hello, you're watching bbc news at 5pm. the headlines... south yorkshire will face the toughest covid rules from saturday. pubs and bars which don't serve food will close, and there are tight restrictions on households mixing. given the rate of reinfection, given the number of hospital admissions we've currently got here in south yorkshire, this was the right move for us. but clearly, we want to come out of it as quickly as we possibly can. the prime minister says there will be money for greater manchester. the mayor of greater manchester was offered a further £60 million, which he turned down, mr speaker, with no encouragement, i may say, of support from the right honourable gentleman, so i can tell the house today, mr speaker, that that cash will be distributed to the boroughs of greater

manchester. but labour accuse him of pitching region against region. i really think the prime minister's crossed the rubicon here, not just with the miserly way he has treated greater manchester, but the grubby take—it—or—leave—it way that these deals are being done. it's corrosive to public trust. the scottish government extends its restrictions, as it prepares to announce its own tier system. pope francis supports civil unions for same—sex couples, saying gay people are children of god and have a right to a family. got a parcel for you here, chris. stamping out covid queues at the post office. the royal mail launches a click—and—collect service on your doorstep.

good afternoon, and welcome to bbc news. south yorkshire is to move into the highest level of coronavirus restrictions on saturday. it willjoin the liverpool city region in tier 3 — greater manchester moves to that tier on friday. it means pubs and bars which don't serve substantial meals have to close, and there are further restrictions on households mixing. the mayor of the sheffield city region dan jarvis said south yorkshire will receive £41 million in government funding. the four local authority areas are all affected — barnsley, doncaster, rotherham, and sheffield. our correspondent dan johnson has spent the day in sheffield. this is another 1.3 million people who will be living under local lockdown restrictions as the whole of it south yorkshire goes into that

very high tier of further measures. and that's because the case numbers have kept rising here — the latest figure across this county is 350 cases per 100,000 people. not necessarily the highest of all places, but there is concern that that has gone up in the last couple of weeks. and the mayor here, dan jarvis, said that more older people we re jarvis, said that more older people were contracting the virus and the numbers of people with coronavirus and the hospitals here had doubled over the last ten days. he said there was no sign of that relenting in the coming weeks, and that's why late reaction was not an option. people are facing more disruption to their social lives and businesses too. even the youngest lives are disrupted by the impact of the virus and the new restrictions to control it and that means here, playtime will soon be over. i don't understand why soft play is included at all. for a lot of us that have either had babies in lockdown, or just before lockdown, we've only just been allowed out to meet friends and now we're being told, no, stay at home again.

i'm not sure if it's fair on all the businesses, like for instance here. they are covid—secu re, they've put so much in place and people are following the rules, so i don't think it's fair. we've worked really hard to keep our bank of staff on, as many people as possible through furlough and keep giving everyone a little bit, basically to keep their households ticking over. now, we're really going to struggle to keep those staff on board. we've obviously worked really hard to get customers back in and sort of getting the safety procedures right, so customers have confidence in us, but we're going to have to start again with that. grown—up fun is being limited too, with betting shops closing, along with pubs that don't do food. how do i feel about it? i think i speak for most of my staff and certainly the management team, that it's devastating. you know, it's a livelihood, it's a way of life. we've had the entire business pulled from under us. tighter restrictions will apply across sheffield, rotherham, barnsley, and doncaster from saturday morning. gyms can stay open, but people

are being advised to travel out of south yorkshire only for work, education or caring responsibilities. lindsey's care responsibilities are close to home. she's got chronic asthma and her daughter is on immunosuppressant drugs. with the situation that my family have, i'm sort of pleased that it's happened, but i wish it had happened sooner because it feels like we're a bit in limbo. if things are getting worse, then why aren't we shielding this time, but we were the first time round? what makes the difference? there's £41 million to support businesses here, after a deal was done much more quickly and smoothly than some other cities and the government's talking about further restrictions being applied in more places. yes, this deal may not have been as difficult as some other cities, but there was a bit of confusion first this this morning about what the restrictions and measures would be but that is now becoming clear, i think there is a message about how some of these

are being communicated, but very much now people getting used to what these new restrictions will be, considering what the impact on their social lives and on the business life of a city like sheffield will be, and those further questions about how long this will last, and one big test is, what will the measure be up when restrictions can be loosened again? that is something for the politicians to work out with health official so that people aren't stuck with these extra measures right through the winter. that has been a concern but the mayor here is saying there is a funding package in place at least to help people for the next few weeks, the next few months if necessary. dan johnson there. ina in a moment, i'll be speaking to the sheffield mayor, danjarvis. earlier our political correspondent iain watson gave me this update on how the government is preparing for the ramifications of these new latest moves. i think there's quite a

bit of work going on behind the scenes. so we have people in the very tightest restrictions by the weekend. i think does things have been requested of the government — the first is to be more transparent about the funding formula that they are using to give support to local authority areas. and we've got a little bit further down the road in that the community secretary, robertjenrick, down the road in that the community secretary, robert jenrick, saying £20 - 21 secretary, robert jenrick, saying £20 — 21 per head was being used. now there is a formula that relates, some of the money goes to the track and trace, but there's an argument for economic support for businesses. that looks like it might be more formalised, which might give some of the rancour about some saying they've been treated unfairly. so there's some work there. the other area where keir starmer was looking for some reassurance was to have more open criteria about notjust entering into a period of greater restriction under tier 2 or tier

