good morning, welcome to breakfast with louise minchin and dan walker. our headlines today: "stay at home" — that's the message across the uk, as england and scotland go back into lockdown. our hospitals are under more pressure from covid than at any time since the start of the pandemic. with most of the country already under extreme measures, it's clear that we need to do more. all schools will close for most pupils, just a day after the prime minister urged parents of primary children to send them back to the classroom borisjohnson says he aims to have the most vulnerable in england vaccinated by the middle of february.

with every jab with everyjab that goes into our arms, we are tilting the odds against covid and in favour of the british people. give us more support or more companies will collapse and morejobs will go — unions and business groups call for urgent, extra lockdown help from the governments in england and scotland. good morning. elite sport in england can continue but golf courses, tennis courts and all indoor facilities such as gyms, will have to close under the new restrictions. good morning. another cold day ahead. for many it will be dry. however, some wintry showers in the forecast and some rain in the south—east and channel islands. details in about ten minutes. good morning. it's tuesday, the 5th of january. our top story. england is back in lockdown this morning for at least the next seven weeks, with people being told, once again, to stay at home.

the new restrictions, which include the closures of schools and colleges, came into effect at midnight. scotla nd scotland has also imposed a lockdown, which means all four nations have similar restrictions. the prime minister warned the weeks ahead would be "the hardest yet". our political correspondent, jessica parker, has the details. since the pandemic began last year, the whole united kingdom has been engaged in a great national effort to fight covid. the stay—at—home message — so familiarfrom back in march — is again being strongly invoked across the uk. last night borisjohnson said that hospitals were under more pressure now from covid than at any point in the pandemic. on the new rules for england, he urged people to follow them right away, although they won't become a law until the early hours of tomorrow morning. the government is once again instructing you to stay at home. you may only leave home for limited reasons permitted in law, such as to shop for essentials,

to work if you absolutely cannot work from home, to exercise, to seek medical assistance — such as getting a covid test — or to escape domestic abuse. in england, you can meet one other person outside, but only to exercise — and any outdoor exercise should be limited to once a day. the extremely clinically vulnerable have been asked to shield again. follow me. good morning, everybody. hi. on how long the lockdown could last, the government's goal is to vaccinate enough people by mid—february to then subsequently reopen schools after the half—term, and potentially start moving areas down the tiering system — but this timetable is an aim, not a certainty. the vaccine must be rolled out at speed. we need this to be mission—critical. we were the first country to get the vaccine and we need

to be the first country to have the vaccine programme rolled out. so it's that spirit of march — stay at home. lockdowns were already in place in wales and northern ireland. one's coming into force across mainland scotland today. with schools closed to most children, they'll have to learn remotely. it would have been far better if we'd approached in england the management of schools opening and closing in the way that scotland has done — where there's been none of this "will they, won't they?", "will they listen to the evidence?", "when will schools be closed?" everyone knew that schools were going to be closed, but this constant brinkmanship of "how long do you have to go?" is terrible. it's terrible for teachers, it's terrible for parents. and it's not that nice for children, either. while there is new hope because of the vaccine, the weeks ahead spell a new test of endurance, as well. it may be a familiar, more simple message, but it's not necessarily one that's easy to hear. jessica parker, bbc news. let's get more now from our political correspondent, nick eardley, whojoins us from westminster.

good morning. thank you for being with us. nick, last night's announcement will have come as a surprise, especially to teachers and parents. what was behind the sudden change in direction? morning, dan. ithink morning, dan. i think we got a hint from the prime minister in the weekend that there were more restrictions coming in england. clearly, things moved really quickly yesterday though, because it was only yesterday morning we were talking about at the government saying schools were safe and that people should still go to school and the prime minister saying any new restrictions would be announced, as he put it, in due course. a couple of things happened. firstly, in their on a conference call, boris johnson and all the leaders from across the uk were told by the chief medical officers that there was a real risk that if things did not change, the nhs could be overwhelmed. that is why the covid alert level went to its highest level yesterday, to five. boris johnson also got some new figures

yesterday, saying that one day at the end of december 80,000 people across the uk had tested positive for coronavirus. but look, there was huge political pressure as well. throughout the day yesterday, starting on breakfast, there were a lot of people, tory grandees, labour politicians, first ministers like nicola sturgeon, saying, we need to act now, this is critical and something needs to change. and yesterday afternoon boris johnson agreed and that is why england is backin agreed and that is why england is back in this release of your lockdown. nick, thank you. throughout the day today we will be speaking to ulcerative guests. politicians, experts, medics. we would love to hear from you as well. we will be speaking to sir ed davey, leader of the liberal democrats. we have michael gove, nicola sturgeon. and also speaking to the leader of the labour party, sir keir starmer at quarter past seven. absolutely. there are so many changes. we will try to keep you up to date with what has changed overnight and guide you

and also through it as well. that is the reaction from westminster. that's the reaction from westminster, but how do people across england feel about once again being told to stay at home? john mcmanus has been finding out. monday night in york, a place previously in tier 3, but where cases of the virus are rising as winter tightens its grip. as the prime minister announced a further english lockdown on tv, the frustration on the face of this gym owner was easy to see. this news has broken me a little bit. erm, i like to think i'm a strong, resilient person. i pride myself on that. but i'm going home now, wondering, what are the things i can do to make sure my bills are paid? it's a double blow for frankie. as a self—employed businesswoman, she's not eligible for the furlough scheme. meanwhile, hundreds of miles away, devon has one of the lowest rates of infection in england. but nowhere in the county can escape lockdown.

i think the whole country needs to be treated the same, really. it's probably just easier for the whole country to go into lockdown, and then see the whole rates decline, and then we can start again after that. i had it back in march. and then when i had it, obviously getting it down here was very rare. i wouldn't wish it on anybody. so i think whatever it takes to protect who we need to protect, it's worth it. just a few days ago, the people of hull were hoping they might move down a tier. those hopes now dashed. and university students here, and across the country, on have also been told they won't be returning to campus just yet. on have also been told they won't be returning to campus just yet. gutted. i'm a uni student, so i feel a bit let down boris didn't talk about universities. but, yeah, it sort of feels like we've not gone anywhere in ten months. we're key workers, obviously. we can still work and things like that. but like, we both live on our own, and obviously we can't see our family and friends. like, it is a bit lonely, especially when we live on our own.

