this is bbc news with me, tim willcox. the headlines at 8pm: growing pressure on ministers to change their minds about relaxing covid rules for christmas, as two medicaljournals say mixing households "will cost lives". our health system is not going to manage if we allow the current trend to continue, on top of the super spread event that will be these five days of christmas. greenwich council backs down and tells schools they should stay open, after the government threatens legal action. but the council says its original decision was the right one. we're not interested in a legal argument with the government about who is right and who is wrong, because i know that, presented with the information that i had in front of me, from talking to greenwich head teachers, greenwich families and children who were in schools, this would have been

in everyone‘s best interest. workers in the hospitality business are the worst hit, as the jobless total rises to 1.7 million. protecting children online — a new law could mean tech giants paying billions in fines. rail investment should focus on existing services in england's regions, and not the birmingham to leeds leg of h52, says a government commission. a nine—month driving ban for england and aston villa footballerjack grealish. the 25—year—old has also been fined more than £80,000 after admitting to careless driving. and before 9pm, the duke and duchess of sussex sign a multi—year podcast deal.

good evening, welcome to bbc news. there's mounting pressure on the government and the devolved administrations to change the relaxation of coronavirus restrictions over christmas. two of the country's leading medical journals are warning that the easing of rules for a five—day period would cost many lives. the labour leader, sir keir starmer, has also urged ministers to see where the rules need toughening up. the cabinet office minister, michael gove, has been talking to the leaders in belfast, edinburgh and cardiff, and they will discuss the matter again tomorrow. here's our health editor hugh pym. christmas mixing will be a big mistake — that's the bleak message from two publications representing health and medical leaders. if the rules agreed by the uk administrations which allow some household mixing aren't changed, they argue that virus cases will escalate

and the nhs will be overrun. the real striking, stark truth of the matter is that our health system is not going to manage if we allow the current trend to continue, on top of the super spread event that will be these five days of christmas, with three or more households meeting. people will find it hard to stick to those rules. but ministers were sticking to the line that people should make their own decisions within the rules set out. we've got to trust the british people to act responsibly, to do the minimum necessary for them within their family situation. but we should recognise it has been a very difficult year for many families. many families will want to come together. but the government at westminster is facing calls to look again at the planned easing of restrictions over christmas. i say to everybody, look at the evidence as it is. the last two or three days have seen a spike in infections going up, notwithstanding the tiered system. we can't stand back and ignore that. this needs to be reviewed. it needs to be done pretty urgently now. and scotland's first minister suggested there might

need to be a rethink. it's important that we have that discussion across the four nations, given family patterns across the uk, but i do think there is a case for us looking at whether we tighten the flexibilities that were given any further, both in terms of duration and numbers of people meeting. the politicians will have to try to gauge public opinion. i don't think they should cancel it now at this late day. people have made arrangements, they've bought food. it's not fair to do it this last minute. we were thinking about spending time on different days with my husband's family on one particular day and then my family on another, but we've decided against it now. so you're happy to have your injection today? yes. vaccination centres are now up and running, including this one at barnet football club,

where they're hoping to get through 350 jabs each day, starting with the over 80s and the first appointments today. the queues started ahead of our start time. it's been so heartening to see so many patients arrive. these are elderly, our most frail patients. vaccination centres like this may have got under way, but it'll take at least four weeks and two jabs to build up protection, and the process of getting through the most vulnerable patients will take time. and doctors in the north london area are very concerned about the rising case numbers they're seeing now. it is a phenomenal threat. it is very, very worrying. the number of results coming in with patients being covid—positive and actually unwell, especially at this time of year, when we had the easing of the lockdown, people are mixing with each other, mixing with families, it's rising. other european countries are tightening up in response to higher infections. the netherlands, for example, has moved into a new lockdown, with only limited household visits allowed for three days over christmas. the uk's governments have to decide whether they'll go the same way. hugh pym, bbc news.

what will government do? let's speak to our political correspondent nick eardley. keir starmer‘s point was interesting, wasn't it? he did say these rules, this decision was taken when it was believed that the number of cases would be going down, but the facts have changed. of cases would be going down, but the facts have changedlj of cases would be going down, but the facts have changed. i think that is right, and i think that the government across the uk are quite well aware that the facts have changed in the last few months, but i think we're going to get quite a big change to the guidance in the next few days. i do nothing the relations, legal bit, is necessarily going to change. it may do in certain parts of the uk but surly not indignant. i do that we go to get much starter messaging, though, andi get much starter messaging, though, and i think that is likely to involve urging people to try and stay local where they can, telling people that the bubbles they are forming, to give them as small as

possible, the three household is a limitand possible, the three household is a limit and not a target, that people should think really carefully about meeting up with elderly relatives or people who have been shielding or particularly vulnerable i think, quite prickly, we have got to a stage now where it is a bit too late, the governments across the uk think, to change these regulations completely, but i do think we are going to hear much firmer message from ministers over the next few days, assuming they can come to an agreement on those top formation approach. michael gove spoke to the other leaders if you hours ago. more talks tomorrow. are they all had one at the moment coachella they are broadly in the —— at the moment? they are broadly at the same place. you heard nicola sturgeon talking about the relaxations, potentially at the number of people who can mix

