the ii‘ul‘ei dun the clarity of our alliances, the clarity of our position in the world, britain was not position the world, you're a's position the world, and this absolutely open future and for george smiley, can you imagine what he thinks about trump? john le carre was an exceptional storyteller whose spy was an exceptional storyteller whose spy thrillers will be read for generations to come. he was also an astute chronicle of temporary life in politics, a man who cared deeply about the state of the world. his dark character is reflected what he saw but not necessarily the man himself whom friends described as being warm and tomorrow with a barely concealed romantic streak. john le carre, who died yesterday. at the age of 89. let's have a look at the weather. thank you very much. good afternoon. a decidedly un—settled flavour to the weather this week. no shortage of rain in the forecast at times but not all the time. it will often be

windy and mild. i mention rain at times but not all of the time. have a look at the beautiful skies overhead in the scottish highlands early on. there is sunshine at the moment. this is the satellite and radar picture. we have had sunshine across eastern england, northern ireland doing nicely for brighter skies and dry weather at the moment. elsewhere, quite a few showers, some of which are heavy, even thundery, and more persistent rain creeping in towards the south—east of england. although the winds are quite brisk, they are coming from the south—west, a mild wind direction, so temperatures in double digits for most of us. this evening and overnight, this area of persistent rain moving across south—east england. elsewhere, still quite a few showers especially in the west, not as many getting across to eastern areas. temperatures not falling too far, generally between four and eight celsius. tomorrow is another sunshine and showers day. again, less chance of staying dry where you have shelter from the south—westerly winds so parts of

north—east scotland, eastern england. some spells of sunshine. sun of the showers further west will once again be quite heavy. temperatures may be just a touch on where they have been today but eight to ii celsius is still a little above the average for this time of year. during tuesday evening, tomorrow evening, the showers will fade. we have got a brief drier, quieter interlude but it is only brief because for wednesday here comes oui’ brief because for wednesday here comes our next brief because for wednesday here comes oui’ next area of brief because for wednesday here comes our next area of low brief because for wednesday here comes our next area of low pressure. quite a deep low bushing close to the republic of ireland but bringing heavy bursts of wind. strong winds, possibly gale force. the rain really piling up this week but there is a chance we could start to see problems with flooding. and also the risk of coastal flooding across parts of south—west england and northern ireland with these winds gusting at 52 may be 60 mph in the most exposed spots. combine with high tides. mild again at nine, ten

or ii celsius. the area of low pressure for the unsettled wednesday will clear away, a brief gap in the action for thursday, so dry weather to be had, but the low pressure again gathering out west so friday looks like a pretty wet day. potentially windy as well but mild for the time of year, 12 or 13 celsius. simon. thank you very much. a reminder of our top story... as coronavirus as coronavirus cases as coronavirus cases so, london faces a move into tier 3, england's highest. we now join good afternoon, it's 1.33pm and here's your latest sports news. we start with the news that former liverpool manager gerard houllier has died, at the age of 73. houllier took over in 1998 and he was in charge for six years,

leading liverpool to five major trophies, including a cup treble in 2001. later that year he underwent emergency heart surgery but returned to the dugout. in a statement, liverpool said they were "deeply saddened" while many of his former players have paid tribute, including chris kirkland who played under him at liverpool for three seasons. he made my dream come true. my first game was when i was... he made my dream country signing me. he was a special man, not just dream country signing me. he was a special man, notjust about football, but as a human being. you could go and see him any time, his door was always open. he just had this warm feeling about him that when you were talking to him, he was a special man and he will be sadly missed. chris kirkland, remembering the former liverpool manager gerrard houllier,

who's died at the age of 73. liverpool will face last season's semi—finalists rb leipzig in the last 16 of the champions league, that's the side that knocked out manchester united last week. let's have a look at the full draw. as for the other english sides, chelsea will face atletico madrid and manchester city will take on borussia moenchengladbach. other notable ties there — 13—time winners real madrid will play atalanta; last year's runners up paris saint germain will take on barcelona; and holders bayern munich will face lazio. the first legs will be played in mid to late february. manchester united have dropped into the europa league of course, and they've got a really tough draw in the last 32, against the spanish league leaders real sociedad. there's how the british sides came out, all those ties being played in february, and you can find more details

