i'm ben brown. the headlines: greater manchester is expected to become the first region in england to have tier 3 restrictions imposed on it after the breakdown of talks between local leaders and ministers. it means the area is expected to be put into the strictest measures, with most household mixing not allowed and many pubs and bars forced to close. the mayor of greater manchester says the poorest people will suffer, and the amount offered by the government will not be enough to prevent a winter of hardship. how can we carry the public with us through this pandemic if we are forcing them to lose their income,

their place of work, without supporting them through that? we'll be going live to the prime minister in half an hourfor a briefing on the latest coronavirus developments — as ministers say andy burnham was unwilling to take the action needed to get the virus under control. good afternoon. the mayor of greater manchester, andy burnham, has asked parliament to intervene in the dispute with the government which may see the region become the first in england to have the strictest measures imposed on them by the government. talks between ministers and local leaders in greater manchester have been taking place for several days, but the mayor of greater manchester,

andy burnham, said a few minutes ago that government had not been prepared to meet them in a reasonable place. the prime minister is due to hold a news c0 nfe re nce the prime minister is due to hold a news conference in half an hour, where he is expected to announce his next move. we will bring you that live. this afternoon the communities secretary robertjenrick said he was ‘disappointed that despite recognising the gravity of the situation, the mayor has been unwilling to take the action that is required.‘ local leaders in greater manchester had called for around £75 million in financial support from central government. it's understood that the government offered £60 million, but in a conversation with the prime minister, the mayor of greater manchester, andy burnham, suggested that it was not possible to accept a figure lower than 65 million. these restrictions mean most pubs and bars will be closed. it will likely mean greater restrictions on household mixing and guidance against travelling in or out

of the area. let's first hear what andy burnham the mayor of greater manchester had to say when he spoke to the press in the last fifteen minutes or so. we put forward a costed package of measures, a detailed package of measures, a detailed package of measures, but in particular to support people on the lowest incomes, and people who are self—employed, £15 million a month was what we costed was needed to support people across the ten boroughs that make up greater manchester. these would be people who would need support to top up the furlough to 80%, recognising that people can't live on two thirds of their wages. people who are self—employed also with 80% of their income, so that they could make

ends meet. that was the commitment we made. so, this would cost £90 million to the end of the financial year. in negotiations with the government, we were prepared to reduce our request to 75 million, and we even were prepared to go even lower. 65 million was the bare minimum to prevent a winter of real hardship here. that is what we believe we needed to prevent poverty, to prevent hardship, homelessness. those were the figures we had. not what we wanted, what we needed to prevent all of those things happening. but the government refused to accept this, and that 2pm today, they walked away from negotiations. in summary, at no point today will be offered enough to protect the poorest people in our

communities through the punishing of route —— punishing reality of the winter to come. even now, i am still willing to do a deal, but it cannot be on the terms that the government offered today, because on those terms, i could not meet the commitments i made to people on the lowest incomes, to people who are self—employed, the freelancers in this city who need our support. i could not do it on those terms. and i don't think it is right to ask people to go into a lockdown, to accept further changes within their lives, without supporting them through all of that and what it entails. it can't be right to do that. how can we carry the public with us through this pandemic if we are forcing them to lose their income, their place of work, without supporting them through that? how is that going to keep people with what's being done here to fight

this virus? finally, idon‘t what's being done here to fight this virus? finally, i don't believe we can proceed as a country on this basis through the pandemic, by grinding communities down, through punishing financial negotiations. we are asking a lot of the public at this difficult time, and we need to carry them with us, not crush their spirit. we need national unity, and thatis spirit. we need national unity, and that is why i now look to parliament to intervene and make a judgment on afair to intervene and make a judgment on a fairfinancial to intervene and make a judgment on a fair financial framework for tier 3 lockdowns. make no mistake — this was not just about 3 lockdowns. make no mistake — this was notjust about greater manchester. all parts of the country may find themselves in a tier 3 lockdown that sometime this winter. we need to be able to say to people living in those areas that they have a guarantee that they can plan for, should they need it, 80% of their wages or their income. that is the least we owe to those people. the

money that businesses will be able to rely on to survive. we should be setting out that fair financial framework. white mic that was the mayor of manchester, speaking a few minutes ago, andy burnham. our political correspondent iain watson is in westminster. some pretty strong rhetoric there from andy burnham, saying the government was playing poker with people's lives and warned about the government grinding down communities. but then the government has accused him of being too proud to make a deal, a real war of words going on between the two sites now. yes, there is, differences in rhetoric and substance, differences in terms of policy. it will be difficult —— it was i was going to be difficult to get an agreement, given the atmosphere in some of those talks which have lasted on and off for nine days. fashioned rhetoric from andy burnham. he also challenged the prime minister's political outlook, saying that

instead of levelling up, the prime minister's promise in last december‘s election, he was levelling down in areas such as the north west of england. there was a political challenge being laid by andy burnham. if you stand back, there is only £5 million of a gap between the two men in terms of coming to an agreement, a drop in the ocean of the support that has been offered since the coronavirus crisis hit, and that money has been given to local authorities. it seems a small amount, but that gap became a small amount, but that gap became a political chasm simply because borisjohnson on a political chasm simply because boris johnson on one a political chasm simply because borisjohnson on one side and andy burnham on the other were viewing this through different prisms. andy burnham was arguing that he had a costed programme, £90 million of support to the end of the financial year that would be necessary for businesses in greater manchester. he was willing to bring that down to 75 million during the course of negotiations, but he was saying this was the figure that was essential, because unlike the other areas already in more restrictive measures, such as lancashire

and the city of liverpool, those areas had much smaller businesses, but also manchester had already had some restrictions on households mixing sincejuly, so businesses were already having a much lower footfall and were struggling. what the prime minister saw was an entirely different angle, one of fairness between the areas already in tier 3. for example, liverpool has around half the population of manchester and was given £30 million in business support, so the government felt that twice that amount, £60 million, would be reasonable. the reason they wouldn't go that step further, i'm told, was essentially because it would look as though they we re because it would look as though they were vanishing areas that had been more cooperative in greater manchester, but also they are having active discussions with south yorkshire and may have to have discussions with west yorkshire as well about increasing measures there over the next week, and it did not wa nt to over the next week, and it did not want to set a precedent that looked as though either greater manchester would be a special case, causing

resentment, or that other areas might be encouraged to increase their demands. although 5 million is a small amount, it proved unbridgeable, but that means the government politically now has to ta ke government politically now has to take responsibility for what happens to the economy in greater manchester. if many people are laid off, they will review their measures next month. andy burnham and other political leaders in greater manchester will be able to say, don't blame us, blame the government. this is the very first area in england to have restrictions imposed by the government, rather than through local agreement. so local authority leaders have complained about being cajoled or bounced into it, but having the end agreed. now, the restrictions imposed will be the government's, including not just imposed will be the government's, including notjust closing most pubs and bars, but bookmakers, casinos and bars, but bookmakers, casinos and soft play areas. greater manchester councillors can stand back from that decision. andy burnham accused the government of