indoors. a member —— remember that scotland has an eight person christmas a book, not the same other places. it is about the same other places. it is about the messaging and saying to people, you can travel, but we are urging you can travel, but we are urging you to do only if it is absolutely essential, and that is reflective of the fact that trying to change the law now, saying to people it is illegal to do that, would be quite difficult and would be a complete u—turn. it would leave a lot of people scratching their heads, saying, we made our plans based on what you said before. 0k, nick, thank you very much. nick eardley there. the results of a survey by the polling organisation yougov suggest the majority of people in the uk believe the relaxation of restrictions over christmas should be scrapped. the survey of nearly 4,000 adults indicated that 57% believe the plans should be dropped and the current rules should remain in place during the festive period.

31% believe the easing should go ahead as planned. 12% of the respondents said they were unsure. tanya abraham is associate director at yougov. and shejoins us now. i was interested to see government the demographics here —— interested to see,, the 182a goals saying they wa nted see,, the 182a goals saying they wanted this like seshan to be scrapped, which rather surprised me. did it surprise you? we found restrictions are largely something the public have supported since the beginning of the year and throughout the last few months, and indeed like you said, the majority of all age groups have said that they would support the restrictions over the period being dropped, and this includes the majority of 18 to 24—year—olds, but it is increasing with age. although strangely, not with age. although strangely, not

with the 29th to 39—year—old. with age. although strangely, not with the 29th to 39-year-old. yeah, it is increasing, but like you said, this is one group where you think they would want more freedom, but they would want more freedom, but they do stick with that majority of they do stick with that majority of the population. what about political affiliation? did you break that down? we do, and generally speaking, because the 57% is a broad representation of the public, there is not a specific political affiliation that does not support it, so generally speaking, i think because we are leading up to the christmas period, because people are thinking of the number of cases, about the number of deaths we have seen, is one of those concerns that people have at the moment and what this means for the country more generally. so it is interesting, isn't it, because we look at some of the headlines a few weeks ago and the headlines a few weeks ago and the pride minister was saying, you know, he wants to save our christmas, it sounds as if that might be slightly out of step with what people are genuinely feeling really country —— be promised or was

saying. —— the prime minister. it is an interesting one, because we have asked about this over the last couple of months, and what we found in early november is that half of brits said they would not actually mind if there were restrictions in place over the christmas period. we found that, broadly speaking, at the end of november, equal supported the idea of a christmas bubble, but equally there was a proportion of people who opposed it. so it does, there is that proportion of people who want to see these restrictions in place, so it is something that we have looked out over the past few months and will continue see if there are stats there. and when 5096, was it, want them to be scrapped, do they want them to be scrapped in terms of legally or would they be happy for the guidelines to recommend people should not do these things but not enforced by law —— 57% ? things but not enforced by law —— 5796? the question about whether the

rule should be dropped, the easing of rules should be dropped, and where the current rule should be maintained, what we are expressing at the moment, that is what the public have responded to. 0k, change abraham —— tanya abraham, thank you for joining abraham —— tanya abraham, thank you forjoining us on bbc news. the latest government figures on coronavirus show another 18,450 cases have been recorded in the latest 24—hour period. it means the average number of new cases reported per day in the last week was 19,697. 1,602 people were admitted to hospital on average each day over the week to last friday. 506 deaths were reported for the last 2a hours, that's people who died within 28 days of a positive covid—19 test. on average in the past week, there were a11 deaths per day. the total number of uk deaths is now 611,908.

the poorest children in england have been hit hardest by school disruption this term, according to new research published by the children's commissioner. anne longfield warned pupils could not afford to miss more time in the classroom. her comments come as greenwich council in london backed down over its advice to local schools to move learning online. the government says rapid testing for staff and pupils will be rolled out in secondary schools and further education colleges in england from january. 0ur education editor branwenjeffreys has more. a school day overshadowed by uncertainty. greenwich council in london advised schools to teach online. faced with legal action by the government, a reluctant public climb—down. i think one of the sadnesses of the current situation is that we have to recognise we can't continue to run the pandemic response entirely from whitehall, and my responsibility, looking at the data i have for greenwich, shows clearly that the coronavirus is on the rise, that we are rising

exponentially and that, actually, immediate action is required to address that. greenwich isn't alone. with cases rising, two other councils have issued similar advice, others telling schools to make their own decisions. south east england now hit hard as the north west has been. look at this map of secondary pupil attendance this term. in the darker, red areas, it dropped as low as 50% in some places — schools in the north and midlands badly hit. now, new analysis shows the poorest communities have lost the most time in school — a warning that this could widen further the gap in exam results. those children are now in a situation where they have been falling behind. they need more support to be able to get to the point where they are on a par with others,