yeah. across england the outlook is challenging, with only the vaccine roll—out offering a glimmer of hope. john mcmanus, bbc news. police have arrested a scottish mp after she apologised for using public transport while infected with coronavirus. margaret ferrier has been charged with culpable and reckless conduct, for travelling from glasgow to london in september, while awaiting the results of a covid test, and then making the return train journey having tested positive. she was suspended by the snp at westminster, but has refused to resign from parliament. donald trump and joe biden have both been campaigning in the us state of georgia, ahead of today's crucial vote for two senate seats. more than three million people have already cast ballots — nearly 40% of the state's registered voters. if the democrats win, they will control all of congress and the white house. our washington correspondent, nomia iqbal, reports. the men standing withjoe biden may

just be this most important friends right now. democrats raphael warnock and jon ossoff are running for the two senate seats in georgia. if they win, the president—elect‘s party will control the senate. one state. one state can chart the course not just for the next four years but for the next generation. for the people in georgia, this means campaigning has never stopped. the place we demand better is at the ballot box. the energy here in georgia is something i have never seen before. yes, we can do it. yes we can! ifjon osoff wins, he will be the youngest senator, a title that once belonged to joe biden. the pressure is on georgia's republicans two. fellow candidate

has had to quarantine for a few days. make sure that you get your friends and family out. this is about to turn out. we are going to win. the early voter turnout in georgia has been huge, and that is because this state knows their candidates will decide just how powerfuljoe biden‘s presidency will be. pro-business, pro-conservative values trickle down to our city. i am telling people to go out there and vote. george is the final battle for president trump. he is —— is still wrongly believes the election was rigged. there is no way we lost georgia. there is no way. that was a rigged election. some republicans worry he could put off voters, giving the advantage tojill biden micro. ——joe —— joe biden. now the weather with carol. cheer the nation up, carol!

it is not too shabby. it is going to bea it is not too shabby. it is going to be a cold start to the day. —3 in prestwick, plus three in st helier. we have also got some wintry showers. by no means will we all see them. the cold field represented by them. the cold field represented by the blue across the uk, is going to be with us for a few days. it won't be with us for a few days. it won't be until next week we see the temperatures pick up. these are the kind of levels that will greet you in towns and cities if you are just stepping out. another day for wrapping up only. what we have is this rain coming across parts of the south—east into the channel islands. you might see some wintriness, some sleet at lower levels, snow and higher ground in east anglia and the downs, for example. you can also see a lot of dry weather, some sunshine, wintry showers across parts of scotla nd wintry showers across parts of scotland and northern england. the other thing is we have got gusty winds across england and wales today. not quite as strong as they

we re today. not quite as strong as they were yesterday, but certainly strong enough to be blowing some of those showers in towards the midlands and wales. temperatures, three to 5 degrees, but when you add on the wind, it will feel colder. this evening and overnight we hang on to the wintry showers across scotland and northern england. we hang on to the rain, fairly patchy, across east anglia, the south—east and the channel islands, and we have clear skies. it is going to be another cold night. there will be some frost, particularly across scotland, and there is also going to be the risk of isis on untreated surfaces. that leads us into tomorrow. —— ice. showers in the channel islands. tomorrow, the winds will be lighter. more dry weather, more sunshine, but by the end of the day we have also got a weather front coming in across the north west. initially that will bring in some rain. but for some of us bring in some rain. but for some of us it will bring snow. i will tell

you where you can expect that in about half an thank you, carol. i was a bit late this morning because of the roads. thank you, carol. i was a bit late this morning because of the roadslj know you were. i want to talk about christmas trees. your christmas tree is gone, i take it? christmas trees. your christmas tree is gone, itake it? it christmas trees. your christmas tree is gone, i take it? it went very early, yeah! i will tell you why a p pa re ntly early, yeah! i will tell you why apparently it is all right to keep it up until february. honestly? yes, honestly. mine went up in november and it is going to stay up until february. have you got a real treat? i'm so perturbed by that i have lost the ability to speak! really importantly, nina is going to talk to us about all the details. we saw the prime minister talk last night. lots of impact on businesses, jobs, the rest of it. sorry i let you down on the christmas tree front. we were united at the start of december. we are talking

about the impact on businesses. lots of small business owners waking up this morning to a now familiar story — the plans they had made, taken away at the last minute. some really worrying statements from business groups and unions about the future for lots of these companies now. so here's what we know. three quarters of people in england were already living in tier 4 restrictions, but full lockdown still means big changes. all non—essential retailers must now close. click and collect services may continue for shops — as well as restaurants and pubs, but no alcohol now. bad news for takeaway pint fans. garden centres can stay open, and house building and home moves can continue. but indoor and outdoor gyms must close, and outside sports like golf and tennis can't continue either. in scotland, another full, legally binding lockdown from today. similar rules as for england, but places of worship will also close. remember, of course, that both wales and northern ireland were already under stay—at—home

restrictions, although the return to school is now on hold in wales, and northern ireland could well follow. as we were reporting this morning, the closure of schools — but not nurseries in england — will mean headaches for workers with childcare issues. but it is business owners now counting the financial cost. frances bishop will now have to close another of her children's clothing stores, which was in a tier 3 area. she told us click and collect was not financially viable for her, and that the wait for the inevitable bad news announcement yesterday made her incredibly anxious. you know it's coming. you are trying to plan for the inevitable. you need the government to say, actually, we are any lockdown situation. but you just feel like you're trying to climba mountain just feel like you're trying to climb a mountain in the snow and there is no way out at the minute. you are at a point where you're not

looking to expand at this stage, you are not looking to make profit. you are not looking to make profit. you are looking just to survive. and it's been that way for a very long time now. and you wake up each morning and the first thing i do is go on the websites. its feeling of panic because you know you have to cover a dayjust to keep the lights on. when you are responsible for your colleagues, you are responsible for other people's families, that is an immense kind of... it is an immense pressure to have. so much pressure on francis and so many business owners just like her. the government say the furlough, orjob retention scheme, is still open, and that businesses in every part of the uk have access to loans and grants to help deal with the impact of disruption. but the list of groups warning this morning thatjobs and businesses are at risk without further support is staggering. the confederation of british industry, the travel agent body abta,

the british retail consortium, the trades union congress, the recruitment and employment confederation, the gym trade body uk active and the manufacturing organisation make uk, all warning that both broader and longer support measures were now necessary. some of these schemes that the government has put in place and during march and feet furlough scheme comes to an end in april. given that we know we are going to be dealing with the effects of this crisis for some time yet, until we see crisis for some time yet, until we see the light had at the end of the tunnel that is the vaccination programme, support needs to be in place for longer. in some cases that support also needs to be deeper. the grants an offer from governments across the uk are not enough to offset the fixed costs that so many businesses are having to bear. some specific ideas there. no sign yet that the government plans to make these changes — at least not before the budget next month. we're going to be speaking to the boss of the cbi after eight. their chief economist saying the uk is now destined for another recession,

but that the size of it and the impact it has on us all could be lessened if the government is prepared to act. lots of business leaders pointed to last summer. when things opened up injuly and last summer. when things opened up in july and august, last summer. when things opened up injuly and august, those who received the support in the spring did ok. they are saying now is, let's not lose this on the final straight. the vaccine is being rolled out. just a little more help to help businesses survive in the next 12 weeks itself. thank you. let's take a look at today's papers. it is dominated by one story. the return to lockdown is the focus of all today's front pages, including the times. as we've been reporting this morning, the prime minister boris johnson has announced that everyone in england must stay at home, except for permitted reasons. the new restrictions are expected to last until the middle of next month. meanwhile, the daily mail declares, "it's back to square one", after news of the latest lockdown. it describes the new measures as "the most draconian since the spring". "one last push", declares the sun, in reference to the prime minister's

