you're watching bbc news with me tim willcox. the headlines at 8pm. on the eve of the debate over england's new tiered system, does new data convince mps to back the decision, as the health secretary says he believes coronavirus is "back under control". threw everything that people have sacrificed, we have reduced pressures on the nhs, we've brought down the number of coronavirus cases, we got this virus back under control. the labour leader sir keir starmer says his party will abstain on voting on the proposed restrictions in the house of commons tomorrow. wales is imposing stricter coronavirus measures — with all pubs and restaurants closing from six o'clock every evening. of course we can open, but a pub with no alcohol we have serious misgivings about the scheme, about whether it's strong

enough. wales is imposing stricter coronavirus measures — with all pubs and restaurants closing from six o'clock every evening. of course we can open, but a pub with no alcohol is not a pub anymore. it's as simple as that. arcadia, the retail group behind brands like topshop, burton and dorothy perkins faces collapse within hours. there's no sign of a rescue deal. running a young fashion business is very difficult. it's a brutal environment. they want newness all the time, they want to be excited all the time, and unless you provide that for them, you're not going to be successful. there'll be no immediate public inquiry into the murder of solicitor pat finucane — the government says it will first wait for the results of a review by the police service of northern ireland. and, the prime minister says "everyone including celebrities" should follow the regulations as rita ora apologises for throwing a birthday party for 30 on her 30th

the prime minister is battling to win support for the introduction of three tiers of restrictions in england —from wednesday — as he tries to head off a rebellion by his own mps. he's acknowledged that many people think they're in the wrong tier but insists the restrictions are necessary to slow the spread of coronavirus. the government has published an economic impact assessment of the tiered system in a bid to persuade tory mps to vote for it tomorrow. in the past few minutes, labour has confirmed it will vote for the tier system — more on that in a moment but first here's our political editor laura kuenssberg. the outline of a world after coronavirus is slowly emerging, but it's not clear to see yet.

so, before england's national restriction fade on wednesday, mps will vote on a new set of rules. and while boris johnson was looking to what's next at a vaccine maker in wales, he had to defend the new proposed regime. we can't afford to let it out of control again, so the tiering system is tough, but it's designed to be tough and to keep it under control. that means no attempt to nights like this at the restaurant 20 stories here in manchester — even though the team here has worked hard to make it safe. so i'm currently in the restaurant at the minute, and you can see the perspex screens between each tables... from wednesday, it'll be stuck in the tightest set of restrictions in tier 3, like most of the north of england. it'll be the sixth set of different rules they've coped with since march. it's just been an absolute roller—coaster. it's been constant stop—start, with the rules changing, what we're allowed to do, what we're not allowed to do. we've just been punished

even though we are sticking to everything they throw at us. and what's it been like for you? we're in limbo at the moment. you've obviously shown us the impact on your business... becky was one of the firms pushing with the labour leader for more cash support for the hospitality businesses whose doors have been closed. the treasury, though, still crunching the numbers. the same old, same old, which is restrictions being put in place but the financial package not being ready to go with it. it's exactly the same. and one of my main criticisms of this government is that they've been very slow in their decision—making, but they're not learning lessons. but look at this. ministers are still struggling to get their own mps onside, publishing some details of the possible effects the new system will have on health and wealth. but one senior tory privately told me it was weak and cobbled together. my underlying fear is that if you put restrictions on people in areas where they think they're not needed, then they will be more inclined to ignore them.

number 10 is giving mps more detail, to try to use its powers of persuasion to get as many of them onside as possible. but in the main, the argument hasn't changed for days — that ministers believe it's just too soon to roll back restrictions everywhere. there will, though, be stiff resistance in parliament tomorrow, but unless something very strange happens between now and the vote, england will be carved up into different categories from the middle of this week. remember, there are different rules in scotland, wales and northern ireland too, but a patchwork of restrictions is almost inevitably coming for england, with or without the backing of some unhappy tory mps. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. we news, westminster. will speak to a former tory government we will speak to a former tory government minister in a few minutes' time. our political correspondent, jonathan blake is at westminster. labour under cara starmer will abstain, so it will go through, so how many of those tory mps have been

won over do we think by this publication today? not many, insured. i think the response to the assessment which the government published earlier on this evening has been pretty critical as far as the hard—core if you like of conservative mps who are deeply opposed to any further restrictions to slow the spread of the coronavirus summing up the response for the newly formed coronavirus recovery group for an organisation, informal organisation of mps opposed to any further restrictions from mark perper saying that even with so little time to, the government's and also seems to be collapsing under the glare of scrutiny. we are now seeing once again the wheels coming off the government's argument. there may be some tory mps who may make a point of putting the government to put forward more evidence to justify these further restrictions that they are putting in place at the end of

the national lockdown. 0k, we have made our point, and we will now vote in favour of what the government wa nts to in favour of what the government wants to do. i think it's clear from the response this evening. i think there will be many who oppose them, but as you heard, the outcome of tomorrow's votes is now all but certain. the measures will pass, and when england's lockdown comes to an end on wednesday, the new topper 3—tier system will come into force. we know that now because circular starmer has outlined labour‘s position this evening confirming that the party will abstain. although the number of cases are coming down as a result of lockdown, the virus is still a significant risk, and in principle, we accept that there are going to have to be continued restrictions. it's very important as the opposition that we act in the national interest. we do have serious misgivings about the government scheme, the proposals, but we will not be voting them down tomorrow. we will not be voting against them. that would not be the

