this is bbc news. the headlines: the scottish government is set to announce that the toughest covid restrictions will be imposed across west scotland. we'll have live coverage of that. the health secretary says he can't confirm which restrictions will be in place once the lockdown in england ends at the beginning of next month, amid reports the tier system could be strengthened. mr speaker it is too early to do the analysis that the honourable gentleman requests but of course we remain vigilant. well, soon he has to make a decision on the future of the lockdown so the earlier we get that information the better. a bbc investigation into the awarding of ppe government contracts shows £21 million of taxpayers money was paid in "consulting fees" to a recently—formed firm in miami, florida. anger as borisjohnson describes devolution as a "disaster" in scotland

and tony blair's biggest mistake. members of labour's ruling national executive will meet this afternoon to considerjeremy corbyn‘s suspension from the party last month. and coming up on the programme: we'll speak to 12—year—old chef omari mcqueen, who's landed himself his own cooking show on cbbc. we're expecting very shortly the first minister of scotland, nicola sturgeon, to stand up and announce whether parts of scotland will be moved into the country's highest tier of covid—19 restrictions — level 4. the first minister is to address parliament at holyrood, but she has previously said it is "likely" that some regions will face tougher restrictions for a "limited period". let's refresh our memory of the 5—level tier system in place in scotland.

level 0 — nearly normal. allows up to eight people to meet indoors, and 15 people outdoors. level 1 — medium. let's six people from two households meet indoors or outdoors. let's go live to glasgow and our correspondent, alexandra mackenzie.

we've had strong hints as to what to expect. that's right. those hints have been going on for several days. certain areas of west central scotla nd certain areas of west central scotland will move into their four from tier 3. t3 does have some quite tight restrictions as well so this area has been under severe restrictions for several weeks now and that is likely to get even tougher. the areas we are talking about like greater glasgow and clyde health board area and also north and south lanarkshire. health board area and also north and south la narkshire. that's health board area and also north and south lanarkshire. that's around 1.8 million people that are going to be 01’ million people that are going to be or likely to be affected if nicola sturgeon confirms this in the next 20 minutes. their schools at the moment would remain open under tier 1l moment would remain open under tier 4. that has been a firm commitment from the scottish government, although the eis has said they are

not happy about this and would like to see some level of blended learning. james would close, hospitality would close, headdresses and non—essential shops. so quite a blow for these businesses as we come up blow for these businesses as we come up to christmas. but one of the argument says, as we came close to christmas if we have been in tier 4 in these areas we might be able to loosen off some of the restrictions as we come up to christmas as people wa nt to as we come up to christmas as people want to see their families and friends. as nicola sturgeon pointed out yesterday, she said things are not getting worse in scotland but in some of these areas the levels of infection have been stubbornly high and she feels that she may have to doa and she feels that she may have to do a bit more and tighten the restrictions to get the numbers down again. we have got christmas coming up again. we have got christmas coming up and everybody was looking forward to that. we now have the prospect of businesses across the uk and in

scotla nd businesses across the uk and in scotland possibly looking at redundancies before christmas. absolutely. it really couldn't be a worse time of year. we have been speaking to many retailers and hairdressers and people in those businesses over the last few days and they have already been through a lockdown earlier in the year. they managed to get themselves up and running and changed their businesses so running and changed their businesses so they could adapt to social distancing and so on and now they are likely to be hit with this again are likely to be hit with this again are having to close. so close to christmas, the golden quarter when they make a lot of the profit, very disappointing for them. england's lockdown is supposed to end in just two and a half weeks' time, but in the house of commons the health secretary couldn't give any guarantees. this comes as some health experts are arguing for tougher tiers to be introduced in england. our health correspondent,

anna collinson, reports. in just seven days, two potential coronavirus vaccines have provided real hope of normality returning. both the moderna and pfizer vaccines have yet to be approved but millions of doses have been ordered and stjohn's ambulance says its volunteers will support the nhs when it is time. we will train, first of all, our 10,000 already trained clinical volunteers, they will have additional training to go into service in a vaccination programme. and then we will move on to recruiting volunteers from outside of stjohn's ambulance, from a range of other voluntary organisations, making sure they have the requisite skills to function in a vaccination centre. the most at risk of the virus will be first in line to receive a vaccine, starting with those who live and work in care homes. but a vaccine is a way off yet and we still have winter to get through. with england's lockdown due to end on 2nd of december, there are calls for the covid tiered system to be strengthened. currently are three levels,

the current third level is the base where there is a rule of six and 10pm curfew. at the highest level, very high, no mixing of households indoors or outdoors. pubs and bars are closed unless they provide a substantial meal. it is claimed tier1 had very little effect on reducing transmission, while the creation of a new tier 4 has been suggested. the health secretary says the measures are being reviewed but it's too early to see how they will proceed. but labour wants answers. can he confirm that it is the government's intention to impose tougher restrictions on tier1 areas post lockdown? mr speaker, it is too early to do the analysis that the honourable gentleman requests, but of course, we remain vigilant. well, soon he has to make a decision on the future of the lockdown

so the earlier we get that information, the better. excess deaths are the difference between those seen this year and what we would expect based on the past five years. latest figures show there have been more than 70,000 to the pandemic started. this graph shows a huge spike in the number of deaths during the first wave, and the numbers are starting to rise again. winter is always a difficult time for the nhs, with fears of staff burn out the government is desperate to minimise the damaging impact of covid. unfortunately i have been in a position where i have actually lost colleagues this year to covid—19. for myself personally, i have been in a situation where i have been treating some of the illest patients with covid—19 on covid wards and in emergency medicine on the front line. you do wonder, could this be you next? while england waits for a vaccine and new restrictions, one thing that is certain is december will be different this year.

our health editor, hugh pym, told me the position over restrictions over the christmas period remains unclear. you heard from matt hancock, the health secretary, his abrupt answer there. it's still too early to say. it's a very, very big decision for ministers in england to make about what will happen after december the 2nd, how the tiered restrictions will continue. we heard yesterday from a senior official at public health england that a slight tightening of the restrictions within each tier might well be necessary through the winter, never mind in the run—up to christmas. she said susan hopkins, phd, said that tier1 really hadn't worked at all. only some parts of tier 2 had worked and the most effective set of restrictions were in tier 3, tier 3 plus, adding on some things, for example in liverpool with more widespread closures than the government's basic baseline, that they had begun to workjust before the lockdown. so ministers will have to decide

which areas go into which tier after december the 2nd, whether they will be tighter in some areas and then if there is going to be any relaxation in the run—up to christmas, how that will be managed and whether there will be an immediate tightening straight after christmas. the cabinet office are looking at all of this, i am told. they are looking at the case data each day, they want to be able to see the cases are coming down because of the lockdown in england, that probably won't be clear until later this week. then they have to weigh the whole thing up with this absolutely critical decision and we will be hearing again later in scotland how they are going to proceed. absolutely critical decision for everybody what will happen through december up until christmas and beyond. and at 4.30 on the bbc news channel, we'll answer your questions on covid—19 vaccines... joining us will be cell biologist at university college london — jennifer rohn and university

of cambridge virologist dr chris smith. a campaign group is planning to take legal action against the government over the awarding of contracts for nhs personal protective equipment to a recently formed miami firm. court documents in florida, which have been seen by bbc news, reveal that as part of the contract, £21 million of taxpayers money was paid in "consulting fees" to a go—between in spain. our special correspondent, lucy manning, has the background to this story. let's start at the beginning. it's a jewellery firm in miami and the owner of that, a man called michael saiger, decided during the covid crisis that he would get into the ppe business. he had business contacts in china, so he told a magazine that as well as designing his new jewellery collection, he was going to source ppe. and the british government gave him contracts for ppe, for the nhs. we know at least £200 million worth of contracts,

but they haven't all been published. mr saiger hired a go—between to help him with his contract, a spanish businessmen, a man called gabriel andersson. because the two men have had a dispute, it's gone to court in america and we have got to see some of the court papers which has lifted the lid on what the money is being spent on. in the court papers, it makes clear that this go—between, that was supposed to source places and factories to get the ppe, to help with the logistics, to help with the shipping, mr andersson got given $28 million in what's called in the court papers, consulting fees. so, for consulting, he got nearly £21 million. there were supposed to be more contracts, he was supposed to get more money, he was supposed to get another $20 million, but there is now a legal dispute as to whether he helped out or not and the good law project, a campaigning group, is planning to take the government to the uk courts on this deal, asking why so much money

was paid out. just to tell you, the saiger company says that at the height of the pandemic, when the nhs was in need of ppe, they delivered for britain on time and at value and they do hire extra staff to help with these big contracts. members of labour's ruling national executive will meet this afternoon to considerjeremy corbyn's suspension from the party. in response to the ehrc report on anti semitisim, mr corbyn suggested that the scale of the problem had been overstated by political opponents. his comments led to his suspension but today on facebook the former leader sought to clarify them saying concerns about anti—semitism are neither ‘exaggerated nor overstated' and he had not intended to belittle those concerns. we can get more on this with our political correspondent, iain watson. still no apology in that statement and that will be crucial. members of the ruling national executive meeting as we speak to discuss

jeremy corbyn's suspension. some of his colleagues on the left of the party, never mind his usual political, it said he should apologise in the wake of that report on anti—semitism. they thought that would be the way to grease the wheels back towards full labour party membership and to end his suspension. it turns out that he has simply decided to clarify those comments, to make it clear he wasn't trying to belittle the problem of anti—semitism or in any way say the concerns about anti—semitism were over stated but effectively he has gone back to his initial defence which is to say in effect that the scale of the problem was overstated and the vast majority of labour party members are deeply opposed to anti—semitism. so the question is whether that clarification will be enough to get his suspension lifted. my enough to get his suspension lifted. my guess and i stress this is a

guess rather than some kind of site of the outcome, is that when members of the outcome, is that when members of the outcome, is that when members of the national executive discuss this today it would appear that they would reinstate jeremy this today it would appear that they would reinstatejeremy corbyn because he has clarified his comments but not to do so might ignite a civil war in the labour party because those on the left of the party believe an indefinite suspension from the labour party would be the start of some kind of purge against the left. but equally, given it's a himself has said he supported the suspension, they can't letjeremy corbyn off without some form of action. perhaps they will be some kind of reprimand orfollowed bya some kind of reprimand orfollowed by a further statement but i would expect by the end of the dayjeremy corbyn will be back into the full mate —— labour party membership but at the same time they might be criticism of the way he acted after the report. he can say the scale of

this problem was exaggerated by opponents and that was seen to be the wrong tone on a day that the current labour party leader was calling a day of shame, labour's mishandling of anti—semitism allegations. we are talking about someone allegations. we are talking about someone who led the party for five yea rs someone who led the party for five years and he is still an mp. he is and as he points out he has been a labour party member for sa years. the difficulty for kay starmer is this, he got a lot of plaudits for saying i am drawing a line under this shameful period and the person who was the leader during that time, if he doesn't get it then we will have to take disciplinary action against him. but if he is then reinstated he is likely to draw criticism from the very people he was hoping to try to reassure. so already the board of deputies of

british dues has said jeremy corbyn's clarification is a pathetic non—apology —— dues. so from a purely political point of view, it's not an easy course ahead for the current labour leader or the party more generally. when will we get a result? they are meeting right now so get a result? they are meeting right now so it will depend how long the ta ke to now so it will depend how long the take to deliberate. they will also be some complaints elsewhere about political interference in the case, something the e hrc said shouldn't ta ke something the e hrc said shouldn't take place. so all these issues are being debated but i would expect to get a result late afternoon or before 6pm this evening. get a result late afternoon or before 6pm this eveninglj get a result late afternoon or before 6pm this evening. i meant to say briefly! slightly more brief

than their deliberations but not much! borisjohnson has come underfire for reportedly telling a virtual meeting of conservative mps that devolution had been a "disaster" in scotland. the snp and labour have both criticised the prime minister. but the government say mrjohnson has "always supported devolution". chris mason reports. 1999 and the return of a scottish parliament for the first time in nearly 300 years. devolution in action, a transfer of power away from westminster, described like this by the then first minister, labour‘s donald dewer. the past is part of us, part of every one of us, and we respected. but today there is a new voice in the land, the voice of a democratic parliament. a voice to shake scotland, a voice, above all, for the future. the conservatives opposed devolution then, they now support it.

and yet look at with the prime minister told a group of his mps last night, it has been, he reportedly said, a disaster north of the border and was tony blair's biggest mistake. we can now go to holyrood where nicola sturgeon is speaking. we can now go to holyrood where nicola sturgeon is speakingm we can now go to holyrood where nicola sturgeon is speaking. in the past nicola sturgeon is speaking. in the pa st 24 nicola sturgeon is speaking. in the past 24 hours a further 37 deaths have been registered. the total numberof have been registered. the total number of deaths and that measurement is number of deaths and that measurement is now number of deaths and that measurement is now 3323. once again, my deepest condolences go to all those who have lost loved ones. it is very likely based on the numbers we have reported in the past seven days that the death toll in that wider measure will this week pass 5000. that is sombre and deeply

distressing. it's important that we acknowledge it and we remember every individual whose life has been lost of this virus. these figures remind us of the harm and heartbreak that coronavirus causes if it is allowed to spread. the figures also provide important context to today's statement in which i will report on the outcome of the scottish government's review of the protection levels and set out the difficult but necessary decisions we have reached about the appropriate levels of protection in each local authority area. in reaching these descriptors decisions the scottish government has taken account of case numbers and test positivity in different parts of scotland. we have also considered for trends in each area and the pace or otherwise of these trends and we have assessed what all of this might mean for hospital and intensive care capacity. we are publishing the

up—to—date and detailed data today for each local authority area on the scottish government website. we take advice from the national instant management team, the chief medical officer and the national clinical director on the measures needed to control the virus and also from a range of senior officials on an amazing the wider harms that result from covid restrictions. we also consult with local authorities before reaching a finaljudgment which the cabinet did this morning. parliament will have the opportunity to debate these decisions i understand on thursday. this week, given the level system has now been in place for almost three weeks we've also had the chance to reflect on what we have learnt so far about the effectiveness of different levels in reducing the prevalence of the virus and on the importance of acting quickly and firmly against covid. let me turn to an assessment of the situation we face before setting out the decisions we have reached. the first thing i want to be clear about is that the restrictions that have been in place

in recent weeks on household gatherings and hospitality have made a difference. they have slowed down the increase in cases considerably and they have helped to flatten the infection curve. in early october we we re infection curve. in early october we were on a trajectory that without action would have seen us reporting by now around 3000 cases each day. clearly that has not happened. the daily case numbers are almost a third of that. prevalence in scotland is at this point lower than in other uk nations. so we have made progress and that's thanks to people across the country. but the overall level of infection remains higher than we needed to be in the national picture is masking significant regional variations. picture is masking significant regionalvariations. some picture is masking significant regional variations. some areas have low and declining infection rates but a low and declining infection rates buta numberof low and declining infection rates but a number of local authorities across central scotland have case numbers and test positivity that are significantly above the national

average. while the situation in many of them has stabilised, it has done so of them has stabilised, it has done so ata of them has stabilised, it has done so at a stubbornly high level. this creates concern for a number of reasons that i will set out in a moment. in some areas the cabinet has decided as follows. 19 council areas, the majority will see no change to the levels this week. i am pleased to say that from the start of next week assuming no significant deterioration of the situation before then, two areas will move down from level three to level two. however, 11 local authorities will from 6pm on friday for a limited period move from level three to level four. i will set out the details of all of these decisions in a moment. however, i details of all of these decisions in a moment. however, lam acutely aware that for many individuals and businesses these decisions will disappointing and distressing. we demand more sacrifice from all of us. i want to remind people why these decisions are necessary and what they are intended to achieve.