hope that the country is entering "the last phase of the struggle". the paper estimates that 13 million people will be offered a vaccination by the 15th of february. and trending on twitter is a man whose name is synonymous with lockdown, joe wicks. this tweet from peter crouch has already got more than 56,000 likes. "i hopejoe wicks has stretched off," he says. do you know what? joe, everybody needs you. he did say —— say he was ready to go next monday. i also saw ba na na ready to go next monday. i also saw banana bread was trending last night. by chance i happen to have bought some stuff to make some ba na na bought some stuff to make some banana bread last week. tell us how you are feeling this morning. there are big changes. tell us how you are. we will talk about it later. i am going to try to find notes of

optimism today. this is about christmas trees. i know yours has gone, which is a terrible shame. we all decided as a family to get rid and move on. i decided last night that mine is staying. english heritage is urging people to stop arguing over whether the 12th night is january fixed —— fifth or sixth and encouraging people to keep their decorations up until february. that is what used to happen in the 17th century. it is an english tradition that sustained itself well into the 17th century. decoration should be kept up. if you go to catholic and high anglican churches, so they stay you will find the group remaining in place as well as a fair amount of decorations, and english heritage are going to keep their decorations up are going to keep their decorations up until february. i am going to try to see if my tree lasts from november until february. they also used to throw their waste into the street in the 17th century, louise.

we don't do that today, do we?! bring it back. let's throw our refuge into the streets. a tiny little bit of light relief. if you areafan little bit of light relief. if you are a fan of death in paradise, its the tenth series. it is a huge hit in your house. i love it. it is a little bit of sunshine, isn't it? obviously the subject matter is murder. but particularly now, this time of the year is when it is normally. the tenth series starts this week. we will speak to don warrington and ralf little. we booked them before yesterday but it seems pertinent today. yes. you are watching breakfast. as we've been hearing this morning, all schools in england have now closed to most pupils until at least february half term, and summer exams will mostly be cancelled. it's after a short—lived return to the classroom for many primary school pupils yesterday. mark currell is the head teacher of a primary school in northampton, and hejoins us now.

we talked to you this time yesterday. you are trying to get ready to open your school. just tell us ready to open your school. just tell us what the last 2a hours has been like? good morning. good morning. it is all change. we are now changing what we are planning to do and moving everything online. it's incredibly frustrating. it's been very stressful for parents and our community, and our staff, who have been working tirelessly to get everything ready to open the gates today. the gates aren't going to open to children. right decision in light of the sage and all the imperial college data that is out there. but so last minute. i can understand eve ryone's frustrating. it's not ideal. lots of people will be waking up this morning. lots of children went to bed last night presumably thinking they were going back to school. when did you inform parents? about 20 past eight last night. we could see it coming. the

frustration, louise, is that we have known for months this was going to happen. we didn't know when it was going to happen. we were waiting for some strong and direct leadership. schools have been getting ready to open, but with the knowledge that we are going to have to go online at some stage in the future. just predicting the outcome and not with any concrete instructions, so once we did now, at eight o'clock last night, we sent a message out to our pa re nt night, we sent a message out to our parent community as soon as we heard. there may be parents who want to get that and will turn up this morning. your school is not alone. so many people will be waking up this morning expecting to take their children to school today, children perhaps watching as well. what is your advice? it is a difficult time, isn't it? hugely difficult. the only advice you can give to everybody is to be kind to one another. i think we are all in the same position. believe it or not i did send a message to my parents prior to the prime minister making his statement

la st prime minister making his statement last night, saying, we are all in the same position, we are finding out at the same time as you. yes, thatis out at the same time as you. yes, that is not ideal for any professional body. but to be sitting here saying, look, we are going to have to work through this together, that, i hope, in a way has galvanised our community so we can at least be honest and open and friendly to one another, even though we know it's not ideal in any way, shape or form. so many parents have been through this before and have schooled their children outside. you area schooled their children outside. you are a teacher. what is your advice? again, be patient. make sure your expectations are realistic. because online learning is not the same as learning in the classroom. professionals, as far as my school is concerned, professionals don't enjoy it as much as face—to—face learning. you don't get the automatic feedback and response from the children. it is very hard to

differentiate and make the work completely bespoke, as you would do face—to—face in a classroom. sol think for parents you have to remain patient and just understand that children learn at different paces. not everybody learns at the same pace. we are going to have to be kind, controlled, patient andjust hopefully, we will see it through together and we can all come back together and we can all come back together again in the future. mark, really good advice. thank you very much indeed. appreciate you talking to us again. it's been a difficult 24 to us again. it's been a difficult 2a hours for you as well. thank you. good advice. kind, controlled and peasant. we will try to do that this morning. time now to get the news, travel and weather where you are. loved one good morning, i'm asad ahmad. it's been said that enforcing the new national lockdown will put "a lot of pressure" on police officers in london — whose numbers are already reduced by the coronavirus pandemic.

the chairman of the metropolitan police federation — which represents front line officers — says 1,300 officers are currently off sick or self—isolating in london. ken marsh is urging government to place police officers on a priority list to receive coronavirus vaccines — but he claims his requests to government were "falling on deaf ears". well, the sudden lockdown which has caught schools out will — according to a food waste company — lead to millions of school dinners being thrown away. as pupils prepare to attend lessons online, food which has already been bought for school dinners is likely to go to waste. businesswaste called it a "national disaster". it says london schools will have stocked up with meals in advance, which will now end—up in landfill. which will now end up in landfill. and to find out about all the restrictions coming into force and how it'll affect you and your family, do go to the bbc news website. you can also go on our

social media channels. all you do is search for bbc london on facebook, twitter or instagram. let's take a look at the travel situation now. on the tubes, there's no service on the london overground between upper holloway and gospel oak due to a faulty track. that's also affecting the the circle and hammersmith & city lines. the jubilee line has a signalfailure. on the roads, its slow on the a13 into town, closed at the beckton roundabout. there are diversions in place again and they are likely to be there for another week to 10 days due to emergency water works. now the weather with kate. good morning. well, it's another very chilly start this morning with temperatures just above zero in most places. now we'll see some more showers feeding in from the north sea — again falling largely as rain — but over higher ground, you might get something

a little more wintry, maybe some wet snow and sleet accompanied by quite a brisk north—easterly. the temperatures cold — between three and five celsius — but factor in the wind—chill, it is going to feel that bit colder. now, overnight tonight, we're still going to see further showers feeding in. again, similarstory — higher ground might get something wintry, lower levels falling as rain. it's another chilly night — the minimum between one and three celsius. now for tomorrow, the wind falls a bit lighter. it starts to veer from the north, as well. we're still, however, you can see, hanging onto the cold air — that's the blue. it's not until the end of the weekend you'll start to see that slightly less—blue air or less—cold air heading in our direction. now, it's not going to get very much warmer. however, the temperature as we head into the first part of next week, a little less cold. joining vanessa feltz on bbc radio london after seven is dr elisabetta groppelli — virologist and lecturer in global health at st george's university london. she'll be talking about whether going into lockdown is the right thing to do.

