this is bbc news with victoria derbyshire with the latest headlines. the deadline looms — leaders in greater manchester have only two hours to agree a deal taking the region into england's highest level of covid restrictions. the problem is the government are not funding local areas to close lots of things, and therefore, in my view, it is unlikely that tier 3 is going to have the effect that the government is saying. polite if you are in greater manchester, are you backing a local leaders or national leaders? get in touch, send us an e—mail. you can message me on instagram or twitter. ireland is to impose its highest level of restrictions in what the country's leader described as "probably europe's strictest regime". and president trump agrees to another tv election debate with rivaljoe biden but complains about new rules which will see microphones

muted for part of the debate. heathrow becomes the first uk airport to offer covid testing for departing passengers, with the result in around one hour. researchers in ireland say babies who are fed milk in bottles could be ingesting millions of pieces of microplastic every day. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. a deadline of midday has been set by the uk government for local leaders in greater manchester to agree a deal on moving into the highest level of covid restrictions. several days of talks between the two sides have so far failed to break the deadlock. greater manchester mayor andy burnham said the region was seeking a "fairfigure" of support

from the government. he will meet with local leaders this morning to set out the request in a letter to the government. the "very high" alert level, also known as tier 3, would mean closing pubs and bars which do not serve substantial meals, and extra restrictions on households mixing. there's also guidance against travelling in and out of the area. the labour mayor, local councillors and mps, both labour and conservative, are concerned that tier 3 rules will devastate industries such as hospitality without extra financial support for workers and businesses. the government says hospitals in the area are filling up and urgent action is needed. but local leaders have accused the governement of using "selective figures" to push the measures through. andy moore reports. the government says it's been talking to local leaders in manchester for ten days and its patience has run out. there will be a few hours left this morning to reach a deal, but if that can't be achieved, it's expected tier 3 restrictions

will be imposed on the city. late last night, the government said there were more covid—19 patients in greater manchester hospitals than in the whole of the south west and the south east combined. if we're not able to reach agreement by noon tomorrow, then, with deep regret, i'll have to advise the prime minister that we're not able to reach an agreement at this time. the mayor of manchester says what eventually happens in his city is likely to be replicated across much of the country. i have to say, it is notjust about greater manchester and getting what we can for ourselves. this is everybody's fight ultimately, because i predict all areas will end up in tier 3 at some point during the winter. what we need is a fair financial framework for tier 3. manchester is calling for a more generous hardship fund and also challenging the fundamental approach of the government. what we want, apart from anything else, are measures that will deal

with the rate of infection. and one of the real problems we face is that what government wants to impose upon us, there is no evidence that it's stopping things that cause transmission and no evidence that the course of action they're proposing to take will stop it. sir richard believes that measures to protect those who need to shield would work a lot faster than the government's proposals to shut pubs and restaurants. what happens in manchester could prove a blueprint for millions of people in other parts of the country. discussions on similar restrictions are planned with leaders in south yorkshire, west yorkshire, nottinghamshire, north east england and teesside. andy moore, bbc news. our correspondent in manchester dan johnson said the clock is ticking on negotiations between the government and local leaders. ten days, we keep saying that negotiations are perhaps getting closer to a deal, but yesterday that completely broke down, and the

discussions ended with no agreement. there was a blistering statement given just at the end of yesterday by the local leaders here in manchester, questioning the government's approach, questioning the statistics that were being given in support of these measures, saying that perhaps the government's figures about the intensive care capacity in manchester filling up were not quite accurate, that perhaps capacity was not any higher than it normally would be at this time of year, so a lot of bad feeling. and late last night that ultimatum from the communities secretary, which has only angered andy burnham, the region's mayor, even more. it is hard to underestimate the bitterness between the politicians discussing this, and people just want to know what is happening. they were already calling out for clarity about what the rules would be, but the local leaders have questioned whether the tier 3 restrictions the government is now seeking to impose, potentially, were even going to be effective

in bringing down the virus. they want to see evidence of that, more support for workers affected by restrictions, so now we see what the local leaders here in manchester agree between themselves in a meeting this morning, and whether they are able to put it back and come to a deal before this midday deadline. let's speak to our political correspondent iain watson. to hours before the deadline, any wide smug, any state on what is going to happen? no, not yet, victoria, the high noon at stand—off continues. there has been a meeting this morning between the greater manchester leaders, the ten council leaders in that area, but we haven't yet found out what they are going to say to the government at this stage. but certainly the mood music hasn't been desperately positive so far. of course, there was criticism of the government's approach last night, effectively setting this deadline

without further consultation, and it seems relations have been so bad they can't even agree on what they have been talking about, so we heard about that hardship fund put forward by the government and then withdrawn, according to andy burnham, the government says it was never put forward in the first place. in a row of a hospital admissions, greater manchester maintained the number of patients in intensive care is similar to last october, the government says the birds are filling up and in a couple of weeks' time they could reach full capacity. so with that huge gap between them in terms of understanding, in terms of their positions, it is probably more likely, more likely, that the government, in the end, would impose its restrictions. what andy burnham has been arguing is that he is not simply fighting for greater manchester but for all low paid people across the country who may in future be taken into these more restrictive measures, and he is suggesting that the government

simply doesn't have a generous enough offerfor simply doesn't have a generous enough offer for those who will be laid off from work. we are all wanting to protect people's health, but what i would say to the government is held is about more than controlling the virus. if we leave people in a tier 3 lockdown that could go on through the winter, where people can't go to the winter, where people can't go to the normal place of work, i think we could end up with a mental health crisis on top of a pandemic, because the people that i mentioned at the start of this interview will face certain harm from this. because in tier3, it is certain harm from this. because in tier 3, it is the workplaces of the lowest paid to a close down. if you are on a lowest paid to a close down. if you are on a middle income, it is possible to live on two thirds of your salary. on the lowest income, i don't think it is possible. what the government is saying that there will be £20 million worth of support for greater manchester as a kind of baseline, if you like, to help with track and

trace locally, and to help those who are most clinically vulnerable, but as in liverpool and lancashire, they are prepared to put more money on the table in the form of business support. you might expect somewhere in the region of a further £60 million, so that is what you have to look at if the government proposes a deal, would greater manchester get something less generous because they have not, unlike lancashire and liverpool, accepted the government's tens? business minister nadhim zahawi says the government has been negotiating in good faith, but he emphasised the need to act quickly on the deteriorating health situation in greater manchester. we have been negotiating in good faith for ten days, and we owe it to the people of greater manchester to speak with one voice, to get this intervention in place, because if we don't, in two weeks' time, if the current trajectory follows through, they will have the same level of infections as in march and april, and by the first week of november, they will run out of icu capacity.

and so it is important that we come together, speak with one voice, to get this important, you know, local intervention in place. soa so a couple of hours to go before we find out whether the government will impose these restrictions, we will be chasing the council leaders this morning to find out what they have agreed, and whether they think there is the basis for a deal, but it is very clear that the government is prepared to announce tier 3 restrictions no matter what later today. us president donald trump will attend thursday's televised pre—election debate with his democratic rival, joe biden, despite rule changes initially opposed by his campaign. it'll be the second and final face—off between the two candidates before polling day, after the president refused to attend a virtual debate last week after testing positive for the coronavirus. it comes after a heated and shambolic first debate during which mrtrump, in particular, repeatedly interrupted mr biden. to avoid the same outcome,

rule changes will see each candidate's microphone muted while his rival delivers the introductory two—minute remarks. here's a snippet from the first debate. i'm going to eliminate those tax cuts and make sure that we invest in the people who in fact need the help. people out there need help. but why didn't you do it in the last 25 years? because you weren't president, screwing things up. you were a senator and by the way... you are the worst president america has ever had. hey, joe, let me just say, joe, i've done more in 47 months than you've done in 47 years, joe. all right, that's the... moving on... a little earlier, our north america correspondent peter bowes gave more detail on the rule change. yeah, what we've just seen is exactly what the organisers want to avoid this week, and that is all of those interruptions. the rule change, it's quite a simple one, really, there'll be is—minute segments divided into different topics, at the beginning of each is—minute

segment, both candidates will get two minutes to outline his case and his policies. during those two minutes, the other candidate's microphone will be on mute, effectively it will be cut so that they can't interrupt. or, at least, they try to interrupt, it will be a very sort of off—mic sound on the stage, but it will give the other candidate the opportunity to perhaps expand at greater length what his policy is on a certain topic. and this is happening, the commission says, because they have heard from people who were quite honestly angry that during the first debate they didn't feel as if they understood the policies of the two individual candidates because of all of the interruptions. in ireland, the whole country will face the highest level of restrictions for the next six weeks. measures to ban households mixing and to close nonessential businesses will come into effect at midnight on wednesday, following a surge in cases over the last fortnight. our correspondent chris page has the

latest. well, for many people in this country, this is going to feel very much like a lockdown. once again, they are being told they have to work from home unless it's absolutely impossible. they can exercise only within five kilometres of where they live, and they can't go out for a meal ora drink. pubs and restaurants are going takeaway only. large parts of the economy are closing. there are some exceptions, including essential retail, construction industry and most manufacturing. for most families, the main difference between what is going to be happening later this week and the lockdown back in the spring is that schools and childcare facilities will be remaining open, but there is no doubt there will be a significant economic hit. the financial support for the people whose livelihoods will be worst affected is being increased. but at the cabinet meeting yesterday, ministers were briefed that, in this country with a population of almost 5 million, there could be more than 200,000 job losses. that is an awful lot of redundancies.

but there is a view that cases of the virus are much, much too high. hospitalisations have been rising. the number of deaths, fortunately, does remain relatively low. but in his televised address last night, the prime minister, micheal martin, said that unless action was taken now, a very grave situation would arise. he held out hope, though, that if people stuck together and followed these new restrictions, which are going to be very tough over the next six weeks, well then, he hoped the restrictions would be lifted on the ist of december, giving people the opportunity, he said, to celebrate christmas in a meaningful way. but there is no doubt, and the prime minister himself acknowledged, that many people will be feeling disappointment and fear at the loneliness that could come over the next month and a half. meanwhile, a national lockdown will come into force in wales on friday and last until the 9th of november. everyone will be told to stay indoors and work from home where possible. primary schools will reopen after the half—term break, but only years seven and eight in secondary schools will be back

in the classroom. first minister mark drakeford said what he called a firebreak was needed to slow the spread of coronavirus and buy more time. he told the bbc why he thinks these restrictions are necessary. of coronavirus across wales, which we report every day, begins to fall, if that leads to a reduction in hospital admissions for coronavirus, if the positivity rate, the number of people tested who turn out to have the disease, begins to fall, and there are further metrics as well. we have a series of things we will test to see the impact of this fortnight of significant closure of people's personal and business lives in wales in order to make sure that we are able to move into the rest of the autumn and winter in a position where our nhs is not threatened with being overwhelmed.

the headlines on bbc news: a deadline to break the deadlock. leaders in greater manchester have until midday to agree a deal taking the region into england's highest level of covid restrictions ireland is to impose its highest level of restrictions, in what the country's leader described as "probably europe's strictest regime". and president trump agrees to another tv election debate with rivaljoe biden but complains about new rules which will see microphones muted for part of the debate. belgium's health minister fears the country could soon be overwhelmed by new coronavirus infections. and infection numbers are climbing across europe, prompting lots of new restrictions. mark lobel reports. last orders have been called in belgium's bars, now closed for four weeks, with alcohol sales elsewhere banned after 8pm each

night. asked how he feels now, this pub owner says not so good. restaurants are shut too. real catastrophe, because there is not a proven reason, medical reason, that it was in restaurants. belgians must work from home if possible, leaving offices empty. having been one of the worst—hit countries during europe's first wave of coronavirus earlier this year, this second scare, with cases up 80% over a week and hospitalisations up, it means that belgium's residents are now only allowed to see one other person from outside their household. and a curfew is in place until 5am, as the government wrestles to get on top of a looming health crisis. translation: that's life. like some people say, there are quite a few people who don't take enough precautions, i would say. in italy, there are also new rules for restaurants, alongside new restrictions

that allow mayors to close public areas, and changes to secondary school hours. and in france, nine major cities have been placed under curfew. meanwhile, in the czech republic, where facemasks will be mandatory outdoors from wednesday, and which has the highest infection rate on the continent, the government is considering a full national lockdown. to lift spirits, to tackle the virus, the world health organization's new message is that we are all one globalfamily. a family is the affection and the care and the love and the desire to protect those around you. with this pandemic, to me, it has brought the whole world together as a family. it really has. spotted in a now deserted brussels, one moment that suggests by pulling together,

getting through this second act may feel easier. mark lobel, bbc news. passengers flying from heathrow to hong kong and italy will be first to have the option of paying for a rapid covid test before checking in. the test will cost £80 and the result is guaranteed within an hour. it comes as a growing number of countries have classified the uk as being "at risk", meaning travellers from the uk face more restrictions. our correspondent tom burridge went down to heathrow earlier this morning to check out the new facilities. heathrow overall is seeing about 20% of its pre—covid passenger volume. this is the testing centre, so in theory you would have booked online before you came here, costing £80, as we say. a trained health professional will take a saliva swab from you, it is a pretty standard procedure, we are all kind of familiar with it by now, on a cotton bud, effectively. the kind of test they are using

is called a lamp test, it means the sample you gave can be analysed here on site in that room down there, and they guarantee the result within the hour. it is important to note that initially this facility will only be applicable for people going out of the uk to places like hong kong and probably soon italy, and that is because the type of test is accepted by the authorities in both of those places, when you go out of the uk. more and more countries are putting restrictions on people coming from the uk going there because of the prevalence of the virus here. also really important to note that this testing facility here will have no direct consequence for people coming into the uk, so no consequences for the travel quarantine, although the aviation sector really hopes that this is the very first step. they want the government to bring

