this is bbc news. i'm jane hill. the headlines... more than 23 million people in england will be living under the most severe coronavirus restrictions when lockdown ends next week — with greater manchester, birmingham, leeds and sheffield among places in the highest tier level. to keep people safe and to keep the gains that are being made, more areas than before will be in the top two tiers. this is necessary to protect our nhs and keep the virus under control. business owners say it's more dreadful news for the hospitality industry: we've all agreed it feels like the government have been playing a game of carrot and stick with us.

we are going above and beyond what they ask us to do. then the goalposts change the following day. the chancellor says he's had to make tough choices as he defends his decision to freeze the pay of many public public sector workers. i've had to make some tough choices, and what i couldn't do was justify an across—the—boa rd rise in public sector pay. global firms amazon and apple are accused of dodging their environmental responsibilities by failing to recycle old tech products. and, people mourn across argentina — after the death of the footballing legend diego maradona.

details of which tier of coronavirus restrictions will be imposed on the different regions of england when the national measures are lifted a week today have been announced by the health secretary. more than 23 million people will be under the most severe restrictions — tier 3 — in areas including manchester, newcastle, leeds, kent and bristol. most of the country will be in the middle tier 2 — including london and liverpool. the 69% drop in infections seen in liverpool after the pilot of rapid lateral flow tests has been singled—out by ministers as an example of how the virus can be beaten. downing street now says mass testing will be available to all tier 3 areas. the isle of wight, cornwall and the isles of scilly will be

the only areas of england in tier 1. the health secretary, matt hancock, said there is "no quick fix" to the pandemic but "the end is in sight". this report from our political correspondent, iain watson. as england emerges from what the next week, across the country more shops will be open, you will be able to get a haircut and go for a swim. but there are fears. it was confronted each area of england will be placed in one of three tiers and most will be in two or three. those with the most restrictions. the current evidence and clinical advice shows we must make the tears tougher than they were before, to protect the nhs through the winter and about another national lockdown. so we've looked at each of the tiers are fresh and strengthen them, as the prime minister set out on monday. groups of six people in tier1 can meet indoors and pubs are less open, with last orders at mpm and closing time at 11. most of england will be

in tier 2. tier 3, with the highest level of restriction areas such as greater manchester, west and south yorkshire, much of the east midlands and england's second largest city, birmingham, and surrounding areas will be in tier 3. councillors and mps lobbied to keep lincolnshire and kent out of that year, is only some local areas had high levels of infection, but they failed. london, like most of england, will be in tier 2, like most of england, will be in tier2, and like most of england, will be in tier 2, and liverpool, which piloted mass rapid testing has moved down from tier 3 before lockdown to tear we are now expanding this community

testing programme even further. to launch a major community testing programme honing in on the areas with the greatest rate of infection. this programme is open to all local authorities in tier 3 areas in the first instance and offers help to get out of the toughest restrictions as fast as possible. covid hasn't simply posed a health and economic challenge to the prime minster, but a political one too. mps the new tier system in england next week and some of posit own mps are worried about how long some of the restrictions may at —— boris johnson's own mps. restrictions may at —— boris johnson's own mps. ever going to have regular reviews, that's fine, but we are stuck two gray there's been zero consultation between central government, bucks council and our local nhs. was it really the position that the premise imposes

from downing street restrictions on communities across the midlands and the north, restrictions that will have a huge impact on the livelihoods of families and small businesses? we know the current lockdown in england won't end in tea rs, lockdown in england won't end in tears, but it is still not clear when the new restrictions will be lifted. in a moment we'll hear from correspondents in kent and the west midlands, which have both been placed in tier 3. but first here's andy gill in liverpool which has been moved down into tier 2. reaction here is one of relief, tempered with caution. only seven weeks ago liverpool and the neighbouring borough were in the u nwa nted neighbouring borough were in the unwanted position of being at the top of the coronavirus infection charge. nearly 700 cases per 100,000. that is now down to 150 per 100,000. that is now down to 150 per 100,000. people here putting it down to the fact that people have stuck to the fact that people have stuck to the fact that people have stuck to the rules in tier 3 and the fact

that liverpool has piloted mass testing of asymptomatic people. the mayor of liverpool said it was welcome news, but he will —— urge caution. it is down to the local people making a sacrifice, there is difficult months ahead. the hospitality economy, worth nearly £5 billion a year to the area, don't forget that even in tier 2 social distancing applies in the pubs and restau ra nts distancing applies in the pubs and restaurants which can open, so they are taking on less money. i was speaking to one russian owner this morning said that without tier 2, she wasn't sure her business would have survived —— one restaurant owner. the umbrella body that represent businesses in liverpool city centre says the current lot of support the sector all the way through to 2022 great cities like this one are to survive. just to give you an idea of how quickly the infection rates can change, the

cou nty of infection rates can change, the county of kent was under tier1 before the second knock—down, is now going to be placed under the strictest tier, three. —— second lockdown. we are in the market town of abbas, and the district of swale, and the latest data tells us that it has the highest infection rates in the whole of england at the moment. there is particular concern for those people over 60 getting the infection and they're asking why people, and the infection rates are so people, and the infection rates are so high in this area. one reason might be, in this area in particular, some people work in manufacturing, therefore it is difficult for them to work from home, of course, but earlier this week the leader of swale borough council has said he also put it down to what he called the wilful disregard of the rules by some people. there is no doubt, though, this is going to cause local frustration, because the infection rates vary within areas in kent and

those in the lower rates of infection in those areas will be asking why those also need to be under the strictest of restrictions. here in samuel they were in tier 3 before lockdown and they're coming out in tier3, before lockdown and they're coming out in tier 3, no great surprise. infection rates remain high across many parts of the west midlands. the governor said one of the reasons birmingham will be in tier 3 is that infection rates remain at around 390 per 100,000. the case are coming down, the positivity rate is still high. there is a lot of pressure on the nhs at the moment. as hell and i was saying, there are areas in the midlands, in eastern west midlands, where infection rates are much lower and there have been coming out of higher tiers than they went in. there will be some criticism of what is happening. and the street, the mayor of the west midlands, said he

is disappointed so many areas are coming out in tier 3. he understands why. he says people need to work together to observe the rules and to make sure infection rates come down but says he will be asking for more support, particularly hospitality industry, because reference there won't be able to open. there are other parts of life as well that are affected. west bromwich albion, who played just a short distance from here, they won't be able to have any fa ns here, they won't be able to have any fans and, even though those restrictions were lifted because in tier 3 there will be nobody allowed in the ground. so what does the reinstating of the tier system mean for businesses across england? theo leggett reports. the end of the lockdown means many businesses will be able to take down the shutters and get back to work. but severe restrictions will remain and pubs are among the worst affected. under the new rules, pubs and tier 2 areas across much of the country will only be allowed to open

if they are also acting as restau ra nts, if they are also acting as restaurants, they will only be allowed to serve alcohol if it is accompanied by a substantial meal. something like a pasty and chips. pub chains and prayers are furious, saying they're being unfairly singled out. the industry the newer sections will be 20,000 pubs unable to open —— pub chains and brewers. it is claimed it would cut sales by £1 billion in december alone and leave a quarter of a million staff unable to work. the government is being urged to provide grants for struggling pubs of up to £12,000 per month. the next few months, critically as we are being forced to operate under these new tiers, is absolutely critical and without the support, were going to need sector specific, many companies, many of your local pubs and restaurants, won't come through this period. considering we now have a vaccine,

we know the future look sick in the long term, it is vital government provide this financial bridge to the sector. —— we know what the future looks like. in tier 3 pumps at a altogether. it is another hammer blow to the night—time economy —— in tier 3 pubs will have to close altogether. it feels like the government have been playing a game of carrot and stick with us. we do above and beyond what they're asking us above and beyond what they're asking us to do, they ask us to do something in a certain day, we do it, then they go post will change the following day. —— goalposts. it doesn't feel right. i think for many businesses, moving from national locked into a tiered system will feel something of a halfway house. it is good news for some, including retailers who will be able to take advantage of the best in trading period, but rather such as hospitality, it will really feel like they are stuck in a deep freeze. ——

like they are stuck in a deep freeze. — — but like they are stuck in a deep freeze. —— but for others such as hospitality. the prospect of a vaccine being developed doesn't —— does at least give hospitality businesses hope that one day late will get back to normal. but they insist that help is needed now, or many of them will be ringing last orders for the final time. we can now speak to kim foster, the owner of copperfields of whitstable, an independent cookware and homeware shop in kent. good afternoon to you. very difficult for everyone across your county. what are your thoughts this afternoon? i think we are obviously disappointed that the whole county has gone into tier 3. it is pretty devastating news for pubs and restau ra nts a nd colleagues devastating news for pubs and restaurants and colleagues that i know. we have had this last month's lockdown, which particularly, in my

view, has created an unfair playing field. there has been absolutely no thought for independent shops and retail. all the power has gone to the supermarkets and the large chains. and all that has done is push to crowds of people into those areas, and that could well be why we have ended up with a higher rate of covid in this area. ijust think have ended up with a higher rate of covid in this area. i just think the government have not thought this through very well. i think independent shops operate all the protocols, they are probably the safer environment to be in, and i think it is pretty devastating news for a lot of people, to be honest. and it is nearly december, what does it mean for you financially? with people already be starting christmas shopping with you by this point? we have already lost four weeks of trade, and when you think, we sell exactly the same items that a supermarket or a large chain is

selling, i challenge the trading standards, and there is a complete unfair playing field. the cook shops like oz can open in surrey and sussex and gloucester, and yet kent cou nty sussex and gloucester, and yet kent county council say we could not open. —— shops like us. even though we we re open. —— shops like us. even though we were in a national lockdown, it would sell them to regional trading standards officers to decide whether we could open or not and that is com pletely we could open or not and that is completely wrong. absolutely wrong. the new rules will be reviewed in mid december. matt hancock said. if things change for you and you went into tier 2. —— at that point, with that help you at all in terms of your christmas tree, is that too late? we are fortunate... we are fortu nate we late? we are fortunate... we are fortunate we will be allowed to open in december the 2nd because of the type of business we are in, but when

you look at the pubs and cabbies that cannot open, november and december are without question the most important time of year for all those —— pubs and restaurants. our income is decimated, our cash flow is decimated, and caused and will an ongoing effect from january through march. how have you been surviving since it all beganyou been able to access grants and so on? well, i think the point with grants is, whilst to some degree they are welcomed, you've got to remember, the grants we all received in the first lockdown, realistically, didn't cover the three months that we we re didn't cover the three months that we were close for and your cash flow is completely upside down. the gra nts were is completely upside down. the grants were getting now, for this closure, i would say for the majority of businesses it wouldn't

even pay half of the rent. we had to challenge that yesterday, because the qualification period for a grant is actually 28 days, but if you look at when we closed on november the 5th, and if we open in december the 2nd, then we are only closed for 27 days. we have had some clarification of that point this morning, because my concern was that all independent businesses then would not receive the grant at all, because the qualifying period the government are put on is 28 days. so we have some clarification, but i don't think thatis clarification, but i don't think that is sufficient at the moment, so we are asking the business minister to clear the advisers whether we can open on the 2nd of december or whether we shall have to open on the 3rd of december. so, i'm afraid a lot of these things are really not well thought through. it is a bit like a sledgehammer to crack you

not, in my opinion. thank you for your time. the whole of kent, from next week, will be in the highest tier. those tears were announced just before lunchtime by the health secretary matt hancock. our political correpsondent chris mason is at westminster. what are to push back is going to beat all of this? there are some pushback. i think it gets to the heart of the whole idea of a regionalised approach. clearly the case for a regionalised approach in england, and of course we had of a couple of weeks before the national british restrictions were imposed, was that geography matters. clearly people can also make the case that

