this is bbc news. the headlines. more of the east and south east of england will enter the toughest tier 4 restrictions on boxing day. the health secretary says the action is difficult but necessary. this is not news that anybody wants to deliver, and i am truly sorry for the disruption that it causes. but i think people know how important it is that we take decisions like this to keep people safe and to protect the nhs. matt hancock also confirmed two cases of a different new covid variant in the uk from south africa saying all those who have travelled from the country must quarantine immediately. this comes as the government reported record infections of more than thirty nine thousand, and the highest death figures from coronavirus since april, with a further 744 people dying

after testing positive. the highest figure since april. the talks in brussels continue withh suggestions a post—brexit trade deal between the eu and the uk could be finalised within hours. in the first lorries are starting to leave after the borders have reopened with france. but thousands of drivers are still waiting for covid tests. the health secretary matt hancock has confirmed that more areas of england will move into tier 4 — the highest level of restrictions. under tier 4 people must stay at home, non essential retail is shut and movement in or out of the area is not allowed. he made the announcement at a press conference in downing street this afternoon.

the health secretary said from boxing day, norfolk, suffolk, cambridgeshire and essex would move into tier 4 along with oxfordshire, waverley in surrey and hampshire including portsmouth and southampton, but excluding the new forest. more areas of england will move to tier 3, including bristol, somerset, gloucestershire, the isle of wight, the new forest, northamptonshire, cheshire and warrington matt hancock also said two new cases of another new variant of coronavirus had been detected in the uk — both are contacts of cases who had travelled to the uk from south africa. anyone who's travelled from south africa, or had contact with someone who has been there, must quarantine for a fortnight immediately. let's hear what he had to say we have learnt that when it comes to being a matter of when, not if we take action, it is better to act sooner.

so, from one minute past midnight on boxing day, sussex, oxfordshire, suffolk, norfolk and cambridgeshire, those parts of essex not yet in tier 4, waverly and surrey and hampshire, including portsmouth and southampton but with the exception of the new forest will all be escalated to tier 4. bristol, gloucestershire, somerset, including the north somerset council area, swindon, the isle of wight, the new forest and northamptonshire, as well as cheshire and warrington, will all be escalated to tier 3. and i'm afraid that cornwall and herefordshire have seen sharply rising rates and need to be escalated to tier 2. this is not news that anybody wants to deliver, and i am truly sorry for the disruption that it causes. but i think people know how important it is that we take

decisions like this to keep people safe and to protect the nhs. our political correspondent jonathan blakejoins me now. given jonathan blakejoins me now. the speed at whicht variant given the speed at which this new variant is spreading, it seems the government were left with little option. yes, when you look at the graphs we were shown at that news briefing at the last hour or so. it's no surprise the government felt it had to act and put more areas of england into tier 4. the only surprise perhaps is that more areas weren't escalated to that highest level of restriction. so now some 2a million people will be living under tier 4. and that is necessary because the new variant of the virus thatis because the new variant of the virus that is being detected has in the words of matt hancock been spreading ata words of matt hancock been spreading at a dangerous rate. and the current tier 3 is not enough to slow or halt the spread of it. so as we've seen

cases rising rapidly in london and other parts of the southeast of england. more areas have had to move into that chair four to keep the virus the government hopes at least, at bay. i think if the fact that more areas have gone into tier 3 again, something like 25 million people living under the highest level of restrictions come boxing day. something of a preemptive strike in the hope that cases can be controlled. questions of course for the government about why they are waiting to boxing day to do that because cases will inevitably arise between now and then. even when people are allowed to mix albeit in a limited capacity on christmas day in tears one, two and three. and it's possible of course, many say likely that more areas will inevitably have to come under further restrictions in the days and weeks to come. as a health secretary said it was vital to act in a case of when and not air. better to do it

sooner of when and not air. better to do it sooner rather than later. questions also jonathan about the fact that this thing is spreading so quickly. why not just lock this thing is spreading so quickly. why notjust lock down the whole country or rather put the whole country or rather put the whole country under tier 4 restriction? yes, that is the perennial question that comes the governments way ever since the 3—tier system was introduced. what started out as highly targeted local lockdowns set became this leveled system. of course we saw a national lockdown only a short time after the prime minister said that that would be a disastrous thing to do. not that long ago. many are expecting that that will have to be the case come the new year as well. the government will do all it can to avoid that. believing that this tiered system is a proportionate approach. but as we've seen, when things change the response has to change. in the government has had to catch up with this new variant of the virus. which spreads as we know now more rapidly and is responsible for the sharp

rise in cases we've seen in many areas. you only have to look at the very sobering statistics today which show a record number of cases of coronavirus having tested positive in the last 2a hours or so. in excess of 700 deaths linked to covid—i9. to see the picture is pretty bleak. jonathan, thank you. we've got more for you on those figures. the latest coronavirus figures have been released by the government(take gfx)they show that there were a further 39,237 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the past 2a hours — the highest figure reported on a single day throughout the pandemic. 744 people died within 28 days of testing positive for covid—i9, taking the total number of confirmed uk deaths to 69,051. let's get more from our health correspondent katherine da costa.