in testing for people coming into the uk as a means of reducing the travel quarantine time, and the government has said they are looking at different options, possibly a test after a week so you would only have to quarantine for around about a week, and they say they will bring that type of thing in by december, or sometime next month. the aviation sector says it can't happen soon enough. nhs england has today found the death of a teenager who died after being given an anti—psychotic drug following a seizure, against his parents‘ wishes, was potentially unavoidable. oliver mcgowan, who had epilepsy, was just 18 years old when he died. since then, the family have been campaigning for the nhs to acknowledge it was at fault and for the rules to be changed. well, we can talk to them now. oliver's parents, paula and tom mcgowan, join

me now. thank you very much for talking to us. thank you very much for talking to us. paula, tom, how do you react to the conclusion of this review? well, we are very pleased to say, you know, this response, because, you know, this response, because, you know, it means a lot for us as a family, a lot for oliver, but the bigger picture is what is more important. this matters to saving the lives of disabled people. important. this matters to saving the lives of disabled peoplem important. this matters to saving the lives of disabled people. it is welcome news, you know, there was a first report which was altered, and we have now come to the conclusion that we should have the first time, but it is good... it is a bittersweet sort of feeling, it is good to have it acknowledged, because it is what we already knew, but we had to spend the best part of three years getting to this point. why do you say that this will help protect the lives of those with learning disabilities in the future,

paula? well, we believe it is all about learning, when things go wrong, for clinicians and social ca re wrong, for clinicians and social care staff to learn from mistakes that have been made, and to take those learnings forward into practice. we have over 1200 potential —— preventable deaths in health care, they are dying because of inequality in health care. we need to government to really embrace theirs. we need nhs england to take ownership of any lessons to be learnt, and we need that fed down into the hospital trusts. we are advocates of the process, it is the only real tool to try and identify and learnt lessons, but we need those lessons to be learned. we have had four reports, and the statistics are not really changed much in those reports. no. we

hope that these far— reaching reports. no. we hope that these far—reaching recommendations will make a meaningful change over time, but they need to be adopted. can i ask you to tell our audience who are watching right around the world right now what happened to oliver backin right now what happened to oliver back in 2016 when he was 18, for those who want to learn more about your son? well, oliver, you know, he was a great lad, having a great life, but as a result of meningitis asa life, but as a result of meningitis as a baby, he had focal seizures, so almost absence type seizures. we we re almost absence type seizures. we were told when he had clusters of seizures, that we must bring him to hospital, which is what we did, but because he was quite anxious and scared in hospital and he would revert back to his normal autistic behaviours, the doctors misunderstood those behaviours to be a mental health condition may be, and instead of making reasonable adjustments, which is what the report says to do, the

law says, the autism act, theirfirst report says to do, the law says, the autism act, their first response was autism act, their first response was a chemical cosh, and they gave oliver an anti—psychotic drug. used in the correct way, it is very effective, but it can have detrimental, far—reaching consequences. it can help mental health conditions, but it is not right, really, to use those medications on people with autism. asa medications on people with autism. as a consequence, medications on people with autism. as a consequence, oliver reacted really severely to the medication and, you know, we then kept a diary, and, you know, we then kept a diary, and when he went into the last hospital, we presented that diary, showing them his reactions to the drug, and what doctors had said, and oliver himself had made it really clear to clinicians that he was not to be administered any anti—psychotic drugs, and as his advocates, we said exactly the same thing. he had documented intolerances to that drug, we had a

letter and previous documented evidence to that effect, but unfortunately it was ignored.|j evidence to that effect, but unfortunately it was ignored. i am sorry to interrupt, tom, but how could it be ignored? an 18—year—old boy was telling them, and so were his parents. exactly, and that is the harshness and unfairness of this, because doctors are the decision—makers in that situation. he had just turned 18, so he was classed an adult, so the doctors have a right to make those decisions, but there are situations where they should listen to families and patients, and unfortunately they did not, and that was recorded and reported on any report, the issues of law. as you have both said, he was mildly autistic, he had a learning disability — none of those mental health issues, so why was he given anti—psychotic drug? mental health issues, so why was he given anti-psychotic drug? this is what is happening to autistic and

disabled people right across the uk, really. can you imagine, victoria, going into hospital, you know what is right or wrong for you, and you tell clinicians that you are not to be administered a certain drug, but for some reason your voice does not count, and not only your voice but the voice of your family and advocates. and this is exactly why s0 advocates. and this is exactly why so many learning disabled people are dying from preventable deaths. statistically, it is acknowledged that you are 27 years earlier at likely to die, purely because you have got a disability. and that is fa ct, have got a disability. and that is fact, that is fact. there are lots of statistics around this, and it is notjust in the uk, it is quite common around the world. but, you know, what needs to change is the culture as well, the culture on people with disabilities, and that is why we are happy to get a story out and use it

in whatever way we can. absolutely, you now, if you can protect the lives of others, of other people with learning disabilities, then that is something. but, you know, it is unimaginable for most people watching that you, you know, you bring a little boy into the world, you get through primary school, through secondary school, he is on the cusp of being an adult, and then he is taken from you. it is absolutely heartbreaking. especially when you put all the foundations in place and you ensure that everything is going to be right for him, and you are making him be the best adult he can possibly be. and, you know, we know this stuff and we pass it onto the clinicians, we knew him best, but sadly, victoria, i've got to say, it appears to me, my opinion, that if you a learning disability or autism in this country, your life doesn't seem to be seen as equal as

everybody else's, and sadly oliver is testa m e nt to else's, and sadly oliver is testament to that. just a statistic, unfortunately. it is not uncommon. when it first happened, you have those thoughts, we are not different, we are not special, every pa re nt different, we are not special, every parent would go through the same, and when you start to read around it, you begin to realise very quickly that his story is so common, one of many. it needs to change, and thatis one of many. it needs to change, and that is why we want to get the story out as much as possible.|j that is why we want to get the story out as much as possible. i am very grateful that you have spoken to us today and that the photograph behind you of your son is absolutely magnificent, i have to say, it has dominated the picture of what we see of you today, so thank you for that, and we wish you all the best, thank you very much, paula, tom, thank you. researchers in ireland say babies who are fed milk in bottles could be ingesting millions of pieces of microplastic every day. they carried out tests on a range

of widely available products and say the plastics are being released when the bottles are sterilised. professorjohn boland is the lead author of the research and joins me now. professor, hello. good morning. tell us professor, hello. good morning. tell us how you did this research, and exactly what you find? we looked at plastic feeding bottles, and 82% of feeding bottles are plastic, and we identified products from ten different fenders which constituted 68% of that market, we went to the normal who protocols, we sterilise the bottles, we then filled them with 70 celsius water, added the powdered milk, sugar it and put the cap on and we measured the amount of

micro—plastics, and we found that on average we have at least one million and in many cases several million per litre of the actual volume. and evenif per litre of the actual volume. and even if you use cold water, if you shake the bottle for one minute as recommended by the who, you still produce hundreds of thousands of micro—plastics. let anybody who has bottle —fed micro—plastics. let anybody who has bottle—fed their baby or is giving that right now will feel very alarmed by what you had said, should they be? we were alarmed, when you think of micro—plastic he think of them coming indirectly in yourfood, sometimes through the waterways and into fish, then we have micro—plastics showing up directly and prepared food. the reality is that we do not know of any adverse health effects from exposure to micro—plastics, there have not been any studies, there have been some studies in animals but the bottom

line is that the jury is out. but we we re line is that the jury is out. but we were s0 concerned line is that the jury is out. but we were so concerned with the level that we source that we thought we needed to identify mitigating strategies, we are making some suggestions about how parents might change the way they prepare baby formula to mitigate against a levels, and we think if you follow the mitigating measures we indicate that you will reduce it to a fraction of 1%, it is still not zero. but the health impacts are unknown so presumably more research is needed, so be clear about the mitigating factors that parents can do. you absolutely have to sterilise a bottle like the who suggests, put in boiling water and roll it around, let it dry, then prepare sterilised water in a non—glass container, it could be a glass container or a pot, you let that water pool, pour that

into the sterilise baby bottle and gently into the sterilise baby bottle and ge ntly roll into the sterilise baby bottle and gently roll it around maybe two or three times, remove all of the list faking plastics that might be on the inside of the sterilised bottle, then separately prepare the baby formula using 70 degrees water in a glass container or a metal pot, if you will, then allow that to cool and pour the prepared formula into the sterilised bottle and feed it to the sterilised bottle and feed it to the infant. you say that it's worth doing because it is precautionary? for us this is a precautionary principle, we have not found any methodology that reduces the level julie's to zero, i should say we are working separately on developing technologies around coding the plastic which will prevent the hot water engaging with the plastic, it isa water engaging with the plastic, it is a combination of hot water and agitation that causes micro—plastic

formation, and these coatings should magically reduce the level of micro—plastics. magically reduce the level of micro-plastics. would it be wrong of me to suggest to you that millions of people will have been possible had —— bottle—fed with plastic bottles, using normal sterilising techniques, they had turned out all right and techniques, they had turned out all rightandi techniques, they had turned out all right and i have been no health problems? let's be clear, as humans we ingest and inhale vast quantities of particles and our body's job is to excrete them. it is not generally a problem. my concern and the concern of my colleagues is that we are concerned about the potential exposure of young infants with developing me and systems, most studies have been done on adult mice and whatnot, we have not done studies at the appropriate level —— gun infants with developing immune systems. until we

have ways to fabricate plastics to prevent micro—plastic formation entirely, i think it is wise to take these steps, i know it is additional work but if i still had young children, i would take these steps, we think it is important that your listeners know about this. thank you for talking to me, professorjohn boland. coronavirus has changed the lives of millions of people across the world, as they adapt to varying degrees of restrictions. but some around the world are living a covid—free life, either because their country has beaten the virus or because it never took hold there at all. with me is simon carter, who is originally from adelaide in australia but now lives in wuhan, china, where the pandemic is believed to have started. also i'm joined by amy, a 21—year—old student living on the pacific island of palau. thank you very much for talking to us. thank you very much for talking to us. amy, you

were a student on guam, why did you decide to leave and travel to where you are now. firstly, thank you very much for having me. iwas firstly, thank you very much for having me. i was in guam, firstly, thank you very much for having me. iwas in guam, i firstly, thank you very much for having me. i was in guam, i was going to school, living a very normal life in the dorms and then once we heard that the number of cases of coronavirus kept increasing day by day, i was like, ok, might as well return home since also we have provision for online classes. yes, thatis provision for online classes. yes, that is what i and giving right now. i have been safely in the comfort of my covid free island nation and everything is as normal as it was before i left home. i can hear some wonderful sounds of wildlife. i don't know what time of day or night

it is and what i am hearing? oh, it is probably the crickets outside my house. it is, it sounds wonderful and it is covid free. simon, in terms of... tell us what it is like in wuhan right now? it is back to normal, apart from the masks, i couldn't tell the difference between this year and last year now. seriously?! that is incredible. how has that been achieved? obviously the main thing was the lockdown when they shut the entire city down back in january. they shut the entire city down back injanuary. i they shut the entire city down back in january. i was they shut the entire city down back injanuary. i was in total looked pretty much full six weeks, then they opened it up, there has been a lot of testing, not just heat testing but in may they tested the entire population of wuhan, around 10 million people, they tested the

entire population in about ten days and currently there is a small outbreak in tsingtao and they are testing the entire population of qingdao. is it because of that incredible testing setup and the ability to test millions of people in less than two weeks that you can go about your normal life? that testing came a little bit later, there is a much greater degree of compliance here in china and asian cultures, generally speaking, compared to, say, australia. so when theissue compared to, say, australia. so when the issue broke out and they locked the issue broke out and they locked the entire place down, people accepted that, they accepted the masks, the inconvenience. over summer, it gets very hot in wuhan and over some itiust summer, it gets very hot in wuhan and over some must comply was not 100%, but as we go into the cool weather again it is back up to 100%.