geography matters at a more localised level than some of these tiers would imply. we had articulated there on the concerns that in certain pockets of kent there are high case rates and elsewhere it is lower, we have seen similar arguments made by people in lincolnshire and lancashire as well, also areas going into tier 3. it is also areas going into tier 3. it is also worth taking a step back, because you hear lots of commentary today about a return to the cheering system in england from next wednesday, but it will feel very different for lots of people in lots of parts of the country. if you look at the population breakdown, for instance, last time there were 23 .5 million people in tier 1, the lowest tier. that will now be 713,000, so far fewer people living under the most liberal model of the restrictions. there is an increase in the number in tier 2 of around

about eight or 9 million, 32 million incher to under these new restrictions and 23 million in the highest tier, tier 3, competing with 8.5 million last time round. yes, a return to the regionalised approach, but very different and experience for lots of people. when you talk about those numbers, downing street sing in the last error i think that mass testing is going to be available in all tier 3 areas, 23 million people. i was on the call with downing street, the lobby briefing for westminster journalists where that question was put over and over again, because of the race i read that i noted in your tone of voice there, it was certainly in evidence on the question is reputed entry, but the practicality of doing that. given the number of people that. given the number of people that will fall within tier 3, compared with last time —— on the

question put to downing street. the government points to liverpool as a model of how aidan —— how an adr, the liverpool city region, to come being in the highest tier 2 complying with the comedy roles and the significant testing that was flooding into the region, they are now coming out of that year and going into tier 2. the question remains, how can you scale that up when so many more people are in the highest tier then wear a few weeks ago? a logistical challenge the government and local authorities, and in some instances, the military will face to try and see if they can match the challenge of the new geographical reality did this coming and a couple of days' time. quick final thought, and other matters, we are hearing the prime minister has appointed a new chief of staff. he has. you will remember all the

hullabaloo has. you will remember all the hulla baloo surrounding the has. you will remember all the hullabaloo surrounding the departure of dominic cummings a couple of weeks ago, and all of the reaction that that provoked. and lee cain. a new appointment in the last few minutes, a new chief of staff starting in a few weeks on the 7th of december. joining from a previous job, has previously worked for bank of america. no stranger to government, was a senior civil servant to chancellors alistair darling and george osborne. that was between 2007—2011. a crucial additional biographical detail courtesy of nick robinson, who points out he is a manchester united fan, because nick and dan have both shared the terrace or the seating

when man united have been playing. a new appointment and a very senior and significant appointment and downing street. somebody who won't be familiar to many conservatives and conservative mps, but will no doubt make it his business to become familiar with them as soon as he sta rts familiar with them as soon as he starts in a couple of weeks' time. was that in the job description? you have to be a man united fan chris mack thank you very much indeed. across the uk, christmas bubbles can be formed between 23rd and 27th december, with the scottish government announcing their specific rules for meeting family and friends this morning. across the five day period, people in scotland will be able to form christmas bubbles of three households. however, the bubble should contain no more than eight people.

children under the age of 12 will not count towards the total number. in england there's no limit to the number of people in a christmas bubble, however it should be no more than three households, and the government advises is be kept "as small as possible". no separate guidance has been published for wales and northern ireland yet. let's get more from our scotland correspondent james shaw. nicola sturgeon was outlining what she wants, they restrictions or rules to be, in scotland. hill that's right. it's interesting, you are reflecting on the fact that different situations and the different situations and the different areas of the united kingdom. that becomes important when someone kingdom. that becomes important when someone from kingdom. that becomes important when someone from one kingdom. that becomes important when someone from one nation travels to see family in another. it is the rules of the nation that you're spending christmas in that they're

going to count. i think in scotland you could say that nicola sturgeon's watchword is caution and everything connected with the loosening of restrictions around christmas. essentially what she said was, you don't happen to follow on with this relaxation, you can decide to be extra careful. maybe you should decide to spend christmas at home, not with your extended family. if you want to meet them, maybe shoot outside, perhaps you should go for a walk or connect via the internet. and you mention the specific rules in scotland, were talking aboutjust a people from three families, but children under 12 don't count. there was some detail in the guidance this morning about not sharing cutlery or crockery, keeping your distance, ventilating your house, making sure those shared services stay clean and free of the virus. but as i say, the emphasis from nicholas debs in ——

nicola sturgeon was all about caution. this way for any of us to spend christmas is with our own household in our own home and our own local area. just because we are allowing people to meet up in a limited way does not, of course, mean that people have to do so and people should not feel under pressure to do so. this virus spreads when people come together. so we are asking everyone to think carefully before using these flexibilities. one of the other issues nicola sturgeon address when she was talking with the scottish parliament earlier was that even though there are these controls over the relaxations, the fact that you are relaxing quite strict regimes means that you are increasing the risk of spreading the virus. she wants to limit that as much as possible, hence this constant emphasis on being extra careful at christmas. thank you.

after half past i will be speaking to the mayor of greater manchester and the mayor of london. much more on the new restrictions coming in next week. mps have accused amazon and apple of dodging their environmental responsibilities by failing to help collect, recycle and repair old tech products. the environmental audit committee wants companies to be banned from intentionally shortening the life span of electronic devices. apple says it's surprised and disappointed by the report, while amazon said it's helped recycle 10,000 tonnes of electrical products in the uk over the past decade. ugo vallauri is one of the co—fouders of the restart project, and teaches people how to repair their broken electronics. you would have a big job with me.

lovely to see you apart from that. your thoughts on this report, is this fair criticism? absolutely. the report is ground—breaking because we, as activists and campaigners, we have been saying for years that we need to bring the right to repair in legislation, and for the first time, parliamentary committee is actually asking government to bring that. and what does right to repair mean? it means products have to be designed so that repairing them is possible, and so that information as well as spare parts need to be available for eve ryo ne spare parts need to be available for everyone and that spare parts need to be affordable, because there is some point in the manufacturerjust putting a replacement scream for their smartphone on the market at an incredibly high price, it would drive people away from doing it. we

need more incentives, and it is high time this happened. in europe there is quite a bit of pressure, and we've been buying that with the european rachel repair campaign to make it happen. —— we have been behind that. as the uk leaves europe, to same to think whether it can become a leader on this and do more of what europe is doing. is the biggest issue amongst all of this actually recycling? don't most people stop using a product not because it is actually broken, but because it is actually broken, but because the technology becomes out of date, the new model is faster, shinier, smaller, whatever it is? and that's the reason the switch to a new phone or laptop or whatever it is we are talking about? but how many of us have old phone sitting on a shelf somewhere that you perhaps don't even know how to best recycle it? that are scandalous, isn't it? absolutely, there's definitely some of this in the sense that the recycling of spirit. the uk is the

second largest per capita producer of electrical waste —— the recycling is poorer. we know that only a small fraction of this is recycled. the truth is, the vast majority of the uk public actually wants to be able to repair products and keep the menus for longer. 25% of people have already asked the government to take action on that —— keep the products working for longer. product life spans have shortened over time and the report highlights that. there's plenty of academic evidence on this. we need to help people do the right thing, which is to extend the product lifetime of every device we already own. also, because most people don't necessarily know that the vast majority of the environmental footprint of the product occurs before we have ever switch them on, so ensuring that we use them for as long as possible is a priority. then come up course,

innovation will also be important, but regulation to make products more long lasting as well as energy efficient will inspire manufacturers to really go that route and bring meaningful innovation to tackle climate change. that's all interesting, will it be compulsory? the company i want you to buy a phone every year rather than every ten years. they wanted to buy more phones. business simply have to change, manufactures on their own will never change this model, just a few small ones will do that, inspired by different values, but we need to change the system as a whole, and that is why we are demanding the right to repair. you mentioned that manufacturers are not interested in that. in fact, they are bringing new barriers even as we

speak. we see software being used increasingly to prevent even independent business professionals from repairing the gadgets that we already own. we need regulation to change this and put some rules so that then manufacture will have to compete following these rules and continuing to make sufficient profit to drive their innovation further. let's not be fooled, these phones could very well last five years if not more, but why are manufacturers stopping in many cases to support their software and their security updates, even just two or three yea rs updates, even just two or three years after? very interesting to talk to, thank you very much. now, the weather with darren bett. hello, there's been some sunshine around many areas. cloud coming down

into scotland and northern ireland, bit of rain in the north west. crowding the far south—east of england, between clear skies no—win, finding fog forming around england and wales. clear skies and before that folk forms, so we are looking for at a patchy frost. crowding for scotla nd for at a patchy frost. crowding for scotland and northern ireland, rain and the north—west, chance of a little rain in the extreme south west south—east of england, sunshine coming out in many areas, home counties into the west country could stay cloudy and cold. heading towards the weekend, a lot of cloud on the scene this weekend. not as much frost and fog, it should be a bit milder. hello, this is bbc news.

the headlines: more than 23 million people in england will be living under the most severe coronavirus restrictions when lockdown ends next week — with greater manchester, birmingham, leeds and sheffield among places in the highest tier level. to keep people safe and to keep the gains that are being made, more areas than before will be in the top two tiers. this is necessary to protect our nhs and keep the virus under control. business owners say it's more dreadful news for the hospitality industry: we've all agreed that this government, it feels like they've been playing a game of carrot and stick with us. we do above and beyond what they ask us to do, and they ask us to do this on a certain day, we do it, and then the goalposts change the following day. the chancellor says he's had to make tough choices as he defends his decision to freeze the pay of many public

sector workers. global firms amazon and apple are accused of dodging their environmental responsibilities by failing to recycle old tech products. and people mourn across argentina — after the death of the footballing legend diego maradona. sport now, and a full round up from the bbc sport centre. good afternoon. premier league champions liverpool are among the sides able to welcome back fans into stadiums next week, following the government's announcement on new tiers after lockdown. liverpool, along with london is in tier 2. meaning clubs can allow 2,000 supporters back under strict covid guidelines. arsenal are expected to become the first premier league side to see fans back, in their europa league match in north london a week today.

sides in tier1 areas will be allowed up to 4000 supporters. but for clubs in tier 3, they have to wait till local restrictions are eased — which means no crowds for manchester united, manchester city, leeds, newcastle, wolves, aston villa, and leicester. their manager, speaking before the new guidelines were announced, says many will feel upset at missing out. it probably won't be fair. there is going to be part of the country where some supporters won't get in, but i think it's very hard to deny people, you know, whose lives depend and love so much, to not get into a ground. so clubs in the lower level that can get 4000 supporters in, you may be looking at up to 50% of the crowd is actually in the grounds, so i think that's going to be hugely beneficial. a team like ourselves, we want to have our supporters, both home and away, and hopefully that will be in the

not—too—dista nt future. the tributes continue to pour in for diego maradona — who died of a heart attack yesterday at the age of 60. we're expecting more later from one of his former clubs napoli, who play later in the europa league. these are pictures of tributes in buenos aires. maradona saw football as an escape, a salvation from a difficult childhood, growing up in on one of the poorest parts of argentina's capital. he rose to become one of the most iconic players ever to play the game, winning the world cup with argentina in 1986. a tournament where they beat england in the quarterfinals, perhaps the most memorable match for the argentina number 10. gary lineker was in that england side — he remembers the impact maradona had in mexico. you saw both sides of diego in that game. that was his personality, the impish, cheeky, you know, we call it cheating here and stuff, but he got away with it, obviously. then, the second goal was a goal, i think, the

greatest ever scored by anybody ever, because you have to take in the importance of the situation, the importance of the game, the fact it was the world cup quarterfinal, living similar goals, i've seen messi school in very similar, but not in the world cup quarterfinal. i think these servants up his life in many ways. england have named their side to take on wales this weekend in the autumn nations cup... george ford returns to the side. ford made his comeback from injury off the bench in the win against ireland. victory against wales would mean england finish top of group a — and go to a title decider against the winner of group b next weekend. meanwhile cardiff blues scrum—half lloyd williams will make his first wales start for four years. the back—row that will be missing justin tipuric and josh navidi — both are out through injury.