firstly, they are necessary to ensure the national health service can cope with the range of pressures it will face over the winter. we must ensure that hospital and intensive care services are there notjust for those with intensive care services are there not just for those with covid but for everyone who needs them. that means we must get case numbers down before going into a period when winter pressures are very likely to increase. second, these decisions will give us the best possible chance, albeit in a careful way, of being able to ease restrictions on all parts of scotland for christmas. that is something all of us wants to look forward to but we also know it will increase the risks of transmission so we must get infection rates to a lower baseline now. third, these decisions will help us limit the impact of the virus including in loss of life as we steer a path through the next few months towards the brighter times that are now within sight as vaccines become available. difficult

as the set —— today's decisions are, don't forget that an end is within our don't forget that an end is within s don't forget that an end is within our grasp but we must get through the next few months as safely as possible and that means tough decisions cannot be avoided no matter how much you and i wish that they could be. let me turn to the detail of our decisions starting with the local authorities that are remaining within the current level. ican remaining within the current level. i can confirm that orkney, shetland, the western isles, muddy in the highlands will remain on level one. for now in common with the rest of the country we are asking people in murray and the highlands not to visit other people's houses. for all areas in level when it will be permissible from thursday this week to meet out those with up to eight people from a maximum of three households. i can confirm that aberdeen city, aberdeenshire, the boarders, dumfries and galloway will remain at level two. we hope that these areas will be able to move to

level one soon. in some of these areas we have seen an level one soon. in some of these areas we have seen an increase in cases in recent days and are particularly concerned about sharp increases in both aberdeen and aberdeenshire. that leads me to a general point and a plea to everyone living in level one and level two areas, please do not assume that being on one of the lower levels means you can ease up. having fewer restrictions means the virus has more opportunity to spread so it's more opportunity to spread so it's more vital to abide by all the rules and precautions. please use the postcode checker on a website to remind yourselves of what restrictions are in your area and please stick to them. i am pleased to report that east lothian and midlothian have both seen a marked decline in infection rates. on that basis assuming no significant deterioration before the then, east

lothian and midlothian will move down from level four from next tuesday... sorry, from level three to level two. between now and then local authorities will be able to undertake necessary environmental health and compliance checks and work with nhs lothian to minimise any risk of increased transmission that the move to level two will bring. the city of edinburgh, falkirk, inverclyde, north ayrshire, dundee, fife and angus will all remain at level three for now. these areas are all making some progress though it does remain fragile. if that progress continues we are hopeful that these areas will move to level two soon. let me now turn to level two soon. let me now turn to our decisions about level four. the council areas that will move to level four for a limited period from

friday are the city of glasgow, east renfro shia, eastern bardon shire, westonbirt and shia, north lanarkshire, south lanarkshire, east ayrshire, stirling and west lothian. in all of these areas there are grounds for continued and significant concern. in the seven days up to friday, scotland as a whole had just over 140 new cases of covid per 100,000 people. all of the area is moving to level four or above that level. test positivity for all of these areas with the exception of west dunbartonshire was also above the average. stirling has experienced a particularly sharp increase in cases over the past week. while some of that can be attributed to specific outbreaks, there is also a level of community transmission that must be tackled. in the other areas infection rates

have stabilised or fallen slightly asa have stabilised or fallen slightly as a result of level three measures. however, and this is the key point, the infection rate in all of these areas remains stubbornly and worryingly high. at these levels we simply don't have the assurance we need that hospital and i see you services will be able to cope as we go deeper into the winter. pressure on hospitals in these areas and on those who work in them is already severe and with the additional pressure the coming weeks may bring they could become intolerable. further, at these levels we would not have the flexibility we need to ease restrictions over christmas, which in common with the other uk nations we so desperately want to do. the advice of our experts is that we must drive infection rates down further in these areas and they are not confident level three restrictions will do this to the extent necessary. that is why we have ta ken the extent necessary. that is why we have taken the decision to place

these areas into level three for a limited period. the level four restrictions will be in place for three weeks and will be lifted on the 11th of december. i want to be clear on that point because i know people are frustrated that other restrictions have remained in place longer than planned. the level four is intended to be short and sharp and in this situation it is specifically intended to have an impact in advance of christmas and the most challenging winter period. lifting the level for restrictions as we will do also means they will not be in place for most of the chanukah period so again while celebrations might be different they will be a greater deirdre of freedom. we will assess which areas will be in which area on 11th december. even if it does not happen immediately for all of them, we hope and expect that the action we are taking out will allow these areas to move down to level two much more quickly than would otherwise be the case. let me turn now to watch level four means

for people living in these areas. firstly, as is the case already, you must not visit other people's homes, that you can still meet outdoors with up to six people from two households. however, our advice with up to six people from two households. however, ouradvice is that you should stay at or close to home as much as possible. the purpose of level four is to reduce interactions between people from different households as much as possible, to reduce transmission as quickly as possible. that means limiting work and social contacts. those that can work from home should do so, though unlike lockdown earlier in the year, can structuring and manufacturing workplaces will remain open. only essential indoor retail will remain open. close contact services like hairdressers and beauty salons, entertainment settings and indoor gyms will also close for this period and with the exception of takeaway services, hospitality premises will close as well. so, except for some very limited purposes including child ca re limited purposes including child care or caring for someone as

vulnerable, exercise or shopping for essential goods, people living in level four areas should not be going out and about over this three week period. i know this will be tough, this pandemic is having an impact on mental health for most if not all of us. if you somebody to talk to, you can find out what support is available by calling nhs 111. but also please remember this. available by calling nhs 111. but also please rememberthis. our objective in taking this action now is to protect the nhs, create the prospect of seeing some loved ones at christmas and completing the journey to next spring with as few restrictions as possible and with the minimum impact on life and health. presiding officer, let me turn out the issue of travel. notwithstanding the difficult decisions today for significant parts of the country, the level syste m parts of the country, the level system is still allowing us to avoid a national, one size fits all lockdown, such as is currently in place in england. in my view, that

is important. it means that people and businesses in lower prevalence areas like the highlands are parts of lothian are not forced into level four restrictions by the situation and higher prevalence areas like glasgow. but the ability to maintain that targeted approach depends on us not spreading the virus from high to low prevalence areas. that becomes even more important with parts of the country in level four. to put it bluntly, and we will require to monitor this, if we were to see evidence that people from east or south ayrshire are visiting places in north ayrshire, for example or that people from buyers go are going to inverclyde, we will have no choice but to consider level four for these areas and we don't want to do that. it is essential that we all abide by travel restrictions. to underline how important this is, i can confirm that the guidance that has been in place in recent weeks will become law from friday. people living in level three or level four must not travel outside of their own

council area except for essential purposes. people living outside of those areas mustn't travel into it level three or level four areas except for essential purposes and there must be no essential travel between scotland and other parts of the uk. presiding officer, i know this is difficult, but it is essential. broadly comparable restrictions have been or continue to be enforced in england and in wales. if we are to maintain a targeted approach and allow low prevalence areas to live with fewer restrictions, i can't stress enough how important it is that we all abide by these rules. presiding officer, let me say a few words now about schools, those in the shielding category, business support and finally, the wider action we are taking to beat the virus. i am aware that there are some people who argue that there are some people who argue that schools should also be closed at level four. however, that schools should also be closed at levelfour. however, ourvery clear view is that the harm done to young people by closing schools significantly outweighs any impacts that schools have on transmission.

keeping schools open is therefore a priority. however, we will keep the guidance for schools and how it is being implemented under close review. further evidence paper on school safety will be published by the deputy first minister tomorrow. there are also specific measures in place for those on the shielding list. we currently recommend that children who are shielding should not attend school in personal in a level four areas. i know this is an anxious time for people who are shielding. we are not advising the same strict isolation is in the previous lockdown, we know how harmful that is to well—being. instead, the advice is to be especially vigilant. the chief medical officer is to be writing directly to all people in level for areas who were on the shielding list to provide more detailed advice. these restrictions are also very difficult for businesses, so we are making more financial support available. in addition to the uk furlough scheme, businesses that are required to close at any level are eligible for a full weekly grant of 2000 £3000 depending on rateable

value. grants of £1400 or £2100 are available to businesses that are open but subject to trading restrictions. eligible businesses can apply for these grants now through the local authorities. i can also confirm today that in addition to this, we are establishing a £30 million discretion fund to enable local authorities to additional support for businesses where they consider that's necessary or justified, for example the businesses and supply chains or to taxi drivers suffering a severe but indirect effects. we will also make an additional £50 million available for newly self—employed people who have not been able to access other forms of support and we are making an additional £50 million available to local authorities to help the community and social impact of a move to level four and more details of these funds will be made available shortly. presiding officer, i have focused necessarily on this statement in restrictions, but are focus now increasingly more positively is also on the other ways of beating this virus. we do have

real reasons to be optimistic that science will get us out of this pandemic and soon. so later this week, the health secretary will set out to parliament our plans to start vaccinating the most vulnerable as soon as vaccinating the most vulnerable as soon as stocks of an vaccine are available. hopefully, even before the end of this calendar year. and then to roll this out across the aduu then to roll this out across the adult population as quickly as supplies allow. next week, now that we have a supply of lateral flow tests, the health secretary will set out our plans for mass testing. this will include more detail of the plans announced already to test a ca re plans announced already to test a care home visitors, nhs staff and students, but it will also set out plans for geographic mass testing, drawing on the lessons of the pilot under way drawing on the lessons of the pilot underway in drawing on the lessons of the pilot under way in liverpool and the options for extending mass testing to other groups of key workers. that perhaps is an appropriate point to end on. this pandemic is taking its toll on all others and of course on some so toll on all others and of course on some so much toll on all others and of course on some so much more toll on all others and of course on some so much more than on others. i know that today's decisions will add

to that for many and i'm truly sorry for that. whether you agree with the decisions or not, please know they are not taken lightly. but they are essential to get us to the other side of this as safely as possible. that means all of us sticking to the rules and remembering facts in everything we do. it means holding firm to what this is all for. in the midst of a global pandemic, it is nobody's fault. this action is necessary. it is necessary to protect ourselves and those we love from potentially deadly viruses. it is essential to help the nhs look after those who need it, to give us some hope of time and respite with loved ones at christmas and with as little suffering and loss of life as possible, to help us complete the final stage of this horrible journey to the point, hopefully next spring, where will be vaccinating, testing, treating our way back to normality. ican treating our way back to normality. i can never thank everyone enough for all the sacrifices that are being made, and i will never

underestimate how difficult it is. but i do hold to the belief that love and solidarity, albeit with a lot of help from science, will get us through this and it soon, we will be looking back on it, not living through it, so please try to stay strong and please stick with it and stick together. the first minister will now take questions starting with ruth davidson. we all appreciate there are no guarantees ina appreciate there are no guarantees in a situation like this. but, if the evidence points to an essential calculation that excepting three weeks of level four restrictions for those authorities affected, in order to wina those authorities affected, in order to win a more general easing of restrictions over the christmas and new year period, then that is, with regret, a judgment that we will take at face value. the need to get through the next few months with a virus is widely suppressed as possible is all the more important with the enormously encouraging news over re ce nt with the enormously encouraging news over recent days that vaccines with efficacy rates of 90% or more are now a real prospect by the end of

the year. but whatever the promise ofan the year. but whatever the promise of an eventual vaccination programme, today's news will be an immediate hammer blow for thousands of small businesses in the affected areas who have fought since march to stay open, to keep their head above water, surviving the spring lockdown, in late summer and autumn restriction, only to be faced again now with a further period of closure. sustained government approval will be critical to their survival and we have seen the concerns expressed by business organisations over the past 24 hours on concerns that we expect ministers to address head—on. but today, i wa nt to address head—on. but today, i want to specifically ask about the situation in our hospitals. in the latest projections in the documents accompanying the statement, it shows that nhs lanarkshire, greater glasgow and clyde and ayrshire and arran could run out of covid hospital beds in the next few weeks and capacity wilson to be reached. while we must hope that the best that this won't be the case, we must also plan for the worse. i asked the first minister, does each hospital in his health board areas have a

contingency plan? can she provide an update on the progress... to ensure there is enough capacity to deal with peak levels of demand as set out in the winter preparedness plan? according to that plan, at least four months supply of all key ppe commodities, most have been procured the end of october, as was a national stockpile of 60 i see you on supported care medicines at the end of november. can she confirm that these have been secured? are nhs staff have worked heroically over the last eight months. we must spare no effort in making sure they have the resources and protection that they need for this worrying period ahead. can i thank ruth davidson these questions, i will try to address all of them. firstly, just to reiterate, the point i made in my statement, these decisions are unpalatable, but they are necessary.

