this is bbc news. i'm jane hill. the headlines: the chancellor unveils a new rescue dealforjobs, promising more support for businesses struggling under coronavirus restrictions. we are seeing areas move into tier 2 macro restrictions and that is having an impact on hospitality businesses which is why we are keen to support those businesses. last quarter we saw a record rise in redundancies, the chancellor could have done much more if he had acted sooner. the number of people reached through test and trace in england last week was the lowest since the scheme began. finding out why some people are more likely to die from covid—19 should focus on more than just ethnicity, urges a government scientific advisor. barack obama criticises donald trump

for treating the us presidency like a reality show — in a blistering campaign speech supporting joe biden. and, painting a picture of sir tom — how hundreds of artists have been inspired to produce portraits of the champion covid fundraiser. good afternoon. billions of pounds of extra help for firms and workers across the uk hit by the coronavirus restrictions have been announced by the chancellor. thejob support scheme will pay out considerably more than originally planned, where companies are not legally required to close. rishi sunak is doubling the taxpayer

subsidy for employers in thejobs support scheme after a growing clamour from firms in tier 2 areas. employers will now have to pay for a minimum of 20% of a worker's wages. that's down from 55%. this means the government will now fund 62% of the wages for hours not worked. monthly — and retrospective — grants of up to £2,100 to 150,000 hotels, restaurants, and b&bs will be given as part of a new scheme for businesses not obliged to close. here's our economics correspondent andrew verity. a normally busy restaurant area under tier 2 restrictions. the outlets here may be open but business is so quiet many are struggling to survive on a fraction

of their normal income. in the west midlands this once bustling microbrewery normally sells barrels to pubs which under the new restrictions are not buying like they used to. it's trying to adapt by selling cans to customers but its income has been tanking. as soon as we started to see things beginning to return to normal, back to profitability, birmingham was designated a tier 2 area and our revenue was hit massively. restau ra nts revenue was hit massively. restaurants like this one in tier 2 oi’ restaurants like this one in tier 2 or three areas have a problem. they can't claim on a scheme that pays two thirds of rages because they are not required to shut but because of the role of two households not mixing, they have seen a drop in business which makes it harder and harder to keep the stuff on. after businesses and unions want many firms could go under, the chancellor

met business leaders today to announce yet another change to the government'sjob announce yet another change to the government's job support schemes. i've always said we will adapt and evolve our support as the health situation changes and that's clearly what's happened. 0ver situation changes and that's clearly what's happened. over the past few weeks we are seeing areas move into tier 2 restrictions and that's having an impact on hospitality businesses which is why we are keen to support those businesses with extra cash grants and a more generousjob support extra cash grants and a more generous job support scheme, helping them keep those employees in work. thejob support them keep those employees in work. the job support scheme announced helps firms to cut the hours staff work rather than letting them go by topping up wages. previously the government paid a third of the eye is not worked, now they will pay 62% of hours not worked with employers only paying 5%. under the scheme announced a month ago. it had to work at least a third of the normal hours. now they will have to work a 50 over normal hours or one day a week. the government was macro critics say it should have happened much sooner. last quarter we saw a

record rise in redundancies. the chancellor could have done much more if he had acted sooner. and now we see yet another last—minute move. if he had acted sooner. and now we see yet another last—minute movem manchester is not seen as a coincidence that support for businesses suddenly improves after london goes into tier 2 restrictions. why now? why has it taken london to go into tier 2 42 macro to support to become a national issue? that is the question. it's the government ‘s fourth change to business support schemes in as many months and a tacit admission that the job support scheme announced less than a month ago didn't balance enough government support against the financial damage done by antivirus measures. in the economic fallout of the pandemic the fa cts economic fallout of the pandemic the facts have changed and the government has changed its mind. andy verity, bbc news. 0ur political correspondent chris mason is at westminster.

that is so interesting, that reminder that it's the fourth scheme in as many months. it shows you what a fluid situation we are all dealing with. yes, time and again we have seen with. yes, time and again we have seen the government had to react as we have all had to react to this pandemic as it unfolds and time and again the government has said that it is making an unprecedented intervention into the economy and supporting businesses and supporting employees. when you look at the numbers there is no doubt that they're right, numbers there is no doubt that they‘ re right, it numbers there is no doubt that they're right, it is unprecedented in its size and scope, and yet over and over again we have seen people say is, you call this a safety net, these are the holes within it, and then as the pandemic has progressed and bluntly in the last couple of weeks and months as things have been heading south in terms of the prospect of the spike in the winter looming, those climbers have become louder, the politics has become more angry and yet again we see the chancellor at the dispatch box massively increasing the generosity

of these schemes and yet there is too central questions that will be asked. 0ne, within the bowels of the treasury where does this leave public spending, where does that leave borrowing and debt and what will be the long—term consequences of that in terms of potential spending cuts and tax rises in the future? and then the short term challenge is the one we're all asking which is will this be enough? we had andy reflecting on the number of times the chancellor has had to come back to the commons and change the support packages he is offering. the big question is will he have to do it again if this is also deemed to be not enough, particularly if things continue to go downwards as far as the prospects around the pandemic are concerned, the number of cases go up, the number of people self isolating goes up in the sense that businesses face even more tough times ahead. as to your point about the really long—term impact of all of this, how on earth one day this

is all paid for? what comments, what do you hear behind—the—scenes from politicians from backbenchers? are there people already worried about that? there are. there were two things that spring up when you have conversations privately and publicly about the whole question of the amount of government spending at the moment. number one is that interest rates are low, so the government can borrow cheaply. which frankly is a lot better than the alternative given how much borrowing it is having to do but then there is the question about paying it back and when you speak to people privately, they acknowledge this is no longer a short—term emergency the kind of which were looking at in the spring where the furlough scheme was announced in the country as a whole was in lockdown. this is now a medium—term slog and that means that it's vastly, vastly expensive and that's why you've heard rishi sunak and others in the treasury make the argument in the last couple of months about how important it is to

keep the economy open where possible, why? that minimises the amount of money going out of the treasury draw in business support and it increases the amount of tax coming through the door in terms of receipts to revenue and customs. everything else being equal, that keeps the books in a better place than they would otherwise be and yet we've seen this intervention again today from mr sooner. his hand forced because of circumstances but yet there is an awareness within the treasury that in the end there will bea treasury that in the end there will be a big questions to answer about how this is paid back. it's easy to bea how this is paid back. it's easy to be a popular chancellor when you are spending other people ‘s money. in the end you have to pay the bills as well. really interesting. thank you. and the prime minister and the chancellor will be holding a news conference in downing street later this afternoon. you can follow on from 3:45 p:m..

the prime minister and the chancellor following on from that statement in the commons. also sir patrick vallance but that is coming up patrick vallance but that is coming up later and we will have live coverage of course. 0n the eve of tougher restrictions coming into force in greater manchester, businesses are assessing what the impact will be on them. places including betting shops, casinos and bingo halls will have to close, as will children's soft play areas. but leisure centres and gyms can stay open. 0ur health correspondent dominic hughes reports on two businesses in stockport that face very different futures. benchmark gym in stockport, the last few weeks have been filled with uncertainty. will gyms be able to stay open when greater manchester moves to the highest covid risk level, tier three? so the fact they'll be able to keep operating through the new restrictions is critical for co—owner, mark. has it been a relief?

it's been an absolute, massive relief, purely because we want to be able to offer, like, a service and fitness service for our members and also for our community. everyone is going through a lot of stress and they are obviously working from home a lot more as well now, so for people to go to the gyms and get that one hour or 45 minutes of working on their fitness, working on their health, is really going to improve their fitness. that chimes with members, the gym providing a vital source of support, an outlet in challenging times. it's improved my life so much in terms of mental health and getting out, getting things done, getting healthier, getting fitter, and if that had shut, you know, i think it would have made a lot of people really upset. are you going on that one? a few miles away at the let loose play centre, the future looks very different. they've been told they have to shut down by the end of today. it's a family business run by sisters vicky and deborah. no one has come to check what we are doing, whether it's right, they've just closed us again. closure means not just a financial hit. there is a cost to their health as well.

sleepless nights, anxiety, actuallyjust such a huge pressure on your shoulders thinking we are about to lose everything that we've ever worked for. and the effect on our families, because literally it's all we talk about, day in, day out. it's going to be a huge impact on the mental health of all our customers and children, because they can't play. over the winter, there's nowhere for them to play. the association of indoor play says this is an industry on the brink of collapse and parents we met argued they feel the evidence just isn't there. they are not out here in the field looking at places, they are making a decision pretty much from london about us here. and i don't think it's fair. itjust doesn't make sense, when there is a trampolining place next door and that can stay open, yet they've got ball pools and soft play, yet this is such a lovely open space and children are just enjoying themselves. gyms for now are safe.