but, really, the differentials in their learning and their time out of school really needs to be recognised in the exam system as we go forward. rapid tests like these are part of the government response, today promised weekly for staff in england schools from january and for pupils in close contact with a case, but research has questioned their reliability. back to your point... in this essex school, parents have voted with their feet, keeping children home before christmas. the school has had more cases in the last few days than the rest of the term, and now harlow is moving into the high—risk tier 3. anything that gives us a safer environment, we have to embrace, 0k? seven asymptomatic kids this week — if we know that they've got the virus, they're not in here and they're not risking other people getting the virus, so that has to be positive. the logistics of how that happens, who enforces it, is it mandatory, who does the test? are we expecting ii—year—olds

to do that themselves? what responsibility do we have for them doing it right? christmas, a brief respite for schools and families, with the fear cases could rise injanuary. branwynjeffreys, bbc news. you are watching bbc news, just after 8:15pm. 0ur headlines... growing pressure on ministers to change their minds about relaxing covid rules for christmas — as two medicaljournals say mixing households "will cost lives" greenwich council backs down and tells schools they should stay open, after the government threatens legal action. but the council says its original decision was the right one. workers in the hospitality business are the worst hit, as the jobless total rises to 1.7 million. time for us to catch up on the

sport. good evening to you, good evening to eve ryo ne good evening to you, good evening to everyone watching. chelsea missed the chance to move top of the premier league after pedro neto scored the winner for wolves in the fifth minute of added on time at moilneux. after 0livier giroud had handed the blues the lead five minutes after half time, daniel podence levelled matters shortly after, and then late on, neto grabbed the winner to hand wolves a first win in three matches, taking them 10th. 10th placed manchester city are at home to west bromwich albion. that match has been going around 20 minutes. just over 17 minutes gone. it is currently goalless that one. three of the top six are in action in the championship at present. second placed bournemouth are at home to second from bottom wycombe. that is currently goalless. watford are hosting brentford at vicarage road. no goals in that one either. in the early match, stoke city failed to force their way into the play off positions when they were held

to a goalless draw at qpr. in the first two scottish league cup quarterfinals, championship side dunfermline athletic are at home to stjohnstone. hibs are at another second tier side in alloa athletic. both of those ones in the early stages, the less that one. —— goalless in that one. rangers will be without striker alfredo morelos for their last eight game at st mirren tomorrow. the club have accepted a two—game ban following this incident in sunday's win at dundee united. he'll also miss saturday's league match against motherwell. aston villa captainjack grealish has been banned from driving for nine months and fined a total of £82,499. it's after this incident when he crashed his range rover during march's coronavirus lockdown. the england international was sentenced at birmingham magistrates‘ court, after previously pleading guilty to two charges, including one linked to this incident in which his 4x4 hit two parked vehicles in solihull in the west midlands. the world darts championship is under way at alexandra palace

in london, with defending champion peter wright in action shortly. the first round action got under way earlier with a limit of 1,000 spectators at the venue, which is only for today, as tier 3 restrictions come into effect from midnight, meaning tomorrow will see no fans able to attend. sir frank williams, who built the williams team into one of the most successful in formula 1, is in a stable condition in hospital. the 78—year—old's family said his condition is a private matter and won't release any further details. he had spent time in hospital in 2016 with pneumonia. he and daughter claire stepped away from williams earlier this year after its sale to us investors. england's women will begin the defence of their cricket world cup title against australia in 2022. they'll meet in hamilton on the 5th of march. england took the crown on home soil in 2017, with victory over india. the 50—over a side competition was moved back a year, due to the covid—19 pandemic, with the same six venues in new zealand hosting the 31 matches.

and in rugby, danny cipriani has left gloucester with immediate effect after two and a half years at the premiership club. it's thought the england international departs as part of the overhaul at kingsholm which started during lockdown with a new director of rugby and head coach. he's been replaced by scotland fly—half adam hastings. one line to bring you that's on our website from the nba — milwaukee bucks star giannis antetokounmpo has signed a contract extension worth a reported £170 million — the richest deal in the sports history. more on that at bbc.co.uk/sport. tim, i would say he is edging his way up towards your salary! tolson, we will see you later on. thank you very much. the harm done to children online is a story we have brought to you on many occasions. you might remember how 14—year—old molly russell's father has campaigned for a new law.

well, under new laws published by the government today, social media companies will face huge fines if they fail to remove and limit the spread of illegal content. it will also force the biggest tech firms to abide by a legal duty of care to protect children. 0ur media editor amol rajan has this report. this is frida. except that's not her real name and this isn't her real voice. in her 20s now, she wasjust 13 when the grooming began online. i got a message from an older man, just "hi", friend request, whatever. and i added him because you're 13 and just try and add whoever you can on facebook, to try and seem like you have loads of friends and stuff. i don't think it took too long for it to get into him asking for more pictures of me, and then sexual pictures of me and him sending me sexual pictures. i talk to the technology companies that dominate the internet very, very often, and they would say about this kind of thing, "you know what?