national interest, and i think to vote down these schemes would be responsible. just to be clear, how are you voting tomorrow? we will abstain from tomorrow, that winning the regulations go through. although we've got misgivings about the scheme about whether it's strong enough, it still hasn't been fixed, and across the country, there is real concern about the level of economic support that needs to go in for businesses that are going to be impacted most, but notwithstanding those misgivings, we are not going to vote these regulations down. it's important in the public interest that are regulations, and it's better that these regulations that could be amended and put in place that there is no regulations which will be the result if we voted against them. and taking that decision to abstain, circular starmer has possibly left labour open to some criticism from the conservatives, that they are appearing to be weak and are not

voting either in favour of these restrictions or against them, but circular starmer has clearly made the calculation that allowing these restrictions to come in, even though he says, as you heard, the party has serious misgivings about them, is better than voting against them and risking an outcome whether there are no restrictions on the virus is allowed to spread unhindered. but with that decision, the vote in the house of commons tomorrow night will essentially come down to how conservative mps themselves vote because most of the other smaller opposition parties are either abstain or voting against. 0k, jonathan, thank you very much. while we were speaking tojonathan, some breaking news in the last couple of moments, and that is that the arcadia group, the retail empire has fallen into administration. that's headed up by sir philip green and his wife, tina, who in fact owns

arcadia, has now fallen into administration, some 13,000 jobs at risk, there is a lot of shop fronts up risk, there is a lot of shop fronts up and down the high streets around the country is welcome and £350 million pension fund as well. we are going to look at that in much more detail ina going to look at that in much more detail in a moment. and in fact, if i may, iwill ask detail in a moment. and in fact, if i may, i will ask our next guest now, i have got the conservative mp and chairof now, i have got the conservative mp and chair of the cummins treasury committee, mel stride, who is joining us now. i wanted to talk to ifi joining us now. i wanted to talk to if i may about the tier system, but first of all, your initial response to the fall of arcadia, so manyjobs at risk and that huge deficit in the pension fund, as we saw, of course, a few years ago. well, it's deeply worrying, and of course it will be very upsetting to

people who may now be about to lose their jobs, people who may now be about to lose theirjobs, and people who may now be about to lose their jobs, and a people who may now be about to lose theirjobs, and a think what we know of this set of problems that we are having with the virus here is that unemployment, unfortunately come as a central feature, and unemployment, unfortunately come as a centralfeature, and we unemployment, unfortunately come as a central feature, and we are seeing this year as we are in other areas. as to the pension situation, no parliamentarian various committees will be looking very closely at that to make sure that those who have been invested in those pensions are ultimately treated fairly. at a very worrying time for many thousands of people. many people will be looking at the green family in particular, £1.2 billion dividend, paid tax free to lady green in monaco. is there a moral obligation on a part of the green family to get involved with us. i think there's been many because of that nature over the last few days has started to unravel as it were. i think that's a question that from my point of view, i would be answering

over the coming days, i know many are calling for them to step in and support the pensions and make sure that they are available for those who have spent many years earning. 0k, who have spent many years earning. ok, let's go back to the tier conditions cost impact of this. 48 pages published today, governments clearly weighing up the trade—offs between the tears and the impact. is it enough for you? well, when you say isn't enough, i will be supporting the government tomorrow, because i think it's balanced, it's the right thing to make sure we have continued restrictions, but where it's not enough is that we were promised with the treasury select committee has called for some time for a set of economic impact assessments around the measures being put forward and what this paper i'm afraid doesn't have is just that, what it is is a rehash of a lot of the information that was in the opr a lot of the information that was in the 0pr report published on the 25th

of november. very little, if anything around what the consequence of these different tiers will be both sectors for example and from different regions from within the country. , and that is just missing. and i think that's a bigger mission when members of parliament are having to take this extraordinary big decision and they should have all the information available for them to do that. the opr report concluded that it would be the tears and the negative impact summer stricter of course, would lead to such uncertainty that they would not be meaningful. if that was the conclusion of the 0pr and the treasury admitted it didn't do its own impacts assessment on it itself, is there any reason why they could have put the information together to come up with something credible? because it's full of so many unknowns. just because something is, located doesn't mean there is not a value in doing it. undoubtedly, the more capitated is, the more uncertain your projections are. but it seems to me that because, for example, the

sage committee on the 21st of september pointed out in its minutes that the treasury was working on just such an impact analysis, it seems to me that that work has been done, and should be made public for our members of parliament to consider. the document talks about associated costs of stricter rules. without actually giving any examples. do you think that data exists or not? well, i can't believe that within the treasury when they'd considered lock down the different tiers, many different options they would've considered, that when the question has been asked, well, what are the impact on this particular sector or on this particular sector in this part of the country, that they've civilly said, well, we have no idea. they will have had an idea, and that information i believe should have been what we should've been seeing in this paper, but it just hasn't been forthcoming. 0k, thank you very much indeed for

joining us this evening on bbc news. rights commodes go back to that breaking news in the last couple of minutes. arcadia has gone into administration with 13,000 jobs at risk. simon has this. in the heyday, fashion emperor who dominated the high street and who didn't mind flaunting the vast wealth that brought him. lavish parties attended by the rich, powerful and famous, a description he himself felt co mforta ble description he himself felt comfortable with. the empire was full of household names that customers of all ages would recognise. tonight, that empire has collapsed into administration. there's going to be huge on employment. the woman credited with building the topshop brand explains where it all went wrong. philip's of writing concern was to buy something as cheaply as he could possibly buy it, and then sell it for as much as he could get for it. the online players such as boo—hoo don't have the cost base of the