they are necessary to be able to open up space, i hope, at christmas and also to get us through what i increasingly hope is the final stage of this journey with as little loss of this journey with as little loss of life as possible. that's why we have reached these decisions and i know it will be people who disagree with these decisions, i can hear there are people in the chamber strongly disagree with these decisions. i respect that, but! hope that nobody will think that these decisions have been taken lightly or without very serious consideration. the impact on business, firstly, the impact first and foremost of this pandemic is on individuals but i absolutely understand the impact on businesses of all sizes, small businesses in particular. i would of all sizes, small businesses in particular. iwould make of all sizes, small businesses in particular. i would make two points and these are points members will wa nt to and these are points members will want to follow up in the days to come. firstly, it is concern for businesses that make me so determined that as far as we can to stick with a levels approach so that small businesses in the highlands and not been closed down because of

high prevalence in glasgow or lanarkshire and i think that's important. i say this genuinely not asa important. i say this genuinely not as a criticism of decisions that other governments have taken. every government is trying to take the best decisions that they khan, but so far, we have managed to avoid a national lockdown and that is the... but also, we are today making available a additional financial support to help with businesses. as i understand it, and england, above the level of grant support, local authorities are given a discretionary 5%, i think on a level above that, what we have announced today in terms of the discretionary funding for local authorities is significantly more than that. it will never be enough to compensate every business or every loss, i recognise that, but we will continue to ensure maximum support for businesses is available. on hospital andi businesses is available. on hospital and i one of the reasons we are taking really difficult decisions we

are taking today around greater glasgow and clyde, lanarkshire and stirling, as far as it relates to forth valley, is to make sure that our hospitals and our i see you —— itu facilities don't get to the point where they cannot cope and i believe this action will help to protect our health service and all health boards have contingency plans in place, that involves plans to double itu capacities and then, if necessary , double itu capacities and then, if necessary, to treble itu capacity. mutual aid is already under way to for example, one of the reasons forth valley is under pressure right now is the assistance we have been given in terms of some patients took lanarkshire health given in terms of some patients took la narkshire health board, given in terms of some patients took lanarkshire health board, so these mutual aid arrangements will continue to work when necessary. finally, yes, i can confirm, i will make some of this information available, that we have all of the supplies of ppe that we have assessed and acquired. we have

healthy stocks of ppe. unlike at the start of the pandemic, and it is true for governments across the uk, we now get a significant proportion of our ppe, the start of the pandemic it was imported, now a significant proportion is from scottish companies, so we have been able to build some economic resilience as well as health resilience as well as health resilience there and we also of course have a much greater supply of intensive care ventilators than at the start of the pandemic should they be needed as well. thank you, richard leonard. can i thank the person is never advance sight of the statement. swimming pools and gyms closed. driving lesson stops, visitor attractions close. tourism shutdown. hairdressers closed. nonessential retail close, hospitality shutdown, completely. that is the stark difference between and t4. in replying to me in parliament last week, the first minister said the decision on which

to hear people living was a judgment and judgment must combine with the ha rd and judgment must combine with the hard data. so can the first minister explain to people like those in north and south lanarkshire, watched the hard data is? what the evidence is to move them up a tear at a time when the transmission rate in lanarkshire is coming down? and what assurance can she give them and millions of others moving to level for this friday that this time, three weeks really does meanjust three weeks really does meanjust three weeks. on that last point, i have been very clear. i understand that people have been frustrated the restrictions that were meant to be limited previously have not been, but level four, for the reason is that richard leonard to set out, it's meant to be a short, sharp intervention. we looked carefully at the welsh experience, which is still too early to say what the impact of that has been, but a firebreak that they lifted after two weeks. it may

be after three weeks that we don't have all of the evidence flowing through into the data, but the level for restrictions will end on the 11th of december and then we will decide what levels these areas will go into them. i absolutely readily acknowledge the difference in terms of the economy and people's lives between living in level three and level four, but i hope richard leonard will also take the point seriously that the difference between level three and level for the lanarkshire, between level three and level for the la narkshire, glasgow between level three and level for the lanarkshire, glasgow and these are the areas, it may be also fewer people dying over the next period and it may be the difference between our nhs being able to cope and not cope. he asked me for the evidence, the date of each local authority is being published today as he is aware. if you look at cases per 100,000 over the past seven days, the national average is 141. in north lanarkshire, it is 238 and in

south lanarkshire, north lanarkshire, it is 238 and in south la narkshire, 229. north lanarkshire, it is 238 and in south lanarkshire, 229. test positivity, the national average of 7%. in north lanarkshire it is 10.3 and 9.5 in south lanarkshire. rates have declined but the 238 in north lanarkshire at the end of last week is only down from 274 at the end of november, so it has stabilised and slightly decreased but it must come down faster to deal with the biggest and most important bit of evidence, ruth davidson referred to it in her question, that if we don't act now, there is a risk that hospital and itu services in lanarkshire as winter pressures kicking would not be able to cope with covid and other winter pressures, that is why we're taking this action now i believe that it taking this action now i believe thatitis, taking this action now i believe that it is, i know it's a difficult thing to do, but i believe it's the right thing to do in the interest of protecting the national health service and saving lives. fundamentally, that is the most

important response ability i have right now. the continued rise in cases as we go into winter is a cause of deep concern and there we recognise the impact that lock down south, the scottish greens support the moves of those local authorities most affected into level four and given the transmission of the virus across the country, we recognise the need to put travel restrictions into law. would we be in such a grave situation had the scottish government followed the world health organization mantra of test, test, test. we provided the first minister with evidence and support of regular testing six months ago, and parliament has now voted for this to happen. i note the first minister said that a statement next week will cover options for extending testing to other groups of key workers. i sincerely hope that setting out options does not suggest any further delay. can the first minister confirmed that this statement will finally see the scottish government

introduce regular testing for all key workers in health care, education and in our communities as a matter of urgency? i want to address some of these points very directly, because they are important points. in the question of, would we be in points. in the question of, would we beina points. in the question of, would we be in a situation if, whether it's testing or anything else, we only have to look across the uk, europe and the world right now to see that scotla nd and the world right now to see that scotland is far from and the world right now to see that scotland is farfrom unique. in fa ct, scotland is farfrom unique. in fact, scotland has a lower prevalence than all other uk nations and many countries across europe right now. that doesn't mean we have done everything right. farfrom it. but we are in the midst of a global pandemic and that cannot simply be cast aside. in terms of testing, we have on pcr testing, the main diagnostic test that we have available, we have prioritised testing those who have symptoms, because that is how through testing projects, we can break chains of transmission. we have not had until

recently, the technology to do routine, regular testing on a mass scale. we do now have lateral flow testing, we have a supply of these already. from now, that then opens up already. from now, that then opens up the potential to do much more. there are still some hurdles and also some limitations. so for example, lateral flow testing, u nless example, lateral flow testing, unless this has changed over the course of today, we are expecting a potential eight this is change over the next day also. these are not licensed for unsupervised use. we hope that will change which will then allow tests to be provided to employers, whether in the public or private sector, to use routinely with their workers. so as the technology advances, so too does the approach that we take. obviously, there are logistical issues. we are looking carefully at the pilot in liverpool, in terms of rolling out mass testing a geographic basis. i think there are some important lessons there in terms of trying to

support maximum take—up of testing like that, so we are moving forward with developing technology as soon as we are able to do so and the health secretary will set out more details of that next week. so, scotland's first minister nicola sturgeon amounts in 11 areas will move to level for the covid rules. those are the toughest restrictions. she says the pandemic is taking its toll on all of us, some more than others, but she says the action she is taking is necessary to protect ourselves and those we love from the virus and to protect the nhs. live to glasgow and our correspondent alexandra mackenzie. she says a short, sharp plan means christmas may be saved. yes, short sharp plan until the 11th of december. she went through all of the council areas, 19 councils will have no change. two areas are actually going down from level three

to level two, that's east lothian and midlothian but 11 council areas will be going from level three to level four, which has the most severe level of restrictions and is quite close to a lockdown, apart from schools remaining open, people can meet outside within restricted numbers. those areas, the ones as we mentioned earlier, almost all of the greater glasgow and clyde health board areas, apart from inverclyde, north and south lanarkshire, stirling, east and south ayrshire and west lothian. they will all move from tier 3 to tier 4 that period of three weeks until the 11th of december. what will happen then, the first minister said there will be a review. she said it will only last for those three weeks and then they will be moved to another tier in time for christmas, allowing people

to hopefully get together, but there is no guarantee of that, we will know that in three weeks, depending on where the figures go between now and then. alexandra, thank you very much. we can speak now to stuart patrick, who's the executive director, glasgow chamber of commerce. hejoins us now from glasgow. iimagine you i imagine you are disappointed.” would say so, yes, disappointed on behalf of so many members it will feel that they are being switched on and off. in glasgow city alone, about 80,000 jobs will now go back into suspension. hopefully, under thejob retention into suspension. hopefully, under the job retention scheme, into suspension. hopefully, under thejob retention scheme, but i wonder how many of them will emerge from that in due course.” wonder how many of them will emerge from that in due course. i want to pick up on that because many companies were struggling, had got to this point, thought maybe there was light at the end of the tunnel. what does this mean to them?” should think for them, for many of

them particularly in retail and hospitality other consumer facing business, this is a desperate situation because christmas is the period when you build up reserves further to other parts of the year and obviously many businesses will have brought up christmas stock, and even though the government has said that it even though the government has said thatitis even though the government has said that it is only three weeks, it doesn't allow an awful lot of time for christmas season and even then we wonder how likely it is that they will come out of these levels on the 11th of december. 30,000 jobs in glasgow alone rely on retail, the night—time economy. how many of those are in serious trouble with this? 30,000, that isjust the city centre of glasgow. if you're looking across the wider city, it is more than that. one of the best reports i've seen so far that actually rings true on the financial circumstances

was a report in the summer on the recapitalisation of small businesses. that's exactly what i'm hearing from many of our members, that they are building up unsustainable loans. i think the figures that city uk are putting out was something like 780,000 smes across the uk had built up towards £35 million of unsustainable earning. that's exactly what we're seeing. i was talking to one small business owner yesterday who said, i might be able to apply for a £1500 grant, but my monthly rent is £7,000. where am i getting the balance of that? my business was once a strong business and is now very wea k once a strong business and is now very weak business. i don't have the cash to sustain this are very much longer. ifear cash to sustain this are very much longer. i fear that is going to be replicated across a whole of businesses. yes, this roller-coaster we are all on and let's face it, yesterday there was the euphoria, we had a second vaccine, they seem to be light at the end of the tunnel,

perhaps there is. but if christmas, and god willing it's not, but if christmas is effectively a write—off for businesses, can they sustain until the spring, which seems to be the moment is that light at the end of the tunnel becomes light?” the moment is that light at the end of the tunnel becomes light? i have to say, for a lot of businesses the a nswer to say, for a lot of businesses the answer will be no. particularly because january and february tend to because january and february tend to be the worst months of the year. i suspect a lot of our christmas stock will have to be sold at discounts and a much higher percentage than previously would have been the case in the past year, so i'm afraid i'm quite pessimistic with the ability of particularly smaller companies to be able to sustain themselves through to the end of the spring. that's a big ask. who would be first minister though? these decisions change lives and yet they have to be made. i fully understand that. i think there is lot of disillusion in the business community, partially because there was a feeling of a deal. we would invest in ppe and

safety equipment, follow the test and protect guidelines, provide the data, and it would be in return from government and effective test and protect system. that hasn't worked in perhaps the one piece of information coming out today that i thought, well at least there is hope, is that the scottish government is saying that they are now minded to look at mass testing and they are beginning to prepare for mass testing, because that is the only route out of this, even with a vaccine coming, and in the spring, perhaps even the summer, so in the interim, we absolutely need mass testing to be able to help reduce the positive cases and not have to rely on lockdown is co nsta ntly have to rely on lockdown is constantly being implemented throughout the winter. stuart, go to talk to. i wish we were talking about something else, but there we are. now it's time for a look at the weather with stav. hello again.

pretty grey and cloudy for most of us, some glimpses of brightness across sheltered eastern areas but some rain in the forecast thatis areas but some rain in the forecast that is affecting the north—west of scotland. you can see our south—westerly winds coming up from the azores which is why it's very mild out there. as we head through tonight, stay very wet across western scotland, the rain also tra nsfers western scotland, the rain also transfers into northern scotland and the northern isles. could see some rain pushing into northern ireland, the far south—west as well but for most, a breezy, cloudy and very mild night as these temperatures adjust. into wednesday, this area of low pressure which is going to slowly move its way eastwards and this is a cold front which is going to introduce in colder weather to north and western areas by the end of the day. it could start to dry in the east for a while and that banned the brain starts to spread its way eastwards. behind it, brightening up, we will see blustery showers, but much colder, but further east...

this is bbc news. the headlines. the scottish government is set to announce that the toughest covid restrictions will be imposed across west scotland. we'll have live coverage of that. our objective is to protect the nhs, create of seeing —— the prospect of seeing loved ones at christmas and completing the journey to next spring with as fewer restrictions as possible. the health secretary says he can't confirm which restrictions will be in place once the lockdown in england ends at the beginning of next month, amid reports the tier system could be strengthened. mr speaker, it is too early to do the analysis that the honourable gentleman requests but of course we remain vigilant.

well, soon he has to make a decision on the future of the lockdown so the earlier we get that information the better. a bbc investigation into the awarding of ppe government contracts shows £21 million of taxpayers money was paid in "consulting fees" to a recently—formed firm in miami, florida. anger as borisjohnson describes devolution as a "disaster" in scotland and tony blair's biggest mistake. members of labour's ruling national executive will meet this afternoon to consider jeremy corbyn's suspension from the party last month. and coming up: tracking trotters. how gps technology is lending a hand when it's foraging time in the new forest. the scottish government has imposed level 4 coronavirus restrictions of across large areas of the country where infection rates remain stubbornly high.

scotland's first minister, nicola sturgeon, hoped the strict measures would be imposed for a limlited time. 2 million people live in the affected areas. they include the city of glasgow, renfrewshire and east renfrewshire, west and east dunbartonshire, north and south lanarkshire, east and south ayrshire, stirling and west lothian. the level 4 restrictions are almost as severe as the second national lockdown in england. non—essentialshops, bars, restaurants, hairdressers and visitor attractions will close. a ban on non—essential travel also applies but schools, nurseries and essential shops can stay open. in all of these areas there are grounds for concern. in the seven days up to friday scotland as a whole had just over 140 new cases of coronavirus per 100,000 people. all

of the areas moving to level forward above that level ranging from west lothian with the rate of 158 cases 400,000 to glasgow with 277. test positivity for all of these areas with the exception of west dunbartonshire was also above the average. stirling has experienced a particularly sharp increase in cases over the past week. while some of that can be attributed to specific outbreaks there is also a level of community transmission there that must be tackled. in the other areas infection rates have stabilised or even slightly fallen as a result of level three measures, even slightly fallen as a result of levelthree measures, however, even slightly fallen as a result of level three measures, however, and this is the key point, the infection rate in all of these areas remains stubbornly high. at these levels we simply do not have the assurance we need a hospital and i see you services will be able to cope as we go deeper into the winter. pressure on hospitals in these areas and on those who work in them is already

severe those who work in them is already severe and with the additional pressure that coming weeks may bring it could easily become intolerable. further, at these levels we would not have the flexibility we need to ease restrictions of christmas which in common with the other uk nations we so in common with the other uk nations we so desperately want to do. the clear advice of our public health experts is that we must drive infection rates down further in these areas and they are not confident that level three restrictions will do this to the extent necessary. that is why relu cta ntly extent necessary. that is why reluctantly we have extent necessary. that is why relu cta ntly we have ta ke n extent necessary. that is why reluctantly we have taken the decision to place these areas into level three for a limited period. the scottish conservatives holyrood leader, ruth davidson acknowledged that the increased restrictions were necessary, but that the announcement was a further ‘hammer—blow‘ to many businesses in the run—up to christmas. we all appreciate there are no guarantees in a situation like this but if the evidence points to an essential calculation that accepting three weeks of level four restrictions for those authorities affected in order to win a more

general easing of restriction over the christmas period then that is with regretjudgment the christmas period then that is with regret judgment we the christmas period then that is with regretjudgment we will take at face value. the need to get through the next few months is all the more important with the enormously encouraging use that vaccines are now a real prospect. but whatever the promise of an eventual vaccination problem is —— vaccination problem is —— vaccination programme is, today will come as a hammer blow for thousands of small businesses who have been trying to survive the spring lockdown and autumn restrictions only to be faced again now with a further period of closure. sustained government support will be critical for their survival and we have seen concerns from businesses, concerns we expect ministers to address head—on. live to glasgow and our correspondent alexandra mackenzie.

