we will take it on. we will keep listening to that in a few minutes that follow. ... keeping to that in a few minutes that follow. keeping social distancing. limiting the size of the groups that we are in. this is bbc news. i'm kasia madera. the headlines at eight... the chancellor's stark assessment of the cost of the pandemic on the uk's economy. he says it will do lasting damage, more borrowing than at any point in the uk's peacetime history our health emergency is not yet over and our economic emergency has only just begun. in its response to this pandemic, the conservative government has wasted and mismanaged public finances on an industrial scale. the argentinian football legend diego maradona dies. his mesmerising skill took his country to world cup glory. the desperate search to find enough

ppe at the start of the pandemic and why it cost the taxpayer an extra £10 billion. meghan speaks about the unbearable grief of having a miscarriage in july. she says the subject is still taboo. good evening and welcome to bbc news. the chancellor couldn't have been clearer — the uk is entering an economic emergency the likes of which we have not seen for three hundred years. delivering his spending review, rishi sunak spelt out how the financial cost of the pandemic will have a lasting impact on the nations' finances. the numbers tell the story. next year, more than two and half million people could be out of work, and this year alone

the government will be borrowing nearly 400 billion pounds. there are tough times ahead for some public sector workers in england who can expect a pay freeze, though nhs staff and those earning less than £24,000 will be exempt. but despite the grim forecasts, there was three billion pounds promised for the restart programme to help the unemployed find work. and a further four billion pounds to target investment in areas that have lost out in the past. 0ur political editor laura kuenssberg reports on a spending review like no other. how bad is it looking, chancellor? the straight answer — it's looking very bad. the chancellor's smooth political style can't hide what's been lurking in number 11's spreadsheets. part one of the pandemic was the profound risk to our health, part two — the cost of covid, a nightmare starting to unfold. 0ur economic emergency has only just begun.

so, a blizzard of serious predictions about how the country's income will hurt. the largest fall in output for more than 300 years. not expected to return to pre—crisis levels until the fourth quarter of 2022. underlying debt is forecast to continue rising in every year. in other words, the economy's been hammered by coronavirus, and the most direct cost — many, many of us will pay with ourjobs. the 0br expects unemployment to rise to a peak in the second quarter of 7.5% next year, 2.6 million people. unemployment won't have reached that level for a decade, and around 1.3 million public sector staff outside the nhs will have their wages frozen. i cannotjustify a significant across—the—boa rd pay increase for all public sector workers. instead, we are targeting our

resources at those who need it most. but how to justify breaking the government's promise on the aid budget for the world's poorest? sticking rigidly to spending 0.7% of our national income on overseas aid is difficult to justify to the british people. awkward for some ministers who had stood by the targets. 0ne even quit. but there are big promises. we in government can set the direction — better schools, more homes, stronger defence, safer streets, but it is the individual, the family and the community that must become stronger, healthier and happier as a result. vows on infrastructure will be kept. there's £4 billion for a pot that mps can build from for local projects, cash to help people find work, too. there's 3 billion more for the health service to catch up after covid, money for the additional police promised last year. but there's no getting away

from the shadows of the shutdown. coronavirus closed down much of the economy. massive borrowing to get it through is manageable for now because of rock bottom interest rates. that may not last forever. there could be a lot of pain ahead. earlier this year, the chancellor stood on his doorstep and clapped for key workers. today, his government institutes a pay freeze for many of them. this takes a sledgehammer to consumer confidence. we need a comprehensive spending review which takes responsible choices to build a future for our country as the best place in the world to grow up in and the best place to grow old in. he certainly doesn't want a bigger hole in the economy. just like chancellors in other countries, rishi suna k‘s borrowed and spent vast sums because of the pandemic. today's predictions, though, are based on a vaccine being rolled out and that there'll be a brexit deal, too. the chancellor does need to do a whole lot more to plan for the future and to make sure

that he can anticipate what might come in the coming year. and what is missing altogether from this spending review is the impact of brexit. this has failed to live up to the promises and rhetoric that the government has been exercising these past few months. we were promised that wales as well as the other parts of the uk would see a levelling up. there's no evidence in today's announcement or statement that's going to be the case. certainly, no—one in parliament will push ministers to pay her back right now. with so much uncertain, the disease so hard to predict, even the mighty treasury may have to watch and wait. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. the office for budget responsibility has calculated that the uk economy will shrink by more than 11% this year alone. meanwhile, the government has been spending hundreds of billions of pounds of borrowed cash to cope with the pandemic. as our economics editor faisal islam reports, we've hardly started to pay that back.