the latest figures today the worst for the whole pandemic for the uk. yes, if you think back to spring it was estimated that there could've been 100,000 cases a day. but we weren't testing as much then. since mask testing had came in from around may clearly this is the biggest increase that we've seen scents that happened. it is obviously worrying. that's why ministers have had to move quickly to bring in tougher restrictions to try and get a grip of the virus was yes, to be clear, there was a lot more testing now than there was at the beginning of the whole pandemic here in the uk. but a worrying sign of the way things are moving from matt hancock because he was talking about a second variant of covid—19. because he was talking about a second variant of covid-19. this out of south africa. that's right. worth reminding people that viruses do mutate. that happens a lot. it's only when the behaviour changes that

scientists become concerned. for example, if it spreads more easily for somewhat the health secretary said was there had been two cases found in the uk, they were close contacts found in the uk, they were close co nta cts of found in the uk, they were close contacts of people that had travelled from south africa in the last few weeks. and he said the government was now quarantining cases and close contacts of those in the uk as well as placing immediate restrictions on travel from south africa. he said anyone in the uk who has travelled to south africa in the last fortnight or is a close contact of someone that has showed quarantine immediately. there are a lot of questions about both the variant found in south africa and the one found in the southeast of england about what's going on there. and more work is being carried out in laboratories and wheelchair. susan hopkins from public health england said they are still learning about these new variants. and that the uk has got systems in place to

monitor these systems found in these travelers. the deputy medical officer said that with any variant the key to controlling it is very much the same. it's social distancing, hands, face, space. all the public health messaging that we've had plus tiers to try and control it. it's interesting to that today professor neil ferguson a government adviser he sits on a committee looking at new and infection diseases and he told mps he thought it was likely that the variant that we found in kent and london was likely to be circulating in most european countries. but he suggesting that the uk is better at surveillance and spotting these changes than other countries. and that's perhaps why they might not have detected them as yet. there's been disruption in dover — borders have reopened, but thousands of drivers are facing

more delays as they have to wait for covid tests. rail, air and sea services have resumed, after the french government eased its ban on people entering from the uk. but lorry drivers say the situation in kent remains chaotic — there were scuffles with police as some protested about the delays, and one man was arrested. some of the 3,000 hauliers who are stuck say they're simply not getting enough information. simonjones reports. the border to france may have finally reopened, but this morning angry drivers left the manston lorry park where they'd been sleeping in their cabs to vent their anger. they'd been stuck in the uk for days. they'd been promised coronavirus tests. but they say they still don't know when they will get out of here. the police are here now in numbers on the outskirts of manston airport, but what they can't do is answer the one question that hauliers desperately want to know, and that is when they're going to get out

of here and go home. police? police from three days told us that testing will be started soon but they don't know why. . .when. they don't know when and that's the point why the people are protesting because wejust want to make the test and go straight to home. in one day, it's christmas. we are here three day, we are very tired, we stay in the cars, we don't have a lot of food, no money... it's not very good. some may now face a longer wait to get home. this shows the scale of the problem — thousands of lorries parked up on a former runway half an hour from the port of dover. dover itself has reopened to traffic to france, but only for travellers who can prove they are covid—free. last night the uk and france reached an agreement which allows travel for urgent reasons, including hauliers, french

citizens and british people who live in france. but in order to get across, they will have to have a negative test result within the past 72 hours before departure. rapid lateral flow tests will be given to drivers which can give results in 30 minutes. if it is positive, they will be asked to isolate in local hotels. the government is warning it'll take several days before everyone is able to return home. groups representing drivers say it's no wonder anger is growing. around about 4,000 trucks parked at manston, it is certainly full, and we can imagine that with that number of lorry drivers, toilet facilities, washing facilities, wherever they are, will be pretty overstretched and, frankly, inadequate. the government insists there are adequate toilets and catering facilities being provided to hauliers. we are providing hot meals for the drivers. sikh groups, including khalsaaid, with an escort from kent police, have arrived in dover to help

deliver food and water to stranded drivers. one thing that lifts people all over the world is a warm meal, so that was the aim, to see if we can reach out, provide a hot meal, to lift the spirits of these guys. they are prisoners in their cabs on the m20 without no services, no shops, no access to anything. the least we can give is a bit of human warmth and love. although the uk is no longer cut off from the continent, the queues continue to stack up. it's clear that the logistical scale of getting everyone tested means some are going to be cut off from their families this christmas. simon jones, bbc news. pa rt part of the problem in dover today we re part of the problem in dover today were protesters blocking a roundabout at an entrance to the point. they've now moved away but police are still stopping traffic from entering the area. i'm standing here