just a very different culture here. amy, tell us about your life on the pacific ocean islands? my life on the specific ocean tuck in guam? it is really laid—back, i live in a very laid environment. —— my life on the specific island of palau? tell about the population? about 20,000 people are living here in palau. everything is just as laid—back as it can get. just eating local food and going to school. on our three days we just go swimming, go to the rock islands, that is what we do.. and i assume no to risk and

that is why there is no covid? zero tourists at the moment. many people see that asa at the moment. many people see that as a bad thing, but i believe that right now is the perfect time to really enjoy what our island has to offer. our diving spots are public areas. when was the last time we would go to the rock island, it was too busy so we had to go through another one. it is good to enjoy what the island has to offer without it being so crowded all the time. thank you for talking to us, amie and simon, potentially hopeful as here. we appreciate your time. the number of weekly registered coronavirus deaths has risen beyond 400 and increased

by a third in the space of seven days. figures from the office for national statistics show 438 deaths mentioning "novel coronavirus" were registered in england and wales in the week ending october 9th. this is a rise of 36% — or 117 deaths — from the previous week, which saw the highest number of deaths involving covid—19 since earlyjuly. let's stick to our health editor hugh pym. tell us how you read these figures and what it means for us? sadly we have got used to the number of daily reported deaths going up from what they were a month also go, these figures from the office of national statistics paint a broader picture, because they include deaths of people in their own homes as well as hospitals and care homes, and the overall uk figures, the figures from the ons were for england and wales, but adding in the rest

of the uk we have 474 covid deaths in the week of the 9th of october, more than four times what the figure was four weeks ago. to put that in perspective, the peak back in april was almost 9500, we are nowhere near that point, but an acceleration of four times in four weeks is where we are in this latest surge. so it goes along with what we have been led to believe about why things are going, but this is the most authoritative look at the number of covid deaths and be number of more general debts. if we look at all deaths in that week, they were only slightly above the long—term average. they were only slightly above the long-term average. can i ask you about the situation hospitals in the north west of england, greater manchester in particular, there is a row about funding package for tier 3 in the area which also a row about how much capacity of icu beds has been taken up and it seems to

be difficult to get to the bottom of his is using the figures accurately, local or national leaders. the local and national leaders are speaking from a different hymn sheet, if you like. what local health leaders in greater manchester are saying is that right now intensive care capacity, there is about 80 to 85% being used of capacity and there was scope formal patients to come in, they say there are rising numbers of patients coming in with covid but in intensive care, they are coping right now. at the westminster does not put out figures yesterday projecting forward and saying that by the end of october, all free beds in icu would be used up and by november 12 all the extra surge capacity that could be brought on in greater manchester, all the extra intensive care beds in hospitals that could be created, ventilators

brought in and so on, that would all be used up at that with a projection, that was saying that was where we will be on current trends, soa where we will be on current trends, so a different picture from each side, but in terms of reality now, hospitals are not for like, they are not denying it is serious but intensive care units are dealing with the patients coming in —— intensive reality now, hospitals are not fullers. a teenager has been awarded a lifelong medicinal cannabis prescription on the nhs in a landmark decision that could pave the way for thousands more patients to receive the treatment. the decision has been signed off by doctors and officials following years of campaigning by the teenager's mother, charlotte caldwell from castlederg, county tyrone, in northern ireland. billy caldwell‘s first batch of medicine under the new agreement, prescribed by a private doctor but funded by the health service, will arrive on 1st november — exactly two years after the law was changed legalising medicinal cannabis in

the uk. with me is dr mikael sodergren — managing director at sapphire medical clinic and nhs consultant surgeon at imperial college. also i'm joined by charlotte caldwell. her son is teenager billy caldwell. bochum all and thank you for talking to us. charlotte, how do you react? —— welcome all. to us. charlotte, how do you react? -- welcome all. good morning, victoria, thank you for having me. obviously we are ecstatic, over the moon about this. i received the news, obviously, that we had been waiting for this last two years,‘s gp called to say would i to the surgery gp called to say would i to the surgery to discuss this new shared ca re surgery to discuss this new shared care plan that his medical team have developed? the

care plan that his medical team have developed ? the care care plan that his medical team have developed? the care plan is the first nhs package that has ever been developed like this and it will allow billy to receive his medical cannabis under the nhs. i have to say, i and cannabis under the nhs. i have to say, iand incredibly cannabis under the nhs. i have to say, i and incredibly grateful to the health authorities in northern ireland who have worked relentlessly with billy's medical team to develop and make this happen and i wanted to further comment matt hancock for creating a refectory, and advisory clinic, a plan at great ormond street, this has allowed billy this new care package. billy was referred

to the expert panel, sorry, guys, in july to the expert panel, sorry, guys, in july of this year, unfortunately for billy he got a positive outcome. —— and fortunately for billy. a lot of fa ns and fortunately for billy. a lot of fans has to go to our health minister in northern ireland has fulfilled his personal commitment to ensure that billy receives his care plan. before i bring in dr mikael sodergren, can i ask you how important this planet is prescription is to the quality of billy's life? —— how important is cannabis prescription is? it means everything to him, this medicine has kept alive for the last four years. billy has had access to medical cannabis by prescription, like i say, it is four years, and

incredibly long time. it has been controlling his life—threatening features. dr mikael sodergren, how big a deal is this, would you say? -- his big a deal is this, would you say? —— his life—threatening seizures. there is no doubt that this is very significant indeed for a couple of reasons, most importantly at the heart of this is a young man who we know benefit significantly from this medicine and in some ways can be described as life—saving, he now has access to the medicine on the nhs. ona wider access to the medicine on the nhs. on a wider note, this is the first time that the mechanism that has been set up by the nhs to evaluate these cases that do not full within these cases that do not full within the nice guidelines and to evaluate them as to whether they can be prescribed medical cannabis on the nhs, and so this is significant in so nhs, and so this is significant in so much as

this highlights that the route to a medical cannabis prescription outside of nice guidance is possible on the nhs, in this case. the refractory childhood epilepsy, but maybe over the next months and years this will be open to other conditions where these medicines have got really life changing consequences. so the consequences for other patients and other kinds of treatments, you are saying? yes. the issue is that medical cannabis was legalised for prescription couple of years ago and we are really trying to still be evidence gap as a medical profession, and there is no doubt that the long—term route is through evaluation by nice, likely do with all other medicines, but that will ta ke all other medicines, but that will take time, and in the meantime there is also no doubt that

we should make special provisions for particular groups of patients like and others need this type of treatment —— like and others, who needed this type of treatment as we build up the evidence base as a medical profession. but we need a medical approach to build up the evidence base, notjust approach to build up the evidence base, not just randomised approach to build up the evidence base, notjust randomised controlled trials but likely have been working on at sapphire clinics, a real—world evidence—based on how it changes symptoms and relates to quality—of—life, etc. symptoms and relates to quality-of-life, etc. briefly and finally, charlotte, you're campaigning, which has been immense, could potentially benefit many other patients. how do you feel? even today, talking to you, i am also thinking of the large group of patients that i

support on a daily basis, patients with ms, adhd, epilepsy, chronic pain and there are thousands, 1.4 million patients in the uk with a wide spectrum of conditions treating themselves off the black market, treating medical conditions. these patients are still being denied access. i have committed myself over the last number of years and continue to commit myself to do all i can to process the access for these desperately ill patients and work as closely as possible with the likes of dr mikael sodergren at the sapphire clinics to try to get more clinical research, the

same medicine thatis clinical research, the same medicine that is basically saving billy's life. thank you both for talking to us, we really appreciated and we wish you all the best. thank you. visitors to salisbury cathedral are being given a rare chance to take a glimpse behind the scenes, as stone masons work to preserve parts of the 800—year—old structure. john maguire is at the cathedral and sent this report. its spire stretches 123 metres into the heavens, just above 400 feet, making it the tallest in britain. it dominates the city of salisbury and the surrounding countryside. but it's only up close that you gain a full appreciation of this building and the people who created it. we're climbing the scaffolding on the among the parapets tour, covid—secure, of course, but a chance to see the scale of the task at hand. this is a gablet. and there is a buttress below. we've introduced new stones

here, which you can see. there's old stones above. this is what this one did look like originally, but obviously all the detail‘s gone. so in order to reproduce a new one, the mason has got a lot of scope to introduce their new flowing design. as long as it's gothic, early english gothic, in style and design. well, this building is 800 years old. the restoration work that's been going on for the past 35 years or so has seen the replacement of around 1% of the stones. so, as you can imagine, there's still quite a lot of work to do. they were built for a smaller workman in those days. clambering beneath the east end roof into a loft that for centuries was a workshop for the stonemasons, gary shows me how much of the traditional way of working still continues today. everyjoint there is soldered. so it's all lead and we actually cast our own lead cames on site.

so this is what we call a two pin lewis. it's split in half, if you like. and when you put them both together and then you put them in the hole like that. when you lift up the hook, it literally grips and holds the weight of the stone. easily four or 500 kilos. wind, rain, frost and pollution have joined forces to attack the cathedral‘s exterior. but step inside and the stonework looks as if it was created yesterday. we're looking straight down the scissor arches. perfect symmetry. they look almost like a teardrop. stone vaulted ceilings above which is being painted with reds and blues and greens. back on terra firma in the stone masons' workshop, sarah's carving in the same way as her forebears have for centuries. and like them, modern day artisans create their own incredible detail in the stone. often their work will be placed hundreds of feet high,

near invisible from the ground. but you know it's there, it's there for history. so, you know, grandchildren or whatever, they always know that their grandmother's done x on the cathedral, even if i need to use binoculars to see it. they're always gonna know that i've done some work on the cathedral. so, i love that. traditionally, they've carved their unique signature, often initials into the stone. it's known as a banker mark, as it ensured that they were paid. they can identify the stones that they've worked and everything. and it's kind of like an age—old tradition that goes back to the medieval masons. and speaking of getting paid, the money raised from the tours will go towards the £2 million shortfall caused by covid. but salisbury cathedral is among those institutions that have survived even worse. joanna gosling will be here

in the next few minutes as she counts down to the midday deadline to tsa deal can be reached between greater manchester leaders and the westminster government. you are watching bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol. hello again. the wind will be a feature of the weather today, especially so across the irish sea and the far north of scotland. but wherever you are, it's going to be a fairly breezy, blustery day, but a mild one, and there still is some rain in the forecast even into the afternoon and also some showers. low pressure is driving our weather, we've got this front which has been taking rain into the north sea, this one bringing rain into the north of scotland, and a lot of showers wrapped around that area of low pressure, especially so as we go through the afternoon. so a lot of dry weather, a fair bit of sunshine around, variable amounts of cloud. a few showers getting into some central areas, rain becoming ensconced across the north of scotland, windy here, windy through the irish sea and some of those showers across northern ireland, north—west england, southern

and central scotland could well prove to be heavy and thundery, but temperature wise, nine in lerwick to 19 in london. the average in london at this time of year is roughly about 15 to 16. now, through this evening and overnight we continue with showers in the west and also in the north, it will still be a windy night, winds easing for a time and then picking up, and then cast your eye to the channel islands and the far south and south—east of england, because here we've got more rain arriving. but a mild night in prospect. most of the uk staying in double figures. tomorrow, if we pick up this band of rain it's going to be moving across southern areas and heading north—eastwards. some of this rain could be heavy, and to the south of it, well, there is a potential we could have very strong winds, particularly in the south—eastern end of the english channel and the south—east itself. ahead of that, still some showers coming in across scotland and northern ireland, but in between a brighter slot with highs of up to 19 in norwich. then as we head through wednesday

night into thursday, watch this area of rain move away from scotland. there will be areas of cloud, some clear skies, but during thursday a ridge of high pressure builds across us, so things settle down, and it's looking like a fairly dry day with maybe one or two showers, but that will be the extent of it. not quite as mild, highs up to 15 or 16 degrees. and as for the outlook, well, into the weekend you'll notice the temperatures starting to slide a little bit more, there will be some rain at times but, equally, there will also be some sunshine to look forward to.

ten days this is bbc news. i'm joanna gosling. the headlines at 11.00am... the deadline looms — leaders in greater manchester have only one hour to agree a deal taking the region into england's highest level of covid restrictions. the problem is that government are not funding local areas to close lots of things and, therefore, in my view, it is unlikely that tier 3 is going to have the effect that the government is saying. official figures show the number of weekly registered coronavirus deaths has risen beyond 400. that is an increase of a third in the space of seven days. as that manchester deadline approaches, we'll be bringing you any developments in the next hour. in other news... president trump agrees to another tv election debate with rivaljoe biden, but complains about new rules which will see microphones muted for part of the debate.

heathrow becomes the first uk airport to offer covid testing for departing passengers, with the result in around one hour. a deadline of midday has been set by the government for local leaders in greater manchester to agree a deal on moving into the highest level of covid restrictions. several days of talks between the two sides have so far failed to break the deadlock. greater manchester mayor andy burnham said the region was seeking a "fairfigure" of support from the government. he's been meeting with local leaders this morning to set out the request in a letter to the government. the "very high" alert level, also known as tier three, would mean closing pubs and bars

which do not serve ‘substantial‘ meals, and extra restrictions on households mixing. there's also guidance against travelling in and out of the area. the labour mayor, local councillors and mps — both labour and conservative — are concerned that tier three rules will devastate industries such as hospitality without extra financial support for workers and businesses. the government says hospitals in the area are filling up and urgent action is needed. but local leaders have accused the governement of using "selective andy moore reports. the government says it's been talking to local leaders in manchester for ten days and its patience has run out. there will be a few hours left this morning to reach a deal, but if that can't be achieved, it's expected tier 3 restrictions will be imposed on the city. late last night, the government said there were more covid—19 patients in greater manchester hospitals than in the whole of the south west and the south east combined. if we're not able to reach

agreement by noon tomorrow, then, with deep regret, i'll have to advise the prime minister that we're not able to reach an agreement at this time. the mayor of manchester says what eventually happens in his city is likely to be replicated across much of the country. i have to say, it is notjust about greater manchester and getting what we can for ourselves. this is everybody's fight ultimately, because i predict all areas will end up in tier 3 at some point during the winter. what we need is a fair financial framework for tier 3. manchester is calling for a more generous hardship fund and also challenging the fundamental approach of the government. what we want, apart from anything else, are measures that will deal with the rate of infection. and one of the real problems we face is that what government wants to impose upon us, there is no evidence that it's stopping things that cause transmission and no evidence that the course of action they're

proposing to take will stop it. sir richard believes that measures to protect those who need to shield would work a lot faster than the government's proposals to shut pubs and restaurants. what happens in manchester could prove a blueprint for millions of people in other parts of the country. discussions on similar restrictions are planned with leaders in south yorkshire, west yorkshire, nottinghamshire, north east england and teesside. andy moore, bbc news. let's speak to our political correspondent iain watson. ian, less than an hour away from that midday deadline, is there any sign of agreementnot yet, we have spoken to manchester council and they have been meeting this morning but we haven't yet got any idea of whether the now currently talking to

government will have something to say after midday after the deadline has passed. we will find out if there are any talks on whether they have reached agreement or not but there seems to me that there is still quite a big gap between the two sides, effectively what the government is saying is that clearly infection rates are going up, hospital admissions are going up but even the greater manchester councils can't agree on the basic facts because they're saying, hang on a minute, there are more patients in the intensive care units than a couple of months ago but similar to last summer, a year ago, before the coronavirus struck there was disagreement between the two sides on the level of financial support that was required to help the more staff that was struck off work if the pubs and bars have to close. andy burnham was arguing that the government has not been generous enoughin government has not been generous enough in the amount of economic