grim economic numbers are of no surprise to anyone looking out on a high street. here in wakefield in yorkshire, lockdown means no shoppers or staff, but as elsewhere, months of pandemic uncertainty have seen the spread of the tell—tale to—let sign. here in one of the so—called blue wall seats, locals have mixed feelings about the government's public pay squeeze. well, he's got to do what he thinks is best for the country at the moment because of the state we're in. the people that's done the hard work during covid, that should get the pay rises, it's the public sector workers. today's forecast show that the economy set to shrink by over 11% this year, a three—century record, before recovering more slowly from next year. that means an annual increase in borrowing only seen during world wars — nearly £400 billion, i9% of the size of the national economy, a staggering figure, yet the interest bill to pay for it is also tumbling. as historic and frankly unimaginable as some of these numbers are,

both the hits to the economy and the huge rise in borrowing, they are in the past. it's just that they're so big that they're going to have an impact for years to come. but there is this other record, a record low in just how cheap it will be to actually pay for this massive debt. that buys time for the chancellor and means relatively small down payments on shrinking the borrowing is all that was required. but where the economy goes doesjust depend. unemployment is expected to go up about a million to 7.5% as a result of the crisis, but the forecast assumes progress on a vaccine and functioning testing systems. without that, the economy and jobs picture gets much worse, peaking at ii%. 0n the other hand, with better than expected health progress, unemployment barely goes up at all. the government's official forecaster acknowledges the uncertainty — the economy at the mercy of medical developments and an imminent decision on a post—brexit trade deal. if no vaccine proves effective and also we end up leaving the eu

without a deal and trading on wto terms, that would combine a 6% hit to the economy from the fact that we're living with the disease with a 2% hit to the economy from the fact that we're trading out with our single largest trading partner on wto terms. the chancellor is earmarking huge amounts to health to deal with the pandemic and to get the economy back to normal, but other areas of spending, on pay — for example, for teachers earning above average wages, for police officers and prison officers — have been frozen, alongside cuts to aid. back in wakefield, this council worker union rep married to a teacher certainly feels the return of austerity. it's a bit of a kick in the teeth, really. i've worked like many of my colleagues throughout the pandemic as a key worker. it feels like the public sector workers are being punished again by the government for a crisis that was not of our making. the lowest—paid were protected, but the economic shadow of covid—i9 will last notjust past this christmas, but many future festive seasons.

faisal islam, bbc news. we can speak now to the green party's economics spokesperson and former mep for the south west of england, molly scott cato. good to —— of you tojoin us. good to —— of you to join us. what's your initial reaction given the eye watering amounts the chancellor has been speaking about, given more then two and half million people could be out of work next year? there's a limit to what you can do apart from spend and spend a. as a green i am struck by the complete contrast between the plan announced last week and this record and investment in road—building this week. it seems like the government's commitment is a lwa ys like the government's commitment is always just a token after thought, but also, this is completely economically illiterate. we're expecting unemployment of 2.5 million, and the chancellor seems to be... we've put forward for a long

time asa be... we've put forward for a long time as a green new deal, which is significant advancement in moving us toward sustainability, and that would also achieve creating thousands of jobs would also achieve creating thousands ofjobs across the country. there are four times as manyjobs country. there are four times as many jobs created country. there are four times as manyjobs created for one pound that you spend on insulating homes compared to road—building, so not only is it ecologically illiterate, it's also economically illiterate and we don't need to accept this. we could come out of the covid recovery asa could come out of the covid recovery as a much greener and cleaner economy. he was arguing, this biggest ever road programme would mean biggest ever road programme would m ea n less biggest ever road programme would mean less traffic. arguably, there isa mean less traffic. arguably, there is a need to create a better type of cycle route and the rest of it that goes with it, rather than sticking that in as is now, which is quite dangerous. what you're talking about is quite long—term. you need to do something immediately giving given where we are. no, insulating homes can be done immediately. in terms of

the transport policy, this absurd suggestion that building roads believes the traffic suggestion, it will create more traffic. we've seen today that suggestion of 4 billion for local infrastructure. we've seen what happens when that happened in the past where it was a sort of, the people giving out the money, what we need to make sure is local counsel have control of their own funds. in the uk, local government owns 50% of its finance locally, compared to about half and some other countries. we need to get the power to raise finances —— a 15%. we can see that they would done much better in terms of test and trace and planning for the emergency, so i think one thing we are seeing is control about how money is spent and money being used for the tory party, not our community. i guess they would argue that's not the case, but in terms of

doing things differently, give us an immediate example of something you asa immediate example of something you as a party would like to see that was missing from this, especially seeing as just last week we had the ten point environment plan announced. the most important thing to say about that plan as it was focused just on energy, not making our transport system sustainable and most importantly, it didn't focus on retrofitting our homes, making warm, safe, clean homes for everyone. at the moment, we are wasting so much energy leaking, and there is focus on new bills in this plan butjust a tiny amount is being spent on retrofitting homes and that would achieve so much more in terms ofjob creation, but also stop wasting carbon emissions and people dying... a massive programme of improving the would create those thousands ofjobs and also make sure people have warm homes to live in. but that takes time. this idea of changing gas

