you're watching bbc news with me tim willcox. the headlines at 8. 78. despite a big tory rebellion, mps vote to back the tiered system of coronavirus controls in england to replace the general lockdown — which ends at midnight tonight. that is what we can do when we work together in the spirit of common humanity. we have got to beat this, madam deputy speaker. we have got to beat it together. labour mps had been instructed by their party to abstain from the vote. we support public health restrictions, but we cannot impose public health restrictions without giving our businesses the support to

survive and that is a difference here tonight. more than two centuries after it was founded, debenhams looks set to have its last christmas — putting 12,000 more jobs at risk. we won't have any shopping centers left, we will have no town centers left. not keeping up with the on my development and competitive. of the puts into perspective how much covid—19 is affecting everybody. police in germany arrest the driver of a vehicle that ploughed into pedestrians in the city of trier, killing four people including a baby. a dozen more are injured a 23—year—old woman who regrets taking drugs to transition to a man as a teenager says she is delighted, after a landmark high court ruling. there was a judgement that will protect vulnerable people. i wish it had been made for me before he embarked on the devastating experiment of blockers.

and a chinese spacecraft lands on the moon to collect the first rock samples in more than forty years. they have despite a significant tory rebellion, mps have backed the government's three—tiered system of local coronavirus restrictions across england. it means that more than 55 million people — 99% of english residents — will enter the two toughest tiers, two and three, from one minute past midnight tonight. a total 291 mps voted for the government, with 78 mps voting against the new measures, including around 50 conservative mps. labour mps were ordered to abstain in the vote, with party leader sir keir starmer

saying he recognised restrictions needed to continue, but he was "far from convinced" the new system will work, and help for businesses was "nowhere near sufficient". closing the debate for the government, the health secretary matt hancock said he felt the new tiered restrictions were needed. we talk a lot of the outbreak in liverpool and how that great city has had a terrible outbreak and got it under control. this means more to me that i can say. because last month, my stepgrandfather called covid—i9 there and on the 18th of november, he died. and my family, as in so many others, we have lost a loving husband, a father, a grandfather to this awful disease. so, from the bottom of my heart, i wa nt to so, from the bottom of my heart, i want to say thank you to everybody

in liverpool for getting this awful virus under control. it is done by four fifths in liverpool. virus under control. it is done by fourfifths in liverpool. that is what we can do if we work together in the spirit of common humanity. we have got to beat this, madam deputy speaker. we have got to beat it together. with me now is our political correspondent jonathan blake. i heard the number of tory rebels was 55, not 53 and despite some pretty desperate measures from the prime minister himself. it is a significant rebellion of conservative mps, the biggest boris johnson is based on his own benches since becoming prime minister. the result of the vote was never in doubt, the government was always going to be highly likely to wind it with the majority of conservatives supporting his plan, but as you have explained with labour and other opposition parties, abstaining, it was all about the number of tory

felt strongly opposed enough to this this new 3—tier restriction system to vote against it and as you say, the figure is 55 and that i think, will cause some concern within downing street within the government about the trouble that government may have in the not—too—distant future about getting approval from parliament and any further plans that it may have. as you say, boris johnson has been trying very hard to change the minds of conservative mps who were wavering or were opposed to these plans, he had written letters to all of his colleagues, including one specifically to those in the covid—i9 recovery group. a group of around 50 or so mps are broadly speaking, a to national lockdown and for the restrictions, trying to impress upon them the importance that he saw of this new set of restrictions with the hope of a vaccine and other treatments on the

horizon and the need for further controls to be in place until then. we do not know how many minds he managed to change but i understand there were conversations, phone calls between the prime minister and other cabinet ministers and would be rebel tory mps during the day to day end of the weekend as well. so, ministers have been trying hard to bring people on board with this plan, but as we see tonight, significant numbers of conservative mps felt strongly enough to vote against it. sums that the prime minister stood at the lobby trying to persuade tory mps but earlier in the day, he had that meeting with the day, he had that meeting with the chief discussing the covid—i9 recovery group, what more they could do and there was some talk of making this more localised. do we know if there's any movement on that? nothing specific, but you are right, the big concern is that most mps have been listening to the debate in

the house of commons which went on for several hours this afternoon and into this evening. many conservative mps, most of those who spoke out against the government plans was saying so in doing so on the basis that they thought it was unfair that their constituency have been placed either in tier 2 or two or three along other areas where the prevalence of the virus was particularly high and that is the big difference this time around as opposed to the 3—tier system that was in place before the national lockdown, much more of england is now under either tier 2 or tier 3. the geographical net has been cast much wider and a lot of the conservative mps simply are not happy about that saying that you have areas where cases of the virus are relatively low and lumped together with those areas where it isa together with those areas where it is a little bit higher. so all eyes would be on december the 16th when the government has promised to review this initial allocation of tier system for the first time in