support that they would offer the region. we are all wanting to protect the government held that what i would say to the government is healthy is about more than controlling the virus. if we leave people in a tier 3 lockdown that could go on through the winter, where people can't go to their normal place of work. i think we could end up with a mental health crisis on top of a pandemic because the people that i mentioned at the start of this interview will face certain harm from this because in tier 3, it's the workplaces at the lowest paid which are closed down and i think that that point is somehow being missed. if you are on a middle income, it is possible to live on two thirds of your salary but if you are on the lowest income, i don't think it is possible. there is also a disagreement on whether a hardship fund could be offered to local authorities making funds available to people on the lowest incomes. the government is

saying that this was never offered. anti—burning is suggesting that it was offered —— matt andy burnham is suggesting that it was offered. but what is offered from the government is effectively a base funding which would help most of local test track in trace. they would also offer economic support proportionate to what the government was able to make available to both the liverpool city region and lancashire. that was £30 million but with a higher prop —— population in manchester, this is suggested that it could be an extra £56 million but it is not certain about whether this money would go to greater manchester if they had to impose these restrictions. the

deteriorating health situation in the region means that they have to act. we've been negotiating in good faith for ten days. i think we owe it to the people of greater manchester to speak with one voice, to get this intervention in place because, if we don't, in two weeks' time they will have, if the current trajectory follows through, the same levels of infection they had in march and april and by the first week of november they will run out of icu capacity. so it's important that we come together, speak with one voice to get this important local intervention into place. a couple of quick questions on that money that you were talking about. with that supplement the 66% of earnings that people would get if their businesses were closed down? and at midday, what will happen if there isn't an agreement? if on

the many —— there is a discussion of a hardship fund with people in particular needs which would be given grants. this would in effect, top at the wages but it wouldn't be for example, increasing the percentage available to everyone from 60% to 80% that they would have gotten from 60% to 80% that they would have gotte n to from 60% to 80% that they would have gotten to furlough. the conservative leader of lancashire county council felt that economic support package, the extra 30 million that i was talking bout could be used effectively to help people on low wages as well as to help people who are losing customs. i think there is are losing customs. i think there is a degree of discretion and it wouldn't be known exactly how the many will be used and if there isn't a agreement by midday, what is clear though, if there is no agreement between the two sides the government

will impose tier 3 restrictions and have already set out what they think those will be in greater manchester. there would be the closure of most pubs and bars unless they were selling substantial meals but they suggested that some leisure facilities such as gyms could stay open like in lancashire but soft play areas would be closed down which gets you into the situation of anomalies between the different tier 3 areas. the difficulty for the government is that if they do reach a more generous deal with manchester, in other areas that they are negotiating with such as yorkshire, it is likely that then local councillors will be pushing for a better deal thereto. lets talk to some affected on the front line by this. with me is marc gough, managing director of whitehouse event crockery based in manchester. also i'm joined by karina jadhav, owner of menagerie restaurant in

manchester. thank you both very much forjoining us. if i can come to you first of all marc, tell us how you are feeling about the future you have been living through this for a long time? we have been living through this for the last six or seven months. we hire out cutlery to weddings and events sector and we had an opportunity to supply and to do weddings for up to 30 people but thenit do weddings for up to 30 people but then it was limited to 15 people and now if we go into the tier 3 lockdown, we would not simply be closed down by the government. however, weddings cannot take place in atf three environment so effectively, they are stopping us from working with no financial support. this is a

viable business. a very successful viable business and we have had no success from the government. we have been simply forgotten. it is heartbreaking. it is heartbreaking to the brides who have to cancel and not go ahead at all. this takes years of planning. when you say you would not get any financial support under tier 3, 47, tier 3 means the release funds that aren't kerry —— currently there, it sounds pretty bleak for you? aren't kerry —— currently there, it sounds pretty bleak for you ?m aren't kerry —— currently there, it sounds pretty bleak for you? it is stressful. coming to work every day and not knowing if we are going to go into tier 3. can we go into a wedding for 15? can we do a wedding for 30? we don't know when things will take place. i am working very ha rd to will take place. i am working very hard to make my business supply we are very hard to make my business supply we are very well known in

the sector but i've had to make staff redundant. we cannot do weddings or events but we are not supported by the government because we won't be shut down by the government. with no financial support, it is going to be very difficult. really difficult for the next six months. karina what is the next six months. karina what is the situation for you? we have been operating very close to tier 3 restrictions for three months now so whilst we are allowed to stay open, the restrictions and the confusion in the communication coming from the government has reduced consumer confidence which has resulted to us —— for us in cancellations. whilst we are —— for us in cancellations. whilst we a re allowed —— for us in cancellations. whilst we are allowed to stay open, we are restricted to the point where it is difficult to keep the business open in the current circumstances. in that case, are you

one of the people who will get financial support in tier 3 which is not currently there? lam not tier 3 which is not currently there? i am not sure what kind of financial support we will get better what i will say, is that we did not get any financial support in terms of grants or finance financial support in terms of grants orfinance in financial support in terms of grants or finance in the first lockdown we just had to take on extra debt and we put the team on furlough. we are a medium—sized business so we full the gaps. marc what do you think about the negotiations between the local leaders and the government and what would happen if there isn't a an agreement by midday and the government decided to impose it? we have to accept whatever decision is made. it various financial support andi made. it various financial support and ifully made. it various financial support and i fully support what burnham is doing which

the government does not understand. it is not simplyjust shutting down pubs and restaurants. you have ba ker‘s, shutting down pubs and restaurants. you have baker's, you have meat suppliers and there is my sector and we have just been shut down with no support whatsoever and we just have to keep fighting and accepting. we have to accept it and we are not going to get anything from the government and it is heartbreaking but i'm going to carry on with all my heart to keep my business alive and surviving. , same question to you? what i would like to say is, is that i don't think this takes into consideration the impact it has on mental health. when you don't —— when you think about hospitality, you should think about building

management companies and other companies which are part of the ecosystem of hospitality and we are all being massively affected by this and if we continue where we are, we will continue to see more and more of closures for businesses which are viable and brilliant in more normal times. thank you very much for joining us. in ireland, the whole country will face the highest level of restrictions for the next six weeks. measures to ban households mixing and to close non—essential businesses will come into effect at midnight on wednesday following a surge in cases over the last fortnight. meanwhile, a national lockdown will come into force in wales on friday and last until the 9th of november. everyone will be told to stay indoors and work from home where possible. primary schools will reopen after the half—term break, but only years 7 and 8 in secondary schools will be back in the classroom. first minister, mark drakeford, said what he called a "firebreak" was needed to slow the spread of coronavirus and buy more time. in scotland, the tightest

restrictions are in place in the central belt, where pubs and restaurants, snooker and pool halls, indoor bowling alleys, casinos and bingo halls are currently temporarily closed. pubs, bars, restaurants and cafes in the rest of scotland are not allowed to serve alcohol indoors and can only open between six am and six pm. across the whole of scotland, people have been banned from visiting other households indoors since the 25th of september. there are plans for a three—tier framework of measures, similar to england's. which will be revealed in the next few days. with so many different restrictions in place across the uk — how do we know which ones are most likely to work? i'm joined byjohn ashton, the former north west regional director of public health and author of the book blinded by corona. and i'm alsojoined by dr richard stanton, a virology expert at the division of infection and immunity in cardiff university. welcome both of you.

there are lots of these different strategies and i would like to know from each of you which of you would think is the right one? what has been demonstrated, particularly by china is the importance of acting promptly and firmly and consistently. china's economic growth this year is now going to be more than it was last year. coming out of the pandemic. i think we have to look at what has happened and worked elsewhere and we need the lockdown now urgently for a short period to try and get back control. i think what is happening in ireland and wales is the way forward. and same question to you richard, you are in cardiff which is where the two—week firebreak is going to be coming in. where the two—week firebreak is going to be coming inlj where the two—week firebreak is going to be coming in. i agree what the previous gast said. i think the earlier and stronger you act, the

better the situation we will be in afterwards. i think acting early and strong will always help. the government's view of that is why lockdown the whole of england is when you have areas with lower infection rates. what is the benefit? i think one of the advantages is certainly across wales at the moment, we are seeing the virus coming up in all areas. there are some areas which are higher than others but the virus is increasing in all areas others but the virus is increasing in allareas and others but the virus is increasing in all areas and given the exponential increase in the via verse “— exponential increase in the via verse —— virus it also comes down to behaviour to. are people more likely to behave in line with the restrictions if people are in the same restrictions or if different areas are in different restrictions? i think the argument is to be made that it

i think the argument is to be made thatitis i think the argument is to be made that it is more likely people will apply to these same rules. when we had that first national lockdown, everybody was in it together, it was clear what was expected by people, how do you view the situation depending on where you live? if we had been on top of the testing and tracing in the beginning, we would not have needed this at the same time. mid wales was low at the beginning and it is still low and the south—west was slow and it is still low. if we had the capacity for the testing and tracing, if it was working properly, if it had been handing over to the local authorities, we would be able to have a differential approach bet at this stage, we have to get

back control so we need to have a universal approach and we could ease off may be in three or four weeks' time in some areas if we have that control and we have the testing properly sorted out and then we could deal with outbreaks as and when they occur in those places. how helpful is a two—week firebreak? when we look back to march, it was a different time and there was less testing and tracing available but one month was not enough. it was three months in the end, so testing and tracing still isn't to the level where people would like to see it, so what impact will two weeks have? i think the question of testing trace is an important one. it isn't enoughjust trace is an important one. it isn't enough just to have a trace is an important one. it isn't enoughjust to have a short lockdown, the real question is what we do with that time and i think getting the test track and trace in a much better state is critical to that. it is important that we come

out of this with a better system and it has to have a big impact on the effect of this lockdown. it has to have a big impact on the effect of this lockdownlj it has to have a big impact on the effect of this lockdown. i was going to quickly ask as well, how much is really known about the transmission of the virus and the efficacy of the testing? obviously there is still key question is whether seems to be some unknowns and to that end, if social distancing were to be properly adhered to and observed and hygiene, would it be enough to manage the virus based on what we know? we did not have good test track and trace during the first lockdown and that was very effective to get the virus transmission lower. we know the virus spreads particularly indoors and particularly indoors and particularly when there is poor ventilation. of course, the knock—on

effect of keeping people indoors is that it effect of keeping people indoors is thatitis effect of keeping people indoors is that it is bad for society overall and the track and trace will allow you to have some contact that there will be keeping some control. thank you forjoining us. the number of weekly registered coronavirus deaths has risen beyond 400 and increased by a third in the space of seven days. figures from the office for national statistics show 438 deaths mentioning "novel coronavirus" were registered in england and wales in the week ending october 9th. this is a rise of 36% — or 117 deaths — from the previous week, which saw the highest number of deaths involving covid—19 since earlyjuly. our health editor, hugh pym, gave us this upate. we've got used to, sadly, the number of daily reported deaths going up from what they were a month or so ago. these figures from the office for national statistics paint a broader picture because they include deaths of people in their own homes, as well as in hospitals

and care homes. the overall uk figure, the figures from the ons were for england and wales, but adding in the rest of the uk, we had 474 covid deaths in the week of 9th october. that was more than four times what the figure was four weeks ago. to put that in perspective, the peak back in april was nearly 9,500, so we are nowhere near that point, but an acceleration of four times in four weeks is where we are in this latest surge. so it goes along with what we have been led to believe where things are going, but this is the most authoritative look at the number of covid deaths, and more general deaths. if you look at all deaths in that week, they were only very slightly above the long—term average. researchers at imperial college in london are beginning what is known as a "human challenge" study to develop a vaccine for covid—19.

they will explore whether a group of young and healthy volunteers can be exposed to the virus in a controlled environment after receiving a vaccine. the group will then be carefully monitored to assess the impact the vaccine has. researcher say it would be the first study of it's kind anywhere in the world. passengers flying to destinations including hong kong and italy, will have the option of paying for a rapid covid test at heathrow airport. the new facilities in terminals 2 and 5 will be available from today, for anyone travelling to places where authorities require proof of a negative test on arrival. some countries have different requirements on the types of tests so it is not going to apply to every single country. sean tipton a spokesman for abta who represent 90% of package tours sold in the uk, and 80 per of travel agents canjoin me now. it is going to have a

relatively limited application for now because this is a saliva test which isn't a laboratory this is a saliva test which isn't a la boratory test this is a saliva test which isn't a laboratory test so it does not reach the standards for all countries. laboratory test so it does not reach the standards for all countriesm is definitely a step in the right direction. we have been asking for testing at airports for a while now. since we have had the covid 19 pandemic, there has been a drop off for people travelling. people who did not need to previously self isolates now have to do so so it has damaged public confidence. it is a step in the right direction and congratulationto the heathrow. you can have a negative test and then off you go to the hotel. if you want

to travel or need to travel you can currently get a test to places before you even get to the airport but do you think this will make a difference? i think it is more about the fact of where it is happening andi the fact of where it is happening and i think it goes to show that airports can do this and i think moving forwards, this is what we wa nt to moving forwards, this is what we want to see, the main issue for us as people coming back into the uk coming from a country where they have to self isolates. if they could test at the airport there, it could decrease the amount of days that they have to self isolates. this is a massive step forward and this is now in the government's court. a massive step forward and this is now in the government's courtm a massive step forward and this is now in the government's court. it is the time where families might have gone oh away but what is the situation with travel? it is low

and there are very few destinations that you can travel to and there is a degree of uncertainty for people travelling. having said that, i was looking at the temperatures in greece at the moment, one of the destinations that you can go and it is about 25 — 26 degrees and that is quite an attractive idea. but people do want to know that they can travel safely but with that degree of certainty that they don't have to self—isolate on short notice when they went expecting to do that. with these new measures in heathrow, i think this is a new step in a direction but it is only the first step and we need more action. direction but it is only the first step and we need more actionm direction but it is only the first step and we need more action. it is not realistic to travel to so many right now. how would you describe the state of the travel industry at the state of the travel industry at the moment? we have been through incredibly tough times, this is unprecedented, we have had the whole