boilers, that something people will become fearful of it. anyone with a boiler is always worried that it stops working. something like that isa stops working. something like that is a huge undertaking for an average home. that's exactly what needs to be funded by government, and the reason people... i don't think people are fearful, i think they are worried about money. what's not happening is the government... we are not clear whether we're going to be replacing those with heat pumps. the government isn't giving it. it's very urgent so we need the investment tomorrow, and we could be creating jobs in our communities by making the investment. but what we need from the government ‘s clear leadership about how we can do it and also making sure they pay for the homes to be insulated and the new form of heating to be installed. molly, thanks so much for sharing your views. and we'll find out how this story and many others are covered in tomorrow's front pages at around 10:30 and 11:30 this evening in the papers. our guests joining me tonight are the deputy political editor at the guardian, jessica elgot and the deputy political editor

at the daily mail, john stevens. ido i do hope you canjoin us. let's bring you up—to—date with the headlines. the chancellor's stark assessment of the cost of the pandemic on the uk's economy. he says it will do lasting damage, more borrowing than at any point in the uk's peacetime history. the argentinian football legend diego maradona dies. his mesmerising skill took his country to world cup glory. the desperate search to find enough ppe at the start of the pandemic and why it cost the taxpayer an extra £10 billion. the latest government figures show there were 18,213 new coronavirus infections recorded in the latest 24—hour period,

and 696 deaths were reported — that's people who died within 28 days of a positive covid—19 test. that's the highest daily number since the 5th of may. it takes the total number of deaths so far across the uk to 56,533. people across the uk are being urged to think carefully before making plans to celebrate christmas with wider family groups. some scientific experts have raised concerns that the relaxed rules announced yesterday could increase case numbers, hospitalisations and covid—related deaths. here's our health editor, hugh pym. planning for christmas is under way. households know they can mix, within limits, but there are risks to consider. the virus won't go away. people have been urged to think very carefully about their plans. one member of the sage committee, speaking in a personal capacity, said there was a delicate balance.

the political decision to release restrictions for christmas is important, both for the economy and for the well—being of society. but the science advice is that, in some areas, where cases are high in the community, there will be a price to pay. that price is more people in hospital. and today, there was another reminder of the tragic consequences for some. he was a bit chunky, but he was really active and fit. he was never ill. cameron wellington, who was 19, had a promising career as a professional wrestler. he got coronavirus and told his mum and dad he was ok, and then came a sudden deterioration, and a week later, he died in hospital. you never think it is going to affect you, until it does, and then just... it has crushed us, ain't it? the timing was cruel, with christmas coming up, and cameron's parents want people to know that they mustn't drop their guard against the virus

over the holiday season. the reward is living. and the reward is every other christmas celebrating with your family. we can't do that with cameron any more. the shape of new restrictions in england will become clear tomorrow, with officials keen to get virus cases down as much as possible before the temporary opening up at christmas. hugh pym, bbc news. one of the world's most famous footballers and one of the sport's all—time greats, diego maradona, has died. the argentine player was 60. reports say he suffered a heart attack. maradona led his nation to world cup victory in 1986, scoring some of the tournament's most legendary goals, including the infamous hand of god one, which saw england eliminated. around the world, people who either played with maradona, or who are among the current greats of the game, have been paying their tributes. his former club in italy, napoli,

simply tweeted ‘ciao diego', adding that news of his death was a "devastating blow" for both city and club. former england striker gary lineker said, "by some distance the best player of my generation and arguably the greatest of all time. after a blessed but troubled life, hopefully he'll finally find some #ripdiego." brazilian legend pele tweeted his sadness, saying, "i lost a great friend and the world lost a legend — certainly, one day we'll kick a ball together in the sky above." thejuve and portugal star ronaldo said he "wished he was an argentine" like maradona. and argentine compatriot ossie ardiles said, "thank dear dieguito for your friendship, for your football, sublime, without comparison. simply, the best football player in the history of football." andy swiss looks back at his life. he was once described as half—angel,

half—devil, and at his best, he was out of this world. he has burruchaga to his left and valdano to his left. he won't need any of them. 0h! you have to say that's magnificent! diego maradona against england in 1986 in what was later voted the goal of the century. "he seemed to have the ball tied to his boots," said a team—mate. and yet, in the very same match, he became one of sport's most notorious cheats, the two extremes of a tempestuous talent. growing up in the slums outside buenos aires, maradona became known as the golden boy. his breathtaking skills first became clear at barcelona, and he went to the 1986 world cup as his country's captain and talisman. in the quarter—final, argentina faced england, and maradona made his mark in typically controversial style. replays showed he'd scored with his arm, or "the hand of god" as he famously described it.

