headlines... the fbi has announced iran oi’ headlines... the fbi has announced iran or russia have tried to interfere with the presidential election. the director of national intelligence have said the two countries have attained us voter information and taken actions to influence public opinion ahead of the election. barack obama opinion ahead of the election. ba rack obama has opinion ahead of the election. barack obama has sharply criticised donald trump in his first campaign speech supporting joe biden. speaking in philadelphia, mr obama said mrtrump in philadelphia, mr obama said mr trump heather shown interest in anyone else but himself and criticised his handling of the economy in the pandemic. more u nrest economy in the pandemic. more unrest in nigeria over the shooting debt of at least 12 protesters across the city of legos. buildings have been torched and they have been sporadic outbreaks. —— shooting deaths. the un is calling for an end to the brutality. now on bbc news, it is

wednesday in parliament. hello there and welcome to wednesday in parliament. coming up in the next half hour, labour says parts of england face prolonged agony with no clear route out of coronavirus restrictions. i really think the prime minister's crossed a rubicon here, not just with the miserly way that he's treated greater manchester but the grubby take—it—or—leave—it way these local deals are being done. he stands up and attacks the economic consequences of the measures that we're obliged to take across some parts of the country when he wants to turn the lights out with a full national lockdown. also on this programme, labour calls on the government to continue providing free meals for children in england during the school holidays. they don't stop being hungry just because the school bell rings for the end of term.

and peers give their verdict on the uk/eu trade talks. but first, the prime minister has confirmed that greater manchester will get £60 million of extra funding to support business when the region moves into the highest tier of covid restrictions on friday. the figure had been rejected by the labour mayor, andy burnham, who said it wasn't enough. he'd wanted a minimum of £65 million. boris johnson told mps the money would be distributed through local boroughs. at prime minister's questions, the labour leader wanted to know how areas would get out of their tier 3 status. the widespread fear, prime minister, is that tier 3 is the worst of all worlds. it brings significant economic harm without getting the virus sufficiently under control to exit tier 3. so instead of being a solution, tier 3 is a gateway to weeks and weeks — more likely months and months — of agony, from which

there's no likely exit. borisjohnson said there would be a review after 28 days. it is a bit incoherent of the right honourable gentleman to attack local lockdowns when he wants to plunge the whole country, the whole country, back into a damaging lockdown for weeks on end, and he has no clue about how he would propose to get the country out of that, does he? on friday, thousands of people in greater manchester — taxi drivers, pub and hospitality workers, people working in betting shops, the self—employed and freelancers — will either be out of work or face significant pay cuts. that's the reality on friday in greater manchester. but their rent and their mortgage won't be lower, their food and their heating bills won't be lower — and that could last for months. why can't the prime minister and the chancellor understand that? stop bargaining with people's lives, stop dividing communities and provide the support that's needed in manchester. borisjohnson set out the hundreds of millions

of pounds that had been provided to greater manchester. and 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, i can tell the house today, mr speaker, that that cash will be distributed. and it would be sent out through the local boroughs. but keir starmer wasn't impressed. this is a prime minister that can pay £7,000 a day for consultants on track and trace — which isn't working — that can find £43 million for a garden bridge that was never built but who can't find £5 million for the people of greater manchester. i really think the prime minister's crossed a rubicon here, not just with the miserly way that he's treated greater manchester but the grubby take—it—or—leave—it way these local deals are being done. i think it is the height of absurdity, mr speaker, that he stands up and attacks the economic consequences of the measures that we're obliged to take across some parts of the country when he wants to turn

the lights out with a full national lockdown, taking kids... that was his policy last week anyway, wasn't it? perhaps he could confirm that that's still his policy. is that what he wants to do? a challenge keir starmer didn't reply to. the snp‘s westminster leader wanted more help for workers. yesterday, we saw his total disregard for the people of greater manchester, a tory attitude the people in scotland are all too familiar with. millions of families are struggling to get by. and this tory government wants to cut their incomes in the middle of a pandemic. it is clear that the prime minister has made a deliberate decision to let unemployment soar, just like thatcher did in the 19805. mr speaker, i really must reject what the right honourable gentleman has just said, because it bears no relation to the facts or the reality of what this government is doing to support people across the country. what we will continue to deliver is a colossal investment in education, in health, in housing, in infrastructure, that will deliverjobs and growth