on the roundabout right outside the port itself. as you can see behind me, the police are still blocking the road they are with hundreds and hundreds of cars, vans and lotteries backing up throughout central dover behind me. that is the port itself. there is another line of police in front of that. no one has been going in or out since we been here for several hours. 0bviously, that is causing a huge frustrations as you say. i've spoken to people who've been here since sunday night. 0ne man told me i'm out of food, i'm out of drink, i'm out of money. there's nowhere to go to the loo down here in town in central dover. i've had people crying to be saying that they we re people crying to be saying that they were hoping to get back to see their children in time for christmas. they don't know what's going on. i think that's were quite difficult for the people here in dover. because unlike the drivers who are advanced in, they are not necessarily as in touch with the official lines of what's going on. they haven't been receiving the hot meals and the access to the testing perhaps which is we are told, beginning to start

here. people here say they don't know what to do. they don't know how they're going to be able to get a test to be allowed onto one of the fairies. actually, they can't go back because both sides of the road here are completely blocked. it is an extremely difficult situation. we've heard today from the leader of dover council who says he just doesn't see how all of these people are going to be able to get across the channel in time for christmas eve. even when the port it sells has reopened. very difficult time for people here in dover. volunteers we've seen people here in dover. volunteers we've seen several people here in dover. volunteers we've seen several stands of food and it is sorely needed. the policy director for logistics uk which is sorely needed. the policy directorfor logistics uk which is involved in an effort to get lori drivers tested for coronavirus and back to mainland europe. it's been holding talks with central and local government as well as the port in dover. elizabeth joins meat now. thanks forjoining us. joins meat now. thanks forjoining us. has testing begun? yes, testing

is happening. it will be ramping up from this evening when they army joins in the effort around six o'clock. but there are issues with the volume of testing. but more than that, there is been issues with dover port which has been blocked ——. people say lori drivers that you are seeing and hearing. so our latest information the information is changing all the time. was that nobody gets left from the port of dover although some are heading on the way to euro tunnel. very concerning. 0k, the way to euro tunnel. very concerning. ok, so the french is open the border but not a single lori has cross the channel? that is the current update that we have. 0kay. what do you think of the way the local authorities kent county council in particular on the highway authorities have handled all this?

we've been very disappointed. we been involved very much in efforts with the kent resilience also to planning for operations, looking at the resilience of kent ahead of brexit should there be cues then. and i was a few weeks ago really confident that the traffic management would be well managed. and i've been very, very disappointed by the traffic management and also by the standards of driver welfare. they were much lower than we had been led to believe. i know that things were do to improve because welfare contracts would have been in place by the 1st of january. we also would have been in place by the 1st ofjanuary. we also have would have been in place by the 1st of january. we also have a would have been in place by the 1st ofjanuary. we also have a border operator centre that will be open. but still, very disappointed. bearing in mind that we are now the 23rd of december, a lot of these drivers are desperate to get back to theirfamilies on drivers are desperate to get back to their families on the continent before christmas. and yet, not a

single driver has still managed across the channel today so far. are you confident that the situation can be resolved before the 25th? well, last night so hopeful with the situation thinking that it could be done. we had offers of additional sailing in additional ports. but now 18 hours after the board i have is operated, i am far less hopeful. i think we need to be planning for the lori drivers to still be in kent and doing our best to give them a better christmas then they might be otherwise be having without our help. thank you forjoining us. let's go to manson and kentland many of the lares have been made to wait. greg mckenzie is there for us. we know they're beginning to leave

out there so many left behind? there aren't many left behind. many leaving there is been about 40 mac la res left so leaving there is been about 40 mac lares left so far. we are told they're going to be leaving in ten minute intervals. 20 lares at a time. behind me there are 3800 lares trapped there. that happens on sunday. a few miles in that direction there are traffic tailbacks backlogs of lorry trying to get onto the site. it's com pletely to get onto the site. it's completely jammed. just in that direction many lorry drivers are simply parked up on local roads. that goes on for miles. they've said they simply want to go home. many of them has been speaking to polish, german and many others from across europe simply want to get back. they have been told they need to have a covid test that comes back negative before they're going to be allowed

to board those fairies at dover port on to calais. and realistically many of them are going to be here well until after christmas. greg, thank you for that. further areas of england are to be placed under the toughest set of coronavirus restrictions from boxing day. the health secretary says the action is difficult but necessary. let's take a closer look at the restrictions for areas doesn't have to travel for educational work may continue to do so. social mixing will be restricted to meeting one other person in an open public space. all non—essential retail will have to close along with hairdressers, nail bars and indoor entertainment venues. indoor leisure facilities must close — like gyms and indoor swimming pools. people should not leave a tier 4 area — except for limited

reasons including work and education. and the guidance for the ‘clinically extremely vulnerable' is to stay at home as much as possible and if they can't go work from home, they should not go to work. cambridgeshire is one of the areas which will be affected, and i'm joined now by bridget smith, who is the liberal democrat leader for south cambridgeshire district council. thanks for being with us here on bbc news. could you just tell me, when did you hear that your area it was going to be affected and moved into the tier 4 restrictions? did you get any heads up about it?|j the tier 4 restrictions? did you get any heads up about it? i think i got any heads up about it? i think i got an e—mailabout any heads up about it? i think i got an e—mail about 230 this afternoon. just before matt hancock went on air. so that's a little bit better than the leader of lewis district council in sussex that he heard it when he watched on tv. the suggestion being that local districts, local authorities are the last people to know. we've been hearing rumours all day. we were watching out for it. we did get advance warning. any surprise to you? know. i've been expecting this for a few days now. and i welcome

