this is bbc news, i'm tim willcox. the headlines at 8. tough new covid restrictions for parts of scotland which won't be lifted until a fortnight before christmas. more than two million people are affected. these decisions will give us the best possible chance, albeit in a limited and careful way, of being able to ease restrictions in all parts of scotland for christmas. 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. the former labour leader, jeremy corbyn, says he's "pleased" to be readmitted to the party — following his suspension last month over his reaction to a report on anti—semitism. the spanish businessman

paid £21 million of taxpayers money for acting as a go—between to secure ppe for nhs staff. and a new era in commercial space travel begins, the first fully operational private flight takes astonauts to the international space station. large parts of scotland are being put into effective lockdown from friday until just two weeks before christmas to try to reverse worryingly high infection rates. more than 2.5 million people will be affected in glasgow, as well as east and south ayrshire, renfrewshire and east renfrewshire, west and east dunbartonshire, north and south lanarkshire, stirling and west lothian.

nonessential shops, bars, restaurants, hairdressers and visitor attractions will close, nonessential travel outside local council areas is now against the law in tier 4. anyone flouting the rules could be arrested. but schools, nurseries and essential shops can stay open. our scotland editor sarah smith is in glasgow. maryhill road in glasgow, the city where scotland's infection rates are highest, and so tougher rules are to be imposed from friday. under level four restrictions schools like this will stay open, as will the huge supermarket down the road. butjust about every other business in between, the shops, cafes, barbers, beauticians and the bookies, they will all have to close for three weeks. existing restrictions preventing any performances mean this dancewear shop is already suffering. so you are going to have to close? it is a devastating blow, we have already been locked down

before and now we are going back into it again. the florist shop closed in the spring but hopes to keep some orders going this time. so you have heard about the new restrictions? if we have to close, it will be online orders, telephone orders and basically we will be delivering those orders without customers coming in store. the lowest tier of the restrictions is closer to normal, allowing for larger indoor meetings. in level one the rule of six from two household kicks in. but meeting in homes is only allowed in some level one areas. in others, it is the same as level two where people are banned from socialising in each other‘s homes. in this level, pubs and restaurants can only serve alcohol indoors with a main meal. in level three, cafes must shut at 6:00 and can't serve alcohol. in level four, it is closer to a full lockdown. non—essential shops are closed as well as all hospitality settings and entertainment venues, but schools remain open.

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. the scottish labour leader asked why some areas with falling transmission rates were being put into level four. what assurance can she give them and millions of others moving to level four this friday that this time three weeks really does mean just three weeks? the level four restrictions will end on 11th december and then we will decide what levels these areas go into then. until then, more than 2 million people in scotland are basically being told to stay inside. rubbish. total rubbish. i mean, i'll be honest, i might have to put the key in the door. my business might be finished. it needs to be done, so i think too many people have gotten too used to just getting a bit more relaxed.

these tough restrictions are due to end on december 11th. our scotland editor sarah smith. a little earlier, she explained that these restrictions could be extended if infection rates don't go down. what the first minister said the plan is at the moment, that's what will be put in the law by the end of the week but of course, if transmission rates don't go down, if case numbers are still rising, we will have no choice other than to keep these tough restrictions in place. everybody is really hoping that level four restrictions will tackle some of the most stubborn areas of scotland. if it works and we get more freedom over christmas, of course everybody will be very grateful but some small businesses are warning that even just this three—week reset could be enough to send them to the wall. now, level four restrictions really are quite onerous. they are pretty much the same as the current lockdown rules that you have across england but unlike in england, and nicola sturgeon was really keen to stress this, unlike in england, it is not a one size fits all lockdown across the country, so those areas

like the highlands and the islands and moray, where they have a lower rates of transmission, they don't have to live with these really tough restrictions. if you have different rules in different parts of the country, then that could cause problems. that's why the scottish government are going to make it illegal to travel outside your local council area and they will put that into law by the end of the week and so, you are not only allowed out of your house for essential reasons and you are not allowed outside your local authority area for any reason and that it is absolutely essential and that is to try and stop people in areas of high infection spreading it to ones with low infections. we've it to ones with low infections. just had some figure for we've just had some figures through for the total number of uk deaths within 28 days of a positive test in the last 2a hours and they are 598 deaths today, the figures coming in