we've built as good a technology as we can to try and detect this stuff." what would you say to them if they were in the room now? i'd ask them, "who is taking responsibility for this?" because currently, the man who has groomed me does not take any responsibility for what happened and the tech companies do not take any responsibility for what has happened, so the only person taking responsibility for it is me, which is horrible. i am the only one facing up to what's happened. i now call secretary 0liver dowden to make his statement. the culture secretary today outlined some of the specifics. a 13—year—old should no longer be able to access pornographic images on twitter, youtube will not be allowed to recommend videos promoting terrorist ideologies, and anti—semitic hate crime will need to be removed without delay. as part of the proposals, senior managers could eventually face criminal prosecution, though that will require secondary legislation. there will be exemptions for smallerfirms, so as not to stifle innovation,

and articles or comments on news websites will be unaffected to protect free speech. i don't think those firms are taking it seriously enough. ian russell has been campaigning on the issue since the death of his daughter molly, who took our own life. it later emerged she had seen pictures of self—harm on instagram, which is owned by facebook. there are things that they could have done better. they could have included criminal sanctions to senior management upfront, and that would have put a big impulse to bring about change, which is much—needed. urgent though these issues clearly are, these proposals have been years in the making, are largely untried and still face huge practical challenges. the sheer volume of material online puts addressing the stuff beyond the reach of mere manpower. then there's the fact that one person's online harm is another‘s freedom of expression. but despite all of that, a consensus has emerged in the west that these global data giants have had a free pass for too long. tech giants have invested billions in safety

and say they welcome regulation. these new rules probably won't be in place until 2022, leaving plenty of time for their lobbying. amol rajan, bbc news. official figures show there were 819 thousand fewer employees on company payrolls in november than in february — that's before the start of the pandemic. hospitality was the worst hit sector, accounting for a third of the job losses, followed by retail. our business correspondent sarah corker reports. at what's supposed to be their busiest time of year, many shops, pubs and cafes here in manchester stand silent, some now empty. this is the economic pain of lockdowns and restrictions. young people are facing the most challenging jobs market for a generation. for graduates like anna in london, competition for work is fierce. i've been financially providing for myself and now i feel completely helpless.

i can't do that, i can't provide for myself. i'm back in the family home, feeling a bit like a burden, a bit like, "whatam i doing?" many are cutting back this christmas as the uk unemployment rate continues to rise. in the three months to october, it increased to 4.9%, nearly 1.7 million people out of work, and redundancies have hit a record high. this was the peak during the financial crisis. that's been exceeded. there were 370,000 redundancies between august and october. this has been described as an economic emergency. there were 819,000 fewer employees on company payrolls in november compared with the start of this pandemic and a third of those job losses were in the hospitality sector. the owner of this manchester cafe has already shut one site

permanently and cut a quarter of his workforce. the virus has meant that essentially we have been shut down as an industry. and as a result, there's been a huge amount of jobs lost. we've lost maybe 25% of our staff. so we've had to make big decisions about peoples' livelihoods and jobs every day and it's just been incredibly tough. it is the over—50s who often struggle with long—term unemployment. it does get a little bit depressing at times. in lancashire, graham's work as a freelance business consultant dried up in march. the redundancies, people losing theirjobs, when furlough is coming to an end, you know there's going to be a wave there, so, yeah, it's a competitive market. i've been trying, but it gets you down. i have ten years left of work and i think i have a lot to give. with effective vaccines now on the horizon, there is some

optimism and festive cheer, but is the impact of the second lockdown filters through, unemployment is expected to continue rising in the months ahead. sarah corker, bbc news, in manchester. reforms are being urged for health, employment, universal credit and housing to eliminate existing inequalities for ethnic minorities. the report by the women and equalities committee says coronavirus has exacerbated pre—existing inequalities in society. chair of the women and equalities committee and conservative mp caroline nokes says the government needs to take action and spoke about the challenges. well, i think we need community champions. we need to reach out, particularly perhaps to women in bame communities, so that they can cascade information through their families. we also need to make sure that things like universal credit, which currently isn't yet available as an app, is made into an app so that people can apply for benefits quickly and easily

so that those who are excluded from data packages because of their finances can do so more readily than having to go online and, in some instances, spend a lot of time trying to log on to their uc account. so, it's crucially important that some very straightforward changes are put in place and the information that the government sends out to bame communities is culturally competent, that it recognises that many of them will be living in multi—generational households. and we know now things that we didn't know in march about the additional risks that poses to families. caroline nokes. the great british bake 0ffjudge prue leith has become one of the first celebrities to receive the covid—19 vaccine. the 80—year—old chef said she was absolutely delighted to receive the pfizer—biontech vaccine. the roll—out began in the uk last week, with health care workers, people living in care homes and the elderly being prioritised.