walking away. we will find out exactly how much money is on offer in the precise nature of the restrictions in less than half an hour, when boris johnson restrictions in less than half an hour, when borisjohnson addresses the nation. it will be interesting to hear what mrjohnson has got to say. thank you for the moment. as greater manchester waits to hear when they will be put into the top level of restrictions, a new poll shows a quarter of people admit they are not following the government coronavirus rules. but the survey, carried out by ipsos mori, also suggests britain's overwhelming adherence to the rules has become stronger in the past month. our home editor, mark easton, is here. you've been trawling through some of these figures — what is the picture they paint about compliance around they paint about compliance around the country? i think actually it is ofa the country? i think actually it is of a country that is broadly pretty compliant. the pollsters, and they are asking people if they are breaking them, so it is a big thing to say you have, nevertheless, 73% of people said they

had done, hadn't broken them at all are kept to them very nearly all the time. that number, as you were saying, is actually quite a significant increase from asking the same questionjust a month increase from asking the same question just a month ago. it was 62% in september, now 73%. i don't think what we are seeing is a country that is increasingly turning against these regulations. of that group, of the 26% who say, actually, i haven't always followed the rules, four out of ten have said what they have not done a social distancing. it's very easy, isn't it, to bump into somebody and maybe people are thinking about that. it may be more serious than that. one in five, and this is interesting, said they have visited friends and family, knowing they shouldn't have done. some of these rules are tougher to keep than others. it will be interesting to see what happens in greater

manchester if tier 3 is imposed there. will that affect compliance? we will have to wait and see. there is also research about people's mood as we head into what could be a really difficult winter. those numbers are from a poll ofjust over 1000 people. another consultancy did a poll of over 2001 of the questions was, pick three words to describe your mood right now. and the word that just comes your mood right now. and the word thatjust comes out stronger than any other is worried. people are worried, about the virus, about the economy and their jobs, worried, about the virus, about the economy and theirjobs, perhaps also worried about the political handling of it all and where it is all going to go, but i think the thing that worries them most, and i have come from doing a focus group session we will broadcast on the six o'clock news tonight, and what struck me about that was christmas and people's sense of not being able to go and see your mum. a lady in

belfast was talking about not being able to see light at the end of the tunnel, more lockdowns injanuary and february, and i think that has been a powerful sense. also this issue we've seen so much today, where the politicians don't seem to be able to agree. interestingly, the focus group i would say probably half or more were saying, forget all these different restrictions, the patchwork of controls, let's just have a national lockdown and do it for a month or something. but mike mark, thank you very much. -- mark, thank you very much. we can listen a bit more to the mayor of greater manchester, andy burnham. you need more than that to feed kids and get them to school every day. this fight was about people. as the city mayor of sophos, it was not about politics. if it were, we would not have had a united city region behind us with all our mps.

yes, comply with the low, because we are a law—abiding society. we will always say what is right when it comes to the law of the land. and of course i will say, full of the public health advice. but, mick, we are in a position today where i feel the government has walked away from us. and i don't think, tonight, people should be worrying in the way they will be about theirjobs, their homes, their businesses. they should look to the uk government in a pandemic to look after a city like this at this moment in time, and to say that they've walked away and taken the money away, i find that a disgraceful state of affairs. right. it's going to come into

effect on friday. at one minute past midnight on friday. this is what has been said to mp5. it will be £20 million only and they are going to try and pick off individual councils. disgraceful! that is a disgrace! it is brutal, to be honest, isn't it? this is no way to run the country in a national crisis. it isn't. this is not right. they should not be doing this, grinding people down, trying to a cce pt this, grinding people down, trying to accept the least they can get away with. £22 million to fight the situation we are in is frankly disgraceful. if you are a conservative in greater manchester, would you be having a different conversation? i don't know, helen. i haven't worked in that way. all the way through this year, i think i could point you back to lots of things that have happened.

i said i was out there supporting the government, trying to work with them, i was on the record. injuly, we supported the call for restrictions here. if we had been playing politics, we would have done none of those things. but at the end of the day, you have to protect people through a crisis like this. and if the government isn't doing what is needed to protect people, we have got a job to speak up for people and that is what we have been doing here. i think he would have to put the question to them, but this was a government elected to level up. can it say paying two thirds of people's wages is in any way an act of levelling up? of course not, it is an act of lowering those people down, grinding them into the dirt. i personally would never put my name to it. if i had accepted what they we re

to it. if i had accepted what they were saying, it would mean i couldn't support the people with an 80% furlough, i couldn't support the self employed in the way i said i would. and i wasn't prepared to put my name to that. i don't think it is what greater manchester would expect me to do. as i say, it is a place that always looks out for people, never walks on by. and we would not be prepared to sign up to that. sorry, claire? you will have heard, asi sorry, claire? you will have heard, as i have come in recent months, people using the dominic cummings excuse when they have not stuck to the reels. are you now worried you will become an excuse for not sticking to the rules, having spent the last week and a bit telling people they are not there and they won't work? no, ithinki am people they are not there and they won't work? no, i think! am saying the opposite to you today, claire. i am making a direct appeal to the

people of greater manchester. who had been so good with their support for us over recent days. it is amazing the support, and thank you, everybody, those of you who have gathered to listen to what we are saying today. obviously, they know now that the councils can make your councils, are not getting the help that they need from the government to fight this pandemic. so i am making a direct appeal to you all, please, to follow the public health guidance, to look out for each other. because we are going to have to work harder now to get through this together. i said to the government, if you treat us fairly, we will be able to say to people that we have got a fair deal and therefore, we are going to ask the public to go with this tier 3 and everything it involves. but they haven't provided that. and therefore, we have a challenge. but iam therefore, we have a challenge. but i am saying to people today, we have stood up for you, but please listen to what saying and work with us, please don't make the challenge any greater. we need your help, we need

you now to follow the advice. let's show the country what this place is made of. we have faced so many challenges before in the past. you think of the things this city has gone through. and we will get through this, but we will get through this, but we will get through this, but we will get through this by standing up for ourselves and looking out for each other and doing what is right. and thatis other and doing what is right. and that is the appeal i make to the people of greater manchester tonight. without that support, the challenge gets bigger, but i know i can rely on you all to do the right thing and that is what we now need to do. so thank you very much and d for coming along, everybody. that is the mayor of greater manchester, andy burnham, calling on people to obey the law and follow the guidance if tier 3 restrictions are imposed on greater manchester and we are expecting that to be announced by the prime minister when he speaks in downing street in just a few minutes' time, at five o'clock. while we were listening to andy burnham, we got the latest coronavirus figures

for the uk. the uk has recorded 241 deaths in the past 24 hours, that is up sharply from yesterday's figure of 80, the number of people who tested positive was 20 1,000, number of people who tested positive was 201,000, 331. andthe number of weekly registered deaths involving coronavirus across the uk has gone up coronavirus across the uk has gone up by coronavirus across the uk has gone up by more than a third in the space of seven days, now standing above 400. our health correspondent, richard galpin, is here. a sharp increase in on above cases and deaths. in terms of the number of deaths, it was 80 on monday and that probably is an underestimate because of the delay over the weekend and it will be a higher number. but still, it seems to be quite a significant jump, number. but still, it seems to be quite a significantjump, 241. if we go back to last tuesday, it was 143. so it has gone up by almost 100 from last week. so as you say, a significant jump up.