well, certainly his arm was up. england fans were in uproar, but years later maradona insisted he had no regrets. translation: i couldn't reach it, and shilton was already there. i couldn't head it, so i did like that. i believe it's a craftiness. maybe we have a lot more of it in south america than europe, but it's not cheating. just minutes later, though, the other side of maradona, his stocky five foot five frame ghosting through tackles with a pace and a poise which proved simply untouchable. his sublime skills guided argentina to the trophy. but gradually, the dream started to sour. a tearful runner—up at the 1990 world cup, he arrived at the 1994 tournament with questions over his fitness. his answer seemed emphatic, but the celebrations hinted at the demons within. it emerged he'd failed a drugs test, and maradona was sent home in disgrace.

without football, his addictions grew. his weight ballooned to more than 20 stone, and in 2004, he was rushed to hospital after an overdose while outside fans prayed for their icon. he recovered, though, to coach argentina and even host his own tv show. with maradona, life was never dull. but for all his flaws, this is his legacy. maradona. .. ..going at them again. brilliant run by maradona. fantastic goal! unbelievable! one of the most controversial players ever, but above all, one of the greatest. maradona's infamous "hand of god" goal in the 1986 world cup quarter final against england still gives many people nightmares, including one man who was playing in that match, the former england midfielder peter reid. earlier, my colleague, chetan pathak, spoke to him, and began by asking him how he felt when that infamous goal was allowed to stand.

the first one, it was... i was just outside the 18 yard box when i seen it. the explosion from the crowd, obviously, we know that the referees give it, and then just disbelief. i think a few of us... it was just like he's not going to stop it now. i mean, he cheated, didn't he? as much as he cheated then, the second goal was pure genius from one of the greatest footballers who ever walked the planet. peter, you mentioned that genius. look, i can't pretend i watched maradona when he was playing, i was too young. but one of my earliest football memories is watching videos of that match and in particular, of that incredible goal. i know that you've been asked about it many times as well. what made it so perfect,

do you think? well, first of all, it's the importance of the game, which was, as you know, the world cup final. but there was a massive political interest in the first game, which you don't like bringing up. you know, when a great player stands up to the plate, which he did in that game, and even more so in the semifinal against belgium. he was a brilliant, brilliant player. no right foot, but one of the best left foots you've seen. great physical strength but great awareness, great football brain and a brilliant athlete. i know we have this game and i... listen, i met him a few times and spoke to him through an interpreter.

he was very amiable, loved a laugh, but his life must have been very difficult. he had riches to football, but i don't think he had any privacy, which is always difficult for any human being. peter, you say you met him, you're talking through interpreters. what did he say? did you ever mention that hand of god goal to him directly? he had a laugh and said it was the hand of god, and i said, "well, it wasn't my god," and he just laughed. and then the second one, through the interpreter, he was wringing his hands and smiling. looking at me, going, "you have no chance." he was right on that one. is he the greatest player you've played against? i've always found that difficult. this is ironic, i played against george best. they

ironically died on the same day, which you cannot believe. two icons. i tell you what i'd say, if i'd been to argentina when i was manager to watch matches and you asked any argentinian who the best player is or is —— bass player ever is they would say diego maradona up. a lot of people would say lionel messi is the best. to argentinian, maradona is up there. how about for you? i think it's always difficult to compare. . . think it's always difficult to compare... maradona, george best, all magnificent footballers. that

was peter reid, the former england midfielder who faced maradona on the pitch. and more global tributes have been pouring in for the the football legend. the vatican says pope francis has been remembering fellow argentine diego maradona with affection and is keeping him in his prayers. maradona who has died at his home in argentina, met the pope several times after francis was elected in 2013 as latin america's first pope. the vatican says pope francis has been praying for diego maradona since hearing of his condition in the past few days. let's speak to marcela mora y. she specialises in south american football including argentina and translated diego maradona's autobiography, el diego, el diego, into english. you must have really got to know his personality. tell us a little bit about what he was like. personality. tell us a little bit about what he was likelj personality. tell us a little bit about what he was like. i didn't have to deal with him at all to translate the book, but i have met

him many times. i did get to know him many times. i did get to know him over the years. both either working with him or doing things about him. he was a very, very difficult person to pin down to do things, to keep the commitments, to stick to schedules. he was an antiestablishment and anti—authoritarian person by definition, almost by nature. he was also absolutely incredible personality. he had leadership qualities, core is mine, he was incredibly seductive, he had a way of staring at people and almost seeing through them —— charisma. people discuss a lot how on this pitch, he seemed to be able to see everything that was going on —— on the pitch. he had almost 360, his vision, his ankles. but in life too he was able to read a situation,

access what was going on, turn his charm on and off as needed, and it was really quite unique. i've never met anyone quite able to do that. so, he's intensely disliked by some, but absently adored and revered by many more. overall, he had this kind of ability to be almost superhuman while at the same time being incredibly human, painfully so at times. when he was talking about that infamous hand of god goal, he described it as craftiness, not cheating. when you met him and when you are working so closely on translating his words into english, and incredibly close relationship to have, did you find that he was playful with words? was he cheeky?