i'll be back in half an hour. hello, this is breakfast with louise minchin and dan walker. coming up on breakfast this morning... "stay at home" — that's the message once again from the prime minister as england enters another lockdown — we'll be joined by our panel of experts to answer your questions at 8.10. and throughout the morning we will have the political reaction to the latest measures, including from cabinet office minister michael gove at 7.30. what about the rules across the rest of the uk? we'll get the latest from scotland, wales and northern ireland, and speak to scotland's first minister nicola sturgeon at 8.30. the prime minister has announced a new national lockdown in england to

stop the spread of coronavirus. the new restrictions — which include the closures of schools and colleges — came into effect at midnight. people are only permitted to leave home for limited reasons. scotland has also imposed a lockdown, which means all four nations now have similar restrictions in an effort to slow down the surging cases. yesterday, in his televised address to the nation, borisjohnson said the coming weeks will be the "hardest yet" and warned if we don't take action the nhs is in danger of being overwhelmed. in wales there are now more covid patients in hospital beds than ever before. dr bethan gibson is a senior intensive care doctor at the royal glamorgan hospital. she's recorded this video diary for us. i'm in the car park in work, ready to go in for another day shift. i've been off for three days, so i feel quite refreshed, ready to go into work to look after the patients on the intensive care unit. these days, there is some trepidation going into work because i know i was last there on sunday, and sunday was a busy day, and i know it's got busier since then. the staff have had to move

into a different ward to accommodate the more covid patients that we've had to admit, and i know, unfortunately, we've lost at least three — if not more than that — patients since i was in, so it will be a difficult day, as well, because i know it's going to be really busy. i'm hoping that we can manage with what we've got with the staff that we have. so i know that staffing will be a problem or another complication today. i'm going to have to try and make sure that the staff we have are looked after and feel supported, and the staff that have come into intensive care to help us also need a lot of support and encouragement. so i'm in itu. i've just finished the ward round and i've been in this ppe for about two and a half hours now and i can't wait to get it off. i'm dying for a drink. and though it looks comfortable, there is a constant whirring noise from the pump at the back, but i have to appreciate our nurses are in this for probably hours

on end, quite often missing breaks because there isn't enough of them, and it's really busy at times. but we try and find time that they do get breaks. i've had enough after two and a half hours and i can't wait to get this off. so i'm just about to go to ward 3 — and that's where our patients with covid are having cpap — to review a patient who the staff are worried about. it sounds like he is deteriorating, despite being on pretty high support with a cpap machine. personally, this is quite a difficult time because you have to make an assessment if the patient needs to come to intensive care. i know we are currently already struggling with the number of patients versus the number of staff, so i know it's going to put more pressure on my team if the patient has to come, and i know for that patient, if he does need to come, and come to intensive care, his chances of survival are pretty small, to be honest — or less than 50%. and i will have to communicate

that with the patient. a busy few hours have just gone past. one of the patients we already have on covid itu has deteriorated and the team have had to rush in to prone the patient — so flip onto his belly — and we are in the process of referring to guy's and st thomas' in london to see if the patient would be suitable or accepted as an ecmo patient, so we are just waiting for this and hopefully some stability before we update his family. and also i've been on the telephone with other units in wales who are full and struggling with staffing to see if we are able to accept a patient to help them. this is quite a difficult scenario because we are also pretty full and struggling, but maybe they are worse than we are. we're not in a great place, either. and to accept another patient

is going to stress the team here out all the more. but it will probably help the team that need the patient transferred, so it's a difficultjuggling act at times to decide what's the best or the greatest good that we can achieve. it's one of the toughest parts of the job, especially lately, is updating the relatives because they can't come and see their loved one who is on itu, and so we try and update them most days. can't say we do it every day — we are busy, we miss it — but we try and update most days and i find that most of the time it's breaking bad news or not really giving any positive news because the patients are so sick, and even if you see a bit of improvement we know they are nowhere out of the woods. ifind i'm using the word "but" a lot, so you say the oxygen is a bit better but... or, you know, they are improving, the kidneys are fine, but... and i always remember somebody telling me their dad had been to itu — at one of the conferences — and the son was talking

about his experience as the relative and how much he hated the word "but". and ifind i'm using it a lot now, unfortunately. it's quite upsetting, as well, emotionally, for me because i can't imagine what it's like to be the relative, not seeing your loved one and then having this news broke into them constantly and hearing their suffering and upset and quite often they are ill themselves with covid, so it's not my most favourite part of thejob but so it's not my most favourite part of the job but it's quite an important part of the job. so of the job but it's quite an important part of thejob. so i am now going home after public mediumship, i would say. i think there are some positives. managed to discharge three patients today to the ward and only admit two, so that is going in the right direction and the hope is the lockdown now will have a big impact on the number of patients coming in to make things a bit more manageable in the coming weeks. a big thank you to bethan and the royal glamorgan hospital for detailing her day. it gives you a really clear picture of what some of those on the front line are facing. we're joined now by our

gp, drwilliam bird. good morning. thank you so much for being with us. i am aware that lots of our viewers this morning will probably be concerned about what lies ahead in the days and weeks ahead. what sort of advice would you be hearing this morning to a concerned patient on the phone to you? i think the first thing is that we have to acknowledge it will be a difficult january. january is always busyin difficult january. january is always busy in the nhs. we know it peaks at about the second week to the end of january and on top of that of course we have covid. the good thing is that we have low flute this year, incredibly low. so when patients come in —— we have low flu. there is a lot of anxiety. we are going to hunker down for a difficult couple of weeks but the vaccination process is going through really quickly and

i'm really impressed. primary care, in the uk, we are incredibly well set up for this. i think the advice is, yes, we will have a difficult to work three weeks to get three january and then, hopefully, we will start to see the benefits of the vaccination programme and it is going to go ahead and be brilliant andi going to go ahead and be brilliant and i think most gps realise they can do this now incredibly well. and i think most gps realise they can do this now incredibly welllj suppose that is a big difference between this lockdown and others. the promise of vaccination. on the numbers around that, we had the prime minister talked about trying to vaccinate all of the vulnerable and elderly by the middle of next month, which is around 13 million people. how realistic is it, do you think, to get to that target by the middle of february?” think, to get to that target by the middle of february? i think we can do it. i think general practice in general has had to do it vaccination is...i general has had to do it vaccination is... i mean, the flu vaccination is not a small feat at all. everyone

over the age of 65 and those with long—term conditions, every year we managed to get that the only difference this time is the supply of vaccines. we don't quite know exactly when they are going to arrive. sometimes it can be the day before so you are booking all these patients in the hope they will come in and it's just patients in the hope they will come in and it'sjust in patients in the hope they will come in and it's just in time. patients in the hope they will come in and it'sjust in time. as long as the manufacturing takes place and we get it into the country then i think primary care is completely set up to be able to deliver that and already the numbers are looking good and i think they are little hubs now, gp practices, and the logistics of getting people income having to wait 15 minutes at the end, hopefully in the one because it is going to be cold, and then moving out again, i cannot see that not working i think it isa cannot see that not working i think it is a realistic target. we just heard from an intensive care doctor in wales about what life was like in the front line on the nhs. in terms of that pressure on the service, how much of that is spilling out to practices like yours? i think