many mps will be hoping that the area will come down a level at that point in the government promises to review it regularly from here on in as well. let's speak now to shadow health ministerjustin madders. went to the biggest votes on the pandemic this evening and labour abstain. they did not have a position on the tier system. we believe that the restrictions are necessary and we question whether the government have got everything right about the plan to reduce the transmission of the virus but we also very concerned about the business support measures that are in place that are clearly not adequate and that is why we could not wholeheartedly support the measures and we didn't want to wake up measures and we didn't want to wake up next morning and have no measures in place at all, and it is quite

alarming that we have got these numbers of conservative rebels now and in any situation, that number of rebels from the government would be a cause for concern but in a pandemic, you would expect the government to be able to get the back benches on board and that shows there is a lot of work for boris johnson to do to listen to the concerns and show that he's got a plan that is going to get us out of this. if you think these tears are necessary , this. if you think these tears are necessary, you would support the government and try to negotiate with them afterwards to get these more support for businesses, rather than what many of your critics would say is just pure political opportunity stop . that would be nowhere near enough but if we support the government today, they would not have been in any position to do anything because they would assume that the bill is going to go through anyway we've been very clear for some time now that those businesses and

hospitality in particular are suffering and it is fair to say that a lot of people in all parties are very concerned about that and...m you have such a strong opinion as you have such a strong opinion as you claim to do in your party leader claims to do, then vote against, get it changed and then go to another vote. that is what most sensible people would expect you to do. these regulations are due to come out of the artist time and we would've had fio measures the artist time and we would've had no measures in place at all and we cannot vote against them in all conscience because of that but we absolutely have to lay down the marker that our support is not unconditional. and people generally have the support of businesses that is available at this time. keir starmer, is it true that he just wa nts to starmer, is it true that he just wants to implicate both sides of the party on this and does not want to upset either but he is actually going to risk falling out with both sides of the party who take differing views? i think most people

in our part are differing views? i think most people in our partare you differing views? i think most people in our part are you very clear about the nature of the health restrictions to be in place, where if we were all in agreement it is actually those industries, pubs and restaurants that are losing an absolute fortune at the moment and it is clear this got to be more done for the public to support these measures and that is why we have been pushing today as we have been for some time now for more to be done on that. that concession of £1000 for web pubs, is that a victory for you? i don't think what to think about in terms of victories, how much good do you think £1000 is going to do to a pub serving alcohol for the next four or five weeks? we do not think it is sufficient. if you look up what is available to pubs for the first lockdown, they're getting about £6,000 the total package now is less than half of what was on offer in the first lockdown and it is not going to be sufficient. we know the pubs in particular to most of their

trade this time of year, so we're going to be pushing for extra support for the industry they need it most. do you think the tears, as they have been arranged at the moment are correct or would you support a more localised tier system ? support a more localised tier system? i think there's quite an argument that a more nuanced consideration of for the infections are is something that ought to be looked at, and get the sense that... why did she not push for that? the prime minister is being criticised for this —— why did you not? there isa for this —— why did you not? there is a need for more localised lockdown, why did you not push for that and support the prime minister on that? he has not done that today, he is gone for much more regional approach which was probably in response to the problems he got into la st response to the problems he got into last time when he was trying to negotiate with individual areas and trying and finding lots of

difficulties there. replacing one difficulties there. replacing one difficult for another month got lots of mps representing areas and larger counties where their infection rate may be quite smaller than the particular part of the county but overall, it is a bit bigger and they feel they're being unfairly treated. again, that is something that the prime minister needs to reflect on of the next couple of weeks. the latest government figures show — there were 13,1130 new coronavirus infections recorded in the latest 24—hour period. that means the average number of new cases reported per day in the last week, is now 15,082. there were 1,488 people admitted to hospital on average each day over the week to last friday. and 603 deaths were reported — that's people who died within 28 days of a positive covid—19 test. that means on average in the past week, 460 deaths were announced every day. it takes the total number of deaths

so far across the uk to 59,051 in the west midlands — where infection rates remain high — the hospitality industry is bracing itself for another period of tighter restrictions. much of the region will be in tier 3 from midnight — with no mixing of households indoors or in private gardens. restaurants must remain closed — except for take—aways and delivery services — but shops, gyms, and hairdressers can reopen. 0ur midlands correspondent sian lloyd reports from birmingham. it is one of birmingham's best known fine dining indian restaurants, and part of a group that employs hundreds of staff. customers used to have to book months in advance for christmas, but lasan is not doing takeaways, so will not reopen when the lockdown in england ends. we have been looking forward to recouping the losses of the first lockdown, being a busy december period where we would be full every day. we would have 200 covers,

and sadly, without that, have great concerns over the state of the business. birmingham, along with most of the west midlands region, faces tier 3 restrictions. densely populated and with some high levels of deprivation, the rate of covid transmission had been climbing, and so have the number of hospital admissions. but the impact the measures will have on people's livelihoods is causing grave concern. before the pandemic, 135,000 people worked within the hospitality sector in the west midlands. it contributed some £12.6 billion to the local economy. butjobs have been going, and businesses are under threat. the conservative mayor of the west midlands, and the labour leader of birmingham city council have both been calling for more financial support for the sector from the government. taxis are lined up, but with nowhere to go. no office parties or christmas drinks. that means far fewer fairs.