today, 213 on monday. that follows ons, the office for national statistics, they were showing a 40% increase in excess deaths in the past few weeks as well. those are the latest death figures though justin. 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. paul hunter is professor in medicine at the university of east anglia. he's been advising the world health organization on covid—19. good evening. it's all a bit up in the air, isn't it? it's not quite clear what we will return to on december the 2nd. let's just look at

the tier system as it exists at the moment. has it worked? because there was a suggestion that tea is one to two were almost irrelevant. absolutely. the system as a whole seemed to be having an effect because up until the first week in november, daily cases were plateauing and in fact, even hospitalisations were slowing as well, so there was some evidence that even before the lockdown, the previous tier system was working. when you look at it to a certain extent, when you look at it in more detail, tier 3 seems to be actually working very well and most of the local authorities that were in tier 3 was seeing quite acceptable declines in transmission of the virus. tier 1, as it has been said, probably wasn't doing much good at

all and tier 2 was enough for some authorities, but not enough for many others that probably should have been up in tier 3. is there an argument for a tear for? just one stage below lockdown, which would allow perhaps a little bit more movement in the run—up to christmas and christmas itself? possibly. i think looking at those authorities in tier3, up think looking at those authorities in tier 3, up until the current lockdown, most of them actually had oui’ lockdown, most of them actually had our numbers less than one. so, tier 3 was working pretty well. i think the big problem was the delays in moving local authorities up into higher tiers when it was obvious

that that was what needed to be done andi that that was what needed to be done and i think, given that every week, you delay, you get a substantial increase in the number of cases in your local authority, those sorts of delays were inadvertently leading to bigger epidemics in those affected local authorities. on a general level though, isn't this all a bit sort of circular? you clamp—down, you raise the level, you can stop it there, you flatten the r number. as $0011 there, you flatten the r number. as 50011 as you there, you flatten the r number. as soon as you relax it, especially around christmas time, things will get worse again. so you can have a bit of a blow out on christmas over a few days, but then we will be punished for it injanuary and this will continue until the vaccine has any impact, but that could be months away. yeah, but don't forget that during the winter, coronaviruses

such as coronavirus do seem to spread, so even without a vaccine coming up, as we spread, so even without a vaccine coming up, as we move spread, so even without a vaccine coming up, as we move into spring, things would have got better anyway and if we do have a vaccine by then, we will be able to relax i think even further. but you're quite right, areas that once they have moved into tier 3 would struggle to moved into tier 3 would struggle to move back down again until case numbers had dropped substantially and we saw this in the spring that case numbers increase very quickly up case numbers increase very quickly up till the peak, but then often ta ke up till the peak, but then often take four times as long to get back down again to low numbers. i think that's one of the problem is that we are likely to see with this lockdown. with the surge in cases that we've seen over the past few days, possibly as a result of people enjoying the last few days before

the lockdown, we might well have to wait. the whole of this lockdown to actually mitigate the impact of that first week surge. just briefly, looking ahead to christmas itself, would you need something to be on a national level here? because if people are going to move around, travel around, be with their families for a few days, wouldn't it make sense for the whole country to be on the same level, rather than getting tier1 be on the same level, rather than getting tier 1 people be on the same level, rather than getting tier1 people travelling up to tier 3 or beyond? yes. i think for a very short few number of days over christmas, i think you are absolutely right, if we are going to make some relaxations, it would be very ha rd make some relaxations, it would be very hard unless something dreadful happened in the epidemic before then, to say that people in certain parts of the areas can't drive across borders to visit their

relatives. i think we can have some degree of relaxation over a few days around christmas for people to get together, providing obviously that none of them are suffering symptoms and may be if we are going to visit particularly vulnerable relatives, that that might be an appropriate time for one of these rapid covid tests if they are available. professor paul hunter, thank you for joining us. and we'll find out how this story, and many others, are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:40 and 11:30 this evening in the papers. our guestsjoining me tonight are broadcaster david davies and katy balls, deputy political editor of the spectator. the bbc understands the former labour leaderjeremy corbyn has been reinstated into the party. he was suspended when he suggested