it. i think it's a good thing. 0ur numbers in south cambridge and are doubling every six days was measures we got in place at the moment are just not dealing with it. they're not even slowing it. i welcome it, supported and i've been telling my residents actually to be behaving as if they are in tier 4 anyway. what about local businesses? how were they going to react?|j about local businesses? how were they going to react? i am pretty sure that local businesses will be hurting. but they will understand. my hurting. but they will understand. my position is that the government has the power to step in to resuscitate my local businesses but it can't resuscitate people who have died. and we have to put people first before businesses. i'm very worried about local pubs, i think they're going to really, really suffer now. they are the heart of many of my over 100 villages. but the government can do something about it. they can't do anything about it. they can't do anything about fatalities. but is there more

that they could do economically, financially, potentially? we've been hearing from mayors up and down the country suggesting that if you do move into a tier 4 area then there should be financial help from the government. yes, of course there should be financial help. but we are in an emergency, critical, very fast moving situation at the moment. i think to be fair on government we just need to give them a little bit of time to get their act together and decide what they are going to do for our businesses. we shall certainly be pushing them for an urgent response on that. is it the new variant of covid—19 that is causing particular problems in your area? undoubtedly. all the evidence points to this. in the briefings we've had from our own director of public health who was outstanding, is that most of the cases now are the new variant. itjust seems to be far faster moving. the new variant. itjust seems to be farfaster moving. people the new variant. itjust seems to be far faster moving. people seem to catch it much more quickly. this is really bad news for us. if we act

now, if we all stick to the rules then we will get it in check. how are your hospital's coping? the hospitals are rammed, basically. they've seen a really, really worrying increase in the number of people coming into them. and are really, really upsetting increase in the number of people dying. no nurse, no doctor wants to have their patients die on them. it's a real tragedy. i think the hospitals is a real driver here. we cannot have people getting sick and not having a space in a hospital if they needed. it's unsustainable situation. thank you forjoining us. more now on the distru ption in dover. though the border with france has re—opened, thousands of drivers are facing more lengthy delays as they wait for coronavirus tests to enter the country. our correspondent in dover is sangita myska who can

bring us up to date. we were hearing from greg at manson airport that some of the lares are beginning to leave that part they are. but there are tailbacks going into the airport and leaving to the airport and into the airport and leaving to the airportand a into the airport and leaving to the airport and a lot of those macro ones are heading to where you are which is already blocked out. ones are heading to where you are which is already blocked outm exactly. this is the scene here at the mouth of the port. let me just tell you where i am and it's going to make sense of everything that is happening at manson. that is the age 20. that comes off the 20. this is the main road into dover port. what you can see is a thick police line. they have been trying to contain a lot of frustrated lorry drivers no sanitation, no toilets, no water, no food and basically no information. those drivers coming out of their vehicles getting very frustrated, they're very tired and want to go

home for christmas. you can hear that those are their horns blowing out of sheer frustration. let me ta ke out of sheer frustration. let me take you around. one police line on that side, as we walked around, i was here yesterday and just one side of that carriageway was gridlocked. today it's both sides. we think that there are about officially 5000 vehicles trying to get into the port of dover. my colleagues all of the kent suggesting the real figure of dover. my colleagues all of the kent suggesting the realfigure is quite a bit higher. what you can see perhaps in the background, again, more police lines was up some of the vehicles now coming out of the port of dover. i've been told on the ground that's because these are macro ones disembarking from fairies. that will be a positive sign. the reason that's a positive sign. the reason that's a positive sign it means that those fairies could be getting ready to set sail. how do i know that? because about two hours ago we saw the first of the first mobile testing kits coming

here to the port of dover. to the mouth of the port, what the police officers are been telling me is that they took some vehicles in, quite a few hours ago and parked, had the drive park them inside the mouth of the port. it's thought that what will happen is they will get tested. if they test negative they will when the ferry is ready to be able to board that ferry and start to break the deadlock. if they are negative, positive, sorry. at the moment they have been told is they will either be asked to isolate in the hotel rooms. the issue with all of this is we have absolutely no timeline. that is why over and over and over again today here at the mouth of dover we seen today here at the mouth of dover we seen frustration spell over. none of us seen frustration spell over. none of us need to be reminded, we are now in the middle of a pandemic. we are all being told to socially distance, to wear a mask, wash her hands and

to wear a mask, wash her hands and to sanitise without keeping clean is absolutely essential. the drivers i spoke to yesterday who are still here because they haven't been up to go anywhere have not been able to get clea n go anywhere have not been able to get clean for the last three days. this is not a good situation and is certainly not the making of the drivers that here today. a very clear sense of the chaos to a degree there where you are. thank you so much for that. at the port of dover. a lot of problems they are still to be dealt looked with. stay with us much more coming up it's time for a look at the weather with sarah keith lucas. hello. as we edge closer to christmas day, the weather eventually will be turning colder and drier as well, but certainly for the rest of today, we have got some wet weather around in the south. england and wales mild and wet, but for scotland and for northern ireland, it's turning colder already. clear spells and a few scattered showers around, too. so, those showers could be a little bit wintry over the high ground of scotland through this evening and tonight, too. further south, england and wales,