that means far fewer fares. as you see, it's like a ghost town. at night time, it's completely empty. 60% or 70% down on our income, and it will have a great impact on us going forward. if things don't improve, i can see bankruptcies. we have to weigh tier 3 four hours, just to get fair. tier 2 would have been nice. but this christmas, i'm not going to be rocking around the christmas tree. not this year. neither will the owners of bars or restaurants, many facing a december that could be their most challenging month yet. let's take a quick look at those restrictions in the top two tiers of the new measures for england. in tier 2, no household mixing is allowed in indoors,

the headlines on bbc news: despite a big tory rebellion, mps vote to back the tiered system of coronavirus controls in england to replace the general lockdown — which ends at midnight tonight. more than two centuries after it was founded, debenhams looks set to have its last christmas — putting 12,000 more jobs at risk. police in germany arrest the driver of a vehicle that ploughed into pedestrians in the city of trier, killing four people including a baby. a dozen more are injured. sport — and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's chetan pathak. isa is a busy night the champions good evening. it's a busy night in the champions league, liverpool and manchester city are both in action. it's early in their games. i'll give you the latest in a second, but we start with a shock defeat for the 13—time european champions real madrid, who have been beaten 2—0 away at shakhtar donetsk. brazilian dentinho got the opener on 57 minutes, before manor solomon wrapped up the win late on.

real drop to third in the group. goal is for both liverpool and manchester city in the no alisson in liverpool's goal, kelleher making his first champions league start. curtisjones has hit the post. a draw against ajax would be enough to send liverpool into the knockout stages. they won the reverse fixture 1—0 in amsterdam. manchester city are already into the last 16, having won their first four group games. a draw tonight against porto in portugal will seal top spot in group c. all tonight's matches are there on your screen. a big night too ahead of the women's euros in 2022. northern ireland, wales and scotland could still qualify for next year's finals. after a 3—2 win over belarus on friday, victory for northern ireland tonight at home

to the faroe islands would see them seal a play off spot. they've never reached a majorfinals. they're 2—1 up in the second half with goals from rachel furness they're 3—1 up in the second half with goals from rachel furness and kirsty mcguiness. wales hopes of qualification depend on northern ireland dropping points. 2-0 2—0 against belarus. scotland still have an outside chance of qualifying, but a defeat tonight would leave them with a huge uphill task. they're up against group leaders finland. this weekend's premier league match between newcastle united and aston villa has been postponed after several newcastle players and staff members tested positive for coronavirus. the club says the decision has been made following a "significant increase" in covid—19 cases at the training ground. those affected are self—isolating, whilst the club's training ground has been closed since yesterday. friday's match will

now be rescheduled. in a statement, newcastle say, "the club introduced comprehensive covid—19 protocols in line with premier league and government guidance to protect its players and staff ahead of project restart." the england manager gareth southgate has told the bbc that he thinks the introduction of concussion substitutions could be coming into football soon. it follows a serious head collision in the premier league on sunday that left wolves' rauljimenez with a fractured skull. the issue of dementia of football has also made headlines again in recent weeks and southgate has been telling us that's something else he has concerns about. we just wejust do not we just do not have the research and i know that has been ongoing and i know they're dealing with the. i was asked a few weeks ago if i had concerns about that as a former player. of course i do. it is a horrible illness and when i have

seen with family the impact of it, i know that when i was playing that i knew the risks i was taking around my health and i would not of swapped that for the career i had. england's cricketers have compete a 3—0 whitewash in their t20 series against south africa. the hosts recovered well after a slow start, with faf du plessis hitting an unbeaten 50 and rassie van der dussen ending on 7a not out, but south africa's total of 191—3 wasn't enough asjos buttler and more brilliance from dawid malan with the bat got england to victory. malan ending with an unbeaten 99 to wrap up a nine wicket win with 1a balls to spare. that's all the sport for now. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website, including the latest on from the uk snooker championship in milton keynes. founded in 1778 as a drapers' store

— it's one of the oldest names on the high street. now debenhams is set to close — putting 12 thousand jobs at risk. the company went into administration earlier this year. efforts to find a buyer have so far failed. around six and a half thousand jobs have already been cut at the store since may. now 12,000 more face redundancy. it comes just hours after the arcadia group — with brands like topshop and miss selfridge — went into adminsitration, putting 13,000 jobs at risk. for now debenhams stores and its website will remain open but liquidators are moving in tomorrow to start to clear the stock, and if no other alternative offer is available. the stores will all be closed by the end of march next year. our business correspondent,

emma simpson, reports. debenhams, a big part of bristol for half a century. anchor stores in so many towns and cities, like brighton. i think it's really sad, used to work for them a long time ago. and on the corner in leeds. but for how much longer? we won't have any shopping centres left, town centres left when everybody shops online. in edinburgh today, nostalgia from younger shoppers, too. i know girls that bought their prom dresses there. it is memories, you know what i mean? and staff arriving for work to find out that when the doors open tomorrow, the stock starts to be cleared, liquidation and a closing down sale. i think it has been a long, slow decline for debenhams. that hasn't really changed. it has been a constant presence through the decades, but its problems have been many years in the making. an incredibly sad day. sir ian cheshire was chairman months before debenhams went into administration last year.