stores, they don't have to pay for staffing and their stories. all they have as their online presence. they are much better at it, they've profess to invested huge minor money in and have a better connection with their customers. a list of retail failures is a long one, but arcadia is the biggest for years. there are 450 stores, 350 concessions and other stores and 13,000 workers whose jobs are at risk, along with 350 mayan £9 million on the pension scheme. this is or was the jewel in the ground that entry slipped many years ago. 0nce that entry slipped many years ago. once a powerhouse of fashion retail led by the king of the high street, now a business in ruins. led by a man considered the unacceptable phase of capitalism. at this is not about one person, this tonight is about one person, this tonight is about the 13,000 people who are facing a very uncertain christmas and thousands more in a very troubled high street retail sector. simon here, thanks so much for talking to us today. i spoke to one arcadia worker who didn't want to be

identified who said the uncertainty had come at the worst possible time. a lot of us are feeling a bit anxious because we don't know about the full extent of what's happening ourselves. for us, it's about money around christmas time, bells have to go out, we don't know if we can afford stuff for christmas, we are worried about what will happen to our pensions, will we still get paid if we are in administration? tonight, sir philip is here and is £100 million yacht in monaco, where his wife is resident and received a £1.2 billion tax—free dividend from the business in 2005. there is another twist. denims makes money from renting store space to arcadia brands, arcadia's collapse could scatter a rescue the department store igd sports, another 12,000 jobs at risk. the pandemic has been brutal to businesses with underlying health issues. suddenly, you had covid, which left you with a perfect number retail, those retailers who did move on during that perfect storm of the ones who are going to suffer and die, and that was happening to arcadia. but they are not alone.

0ther arcadia. but they are not alone. other retailers are in a perilous position as we stand today. stores are open in scotland and will open in england on wednesday, as administrators try to sell off christmas stock and maybe some bits of the business. simonjack, bbc news. let's catch up with our business presenter, ben thompson, whojoins us business presenter, ben thompson, who joins us now. just on that last point, ben, the most terrible news for arcadia employees, potentially for arcadia employees, potentially for those working at devon them says welcome about these stories will still be open for the foreseeable future until some deals are done, is that correct? yes, you are absolutely right, tim. ijust got the statement through from the administrators who are —— ijust a few points that i want to bring. we should clarify that those stories will reopen in england, they are already open in scotland, they will not close as part of this administration process. that is because the administrators are hoping that they may be able to find a buyerfor some of hoping that they may be able to find a buyer for some of those stores. now, lots of speculation about who would be interested, lots of

criticism but arcadia is an analogue business in a digital world, it's failed to keep up and failed to invest in online retail, like many of its rivals. also, it talks in the statement about the impact of the covert pandemic, and a few points i just want to bring you, because the chief executive making clear that the covert pandemic, including the forced closure of stores, they said, forced closure of stores, they said, for prolonged period has severely impacted trading across all of our brands. they say, throw what was an immensely challenging time, they wa nted immensely challenging time, they wanted to protect jobs immensely challenging time, they wanted to protectjobs and preserve the financial stability of the group. they hoped, it says, that they could write out the pandemic and come out fighting on the other side, however, and this is the crucial bits, they say in the face of one of the most difficult trading conditions we've ever experienced, the obstacles we encountered were far too severe. so, yes, the obstacles we encountered were fartoo severe. so, yes, in the obstacles we encountered were far too severe. so, yes, in some respects, the end of the line for the arcadia group as we know it's come but as we've discussed, what we are hoping, and what the company

will be hoping is that there will be a buyer, some already in the frame, suggestion that the online retailer could be interested in buying the topshop brand, but big? sober some of the other brands in its portfolio, the likes of dorothy perkins, burtons, wallace and evans, who would be interested in them? who would take on the liabilities for those big expensive stores in town and city centers? that raises lots of questions and as simon was telling us in his report, it also raises serious questions for the future of devon ems, we we know that that departments are has many arcadia concessions within it, so if they close, it raises big questions about the future for devon and stu. 0k, ben, for now, thank you very much. let's speak to claire bailey, an independent retail expert and founder of the retail champion. as a just coronavirus or are there other things that brought about this? 0h, no, that's probably the straw that broke the camels back, if we look

back tojune broke the camels back, if we look back to june 2019, they were negotiating a fairly difficult cva, company negotiating a fairly difficult cva, com pa ny volu nta ry negotiating a fairly difficult cva, company voluntary agreement with landlords who were uncomfortable in and being pressured into taking rent reductions to stop them entering administration of 18 months ago. so this has been panning out for a long time. i would suggest that a lot of what's been said i would concur with. the fact that they lost their way with regards to the competition. they weren't as quick to engage with a more digital savvy customer, and they simply weren't a fashion forward focused brand, looking to the likes of the younger shopper where their competition both online and in the high streetwear. they took a lot of money out, the family, did they put a lot of money back into invest? in the face of it, obviously, we don't know the ins and outs of it, but we would like to say no, because the stores are looking,