3, but what local authorities needed to do to get back out again. boris johnson said one of the factors was getting the rate of reproduction of the virus, the r rate down towards one, but that would only be one factor. there other factors. one, but that would only be one factor. there otherfactors. we've been told by the central record that that includes hospital admissions, i see you capacity, and the rest of it. but we may get more detail on the government so people can have confidence that after every 28 days when they're in restrictions and when they're in restrictions and when those restrictions are reviewed, they'll know what they need to do in order to come back out again and that there is light at the end of the tunnel, rather than assuming we will be stuck in these restrictions until the spring. we can now speak to the sheffield city region mayor danjarvis. a very good afternoon. good afternoon. a couple days ago, people might have seen one of your tweets that said, "our council leaders and i stand ready to work with the government, but they must be ready

to offer the support we need to protect the lives and livelihoods in south yorkshire and they haven't done that yet." but there is a deal today, so what happened in the last couple days? there were a number of things, not least the urgency of the situation that we find ourselves in. myself and other leaders were acutely conscious of the pressures on our nhs hospital admissions are rising and there is an urgent need to alleviate that burden on the 00:09:26,1000 --> 00:09:27,357 nhs. so we needed to get on with this. i also think what we have to do is seek to protect our economy, which is under massive pressure as well. soi is under massive pressure as well. so i was engaged in negotiations with the government for a period of time. we reached an agreement, of course i'd like more. what i said to the government is that this is a conversation that we will need to keep having because we will be entering into tier 3 at the weekend. clearly from our point of view, we wa nt to clearly from our point of view, we want to be in it at the shortest possible time. so we have adequate resources to provide support needed, but we'll have to go back

to the government again. you said obviously we would've liked more — is there a sense that you could've kept on arguing and debating, and discussing, but time and from a health perspective was not on your side? time from a health perspective was not on my side. also you have to ta ke was not on my side. also you have to take of you about these negotiations. i formed the view that i got as much out of government as i was going to get, and clearly it is myjob as the mayor to get as much results from government as i possibly can. i went into that process with good faith, we negotiated hard with government, and we secured an outcome. the thing that we have to do now is work across our local authority areas and very closely with the nhs and our businesses to actually ensure that we spend the minimum amount of time as possible in tier 3. that's our view, and we want to do it within 28 days' time. that's interesting and i'd like to talk to more about that, but you will know of

the huge political row, whatever we want to call it, that we've all been reflecting on in the greater manchester region in the last few days. do you think south yorkshire was simply offered a better deal than greater manchester?” was simply offered a better deal than greater manchester? i think they are different deals. because we represent different areas. i think andy burnham is done a greatjob standing upfor andy burnham is done a greatjob standing up for greater manchester, and he's approached the negotiations and he's approached the negotiations and a way that we've all seen, and he's been given great credit for his approach. we've done a slightly different way in south yorkshire, and it will be for others to judge which is the more successful approach. but what we need to do now is make sure the support we've secured from national government is deployed in a way that will have the maximum impact for our businesses and economy and south yorkshire. that needs to happen rapidly because we are under huge pressure. but we also need to urgently reduce the rate of reproduction in south yorkshire in alleviate pressures on

the nhs. so we have to get on with that, but the conversation with government needs to continue. they need to continue to work closely with us so that together, we can reduce the rate of reinfection here in south yorkshire and across the country. what is the exit strategy here? you mentioned that, what does that success look like? is there any sort of timeframe that was discussed? so i put that question to government. on a number of occasions during the negotiations, what we've agreed is that there will be a process of review. we've also said that if any one of our individual local authorities is able to come out of tier 3 ahead of the others, then that would be supported by government provided the medical evidence was there to back it up. so i think the government needs to provide more clarity about the criteria, both to get you into tier 3in criteria, both to get you into tier 3 in the first place, but crucially to get you out again once you've entered. because we don't want to be in tier3any entered. because we don't want to be in tier 3 any longer than is a bsently in tier 3 any longer than is absently required, so we'll be working to get out as quickly as we

possibly can. and clearly we will need to have the ongoing conversation with government about precisely what will be required to enable us do that. right, so one or two burros could come out earlier, as you discussed? we did, and clearly i hope that all of our local authority areas will be able to come out at the earliest opportunity. if there was an individual local council that was ready to come out of tier 3, then we would want to proceed as quickly as possible. because it is not in our interest to be in tier3 because it is not in our interest to be in tier 3 for a moment longer thanis be in tier 3 for a moment longer than is actually necessary. and that is what we want to achieve. so if someone who is watching you tonight who runs a bar, pub a restaurant in your area says, "i'm on my knees, i've tried everything i can to run my business in a responsible way. how can you help me and my business, and the people i employ?" what is