and then limped on, controlled by its lenders. if you are caught with a lot of fixed cost long leases, and you can't adapt, you are likely to be one of the casualties, basically in the straitjacket of its debts and long leases. but the pandemic tipped debenhams into administration again during lockdown. jd sports had been closing in on a rescue deal, but they got cold feet and pulled out this morning. the last remaining bidder. in a statement, the administrators said, the economic landscape is extremely challenging and, coupled with the uncertainty facing the uk retail industry, a viable deal could not be reached. the administrator is' absolute priority in a situation like this is to try to get the best possible returns for creditors. so the total focus will be on that, and sadly that does not mean a long—term focus on keeping those

stores open, not even to preservejobs. all they can really do now is focusing on getting as much money for the stock in the stores as possible. in many ways, this is the worst week of a high street retail we have ever seen. it is notjust the 25,000 jobs on the line, it is the role that these stores play, especially in smaller towns. the pandemic has created nightmare conditions for our strongest traditional retailers. now, the weaker ones are falling by the wayside. dozens of brands have already gone and done some have disappeared from the high street altogether. debenhams is now preparing for its last ever christmas. all its stores are set to close by march next year, unless an alternative last—minute offer is received. emma simpson, bbc news. at least four people have been killed after a car ploughed through a pedestrian area in western germany.

a baby is among the dead, and a number of others have been injured. the incident happened in the city of trier — in an area where a christmas market is usually held. it was cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic, but shops in the street were still open. these are pictures from the scene. the suspect drove through the street for around a kilometre before being stopped by the police. a local man has been arrested, but his motive is not yet clear. china has successfully landed a spacecraft on the moon — in a mission to collect rock that's not been achieved since the soviets 44 years ago. the probe is equipped with remote—sensing instruments, a scoop and a drill — and will collect samples of rock and dust to bring back to earth. it's hoped the samples will add to understanding about the history of the solar system. dr megan argo is an astronomer at the university of central lancashire. shejoins me now.

considering with the chinese have achieved in the past two years, this is something quite special, isn't it? it really is. it is been 44 yea rs it? it really is. it is been 44 years since we've had a return from the moon and it is not an insignificant feed for any country to do it and it's the first time china has attempted this and the progress of to their space programme and the missions that they have been doing for the past few years that spectacularly successful. he chose the confidence of their feeling now and the launch of this was life, wasn't it in the past it has been just kept under wraps in case something goes wrong. what is its say but china's ambitions? they have quite an ambitious moon programme and in the past, they kept things quiet into the been successful with this mission, it was broadcasted live in the landing was not broadcasted live, the only broken deprogramming when it is actually showing that they know that they've

actually landed on the moon. but it does look like quite an impressive feat and yes, they are planning to launch several more missions in the series in the same series of exploration. with the ultimate goal to land humans there within the next ten years. and was the mission to collect sa m ples ten years. and was the mission to collect samples which they have to do in one lunar day which is 1a earth days because it won't survive in the cold of a lunar night but is this of important scientific with the rocks themselves or is it more another step towards the bigger space programme? it is both. it's a step in the process of showing the technology works and we know what we're doing and we can safely trade with humans. but, in terms of the science, yes, gagnon another two kilograms of rock from the moon, it's pretty precious and we do not have a huge amount of it anyway. so any we bring back is useful

scientifically and in terms of where this is, this is the ocean of storms in the northwest of the main surface and that is a relatively young area of moon surface and the moon is very useful for a of moon surface and the moon is very usefulfor a chronometer of moon surface and the moon is very useful for a chronometer which relative ages quite easily and makes a much more difficult and becomes much easier if we got samples for regions of the moon surface that we know roughly what the age is on that relative scale get samples we can date them accurately and then, we have a scale of the rest of the solar system. it is digging and scraping now, how difficult is it to get them back? again, it is not an insignificant challenge, it has a drill that can go down about two metres below the surface and bring the samples back up and put them in containers to bring back safely and wins collected it would take off it will go to him monitor with it in

orbit around the moon and that orbiter will come back and that's about four and a half days. and then about four and a half days. and then a capsule the samples will separate and they'll get in the atmosphere and they'll get in the atmosphere and land somewhere in mongolia for the scientist to go to collect. thank you very much. now it's time for a look at the weather with louise lear. hello there. some of us were lucky enough to have some winter sunshine through the day today. the best of it was further east because out to the west, we have some cloud thick enough for a spot or two of drizzle at times. and this is the weather front that is arriving through the night tonight. so we will continue to see some wet weather gradually moving into the far northwest and the winds strengthening. we keep those clearer skies into the southeast, so here, it could start off cold, with temperatures down to single figures. quickly, though, it's going to cloud over as that weather front pushes its way out of scotland towards the southeast of england, weakening