before we go don't forget you can catch up with all the latest from snooker‘s uk championship. this morning mark allen made it through to round 2 with a 6—1win overjamie wilson. you can find more that and all of our stories on the bbc sport website. the chancellor has been defending his decision to freeze the pay of many public sector workers, saying that ‘tough choices' had to be made about which workers would get a pay rise because of the economic impact of coronavirus. concerns have also been raised about the impact of the plans revealed in yesterday's spending review on some of the poorest households. our economics correspondent, andy verity, reports. overshadowed in the spending review by the vast sums spent and borrowed to tackle covid was a surprising fact. analysis of the review‘s final print carried out overnight reveals that away from emergency spending, the government actually plans to cut normal spending on public services by more than £10 billion. it's important to say that for next

year government spending plans work were cut really quite substantially, actually, other than the amount they are allocating to deal with covid. the idea that we will need no more money in the nhs after next year than we thought at the beginning of this year, the idea that we will need no money to deal with covid, the idea that we will want to spend less on public services, on social care and education and so on, i'm not sure that stacks up. the ifs also points out rishi sunak chose to reduce support for local authorities while giving them the ability to raise council tax by 5% to make up. because most are likely to have to do so, that will raise council tax by an average of £70 per household. that will have a direct impact on people, and really we needed to see resolute action yesterday to support people back into work, to support job creation.

we didn't see the kind of ambitious programme being set out that, for example, countries like france and germany have put in place. this morning, rishi sunak defended his most controversial move, the decision to freeze the pay of 1.3 million public sector workers outside the nhs who earn more than £24,000 a year. what we have seen in the private sector is that wages have fallen over the last six months by about a percent. in the public sector, wages have gone up by 4%. given that, i think we need to take a more targeted approach. it absolutely is true that public sector wages have done much better than the private sector over this year, but over the last decade, public sector wages have done even worse than private sector wages. i mean, both have done incredibly badly in historic terms, but the public sector has done worse than the private sector. the chancellor was keen point out the majority of public sector workers, including nhs staff, would still get a pay increase. the ifs, though, notes that because of that narrow targeting,

the pay freeze is likely to save the government less than £2 billion. a modest sum against the 335 billion it is spending tackling the covid crisis. andy verity, bbc news. well the chancellor promised billions of pounds yesterday to help "level up" the economy. so how much confidence is that giving businesses, amid the gloom? our business correspondent nina warhurst has been speaking to staff at a printing firm in merseyside. hot off the press, these are admissions forms for edge hill university. at this firm, they print signs for restaurants, pamphlets to charities, serving all sectors. what happens to the wider economy matters here. yesterday, we learned about the shape that it's in. so far this year almost 400 billion pounds have been borrowed to cover covid, and that translates to about £7,000 for every person. the contracting economy means that

by next year it's predicted that more than 2.5 million people will be unemployed, and this is really striking — a prediction that by 2025 the economy will still be 3% smaller than was expected in the march budget. a small glimmer of hope, though — the chancellor found the funding for four billion pounds to help level up the economy. and that message means investing in an economy that creates more opportunity outside of london and the south—east. something that, too many, sounds painfully familiar. we've heard it all before in business and, you know, previous administrations, and we are hoping that it does work and it does hopefully do what it's supposed to do and level up, but, you know, time will tell, and hopefully a little bit of smart economics also, with its. mario's main immediate concern is the tier system. keep constricting business across the north west, and he will feel the pressure.

as ever, the big picture is personal. they have heard about the freeze on public sector pay, and his heart went out to his daughter — a teaching assistant who is gone the extra mile after mile over covid. i think she's really worried about that and, you know, they worked really hard, and i think that the amount of effort they put in and they don't get any reward, i think that's difficult to take. and when you think about the amount of debt we are in as a country, going forward, do you worry about their future? oh, most definitely. the financial security in the years ahead will be difficult. and the small print always matters. yesterday's changes announced to pensions are expected to see women and recent retirees hit hardest. and now, how to face up to the debt we are in. the borrowing unprecedented in peacetime. those are the words left in britain.

the headlines on bbc news: more than 23 million people in england will be living under the most severe coronavirus restrictions when lockdown ends next week. the chancellor says he's had to make tough choices as he defends his decision to freeze the pay of many public sector workers. global firms amazon and apple are accused of dodging their environmental responsibilities by failing to recycle old tech products. we will stay with our main story, the announcements of the head health

secretary. he revealed what level of coronavirus restrictions will be imposed in different parts of england, when the national measures are lifted next week. in a moment, we'll speak to the mayor of greater manchester but first let's get reaction from the mayor of london. you called for a relief of the system, so do you feel relief?|j give system, so do you feel relief?” give credit for matt hancock and the government for working with us to make sure we get a grip with this virus. i would make sure we get a grip with this virus. iwould remind londoners, we are still in lockdown and still next wednesday, and even after wednesday restrictions will apply. what this means is that many of us will be able to visit the shops, bars and restau ra nts able to visit the shops, bars and restaurants we desperately need some custom, but we are cognisant of the

fa ct custom, but we are cognisant of the fact the virus is still there, to stop spreading and people are still losing their lives. that's why it's really important we follow the rules. how to get that message out? how do you say to people, look, i know you might want to run out and do lots of christmas shopping, we all know the pressure that puts particular on public transport. what do you want to to londoners about frankly how they behave in this environment? let me speak directly to londoners. yesterday, 28 of our fellow citizens lost their lives because of this pandemic. the day before, 32 londoners lost their lives. i am well aware that many families are grieving. of course i understand the desperation of shops, pubs, bars restaurants and businesses to get business back, but we all realise that the virus is out there. next wednesday, of course, i'm pleased that the decision has been made that we are in tier 2, but that does not mean a free for all.

it doesn't mean that we can act as we did before. it means we follow the rules. no household mixing indoors, you can mix with other household outdoors. it means you are reminded to wash your hair is —— wash your hands regularly, and if you must use public transport, please avoid the rush hours. can we talk about the night—time economy? it's a big part of the economy, people are aware of the ten o'clock cu rfew. people are aware of the ten o'clock curfew. that is being moved to 11, but it is still not a free for all until 11. is it enough to help restau ra nts, until 11. is it enough to help restaurants, in particular, don't say their takings have really suffered that mpm cut off? no, the 10pm curfew has not worked, and we should be honest and say it has not worked. it has to the led opposite of what was intended. people have been gathering at ten o'clock, the congestion has caused the virus to spend or spread faster than

otherwise it would have done. i called on the government to remove the curfew, and i'm glad they have done so, but they've only extended it by an hour. it is it's good because restaurants can have a further sitting, but you're just pushing the problem backed by an hour. what i would rather the government had done would be to get rid of it all together so that they can be staggering times of the venues. it is important, even though there is some partial good news, 10pm has gone, 11pm is still there. i would encourage patrons of restau ra nts a nd bars i would encourage patrons of restaurants and bars and venues not to wait to 11pm, because what we do not want is congestion outside bars etc at 11pm. the virus is still there and it is spread by keeping close contact with one another. you have to fight to london, you are elected and you have to do that, that's your remit, but do you accept that's your remit, but do you accept that there are people living in other parts of the country who might be quite upset that london is in tier 2, because while the figure is

low in some boroughs, it's not in other boroughs. it's a big place, but there's lots of differentials, and there are people looking at some of the stats in london saying this is so in fire. we really mustn't portray this as london versus the rest, it really isn't. in london, we area rest, it really isn't. in london, we are a city of 9 million, with 32 boroughs plus the city of london corporation, to go as one. we've been working on a cross—party basis to make sure we go, working closely with the government, with the nhs, the problem is if we go with different boroughs and different tiers, we have one police force and enforcement is a nightmare. we have one transport system. how would you decide what transport rules apply? also the nhs applies across the city. we have issues due to lack of clarity and communication, so we're trying to go is one, and i've been really impressed by how mps, councils, boroughs across the city

of work closely together, and what was seen of work closely together, and what was seen by the announcement today with the government making the right decision is the fruits of us being collegiate as a city, and i'm really pleased that we have worked so hard over the last few months, and the promise to londoners that we will work closely together. we are on the sum side trying to fight the virus. with the ever be any prospect of getting into tier 1? could you ever see that happening? we had to be really careful, because there is a risk of us going into tier 3, so it's really important that i remind londoners yet, yes, we will be in tier 2 from next wednesday, we got to follow the rules. don't inadvertently think the virus is now gone, because if you mix and mingle in the virus spreads and it accelerates and we've got challenges with the nhs having capacity, others above the age of 59 catch a virus, that could mean us going into tier 3 or the government deciding to have a further third national lockdown. of

course i'm hopeful that we will be in tier1 at some stage, that course i'm hopeful that we will be in tier 1 at some stage, that with the vaccination and testing trace and isolate comoros who have the virus behind us rather than in front of us, but i think all of us must realise we cannot afford to be complacent, and let's work to have a decent, semi decent christmas, and look towards the new year working together to make sure we have a decent recovery. thank you very much. the mayor of london, labour mayor of london. andy burnham is the mayor of greater manchester and a former labour health secretary. greater manchester was in tier 3 before the lockdown — and will go back into tier 3 when the lockdown ends. your thoughts about that decision. on the evidence alone, if you leave politics outside of it, i can understand the decision, because although we have the fastest rate of decrease in england now, our cases

are still high, and higher than the england average, and there is still quite considerable pressure within the hospital system. if things continue within the next fortnight, i will be mounting a cross—party campaign hearing greater manchester. a review is taken in mid—december, but what do you understand to be what will have to happen for you to get into tier 2? we are saying the right kind of change in all the five indicators that the government put forward, so the rate of cases amongst the over 60s, the positivity rate position in hospitals, so in all of those big issues we are seeing significant decrease in cases in so, i think we are getting close to the borderline anyway, between tier 3 and tier 2, i

hope that the government would be fairand hope that the government would be fair and would look at the evidence and would put us into tier 2 listings continue. what i cannot agree with today, and it's important to point this out, i cannot agree with tier 3 as it stands, to be honest, because they are hitting hospitality extremely hard here, and barely touching nonessential retail. that will cause considerable damage to our city centre and other city centres that are in tier 3 areas. the other thing that is wrong is that they are not giving tier 3 areas any additional business support, so tier 1, isle of wight, gets the same as tier 3 greater manchester when it comes to business support going forward. ijust manchester when it comes to business support going forward. i just ask the question of your viewers, cannot possibly be right or fair? one thing the government is promising, and downing street has to set this in the last hour or so, they are saying that mass testing will be available to all tier 3 areas. that's a lot of

people. i'm interested how much you have been told about that. yes, that's more positive. i keep trying to say throughout this whole thing i will call it straight. if the government does the wrong thing, i will call them out, as i have done, if they do the right thing, i will praise them. i'm encouraged by the offer around mass testing, and certainly we would want to take advantage of that to introduce a targeted mass testing scheme, particularly to manage the return of university students to home from greater manchester, but also to provide extra support to our care homes, schools and other priority sectors, so we prop we wouldn't introduce the liverpool model in its entirety, but we certainly would wa nt to ta ke entirety, but we certainly would want to take advantage of mass testing if the offer is still on the table, other understand there is some about that. so, you as the mayor haven't been given specifics yet as to how this would work?” think there's been some really positive discussions between my team and the government officials that

are working on this, so i hope those can come to a positive conclusion. asi can come to a positive conclusion. as i say, we have things moving in the right direction. you want to keep that downward momentum, if you like, in the number of cases. that is more positive. i do not want to lose sight of the really serious threat to businesses here by the failure to give us any additional support. pubs and restaurants, if they close, there is a sort of automatic grant that comes. but the government are not providing any help with the three other industries are suffering pubs and restaurants close. the taxi industry, security, catering, cleaning. look to ofjobs in those industries and people in those jobs could have in those industries and people in thosejobs could have real in those industries and people in those jobs could have real hardship coming their way, so the businesses may not make it to the new year. i make an appealand may not make it to the new year. i make an appeal and i'm just trying to speak up for businesses and people in my area. the government, i think, needs to do more for tier 3

areas when it comes to business support, and we should be punished for making that point. this is about supporting people through a pandemic. i am interested in the hospitality point. i know how hard the sector has been hit. what would you say to somebody who runs a bar, a pub, among the people that you represent and they say, you know, we've done everything right. we tried hard, redundant social distancing, what murray meant to do? what you say to those people? distancing, what murray meant to do? what you say to those people ?m distancing, what murray meant to do? what you say to those people? is not much use to them, all i can do a simple size. i agree with them, i think the government has got it wrong. they have gone the extra mile, they have spent a lot of money making the premises covid secure, and the government has said nonessential retail can continue as is on the to christmas. i would argue you are much less likely to get social distancing in shops in shops in the run—up to christmas then you are in pubs and restaurants

where people can sit at the table and it is all orderly and organised. i honestly don't follow the logic here at all. a more balanced approach is needed here, whether the restrictions are nonessential retail and maybe some on hospitality, but allow bows to have some trade running into the crucial christmas period, and the failure to do that, i think, is to single out hospitality for extremely unfair treatment, and that is why i would say the constructor tier 3 is wrong. i also have my doubts, more than doubts, i think the christmas arrangements are wrong. three households for five days seems to be too much to me. the risk here is that tier 3 areas, famine, feast, famine. i don't people want that. we need to move away from that approach. sorry to have to leave it there, straight to the weather.