the scale of anti—semitism in the labour party had been exaggerated. our political correspondent, iain watson gave us this update from westminster. i think it was inevitable, not necessarily because of the statement, but because people at the top of the party did not want this to become a kind of running sore, certainly those on the left of the party would be gearing up for a campaign to try and get jeremy corbyn reinstated, so i think discussions were held behind—the—scenes, before a disciplinary panel, members of labour's ruling national executive met this afternoon. but it's certainly possible that they could have reached a different conclusion, because some people, even on the left of the party, on mr corbyn's wing of the party, had been pressing for him to apologise for his earlier comments. he didn't do that, what he did do is issue a clarification. that clarification went along these lines. initially, he had said that the problem had been dramatically overstated by political opponents, it was that phrase which got him suspended from the labour party.

so keir starmer, the current labour leader, suggested that those who said the problem was exaggerated the part of the problem themselves, so he supported that suspension. the clarification said that the concerns about anti—semitism were not exaggerated and were not overstated and mr corbyn said he wasn't trying to belittle those concerns, so he simply explained that he believed the vast majority of labour party members were deeply opposed to anti—semitism, that was what he was trying to communicate at the time and it looks as though that clarification has helped get him reinstated. he was also reminded of labour's values, but there will be people who believe that further sanctions should have been taken againstjeremy corbyn, given that he presided over this period of labour's history, where i think complaints about how anti—semitism was handled, about the party were particularly controversial and that report that you mention from the equality and human rights commission was described as a day of shame

by the current labour leader, so keir starmer. tonight certainly, thejewish labour movement, who had complained to the party about its handling of anti—semitism, said that today's decision will simply embolden people who agree withjeremy corbyn and they denounced the fact that he hadn't apologised. the british board, sorry, the board of deputies of britishjews, i should say, have also been commenting today as well, they were talking about a lack of leadership and they said that his clarification was a pathetic non—apology. so, so keir starmer really wants to draw a line under this toxic period in labour's recent past, he still hasn't succeeded. let's speak now to marie van der zyl, president of the board of deputies of britishjews. i'm not sure if you would hear what ian watson had to say. you

paraphrase what you thought butjust talk us through what your reaction is and what this means for the leadership, you think, of keir starmer. thank you very much. the decision today, let's face it, was a com plete decision today, let's face it, was a complete sham and the so—called attempt at an apology byjeremy corbin should be consigned to the dustbin of history. having been ordered to implement an independent disciplinary process by the equality and human rights commission, what we have seen here is nothing more than the politicisation of this process byjeremy corbyn supporters. it's com pletely byjeremy corbyn supporters. it's completely unacceptable. this morning, injeremy corbyn's apology, he said he wanted a swift resolution. quite clearly, his supporters have just done that. they have politicised the whole process, whilst others, other cases, hundreds

of cases, are clearly languishing, but of course his has gone to the top of the queue and this clearly is not an appropriate outcome. let me just interrupted because on that statement which he put out on facebook, he said we must never tolerate anti—semitism or belittle concerns about it. i regret the pain this issue has caused thejewish community. doesn't that go some way to an apology. absolutely not. i've a lwa ys to an apology. absolutely not. i've always said it's to an apology. absolutely not. i've always said its action not words. hang on, but that's what he said, so actions not words, that was his statement, so in terms of what he expressed, doesn't that go towards apologising? know, because he's a man who was anti—semitism from the very fringes of society right into the heart of the labour party. that is not an apology appalled. he quite clearly didn't want to be suspended, that's a sincere apology, and it's