all the time as it does so. behind it, we'll see the winds strengthening, gusting gale force into the far northwest, and a rash of showers turning increasingly wintry as colder air kicks in behind that cold front. temperatures in scotland struggling, 3—5 degrees, but generally down across the country. low pressure stays with us as we go into the end of the week. it's going to bring further wintry showers across the far northwest, with a spell of rain to the south. hello, you're watching bbc news with me, tim willcox. the headlines... the ayes to the right, 291, the noes to the left, 78. despite a big tory rebellion, mps vote to back the tiered system of coronavirus controls in england to replace the general lockdown — which ends at midnight tonight. that's what we can do if we work together, in a spirit of common humanity.

we've got to beat this, madam deputy speaker. we've got to beat it together. labour mps had been instructed by their party to abstain from the vote. we support public health restrictions, but you cannot impose public health restrictions without giving our businesses the support to survive, and that is our difference here tonight. more than two centuries after it was founded, debenhams looks set to have its last christmas — putting 12,000 more jobs at risk. police in germany arrest the driver of a vehicle that ploughed into pedestrians in the city of trier, killing four people, including a baby. a dozen more are injured. and a 23—year—old woman who regrets taking drugs to transition to a man as a teenager says she is delighted, after a landmark high court ruling.

let's return to our top story that a new tougher tear of coronavirus restrictions will begin on wednesday, after midnight tonight, after a plane was agreed by mps. dominic raab that he was outward about the rebel votes. —— he was not worried. it is past with a majority over 200, it helps the uk reach into the spring, when we hope a fax abreast to a whole different place. the reason this mattered is that allowed us to move to a tiered approach, it will help us keep in jewel of the virus and avoid other lockdown. —— keep control. we listen to mps in all sides of the house. we have passed this vote over 200

votes. the biggest story is that the leader of the opposition, sir keir starmer, did not vote. no leadership. does not know what we should do. dominic raab. let's turn to scotland. the scottish government is not proposing any immediate changes today to the levels that currently apply to each local authority area. the first minister made the announcement during an update for msps at holyrood. the total number of positive cases reported yesterday was 754 — 7.3% of all tests carried out. the total number of cases stands now at 95,811. 1,021 people are currently in hospital, a decrease of 20 from yesterday, and 70 people are in intensive care, which is five fewer than yesterday. i regret to say, however, that in the past 24 hours, a further 34 deaths have been registered of patients who tested positive over the previous 28 days. and the total number of deaths under that measurement is now 3,759. these figures remind us

the virus is still taking a toll across the country, and again my thoughts and condolences are with everyone who has been bereaved. i can confirm today, presiding officer, and i will do so at the outset, that the scottish government is not proposing any immediate changes today to the levels that currently apply to each authority area. although as i will outline in a moment, there are some areas that we are monitoring closely. overall, though, the latest data shows that the restrictions in place, we believe, are having an impact. nicola sturgeon, speaking at holyrood there. let's return to the news that debenhams are set to close after the failure of last—ditch efforts to rescue the ailing store chain. it means all 12,000 employees are likely to lose theirjobs when the chain's 124 shops cease trading. hopes of a rescue were crushed after the last remaining bidder, jd sports, withdrew.

the news comes just hours after topshop owner arcadia fell into administration, putting 13,000 jobs at risk. abigail ahern is a retailer and designer who has been supplying debenhams with her homeware products for the last ten years and says the department store has faced many issues over the last year. i think it's everything. i think being a retailer, certainly being locked into long leases with landlords is a bit of a problem. competition from online. .. i mean, debenhams never really caught up with online. and when so many people are offering really innovative brand experiences through their social media platforms, there isn't this need anymore to go to a generic kind of department store that's not selling that much different than anyone else. and covid, of course, with all those stores shut and not having a huge online presence, was almost the nail in the coffin, i would say.

let's see what the consumer affairs journalist harry wallop things of that. terrible news for all the staff just before that. terrible news for all the staffjust before christmas. this store founded in the 18th century. who or what did for debenhams?m store founded in the 18th century. who or what did for debenhams? it is a combination of factors, and a lot of it goes back a long way. a lot of it is structural. the british consumer does not really want to shopin consumer does not really want to shop in department stores anymore. the whole affection experience of wandering around and just touching, feeling things and see what took you write is now mostly achieved by shopping online, but that's not to say there is not a place for a great department store and debenhams was not a great department store and it was not very well run by a series of different owners, including private equity owners who took an awful lot of money out of the business rather than investing heavily in the business. i was going to ask you about that, but let's look at the