primary care does have the load. as i say, we have kind of lost some of the respiratory infections we tend to get outside covid so that has been a bit of help but it is difficult because of the vaccination taking upa difficult because of the vaccination taking up a huge amount of resource logistics and staff time. so you have the normal load of the nhs added on to that covid and then you ta ke added on to that covid and then you take away some of the staff and then you have obviously a very tight situation that will be difficult, andi situation that will be difficult, and i think, again, cold weather coming through, we never dismiss that because studies show it can double the number of respiratory infections. i think the people coming through are anxious. i think a huge number of the younger people are more anxious. it is not so much the elderly, it's those in their 20s and 30s, particularly single pa rents, and 30s, particularly single parents, and we know from studies that it parents, and we know from studies thatitis parents, and we know from studies that it is a lot of women, female,

in deprived communities so there is a huge amount of that anxiety that spills out onto all sorts of other problems, as well, with mental health issues and some physical issues. we are seeing that load increase. it will be difficult, no doubt, but i have got all the confidence that colleagues in primary care i going to be able to do itand primary care i going to be able to do it and by the time we get to the end of this lockdown, i really do think that we will pull this through and achieve other targets. we have looked at the intensive care. intensive care is not quite so bad as it was this time in april in some hospitals. our local hospital, they are keeping things going and doing a lot of noninvasive ventilation beforehand, meaning they don't need to have those intensive care units. we are seeing the hospital is in control here, the royal berkshire, and therefore it is safe to come and see your doctor, but other things

outside covid, that is an important message. i wanted to ask about that. lots of people will be watching this morning, worrying about something unrelated to covid and wondering whether they can come and see their doctor. it is a really important message this morning. it is, it is. sometimes we are asking patients to come to the out of hours and they don't want to come up. we say please. we had one the other day came up and said, no, ijust need antibiotics, i get these chest infections all the time. he came up eventually after a lot of persuasion and found to have a major height problem and he was reluctantly admitted and got sorted out. he may not have been so fortunate. please, if you have non—covid, primary care is really sorted now and it is important you get those conditions sorted out because they will continue and if we don't do it now, and leave it to a three weeks, you may find the condition has got a lot worse. always good to talk to you,

dr william bird, have a great day. thanks very much. really good to hear some clear advice from our gp. we have them at 6:30am and have done for many months.. feels like years! if you are watching again, that though never speak to a gp for information. let's get some sport. good morning. back in lockdown again. good morning. not exactly the same as my figures this time there will be sport. and how we missed it in march! do you remember when golf and tennis came back? when football is back on our screens and what a difference it made. some could not ca re less difference it made. some could not care less but for some it was a real lifeline. elite level sport in england, such as premier league football, will continue behind closed doors. but at the amateur level, outdoor venues such as golf courses and tennis courts will be closed, as will indoor facilities such as gyms. professional sport will also continue in scotland.

but matches and training in non—elite football — which includes grassroots for all ages — have been suspended. only organised outdoor sport for disabled people is exempt from the new measures. we will keep you updated, of course, here on breakfast. in two matches on the pitch... southampton manager ralph hasenhuttl was reduced to tears after his side beat the champions and league leaders liverpool last night. the only goal of the game came in the second minute, with former liverpool striker danny ings coming back to haunt his former club. and holding on for the rest of the game was all too much for hasenhuttl, who finally managed to get the better of his good friend jurgen klopp. it was the last one i have never taken points so far, yeah. and, yeah, even... i think i had a phone call two months ago where i said, look, when i wish something that i take a point against you one time. and, yeah, it was tactically,

for both sides, very demanding and this was maybe the perfect day today — this was a special day. when you don't perform on your highest level — for us in a moment on the night, it was not possible — so we have to take that. and it's not a super moment, that's all — we really feel it and i think tonight we have to feel it, that that was not enough. and now we have to show a reaction. that's how it is. championship side derby county have been forced to close their training ground after several players and staff members tested positive for covid—19. they're in talks with the league and the fa regarding their upcoming fixtures — the first one is on saturday, an fa cup tie against non—league side chorley. manchester city women are also affected, with four first—team players testing positive. they're due to play west ham on saturday. the women's fa cup has been suspended, as it's classed as non—elite at this stage

of the competition. despite strict coronavirus protocols, england cricketer moeen ali has tested positive for the virus, just a day after the squad landed in sri lanka for two test matches. the entire travelling party tested negative before they boarded their flight, but moeen then returned a positive result on arrival. he's likely to miss the first match, which starts on the 14th. his team—mate chris woakes has been deemed as a possible close contact, so he'll now have to self—isolate before a further test. not much concern about that series. england have travelled with seven reserves just in case they were positive tests. fingers crossed it can go ahead. it should do. then there will be test cricket to watch. it's not all doom and gloom are. seven reserves, that is something! thank you very much. charlie gets and whether? yes. carol said it would be chilly in various parts

through the week. there you go, perfect example, good morning. we don'tjust throw this perfect example, good morning. we don't just throw this together! good morning, everybody. these are the temperatures at the moment. you get the picture. it is a cold start to the picture. it is a cold start to the day. it is going to be a cold day generally. most of the weather fronts are being ke pt most of the weather fronts are being kept at bay in the atlantic because we have a great big area of high pressure across us. that will slip down towards the south—west through the course of tomorrow but the wind still coming from the north—east and gusty winds at that, and you will notice we will have a weather front across the south—east into the channel islands. that is producing rain and has been for some time. today, it could turn wintry at times, especially with altitude. some wintry showers across england and parts of scotland. gusty wind, you will find it is blowing further in one so we will see some of those getting into the midlands. into the

afternoon, the black circles indicate the strength of the wind gusts. quite gusty, though not quite as gusty as yesterday. towards the west, south—west england, wales, northern ireland, western scotland, we will hang onto the dry conditions and before it gets dark we will see that sunshine but it gets dark so early now. over to the east is where we are prone to showers. eastern scotland, the southern uplands and eastern england. temperatures between three and five or 6 degrees. but don't forget with that gusty night easily, if you are exposed to it will feel colder than those temperatures suggest. through this evening and overnight we hang onto the rain coming in across the south—east and the channel islands. we hang on, also, to the wintry showers across parts of scotland and northern england. some clear skies, some thrust and the risk once again of ice on untreated services at this. these are the lowest in towns and cities, low in rural areas. high

pressure pushing up tomorrow to the south—west, allowing this area of low pressure with its fronts to come. the winds will be lighter than today. these are the gusts, coming from a different direction, which is why i have put them on. the distribution of the showers tomorrow will be slightly different to what we are looking at today. we will see a few coming in along the north sea coastline and a few coming in across south—east and channel islands. not as sweeping as today but a lot of dry weather before the weather front arrives later, introducing this rain and another cold day. then we pick up and another cold day. then we pick up the forecast as we go through the course of the night, wednesday into thursday, following the track this weather front. as it comes to south and engages with the colder air through the evening and overnight, across scotland, we will see some snow across scotland, we will see some snow falling, even to lower levels and we will see some snow likely on the hills across northern ireland. ahead of that, still some snow showers, again lightly on the hills.