not good enough. that's the position. keir starmer‘s response, i have to say, i don't know if you've seen it, has alsojust have to say, i don't know if you've seen it, has also just been have to say, i don't know if you've seen it, has alsojust been issued on twitter just seen it, has alsojust been issued on twitterjust in the last few minutes. he describes this as another painful day and i have to say, iam another painful day and i have to say, i am extremely disappointed by keir starmer‘s response because his response to this is absolutely pivotal and really, the whip should have been suspended and i understand this was a national executive decision but there is now a huge mountain to climb for the labour party to have the goodwill of the jewish community restored and this isa jewish community restored and this is a major setback. the report in 2016, it said that the party wasn't overrun by semitism. she has been

helping jeremy corbyn during this process. what you think her position should be now? i'll tell you what i said in 2016 straightaway and i will repeat it today. her report was nothing but a whitewash. i don't know what they're playing at, but quite clearly, the equality and human rights commission was a damning indictment of labour which has been found guilty of unlawful a cts has been found guilty of unlawful acts of discrimination and victimisation. it doesn't get much worse than that. what's the position of the board of deputies of british jews towards the labour party? and in particular, jewish mps. because we have had some mps who have resigned over the past two or three yea rs. resigned over the past two or three years. so what is your position now under a new leader? well, he had, on the first day of election, he said a heartfelt apology to the jewish

community and we made an extremely good start and he said that he would implement the e hrc report, which he has to in full. but quite clearly, just describing what has happened tonight is painful. it's totally unacceptable. it means that labour has an even bigger mountain to climb. how will it affect your attitude towards the labour party under its new leadership? it's a major setback. what does that mean though? what action, what position will you be taking now? i'm going to continue with my communal colleagues to advocate for the jewish community against anti—semitism in all forms of racism. we will stand up for what is right and we will continue to say that the labour party needs to implement now as a matter of urgency the e hrc report. i hope that keir starmer may have the chance to

reflect upon his statement because he always said to me straightaway that he would be judged he always said to me straightaway that he would bejudged upon his actions and not his words, so i'm now going to look and see what i going to be the actions of the labour party leadership? . thank you for joining labour party leadership? . thank you forjoining us. a spanish businessman, who acted as a go—between to secure protective garments for nhs staff in the coronavirus pandemic, was paid £21 million of taxpayers' money. the consultant had been in line for millions more according to court documents in florida seen by bbc news. as our special correspondent, lucy manning, reports the legal papers also reveal the american supplier of the ppe called the deals "lucrative". designer jewellery from a miami company is some way from the uk's struggle to get protective equipment. but the owner of miansai moved from pendants to ppe during the covid crisis, winning uk contracts worth hundreds of millions of pounds.

the owner, michael saiger, says he had business connections in china and court documents from america showjust how lucrative his new venture has been. notjust for him but the man he paid to help him, a spaniard called gabriel gonzalez andersson. the two men fell out, prompting a court case in miami. the legal documents open the lid on just how british taxpayers' money was being spent. gabriel andersson was, the court documents make clear, to help with product sourcing, logistics and quality control. the contract says that when the department for health and social care got the ppe, andersson would then be paid what was described as a consulting fee. byjune, saiger had successfully delivered two ppe shipments to the uk. for helping with that, gabriel andersson was paid a consulting fee of $28 million. that's about £21 million.

the court documents say saiger‘s contracts with the government were lucrative and mr andersson did very well from them. the uk put in more orders. there were three more contracts agreed which would yield yet more money for the subcontractor gabriel andersson. a dealfor1 million boxes of gloves, the consulting fee was more than $1.5 million. for another contract for 3 million boxes of gloves the fee was more than $3.5 million. and a final contract for 10 million gowns for the uk government and andersson would get $16 million. but it is claimed andersson didn't fulfil his role in these contracts and it led to delays delivering the ppe to nhs staff. the campaign group the good law project, is planning to challenge the government in court over the deal. i don't blame saiger for making these vast profits. if government is handing out free money, then by all

means stand in line. the real criticism that is to be made here is of the huge profits that government allowed to be generated. in a statement, saiger said, "at no time have we ever used any middlemen. we have few full—time staff so for large projects we bring in short—term contractors for additional expertise. we are exceptionally proud to have played our part in providing front—line workers with the millions of pieces of ppe they need." the department of health said, "we have been working tirelessly to deliver ppe, delivering more than 4.9 billion items. proper due diligence is carried out for all government contracts and we take these checks extremely seriously." in august the bbc revealed the government bought 50 million masks that couldn't be used in the nhs and it is likely to face more criticism tomorrow when the spending watchdog publishes its report into how ppe was purchased. lucy manning, bbc news.