this band of rain could be quite heavy and persistent for a time. localised flooding possible — it's boiling on saturated ground. that rain clears to the southeast overnight, so a cold start to christmas eve morning with temperatures below freezing for parts of scotland, close to freezing further south. so, after that initially chilly start, there'll be sunshine for christmas eve, but a brisk northerly wind feeding in further showers to northern and eastern scotland, where they'll be wintry over the high ground and it down the east coast of england as well. perhaps a bit of sleetiness for the north york moors, for instance. further west, you should stay dry, but colder than recent days, just 3—8 . bye— bye.

you're watching bbc news. i'm clive myrie. 0ur you're watching bbc news. i'm clive myrie. our top stories... more of the east and southeast of england will enter the toughest tier 4 restrictions on boxing day. the health secretary says the action is difficult but necessary. this is not news that anybody wants to deliver, and i am truly sorry for the disruption that it causes. but i think people know how important it is that we take decisions like this to keep people safe and to protect the nhs.

matt hancock also confirmed two cases of a different new covid variant in the uk from south africa, saying all those who have travelled from the country must quarantine immediately. in the last 24 hours, more than 39,000 new coronavirus infections were recorded in the uk and a further 744 people died after testing positive, the highest figure since april. the talks in brussels continue with suggestions a post—brexit trade deal between the eu and the uk could be finalised within hours. and the first lorries are starting to leave the airfield in manston in kent after the borders have reopened with france, but thousands of drivers at dover are still waiting for covid tests. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport center, here's 0lly foster. hi there. we will get to the league cup ina

hi there. we will get to the league cup in a moment. the atletico madrid and england defender kieran trippier has been banned for 10 weeks and fined 70 thousand pounds for breaking the fa's betting rules. he was charged in may in relation to a seven breaches injuly 2019 around the time of his move to spain from tottenham. four were proven by an independent commission. he denied any wrongdoing but will now be suspended from all football until the end of february. he won't miss any internationals but the ban will rule him out of at least a dozen matches with league leaders atletico and also the first leg of their champions league last 16 tie against chelsea. there are more league cup quarterfinals tonight. championship stoke have just kicked off against tottenham. goalless there after a couple of minutes. at eight, everton host manchester united, who were beaten semi finalists last season. we wa nt we want to improve every season and to improve to last year ‘s to get to

the final. and of course, when you get to the final, there's only one thing that matters. that's the trophy. so, i remember myself winning my first trophy, even towards the end of my career. i think it was for trees —— pot trees‘s first trophy. 2006, was it? i think that was their first trophy and it does give something to the team. we are desperate to get our hands on a trophy and these players are desperate to learn how to win. everton and liverpool will be the only premier league clubs that can let fans in following the government's latest announcement on coronavirus tiers today. southampton and brighton had also welcomed supporters at st mary's and the amex, but they will be in tier 4 from boxing day, so matches there will be back behind closed doors. cambridge united have moved into tier 4, but the league 2 club have banned some of their fans until the end of the season for booing players

when they took the knee before their last home match against colchester. the club gave fans the opportunity to explain their actions with some of them receive education and support. those banned will have their season tickets refunded. cambridge say, "diversity and inclusion will continue to be at the heart of what we stand for as a football club". the chief executive of the tokyo 0lympic 0rganising committee says the opening and closing ceremonies will be "simplified" next year. the games, scheduled to start injuly, were postponed for a year because of the pandemic, and today, the organisers admitted that the ceremonies will "not be done with grand splendour" that fans and athletes are used to. translation: under covid—19, a simplified ceremony should be delivered. 0f course, there are many reasons. the budget is tighter and the risk of the spread of the virus. we can make

a lot of excuses. in the past, opening and closing ceremonies at the olympic games were always full of surprises. i myself enjoyed those extravagant ceremonies, but now that period is over. we've had a few upsets at the world darts championship, but two—time champion gary anderson is through to the third round. he beat latvia's madars razma 3—1 at alexandra palace. england's ricky evans is also through after beating michael mansell by the same scoreline. england's cricketers will be allowed to fly to sri lanka for next month's test series, despite the country's ban on commercial flights from the uk. they will take a chartered flight onjanuary 2nd and be tested for covid—19 before theirjourney and also on arrival. they'll then spend ten days in a bio—secure training bubble before the first of two matches starts in galle on the 14th. england were in sri lanka in march when the series was abandoned because of the start of the pandemic we'll have more for you in