world shutdown to foreign travel for quite some time. we had some positive moves injuly but it shut down again and some businesses have been taking in very little money at all. bookings for next year is quite positive but this year is pretty much a right off. it is put a lot of pressure on companies and we have had 20 failures and there will be more and we have said to the government that we need some support. other countries have been supporting their travel industry and we need more from our government. it is something they need to do to stop large people —— that large amounts of people losing theirjobs. we do have a vibrant travel industry and lots of travel companies and we need to show that it remains that way. prince william has been speaking to business owners in liverpool, who have been affected by the tougher restrictions brought in last week. (tx during the video call, william discussed the challenges

faced by the hospitality industry. he got in touch after hearing how businesses have been struggling. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol kirkwood. hello, again. we are looking at quite a blustery, breezy day today, the strongest winds across the irish sea, northern scotland, where you certainly will notice them. now, we watch the rain clear away into the north sea through the morning. behind that, brighter skies with a few showers across central areas, rain pushing up into the far north of scotland, a rash of showers through the afternoon for northern ireland, southern and central scotland, some of those heavy and thundery, but across the board milder than we would expect at this stage of the year. through this evening and overnight, we carry on with showers and rain, then another band of heavy rain whips up across the english channel into the south east and southern counties of england, a mild night in prospect, and this band of rain will continue to push northward and eastward through the day. there is a potential

for some very strong winds in the english channel and the south east. rain and showers continuing in the north and west, tomorrow once again will be mild with highs of 19. hello, this is bbc news with joanna gosling. the headlines: leaders in greater manchester have until midday to agree the government's deal taking the region into england's highest level of covid restrictions the problem is that government are not funding local areas to close lots of things and, therefore, in my view, it is unlikely that tier 3 is going to have the effect that the government is saying. official figures show the number of weekly registered coronavirus deaths has risen beyond 400. thats an increase of a third in the space of seven days. heathrow becomes the first uk airport to offer covid testing for departing passengers, with the result in around one hour. president trump agrees

to another tv election debate with rivaljoe biden, but complains about new rules which will see microphones muted for part of the debate. us president donald trump will attend thursday's televised pre—election debate with his democratic rival, joe biden, despite rule changes initially opposed by his campaign. it will be the second and final face—off between the two candidates before polling day, after the president refused to attend a virtual debate last week after testing positive for the coronavirus. it comes after a heated and shambolic first debate during which mrtrump, in particular, repeatedly interrupted mr biden. to avoid the same outcome, rule changes will see each candidate's microphone muted while his rival delivers the introductory two—minute remarks. here's a snippet from the first debate. i'm going to eliminate those tax cuts, and make sure that we invest in the people who, in fact, need the help. people out there

need help. but why didn't you do it in the last 25 years? because you weren't president, screwing things up. you were a senator and, by the way... you are the worst president america has ever had. hey, joe, let me just say, joe, i've done more in 47 months than you've done in 47 years, joe. all right, that's the of the segment. we're moving on. a little earlier, our north america correspondent peter bowes gave more detail on the rule change. yeah, what we have just seen is exactly what the organisers want to avoid this week, and that is all of those interruptions. the rule change is quite a simple one, really. there will be 15 minute segments divided into different topics. the chancellor, rishi sunak, is being questioned by mps. let's listen in. their employees will be protected

through the expanded job support programme. let's go to greater manchester with andrew gwen. all that greater manchester is asking for is for greater financial support after 12 weeks of failed lockdown measures and as we face many more uncertain months ahead. when the prime minister is reported to be struggling to live on his £150,000 a year salary, how does he think the lowest paid in greater manchester will cope on two thirds of national minimum wage. last night the communities secretary offered just £22 million for a city region of 2.8 million people. that's less than the £25 million he granted to his own town centre. why does this government hit greater manchester? chancellor. it is disappointing to

hear at the right honourable gentleman's tone. it is obviously a very difficult time for many people in this country. we need people working in a constructive spirit. i hope those conversations are happening as we speak. greater manchester are being treated exactly the same as every other part of the united kingdom. these are national support schemes that have been put in place that help the most vulnerable in our society. as he will know, there are national schemes to protect businesses, employees and to provide support to his local authority. repeated local lockdowns with no end in sight is killing our economy in south shields. in the last lockdown we received £26 million of support. i have been advised the financial package offered to us this time should we end up in tier 3 would be just over £1 million. can he confirm or deny this

insulting amount?|j just over £1 million. can he confirm or deny this insulting amount? i am glad the honourable lady recognises the economic damage that lockdowns do, which is why when we have this debate last week i posed the question as to why the party opposite was proposing a national lockdown with no end in sight without commenting on the damage that were do two jobs and livelihoods. with respect to support for local authorities entering tier 3, there is a per capita amount funded to each local authority up to eight points ahead at the highest tier. on top of that there is support that the national government provides for businesses that are closed, their employees can be put on thejob closed, their employees can be put on the job support scheme and the communities secretary can talk to local authorities about providing bespoke extra support as required. people and businesses in my constituency across greater manchester are suffering. they

are facing an uncertain winter with insufficient support. last night the government offered just 22 million to 32.8 million people in greater manchester. that comes to just eight a head to support local people and businesses during the months ahead. in other areas were given double this number, despite having just half the population. does the minister seriously believe this is a fair deal for greater manchester, and, if so, would he like to take this opportunity to apologise to those mancunians who have already lost their livelihoods? with the greatest respect the honourable gentleman is mistaken in his characterisation of the support provided a confusing two different things. this support is eight points per head, that is the national funding formula provided to all local authorities entering tier 3,

thatis local authorities entering tier 3, that is the same as in lancashire and the liverpool city region. the additional amounts he talks about we re additional amounts he talks about were reached in negotiation with my right honourable friend the community secretary and representatives of the government. that offer remains available to greater manchester, which is why i hope they engage in these negotiations constructively. mel stride. thank you. my right honourable friend has done a great deal to supportjobs in our country, but he will know that lockdowns destroy jobs, increase but he will know that lockdowns destroyjobs, increase mental illness and lead to a smaller economy that for many years will be able to look after our most vulnerable less effectively. will he come forward with a comprehensive review of the impact of the lockdown, not just with review of the impact of the lockdown, notjust with the effect

of the nhs, important though days, but on the economy, businesses, jobs and the country's social well—being? as ever, he makes an excellent point. he is right about the damage not just to point. he is right about the damage notjust to non—covid health outcomes, but also to livelihoods and the long—term damage that will happen all of our health outcomes. he will know that whether it is the obr or the he will know that whether it is the obr orthe imf he will know that whether it is the obr or the imf they project 3%, meaning our economy will be between 70 and £80 billion smaller than it has been. that will obviously have a consequent impact on our ability to fund public services and to protect jobs and livelihoods. anneliese dodds. last week, when the prime minister was asked whether a circuit breaker was likely he said that i rule nothing out. does the

chancellor rule it out, yes or no? of course i agree with the prime minister. that appears slightly different from the message we received from the chancellor last week. this morning, a member of the monetary policy committee stated that the bulk of spending reductions are due to restrictions that people voluntarily impose on themselves. research suggests that not undertaking a circuit breaker now could cost our economy an additional £110 billion. that is based on imf figures, by the way. can i ask the chancellor, what is his estimate of the costs of not undertaking a circuit breaker and continuing with this rolling programme of regional restrictions? the honourable

lady talks about rolling programmes. it is very clear that the party opposite believe we should have a rolling programme of national lockdowns. that would be enormously damaging for people because myjob and livelihoods. that would cause unnecessary pain and suffering on those parts of the country were virus prevalence is low. a localised approach is the best approach. alison thewliss. thank you. we are not ina alison thewliss. thank you. we are not in a significantly different public health position now than when the chancellor and announced furlough in the 20th of march. hospitality venues are being asked to close. this time he is leaving people with significantly less support. we take action today to extend the polling scheme to make sure people are protected and make sure people are protected and make sure that those who have been excluded from support can be included this time? we have announced the job support scheme,

which will take effect on the 1st of november following the closure of the q ris. november following the closure of the cj ris. that november following the closure of the cj ris. that will ensure that those working in closed businesses will be placed on that scheme and they will receive 67% of their wages. that will help them to protect those jobs, the employer. alison thewliss. 67% of wages for people who are on minimum wage jobs are simply not good enough and gives them no incentive to self—isolate and stick to the rules. the scottish government has announced a grant of £500 for the lowest paid, but the uk government may swipe that back in taxation. will he go further than he has done so far and exempt this £500 grant to the poorest in our society from taxation? the honourable lady talks about the scottish government introducing a £500 grant. it was the

uk government who introduced that grantand uk government who introduced that grant and provided barnett funding for this scottish government to do the same. that payment is there to help those who are most vulnerable so they can isolate and provide an incentive for them to do so. question number five. i incentive for them to do so. question numberfive. i will answer this with questions ten, 11, 12 and 13. the government recognises that the pandemic has caused extreme disruption to the economy. that is why we have put in one of the most generous support packages in the world, with £190 billion.|j generous support packages in the world, with £190 billion. i will recognise the amount of support to businesses in my community. hospitality businesses are really going to struggle with the champion cu rfew. going to struggle with the champion curfew. can we look again at what we might be able to do

for businesses that will struggle under those circumstances? there has been disruption to businesses affected by tier 2. that is why the chancellor has cut vat from 20% to 5% and extended that to the 31st of march, where he has introduced a 12 month business rates holiday. over the last few days businesses across birmingham from book—keepers to bars and pubs have had to close as lancashire has entered tier 3 restrictions. whilst those businesses are welcoming the support provided by the extension of furlough and business grants there are many more in the supply chain who will be equally as impacted because there aren't suppliers out there. could he set out what measures are available to support them as they go through the next week's and months? as a lancastrian myself i am acutely aware of the impact on the county of lancashire, it is why the secretary of state for local government negotiated the

additional business support and that builds on the measures set out by the chancellor to support businesses, not just through the chancellor to support businesses, notjust through the job support scheme but also through the furlough bonus. it is notjust businesses in tier 2 and tier 3 that have been impacted. in tier1 some sectors are still unable to trade. does he agree with the head of the imf that night is not the time to balance the books and would he consider extending support to businesses that still cannot work in these times? my honourable friend is right in terms of the pressures on businesses in tier! as well. that is why amongst a package set out has been the extension of loan facilities to help those businesses with their cash flow. in that south—east region that is totalling up south—east region that is totalling up £1.5 billion of support. many thousands of small businesses have benefited from the

measures that have been put in place. as we move forward , have been put in place. as we move forward, canning urged him to keep a small business focus, particularly for small brewers? duty levels are a crucial part of their business viability. canning urged him to keep small brewers duty relief in place as it is, helping to safeguard the future of many small breweries, not just in hampshire but throughout the united kingdom? she makes an extremely valid point in terms of the impact on that particular sector. that is why the treasury is reviewing small brewers relief. reforms have been taken on board at the request of the industry to fix issues in the current relief design. since 2010 the government to set up a payment scheme to make payments of up a payment scheme to make payments of up to £1.5 billion to eligible

policyholders. since the scheme closed in 2016 the government because my position on this issue has been clear, there is no further funding in addition to that 1.5 billion and this issue is considered closed. we are going to leave treasury questions, it started with three questions, it started with three questions from mps in the greater manchester area asking very strongly worded questions of the chancellor about how people can be expected to survive on two thirds of the minimum wage if greater manchester goes into tier 3. rishi sunak in response to those questions said that greater manchester is not being treated any differently from anywhere else, there is a nationalfunding differently from anywhere else, there is a national funding formula that provides an extra support of £8 per head. those negotiations on what financial support will ultimately be agreed, i don't know

if they are over now, but there was a deadline of mid day to be agreement between local leaders at the government before the government says it will impose that tier 3 lockdown. while we we re impose that tier 3 lockdown. while we were watching those questions we had this through from our political reporterfor radio had this through from our political reporter for radio manchester said the bbc understands that the greater manchester leaders have given a figure to the government funding that they want in order to move to tier 3 restrictions. andy burnham this morning said he would write to the government to set out the position. it has been communicated through civil servants out there waiting to hear back. ministers have offered £22 million to support businesses, but the leaders they are to tens of million short of what is needed to prevent hardship. another line just needed to prevent hardship. another linejust coming needed to prevent hardship. another line just coming through, bbc understands council leaders in greater manchester are arguing for a minimum of £75 million

from central government. so the continuing negotiations over those figures, it remains unclear what the outcome of those negotiations will be because midday is the deadline for there to be agreement before which the government says it will impose tier 3. we don't know what exactly will happen at midday, whether welfare will be some sort of official announcement. we will keep you updated on all the developments. the prime minister is set to host a call today with business leaders to try and answer questions about the brexit transition period. with talks between eu officials seemingly at a standstill and a no—deal brexit looming, what does this mean for businsses across the country? and how has covid—19 impacted their preparations for the end of the year? with me is toby ovens, the managing director of broughton transport solutions ltd, and by matt dyson, thank you both very

much forjoining us. obviously, there are two considerable factors going on that will impact. toby, tell us first of all how you are feeling about the future with brexit and covid? the future with brexit and covid? the future is looking quite interesting, to be honest. we are not sure where brexit is going. with covid, we are fairly sure where it is going at the moment and we are taking the steps necessary to protect our workforce and work going forward. with regards to brexit, it is an unknown. we are starting to prepare now for what we believe will be a new deal brexit following on from the prime minister said last week. it still, keeping our fingers crossed that they potentially could be a deal coming very shortly. what is your business do? we export and import a lots of temperature control products all over the eu. a lot of

it is chilled and frozen meats, which makes it a little bit more complicated with customs and border formalities potentially after the 1st of january. yes, we are an import and export company using our own vehicles and staff. we will get the brunt of the force should there be a new deal going forward. what would that look like for you? potentially, it is quite worrying after the 1st of january. there will be lots of delays. we transport a lot of chilled meat, so there is a life span to that product. if there are delays crossing the channel, that could cause us and our customers significant problems. to you, mats, tell us a bit more about your business and how brexit might affect it. we produce innovative products to help children sleep and we export 70% of our