ministers say they are talking to the soft play industry to see what further help is needed, but the concern is also around the significant mental health implications of the new restrictions. dominic hughes, bbc news, stockport. the number of people reached through test and trace in england last week was at its lowest level since the system was set up. our health correspondent anna collinson has been giving me more details. it can prevent transmission, can break the chains of transmission but can also stop the virus spiralling. we have seen in recent weeks the latest figures from test and trace show infections are rising with more than 101,000 people testing positive for covid in england in the week to 0ctober for covid in england in the week to october 14. for covid in england in the week to 0ctober14. this is important because test and trace works best when incidence is lower. there are warnings that once the virus spreads to footy can overwhelm the system.

there are some positive signs in the data. in the past three weeks there have been increasing numbers of people being transferred onto the system, around 81% but there has been a further drop in the proportion of contacts being reached. last week's figures were the lowest interest and trace history at 63%. this week it's gone even lower at just history at 63%. this week it's gone even lower atjust 59.6%. this is a concern because it means the system is missing a significant number of people who have potentially been infected. the figures estimate more than 100,000 people and these may be unaware they are infected and walking around potentially passing the virus to others. another concern is the time is taking full results to be turned around at local last week only 15.1% of in—person tests receive their results in just 24 hours, something boris johnson promised would happen at the end of june and a fundamental requirement for many within the scientific immunity.

attempts to find out why people from minority ethnic groups are more likely to die from covid—19 shouldn't focus entirely on race, according to a scientist advising the government on ethnicity. dr raghib ali says that focusing on factors including obesity and housing would help more people. our community affairs correspondent adina campbell reports. this is my late brother and myself... remembering his brother, six months on since he died of coronavirus. as a family, we think the hospital or the government could do a bit more after my brother passed away. dr peter tun was a specialist in neurological rehabilitation at the royal berkshire hospital in reading. his family says he had concerns about the lack of ppe while at work and died in april after catching the virus. an investigation into his death is ongoing, and the royal berkshire nhs foundation trust says it is waiting for the results of the report.

today, the government has published new findings on covid disparities and given more details about how it's going to improve health outcomes for people from ethnic minority backgrounds. they include recording ethnicity on death certificates in england, as a way of tracking which groups are more at risk. it's also going to spend £25 million on a new community champions scheme, to help protect the most vulnerable, and workplace risk assessments for everyone, to improve health conditions and reduce the number of deaths. so why are people from ethnic minorities more at risk of dying from coronavirus? they are more likely to live in poorer areas, with limited access to the health care they need and, because of this, they may be in shared housing, meaning there is a greater chance of catching the virus, and we know people from disadvantaged backgrounds are more likely to have underlying health conditions linked to higher coronavirus death rates.

but one government adviser, who's just been appointed to look at this issue more closely, says we shouldn't solely concentrate on ethnicity. look at the actual risk factor causing it. look at their overcrowded housing, their deprivation, their occupation, etc, and then you'll capture everybody. how do you hope this report will reassure those communities? deprivation is one of the risk factors which we have ta ken into account. we are doing this across the population for those people that we believe are vulnerable. i think that we have a responsibility to show that they are not being left behind and, as a black woman, that's something that i have personally taken an interest in. for those who have lost loved ones, today's report has come too late. the hope is it could help other families avoid similar tragedies. adina campbell, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news: the chancellor unveils a new rescue dealforjobs, promising more support for businesses struggling under

coronavirus restrictions. the number of people reached through test and trace in england last week was the lowest since the scheme began. finding out why some people are more likely to die from covid—19 should focus on more than just ethnicity, urges a government scientific advisor. earlier, metro mayors including the mayor of greater manchester andy burnham were questioned by mps on the business select committee. that was before rishi sunak‘s announcement of increased support forjobs and workers in the uk. let's talk to one mayor, the labour mayor of the north of tyne, jamie driscoll, was among those addressing the committee — driscoll, let's speak to him now. give us a sense of how would you

describe the mood, the tone of that session this morning. it's interesting that we've had this catapulted into the four of metro mayors. we have been working away for a long time, but the questions are how do we get out of this, how do we recover our economies and really, does centralised control actually worked better than distributed leadership? people in their regions are closer to data that they are able to convene. that was the turn of the. were people clamouring for greater attention to local and regional approaches to this, whether it's the health situation of the economic situation? at the moment is very much the economic situation, so i have no powers over health, for example. a lot of news today will be about the

chancellor's job support scheme. it's a move in the right direction certainly. what nobody is talking about is how we get out of this in the end because this is about protecting jobs. we already know that there has been well over a millionjobs lost in that there has been well over a million jobs lost in the country. we know certain industries are not coming back the way there were, so this is why we need these regional plans to be getting our industries up plans to be getting our industries up and running. so greenjobs in offshore wind, subsidy minerals, these are the sort of very strong in my part of the world and what i'm worried about is the chancellor has cancelled the budget, we were told it would be a three year comprehensive spending review, that is down to one year. and we've got to get beyond the short term and into the long term. that's the real advantage of regional leadership. the other advantage, despite what they had lines may say, is that it's massively collaborative. i work with all the parties in my area, the

business community, trade unions, public services and we come together to come up with plans. so you are saying we all had to cope with the here and now but do you think it's incumbent on people in your sort of job to look much further ahead and say, how on earth is the economy of my region going to keep functioning when we come out the other side? what do you do, whatjobs are there for people? absolutely and that you've got to plan back in terms of school ‘s provision. if you're going to be developing a new industry, how do you train people to make sure they are ready to get these jobs. this level of details, we've been able to shoot people who have come out of hospitality and retrain some of them to get a hgv licence. they are then able to get support in new areas of work, that's one example. there's a whole range of things. the way we've got to do this though is we got to get away from this idea

that levelling up is about mayors going to government asking for support. what i have pushed for very strongly is the power is for us to be able to generate wealth. i want us be able to generate wealth. i want us to have a health funds to invest in communities that creates jobs but at the same time creates that wealth base so that people in places like the north—east, that people have some assets. the committee you were talking to this morning, do you think there was an understanding of what you are saying, a recognition that some people need to be working on this and thinking about this right now? absolutely. i think that is the recognition, the business innovation committee are charged with that. it's interesting that all of the metro mayors and it doesn't matter which part you are from, taking the same view on this, that it is about long—term planning. at the moment their funding windows,

you apply to the government, you don't know whether you get the money, projects stop and start, then you get the money and you are told you get the money and you are told you how to spend it all in 15 months, is no plan to —— data plan on that basis. get these things knitted together and produce more vibrant places. knitted together and produce more vibra nt places. that knitted together and produce more vibrant places. that matters so much more to places like the north east where there isn't the private sector investment, where the land values are not high. i'm so sorry interrupt. thank you because matt hancock has just stood up in the commons. this fight is not over. the virus continues to spread and cases and hospitalisations and deaths are all rising. yesterday we learned that liverpool hospital trust is now treating more covid patients than at their peak in april. and across the

uk the numberof their peak in april. and across the uk the number of deaths have doubled in undera uk the number of deaths have doubled in under a fortnight. and yetjust as the situation we face is grave, so as the situation we face is grave, so the hope of a solution is growing. and with every day, my confidence in the ingenuity of science to bring resolution grows. but until that moment, we must have resolved. and madam deputy speaker, we are focused on finding a long—term solution. we reject political point scoring and i call upon this house to work together in the interests of our whole nation andindeed the interests of our whole nation and indeed the whole world. ijust wonder whether one of the problem is that we've got at the moment is that we haven't really got enough capacity in the whole of the nhs to be able to take on covert in a long—term way as he is suggesting and still be able to do all the things we need to do. how are we going to wrap up that capacity so we

are still treating people for cancer and all the other things we care about? this is a challenge. he represents a seat in wales, this is a challenge in all for parts of the uk and one of the things that we have learnt in the first phase is how we can do better to keep running the other services that the nhs must provide and should provide of course, for instance, for brain injuries, for cancer treatment, for heart patients and for those things that are not life—threatening but harm people's lives. a painful hip, a cataract that needs treatment, and in the first wave we know so much less about this virus that many, many of those treatments were stopped altogether. in the second wave we have two things at our advantage. the first is this is a

much more regional second wave which puts more pressure on much more regional second wave which puts more pressure on areas much more regional second wave which puts more pressure on areas like liverpool and lancashire than elsewhere in the country. but it does mean that elsewhere the elective and the urgent operations can continue, but the second, just before i come to that, the second difference we have is we know much more about the virus and how it spreads. so we have separate the nhs out into green sites and blue sites, green sites where we have a high degree of confidence there is no covid using testing and asking people to isolate before going in foran people to isolate before going in for an operation so people can have confidence because the central masses is the nhs remains open. but the final point i would make before giving way is that the best way we can keep the source of treatment that we all want to see going is to keep the virus under control. he has answered my question in part with