sportsday at half past six. with a bump of sports. dojoin. look forward to it. the brexit negotiators, the uk's david frost and stephanie riso from the eu commission, are understood there is increasing speculation that a deal could be agreed as early as tonight, but there is still ‘haggling' this afternoon. it's understood the broad shape of an agreement is there but it has not yet been concluded. 0ur reality check correspondent chris morris is here and can tell us more. they're they‘ re pretty close. they‘re pretty close. this seems to have been a bit of a surprise, the suggestion that they were still a bit too far away. there's only a few days left, so it‘s kind of now or never. i know we‘ve been saying that for a while, but it‘s true now. it appears to got to the stage where the negotiators think they have outlined a deal. it has to get political sign off, which in this

country, means because both sides will have to tell my compromise, is borisjohnson will have to tell my compromise, is boris johnson comfortable will have to tell my compromise, is borisjohnson comfortable with the way he will have to compromise on the take back control message. 0n the take back control message. 0n the other side, probably a lot more complicated because while the narrative has always been, this this isa narrative has always been, this this is a negotiation between the uk and the eu, -- is a negotiation between the uk and the eu, —— european commission, it has to go to 20 different capitals. they will not have all seen the details, and that‘s why think though they are clearly very close to a deal, there is caution. if anyone question is raised, that could kick it into tomorrow and so on and so forth. but they need to be close to a deal because time before the end of the transition period on december the 31st has nearly run out, and they‘re on the brink, i think it‘s fairto they‘re on the brink, i think it‘s fair to say. is the issue still, at the moment, basically fish? and the amount of access that european boats will have to british waters once the

transition period ends? it has been one of the last issues, and yes, it appears to be the single most difficult issue even though it‘s worth a tiny amount of money. compared to what the whole deal means for billions and billions of pounds of business now and in the future, but as we said many times, fishing has tremendous symbolic importance. yes, at the moment, eu boats catch about £600 million worth of fish and uk waters every year, the question is how much will they be able to catch in the future? how long will they transition —— the transmission period last? probably about five or six years. i think more difficult is how many fish can you catch and where can you catch them? and the two sides have until quite recently, from what we understand, been fairly far apart. so, either both have given brown or one has given considerable ground.

whichever is the case, one side giving more ground than the other or whatever, both sides are going to have to sell the deal as we have brought back what we needed for our people. that‘s borisjohnson and ursula von der leyen, they have to sell this to their constituents effectively. on both sides of the channel, they‘re preparing... clearly, both sides will set a time for them. until we can frankly see hundreds, possibly up to 2000 pages of detailed legal tax, we and politicians on both sides want time to scrutinise this. we won‘t be able to scrutinise this. we won‘t be able to tell where the compromises have been made. because we‘re so close to the end of the year, on either side will there be time for real proper scrutiny before the end of the year. 0n the eu side, it looks like the only way this will be done before the end of the year if the deer is announced —— deal is announced, is it for it to be provisionally applied, signed off by

representatives of the member states, but then waiting for formal ratification by the european parliament possibly injanuary. not ideal of course, because it is hard to say no to something of its provisionally being used. chris morris, our reality check correspondent. we all remember the power and poignancy of clap for carers, which started back in march. but for four—year—old ava ditchfield and herfamily, it was a particularly significant gesture. herfather alan is a health care assistant at aintree hospital and ava‘s mum alex was in hospital with covid in april, so nhs heroes mean the world to them. after the clap for carers stopped, ava carried on for another seven weeks. now, with christmas coming up and a rise in infection rates, ava wants to clap again and hopes others might join her too. and we‘re joined now by the ditchfield family from liverpool. good afternoon for you all —— do you all. thanks for joining

good afternoon for you all —— do you all. thanks forjoining us here. alan, ifi all. thanks forjoining us here. alan, if i could start with you, how important is all this to you? it means the world to us. 0bviously, it‘s been a tough time for everyone. ava just wanted to do something special for everyone at christmas. she absolutely loves clapping when it was starting, and she was amazing. any key worker that we‘re all thinking of them. alex, do you think it‘s going to be able to be restarted again, the whole thing? yeah. can you hear me? yeah, alex? hi! hi! sorry! not to worry. some of the importance of all this to your family. definitely. ijust can't believe how far we've come since april. and how much better i feel

now because at that time, ijust didn't think i'd be here for christmas, to be honest. so, it's just a great feeling. fantastic. now i‘m going to try to talk to ava. can you hear me? yes. hi! tell me, how important is it for you to keep clapping? to do it. say that again. she loves to do it. i know, everyone loved to do it. were you sad when the clapping stopped? no. no? what do you mean no? you just threw our story out! laughter you‘re happy? story out! laughter you're happy? we stayed clapping, didn't we? yeah. that was good.