throughout this united kingdom for a generation, mr speaker. now, the government's locked in battle with another labour city mayor, london's sadiq khan, over a bailout for the capital's transport system, which has suffered a big loss in fares because of coronavirus. in return for rescue funding, he says the government's proposing a hike in fares, higher council tax and an expansion of congestion charging. a london labour mp took up the case. can the prime minister confirm that his government is seeking to force the mayor of london, sadiq khan, to remove free travel for under—185 and for holders of the 60+ travel card in return for further financial support for tfl to keep the tubes and buses running? how can this be right when many people in london, and indeed in my constituency, already have months of genuine hardship ahead of them? mr speaker, it was the labour mayor of london who bankrupted tfl‘s finances, and any changes

that he brings in are entirely his responsibility. i suggest she holds him to account. later in the day, mps were due to debate a labour motion calling for government to fund free school meals over the holidays until easter 2021. a lib dem urged the prime minister to follow other uk nations. last week, the liberal democrat education minister for wales, kirsty williams, guaranteed the free school meal provision during school holidays would continue until at least easter 2021, and yesterday the scottish government committed to do the same. so, mrspeaker, can the prime minister confirm that he is indeed aware of these announcements? and if so, when does he plan to do the right thing? governments of all stripes have applied free school meals since 1906, and i'm proud that it was this conservative government that extended universal free school meals to five, six and seven—year—olds. the party opposite were in power for 30 of the last 100 years and never did anything like that, mr speaker. and we will continue, mr speaker, to use the benefit

system and all the systems of income support to support young people, to support children throughout the holidays as well. borisjohnson. immediately after pmqs, a health minister updated mps on plans for the latest region to go into tier 3 coronavirus restrictions. south yorkshire will face the toughest covid rules from saturday. the new restrictions will apply to all four local authority areas — barnsley, doncaster, rotherham and sheffield. undertier3, pubs and bars which do not serve substantial meals have to close, and there are further restrictions on households mixing. mr speaker, we know that some of the measures i've announced today are challenging and will have a real impact on people and businesses in south yorkshire, so we will be putting in place substantial support. but through bearing down hard on the virus wherever and whenever we see it emerge, we can help to slow the spread of this virus and protect our loved ones and our local communities.

labour focused on the financial package on offer and called for more support. this afternoon, families across south yorkshire who work in hospitality — whether in doncaster or sheffield, or in places like penistone or rother valley or don valley — will be asking if it was fair to pay 80% of wages in march, why they should now be expected to get by on just two—thirds of their wages in the run—up to christmas. the mayor of the sheffield city region is also a labour mp. as mayor, i think this is the right course of action for south yorkshire. the financial support will provide some help for our people and our economy, but we all understand that it will also mean sacrifice, so i need the minister and the government to repay that sacrifice by working closely with us, with our local authorities and with our nhs. together, we need to do everything we can to get a grip of this disease so that our region and move out of these restrictions as soon as possible. labour then stepped up the pressure on ministers

by calling for more help for those in areas facing additional covid restrictions. the party's deputy leader said the original package offered in greater manchester was "an insult" and local people were dismayed by the way the government had treated its labour mayor, andy burnham. and it's not just the treatment of our democratically elected mayor. it's the people of greater manchester. it's not some spiteful little game that's going on. it's people's lives, people's loved ones, people'sjobs. but a treasury minister said andy burnham wanted manchester to be a special case. so it is not only the fact that he wanted manchester to be treated differently to liverpool and lancashire, but also he was changing the purpose of the business support payments from one which was directed at supporting businesses into tier 3 areas to one which was about changes to our welfare provision across the entire united kingdom.