the importance of green and red because one of the big problems in the first wave is that people were frightened even if they feared that they did have cancer or some other condition, they were scared to go into the hospitals and we had to reassure people that they can go there and they can be safe. he is absolutely right and we have an advertising campaign to make this simple point to people that if you are asked to go to hospital by a clinician, then it is safer to go to hospital than not to. in fact we call it green sites and blue sites, green meaning free from covid as confident as we can be that they are, blue not red because we still wa nt are, blue not red because we still want people to come to hospital even if they had to come into a&e because there is only likely to be as much covid as in the general population u nless covid as in the general population unless you are in a covid award treating only covid patients. the nhs has learnt a huge amount both about the microbiology of the disease but also how to run health

services in a world when covid is at large. i will give way. services in a world when covid is at large. iwill give way. of services in a world when covid is at large. i will give way. of course this is a dangerous disease, of course cases are rising including in my own area so course cases are rising including in my own area so it's with some humility that i have a look at the daily access or cause deaths in all ages england which showed there has been no significant excess or cause mortality in week 30 overall. the good news in the second wave is that the disease is not progressing as it did in the first. i want to keep it that way. and it's true that the all—cause mortality is around the typical levels for this time of year and that's partly because none covert deaths are lower at the moment than most years but also because thus far we have work to keep this virus under control and we know by the basic mathematics of

compound, compounding growth and the exponential nature of the growth of any virus that the number of deaths will increase if we see the number of cases increased exponentially, hence the need for the actions that we need, that we in this house have voted for. i thank my right honourable friend for allowing me to intervene. 0n honourable friend for allowing me to intervene. on that point, a lot of my constituents were frightened to go to hospital because they thought they might get infected by covid. with that in mind and i'm quite sure he has thought of this, would it not be an idea to actually separate out so be an idea to actually separate out so you have a covid centre of accident, so using the 90 care hospitals where everyone goes there and then the normal hospitals deal with everything else. forgive me for raising this point because i am quite sure you have a very good answer. it's a brilliant idea, so brilliant that the nhs has spent the summer brilliant that the nhs has spent the summer working on this concept. we can't do it as perfectly as my

honourable friend suggests and reason is the practicalities of treatment of treatment of covid. if you have covid and something else you have covid and something else you need an intensive care unit but the united hospitals are there. sadly the 90 care hospital in manchester is reopening and we are making sure that within all the rest of the hospitals, either different parts of the hospital are either deemed blue or green, or the different buildings are covid free or in some cases whole hospitals are covid green sites as in you can't go there, you can't go into it unless you have been tested and testing negative so you can have a high degree of confidence. if treating cancer patients you want to ensure there is no covid in there. there isn't any covid in there. and so we need these long—term solutions

andi so we need these long—term solutions and i would say that like other liberal democracies around the world, we are wrestling with this question, as we havejust world, we are wrestling with this question, as we have just wrestled in the last few minutes with the question of how to keep people safe from this virus whilst at the same time protecting other important things in life, our liberties, our livelihoods and the things that we love. and that is what leads us to the strategy of suppressing the virus, supporting the economy, education and the nhs to do all the other thing is that the nhs needs to do until a vaccine is available. and i reject the false choice that says we must pick a side and choose between a healthy economy and a healthy nation, because the two are intrinsically linked. if we were to, god forbid, let the virus on the full force, then the damage notjust to the nhs and the hundreds of thousands of lives, but to our livelihoods to would be catastrophic. and we can only get our economy and our society going

gangbusters again if we drive this virus down so that people have the confidence that they need to live their lives to the field. and drive it down we must. this is a deadly virus and the rise in the number of cases amongst the over 60s gives me a lot of cause for concern. and wejust over 60s gives me a lot of cause for concern. and we just heard compellingly from the minister for in quality is —— equality is on people from ethnic minority backgrounds. but the impact is not confined to these groups. the virus can confined to these groups. the virus ca n affect confined to these groups. the virus can affect anyone of any age and any background, and we've already seen worrying numbers of young, fit, healthy people suffering debilitating symptoms months after contracting covid. yesterday a study by kings contracting covid. yesterday a study by king's college london showed one in 20 people with coronavirus are likely to have symptoms like fatigue, breathlessness, muscle pain

and neurological problems for eight weeks or more. yesterday i visited the cutting edge longer coded clinic at university college london hospital and i've meant people in their 20s and 30s unable to work, sapped of all the energy, living with the long—term effects of a virus that has completely changed their lives. so to anyone of any age, catching covid can be very grave indeed. long covid underpins again our strategy of suppressing the virus until a vaccine arrives. when he came to the health select committee a few weeks ago he talked about long covid and the fact clinics were being set up to deal with it. can he give us an update on where that has got to? at these clinics are being set up, the london clinics are being set up, the london clinic is open, but we need to see these clinics right across the country on the nhs has a programme now of rolling out clinics to be able to support people, and of

course communicating to gps, because primary care is often where people arrived with long covid, because there seems to be no correlation with a serious of your initial illness and how long you can have these debilitating consequences. in some cases, people have no symptoms of the coronavirus initially but then can find that they have months and months of fatigue, brain fog and muscle pain, and they didn't know where it came from until they were diagnosed with long covid. it is a very serious complication, of course. in order to enable us to get a picture of this, could he tell us what percentage of people up to 25 actually suffer from this condition? we have two points of evidence. the one is the evidence from king's couege one is the evidence from king's college london that shows around one in 20 people with coronavirus are likely to have long—term symptoms.

the other evidence actually implies that in the under 50—year—old adults it is more like one in ten, so there does seem to be some correlation which implies that it is more of a problem amongst younger people, but understanding this is still in the early stages and an awful lot more research is needed, yes. it's not so much a question of what percentage of those who contract the disease, but what percentage of the overall cohort is, roughly, actually affected by this? it's very difficult to know. we estimate around 80% of the population have had a covid and we estimate around one in 20 people who have had it had symptoms along with than eight weeks. the fewer people that get covid, the fewer people will get

long covid and therefore it reinforces the overall strategy of suppressing the virus until we can get the vaccine. i want to now, if i may, turn to the question of how we do that. we cannot reiterate enough the importance of the basics. social distancing and hands, face, space, and the next area is through following rules on local action, which is at the core of how we at the moment and in an increasing number of other countries around the world a re number of other countries around the world are tackling the crisis. through our local covid alert levels we have been able to take an balanced approach and today i'd like to update the house on some further changes we are making. u nfortu nately, we changes we are making. unfortunately, we are seeing rising rates of infection in stoke—on—trent, coventry and in slough. in all of these areas there are over 100 positive cases per hundred thousand people and cases are doubling around every fortnight and we are seeing a concerning

increase of cases amongst the over 60s, so we have agreed in partnership with local leaders to move these areas into the high local alert level, coming into force at one minute past midnight on saturday. the central change is that people cannot now meet other households socially indoors. this applies in any setting, at home, in applies in any setting, at home, in a restaurant, or any other venue. the rule of six still applies to any outdoor setting, and although you may continue to travel to open venues, you should reduce the number of journeys where venues, you should reduce the number ofjourneys where possible. i'd like to thank local leaders in these areas for the work they have done, for their cooperation and i can assure the people of stoke—on—trent, coventry and slough that we will support you all the way through, including with the business support that the chancellor announced earlier today for all areas with a high local alert level, and we are also formally beginning discussions with warrington about moving into

the very high alert level due to a continuing rise in cases there.|j thank him very much for the ongoing dialogue between myself as a warrington mp and my colleagues in warrington. i was particular concern this morning having seen data from public health england about the rapid rise in the over 60s infection rate and i wonder if he could say a little more about that information. iam little more about that information. i am worried about the rising cases, especially amongst the over 60s in warrington, and we have seen that case rate continue to rise despite the hard work of people locally since warrington was moved into local alert level to, and there is an excellent, excellent local hospital in warrington but it is dealing with a very high number of cases and working with other local hospitals to ensure everybody gets the treatment that they need. i pay tribute to my honourable friend who has provided great leadership in his

local community, and i hope that with everybody supporting these measures and taking the actions that are necessary, we can keep these restrictions in place for as little time as possible, but i'm absolutely convinced that we do need to make progress and what i have announced todayis progress and what i have announced today is that we will formally start of the talks, and i hope we can reach an agreement and resolution soon. reach an agreement and resolution soon. the virus moves quickly, so we must respond quickly and in a targeted way like this to keep it under control. as part of local discussions, local authorities including the lga have asked for stronger enforcement powers, and i agree. to support businesses who are doing the right thing it is fair that we take action against those businesses who are doing the wrong thing. so firm enforcement helps make these restrictions there for all. so we want to put in place