last week. so as you say, a significantjump up. we have also got some different figures from the office for national statistics, what do they tell us? also showing us the number of deaths is increasing. that is up by 38%, these are the weekly deaths in the uk from the office for national statistics. and they say 474 deaths involved covid, that was up 474 deaths involved covid, that was up by 474 deaths involved covid, that was up by 131. essentially, that number has doubled and then quadrupled over the past month. what we have to say is that of course, if you put this in context, which is at the peak backin in context, which is at the peak back in april, there were almost 9,500 deaths within a week. so it is still far, far less than the peak backin still far, far less than the peak back in april. all right. but overall, in terms of the number of cases and the trajectory, which is not good, it bears out what the scientists have been saying and what the government have been saying about that pretty alarming grace. the government have been saying about that pretty alarming gracem you look at the graph going

back to early september, you see a continuous rise, it has been going up continuous rise, it has been going up very steeply and it is getting to levels of parts of very badly hit europe where they have bad rates as well. richard, for now, thank you very much indeed. let's go back to manchester. our correspondent dan johnson is there and he was listening to andy burnham, the mayor of greater manchester after the breakdown of those talks between him and other local leaders in the greater manchester area and central government. and it all seems to have broken down over about £5 million. but some really fierce rhetoric, a bit of a war of words going on now between andy burnham, he has accused the government of being brutal and we hear government sources accusing him of being too proud to make a deal. yes, absolutely, really passionate defence of his position from andy burnham. saying that he just thought the money on offer from

the government was not enough. it sounds like it is 15 million that make the difference. he said his council —— his calculations was they needed £75 million to support the lowest pa id workers needed £75 million to support the lowest paid workers through this further period of disruption and he said all that was on the table from the government was £60 million and he was not prepared to accept that. he said he would have gone a bit lower than 75, possibly 65, but that was not enough to reach an agreement with the government and that is why the two sides have failed to reach an agreement have —— and have worked apart. as we head into that press conference, some of the local leaders were getting messages to say they now expect these tier 3 high level of in strict —— high level of restrictions to be enforced in the city region from friday night into saturday and it will now come not with 75,000,065 or 60 million, but with 75,000,065 or 60 million, but with £20 million. there will be serious questions about how that can be justified if that is the figure on offer, if the government was prepared to negotiate early at 60

million, andy burnham has already posed the question, what are they doing not providing that if that is what is needed to help people in this region through the next few weeks if restrictions are tighter, why are they taking that away and deciding on the 20 million is needed? that would be seen as a churlish response to the breakdown of these negotiations. andy burnham has said the money on offer was just not enough and he was not satisfied he could do everything he said he thought he needed to do in this region to protect the lowest paid workers. he pointed out it is the zero—hours contract staff who work in the bars, driving the taxis, delivering food in the city, who rely on some of the most precarious wages in our economy, who will be hit hardest by what is about to come. the point has been made repeatedly this city has already suffered so much because local restrictions have been in place here for a few weeks now, that doesn't seem to have done a great deal in terms of getting the virus under control and of course, our biggest cities have suffered throughout this

year as restrictions came in and then had to be reinforced again. so much on other people in the city to consider, the expectation is those restrictions will be enforced and we wait to hear of the prime minister is about to announce that. there will be an eye on exactly what level of extra support comes with that. i asked andy burnham if he thought there would be further support if he would regret turning down the offer from the government and not accepting what was on the table. if there is only £20 million coming to this region, then perhaps you may, but he has given a very strong defence of his position in these negotiations today. backed up by leaders of councils from the different boroughs across greater manchester, saying that the political will and the people here have been united in saying they won't accept this being imposed by the government without the right protections in place to keep safe not just people's lives, protections in place to keep safe notjust people's lives, but the livelihoods of people in the city region will rely on. it has been a really tense and difficult few weeks of negotiations, probably ten days

of negotiations, probably ten days of negotiations, probably ten days of negotiations, a discussion between the government and local leaders. on some level, this represents a political failure that they were not able to come to come sort of agreement because everyone accepts further restrictions are neededin accepts further restrictions are needed in some form even if there is a debate about what the measures should be, what is effective and what needs to be put in place to be effective here has —— and there has been a debate about whether the government was inflating figures about the pressure on intensive care across the city to drive a hard bargain. andy burnham said he was not going to fall for that and accept being pushed around by the government, but the reality now is that he has not been able to negotiate what he and the other council leaders wanted for people across this city region, he has turned down the lower offer being made by the government in those negotiations that fell apart around lunchtime today. and now he is having to prepare to accept whatever the government decides to impose on this city with whatever level of support it determines is appropriate. because effectively,

the local voice in those negotiations, in that decision, has now been taken out. there is some really ha rd now been taken out. there is some really hard faced politics at play about who makes decisions, who has legitimacy and accountability, who sets the rules and who decides how best they are to be enforced. dan, thank you very much indeed. dan johnson in manchester. i suppose question is really about whether all the bad—tempered discussions and the bad blood between central government and those local leaders in manchester will affect compliance in greater manchester when tier 3 is imposed. in watson, our political correspondent, it looks like central government is going to impose it and we are hearing at the weekend —— iain watson. we have not heard on the final sum of money given to greater manchester. after all this haggling which in the end just broke down. absolutely, it is turning into a major political row between central and local government. that

spectacular moment where andy burnham said that the government was only guaranteeing around £20 million to greater manchester, not the 60 million previously offered in talks. ican million previously offered in talks. i can probably throw a bit of light on this. effectively, the money that goes to areas in tier 3, the most serious form of restrictions, split in two. £8 per head of population gets spent on things like improving the test, track and trace system, helping the clinically vulnerable and enforcement, that was worth £20 million in greater manchester and thatis million in greater manchester and that is guaranteed. the rest is in the form of a business support package, a 30 million went to the liverpool city region, 30 million to lancashire. on a per head basis, their capita basis, that is where their capita basis, that is where the £60 million comes from the government. it looks as though that 60 million has been withdrawn and there is a briefing going on between there is a briefing going on between the health secretary and greater manchester mps, that looks to have been withdrawn as a sum in total, but it looks also like what the

government intends to do is to then negotiate for the ten constituent authorities in greater manchester. by authorities in greater manchester. by passing andy burnham, talking to some of the local council leaders and then agreeing a package of support for them. i don't know if that will definitely go ahead, but that will definitely go ahead, but that would be the logic of what is being suggested at the moment and we will find out from the prime minister about the total financial sums that will be available in greater manchester. but interestingly, when the package was agreed in lancashire, a couple of the district councils within that area we re the district councils within that area were saying that unless they signed up collectively to what was on offerfrom the signed up collectively to what was on offer from the government, they said they would be picked off and the area would get less than a neighbouring area, so there will be some suspicion among greater manchester mps that that is what the experience in their region. the government certainly will not want andy burnham to get any kind of premium for standing up to them for the last nine days. but it is astonishing that during a pandemic, we are getting this very political row, with andy burnham saying the

government is not levelling up but levelling down in this area, the government suggesting he is risking the lives of people in greater manchester as intensive care beds begin to villa. i don't think that atmosphere will be helped by what the prime minister is going to say, but we should at least get a bit more clarity in a minutes' time. we expect to hear from the prime minister any minute now. we will cross over when he appears. many people will say that the haggling with manchester is the problem when you go for this kind of regionalised restriction. if you had a national lockdown across england, it would be so much simpler. interesting that andy burnham backed a mini lockdown for two weeks, the kind of thing being done in wales. the government has defended the regional approach because it says that locking down