although... now it's time for a look at the weather with sarah keith—lucas. good evening. we've got more wind and rain in the forecast through the rest of this week, so it's an unsettled outlook, certainly. through the course of tonight, we've got a weather front moving in, bringing wet and windy weather, particularly towards the west. further east, things are set to stay mostly dry through the course of tonight. so here is this area of rain. it's heading across parts of the southwest of england and wales, into southwest scotland, northern ireland as well. should be dry for northern and eastern scotland, and much of the eastern england through the course of tonight. it's here that temperatures will fall lowest. milder where you've got the wind and that rain in the west can be quite heavy at times. the wind gusts a real feature of the weather for the day, as this area of rain slowly moves its way eastwards. east anglia and the southeast largely dry for much of the day, and there will be some sunshine following on from the rest later on with further scattered showers. gusts reaching around 60 mph through exposed parts of the irish sea, 30 mph further east. so wherever you are, blustery conditions and temperatures between around 9—11 degrees. bye for now.

you're watching bbc news. 0ur headlines... growing pressure on ministers to change their minds about relaxing covid rules for christmas, as two medicaljournals say mixing households "will cost lives". greenwich council backs down and tells schools they should stay open after the government threatens legal action, but the council says its original decision was the right one. workers in the hospitality business are the worst hit as the jobless total rises to 1.7 million. protecting children online — a new law could mean tech giants paying billions in fines. rail investment should focus on existing services in england's regions, and not the birmingham to leeds leg of hs2, says a government commission.

a nine—month driving ban for england and aston villa footballerjack grealish. the 25—year—old has also been fined more than £80,000 after admitting to careless driving. more now on christmas, as the government and the devolved administrations face mounting pressures to change the relaxation of coronavirus restrictions over the festive period. many of us will be looking forward to seeing family and friends during that time and the mental boost that might bring. i'm joined now by rosie weatherley from the mental health charity mind. thanks forjoining us. thanks for joining us. just thanks forjoining us. just explain how significant the damage is to people who have been looking forward to getting together with their families, especially after so many months in lockdown. hi. so, we know

human connection is massively important in mental health. living with so much change and uncertainty about the future, that hasn't helped. so the idea of something vaguely concrete, something that feels somewhat normal has probably been propping up our spirits since the christmas bubble plans are in amounts. we know that spending times, showing traditions... that sense of shared experience can be so distorted and comforting for all of us “— distorted and comforting for all of us —— so distorted and comforting for all of us —— so restorative. that impact is magnified. even if that is not in your best interest physically? sorry, i didn't catch that. even if thatis sorry, i didn't catch that. even if that is not in your best interest physically? it's an individual

choice. mine isn't in a position to say whether or not the bubble restrictions it should be adapted, tightened or anything else. i'm not suggesting that. i'm just saying people have been longing for this reunion with family and they would suffer the consequences of that, mentally emotionally. what they perhaps still do that and take the risk of? that's the individual choice everyone is facing. whatever restrictions end up being, we don't know. it's not mandatory. despite the challenges of not being physically together with the people we ca re physically together with the people we care about, for the people in their lives. there are different ways to feel about that, and i think it's about respecting individual

choice and the idea that we need to make the best decisions we can. how should people look after their mental health this christmas? so, we've been talking about how traditions are quite inherently adapted. that's how they survive. we've been chatting around the idea that we you can preserve and part ways with traditions and plans that perhaps you might usually do. so, i that sense of shared experience and using technologies, a video call with their grandparents or perhaps watching christmas separately, or things that can't quite adapt this year. don't think of them so much is cancelled, just postpone number down the line so whether that's instead of all being together, decide you will have a weekend away together. i

think it's important to take the wins where they appear and part ways with things if that feels right. rosie, thank you very much. a commission set up to advise the government has called for regional rail links to be prioritised over hs2. the national infrastructure commission says investment should focus on improving mainline services across the north of england and the midlands, rather than the full eastern leg of the high—speed railway between birmingham and leeds. from leeds, our correspondent spencer stokes report. more than a decade in the planning, are we witnessing the slow death of the proposed high—speed rail line to yorkshire? work to build hs2 from london to birmingham is well under way, but today, the government's own national infrastructure commission suggested regional links across the north should now be prioritised. packages which link up large centres of population, are relatively close together with higher capacity,

more regular services will be the ones most likely to give you the most bang for your buck. the report says building the full y—shaped hs2 from london to manchester and to leeds would cost £86 billion. it suggests hs2 should now terminate in the east midlands, and instead, there would be upgrades between the east midlands and leeds and a potential between leeds and manchester. but this would cost at least £108 billion, a higher cost, but with greater economic benefits, according to the report. chanting: h52, shame on you! and it's been well received by those who oppose hs2. i'm delighted that finally, the experts are starting to agree with the yorkshire communities that east—west connectivity is more important than a train to london that may not be built in 2040. we would have never started from here if we'd have started from scratch in the north, and the money needs to go

into the north for next year's great yorkshire recovery, and they need to completely forget hs2 and have some sensible plans for the north. we're getting on both with the eastern leg of h52 and the northern powerhouse rail. just last week, the prime minister reaffirmed his commitment to hs2, but business leaders still worry that manchester will get its links out and yorkshire will miss out. what i think they've got wrong is they haven't considered building hsz from the north to the south starting in leeds, which is the right way to phase the eastern leg of h52. and what we need is an integrated, high—speed network, and that means the east midlands and yorkshire have got to be better connected, and the only way of doing that is building a new line. the national infrastructure commission report isjust one piece of evidence that will feed into the government's final decision. a decade after conception, hs2's eastern leg to yorkshire hangs in the balance. spencer stokes, bbc news.