sales, with 40% going into the eu. obviously, the uncertainty has really hit us quite hard. although we have got very good sales and part of the eu, we have been trying to negotiate with distributors in markets where we have no penetration, like france and italy, and the feedback we're getting from distributors —— distributors over there is that they don't want to commit prior to january all the uncertainty. we have had to refocus, slow down our product development pipeline and make sure we are prepared for a new deal if that happens. the prime minister will be hosting a form of business leaders today. what does he need to say as far as you're concerned? what can he say at this point? as businesses, we are all consta ntly point? as businesses, we are all constantly negotiating with clients and such like and there seems to be lots of political posturing

going on. i would just ask him to make sure that there is some compromise, that needs to happen on both sides, of course. we are slightly unsalted to get the head in the sound kind of statements and we are working incredibly hard and we don't know what the outcome will be. when you hear there is some sort of compromise, are you saying that you absolutely want there to be a deal? yes, i think that would be really important to us as an exporting business. we find it baffling, brexit was sold to us based on an idea that we could negotiate free trade negotiations, deals with other countries and it would be an easy sell. the fact that we are struggling to do that with a trading partner that we have been aligned

with for 40 years and in the last year hasn't seen any movement towards a deal is really distressing. you said that our significant proportion of your exports go outside of the eu. obviously one of the arguments for brexit was for businesses to be able to exploit the market is better outside of the eu. can you see those sorts of opportunities opening up? yes, i think there is definitely scope for those, but i don't think those negotiations are going to happen quickly. in the meantime, we are going to potentially be hit very ha rd are going to potentially be hit very hard with the restrictions in place as we export to our nearest neighbours. toby, he said that you are starting to prepare for our new deal. what can you do to prepare and mitigate... to be, can

you hear me? 0h, mitigate... to be, can you hear me? oh, we have lost toby, u nfortu nately. oh, we have lost toby, unfortunately. on the same question to you, mats. in terms of preparing for a no—deal brexit, what can you do to mitigate the impact of it? we are thinking about worst—case scenarios and suchlike. we have looked into setting up a country company in the eu, in ireland, denmark and the netherlands. as a very small business, that commitment in terms of our resources, in terms of time and money, of course, it is very difficult to get those things up very difficult to get those things up and running very quickly. we are also investigating warehousing in the eu and are getting lots of pushback from warehousing they are saying they are real —— are already full to capacity with people

preparing for the 1st ofjanuary. there are lots of challenges ahead for us and we are lucky, being a small business, and that we are quite agile and can make decisions relatively quickly, but the downside is that our bottom line is hit quite ha rd is that our bottom line is hit quite hard if we are having to employ people for example to do the additional customs declarations and suchlike. we need to train them, as well. as a small business, that might not be needed if a deal is struck at the last minute. thank you very much. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol kirkwood. hello, again. the wind will be a feature of the weather today, especially so across the irish sea and the far north of scotland. but wherever you are, it's going to be a fairly breezy, blustery day, but a mild one, and there still is some rain in the forecast even into the afternoon and also some showers. low pressure is driving our weather,

we've got this front which has been taking rain into the north sea, this one bringing rain into the north of scotland, and a lot of showers wrapped around that area of low pressure, especially so as we go through the afternoon. so a lot of dry weather, a fair bit of sunshine around, variable amounts of cloud. a few showers getting into some central areas, rain becoming ensconced across the north of scotland, windy here, windy through the irish sea and some of those showers across northern ireland, north—west england, southern and central scotland could well prove to be heavy and thundery, but temperature wise, nine in lerwick to 19 in london. the average in london at this time of year is roughly about 15 to 16. now, through this evening and overnight we continue with showers in the west and also in the north, it will still be a windy night, winds easing for a time and then picking up, and then cast your eye to the channel islands and the far south and south—east of england, because here we've got more rain arriving. but a mild night in prospect. most of the uk staying in double figures. tomorrow, if we pick up this band

of rain it's going to be moving across southern areas and heading north—eastwards. some of this rain could be heavy, and to the south of it, well, there is a potential we could have very strong winds, particularly in the south—eastern end of the english channel and the south—east itself. ahead of that, still some showers coming in across scotland and northern ireland, but in between a brighter slot with highs of up to 19 in norwich. then as we head through wednesday night into thursday, watch this area of rain move away from scotland. there will be areas of cloud, some clear skies, but during thursday a ridge of high pressure builds across us, so things settle down, and it's looking like a fairly dry day with maybe one or two showers, but that will be the extent of it. not quite as mild, highs up to 15 or 16 degrees. and as for the outlook, well, into the weekend you'll notice the temperatures starting to slide a little bit more, there will be some rain at times but, equally, there will also be some sunshine to look forward to.

to show that it remains that way.

this is bbc news. the headlines... the deadline passes for the government to agree a deal with local leaders in greater manchester over tighter coronavirus restrictions. official figures show the number of weekly registered coronavirus deaths has risen beyond 400. that's an increase of a third in the space of seven days. heathrow becomes the first uk airport to offer covid testing for departing passengers, with the result delivered in around one hour. president trump agrees to another tv election debate with rivaljoe biden but complains about new rules which will see microphones muted for part of the debate.

the midday deadline set by the government for local leaders in greater manchester to agree a deal on moving into the highest level of covid restrictions has just passed. several days of talks between the two sides have failed to produce an agreement. the bbc understands that this morning greater manchester's leaders gave the government a figure for the funding they want in order to accept a move to tier 3. the "very high" alert level, also known as tier three, would mean closing pubs and bars which do not serve ‘substantial‘ meals, and extra restrictions on households mixing. there's also guidance against travelling in and out of the area. the labour mayor, local councillors and mps — both labour and conservative — are concerned that tier three rules will devastate industries such as hospitality without extra financial support for workers and businesses.

the government says hospitals in the area are filling up and urgent action is needed. but local leaders have accused the governement of using "selective figures" to push the measures through. they say that i see you units in hospitals are at 80% capacity which is normalfor this time hospitals are at 80% capacity which is normal for this time of year. let's speak to our political correspondent iain watson. any news? no confirmation. the council leaders of greater manchester did meet this morning and i understand that they wanted a minimum of £75 million in financial support. what the government had offered was a minimum of £22 million which would cover most of test track and trace and help the vulnerable and trace and help the vulnerable and helping with enforcement but what it has done in other areas

that have moved into t3 such as lancashire and liverpool is offer extra support for businesses and that support was worth 30 million in each of those areas. proportionally for greater manchester, we would went something like 56 million which would you get a final figure of more. we know the leaders are asking for a more. we know the leaders are asking fora minimum of more. we know the leaders are asking for a minimum of 75 million and we don't know whether the government has accepted the app yet. don't know whether the government has accepted the app yetm don't know whether the government has accepted the app yet. it sounds like they have the same figure. has accepted the app yet. it sounds like they have the same figurem doesn't sound like they are far apart in terms of financial support andi apart in terms of financial support and i think other problems needed to be sorted. how do you get more support to low—paid workers that may be laid off and this was one of the big campaigning points by andy burnham, the mea of greater manchester. —— the

mea. we don't know where that goes. but one of the ways of bridging the gap would be to make sure that the councils had discretion to help people in financial difficulties. if the government decides to impose this and it is not clear if they have conceded on that point or in other words if any extra cash will go to support businesses which are full to close. there has also been a call for scientific evidence that closing bars and pubs would drive down the infection rates to an acceptable level. and the government has said it can't afford to wait for that data. and it has concentrated mostly at looking at the level of emissions to intensive care units. that situation looks like it is deteriorating fast. some of the council says that the roughly the

same numbers are there as it was last year. there has not been an agreement entirely but there could be an agreement of at least the scale of financial support that greater manchester thinks that it needs and the government is willing to step up. with me now is our news correspondent dan johnson. we have lost dan so we are back to you iain. sorry about that. there we re you iain. sorry about that. there were three pretty angry local mps from greater manchester asking the first questions, one making the point of comparing reports that the prime minister has reportedly found ita prime minister has reportedly found it a struggle to live on £150,000

salary and other people getting hardly anything like that. other people —— the np has reacted by saying that... andrew gwen, a greater manchester mp, who is used to work for local government, he uttered the phrase that the government hates greater manchester. rishi sunak disagreed with his tone. he was talking about the national support, the job support he was talking about the national support, thejob support scheme of people who were laid off work through no fault of their own. in that sense, that national scheme would apply as suggested everywhere, including scotland, wales and northern ireland. but he did not rule out this additional financial

support for greater manchester and for tier 3 areas that he suggested that it would be treated the same way as other tier 3 areas. it suggested other financial support for other businesses in the region ofan for other businesses in the region of an extra 50 million plus perhaps. but certainly, the frustration and angerfrom andrew but certainly, the frustration and anger from andrew gwen particular —— in particular highlighted the frustration of these talks in the last few days. and it highlighted the gap between the government and the gap between the government and the local mps. there have also been conservative mps of —— that have been critical of the government. some have been critical of the need to go into t3 —— tier 3 based on

scientific evidence. he thinks that hospitality industry being closed will impact people for many years to come. whether the government has listened to the arguments in greater manchester remains to be seen. so far we manchester remains to be seen. so farwe do manchester remains to be seen. so far we do not know what will happen and that deadline has just passed. we are obviously waiting to hear the outcome and we will bring the news to you when we hear back. in ireland, the whole country will face the highest level of restrictions for the next six weeks. measures to ban households mixing and to close non—essential businesses will come into effect at midnight on wednesday, following a surge in cases over the last fortnight. meanwhile, a national lockdown will come into force in wales on friday and last until the 9th of november. everyone will be told to stay indoors and work from home where possible. primary schools will reopen after the half—term break, but only years 7 and 8 in secondary schools will be back in the classroom. first minister, mark drakeford,

said what he called a "firebreak" was needed to slow the spread of coronavirus and buy more time. a third of all children are living in poverty across greater manchester and the north—west. with manchester potentially moving to tier 3 lockdown restrictions, there are fears this could increase. the labour party are backing the campaign by footballer marcus rashford to provide free school meals to children in england during the holidays, but the government have said it is not for schools to provide meals for children during holiday time. let's speak now to labour mp tulip siddiq, shadow minister for children and early years. thank you very much forjoining us. the government is saying that it will not extend this. it did over the summer. what is your reaction to that. the government did decide to provide meals over the summer holidays after much pressure from marcus rashford and opposition party mps. the truth is, we are

heading for a very tough winter and a furlough scheme is coming to an end and more and more people are losing jobs and there is going to be a flu season and a second wave of covid potentially coming and people are worried. people are saying, how am i going to feed my children? i would say to the governments that schools are not there just to provide education, they have always played a very supporting role to families. and if we are about to face the toughest winter in a generation, the least we can do is feed hungry children. the government says, the prime minister spokesman has said, we are making sure that the most vulnerable in our society are protected and we have put in place a strong package of support to make sure that children and their families don't go hungry in this pandemic. we are in a different position now with school is back open to all. is that fair enough? schools are open and they are providing vital service to children

and we know that the number of children going to school initially when it was open to vulnerable children, the uptake was not very high. it has increased now and that is good news and most children are back at school safely that what we are asking for is to feed children who are at risk of going hungry over the holidays. the october half term is coming up and then it will be the winter holidays and the labour government in wales have already said that they will be providing free school meals over the school holiday and scotland's first minister is about to make an announcement. we want england to allow hungry children to be able to be fed. just to put this in perspective, the £7,000 a day that the government is paying for one co nsulta nt the government is paying for one consultant for the track and trace system could pay for 2300 meals for the hungry children over christmas. we all got into politics, whatever party are from, to make a difference. we want to protect

the most vulnerable. that's why i wrote to the conservative mp yesterday, to all of them, to say please backers and extend the school meals to vulnerable children over half term and over half —— spring. if we as a country cannot feed hungry children then we are failing them. children cannot go to school if they are hungry and they won't be able to concentrate and then they have christmas coming up, in which, potentially the only meal they will have in the whole day is a free school meal that we will be providing. this is uncharted territory. there is no point in saying things like, parents should be able to feed their children, it is not theirjob of be able to feed their children, it is not their job of schools. be able to feed their children, it is not theirjob of schools. the fa ct is not theirjob of schools. the fact is, there are hungry children out there and we should be feeding them. thank you very much. let's go back to that midday deadline. in

the event orjust prior to the government saying it will impose tier 3 restrictions in greater manchester if there is no deal. let's go to our news correspondent who is in manchester. we have not heard anything about whether there is a dale. have you heard anything? —— a deal. whether there is a dale. have you heard anything? -- a deal. know we have not heard anything. if there was not a knee —— by midday, they would put this decision back onto the government. we presume there is a conversation that is taking place but no result has filtered through to people here and you may be able to people here and you may be able to see just outside manchester's central library, there are people standing here gathering and watching what is going on and waiting to see if any of the local politicians will make an appearance and perhaps

address them. can i interrupt you for a moment? wejust need to address them. can i interrupt you for a moment? we just need to say goodbye to viewers watching us on bbc two, thank you for your company, see you soon. bbc two, thank you for your company, see you soon. let's go back to dan, i interrupted you in full flow. what happens next? i think people are waiting here to see if there is any announcement from local politicians about what is likely to happen next. we know that the mayor of the city regions has been meeting local council leaders of the borough and discussing what sort of financial package they thought would be a cce pta ble package they thought would be acceptable to accompany these measures. we don't know if they were able to agree on a figure to give to the government. we have not had any word on whether they have reached that sort of agreement or whether that sort of agreement or whether that was even put to the government. the lack of any sort of announcement or clear way forward having passed

that deadline, suggest there has been no sort of agreement mayjust yet. i apologise if you can hear any bad language coming from the camera. some of them have strong feelings on the situation and making their opinions known. this is an issue that has caused some real tension and nervousness in the city and the wider —— wider region. politicians have been discussing this with government leaders trying to find the right way forward to enforce those extra restrictions to take greater manchester into that higher tier. local politicians have raised the question about whether that was an effective measure to take and there has been concern about the impact that it will have on local businesses and the economy. except of whether these restrictions are needed —— mark accept of whether these restrictions are needed.