now it's time for a look at the weather with stav danaos. hi there, staying very mild during the course of the night for many areas. most places will be dry as well and breezy, but there will be further, heavy and persistent rain which will affect western and northern scotland and the northern isles as well, courtesy of this area of low pressure and its weather front. this cold front will be slowly encroaching on as well by the end of the night, affecting western parts of northern ireland as well. we could see the odd spot of rain across western hills of england and wales. most places will be dry, breezy, cloudy and very mild. look at these temperatures, lows of 11 to 1a degrees. so, we have our area of low pressure with us, slowly pushing eastwards during the course of wednesday. it starts breezy, cloudy and mild and dry across eastern areas, but the rain in the west will start to move eastward through the course of the day. behind it, it brightens up, with some sunshine, few blustery showers, but it will turn much colder behind that cold front is the name suggests. single figure values here, the last of the milder

air across the east. hello, this is bbc news with me, tim willcox. the headlines: 11 council areas will be placed under scotland's toughest coronavirus restrictions for a three—week period from 6pm 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. the former labour leader jeremy corbyn says he's pleased to be readmitted to the party, following his suspension last month over his reaction

to a report on anti—semitism. a bbc investigation into the awarding of ppe contracts shows £21 million of taxpayers money was paid in consulting fees to a recently formed firm in miami, florida. and a new era in commercial space travel begins — the first fully operational private flight takes astronauts to the international space station. people living in social housing in england will have more protection and rights to demand things like improvements to their homes under new reforms in the wake of the grenfell fire tragedy in 2017. the government says the changes mean the voices of residents will never again go unheard. but questions remain over whether enough new social homes are being built, with more than 90,000 households currently living in temporary accomodation. our home editor, mark easton, has more.

from the shock and grief of the grenfell tower tragedy, there came a painful realisation that for far too long the voices of social housing tenants had been ignored or silenced. long after the tv cameras have gone and the world has moved on, let the legacy of this awful tragedy be that we resolve never to forget these people. despite the prime ministerial commitment, it took more than three years to produce today's social housing white paper. it proposes a charter of resident rights, including to be safe in your home, to have complaints dealt with promptly and fairly, and to have your voice heard with stronger regulation. when things do go wrong, we want to make sure you can get redress quickly and easily, with a much more consumer focused regulator who will take action to ensure people's rights are actually respected and upheld. hisam lost six members of his family on the 22nd floor of grenfell tower, including his mother and sister.

today's charter, he says, is a disappointment, simply stating what should have always been the case. we want justice, people to be prosecuted. we want to make sure that this does not happen ever again. you don't think that today's white paper takes you part of the way? no. no. the government had said that, as well as action on tenants' rights, their proposals would boost the supply of social housing, but actually there is no firm commitment in the document, despite a growing and desperate need. in the summer, a senior committee of mps told the government england needed 90,000 net additional social homes every year. for the last five years, there have been fewer than 10,000. the most recent annual figures show 6,300 were added, while 19,300 were sold off under right to buy. the government has allowed the housing market to become

tilted towards a private rented underregulated sector and has failed to give the sort of support that's need both for social housing landlords and for social housing tenants. so here we are today with a white paper that promises better rights for social housing tenants but does nothing about supply. ministers say today that they want today's social housing plans to ensure tenants are treated with dignity and respect. whether it will prove the generational shift in attitudes they have promised remains an open question. mark easton, bbc news, g re nfell tower. france has become the first country in europe to register more than two million cases of coronavirus — only the us, india and brazil have recorded more. france will remain under a national lockdown until at least 1st december. its health minister, olivier veran, says the spread of the virus has slowed down, but it is still circulating widely.