these were stark words from the minister which will have huge obligations for everyone in the run—up to christmas. she has said these restrictions will be in place for three weeks. that would take us to the 11th of december. she said the restrictions would ease then, but it's very hard or impossible to tell where the figures will be between now and then. these restrictions moving from tier 3 to tier4 restrictions moving from tier 3 to tier 4 which is the closest lockdown we can get in the system affects 2.2 million people and many businesses nonessential shops will have to close. james, headdresses, all hospitality will have to close. it isjust a hospitality will have to close. it isjusta reminder hospitality will have to close. it is just a reminder that this couldn't be happening at a worst

time of yearand couldn't be happening at a worst time of year and in retail it should have been that golden court when people are out doing their christmas shopping but now nonessential retail in11 shopping but now nonessential retail in 11 council areas in scotland have been told they will have to close on friday evening for the next three weeks. what about travel restrictions? they were also travel restrictions. people within t3 and t4 cannot or should not move out of theirarea t4 cannot or should not move out of their area except for essential purposes. that could be for the hospital appointment or to care for someone. hospital appointment or to care for someone. but nonessential travel into and out of level three and level four is being advised against. the first minister said we should not be doing that. and also travel to other parts of the uk is not allowed either. so severe travel

restrictions for the next three weeks. andrew polson is the the conservative leader of east dunbartonshire. hejoins me now. your reaction as you going to t4? this is devastating news for the hospitality and retail sector. it is devastating news for the mental health and well— being devastating news for the mental health and well—being of so many thousands across the west central belt. i urged the deputy first minister on sunday to use extreme caution when considering moving my authority and those around into level four. there are four parts of the strategic framework which need to be taken into account and were only taken into account public health notwithstanding the fact that in east dunbartonshire we have moved down 9% in cases and the debris first minister told me that i christmas it would fall another 30%. so we've had the 16 day reset that

we nt so we've had the 16 day reset that went to three weeks and they were then went to the five thia lockdown and now we are in for lockdown. there isjust no end to it. there is an end to it and that is what the first minister was saying, she wants to do this is a short and sharp action so that christmas is saved. we heard about this before. the 16 day reset was to be short and sharp and we have to take into account the other three harms of the framework. health and well— being, other three harms of the framework. health and well—being, the economy, health and social care and we have to take them all in the round when we are making these decisions and the case —— the cases in east dunbartonshire were coming down. we are finding now that higher authorities are causing those in neighbouring constituencies to be entered into tier 4 of lockdown and we are worried about the devastating effect that is going to have on the local businesses and local shops. people can't even go to the

headdresses, it really is going to bea headdresses, it really is going to be a lockdown for so many. the first minister said she knew the implications are massive. are you saying she is picking on various areas unfairly? absolutely not. this should have been done six weeks ago. it was done in wales, it was done in northern ireland, it was done in england and we should have had this about six weeks ago at the start of the october break. now we are going around having all these different decisions to be made and it's really confusing for the public and now the central belt is under severe pressure. businesses are going to close down, there is going to be job losses. notwithstanding the mental health and well— being losses. notwithstanding the mental health and well—being of thousands across the central belt. what will it mean for schools? schools have to remain open. i have been on record

as saying that. east dunbartonshire is one of the flagship authorities in scotland for education. we must make sure children can get to school and they can be taught so schools have to stay open. but also nonessential shops are closing. where are people going to go over the next three weeks as far as christmas shopping is concerned? christmas shopping is concerned? christmas isn'tjust christmas shopping is concerned? christmas isn't just about one week, it's about the whole period, it's a whole festival over the next four weeks. that needs to be saved as well. thank you very much for your time. professor linda bauld is a professor of public health at the university of edinburgh. (os not unexpected, this announcement, but whose ramifications. there is a lot of people who are affected by these restrictions. we have been expecting this. as andrew was saying there is a debate about when they should have been done but we are

where we are. if we look at the cases per 100,000, scotland where we are. if we look at the cases per100,000, scotland is where we are. if we look at the cases per 100,000, scotland is about 143 nationally and in glasgow the eight local authorities it was well over 240 per 100,000, so eight local authorities it was well over240 per100,000, so you eight local authorities it was well over 240 per 100,000, so you can see the numbers of cases were not declining at the right they needed to. that begs the question whether these shutdowns are lasting long enough to have the effect which means christmas is safe and clearly there is a problem for the english in terms of what's happening there and it would appear that the first minister will have the same problem in scotland. we won't know soon enough whether this has been effective. you can have an indication of the two or three weeks. northern ireland shut things down quite considerably and you can see a reduction and in fact in wales we are beginning to see those signs.

because these restrictions are so harsh i do think they will have an impact. the other point is that it's important not to blame those areas in the west. i'm in edinburgh and our numbers are far lower but we are an urban environment. but the density of housing in glasgow and the proportion of key workers and underlying health conditions in those parts of scotland have made things challenging.” those parts of scotland have made things challenging. i don't think anybody is blaming anybody. nobody wa nts to anybody is blaming anybody. nobody wants to be in the position of any group that has to face these restrictions. a lot of people will say it brings the level down but then when you lift the restrictions it goes back up again. that's true and modelling suggests and let's not forget japan is now talking about the third wave although the numbers are far lower the third wave although the numbers are farlowerthan the third wave although the numbers are far lower than ours. cases will go back up if you open things up. the strategy for many governments

now is to recognise that given the scientific developments that have happened in the treatments and obviously the three vaccines are what we will be looking for next year and unfortunately until we get there we are going to have the cycles and have to deal with it. te st cycles and have to deal with it. test and protect has been better than testing and tracing in england but not great. there is still an issue around do we have enough support for people to self—isolate. i hope those are things the scottish government will pay attention to. the time looking back at what went wrong is yet to come. from your point of view, a professor of public health, you presumably would be happiest if there was a lockdown until the vaccine was out and about. no, i wouldn't.

until the vaccine was out and about. no, iwouldn't. it's until the vaccine was out and about. no, i wouldn't. it's about a balance between economy and health. i am just as concerned about the mental health aspects. a lot of my work has beenin health aspects. a lot of my work has been in cancerso health aspects. a lot of my work has been in cancer so i am interested in the fact that it has a big impact on these treatments people have not had access to. the unintended consequences of these measures access to. the unintended consequences of these measures are significant. so the lessons from the public health perspective looking back will be what could we have done better and now we just need to get through this period and importantly support people. one of the coolest aspects of this is the introduction of hope which we haven't had for months and now we think there is an end in sight and then this. christmas is looking doubtful in terms of whether you can be with yourfamily for terms of whether you can be with your family for millions of people. you talk about mental health, what is it doing to our national psyche? if you look at data from the covid

social study, depression and anxiety levels were high during the severe lockdown in the spring and they got a little bit better over the summer and now they have declined again. that is a genuine concern. we need to try and support people to get through it but hope is important and hope comes in two forms. hope comes for next year because things will definitely be better in 2021 but i also think in the immediate term if we can offer people some hope that things may improve slightly by christmas that will be important. if we don't, i would be concerned that people won't comply anyway because not all communities in the uk celebrate christmas but so many of us to and people will be desperate to see their loved ones. when you say they won't comply, i drive through london and it looks very similarto through london and it looks very similar to how it was every other time this year apart from the first lockdown. is there a risk that

people are already saying i can't afford to stick to the rules? there is some behavioural fatigue. people say they are trying to follow most of the guidelines most of the time and that is still pretty high but it has declined from what it was in the spring. complete compliance is about 40% at uk level. so it's actually the small things. it's dad putting something in the garage and putting something in the garage and putting something in the garage and putting something in his daughter's house like a cup of tea. that means we are not seeing all these guidelines being completely comply with. the headlines on bbc news: eleven council areas will be placed

under scotland's toughest coronavirus restrictions for a three week period from 6pm on friday, the health secretary says he can't confirm which restrictions will be in place once the lockdown in england ends at the beginning of next month, amid reports the tier system could be strengthened a bbc investigation into the awarding of ppe government contracts shows 21 million pounds of taxpayers money was paid florida. england's lockdown is supposed to end in just two and a half weeks' time, but in the house of commons the health secretary couldn't give any guarantees. this comes as some health experts are arguing for tougher tiers to be introduced in england. our health correspondent, anna collinson, reports. in just seven days, two potential coronavirus vaccines have provided real hope of normality returning. both the moderna and pfizer vaccines have yet to be approved but millions of doses have been ordered and stjohn ambulance says its volunteers will support the nhs when it is time. we will train, first of all,

our 10,000 already trained clinical volunteers, they will have additional training to go into service in a vaccination programme. and then we will move on to recruiting volunteers from outside of stjohn ambulance, from a range of other voluntary organisations, making sure they have the requisite skills to function in a vaccination centre. the most at risk of the virus will be first in line to receive a vaccine, starting with those who live and work in care homes. but a vaccine is a way off yet and we still have winter to get through. with england's lockdown due to end on 2nd of december, there are calls for the covid tier system to be strengthened. currently there are three levels, the medium level is the base where there is a rule of six and 10pm hospitality curfew. high alert is next, meaning no mixing of households indoors and the rule of six applies outdoors. the most severe level is very high, which means no mixing of households indoors or outdoors. pubs and bars are closed unless they

provide a substantial meal. it is claimed tier1 had very little effect on reducing transmission, while the creation of a new tier 4 has been suggested. the health secretary says the measures are being reviewed but it's too early to see how they will proceed. but labour wants answers. can he confirm that it is the government's intention to impose tougher restrictions on tier1 areas post lockdown? mr speaker, it is too early to do the analysis that the honourable gentleman requests, but of course, we remain vigilant. well, soon he has to make a decision on the future of the lockdown so the earlier we get that information, the better. excess deaths are the difference between those seen this year and what we would expect based on the past five years. latest figures show there have been more than 70,000 to the pandemic started. this graph shows a huge spike in the number of deaths during the first wave,

and the numbers are starting to rise again. winter is always a difficult time for the nhs, with fears of staff burn out the government is desperate to minimise the damaging impact of covid. unfortunately i have been in a position where i have actually lost colleagues this year to covid—19. for myself personally, i have been in a situation where i have been treating some of the illest patients with covid—19 on covid wards and in emergency medicine on the front line. you do wonder, could this be you next? while england waits for a vaccine and new restrictions, one thing that is certain is december will be different this year. anna collinson, bbc news. our health editor, hugh pym, told me the position over restrictions over the christmas period remains unclear. you heard from matt hancock, the health secretary, his abrupt answer there. it's still too early to say. it's a very, very big decision for ministers in england to make about what will happen

after december the 2nd, how the tiered restrictions will continue. we heard yesterday from a senior official at public health england that a slight tightening of the restrictions within each tier might well be necessary through the winter, never mind in the run—up to christmas. she said susan hopkins, phd, said that tier1 really hadn't worked at all. only some parts of tier 2 had worked and the most effective set of restrictions were in tier 3, tier 3 plus, adding on some things, for example in liverpool with more widespread closures than the government's basic baseline, that they had begun to workjust before the lockdown. so ministers will have to decide which areas go into which tier after december the 2nd, whether they will be tighter in some areas and then if there is going to be any relaxation in the run—up to christmas, how that will be managed and whether there will be an immediate tightening straight after christmas. the cabinet office are looking at all of this, i am told. they are looking at the case data

each day, they want to be able to see the cases are coming down because of the lockdown in england, that probably won't be clear until later this week. then they have to weigh the whole thing up with this absolutely critical decision and we will be hearing again later in scotland how they are going to proceed. absolutely critical decision for everybody what will happen through december up until christmas and beyond. and at 4:30pm on the bbc news channel, we'll answer your questions on covid—19 vaccines. joining us will be cell biologist at university college london, jennifer rohn, and university of cambridge virologist, dr chris smith. do send your questions using the hashtag #bbcyourquestions or email them using yourquestions@bbc.co.uk. borisjohnson has come underfire for reportedly telling a virtual meeting of conservative mps that devolution had been a "disaster" in scotland. the snp and labour have both criticised the prime minister. but the government say mrjohnson has "always supported devolution".

our political correspondent chris mason reports. the conservatives opposed to devolution then but they now support it. and yet look at what the prime minister told a group of his mps last night. it has been a disaster he reportedly said. and it was tony

blair's biggest mistake. the prime minister has always supported devolution. he wants to ensure that local people and communities have a greater say over their destiny. what he does feel strongly is that devolution in scotland has facilitated the rise of separatism and nationalism in the form of the snp and that that is trying to break apart the uk. we hear all about borisjohnson all the apart the uk. we hear all about boris johnson all the time that he meant to say something different. his ministers have to apologise for him. the scottish national party wa nt him. the scottish national party want another independence referendum like the one in 2014. perhaps as soon as next year. they will campaignfor soon as next year. they will campaign for one of the scottish parliament elections in may. labour and the conservatives will say the opposite. the scottish conservative leader says he will speak to the prime minister later about his remarks and adds. any distraction

takes us away from the snp's record in government which has been dismal and we have to look at the positives going forward. we do not think the neanderthal views that have been expressed by borisjohnson neanderthal views that have been expressed by boris johnson get anybody any further except to say it really does expose the underlying thinking and philosophy in downing street. opinion polls suggest there is overwhelming support for the scottish parliament for devolution in scotland and growing support for independence. we have now had 13 polls from the summer of this year, all of which have shown a majority for yes for the first time but we've had that kind of record. like an x—ray on a fractured bone, the pandemic and brexit have portrayed in black—and—white the tensions and how the uk is now given. the prime minister's comments electrify that

debate as far as scotland's future is concerned. a debate that is only going to get louder. our political correspondent nick eardley is here there are senior conservatives who think the government has handled devolution badly, there are government ministers who find devolution tricky but there aren't any serious political players in scotland at the moment you are saying devolution is a bad thing or questioning whether it should continue. number ten adamant that borisjohnson isn't continue. number ten adamant that boris johnson isn't anti—devolution. he was the mayor of london of course. but they are saying he's worried he is being exploited by snp or plaid cymru in wales to make the case for independence. that said, i think these comments are really awkward for people like douglas ross

because six —— they are six months away from a scottish parliament where they are going to be making the case that they should have more ofa the case that they should have more of a say on how scotland and scotland's powers are used. at the same time you've got the snp now saying the cat is out of the bag and borisjohnson has made it clear he is no fan of devolution. sol borisjohnson has made it clear he is no fan of devolution. so i think this will play a significant part now in the run may's election. but it's also worth bearing in mind that some of the strongest criticism we've heard of borisjohnson some of the strongest criticism we've heard of boris johnson today has been from the liberal democrats and from the labour party. i have been speaking to various people who are unionists who support the uk and are unionists who support the uk and are apoplectic that boris johnson has made these comments because they think they undermine the unionist cause. think they undermine the unionist cause. if there is another independence referendum and if the snp win that election which the polls suggest they will end if another referendum does happen, it's

