this is bbc news i'm kasia madera. the headlines at 8pm. as their trials approach the final stages, researchers in oxford working with astrazeneca say the latest data suggests theirjab works well on older people. results are really, really encouraging, and because this means we might be able to offer protection to the vulnerable age groups, the elderly who are particularly susceptible to severe disease. a draft report into claims that the home secretary, priti patel, had bullied staff concluded this summer that she had broken rules on ministerial behaviour. modernising britain's defence — the armed forces are given billions of pounds to fund space and cyber projects. a 300 million pound rescue package for 11 sports, struggling without spectators

because of coronavirus. britain's top literary prize, the booker prize for fiction, has gone to the scottish author douglas stuart for his novel, shuggie bain. good evening and welcome to bbc news. there's yet more encouraging news about coronavirus vaccines tonight. this time from researchers in oxford who are working with the pharmaceutical company astrazeneca. britain has ordered 100 million doses of this vaccine. researchers say trials have so far shown a promising immune response for people in their 60s and 70s. final data on how well it works should be ready by christmas. the vaccine is easy to store and cheaper than the ones being developed by pfizer and moderna.

here's our medical editor, fergus walsh. go right in. hi. it is volunteers like ian from southampton who are crucial to vaccine trials. how are you feeling today? we were there injuly when he received the first of two doses as part of the oxford astrazeneca trial, but we are only finding out today how the over 70s are responding to the jab. why did you sign up for the trial? i have become aware that the side effect of this disease are so much more than just a respiratory illness. you know if i can help it, here i am. the phase two study involved 560 volunteers, 240 aged 70 or over. they were given two injections a month apart. the results showed that covid vaccine produced a robust immune response across all ages,

including the over 70s. older adults reported fewer side effects which were, in any case, generally mild, and included sore arms, fatigue and headaches. as you get older, your immune system becomes less effective and that leaves you more vulnerable to infections and it usually means you are also less able to respond to vaccines. so our results are really, really encouraging because this means that we might be able to offer protection to more vulnerable age groups, the elderly, who are particularly susceptible severe disease. vaccines work by training the immune system to recognise and remember the enemy. in this case, coronavirus. the oxford vaccine stimulates the creation of specialist y shaped proteins known as neutralising antibodies. in the event of future exposure, these should latch onto the coronavirus and prevent infection.

it also stimulates the creation of t cells, another key part of the immune system. these should sweep up after the antibodies and destroy any cells that have become infected. but we don't know yet whether the oxford astrazeneca vaccine actually protects against disease. those vital results from bigger trials are due soon. if it works, there could be three effective covid vaccines coming on stream before christmas. we need about 60—70% of the population to take up the vaccine. so, once the vaccines get approval, it is really important to get the message out that these vaccines are safe and we do need people to have the vaccine in order that we can start to relax all these social distancing measures in the new year. astrazeneca said tonight it has delivered 4 million vials of its vaccine for the uk. the government has ordered

100 million doses, which cost around £3 each. it is cheaper, easier to produce and store than the pfizer and moderna vaccines, but they are both more than 90% effective. the hope is the oxford astrazeneca jab will workjust as well. fergus walsh, bbc news. the latest government figures show there were 22,915 new coronavirus infections recorded in the latest 24—hour period. that means that the average number of new cases reported per day in the last week is now 23,294. 1,744 people have been admitted to hospital on average each day over the week to last saturday. and 501 deaths were reported — that's people who died within 28 days of a positive covid—19 test. it means on average in the past week — 407 deaths were announced every day.

it takes the total number of deaths so far across the uk to 53,775. the transport secretary has added some more countries to the travel corridors list. grant shapps tweeted that countries including israel, sri lanka and the us virgin islands have been added to the list. if you arrive in england, wales and northern ireland from those countries after 4am this saturday 21st nov you will not need to self—isolate. no countries have been removed from the list this week. we will have more in coronavirus —— and we'll have more on coronavirus in the hour and also in tomorrow's front pages at around 10:30 and 11:30 this evening in the papers — our guestsjoining me tonight are broadcaster henry bonsu, and former trade minister lord digbyjones. i hope you canjoin us. a draft report into the home secretary's conduct concluded that priti patel did break the rules on ministers behaviour, according to sources

familiar with the contents. the draft report was completed this summer but not made public. the cabinet office began an inquiry into her conduct after the most senior official at the home office, sir philip rutnam, resigned in february. he alleged that staff felt she "created fear" in the department and he is suing the home office for unfair dismissal. 0ur political editor laura kuenssberg reports good morning. morning. she is the most powerful woman in the cabinet, long—standing brexiteer backer of borisjohnson, in charge of the police, immigration, one of the most importantjobs in the government. but since february, there has been a shadow hanging over priti patel because of this. dramatic claims made by the man who was hurt most senior official. i have received allegations that her conduct has included shouting and swearing, belittling people, making unreasonable and repeated demands, behaviour that created fear and needed some bravery to call out.