and it's a little tired, and the project ranges have not kept up with the likes of the competition. but if you compare and contrast arcadia, their performance, for example on social media and social engagement with the likes of primera who don't have e—commerce at all, both primary car consistently engaging and talking to customers in a relevant and appropriate manner, and you just don't see that coming out of the arcadia brands. and i think as ben rightly pointed out, you know, it will be difficult to find buyers for some of these places as they are today, but there is brand equity in the name, and obviously now the company and slipped into administration, all contracts are broken, all bets are off, buyer may be able to and said like to buy that brand, but i only want the digital aspects are just a brand identity and none of the stores, etc. potentially none of the staff and. so not much comes not much comfort for the staff. imaginal, the best case note for staff as they will cherry pick the most profit all

stores. it's unlikely they will keep them on committee think that's the most sad part of this. one thing i would like to get across is there is a charity to support all people in retail, called the retail trust, they offer free confidential help and support for people who may be distressed by this news. what you make about the timing of this? just a few weeks before christmas, you would of thought you know, that would've been a time that maybe they would've been a time that maybe they would've recoup some of the money. yes, well, there's been some interesting suggestions around the timings with some changes coming into regulation around the way that those people who are owed money are treated by administrators, think the regulations change from tomorrow, obviously, we don't know that for a fa ct obviously, we don't know that for a fact either, but what we can say is that the timing isn't great for anyone. however, ifa that the timing isn't great for anyone. however, if a company has run out of money and is unable to trade, then they have to declare insolvency and appointed administrators, and that appears to be the case in this instance. 0k,

thank you very much indeed for joining us. the government says it will wait for the results of a review by the police service of northern ireland before deciding if there should be a public inquiry into the murder of pat finucane. mr finucane, a 39—year—old solicitor who represented both republicans and loyalists during the troubles, was shot dead in his family home in north belfast in 1989 by loyalist paramilitaries. a review commissioned by the government found agents of the state had been involved. pat finucane's sonjohn said the family was disappointed but not surprised by the government's decision. i think that our initial reaction is that we are very angry. i would love to say that we're surprised, but what the british government proposed to us today was nothing short of insulting. we have waited nearly two years for the government to respond to our supreme court victory in 2019. we've been waiting 31 years for an effective investigation

into the murder of my father, and what was presented today, i think, once again, if we needed another example, we were presented with it today is that the british government at every opportunity will continue to make the wrong decision and will put all their efforts into ensuring that the truth as to what happened, the murder my father, that the full truth will not see the light of day and they are intent on suppressing that truth. and today's meeting, i think, confirms that again to our family. chris page is in belfast. just listing all the promises of public inquiries and investigations and everything else. what was the reason given for today's delay, because it was not ever, not yet, wasn't it? yes, the northern ireland secretary brandon lewes made a statement to the house of commons a couple of hours ago where he outlined the reasons why he said he wasn't ordering a public inquiry at this time. he said that there were

other processes under way. there was a review coming up by the police service of northern ireland to our conducting ongoing reviews of the unsolved killings from the troubles, so that review will begin in the new year. also, there is an investigation by the police ombudsman for northern ireland, the policing watchdog care which has been going on since 2016. mr lewes's argument was that it was important to let those processes take their course and that nobody should prejudice the work of either the psi night or the police ombudsman, but he said he wasn't taking a public inquiry off the table at this stage. now, as you've heard they're from john finnigan, who was an mp himself or sinn fein, the finnigan family extremely disappointed by the government's decision. ever since this murder happened, public inquiry is the only way to get to the full truth, they said is the only way to

establish the extent of state pollution, there was a review commissioned by david cameron's government in 2012 that found that the state are involved, and that there was no overall conspiracy in there was no overall conspiracy in the murder. so the decision by the government today resulting from a ruling by the supreme court of last year a case taken by the newc and family and the judges year a case taken by the newc and family and thejudges in year a case taken by the newc and family and the judges in the supreme court that all the previous investigations into the murder had fallen short of international standards, so the government had until today to formally respond to that, mr lewes has set out the government's plans, but the family really angry and upset because they really angry and upset because they really haven't got a decision one way or another here. a public wiry has not been ruled in or rolled out in that stage, and there has just been a huge cover—up. in that stage, and there has just been a huge cover-up. chris page, thank you very much. three weeks after the end of its last lockdown, wales is to bring in new restrictions

as its covid infection rate rises yet again. pubs, restaurants and cafes will be banned from serving alcohol from friday and will have to close from six in the evening. indoor entertainment and visitor attractions, including cinemas, bingo halls, museums and galleries will also have to shut. the first minister mark drakeford said without the new restrictions there could be up to 1,700 preventable deaths over the winter. he confirmed that he will look again at travel restrictions in and out of wales after england's lockdown ends. 0ur wales correspondent hywel grifith has the latest. as the covid numbers rise, once again businesses face shutting down. on friday, this bingo hall in cardiff, along with cinemas and bowling alleys across the country will close its doors. three and two, 32. avril normally comes here three times a week. she says it's her lifeline. the only place i feel as safe as in here is in my own home. even the shops aren't doing as well as we are. it does so much for us. i mean, i wouldn't see anybody if i didn't come to bingo. stephen, the manager, is reeling, too. he hoped wales' firebreak lockdown would be his last closure of a terrible 2020.