but a labour mp from another city region said there weren't negotiations. there is a financial package which the government has decided upon, which has been offered to all areas which have been offered to tier 3 status. it's take—it—or—leave—it, there's no extra money going to be negotiated. that's exactly what leaders in south yorkshire have said — lots of civil servants in the room, telling us what we can't have. conservative mps accused labour of playing political games. i know the honourable member thinks this is a good crisis which the labour party should exploit, and i know she speaks for a lot of her front bench colleagues when she says that. you just see it in the "support, u—turn, oppose" approach that's characterised their hindsight—heavy behaviour. but... excuse me, did the honourable ladyjust call me scum? order, 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. one of the things i'd ask your

guidance on is honourable members saying things about the front bench which is inaccurate in their speech, and i've asked them to withdraw it. it's 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 gentleman to be reasonable in what he says and be careful with his remarks. the chancellor, rishi sunak, is due to address mps on thursday. labour hope he'll agree to a temporary england—wide lockdown. failing to implement a circuit break that fixes test and isolate could cost our economy £110 billion. tomorrow, the chancellor's got to come here, he's got to ask now, he's got to get a grip on this virus, save lives and livelihoods. i'm afraid an awful lot of what we have seen in the last 48 hours has been political games and party politics. it's a terrible, terrible thing. there is no reason, i am afraid, love manchester though i do, why it should be treated any differently as a special

case to any other part of the country. jesse norman. in a vote, mps then rejected labour's calls for workers on job support schemes to get at least 80% of their pre—covid income. the constant changes to the complex restrictions to fight coronavirus have caused real problems for the police trying to enforce them on the ground, mps on the commons home affairs committee have been told. it's their officers who have to disperse gatherings which break the rule of six, ensure travel restrictions are obeyed and make sure that people self—isolate where necessary. and that means the rules need to be understood, both by the public and by the bobby on the beat. i couldn't make it out when i tried to look up how many changes. it looked like it changed on the 1st of august, some local lockdowns, then on the 8th of august — then on the 26th of august, some variations, some areas strengthening, some easing. 0n the 2nd of september, the same thing happened again. some areas with further lockdowns, some ease. again on 22 september,

further lockdown measures, then on 26 september, all of lancaster under local lockdown restrictions, then tier 2 on 14 october, then tier 3 on 21 october. if you were a neighbourhood police officer in the middle of burnley, for example, how would you keep track of any of that? every time the regulations change, there is increased demand in our control rooms because people are ringing police, often to find out what those changes mean to them. we've been very clear, you know, focus your efforts on the stuff that is clearly illegal. because that's really important to maintaining public confidence for us. and the people who are doing their best, which is the vast majority, stride to un—confuse themselves and learn the rules themselves — they expect us to do something about the people who are blatantly ignoring them. i've got numerous people in lancaster who are on their sixth ticket. on numerous premises, i have

criminals, organised crime groups who are deliberately arranging unlicensed music events in fields so they can sell drugs to people — because they can't sell them in nightclubs and bars. so we have got different tiers here but, for the general members of the public who on occasion might be trying to get away with a few more people in the house for a barbecue than they should, they'll probably get a lot of discretion on the first time that we are called. let's say a family have decided tojust, you know, be cavalier about it and have 70 people and an elvis impersonator around for a birthday party. or people are trying to make money out of this, you'll say. but most people were trying to follow the rules. the committee heard about a survey of retail and transport. in both environments, those sectors were reporting something like 90% compliance with regulations in a retail environment and the travel environment. and, if i take travel as an example, we are seeing that has an increasing

trend in compliance. now i would put that down to a range of different things. there's been some really strong messaging across travel. take transport for london, for example — they've put an awful lot of effort into this, transport police, as well, are supporting that. so where you can put a focused campaign in place with a clear messaging, we are seeing greater understanding and greater compliance. the mps were told there were clear signs of covid fatigue — weariness with months of restrictions. but that also applied to police officers, who were now facing more or less normal levels of everyday crime as well as the need to enforce the covid restrictions. we are also talking about police officers who are out there at 3am, late nights in the winter, actually applying these regulations. so clarity in terms of regulations going forward is a must for our public servants and, of course, for our communities. a member of the government's scientific advisory group, sage, has predicted tens of thousands of deaths from a second wave of coronavirus.