stronger regulations to give local authorities further powers to take further action in their area. the proposal is that we will bring forward will mean councils will be able to act without delay and use closure notices to shop premises on public health grounds to help suppress the virus. we will work with local authorities in the coming days on the details of these proposals so we can act in a firm and fast way against the minority who are breaching these life—saving rules. these changes will help us find ——fight rules. these changes will help us find —— fight the virus in the here and now, but will also making progress on long—term solutions. the long—term solution is not to give up as some would have us do, or to wish

the problem away. it is to harness the problem away. it is to harness the science and ingenuity of innovation while supporting people through. first, ifi innovation while supporting people through. first, if i can turn to testing, thanks to exceptional work from so many people we have built a critical national infrastructure of diagnostic testing. today's testing capacity is now over 370,000, and alongside this expansion of the current technology, i want to update the house en masse testing. i know there have been many questions about this project. last week we began rolling out new testing technologies to hospitals based on the point of ca re to hospitals based on the point of care test that will allow the regular, repeat testing of nhs staff and patients and i'm delighted to be able to tell the house that yesterday we began the roll—out of lateral flow tests to schools and universities. lateral flow tests do not require a lab or a machine. the

kit gives you the result within minutes. we have successfully purchased many millions of these tests a nd purchased many millions of these tests and that will allow us both to find the virus where it spreads and reduce the disruption that virus control measures inevitably create. if we can deliver a mass testing solution so pupils in a bubble don't have to isolate for a fortnight when one in the bubble tests positive, we will not only help control the spread of the virus, we will protect education better and help schools and teachers and parents to live their lives much closer to normal. these tests will also allow directors of public health to have more rapid access to testing capacity, and we are starting the roll—out to councils, including today, with the council in stoke—on—trent. the second area to touch on his vaccines. progress continues on the development and employment of vaccines. we are determined to give those developing vaccines all the support they need. ican vaccines all the support they need. i can inform the house that we are initiating human challenge trials to speed up the developer on top and to improve further its safety. we are contributing £33 million towards

these trials, joining forces with academia and industry. what a human challenge trial involves is taking a vaccine candidate that has been proven to be safe in trials and giving it to a small number of carefully selected, healthy adult volu nteers carefully selected, healthy adult volunteers who are exposed to the diet —— virus in a safe and controlled environment, closely monitored by medics and scientists which gives us the chance to accelerate the understanding of promising vaccines that have been through those clinical trials. so we can improve on this active element. the uk is one of the few countries in the world with the capability to run this type of programme and we should be proud that once again we are leading on this global effort. 0ur response to this lethal virus has been one of the greatest collective endeavours this nation has seen, and thanks to those effo rts has seen, and thanks to those efforts we are better prepared next time around. as a nation we built

the nightingale hospitals in nine days. as a nation we came together, as one, to protect the nhs and it wasn't overwhelmed, and now the nhs is better yet prepared still. as a nation we built the biggest testing capability of all of our peers and we have made historic advances in vaccines and treatments. we understand this virus infinitely more than at the start of the pandemic, but we are not there yet. not when the virus is spreading at pace, so much east look at what we can do and the role we can play and what actions we can take, because we have seen throughout the pandemic that we are at our best when we come together, and we know that with science on our side, ultimately, we will prevail. the question is that this house has considered covid—19 and colleagues will see there are a large numberof and colleagues will see there are a large number of contributors to the bait so i impose an immediate five

minute time limit on backbench contributions. given the number interested in the debate on the indulgence i've been given by the house for days in a row, i'm not sure what i will do next week, i might come here and make a speech for the sake of it. i will try to be brief. can i apologise to the house because of a long—standing commitment — i won't be here for windups, can i apologise that this was to do the house? —— cani that this was to do the house? —— can i apologise for this discourtesy to the house? i noticed that the secretary of state has updated the house on slough, the country and in coventry, but didn't mention anything about nottinghamshire and west yorkshire, candidates are widely speculated as the next to go into the tier 3 lockdown restrictions... i wonder, into the tier 3 lockdown restrictions... iwonder, given into the tier 3 lockdown restrictions... i wonder, given the localised infection rates in part of nottinghamshire, 370 per hundred

thousand and so on, he must be considering the future of west yorkshire and nottinghamshire, and i'm just be going into the parliamentary recess... i don't know ifi parliamentary recess... i don't know if i can just invite parliamentary recess... i don't know if i canjust invite him to parliamentary recess... i don't know if i can just invite him to see anything now? i know members from those areas will be concerned that with parliament not sitting next week, they may not have an opportunity to put their points to put the points on the record and i think it would be important, perhaps because when sending now, the secretary of state, perhaps to offer some reassurance to people in that pa rt some reassurance to people in that part of the world? as previously announced, discussions are under way. we want to proceed in consultation with and working with the local areas. and of course with the local areas. and of course with the parliamentary recess next week, we will find a way to ensure that

collea g u es we will find a way to ensure that colleagues are less known of the situation in advance of any announcement. i'm gratefulfor situation in advance of any announcement. i'm grateful for that because he won't know that many people in those areas will be concerned and want to get their points of view on the record on that, so i'm gratefulfor that ratio is. madam deputy speaker, this virus has caused a pandemic because exploits ambivalence and takes advantage of our human vulnerability. it undermines our biological defences and sprays through human social behaviour and clustering. we know that people with long—term chronic conditions, particular, are vulnerable. another isa particular, are vulnerable. another is a greater burden of illness in more disadvantaged areas, which covid cruelly exaggerates. we know as we enter the crisis we had less resilience as a society, we entered with life expectancy falling for some of the period and stalling nationwide. life expectancy is a summary of our overall health, madam deputy speaker. recent years, the amount of life in good health has

decreased for men and women in the past ten years. our child mortality rates are some of the worst in europe. her health and chronic illness leads communities acutely vulnerable —— poor health. it should come as no surprise to any of us that some of the buddha is currently fighting —— burrows are some of the poorest. as well as diagnostics and therapeutics and vaccinations, and i welcome the progress being made on those fronts, as well as expanding the mass testing, which we welcome, the mass testing, which we welcome, the lateral flow testing... and i hope he is going to invest in our great universities who are developing some of the saliva —based testing, because they will need the equipment and the labs to process it. he will probably need to impress in robotics and ai it. he will probably need to impress in robotics and al to do some of that, because there isn't enough staff to do at the moment, not as pa rt staff to do at the moment, not as part of his agenda. as well as all that, that now because the virus is

endemic, we will need a health inequality strategy as well to get on top of the spiders for the long term. in the immediate term, we also need to adjust our behaviours to bring the infection rates down —— on top of the virus. i supported the difficult restrictions he has had to impose, and it is why we are saying we need clarity all the time from government. but people also want to know that there is light at the end of the tunnel. it is still not clear to families in birtley, penistone and all these other places that influence put into lockdown in recent days, how they will escape lockdown —— barely. we still don't know whether restrictions across the north will be lifted when the national rate was before one or when the local or regional maxi values for below. we don't know when resections will be lifted ——

restrictions. yesterday the perimeter said it was based on a number of things, but intel is what other —— but he didn't tell us what the other data is —— the prime minister. how does an area in the north end tier 3 get out of these restrictions? i know these areas will be reviewed every four weeks. why does the criteria —— what is the criteria? we are now in tier 2 in leicester, but we have been any version of restriction 414 days. —— na version of restriction 414 days. —— n a version. we went directly from national to local lockdown. we had tougher restrictions than those designated for tier 3 at the moment. 0ur hospitality close, nonessential retail close, schools closed... i don't agree with that, but her skills closed as well. —— but art

schools. we went down to 100 and 55 per 100,000 —— schools. we went down to 100 and 55 per 100,000 -- 55 schools. we went down to 100 and 55 per 100,000 —— 55 pair. even at 55, we remained any version of lockdown. now, months later, after all the sacrifice we took in leicester, after a business is being closed, the mental health impact the people not being able to see their loved ones orfamilies not being able to see their loved ones or families denied the opportunity to visit a care home to see their grandmother or mother, after months of that, our infection rates in leicester today are 219 per 100,000. so the secretary of state will have to forgive me when i expressed some scepticism that the approach she is taking will work and suppress the virus to the levels which are sufficient to bring the r down, because although the early resections in leicester did have an

