this is bbc news. the headlines at seven: millions of people in england and wales are told to stay at home on the first day of tough, new coronavirus restrictions, as action is taken on a new variant of the virus. the new variant is out of control and we need to bring it under control, and this news about the new variant has been an incredibly difficult end to, frankly, an awful year. the health secretary labels crowded scenes at london stations last night as ‘irresponsible‘ — the transport secretary says extra police officers will be deployed to enforce the rules. france and germany become the latest countries to ban travel between the uk — as european officials prepare to discuss a coordinated travel response tomorrow morning. long waits for some shoppers — as only essential retail can be open in england's tier 4 and in wales.

it's my son's first christmas and he won't be able to see his grandparents. it's just ruined, really. we're going to try and make the best out of it. as much as possible, eat, celebrate > and who will take this trophy and become the 2020 bbc‘s sports personality of the year? good evening. the health secretary, matt hancock, says the new mutant variant of coronavirus is out of control, as new restrictions enter into force for millions of people in parts of england and in wales. all previous tier 3 areas in the south east and east of england — including london, kent and most of essex —

have moved into a new tier 4. the public is being asked to stay at home, and non—essential shops have closed, along with gyms, beauty salons and hairdressers. there will be no ‘christmas bubbles' and household mixing is restricted to meeting one person in an open public space. christmas rules have changed in the rest of england, where the planned bubbles can now gather only on christmas day. all of wales has gone into lockdown, with restrictions easing only for christmas day. that will also be the case in scotland, and will be followed by the highest level of restrictions for mainland scotland from boxing day. all travel to the rest of the uk is banned for the festive season. northern ireland had already announced a new lockdown, coming in from the 26th of december. ourfirst report is from our political correspondent nick eardley. what a difference a day can make. london's oxford street —

normally one of the busiest for shopping in europe, deserted today, as parts of england entered a new lockdown and millions more faced up to a significantly scaled—back christmas. people like michaela mccann, who works as an occupational therapist in surrey and now can't get home to northern ireland. everybody had made their plans and itjust seems like it's just a bit too late. it'sjust really difficult to accept. and i feel like, myself, my resilience has sort of depleted through the year and i think this wasjust one, like, final kick. the government said it was forced to act because of a new variant of the virus that's thought to spread much quicker. the new variant is out of control and we need to bring it under control. and this news about the new variant has been an incredibly difficult end to, frankly, an awful year. wales entered lockdown again at midnight. in scotland and northern ireland, new restrictions are coming

just after christmas. and new tier 4 restrictions mean in london, the south east and the east of england, people are being urged to stay at home. we don't know how long these measures are going to be in place. it may be for some time, until we can get the vaccine going. that isn't an easy thing to say. it all feels very different to wednesday, the four nations agreed that there would still be a relaxation of the law over christmas. but ministers here say they were given new evidence on friday about how the new variant of the virus spreads, and that they had to act quickly. others think they were too slow. how could the government allow people to go on as they were? labour's leader this morning said that the prime minister had waited until the 11th hour because he was reluctant to make an unpopular decision. england, scotland and labour—run wales all took pretty drastic action yesterday after being briefed by the experts. so, what makes you think, in terms of this new variant,

that the government should have acted sooner? to put all of this on the new variant is wrong. the infection was out of control and that's why the government, the prime minister, should have grasped this, instead of flippantly on wednesday simply saying, have a merry little christmas. it was obvious that the indicators were all in the wrong direction. the government says that's wrong, that when the data changed, their approach had to as well. but for many, the last couple of days mean a heartbreaking end to what's already been a uniquely difficult year. nick eardley, bbc news. so, how has the coronavirus mutated, and what do we know about how infectious this new variant is? here's our health correspondent catherine burns. since the pandemic started, we've learnt a lot about coronavirus, but it's been learning about us too. it's had practice at dealing with our immune systems and has developed an extra way of fighting us — this new variant. it's changed 23 times. many differences are linked