in cornwall, with low prevalence, wouldn't get the numbers down. here comes the prime minister, along with jonathan van—tam, the deputy chief medical officer for england, and stephen powis from nhs england. good afternoon. i am joined stephen powis from nhs england. good afternoon. iam joined by stephen powis from nhs england. good afternoon. i am joined by steve powers of nhs england and jonathan van—tam, deputy chief medical officer. across the world, the countries that are waging the most successful fights against coronavirus are adopting regional and local measures to protect their populations, and that is why we launched the three local covid alert levels for england, with intervention based on the prevalence in local areas. since then, we've been undertaking discussions with local leaders in those parts of the country which are currently bearing the brunt of the second wave of this epidemic. before i update you on those discussions, i will ask jonathan van—tam to brief us on the latest data nationally, and in greater manchester. thank you,

jonathan. thank you, prime minister. first slide, please. i am jonathan. thank you, prime minister. first slide, please. lam beginning today's data briefing with a slide i showed on the 12th of october, and i'm doing that on purpose. first of all, to remind you that there are two maps of england here. the one on the left, in purple, shows the wee kly the left, in purple, shows the weekly case rates per 100,000, and the one on the right, in brown, shows the rate of change per 100,000 population. all by local authority area level, and the darker colours indicate higher rates of disease or higher rates of change. you will see that these geographic maps are current for the week 30th of september— 6th of october. if you quickly look at those shadings, we will now move to the second slide, which is the eighth of october— 14th

october. you can clearly see that the dark purple confluent problem area has extended from coast—to—coast now, and extends quite a long way down the country. in contrast, the rate of change is more variable, and there are more patches of green, indicating a negative rate of change, as much as there are new patches of dark brown, such as in lincolnshire. next slide, please. and a similar picture for those aged 60 and above. again, these are the old geographic maps that i showed you eight days ago, and changing to the new graph now, you can see that the purple areas have increased, and there are some new areas of increased rate of change in the over 605. i really wa nt change in the over 605. i really want to emphasise that it is the over 605 that really worry u5

want to emphasise that it is the over 605 that really worry us most, because these are the people who become severely ill with covid—19. they are more likely to be admitted to hospital. if they are admitted to hospital, they stay in hospital for longer. and sadly, they are more difficult to save. next slide, please. so, here are the data broken down by age band and by english region, beginning with the north—east, the north west, yorkshire and humber. and really, each of these subplots is a contrasting game of two halves in as much as the 10—19 and 20—29 age group, you can see that the weekly case rate has declined on all of those traces. now, this may be partly ascertainment, it may relate to the rate at which people are coming forward for testing, which

is now flat, because the rate of swab positivity continues to increase. the other half of the coin, if you like, or the older age groups, from 30-39 like, or the older age groups, from 30—39 through to 80 plus, and here, you can see over time this continues to loom a continuing increase in case rates. this really shows us now that the infections which have seededin that the infections which have seeded in the younger age groups are now penetrating those older age groups as we go forward in time. and these are cases. this means that the hospital admissions and the deaths, sadly, that are linked to those cases, are now baked in for the next two or three weeks. next slide, please. these are the same graphs again, but this time for the east midlands, london and the west midlands. you can again see, particularly in the east midlands,

relating to nottingham particularly, that drop in the 10—19 and 20—29, but the continuing increase in case rates in the other ages. next slide, please. and the same is true of east of england, south—east and south—west. but at much, much lower overall levels of disease than we are currently seeing in the north of england. next slide, please. again, i'm referring back to the heat maps i showed you on the 12th of october, showing that gradual warming up of disease rates in the 16—295, that then creeps through into the older age groups with a few weeks' lag as we move through the age bands and go up we move through the age bands and go up each of the blocks. that is the visual snapshot from the 12th of october. i'll now move to the new snapshot. and i think it's pretty stark. i think you can see

very clearly now from these data that are just one week on how those heat maps have increased markedly, notjust in the north—east or north—west, but also in the east midlands, top left, and in yorkshire and humber, bottom right. this is most concerning because it's the penetration of disease into the older age groups that gives the nhs significant problems. next slide, please. and indeed, here are the weekly covid—19 hospital admission rates in england by age group, and you can see, very marked and steep increases for 85 plus, 75—84 and 65—74. and some of you, the eagle eyed amongst you, will say, these data extend up until the 11th of october. i will show you some data that go further than

that, though they are not segregated by e, though they are not segregated by age, but the pattern is the same. next slide, please. before i do so, these are the intensive care admission rates. you can see that same very admission rates. you can see that same very sharp rise in 75—84, 60 5-74, same very sharp rise in 75—84, 60 5—74, and same very sharp rise in 75—84, 60 5-74, and 45-64, but same very sharp rise in 75—84, 60 5—74, and 45—64, but less so in 85 plus, consistent with the fact that fewer patients in that age group are appropriate clinical candidates for intensive care. next slide, please. idid say intensive care. next slide, please. i did say i would bring those data from the 11th of october right up to date for you, so these are up to the 17th of october, and they showed daily covid—19 patients admitted by english region. you can see that the burden at the moment is in the northwest, northeast and yorkshire, but with an increasing burden in the midlands. and the

little red arrows on each of the x axis show you where the level was one week ago. that shows you that once this gets started in an area, how quickly it then builds. next slide, please. these are total numbers of patients in hospital with covid—19 as opposed in new admissions, but again, you can see that trend of increasing burden in the nhs continues, with some dramatic increases in the last week. next slide, please. the prime minister has asked me to focus a little in greater manchester. these are the heat maps for greater manchester, up—to—date on october the 15th, and the data extending from early september through to that date. and you can see, across the sub regions of greater manchester, there are really

very significant areas of heat across pretty much all of the ages, and really extending to some deep purple zones in the older age groups. next slide, please. this is the rate of new covid hospital patients in england by nhs region. you can see that the north is running ahead of the rest of the country at the moment. next slide, please. drilling down a little bit, into the north—west, you can cheshire, greater manchester unlike usher is stp partnership areas, and all of those increases in the number of patients being hospitalised with covid—19 now. next slide, please. thank you, prime minister. thank you very much, jv t. the presentation you have just seen shows clearly why

we must act. and as we act, i don't wa nt we must act. and as we act, i don't want anybody to think that your actions, our actions, are want anybody to think that your actions, ouractions, are in want anybody to think that your actions, our actions, are in vain, or the effort is in vain, because our collective action across the country has bought the r number well below its natural rate of about three. as a result, the virus is not spreading as quickly as it did in february and march. however, while the r is below its natural level, it does remain above one, meaning that the virus continues to spread, so we need to take action to reduce the r, control the virus, especially in those parts of the country, as you've just seen, where the virus is most prevalent. this evening, informed by the data that we've just seen, ican informed by the data that we've just seen, i can announce informed by the data that we've just seen, i can announce that greater manchester will move to the very high alert level. that means that pubs and bars must close unless they are serving substantial meals, households can't mix indoors or in most outdoor settings. in some

public outdoor spaces, groups must be limited to the rule of six. and we strongly advise against travel into and out of the area. in line with the additional measures taken in lancashire, casinos, bingo halls, betting shops, adult gaming centres and soft play areas must also close. regulations will be laid in parliament on thursday and come into force just after midnight. i parliament on thursday and come into forcejust after midnight. i know these restrictions are tough, both on businesses and individuals, and believe me, no one wants to be putting these things into effect, but that is why we are also enacting a comprehensive package of support. thejob support a comprehensive package of support. the job support scheme ensures those affected by business closures are still paid, and once you top that up with universal credit, those on low incomes will receive at least 80% of their normal income. we've made