structural changes. a lot of people, i don't think have looked into that. the private equity involved back in the early 20... it the private equity involved back in the early 20. .. it was the private equity involved back in the early 20... it was significant. they took up three times the value they put in. yeah, and it's the same thing with all sorts of chains on the high street. he was a boom time. people thought the only what was up. most famously, philip green, his entire empire was bought, it was not created from scratch. he is not really a retailer, he is a wheeler— dealer. successful one. but it was all about taking investments out, offering sale and lease backs. the thinking was that was very inefficient, so they sold their shops to professionals, property developers, at least them back. and, surprise, surprise, they were left with externally high rents and no

assets. that was a structural problem a lot of the high street suffered from, critically debenhams, with huge debts this year. this is the second the third time it has been on the brink of collapse, and sadly now this is really is the final curtain for debenhams. you mentioned philip green and arcadia going into administration, but how much of eight she was that forjd sports? —— how much of an issue was that? shareholders are not convinced this was the right move forjd sports to make a. jd sports is a really successful group. they went off and thought it was a good idea to possibly going by debenhams. shareholders such as a terrible idea to prop up an ailing department store chain, now that actually debenhams has sort of pulled the plug,jd debenhams has sort of pulled the plug, jd sports's shares have shot

up, but the other issue with debenhams is that arcadia was the biggest concession. 5% of all of debenhams sales were from arcadia brands, the likes of wallace or whichever ones were inside debenhams, so the moment that arcadia toppled, that was like a domino effect and was the straw that broke the camel's back for debenhams. is this the demise of the high street? no, not at all. people still want that physical experience. social experience. going along, p°ppin9 social experience. going along, popping into shops, seeing what they fancy, and we know that the moment that lockdown finished, briefly, during the summer, there was a surge of people who wanted to return to shopping, actually retail spending has recovered to a higher level that it was before the pandemic. it has just gone into different areas. and a lot of it is not to local, to the

suburbs, to smaller areas. it is the big city centers that are really going to find life very difficult for the next couple of years. do you need, on the same high street, a house of fraser, a debenhams at age on the was all in the same line? and the answer is, no, you don't. mike ashley, you mention house of fraser, could he be looking to take part of it was yellow he is certainly looking to cause trouble. that is his modus operandi. he is looking at what kind of price assets he can ta ke what kind of price assets he can take up. they were fantastic stores both arcadia and debenhams have, and it will be a lot of interest there, so it will be a lot of interest there, so will he buy the whole chain? i'm struggling to see the logic. if you own house of fraser, why on earth would you want debenhams, even if it was going for a little? it is just not the demand for consumers, for

both department stores, to really keep on going in the same way that they did. and you can never rule out anything with mike ashley moore. —— mike ashley. harry wallop, thank you very much. a 23—year—old woman who began taking drugs to delay puberty when she was 16 to transition to a man has said she is delighted after a landmark high court ruling. keira bell, who regrets the treatment, took legal action against the tavistock and portman nhs trust, the uk's only clinic offering the treatment to children. the judges ruled that children under 16 are unlikely to be able to give informed consent about starting treatment. transgender rights campaigners have criticised the decision. the tavistock says it will appeal against the ruling. here's our social affairs correspondent, alison holt. for keira bell, emerging from the high court, this judgment was about decisions made as a teenager that started her on the road from transitioning from female to male. she argued she was too young to understand

the impact of that treatment. the court agreed more checks are needed. i'm delighted at the judgment of the court today. it was a judgment that will protect vulnerable people. i wish it had been made for me before i embarked on the devastating experiment of puberty blockers. at 16, keira was desperate to be a boy. she was given drugs to delay puberty and then male hormones. clinicians say for some children this is the right move, but keira believes it was a mistake for her. the discussions were very brief and there was no real investigation into why i had gender dysphoria feelings and how i got to that stage. i spoke briefly of depression and anxiety, but again, it was kind of assumed by everyone that transitioning would alleviate that. her case was against the tavistock, the uk's only gender identity clinic for children. it argued that puberty blocking drugs are only prescribed if a child can give informed consent, but today's judgment ruled it was doubtful a child under 16

could really understand the long—term implications, and for 16 and 17—year—olds, the courts may also need to be involved. this mother, who wants to remain anonymous, was also involved in bringing the action. her daughter, who has autism, is on the clinic waiting list. the long—term effects of puberty blockers, they're not really known. they're given for extended periods of time at a time when your developing body needs to be exposed to hormones. it doesn'tjust halt the physical development, it halts the psychological, social and emotional development of a child. in a statement, the tavistock says... it continues... it's a very important issue and i'm happy to be here. and 18—year—old sonia calls thejudgment disheartening and wrong.