to the all—important spike protein — the part of the virus that lets it bind onto human cells. so, the worry is that this mutation could make it easier for the virus to infect us. doctors think this new variant could spread up to 70% faster, although that figure is just an estimate. scientists advising the government also say it could increase the r number, which shows how the virus can spread, by between 0.4 and 0.9. when we find the virus, we're finding the virus in the nose and throat. the higher amount of virus means that people are likely to be more infectious than they would otherwise be, and this means that we need to reiterate the social—distancing measures, keep your distance, reduce your contacts. one key question is, will vaccines still work against this? well, the vaccine trains our immune systems to recognise and react to the spike protein in the virus, and it has changed.

but we're talking about tweaks, rather than huge differences. it's early days, but scientists think the vaccines are now, more than ever, the key to getting this under control. there's no evidence to say this variant will cause more severe illness in any one person, but it's thought that somewhere between one in 100 and one in 150 people who have coronavirus end up dying from it. this variant is more infectious, so more people could get it, which could lead to more deaths — and, of course, more pressure on the nhs. we're already in a situation where we're seeing ambulances queueing for hours outside of hospitals, others are cancelling routine surgery, and on top of that comes this new variant, how worried are you? we're 11,000 beds fewer than we were last year because of infection control. and of the remaining beds, 16,000 of them are occupied by covid patients. that's 2,000 more than eight days ago. so, what chief executives are saying to us is, it's going to be a nail—biting week

to ten days for them whilst they see whether these new measures will have the desired impact. until enough of us have been vaccinated, the best way to stop this virus spreading is to stick to social distancing, wear our masks, wash our hands, and to cut contact with other people. catherine burns, bbc news. the latest government figures show there were 35,928 new coronavirus infections recorded in the latest 24—hour period, which means an average number of 27, 249 new cases per day in the last week. there were 1,821 people admitted to hospital on average each day in the week to last wednesday. 326 deaths have been reported for the last 2a hours — that's people who died within 28 days of a positive covid—19 test. it means an average of a62 deaths per day in the past week.

the total number of uk deaths is now 67,1101. the tougher tier 4 restrictions in england have meant all non—essential shops having to close. today people have been heading to supermarkets to do their remaining christmas shopping, as our business correspondent katy austin has been finding out. after hearing that his gift shop in north london would have to close, owner ian started a click—and—collect service overnight, trying to salvage something from what should have been his busiest week of the year. our christmas stock obviously will have to go in a sale, there's nothing else we can do with it. we plan christmas from january onwards, so this is a culmination of ten months of work. beauty salons and hairdressers say being forced to shut under the new tighter restrictions was particularly ugly news. if we could have just limped through to the new year, then we would have understood

the lockdown. but, you know, the last crucial week of the year to be closed, it'sjust wrenching. i will not lie, there were tears and tears from clients and staff when that announcement was made yesterday. you know, we've lost that last crucial week, and we needed it. even for businesses who do online delivery, the closure of some stores follows a festive season already beset by problems beyond their control. we've also had the knock—on effect of the ports being absolutely jammed up. we've got several borders being closed across europe. you know, trying to bring orders in early because of the concerns around the brexit extra documentation, and this has of course meant that some orders have not got through, and it is a dire time. in tiers 1 to 3, all stores can open, and supermarkets can still welcome customers in tier 4. today, people outside one

in south east london said they had already changed their christmas plans. well, we'll get a much smaller turkey. we'll still have presents. because i thought i was going up there, i haven't got any food, so i've just come out to try and get some sort of christmas dinner together. it's my son's first christmas and he won't be able to see his grandparents. you just have to work around it, isuppose. it shouldn't stop. christmas shouldn't stop. the shutters have now come down at major shopping destinations like oxford street, here in central london, and they'll stay down through the traditional boxing day sales period as well. it's a painful end to the year for thousands of businesses, who were desperately hoping for some festive cheer. katy austin, bbc news. the new restrictions — and the changes to the rules for christmas in england, wales and scotland — have thrown many people's travel plans into disarray. and several european countries have either banned travel from the uk, or are considering doing so. here's our transport correspondent caroline davies. today at euston station, with suitcases packed,