he quit but she wanted to stay so the government launched an investigation into what really happened and now, months on, perhaps it is starting to become clear. one source told me that the draft report concluded way back in the summer, says priti patel had not met the requirements of the ministerial code to treat civil servants with consideration and respect, and they said the investigation had found some evidence of bullying, even if it was not intentional. another source said the report was unambiguous that priti patel had broken the code, the rules that are meant to govern how ministers behave. yet for her part, here at the home office, priti patel has always firmly denied doing anything wrong. are you a workplace bully, home secretary? the reports looked at her behaviour in three different departments and one government source told me it does not always give a flattering picture

of what priti patel encountered. and the man who, until recently, was by the prime minister's side confirmed the findings have been in borisjohnson‘s intray for a while but implied that if priti patel was found to have broken the rules, she might not have to quit. the prime minister wanted his advice and the prime minister needs to reflect and make a decision, that, as i understand it, intro. the expectation in westminster tonight is that ms patel will face some kind of reprimand but not be sacked yet convention matters. that is not a single example of a minister who has broken the rule who stayed on. what message does it send if the minister says, "well, "actually, i know i said there will be no bullying, "what i actually meant was a little bit of bullying is ok and it's not "a breach of the ministerial code that requires a resignation." that is not the sort of message i think the prime minister, who is also the minister for the civil service, wants to send to those thousands of civil servants.

priti patel had to leave government in dramatic circumstances before, departing as soon as she arrived home from a foreign trip after it emerged she had had unauthorised meetings with israeli politicians. there may not be an exit for her this time but still an unfolding political drama. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. 0ur political correspondent jessica parker is at westminster for us tonight:— what reaction has there been to this report tonight? the labour party are now saying that the full report must be published. it's worth noting that downing street has never committed to fully publishing the report, just the findings of that report. of course, as laura was saying, it's ultimately up as laura was saying, it's ultimately up to the prime minister is the arbiter of this process to decide what to do next. priti patel does have support, particularly amongst the conservative backbenchers, conservative party grassroots, she seen as conservative party grassroots, she seen as a conservative party grassroots, she seen as a pretty popular figure. i've spoken to tory mps before who say that when she comes to speak at

local events, a grassroot tory members are always sort of sharing herfrom members are always sort of sharing her from the rooftops. members are always sort of sharing herfrom the rooftops. so members are always sort of sharing her from the rooftops. so she's a prominent figure, and one senior conservative mp tweeted his support this evening for her saying she is hard—working, determined, this evening for her saying she is ha rd—working, determined, kind this evening for her saying she is hard—working, determined, kind too many and doing a toughjob. now, priti patel, as i was saying, has a lwa ys priti patel, as i was saying, has always denied the allegations and a spokesperson for us has said there has never been any formal complaints made against her. but look, this whole thing has been rumbling on for months now. this investigation was launched back in early march. i think pressure has particularly been growing recently on the prime minister to reveal his decision on this issue and it does feel like things are perhaps reaching a crescendo. we could hear what he has to say on the matter as early as tomorrow. jessica, thank you so much. jessica tomorrow. jessica, thank you so much. jessica parker in westminster, thank you. a woman who was forced to say goodbye to her dying father through a care home window is taking the government to court. dr cathy gardner told the high court that the "failure" to introduce

adequate measures to protect care home residents from covid—19, had been "one of the most devastating policy failures "of recent times". lawyers for the government argued there was no case to answer, but a judge has decided the case should go to a full hearing. 0ur social affairs correspondent alison holt reports. as covid—19 first spread across the country, much of the government's focus was presenting the nhs being overwhelmed. this case argues the discharge of patients from hospitals to care homes ceded the virus among residents and ministers should have known they were particularly at risk. 88—year—old michael gibson died of coronavirus on april the 3rd, one of many deaths in care homes at the start of the pandemic. his daughter is bringing the case, she believes the virus got into his home after an nhs patient who had covid was moved there. at the same time we had all been told to stay at home, to keep ourselves safe, the most vulnerable in society, who were just in a larger home,

were left, notjust unprotected, but put at risk. the case argues the government failed in its duty to protect vulnerable care home residents. it scrutinises the guidance that was given at the start of the pandemic, including letters like this one from the nhs which led to the rapid discharge of patients from hospitals into places like care homes. it claims a lack of testing, personal protective equipment and little guidance on isolation policies made it easy for the virus to spread. ministers have always insisted they acted on the best available evidence. right from the start, we have tried to throw a protective ring around our care homes. at this care home in kent, they decided to protect their existing residents. they would not take in people from hospitals. the owner, who runs two homes, says they were given very few

details about patients, but was still put under pressure. there was no forthcoming information. we asked further questions, had they been tested, would they be tested before they came to us? we weren't given any information so we made the decision to refuse at that point in time. but the issue of how the virus got into homes is complicated. in a bbc documentary tonight, one of the researchers who worked on computer modelling to forecast the epidemic, said its advice to government did not reflect the risk of agency staff moving between care homes. we didn't know how connected the care home setting was within the community. i am sure there are lots of academic and policy makers out there who could have told us this if he had asked them. it is the decision is made that difficult times which will be examined at the full hearing at the gardner case next year. alison holt, bbc news. the fashion chains, peacocks and jaeger,

have gone into administration. 4,700 jobs and 500 shops are at risk. it comes after the owner — edinburgh woollen mill group — failed to find a buyer for both businesses. the energy firm e.0n has announced it is planning to cut nearly 700 jobs. the cuts will take place over the next two years as part of the migration of customers to a new platform — and will mainly affect those in support and management roles. the headlines on bbc news... as their trials approach the final stages, researchers in oxford working with astrazeneca say the latest data suggests theirjab works well on older people. a draft report into claims that the home secretary, priti patel, had bullied staff concluded this summer that she had broken rules on ministerial behaviour. modernising britain's defence — the armed forces are given billions of pounds to fund space and cyber projects.

sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's chetan —— crowds do to the pandemic of the union is the biggest beneficiary to receive 135 million of which 44 million will go to the rfq. —— the neck which 44 million will go to the rfq. -- the neck what we have set as we will give them enough to survive, so if you ta ke them enough to survive, so if you take something such as the rugby union, they are not going to have the matches at twickenham, they could sell those matches out several times over, the sport is going to be in disarray without that support, simply if you look at racing and so

on. so that is the basic principle there. the manchester city manager pep guardiola has ended speculation around his future after signing a two—year contract extention that will keep him at the club until the summer of 2023... his current deal was set to expire at the end of this season.. guardiola's won six major trophies sincejoining the club four years ago, including two premier league titles, leading the club to an unprecedented clean sweep of all domestic titles in 2019. chelsea boss frank lampard has called for the saturday lunchtime kick—off slot to be scrapped. his side travel to newcastle for a 12.30pm game this weekend, despite a number of his players only returning from international duty this afternoon. lampard's comments echo those of manchester united manager 0le gunnar solskjaer, whose side faced the same kick—off time a fortnight ago having only returned from a champions league defeat in turkey in the early hours of thursday morning.

that 12:30pm slot time much does it need to be there if you are looking at the course of the season? i don't have any times we've returned from international duty can i do know, five through the season? with clubs that have got players going over there. it's absolutely not the optimum way to have players premiering for a premier league game, which is an incredible brand all around the world. england have been paired with rivals france in the group stages for next year's womens' rugby world cup. the draw, which took place earlier this evening, has put the two sides in pool c along with south africa and fiji. meanwhile, wales will face reigning world champions and hosts, new zealand, as well as australia in pool a. the tournament will begins next september. the grandson of former england cricketer ian botham will make his debut for wales this weekend. cardiff blues flanker james botham will start in saturday's autumn nations cup game against georgia. he was only called up to the squad on monday, as head coach wayne pivac makes thirteen changes to the side that lost last weekend, which was their sixth straight

defeat. after making history last weekend by equalling michael schumacher‘s record of seven world titles, lewis hamilton's been reflecting on his achievments. in an interview with the bbc, he says he plans to stay with mercedes and will endeavor to make the sport more diverse. he's been speaking to my colleague sally nugent. i would love to stay. i want to be here. i still feel young, i would love to stay. i want to be here. istill feel young, i i would love to stay. i want to be here. i still feel young, i still feel energised, i still feel humble, and what's crazy is, yes, i've won the seventh title, but we have another big week and another big fight to win, and that's for racial equality across the board. and that's. .. diversity equality across the board. and that's... diversity within 90 sports, which i thought would've helped shift just by sports, which i thought would've helped shiftjust by being here, but i realise that's not the case. andrey rublev has beaten dominic thiem in their last

round robin match at the 02 in london. the matchwas a dead rubber as us open champion thiem had already qualified for the semi—finals, with rublev eliminated. rublev won the first set 6—2. . .and sewed up the match , winning the second set 7—5. big match to come later with rafa nadal up against stefanos tsitsipas with the winner securing a spot in the semi finals. that's all the sport for now. i'll bring you the result of that match and the rest of the day's sport later in the night, kasia. gripping. thank you so much. we will join you for that. sir keir starmer is facing growing pressure to reinstate his predecessor, jeremy corbyn, as a labour mp. the bbc has been told that legal action on behalf of mr corbyn is imminent. left wing members of labour's ruling national executive are planning their own challenge to mr corbyn's suspension from the parliamentary party. 0ur political correspondent, iain watson, has more: there's been a new development

tonight, that pressure has indeed been ratcheted up uncertain hear starmer because i've been told that jeremy corbyn's solicitors have written to the labour party effectively calling for his suspension from the parliamentary labour party, a decision circular starmer took to be lifted immediately and that those solicitors are also calling into question whether proper procedures we re question whether proper procedures were followed in suspending jeremy corbyn from the parliamentary labour party having setting over there now is an independent mp, in addition to that, left—wing members of labour national executive are going to issue a statement or possibly right to circular starmer later this evening saying that he's been undermining the party's disciplinary procedures. because of your member, following up disciplinary hearing following up disciplinary hearing following that national executive, jeremy corbyn's membership in the labour party that said here starmer would not taken back into the parliamentary labour party because he said comments thatjeremy corbyn had made of anti—semitism being