available up to £465 million to help local authorities implement and enforce restrictions. greater manchester will receive £22 million of this, and that's on top of the extra £1 billion we are providing in funding for local authorities across the whole country. we will work with local authorities, including greater manchester, to allocate testing and introduce local contact tracing. over the last ten days, we tried to getan over the last ten days, we tried to get an approach with local leaders in greater manchester, a joint approach. unfortunately, agreement wasn't reached, and i do regret this. as i said last week, it would have been better and we would have a better chance of defeating the virus if we work together. in addition, i must say, to the support outlined above, we made a generous and extensive offer to support manchester's business. i want to

stress, this offer was proportionate to the support we have given merseyside and lancashire. the mayor didn't accept this, unfortunately, and, given the public health situation, i must now proceed with moving greater manchester, as i say, to the very high alert level. not to act would put manchester's nhs and the lives of many of manchester's residents at risk. despite the failure to reach an agreement, i hope the mayor and council leaders in greater manchester will now work with us to implement these measures. elsewhere, discussions on moving to the very high alert level continue with local leaders in south yorkshire, west yorkshire, nottinghamshire and the north east. i hope and expect central and local government will continue to work closely together as we are seeing in merseyside,

london, lancashire and in many other parts of the country. because ultimately, all of us want to protect the nhs and, in doing so, to save lives. thank you, i am now going to go to questions from the public. can we have our first questions from the public. can we have ourfirst question, questions from the public. can we have our first question, please? how many places under tier 3 restrictions would be needed before implementing a national lockdown?” think what we are trying to avoid is a national lockdown at all. that is jake, from chester on the video. we don't rule anything out, jake, but the difficulty is that the distribution of the virus this time round is very uneven by comparison with march and april. so the right response, as many other countries are doing, is to go for this local

and regional approach. that is what we are going for. let's go next to vicky, from lancashire. she asks, my grandmother has dementia, she lives ina care grandmother has dementia, she lives in a care home and has been in and out of hospital over recent months. due to restrictions on visiting in local lockdowns, i have only been able to visit her once since march. is there an opportunity for the restrictions in care homes to be reviewed which may enable a loved one to visit? i will askjonathan van—tam to comment on that in a second, but i just van—tam to comment on that in a second, but ijust want van—tam to comment on that in a second, but i just want to say, vicky, everybody sympathises deeply with you and your family. this is a situation that tragically is being replicated up and down the country. we do have to prevent the spread of the virus in care homes can make you remember what happened in the early pa rt remember what happened in the early part of the year, so we have had to ta ke part of the year, so we have had to take some steps to protect elderly

residents from the possibility of infection by visitors. but we are certainly looking at what we can do to review the circumstances that might allow people to visit their elderly relatives in extreme circumstances, and on compassionate grounds. i can see how absolutely wretched it is and i think many, many people across the country have now had experience of this problem. jvt, do you want to add anything? thank you, prime minister. this is really extremely distressing and i know it is extremely distressing for relatives and for people who live in ca re relatives and for people who live in care homes. but the unfortunate and horrible truth about this virus is that when it gets into care homes, it can inflict really massive mortality very quickly. and the staff that go into care homes

are being regularly tested. we can't get them to live in the care home as well, so they are in contact with the community, and there is this consta nt the community, and there is this constant tension between wanting to see relatives are not wanting to witness catastrophic mortality in these care homes. i am witness catastrophic mortality in these care homes. lam hoping witness catastrophic mortality in these care homes. i am hoping that some of the pilots with rapid and novel testing methods will eventually lead to a breakthrough so that we can be more relaxed about visiting residents and our families in care homes in a much safer way. but for now, i acknowledge openly it isa very but for now, i acknowledge openly it is a very difficult situation indeed. thanks for mentioning that point, jvt, about the new types of testing systems that we were hoping to bring in. and as i said in a press co nfe re nce to bring in. and as i said in a press conference on friday, we will

be prioritising care homes for those tests because it is a truly tragic and very, very difficult situation for many people. let's go to vicki young, of the bbc, please. prime minister, in the last few hours, thousands and powers —— thousands of people in greater manchester have been told they have to close very soon. you have talked about £22 million of help throughout the greater manchester area, can you now clear up because many of your own mp5 in the area do not know, what are you offering to the area beyond that? are you withdrawing the extra come at what you called generous offer, is that now off the table and what you say to the mayor of greater manchester, who has accused you of grinding down communities through these negotiations? professor van—tam, northern ireland and wales have both now announced what they are calling a firebreak, a short period of severe restrictions, should that now be the

approach for england as well? thank you very much. look, i bitterly regret any restrictions that leads to damage to businesses and to people's lives, of course i do, nobody wants to be putting people in greater manchester or anywhere through the experience that they have been through. and frankly, andy burnham is right in what he says about the length of the endurance that greater manchester has shown. i simply have got to look at the data, alas, the number of deaths, the hospital admissions, and we have to act. of course, the package, the 22 million that i described, that is additional to other support. we are always happy to continue to consider

that. but don't forget, this is a government that has put £190 billion already in supporting businesses and jobs and livelihoods across the country. we are investing huge sums to support local authorities and another £1 billion, as i said. greater manchester will have access to all kinds of funds, particularly to help with testing and tracing. and of course, with enforcement. so the funds are there. they are massive. and what we couldn't do, i hope people understand, was do a deal with greater manchester that really would have been out of kilter with the agreements we had already reached with merseyside and with lancashire. that

was the problem. but i am very, very grateful to andy and to his teams for going ahead now as they have said they will and implementing these measures. and the most important thing now is that people comply and that we get a high level of compliance and greater manchester and in all the areas that are currently in the upper tiers. because that is the way to drive the r down. i will continue and answer my question, thank you for it. the answer is kind of in four parts. first, i hope my opening slides were very clear that pretty much everywhere in england is now heating up everywhere in england is now heating up to some extent. and we are trying to walk a very fine line between

getting the virus under control in areas where it is out of control and incurring the minimum amount of economic damage in doing so. and it is clear that in the areas where it is clear that in the areas where it is out of control, and i have focused on those in the presentation, hard measures are needed. but do i think right now, it is appropriate to insist on those similar hard measures in for example the south—west of england or kent, where levels of disease are really very, very much lower than in the north of england? in other words, the national firebreak you talk about. no, idon't the national firebreak you talk about. no, i don't think that is right and! about. no, i don't think that is right and i don't think that is consistent with the epidemiological picture we are seeing or indeed consistent with the pressures that are being seen in different parts of the health service across the

country which, again, a very different. maybe stephen powis might, on that point. yes, thank you, jvt. sjvt has shown with the epidemiology, there is variation around the country. that is also reflected in the number of patients we see in hospital. so if i give you an example of that, there are more patients in hospitals in greater manchester alone at the moment and there are in hospitals in the entire south east and south—west of the country. so we are seeing variability in infection rates. those infection rates inevitably lead to unfortunately more deaths. they lead to more hospital admissions and more people in hospitals. they lead to more long—term symptoms because we now also know that covid can affect you beyond the initial acute illness, in what is becoming known as long—covid, and that affects all ages, so it is notjust the elderly. but it is variable throughout the country, so the key to this, as