on the bbc sport website. ireland and scotland have been drawn in the same rugby world cup pool for the second time in a row. they were paired up last year, with only ireland making it out of the group and the last time they faced each other, in this season's six nations, ireland came out on top. at france 2023, they'll be joined in their pool by champions, south africa. england, who were beaten in that final last year, face japan and argentina, and it's deja vu for 2019 semi—finalists wales — once again in a group with australia and fiji. leigh centurions have been named as the 12th team to take part in next year's super league. the competition had a vacant space after toronto wolfpack withdrew from the top division of rugby league in july because of financial problems. leigh were last in super league in 2017 and their high quality stadium and fanbase is thought to have swung the decision. the season starts in march. newly called—up england batsman

dan lawrence has been in big bash league action — but he and brisbane heat captain chris lynn were told to keep their distance from team—mates, after a possible breach of their bio—bubble. they reportedly posed for a selfie with a fan. heat lost to sydney thunder in canberra. lawrence made 20 and lynn hit 69 from 44 balls, as they reached 178—6 and thunder were struggling when daniel sams came to the crease and smashed 65 not out from 25 balls, to steal the game, they won by four wickets. that's all the sport for now. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website. that's bbc.co.uk/sport. your telly is off behind you! holiday, there is no time, we will come back to you later! just bring

in some breaking news from the netherlands. the lockdown regime there is about to get a lot tighter with various leaks there suggesting that schools, nonessential shops, museums will close from tomorrow or wednesday until the 19th of january next year. this follows a number of pictures emerging over the weekend ina number of pictures emerging over the weekend in a number of dutch cities are people who have been asked to stay away from shops, book stores were packed with christmas shoppers the netherlands is just recorded 10,000 new daily infections. the prime minister will be addressing the nation from his parliamentary office this evening, 6pm our time, where will announce much tougher measures. we will keep you updated on that. as we have been hearing london has been experiencing a sharp rise in cases of coronavirus, there's speculation that it could be moved to tier 3 , possibly as early as today. the health secretary will update mps later this afternoon. two london borough, greenwich and islington have told schools to move students to online

learning from tomorrow. speaking to us from a school in waltham forest sadiq khan told my colleaguejoanna gosling that more community testing in schools is needed now or schools should close. at this college, they began the community testing late last week, what they are doing here is making sure the environment is covid safe by making sure the students and staff ca n by making sure the students and staff can be regularly tested. what i'm asking the government to do is to make sure that all our schools can be covid safe because we do know that the age group for which there has been the biggest increase in the virus is those aged between ten and 19 and the last week saw a 75% increase in that age group. what's happening is that these young people have the virus, don't realise they have the virus, don't realise they have it, they go home, give the virus to mum or dad and it's these young people that will be meeting older relations over the christmas period and could well pass it on.

so, you are talking about making school covid save but you have also said they should shut. do you think i should shut? if they can't be made covid save, if the government can't provide community testing for the schools, the government needs to provide urgent clarity and guidance to those schools and if those schools can't have a mass testing this week, though schools should close a few days early. if it's the case that it takes a few more days injanuary case that it takes a few more days in january to get the schools with the testing they need, then we can have schools opened a few days later in january. we've have schools opened a few days later injanuary. we've got have schools opened a few days later in january. we've got to have schools opened a few days later injanuary. we've got to make sure that schools are covid safe. nobody wa nts that schools are covid safe. nobody wants schools closed unnecessarily, but nobody should want these schools to be places where the virus is spreading rapidly into the rest of the community. do you support greenwich council closing the schools? there is one school in greenwich, the arc greenwich free school, that says it is staying open

because it hasn't had a single case of covid since october. the party leader, keir starmer, says he would be reluctant to see schools close. leader, keir starmer, says he would be reluctant to see schools closelj sympathise with why the council has taken the decision they have. what i would much rather happen is that the department for education gives guidance to all borrowers in schools. what we don't want is a free for all, with some schools open, some schools closed, some councils decide on one thing, some councils decide on one thing, some councils the other, that's why the government need to provide leadership. they have to make sure the schools have a mass testing and i'm grateful to governments for providing this college with mass testing. we have to roll it out across all schools. if it's the case that our schools can't have a testing this week, they should close early. children can have a virus and bea early. children can have a virus and be a cinematic. go home, give it to mum and dad, they are showing symptoms or not and pass it that