dramatically overstated by political opponents, that its setback the process of restoring trust with the jewish community. tonight, it's been confirmed that labour have received that letter from mr corbyn, but confirmed that labour have received that letterfrom mr corbyn, but i'm also told by supporters ofjeremy corbyn that while this in and of itself does not begin legal proceedings against the labour party, nonetheless, they think that u nless party, nonetheless, they think that unless kier starmer where to give way and shows no sign of doing so, than legal action is imminent. there was one attend to try to defuse it by the former labour leader, that jeremy corbyn just by the former labour leader, that jeremy corbynjust emily by the former labour leader, that jeremy corbyn just emily apologise for his comments, but i can tell you, he shows no signs of doing so. watson reporting. he downing street has acknowleged that the test and trace system needs to improve, after figures showed around four in ten contacts of people who've tested positive are still not being reached. over the seven days ending november the 11th, just over 60% of contacts were notified — roughly the same figure as for each of the previous four weeks. earlier our head of statistics, robert cuffe, had more on the figures.

largely, the figures look quite similar to last week, but some of that is good news. so, in terms of the performance of the system, a number of people getting contacted after they test positive, that's stable, but it has been rising in recent weeks. tests are coming back to people faster than they were about a month ago. they haven't really changed very much in the last week. but probably the less good news is that the number of contacts named by infected people, the proportion of those that get reached, that's still at around 60%, and scientists advising the government say that's just not enough for test and trace to have a big impact on the epidemic. the better news is probably in something called the positivity rates. over the summer, we saw both the number of cases rising every week and the proportion of tests that came back positive also rising, suggesting we were kind of falling further and further behind the epidemic. now, while cases are still rising, albeit slower than they were a while ago, that positivity rate, the proportion of tests coming back positive, that has started to flatten out.

so, these set of figures, they reflect, kind of, the first week after lockdown. it's probably too soon to expect the lockdown to show through fully in the testing figures in the same way that they already have in wales or northern ireland, but there are some signs in the data of that kind of flattening and slowing down of case growth, which isn't where we want to be eventually but is a step in the right direction. the figures reveal that the percentage of contacts traced and told to self—isolate by the national system stands at 58% — a figure broadly similar for the previous three weeks. but it is a very different picture for local teams with almost all contacts being reached — 97% of people were contacted and told to self—isolate. i'm joined now by colin hutchinson who is a local contact tracer for calderdale council in west yorkshire. he's also a labour councillor. thanks so much forjoining us. just explain, you work as a local contact

tracer. how have you found a? how effective have you been? that's right, we work in conjunction with the national system, so that if they failed to be able to make contact with somebody who has tested positive, they then pass on the details of those people to us and we have another go by phoning, using a local telephone number rather than a zero 300 telephone number. many times we've managed to get through under those circumstances. if we don't, we then have the option of going and speaking to people on their own doorsteps and using that combination approach, and we managed to speak to most people who have tested positive. when we get the details to the people that they've beenin details to the people that they've been in contact with, though, the rules currently are that we have to

return those back to the national system. we are not being committed to follow up the contacts, even if they are in the same house as the person we are speaking to. so, just to clarify that for us, so if there is more than one person in a particular household, you would like to get access to those other people by default, because obviously, they could be at risk. they could be at risk, there —— they may also be people who themselves tested positive, but the national system doesn't lump people together into households commit regards everybody as being an individual, and so households are getting multiple contacts from the national system, and then sometimes from us as well, and then sometimes from us as well, and subsequently, because there is now being advised to isolate is telephone daily to ask them whether

they are still isolating, if you are contact they are still isolating, if you are co nta ct of they are still isolating, if you are contact of me be the other six people in your house, that means you will be attracting seven phone calls a day. and it's very very common for us a day. and it's very very common for us to call houses when we ask them what we could do to help them in their isolation say, can you please just stop the phone calls coming and let us concentrate on getting better. and so when it comes to, of course, you are very much localised, you have got the contacts within the community do you feel, you mentioned that using those local numbers as well is quite helpful in being able to reach people. how important is that, do you think? it's vital, because we know the area, we know the businesses where people are working. we know the places they are going. we can bring that local knowledge into making sense of what

people tell us about their movements and where they've met up with other people. you can quite quickly build up people. you can quite quickly build up picture of where people are becoming exposed to an infection and where necessary we have direct links to our environmental health, officers and public health officers so officers and public health officers so that we can get them to on our hunches so that if those particular businesses, offices, workplaces where procedures might be tightened up, we where procedures might be tightened up, we can where procedures might be tightened up, we can give them the assistance to do that. when it comes to talking about assistance, what do you mean by that? because, of course coming the streets and areas, what kind of assistance are you suggesting, are you offering? well, environmental health officers are able to go and assess the ventilation of the workplaces whether they... to make

sure they are not crowding people together into offices or other buildings, whether people are actually able to work from home, but being asked to come into work instead on an individual basis, if somebody is running short and having difficulty getting food into the house, or running short of medicines, our volunteers can help with that. if there are problems, if they've got a large dog that needs walking, we have volunteers who will do dog walking for them. we can also try and make sure that they have access to the financial support they need because the bills don't stop coming injust because need because the bills don't stop coming in just because you are not able to come to work. fascinating details. collin, when it comes to an average day, when you get a contact, how many roughly do you get a day, week, how successful are you chasing