really important! let me just go back to you, alan. it was a profound show of appreciation. 0n the part of the whole country, really, for the work of the nhs and for all those people who were battling through this pandemic. it seems as if we‘re now ina this pandemic. it seems as if we‘re now in a new phase with a new variant of covid—19. do you think we should all go back to clapping again, everyone should be doing it ain? again, everyone should be doing it again? i would love that. again, everyone should be doing it again? iwould love that. our again, everyone should be doing it again? i would love that. our family would love that. the baby would love that. whether or not the country would like that, i don‘t know. we just carried this on because he wa nted just carried this on because he wanted to show our appreciation for the nhs staff —— we wanted. just a tiny bit of support, that‘s why we we re tiny bit of support, that‘s why we were clapping and obviously ava was clapping for the doctors a nervous —— and nurses. it was very, very

important to us. hopefully it carries on, but we just wanted to do something for christmas. well, it's a wonder thing —— wonderful thing. alex, it‘s great to see you looking so alex, it‘s great to see you looking so well. can you hear me?|j alex, it‘s great to see you looking so well. can you hear me? i can. it's so well. can you hear me? i can. it‘s good to see you looking so well and little ava as well, thank you for talking to us. go for it! absolutely. thank you so much. thank you! what a wonderful family. absolutely. thank you so much. thank you! what a wonderfulfamily. the ditchfield family in liverpool. it‘s been described as the gold standard in pandemic control — singapore, which has a similar size population to scotland, has reduced its daily rate of coronavirus cases to almost zero. in the entire pandemic, singapore has had just 29 covid related deaths. sura njana tewari resports.

a sea of masks for more than seven months now. singapore seems to have conquered the coronavirus, and yet the restrictions aren‘t going away anytime soon. are you ready for this, yeah? behind this mask is british expat fiona. during singapore‘s circuit—brea ker, she was unable to run her tennis coaching business. like most of the country, fiona‘s now back on her feet but restrictions continue to change the way she works. we started, obviously, with a full lockdown. then, as everybody was complying to all of that, then they allowed the measures to be relaxed. there are restrictions, but those restrictions become, really, your new normal. these tracing tokens are part of that new normal. they help track down people who have come into contact with someone who has tested positive for covid—19. the idea is to get at least 70% of the population into the system, so that contact tracing can be carried out quickly. what we need to do right now is reopen the economy and society.

targeted testing of specific groups in the community, like taxi drivers and teachers, are a big part of getting back on track. but there are still strict laws around social distancing. this aggressive yet effective approach has largely worked because of consistent communication to the public. but in many ways, singapore‘s plan has succeeded because of its political and social culture. we enforce the rules, and, at the same time, we issue warnings as well as penalties for people who repeatedly flout the rules. so, when we implement a rule like mandatory mask wearing, most of the people, i wouldn‘t say all, but most of the people, actually understands the rationale and is willing to comply with it.

singapore plans to vaccinate the entire adult population living here on a voluntary basis and for free. that is more than 5 million people. even with the vaccinations, we will be wearing masks well into next year, possibly longer, and safe distancing rules remain in place. people here are willing to accept those restrictions, though, because opening up slowly and carefully allows them more control over their lives, while keeping the virus under control. let‘s return to the top story, more areas are moving into tier 4 from boxing day. earlier, the health secretary, matt hancock, lead the government‘s latest coronavirus press briefing. we all know that 2020 has been a hard year, and it‘s ending in this festive period which is going to be very different. after all the efforts that we‘ve gone through to control this virus —

and in many parts of the country, this virus is under control — just as we‘ve got a tiered system in place that was able to control this virus, we‘ve discovered a new, more contagious virus, a variant that is spreading at a dangerous rate. and i know that the vast majority of people watching today and across the country understand what we need to do together to get through this. so, today, we‘re announcing further action within the tiering system, and also some further progress on vaccines and on testing. and i just want to say this before i set out the details of what we‘re going to have to put in place, i know that these actions have consequences. i know how difficult it is, but i also know that it is right to take

the action that‘s necessary to control this virus. across the country, cases have risen 57% in the last week. the average covid hospital admissions are 1909 a day. that‘s the highest figure since mid april. there are 18,943 people in hospital with coronavirus right now. that‘s almost as many as there were in the peak. and yesterday, there were 691 deaths reported. that‘s 691 people who have died just before christmas, and our hearts go out to theirfamilies, their loved ones, as with all who died from this horrible disease. i know the pain that this causes. so, against this backdrop of rising infections, rising hospitalisations

and rising numbers of people dying from coronavirus, it is absolutely vital that we act. we simply cannot have the kind of christmas that we all yearn for. of course, if the social contact that makes christmas so special, but it‘s that social contact that the virus thrives on, and that‘s how the virus is spread from one person to another. so, it‘s important that we all minimise our social contact as much as is possible this christmas, and that will help protect ourselves, our loved ones and the whole country. we‘ve got to keep our resolve, we‘ve got to keep going through this. there are four areas i want to update you on today specifically. the first are those tearing decisions ijust mentioned. we know that the 3—tiered system worked to

control the old variant. and is working now in large parts of the country, especially in northern england. but we also know that tier 3is england. but we also know that tier 3 is not enough to control the new variant. this is not a hypothesis, it isa variant. this is not a hypothesis, it is a fact and we seen on the ground. we‘ve seen case rates rise and some of the places close to where the current tier 4 restrictions are, in places like east anglia, where we‘ve seen a significant number of the new variant and we‘ve seen case rates rise sharply. it is therefore necessary to put more of the east and southeast of england into tier 4. we‘re also taking action in parts of the southwest, where there are some early signs of the new variant and where cases are rising. even though case rates in some of these areas are not as high as they are in