this craftiness that he describes, that particular infamous incident. this craftiness that he describes, that particular infamous incidentlj that particular infamous incident.” think what happens is this notion of an argentinian shakiness, which is very entrenched in the culture —— shakiness. it's an acceptance of informal rules beyond formal rules. he made reference to that, which is a very argentinian contacts. i wrote the prologue because he really did make expressions of and make words up make expressions of and make words up and use language in a very particular way, and many phrase he invented are now common. i think that's quite unique. but i repeat, to translate the book, i didn't work closely with him because he is very much a celebrity in every sense of the word, so he wouldn't stoop so

low. i translated a book that already been published, but i have been with him at many events and presentations. i was lucky enough to watch them play when i was younger. he was still playing, and this ability comes over and over again, to bea ability comes over and over again, to be a law unto himself. i think you mentioned the hand goal, which is something that people remember in england. a few minutes later, he scored possibly the best gold ever stored in the world cup —— best goal. i think that ability to do in the space of a few minutes, the worst extreme you can thing you can think of doing, and then show everything up foot can do. absolute

beauty, absolute cheat, it doesn't matter. the formal, the informal, the beauty, the pain, all rolled into one. it was just a few minutes where the world was absolutely mesmerized by him, and i don't think anybody‘s ever lost sight of him since. he's been very much in the centre of attention for a long, long time. notjust because of those two goals, but because he was able to deliver that, that totality, that completeness of good and evil and beauty. you touch upon those two forces battling out within him. of course, tell us about the upbringing he had. not an easy upbringing. and those kind of dealings he had within himself because he had many battles within himself. describe a little bit about what you came across. he

was brought up in a humble family, a very, very poor origin. he spoke about how his mother would go without food to make sure there was enough for him and his siblings. his story is not atypical in terms of a footballer, a south american in europe, i hate to add. football is a very humble background often. he was very humble background often. he was very young when he was proven to be unusually talented. he had a gift so he's been on the receiving end from a very young he's been on the receiving end from a very young age. he's been on the receiving end from a very young age. we watched him do things, have birthdays, get married, be arrested, to get divorced. consume drugs recreationally, consume the medically, so you never had a private —— he's never had a

private life. it's paid out in public from a very young age in spite of that very poor background. there is a famous clip of him saying his dream was to win the world cup. so, i don't think he's ever known privacy. i think he has a bit —— been a lwa ys always public. his disputes with his various partners... there is no secret. he had no secrets or revelations. now that he has died. we've seen everything there is about him all the time, and it's played out alive in front of us. so in a

way, i think it might take a little while for that loss to sink in and there will be probably a lot of reliving of anecdotes and incidents, precisely because it'll be so unusual to think there will not be new antidotes, new memories. he's a lwa ys new antidotes, new memories. he's always reinvented himself as a force to be reckoned with. i think death puts a stop to that. which is a really different concept for somebody whose life has been so full of reimagining summary inventions. thank you so much for speaking to us. i know you translated his topography, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts. sad news come many more attributes and lots more details on our website of course. but now it is time to take a look at the weather with ben rich. good evening.

well, we've got clear skies tonight it is going to turn pretty chilly. with a touch of frost and one or two fog patches here and there, as well. a band of cloud plaguing the far southeast and the odd spot of rain. because of that extra cloud it's not going to get quite as cold but for many other spots where the skies are clear we'll get close to freezing or a couple of degrees below in some places. a cold start to tomorrow morning. some fog patches which could be very slow to clear actually but most of it and for the majority we see some spells of sunshine still extra cloud to the southeast of england and the channel islands with temperatures may be 10—11 in western and southern parts for most stuck in single digits. a cold night to come on thursday as well and a bit of rain to the far northwest and elsewhere fog likely to be quite dense and quite widespread into friday morning with some of that fog lingering for a good part of the day and it is going to be a very chilly indeed.

hello, this is bbc news. i'm kasia madera. the headlines. the chancellor's stark assessment of the cost of the pandemic on the uk's economy. he says it will do lasting damage — more borrowing than at any point in the uk's peacetime history. commentator: going at them again. brilliant run by maradona... the argentinian football legend diego maradona dies. his mesmerising skill took his country to world cup glory. the desperate search to find enough ppe at the start of the pandemic, and why it cost the taxpayer an extra £10 billion. meghan speaks about the unbearable grief of having a miscarriage in july. she says the subject is still taboo. more now on today's spending review and one of the more controversial aspects is the chancellor's decision to cut — for the time being — the amount of money the uk gives in aid to poorer countries.

mr sunak told mps that to carry on spending abroad when we have a domestic emergency would be difficult to justify to the british people. here's james landale. for years, the sight of a plane delivering british food and medicine has brought hope to millions. the humanitarian assistance and development that can, for some, mean the difference between life and death. but now the government has decided it's got to cut back. this is not something that anybody wanted to have to do, but the truth is the nhs and helping people who are unemployed has to be the priority next year. last year, the uk spent £15 billion on foreign aid, about 0.7% of national income. now, the government wants to cut that legally—binding target tojust 0.5%. that means spending only £10 billion on aid next year. this would leave the uk spending less in germany on 0.6%, but more than france on 0.4%.