way. it's not as simple as saying, we haven't seen a child with a symptom, so we haven't had the virus. there has been a 75% increase in the spread of the virus between those people aged between ten and 19, but also that the age bracket for which there is the biggest increase in this virus in our city, so increase in this virus in our city, so it's not true to say that schools and colleges are places —— my aunt places where the virus is being spread. you said it potentially after christmas, schools should stay closed for a bit longer. what do you think? i don't want schools to close any longer than necessary. i have seen any longer than necessary. i have seen personally the detrimental impact it has had on children, many of whom haven't been in school since march, were pleased to the back in september. it's important we keep schools open if we can. but in the schools open if we can. but in the school isn't covid safe, if we can't be sure that the children aren't catching the virus and passing it on, then a sensible thing to do in the absence of the community testing is to close that's cool down for a couple of days. i think it is

possible to have all our schools in london with community testing, it is possible to test our children and staff on a weekly basis and it's really important that we get mass community testing in our schools and colleges urgently. so, that's schools. moving on to london going on to tier 3. you said you haven't been part of the conversation. do you think it would be right for london to going to tier 3. you said you had been part of the conversation. do you think it would be right for london to going to t3 today? if the government decides to move london into tier 3, they need to do it with open eyes and realise the catastrophic consequence to the hospitality sector, the cultural sector and parts of our retail sector. many of our pubs, bars and restau ra nts, sector. many of our pubs, bars and restaurants, cultural venues, that the worst year in living memory. they were relying upon a decent december to make up some of the money they lost. if the government decides to move london into tier 3, they must provide additional support to those businesses who otherwise will go bust, hundreds of thousands ofjobs will be lost and it's far

better for the government to keep these businesses afloat with additionalfinancial these businesses afloat with additional financial support, rather than the alternative, which is businesses going bust and hundreds of thousands of londoners losing theirjobs. there are various perspectives on this. some think that there should be a tier 3 lights, a tier 2 one half, which would enable restaurants and shops to remain open. 0thers would enable restaurants and shops to remain open. others want there to be 83 plus, because they point out that when you look at what's happened to kent, which has been in tier 3 since locked down, the cases have continued to go up and now every area in kent has got, has seen a rise in infection rates. where do you stand on either of those positions? i'm worried that the government is seeking to retrofit solutions based upon a flawed tiering system. the main difference

between tier 3 and tier 2 is that in tier 3, between tier 3 and tier 2 is that in tier3, pubs, bars between tier 3 and tier 2 is that in tier 3, pubs, bars and between tier 3 and tier 2 is that in tier3, pubs, bars and restaurant have to close down and they can stay openin have to close down and they can stay open in tier 2. we do know that one of the biggest drivers of this virus is in schools and further education colleges. that's the biggest area of increase. we also know that many people who should be self isolating aunt because they can't afford to. what the government needs to realise is that we need are sophisticated approach. schools can stay open in any tier. what the government is leading to is a situation where london, was in tier 2, it could go into tier 3, then over christmas it will be tier zero, back into tier 3 over christmas, potentially leading towards a national lockdown. i think we need sensible approaches based upon the science and evidence but also being fully aware... is it sensible to effectively go back into tier zero over christmas?” sensible to effectively go back into tier zero over christmas? i think the problem the government has here

is that they announced five days of relaxation across the four nations... sorry, i'm asking what you think. do you think that tier zero, as you described it, would be the wrong thing to do over christmas? my view is tainted by the fa ct christmas? my view is tainted by the fact that the government has announced five days of relaxation is on many elderly londoners living by themselves are looking forward to finally seeing their loved ones and are suffering mental ill—health and loneliness were not doing so. the key thing is, my advice to londoners is, it's not mandatory to have these five days of relaxation. if you are seeing someone, make sure you have windows open, please avoid hugging and kissing loved ones because you could inadvertently be passing on the virus, and particularly if you are the limit have children who have beenin are the limit have children who have been in schools, they may have the virus and not be showing symptoms. if you are concerned about reducing the spread of the virus and scientists are warning strongly on

the figures as they currently are in london, and talking about the need for tier 3, how is that compatible with saying to people, just be sensible over christmas because there has already been the expectation and hope? we have to be honest about compliance issues. if it has been announced, and it has, if it's a case that people are looking forward to this, what nobody wa nts looking forward to this, what nobody wants his police officers going door—to—door to check in london, where the rules might be different, to check the rules are being followed. what we need is leadership from the government and make sure that we are explaining to people a potential consequence of the rules being relaxed. all the experts i have spoken to are predicting an increase in the virus spreading on a potential surge as a consequence of the relaxation. we have to be honest about that i make sure we understand the consequences of the relaxation over christmas. we can't pretend it isn't going to happen, because the experts are advising it could do, what i'm well aware of is that january is traditionally the basis month for the nhs. —— busiest month.