henri murison is director of the northern powerhouse partnership. we saw him there in that report. hejoins us again now. it's interesting reading the summary of the report talking about the short and long—term benefits. the report talking about the short and long—term benefitslj the report talking about the short and long-term benefits. i think we would diverge from the nic because there has been previous reports but a lot what that shows is that you need both east and west... there is

not a viable solution and that's expanding and adding extra trucks to the existing railway. this isn't a way of doing it. nobody from anywhere south other than london is anywhere south other than london is a big economic drag. notjust leeds but all of the yorkshire cities and up but all of the yorkshire cities and up to darlington, because they also rely on the eastern leg. this is a big issue for those in the northeast because it will constrain our ability and the end to raise northern productivity, which is what would close. this is all leveling up. does the whole thing still feel very london centric? h52 as a london where a way is a part of the problem. it's to increase capacity,

including to places like burning him but also between cities like birmingham and manchester —— birmingham. the challenge is... and it will not service the need for those that are created. and that was never meant to be part of hs2 because you do need better connection to get to the north and better connections within the north. the north hasn't seen new railways built for decades. it's not unreasonable, but you... and this report essentially said you have to choose between the two and i think that's economically serious because fundamentally, east—west commissions are very important. they are fundamentalfor are very important. they are fundamental for building a are very important. they are fundamentalfor building a bigger and more prosperous north of england

because it means you can at least... this budget has already run way over budget. even before the coronavirus. money will need to be saved. this project... hs2 limited. it's been made very clear that wasn't to take case. i don't think this review looked at the models. was involved

we can start to see benefits more quickly. 0ne we can start to see benefits more quickly. one of of the challenges if you look at this as a finished system, all done in one big go, it will take a long time to do all of it. we have to develop sections of this incrementally so we can start to see benefits in the economy, because the challenges that we want is to increase productivity in the north of england, at the moment, all of us are subsidised by london taxpayers. we want to end that, but you don't do that by not investing, andi you don't do that by not investing, and i think the government is been quite right that, yes, we have to be careful on day—to—day spending, but you cannot think of a capital investment in the same way, because fundamentally, we will still be using this railway in over 100

yea rs, using this railway in over 100 years, so to think of this in the same way as you might think about spending on emergency support during the pandemic is not credible, because more infrastructure to get the productivity increases, you increase the deficit that is cover this pandemic. to start to come back on capital investment because we have got higher public service are requirements i do not take is the right thing to do, particular in the short to medium—term. we need more info sectorjobs. we cannot have supply—side measures, we also need to simile demand. thank you very much indeed forjoining us here on bbc news.

the militant group boko haram has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of hundreds of school children in north—western nigeria. the authorities say they are negotiating with a group of gunmen for the safe return of the children abducted from the all—boys school in kut—sina state. boko haram, whose name means "western education is forbidden", has waged an insurgency in the northeast of nigeria since 2009, but has not previously claimed attacks in the northwest. 0ur correspondent mayeni jones has more from kano, the capital of katsina state. the so—called leader of boko haram released this message, an audio message, late last night. in it, he says that they carried out this attack because their gains were similar to education. they say it's un—islamic and they want to send a stronger message that they don't support it. the reason why this attack is particularly significant is because this shows boko haram's area of activity, if it's true that they carried out this latest kidnapping, is expanding way beyond tradition. a worrying trend. there is a growing

criticism as to the president's performance when it comes to tackling security in the country. you was elected in 2015 on the promise that he would tackle the problem of security, particular when it came tojihadi problem of security, particular when it came to jihadi violence. earlier, there were protests because kidnapping has been an issue, and i think this latest kidnapping, particularly the number involved, is really a big blow to the administration and their performance on the security front. when this attack happened on friday night, the scale of the number of boys involved, there were 800, over 800 enrolled in the score the attack took place, and reports say as many as 600 and them are still missing, so when people heard those huge numbers, it reminded them of another case, bringing back to mind the memory of 2014, and the president's promise at the time he would tackle it, and there's a lot of

frustration, i spoke to some parent saturday desperate to be reconnect with their children, and never thought this would happen to them and they just want some answers thought this would happen to them and theyjust want some answers —— so desperate to be. the headlines on bbc news... growing pressure on ministers to change their minds about relaxing covid rules for christmas, as two medicaljournals say mixing households "will cost lives". greenwich council backs down and tells schools they should stay open after the government threatens legal action, but the council says its original decision was the right one. workers in the hospitality business are the worst hit as the jobless total rises to 1.7 million. the foreign secretary, dominic raab, is in india on a three—day visit. the focus of the trip will be finding ways to work with the indian government on vaccines and the fight against covid—19, and on boosting trade ties post—brexit. prime minister borisjohnson is also set to visit india next month.