the prime minister and jonathan have said, is to reduce infection rates and that requires measures to be put in place that will do that. but also, crucially, for people to comply with those measures. the british people did that in april and may and we saw what happened, the r came below one in death rates and hospital rates began to full, so we know these measures work. and really, we can all play a part. it is for everybody in the public to comply with the measures, to reduce the spread of the virus. that will then reduce hospital admissions, it will benefit people with covid and it will also benefit other patients who don't have covid because the last thing we want to do is to eat into the capacity we have in hospitals that were used to treat other conditions. thank you very. let's go to carl, of itv. thank you, prime minister. will businesses in manchester, like the pub where i am sitting now, have to close without any of the extra support

that you we re any of the extra support that you were talking to andy burnham about earlier today? and is manchester being made an example of? if i could askjonathan being made an example of? if i could ask jonathan van—tam as being made an example of? if i could askjonathan van—tam as well two quick questions. are these tier 3 measures with the added restrictions that come with them enough to make a difference in greater manchester, and how damaging has the ten days or so of delay been? thank you very much. and clearly, we wanted a deal. asi much. and clearly, we wanted a deal. as i said, that was the best way forward. we have had to take action just because of the urgency of the situation. i have described some of the funds already on the table. the discussions undoubtedly will continue. but just discussions undoubtedly will continue. butjust for your discussions undoubtedly will continue. but just for your viewers, for our viewers, we have already in greater manchester provided £196 million of additional covid funding to local authorities

in greater manchester, £663 million to the greater manchester local enterprise partnership through the local growth fund to help them and £81 million of shovel ready projects to support business and growth in manchester. we don't want to do this in a way that we have had to. obviously, we are going to keep talking to andy burnham and his teams. but i am grateful to them, i am grateful to the leadership and the councils in manchester now for getting behind the measures that were part —— that we are putting in place because that is our best chance of getting the virus towns. -- down. to your question about tier 3 measures. the nationally published tier 3 measures are the minimum national standard for hard measures, but there are other things that

local authorities can consider on top. and i hope some do. what is really important is compliance. everybody needs to acce pt compliance. everybody needs to accept that this is not a good place to be, if you are in tier3, but accept that this is not a good place to be, if you are in tier 3, but to get behind it and try and get the rate of disease following so that r in that area is falling, so that the pressure comes off the health service. particularly in those 60 plus age groups. and to your point about what does ten days delay look like? well, i have got some data in front of me and i willjust pick out three local areas. and i will firstly give you the case rate per 100,000 in the age 60 plus. between october the 1st and october the 7th.

then i will fast forward from the eighth to the 14th of october, so thatis eighth to the 14th of october, so that is not quite ten days, but i hope it will give you some idea. manchester, later figure, 326 per 100,000. salford, 164. later manchester, later figure, 326 per 100,000. salford,164. laterfigure, 287. wigan, 207. laterfigure, 100,000. salford,164. laterfigure, 287. wigan, 207. later figure, 399. so, i hope that gives you some kind of understanding of what we talk about when we talk about the doubling time, and when we talk about the rapid rate of progress of health service amenable problems in the elderly once this disease gets out of control in an area. i hope that gives you some flavour of what that gives you some flavour of what that kind of time period

produces at the moment. thanks very much, jvt. stephen? i think it's worth saying that, asjvt has said in terms of doubling rates of infection, that also plays directly into the effects on hospital admissions and patients in hospital, so we have made this point many times, and you alluded to it, that any measures introduced now, people comply with them, it will be up to two weeks before we see that having an effect on the nhs, because there is an incubation period for the virus of about five days, then 5—7 days of symptoms before typically people present and have to be admitted to hospital for the small proportion that do. to give you an example, in greater manchester, which illustrates that, my colleagues in the nhs there are doing a greatjob at my colleagues in the nhs there are doing a great job at the my colleagues in the nhs there are doing a greatjob at the moment, managing, working together as a health care system to ensure they can manage the rising number of patients with covid, but also keep

services going for everybody who hasn't got covid, and it's really important that people continue to access those services. two weeks ago, there were just about 330 patients in manchester hospitals. two we e ks patients in manchester hospitals. two weeks further on, that is, yesterday, there were just over 620, so that is a doubling. another two weeks, if that doubles again, then weeks, if that doubles again, then we are into 1200 or so. at the very peak in manchester, greater manchester, on the 18th of april, there were 1277 patients in the hospitals, so in two weeks' time, we could well see, at the current rate of rise, the sort of numbers of patients in hospital in greater manchester that we saw at the peak in april. that is why it is important that measures are taken at the right time, and it's really important why everybody complies with them to get infection rates down. thanks, stephen. times

radio. thank you very much. wales and northern ireland both have lower infection rates than england, sometimes considerably lower, yet both have voluntarily put themselves into regional lockdowns, with everything pretty much closed apart from schools. why have you decided to take a different course? why are you not looking at regional and local lockdowns at the moment? and a question tojonathan local lockdowns at the moment? and a question to jonathan and stephen — jonathan van—tam, you have eloquently explained why national circuit breakers might not be such a clever idea with varying infection rates, but can you confirm that you are actively looking at local circuit breakers for these hotspot areas? and how long are you going to give tier3to areas? and how long are you going to give tier 3 to reduce to work the r rate before you then advise the prime minister to move on to local circuit breakers? tom, thank you. first of all, in the areas which are

experiencing a particular surge of the virus, now in tier 3 or going into it, we rule nothing out. if we have to take tougher measures, then of course we will. we think that the local, regionalapproach of course we will. we think that the local, regional approach is right, but i just want to go local, regional approach is right, but ijust want to go back local, regional approach is right, but i just want to go back to the point is that both steve and jvt have been making, that the way to make this work with tier 3 is for everybody to comply, and i think the package of measures that we have in tier 3 package of measures that we have in tier3 in package of measures that we have in tier 3 in these hotspot areas, if they are implemented, if they are implemented, will do the trick in those areas, and that can make a huge difference to the overall spread of the virus in the country. so, thank you for the question. my retort is rather simple, really, that, you know, we

just can't afford just to let our elderly die. and we can't afford to allow our nhs to be completely consumed by looking after covid so it can't do its other business as usual work. so, we will have to take as tough measures as are necessary to stop that. and the typical lead time, the lag time between doing something in beginning to see a discernible effect in terms of first case rates and then may be delayed by another week hospital admissions, is two to three weeks. just to make the point that, again, that the prime minister made, you know, we are running now with the break mights partially on, and the r is1.3-1.5 break mights partially on, and the r is 1.3—1.5 according to the latest estimates, so we can't take the

brake off on this. we may have to push on the pedal a little harder to get it back under control. thanks very much. thank you, tom. jason g roves of very much. thank you, tom. jason groves of the daily mail. thanks, prime minister. first, can you clear up prime minister. first, can you clear up once and for all whether manchester is going to get the £60 million that you offered earlier in the day? and more broadly, you seem to be facing a kind of northern revolt. this isn't just to be facing a kind of northern revolt. this isn'tjust andy burnham. your own ally, graham brady, says there is no evidence these measures will work and lots of evidence they will wreck jobs. these measures will work and lots of evidence they will wreckjobs. the leader of middlesbrough council says you are using bad data. the leader of hartlepool says the government can sod off if it wants to impose more restrictions. why can't you convince northern leaders of all stripes you are doing the right thing? and can the country go forward together if you can? and jonathan van time, can i ask quickly, today's death

toll is shockingly high, 241 people — is that a blip? you talked about things being baked in — is that what we will see regularly over the next few weeks? well, jason, first of all, let mejust say, weeks? well, jason, first of all, let me just say, in respect of the funding of greater manchester, obviously, we want to do more, we want, as we said, but for the sake of fairness, the deal has to be in line with the agreements we've reached with lancashire and merseyside, for instance, where we have made progress. ijust remind you that, in terms of business support, 46,700 business premises in greater manchester have received local authority grant payments of £546 million. 96,100 people in greater manchester have received support under the self employed