if we pick this up during the course of their stay daytime, well, it's very slowly drifts southwards, taking some of that snow across parts of northern england. most in the hills again, and south of that a lot of dry weather with some sunshine and a few showers around the coast. in the north behind it we see a return to some snow showers and some of those, as well, well fall at lower levels. thank you very much for that. thank you. last night the prime minister put england back into a tough national lockdown — it was as more than 50,000 new coronavirus cases were recorded in the uk for the seventh day in a row. let speech as leader of the liberal democrats, sir ed davey. thank you very indeed, you support this down. yes, the liberal democrats will support these measures because the virus is out of control. we wish it had come earlier. i'm afraid this

prime minister has a record now, he is always late on lockdown. he was late on the first, the second, the third. that is because he ignores the advice of experts. he ignored cobra in february, he ignored sage on the 21st of september and again on the 21st of september and again on 22nd of december. he always seems to pull off the decisions at the last minute. that means people end up last minute. that means people end up paying the price, either to disruption to their lives or in some cases with their lives themselves. so i'm afraid, yes, we will support these measures, but we wish the prime minister was rather more competent. you can understand your criticism, but there is a balance between public health and managing the economy, as well. what would you like to see done with regards to all of those businesses that are now being affected by what is going to happen over the next few weeks? i'm glad you raised that. i think it is

hugely serious. businesses are on their knees and a particular focus on small businesses and the self—employed, or i think have borne the brunt. the self—employed have been excluded from much of the government help. we reckon it is about 3 million self—employed and small businesses who have had nothing from the government, so the government has to change its tax on economic support to businesses, really reach out to small businesses and the self—employed. the liberal democrats will be pushing that yet again. but if we are going to get through this, we also have to hold the government to account on the vaccine roll—out. it is great news we have a vaccine. i want to talk to you about the vaccine in the second. on those businesses, and it is not just the self—employed, is it, for example? how would you for example, a fund that, and how long do you think you would have to do that for? if we fund even the way the government has been doing. the good news is that if the vaccine roll—out is done well, this is not a blank

cheque. we can see the end of it. i would urge the government to be much more generous than it has been because businesses have been using savings, going into debt. they need far more help now than they have been receiving and i come back to the self—employed and small businesses because they have been excluded so much from the government's help so far and the lib dems will urge the chancellor to come forward early with specific measures, more generous than in the past, particularly for those who haven't had anything. can we talk about furlough because employers are having to pay pensions and national insurance contributions, would you like to see that change? that has to be looked at. i think some of the ways the government have supported businesses in the last yearjust hasn't worked. we have seen too many people missing out and the furlough scheme has been changed and chopped around and now is not enough for

some businesses to keep their employees on. i think there is a real danger we will see a huge rise in unemployment, a huge increase in redundancies, if the government doesn't act very, very soon. let's talk about the vaccine. we know from the prime minister last night that they are hoping to vaccinate 13 million people in those top priority groups by the middle of february. is that, in your view, groups by the middle of february. is that, in yourview, realistic?” hope it is. but we need to understand more about the plan to deliver that. that is why it is right that parliament is coming back tomorrow. i would urge the government to go further than they have done so far. i think we need to see a cabinet minister in charge of the roll—out. they have given it to a junior minister. it needs to be someone at the top table. i think there needs to be a new project team which involves local government. they are so crucial to this. there should be cross—party mps on that project team as well as the scientific experts. i just project team as well as the

scientific experts. ijust don't get a sense that government have really gripped the roll—out that is required, and so i am a bit sceptical that we will be able to meet those targets. i hope they will, but unless they change the way they are going about the roll—out i think they will miss them. these lockdown measures we know are in place for some weeks now. you back then going beyond that, would you? well, i am clear we will support the measures so far. we need to ensure that we are protecting people's lives, that is the most important thing. iwant lives, that is the most important thing. i want the government to get ahead of these decisions. it has a lwa ys ahead of these decisions. it has always been so late. it needs to listen to the experts for more than it has done and the liberal democrats said before christmas that the national lockdown was inevitable. there needed to be planning for it. we argued that people like parents and teachers and schools needed early warning. but the governmentjust failed schools needed early warning. but the government just failed to schools needed early warning. but the governmentjust failed to do that, so when we look ahead we need that, so when we look ahead we need that early warning. just think about

what the prime minister did. on sunday he said schools were safe and then yesterday he said they were vectors of the virus. parents will be deeply aligned by the inconsistency. thousands of schools had to prepare to be open, preparing to test the pupils... they could have spent that i preparing for remote learning to ensure our children get the best out of this. they are paying for the sacrifice of the delays. ed davey, thank you for your time. we are speaking to various political leaders on the programme this morning. also schools leaders, as well. sir keir starmer is here at 7:15am, michael gove at 7:30am nicola sturgeon at 8:30am. we have a panel of experts at 8:10am and we would love to know how you feel this morning about the national lockdown. send our questions. time now to get the news, travel and weather where you are.

good morning from bbc london, i'm asad ahmed. it's been said that enforcing the new national lockdown will put "a lot of pressure" on police officers in london, whose numbers are already reduced by the coronavirus pandemic. the chairman of the metropolitan police federation, which represents front line officers, says 1300 officers are currently off sick or self—isolating in london. ken marsh is urging government to place police officers on a priority list to receive coronavirus vaccines, but he claims his requests to government are "falling on deaf ears". well, the sudden lockdown caught many secondary schools and colleges by surprise. and according to a food waste company, it'll therefore lead to millions of school dinners being thrown away. as pupils prepare to attend lessons online, food which has already been bought for school dinners is likely to go to waste. the company, busines waste, has called it a "national disaster". it says london schools will have stocked up with meals in advance, which will now end—up in landfill.

and to find out about all the restrictions coming into force, and how it'll effect you and your family, do go to the bbc news website. you can also go on our social media channels. all you do is search for bbc london, on facebook, twitter or instagram. let's take a look at the travel situation now. on the tubes, there's no service on the london overground between upper holloway to gospel oak due to a faulty track. that's also effecting the the circle and hammersmith & city lines. on the roads, its slow on the a13 in to town closed at the beckton roundabout. there are diversions ion place again, and they are likely to be there for another week to 10 days due to emergency water works. now the weather with kate. good morning. well, it's another very chilly start this morning with temperatures just above zero in most places.

now we'll see some more showers feeding in from the north sea — again falling largely as rain — but over higher ground, you might get something a little more wintry, maybe some wet snow and sleet accompanied by quite a brisk north—easterly. the temperatures cold — between three and five celsius — but factor in the wind—chill, it is going to feel that bit colder. now, overnight tonight, we're still going to see further showers feeding in. again, similarstory — higher ground might get something wintry, lower levels falling as rain. it's another chilly night — the minimum between one and three celsius. now for tomorrow, the wind falls a bit lighter. it starts to veer from the north, as well. we're still, however, you can see, hanging onto the cold air — that's the blue. it's not until the end of the weekend you'll start to see that slightly less—blue air or less—cold air heading in our direction. now, it's not going to get very much warmer. however, the temperature as we head into the first part of next week, a little less cold. with us going into lockdown, don't forget you can call bbc radio london for free on 0800 2312000.

and you can tune via the bbc sounds app, smartspeaker or 94.9fm. on right now is vanessa feltz. why not give her a call? bye for now. good morning, welcome to breakfast with louise minchin and dan walker. our headlines today:

"stay at home" — that's the message across the uk, as england and scotland go back into lockdown. our hospitals are under more pressure from covid than at any time since the start of the pandemic. in england a lonely number of covid patients in hospitals has increased by nearly a third in the past week. all schools will close for most pupils, just a day after the prime minister urged parents of primary children to send them back to the classroom. borisjohnson says he aims to have the most vulnerable in england vaccinated by the middle of february. with everyjab that goes into our arms, we are tilting the odds against covid and in favour of the british people. good morning. elite sport in england can continue but golf courses, tennis courts and all indoor facilities such as gyms will have to close under the new restrictions. good morning.

it is another cold day ahead. for many it will be dry. there will be some sunshine, some wintry showers. and still some rain in the south—east and channel islands. more details in ten minutes. good morning. it's tuesday, the 5th of january. our top story. england is back in lockdown this morning for at least the next seven weeks, with people being told, once again, to stay at home. the new restrictions, which include the closures of schools and colleges, came into effect at midnight. scotland has also imposed a lockdown, which means all four nations now have similar restrictions. the prime minister has warned the weeks ahead will be "the hardest yet". our political correspondent, jessica parker, has the details. since the pandemic began last year, the whole united kingdom has been engaged in a great national effort to fight covid. the stay—at—home message — so familiarfrom back in march — is again being strongly invoked across the uk.

last night borisjohnson said that hospitals were under more pressure now from covid than at any point in the pandemic. on the new rules for england, he urged people to follow them right away, although they won't become a law until the early hours of tomorrow morning. the government is once again instructing you to stay at home. you may only leave home for limited reasons permitted in law, such as to shop for essentials, to work if you absolutely cannot work from home, to exercise, to seek medical assistance — such as getting a covid test — or to escape domestic abuse. in england, you can meet one other person outside, but only to exercise — and any outdoor exercise should be limited to once a day. the extremely clinically vulnerable have been asked to shield again. good morning, everybody. hi. on how long the lockdown could last, the government's goal is to vaccinate enough people by mid—february to then subsequently

reopen schools after the half—term, and potentially start moving areas down the tiering system — but this timetable is an aim, not a certainty. the vaccine must be rolled out at speed. we need this to be mission—critical. we were the first country to get the vaccine and we need to be the first country to have the vaccine programme rolled out. so it's that spirit of march — stay at home. lockdowns were already in place in wales and northern ireland. one's coming into force across mainland scotland today. with schools closed to most children, they'll have to learn remotely. it would have been far better if we'd approached in england the management of schools opening and closing in the way that scotland has done — where there's been none of this "will they, won't they?", "will they listen to the evidence?", "when will schools be closed?" everyone knew that schools were going to be closed, but this constant brinkmanship of "how long do you have to go?" is terrible. it's terrible for teachers, it's terrible for parents. and it's not that nice

for children, either. while there is new hope because of the vaccine, the weeks ahead spell a new test of endurance, as well. it may be a familiar, more simple message, but it's not necessarily one that's easy to hear. jessica parker, bbc news. quite a lot to digest this morning. let's get more now from our political correspondent, nick eardley, whojoins us from westminster. so many people waking up this morning with their plans changed. tell us about the sudden change in what happened yesterday?m tell us about the sudden change in what happened yesterday? it did happen really quickly. morning, louise. it was only on sunday that borisjohnson was louise. it was only on sunday that boris johnson was telling parents in england to send their children to school if they were open. it was only yesterday that the prime minister was saying, yes, only yesterday that the prime ministerwas saying, yes, new restrictions are coming. but there didn't seem to be much of a rush, but a couple of things happened yesterday which i think made this

announcement inevitable. one was that borisjohnson was announcement inevitable. one was that boris johnson was shown some figures in downing street which showed him that on one day at the end of december, the 29th, there we re end of december, the 29th, there were 80,000 people across the uk who tested positive for coronavirus. that was a big jump in the number of people that had been seen in the lee —— days leading up to that. the second thing was the four chief medical officers moving the covid alert level up to the highest point, .5. basically the nhs was a threat of being overwhelmed if action was not taken. boris johnson was under huge pressure to act yesterday from politicians who were saying we could not hold on any longer. from scotland, after that decision was announced by nicola sturgeon. boris johnson was really forced to act because of some of those really worrying figures and because of those increasing calls for action. the plan is for this lockdown to la st the plan is for this lockdown to last around seven weeks. but i think

a lot of people will have noticed in the prime minister's statement last night there were a lot of caveats. about people sticking to the rules. about people sticking to the rules. about understanding —— our understanding of the va is not changing significa ntly. although there is the aspiration to start opening schools and society on the 17th of february, it's an aspiration, not a guarantee. nacre, thank you for that. we'll be speaking to cabinet office minister, michael gove, at half past seven. shortly we will be speaking to the labour leader, sir keir starmer. mainland scotland has also entered a new lockdown this morning. the measures prohibit people from leaving home for nonessential reasons. let's get the latest on the restrictions there with our scotland reporter, alexandra mackenzie. good morning to you. we will be speaking to the first minister come on out nicola sturgeon, at half past eight this morning. what are the

people of scotland waking up to this morning. good morning. scotland is waking up this morning to another lockdown likely to last until at least the end of january. it's very similarto least the end of january. it's very similar to the lockdown that we had at the beginning of march. it means that for level four areas, which cove rs that for level four areas, which covers most of scotland and all of mainland scotland, it will be illegal to leave your house except for essential purposes. some of those essential purposes are for groceries, to care for someone, to be with your extended household. you have to work from home unless you absolutely can't. you shouldn't be leaving your home to go to work. u nless leaving your home to go to work. unless there is no way you can work from home. people who were shielding last time, they have been told that they shouldn't be leaving their home at all, even for work. for people meeting outdoors, we haven't been

able to meet people indoors for quite some time, but the restrictions for outdoors have been tightened. you can meet one person from one of the household. and schools across scotland will be closed until at least the 1st of february. thank you very much. good to speak to you. we will be speaking to nicola sturgeon at half past eight. police have arrested a scottish mp, after she apologised for using public transport while infected with coronavirus. margaret ferrier has been charged with culpable and reckless conduct, for travelling from glasgow to london in september, while awaiting the results of a covid test, and then making the return train journey having tested positive. she was suspended by the snp at westminster, but has refused to resign from parliament. donald trump and joe biden have both been campaigning in the us state of georgia ahead of today's crucial vote for two senate seats. more than three million people have already cast ballots — nearly 40% of the state's registered voters. if the democrats win, they will control all of congress and the white house.