isn't it going to be inevitable, though? because there is going to be relaxation over christmas. well, i can only repeat what the experts advises, it might be inevitable with household mixing, some potentially not following the rules, others and being in each other‘s company for many hours, including possible speak of his over those four days and in london, where we have already seen a big increase of the virus particularly among children, i'm particularly among children, i'm particularly worried, that's what i'm suggesting to the government that the guidance that they should be giving schools this week is that if they can't provide the testing they need, let's close a few days early, they are on the side of caution, to sort out community testing, but also make sure in january, if children return to school with a virus, we can catch it

early, get them self—isolate, to avoid that happening is why i'm urging the government to roll out community testing from today. and on tier 3, you spoke primarily about your concerns for the economy, but do you believe that we should go into tier 3 today in order to prepare as best for that relaxation thatis prepare as best for that relaxation that is going to happen at christmas? i think are move to tier 3by christmas? i think are move to tier 3 by itself will not address the big issue of the increase in the virus. that is caused by children aged between ten and 19 catching a virus and passing out on. 0ver between ten and 19 catching a virus and passing out on. over the past week, we've seen a 75% increase. i don't see children in pubs bars and restau ra nts. don't see children in pubs bars and restaurants. if it is the case that the government moves into tier 3, they must provide additional support for those sectors, hospitality and culture in particular. chris hopson is the chief executive of nhs providers, which represents hospital trusts in england. he warned that without tighter restrictions, the death rate from the virus will continue to rise.

do you think tier 3 is inevitable and should happen sooner than later with the speculation it might happen today? we wrote to the prime minister over the weekend and said three things. we said, please exercise extreme caution before you downgrade any areas. the second was, can you please put any area that needs to be in tier 3 as quickly as possible, as soon as it's needed, without any delay and the third thing we said is that he needs to personally lead a better informed debate about what people do over christmas, where the question shouldn't be, can i do something, it should be, should i be doing something in terms of increased social contact. in terms of putting areas into tier 3, what we saw at the beginning of the second wave is effectively a delay that occurred in places like liverpool and manchester was really, really unhelpful.

days matter here and if you delay unnecessarily, you are effectively increasing the virus spread and you are certainly making things more difficult for the nhs and we would absolutely support the idea that as soon as an area needs to be in tier 3, needs to go into that tear without delay. so, london into tier 3 today, as far as you're concerned? i don't have access to the epidemiological evidence. i represent the nhs, and what the nhs trust leaders are saying to us is that they are getting increasingly concerned about what is going on here. they are seeing rapidly rising rates of infection that is now turning into rapidly rising numbers of hospital admissions and what they've got is, their most busy period of the year coming up in late december and january, they have some very important patients they need to treat, people who have had their planned care delayed from the first phase, it's obviously covid patients,

we also know that we will get more emergency patients overwinter, we are also trying to vaccinate the population which is really important. so they are very clear. the only way they can do all of that is if we properly control the number of covid patients coming into hospital and that at the moment can only be done by having an appropriately strong and tough restrictions on social contact. what they are saying to us is, could you please say to the government very clearly that as soon as an area needs to go into tier 3, it must go into that tier. you said that matt hancock needs to lead a better informed debate about what happens over christmas. in germany, they've said that before christmas was going to happen, it's changed now because of the statistics. should the government do similarly? in the letter we sent the prime minister, we asked him to lead the debate, and we said that we weren't at this point asking for the regulations to change, but we very deliberately used that

wording of "at this point," because as we discovered all the way along throughout coronavirus, what we are asking people to do needs to change with the evidence and if what we see is a continuation of this rapid rise in infections and we also see rapidly rising hospital admissions, then this is a question we're going to need to ask ourselves and part of the problem here, and i really do recognise this, is that you do have to have a bit of a crystal ball here. you have to make some predictions about what might happen in a couple of weeks' time and the problem is that if you leave it until you see real problems in hospitals, then the reality is that it's too late. but yes, i think this is a question which we are going to need to ask, but the thing that we were saying yesterday is, if you look at what happened in the united states at thanksgiving, another festival when families gather together, what you have seen is a real rapid increase in both cases, hospitalisations and deaths, so over the last fortnight, as of yesterday in the