0ur correspondent rajini vaidya nathan has the latest from delhi. well, dominic raab is here in delhi for a three—day visit. this morning, he spent four hours discussing various areas of cooperation between the uk and india with his indian counterpart, subrahmanyam jaishankar. now, the two appeared at a news conference here. one of the big areas they said for cooperation is on health. now, india is home to the largest vaccine manufacturer in the world, and the two said that cooperation when it comes to fighting coronavirus was a key priority. but of course, as talks between the uk and the eu rumble on over a trade deal, it's hard to ignore the fact that in a post—brexit world, a trade deal between the uk and india would be a huge prize. now, any free trade agreement between the uk and india is some way off, but this trip is all about laying the groundwork for any future deal.

the other big news that came out of this news conference was the confirmation that uk prime minister borisjohnson will be visiting india at the end of january. he's accepted indian prime minister narendra modi's invitation to attend the country's republic day celebration. all of this points to signs of closer cooperation between the uk and india in a post—brexit world. the duke and duchess of sussex have announced they are launching a podcast with their audio production company "archewell audio" on spotify, signing a multi—year deal with the audio streaming giant. prince harry and meghan will make their debut in a holiday special set to be released this month just in time for christmas. in a statement, spotify said that the couple will create content that, in their words, "uplifts and entertains audiences around the world" and feature "diverse perspectives and voices." earlier this year,

the sussexes signed a multi—year deal with netflix. so, where will the sussex‘s podcast slot into the uk podcast market, and who are they up against if they want to break through? there are many people making podcasts, and not all are available on spotify itself, with many listeners getting their podcasts other ways. but for those that are, here's the top five. their own new signing, thejoe rogan experience, is their most popular. joe rogan has recently done a $100 million deal to appear exclusively on spotify, and clearly he's brought his dedicated army of listeners with him. in second place is the comedy podcast made by the husband and wife team, chris and rosie ramsey. they talk about life, relationships and parenting. news and information is popular, too. the times news briefing, which offers the latest headlines and analysis from the times newspaper three times daily, rates

as spotify‘s third most popular. behind that is the comedy podcast jackmate's happy hour, which is hosted by youtubers jackmate and stevie. the pair talk about what internet celebrities have been doing that week. and a traditional rich seam for podcasts, sport features on spotify‘s podcast chart too. talksport hit, claims to feature the biggest sports news and stories. talksport hit claims to feature the biggest sports news and stories. well, we're joined now by podcast critic leaf arbuthnot, who writes for the mail on sunday and the telegraph. i saw the promo, i'm not sure if you have. what you think of it? well, it was quite familiar, to be honest. it sounds pretty casual but really, they're both practised or readers and obviously, the duchess was an actress formerly —— practised

orators. middle-of-the-road i thought would be the best way of describing it, and perhaps inoffensive, but not those who have much time for the couple.” inoffensive, but not those who have much time for the couple. i imagine who don't like them won't like them much more after this podcast. it'll be lovely to get lots of listeners because podcasting is quite a competitive market. but it sounds like they're doing a sort of fairly standard interview format, interviewing people with interesting stories who they can be inspired by, which to me is quite a boring podcast. but who knows? may be it'll be fantastic. we don't know who they've gone on yet. maybe if they could persuade the queen and prince philip or prince andrew. it's interesting because michelle 0bama did one recently, and she got barack 0bama on as herfirst did one recently, and she got barack 0bama on as her first guest. did one recently, and she got barack 0bama on as herfirst guest. if did one recently, and she got barack 0bama on as her first guest. if they got that pole, that's presumably the

way they are going to go.” got that pole, that's presumably the way they are going to go. i think we'll see them race to the top of the chart, at least for the first two episodes, because people want to see how they interact. that couple is insatiable. as the episodes carry on, people might be a bit less interested sadly. we are very fascinated by celebrities, less interested in interesting stories from ordinary people, so i will definitely be listening to the first episode, but maybe not to episode 17,18, episode, but maybe not to episode 17, 18, 19. we shall see. how smart a move is it to go into podcasting? i think it's a really good move. unlike radio, you can be dumped on by presenters, you can basically have total control in podcasts. you can edit it and any sort of indiscreet remarks, you canjust poke them out. it makes a lot of sense. the sussexes have a massive