up week, how successful are you chasing up those week, how successful are you chasing 7 week, how successful are you chasing up those people? as a team, we have between about 30—40 people to contact each day. individually, i tend to do home visits and seeing between maybe 5—10 people in a day. writes, that is interesting. and when it comes to local contract tracers, we also talked about the vaccine from and we are very hopeful that we will see that available soon, but test entries, how important is it, and are there enough people like you on your teams? we have a team of 18 at the moment, and we are increasing, so we have enough people at the moment to be able to deal with the cases that we are getting. we have high hopes for the vaccine, but we are not going to see a great benefit from that this winter. so we need to

take... we need to be learning from the countries that have used the isolation and test and trays to the maximum effect, countries like new zealand, australia, cambodia, vietnam, where their responses have been far, far swifter and more effective than ours and to help them to restore her social life, greater economic life and we have been able to so far. so we need to be learning from the best. collin, it's been absolutely illuminating speaking to you. thank you so much. best of luck to you and your team. a local contract tracer for calder tao council. thank you. you may thank you very much. i make lots more, of course on our website, or things to conquer sharing all about. now it's time for a look at the weather with sarah keith lucas. good evening. we ended thursday with some beautiful sunsets out there. this one, this was the scene in maidstone in kent,

but many areas ended the day with some clear skies, we keep the clear skies and the east, that's where we are expecting some frost tonight, whereas further west, the cloud and the rain again are going to be moving in. we already had that cloud moving in across of northern ireland and scotland too. there will be some rain pushing across northern ireland and western fringes of britain by the early hours of friday, but further east, under those clear skies, that's where temperatures will fall lowest. —1 there in norwich first thing tomorrow morning, so a frost likely towards the southeast, could be the odd icy stretch for eastern scotland as well, and then through the day, it will turn milder as that cloud and rain move west to east across all parts. so, some wet weather for all of us at times through the course of friday. pretty chilly still around that east coast during the afternoon, 7—8 degrees, but turning my letter to the west at about 12 or 13. then changeable conditions for the weekend, showery and quite windy on saturday, cooler and brighter by sunday. hello, this is bbc news

with kasia madera. the headlines: as their trials approach the final stages, researchers in oxford working with astrazeneca say the latest data suggests theirjab works well on older people. 0ur our results are really encouraging. because this means we might be able to offer protection to the vulnerable age groups, the elderly, who are particularly susceptible to severe disease. a draft report into claims that the home secretary, priti patel, had bullied staff concluded this summer that she had broken rules on ministerial behaviour. modernising britain's defence — the armed forces are given billions of pounds to fund space and cyber projects. a £300 million rescue package for 11 sports, struggling without spectators because of coronavirus. britain's top literary prize, the booker prize for fiction,

has gone to the scottish author douglas stuart for his novel, shuggie bain. breaking news from northern ireland. the bbc is understanding that northern ireland is set to face a two week period of tougher covid—19 restrictions from friday the 27th of november. a week tomorrow. nonessential retail will have to shutin nonessential retail will have to shut in pubs and restaurants and hotels will have to remain close. detail suggests that close contact services and also unlicensed premises such as cafes can reopen tomorrow but they will have to close again the following week. these measures have been agreed during a meeting of ministers and then of all government today, schools will be allowed to stay open. a two week period of tougher covid—19 restrictions from next friday in an

northern ireland according to our understanding care at the bbc. more details and reaction as and when we get it. now to scotland. scotland's first minster nicola sturgeon has said she hopes there will be an agreement next week from all four uk nations on how to ease coronavirus controls at christmas. it comes as a bbc survey suggests that scots have considerably more confidence in the scottish government's handling of the pandemic than they have in the uk government's response, even though scotland has suffered only a slightly lower death rate than england. coronavirus also appears to be having an impact on voter's views on whether scotland should be an independent country. as our scotland editor sarah smith reports. practising during a pandemic means finding new, outdoor locations. john is a freelance musician who has had a passionate interest in politics ever since, aged 17, he cast his first vote in the scottish independence referendum. he voted then to stay in the uk.

he would make a different choice today. so, you voted no six years ago but why have you changed your mind since then? for many reasons, like brexit, like taking away my european union citizenship, the handling of the coronavirus pandemic from both governments. nicola is really a empathetic, compassionate leader and speaks with a real sincerity to everybody. i don't feel that same compassion from boris at all. the ancient mugdock castle was here when scotland was an independent country and waits now to see its future. looking at opinion polls conducted this year, you can see they do suggest an increase in support for scottish independence, with more than a dozen recent polls finding more people saying they wanted to leave the united kingdom than to stay. initially, it was brexit that reignited the independence debate but covid is having an effect, too, as voters have seen the scottish government making many of the decisions about how