income support scheme. at the furlough scheme has looked after 407,900 jobs so far in manchester. i think it'sjust 407,900 jobs so far in manchester. i think it's just worth repeating, because all that has already gone m, because all that has already gone in, but we are now offering more. as i say, we had to act today because of the surge in cases that you just rightly alluded to, in order to protect health and save lives. so, thank you, jason. yes, 241 new deaths today. that is up 161 compared with yesterday. but, on a monday or a tuesday, we always get something of a catch up due to a delay in reporting deaths over the weekend. so, part of that surge in deaths is related to the weekly pattern of slightly lower figures at

the weekend, and then a kind of catch up early in the week. but overall, is the trend upwards? yes. doi overall, is the trend upwards? yes. do i expect the trend in deaths to continue upwards? yes, unfortunately, i do. thanks very much, jvt. dominic yeatman of metro. hello, prime minister. you said what we couldn't do it is a deal with greater manchester that is out of kilter with deals struck with merseyside and lancashire. but, given that the £22 million on offer is exactly half that offered to liverpool, should local authorities be penalised if they do not agree with the settlement offered? and one to jonathan van tam, with the settlement offered? and one tojonathan van tam, if i may, is the argument for a short national circuit break now stronger or

weaker than when sage recommended it on the 21st of september? well, listen, thank you very much, dominic. first of all, the 22 million that you mention, that is separate and additional to any other support that we we re additional to any other support that we were trying to agree with manchester for business support. i've mentioned the figures, the support that has already gone into support that has already gone into support business in manchester. our door is open to continue that particular conversation, but for the sake of fairness, we had to keep 01:10:36,1000 --> 01:10:37,322 it in line, as i said, with what we agreed with, with lancashire and merseyside and so forth. could you remind me of the question, please? yes, is the argument for a short national circuit break lockdown now stronger or weaker than when sage recommended it on september the

21st? thank you. i have already articulated the reasons why i think articulated the reasons why i think a national lockdown at the moment would be inappropriate for communities in cornwall and east anglia, for example. but it is a kind of scientific feature of the effect of a lockdown that if disease levels are higher when you effect the lockdown, the effect will be less overall than if the lockdown is inflicted at a point when disease levels are much lower. so, i suppose what i'm saying is that i wouldn't expect the same magnitude of effect if one were done now as if it were done early in september or mid september. but i repeat the point that the epidemiology is so varied across england that i think it would be very difficult to justify

for some communities. thank you very much, jamie. last question is tojen williams of the manchester evening news. thank you. i minister, greater manchester has been under constantly changing lockdown measures since the start of august, sometimes announced with just a few hours' notice, emerging late at night on social media. at one point, bolton was on the four different sets of restrictions in a few days. have you spoken to people to find out what this has been like for them? do you think there was any connection between that approach and our infection rate? and secondly, you still haven't said exactly how much business support greater manchester is getting. given you said it will need to be in line with liverpool and lancashire, does that mean it will be no more than 60 million? deputy chief medical officer, do you think having these measures before now would have helped get the infection rate down?

to all those businesses, you asked me to apologise, and i am deeply sorry it is necessary to put these measures in place. to everybody who has endured the provisions and difficulties of this period, of course, iam difficulties of this period, of course, i am deeply sorry for what has been necessary. nobody wants to enact measures like this. i do think there has that been some supplication thanks to the tiering system, and that's a good thing. of course, we want to give people in greater manchester the proper levels of support, as i've said. our door remains open to andy to discuss that. there we got to keep it in line, obviously, with deals already done. ijust line, obviously, with deals already done. i just want to repeat line, obviously, with deals already done. ijust want to repeat my gratitude to the people of greater manchester for their willingness to

help everybody in the country to follow the guidance, follow the rules and get this virus down. it is in all of our hands. on the question about contact tracing, i believe a blended approach of national contact tracing to kind of deal with the high volume, low complexity contact tracing is a good thing. but i think the local back—up to deal with complex and difficult and hard to reach cases is a really good idea. i think you need both, to be truthful. dead right. i know how difficult it is at the moment in the north west, and of course, from the nhs, i am particularly grateful to all the nhs staff in the north west who i know are dealing day by day with an increasing number of patients with covid, and at the same time are

ensuring that a lot of patients, cancer patients, patients with heart attacks and strokes, a whole range of things, are also being looked after and managed appropriately. as i've said, the key to keeping doing thatis i've said, the key to keeping doing that is to get infection rates under control. i expect liverpool university hospitals will have as many patients all over —— or more patients tomorrow in hospital than they had at the peak in april, and i think that showsjust they had at the peak in april, and i think that shows just how fast we can see infection rates on hospital admissions rise if we don't get this under control, so it's really critical, and as the prime minister has said, we are all grateful for everybody complying with these measures to maintain social distancing and ensure quite simply that the virus doesn't have a chance to spread. thank you very much, steve, thank you, jb t, and thank you, everybody, for watching. steve, thank you, jb t, and thank you, everybody, forwatching. i steve, thank you, jb t, and thank you, everybody, for watching. i want to repeat the central point that we are walking a narrow path here

today, because we don't want to go back into a national lockdown, with all the damage, social and economic, that that can do. unless we absolutely have to. we think the local approach is the reasonable one, given the way the virus is dispersed, and that's what we are going to do. to give everybody some hope, if you look at what is actually happening with the universities, for instance, they have done a greatjob, i think, in getting their virus under control. you saw how some of those lines are starting to come down. i repeat the point that we made earlier, jvt and i. point that we made earlier, jvt and i, ther point that we made earlier, jvt and i, the r is currently above one, but not that much above one. if we all follow the guidance together and everybody gets together and complies with the rules for the tiers that have been set out and that are on

the website, then i have no doubt that we can drive it down, particularly in those badly affected areas. thanks very much, everybody. the prime minister concluding that news co nfe re nce the prime minister concluding that news conference in downing street. let's look at what he said in that press co nfe re nce let's look at what he said in that press conference crucially about greater manchester because he confirmed greater manchester would move into the tier 3 level of coronavirus restrictions. that is the very high alert level, that means pubs and restaurants will close unless they are serving substantial meals, households cannot mix indoors or in most outdoor settings. new restrictions come into force from midnight on thursday, borisjohnson also said the area would get an additional £22 million in government support. and he referred to the breakdown in talks between the central government and local leaders in greater manchester, including andy burnham, the mayor, saying that despite conversations over the last ten days, u nfortu nately, over the last ten days, unfortunately, agreement hasn't been

reached. i regret this. as i said last week, we would have a better chance of defeating the virus if we work together. our political correspondent iain watson is in westminster. the prime minister pasta time and again in that news conference about how much money greater manchester was going to get —— pressed. the government in the talks was a p pa re ntly government in the talks was apparently offering something like 60 million. if they offer a lot less than that in the end, the danger is they could be seen as punishing greater manchester. that is precisely what some of the greater manchester mps are saying to me already. they have had a call with the health secretary matt hancock and some say they were left really with no clarity about how much money greater manchester would get. they felt the money was going to be funnelled through the local authorities in greater manchester, perhaps bypassing andy burnham who couldn't reach agreement with the prime minister. the total amount available still wasn't clear, they said, and if that does look like punishment, it is politically very risky because already, andy burnham