impact, after months, we are still under restrictions with infection rates at over 200 per 100,000. now, the secretary of state updated us on the secretary of state updated us on the situation, it has been very good at updating the house repeatedly and i have no criticism of him at all on that front. the growth rate in the virus is slower than march. it is a more muted growth compared to march and it is compared to the great sacrifice of the british people, hand hygiene, social distancing in everything we are doing. but it is not plateauing. this is an autumn resurgence we are dealing with at the moment and for all the heat and fallout we've had across the house this week, the truth is, the virus is at worrying levels everywhere. the national r is between 1.3—1.5. across the southeast it is the same. across the southeast it is the same. across the southeast it is the same. across the southwest 1.3—1.6. the east of england, 1.3—1.5. admission

to critical care are concentrated in the north midlands at the moment, by this stage in the first wave, those admissions to critical care were beginning to come down. they are continuing to go up. it is right that improvements in care mean that people are less likely to die. that's a good thing, we all celebrate that. but general and acute beds are filling up with covid patients across the north and across the midlands. we know the prime minister has rejected a circuit breakerfor minister has rejected a circuit breaker for now. he doesn't relate out indefinitely, it is only for now a nyway out indefinitely, it is only for now anyway think you should have taken advantage of next week's half term, he has decided not to do that. we should remind ourselves that sage advice for the second break on the zist advice for the second break on the 21st of september. a month later in the 21st of october we have the grim statistics we are going to pull away from the

house of commons for now. we will talk much more about matt hancock's observations just after 3pm. just like a few quick pointers. three more cities will head into tier 2 first thing on saturday morning, stoke—on—trent, coventry and slough. he was talking about the rise in cases in people over the age of 60 but really stressing that while that gives cause for concern, the cases are not confined to that age group and he then talked about younger people and the rise of long covid and is gradually understanding more about long covid. more on that after 3pm. we will take a few minutes to reflect on everything the chancellor announced a few hours ago. increased help for businesses, we know the extent to which hospitality in particular is suffering. let's talk to martin greenhow from mojo bars which can be found in several cities

including leeds and nottingham. some where your business is right now. i guess you have some bars shut, some still operating. talk as to really impact first of all? hospitality as a whole doesn't want to stand here with a begging bowl all the time. where businesses have been built over yea rs , where businesses have been built over years, with sacrifice, we stand to lose everything. what we have seen to lose everything. what we have seen today are some help but simply not enough. in tier 1, we are seeing businesses where the curfew has led toa drop businesses where the curfew has led to a drop in turnover and there is no help whatsoever. the improvements to the jss no help whatsoever. the improvements to thejss are very welcome in tier 2, but the grant scheme that has been offered in tier 2 simply does very little. there seems to be a

complete, what is the word, we seem to have completely forgotten about the looming issue of rent which is building up across the country. in tier 3, we have great assistance with payroll costs, albeit sacrificed by individual members of staff with what we can be taken home, but the grants available there simply don't go far enough. fundamentally, the end of all this, if the businesses are not supported and when we have these burgeoning rent bill and other fixed costs, debts to service, if the businesses are not there at the end of this, thenit are not there at the end of this, then it will have been a complete waste of time to preserve jobs because there won't be the employer there to keep people on. whilst we are grateful for what we received, i'm sorry to say, we have to ask for yet more. so there are some improvements today from what rishi sunak says, but some of your bars

might not survive all of this? that is for what reason? is it particularly rents? is that one of the key problems? i'm not placing the key problems? i'm not placing the blame on landlords and i have sympathy for them. there are also losing mass amounts of income. for our business, we have landlords who are small family businesses. we have other landlords who are pension funds. none of them can afford to forgo their income more than we can. what is causing the huge stress on the entire sector is the curfew. you cannot take 60% of operating time away as well as 60% of occupancy away as well as 60% of occupancy away and expect there to be no negatives. absolutely, i take your point. give us a practical example. what would be your takings on a

friday or saturday in one of your bars and what is it now with that 10pm curfew in place? i'm talking about places still allowed to be open, but as you say there is the 10pm cut—off? open, but as you say there is the 10pm cut-off? to give an example in manchester, that's one of our most successful bars, we've been there for 15 years, last friday, compared to the comparable friday from 2019, we took approximately £10,000. last friday, we took £175. goodness. that isa friday, we took £175. goodness. that is a striking statistic on which to leave our conversation. thank you for waiting to speak to us after the statement from matt hancock. goodness, that drop in income he describes just tells its own story about the impact of the last few months. much more coming up in the next hour. let's pause and take a

look at the weather right now with darren. this evening, patchy rain affect scotla nd this evening, patchy rain affect scotland before it moves away. patchy rain for the south—east overnight, head of a rainband that brings rain to northern ireland in western scotland by the end of the night. ahead of that, clearer skies and temperatures of about 5 degrees. the rainband should not last long in northern ireland. patchy rain running eastwards over scotland. also for the cumbrian fells. 0therwise, light and patchy rain for eastern england into the afternoon. sunshine and showers mainly for western scotland and northern ireland. perhaps 15 in the south—east ahead of the patchy rain. the weekend is looking unsettled, wind on saturday, but a band of rain followed by sunshine and showers on

sunday. this is bbc news. the headlines: the chancellor unveils a new rescue dealforjobs, promising more support for businesses struggling under coronavirus restrictions. we are seeing areas move into tier 2 restrictions and that's having a particular impact on hospitality businesses, which is why we are keen to support those businesses. last quarter, we saw a record rise in redundancies. the chancellor could have done much more if he had acted sooner. the health secretary announces that coventry, stoke—on—trent and slough will move into the tier 2 "high" coronavirus level at midnight on saturday. finding out why some people are more likely to die from covid19 should focus on more than just ethnicity, urges a government scientific advisor.

a deposition from british socialite ghislaine maxwell — which reveals details about her relationship withjeffrey epstein — has been made public. and, painting a picture of sir tom — how hundreds of artists have been inspired to produce portraits of the champion covid fundraiser. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. billions of pounds of extra help for firms and workers across the uk who've been hit by the coronavirus restrictions have been announced by the chancellor. thejob support scheme will pay out more than originally planned, where companies aren't legally required to close.

rishi sunak is doubling help for employers in thejobs support scheme after a growing clamourfrom firms in tier 2 areas. employers will now have to pay for a minimum of 20% of a worker's wages, down from 55%. it means the government will now fund 62% of pay for hours not worked. 150,000 grants will be available for hotels, restaurants and b&bs, which aren't legally obliged to close. the grants can also be backdated. here's our economics correspondent andrew verity. a normally busy restaurant area under tier 2 restrictions. the outlets here may be open but business is so quiet, many are struggling to survive on a fraction of their normal income. in the west midlands, this once bustling microbrewery normally sells barrels to pubs which under the new restrictions are not buying like they used to. it's trying to adapt by selling cans directly to customers

but its income has been tanking. as soon as we started to see things beginning to return to normal, back to profitability, birmingham was designated a tier 2 area and our revenue was hit massively. restaurants like this one in tier 2 or tier 3 areas have a problem. they can't claim on a scheme that pays two thirds of rages because they are not required to shut, but because of the rule that says two households can't mix indoors, they've seen a sharp drop in business which makes it harder and harder to keep their staff on. after businesses and unions warned many firms could go under, the chancellor, rishi sunak, met business leaders today to announce yet another change to the government's job support schemes. i've always said that we will adapt and evolve our support as the health situation changes and that's clearly what's happened. over the past few weeks we are seeing areas move into tier 2

restrictions and that's having a particular impact on hospitality businesses which is why we are keen to support those businesses with extra cash grants and a more generous job support scheme, helping them keep those employees in work. thejob support scheme announced a month ago helps firms to cut the hours staff work rather than letting them go by topping up wages. previously the government paid a third of the hours not worked. now the government will pay 62% of hours not worked with employers only paying 5%. under the scheme announced a month ago staff would have had to work at least a third of their normal hours. now they will only have to work a fifth of their normal hours or one day a week. the government's critics say it should have happened much sooner. last quarter we saw a record rise in redundancies. the chancellor could have done much more if he had acted sooner. and now we see yet another last—minute move. in manchester it's not seen as a coincidence that support for businesses suddenly improves

after london goes into tier 2 restrictions. why now? you know, why has it taken london to go into tier 2 for tier 2 support to become a national issue? that's the question, isn't it? it's the government's fourth change to business support schemes in as many months and a tacit admission that thejob support scheme announced less than a month ago didn't balance enough government support against the financial damage done by antivirus measures. in the economic fallout of the pandemic the facts have changed and the government's changed its mind. andy verity, bbc news. well, in the past half hour, the health secretary, matt hancock, has announced that stoke—on—trent, coventry and slough will move into the tier 2 "high" coronavirus level tomorrow. 0ur political correspondentjessica parker is at westminster.