the aid budget has long faced questions about priorities, such as why some goes to india, with its own space programme. but those who work to reduce poverty and disease say today's cuts will bite deep, particularly during the covid—19 pandemic. cutting aid will make it harder to get vaccines to people all over the world, harder to get the treatments that people need and, ultimately, it will extend the lifetime of the pandemic. the archbishop of canterbury said the aid cut was "shameful and wrong". the foreign office development minister lady sugg resigned, also saying it was fundamentally wrong. and her old boss, the man who enshrined the target in law, was equally unhappy. well, i think it's a very sad moment. it's not just that we are breaking a promise to the poorest people in the poorest countries in the world — a promise that we made, and a promise that we don't have to break — it's that that 0.7% commitment, it

really said something about britain. for years, britain's had a reputation as an aid superpower. and that's got britain a hearing on the international stage. it's opened door for ministers and officials here are it's opened doors for ministers and officials here are at the foreign office. the question is what impacts the possible decision will actually have on that reputation just as britain tries to carve a new role for itself after brexit. to spend less on aid, the government will also have to change the law — and that means a long parliamentary battle ahead. james landale, bbc news. let's talk now to laurie lee, who's chief executive of the aid agency care international uk. good if you dojoin us. given the situation we are in with the koba pandemic, given the number of people losing theirjobs and the amount the government is spending right now, is rishi sunak right to argue that they need to reduce the amount of money

that the uk is spending on international aid when they need to sort out the situation in the uk? no, he is not right, it was the wrong decision and it is very sad news and it is an enormous cut to the aid to budget and it will impact on the most poor people in the world. they were already extremely poor before the covid crisis began and they are being made poorer by it. 150 million more people are being pushed into extreme poverty because of covid. now honestly yes the government has to look after people in the uk as a result of the covert pandemic. my sister is a teacher. one of my colleagues is married to an intensive care nurse. we know that members of the public in the uk who support care also support lots of charities looking after people in the uk who've been affected by covid like i do but covid isn't only affecting the uk.

and global poverty is going up for the first time. so it was the wrong decision. it's a very sad day but mps can stop this happening. so before we get onto the need in the change of the lot that you are suggesting to, what do you say to those people that feel that the uk is spending too much? a recent new guv bowl found that a very high proportion of people here thought that the uk was spending too much when it came to international aid, how do you change their minds? well as the conservative party manifesto said, we are actually proud of the fa ct said, we are actually proud of the fact that the uk is a leading country in helping the very poorest people in the world. it is one of the things that make britain great. we have been really good at this for a longtime and it has made a huge difference poverty has been going down and down and down for years.

covid is pushing it back up. we should not be reducing our aid. even if the government does manage to get this passed and they do reduce the syrup points seven to 0.5% of national income there is still spending more than france or at the moment are spending 0.4%. well, i am not sure that that is the way we wa nt to not sure that that is the way we want tojudge not sure that that is the way we want to judge ourselves. as we come out of the european union, the government has said it wants to lead in the world. we want to be global leaders, we are chairing the g7 and the climate change talks this year. we have been global leaders in the world on eradicating poverty. why don't we want to carry on being global leaders? you touched upon, we got close that previously about this previous idea about getting this

change, a change in the law would have to happen. what are you hoping? well i think we have heard over the last couple of weeks as this has been discussed in the news that there are a watch of mps on all sides of the house who don't think that this is the right decision. we have seen baroness sugg resigned today over this decision. the government has said it's going to bring forward legislation and that gives every single mp in the house of commons the chance to think about whether or not cutting aid for people living on less than £1.40 a day is the right thing to do. 0k, laurie lee from care international uk, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts, thank you and your reaction. the public spending watchdog has laid bare the hugely inflated prices the westminster government ended up paying for personal protective equipment as the pandemic began to bite. the national audit office said that stockpiles were low and that competing for ppe with other

countries cost the taxpayer an extra £10 billion. our special correspondent, lucy manning, reports. at felixstowe port amongst the containers, a sign of england's ppe problems. 4,000 containers of protective equipment still sitting there causing logjams because most of the government's ppe orders didn't arrive for the first covid—19 peak. at the beginning of the pandemic, the government hadn't built up its stockpile of ppe enough. so there were only nine days' worth of goggles left, seven days' worth of protective aprons and as for gowns, there weren't even enough to last a day. and that meant the government had to buy with prices rocketing. the price of body bags and the price of gowns went up by more than 1000%. the price of gloves went up by more than 500%. the spending watchdog found more than £12 billion was spent buying ppe.