just gutted that it's happened to us yet again. this has been 22 weeks this year we've been shut and potentially another four weeks, if not longer. that's over half a year shut. in pubs and restaurants, the festive spirit will have to be alcohol free. all hospitality venues must close their doors at 6pm. it leaves nick wondering whether it's worth opening at all. of course, we can open, but a pub with no alcohol is not a pub any more. we've come through one long lockdown, through the firebreak. it doesn't seem to have worked. you've got to say from their own standards, they failed. help has been promised for hospitality. the first minister says it will be the most generous package in the uk. he insists the virus is a problem in pubs, something the industry disputes. the evidence, i'm afraid is just there. when we get together in that way,

whether it is in our own homes or in a hospitality setting, the virus thrives. and the cases rise and we end up with the position we see in wales today. but the position around wales varies a lot. here in llandudno they are in the county with the lowest case rate, just 27 per 100,000. the seaside hotels here are not being told to shut, but fear the wales wide measures will keep customers away. some people won't come if it means they are not able to go out, because it's part of the overall experience. and given the time of the year this is being imposed on us, ijust think it's a really cruel blow. this thing is very much a one size fits all approach and its cost us dearly in the long run. this pandemic is far more than a numbers game. lives and livelihoods are always in the balance. the gamble now is whether these measures will get the virus back under control.

now it's time for a look at the weather with chris fawkes. the welsh government insists that its fire break locked on over the fortnight did wear, but what we have seen since isjust fortnight did wear, but what we have seen since is just how quickly the case numbers can rise again and in some parts of wellesley. march eight furred does admit that may be measures could've been used more slowly, he rejects however the idea that tears would be the answer for wales or some local lockdowns. however, he has to look at what's happening elsewhere in the uk. 0n wednesday, england's lockdown finishes. we've had lots of tourism business contacting us saying they don't know whether or not they can for over the border. it says it's yet to decide on the rows on who is allowed to travel in or out of the country. how griffith reporting. a30 1pm, you are watching bbc news. our headlines...

hello, this is bbc news with tim willcox. the headlines: arcadia, the retail group behind brands like topshop, burton and dorothy perkins, has entered administration. 13,000 jobs are at risk. 0n the eve of the debate over england's new tiered system, does new data convince mps to back the decision, as the health secretary says he believes coronavirus is "back under control". through everything that people have sacrificed, we have reduced pressures on the nhs, we brought down the number oh coronavirus cases, we have this virus back under control. the labour leader sir keir starmer says his party will abstain on voting on the proposed restrictions in the house of commons tomorrow. we will abstain tomorrow and that will mean the regulations go through. although we have got serious misgivings about the scheme, by whether it is strong enough. wales is imposing stricter coronavirus measures — with all pubs and restaurants closing from six o'clock every evening. there'll be no immediate public inquiry into the murder

of solicitor pat finucane — the government says it will first wait for the results of a review by the police service of northern ireland. more now on the breaking news that the arcadia group has fallen into administration, sir philip green was once known as the ‘king of the high street‘ — so let's take a look at how his company has fallen from its early 2000s heights. he started out as an apprentice in a shoe warehouse, before setting up a business importing and selling jeans. in 2000, he bought the british home stores chain, also known as bhs. two years later he acquired arcadia — including the brands topshop, miss selfridge and dorothy perkins. in 2004 he tried and failed to buy the iconic british grocery and clothing brand marks and spencer.

but he attracted controversy for his lavish lifestyle and tax affairs. in 2005 arcadia paid a £1.2 billion dividend to its owner — his wife tina. as a resident of monaco, she paid no tax in the uk. in 2010, he was chosen by the then—prime minister david cameron to conduct a government efficiency review, leading to protests. bhs was sold in 2015 for £1 — it went bust a year later leaving a pensions deficit. sir philip later paid a £363 million cash settlement with the pensions regulator. andrew busby is a retail expert and founder of retail reflections, hejoins me now from east grinstead. this has been predicted for a long time. no surprise for you? not

really. i think the first thing to say is that it is a credibly sad. incredibly sad for all the loyal workers at arcadia, but yes you are absolutely right, the writing has been on the wall for a long time. you outlined it there. it really what has they fail to do was to invest in the right areas when they needed to. would he have had the advice? is this something that he was told to do but then said no, my way is the best way because he had such a good track record? well, there is a truth in that. he has famously been known to not use a la ptop famously been known to not use a laptop or and have all its e—mails printed out. in other really understand what a smartphone can do. whether those are right or wrong, clearly what he did in grass when he needed to was the rise of online and

e—commerce as we know it now. and so the investments were not made in the income e—commerce operation that he had. and that was really a large pa rt had. and that was really a large part of the downfall that we now see today. had hadn't are light fitting. just not big enough you say? -- haddad online footing. if you go to some of his competitors come i think a lot of this has got to do with the consumer expectation that we now have. in other words, consumer expectation that we now have. in otherwords, if consumer expectation that we now have. in other words, if you go to quite a few of these competitors websites, just until 12 o'clock in the evening you can order and get items delivered the next day. now come in order to be able to do that, you need to have a very flexible and agile, very well invested supply chain. and what i mean by that is knowing where every single item of your inventory, your stock happens to bea