we will start with that because that has just been announced. a lot of talk of those places but more increases in various parts of the country. over the last couple of weeks we have seen a flurry of discussions going on between government and local areas, some of those talks have gone more smoothly than others stopped the row with greater manchester well documented, but the matt hancock announcing in the last hour moving into tier 2 from saturday, stoke, coventry and slough and that's because there are over 100 cases per 100,000 in those areas and particularly concerning the cases amongst over 60 ‘s. what that means for england, over 29 million people now living in the top two tiers of restrictions, a huge proportion. and that striking on the day that we have had rishi sunak in the commons announcing even more

measures, more funding, some will say absolutely necessary, others will say, my goodness, further down the line, how are we going to pay for all of this? and that's not a question that has been answered. the government very much focused on trying to get the economy through this crisis and protectjobs where they can, but they are racking up a huge bill, there is no doubt about that. but for now we don't know how it will be paid for in the longer term. of course the labour party really accusing the government today of being too slow to move on this, but there has been mounting pressure again on rishi sunak to do something to make these schemes more generous, particularly for businesses that are not legally forced to closed but nevertheless suffering a huge hit to the money they make as a result of the money they make as a result of the restrictions. it isjust the money they make as a result of the restrictions. it is just a the money they make as a result of the restrictions. it isjust a month since rishi sunak announced his winter economy plan, already having to twea k winter economy plan, already having to tweak it four weeks later. what

that tells you is that we are not where the gunmen expected us to be at this point, things are worse in terms of the hit this is having on the economy and they're having to go further because this will be costing a lot of money and rishi sunak at some point will be pressed for a nswe rs some point will be pressed for answers on how it will be paid for. for now, thank you very much, jessica parker. and the prime minister and the chancellor will be holding a news conference in downing street later this afternoon. we'll have full coverage here on bbc news in a special programme from 3.45pm. stay with us for that. now we will move away from coronavirus for a few moments. the transcript of a testimony that the british socialite ghislaine maxwell gave four years ago relating to her dealings with the late us sex offender jeffrey epstein has been publically released in the us. ghislaine maxwell and her legal team

had fought hard to keep the details under wraps while she awaits a trial in new york for charges related to trafficking minors for epstein and perjury — charges which she denies. our correspondent in new york — nada tawfikjoins me now. explain what this document is. it's not brand—new, we knew it might come out. just put it all in context for our. that's right. this was from a deposition that gives layne maxwell gave in april 2016, which was part ofa gave in april 2016, which was part of a defamation suit that virginia jeffrey had launched against her. virginia had said she was hired and recruited by maxwell to give epstein massages after she had worked at a resort in palm beach. ghislaine maxi

has denied that and took issue with numerous comments that virginia took in the press. there has been a years long fight to have this deposition released and a judge agreed that in the interest of the public, given the interest of the public, given the charges, to really see what ghislaine maxwell said happened. she had argued that would hurt her criminal case. she is waiting eight july trial on those charges that you mentioned but thejudge july trial on those charges that you mentioned but the judge did july trial on those charges that you mentioned but thejudge did not agree with that and this deposition has been made public with even fighting as late as last night over reduction of some people's names. all of that just reminds reduction of some people's names. all of thatjust reminds us how different the legal system can be in the us versus this country but i suppose this is not documentation that will be out there, people can

read it, isuppose that will be out there, people can read it, i suppose online, that will be out there, people can read it, isuppose online, in newspapers and it will be poured over. absolutely and this is a very lengthy document, more than 400 pages and we have been going through it. ghislaine maxwell dodges many of the questions. she really says she never witnessed any inappropriate under age activity betweenjeffrey epstein and anyone. she says anything she witnessed was part of working to really manage his estates and she would often hire massage therapists, gardeners, swimming pool people to manage the estate but again she never witnessed or hired anyone that was under age. this deposition though really does go into very specific detail. again ghislaine maxwell dodging questions but we are going through this as quickly as we can to get a bigger picture of what else this may reveal. it is this document that really was the basis of the poetry claims that prosecutors put through

in theircriminal claims that prosecutors put through in their criminal trial. we will let you get away and read more of that. thank you for now. back now to coronavirus — and on the eve of tougher restrictions coming into force in greater manchester, businesses are assessing what the impact will be on them. places including betting shops, casinos and bingo halls will have to close, as will children's soft play areas. but leisure centres and gyms can stay open. 0ur health correspondent dominic hughes reports on two businesses in stockport that face very different futures. benchmark gym in stockport, the last few weeks have been filled with uncertainty. will gyms be able to stay open when greater manchester moves to the highest covid risk level, tier 3? so the fact they'll be able to keep operating through the new restrictions is critical for co—owner, mark. has it been a relief? it's been an absolute, massive relief, purely because we want to be able to offer, like, a service and fitness

service for our members and also for our community. everyone is going through a lot of stress and they are obviously working from home a lot more as well now, so for people to go to the gyms and get that one hour or 45 minutes of working on their fitness, working on their health, is really going to improve their fitness. that chimes with members, the gym providing a vital source of support, an outlet in challenging times. it's improved my life so much in terms of mental health and getting out, getting things done, getting healthier, getting fitter, and if that had shut, you know, i think it would have made a lot of people really upset. are you going on that one? a few miles away at the let loose play centre, the future looks very different. they've been told they have to shut down by the end of today. it's a family business run by sisters vicky and deborah. no one has come to check what we are doing, whether it's right, they've just closed us again. closure means not just a financial hit. there is a cost to their health as well. sleepless nights, anxiety, actuallyjust such a huge pressure

on your shoulders thinking we are about to lose everything that we've ever worked for. and the effect on our families, because literally it's all we talk about, day in, day out. it's going to be a huge impact on the mental health of all our customers and children, because they can't play. over the winter, there's nowhere for them to play. the association of indoor play says this is an industry on the brink of collapse and parents we met argued they feel the evidence just isn't there. they are not out here in the field looking at places, they are making a decision pretty much from london about us here. and i don't think it's fair. it just doesn't make sense, when there is a trampolining place next door and that can stay open, yet they've got ball pools and soft play, yet this is such a lovely open space and children are just enjoying themselves. gyms for now are safe. ministers say they are talking to the soft play industry to see what further help is needed,

but the concern is also around the significant mental health implications of the new restrictions. dominic hughes, bbc news, stockport. the nhs test and trace system in england has recorded its lowest weekly success rate since it began in may. in the seven days up to the 14th of october, fewer than 60% of the close contacts of people who'd tested positive for covid—19 were reached. and only 15% of those tested received their result within 24 hours. attempts to find out why people from minority ethnic groups are more likely to die from covid—19 shouldn't focus entirely on race, according to a scientist advising the government on ethnicity. dr raghib ali says that focusing on factors including obesity and housing would help more people. our community affairs correspondent adina campbell reports. this is my late brother and myself... remembering his brother, six months on since he died of coronavirus.

as a family, we think the hospital or the government could do a bit more after my brother passed away. dr peter tun was a specialist in neurological rehabilitation at the royal berkshire hospital in reading. his family says he had concerns about the lack of ppe while at work and died in april after catching the virus. an investigation into his death is ongoing, and the royal berkshire nhs foundation trust says it is waiting for the results of the report. today, the government has published new findings on covid disparities and given more details about how it's going to improve health outcomes for people from ethnic minority backgrounds. they include recording ethnicity on death certificates in england, as a way of tracking which groups are more at risk. it's also going to spend £25 million on a new community champions scheme,

to help protect the most vulnerable, and workplace risk assessments for everyone, to improve health conditions and reduce the number of deaths. so why are people from ethnic minorities more at risk of dying from coronavirus? they are more likely to live in poorer areas, with limited access to the health care they need and, because of this, they may be in shared housing, meaning there is a greater chance of catching the virus, and we know people from disadvantaged backgrounds are more likely to have underlying health conditions linked to higher coronavirus death rates. but one government adviser, who's just been appointed to look at this issue more closely, says we shouldn't solely concentrate on ethnicity. look at the actual risk factor causing it. look at their overcrowded housing, their deprivation, their occupation, etc, and then you'll capture everybody. how do you hope this report will reassure those communities? deprivation is one of the risk

factors which we have ta ken into account. we are doing this across the population for those people that we believe are vulnerable. i think that we have a responsibility to show that they are not being left behind and, as a black woman, that's something that i have personally taken an interest in. for those who have lost loved ones, today's report has come too late. the hope is it could help other families avoid similar tragedies. adina campbell, bbc news. 0na day on a day when we have been talking a lot about everything announced by the chancellor, it's the chancellor, time for your questions answered. we're joined now by our economics correspondent, andy verity and michelle 0vens, director at the organisation small business britain to answer your questions.