passengers rushing for a train from london to manchester, despite the fact that rules against leaving tier 4 came in last night, other than for legally permitted reasons. the operator said the service was socially—distanced and below capacity. some passengers at euston were desperate to leave. i'm terrified that i'm going to spend christmas alone, so i'm going to go. others coming back to london had mixed feelings. i don't really understand. i don't know if i'm going to get to my mum's for christmas, which is tier four. i mean, i live alone, so i could say they're my support bubble. i don't know. london train stations that operate longer—distance routes — like king's cross and here at euston — say that this weekend has been noticeably busier than a normal pandemic weekend, but that it is still relatively quiet. train operators are keen to point out that it is not the job of their staff to enforce these rules, that's for the police, but how heavy—handed will they be? british transport police have said there'll be more officers at major transport hubs, and that officers will only use

enforcement if absolutely necessary. in scotland, the police have said that they will double their presence in the borders area, but that it wasn't appropriate for officers to establish checkpoints or roadblocks. others are worried that many will have left already for christmas. speaking today, the health secretary reacted to these pictures of queues last night for a train from london to leeds. those scenes were totally irresponsible and, as of first thing this morning, the new law came in. i actually was up before five o'clock this morning ensuring that that new law has been in place. and we've all got a responsibility. international travel is banned from tier 4, and other tiers are advised to carefully consider whether it's needed. but the netherlands, belgium, italy and ireland have decided to temporarily suspend flights from britain, citing concerns about spreading the new strain of the virus. those in the travel industry are worried more countries will follow suit. caroline davies, bbc news.

france has become the latest to impose restrictions on travel. from 11 o'clock this evening, all passenger transport and human—handled freight between the uk and france will be suspended for 48 hours. the prime minister's office says the suspension will be used to agree on a new testing regime, befor borders are reopened. meanwhile, the european council has confirmed that there have been discussions on the latest developments on the new covid strain and the european travel restrictions in response to it.

the council will meet tomorrow to discuss a coordinated response. in sweden has within the last few minutes not announced restrictions, but the home affairs minister has told swedish media that he hoped measures would take effect as soon as possible which would ban travel from the uk into sweden. we will keep watching that for you on bbc news. mps want the government to publish a list of the companies that signed up to the furlough scheme amid concerns money is being lost through fraud and error. under the scheme, the government pays up to 80% of staff wages. fraud where furloughed staff continue to work, could be running at as much as 34% of cases, the public accounts committee said. the wages of more than nine million workers have been paid by the government

at a cost of £46bn. meg hillier is chair of the commons public accounts select committee and is calling on the government to take action. it was introduced at speed and did an amazingjob, it was introduced at speed and did an amazing job, but by now we are nine months in, so we would like to see a full list of all companies that receive for a low money, because i think the transparency will highlight anyone trying to commit fraud. there are still millions of people who haven't received a penny because of the peculiarity of the freelance or self—employment, which means they have dropped out of the scheme, but now they have submitted tax returns for the last year, so they could be included. the government needs to be clear. the recent announcement to extend the scheme till april was at least with a bit more notice than the last one, which was already after redundancy notices would have been issued, so they may be hopefully learning as they go along.