professorjohn edmunds of the london school of hygiene and tropical medicine told a joint commons committee that the situation was bleak. if we don't take any additional measures, if we just leave it as it is, then we will see peaks in the northwest probably in the next 4—6 weeks. and then, the rest of the country are weeks behind. so we will see peaks around christmas and the new year, and very severe numbers of cases throughout the uk. professor edmunds said action was needed notjust in the areas with the highest number of infections, but everywhere. you're watching wednesday in parliament, with me, alicia mccarthy. brexit talks are to begin again on thursday,

despite number ten's insistence last week that the talks were over. earlier, the eu's chief negotiator said he thought an agreement was within reach. in the lords, there was a first ministerial response to michel barnier‘s comments. we do note with interest that the eu's negotiator, in speaking to the european parliament this morning, has commented in a significant way on the issues behind the current difficulties in our talks. and we are studying carefully, obviously, what was said. and i can tell the house that my noble friend lord frost will discuss the situation when he speaks to mr barnier later today. but he also had to respond to a double attack by the two main opposition parties. labour said the government couldn't negotiate its way out of a paper bag. it boasts, threatens, blustars, but fails to reach a consensus with its counterparties. it sets deadlines — a deal byjuly, then september, mid october

— all missed. it criticises the eu for sticking to its negotiating mandate, but meanwhile boasts that it will not move from the government's own negotiating objectives. it seems that it's only their side, not ours, that has to move. reference was made to an earlier commons statement by the cabinet office minister, michael gove. mr gove made the truly astonishing claim to the other place on monday in response to former prime minister theresa may that security would be better outside the eu. mrs may was seen to mouth, "what? " in response to those astonishing and hopelessly untrue claims. the noble lord lord ricketts tweeted yesterday that, "if the uk loses all access to eu systems from january 1, as looks likely, there is no plan b." well, my lords, after listening

to the submissions from the noble baronesses opposite, i must say that i warm to the smooth, diplomatic talk of michel barnier. this government is intent on securing a good outcome for the united kingdom, and that outcome is the one i have described. i regret the delays and difficulties that have taken place that were ascribed by the party opposite entirely to the united kingdom. in fact, the european union was willing to undertake negotiations on fewer than half the days available. my lords, might i turn to the specific issue of fishing rights and the rather front negotiations surrounding them — where we see president macron and the french apparently refusing to give way in any shape or form, and refusing to compromise. my lords, does my noble friend regret, as i do,

that some in the media such as the bbc and, i regret to say many politicians who've never reconciled themselves to vote taken in 2016, are always prepared to decide with mr barnier and the french negotiators on issues such as fishing, and not willing to stand up in any way for british interests as expressed by our negotiators? lord true replied that the uk was an independent coastal state, and everybody had to recognise that. earlier in the programme, we heard demands for the government to extend free school meals for children in england over the holidays until easter next year. the call follows a campaign by the footballer marcus rashford to fight child hunger. the striker says the problem is worsening as the covid crisis continues. it's estimated around 1.4 million children are eligible for free school meals, but opponents fear those figures could have gone up during the pandemic. the shadow education secretary, set out her case.

mr deputy speaker, i cannot believe i have to spell this out. it is the government's responsibility to ensure that children do not go hungry. they don't stop being hungry just because the school bell rings for the end of term. and surely, our constituents have asked us as members of parliament to this place to fight to ensure that the children who most need our help at any time of year are protected. there is, of course, in my constituency, 40% of the entire work workforce on furlough. so the cliff edge is coming in a few days' time where the number of people desperate for support will increase massively. is it right that we take action today? now i recognise today's proposals are not a silver bullet, and they will not end child poverty. they are a sticking plaster. but one that is badly and urgently needed. free school meals have only

ever been intended to provide support during term time periods while children are engaging in activity and learning. they complement a wide a of government support that responds more directly to challenges faced by families on lower incomes, and are further supplemented by the additional support in place as a direct result of the pandemic. during the unprecedented and unpredictable period at the start of the pandemic, it was right that extra measures were taken to provide free school meals during the holidays. but we are in a different position now that we have welcomed all pupils back to school. the snp said the scottish government had already made the move. and the scottish government did that quite simply, mr speaker, because in the middle of a global pandemic and economic crisis looming, it was the right thing to do. and the chair of the education committee backed the idea, too. all the evidence shows if you feed children properly, you increase their educational attainment and boost