she says young people who want to transition like her already face long waits for specialist help. it's taking more than two, three years just to get a first appointment, and that's before you even get to the prospects of discussing hormone replacement therapy and puberty blockers. for me, personally, it took a huge toll on my mental health because i couldn't see light at the end of the tunnel. i had no hope. whilst it's considering the implications of today's judgment, the tavistock says it's suspending all new referrals of under 16s for drug treatments. alison holt, bbc news. 8:45pm. the headlines on bbc news: despite a big tory rebellion, mps vote to back the tiered system of coronavirus controls in england to replace the general lockdown — which ends at midnight tonight. more than two centuries after it was founded, debenhams looks set to have its last

christmas — putting 12,000 more jobs at risk. police in germany arrest the driver of a vehicle that ploughed into pedestrians in the city of trier, killing four people, including a baby. a dozen more are injured. the pandemic has been hard for children and their education, particularly during the first lockdown, when schools were closed for many months. england's chief inspector of schools says the lack of monitoring and support of vulnerable children during the pandemic should be a matter of national concern. the warning is highlighted in 0fsted's annual report and warns of a legacy of neglect for children who have become invisible to services because they are not at school. the department for education says the safety and well—being of vulnerable children has been a priority — and that nurseries, schools and colleges were kept open for those children during the pandemic. here's our education

correspondent elaine dunkley. the children at 0ldham and bolton primary in warrington are glad to be back in school. considering everyone used to be like, "we don't like school", we can tell they all do, because it's really nice and they know that we all love it. and for some of the most vulnerable, it's also a safety net. schools are often where signs of neglect and abuse are picked up. today's annual report by 0fsted warns that the low numbers of vulnerable children who attended school during the first national lockdown and the continuing disruption has made it difficult for teachers to identify those at risk. we're not having the conversations that we would normally have. a reduction in child protection referrals is a worrying sign that some are being missed. having eyes on the children and having that pastoral care has been really difficult, making sure that they're 0k, that they have a safe space to speak to us. so certainly during the first lockdown, those referrals just halted, if you like —

really low numbers. and then also, the services are really stretched, so when we are making the referrals, they're being pushed back. we call it a line of best fit... 0fsted has also raised concerns about the number of children who have not returned to school because of fears around covid. 75,000 children are being home—schooled in england, a 38% increase since last year. this woman hasn't sent her 15—year—old daughter to school since march. she says she has been forced to choose between her child's education and her elderly mother's health because they all live in the same house. 0n the one hand, we're being told by matt hancock, "don't kill your grandmother," but this is a day—to—day reality for my child. she comes home and she sees her grandmother, and we can't isolate members of the family, right? so all we're asking for is a little bit of common sense into the process. the government insist that schools are safe. the department for education says local authorities have been given

an additional £3.7 billion to meet the demands within schools and children's services, but 0fsted warns of a legacy of neglect. for most children, getting back into school, getting back into normal life, good teaching, home life, back into normal routines, will deal with most of the problems that may have built up, but there is a smaller proportion who desperately need that help. teachers are having to respond to constant changes at every level of the education system. one of the biggest challenges is dealing with what happens to children outside of the school gates. elaine dunkley, bbc news, in warrington. a third of schools in england had more than one pupil self—isolating last week due to coronavirus. 0verall attendance in secondary schools remains at 78%, but there are significant regional variations. in the north of england, the proportion of schools with covid cases in 0ldham or rochdale is over 40%. and other places have been suddenly

hit by the impact of the virus, with 16 schools in kent reported closed in the last ten days. with a number of potential coronavirus vaccines now imminent, there are concerns that misinformation could turn some people against having the jab. the world health organization says we're notjust fighting a health pandemic but also what it calls an "infodemic" — where an overload of information, some of it false, makes it difficult for people to make decisions about their health. our global health reporter tulip mazumdar reports. ever since this pandemic started, we have all been faced with a barrage of information about covid—19. it can lead to confusion, distrust, and in some cases, protests against proven public health advice like wearing masks. now, with vaccines well on the way, there is a fresh push to separate fact from fiction. i spoke to trainee solicitor 0scar, who is taking part in vaccine trials

at imperial college london, and production designer nina. i would like to be vaccinated because i think it is one of the only ways out of this situation. i have quite mixed feelings. i'm not sure how much i trust the vaccine yet, because it's happened so quickly. preliminary research suggests exposure to some of the most widely circulated misinformation can impact people's intention to be vaccinated against covid—19. 4,000 people took part in the study in the uk. before they were shown inaccurate claims, 54% said they definitely would be vaccinated. that figure dropped by more than 6% after they were shown the false information. what we want is, really, people to have the right information at the right time, in the right format, so that they can make the decision that is good for their health but also the health of the community and their family. professor heidi larsson has been studying people's attitudes

to vaccines for more than two decades. what we need to focus on is building the resilience and filling that space. you can't just take away pieces of the misinformation. one of the big anxieties being safety. we can talk about the fact that safety processes are being followed carefully. we're short—cutting other parts of that long development process. scientists are taking to social media themselves to try and get accurate information out there. the battle against covid can't be won in hospitals and science labs alone. part of the fight needs to happen online. tulip mazumdar, bbc news. next, to a remarkable story that could pave the way to one day finding a cure for hiv. adam castillejo is only one of only two people in the world who have effectively seen their diagnosis of the virus reversed. he wasn't cured by hiv drugs but by a stem—cell treatment

he received for cancer. today, on world aids day, he's been speaking thomas magill with a message of hope for others. this is adam castillejo, the so—called london patient and only the second person in the world to be cured from hiv. i feel kind of humbled, very grateful for it. i sometimes feel like i won the lottery. diagnosed in 2003, adam was just 23 and says the news was devastating. i felt like i was going to die. because i couldn't tell people. i couldn't tell my closest friends. i couldn't tell people, because if i tell someone, i will be kind of punished. another blow came in 2011, when adam was diagnosed with cancer. and it was his treatment for that which helped kick—start his recovery from hiv. doctors in london carried out a stem cell transplant, but it came with risks.