cloud in the south—east of england, in between the sky is no wind, fog forming across england and wales. still some areas of clearer skies, folk forming, patchy frost, as well even by the end of the night. cardiff has got to northern ireland, in the north—west, chance of rain in the extreme south—east. rain and fog in many areas of england and wales, towards the fans, perhaps the home counties into the west country could stay cloudy and cold with temperatures only four or 5 degrees. as you are heading towards the weekend, a lot of cloud in the scene this weekend. not as much fog and frost it should be a bit milder.

this is bbc news. the headlines... more than 23 million people in england will be living under the most severe coronavirus restrictions when lockdown ends next week — with greater manchester, birmingham, leeds and sheffield among places in the highest tier level. to keep people safe and to keep the gains that are being made, more areas than before will be in the top two tiers. this is necessary to protect our nhs and keep the virus under control. business owners say it's more dreadful news for the hospitality industry: we all agree if you'll see the government are playing a game of carrot and stick with us. we do above and beyond what they're asking us to do and there's got to do this

ona us to do and there's got to do this on a certain day, we do it, then the goalposts change following day. the chancellor says he's had to make tough choices as he defends his decision to freeze the pay of many public sector workers: i've had to make some tough choices and what i couldn't do was justify and what i couldn't do was justify an across—the—boa rd rise and what i couldn't do was justify an across—the—board rise in public sector pay. global firms amazon and apple are accused of dodging their environmental responsibilities by failing to recycle old tech products. and, people mourn across argentina — after the death of the footballing legend diego maradona. details of which tier of coronavirus restrictions will be imposed

on the different regions of england when the national measures are lifted a week today have been announced by the health secretary. more than 23 million people will be under the most severe restrictions — tier 3 — in areas including manchester, newcastle, leeds, kent and bristol. most of the country will be in the middle tier 2 — including london and liverpool. the 69% drop in infections seen in liverpool after the pilot of rapid lateral flow tests has been singled—out by ministers as an example of how the virus can be beaten. downing street now says mass testing will be available to all tier 3 areas. the isle of wight, cornwall and the isles of scilly will be the only areas of england in tier 1. the health secretary, matt hancock, said there is "no quick fix" to the pandemic but "the end is in sight". this report from our political correspondent, iain watson.

as england emerges from lockdown next week, across the country more shops will reopen, you will be able to get a haircut and go for a swim. but there are fears. it was confirmed each area of england will be placed in one of three tiers and most will be in two or three. — those with the most restrictions. the current evidence and clinical advice shows we must make the tiers tougher than they were before, to protect the nhs through the winter and avert another national lockdown. so we've looked at each of the tiers afresh and strengthened them, as the prime minister set out on monday. groups of six people in tier 1 can meet indoors... most of england will be in tier 2...

tier 3, with the highest level of restrictions... only cornwall, the isle of wight and isles of scilly are in tier 1. areas such as greater manchester, west and south yorkshire, much of the east midlands and england's second largest city, birmingham, and surrounding areas will be in tier 3. councillors and mps lobbied to keep lincolnshire and kent out of that tier, as only some local areas had high levels of infection, but they failed. london, like most of england, will be in tier 2, and liverpool, which piloted mass rapid testing has moved down from tier 3 before lockdown to 2 now. we are now expanding this community testing programme even further.

to launch a major community testing programme honing in on the areas with the greatest rate of infection. this programme is open to all local authorities in tier 3 areas in the first instance and offers help to get out of the toughest restrictions as fast as possible. covid hasn't simply posed a health and economic challenge to the prime minster, but a political one, too. mps get to vote on the new tier system in england next week and some of mps are worried about how long some of the restrictions may at —— boris johnson's own mps. if we are going to have regular reviews, that's fine, was it really the position that the pm imposes from downing street restrictions on communities across the midlands and the north, restrictions that will have a huge impact on the

livelihoods of families and small businesses? we know the current lockdown in england will end in tiers, but it is still not clear when the new restrictions will be lifted. we've got some figures to show you to illustrate how many more people will be living in the higher tiers in england than they were before the national lockdown. so if we start with tier 1 — you can see that before england's national lockdown, more than 23 million people were in the lowest set of restrictions. but after lockdown, from 2nd december, that will drop very significantly to only just over 700,000. if we look at tier 2 — before lockdown around 24 million people were in tier 2. that will rise to around 32 million people next week. (ani)and then tier 3 — 8million people before the lockdown.

week. and then tier 3 — 8million people before the lockdown. now there will be 23 million under the strictest measures. so quite a stark picture there of the trend towards the harsher restrictions. one area that has made the leap from tier1 to tier 3 is kent. our correspondent helena wilkinson is in faversham. these are new restrictions, and will be from later next week and affect the entire county. yes, and interesting you say it is quite complicated. we spoke to one woman here in this idea who said the rules are so here in this idea who said the rules are so complicated that some people, she believes, are struggling to follow the reels. you can see behind us it is very empty where we are here this afternoon. this is a place

that would normally be very busy. we are not in normal times, of course. you can see, as an example of kent isa you can see, as an example of kent is a county, as you mentioned there, before the second lockdown it was under tier 1. it is now, from next week, going to be going into tier 3. it will be difficult for so many people in this area. we heard a bit more from the government about the rationale behind why kent is going to be, as a whole, moving into tier 3. one of the reasons as case rates continue to rise, with large case rates in almost all areas in the last seven days and, also, some of the highest rates in the country are currently seen in kent. we are in the district of the swale here, and if you look at the latest data, it shows us it is the area with the highest infection rate is at the moment in england. there was an

emergency meeting earlier this week with various leaders trying to establish exactly why inflation rates are so high in this area. one reason, perhaps, is there are some people who work in manufacturing, that makes it difficult for them to be able to work from home. the leader of swale borough council also pointed the finger at some people and their behaviours, saying some people were disregarding the rails. there was a real art from kent cou nty there was a real art from kent county council as well, who are pleading with people to stick to those rules. from next week, the whole county under tier 3, but i think, also, jane, there is a sense of frustration because it is a very big area, kent, and there are areas within it that have lower infection rates are below average infection rates are below average infection rates and there are people in those areas who are saying, why do we have to be put under tier 3 when the areas where we live aren't so

badthink there definitely frustration definitely frustration in areas across kent and a loss of adjusting for people in the county, because as i say, they were under cheer one for the lockdown and you have to get used to being under tier 3 from next week —— they were under tier 1, tier 3 from next week. so what does the reinstating of the tier system mean for businesses across england? theo leggett reports. the end of the lockdown means many businesses will be able to take down the shutters and get back to work. but severe restrictions will remain and pubs are among the worst affected. under the new rules, pubs in tier 2 areas across much of the country will only be allowed to open if they are also acting as restaurants, and will only be allowed to serve

alcohol if it is accompanied by a substantial meal — something like a pasty and chips. pub chains and brewers are furious, saying they're being unfairly singled out. the industry the newer sections will be 20,000 pubs unable to open. either because they aren't allowed to or they can make money. to or they can't make money. it is claimed it would cut sales by £1 billion in december alone and leave a quarter of a million staff unable to work. the government is being urged to provide grants for struggling pubs of up to £12,000 per month. the next four months are critical, as we are being forced to operate under these new tiers, and support is absolutely critical. without the support, sector specific, many companies, many of your local pubs and restaurants,

won't come through this period. considering we now have a vaccine, we know the future look sick in the long term, it is vital government provide this financial bridge to the sector. —— we know what the future looks like. it is another hammer blow to the night—time economy —— in tier 3 pubs will have to close altogether. it feels like the government have been playing a game of carrot and stick with us. we do above and beyond what they're asking us to do, they ask us to do something in a certain day, we do it, then the goalposts will change the following day. it doesn't feel right. i think for many businesses, moving from national locked into a tiered system will feel something of a halfway house. it is good news for some, including retailers who will be able to take advantage of the festive trading period, but for others such as hospitality, it will really feel like they are stuck in a deep freeze.

the prospect of a vaccine being developed does at least give hospitality businesses hope that one day late will get back to normal. but they insist that help is needed now, or many of them will be ringing last orders for the final time. we can speak now to anne marie morris, the conservative mp for newton abbot in devon, which will be in tier 2 after december 2nd. good afternoon. your reaction? my reaction is that this is bad news for devin. we have, in my part one of the lowest infection rates in the country as a whole —— devon. in torbay, exeter, plymouth, we are in tier 2 but they are well below the national average, so one solution would have been to cut out the cities and the urban areas from the vast swathes of rural devon, but the

other reason we are where we are is that there is a real concern that our nhs will not, locally, be able to provide. clearly we need to provide that resource. my comment to that would be, it is this long—term underfunding in rural areas of the nhs has given rise to this problem. i think that's been compounded by not a very sensible use of the testing. we now have a very good testing. we now have a very good testing system, probably some of the best in the world. for us, what is happening within our nhs, we don't has anyone who is either self isolating, because they've been caught in the track and trace or somebody who has a relative in the family who has symptoms. if we test them, we can get them back in the workplace in 5—7 days... that has

decimated our resource, if that a change we would be any better position. your county is a nightingale hospital now up and running. exeter, or near, to try and deal with what you suggest and at the start of your answer is a lack of capacity, really, in the health service locally. you're absolutely right. the nightingale have been used long ago. it has been there, one of the lich bill, one of the most flexible, and that is what is important. what we're finding is a number number people need careful care, and to be able to take people out of urgent care and some of the mainstream words into the nightingale will make a huge difference. —— historically we would need to keep the nightingale we can

instead to some of the preventative work, which i agree it is worthwhile, but surely with the numbers we are talking about, if it is that which is going to be, if you like, the straw that breaks the camel's back, the covid cohort into the nightingale and the other things which are clearly important can be donein which are clearly important can be done in the mainstream hospitals. i think the other challenge has been how we actually structure our hospitals. i know that in one of them there's been an outbreak, and asa them there's been an outbreak, and as a consequence, a them there's been an outbreak, and as a consequence, a number them there's been an outbreak, and as a consequence, a number of beds become unusable. therefore we need to separate out hospital so they are either there for covid they are therefore those who are not covid, who are going for routine surgery procedures. i am who are going for routine surgery procedures. iam hopeful that's exactly the steps that will be taken in devon and i'm really hopeful that when the review comes again, that we will be able to go into tier1 next to cornwall. your neighbouring

county, of course, is one of the few places in england that will be tier 1from places in england that will be tier 1 from next week. places in england that will be tier 1from next week. can i ask places in england that will be tier 1 from next week. can i ask about the hospitality industry? we have been talking about it so much here and we know it has been so badly hit. what you say to constituents of yours who tried to run pubs, restau ra nts a nd yours who tried to run pubs, restaurants and the associated businesses that are so affected or have been since march? what do you say to them about how they can keep going and how they can feed their families and look after their staff? you have absolutely hit the nail on the head. what you say is absolutely right, because what people don't realise, if there is hospitality business is not functioning, there isa business is not functioning, there is a whole supply chain of producers, right back to farmers, who are not able to make money from the goods and products that they have. so you're right, a much bigger problem thanjust have. so you're right, a much bigger problem than just what is happening to the pubs. my message to them as this is not the way should be. i'm going to be lobbying hard to get us out of tier 1, sorry, out of tier 2

and back into tier 1. most important, to give them support, because historically, in tier 3 you have financial support, and with so many in tier2, have financial support, and with so many in tier 2, it seems to me that it is absolutely mission—critical there should be some support and that support should be long—term. the sorts of things we need to look atare, the sorts of things we need to look at are, first of all, the business rates. we know there are some support to through to spring, but people know that january and february want to be slow and therefore they need to know that beyond next spring they will get some business rate relief. the second thing they need to know is that the furthering system will be there for them and that the current rate it is that, 80%, will be long—term, not just until rate it is that, 80%, will be long—term, notjust until next spring. and they also need, i think, some proper grant support grant funding. we need to sort support that used to be for the old tier 3, is it then was. thank you very much.