united states, the number of cases has gone up by 25%, hospitalisations has gone up by 20% and the number of deaths has gone up by 60% in a fortnight. so that gives you pretty clear evidence that when you increase social contact then, surprise, surprise, you get further virus spread and a higher death rate. the health minister for wales vaughan gething has announced that people in care homes in north wales will begin receiving the covid—19 vaccine from wednesday. vaughan gething made the announcement at the welsh government's daily briefing. we started vaccinating people last week, giving us real hope that next year will be different and better than 2020. in the first few days, more than 6000 people received the first dose of the vaccine. clinics will continue this week and we will begin vaccinating people living in care homes, starting in north wales, from wednesday.

we are starting this phase of the programme slowly. we need to make sure that we can safely transport the vaccine to people who can't come to clinics. the vaccine has to be stored in ultralow temperatures. repackaging the vaccine into smaller quantities for use in care homes has to be done under strict conditions set by the regulator. there is a risk that it becomes less potent if it is moved too much once it has been thawed. this week, we will check that we can repackage and deliver the vaccine without wasting any and crucially, that it still protects people. if all goes well this week, we will roll out care home vaccination at a much greater pace ahead of christmas, bringing a new level of protection to some of our most vulnerable people. unfortunately, there are very few reasons to be cheerful about the very serious situation

we currently face in wales. we continue to see very high cases across wales. in the last week, there were more than 1a, 000 confirmed cases of coronavirus and one in five tests carried out has been positive. the latest figures show cases are rising in all but one local authority areas in wales. all this tells us that coronavirus is widespread within our communities and the chance of catching it and spreading it whenever we are in contact with other people is high. that is why we are asking everyone not to mix with people you don't live with. now it's time for a look at the weather with ben rich. hello there. some of us have seen a bit of sunshine today. and there will be some bright spells at times this week, but generally speaking, it is quite an unsettled flavour to the weather,

with some rain at times. 0ften windy, and with all of that, generally it will be mild. this is the satellite picture from earlier on. you can see various lumps of cloud circulating an area of low pressure, the cloud bringing showers or longer spells of rain. but with winds coming up from the south of the south—west, quite brisk winds but ringing mild air in our direction, temperatures between nine and 13 degrees. we could see some more persistent rain moving across the east of england, through the night. showers across western areas, not as many of of those showers getting across into the east. some clear spells here and there. those temperatures not dropping too far, a bit cool in places, low is typically between three and 8 degrees. then into tomorrow, another sunshine on showers day. the showers really focusing in on the brisk south—westerly winds, so for western and and some southern coasts. whereas further east, we will see more dry weather and some spells of sunshine. again, relatively mild, temperatures perhaps just a touch

down on where they have been today — highs of eight, nine, ten or 11 degrees. briefly during tuesday evening, the showers will tend to fade. we will see a spell of dry, quieter and calmer weather with clearer spells, but that won't last. this is wednesday's weather — quite a deep area of low pressure, it will pass very close to the republic of ireland, but will get close enough to the uk to provide some pretty brisk winds across western areas particularly. there could be gales here and there, and some outbreaks of rain as well. the rain really piling up this week. there could be issues of flooding. there could even be issues of coastal flooding across south—west england and northern ireland, with the strong winds combining with high tide, wind gusts of 50 to 60 mph in exposed spots for a time. but those winds still coming from a mild direction, so temperatures of nine, ten or 11 degrees. that area of low pressure will move away, a brief temporary ridge of high pressure giving some drier weather on thursday

but that won't last. there is another low waiting in the wings. that will bring some heavy rain for friday, potentially very strong winds but high temperatures — 12 to 13 degrees.

this is bbc news, i'm simon mccoy. the headlines at 2pm: as coronavirus cases soar, london faces a move to tier 3 — england's highest level of restrictions. the capital's mayor demands the government gives financial support to all pubs, bars, and restaurants which will be forced to close. it is far better for the government to keep these businesses afloat by additionalfinancial to keep these businesses afloat by additional financial support to rather than the alternative, which is of these businesses going bust and hundreds of thousands losing theirjobs. gps in england begin offering vaccinations as part of the next stage of the programme's rollout. yes, this is a different vaccine, logistically it is a bit different in times of how we handle it, but we feel so ready and are raring to go to get started for our community. as another dealine is passed, talks over a post—brexit