welcome to both of you and we've got some pretty extensive questions here today. i think that's a reflection of the complications of everything announced. i'm struck that there we re announced. i'm struck that there were a few questions from people talking about zero—hours contracts. tracy says, how does this announcement from the chancellor help people in tier 2 macro in the catering industry on zero—hours contracts. matthew says, how can that 62% support help someone on zero hours when there is no fixed or reliable estimate of the number of hours we work? such a big part of the economy now. the treasury say they are included if they have zero—hours contracts. they were included previously in the job support scheme as announced before and there's a way they have of working out an average that people we re working out an average that people were paid according to their average hours, and is certified by the

applicant and then they will pay out according to that average. according to the average. michelle, it's a tricky one because some people just don't have an average, it might be peaks don't have an average, it might be pea ks and troughs don't have an average, it might be peaks and troughs depending on the industry they are in. yes, and that was recognised during the furlough scheme. it can work out an average overeight scheme. it can work out an average over eight months, so they can smooth it out. we should see that generally is we will get details in the coming days but they are clear that those on zero—hours contracts, so that those on zero—hours contracts, so long as they were employed on the 23rd of september, they will be eligible for support. an interesting point from mike moran who says, he is from a family run travel agency, dave had effectively no footfall since march, he says, we have seen a

99% drop in turnover yet all the help seems to be going to hospitality. why is there no support for viable travel agencies who have the rug pulled from under them? if pubs can get help, why not us?|j know there has been a lot of discussion about hospitality over the last couple of weeks, but the announcements this morning, certainly with the job support scheme, apply to everyone notjust to hospitality. i think that's good news. to hospitality. i think that's good news. a lot of the grants this morning '5 do apply to hospitality, hotels, leisure, there is an extra grant going to local authorities that are at their discretion to give out. other support measures are in a place, so bounce back loans have been extended, a new loan scheme being announced in january. been extended, a new loan scheme being announced injanuary. also there are other programmes like

government funded programmes like the small business leadership programme, that is being delivered by the small business charter for training and management, to help businesses manage through this crisis as well. there are lots of things available for travel agencies and i'm not minimising the challenges they would have faced, it's a really difficult time for the travel industry. absolutely. much earlier on in the pandemic i felt as if we talked about the impact on the travel industry a lot but more latterly there has been a focus on hospitality, which is a huge sector again of the british economy. that's right. independent retailers have also complained they haven't been offered the same levels of support but every small and medium enterprise is eligible to apply for thejob support enterprise is eligible to apply for the job support scheme. all they have to do is make the basic criteria which is they employ someone criteria which is they employ someone for a fifth of their normal hours and the government will pay 62% of the hours they are not

working. if your income is massively reduced, say by 80%, you could reduced, say by 80%, you could reduce your employee's i was right down to one day a week and the government would pay two thirds of the cost of the wages for the other four days. thank you. from cathy casey, talking about the situation in northern ireland, she says, what assistance is there under the grants and job retention scheme for hair and job retention scheme for hair and beauty services in northern ireland because we are forced to close for four weeks from mid—november and it might end up being longer? have changes been made to thejob retention being longer? have changes been made to the job retention scheme qualification? to help people in that category, hair and close contact industries. that's right. thejob support contact industries. that's right. the job support scheme extension which is a bit like a furlough scheme is what is relevant here. if you are legally required to close by the government's restrictions, you

are entitled to claim two thirds of the wage bill of your employees. what will happen there is the government will step into pay that amountand government will step into pay that amount and may be the employee has a reduced wage but they do still get a decent income much about benefit level. michelle? the only thing i would say is the chancellor did stress that the announcement covered the whole of the uk, so in wales, if you are mandated to close, you will be eligible for the job support scheme. anybody who is mandated to close can apply for that two thirds of support, so that's not based on the employees having to work 20%. it's wales as well not just northern ireland. a good reminder and another reminder of how we had to keep tabs on things depending on where you live and it does get complicated. an interesting one which says, i am an uber driver, my income has dropped

by 80%. the chancellor has announced a quarter will be paid by the government and a quarter by the employer but we are self—employed so what does that mean for us? he should be eligible for the new self—employed grants, so they doubled the self—employed grant they we re doubled the self—employed grant they were offering just a month ago. it was going to be just 20% of profits but now you can claim up to 40% of profits and the maximum grant goes up profits and the maximum grant goes up from 1875 to £3750. the government saying that is worth about £3 billion in support to self—employed people so i would have thought he would be eligible for that. is it still the case that to get help as a self—employed person you have to have been registered for self employed for three years? you have to have been registered for more than a year, it goes back to a report last year, from before then, you have to have been eligible. you

have to show an average, i think an average of three as profit and it is based on that that you are eligible for the grant. someone who is only very recently self—employed or went self—employed right before lockdown, unluckily they have fallen through the nets. there are big gaps in the safety net, this is a serious point. a lot of self—employed people are not self traders who would be eligible but are set up as limited companies and pay themselves through dividends. they have been excluded from support schemes for seven months and some have not been able to get incomes for benefits either. they are desperate. and u nfortu nately they are desperate. and unfortunately in this announcement there is nothing for them. a really interesting point. a question from matt in birmingham. about the change over that is coming. matt says, we area over that is coming. matt says, we are a tier over that is coming. matt says, we area tier2 over that is coming. matt says, we are a tier 2 business closed at the

moment, all staff are furloughed but as we know furlough ends at the end of october. do we make all staff redundant on the 1st of november or is there a scheme available to pay staff after the 1st of november because with the current restrictions we can't afford to reopen? inter two, you won't be mandated to close, so the job support scheme which is where you need to have your staff working 20% of the time, basically full—time one day a week, in order to access that scheme, this is what was announced this morning, it means your staff can be, if they are working 20% of the time with the government top up, they could be earning 73% of their normal salary. it's not a like—for—like replacement of furlough, you will need to stop working one day a week but it might be away format to be able to bring staff back at the end of furlough,

instead of having to lay people off which would be unfortunate. are we going to see complications when that change happens? yes. it's interesting the timing of this because if it had come a few weeks before a lot of the decisions employees have made about whether to let people to go or not, the arithmetic that underlies that decisions would have been different. some would have been made redundant but it's much more generous support now for people who do decide to keep people on. where as a company whose revenue had halved, previously they might have said furlough scheme doesn't. work. now they can make them work off their hours and the government will help make up their income so all employees will have two thirds of their pay. it does tilt the balance much more in favour of keeping people on. a question from deborah. as a business provider

giving lighting and electrical solutions to things like outdoor events and corporate hospitality, we have been unable to trade for most of the year because all events have been cancelled. we have lost 95% of our annual turnover, why are event suppliers not included in thejob support scheme? firstly they are included in the job support scheme. this is for everyone, it's notjust for tier this is for everyone, it's notjust fortier3, certain this is for everyone, it's notjust for tier 3, certain sectors. this is for everyone, it's notjust fortier3, certain sectors. it this is for everyone, it's notjust for tier 3, certain sectors. it is for tier 3, certain sectors. it is for every sector, every business. it does require you if you are not mandated to close to have your staff working 20% of the time and if you've lost 95% of annual turnover, that might be tricky to bring people back for 20% of the time but if you can, you can access back for 20% of the time but if you can, you can access the job support scheme. hopefully that might be an option for deborah. on that point, the leisure industry has been

offered help, discretionary grants but the difficulty with that is you have to have a rateable value in order to claim that local authority grant. a lot of companies in the event sector are, for example, conference companies, they may not have a premises and may not have a ratea ble have a premises and may not have a rateable value and for the last six or seven months they have been excluded from support because they don't have that rateable value so they can't collect that one. but they can't collect that one. but they can't collect that one. but they can still apply for the job support scheme if they can manage to muster 20% of their normal turnover. that's the big point and can they? they might be thinking, when our company is going to stop conferences again, but interesting point. a final point for you andy, the future, how is all of this being paid for and neil has asked, the

government is borrowing the money to help with this support, sooner or later it will be paid back. by when will it be paid back and what form could it take? could it mean tax increases? well, the short answer is eventually it will need to be tax increases at some point. but when we talk about the timing, we should remember that actually we are in like a war like economy at the moment. the economy is almost on a war footing, more thanit is almost on a war footing, more than it has been in peacetime than ever before. in the war, we didn't worry about borrowing money to pay for weapons to fight the nazis, that had to be done by future generations. interest rates are so low just now so generations. interest rates are so lowjust now so you can borrow on lowjust now so you can borrow on low rates for a very long time. interest rates are so low at the moment that if they borrowed longer

would not be any pressure to date back for five years, perhaps not in the next ten. thank you very much to both of you. thank you so much and i'm so glad you're across that level of detail because my goodness it's complicated for people. thank you very much indeed. the former us president barack obama has launched a blistering attack on president trump, in his first campaign speech in support ofjoe biden. mr obama said donald trump has treated the presidency like a reality show. donald trump said barack obama had campaigned hard for hilary clinton at the last election, but the result was her defeat. aleem maqbool reports. it was a strange way to attend a political event. but they came in their cars to see their former president's first drive—in rally forjoe biden.