to handle the pandemic. a bbc survey asked people who they thought had handled the pandemic well. 74% approved of nicola sturgeon's performance. 0nly19% think boris johnson has done well. this is certainly the first time in scottish polling history that we have had polls consistently and regularly putting yes ahead. doesn't mean to say they would win any referendum that was held soon but it certainly looks like they have a better chance of winning any such referendum than has ever been through in the past. yes, it is november, in scotland. these friends swim wild all year round, demonstrating a single—minded determination. but intriguingly, both of them have changed their minds on the question of scottish independence. so, six years ago i voted to stay in the uk. what would i vote now? i would struggle if there was a referendum any time soon,

of how i would vote. i could be persuaded either way i think. but right now, brexit isjust... i'm not a fan of brexit. brexit matters, a lot, in this debate, but you cannot avoid coronavirus. that is what switched sheila from a yes to a no voter. she is worried about the cost of covid, even though she thinks the scottish government has done a good job. they have impressed me, that they can manage these sort of disasters, or major incidents. that would draw you towards thinking we would be better off if we were independent? not necessarily. i think it is something, covid is so large that we all need to get together. are you worried that scotland couldn't afford to be independent now? i think we need to reassess it, yes. it is only six years since sheila, vivienne and the rest of scotland last voted on the independence question, yet so much has changed.

voters' views are more fluid and the political tide may be on the turn. sarah smith, bbc news, stirlingshire. post—brexit trade talks between the uk and the eu were temporarily suspended after a member of the eu's negotiating team tested positive for coronavirus — with michel barnier self isolating. it's understood that none of the uk negotiating team in brussels will be required to self—isolate. most of the british delegation will be returning to london soon and the trade talks will continue remotely. all our hospitals are coming under increasing strain, as they try to maintain services to those with serious illnesses like strokes, cancer and heart disease — while beds fill up with covid patients. the bbc‘s look north programme spent two days with a surgeon based atjames cook university hospital in middlesbrough, to witness — first—hand — the pressure medics are currently under. dan farthing reports:

barney green is beginning a week on call at one of the region's busiest hospitals. he is a vascular surgeon. he has to be available 24/7. right, good afternoon, how are you? his first patient has suffered a stroke. a little bit nervous. frank has some sight loss, his condition is enough to worry anyone. and concerns over catching covid is making it worse. whether i have another stroke, a proper stroke with this, and i catch covid, i suppose there is not much option, really. frank has been tested and is covid—free, he is taken to the operating theatre, where they discover a dangerous clot. that is the external carotid artery. this is potentially a life—threatening condition, and i think the key message for everyone to hear is that we are still doing everything that we need to do, certainly the things that we know are dangerous and need to be dealt with now.

only god knows what would have happened. i think it could have been blindness, or it could have been a total stroke. barney's skills are short in supply, and he is often needed in three places at once. we are actually doing more now than we were doing in the first wave. we know what we signed up for when we became doctors and nurses. you know, we knew that that was the pathway, that is what was required to do. and there is something in us... mobile phone rings excuse me a minute. a car crash victim who was admitted overnight needs emergency treatment. what i have now got to go and do is put a stint in this thing, and if it covers his brain artery, he has a stroke. and then he dies. the police ask about the man's survival prospects, and then barney heads off to radiology. we have all had to stop what we were trying to do for other emergencies to accommodate for this. so, yes, there is a ripple effect.

we also have just got a call from another hospital that i will need to go over and have a look at that problem as well. and if it is not difficult enough already, there is a dangerous added element to his next case. they are extremely unwell, because i am led to believe that they are ventilated, having contracted coronavirus. this is a covid ward at north tees hospital in stockton. it is full of critically ill people. we need to speak to his... has he got family? barney rings the patient‘s wife to explain the urgency of the situation. as soon as he gets consent, he is rushed into theatre. if we don't do something now, he won't survive. so far, so good. we have removed an awful lot of clots that had been blocking the thigh artery. for now, the patient is out of the woods,

but he remains critically ill. pauline, it is barney green from the hospital. we have finished, and he has done fine. so that is really good. barney's day is drawing to a close. before he can go home to his family, he has one more operation in middlesbrough and has to treat a teenage stab victim. it is busy. you know, it is busy. this is what we are designed for, this is what we were called to do. but we need you to be sensible. do your bit, and you can hold your head proud in years to come and say, "do you know what? i sacrificed certain things, and i made a difference." extraordinary dedication. the prime minister says the days of cutting the uk's defence budget are over. borisjohnson told the house of commons that britain's military was "the pride of britain" as he announced 16 billion pounds of new money to "modernise" defence over the next four years.

the extra money will help fund space and cyber projects. our defence correspondent jonathan beale reports. britain's armed forces say they are about to undergo their biggest transformation since the end of the cold war. it will inevitably mean less of the old, like tanks and heavy armour and more of the new, to defend in the domains of cyber and space. british troops are already encountering threats such as this information and they will be part of a new national cyber force are ready to carry out offensive cyber operations. and there will be a new space command with plans to fire the first british rocket, like this us one, to launch their own military satellites. announcing the biggest increase in defence spending in decades, the prime minister said it would help his vision of a global britain and end an era of retreat.