if it had been bought at prices the year before, £10 billion could have been saved. the shortages left staff feeling vulnerable, risking their lives. some lost them. this woman was a nurse. she died in april of coronavirus. she did have diabetes, but her family claims she lacked proper ppe. well, it's devastating — especially as front—line workers as the government, at the nhs that we trust in, it should just be natural to provide anything and everything that would help. it's really hard, you know, it's really hard losing someone like that. there you go. so, that's your masks and your two boxes of gloves... the report also highlights how care companies in particular came close to running out of ppe. it was a little bit of sort of the wild west in truth. we were being offered facemasks at 95p per face mask.

so, a 1500% increase in the price from the original purchase that we made. we were able to find these facemasks for better value than we are being offered by government—sanctioned providers. in the summer, the bbc revealed 150 million facemasks from ayanda capital couldn't be used in the nhs despite the firm saying they met specifications. this, disclosed in court documents by the campaign group the good law project. the report says there could be millions more items of ppe that are also unsuitable. the prime minister, challenged about what was ordered. so, will the prime minister come clean? how many hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers' money has been wasted on equipment that can't be used? prime minister. 99.5% of the ppe, 32 billion items of ppe that this country has secured, conformed entirely to our clinical needs once we'd checked it.

at the start of the pandemic, a huge effort was made to get ppe, but prices were high and supplies low. lucy manning, bbc news. the duchess of sussex has described the "almost unbearable grief" she experienced after having a miscarriage in july. writing in the new york times, meghan said talking about losing a baby remained taboo and led to what she called "unwarra nted shame". here's sarah campbell. wait, listen, did you hearthat? i heard duck sounds. quack, quack, quack! archie's first birthday in may. two months later, his mother, the duchess of sussex, suffered a miscarriage, revealing today in a newspaper editorial the impact on her and her husband, prince harry. she described how, after changing archie's nappy, she felt a sharp cramp... "and yet," she added...

her words have resonated with those all too familiar with pregnancy loss. if i had seen this essay when i had my first pregnancy loss, i would've felt a lot less isolated and a lot less alone. because although i knew that the loss of pregnancy was common, no—one really talked to me about it, and no—one actually really knew what to say to understand what i was going through. meghan joins a number of high—profile women who have opened up about the loss of a child. chrissy teigen was widely praised for sharing intimate pictures in the aftermath of a stillbirth. michelle obama wrote of her miscarriage in her autobiography. and zara tindall, prince harry's cousin, revealed she'd suffered two miscarriages before the birth of her second child. it's estimated that up to one in four pregnancies ends in miscarriage. all couples will cope in their own way. but experts agree it's important those that want to talk about it feel that they can.

there is a lot of pressure that is put on women to be able to conceive, and conceive successfully, and when we don't talk about it, unfortunately, we can hold a lot of that shame and stigma within us, within our families and sometimes within our communities and particular cultures. the sussexes stepped back from royal duties earlier this year. but as this article illustrates, meghan hasn't stepped back from public life. sarah campbell, bbc news. let's discuss some of those issues. i'm joined now by clea harmer who is chief executive of sands which is a stillbirth and neonatal death charity, and i'm also joined by kate davies — pregnancy information director at tommy's, an organisation that provides funding for research into miscarriage, stillbirth and premature birth. thank you so much both of you for joining us tonight. i would like to

start with you katie regarding a statistic that tommy's your charity has been describing, an estimated one infour has been describing, an estimated one in four pregnancies and miscarriages. it's absolutely staggering. i think it is a really stark figure. and i think it really drives home the prevalence of the problem and that is a quarter of mothers who will lose a baby during pregnancy and that is a quarter of families that will be left devastated by baby loss. the problem sadly is all too common. it is a huge amount and one of the things megan speaks about in this article is that that staggering commonality that katie was describing, this still remains a taboo and she talks about red with as she puts it unwarranted shame. yes, i think there is an enormous stigma, a real taboo of round bag —— around pregnancy loss around baby death. and this does leave people feeling

terribly isolated. and when someone in the public eyes speaks out in the way that the dust —— duchess of sussex has come it helps people feel they are not alone and not the only ones going through this. and when you hear somebody like the duchess expressing grief and devastation, again and makes you feel it's all right to feel like that, it's a normal response to losing a baby, losing a pregnancy. is it? do you think it is helpful when you hear these extremely high—profile women talking so openly about their expenses, do you think it is also helpful for these women who argued we have a huge support network as well as surrounding them talking about this? does this help the rest of us? i agree with clea harmer and i think it is really important when somebody like megan speaks out about her boss. we know that one of the things which attaches so much sigma and shame to baby loss, they feel like it is something thatjust