the area about the affected, and london and in kent, the direction is clear and london and in kent, the direction is clearand in many london and in kent, the direction is clear and in many cases, quite stark. the doubling times are short. we‘ve learned that when it comes to being a matter of when, not if we ta ke being a matter of when, not if we take action, it is better to act sooner. take action, it is better to act sooner. so, from one minute past midnight on boxing day, sussex, oxfordshire, suffolk, norfolk and cambridgeshire, those parts of essex, not yet in tier 4, waverley and surrey and hampshire, including portsmouth and southampton but with the exception of the new forest will all be exploited to tier 4. bristol, gloucestershire, somerset, including the north somerset counsel area, swindon, the isle of wight, the new forest and northamptonshire, as well as to chester and warrington will

all be escalated to tier 3. —— cheshire. i‘m afraid cornwall and herod for sure need to be escalated to tier 2. —— herefordshire. this is not news anyone wants to deliver and iam not news anyone wants to deliver and i am truly sorry for the disruption that it causes. but i think people know how important it is that we ta ke know how important it is that we take decisions like this to keep people safe and to protect the nhs. the second piece of news i want to tell you about is some developments about another new strain of this virus. of course, the fight against the virus is a global effort, and we‘re constantly vigilant and looking around the world and as part of our surveillance, and thanks to the impressive genomic capability of the impressive genomic capability of the south africans, we‘ve detected two cases of another new variant of coronavirus here in the uk. both are cases, both are contacts of cases who have travelled from south africa

over the past few weeks. the chief scientific adviser and the chief medical officer and others met their south african counterparts over the last day, and we are incredibly grateful to the south african government for the rigour of their science and the openness and transparency with which they have rightly acted as we did when we discovered a new variant here. this isa discovered a new variant here. this is a new variant is highly concerning because it is yet more transmissible and it appears to have mutated further than the new variant that‘s been discovered in the uk. we‘ve taken the following action. first, we are quarantining cases and close contacts of cases found here in the uk. second, we‘re placing immediate restrictions on travel from south africa, and finally and most importantly, anyone in the uk who has been in south africa in the past fortnight and anyone who is a

close contact of someone who‘s been in south africa in the last fortnight must quarantine immediately. by quarantine, i mean they must restrict all contact with any other person whatsoever. will be changing the law to give this legal effect imminently. these measures are temporary. multi investigate further this new strain, which is shortly to be analysed, i want to thank everyone involved for the seriousness with which i know they will take these new instructions. for the rest of today, a real north—south split to our weather, with contrasts and temperature certainly. the scotland and northern ireland, turning colder, clearer with some scattered showers, england and wales, still very mild and also pretty wet as well, so we have low pressure bringing further outbreaks of rain, could be some localised flooding across parts of england and wales because this rain is falling in pretty saturated ground. the winds also feature, picking up, through the english channel, they could be some gales for a time,

rein in the south pushing southwards and eastwards, further north, clearing skies and a cold northerly wind blowing in some scattered showers. rain. -- rain. they will be falling on fairly chilly ground across parts of scotland, there could be some snow particularly over hills, some iciness as well, further south, some frost to start off your christmas eve. heading through tomorrow, then. christmas eve, high pressure sits out to the west of the uk, so quite a lot of dry weather around but the winds will be coming from a northerly direction, so the blue colours across the map, it will be much chillier on christmas eve than it has been recently. a lot of dry, sunny weather to be enjoyed, but some scattered showers along the east coast, could be a little wintry for the north yorkshire moors, north eastern scotland as well, wintry flurries. a lot of dry weather elsewhere. temperatures three to eight degrees, it will feel chilly, particularly where you are exposed to the northerly wind. then heading thursday night into friday, heading right into the big day itself, christmas day. high—pressure still very much

the dominating feature, so a cold start your christmas morning, in fact sub zero across the board. cold and frosty first thing. still a bit of a brisk northerly blowing around the east coast of finland, could be the odd wintry flurry, some showers late in the day for scotland and northern ireland. further south it should remain dry, temperatures on the chilly side for christmas day, quite a cool, frosty feel to the weather, around four to seven degrees for most of us. boxing day, a much more unsettled story here. outbreaks of rain heading in from the north and the west, some snow over the high ground of scotland, dry weather further south and east but we are back into double figures in the south. ten degrees or so. pretty wet and particularly windy across the board for boxing day. then it remains unsettled for further spells of rain, turning cold again through sunday and into monday. goodbye for now.

today at 6pm... an extra six million people in england are heading into tier 4 from boxing day. with the pace of infections across the country increasing, much of the south of england will be under the toughest restrictions. all travel to and from south africa is banned, after yet another variant that is spreading there is found here. this new variant is highly concerning, because it is yet more transmissible and it appears to have mutated further than the new variant that has been discovered in the uk. a number of other areas in england will move up a tier. only the isles of scilly are still in tier 1. also tonight... closing in on a trade deal with the eu — from brussels and london, reports that the major