the peer lord ahmed of rotherham has announced his retirement following a highly critical report about his conduct, which has been published by the house of lords. the conduct committee found that the 63—year—old had sexually exploited a vulnerable woman. she went public with her complaint, which he denied, but it's been largely upheld. 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 their families. 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 3am 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 orderfor 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. more than 2.5 half million people are to be placed under scotland's toughest covid lockdown restrictions from friday. 11 council areas across western and central scotland, including glasgow, will move to level four restrictions until at least 11th december. nonessential shops, pubs, restaurants and gyms will have to close, although schools will still be open. here's the first minister, nicola sturgeon, 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. let's speak now to colin wilkinson, managing director of the scottish licensed trade association. good evening to you. it is going to

be even more pain for your members, but for the common good? well, the announcement today is he was to possible news for the licensed hospitality trade in scotland, and there will be many operators tonight are seriously considering if they have any future for their business at all. that is how serious it is. yes, of course, we all want to support the suppression of this virus, and the licensed trade has been delivering what it has been asked to do some but we have to remember that we are a sector in crisis, and there is the threat of hundreds of business closures, and thousands of job losses, hundreds of business closures, and thousands ofjob losses, so there has to be some sort of balance, and we do need support if we are to be closed, and we need that support urgently. do you accept, though, that by being forced to close, this will improve the r number and bring down the number of cases? well, pubs, bars and restaurants in the central belt of scotland were closed

for three weeks in october, and it would seem to suggest that the r rate increased, that it has not helped or it has done very little. so we have always been asking, where is the evidence to show that the hospitality trade is a causal route of infection? so far, the scottish government have not provided that. you talked about the impact this will have on your members. can you give us a bit more detail about people who have struggled thus far, and perhaps have had mortgage holidays, i don't know if they have had any help with the rights or freezing of rights, i mean, what is being done, and how desperate are some of them? well, even some of our members in levels two and three have already taken the reluctant decision to close their premises, because it justis to close their premises, because it just is not viable. there are various grants available, and support, but these go nowhere near helping businesses to be viable and

to be able to carry on as best as they can. will they be shut for good, or are peoplejust hoping that when all these moves on, they can start again? well, effectively, level four, that being introduced effectively signals permanent closure for many businesses. when you consider that the average cost to stay closed for a business is about £11,000 a month, the grants go nowhere near covering that, it is a very bleak outlook for many people, and that is not much optimism, i have to say, in scotland at the present time. it will be a miracle, but we do need to be here so we can be part of the rebuilding of the scottish economy, we are an important factor in that. nicola sturgeon said that this level four would be short and sharp, and she, like other political leaders, are wanting to lift some of these

restrictions before christmas. i mean, is that reassuring? well, you can't take anything for granted, we have been told things would be in place and we would come out of certain restrictions. until we actually know on the 11th of december, nobody is holding out much hope, and we have to be realistic here — if we are going to have some kind of ceasefire and open up things a bit more over the christmas period, a few days business is not going to recover the losses that we have experienced in an industry since the pandemic first started. no, 0k, since the pandemic first started. no, ok, colin wilkinson of the scottish licensed trade association, thank you very much forjoining us. lewis hamilton says being formula 1's most successful driver will mean nothing unless he can continue to lead the fight against racism in the sport. the mercedes driver equalled michael schumacher‘s record of seven world titles as he won the turkish grand prix in istanbul. it comes as hamilton was today voted

number one in this year's powerlist, which showcases the most powerful people of african, african—caribbean and african—american heritage in the uk. he is the first sports star in the list‘s14—year history to claim the top spot in the list, which this year included rapper stormzy at number three. i don't know if you saw any of that grand prix in istanbul, terrible driving conditions! and thinking back to sunday's race in turkey, cbs's gayle king asked lewis hamilton him how he felt, starting in sixth place. honestly, i just wanted to go out and have fun. and i had no idea what would happen, but of course i always have that belief, that i can make it to the front. but all those obstacles came, and i did 50 laps on one set of tyres, which is... very unusual. you even ignored the team telling you, "come in and change tyres." you didn't do that. but listen, lap 37, you took the lead.