the conservative mp for devon which will be in tier 2 and those tears come posted december two. just to remind you and tell you, there's a ten press briefing at five o'clock this evening. we will be carrying that life here. —— a number ten press briefing. it will be led by borisjohnson press briefing. it will be led by boris johnson and we press briefing. it will be led by borisjohnson and we know patrick balla nce borisjohnson and we know patrick ballance and chris what it will be alongside him. —— patrick ballance and chris whitty. your questions answered coming up a little after half past. the chancellor has been defending his decision to freeze the pay of many public sector workers, saying that ‘tough choices' had to be made about which workers would get a pay rise

because of the economic impact of coronavirus. concerns have also been raised about the impact of the plans revealed in yesterday's spending review on some of the poorest households. our economics correspondent, andy verity, reports. overshadowed in the spending review by the vast sums spent and borrowed to tackle covid was a surprising fact. analysis of the review‘s fine print carried out overnight reveals that away from emergency spending, the government actually plans to cut normal spending on public services by more than £10 billion. it's important to say that for next year government spending plans work were cut really quite substantially, actually, other than the amount they are allocating to deal with covid. the idea that we will need no more money in the nhs after next year than we thought at the beginning of this year, the idea that we will need no money to deal with covid, the idea that we will want to spend

less on public services, on social care and education and so on, i'm not sure that stacks up. the ifs also points out rishi sunak chose to reduce support for local authorities while giving them the ability to raise council tax by 5% to make up. because most are likely to have to do so, that will raise council tax by an average of £70 per household. that will have a direct impact on people, and really we needed to see resolute action yesterday to support people back into work, to support job creation. we didn't see the kind of ambitious programme being set out that, for example, countries like france and germany have put in place. this morning, rishi sunak defended his most controversial move, the decision to freeze the pay of 1.3 million public sector workers outside the nhs who earn more than £24,000 a year. what we have seen in the private sector is that wages have fallen over the last six months by about a percent.

in the public sector, wages have gone up by 4%. given that, i think we need to take a more targeted approach. it absolutely is true that public sector wages have done much better than the private sector over this year, but over the last decade, public sector wages have done even worse than private sector wages. i mean, both have done incredibly badly in historic terms, but the public sector has done worse than the private sector. the chancellor was keen to point out the majority of public sector workers, including nhs staff, would still get a pay increase. the ifs, though, notes that because of that narrow targeting, the pay freeze is likely to save the government less than £2 billion. a modest sum against the 335 billion it is spending tackling the covid crisis. andy verity, bbc news. across the uk, christmas bubbles can be formed between 23rd and 27th december, with the scottish government announcing their specific rules for meeting family and friends this morning.

across the five day period, people in scotland will be able to form christmas bubbles of three households. however, the bubble should contain no more than eight people. children under the age of 12 will not count towards the total number. in england there's no limit to the number of people in a christmas bubble, however it should be no more than three households, and the government advises is be kept "as small as possible". no separate guidance has been published for wales and northern ireland yet. our scotland correspondent james shaw gave me the latest from glasgow. i think in scotland you could say that nicola sturgeon's watchword is caution and everything connected with the loosening of restrictions around christmas. essentially what she said was, you don't have to follow on with this relaxation, you can decide to be extra careful.

maybe you should decide to spend christmas at home, not with your extended family. if you want to meet them, maybe you should outside, perhaps you should go for a walk or connect via the internet. and you mention the specific rules in scotland, we're talking aboutjust eight people from three families, but children under 12 don't count. there was some detail in the guidance this morning about not sharing cutlery or crockery, keeping your distance, ventilating your house, making sure those shared surfaces stay clean and free of the virus. but as i say, the emphasis for nicola sturgeon was all about caution. the safest way for us to spend christmas is with our own household in our own home and our own local area. just because we are allowing people to meet up in a limited way does not, of course, mean that people have to do so and people should not feel under pressure to do so. this virus spreads when people come together.

so we are asking everyone to think carefully before using these flexibilities. one of the other issue she addressed talking to the scottish parliament earlier this afternoon is that even though there are these controls over the relaxations, the fact you are relaxing quite strict regimes means you are increasing the risk of spreading the virus. she wants to limit that as much as possible, hence this constant emphasis on being extra careful at christmas. brexit talks are entering the final straight, with just weeks to go until the transition period ends on december the 31st. the eu's chief negotiator michel barnier is expected to travel to london later for more discussions

with his british counterpart, david frost, maddy thimont jack is associate director on brexit at the institute for government which describes itself as a think tank ‘working to make government more effective‘. good afternoon. we are all helping you understand it thoroughly, because tell is exactly what point we are at, what the key sticking points are that remain?” we are at, what the key sticking points are that remain? i think you‘ve said it, we really are in the final straight. i think it‘s a sort of five weeks today until the end of the transition period. we are getting to the point where we are going to be seeing very shortly whether or not it is possible to agree a deal with the eu, and this isa agree a deal with the eu, and this is a deal on the future trading relationship, but also the security relationship, but also the security relationship between the uk and the eu. as you said, we are going to the

point now where there are still some key sticking points, and that‘s where we are waiting to see whether compromise is possible. there are three key ones. the first is on a level playing field, and these are the rules that govern, for example, environmental standards, workers‘ rights, subsidy regimes, and it is about making sure the uk can undercut the eu on its own doorstep. the eu is concerned about how the direction old travel of the uk may go once it is outside the single market. feis has also been a big sticking point. the access to water is for eu freshers. the third key issue —— fishers. the third key issue —— fishers. the third key issueis issue —— fishers. the third key issue is what happens if disputes arise over key trading relationships and how will those be worked out? it is going to come down to whether or not there is the political will on

both sides to make the necessary compromise. is that a sort of who blinks first scenario? it is, really. in some areas we have seen that the eu has mensa movement, so we ta ke that the eu has mensa movement, so we take the sort of subsidy question, of state aid issues, to start with the eu said, look, the uk is to follow all eu rules in this area and the european court of justice will still continue to oversee that. we‘ve got a point where the eu said they will be willing to roll back from that, provided the uk sets up its own very strict domestic resume on state aid, so we are strict domestic resume on state aid, so we are waiting to see whether the uk government says that is acceptable. we have seen some movement, but really comes down to whether or not both sides think it is worth the compromise. that is the big issue for the prime minister, that the sort of deal he is looking forfrom that the sort of deal he is looking for from the that the sort of deal he is looking forfrom the eu that the sort of deal he is looking for from the eu will still involve significant changes for businesses and how they trade. the question is, as he willing to make the sort of

political compromise that he could be under attack from his backbenchers, recognising the economic because? or say let the top fuel, blame it on the eu and try and copein fuel, blame it on the eu and try and cope in the new year? —— or let the talks fail... let‘s return now to our main story, that the health secretary has revealed what level of coronavirus restrictions will be imposed in different parts of england, when the national measures are lifted next week. the new tier restrictions will be voted on by mps, with the government already facing opposition from its own backbenchers. joe anderson is the labour mayor of the city, hejoins me now. very good afternoon. good afternoon. your thoughts on, a new dawn for

your city, is that putting it too strongly? there‘s been some movement for you... i think that is pretty get too strongly. it is welcome. we have struggled for the last six weeks, businesses and the people of the city, dealing with tier 3. we have brought in the armed forces here as well, because six or seven weeks ago the virus in the report was out of control, it was somewhere around about 700 cases per 100,000 intercity bus stop today it is around about 240. if we take the asymptomatic people, that we tested in the mass testing we are doing, if you take them out of it, we would probably be in tier1 territory, to be frank. the rates would be that low. we have worked hard, the people of the city have made a tremendous effort, the businesses have struggled and suffered over the last six or seven weeks, we have finally now got the virus back under control here in the city and it is our aim

to keep it under control, we are not going to be complacent, we‘re not going to be complacent, we‘re not going to be complacent, we‘re not going to ease up on this, we are going to ease up on this, we are going to ease up on this, we are going to keep the testing going. use the word complacent, that is something we‘ve been reflecting this afternoon. as a leader in that area, is there a degree of nervousness for you that people will think, oh, thank goodness, breathes a sigh of relief at the slight changes and perhaps become a bit complacent, particularly as they think about christmas shopping. absolutely, we have got form for this. the government themselves, you know, in the summer, towards the end of the summer the summer, towards the end of the summer told everybody to go shopping, go back to work, great into public transport, open up the schools and universities, without any strategy or plan in that area,

just sort of open the gates and allowed it to happen, and what we see was an increase in the virus across the country, because the virus thrives on human contact. we have got to make sure that we don‘t allow the genie to come out of the bottle again. we got to make sure that we suppress it keeps keep suppressing it by doing notjust the right things about washing your hands, wearing masks and keeping social distance, but also to use the mass testing, and i think it‘s a tool in the armoury that we have here. we have stopped the spread of the virus in the city by identifying asymptomatic people and other people through the mass testing programme, but also through the pcr testing programme, and together it has helped us drive the virus back under control again, which means the nhs is not overwhelmed, hospitals, our

icu units and staff are not overwhelmed. they have gone through a horrible time, people who work in the hospitals, in terms of the debts they witnessed, the pressures they had, they are hugely damaged by what they‘ve been put through, so it‘s good to see now that the admission and infection rates of covid are reduced, but complacency is not something we can allow. we have the five days of using over the specific christmas period, i‘ve spoken to several scientists over the past few days have expressed concern. what is your message to people over for that period, even though some mixing is admissible? i shared the anxiety that they have about that, but i

think if people act sensibly, if people do the right things, i mean, in liverpool, we have mass testing, and my advice to people is, it before you go and visit your grandad or your granny or somebody that you know has got some co—morbidity issues or whatever, make sure that you get tested. make sure that you get testing so that you know hours before you go and visit them that you are negative and not positive with covid—19, and if people do that and act sensibly and follow the rules and we will get through it. what happens, of course, is if we get to the stage where people don‘t follow the rules and guidelines and think it‘s a free for all again, and of course we have form for that, we have to avoid that at all costs. it's have to avoid that at all costs. it‘s up to the national government, local government everywhere to make sure people continue to follow the rules until the vaccination starts to impact on people across the

country. the mayor of liverpool, thanks for your time this afternoon. we‘ll be answering your questions a little royal about coronavirus and the new rules. now, the weather with darren bett. hello, there. there‘s been some sunshine around today in many areas. tomorrow, though, we‘re going to start with more fog, so it‘s likely to be a colder day. tonight, we‘ve got cloud coming down into scotland, northern ireland, a bit of rain in the north—west. still got that cloud in the far south—east of england, but in between some clearer skies, no wind. this is where we are going to find the fog forming a little more widely across england and wales. there will still be some areas of clearer skies, and before that, fog forms, so we are looking at a patchy frost, as well, even by the end of the night. tomorrow looks quite cloudy for scotland, northern ireland. some rain in the north—west. still got that cloud and a chance of a little rain in the extreme south—east of england. now, a lot of that mist and fog will lift into low cloud, and the sunshine coming out in many areas of england and wales, but through the midlands towards the fens, perhaps the home counties into the west country it could stay

cloudy and cold, with temperatures only 4 or 5 degrees. as we are heading towards the weekend, there is a lot of cloud on the scene this weekend. not as much frost, not as much fog, either. it should be a bit milder. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: more than 23 million people in england will be living under the most severe coronavirus restrictions when lockdown ends next week — with greater manchester, birmingham, leeds and sheffield among places in the highest tier level. to keep people safe and to keep the gains that are being made, more areas than before will be in the top two tiers. this is necessary to protect our nhs and keep the virus under control. business owners say it‘s more dreadful news for the hospitality industry. we‘ve all agreed that this

government, it feels like they‘ve been playing a game of carrot and stick with us. we do above and beyond what they ask us to do, and they ask us to do this on a certain day, we do it, and then the goalposts change the following day. the chancellor says he‘s had to make tough choices as he defends his decision to freeze the pay of many public sector workers. global firms amazon and apple are accused of dodging their environmental responsibilities by failing to recycle old tech products. and people mourn across argentina — after the death of the footballing legend diego maradona. sport now, and a full round up from the bbc sport centre. premier league champions liverpool are among the sides able to welcome back fans into stadiums next week, following the government‘s announcement on new tiers after lockdown.