your inventory, your stock happens to be a any time. so that you know when an order comes in, for example, a pairof when an order comes in, for example, a pair of trousers or a skirt or a topic or whatever it may be, you know exactly how you can feel that and deliver that. to either the customers home or to a store or to a chosen pick—up point. and that is ta kes chosen pick—up point. and that is takes hundreds of millions of pounds worth of investment to achieve that. the brands will be worth something. u nfortu nately not the brands will be worth something. unfortunately not for the employees. presumably a lot of them will go but what they always be a need for those flagship prestige big stores and major city centers? will some of that be retained evening?” major city centers? will some of that be retained evening? i think it well. i certainly hope it will because i think that if we are faced with a pure online well, that will be quitejury. and with a pure online well, that will be quite jury. and there's been a lot of talk about the high street in stores and so forth, i do feel

stores and so forth, i do feel stores will remain. that's quite jury. the ones that will remain will bea jury. the ones that will remain will be a lot better and more inspiring. but what all retailers need to understand and some do better than others is that we need to have a reason to visit their stores. so i think as one of the lessons from this, although sadly for the workforce of arcadia that might not apply so much, of the industry, when the two lessons is your stores a state has got to be great, it has got to inspire and excite and draw people in. —— your story of the state has to be great. very sad news for the employees. thank you for joining us. —— your store each state has to be great. a major study has suggested coronavirus infections in england have fallen by about a third during lockdown. research by imperial college and ipsos mori found some of the areas worst—hit by the virus — such as the north west — have seen the biggest improvements but cases remain relatively high. but the health secretary says the data shows the country

can't take its foot off the pedaljust yet‘. 0ur health editor hugh pym has more. swab the back of your throat, your tonsil region, about three times. a massive programme of rapid result testing for students is under way at many uk universities, part of the plan to get them safely home for the festive break. two negative results and they're urged to head straight home. if positive, there's still time to self—isolate for ten days and then get back for the holiday period. i think it was a really important thing for a lot of students in uni to kind of lobby for the fact that students need a breakaway from university overwinter break, and i'm really glad that they're getting it. i think the take—up shows that students are such active parts of our communities. testing for students is voluntary and is not available to every student at every university, so how effective can that programme be? i think it will make a good difference, a good positive difference,

but as i say, we haven't made it mandatory because that brings in all sorts of other considerations and we think that it is therefore best done on a voluntary basis. with more than a million students in england likely to be on the move, there have been concerns about the potential spread of the virus, though there was news today that infections were receding. the latest survey of virus case rates in england by imperial college london suggests there has been a decline of 30% since the end of october, just before the lockdown. the biggest falls were seen in the north—east of england, down 62%, and the north—west, down 57%. there was a fall of 35% in the yorkshire and humber region and other parts of england also saw a decline, apart from the east and west midlands, where there was little change. everyone wants to know what further progress can be made, but questions are also being asked about how we got to where we are in this pandemic. we need to put health

at the top of our agenda. the uk's covid death rate remains higher than many others, and dame sally davies, former government chief medical adviser, told me that underlying health problems left people here more vulnerable to the virus. i think our poor public health, whether it's deprivation, overweight or other chronic illnesses, alongside crowding in urban areas, have led to a much increased death rate over what we could have had if we had a healthier basic population and less deprivation. ministers say community testing with rapid results offers a way forward, but there are continuing questions about how realistic this might be given the resources and staffing required to deliver it. hugh pym, bbc news. as the government publishes

an assessment of the tiered system in england, the virus has badly hit the hospitality industry. many indian restaurants in the country were already under financial strains before the pandemic and some curry houses are struggling to reopen this week — as nadia ali reports. more than eight out of ten indian restaurants in the uk are owned by british bangladeshis. and so the pandemic has hit the bengali community hard. annually, the curry industry contributes around £4.5 billion to the british economy. this sector was already suffering from many reasons. the main one being a shortage of trained chefs because of visa constraints. and now due to coronavirus, ma ny restau ra nts are having to shut down. how has the pandemic affected your business? the pandemic has catastrophically affected my business. unfortunately, i am one of the casualties of the coronavirus. i actually had to close my

restaurant of six years due to the fact that unfortunately there was no way i could've made it work to given the circumstances. i haven't been able to bring back my staff full time. they've had to be on flexi—furlough, which we do appreciate as operators to be able to have a subsidise of our wages, peoplejust want to come in the work, they want to have their jobs and have certainty to be able to come in and know they are going to get paid and know that actually there will be a job for them at the end of the month. but not all restaurants have had to close down. some have been more creative. after the first lockdown, we had to adapt very quickly. so this time around, we remain open and i'm lucky that i managed to keep most of my staff working. for example, ordering online, delivery and collection as well. and since the eat out to help out,

we maintain this up to 20% during the weekdays and we are very excited to reopen in following every government guideline including hand sanitisation, temperature check, and track and trace. everybody must wear a facemask. so that our customers and our staff feel safe. despite coming out of lockdown in a couple of days, the prime minister has said that the restriction that could cause a lot of heart ache and frustration. especially for the hospitality sector. nadia ali, bbc news. nhs and social care workers in scotland will receive a one off five—hundred—pounds payment as a "thank you" for their work during the pandemic. during a speech to the snp's online conference, first minister nicola sturgeon also announced plans for a 100—million pound fund to help families and children on low—incomes. 0ur scotland editor sarah smith reports. good morning and a very warm welcome to you all... a virtual conference with contributors from all over the country...