is accusing the prime minister of levelling down rather than levelling up levelling down rather than levelling up the north west of england. setting a political challenge for the prime minister. downing street is saying there will be additional funds to support businesses closed down in greater manchester. but they are not specifying a figure. just to recap, £22 million comes from the government for test, track and trace, to help vulnerable people and help enforcement. in addition to that, what was being talked about earlier was another from the government of 60 million, an improved offer an initial 55 million they were offering greater manchester and it appeared that 60 million has disappeared. the prime minister was asked three times about it and he did not come up with a specific figure. he did offer to support businesses and he did offer to do something proportionate with other areas. 30 million had gone to liverpool, about half the size of population of greater manchester. so it may be in the end that 60 million is available, but the government say they have to continue talking to greater manchester leaders and it is

unlikely we will arrive at a final figure tonight. but as you say, the political risk for the government is that it looks as though potentially, it may punish areas being less cooperative. the government would say that unless they were doing something which was proportionate with liverpool lancashire, it would look like they were punishing those areas that were cooperative. many thanks for that analysis, iain watson, our political at westminster. let's just recap what the prime minister and the mayor of greater manchester have been saying about this in the last two hours. first, andy burnham, who was speaking to reporters just after four o'clock this afternoon, before the prime minister's appearance at 10 downing street. i don't think it is right to ask people to go into a lockdown, to accept further changes within their lives, without supporting them through all of that and what it entails. it can't be right to do that. how can we carry the public with us through this pandemic if we are forcing

them to lose their income, their place of work, without supporting them through that? how is that going to keep people with what's being done here to fight this virus? so, finally, i don't believe we can proceed as a country on this basis through the pandemic by grinding communities down through punishing financial negotiations. we are asking a lot of the public at this difficult time and we need to carry them with us, not crush their spirit. we need national unity, and that is why i now look to parliament to intervene and make a judgment on a fair financial framework for tier 3 lockdowns. because make no mistake, this was notjust about greater manchester. all parts of the country may find themselves in a tier 3 lockdown

at some point this winter. and what we need to be able to say to people living in those areas is that they have a guarantee that they can plan for, should they need it — 80% of their wages or their income. that is the least that we owe to those people. the money that businesses will be able to rely on to survive, we should be setting out that fair financial framework. that was andy burnham, the mayor of greater manchester, speaking just after four o'clock. and a few minutes later, we heard from the prime minister in downing street making the announcement that greater manchester will come after the breakdown of those talks, move to the highest level of covid restrictions, tier 3, after those talks with local leaders in greater manchester about a financial support package had broken down without agreement. greater manchester will move to the very high alert level. that means that pubs and bars must close, unless they're serving substantial meals, households can't mix indoors

or in most outdoor settings. in some public outdoor spaces, groups must be limited to the rule of six. and we strongly advise against travel into and out of the area. in line with the additional measures taken in lancashire, casinos, bingo halls, betting shops, adult gaming centres and soft—play areas must also close. regulations will be laid in parliament on thursday and come into force just after midnight. i know that these restrictions are tough both on businesses and individuals and, believe me, no—one wants to be putting these things into effect. but that's why we're also enacting a comprehensive package of support. thejob support scheme ensures those affected by business closures are still paid. those affected by business closures are still paid. and once you top that up with universal credit, those on low incomes will receive

at least 80% of their normal income. we've made available up to £465 million to help local authorities implement and enforce restrictions. greater manchester will receive £22 million of this, and that's on top of the extra £1 billion we're providing in funding for local authorities across the whole country. we will work with local authorities, including greater manchester, to allocate testing and introduce local contact tracing. over the last ten days, we tried to get an approach with local leaders in greater manchester, a joint approach. unfortunately, agreement wasn't reached, and i do regret this. as i said last week, it would have been better and we would have a better chance of defeating the virus if we work together. in addition, i must say, to the support outlined above, we made a generous and extensive offer to support

manchester's business. i want to stress, this offer was proportionate to the support we have given merseyside and lancashire. the mayor didn't accept this, unfortunately, and given the public health situation, i must now proceed with moving greater manchester, as i say, to the very high alert level. because not to act would put manchester's nhs, and the lives of many of manchester's residents, at risk. despite the failure to reach an agreement, i hope the mayor and council leaders in greater manchester will now work with us to implement these measures. elsewhere, discussions on moving to the very high alert level continue with local leaders in south yorkshire, west yorkshire, nottinghamshire and the north east. i hope, and expect, central and local government will continue

to work closely together, as we're seeing in merseyside, in london, in lancashire and in many other parts of the country. because ultimately, all of us want to protect the nhs and, in doing so, to save lives. so that was the prime minister in downing street confirming that after the breakdown of those talks with leaders in greater manchester, he will now impose tier 3 restrictions on the greater manchester area, that is the very high alert level that comes into force, he said, in the early hours of friday morning. george will be here with the news at six with much more on all of that, now let's get a weather forecast from stav da naos. in the middle part of the week, england and wales bear the front of the heaviest rain and windy weather thanks to a new area of low pressure moving from the south. it will cause a few issues with the chance of localised flooding in places. this area of low pressure has been

affecting much of the western side of the uk during tuesday. it has brought heavy rain to northern ireland and into south—western and western scotland and it will linger through the course of the night and it will be quite windy, too. to the south, a bit of cloud around and showers. across the extreme south, this new area of low pressure moves up this new area of low pressure moves up to being heavy and persistent rain by the end of the night, but it introduces very mild air. 12—14, 9-11 introduces very mild air. 12—14, 9—11 further north. we still have this front and strong winds affecting the north of scotland. this new area of low pressure pushes up this new area of low pressure pushes up across england and wales. it was named by the spanish met service is storm barbara and it has brought a lot of disruption there. for us, it could still pack a punch and bring wet weather, localised flooding, atrocious conditions on the road in the morning and for a time in a letter pa rt the morning and for a time in a letter part of the morning into the early afternoon, strong winds, gale force winds affecting the far south east through the channel. strong winds here and across the north and

the west of scotland. in between, blustery, but not quite as windy, with a mixture of sunshine and showers or long spells of rain. the mild day for many, not as mild as what we had on tuesday, but 15, may 17 degrees is the high, the low teens further north. that area of low pressure slips away into scandinavia on thursday. a hang back with that of the low across northern scotland, said that the rain and strong winds across northern and eastern scotland for a while on thursday morning. a few showers further south. the ridge of high pressure continues to build on thursday and things turn more settled in the afternoon. increasing amounts of sunshine and wind is turning a bit lighter. but it won't be quite as mild, there will be a cooler air mass and feeling fresher, 9-15 , cooler air mass and feeling fresher, 9—15 , closer to the seasonal norm. on friday, we see another area of high pressure in northern and western areas, the winds pick up again and it stays windy with further rain into the weekend.

today at six. greater manchester is placed under tier three covid restrictions — and that's without a deal with local leaders. after ten days of arguing there was no agreement over a financial support package — borisjohnson said he couldn't wait any longer. not to act would put manchester's nhs, and the lives of many of manchester's residents, at risk. the pub workers and taxi drivers, bookies and freelancers — local leaders say it's the poorest who will suffer most. is this a government committed to levelling up this country? that is what they told people in this city, the people who drive those taxis, who work in the pubs. many of them who may have voted for them. they said to them

they would level up.