it was an 80% to 90% chance of dying. so the doctor called me — dr ian gabriel — and said to me, "adam, i've got some good news for you. we got a match for you. but i'm going to tell you another surprise. we think we can cure not only your cancer, we can do your hiv, too." when adam was diagnosed with cancer, he needed stem cell treatment using bone marrow. some of the donated bone marrow contained a rare gene which was immune to hiv, and when that was injected into adam, it replaced his immunity cells, allowing him the ability to destroy the hiv virus. this is not a cure for everyone, because it requires quite a dangerous procedure that has a high mortality rate, and also the difficulties with finding matches is very significant, and therefore it's not something we can offer to people with hiv in general at the moment.

what it does do is give us hope for developing the right technologies. adam's treatment has lasted years, and he spent six whole months here inside hammersmith hospital being treated by a team of doctors, not knowing if the procedures would pay off. for now, they have. and adam has no detectable hiv in his blood, but he will require regular checks for the rest of his life. with cancer, you can tell anyone. but with hiv, you can't. we have to end the stigma and discrimination that we still suffer today — in the workplace, by family, by friends. i think that needs to be stopped. thomas magill, bbc london. now, just before we go, ijust want to zhoushan —— show you some pictures of a story

out of brazil. an armed gang has stormed a southern city called criciuma. it robbed a bank, set off explosives and took hostages, before escaping with an undisclosed amount of money. the operation lasted two hours — and this is how it unfolded. explosions were first reported at just after midnight local. footage on social media shows the men firing weapons as they entered the city in a convoy of vehicles. the banco do brasil was then raided and a tunnel leading into the city set on fire. let these pictures just catch up. the police headquarters attacked as well. this is the footage posted on social media, showing the getaway in a fleet of cars. and i don't think they intended to leave all of this

behind. but it's not clear quite how much they got away with, but you can see here, local people making the most of that moment after a pretty audacious rate on the bank. police say they've detained four people, who picked up $150,000. in other words, the residence. none of them linked to the robbery itself. let's hope they catch the guys behind it. let's catch up with some weather. hello there. we replaced november gloom with something a little bit more sparkling to start off the month of december. yes, we had some sunshine across the country. it was a day beautiful in ashford, kent. slightly different story further north and west — there was quite a lot of cloud, and the cloud thick enough at times to produce some light drizzle. now this is a weather front that's arriving, and it will continue to bring the potentialfor some rain — a fairly narrow band as it

moves its way into scotland and northern ireland. down to the south—east corner, we may well keep those clear skies, so temperatures here hovering close to freezing first thing. but it is the weather front that's the driving force behind the story over the next few days. it's a cold front and, as it sinks its way steadily south and east, it'll allow the flood gates to open to some bitterly cold air and some strong and, at times, gale force gusts of winds. so, a rash of showers expected on wednesday into the north west of scotland, some turning increasingly wintry, as well. 0ur weatherfront sinks its way into east anglia and the south—east corner — by then, a weak affair, with temperatures down on where they should be for the time of year, particularly feeling cold in scotland when you factor in the strength of the wind. low pressure really dominates over the next few days. there'll be a frequent rash of further snow showers to come into the early hours of thursday morning and, at the same time, some wet weather into the south west. so we see some rain,

some of it heavy at times, across south wales and southern england, accompanied by gale force gusts of wind, as well. best of the any sunshine further north, but again, it's a cool—feeling day for all, and we'll still continue to see a few showers. top temperatures of 3—7 degrees. moving out of thursday, that weather front should ease off into the near continent. but the low pressure staying close by, and it may well allow some wet weather to push in off the north sea. as it pushes into colder air, there's the potential to see some snow even at lower levels through scotland during the day on friday, and some snow showers potentially across the higher ground of northern england and north wales. we need to keep abreast of the forecast for that one. wales and south west england seeing the best of any drier weather, but there's a lot of uncertainty for the detail on friday. but it's certainly worth bearing in mind that, if you do have travel plans, there's a possibility of some snow particularly to the far north of scotland.

this is bbc news — donald trump's top law enforcement officer says the us election was legitimate. the attorney general has not found evidence of widespread fraud that would change the outcome of the vote. bill barr's statement is very much at odds with his boss, the president, who continues to say he was robbed of victory. the head of the food and drug administration is summoned to the white house — mr trump is frustrated the covid vaccines aren't getting approval quicker. also in the programme. the the noes have it to the left, 78. despite the biggest backbench rebellion of this parliament, borisjohnson has secured enough

support to introduce