michael, you do still need to unmute yourself. ..and some of the usual online issues. the gremlins vanish by the time the snp leader appeared from home with some big spending promises. so i can announce today that on behalf of us all, the scottish government will give every full—time nhs and adult social care worker £500 as a one—off thank you payment for their extraordinary service. and a challenge to the uk government to waive the income tax on this payment. please allow our health and care heroes to keep every penny of scotland's thank you to them. do not take any of it away in tax. the snp have already promised a free school meals to all primary pupils during term time and holidays if they win the next election. now, a winterfund to help families this year. it will provide a cash grant of £100 for every family with children in receipt of free school meals.

the money will be paid before christmas and families can use it for whatever will help them through the winter. that could be food, new shoes or a winter coat for the kids. cheering and applause. we are only six months away from the next elections for the scottish parliament. at the heart of the snp's campaign will be their demand for another vote on scottish independence. and in that election i will seek your authority, no one else's, for a legal independence referendum to be held in the early part of the new parliament. the prime minister has already made it clear, he will not allow another referendum. nicola sturgeon's insistent he cannot say no if she's just won a convincing election victory. this could be a fundamental argument about the very future of the uk. sarah smith, bbc news, glasgow.

the singer, rita 0ra, has apologised for throwing a 30th birthday party in a london restaurant in breach of england's lockdown. our correspondent, david sillito sent this update from outside the restaurant in west london. rita or was celebrating her 30th birthday on saturday evening at this restau ra nt. birthday on saturday evening at this restaurant. it is said though not confirmed there were up to 30 people here. —— reid a after nine o'clock, police arrived. today my she issued a statement saying the gathering of a statement saying the gathering of a small group of friends with a spur of the moment decision to now deeply regrets. —— rita 0ra. given the restrictions, i realise how irresponsible these actions were in i take full responsibility. she will is said to pay any fine imposed and meanwhile number ten says it is important that everyone six of the rules and that very definitely includes celebrities. —— everybody sticks to the rules. the leading infectious disease expert in the us, anthony fauci, has warned that there could be "surge upon a surge" in coronavirus cases after the thanksgiving holiday. millions of people ignored medical

advice and travelled home for the celebration. 205,000 cases were recorded in the country on friday. italy is not in the grip of a second way. -- is now. this time it is spread right across the country including the poorest region in the south. mark alone reports. unlike the first wave, when infections centred on the wealthy north, this time it has spread across the country, including to its poorest region in the south. mark lowen reports. the resuscitation of italy's nightmare. we were shown the carnage of the pandemic they thought they were beating. but the second wave has hit harder than the first, says this doctor. and here in the south, they're struggling to cope. this is calabria, italy's and one of western europe's poorest regions. intensive care numbers

aren't yet out of control, but the country's weakest health care system is on red alert. translation: my staff are truly heroes on the front line and giving it their all. we're fighting this like lions, so as not to keel over. if cases continue to rise, it'll be a disaster for the whole of italy, and not just for us. this ward can take 18 people. there were 12 patients here until about an hour ago, when one of them died. beds filling up, a shortage of staff. italy thought it had left these horrible scenes behind. but once again, it's been caught on the back foot with the second wave. and this time it's not just the wealthy north that's been overwhelmed, but here, too, in the country's most impoverished corner. italy's southern toe has been overtaken and plundered by its mafia, the ‘ndrangheta, infiltrating health care. looted by criminals,

indebted hospitals were abandoned. so this was one of the closed hospitals. a doctor who exposed corruption five years ago, says he was silenced. translation: our finances were a mess. we couldn't pay creditors and there were fake bills. so even with fewer covid cases, we've gone into meltdown as the mafia got rich. we now have no hospitals, no health care system. we're in an emergency. just days ago, a police operation arrested a top local politician for laundering money through pharmacies in exchange for mafia support. the ‘ndrangheta's tentacles a re everywhere. when this award—winning chef refused to pay extortion money 12 years ago, he was threatened and customers stayed away. now, covid lockdown has again emptied his restaurant — history repeating itself in more ways than one. translation: the mafia and covid are both pandemics. we'll destroy the virus

with a vaccine, but the fight against the mafia will take longer. for now, my heart cannot see the light in this darkness. but we will rise up and defeat both. calabria is battling to pull through. but in this scarred region, the virus has exposed its fragile heart. mark lowen, calabria, southern italy. china has defended one of its officials who tweeted a faked photograph showing an australian soldier holding a knife to an afghan child's throat. it's triggered a further — significant — worsening of relations between beijing and the australian government. the tweet containing the faked image was posted on a government account. as you can see here, twitter has put a warning of sensitive content on the tweet. australia's prime minister, scott morrison, demanded that the tweet be deleted and called on beijing to apologise.... the post made today,

the repugnant post made today, of an image, a falsified image, of an australian soldier threatening a young child with a knife... a post made on an official chinese government twitter account, posted by the deputy director—general of the ministry of foreign affairs, mr lijian zhao. is truly deeply repugnant. it is deeply offensive to every australian. prime minister morrison's comments were put to the chinese ministry of foreign affairs spokesperson. she referenced the recent australian investigation into alleged abuses carried out by australian service personnel in afghanistan — and had this comment... translation: the australian side