your message so that? firstly, my message is i'm incredibly sympathetic to the situation you find yourselves in. it's very, very significant, and the loss of businesses dashed lots of businesses are struggling to survive. what we will seek to do is deploy the money we've taken from national government as quickly as possible, to get it to those businesses and provide the support required. i think the other point to say is there are sectors of our economy that are still open. this is some way short —— some way consider was short of a national lockdown. some will continue to be able to trade and remain open. but i a bsently able to trade and remain open. but i absently understand the presence amount of malco pressures our businesses or under. that's why we need to get out of this. there will be more pressure on her nhs, so the sooner we can take control of the virus, the better for everybody sooner we can take control of the virus, the betterfor everybody from a public health perspective, but also for the health and well—being of our economy as well. some businesses are allowed to stay open,

but of course we all know they're not getting the football, you're only allowed to go out to dinner with the person or people you live with, and we know that has an impact on their takings. to go back to the greater manchester example, is that why andy burnham has been saying the package of support the government is offering will increase levels of poverty and hardship? that's the tension there, isn't it? is andy burnham right? he absolutely is right, and andy and i recognise that those on the lowest income are fighting this extraordinary challenge. and that's unlikely to change in the nearfuture. so we both agree that government has an absolute response ability to make sure that those people are properly supported. both of us wanted to see the furlough scheme being above the 80% rate. the government decided for their own reasons not to do that. locally what we are looking at is how we can intelligently deploy our limited resources, combined with what we've been able to secure from

national government to get out and support our businesses as quickly as possible. so we are on the case with that. but the government must reflect on the fact that they were elected on a commitment to level up and to northern england. we have a comprehensive spending review take place in the not so distant future. we need to see that longer—term support coming in from the chancellor. that will be the real test of leveling up, whether we get the investment into the north that we need to unlock our potential. i very much hope we will be able to see that, but that is for the government to deliver. dan jarvis, thanks very much for speaking to us. the labour mayor of the sheffield city region, south yorkshire going into tier 3 this weekend as we have been reflecting. we will have more on that to come. more on coronavirus shortly — but first some breaking news in the past few minutes downing street has confirmed that trade negotiations between the uk and european union will resume later this

week. that is simply all we are told. no names or anything, but you will know there have been huge problems and no talks or discussions in recent days. i'm just seeing whether there is any more, but i think that is for the moment. downing street saying that talks will resume later this week. the uk government saying,... a little more detail, "the initial phase of the negotiations will take place beginning tomorrow, on 22 october. the negotiations in london from tomorrow through to sunday." that is what we know at this stage. working right through the weekend because time is not on their side, as we have afflicted many times. as soon as we get more details, we will bring them to you, but we might hear more from westminster or from

brussels about that. so some discussions starting resuming tomorrow. back to the coronavirus restrictions, and the prime minister has announced that the government will be giving the boroughs of greater manchester an extra £60 million in funding, as the region goes into tier 3. it comes after talks with the mayor for greater manchester andy burnham collapsed yesterday. sarah corker reports. these signs in greater manchester haven't aged well. on friday, restrictions for the 2.8 million people living here will tighten once again. pubs will close, travel in and out of the area is not advised. local leaders have demanded more funding to help the lowest paid workers, who will be hit hardest by tier 3 closures. i think andy burnham has done a greatjob, sticking up

for the people of manchester. i think that it's necessary. someone needs to listen to the people, and so why not manchester? for ten days, the politicians had been deadlocked. the labour mayor of greater manchester said he'd accept a support package of £65 million. the government offered 60. there was no agreement. and this was andy burnham finding out the news during his own press conference, yesterday. so it's going to be £20 million only, and they are going to try and pick off individual councils. from crowd: disgraceful! boo! an absolute disgrace! i mean, it's brutal, to be honest, isn't it? this isn't the way, this is no way to run the country in a national crisis. in a strongly—worded letter, some conservative mps from greater manchester said mr burnham was putting his ego before his responsibility

to those he represents, and accused him of putting hundreds of thousands of people in jeopardy. today in the commons, the prime minister announced the £60 million package will be distributed. yesterday, the mayor of greater manchester was offered a further £60 million, which he turned down, mr speaker, with no encouragement, i may say, to support from the right honourable gentleman, so what i can tell the house today, mr speaker, is that that cash will be distributed to the boroughs of greater manchester. workers affected by tier 3 restrictions, so those employed by businesses forced to close by law, will have two—thirds of their wages paid for by the government. the hospitality sector, though, fears some businesses may not survive moving into this top tier of restrictions. we're treading water, and we seem to be playing a game at the moment. every day, i don't know whether i'm opening, closing.