i have done this in the teeth of the pandemic amid every other demand on our resources, because the defence of the realm and the safety of the british people must come first. the mod‘s annual budget is currently £41 billion a year. the government is now promising that will rise by 4% annually above inflation. so that would see an overall increase in the mod‘s budget to nearly £52 billion fight 2025. the government says it will also help revive the economy, with up to 40,000 newjobs. with a boost of shipbuilding and the aerospace industry. at bae systems in lancashire, they are working at what they call, the factory of the future on the next generation of fighterjet. ten test will be designed to fly with or without a pilot in the cockpit, but defence's gain might mean paying for other government departments. at the moment it rather looks

like they will be cut to help pay for this, which will be a foolish thing to do. this is part of a review of all of our external relationships including foreign aid. so to reduce foreign aid while increasing defence is the wrong message to send. borisjohnson wants to restore britain's position as the foremost naval power in europe. but labour says the conservatives have already slashed the size of the armed forces and the mod still has a black hole in its budget. and even with this extra cash, it will still have to cut more of the old to fund the new. jonathan beale, bbc news. campaigners say they‘ re extremely disappointed after a meeting with the housing secretary robertjenrick about how to pay for flammable cladding to be removed from tower blocks in the wake of the grenfell tower fire. the government set up a 1.6 billion pound fund to help remove dangerous cladding.

but campaigners say it's woefully inadequate as sarah corker‘s been finding out. the government has been delaying, it's been procrastinating. they are hoping that another disastrous fire does not break out in one of these blocks. three years ago, ritu found out her tower block in south—east london has the same flammable cladding as grenfell tower. the government fund for cladding repairs has been plagued with delays. ritu's block was the first to have its application accepted but so far they have received just £50,000 and their estimated repair bill is more than £2 million, while other dangerous buildings may get nothing at all. it is basically a lottery of, for me, life and death because we are told that our buildings are as combustible as petrol and to think that for something that is as important as keeping human beings safe, that the fund would work on a first come, first serve

basis, it's horrendous. while the government has made good progress with most social housing work completed, it's a different picture for private blocks. there are more than 200 private tower blocks over 18 metres in height with grenfell style acm cladding. repairs have not started on 75 of those buildings. of the 83 towers where work has begun, only four have had the cladding removed. but this acm cladding is only part of the problem. i live on the eighth floor in an unsafe apartment. here in manchester, this development not only has combustible cladding but other serious fire safety faults that will not be covered by the government scheme. leaseholders like alexis face life changing bills. we are left in a place of confusion. we don't know how much funding we are getting, we don't know when the work

is going to start, if it is going to start. a lot of us have been furloughed, have lost ourjobs, have lost our businesses. we have no funds. today campaigners met with the housing minister for the first time but said there was little progress. we are massively disappointed and just frustrated. the minister doesn't seem to yet grasp the scale of this crisis. we are talking about a problem that is going to cost 10—plus billion to fix and the money that the government has allocated won't even touch the sides. we asked the government for an interview — they declined, but said they are providing more than £1 billion to remove unsafe cladding and that building owners should also address safety issues and meet costs, without passing them onto leaseholders wherever possible. but for thousands of flat owners, lockdown has only heightened the feeling of being trapped living in unsafe buildings. sarah corker, bbc news. let's return to our breaking news. the bbc understands northern ireland is set to face a two—week period of tougher coronavirus restrictions

from next friday. let's go straight to belfast to hear more from our correspondent chris page. *mike * mike ministers were meeting, bring us * mike ministers were meeting, bring us up—to—date with what we understand. -- stormont. it is understood that that meeting has been within the last hour and ministers have agreed to a tougher appeared on restrictions which will kick in from next friday so nonessential resell will close and all shops here have been open i like england, they will have to shut for two weeks from next friday. —— unlike england. also that includes gyms, they will be closing to come and places of worship including the both regular meetings and weddings and funerals and those sorts of ceremonies can still go ahead.

hospitality sector, there has been a shutdown since the middle of october, but that is actually partially coming to an end tomorrow, unlicensed premises. premises they don't serve alcohol like cafes are able to open and they still will be able to open and they still will be able to open however that reopening will only last for a week. and then they will have to close again. it has been thought that the they had indicated last week that the rest of the hospitality sector, hotels, pubs and the hospitality sector, hotels, pubs a nd restau ra nts the hospitality sector, hotels, pubs and restaurants will be able to open in eight days from now, so about the 27th of november and now that reopening is not going ahead because of the decision that has been made today. so ministers will have made these decisions because the restrictions that have been in place up restrictions that have been in place up to now have not been successful enoughin up to now have not been successful enough in terms of bringing down the number of coronavirus cases and northern ireland, running beyond

capacity are the hospitals with there's already been a pretty strong reaction to say the least from the business community in the organisation which represents the retailers has said this has been a dreadful decision for retailers and what should be their golden quarter in the run—up to christmas and the hospitality industry has said that as far as they are concerned, people working the hospitality industry have now lost all trust and the devolved so this comes after political confusion last week which took members a bit of all government four days to decide on that parcel delete a partial reopening. —— it devolved governments. that will go ahead tomorrow for those businesses but as i say, now they will only be able to reopen for a week before having to shut down again. thank you, chris. apologies for the audio there.