liverpool, along with london is in tier 2, meaning clubs can allow 2,000 supporters back under strict covid guidelines. arsenal are expected to become the first premier league side to see fans back, in their europa league match in north london a week today. sides in tier1 areas will be allowed up to 4000 supporters. but for clubs in tier 3, they have to wait till local restrictions are eased — which means no crowds for manchester united, manchester city, leeds, newcastle, wolves, aston villa, and leicester. their manager, speaking before the new guidelines wee announced, says many will feel upset at missing out. it probably won‘t be fair. there is going to be part of the country where some supporters won‘t get in, but i think it‘s very hard to deny people, you know, whose lives depend and love football so much, to not get into a ground. so clubs in the lower level that can get 4000 supporters in, you may be looking at up to 50% of the crowds actually

in the grounds, so i think that‘s going to be hugely beneficial. a team like ourselves, we want to have our supporters, both home and away, and hopefully that will be in the not—too—dista nt future. well, with london in tier 2, fans will also be back at twickenham on december 6th for england‘s final match in the autumn nations cup. the rfu have announced they‘ll donate 400 of the 2000 available tickets to nhs workers. ahead of that, england play wales this weekend. and fly half george ford return to the starting 15. he made his comeback from injury off the bench in the win against ireland. victory against wales would mean england finish top of group a — and go to a title decider against the winner of group b next weekend. meanwhile, cardiff blues scrum—half lloyd williams will make his first wales start for four years. the back—row that will be missing justin tipuric and josh navidi — both are out through injury. tributes continue to pour in for diego maradona,

who died of a heart attack yesterday at the age of 60. we‘re expecting more later from one of his former clubs, napoli, they play in the europa league tonight. these are pictures of tributes in buenos aires. maradona saw football as an escape, a salvation from a difficult childhood, growing up in on one of the poorest parts of argentina‘s capital. he rose to become one of the most iconic players ever to play the game, winning the world cup with argentina in 1986. a tournament where they beat england in the quarterfinals, perhaps the most memorable match for the argentina number 10. gary lineker was in that england side — he remembers the impact maradona had in mexico. you saw both sides of diego in that game. that was his personality, that impish, cheeky, you know, we call it cheating here and stuff, but he got away with it, obviously. then, the second goal was...a goal, i think, is the greatest ever scored by anybody ever, because you have to take in the importance of the situation,

the importance of the game, the fact it was a world cup quarterfinal, to do what he did was breathtaking. there have been similar goals, i‘ve seen messi score one very similar, but it wasn‘t in a world cup quarterfinal. i think those few minutes between the two goals probably summed up his life in many ways. the naughty side of it, and also the magnificence. before we go don‘t forget you can catch up with all the latest from snooker‘s uk championship. this morning mark allen made it through to round 2 with a 6—1win overjamie wilson. you can find more that and all of our stories on the bbc sport website. now its time for your questions answered.

we are looking at coronavirus and the rules on how things changed after the national lockdown ends next week, and much more besides. when you look at some of the detail i think it shows just how complicated it all is. i‘m joined by our health correspondent nick triggle and also i‘m joined by linda bauld who is a professor of public health at the university of edinburgh. our opening question is from andy wood in bedfordshire. i think you might both want to comment on this. his question about the isle of wight, we have learned today that thatis wight, we have learned today that that is one of the few parts of england that is going to be in tier 1. he says... i have a hotel and ferry booked on the isle of wight for the 3 dec am i allowed to travel? the purpose is to find a property. this is about all the new rules. your thoughts? this is before the

christmas window opens up, and the guidance around the tears says you cannot or should not come in and out of tier 3 areas, and you should reduce your travel out of tier 2 areas. he is in bedfordshire, a tier 2area. areas. he is in bedfordshire, a tier 2 area. but the housing market is open. you are allowed to make those trips for essential purposes such as education, caring responsibilities and moving house is one of those exceptions, so yes, he is allowed to 90. exceptions, so yes, he is allowed to go, and do what he needs to do. your thoughts on that, because a lot of this isjudgment thoughts on that, because a lot of this is judgment call, thoughts on that, because a lot of this isjudgment call, as thoughts on that, because a lot of this is judgment call, as well. thoughts on that, because a lot of this isjudgment call, as well.” have to say that this is incredibly complicated. what we are talking about the next few minutes, the relationship between the tears and also the christmas baubles. nick is absolutely right, he is not prevented from going from tier 2 to tier1, and the

prevented from going from tier 2 to tier 1, and the property market is open, but the question i would ask, at the current time, with infection rates currently high, is it really essential that he does it? might it be something if he hasjust starting to look for another home that he could defer? it is individual judgment as judgment could defer? it is individual judgment as well as what is permitted between the tears. yes, andi permitted between the tears. yes, and i think we are going to discuss that a lot in the coming minutes. let‘s turn to darren from south derbyshire. he says... my partner‘s eldest son lives in scotland and we live in england. will he still be able to travel to us after 27th december? linda, again, this is all about those key dates that we have been given about what we can and cannot do over christmas. that's correct, so do over christmas. that's correct, so in that window from the 23rd of the 27th people are allowed to travel around the uk and restrictions are lifted. this is out with that window, so let's start with that window, so let's start with scotland. if you're in the

higher—level areas, three or four, you are not allowed to travel outside your area, but if you're in aberdeen, you can. in relation to england, i think we know it's derbyshire, which unfortunately is on level so that means that out with that christmas period, if it is after the 27th of december, then people shouldn't be moving in or out of the area. i know it is really disappointed to hear that, but that is what the guidance says. yes, and, nick, everything we are talking about today, these announcements and decisions that will be reviewed in mid december. so, isuppose there‘s an argument for saying things could change after that. i think we don‘t know what changes could be made. they have said to air on the side of caution. they are gone for a tougher restrictions straightaway, so before looked on their starting off in the lower tiers thinking that if injured

infection rates rise we can increase restrictions. i think the hope is that areas will see themselves in lower tiers in the future, but it could be much later in winter for that to happen. one thing i would say about this question is it mentions about mixing in those, and really one of the clear things that is, in england today is that mixing indoors, unless you‘re in cornwall, the isle of wight of the isles of scilly, is not allowed, expect net apart from the christmas window. scotla nd apart from the christmas window. scotland is largely in the same boat, and the same in northern ireland and wales, so i think the key thing is that household mixing will not happen in the vast majority of areas any time soon. patricia bell, haslemere. will the churches be open for sunday worship under the new restrictions and if so, will there be limitations on the numbers able to attend?

they are open. you cannot mix with anyone outside your household in the churches. at christmas, you can go to the churches with people in your christmas bubble, but you cannot interact with people outside of that. it‘s interesting because what they‘re saying about going to pubs with people in your christmas publisher cannot do that, but you can go to the church. the next question for both of you. neil conquest, east grinstead: if i live in an area which operates under tier 1, does the rule of six or the three household rule at christmas take precedence? we expect both of you to be experts on this! linda, your thoughts on that. i think you need to see it as

a series of layers. you have exceptions during the christmas period, then the most of what's happening in your tier. so, period, then the most of what's happening in yourtier. so, you have to take those into account. during the christmas period you can form this bubble with three different households, and interact indoors. that is the case. no, i think, the detail on this is complicated, but neil is in a tier1 area, so in addition to that he can see people outside of his christmas bubble outdoors, rule of six, or in other venues that are open, for example a cafe. so, he has to look at the two, but you couldn't bring six other people into this bubble during the christmas period. he needs to stick to the christmas bubble when he is socialising indoors. my goodness, isn't as complicated?” socialising indoors. my goodness, isn't as complicated? i think that's why we‘re getting so many questions! anything to add? not really. he was thinking, i think, anything to add? not really. he was thinking, ithink, he anything to add? not really. he was thinking, i think, he was going to be in tier1, thinking, i think, he was going to be in tier 1, because that‘s what he was prior to look down, but that is

now tier 2. tier 2 post-december the second, yes. this is very complicated stuff. a lot of googling going on on an almost daily basis. a lot of christmas questions. thomas carr, eastleigh: can i meet up with a son and family on christmas day and then a daughter and family on boxing day? well, of course, christmas is about limited three households. that sounds like it is actually three households there, so as long as those are none to be or not meeting up those are none to be or not meeting up with anyone else over the christmas period it sounds like that is allowed. they could just be supple together, if they wanted. maybe they don‘t want to meet up in one big group! but they could do that. maybe there's a reason thomas has phrased that way! as far as i understand it, the christmas window, if we call it that, it‘s one

christmas bubble. you have got to decide who you are hanging out with a christmas, and you have to stick to those individuals, as far as i understand it. that's absolutely right, and we have learned in scotland that we are supposed to limit that to eight adults if we can across three households. so, it will be tough for families to make those decisions, and that's why the public are asking all discussions. it is crystal clear, it is an exclusive bubble, choose your three households, look at which part of the uk uranium whether the government limits the number of people in those bubbles, and limited inside your own home. the cut-off is the 27th, which takes us to a question from richard roberts in london. my wife and i live in london and have a second home in cardiff. when we go to cardiff for christmas can we stay on until the new year?

