uk, working its way in from the north, so with more cloud than we had last night, temperatures won‘t feel quite as low. still quite a chilly start to saturday morning with overnight lows of about four to 9 degrees. through the day tomorrow, a similar day to what we‘ve got today. still a lot of cloud around, some brighter spells, that northerly wind bringing perhaps one or two more showers across northern parts of scotland and temperatures between about nine to 13 degrees. bye for now.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. talks with the uk‘s regional leaders over tighter coronavirus restrictions continue, says the foreign secretary — as he accuses manchester‘s mayor of holding the government over a barrel. we can‘t have a situation where andy burnham is effectively saying unless you give us what we want to be will not do the right thing in terms of following the new rules which will protect the very people of manchester that he is elected to represent. "damaging to public health" — a warning from british scientists as the standoff between regional leaders and ministers over covid restrictions intensifies. it comes as more than half of england‘s population will be living under high or very high alert restrictions from midnight tonight. the number of coronavirus infections in europe overtakes those