ha rd another referendum does happen, it's hard to see how those unionist parties will work together with the prime minister and the conservative government now when they are so angry about some of the comments he has made. number ten saying they will be a power surge to edinburgh after brexit. yes and the internal market bill which we have spoken about before in the context of ministers staying it will break international law, that has been a big bone of contention between the scottish and uk governments for some months because the uk government are saying after brexit a bunch of powers that were in brussels will go back to scotland but the scottish government is saying if you look at some of the powers the uk government is taking for itself, they actually impinge on areas of devolution so they could actually undermine the scottish parliament because the uk government could spend money or make some decisions in devolved areas. that has been a row that has been brewing for months and it's going to bea brewing for months and it's going to be a part of that hollywood election and the snp are going to say that in

some ways and the snp are going to say that in some ways it's a power grab. and they can point to comments about devolution now and say borisjohnson thinks there —— it has been a disaster and tony blair's biggest mistake. does it mean borisjohnson isn't that interested in taking on board what the devolved parliament in edinburgh saying. number ten will deny that but it has added fuel to the fire of what is already going to bea the fire of what is already going to be a pretty fractious few months ahead of that election. now it's time for a look at the weather with stav hello again. it's going to be a mild day today, but for many of us it's also going to be a fairly cloudy one. we still have some rain across western scotland, it's been falling here for some time. we could see a bit of rain pushing

into northern ireland and the far south—west but for most of us it will be a breezy and cloudy in the very mild night. into wednesday and we have this area of low pressure which is going to move its way eastwards and this is a cold front which is going to introduce colder weather to north and west areas. it could start trying the east for a while but that band of rain starts to spread its way eastwards and behind it it brightens a band we will see some blustery showers but it will turn much colder. further east, it should be quite mild. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines. a total of 11 council areas will be placed under scotland's toughest coronavirus restrictions for a three week period from 6pm on friday. the objective in taking this action now is to protect the nhs, create the prospect of seeing some loved ones at christmas and completing the journey to next spring with as few restrictions as possible

and with the minimum impact on life and health. the health secretary says he can't confirm which restrictions will be in place once the lockdown in england ends at the beginning of next month, amid reports the tier system could be strengthened. mr speaker, it is too early to do the analysis that the honourable gentleman requests but of course we remain vigilant. well, soon he has to make a decision on the future of the lockdown so the earlier we get that information the better. a bbc investigation into the awarding of ppe government contracts shows £21 million of taxpayers money was paid in "consulting fees" to a recently—formed firm in miami, florida. anger as borisjohnson describes devolution as a "disaster" in scotland, and tony blair's biggest mistake. members of labour's ruling national executive are meeting to consider jeremy corbyn's suspension from the party last month. sport and a full

round up from the bbc sport centre. good afternoon. two former umpires, have accused the england and wales cricket board of ‘institutionalized racism' they've called for an independent inquiry into the lack of ethnic minority match officials in the game. the ecb has admitted that their current list of umpires doesn't reflect their ambitions to be a more diverse organisation katie gornall reports. this summer, cricket made a collective statement, joining global attem pts collective statement, joining global atte m pts to collective statement, joining global attempts to raise awareness about institutional racism in society. but not for the first time they met the domestic game is being urged to look closer to home and address its own lack of diversity. john holder spent nearly 30 years as a professional umpire before his retirement 11 yea rs umpire before his retirement 11 years ago. since then, no non—white umpires have been elevated to the first—class umpires panel. he believes the england and wales cricket board is structurally racist. the fact that a few

non—white umpires, several non—white umpires, have made enquiries about going on the first—class umpires panel and non—have progressed, that looks to me more than suspicious. panel and non—have progressed, that looks to me more than suspiciousm a statement, the ecb said, today's group of professional umpires don't reflect the diverse ecb were determined to be. holder has beenjoined by ismail dawood, former county cricket keeper and in calling for an investigation. there are systematic blockages that have been allowed to be put in place, and will still be put and keptin place, and will still be put and kept in place, if they are not thoroughly investigated. we are having minimal representation of bame cricket players, bame coaches,

umpires and officials, bame ceos. the barriers are far greater than non—bame. that's a fact. the barriers are far greater than non-bame. that's a fact. these allegations come following azeem rafik‘s claim of institutional racism at his former club, yorkshire. english cricket is having to face some uncomfortable truths as it tries to increase diversity and prove that the game is a game for all. staying with cricket, england's proposed tour to pakistan early next year won't go ahead. they are also due to face india and sri lanka in the new year and couldn't guarantee being able to field a full strength team. england have arrived in south africa ahead of their first tour since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. they will play three t20's and three one—dayers. the matches will be played in cape town and paarl with players again having to remain in biosecure bubbles. it's day 3 at the atp tour finals in london, the season ending tennis event for the top 8 men.

only roger federer is missing, rafa nadal, the reigning french open champion, is on court right now facing us open champion dominic thiem. both won their opening matches in their round robin group, so the winner of this will have one foot in the semi—finals. hardly anything could separate them in the first set, but after an hour and a quarter thiem took it on a tie break. these are live pictures from the o2 arena, the permutations for reaching the semi—finals will become a lot clearer when tsitsipas/rublev play this evening. this match is over on bbc2 or you can watch it on the bbc sport website. very early stages in that second set. or you could stay right where you are. i haven't got any choice,

but we are about to do something rather interesting. a schoolboy chef who learnt to cook at the age of 7 to help to feed his five siblings has been given his own bbc show. omari mcqueen, now 12, offered to lend his mother leah a hand in the kitchen when she became unwell, and his father was working long hours as a bus driver. he runs a youtube channel to share his vegan—friendly receipes, the and now he's been given his very own tv show on cbbc, ‘what‘s cooking omari ?' before we chat to omari, let's take a look at him in action on his youtube channel. i'm going to be showing you guys how to make some delicious apple pie bars. let's get into it. so, the first thing i'm going to be making is my crust. the ingredients you need is 115 grams of melted butter. 50 grams of brown sugar. two pinches of salt. a teaspoon of vanilla. and 125 grams of all purpose plain flour.

now, i'm going to add these into my bowl. omari and his mum leah, and dad jermaine, join us now from their home in south london. it looks as though you just really enjoy this. i do. it looks as though you just really enjoy this. ido. how it looks as though you just really enjoy this. i do. how do you get into this? it happened when my mum was sick and my dad was going to work. me and my older brother learned how to cook but at first it was pasta and tuna and then as soon asi was pasta and tuna and then as soon as i learnt, i saw my mum getting better, she started getting more happy and cooking smoothies and that was vegan and i think that's the reason. . . was vegan and i think that's the reason... he is now a tv chef! yes. he is. we are so happy and proud of

him. he is so determined, he actually has a vision board where he sits down and he plans out what his future is going to be and he isjust smashing his goals continuously. it's hard to keep up sometimes. i'm struggling now. omari, talk through the plan, what's the future?” struggling now. omari, talk through the plan, what's the future? i want to open a chain of restaurants just like gordon ramsay and have my own bus restaurant so me and my dad can go riding around the whole world selling meals as my dad is a bus driver. you seem a bit too nice to be the next gordon ramsay. you haven't got a temper, have you? no. jermain, we mention the fact that you are very busy, you drive a bus, your hours are erratic. it must be a huge relief to know that he is back

home sorting things out. it is a relief. it's good for him to pick up basic skills. important life skills. omari, your parents, tell me how they got you interested. well, the way my mum got me interested, my mum told me that there was this event going on, but the first time i got interested was when i went on a school trip and then when i came home, i told school trip and then when i came home, itold my school trip and then when i came home, i told my mum school trip and then when i came home, itold my mum i school trip and then when i came home, i told my mum i don't want to work with people i want people to work with people i want people to work for me. my mum said i should start my own business and when i made my first video i got in a bit of trouble because i wasn't supposed to use the blender and i wasn't supposed to use my mum's... but then when my mum tasted it, she forgave

me, but she was still angry because i use the blender without permission. she said that there was this event coming up and i was like, 0k. this event coming up and i was like, ok. we went to the event and that event... and that's when i started the business. when i said you could start a business, i wasn't meaning right now. i don't think you'll be able to stop him, listening to him. i don't want to cause trouble to my bosses here, omari. but you are on cbbc now. what's next after that? 0h... cbbc now. what's next after that? oh... what are you planning? i want to get my meals into shops and, yeah. definitely into shops because

i want more people to buy them and, yeah. i want more people to eat more vegan food as well. well, there's clearly no stopping you. it's a great pleasure to talk to you now and may be in 30 years, they'll be playing this interview to you when you are running the world. but it's great to meet you all and many congratulations and i look forward to watching you. thank you. thank you, goodbye. asda has revealed that sales over its latest quarterjumped by 2.7% after it was buoyed by continued online growth during the pandemic. it comes a month after the supermarket chain was taken over by petrol forecourt firm eg group and private equity firm tdr capital in a £6.8 billion deal. we can speak now to our business correspondent, ben thompson. you're right. that deal is expected

to be completed at the start of next year but of course, top of their priorities on their to—do list right now is dealing with the pandemic. what we have heard in the latest set of figures does really tell a story of figures does really tell a story of the winners and the losers out of this covid crisis. the winners quite clearly being the supermarkets as far as stocking up the lockdown is concerned, making use of online home deliveries. of course, using their website, as the telling is that sales through its two online platforms have jumped 72%, sales through its two online platforms havejumped 72%, such is the demand for us to get stuff delivered rather than going out to pick it up. but of course, we are also looking ahead to things like christmas, the boss of asda telling us this morning that people are stocking up earlier than ever before to make sure they have what they need for what could be a lockdown christmas. but also, buying a little less and that could be testament to the fact that we may be having smaller gatherings over the festive

period, rather than big family groups that we might be more used to. let's get the thoughts now of teresa wickham who is a retail a nalyst. teresa wickham who is a retail analyst. therese, when you look at these figures, they tell us a lot about our changing habits over the last few months and also what we are thinking about what could happen over christmas. asda has done well, not quite as well as its other competitors, but it has done well. it has a disadvantage in the fact that it has enormous stores, a large portfolio of that, but it's absolutely right, online shopping is the bit that is increasing. people are increasingly worried about christmas, this started buying early, although some started in september. as you say, it smaller gatherings you are doing, so they're buying quite a lot of frozen food, turkey crowns, and stocking up so they don't want to be let down. just

before the lockdown happened, we saw a bit of panic buying on toys, because i think grandparents were worried that they wouldn't be able to get that, but what asda is doing, it is increasing its online shopping as are all the big online retailers. the ones making bumper profits, you have a cost to that, so you have people doing the shopping for you, said it had to recruit more drivers and more pickers. teresa, you have a lot of experience of working in supermarkets and knowing exactly what they will be thinking right now, because it is all a big planning logistical nightmare, isn't it? we saw that when they were stockpiling, there were runs on certain products and the supermarkets couldn't keep up. they will be trying to stay one step ahead of the game and working out what we want, making sure it is on the shelves when we want it, but with so much uncertainty right now, how do they get that right?

christmas planning literally starts when christmas is over for the next year. so they have done their orders for what we call the non—food side. the worry for people around christmas is people do preorder, can they get enough slots? and the big thing is the fresh produce. some people are buying frozen vegetables at the moment, but at christmas, people like fresh vegetables and that always concerns the supermarkets. can they get enough fresh vegetables in the people to have and so working with their suppliers, they'll be making sure, that's one of their biggest issues, the end of the day. fascinating how it all has to come together in a sea mless it all has to come together in a seamless manner. therese, as always, lovely to see you. teresa wickham there with thoughts on how as they will contend with christmas. not so fussed if they don't get the sprouts in time for me. just the concept of talking about christmas shopping just now feels a little bit strange.

it's all come around very quickly. i'm still waiting for last year's from you. then, thank you very much. a campaign group is planning to take legal action against the government over the awarding of contracts for nhs personal protective equipment to a recently formed miami firm. court documents in florida, which have been seen by bbc news , reveal that as part of the contract, £21 million of taxpayers money was paid in "consulting fees" to a go—between in spain. our special correspondent, lucy manning, has the background to this story. let's start at the beginning. it's a jewellery firm in miami and the owner of that, a man called michael saiger, decided during the covid crisis that he would get into the ppe business. he had business contacts in china, so he told a magazine that as well as designing his new jewellery collection, he was going to source ppe. and the british government gave him contracts for ppe, for the nhs. we know at least £200 million worth of contracts, but they haven't all been published.

mr saiger hired a go—between to help him with his contract, a spanish businessmen, a man called gabriel andersson. because the two men have had a dispute, it's gone to court in america and we have got to see some of the court papers which has lifted the lid on what the money is being spent on. in the court papers, it makes clear that this go—between, that was supposed to source places and factories to get the ppe, to help with the logistics, to help with the shipping, mr andersson got given $28 million in what's called in the court papers, consulting fees. so, for consulting, he got nearly £21 million. there were supposed to be more contracts, he was supposed to get more money, he was supposed to get another $20 million, but there is now a legal dispute as to whether he helped out or not and the good law project, a campaigning group, is planning to take the government to the uk courts on this deal, asking why so much money was paid out.

just to tell you, the saiger company says that at the height of the pandemic, when the nhs was in need of ppe, they delivered for britain on time and at value and they do hire extra staff to help with these big contracts. for small retailers at the moment, it's a tough time, after all nonessential shops in england were forced to close for the second lockdown. many small shops have been forced to innovate in order to survive. sarah corker reports. taking on the cobbled streets and narrow lanes of the calder valley, delivery rider beate is hebden bridge's version of amazon and deliveroo combined. this is bertha and she's just great. she's done, i think, about 1,500 miles since we started doing this. so she's worked really hard! beate and her electric bike, bertha, are part of a team of 16 couriers. this business was set up as demand grew for local deliveries from local shops during lockdown. so what kind of things

do you deliver? oh, my goodness. we've delivered everything from vintage clothing down through organic vegetables to, you know, things that need to be kept cool. we've got chiller boxes. today, she's doing the cheese run. the crumbly cheese is the latest retailer to start delivering by bike. when pubs and cafes shut, andrew's wholesale trade disappeared, but he's managed to pick up new customers. it works brilliantly for us. people can access — those that are shielding that are stuck indoors, they can access what we do and then it's delivered to their door without any worries. with non—essential shops in england shut for a second time, the british retail consortium estimates £2 billion worth of sales will be lost every week during november. it's forced independents to try new things. a group called totally locally has helped 69 retailers here in hebden bridge come together to set up an online

shopping site for the town. this lockdown, we are now ready to be online. we weren't before. you know, this is our busiest time of year and we have to maintain some sort of retail presence, even through lockdown. and a set of teeth should do it. and if you live in the calder valley, you can also get these nostalgia—inducing sweets from your childhood delivered to your home, or click and collect them. i think that's the really good thing about small businesses — it's what we do best. it's about adapting. and how important is it that you can keep doing some kind of trade through all of this? vital, because it were long, lockdown, last time. it were a lot of work to do deliveries and it's a lot quieter this time, so it's really good, this idea. for many small retailers, 2020 has been the hardest year they've ever known, but collaborating, innovating and getting online fast is helping them to survive this second shutdown. sarah corker, bbc news,

in hebden bridge. the bbc has been given rare access to a coronavirus ward at a community hospital. in the last month seven people have died with the virus at clacton's nurse—run hospital. staff say they are seeing more complex cases, as simon dedman reports. the coronavirus ward at clacton hospital. the bbc has been given exclusive access as it's getting busier. we have seen a big increase of cases coming in. staff are doing their best to keep it going. it's hard. it's hard on everybody, really. debbie is the clinical lead of this nurse—led hospital. because i'm going into an area where all the patients in there are still covid positive, so we need to ensure that we are protecting ourselves but also protecting the rest of the patients as well. there are 21 patients with covid. hello, sheila. we will keep doing your swabs.