37 out of 58. you took the lead, you never looked back. but this is the thing that struck me. when you pulled in and you won, normally you hop out of the car, you greet your team, greet your crew, but you sat in the car. it was clearly a very emotional moment for you. what were you thinking at that moment? honestly, i've been racing for 27 years. and it's always been a dream to be not only in formula 1 but... i watched michael schumacher win those seven world titles, and it was such a far—fetched dream. but i kept believing that i could potentially get there. you had the highs and the lows, and i think as i came across the line the build—up of that last lap, the fact that it was right in front of me — "i've just got to stay on the track, don't make mistakes, keep believing in yourself." and i did, all the way. and so ijust burst out in tears as i came across the line. and i just couldn't get out of the car because ijust couldn't believe it. were you thinking about your dad, too? yeah, just thinking about... a lot of my life kind

of flashed before my eyes. and particularlyjust knowing that my dad worked so hard, at one stage having fourjobs. and just having such belief. i felt like i finally accomplished what we set out to do. and hopefully he feels that it was worth the hard work. well, 14 years ago you started as the only black race car driver in formula 1. 14 years later, you are still the only black race car driver in formula 1. and you write this... you said, "being the first black anything is a proud and lonely walk." help us understand what it's been like for you. yeah, well, we started out, as i said, back in 1992 or ‘93, and we were always the only black family on the scene. honestly, i thought that by the time i got to formula 1, mejust being there would break down barriers, would open up doors and encourage it to be a more diverse sport. but i realised last year, after 14 years, that that has barely shifted.

now you're speaking out about this now. yeah, it was difficult. i tried to speak about it in the past, but there was always a bit of push back, and it wasn't the easiest thing to speak about. but i think, particularly this year with the black lives matter movement, there's been an awakening and an opportunity to use your voice. and i felt such a responsibility to my niece and nephew, who are biracial, to all of the young kids, particularly black and the minorities out there, who feel potentially like they don't have a voice. i was like, "i've got to use this platform to help encourage." and no—one's doing their homework to find out why our sport is not diverse, so i've put together a commission to really try and find out what the barriers are and see how we can find a real platform to be able to open up the doors for young black kids to get into stem and engineering. and you've challenged mercedes. you've asked them some very tough questions. but your contract negotiations

are under way. i love toto wolff, too. should toto back up the truck? orare you thinking, let's discuss this, fellas? because there are rumours that you're thinking about walking away. ten seconds, lewis! i love doing what i'm doing, and, honestly, winning this seventh world title is an incredible thing. but i think we've still got this fight for racial equality. lewis hamilton talking to gayle king. a private spacecraft, built and operated by spacex, has docked at the international space station. it's the first time that a fully operational private craft has transported astronauts from earth to the station. the four astronauts — three from the us and one from japan — will be spending the next six months there. our science correspondent victoria gill reports. let us know when your review is complete and you are ready for docking.

dragon, spacex — soft capture confirmed. docking sequence is complete. welcome to the iss, resilience. the end of a 27—hour taxi ride to space. and there they are, first across the hatch mike hopkins. and here's victor glover. for the first time, four astronauts have arrived for their mission on the internation space station aboard a commercial spacecraft. nasa's michael hopkins, victor glover and shannon walker and the japanese space agency astronaut soichi noguchi will spend about six months living and working on the space station. it was an amazing ride. i cannot tell you how excited we were when that rocket lifted off the pad, and the last 27 hours, it's gone really smoothly. three, two, one, zero. ignition. sunday night's spacex launch marked a new era for nasa —

one in which it buys seats for its astronauts from a private aerospace company. it's a move the us space agency says will save it billions of dollars that it can invest in future missions to the moon and mars. why is this flight such a big moment for space exploration? it's really exciting times. companies like spacex are reusing so many parts of their rocket. the first—stage boosters, the nose fairings, all being captured. it's really pushing what we can do with technology to the limits. but it's bringing down the cost of access to space. for this crew, when their mission is done in 2021, their private space taxi will be waiting to bring them home. victoria gill, bbc news. ajapanese institute has created a robot to make people obey coronavirus rules in a social experiment in a football club shop in osaka. the robot is equipped with 3d sensors and camera to detect customers who aren't complying with keeping apart and wearing facemasks.