millions of people in england and wales are told to stay at home on the first day of tough, new coronavirus restrictions — as action is taken on a new variant of the virus the health secretary labels crowded scenes at london stations last night as ‘irresponsible' — the transport secretary says extra police officers will be deployed to enforce the rules. france and germany become the latest countries to ban travel between the uk — as european officials prepare to discuss a coordinated travel response tomorrow morning. christmas in bethlehem is usually associated with choirs at midnight mass in nativity square, but for locals it's more like bagpipes and marching bands. palestinian scouts, with bagpipes and drums, practise all year round to perform their role leading the christmas celebrations. the tradition goes back generations, and, despite the coronavirus

pandemic, the scouts are determined they won't miss this year. yolande knell attended a rehearsal to find out why it matters so much for them to keep marching. music: ‘we wish you a merry christmas'. for palestinian christians, this is the sound of christmas. at the very heart of celebrations in the holy land you always find scout bands like this one and they take their role very seriously. i am a drummer and a student at the university. this year is a unique christmas. there is no christmas market, there are no activities that will happen and the nativity takes place every year. and we try our bestjust to provide the christmas spirit. there is a long history of scouting here, stretching back to the british mandate times in the early 20th century. and there is a special

affection for the bagpipes with their scottish heritage. i study architecture and engineering at the university. why did you want to be a bagpiper? when i was a child, i saw scouts play bagpipes, and i was very happy, listening to their music, so i wanted to be one of them. when it comes to christmas processions here in bethlehem, there is huge competition between the rival scout groups. they lead the patriarch, arriving from jerusalem, to the nativity church. this year, covid closures have been making it hard to get together, but celebrations are definitely not cancelled. so, i try tojoin in. ok, so we are going to test my musical abilities. ok, so this is how the christmas march starts. oh, wow.

you can see why i was never in a band. i don't think i'm going to make a drummer. is there anything else i can do? you can be a supporter. thanks! i will be. it is definitely not a silent night in bethlehem and despite all the challenges, the scouts here believe that this year can end on a more positive note. good luck to them. i hope they are able to do as they hope. a little bit of breaking news — italy's health ministry has told reuters that it has found a patient in italy infected with the new strain of coronavirus identified in the uk.

evidence of something we knew already, because apparently there have been cases in australia and denmark and so one, that this has spread out of the uk. now, it's time for your question's answered hello and welcome to your questions answered. with me in the studio, our health correspondent jim reed, and we arejoined by nicola stonehouse, professor of molecular virology at the university of leeds. jim, can i start with you? we have had lots coming into us. let's look at this one on twitter from peter, who says that the prime minister has just announced that tier 3 households can meet in dorset on christmas day. can another day be substituted? i've had this a lot today. i'm afraid the answer is no.

the rules are pretty clear. this christmas break in england has been cut from five days in most places down to just a single day, which is the 25th of december, unless you are in a new tier 4 area, in which case the rules are that you cannot mix at all. in wales and scotland, cut down to that single day of christmas day. in northern ireland, slightly broader, retaining the five days there with extra time to travel. peter also mentioned grandchildren. i don't want to second—guess peter's age. the advice is pretty strong, that if you're over 70 or clinically vulnerable you are asked to think carefully about whether or not to meet up. the advice is the safest advice if you are in that group may be not to form a christmas bubble, maybe not even on christmas day.

so you can't designate your christmas day outside the 25th? no. this is via e—mailfrom lynn: how will the new rules for london and the south—east affect care home visiting? should we go ahead with lateral flow testing and allowing visits or review things in light of the new rules and the higher risks? testing is very important, although lateral flow testing isn't perfect. i would suggest, if you want to visit people, self—isolate before you do. self isolating for ten days means you are very unlikely to be able to spread infection. i realise not everybody can do that, but that would reduce the risks down. andjim, worth pointing out that even in the tier 4 guidelines, there are exceptions. there are, and nicola made good points. there is one change under tier 4. in tier 3, you can meet someone face—to—face if you have one of these fast turnaround lateral