so we are doing them every five days and as soon as we can get that negative, we can get you home. all right? care homes are not taking anyone without a negative test result. it means most will be here for at least 14 days. 69—year—old gerald, a former bus driver and carer from harwich, caught covid after having his leg amputated. he's been here for more than a month. ifeel ok, ifeel fine. the only thing is i'm waiting for the coronavirus to near enough go, it's near enough gone so i can go home. what can you do? you live on, don't you? it's getting busier here at clacton hospital, three quarters of the covid beds are full with patients aged between 57 and 99. and two more are on their way from colchester. the staff at the moment are quite emotional, we've had quite a few deaths and it's quite hard managing

staff that are emotional. a majority of those nurses have had covid. marylou was the first in march and off work for three months. she and some colleagues still feel the effects. now, i still have the shortness of breath when i go up the stairs and i also experience the losing of hairfor, i think, for a month. staff here think they have not reached the peak yet and expect to have every bed full in a few weeks, but... if people don't take it seriously enough we could end up with this still in the spring. that could mean more covid—19 admissions here in 2021. simon dedman, bbc look east, clacton hospital. it's never the easiest of manouevres — but parking 250 miles above the earth presents particular difficulties.

even though there's plenty of space. and, as you can see, it was no problem for the crew on board the private space craft spacex as it docked with the international space station. the crew will now spend six months doing experiments in space. victoria gill reports. victor here. baby yoda and i wanted to talk to you a little bit about the hatches. just about 24 hours ago, we entered resilience through this side hatch. the end of a 27 hour taxi ride to space. this is a view looking at dragon from station, from the node two forward port that dragon will be docking to today. for the first time, four astronauts arrived to start their mission at the international space station aboard a commercial spacecraft. the entire trip on the spacex dragon

capsule, including the millimetre perfect docking procedure, was fully automated. dragon spacex, soft capture confirmed. it's a milestone in a nearly £2.5 billion deal that nasa has signed with elon musk‘s aerospace company to develop, test and fly an astronaut taxi service. the astronauts on this flight, nasa's michael hopkins, victor glover and shannon walker, and the japanese space agency astronaut, soichi noguchi, will spend six months in space. and in another history—making moment, victor gloverjoined the international space station to become its first african—american crewmember. and here is victor glover. there are now seven people living and working on the station, tripling its capacity to carry out scientific research in microgravity. it was an amazing ride. i can't tell you how excited we were when that rocket lifted off the pad and then the last 27 hours has gone really smooth, actually. uk astronaut tim peake returned from his own six—month mission in 2016.

we were doing about 14 hour days, seven in the morning until seven at night and then we'd have a couple of hours' preparation in the evening. and the majority of that is science activities. and then at the weekend, the crew willjust try and drop the tempo, because you are up there for six months, it's a marathon. you can't go all out all of the time. when this crew's marathon mission is done in 2021, their private space taxi will be waiting to bring them home. victoria gill, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with stav. hello there. for most of us today, it is a dry one. further north and west, though, we have got some rain around, particularly western scotland where it is very wet. through the course of the day, lasting into the overnight period. we could see some splashes of rain across western parts of england and wales, too. but for most it is mild and cloudy, but we have got azores air coming up from the south south—west. quite a few iosbars on the chart, hence it is quite breezy out there. this weather front will be lingering

across western scotland to bring is a pretty heavy persistent rain here. could see some issues with localised flooding. some splashes of rain, generally like rain and drizzle for western england and wales. we could see temperatures reach high teens given a little brightness. very mild for all despite it being quite breezy. through this evening and tonight, it will turn whiter, notjust across northern and western scotland, but also for the northern ireland. very wet for shipment. very wet for shetland. could see some rain in northern ireland and the far south—west. for most it is a mild and breezy night. all down to this area of low pressure. this is a cold front which will be spreading eastwards across the country. behind it, as the name suggest, it will be turning much colder. from wednesday, we started trying to use but in this band of rain starts to go eastwards through the course of the day. stays very wet for shetland throughout the day. into the afternoon, it brightens up,

but heavy in blustery showers and it will feel much cooler here. ahead of that rain, it will still be quite mild. during wednesday night, we see a real plunge of cold article here move south across the country. very windy, too. some wintry showers. as we head into thursday, this ridge of high pressure will build, which will settle things down. this next weather system will arrive on friday to bring yet more rain and strong winds. on thursday, a much colder day for all. start off with deals across the north and east. wintry showers across central and northern scotland. this ridge of high pressure builds on and it winds will ease for part two of the day. we should say some sunshine. temperatures will start to recover across the south. but it stays very cold across the north. as we head into friday, that next weather system will move into bring wet weather. it stays mild as we head into the weekend and we should see some sunshine, as well.

this is bbc news. i'm ben brown. the headlines at 4:00pm: eleven council areas will be placed under scotland's toughest coronavirus restrictions for a three week period from 6:00pm on friday. our objective in taking this action now is to protect the nhs, create the prospect of seeing some loved ones at christmas and completing the journey to next spring with as few restrictions as possible and with the minimum impact on life and health. the health secretary says he can't confirm which restrictions will be in place once the lockdown in england ends at the beginning of next month, amid reports the tier system could be strengthened. mr speaker, it is too early to do the analysis that the honourable gentleman requests, but of course we remain vigilant.

well, soon he has to make a decision on the future of the lockdown so the earlier we get that information the better. a decision is expected soon as members of labour's ruling national executive meet to consider jeremy corbyn's suspension from the party last month. a bbc investigation into the awarding of ppe government contracts shows £21 million of taxpayers money was paid in "consulting fees" to a recently—formed firm in miami. anger as borisjohnson describes devolution as a "disaster" in scotland and tony blair's biggest mistake. and with encouraging news about two different coronavirus vaccines already, we'll be answering your questions on vaccination in half an hour's time.

good afternoon. the scottish government is imposing level 4 coronavirus restrictions across large areas of the country where infection rates remain stubbornly high. scotland's first minister, nicola sturgeon, said she hoped the strict measures would be in force for a limited time. moving to level 4 from 6:00pm on friday evening, the 11 councils of glasgow, renfrewshire and east renfrewshire, west and east dunbartonshire, north and south lanarkshire, east and south ayrshire, stirling and west lothian. these restrictions are almost as severe as the second national lockdown in england. non—essentialshops, bars, restaurants, hairdressers and visitor attractions will close. a ban on non—essential travel also applies but schools, nurseries and essential shops can stay open. here's the first minister speaking earlier this afternoon. in all of these areas there are grounds for concern.

in the seven days up to friday scotland, as a whole had just over 140 new cases of coronavirus per 100,000 people. all of the areas moving to level four are above that level, ranging from west lothian with a rate of 158 cases per 100,000 to glasgow with 277. test positivity for all of these areas with the exception of west dunbartonshire was also above the average. stirling has experienced a particularly sharp increase in cases over the past week. while some of that can be attributed to specific outbreaks, there is also a level of community transmission there that must be tackled. in the other areas, infection rates have stabilised or even slightly fallen as a result of level three measures, however, and this is the key point, the infection rate in all of these areas remains stubbornly high. at these levels we simply do not have the assurance we need that hospital and icu services will be

able to cope as we go deeper into the winter. pressure on hospitals in these areas and on those who work in them is already severe and with the additional pressure that the coming weeks may bring, it could easily become intolerable. further, at these levels we would not have the flexibility we need to ease restrictions for christmas, which in common with the other uk nations we so desperately want to do. the clear advice of our public health experts is that we must drive infection rates down further in these areas and they are not confident that level three restrictions will do this to the extent necessary. that is why reluctantly we have taken the decision to place these areas into level four for a limited period. in response, the scottish conservatives holyrood leader, ruth davidson acknowledged that the increased restrictions were necessary, but that the announcement was a further ‘hammer—blow‘ to many businesses in the run—up to christmas.

we all appreciate there are no guarantees in a situation like this, but if the evidence points to an essential calculation that accepting three weeks of level four restrictions for those authorities affected in order to win a more general easing of restriction over the christmas period, then that is, with regret, a judgment we will take at face value. the need to get through the next few months is all the more important with the enormously encouraging news that vaccines are now a real prospect. but whatever the promise of an eventual vaccination programme, today will come as a hammer blow for thousands of small businesses who have been trying to survive the spring lockdown and autumn restrictions, only to be faced again now with a further period of closure. sustained government support will be critical for their survival and we have seen concerns from businesses, concerns we expect ministers to address head—on.

live to glasgow and our correspondent, alexandra mackenzie. ruth davidson saying this is a hammer blow. what has been the reaction from businesses in the areas affected? it's going to affect areas affected? it's going to affect a lot of people in those 11 areas. 2.3 million people will be affected by living in level four restrictions. so many businesses are going to be affected. nicola sturgeon did set out her reasons for doing this. it was initially to look after the nhs and also so that people could hopefully be living and if they were restrictions by the time we get to christmas. but in terms of business, we are coming up to christmas and the restrictions she said would be eased on the 11th

of december but this is obviously a very busy year for retailers and hospitality and headdresses and they will have to close. the first minister has said they will be business grants available to businesses that need them in addition to the furlough scheme and she has also said they will be discretionary funds available to local councils to hand out to businesses affected. one of the other things she mentioned was travel and she said it would be even more important now that people from the lower restrictions or higher restrictions would not be moving into areas where levels of the virus was lower and she said that guidance that has been in place for several weeks already will become law from friday. so people living in level three or four areas must not travel outside their own council area and

people living elsewhere in scotland must not travel into level three or four areas. people within scotland should not travel to other areas of the uk. is there a consensus about these latest measures? we heard ruth davidson and richard leonard the leader of scottish labour and he wanted hard facts and figures on why the first minister was doing this and he also wanted assurances that it would be lifted on the 11th of decemberand it would be lifted on the 11th of december and not carry on any further. he mentioned that in some areas levels of the virus had been going down, but nicola sturgeon said levels may be going down in certain areas but they were still stubbornly high and she emphasised that these restrictions were absolutely necessary to get the numbers down to a level that she needed them to be

at. and at 4:30pm on the bbc news channel, we'll answer your questions on covid—19 vaccines. joining me will be cell biologist at university college london, jennifer rohn, and university of cambridge virologist, dr chris smith. do send your questions using the hashtag #bbcyourquestions or email them using yourquestions@bbc.co.uk. england's lockdown is supposed to end in just two and a half weeks' time, but in the house of commons the health secretary couldn't give any guarantees. this comes as some health experts are arguing for tougher tiers to be introduced in england. our health correspondent, anna collinson, reports. in just seven days, two potential coronavirus vaccines have provided real hope of normality returning.

both the moderna and pfizer vaccines have yet to be approved but millions of doses have been ordered and stjohn ambulance says its volunteers will support the nhs when it is time. we will train, first of all, our 10,000 already trained clinical volunteers, they will have additional training to go into service in a vaccination programme. and then we will move on to recruiting volunteers from outside of stjohn ambulance, from a range of other voluntary organisations, making sure they have the requisite skills to function in a vaccination centre. the most at risk of the virus will be first in line to receive a vaccine, starting with those who live and work in care homes. but a vaccine is a way off yet and we still have winter to get through. with england's lockdown due to end on 2nd of december, there are calls for the covid tier system to be strengthened. currently there are three levels, the medium level is the base where there is a rule of six and 10pm hospitality curfew. high alert is next, meaning no

mixing of households indoors and the rule of six applies outdoors. the most severe level is very high, which means no mixing of households indoors or outdoors. pubs and bars are closed unless they provide a substantial meal. it is claimed tier1 had very little effect on reducing transmission, while the creation of a new tier 4 has been suggested. the health secretary says the measures are being reviewed but it's too early to see how they will proceed. but labour wants answers. can he confirm that it is the government's intention to impose tougher restrictions on tier1 areas post lockdown? mr speaker, it is too early to do the analysis that the honourable gentleman requests, but of course, we remain vigilant. well, soon he has to make a decision on the future of the lockdown so the earlier we get that information, the better. excess deaths are the difference between those seen this year

and what we would expect based on the past five years. latest figures show there have been more than 70,000 to the pandemic started. this graph shows a huge spike in the number of deaths during the first wave, and the numbers are starting to rise again. winter is always a difficult time for the nhs, with fears of staff burn out the government is desperate to minimise the damaging impact of covid. unfortunately i have been in a position where i have actually lost colleagues this year to covid—19. for myself personally, i have been in a situation where i have been treating some of the illest patients with covid—19 on covid wards and in emergency medicine on the front line. you do wonder, could this be you next? while england waits for a vaccine and new restrictions, one thing that is certain is december will be different this year. anna collinson, bbc news. hospitals in the west of england are seeing a sharp rise in covid patients,

putting their services under strain. in gloucestershire, around 120 patients are being treated, with three in critical care. the nhs wanted us to show the pressure they're dealing with every day and gave steve knibbs exclusive access to the gloucestershire royal hospital. even wearing all the safety equipment it's an unnerving experience walking into intensive ca re experience walking into intensive care where the sickest patients with coronavirus are being looked after. patients like sharon. i am so lucky to still be here. if it wasn't for all the team here and the one—on—one ca re all the team here and the one—on—one care and getting, i honestly thought that was the end. it's horrible. it just takes over your life. there is nothing you can do. it totally drains you. for people who say it's not that bad, it is, believe me. people need to take more notice and ta ke people need to take more notice and take more care. sharon is slowly

getting better but still needs intervention to keep her oxygen levels up and in the second phase with the steep learning curve at the medics have had since march treatments are changing. fewer patients are on ventilators but the reality is, dealing with the pandemic is draining. we are feeling more confident because we now have the benefit of nine months of international experience and some very rapidly progressed research. but we are all exhausted. we are as of tired of coronavirus as everybody else. we have to pick ourselves up and we are ready for more patients if we need to. there are just three patients you are in critical care at the moment, less than they were in leicestershi re the moment, less than they were in leicestershire at the same time during the first wave and what people don't know is where it's going to go from here. there is a feeling and hope that infections are starting to plateau but there is the worry about winter. that poses some