last week, i didn't know what tier we were going to be in. we ran all our food down, we ran all our beer down, our cask, so it wouldn't perish, and then the next day i'm told that i need to reorder, and then we're ordering, and then we're going to shutdown again, so it's playing a bit of a game, really, at the moment, and it's affecting everybody. greater manchester is the first area to be forced into england's highest level of alert, against the wishes of local leaders, who say they're standing up for an area already suffering after months of local lockdown. sarah corker, bbc news, in manchester. the government's latest coronavirus data hasjust been released. a further 26,688 cases of coronavirus have been reported over the last 24—hour period in the uk — that's up from 21,331 yesterday. and there have been 191 reported deaths —

those are people who have died within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test. that's down from 241 yesterday. coronavirus restrictions in scotland — which saw the closure of pubs and restaurants in the central belt area, and a 6pm indoor hospitality curfew elsewhere — are to be extended until 2 november. there will then be a tier system introduced. lorna gordon sent us this update from glasgow. those restrictions, which were due to expire on monday, have been extended for another week. there will be financial support offered to businesses affected, but the industry body, the scottish licensed trade association, has commented. they say they're extremely disappointed by the extension of these restrictions and that they think the damage could be irreparable. scotland's first minister, nicola sturgeon, acknowledged those worries in her comments

at her daily briefing. she said she knew the restrictions are very unwelcome, harsh for businesses, harsh emotionally. none, she said, are being taken lightly, but it is all about trying to save lives. in the last 2a hours, as you say, there's been some extremely sobering figures coming out. 28 people have died who've tested positive for the virus. that's the highest number of deaths since the 21st may. nicola sturgeon said that those relate, of course, to people who were probably infected two or three weeks ago. she also said, although it's still very early days, she does believe the restrictions, coupled with earlier restrictions on household gatherings indoors, seem to be making a difference. i can confirm that we have decided to extend these measures for a further week. this is first and foremost a public health decision. although we have grounds for cautious optimism that the restrictions are having an effect, the clinical advice to cabinet is that it would not be safe to lift them

as early as monday. secondly, the extension allows us to transition more smoothly to the new levels system that we hope will be introduced on second november. so, the current restrictions being rolled over until second november, when a new strategic framework, a traffic light system, will be introduced here in scotland and we know that there are discussions about potentially that being a five—tier system. we'll hear more about that on friday. lorna gordon there in glasgow. pope francis has called for civil unions for same—sex couples in a major shift in the vatican's stance. in a new documentary, the pope says that "homosexuals have a right to be a part of the family. they're children of god and have a right to a family. nobody should be thrown out, or be made miserable because of it." he went on to say that what was needed was a civil union in law to ensure they are "legally covered".

let's speak to our rome correspondent, mark lowen. so explain more and what a change in sta nce so explain more and what a change in stance this appears to be, mark. well, jane, this is a significant turn of events in terms of the fact that this is his clearest remarks in favour of civil union protection and civil union laws for same—sex couples as pope. but actually, it is not a significant change in what he has said in the past regarding civil unions. because when he was archbishop of buenos aires before he became pope in 2010 when argentina passed same—sex marriage laws and legalized same—sex marriage, then archbishop was staunchly opposed to 93v archbishop was staunchly opposed to gay marriage, but he said that civil unions were an alternative as a way of protecting the sanctity of marriage for heterosexual couples.

now this is his clearest articulation of support as pope. but asi articulation of support as pope. but as i say, it is actually — we just had to change there, this has been his clearest articulation so far as pope, so we will be welcomed by the liberal wing of the church and criticised by the more conservative wing. i was slightly worried there was some divine intervention in the back. but we will leave that back, that's life tell you, ladies and gentlemen. you touched a bit on what we might expect the reaction to be. that's so interesting, though, isn't it, because it will be fascinating to see who thinks he's a modernising voice and who fundamentally disagrees. and that goes to the heart of this pontificate, jane. this was a pope who was widely seen asa this was a pope who was widely seen as a reformer when at the start of his pontificate, partly because he

actually succeeded a more conservative pope in benedict 16, there was a real feeling among the liberal wing of the church that they needed some kind of breath of fresh air, as they put it, and a figure of hope —— benedict xvi. early on in his pontificate, you will never he was on his way back from the sale and asked about homosexuals, and he said, "who am i tojudge?" and that was seen as a real way of embracing homosexuals into the church. since then, he's kind of fallen back on more traditional doctrinal issues, and he's not really a social liberal in that way. he's someone who's actually quite conservative, but he flirts with liberal issues. so we don't expect that the church will suddenly change policy and start supporting civil union among gay people, not least because he said

it in the context of an interview rather than a formal speech or papal document, or the there was the result of a lot of internal debate at the highest level of the church. so we have to put this in context. it significant in some ways, but we don't expect this to be a fundamental radical shift, and imminent shift in policy. interesting, thanks very much. mark loewen in rome. labour has accused the government of walking away from its obligation to feed hungry children, during a debate in the house of commons. mps are due to vote on a labour plan to offer food support to poorer families until after easter next year. earlier the prime minister said he would not change his policy on free school meals, despite footballer marcus rashford's campaign. our political correspondent helen catt has been watching the debate. bring us right up to date with the whole mood and tone of this issue, helen. well if you think back to the