london is in tier 2, so in theory, you can, but wales is different. the welsh government is been very clear that you cannot move from england to wales and back in forest beyond that christmas period. except a very essential purposes. i would imagine visiting a holiday home is not an essential purpose. it's tough, but if you want to follow the letter of the guidance, that is what it says. did you what‘s coming on that one? the guidance, that is what it says. did you what's coming on that one?” was looking at that one at first i thought you could, but you read on, there‘s a lot of guidance, the fact that you are not going to travel between wales and england except for essential purposes means you probably cannot, but there is a lot of detail there. hazel marshall, banchory, scotland: my son lives in coventry and already had his flights booked to travel home to aberdeen for

christmas on 20th december. that is before the christmas key dates that we were talking about. if you are allowed to take that flight? if he was a university student, i don‘t think he is, but if he was a university student it sounds like he could, for the letter of the rose, wait until the 23rd before travelling. coventry is in tier 3, so travelling. coventry is in tier 3, so it's my understanding that people can move in and out of aberdeen, but there would need to be some liaison with travel providers to all of this, just to be crystal clear, if thatis this, just to be crystal clear, if that is why it is already booked. there will be some interesting conversations as we get closer to the christmas date just in terms of availability of travel, as well. planes and trains. tom in london wa nts to planes and trains. tom in london

wants to know... am i allowed to go to a restaurant with a friend in a different house hold if we are in tier 2 area. or can we go somewhere that is tier one? there‘s trying to work out your options! a key thing for everyone to remember is you take your tier with you. this is getting to levels of details again, but you take the guidance that is there with your tier. you need to behave the same way when you go to an area that has fewer restrictions. if you go to tier2, you're not fewer restrictions. if you go to tier 2, you're not allowed to socialise indoors with people who are not from your household, so even if you go to tier 1, that is the case. that is what the guidance are saying at the moment. from what i understand, they could eat outside, you know, if there is a restaurant... good point! with patio heaters on, you could eat outside. it tough in november, december, but

it can be done. good points and i've read a lot of articles saying they manage it in scandinavia, which is the answer to so many things, it seems, in life! thank you very much, good to see you. it‘s been more than 3 months since the disputed election in belarus — which the country‘s long—standing leader, alexander lukashenko still claims to have won even though there is widespread evidence of vote rigging. protests have continued in the country every day and the authorities are becoming increasingly violent in their attempts to suppress dissent. our europe correspondent jean mackenzie has been following the leader of the opposition, svetlana tikhanovskaya, as part of the bbc‘s 100 women series.

now one of the world‘s most guarded women, svetlana tikhanovskaya is exiled and wanted. this is where she and her team now plot the downfall of belarus‘s regime. i have to make it extremely difficult decisions every day. decisions that will make the moment of our victory closer. here, she‘s shown a video of a protester in belarus being beaten by secret police. how are you this morning? horrible. horrible? why? i think he will die. as lukashenko clings to power, his grip on his security forces is holding firm. these violent crackdowns are no longer a surprise, yet still they have the ability to shock. this regime, it seems that they don‘t have borders at all. as soon as he doesn‘t have money to pay riot police, they will refuse to serve him, they will come to our side.

it‘s widely believed that tikhanovskaya won the election in belarus and european leaders see her as the legitimate president. she spent the past months persuading them to starve the regime with targeted economic sanctions. she is on the way to meet the prime minister of latvia when she finds out the protester who was beaten has died — 31—year—old roman bondarenko. now we‘re going to insist on more help from european countries because we see that our authorities there are escalating their violence. and only 40 people on the sanction list? are you joking? you have to expand this list to hundreds of names. the prime minister agrees to help and in the days that follow, so does the eu. finally, a moment to pause and a vigilfor roman. this grief is felt painfully back in belarus where people have been protesting against the regime

for more than 100 days. all of these people in belarus going out every sunday, knowing that maybe they will not come home this evening. this is really hard news. underneath the fatigue of her attritional fight is sober determination to keep the rest of the world with her. she knows this is the only hope she has. jean mckenzie, bbc news. now, the weather with darren bett. hello there. the next few days look generally dry, but there‘s probably going to be more cloudy, grey sort of weather across the uk. today there has certainly been some sunshine, particularly once that early mist and fog are lifted we‘ve had some blue skies through parts of the midlands, the home counties for example. but we have got a few weather fronts on the scene, this one anchored by low—pressure near spain is bringing more cloud in the south—east corner and a few showery bursts of rain. this weak weather front is moving into the northwest, bringing more cloud into scotland and northern ireland

as we head through the night. there‘s that rain just clipping the far south—east of england. in between, we‘ll have those clearer skies, no wind, that‘s where we are going to find some fog forming across england and wales in particular. and with that fog forming, there is still the risk of some pockets of frost around as well come the end of the night. as we look ahead to tomorrow, it looks a little bit different from today. for a start, we‘ve got more that fog around across england and wales. it will tend to lift slowly, but it‘s going to be a cold day for many parts of the country. we‘ve still got a bit patchy rain coming into the north—west of scotland. a lot of cloud, scotland and northern ireland, still the threat of a bit of rain in the far south—east. but in between there will be some sunshine coming through, northern england, wales around the far south—west perhaps, but through the midlands towards lincolnshire, down towards the west country, the home counties. with that fog lifting to low cloud, it is going to be cold, i suspect. the temperatures only 4 or 5 degrees. as we head into this weekend, we are expecting cloudy skies across many parts of the country. but it‘s not going to be as cold and there won‘t be

as much fog either. the centre of the high pressure, which is where the fog is sitting under, is drifting out towards scandinavia. and so we‘ve got a bit of a breeze actually coming up from continental europe. that pushes the really colder air away and brings us some milder conditions from the south. but with a lot of cloud and it may produce a little drizzle in that cloud is well as it works its way northwards. but still, we‘ve got some sunshine after a cold start in scotland. here the temperatures perhaps no better than 5—6 degrees, we may get some sunshine developing across more southern parts of england, where temperatures will be 11 or 12 degrees. now, with light winds overnight, that will tend to fill in with low cloud, maybe some mist and fog. so quite a grey picture for many areas on sunday. best of the sunshine in scotland, this time more towards the northeast of the country. in the southeast of england, we may get some sunshine around some western coasts.

this is bbc news. the headlines... more than 23 million people in england will be living under the most severe coronavirus restrictions when lockdown ends next week — with greater manchester, birmingham, leeds and sheffield among places in the highest tier level. to keep people safe and to keep the gains that are being made, more areas than before be in the top two tiers. this is necessary to protect our nhs and keep the virus under control. business owners say it‘s more dreadful news for the hospitality industry. we have all agreed that this government, it feels like they are playing a game of carrot and stick with us. we do above and beyond what they are asking us to do at they ask us to do this on a certain day, we

do it, the goalposts are moved the following day. concerns about the impact of yesterday‘s spending review on some of the poorest households, as the chancellor defends his decision to freeze the pay of many public sector workers. i have had to make some tough choices and what i could not do it justify an across—the—boa rd choices and what i could not do it justify an across—the—board rise in public sector pay. people mourn across argentina — after the death of the footballing legend diego maradona. and in half an hour‘s time, stay with us for a bbc news special programme — where we‘ll hear from the prime minister — fresh out of self—isloation — with the very latest on coronavirus. this this details of which tier of coronavirus restrictions will be

imposed on the different regions of england when the national measures are lifted next week have been announced by the health secretary. more than 23 million people will be under the most severe restrictions — tier 3 — in areas including manchester, newcastle, leeds, kent and bristol. most of the country will be in the middle tier 2 — including london and liverpool. the 69% drop in infections seen in liverpool after the pilot of rapid lateral flow tests has been singled out by ministers as an example of how the virus can be beaten. downing street now says mass testing will be available to all tier 3 areas. the isle of wight, cornwall and the isles of scilly will be the only areas of england in tier one. the health secretary, matt hancock, said there is "no quick fix" to the pandemic but "the end is in sight". this report from our political correspondent, iain watson.

as england emerges from lockdown next week, across the country more shops will be open, you will be able to get a haircut and go for a swim. but there are fears. it was confronted each area of england will be placed in one of three tiers and most will be in two or three. those with the most restrictions. the current evidence and clinical advice shows we must make the tiers tougher than they were before, to protect the nhs through the winter and avert another national lockdown. so we‘ve looked at each of the tiers are fresh and strengthen them, as the prime minister set out on monday. —— afresh. groups of six people in tier! can meet indoors and pubs are less open, with last orders at mpm and closing time at 11. most of england will be in tier 2. tier 3, with the highest level of restriction

areas such as greater manchester, west and south yorkshire, much of the east midlands and england‘s second largest city, birmingham, and surrounding areas will be in tier 3. councillors and mps lobbied to keep lincolnshire and kent out of that year, is only some local areas had high levels of infection, but they failed. london, like most of england, will be in tier 2, and liverpool, which piloted mass rapid testing has moved down from tier 3 before lockdown to tear moved down from tier 3 before lockdown to tier before lockdown to tier 2 now. we are now expanding this community testing programme even further. to launch a major community testing programme honing in on the areas with the greatest rate of infection. this programme is open to all local authorities in tier 3 areas in the first instance and offers help to get out of the toughest restrictions

as fast as possible. covid hasn‘t simply posed a health and economic challenge to the prime minster, but a political one too. mps vote no the new tier system in england next week and some of his own mps are worried about how long some of the restrictions may at —— boris johnson‘s own mps. if we're going to have regular reviews, that's fine, but we are stuck two gray there's been zero consultation between central government, bucks council and our local nhs. there has been zero consultation between bucks council and our local nhs. labour called for more local consultation when restrictions are imposed. was it really the position that the prime minister imposes on downing street restrictions on communities across the midlands and the north, rejections that will have a huge impact on the livelihoods of families and small businesses? we know the current lockdown in england

will end in tiers, but it is not clear if the prospect of a vaccine, if the new restrict —— when the new stretching spot be lifted. —— new restrictions. chris hopson is the chief executive of nhs providers. we said as we were coming to the end of the national lockdown for the second time that we wanted to see appropriate late tough restrictions in place because the nhs needs to have the capacity to treat all kinds of patients over the winter period, so of patients over the winter period, so not just of patients over the winter period, so notjust covid—19 patients but also winter patients who, that is when the nhs is busier, but also of those people who we delayed from the first phase. so we think these are the right levels of restrictions, we asked for the tier two to be made tougher, i‘d be also asked that we should avoid these rather difficult

delaying conference —— conversations between leaders that we think help drive up levels of infection in september and october because it took too long to get into the restrictions, so that they are sending me —— semiautomatic is helpful, but the bit we would be concerned about and we have said this publicly is none of us know what will happen with the restrictions at christmas, so what would be unhelpful is if we triggered a phase three that hit the nhs in mid—to—late january just triggered a phase three that hit the nhs in mid—to—late januaryjust when we we re nhs in mid—to—late januaryjust when we were probably likely to be at our most busiest. how would you say the nhs is coping right now? there are inevitably going to be regional differences but generally speaking. i think it is really hard, i i think lots of people are pointing to the number of cases coming into the nhs and the bed capacity being used as not particularly high, but what i think people are missing is when we

talk to chief executives what they say is what it took them ten units of effort to do this time last year is now taking them 12, 13 units of effort. 30% more difficult to do what they were doing a year ago because of the need to have the very strict infection control where you are dividing patients between covid—19 and non—thing—mac, where you have clinicians having to wear full ppe. so everything is more difficult. —— non—thing—mac. it hides regional variation. our trusts at telling us they are absolutely running at full pelt and the bit that really worries us is that several people have said it feels like we are already at the peak of winter ad that effectively is probably six weeks earlier than we would normally see the nhs at its

peak. what nhs leaders are really worried about is if we were to get a mini 30 peak of cuts covid—19 in january alongside a cold snap, that really would be difficult. would you then have liked to have seen tighter restrictions today or do you think the government has got the balance roughly right, given all the economic considerations? my father had a classic phrase which is the proof of the pudding is in the eating, we will need to see what happens, but government clearly has a judicious balance to strike between on the one hand ensuring the nhs has the capacity needs and i am here to argue from the nhs perspective that you ran in your package at the beginning, people from the hospitality industry, and we all need to be aware of the economic impact. there is a difficult balance to strike, we are not a party political organisation but my sense would be that we probably have struck the right

balance, but we would want government to be really vigilant, i turns out that these restrictions turns out that these restrictions turn out not to be enough, tough we may need to toughen them again, but in terms of where we start, it probably seems to be about the right place to us in terms of striking the balance. very good to talk to, thank you so much. —— talk to you. mean for businesses across england? theo leggett reports. the end of the lockdown means many businesses will be able to take down the shutters and get back to work. but severe restrictions will remain and pubs are among the worst affected. under the new rules, pubs and tier 2 areas across much of the country will only be allowed to open if they are also acting as restaurants, they will only be allowed to serve alcohol if it is accompanied by a substantial meal. something like a pasty and chips. pub chains and prayers are furious, saying they‘re being unfairly singled out.