real challenges. we obviously have to cope with the increasing numbers of coronavirus patients plus all the additional work. so it's managing all those different work streams that's going to be a real challenge. the harsh reality of the pandemic is that relatives aren't allowed to visit, something that wasn't lost on me as visit, something that wasn't lost on measi visit, something that wasn't lost on me as i was allowed into film and for sharon it's been hard. it's heartbreaking. that's when i say, when people say coronavirus isn't all that bad, it is. it takes your family way. i have a two—year—old grandson and i am missing too much. sharon is one of 120 covert patients at the gloucestershire royal, looked after by staff who are determined and resilient. many working 13 hour shifts as they have done for months,

continuing their battle against a relentless incurable enemy. all of course against the backdrop of the hospital is trying to carry on with normal service. the vaccine offers hope of an end but that isn't here yet. the headlines on bbc news: 11 council areas will be placed under scotland's toughest coronavirus restrictions for a three week period from 6pm on friday, the health secretary says he can't confirm which restrictions will be in place once the lockdown in england ends at the beginning of next month, amid reports the tier system could be strengthened a bbc investigation into the awarding of ppe government contracts shows 21 million pounds of taxpayers money was paid in "consulting fees" to a recently—formed firm in miami, florida borisjohnson has come underfire for reportedly telling a virtual

meeting of conservative mps that devolution had been a "disaster" in scotland. the snp and labour have both criticised the prime minister. but the government say mrjohnson has "always supported devolution". our political correspondent chris mason reports. 1999 and the return of a scottish parliament for the first time in nearly 300 years. devolution in action, the transfer of power away from westminster, described like this by the then first minister, labour's donald dewar. the past is part of us. part of every one of us. and we respect it. but today there is a new voice in the land, the voice of a democratic parliament, a voice to shake scotland, a voice above all for the future. the conservatives opposed devolution then, they now support it. and yet look at what the prime minister told a group

of his mps last night. it has been, he reportedly said, a disaster north of the border, and was tony blair's biggest mistake. this is something about we hear all the time about borisjohnson, oh, he didn't mean to say that, he meant to say something different. and then various ministers are sent out to apologise for him. he did mean that, that is what he thinks about devolution. the scottish national party want another independence referendum like the one in 2014, perhaps as soon as next year, and they'll campaign for one at the scottish parliament elections in may. labour and the conservatives

will say the opposite. the scottish conservatives leader says he will speak to the prime minister later about his remarks and adds... i have said devolution is not the problem. we do not think the rather neanderthal views that have been expressed by boris johnson will get anybody any further, except to say it really does expose the underlying thinking and philosophy in downing street. opinion polls suggest there is overwhelming support for the scottish parliament, for devolution in scotland, and growing support for independence. we've now had 13 opinion polls in a row, dating from the summer of this year, all of which have shown the majority the majority for yes, this is the first time in scottish polling history that we have had that kind of record. like an x—ray on fractured bone, the pandemic and brexit has portrayed in black—and—white

the tensions in how the uk is now governed. the prime minister's comments electrify that debate, as far as scotland's future is now concerned. a debate that will only get louder. chris mason, bbc news, at westminster. more now that the first minister of scotland, nicola sturgeon, has confirmed that coronavirus restrictions are being stepped up to the highest level for about 2 point 3 million people in eleven council areas. they include glasgow, north and south lanarkshire, stirling, and east and west dunbartonshire. from friday, pubs, gyms, hairdressers and non—essential shops will close for three weeks but schools and universities will stay open. we're joined now byjonathan mccoll, the snp leader of west dunbartonshire council.

ruth davidson for the scottish conservatives was saying it's a hammer blow to businesses. it's going to be extremely difficult but it's necessary. the scottish government don't take these decisions lightly. all of the information has been weighed up not just on people's health but also the social harms and the effect on the economy. it's just something we need to do. you need to do it and how long do you think you will have to do it for? nicola sturgeon said this would be lifted in time for christmas but is that your hope for your guarantee? it would be my expectation. if people follow the rules and the guidance we can get this reduced a lot quicker. it's just not low enough. we need this

short and sharp reaction to get it down to a more manageable level. should you have done this earlier?” don't know. hindsight is a wonderful thing. the level three restrictions we re thing. the level three restrictions were working but theyjust didn't work fast enough. just in terms of the business community and we will be talking to the scottish retail consortium but they are saying in terms of the retail industry, the scientific evidence indicates that retailers a safe environment and that closing stores is going to do very little to suppress the virus. would you accept that? from our discussions with cabinet ministers i have to say the data doesn't bear that out. there are infections coming from the retail sector, not as much as from in—house transmission, but the evidence from the complete lockdown happening down southis the complete lockdown happening down south is that it is reducing the spread of the infection by limiting the number of contacts. the problem is, people can stick to the rules

visiting one person outdoors but if you are having multiple contacts in multiple places in one day that is increasing the risk of infection. so the best way of minimising it is to com pletely the best way of minimising it is to completely lockdown. do you think people are sticking to the rules?” have to say i am very proud of the way people in my own community have responded to this. people have been sticking to the rules and helping each other out. the first lockdown we had a real community spirit. but it only takes a few people to break the rules to spread it around quite quickly.

a campaign group is planning to take legal action against the government over the awarding of contracts for nhs personal protective equipment to a recently formed miami firm. court documents in florida — which have been seen by bbc news — reveal that as part of the contract, 21 million pounds of taxpayers money was paid in "consulting fees" to a go—between in spain. our special correspondent, lucy manning, has the background to this story. let's start at the beginning. it's a jewellery firm in miami and the owner of that, a man called michael saiger, decided during the covid crisis that he would get into the ppe business. he had business contacts in china, so he told a magazine that as well as designing his new jewellery collection, he was going to source ppe. and the british government gave him contracts for ppe, for the nhs. we know at least £200 million worth of contracts, but they haven't all been published. mr saiger hired a go—between to help him with his contract,

a spanish businessmen, a man called gabriel andersson. because the two men have had a dispute, it's gone to court in america and we have got to see some of the court papers which has lifted the lid on what the money is being spent on. in the court papers, it makes clear that this go—between, that was supposed to source places and factories to get the ppe, to help with the logistics, to help with the shipping, mr andersson got given $28 million in what's called in the court papers, consulting fees. so, for consulting, he got nearly £21 million. there were supposed to be more contracts, he was supposed to get more money, he was supposed to get another $20 million, but there is now a legal dispute as to whether he helped out or not and the good law project, a campaigning group, is planning to take the government to the uk courts on this deal, asking why so much money was paid out. just to tell you, the saiger company says that at the height of the pandemic, when the nhs was in need of ppe, they delivered

for britain on time and at value and they do hire extra staff to help with these big contracts. members of labour's ruling national executive are meeting this afternoon to considerjeremy corbyn's suspension from the party. in response to the ehrc report on anti semitism, mr corbyn suggested that the scale of the problem had been overstated by political opponents. his comments led to his suspension but today on facebook the former leader sought to clarify them, saying concerns about anti—semitism were neither ""‘exaggerated' nor ""‘overstated' and he had not intended to belittle those concerns. our political correspondent, iain watson, gave us this update. some of his colleagues on the left of the party had suggested he ought

to apologise for comments he made in the wake of that report on anti—semitism. they thought that would be a way to grease the wheels back towards full membership of the party and to end his suspension. it turns out that he has in fact simply decided to clarify those comments and make it clear he wasn't trying to belittle the problem of anti—semitism or in any way say the concerns about anti—semitism were overstated, but effectively he has gone back to his initial defence which is to say the scale of the problem was what his political opponents was overstating. so the question is whether that clarification will be enough to get his suspension lifted. my guess and i stress this is a guess rather than some kind of site of the outcome, is that when these members of the national executive discuss this

todayit national executive discuss this today it would appear that they will reinstate jeremy corbyn today it would appear that they will reinstatejeremy corbyn because he has clarified his comments, but not to do so might ignite a civil war in the labour party because those on the labour party because those on the left of the party believe that an indefinite suspension would be the start of some kind of purge against the left. but equally, given that's ok stam had said he supported the suspension they can't letjeremy corbyn off without some form of action. perhaps they will be some kind of reprimand or a further statement but i would expect by the end of the day thatjeremy corbyn will be back into full labour party membership, but at the same time they will be criticism of the way he acted immediately after the report. although he can save a scale of this problem was exaggerated by opponents, that was seen to be com pletely opponents, that was seen to be completely the wrong tone on a day

that the current labour leader was calling a day of shame when labour's mishandling of anti—semitism complaints and allegations was laid bare by the human rights commission. we will bring you that news on whetherjeremy corbyn is reinstated as soon as that comes in. now it's time for a look at the weather with stav. hello again. it's going to be a mild day today, but for many of us it's also going to be a fairly cloudy one. we still have some rain across western scotland, it's been falling here for some time. very for some time. wet across western scotland and the very wet across western scotland and the northern isles. a bit of rain pushing into the far south—west of northern ireland but the most it will be a very mild night. on

wednesday, an area of low pressure which will move its way eastwards and this is a cold front which will introduce some colder weather to northern and western areas by the end of the day. it could start drying in the a while and then that band of rain started to spread eastwards but behind it it brightens up eastwards but behind it it brightens up and we will see some blustery showers but it will be turning much colder. further east, it should be quite mild. hello this is bbc news. the headlines. 11 council areas will be placed under scotland's toughest coronavirus restrictions for a three week period from 6pm on friday. the objective in taking this action now is to protect the nhs, create the prospect of seeing some loved ones at christmas and completing the journey to next spring with as few restrictions as possible and with the minimum impact on life and health.

the health secretary says he can't confirm which restrictions will be in place once the lockdown in england ends at the beginning of next month, amid reports the tier system could be strengthened. mr speaker, it is too early to do the analysis that the honourable gentleman requests but of course we remain vigilant. well, soon he has to make a decision on the future of the lockdown so the earlier we get that information the better. a decision is expected soon as members of labour's ruling national executive meet to consider jeremy corbyn's suspension from the party last month. a bbc investigation into the awarding of ppe government contracts shows £21 million of taxpayers money was paid in "consulting fees" to a recently—formed firm in miami, florida. anger as borisjohnson describes devolution as a "disaster" in scotland and tony blair's biggest mistake.

sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's olly foster. good afternoon. nobby stiles' family says that football has to ‘address the scandal‘ of dementia in the game. the world cup winner died earlier this month at the age of 78. he‘d been suffering with the disease and also prostate cancer. the family have also criticised the lack of support given by the professional footballers‘ association. the fa say they are collaborating closely with an independent task force to expand our own research studies that is a key part of their strategy for the next 4 years. well, for the next 4 years. it‘s blatantly obvious. heading well, it‘s blatantly obvious. heading the ball has given them dementia. there is nothing else that they‘ve done. although, all i hear from the football authorities is that we need more studies, we need more studies. but while they‘re doing that, the players aren‘t

getting the help that they need and they need it now. two former umpires have accused the england and wales cricket board of "institutionalised racism". john holder, who retired 11 years ago, says it looked "more than suspicious" he had not received a reply from the ecb when offering to be a mentor at the organisation. ismail dawood, meanwhile, claims that racist language used in front of senior ecb staff, has gone unchallenged. the pair have asked for an independent investigation from the equality and human rights commission. i have no reason to doubt that. the decision, the fact that a few non—white umpires, several non—white umpires, have made enquiries about going on the first—class umpires panel or becoming a men tour or pitch liaison officer or whatever, and non—have progressed. that looks

more than suspicious to me. an ecb spokesman told bbc sport, today‘s group of professional umpires don‘t reflect the diverse ecb we are determined to be. we want to see more black, asian and ethnic minority representation among our officials, and recognise we still have a long way to go as a game to achieve this. staying with cricket, england‘s proposed tour to pakistan early next year won‘t go ahead. they are also due to face india and sri lanka in the new year and couldn‘t guarantee being able to field a full strength team. england have arrived in south africa ahead of their first tour since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. they will play three t20‘s and three one—dayers. the matches will be played in cape town and paarl with players again having to remain in biosecure bubbles. it‘s day 3 at the atp tour finals in london, the season—ending tennis

event for the top 8 men. only roger federer is missing, rafa nadal, the reigning french open champion, is on court right now facing us open champion dominic thiem. both won their opening matches in their round robin group, so the winner of this will have one foot in the semi—finals. hardly anything could separate them in the first set, but after an hour and a quarter thiem took it on a tie break. these are live pictures from the o2 arena, thiem squandered 3 match points in the 10th game. no dial saved himself. it‘s tight in this tie—break as well. looks like rafael nadal might have squared it there. whoever wins this one, they will get to the semifinals. stefanos tsitsipas/andrey rublev play this evening. this match is over on bbc two

or you can watch it on the bbc sport website. manchester united forward laurenjames has been called up for an england lionesses training camp next week the 19—year—old has impressed in the wsl this season and this will be her first time with the senior squad. they were due to play norway on the 1st december but that‘s been cancelled because of travel restrictions. the 10 day camp will be at st georges park. that‘s all the sport for now. now on bbc news its time for your questions answered. and now on the bbc news channel, it‘s time for your questions answered and you‘ve been sending in plenty of questions about the covid—19 vaccine. to answer all your questions, we‘rejoined by jennifer rohn, who is a cell biologist at university college

london and dr chris smith, he‘s a virologist at the university of cambridge. now, just before we fire our questions at both of our guests, we will begin byjust taking a little step back because of the news yesterday of those apparent success of the moderna vaccine, 94.5% success and a week ago, a 90% efficacy of the pfizer vaccine. there are lots of other covid vaccines in the pipeline and development and scientifically speaking, different types of vaccines would, it is hoped, work and rather different ways. we are going to explore some of those different ways before we get to your questions. first of all, jennifer. we know the moderna and pfizer vaccines work in similar kind of way is by injecting genetic code which stimulates an immunity response, but

ta ke stimulates an immunity response, but take us through one of the alternatives, which is a nucleic acid vaccine. nucleic acid isjust a fa ncy acid vaccine. nucleic acid isjust a fancy word for dna which is a type of blueprint. what we want to do is educate the immune system to recognise virus parts. traditionally, this would be a whole virus or a piece of a virus, but this new technology is really interesting because we just take the blueprint itself and this blueprint is the code for the spike protein, which is the sticky out a bit on the coronavirus that the immune system sees. we take the blueprint for the spike protein, it‘s directed into the muscle of the person and then the muscle of the person and then the muscle of the person and then the muscle cells are duped into making protein, they make lots of virus proteins from this blueprint and essentially, those proteins go out and the immune system sees them and they see a real coronavirus next time, they will have been educated. so an interesting new strategy because it‘s never been tried before. there has never been marketed vaccine based on this new methodology but it‘s really, really

interesting because you can respond quickly once you have this blueprint, you can just quickly once you have this blueprint, you canjust go quickly once you have this blueprint, you can just go for it. so it‘s no coincidence that the two front runners in the vaccine race are based on nucleic acid. what's the difference between that and the virus vector vaccines? that is a more classic way of doing it. you ta ke more classic way of doing it. you take the same blueprint, for example a spike protein and you put it inside a virus that is not harmful, for example the common cold virus or in the case of the oxford vaccine, they are using a chimpanzee called iris. he put that in a covid—19 spike gene. —— chimpanzee cold virus. so in some ways, may it‘s a better way to educate our immune systems. we will talk through a couple of vaccine alternatives but is very important stuff. tell us what‘s an inactive whole virus vaccine. people are probably very