there is now said to be ‘credible evidence' that australian elite soldiers unlawfully killed 39 people during the war in afghanistan. a long awaited report has uncovered what the head of australia's armed forces says is a ‘shameful record‘ of a ‘warrior culture' among some soldiers. he‘s apologised to the afghan people. from sydney, shaimaa khalil reports. these are australia‘s elite troops, risking their lives in afghanistan, supposedly to help the people in their battle against unrelenting violence. but now it‘s been revealed that some of them could be responsible for alleged war crimes. a moment of shame for the special forces. australians had been warned that this report would reveal very difficult realities, but few thought it would be this bad, including the country‘s top military commander. these findings allege the most serious breaches of military conduct and professional values.

the inquiry found credible evidence that 39 afghan men and teenagers had been unlawfully killed. allegations include junior soldiers being coerced into executing unarmed civilians to get their first kill in a practice known as blooding, and that weapons were planted on victims to make it look like the killings were legitimate. in all, the report said that 25 soldiers had carried out alleged crimes or had been accessories to them, and it is recommended that 19 people be referred to the australian federal police. the defence chief‘s language left us no doubt about how grave the alleged violations in afghanistan were. general campbell used words like shameful and appalling. he also described the toxic culture of deceit and secrecy which allowed this kind of behaviour to go unchecked for years. as he announced the damning findings, general campbell also apologised to the afghan people.

such alleged behaviour profoundly disrespected the trust placed in us by the afghan people, who had asked us to their country to help them. a special investigator will now be appointed to look at the findings, gather evidence and then present it to the public prosecutor. it is a process that could take years. shaimaa khalil, bbc news, sydney. the scottish author douglas stuart has won the booker prize for his debut novel, shuggie bain beating five other authors in the shortlist. the book tells the story of a mother and son‘s relationship in 1980s glasgow, and deals with themes of poverty and addiction. the judges described it as "an amazingly intimate, gripping portrait of addiction, courage and love". here‘s mr stuart‘s reaction to the win. sorry, i‘m absolutely stunned. i didn‘t expect that at all. i like

the first of all just think my mother. i think i have been clear that my mother is in every page of this book and without her i wouldn‘t be here. my work wouldn‘t be here. i would like to thank my fellow finalists. it‘s been such a pleasure and honour to being your company. i can‘t wait to give you all a hug. thank you to the judges from recognising shuggie bain. under him one of the second scottish book in 50 yea rs one of the second scottish book in 50 years to have one and that means a lot for regional voices for working—class stories. and so thank you. they get to this people of scotland, especially glaswegian some whose empathy and humour and love and struggle are in every word. —— thank you to the people of scotland. to my shuggie bain family, everybody at picador uk, the equitable merchant danny, camilla, ella stein, lucy luck, aries, chrome atlantic in new york, who were the only people

who actually take a risk on my book and especially peter blackstone, my very, very courageous editor. i wouldn‘t be able to be here without my husband and without his support so my husband and without his support so michael carey, thank you from the bottom of my heart, your support of me for 12 years what i wrote this book. he always had faith in me. that‘s you supported me. that lets me know i married the right man. thank you. and to everybody from all the readers who have just come out and let me know that my book ssl eyes, i cannot believe this. the greatest gift that just eyes, i cannot believe this. the greatest gift thatjust being able to connect with you. thank you so much. thank you. i‘m feeling quite a motion after that. congratulations to douglas stewart. the winner. let‘s have a look at what the weather is. now it‘s time for a look at the weather with sarah keith lucas. good evening. we ended thursday with some beautiful sunsets out there. this one, this was the scene in maidstone in kent,

but many areas ended the day with some clear skies, we keep the clear skies in the east, that‘s where we are expecting some frost tonight, whereas further west, the cloud and the rain again are going to be moving in. we already had that cloud moving in across of northern ireland and scotland too. there will be some rain pushing across northern ireland and western fringes of britain by the early hours of friday, but further east, under those clear skies, that‘s where temperatures will fall lowest. —1 there in norwich first thing tomorrow morning, so a frost likely towards the southeast, could be the odd icy stretch for eastern scotland as well, and then through the day, it will turn milder as that cloud and rain move west to east across all parts. so, some wet weather for all of us at times through the course of friday. pretty chilly still around that east coast during the afternoon, 7—8 degrees, but turning my letter to the west at about 12 or 13. then changeable conditions for the weekend, showery and quite windy on saturday, cooler and brighter by sunday.

this is bbc news — where‘s the american president? in 12 of the last 16 days his public schedule has been blank. the country has just surpassed a quarter of a million deaths, the seven day average of new daily cases is at its highest ever, and the president is tweeting personal greivances. trump lawyer rudy guiliani alleges without evidence centralized voter fraud in the election — as the president ignores the pandemic. georgia is about to release results of a hand recount of votes — expected to reaffirm joe biden as the winner of the state. also in the programme.... a draft report into claims home secretary, priti patel, bullied members of her staff concludes she did break the ministerial code of conduct. and the dormouse that found himself in a rather tight spot