is reacting so strongly to my colleague's twitter... does that mean that they think the cold blood murder of afghan innocent civilians is justified, while other people's condemnation of such crimes are notjustified? afghan lives matter. the australian government should do some soul searching and bring the culprits to justice and offer an official apology to the afghan people. it's being called the most significant change to farming and land management in england in more than 50 years — and its driven by brexit. under the old eu system farmers have been paid based on how much land they farmed. the more land they farmed, the more money they got. now, under new government plans, they'll have to earn their subsidies by protecting the environment, reducing the use of antibiotics, planting new woods and improving animal welfare. the national farmers' union says it's still waiting for details of how the scheme

will work in practice. jon kay reports from devon. there has been farming on dartmoor for thousands of years. but soon it could look less like this and more like this. farmers like mark will get subsidies for what they do to manage the countryside like copper sink, rather than the amount of land they use. it makes sense, and where land isn't particularly productive from a farming point of view, why not leave it to nature, let it get untidy. nature doesn't like things tidy, so leaving it a bit rough and ready will bring in wildlife. brexit means out goes the common agricultural policy, and in comes the environmental land management system which could mean mark's farm will have fewer animals in future, but more trees, meadows and wetlands. take this pond mark has created on his farm to hold water, to reduce flooding

and encourage local wildlife. now, under the eu scheme, he would have lost money because he cannot form this bit any more, but under the new scheme, he will be rewarded for doing things like there will be incentives he will be rewarded for doing things like this. there will be incentives for farming sustainably, grants to help space for nature there will be incentives for farming sustainably, grants to help space for nature and grants to help farmers buy new equipment. as he plants oak trees for the future, mark might be embracing the new scheme, but other land owners are less enthusiastic. predicting upheaval, with some farmers expected to quit. brexit is a game changer and we will be exposed to far greater competition on the market place. we will need to look at what the impact of that is on farming businesses as we progress through transition. the common agricultural policy was often criticised for being overly complicated. but with just a few weeks to go, back on dartmoor, mark still has lots of questions about how the new scheme will work. how important is it for you that you get

the clarity now for the future? it is important, so we can plant what we are doing over the next decade, because these changes will take time. nothing happens on land very quickly. it is not clear yet how these changes will affect the public. at the moment, just over half the food we buy in the uk is home grown. will there be an impact on prices? will the other nations follow england's scheme? this is just the start of our new future. jon kay, bbc news, devon. now it's only taken 400 years — but beavers have built theirfirst dam on exmoor. resettled from scotland down to somerset in january, they've certainly made themselves at home. hidden wildlife cameras have captured them hard at work during the night to build the dam which has helped create a n insta nt wetla nd area on the holnicote estate. the beavers are the first to be released into the wild

by the national trust in its 125—year history as part of a river restoration project. rise me of the old joke what do beavers say when they swim into a wall. —— reminds me. nowi beavers say when they swim into a wall. —— reminds me. now i look at the weather with chris. hello again. well, it's been another pretty grey day for most of us, but a big improvement in my book. at least we could see more than a few hundred metres. the mist and fog having cleared out of the way by patches of rain. that rain's been pushing southwards over recent hours, and you can just make out this little line of rain just coming into parts of merseyside on the radar picture. that's actually the cold front, and to the north of the cold front, that's where we had some proper sunshine working in across scotland, although there were plenty of showers here. we also had some sunshine, too, in the north east of england. overnight tonight, those clearer skies will continue to push southwards, so good parts of wales, most of england and much of eastern scotland having

that clearer weather. it's going to be cold with some patches of frost developing in the countryside, but thicker cloud in northern ireland, where there'll be some drizzle, and temperatures here mostly staying above freezing. tuesday, cold air in place, then, but eventually we'll see this warm sector, this milder air pushing into the north west, but quite late in the day. now, for eastern areas of scotland, eastern areas of wales and most of england, there should be some sunshine around, but we'll have cold northerly winds and those temperatures around the east coast struggle. highs 5—7 degrees for some. turns milder in the north west, but with that a lot of low cloud and again probably some mist and fog over the high ground and certainly some patches of drizzle around. midweek, we've got a narrowing warm sector pushing across the uk. a cold front on the charts, colder air follows. and what all that means on wednesday is that it's going to be a cloudy day for england and wales with some patches of light rain and drizzle pushing southwards and eastwards. much brighter skies follow with some sunshine, but lots of blustery showers being blown in as well. those temperatures drop as colder air pushes in. temperatures across scotland and the far north of england about 5—6 degrees celsius. it gets even colder across the north

on thursday, with the showers here turning increasingly to snow above 300 metres' elevation or so. we've got heavy rain for wales and for parts of england, particularly in the south, with some strong winds working through the english channel. so it will be a blustery day, perhaps with some gales here as well. beyond that, towards the end of the week, low pressure takes up residence to the eastern side of the uk. colder air filtering in all the while across western areas. we may well see some of this rain turn to snow towards the end of the week, but for the most part, it looks to be over the high ground above 300 metres' elevation, so a few of you could wake up to scenes like this by the end of the week.

this is bbc news — drugs giant moderna asks the fda to approve its coronavirus vaccine. the milestone brings the us— and the world— closer to having two vaccines before the year's end. and it couldn't come quickly enough — as the top infectious disease expert warns the us to expect a surge on top of a surge because of the thanksgiving holidays. president trump gives his first tv interview since the election — where he spent 45 minutes airing his grievances with the vote, unchallenged by the host. also in the programme.... joe biden might have fractured his foot— but he's not letting that slow him down. more announcements are expected this week on the team that will steer the us economy. the british retail giant — arcadia group — which owns some