happens to them and it can be really isolated to them to know that it has other women going through it and feeling the same as you is really comforting. it's something that we see in our support group on facebook and women and their partners coming together to support their —— each other through their baby loss was up andi other through their baby loss was up and i think something —— when somebody like meghan talks about her, she has a phrase that many people are listening to do so she will have helped millions of people by talking about experience.” will have helped millions of people by talking about experience. i also wa nt to by talking about experience. i also want to pick up on this idea about when she talks about prince harry of course, "my husband prospects are because he tried to hold the shattered pieces of my clears." i guess the father gets forgotten in all of this. he does not only forgotten but expected to be strong, be the one who is strong for the mother and the family. and i think that it's incredibly hard for fathers because it's there baby,

their child that has been lost as well. and really important that fathers feel able to show their grief, reach out for help and supportjust as grief, reach out for help and support just as much as the mothers. indeed and kate i assume you would agree with that. in that case when it comes to the father, is there something, a piece of advice that you would give to that particular person in this given what a mother is going through in this kind of tragedy? i think the advice that we would give to any parent going through baby loss would be the same. you don't have to go through this on your own, there are organisations out there like tommy's and others who can support you through the loss of this. also i think whether or not somebody feels like they themselves wa nt to somebody feels like they themselves want to talk very probably about it, we would always invite someone talking about their loss of your baby would be a very helpful thing to do to help you cope with your grief. indeed and clea harmer it sounds absolutely terrifying what

was happening to the duchess. she began her article by describing a sharp cramp she felt while she was looking after archie. i think it is important to describe some of the morning size of when a miscarriage and happily happens. yes, absolutely and happily happens. yes, absolutely and it can't be many different things... —— it can be many different things. it can be pain, spotting, blood was and very sadly for some, it can be only when they get to the scan that they are taught that a heartbeat can't be found. and i think that is why it is so important for women they have a partner with them when they go to the scanned because for many, there is that sad news at that point that the pregnancy has been lost or the baby has died. and kate one of the things of course we have got coronavirus so often currently it is difficult to have someone else there which adds to the complication but you have also got i had 90 that one in six women go on to have symptoms

of posttraumatic stress, so it is something that continues with the person. —— i had no idea. something that continues with the person. -- i had no idea. absolutely and cycle and the impact of a miscarriage is very real and can be very miscarriage is very real and can be very severe. miscarriage is very real and can be very severe. it's why we need more support for women and partners after they have gone through this experience and also why we need to have more research into the causes behind miscarriage so we can stop these tragic deaths from the caring s they currently do. thank you so much both kate davies from tommy's and clea harmer from much both kate davies from tommy's and clea harmerfrom sands, both organisations who are helping the families to cope with this tragedy. thank you so much for sharing your expertise and your knowledge and also your time. we have much were details and different organisations for details of organisations which offer advice and support with pregnancy related issues, go online to bbc.co.uk/actionline.

now it's time for a look at the weather with ben rich. hello, good evening. frost and fog feature in our forecast for the next few days. some of the coldest weather of the autumn so far in fact. on the satellite picture you can see you can see this stripe of cloud. that brought some patchy rain particularly across parts of england today. clearer skies and showers following behind, but also some cooler air pushing its way down from the north. i mention clear skies, it was a beautiful end to the day for this weather watcher. we keep those clear skies in many areas through the night. still one or two showers around, particularly across northern scotland, maybe a few for northern ireland, north west england, north wales, and this band of cloud struggling to clear away from parts of kent. it will stay rather cloudy and a little bit milder here. similarly for the channel islands but for most spots clear skies, temperatures getting close to freezing or below freezing in places. a few fog patches around as well. but this area of high pressure is starting to extend its influence towards the british isles.

that means lots of dry weather over the coming days. but with light winds, any fog patches we have first thing will struggle to clear. most of them should, and then we will see some spells of sunshine. very small chance for a shower across the northern half of the uk. still this band of cloud, an old weather front, plaguing parts of the far south east. temperatures well, maybe double digits in the west, but for most it will be highs between five and 9 degrees. during thursday night it's going to be another cold one. this frontal system bringing some rain into the far north west. but away from here southern scotland, england, wales we will see some quite widespread, dense fog patches which could struggle to clear during friday morning. one or two places could stay foggy for a good part of the day, and that really will peg the temperatures back, and even if you get some brightness, sunshine highs ofjust seven or 8 degrees. so that sets us up for quite a chilly start to the weekend. high pressure still quite close by, but an area of low pressure

trying to squeeze its way in from the south—west. it's going to freshen up the breeze across south—western areas. it's also going to introduce some slightly milder air. temperatures in the south west of england for example into double digits through the weekend. but for most of us spots, particularly the north and east, it stays very chilly. largely dry but with some overnight frost and some patchy fog.

this is bbc news. a tale of two presidents. one giving a thanksgiving address at a podium, being, well, presidential. the other being played on speaker phone, touting election conspiracy theories to republicans in pennsylvania. joe biden tells americans in his thanksgiving message we're at war with the virus not one another, assuring people we're in this together. for those who have lost a loved one, i know this time of year can be especially difficult, believe me. i know. we have hundreds and hundreds of affidavits that stories that are even worse than the ones we are hearing. why would they not overturn an