summerand helen. well if you think back to the summer and you said that marcus rushford had that very high—profile campaign which resulted in the government unusually saying it would fund mealfor the government unusually saying it would fund meal for the poorest government unusually saying it would fund mealfor the poorest children over the summer holidays, and it did that by giving vouchers which were administered by the schools —— marcus rashford. labour wants that to continue, it is calling on the government to extend that until at least spring next year. kate greene, the shadow education secretary said that things had got worse since the summer. despite many families facing even more challenging circumstances than they did months ago, shamefully the government's walking away from its obligation to hungry children. the fa ct obligation to hungry children. the fact that things are changing is something they have agreed with labour, but they say it is moving on to where it is inappropriate to extend that scheme. they said that the schools are now back in providing free meals during term time, and it is

nota providing free meals during term time, and it is not a role for schools to regularly provide food during the school holidays, instead pointing to other support that is available to holidays over the holidays. here's education secretary gavin williams and. i recognise and understand the feeling around this issue, both within this house and more widely. i'd like to take this opportunity to outline the significant steps that we have taken to support children during this pandemic, and the package of support thatis pandemic, and the package of support that is available from government for families who might otherwise be facing hardship. one conservative mp i spoke to earlier who supported the extension of this free school meals over the summer believe that times had changed, this was a burden on schools and it was better solved through using the covid—19 relief programme. other conservative mps are not convinced. so the chair of

the education select committee earlier told the bbc that he believed this scheme should be kept running while the coronavirus pandemic was as high as it is now, while families are still struggling. so we have seen this shift from government recently to try to move away from these temporary one—off solutions to something that is longer—term and more sustainable. but there a particular worry around this issue — firstly, no one wants to see any child go hungry, so the government must be sure that they don't fall through the gaps. there's also a concern amongst some conservative backbenchers that it will make the government look a bit to eared on this issue, of which there are a lot of people paying attention because of marcus rashford's campaign. and they worry, as one put it to me, that they could end up with the government risking another self—inflicted and entirely protecta ble another self—inflicted and entirely protectable wound. helen, thank you for now. now it's time for a look at the weather with stav danaos.

hello there. turned out to be quite a soggy day across england and wales. another wet day for northern and western scotland too. but as we head into thursday, a ridge of high pressure should settle things down and make things quieter, and we should see some sunshine into the afternoon for many of us. this is the area of low pressure which brought wet weather to england and wales today. this feature continuing to bring rain to the northern and western scotland. further south, a bit drier, but there'll still be showers dotted around at night with clear spells too, temperatures at around 7—12 c. so a fairly mild night for most of us. into thursday, it stays pretty windy across the northern half of the uk, for the effo rts northern half of the uk, for the efforts of rain. is that ridge of high pressure continues to build in, we should see increasing amounts of sunshine for northern ireland, england and wales, temperatures up to 15-16 c, a bit england and wales, temperatures up to 15—16 c, a bit cooler up north. it's windy for all areas with widespread gales

on saturday. hello this is bbc news. the headlines: south yorkshire will face the toughest covid rules from saturday — pubs and bars which don't serve food will close — and there are tight restrictions on households mixing. the prime minister says there will be money for greater manchester — but labour accuse him of pitching region against region. the scottish government extends its restrictions — as it prepares to announce its own tier system. a further 191 people die within 28 days of testing positive for covid—19, bringing the uk total to 44,158. pope francis indicates support civil unions for same—sex couples — saying gay people are children of god and have a right to a family

protests against police detail and nigeria have turned violent with soldiers opening fire on demonstrators in the country's biggest city and there are reports that at least 20 people have been killed and more wounded. the nigerian military have denied involvement. the government has appealed for, and has placed an inquiry. i have been talking to our correspondent who is in the capital. definitely there has been some sense of chaos there, even the authorities are saying perhaps some criminals have infiltrated the protesters and that is why in some instances they have to prevent further breakdown of law and order but in the case of the alleged firing by the soldiers on the peaceful protesters last night, the army denied saying that those reports are fake but

eyewitnesses and amnesty international the human rights organisation and also the governor of lagos state where this incident took place said that soldiers were there and amnesty international is saying that there were casualties and people have been killed but we don't know how many and the governor on his part said soldiers where they were injuries but there was no death so there is a sense of confusion about the actual death toll or the number of people who are injured. there is a curfew in place but it appears people are so angry they are prepared to break that curfew? yes. there is a curfew in place and the alleged shooting happened when the curfew hour was extended and the time a curfew was supposed to start was extended to allow people to prepare to go back home but later the report of shooting and authority

they're saying investigation will be conducted but this protest has really started peacefully over the past two weeks until the last three days or so when we see violence and some of the protesters allegedly infiltrated by criminals and attacked police stations and killed a number of police officers and attacked two prisons and freeing more than 1000 inmates according to the authorities and the authorities are saying the use of force on the other hand is content not only here in nigeria but internationally, many people are saying the use of force by the authorities could only lead to more violence and there should be caution. the atmosphere out on the streets for those who are brave enough to go out, it must be terrifying. the situation is tense