appeal amongst young people. i'm 28 and none of my friends really listen to radio live, so the sussexes want to radio live, so the sussexes want to talk to young people. young people listen to podcasts, so it makes sense. that little taste sounded very relaxed, very chatty. but probably scripted. do we know who's working for arch well? this is not something they just who's working for arch well? this is not something theyjust knocked up in their kitchen is it? no, it's all signs ofan in their kitchen is it? no, it's all signs of an extremely expensive production. i imagine... there isn't much detail as to who was working on the project, but they've banged up with spot —— ganged up with us to modify. —— with modify. i'm sure at least a very good sound quality. there is that hundred million dollar deal with netflix, i spot if i is

worth... the joe rogan deal was 100 million, but that's hundreds of episodes. joe rogan puts out about three shows a week, about three hours long. there were legions of fans. even if the sussexes are very famous, in terms of their podcasting abilities, it's unknown. i imagine they won't have made anything like that. maybe this is off of the top of my head but perhaps about 5 million. only that? probably. they are doing it because there is a lot in itfor are doing it because there is a lot in it for them. it's about their image in order to project as picture of themselves. this project will definitely further that goal. sounds rather good. thank you very much indeed. coronavirus has challenged all of us, but imagine what it's been like for dave kent, who's visually impaired, and his guide dog, chad.

relying on touch is a big part of how he gets around, and the concept of social distancing isn't something chad's trained for. but as a difficult year draws to a close, dave is optimistic about life, his community and what lies ahead, and he's got a special christmas treat for chad. i'm dave kent, i was born with a vision impairment. this is my guide dog of some five and a half years now. his name is chad. good lad, and off we go. we were in toronto in canada when the covid thing was really building up. and we arrived backjust in time. i remember being glued to the radio thinking, how am i going to get back? well, ironically, i arrived back on the 23rd, which was the day of lockdown. i knew that covid was going to present problems both to myself and to other vision impaired people, but i did not expect,

kind of, what the severity of the problems were. chad has no real concept of social distancing. he's trying to guide. he has no concept of a queue, and that can be both quite funny, but can upset some people as well. i have not been going out as much as i normally would, and interacting with people. when times are tough i've always got this beautiful animal to kind of, you know, soak up my tears or have a game in the garden and play. he's my world, he's everything. and yeah, i love him. # it's christmas and you're by my side # we're going to run, have fun. # i was involved with the community project that produced a track to celebrate the relationship with chad and myself,

but also to give people a christmas hug and what has been, hug in what has been, for many of us, a pretty awful year. it's going to be a little different this year, i know. i will be spending christmas at home with just a couple of friends in my social bubble, eating lots of lovely food. and allowing chad to have some nice gravy on his dinner. that will be good. he looks forward to that for christmas. what's the weather going to be like for chad? sarah keith—lucas has the details. we've had some showers on tuesday. this is how we ended the day. through the some eastern parts will stay drive—through tonight, temperatures

getting down into single figures in the east but milder with the cloud, rain and wind in the west. here is that area of rain pushing and across the southwest of england, wales, northern ireland into southwest scotland. strengthening southerly winds as well. further east, you've got clearer skies through the course of tonight. so, it's here that those temperatures will fall into mid to low single figures for some. but towards the west, 6—10 celsius the overnight lows. so, through the course of wednesday, then, the weather dominated by this area of low pressure with its associated weather front slowly working eastwards bumping into higher pressure sitting across europe, though. so, they're not moving through in a hurry those weather fronts. so, some fairly heavy rain across western parts of britain and northern ireland, gusty southerly winds. east anglia and the south—east likely to stay dry for quite a good of the afternoon, too. there will be some sunshine for parts of scotland, northern ireland into wales, the south west of england, too,

later in the afternoon but also scattered blustery showers. gusts of wind up to about 60 mph through exposed parts of the irish sea. 30 mph gusts though further east. so, wherever you are, it's going to be a blustery sort of day. still mild with temperatures around about 9—11 celsius feeling a little bit cooler than it did on tuesday when you add strength of the wind and the outbreaks of rain around as well. now, moving through wednesday night into thursday, there's a brief ridge of higher pressure and that's going to be squeezing away most of the showers but with low pressure still to the north, scattered showers will affect parts of scotland at times, a few showers possible for the south—east, too. but for much of the uk, thursday predominantly dry day before the next area of cloud, rain, and wind move in from the west later on in the afternoon. ahead of that, temperatures between about 9—13 celsius. so, still above average for this time of year. heading towards the end of the week into the weekend, then, scattered showers around, still mild on friday, gradually a little bit cooler as we head through the weekend. sunday probably the drier day of the weekend for most. bye— bye.

this is bbc news. mitch mcconnell speaks. it took him 38 days. but now the republican senate leader has finally acknowledged that joe biden did win the 2020 election. he follows a string of republican senators who have now publicly stated the obvious — the next president won't be donald trump. so today, i want to congratulate president—elect joe biden. the president—elect is no stranger to the senate. he's devoted himself to public service for many years. joe biden says that america's institutions survived an assault on democracy, adding that it's "time to turn the page". also in the programme: just eight days before coronavirus restrictions are relaxed in england over christmas,

two leading medicaljournals