the developer believes customers will more readly accept instructions from a robot than a human and says it's part of research to establish a society where people and robots co—exist. waiting patiently for the instructions to go! 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 a 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. just back in time for christmas! the weather now with stav. hello there. it's been very mild these last couple of days, much milder what we expect for this time of year, certainly, and it's all because we've been dragging our air from the south west ahead of this area of low pressure, which has brought some very wet weather, in fact, to northern and western parts of scotland and into northern ireland. as we head through wednesday, it looks like that weather front bringing the rain in the west will start to migrate its way eastward. so after a dry, windy, mild, cloudy start in the south east, the patchy rain will arrive here later in the day. but behind it, skies brighten up

with some blustery showers around, and behind that cold front, it'll turn much colder, as the name suggests. ahead of it, though, it stays mild until the weather front clears through. then through wednesday night, we start to see a real plunge of arctic air spread southwards, with some showers or longer spells of rain spreading southwards, likely to see some sleet and snow develop over the north pennines and over the scottish mountains. and here a cold night to come with even a risk of some ice in places, turning colder gradually in the south too. so into thursday, we're pretty much all in that colder air mass. a brief ridge of high pressure will be slowly building in from the west. but you'll notice a real squeeze in the isobars across northern and eastern areas. so here it's going to start windy through the day on thursday, with some gales for a time, a band of showery rain will spread its way southwards, and we'll continue to see some wintry showers affecting scotland. but as that ridge of high pressure continues to build in, that'll slowly kill off the showers, so turning drier with increasing amounts of sunshine into the afternoon. but it's going to be a much colder day that what we've been used to, certainly at the start of the week,

with temperatures in low single digits in the north, just about 7—10 degrees in the south. that ridge of high pressure is short—lived, and so is the cold air, because as we move on into friday, weatherfronts begin to move in off the atlantic along with some milder air. so it does start dry and chilly in the north and the east of the country for friday. the rain out west, though, will spread to pretty much most areas, i think, by the time we reach the afternoon. and there'll be milder air pushing into the west as well, temperatures 12 to 13 degrees with belfast and cardiff, still some cooler air in the east until the mild air arrives later in the day. and then as we head on into the weekend, low pressure sits to the north of the country, lots of isobars on the charts, higher pressure to the south. so it's going to be a very windy start to the weekend with gales, particularly across northern half the country. showers or longer spells of rain associated with the weather fronts will be sinking southwards, ending up in england and wales into the afternoon. blustery showers will follow on across northwest scotland, but for the most part, it'll generally be mild, certainly early on. but it will start to cool down

from the north behind this weather front as it sinks southwards as we head on into sunday. again, low pressure to the north. so here it will be very windy with gales continuing for scotland, northern ireland, the far north of england, blustery showers. these will be wintry over the hills. england and wales closer to an area of high pressure and lighter winds here. and a good deal of sunshine around, too. and we'll see a north—south divide in temperatures, single figures in the north. it'll feel cold in those strong winds, 10—12 degrees in the south. we continue to hold on to high pressure across southern and eastern parts of the country as we head on the start of the following week. but then as we move through the week, then it looks like the jet stream will take aim back at the uk and will steer weather systems in that direction, particularly affecting northern and western areas. so it does look like through sunday and into the start of the following week, high pressure will keep things generally dry and settled before low pressure starts to move in to bring outbreaks of rain and stronger winds, particularly for the north and the west of the country.

this is bbc news. coronavirus is surging from the atlantic to the pacific, and america's seeing record hospitalisations. in the most unvarnished picture of the pandemic so far, the white house task force says the efforts to flatten the curve are wholly inadequate. more than 73,000 americans are sick from covid—19 and needing hospital care, with cases rising in 49 states. georgia is on everyone's mind — especially senator lindsey graham, who's been asking pointed questions about vote counting there on behalf of president trump. also in the programme. borisjohnson tells his own mp's devolution had been a "disaster" in scotland and has been exploited by nationalists and separitists. so where does that leave the fight for scottish independence? and in case you missed it,