but the protesters remained determined to push for a wider policy reforms and end to police brutality. nigeria's president appeal for calm saying his commitment to police reform should not be in doubt but there is a lot of tension and many people are saying the atmosphere is tense and something has to be done urgently to prevent it from further deteriorating and remember it's not only lagos that has seen violence in 00:37:30,1000 --> 00:37:33,827 recent days. here in the capital the police are seeing at least seven people were killed in the turbulence is and there are other states where we have seen violence and several states have imposed a curfew even though the curfew is in place is not as effective as the authorities seek. that is the latest update on the very difficult situation and violent situation nigeria and we will keep

an eye on that. bedtime is 5:37 p:m.. we will return to coronavirus. —— the time is 5:37 p:m.. he is one of the greater manchester bar is rated as distractions will come into force on friday. of course it puts the whole area into tier 3. it is because a conservative mp for barry north. james davies who joins me. that afternoon. i know you had expressed a lot of concern about the idea of going into tier 3, what is your feeling about it now? the debate is no doubt down to the financial support that they and jobs

needin financial support that they and jobs need in my area and that's what we've been talking about the last couple of days. are you happy that there is enough money? borisjohnson said £60 million is going across the borrowers, is that they write some for you? it is a total of £82 million and across in terms of business support and supporting jobs. it is based on a formula which is used and accepted in south yorkshire and lancashire and it's a formula thatis and lancashire and it's a formula that is put in place to ensure across the country so we can all argue my money for this and for that but i recognise that in the circumstances and different areas in tier 3 i think it is a fair and proper that each area should be treated equally. do you feel it is fair that there people you represent have got the best deal they can in difficult circumstances? what i

think is that i am concerned and upset, i don't know how to describe it in terms of the breakdown of negotiations. i don't want to blame anyone is not a political issue. £60 million on the table and that's millions of pounds to invest in businesses and individuals injobs andi businesses and individuals injobs and ifear if businesses and individuals injobs and i fear if the mayor felts which he clearly did that he wanted my money he should have taken the 60 million and made sure the basement is in my area had access to those funds and meaning in mind we were going into tier 3 very shortly and then come back and argued for what was needed. than a year has not spoken to me during these negotiations regarding asking my opinion about what we need to do and i would welcome the opportunity to ta ke i would welcome the opportunity to take this six day and they think you need to concentrate on and let's all join together collaboratively together across party and the chair we do what's best for our constituents. so he did not talk to you at all during those negotiations? not been that

sense, he has been very good in and had a weekly briefing but in terms of the negotiations regarding this my opinion was asked for an alley outcome the opportunity to do that and welcome the opportunity to speak with the mayor regarding what i feel an —— community and i'm sorry to repeat myself but to protect businesses and protectjobs. some businesses and protectjobs. some businesses will be checking this weekend and rather than this being a political discussion about bringing peace mercedes or whatever i need to make sure that my business get access to support and parts of that 60 million at the earliest opportunity. for those business owners and those restaurant owners for example who are crippled by all of that they might be listening to you tonight. what are you saying to them about what support can be given? we had productive discussions today with the chancellor and the prime minister and the community

secretary will be writing to the leader of very counsel today saying that the money is available, pick up the phone, and it is get this sorted out and the government gave me a commitment and they want the multi—million pound investment that barry can have and that can come at the earliest opportunity. i'm looking forward to working with the labour leader to make sure we get that money and he picks up the phone tomorrow and we can all work productively because we are committed to seeing the same thing will invest this money to protect these businesses to make sure they have a viable future going forward. have you asked for more money already? i am asking for her very share of 60 million. we need to make sure that money is with us at the earliest opportunity and myself and my colleague for barry south has been lobbying the government for weeks regarding other funding separated is that we think is appropriate and we think would support the economy and i hope we may have some positive announcements in terms of that coming up. so you

have asked for it some more? that was a separate discussion to the mayor's negotiations. this is epping. whether it's andy burnham, the labour leader, myself, all we are doing is seeking what we can do in the best possible way to represent our constituents and he should not be a crime to disagree. sometimes you have different views on the one thing we can do is we spend our time adding point political arguments when the job now is to get the money on offer to the businesses and residents barry and elsewhere in greater manchester at the earliest opportunity. they are out of time but thank you for your time tonight. thank you forjoining us. i'm generating a facing cost to apologise after she was accused of calling a conservative mp some doing what has been described as a fiery debate in the commons. let's go straight to westminster and our

political correspondent, iain watson. to use a phrase, it was a heated debate going on in the house of commons over supports given to local government and particularly over rally between the government and greater manchester. which meant no agreement had been reached. this has gone on the beach by the labour party they said they want their funding across the country but it's very impatient at times and conservative mps who seized a seat from labour was in full flow denouncing the labour leadership and announcing andy burnham on the mayor of greater manchester and he has stopped in his tracks and suggested that a labour deputy leader who called him some so listen closely and judge for yourself. called him some so listen closely and judge for yourselflj called him some so listen closely and judge for yourself. i am part member is uppity —— opposite to park the opportunity. i know they think this is a good crisis and the labour party should exploit and should speak to a lot of front bench