i think what barack obama brings is the sense when america was great. when we were happy to go out, when we could go out and have a good time, when we were respecting and loving each other. when barack obama got on stage in philadelphia he didn't hold back in his criticism of the man who replaced him in the white house, saying donald trump's behaviour had been unacceptable and a poor example to american children. why are folks making excuses for that? oh, well, that's just...that'sjust him. no, it's...no! there are consequences to these actions. they embolden other people to be cruel and divisive and racist. and it frays the fabric of our society. in the strongest terms he's used yet, barack obama tore into donald trump's record, saying he'd worked for no one but himself and his friends, and he was scathing about the president's tax returns and the way he'd

handled the pandemic. eight months into this pandemic, cases are rising again across this country. donald trump isn't suddenly going to protect all of us. he can't even take the basic steps to protect himself. part of the reason he came to this city was to encourage african americans to vote. but many remain disillusioned. look at what they got in office and look at what he wants to vote for to get out of office. you're going to lose on both ends. there no point in really voting. that's how i look at it. i don't see no point in voting, bro. it's like a lost cause. thousands fewer black voters turned out in 2016 in this city as compared to previous elections, and while philadelphia still very much went democrat it's thought to be a big reason why hillary clinton narrowly lost the state of pennsylvania to donald trump. down the road barack obama dropped

by a community centre. you'll get some folks who say, "well, i'm not going to vote." his input could be crucial to reversing that fall in black voting forjoe biden, and notjust in this city. aleem maqbool, bbc news, philadelphia. scotland's first minister, nicola sturgeon, has said she wants people to be able to fully celebrate christmas, but any restrictions will depend on the actions of the public. she said it was unlikely that people would be able to have family visiting over the festive period. at her daily coronavirus news conference, she was asked to respond to comments by scotland's clinical director who had warned that people should get ready for what he described as a digital christmas. look, this is really tough stuff, and i have seenjason leitch‘s comments this morning, and i have seen the totality of his comments and what he is trying to do is be frank with people about the reality we live in, and not prematurely rule things out

but equally not try to give people a false assurance, and that is the really difficult thing we are trying to strike right now. the balance. i want us to be able to celebrate christmas as normally as it is possible to do within the context of a global pandemic, and my message to people is that the more we all stick with these really difficult restrictions right now, the more chance there will be of us doing that, and some of the really tough additional things that government is deciding right now, restrictions on hospitality for example, and any other restrictions we feel necessary to put in place will also be, in part, about trying to deal decisively with an upsurge in the virus now so that we give ourselves the best chance of greater normality at christmas. and that is part of the objective that we are all working to right now. but christmas this year, probably for no country anywhere,

is going to be absolutely normal, without any restrictions, and, you know, i could do what politicians probably do in normal times, i could stand here and try to tell you otherwise, and think i will let people down nearer the time. that's not the right approach right now. so we are unlikely to be able to celebrate christmas with no limits on the people in our houses and no limits to what we do, but the more we get this virus under control right now, the greater normality, the greater chance of having some ability to interact with our loved ones we will have. and i know people want me to stand here right now ijust say definitively this is what the rules will be on christmas day. if i was forced to do that right now, if christmas day was tomorrow, it would be a pretty harsh thing i would have to say to people. but christmas day is not tomorrow, so let's try and work as hard as we can just now so that we do get greater normality, even if it is not 100% normality. and i willjust try,

and jason and fiona and others will try to be as frank with people as possible because i think the worst thing we can do right now is to try to do as i say what politicians sometimes have a tendency to do, tell people what they want to hear to make it easy in the here and now and worry about changing course later on. i have tried every day to give people as honest and as straightforward a message as possible, and i think that gets more important the further into this we go, and certainly the closer we get to that christmas period. it's understood the eu's chief negotiator michel barnier is in london to resume talks about a post—brexit trade deal. 0ur political correspondent helen catt has been giving me the latest from westminster: well, the fact these formal trade talks are starting again does suggest that a deal is still possible. there described as intensified negotiations being held

ina set intensified negotiations being held in a set of principles agreed on both sides. last week, downing street said the trade talks rover, it did. borisjohnson said the country had to get ready for leaving the single market and customs union injanuary the single market and customs union in january without an overarching deal, but the door was left open. downing street suggested it would get back round the table of the eu moved on certain things. clearly believes that movement has happened. the sticking points of negotiations have not gone away. there are still things to be squared on fishing rights and on competition law in particular. michel barnier said a deal is possible if they both worked constructively in a spirit of compromise. there isn't a huge amount of time left, so if there is going to be a deal, someone will need to compromise soon. well, as we've been hearing, firms who are not legally required to close, such as those in tier 2 areas like birmingham and coventry, will get additional subsidies to pay workers. so what are people making of today's announcement in the west midlands? phil mackie reports from coventry.

so, today's announcement from the chancellor will be really good news for businesses especially in the hospitality sector here in birmingham, which is in tier 2, which have been really struggling and were concerned as the furlough scheme what came to an end what kind of support they were going to get. that will really help. but also we've heard today that other parts of the west midlands, coventry in particular, is going into tier 2 restrictions and we know the numbers are still steadily going up. not as bad as they are further north, but there is a steady rise. i've got andy street with me, who is the mayor of the west midlands. what is your reaction to the announcement? well, i'm very pleased with the announcement from the chancellor. when we went into tier 2 last week, we knew it would make a real difference to the hospitality businesses here, so we were very quick to say to the chancellor, there's got to be more support and the two particular things we were talking

about were recessionary grants and a more generousjob support scheme, both of which have come true. you were critical of government because it hadn't announced that and it has suddenly happened. andy burnham, your counterpart up in manchester has said, why couldn't we have known this a bit earlier? so why has the suddenly happened now? i think, to be fair, it's a very fast changing situation. when the chancellor announced his winter economy plan, you didn't expect cities like london and birmingham to be at this tier 2 level of restrictions, but they have moved quickly once the case was made and they've listened to the voice of hospitality across the country. that's a really important part of the city. we've got more michelin stars in birmingham than in any other city outside london. a lot of those businesses have been threatened with closure, some might not have been able to reopen at all. do you think this is enough to save those businesses? i do think this will make a genuine difference. it won't change the fundamental

point about the level of patronage they've got coming through, given the restrictions and just to explain for those in the rest of the country, if you are in a tier 2 area, people from outside your own household can't meet you in a pub or restaurant, so that really does dent their businesses. but there is practical financial support here that we hope will help them through until we can return to normal. and i did mention at the start, figures are still going up across the west midlands, not massively rapidly, but they haven't even started to plateau yet. is there a point where birmingham goes into tier 3? it could be, but to be really clear there are no current intentions for any part of the west midlands to move into tier 3. but if the numbers do continue to rise, of course that will have to be considered. so my message to anyone in the west midlands would be to follow all the rules as fiercely as you can to prevent us going into tier 3. thanks very much, andy. and i think what i've heard notjust from andy but from some of the council leaders as well is a frustration that those numbers are going up. we saw outbreaks at universities which are beginning to come down, but elsewhere in cities and outside cities the numbers are going up

they fear simply because people have become blase about some of the restrictions and are not obeying those basic instructions to wash your hands, maintain social distance that would see the figures come down hopefully by christmas so there may be a chance of some relaxation. and just to remind you, there is a news briefing coming up from downing street. the chancellor and the prime minister and sir patrick vallance, so we minister and sir patrick vallance, so we will have full coverage of all of that here this afternoon on bbc news and on bbc one. reeta chakrabarti news and on bbc one. reeta chakra barti will be news and on bbc one. reeta chakrabarti will be with you to take you through those developments.

this is bbc news. the headlines at 3.45pm. the chancellor unveils a new rescue dealforjobs, promising more support for businesses struggling under coronavirus restrictions. we are seeing areas move into tier 2 restrictions and that is having a particular impact on hospitality businesses, which is why we're keen to support those businesses. last quarter, we saw a record rise in redundancies. the chancellor could have done much more if he had acted sooner. the health secretary announces that coventry, stoke—on—trent and slough will move into the tier 2 "high" coronavirus level on saturday. finding out why some people are more likely to die from covid— 19 should focus on more than just ethnicity, urges a government