familiar with this maybe without realising. that's because most flu vaccines work this way. we grow flu in eggs and then we chemically brutalise the virus that is grown in the egg, bust it to pieces, and you are left with this virus shrapnel which we then inject, or if we don't bust it to pieces, we chemically activate the virus and either way, you end up with inactive bits of virus that are injected into the body. they are picked up by parts of the immune system which then present them to other parts of the immune syste m them to other parts of the immune system saying, look what i've found. this looks like it's bad news, you have to learn how to respond to this. it then makes, especially the pa rt of this. it then makes, especially the part of the immune system which makes antibodies respond, you make protective antibodies. so that if you encounter the virus for real, you encounter the virus for real, you have already got these things in the bloodstream, usually antibodies, that can stick onto the virus for real and stick onto the business end of the virus and then activate it, so it can't then infect you or

spread amongst yourselves and make you ill. love the idea of brutalised shrapnel going around the body. also, another alternative which is protein —based adjuva nt also, another alternative which is protein —based adjuvant vaccines. tell us about that. the other way of doing this is rather than growing a whole virus, which can be difficult, a sometimes dangerous, it's sometimes very, very difficult to do it scale. what you can do instead is you take the gene that the virus uses to make a key part of the virus, that it absolutely relies on to grow in your body and if you inactivated that, the virus wouldn't be able to grow. you growjust that pa rt of be able to grow. you growjust that part of the virus in a cell culture. so in other words you have sales in a dish and you persuade them to take up a dish and you persuade them to take up that genetic message and make or churn out huge amounts of this particular part of the virus. you don't even have to use human cells to do it, the power of the genetic code means that you can use things like yeast, for example. there was

grow without complaint and enormously high densities in flasks and dishes and laboratories. you can make these proteins and collect and purify the protein, there is no danger that you are going to get whole virus or anything that can make a personal and well in there, it'sjust part of make a personal and well in there, it's just part of the make a personal and well in there, it'sjust part of the outer coat, you inject that and you add that something called an adjuvant, and thatis something called an adjuvant, and that is something that makes your immune system sit up and take notice, saying, you need to build a powerful response against this particular chemical and in that way, you can make a little go a very long way. so you don't have to give people enormous doses of the protein in orderto people enormous doses of the protein in order to get a powerful immune response. in that way, one dose, lots of response, immunity for lots of people. thank you for that. let's go to viewers questions. jennifer, lets go all the way back to the moderna vaccine that we heard about yesterday. almost 95% effective

according to the latest data. immanuel wants to know, how do we know whether the moderna vaccine is safe to use? it's a great question. fortu nately, safe to use? it's a great question. fortunately, we have a great system in place that is used by most of the world which is the current clinical trial phases. moderna is in the phase three clinical trial, and tens of thousands of people, so if there are any problems with safety or side effects, vaccine trials are immediately halted and the investigate what is happening. this has happened already with a few trials. there is no way that a virus vaccine would be marketed without having passed its phase three clinical trial in the vast majority of countries. so, if we get one in the uk, we can rest assured that it has been adequately tested despite the speed. and the speed is of the essence, and it‘s been incredible speed what we have witnessed already. chris, a question from paul, it‘s related really, what

could be the long—term effects for those who have the vaccine? hopefully, the long—term effects will be some immunity. we can't tell you how long you will be involved. a of these vaccines are not usually long—term. they wouldn't pass through the regulatory process if they were, but all drugs, all medicines, and all vaccines do have side effects and these are no exception. when the initial trials we re exception. when the initial trials were done, they done, they found they had very mild side—effects, these include things like feeling a bit low, a bit rough, head achy, a bit low, a bit rough, head achy, a bit feverish, for a day or so after the vaccine is administered but then people have not complained of any other long—term consequences of having had these vaccines that have been tested so far, so we are comfortable that they look like they have a good and well tolerated side—effect profile. have a good and well tolerated side-effect profile. jennifer, this goes back to what we have been discussing, the different types of vaccine, is vaccine a live vaccine? just explain what we mean by that.

again, as we‘ve explained a bit, it‘s not a live vaccine in that the moderna vaccine and the pfizer vaccine are based on the blueprint, just the genetic code, the nucleic acid which is injected into the muscle. if you look at vaccines like the oxford vaccine, that is more of live at vector vaccine, it‘s a virus that actually goes in and does a little bit and then peters out, so no, the moderna vaccine is not live. this is a general question about all of the vaccines, whatever comes through in the end, hugh wants to know, if the vaccine is effective, will it mean annual injections like you have an annual flu injection? will it mean annual injections like you have an annualflu injection? at the moment, we don't know. the data that has been announced from pfizer and moderna, their preliminary data, they're based on people who have been vaccinated with their particular product not catching or succumbing to coronavirus in the 14 days or so after the course of

vaccination was completed. at the moment, because we have only known about the virus for a matter of months, and we have only had a virus vaccine trials running for even few months, we don't know what the long—term immunity profile will be. what we do know is that people who catch the infection naturally don't develop long—term immunity and this is something that frequently happens with coronavirus as a family of viruses. there are a couple of things to consider. one is that these viruses might be hard to produce long—term immunity against a nyway produce long—term immunity against anyway and also, we are going to have to wait and see to see if the vaccines do produce long—term immunity. either way, it's vaccines do produce long—term immunity. eitherway, it's a vaccines do produce long—term immunity. either way, it's a waiting game and it may well be that we would have to update the vaccines on, say, an annual basis, so alongside your annual flu shot, you may need an annual coronavirus vaccine if you are acceptable. but we don't know at the moment. —— if you are susceptible. another

question, do any of the vaccines have therapeutic capabilities? in other words, could they be used to treat existing covid—19 patients? other words, could they be used to treat existing covid-19 patients? we don‘t know for sure but i would think this is somewhat unlikely. first of all, it takes a little while for a vaccine to stimulate your immune response. it takes a while to build up the immunity, so if you are in a hospital and you are suffering now, it would come too late. also the question, would it help at that point? because when you have severe covid for example, it is known that this is your body overreacting to the virus. so what‘s causing the problem is your own body, so it‘s an open question whether introducing more immune response would be a good thing. it might bea response would be a good thing. it might be a bad thing. so i don‘t know if this is going to happen. i think it‘s more likely we might use it, it might be possible to see whether if you had it before, you could get a vaccine to prevent reinfection but reinfection is thought to be very rare. so i think this isn‘t something we‘ll be looking for but you never know. chris a similar question here, will

the covid—19 vaccine work or help if a person already has the virus, whether it be a serious or minor case? because there are other therapeutic treatments like... that have come through in the last few months. if you are already infected and don't realise it, when you turn up and don't realise it, when you turn up for immunisation, will that make a difference ? up for immunisation, will that make a difference? and the answer is that it probably won't. we know that people, for instance, are frequently administered a flu vaccine when they are already incubating the flu. it basically gives your immune system and extra bit of a kick and helps you develop a more profound immune response, which if you are going to have an uncomplicated infection, we just help you develop that immune response you need a little bit more potently and faster. it will probably also translate into better long—term immunity against the coronavirus thatjust long—term immunity against the coronavirus that just naturally being infected well, because we are seeing cases of people who are getting reinfected and that's why

the prime minister, borisjohnson, is currently having to quarantine himself away for two weeks because he's been in contact with somebody la st he's been in contact with somebody last thursday he was a known coronavirus case and even though he ended up in intensive care, and even though he says he is bursting with antibodies, he may nevertheless be susceptible and become infected again. last one actually, jennifer, this is from karen. in the vaccine trials and these are going on all around the world at the moment, how other people who are given the vaccine, as opposed to the placebo, how are to the virus to prove that the vaccine is effective? are they injected? how are they given coronavirus? it's not ethical to expose people to a virus to which there is no cure. so essentially, we are relying on people to come into contact with coronavirus through the normal course of affairs and if you

have the placebo, maybe you will get sick and if you have the actualjab, maybe won‘t. the problem in the summer was that there were so few cases of coronavirus around, it was really difficult to test a vaccine which is why a lot of the companies we re which is why a lot of the companies were testing the vaccine and other countries that had more cases being reported. so it‘s not ethical. people have discussed, should we be exposing young people to coronavirus to test a vaccine? but i think that‘s too risky. it even young people can get a serious disease. chris, my last question to you. pretty exciting news with the moderna and the pfizer vaccines. are we getting there? how quickly do you think they are getting there in the general scheme of all these vaccines? last week, jonathan van tam, the deputy chief medical officer, described the announcement from pfizer as a penalty. he said this is the first penalty. yesterday, along comes the moderna result and jonathan van tam is back on the front line saying another

penalty, ball in the back of the net. it's very reassuring that we are seeing two different independent products that admittedly both work the same way, but both declaring very similar rates of success and talking to people in the industry, we are expecting to see a number of the other vaccines which have reached end stage clinical trials now, to begin to declare their results pretty soon. this is encouraging, it means we will have a range of different options and in this game, having a range of options is very important. you don't want to back one horse in a hot one—horse race. doctor chris smith there and jennifer rohn as well, thank you for answering those questions.

tesco, sainsbury‘s and marks and spencer say they are reviewing working practices at one of their indian suppliers — after a bbc investigation found evidence workers were being exploited. women at a factory which makes home textiles for the brands said they were forced to work excessive hours, and weren‘t even allowed toilet breaks. the bbc also heard claims of poor working conditions from staff at an indian supplier to ralph lauren. rajini vaidya nathan reports. in the world of fashion, they are the forgotten — the women who make our clothes. a million miles from the catwalk, they often live in dire poverty, their monthly salaries, barely enough to feed theirfamilies. but these women produce garments for some of the world‘s biggest brands. ralph‘s talent beyond creating beautiful things is his talent to recognise people. ralph lauren‘s clothes don‘t come cheap, but the women we spoke to say they are paying a far higher price. workers at one south indian factory which supplies the label earn as little as £2.50 a day, making clothes that sell for hundreds. they say they are forced to work punishing hours

and even end up sleeping on the factory floor. translation: we are made to work continuously, often through the night. sleeping at 3 am then waking up by five for another full day of work. our bosses don‘t care, they are only bothered about production. translation: they ask us to work so late, i can't even feed my children at night. they shouldn't treat us like slaves, they should give us respect. in a statement, ralph lauren said it was deeply concerned by the allegations and will investigate. "we require all of our suppliers to meet strict operating standards to ensure a safe, healthy and ethical workplace and we conduct regular third—party audits at all factories." the factory concerned has denied all allegations. we also talked to female staff at another indian supplier which produces home furnishings for big british brands such as tesco, marks & spencer and sainsbury‘s. speaking from their village, the women told us they are made to work

in appalling conditions which would be unthinkable to employees at the same brands in the uk. translation: we are not given time to drink water or even to use the bathroom. we barely get time to eat lunch. translation: they have increased our workload. we are forced to stay late to finish it or they yell at us and threaten to fire us. we are scared. in statements, all three supermarkets said they were shocked and troubled to hear the reports. sainsbury‘s said it is insisting on a number of actions the supplier must take in order for us to continue to work with them. tesco has told us that plan includes prohibiting excessive overtime, strengthening grievance procedures and ensuring workers are fully compensated at the correct rates for the hours they have worked, while marks & spencer said it has a robust plan in place and would be undertaking regular unannounced audits to ensure its implementation.

earlier in the year, there was an outcry after allegations of exploitation emerged in british factories supplying the fashion label boohoo. but activists say the bigger issue lies in asia where most of our clothes are made. exploitation happens around the world for people who make our clothes on a regular basis, but it is out of view and people aren‘t engaging with who those people are, but brands really have a responsibility to look at what is happening and their supply chains and say, are those people being treated fairly or are they being exploited? as consumers chase cheaper clothes and brands bank bigger profits, it seems the exploitation of the women who make them is one thing that hasn‘t gone out of fashion. rajini vaidyanathan, bbc news, india. lewis hamilton has been named as the most influential black briton. the formula 1 driverfrom stevenage joins marcus rashford and stormzy on the powerlist 2021.

the regional director for public health england, professor kevin fenton has also made the list. the festive season may be a few weeks away, but in england‘s new forest, the season of pannage is under way. dating back to the 11th century, it allows pig owners to release their livestock into the forest to feed on fallen nuts. but how do owners keep track of their animals once they‘re running wild? shelley phelps has been finding out. roaming free. these tamworth pigs released in september have spent the autumn foraging for acorns around burley. their owner has been mapping their movements using satellite tracking collars. they have a limited amount of time that they can be in the forest for. a couple of months, to three months, probably. this is about keeping in touch with them one way the other because it‘s having thousand acre farm. so who knows where they are,

how they are, what they‘re doing? commoners who own land in the new forest are allowed to release pigs during what‘s known pannage season. acorns are poisonous to cattle and the ponies roaming the new forest. but not to pigs, who seem pretty happy to consume them. they are totally dependent, love being fed, everything is fine and they get to this point where they are allowed to explore the forest and they very insecurely step through the gate and look at what‘s happening and within about a month, they are off. never see them again. having parties everywhere. this year, pannaging has been extended until december. but nigel is getting his pigs out now. despite their size, they cover a lot of ground, trotting up an average of almost eight miles a day all over the village. no surprise then that even in the face of a tasty treat, they are reluctant to go home. shelley phelps, bbc news, the new forest.

now it‘s time for a look at the weather with stav. very mild out there for the time of year, quite breezy, grey and cloudy for most of us, glimmers of brightness across eastern areas but rain and the forecast that is affecting the north—west of scotland thanks to this weather front. you north—west of scotland thanks to this weatherfront. you can north—west of scotland thanks to this weather front. you can see our south—westerly winds coming up from the azores which is why it‘s very mild out there. as we had to be tonight, it stays wet across western scotland, the rain also transfers into northern scotland and the northern isles. a bit of rain pushing into northern ireland and the far south—west as well, but for most, breezy, cloudy and very mild night. into wednesday, an area of low pressure which is going to slowly move its way eastwards, this isa slowly move its way eastwards, this is a cold front introducing colder weather to north and western areas by the end of the day. dry on their ways for a while and that band of rain starts to spread its way eastwards. behind it, it brightens up, blustery showers but it will be

turning much colder, single figure values here, but further east without rain it should still quite mild.

this is bbc news. the headlines: eleven council areas will be placed under scotland‘s toughest coronavirus restrictions for a three week period from 6pm on friday. our would inject it —— objective in taking this action now is to protect the nhs and create the prospect of seeing some of the one at christmas and completing the journey to next spring with as few restrictions as possible and with the minimum impact of life and health. the health secretary says he can‘t confirm which restrictions will be in place once the lockdown in england ends at the beginning of next month, amid reports the tier system could be strengthened. mr speaker it is too early to do the analysis that the honourable gentleman requests but of course we remain