colleagues when he says that and you need to see it in the supports opposed approach that characterised their heavy behaviour. excuse me, did the honourable ladyjust call me some? order! order! from the front bench we will not have remarks like that not under any circumstances, no matter how heartfelt it might be. not at all. point of order. thank you. i think one of the things it is inaccurate in a speech and accented with joy. it is not for the chair to decide what is accurate or inaccurate, i cannot make such a judgement but of course i will ask the honourable gentlemen to be reasonable in what he says i'm to be careful of his remarks. i am sure that the honourable gentlemen feels he has said anything that

is offensive to the honourable lady than he will undoubtedly withdraw and apologise immediately. very angry reaction in the comments. the deputy speaker effectively taking angelina off. what we don't know is whether a word was used directly as a hackle towards chris clarkson or whether it was an aside to someone else on the front bench but there are else on the front bench but there a re calls else on the front bench but there are calls for her to apologise. as i said it was a very heated debate and just to give you one more example of that, another mp from greater manchester on a labour mp suggested that greater manchester has been put on their coercive powers of the state in the 1819 peter little massacre in which 18 pro—democracy peaceful protesters had been killed. that gives you an idea ofjust how passionate that debate was. perhaps when tempers calmed down a little bit they will get to the bottom of

what's been called here at westminster. iam i am pleased to say that at 30 minutes to 60 can take a few minutes to talk about something different and away from politics and coronavirus. organisers of coventry uk city of culture announced the first events that will take place from may 2021. events were originally due to start at the beginning of next year but were delayed due to the coronavirus crisis. we can talk now to the writer and playwright, chinonyerem odimba. thank you so much forjoining us that your most recent player pass play i am writing being at that theatre in london, what will next yea rs theatre in london, what will next years demands mean to you, how are you involved? years demands mean to you, how are you involved ? that years demands mean to you, how are you involved? that is all about it. it has been a brilliant and

exciting project even though we started talking about it well before the situation we find ourselves in. we have carried on the work and carried on the thinking and carried on meeting communities groups and the project as part of the larger programme for the city of culture and faith is a project being led by the deputy director of the royal shakespeare company and designer tom and myself and michael writer who is based in coventry and the project is a kind of exciting explosion of lots of ideas for how we bring people from the city together and lots of different ways over 24 hour period starting on a friday and looking well into this saturday with stories about coventry from coventry, inspired by

coventry and really trying to garner as much energy and as much participation as possible. it isa as much participation as possible. it is a project called faith so we are looking at particularly in these times what they immediate concerns and what the immediate feelings are of people around the community and their sense of community but also their sense of community but also the wider questions around faith, who would we have in and what faith can be finding ourselves to help and i think all of that becomes part of this quite exciting programme and narrative that you are creating with the people of coventry. that is such an interesting question to be pausing at the moment, who do we have faith in? it is fascinating. i know the organisers said they do not just one of the year coventry, yet to bea just one of the year coventry, yet to be a digital festival. my heart goes out to the right and that is

because there is no bigger challenge facing theatre at the moment. but how much optimism do you have that they will be active participation in exactly the way you want for at least a good chunk of next year?” mean, absolutely i have a lot of faith in that. ifeel that's mean, absolutely i have a lot of faith in that. i feel that's what we are planning now, i ways in which we can continue the programme in social distance, safe ways but ultimately what the vision has always been from across all the team is about how we come together as people and that has never felt more important. come together as people and that has neverfelt more important. so, it is multisided, it is a project that can be repeated and it is mass participation i'm back, none of that has changed. of course we have to do that much my thinking about how we made that possible but it feels almost imperative that we give the people the opportunity to come together and to have those

conversations about living in the city of coventry and what that means for them both now and in the future. i wish we could talk for longer. we will again i i wish we could talk for longer. we willagain i am i wish we could talk for longer. we will again i am quite sure, an exciting programme i had, thank you very much. good to talk to you. very much involved in cutting c++ if the uka much involved in cutting c++ if the uk a culture next year. coming up in just a few minutes. an important thing to bring to your attention. but first harry gration is leaving the bbc after 42 years. hejoined the bbc back in 1978 and then look north in 1982 — which is where he'll present his final show this evening. and earlier my colleague simon mccoy spoke to harry gration. the look north presenter said he was feeling a mixture of emotions. and earlier my colleague simon mccoy spoke to harry gration.