flow tests that proved negative. in tier 4, you can't actually do that. you can still meet but it has to be through a window, glass, one of those pods, so face—to—face meeting in a care home in tier 4 is not allowed. this one is from angela yeoman. i am a single person living in england and my bubble is family in wales. can i go? this is where you get rules clashing. i had a word with the welsh government before i came on air. good news for angela, she would be allowed to cross that border because she uses what is called the support bubble, but only for christmas day itself, no more than that. she can't stay overnight? no. if she is in herefordshire, she could cross to monmouth to meet someone. where it gets more difficult

or impossible is if she is on a tear ——where it gets more difficult or impossible is if she is on a tier 4 area, because then the rules would kick in and you couldn't leave that tier for area. another viewer asks, how is the virus still spreading if we are still wearing our masks and washing our hands endlessly? would being made to wear a mask outside stop it? the spread is by people, people getting together in groups, and the more people, the more risk, and the larger the group, again, the larger the risk. if you're walking past somebody in the street, the chances of spread is going to be very low. the more time you spend with people, the more crowds that you are in, even if that outside, then the risks get higher. being outdoors is really important, and basically keeping away from people as much as possible. i'm afraid, yes, keeping on your own is the most important thing. wearing masks in large gatherings outside could be important,

and for sure, if you feel more comfortable wearing a mask when you are walking out and about, do so. some media today has been suggesting the new variant may even be getting through ppe. is there any evidence to suggest that? i don't think there is. i think what we must remember is that viruses change, new variants come and go, and less so with this virus than for some other viruses, but this seems to have become very embedded in the population very quickly, and that's what's extremely worrying. why exactly that is, we just don't know yet. there have been lots of different mutations, have their cover

——there have been lots of different mutations, haven't there, of of this original virus? yes, indeed. it is being able to look at these mutations, both in the uk and elsewhere in the world, over the last year has been really quite important. what's happened here is that these mutations seem to have really become fixed in the population very quickly. i think, unfortunately, the fact that london and the south—east was in tier 2 restrictions rather than higher restrictions over the last month but hasn't helped that situation. but we are where we are, and we absolutely must all do as much as we possibly can to stop any further spread. jim, marcus richardson has asked: we were having a small family meal but are now in tier 4. can we now deliver the meals to their household provided we don't enter the home come into contact? within a tearfor area the advice is now to stay home with limited exceptions, so things like essential shopping, education, that kind of thing.

so it is whether you could define delivering christmas dinner as one of those essential reasons. giving care is an essential reason, so depends who you are delivering it too. if it is someone who is very elderly, i think you could make that argument. if it is just some friends who couldn't make christmas dinner, that would be more difficult. very difficult, and complicated to police as well. this is from kevin: can you explain how the new strain of the virus is more transmissible? how is it able to be transmitted more readily? what sort of research has gone into this in terms of the transmissibility? what we've seen is, when looking at the sequence of viruses that are being recorded as tests, so positive tests, some of those

have been sequenced, and what is being noticed is that this new variant started off as a very small percentage and has really got more and more embedded in the population, so that more and more of the positive tests are having these new mutations in them. so, it seems, therefore, that this variant is spreading more rapidly, but we don't actually know why that is. we don't have a lot of details on how that is at the current time. and we don't know if it's more deadly. absolutely not, no. we have no evidence that it causes more serious disease. it may not. it could be that when you first get infected, the virus will replicate at the back of the throat and the back of the nose, and that is where we take

a sample for a test. if the virus replicates and grows much more readily there, it could be that therefore you are spreading more virus, because you've got more to spread. but it doesn't necessarily mean that the virus would then move down to the lungs more readily, where it creates more serious disease. we also have no evidence whatsoever that this will have any effect on the vaccine, so people must absolutely go ahead with taking the vaccine if you offered it. please, please don't think it is going to affect that in any way. time for one more,jim, from malcolm: our parents who live in germany, can they visit to the uk to visit us? theoretically, before today it would have been possible with isolation and tests. the bigger problem is what you have been reporting this afternoon, which is that we have started to see countries close off flights to the uk because of this new variant. we have had the netherlands, italy and belgium talking