their life chances. it's a no—brainer, i urge the government to set up a serious long—term plan to combat child food hunger — at least until we are over the end of the coronavirus, to keep school meals running through the winter and easter holidays. but another tory disagreed. where is the slick pr campaign encouraging absent parents to take some responsibility for their children? i do not believe in nationalising children. instead, we need to get back to the idea of taking responsibility, and this means less celebrity virtue signalling on twitter by proxy and more action to tackle the real causes of child poverty. at the end of that debate, labour put its motion to the vote, but it was rejected by mps. young people have been sharing their experiences of feeling deeply unhappy with how their bodies look pointing to social media images of seemingly perfect people as triggers for anxiety. they were speaking to the women and equalities committee,

which is investigating body image. my body image issues started when i was in my early teens. it was kind of over wanting to fit in. and i started to have a negative body image through scrolling through images social media platforms and, unfortunately, that had a really detrimental effect on the way i saw my body image. and from that, i started to scrutinise the way i looked and, unfortunately, reached a low point, a critical crisis and developed body dysmorphic disorder, which is a mental health problem. they thought social media should state when images had been altered with online editing tools. 0ne young woman had taken matters into her own hands. obviously, sometimes it can't be controlled, but i've kind of now altered my social media so that it's more positive and it doesn't show lots

of influencers on my instagram. it will show maybe kind quotes or stuff to do, positivity rather than seeing people that i can compare myself to. so i kind of altered it myself, but if it was up to instagram or typical apps, they would promote more of the influencers. that's a really good lesson for all of us, isn't it? take back control for yourself as opposed to allowing instagram to dictate what you're seeing. caroline nokes. and that's it from me for now. but do join me at the same time tomorrow for our round—up of the week here at westminster. but for now from me, alicia mccarthy, goodbye. hello.

it's been a soggy first half of the week but it will be a drier day and for some, even a brighter day with some sun spells coming through. more rain and wind on the way for the weekend and into next week too. for now, low pressure is moving away, high pressure is arriving before the next weather system comes in from the atlantic. so, this gap is not going to last too long. as we start thursday, some heavy rain in the parts of scotland gradually easing after a windy night in northern ireland which we will see slowly ease and be a breezy day across the uk and still in scotland in northern england, a lot of cloud during the morning and some patchy outbreaks of rain, southern counties of northern england should improve in the afternoon, some sunny spells brightening up in northern ireland and many of southern england having a dry afternoon with sunny spells after a chance to see some patchy rain in the morning. and temperatures up to 17 in the southeast of england, the northern parts of northern

england will be a cool day and the chance to end in parts of southeast england with some quite heavy showers moving through and the next weather system over night into friday morning through northern ireland pushing onto scotland and another spell of rain is heading our way. moving on, the system continues to push southeast and it is going to weaken. patchy rain, and it's out of the way the morning on friday for western scotland too. sunny spells and a few showers following behind here and notice how that area of rain really is just disappearing into the afternoon with some cloud in a few spots and that's all that is left in the east and southeast of england. here, it will be a bit cooler on friday. that takes us into the weekend but the main thing about saturday is how windy it's going to be, this area of low pressure passing us to the northwest, but close enough to pick up but wind but rain moving in as well.

some of the rain is going to be quite heavy as it pushes in, windy and quite widely with some gusts of a0 to 50 miles an hour, stronger gusts possible at times in the west, parts of eastern england staying dry into the evening and on sunday, sunny spells and blustery showers. bye— bye.

spells in blustery showers. goodbye. welcome to bbc news. our top stories. the fbi says russia and iran have both tried to interfere with the 2020 us presidential election. some voter registration information has been obtained by iran and separately by russia. sharp criticism for donald trump from his predecessor barack obama in the former president's first campaign speech supporting joe biden. and the rest of us have had to live with the consequences of pain proving himself incapable of taking the job seriously. unrest in nigeria over the shooting dead of at least 12 protesters. the un calls for an end to