these are the issues that have held this whole thing up and we don't know if there has been any progress this morning and the fact that we have not had any announcement would suggest that we haven't. we don't know whether these measures will be imposed. we will keep across it and keep you updated at home as soon as we have heard any news. let's go to edinburgh. nicola sturgeon, is giving an update on the coronavirus pandemic. the different and more approach accurate that we are taking to calculating this positive percentage. i will continue to report both the old and new measures this week but from next week i will talk about the new one which is the latter of the figures that i spoke about today. 500 of the new cases

are in glasgow and 198 in lothian. the remaining cases across nine other health board areas, the western isles was the only health board area not to report a new case yesterday. although, orkney and shetland only have one each reported today. the total number of cases in scotla nd today. the total number of cases in scotland since the start of the pandemic is now 49,164. i can confirm that 824 people are in hospital currently which is an increase of 70 from yesterday and 69 people are in intensive care which is eight more than the figure yesterday. i also regret to say that in the past 24 hours, 15 additional deaths have been reported over the previous... that takes the number two... that reminds us of the

devastating impact that the virus is continuing to have on the families across the country. i went to give my condolences on behalf of everybody to everyone who has lost a loved one, in particular, to those who have been bereaved in recent days. i am joined today by the social security secretary and by the national clinical director. they are going to talk about funding for free school meals and about additional support through the pandemic for people who are financially insecure and jason will stress the importance of self isolation and of getting a test as soon as you experience any symptoms of covert. that is a hugely important point and because it is so important, it is one that i want to emphasise to you today. if you have symptoms of covid, you might be tempted to wait and see if their symptoms pass and turn out to be nothing. ina symptoms pass and turn out to be nothing. in a way that is natural, it is what we often tend to do with

other inner illnesses. it is what i usually do. but it is important that we don't do that with covid. this virus is different and we want and need you to come forward for a test as soon as you have need you to come forward for a test as soon as you have any of the symptoms. even if you are not sure that your symptoms necessarily mean that your symptoms necessarily mean that your symptoms necessarily mean that you have the virus, please air on the side of caution and can forward straightaway. it means that you will know as quickly as possible whether you have got covid or not and if you don't have it, you can stop self isolating but also it is important because it helps to ensure that the test and protect begins the contact tracing as quickly as it can. when test and protect traces your contacts if you taste —— test positive, they look at the people that you have seen and the places that you have seen and the places that you have been the last 48 hours for you got your symptoms. that is

when it is deemed that you are at your most infectious. anyone going for a test and any delay in finding out whether you are positive or not makes it harder for the testing protect to reach these people and ask them to self—isolate before they potentially spread the virus on to other people. if you have symptoms and remember what these are, a fever, high temperature, a new continuous cough or a loss or changing your sense of taste or smell, please self—isolate immediately and book a test straightaway. don't hang around to see if you feel better later in the day or the next day. do it immediately. i have two other things that i want to briefly update on, the first relates to the £40 million that we are making available to the businesses affected by the current restrictions to hospitality and that support includes a £20 million grant fund which is administered by local authorities and local authority websites have been updated this morning and it is possible for local

businesses to apply for a grant and can do so over the next two weeks. i would encourage all eligible businesses to apply. by closing your businesses to apply. by closing your business in the central belt or operating under restrictions in the rest of the country, you are helping us to tackle covid and helping us to stop it from spreading so fast. it is important that we help you to do that. this fund is one way that we seek to do that. i want to flag up as well that i will be saying more tomorrow about the hospitality restrictions and i will be doing that after the cabinet meets tomorrow morning to take stock of the situation and decide on the next steps. the second issue that i want to briefly talk about today is the latest position in relation to our testing figures. you recall that the number of new cases that we reported

on sunday was artificially low because some test results took longer to come back then would normally be the case because they had been diverted from the glasgow laboratory to other lighthouse about —— laboratories across the uk. these samples will have been reported by tomorrow and many of them are in today's figures. at that point, we should have a clear idea of the total number of clear cases that have been identified in the recent days. yesterday, i was also made away —— aware of how individuals are notified of results in the uk wide system. results are often sent her individuals by text message will stop some results are also sent by e—mailand stop some results are also sent by e—mail and there has been no suggestion by —— that there have been any issues with this. the text notification was slower than usual over the weekend but this issue has been resolved and we are

not currently aware of any backlogs. individuals should be notified of these results as soon as they have been processed. we will continue to work with the uk government on testing and we will do everything we can to help address any backlogs in any other issues and that involves expanding nhs scotland testing capacity which as well as helping us to meet our own objectives for testing, will also help the uk's lighthouse network. fundamentally, this is a point i want to stress, the testing system is working well but we will continue to highlight and seek to resolve any delays or backlogs when they do occur. that is important for the vital work that testing protect are doing and i would again stress the importance that you self—isolate until you get your results back. as soon as you have symptoms and get tested, you should start to self—isolate as

soon as you experience symptoms and keep self isolating until you get a negative test. if your test is positive you have to complete your self isolated. that's mac self—isolate sedation. it is a clear element i have spoken about it at length today. and jason will talk about it later on. i want to emphasise other key parts of what we are asking people to do. for those who live in the fife health board areas we're asking you to not to travel outside your own health board area unless you need to do so and people elsewhere should not travel into these areas unless they need to do so. none of us anywhere in the country should be visiting each other‘s homes at the moment except for very specific purposes such as childcare or looking after a

vulnerable person. that is a tough restriction. but it is a very important way in which we can help stop the virus jumping from one household to another. when we do meet people from other households, outdoors or in places that are open such as cafe is, we should meet in groups of no more than six people. only cash —— car share with people within your household. download the protect scotland's app if you have not already done so and remember to wear face coverings when you are out and about and the law makes that mandatory in a number of outdoor —— not —— indoor places. clean your hands regularly and remember to clea n hands regularly and remember to clean hard surfaces because the virus can hang about on those. keep two metres distance from

other people from other households because that minimises the ability of the virus tojump that minimises the ability of the virus to jump from one to another. self—isolate and book a test immediately if you experience any of the symptoms. these are the ways in which all of us can play our part as individuals in trying to halt the spread of the virus. it keeps us safe and it keeps others safe because it minimises the risk of us passing it on to others and it helps to protect the nhs so that it is capable and able to care for and treat all of those who need its services. ultimately, all of us doing all of these things will help save doing all of these things will help save lives and we are being reminded today and at this time as strongly as we were at an earlier stage of this pandemic of that essential objective to save as many lives as possible from this virus. i will hand over

to shelley and. whilst the pandemic remainsa hand over to shelley and. whilst the pandemic remains a public emergency. it is causing increasing financial pressure for many people. some will have seen a sharp drop in net income from being put on furlough or having their work hours reduced being made redundant. others will find that their money is no longer going as faras their money is no longer going as far as they used to. moving into the winter period and some of us being reduced to the job as support scheme and the potential disruption of a new deal exit from the eu we know that some people are worried about how to pay for essentials. that is why i am announcing funding for local authorities to support people on low income. we will make over £10 million available for free school meal provision for the upcoming

holiday including christmas and easter. we will also reimburse councils for the costs over the october holiday. we will help families meet the cost of meals over the school holidays. it will be for local authorities to decide how the support is delivered and we will continue to advocate for a cast —— mark cash first approach where appropriate. we will also make £28 million available as funding to help tackle financial insecurity. councils will have flexibility with this and it can include supplementary local business for scottish welfare fund for crisis grants and community grants to ensure that the demand is met in full. help meet up —— help

meet housing costs and help people meet the cost of food. this new investment is in addition to the {57.5 investment is in addition to the £57.5 million also made available for the scottish welfare fund and for the scottish welfare fund and for the scottish welfare fund and for the new self isolation support grants. i would encourage anybody who need support to reach out to the local council for help. we have a helpline available too. it remains in place for anyone requiring support to access food and the essentials that they need. i would encourage everyone to check that they are receiving the full support that they are entitled to. services like the talk team delivered by the citizens advice are available to help you identify and apply for the support that you are entitled to through some social security systems. you can find out more online or phone for

advice. whilst it is vital that we do all we can to control the spread of coronavirus, we are committed to doing everything within our power to support people being affected by this pandemic and this new additional investment announced today will ensure that people continue to receive the support that they need. ijust want continue to receive the support that they need. i just want to continue to receive the support that they need. ijust want to briefly underline... that is the daily briefing from nicola sturgeon. as usual, starting with the latest statistics over the past 24 hours. scotla nd statistics over the past 24 hours. scotland has recorded 15 deaths from covid—19. she has said that the daily test positivity rate is now up 11.496, daily test positivity rate is now up 11.4%, upfrom daily test positivity rate is now up 11.4%, up from 6.4% on the previous day. now it's time for a look

at the weather with carol kirkwood. hello, again. we are looking at quite a blustery, breezy day today, the strongest winds across the irish sea, northern scotland, where you certainly will notice them. now, we watch the rain clear away into the north sea through the morning. behind that, brighter skies with a few showers across central areas, rain pushing up into the far north of scotland, a rash of showers through the afternoon for northern ireland, southern and central scotland, some of those heavy and thundery, but across the board milder than we would expect at this stage of the year. through this evening and overnight, we carry on with showers and rain, then another band of heavy rain whips up across the english channel into the south east and southern counties of england, a mild night in prospect, and this band of rain will continue to push northward and eastward through the day. there is a potential for some very strong winds in the english channel and the south east. rain and showers continuing in the north and west, tomorrow once again will be mild with highs of 19.

hello this is bbc news with joanna gosling. the headlines: the deadline passes for the government to agree a deal with local leaders in greater manchester over tighter coronavirus restrictions. we still have no word on whether there was agreement. official figures show the number of weekly registered coronavirus deaths has risen beyond 400. that's an increase of a third in the space of seven days. heathrow becomes the first uk airport to offer covid testing for departing passengers, with the result in around one hour. president trump agrees to another tv election debate with rivaljoe biden, but complains about new rules which will see microphones muted for part of the debate. the number of weekly registered coronavirus deaths has risen beyond 400 and increased by a third in the space of seven days.

figures from the office for national statistics show 438 deaths mentioning "novel coronavirus" were registered in england and wales in the week ending 9th october. this is a rise of 36% — or 117 deaths — from the previous week — which saw the highest number of deaths involving covid—19 since earlyjuly. our health editor hugh pym gave us this upate. we've got used to, sadly, the number of daily reported deaths going up from what they were a month orso ago. these figures from the office for national statistics paint a broader picture because they include deaths of people in their own homes, as well as in hospitals and care homes. the overall uk figure, the figures from the ons were for england and wales, but adding in the rest of the uk, we had 474 covid deaths

in the week of 9th october. that was more than four times what the figure was four weeks ago. to put that in perspective, the peak back in april was nearly 9,500, so we are nowhere near that point, but an acceleration of four times in four weeks is where we are in this latest surge. so it goes along with what we have been led to believe where things are going, but this is the most authoritative look at the number of covid deaths, and more general deaths. if you look at all deaths in that week, they were only very slightly above the long—term average. as more restrictions are introduced across the uk, we'll be answering your questions about what you can and can't do. that's coming up in your questions answered at 3.30pm. you can get involved by sending your questions to yourquestions@bbc.co.uk or tweeting us using the hashtag bbc your questions.

we have some figures to bring you on schools. almost half of secondary schools. almost half of secondary schools in england had at least one people self isolating last week after coming in contact with the covid case la school. overall attendance was slightly down to 86% of secondary students across the whole country. overall attendance across primary and secondary schools was 89% in england, with the figure is likely to be lower in areas where coronavirus cases are higher. in liverpool, attendance across its schools fell to 77% yesterday. in liverpool, attendance across its schools fell to 77% yesterday. passengers flying from heathrow to hong kong and italy will be first to have the option of paying for a rapid covid test before checking in. the test will cost £80 and the result is guaranteed within an hour. it comes as a growing number of countries have classified the uk as being ‘at risk‘, meaning travellers from the uk face more restrictions. our correspondent tom burridge went down to heathrow earlier this morning to check out

the new facilities heathrow, overall, are seeing about 20% of its pre—covid passenger volume. this is the testing centre. so, in theory, you would have booked your test online before you come here. it will cost you £80, as we say. you'll come in and then a trained health professional will take a saliva swab from you. it is a pretty standard procedure, we're all kind of familiar with it by now, on a cotton bud, effectively. the type of test they're using here is called a lamp test. it means that the sample you give can be analysed here on site, in that room down there and, as i say, they can guarantee the result to you within the hour. it's important to note that, initially, this facility will only be applicable for people going out of the uk, to places like hong kong and probably soon italy. that's because this type of test is accepted by the authorities in both of those places when you go out of the uk.

more and more countries are putting restrictions on people coming from the uk going there because of the prevalence of the virus here. it's also really important to note that this testing facility here will have no direct consequence immediately for people coming into the uk. ao no consequences for the two—week travel quarantine, although the industry, the aviation sector, really hopes that this is the very first step. they want the government to bring in testing for people coming into the uk as a means of reducing the travel quarantine time, and the government has said they are looking at different options, possibly a test after a week so you'd only have to quarantine for around about a week. they say they will bring that type of thing in by december, or sometime next month. the aviation sector says it can't happen soon enough. belgium's health minister fears the country could soon be overwhelmed by new coronavirus infections. infection numbers are climbing

across europe, prompting lots of new restrictions. mark lobel reports. last orders have been called in belgium's bars, now closed for four weeks, with alcohol sales elsewhere banned after 8pm each night. asked how he feels now, this pub owner says, not so good. restaurants are shut too. real catastrophe, because there is not a proven reason, medical reason, that it was in restaurants. belgians must work from home if possible, leaving offices empty. having been one of the worst—hit countries during europe's first wave of coronavirus earlier this year, this second scare, with cases up 80% over a week and hospitalisations up, it means that belgium's residents are now only allowed to see one other person from outside their household.