the look north presenter said he was feeling a mixture of emotions. people tune into us because they trust us and it is that trusted news service that we give every single day and the figures have been remarkable as a result of that. i am so proud and i mean it genuinely i am privileged to have presented regional news programmes for so many years, not far short of 40 years when i combined the two together and yet it's going to hurt like you know what later on. we are looking at pictures of you now and you look a lot better now i have got to say. and a colleague of ours she sent a photograph from the grammar school in leeds and it shows you it's from, i think from the mother of a red arrows pilot but there is a relationship. i will get you in tears, i don't want to. i can feel it's going to happen here

but when it is there a particular moment in your mind that sticks out in all these years that you have been broadcasting what really epitomizes the job that you have done and that relationship that you have with people? i think if i have to be honest i have to turn around and say when i got the mbe and the reaction from the people who watch look north got me going and i broke down that night and i just feel even now when i talk about it it's something which has notjust been a job it's been my life and when i walked on the street and people talk to me and say how are you, what are you doing are you actually going to win the championship this year and that kind of thing it's gets to me and it gets to me quite significantly and i don't think i can ever forget it. i love working with you as well and going back to that what you did not say of course

is that was the first broadcast that we had when we went around the region and he said do something different and i nearly got the sack and you did as well. i do want to show you this photograph that sophie sent him because it's a still of you with a group of people, some time ago but it is that thing about the generations and regional presenters particularly people remember growing up at home and whoever presented it in bristol it is a unique thing and you're going to miss this? yes. don't i look like a complete prat, it's awful. i just think that when you look around and got some really dear friends on this business, sally of course who i work

with, really wonderful relationship with her and my dear friend peter who did look north and east yorkshire and stearate as well we are all of a certain age. sorry sally you are not as old as we are. at the end of it all experience helps and it does help to do the serious story and be able to relate to people in a better way. i have to say i have done some stupid things in my time as well and some of the things and stuff we have done for look north have been embarrassing but do you know what, i don't take myself that seriously. i do not. i cannot believe i did this. i am not going to show pictures of it now, anybody who saw it is the in treatment i think. in shock. you're going to be busy, you have got a young child at home.

yes i have. much to the surprise of many people he is adorable and he has made our lives fantastic because of lockdown that kind of thing so i would be spending a lot of time with him i hope and i hope to be watching whenever we are allowed to a lot of sports and i love my yorkshire cricket as you know and as much football as i can as well. because sport has been my life and i want to be able to be back in that frame and a big part of my life. i have to let you go because you have a huge story in the region tonight. life does go on, we wish you all the luck in the world with your future and i know we have not seen the last of you. i would sing you a song but i'm not going to. that's it. don't ask me to. i wasn't

going to. i'll send you 20 quid not to. i wish you all the luck in the world and on behalf of the viewers a huge thank you. thank you very much. love you to talk to you, take care. hello there. we've seen some pretty heavy rain across parts of northern ireland and scotland to start this week. and during today, it was england and wales which saw the wettest of the weather. for thursday, it looks like conditions will turn a bit dry for many of us, thanks to this ridge of high pressure, and many should get some sunshine as well. now this is a complicated area of low pressure which has brought in all the rain for england and wales, and also across northern scotland. it'll hang around the north of the uk as we move through the overnight period. some pretty heavy rain there, strong winds blowing down from the north—northeast. for england and wales, it looks like conditions will turn drier through the night, there will still be quite a bit of cloud here and there and a few showers, but also some clear spells. temperatures not quite as mild as they were the previous night, but still 9—12 celsius here, and generally single figures in the north. now this area of low pressure continues to push

away into the north sea as we move through thursday. it'll still affect much of scotland, perhaps the far northeast of england with very strong winds. but this ridge of high pressure will continue to build, and that will settle things down. so we start off with cloud and rain, strong winds across northern scotland — that should slowly ease away, and showers further south should tend to fade as that ridge of high pressure begins to move in. so by the latter part of the afternoon, northern ireland and much of england and wales should be dryer with good spells of sunshine, and it will tend to remain cloudy and breezy further north. a fairly mild day but not quite as mild as it has been, with temperatures 10—16 celsius in the southeast. doesn't last long, though, because the next frontal system will make inroads for friday, bringing outbreaks of rain, stronger cloud and winds in the northwest of the country. some heavier bursts of rain on that as it continues to move eastwards, but it will tend to weaken as it moves into central and eastern parts of england. behind it, sunshine and showers —

these will be blustery and it will be windy all day pretty much across the board, but especially to the northwest of scotland. some of these showers will merge together to produce longer spells of rain. temperature—wise, again, a little bit down from the last few days, 9—12 celsius in the north, 12—14 celsius further south. as we head on into the weekend, it turns even more unsettled. saturday looks like a very windy day with widespread gales, heavy showers and longer spells the rain. it'll be mild too and turn fresher into sunday.

today at six... now it's south yorkshire that is going into the highest tier for covid restrictions. tough rules for sheffield, barnsley, doncaster and rotherham come into effect on saturday — labour's city region mayor has accepted financial support from the government. we don't know how long we will be in tier 3 for. this crisis is going to go on for. so i see this as a damage limitation in the short term, an interim payment. the deal for south yorkshire follows the bitter argument over money for greater manchester — we'll be looking at the fall—out. also tonight... the people suffering months after they have the first symptoms of covid — new research into who is most at risk. i didn't have the energy to have a conversation for very long. it would knock me out.