the industry claims newer sections will be 20,000 pubs unable to open —— pub chains and brewers. it is claimed it would cut sales by £1 billion in december alone and leave a quarter of a million staff unable to work. the government is being urged to provide grants for struggling pubs of up to £12,000 per month. the next few months is absolutely critical and without the support thatis critical and without the support that is sector specific, many companies, your local pubs and restau ra nts, companies, your local pubs and restaurants, will not come through this period. i think considering we now have a vaccine, we now know what the future looks like in the long—term, it is absolutely vital that government provide this financial boost. in tier 3 areas, pubs will have to shut altogether, along with whole swathes of other

entertainment venues. it is another hammer blow to the night—time economy. we have all agreed that it feels they are paying a game of carrot and stick with as, we do above and beyond what they are asking us to do as they ask us to do this ina asking us to do as they ask us to do this in a certain day and the goalposts are changed following day. it does not feel right. the changes do at least mean that some businesses, such as nonessential shops, can reopen. but few are celebrating. i think for many businesses, moving from national lockdown to a tiered system, will feel like a halfway house. good news for some, including feel like a halfway house. good news forsome, including retailers feel like a halfway house. good news for some, including retailers who can take advantage of the festive trading period, but for others, such as hospitality, it will feel like they are stuck in a deep freeze. last orders. the prospect of a vaccine being developed as at least give hospitality businesses hope that life will one day get back to normal. but they insist that help is needed now, or many of they will be

ringing last orders for the final time. the latest coronavirus figures show britain recorded 17,555 kroner rise cases on thursday, down from the previous number on wednesday, and there were 498 new deaths, within 28 days of a positive covid—19 test. —— coronavirus cases. that is down from wednesday which was 696. it has come down from over 100 within that 24—hour period. those figures just in from the visual source. —— official source. and if you need to find out what level of restrictions will be in place where you live,

you can search using our postcode checker on the bbc news website, that‘s bbc.co.uk/news the chancellor has been defending his decision to freeze the pay of many public sector workers, saying that ‘tough choices‘ had to be made about which workers would get a pay rise because of the economic impact of coronavirus. concerns have also been raised about the impact of the plans revealed in yesterday‘s spending review on some of the poorest households. our economics correspondent, andy verity, reports. overshadowed in the spending review by the vast sums spent and borrowed to tackle covid was a surprising fact. analysis of the review‘s fine print carried out overnight reveals that away from emergency spending, the government actually plans to cut normal spending on public services by more than £10 billion. it‘s important to say that for next year government spending plans were cut really quite substantially, actually, other than the amount they are allocating to deal with covid. the idea that we will need no more money in the nhs after next year than we thought at the beginning of this year, the idea that we will need no

money to deal with covid, the idea that we will want to spend less on public services, on social care and education and so on, i‘m not sure that stacks up. the ifs also points out rishi sunak chose to reduce support for local authorities while giving them the ability to raise council tax by 5% to make up. because most are likely to have to do so, that will raise council tax by an average of £70 per household. that will have a direct impact on people, and really we needed to see resolute action yesterday to support people back into work, to support job creation. we didn't see the kind of ambitious programme being set out that, for example, countries like france and germany have put in place. this morning, rishi sunak defended his most controversial move, the decision to freeze the pay of 1.3 million public sector workers outside the nhs who earn more than £24,000 a year. what we have seen in the private

sector is that wages have fallen over the last six months by about a percent. in the public sector, wages have gone up by 4%. given that, i think we need to take a more targeted approach. it absolutely is true that public sector wages have done much better than the private sector over this year, but over the last decade, public sector wages have done even worse than private sector wages. i mean, both have done incredibly badly in historic terms, but the public sector has done worse than the private sector. the chancellor was keen point out the majority of public sector workers, including nhs staff, would still get a pay increase. the ifs, though, notes that because of that narrow targeting, the pay freeze is likely to save the government less than £2 billion. a modest sum against the 335 billion it is spending tackling the covid crisis. andy verity, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news...

more than 23 million people in england will be living under the most severe coronavirus restrictions when lockdown ends next week. the chancellor says he‘s had to make tough choices as he defends his decision to freeze the pay of many public sector workers. and people mourn across argentina after the death of the footballing legend diego maradona. we now know which of the three coronavirus "tiers" that we‘ll be in when the lockdown across england ends next wednesday. most regions will be in the middle "tier" but additional areas will be in "tier 3" let‘s speak now to neil o‘brien, conservative mp for harborough, in leicestershire which will go into tier 3 restrictions (os) into tier 3 restrictions. third you think of the fact that leicestershi re

third you think of the fact that leicestershire is in tier 3? not a surprise to anyone locally, our numbers in terms of the virus have been a long way above the national average, as though they have since the lockdown started coming down, they are still above—average, so nobody is very surprised. what we can see is that there will be another review in two weeks, the rates are falling, and i think i will be pressing for is for us to access the kind of mass testing that has helped liverpool drive down the virus sharply, three quarters. i am keen to get that here so we can get the virus rates down and back to normal as quickly as possible. what have you been told about mass testing? that was certainly the message from the health secretary? areas would have access to that mass testing. have you been told anything specific? we have already got some access to it, my local county council our well—prepared

selectively to target outbreaks where there are high rates of infection. the question is how much more of it we can get how quickly, thatis more of it we can get how quickly, that is what i am taking up with a health secretary, talking to him about at the moment. we are trying to see our quickly we can get them moving. as you will be aware there has been a howl of pain from the hospitality sector saying that thousands of businesses will now suffer, those in two and three, do you think they have to a certain extent been unfairly penalised? there will be financial support not just for hospitality but any business that, a monthly grant to compensate them for having to shut because of the local restrictions. the key thing is that the quicker we can get the race of the virus down, the quicker we can get back to normal, none of these measures are things any of us want to see what

you have to do, but a leicestershire hour local hospitals had to stop nonemergency nonurgent procedures, we have managed to bring the right of the virus under control and that has meant that throughout this period we have managed to keep crucial services like cancer treatment and the light going all the way through the process but it has been quite a close—run thing. the restrictions we have had have been just the restrictions we have had have beenjust in time the restrictions we have had have been just in time to save lives and people‘s health, and the challenge now is to avoid getting into a situation how we go along at a high level of the virus in stable way but to really drive it down and in the short—term that means difficult choices about some types of businesses shutting. lots of new things will be possible as we come out of the national lockdown, places of worship and, outside sport possible, shops will be open, so it isa possible, shops will be open, so it is a loosening compared to where we were, but it is not going to have the pops reopening in our area or a

number of others. that is the point thatis number of others. that is the point that is being made by pub owners and restau ra nt that is being made by pub owners and restaurant owners, they are saying, show us the evidence has to why they have been singled out to be closed in tier 3. hairdressers can open, james can open, where is the evidence that hospitality, if it is properly socially distanced and so long as the safety as they are, where is the evidence that it is more dangerous than any of these other close contact arenas? there are two things i would point to, the first is that if you look at their measures we went to a leicestershire summer measures we went to a leicestershire summer where we measures we went to a leicestershire summer where we were measures we went to a leicestershire summer where we were the only area to go to tier for type measures, pubs and cafe shot for a period, we saw the rates of the virus following sharply, whereas if you look at areas in tier to, you did not see the same reduction. as part of the evidence, we see from different

things, but there is also just many pubs made great strides to operate safely, once people have had a feuding state closer together, people afterwards going back to summary‘s hours for a few modric something like that, so even though they have tried hard, we are having to balance all these different things, opening places of worship, that will have a cost in terms of transmission. —— a few more drinks. i guess that we are having to balance off some more difficult decisions and keep some things we would like to have open as soon as possible like pubs. thank you. across the uk, christmas bubbles can be formed between 23rd and 27th december, with the scottish government announcing their specific rules for meeting family and friends this morning.

across the five—day period, people in scotland will be able to form christmas bubbles of three households. however, the bubble should contain no more than eight people. children under the age of 12 will not count towards the total number. in england there‘s no limit to the number of people in a christmas bubble, however it should be no more than three households, and the government advises it be kept "as small as possible". no separate guidance has been published for wales and northern ireland yet. our scotland correspondent james shaw has the latest from glasgow. nicola sturgeon‘s watchword is caution, everything connected to these loosening of restrictions around christmas, what she said was you do not have two follow on with his relaxation, you can decide to bh a careful, maybe you should decide to spend christmas at home, not with your extended family if you want to meet them, maybe you should meet

them outside, perhaps go for a walk or connect via the internet. specific rules in scotland, just eight people from three families, but children under 12 do not count. there was some detail in the guidance this morning about not sharing cutlery or crockery, keeping your distance, ventilating your house, making sure those shared services stay clean and free of the virus. the emphasis for nicola sturgeon is all about caution. the safest way for any of us to spend christmas is with our own household in ourown christmas is with our own household in our own home in local area, just because we are allowing people to meet up in a limited way does not mean that people have to do so and people should not feel under pressure to do so. this virus spreads when people come together so we are asking everyone to think carefully before using these flex abilities. because one of the other

issues that nicola sturgeon addressed when she was talking to the scottish parliament earlier this afternoon was that even though they are are these controls over the relaxation, the fact that you are relaxing quite strict regimes means that you are increasing the risk of spreading the virus, she wants to limit that as much is possible, hence there is constant emphasis on being extra careful eye christmas. argentina is in three days of national mourning for its football legend diego maradona, who died yesterday. thousands of people are queuing outside the presidential palace, in the capital buenos aires, where maradona‘s body is lying in state. natalio cosoy reports from buenos aires. brought to tears and brought to his knees. a fan plays tribute to diego maradona. here at la bombonera, the home of boca juniors, an informal shrine in memory of the club‘s greatest player. all across buenos aires, all across argentina they gathered,

to celebrate a glorious and colourful life. if you want to know what maradona meant for argentinians, you need only to come here to the center of buenos aires this evening, tojoin these hundreds of maradona fans dressed in argentina and boca junior kits, who came here to chant, to shout and to cry for their hero. translation: he is eternal. and here, diego will continue to be history. he made us known all over the world. translation: i want to cry. i really want to cry. argentina's gone. argentina died today. at every champions league match a minute‘s silence was held in his memory, the latest generation of players and coaches saying goodbye to one of the greats. he made the world of football better.

his performance in, you know, down in napoli, a team for the south, and especially the national team in argentina, mexico '86, was something unbelievable. in naples, in barcelona, they grieved. but it‘s here in argentina where the pain is felt the deepest. world football has lost a legend. but this country has lost one of its favourite sons. natalio cosoy, bbc news, buenos aires. now it‘s time for a look at the weather with darren bett, has been sunshine around today in many areas, tomorrow we start with more four, likely to be a cold day. cloud coming down in scotland tonight, rein in the north west, cloud and the far south—east of england but in between clearer skies, no win, we will find folk

forming, more widely. stillareas skies, no win, we will find folk forming, more widely. still areas of clearer skies and before that folk forms, we are looking at a patchy frost, even by the end of the night. while looking cloudy for scotland, northern ireland, rein in the north west, cloud and chance of rain in the south—east. a lot of that ms tyler forde were lifted to low cloud and the sunshine comes out in many areas of glitter and wales, the midlands and defence, home counties as well, west country, could stay cloudy and cold. temperatures only four or five celsius. the weekend, a lot of cloud on the scene, not as much frost orfog, lot of cloud on the scene, not as much frost or fog, it should be a bit milder.

this is bbc news. the headlines at 4:30... more than 23 million people in england will be living under the most severe coronavirus restrictions when lockdown ends next week — with greater manchester, birmingham, leeds and sheffield among places in the highest tier level. to keep people safe and to keep the gains that are being made, more areas than before will be in the top two tiers. this is necessary to protect our nhs and keep the virus under control. business owners say it‘s more dreadful news for the hospitality industry. we‘ve all agreed that this government, it feels like they‘ve have been playing a game of carrot and stick with us. you know, we do above and beyond what they‘re asking us to do