and a curfew is in place until 5am, as the government wrestles to get on top of a looming health crisis. translation: that's life. like some people say, there are quite a few people who don't take enough precautions, i would say. in italy, there are also new rules for restaurants, alongside new restrictions that allow mayors to close public areas, and changes to secondary school hours. and in france, nine major cities have been placed under curfew. meanwhile, in the czech republic, where facemasks will be mandatory outdoors from wednesday, and which has the highest infection rate on the continent, the government is considering a full national lockdown. to lift spirits, to tackle the virus, the world health organization's new message is that we are all one globalfamily.

a family has the affection and the care and the love and the desire to protect those around you. with this pandemic, to me, it has brought the whole world together as a family. it really has. spotted in a now deserted brussels, one moment that suggests by pulling together, getting through this second act may feel easier. mark lobel, bbc news. the welsh economy minister has just given details on the financial package to support businesses. rents of £1000 will be available to businesses —— grants. whether or not they are required to close. this has

already been acknowledged as a good offer and recognises the acute challenge that small businesses are facing right across wales. grants of £5,000 will be available to retail, hospitality and leisure businesses required to close. businesses will be automatically eligible for these elements and only need to update your information and bank details via business wheels or their local authority. in addition, discretionary funds of £2000 will be made available on an application business —— businesses closed or affected by the firebreak. a p pa re ntly affected by the firebreak. apparently discretionary £1000 grant will be made available to businesses on the same basis where they are materially affected by local lockdown measures of 21 days or more prior to the start of the firebreak. i'm pleased to say a

further £20 million is also being put into business grants and we will remove the co—funding requirement for businesses required to close during the five o'clock time period. this means £100 million on business gra nts means £100 million on business grants will be available for businesses of all sizes. those who are self—employed will be able to continue to access the uk government's extended self—employment income support scheme. however, for some, that support may not be enough, so i'm pleased to say there will also be eligible to apply for the local authority discretionary grant funding which will be operated by councils across wales. the prime minister will be holding a news conference at 5pm. it is also being reported that the prime minister was talking with andy burnham beyond that midday deadline for agreement on what happens next with greater

manchester, whether there is a financial agreement for the tier 3 lockdown. let's go to our political correspondent ian watson. what is significant about the conversation between andy burnham and boris johnson is that it was between andy burnham and boris johnson, johnson is that it was between andy burnham and borisjohnson, the mayor of greater manchester and the prime minister himself. it was robert jenrick who said that deadline last night. the fact that the prime minister is now getting personally involved underlines the fact that the government is seeking a deal, it would rather have an agreement reached with greater manchester if at all possible. part of the concern is that without a deal perhaps compliance might be less effective on the ground. we don't yet know if that deal has been reached, but what we do know is that on the financial side of the negotiations, what greater manchester have been asking for is something in line with

the kind of fun —— financial support offered to lancashire and to the liverpool city region, which has already moved into tier 3 restrictions. they are looking for around £75 million in financial support. i don't think there will necessarily get some of the other thing is looking for, as to sight of more scientific evidence as to why pubs and bars should close. the key argument from andy burnham that people on lower income should not be abandoned if there is a protected —— protracted lockdown, he was wanting something like a hardship fund for greater manchester. it doesn't seem to me that they are too far apart in terms of the total amount of money available. certainly, the prime minister's own involvement would suggest that the government is looking for a deal rather looking for imposition. nevertheless, if that isn't forthcoming, the prime minister will be addressing the nation again at five o'clock this afternoon and at that point it will be announcing that the tier 3 restrictions will go ahead

and any case. why have the negotiations been so difficult, if what they wanted in greater manchester is similar to what has been given to other areas? there are several things that greater manchester wanted in addition to the financial support. there is more questioning of the underlying assumption is that the government is making. they say if you close bars and pubs, with this really drive the infection rates down to the level that is necessary? they were sceptical. conservative mps were sceptical in the region, and andy burnham. could it be more effective ways of doing this? targeting noncompliant businesses, for example? shielding vulnerable residents? the government has gone down that road. so it was more than a financial settlement that was taking. in terms of the extent of the closures, that has been up for

negotiation. the government suggesting that even if restrictions are imposed in greater manchester they wouldn't close gems, which are close to lancashire. there is some resentment there. one of the other reasons it is taking a while is that the government have been mindful of the government have been mindful of the fact that if they were to treat greater manchester more generously than in other areas, they are also involved in active negotiations with south yorkshire, and maybe soon with the north—east of england, as well, so they have to be very careful from their point of view about what they are offering in terms of fairness between the regions. it was interesting to both sides could not agree as to whether a hardship fund has been formally offered in the last 24 hours. both policy and personality differences, should be saved. thank you very much. we will wait to hear what the outcome of those negotiations has been. the deadline passed 45 minutes

ago and we know that boris johnson deadline passed 45 minutes ago and we know that borisjohnson and andy burnham were talking to each other on the phone beyond that deadline, so we will bring you work as soon as we know if there has been an agreement. there will also be a news conference with the prime minister and the deputy chief medical officer and the deputy chief medical officer and nhs england at 5pm. the chancellor rishi sunak and chief secretary to the treasury stephen barclay have been answering questions from mps in the house of commons this morning. in an impassioned speech to mr sunak, the labour mp andrew gwynne accused the government of hating greater manchester. all we are asking for is proper financial support. as we face many more uncertain months ahead. when the prime minister is reported to struggling on his £150,000 a year salary, how does he think the

lowest paid in greater manchester will cope on two thirds of national minimum wage? last night the communities secretary after just £22 wage? last night the communities secretary afterjust £22 million wage? last night the communities secretary after just £22 million for a city region of 2.8 million people. that is less than the £25 million he granted to his own town centre. why this —— does this government he had greater manchester? —— hate greater manchester. i am disappointed to hear his tone. it is a very difficult time for many people in this country, but what we need is people acting in a constructive spirit and that is what the communities secretary is actively offering to do. greater manchester is being treated exactly the same as every part of a united kingdom. these are national support scheme is put in place that help the most vulnerable in our society. he raised a numberof vulnerable in our society. he raised a number of questions. there are national schemes to protect businesses, protect employees and to provide support to

his local authority. later, a tory former minister urged the government not to "balance the books" and to provide more support to businesses in tier! who are still unable to open. here's caroline nokes‘ question to stephen barclay. it is not just it is notjust businesses in tier 2 and tier 3 that are affected. some businesses in tier! are suffering from a total lot of —— loss of business. does he agree that now is not the time to balance the books and will he consider extending support to businesses that still cannot work in these times? my honourable friend is right in terms of the pressure on businesses in tier1, as of the pressure on businesses in tier 1, as well. that is why a monster package that the chancellor has set out as the extension of loan facilities to help those businesses with a cash flow. within the southeast region to my honourable friend represents, that totalled some £1.5 billion of support. nicola sturgeon has said she expects to be able to announce plans for

a tiered system of covid restrictions on thursday or friday. she said today that the timing of her announcement will be confirmed tomorrow and if the plan is approved by the scottish parliament, the new system would come into effect on monday, second november. the midday deadline set by the government with leaders in greater manchester to move into the highest levels of virus mac restriction past 50 minutes ago. there is still no word on whether an agreement was actually reached. we are still waiting to get the official word on that. we know that the prime minister and andy burnham has spoken directly on the phone to each other. earlier i spoke to two local business owners, karina jadhav and marc gough, about how the restrictions have affected them. we have been living through this to the past six or seven months. we are an event hire company. we hire outlets, glassware, cutlery to the

wedding and event sector. we had an opportunity to do weddings for up to 30 people, then it was limited to 15 people, now as we go into the tier 3 lockdown we would not simply be closed down by the government —— now. weddings cannot take place in a tier 3 environment. they are stopping us from working with no financial support. this is a viable business, a very successful, viable business, a very successful, viable business and we have had no support from the government. we have simply been forgotten, and it is heartbreaking. heartbreaking to the brights who have to cancel the jobs or thejobs not go brights who have to cancel the jobs or the jobs not go ahead at all. please click years of planning. when you say you wouldn't get any financial support under tier 3, for some tier 3 would mean the release of some funds that are not there. it sounds pretty bleak for you stop can you survive if there isn't any financial support forthcoming?

you survive if there isn't any financial support forthcoming ?m you survive if there isn't any financial support forthcoming? it is stressful, immensely stressful. coming to work every day not knowing are we going to go into tier 3, can toa are we going to go into tier 3, can to a wedding for 15, can we do it for 30? is it for 30? recently don't have a road map. i have worked very ha rd to have a road map. i have worked very hard to make my business survive. we are very well known within the sector. i have had to make three staff redundant. the new furlough scheme is not viable to us. if we come to a wedding or an event and we are not supported by the government when we have been shut down by that government, it has to come out of something. with no financial support it will be very difficult for the next six months. karina, what is the situation for you? very, very similar. for us we have been operating under what has been very close to tier 3 restrictions for months now. the restrictions and the

confusions in the communication coming from the government has really reduced consumer confidence, which has resulted for a lot of cancellations for us, people not booking, people wanting refunds. whilst we are allowed to stay open, we are being restricted to the point where it is very, very difficult to keep the business open. in that case, are you one of those for whom tier 3 will mean financial support thatis tier 3 will mean financial support that is not currently there?” tier 3 will mean financial support that is not currently there? i am not sure what financial support we will see from tier 3 gaps. what i would say is in the first lockdown that we had, we didn't see any financial support in terms of grants or finance like that. we just have to take on extra debt. we put the team on furlough. beyond that we didn't receive anything because we are a medium size business, so we fall between the gaps a bit. mark, what do you think about the negotiations between the local leaders and the

governments? what would happen if there isn't an agreement come midday and the government decided to impose it, how would that go down? we have to accept whatever decision is made. if there is financial support, and i fully support and andy burnham is doing, trying to secure our financial support package for the businesses down the chain, which the governmentjust don't businesses down the chain, which the government just don't understand. businesses down the chain, which the governmentjust don't understand. it is not to simply shutting down the pubs and clubs and restaurants. there are people who supply to them, the bakers, the fruit people, meat suppliers. as my sector, we have just been shut down with no support whatsoever. we have to keep fighting and accepted. i have accepted it for the past couple of months that we will not get anything from the government extra, and that is heartbreaking. i just have government extra, and that is heartbreaking. ijust have to carry on with my heart to keep the business alive and surviving.

karina, same question you? at the moment we are just waiting what comes next. what i would like to say isi comes next. what i would like to say is i don't think that anybody is really taking into consideration the impact on people's mental health across hospitality. when you think about hospitality, don't just across hospitality. when you think about hospitality, don'tjust think about hospitality, don'tjust think about restaurants, bars and pubs. think food suppliers, cleaning companies, building management companies. all of these people are pa rt of companies. all of these people are part of the ecosystem of hospitality and we are all being massively affected by this. i think if we continue to where we are we will just continue to see more and more closures in businesses that are viable, brilliant businesses in more normal times. greater manchester looks to go into tier 3, weather that is with an agreement between the government and local leaders are not. we are yet to

hear weather they reached an agreement. the one o'clock news is coming up next, he will keep you fully updated, simon mccoy. now it's time for a look at the weather with stav danaos. northern ireland and scotland to of the weather this week. over the next few days it is in the number of the weather this week. over the next few days it is england the numbers are to do well weather. true today we have had low pressure oak towards the west, that has brought strong winds on the irish sea coast and a cluster of showers that are merged together creating longer spells of rainfor together creating longer spells of rain for northern ireland and scotland. as we move into this evening and overnight, that wet and windy weather continues to push northwards and it will become confined to the north of scotland. one or two showers further south. a lot of cloud around generally. it will seek heavy and persistent men pushing up from the site to southern england. temperature is mild overnight. no lower than ten to 14

degrees for many of us. this new area of low pressure was named storm barbara, it brought some very wet and windy weather to portugal and spain. asa and windy weather to portugal and spain. as a move towards us it will not be as severe, but will bring quite a lot of rainfall on wednesday through england and wales, particularly in the south—east quadrant. we will also see strong winds in the extreme south—east in the channel there, gusting up to 60 miles an hour for the channel there, gusting up to 60 miles an hourfora the channel there, gusting up to 60 miles an hourfor a time. further north, one of two showers and we hang onto the wet weather across northern scotland. here we will be very windy, too, as it will be across the south—east for a time. a mild date to come, maybe not as mild as it has been through tuesday afternoon. still up to 70 degrees here, low to mid teens further north. that area of low pressure eventually pulls away. through the start of thursday, a ridge of high pressure will continue to build them through the day, settling things

down. we do start off with fairly breezy conditions in the north and east, outbreaks of rain for northern and eastern scotland, one or two showers in the england and we are, but increasing amounts of sunshine heading into the afternoon with the wind is turning lighter. not quite as mild as we have seen over the last few days, closer to the seasonal average, in fact. last few days, closer to the seasonalaverage, infact. it doesn't last long. heading into friday, more low pressure starts to slip into northern and western areas, turning wetter in the west, and windy, too, with skills at for all for the weekend. —— gail is for all for the weekend. —— gail is for all for the weekend.

high noon in manchester — and still no news on a deal noone in manchester and still no news. all eyes on the prime minister, who's holding a briefing in downing street later this afternoon we'll be getting the latest live from manchester and asking, "what happens next? " also this lunchtime... the number of weekly registered deaths involving coronavirus across england and wales rises by a third in just seven days. some passengers flying from heathrow will be the first to have the option of paying for a 20—minute covid test before checking in. a witness tells the manchester arena inquiry he confronted bomber salman abeidi 20 minutes before the attack, and reported him to security staff.