it is just it isjust coming up it is just coming up to ten past seven. it is time to look at the chilly weather. carol has the details. good morning. good morning. it is a cold start. it will be a cold feeling day. some wintry showers in the forecast. if you are wondering when it is going to be milder, not for the next few days as you can see across the british isles. probably not until the weekend. then temperatures will be slightly higher, they are below average at the moment. what we have at the moment apart from a cold start is a line of showery rain coming in across the south—east into the channel islands. with height and intensity some of this will be wintry. we still have some wintry showers across parts of northern england and scotland. gusty, cold, north—easterly winds. some of those

showers will blow into the midlands and wales. the further west you are, the drier the conditions will be and you will see some sunshine. but these are maximum temperatures. three to 6 degrees. if you are exposed to the wind it will feel colder. this evening and overnight we hang onto the showery rain across the south—east and the channel islands. we have further wintry showers across southern england and scotland. a lot of clear skies. another cold night. like this morning there is the risk of ice on untreated surfaces, and some frost. tomorrow that leads us on to a slightly different day in that the winds will be lighter and coming from a different direction. the server distribution will be slightly different. still a few in kent and the channel islands. at this system will bring some rain and for some also some snow. thank you, carol. you might‘ve heard

the phrase vectors of transmission yesterday. that's how the prime minister described schools he announced that they would close as pa rt announced that they would close as part of this latest lockdown. announced that they would close as part of this latest lockdownm comes part of this latest lockdownm co m es after part of this latest lockdownm comes after days of conflicting m essa g es comes after days of conflicting messages from the government and the labour party and whether they should be open for classroom learning after the christmas break. let's speak to the christmas break. let's speak to the labour leader, sir keir starmer. good morning. thank you very much. you cold for some sort of national lockdown —— you called for a national lockdown. is this what you had in mind and will you pack it? yes, it is what we had in mind and we will back it. i called for a national lockdown because the figures were stark. the rise in infection rates everybody could see was infection rates everybody could see was alarming. the number of people going into hospital, and tragically the numberof going into hospital, and tragically the number of deaths. it was inevitable that we needed a national set of restrictions and that is why i called for it a couple of days ago. the prime minister has now outlined a package. their arguments about the delay in doing that. i

wa nt about the delay in doing that. i want to put them to one side. i think what people want to see is us all pulling together to make these restrictions work. we are in a race against time now. we have got a contract with the british people which is to say these are tough restrictions and they are tough, and in return for that, the government has got to roll and vaccination programme at speed and accelerate that. that is a huge challenge. and i think we've all got to pull together to make sure that we get through the next few weeks in the best way that we possibly can. there are so many things people will want to know this morning, not least of which is, how long do you think these restrictions should and will last? well, the prime minister said seven last? well, the prime minister said seven weeks. but that is to allow the vaccination programme to be rolled out for the 13, 14 million people, the most vulnerable categories. that is the ambition that the prime minister has put out

there. i hope he is not overpromising. it would be a struggle and we need to make this work, because at the moment we have vaccinated about 1 million work, because at the moment we have vaccinated about1 million people. there are about 530,000 doses available. we have to ramp that up. we have to get to 2 million a week very quickly now, probably in early february get beyond that. the question is, as the nhs capable of doing that? i think they are. we need to give them all the support we can. is there enough vaccine being manufactured to make that role that happen? this is a race against time. —— that roll—out. we are all hope in that seven—week period of this can happen. there is no room for error by the government. we can't have yet another overpromising and under delivering. but we have all got to play our part. i have offered my support. i think we would all offer our support. many volunteers wants to come forward. this is a national effort. it is mission-critical. that

is seven weeks. so as far as you see it, there is a hope it will be over in seven weeks, or would you support it going beyond that? well, we have to see. it depends how quickly the vaccine is rolled out. the national restrictions i was calling for, that have now been put in place, really serve have now been put in place, really serve three purposes. firstly, get the virus back under control. secondly, give some breathing space to the nhs. it is already struggling. and thirdly, and crucially, create the space for the vaccine to be rolled out as quickly as possible. the third is the real unknown. that is going to be a struggle, to get to —— from where we are now to 13, 14 million vaccinations within seven weeks. let's all do whatever we can to make sure that we can hit the target. are you concerned that people want to? i heard you talking earlier about the spirit of march, stay at home. are you concerned people want to do it?

lam you concerned people want to do it? i am concerned that what we have seen over the last nine months is mixed messages from the government, saying one thing and then things saying one thing and then things saying something else. it is very important that we get back to the spirit of march of last year, which isa very spirit of march of last year, which is a very simple message about a stay at home. get back. many millions of people complied with that last march. it did allow us to get the virus back under control. we need to get back to that spirit. i think the british people are entitled to say, if that is what you are asking from us, and that is tough, you have really got to roll out the vaccine. we were the first country to get a vaccine. we need to be the first country to have rolled the programme out successfully. on the programme out successfully. on the point about mixed messages, kate green from the labour party on this programme not asking for schools to be closed, nor were you yesterday ahead of what the prime minister had to say. what would you say to people who say you have mixed messages? we

wanted to keep schools open. most people wanted to keep schools open. that was a struggle. secondary school is of course were opening this week anyway. we wanted to keep some primary schools open. it became inevitable that they would have to close. when did it become inevitable? i think in the last few days it has become inevitable looking at the evidence. closing a school is a big thing to do, particularly for seven weeks. there are many, many children, particularly disadvantaged children, who won't be able to learn at home ina who won't be able to learn at home in a particularly effective way. the attainment gap is already much wider thanit attainment gap is already much wider than it otherwise would be. working parents have now got to make different arrangements this morning. we did want to keep schools open but it is inevitable that they are going to close. they have of course now been closed as part of the national restrictions. i think in those circumstances we have all got to pull together. we called for those national restrictions. we need to network with the government to make

that these restrictions work and that these restrictions work and thatis that these restrictions work and that is what we will do. just to go back to that point, really, yesterday you seem to change your mind. was it because the prime minister had changed his mind? look, we wanted to keep schools open. i'm not going to shy away from that. obviously we were talking about primary schools this week. but i had said in the last couple of days it was said in the last couple of days it was inevitable we would have to close. and sadly, that is the case. nobody wants see that. lots of staff and teachers and support staff at schools have moved heaven and earth in the last few days and weeks to get schools open yesterday. they will be frustrated. parents, of course, have now got to make different arrangements. but look, it was different arrangements. but look, it was inevitable that schools would close. that has to be part of national restrictions, that is the case now. what we now need to do is to make sure the support is in place for working parents, who now won't be able to go to work. we absolutely need to make sure that children could learn online. the government,

la st could learn online. the government, last summer, promised lots of devices that were not delivered. that can't happen again. we are going to have to address the whole question of exams again. we need to address that quickly. just on exams, what would be your preference? how would they be replaced? well, the challenges going to be that exams can't go ahead in the usual way. that means assessments. but assessments this year would be even more difficult than last year because, of course, we haven't had months of children being in school in orderto be months of children being in school in order to be assessed. sol months of children being in school in order to be assessed. so i think we need to talk to teachers, talk to schools and colleges about the best way of assessing and get a plan in place very quickly. we can't wait until the summer. but i do think now a real discussion with teachers and schools and colleges. they will have their own views about how you weigh up their own views about how you weigh up and assess children and young people when, for many months in the past nine months, they have not

actually been in schools. therefore, the ability to assess is even different. that is now an urgent task. can we also talk about business? there will be so many people waking up this morning and things have really changed for people, not least parents, children, businesses as well. what would you like to see change? what would you do to support businesses? well, i think the principle of support is where health restrictions go in there needs to be economic support to match that. that is the principal. because of the decision yesterday there is now a mismatch. we need to adjust that. there are a numberof we need to adjust that. there are a number of things that could be done quite quickly. about £2 billion has been handed back by businesses from money made available do not put not needed last time. that can be redeployed for the high street, hospitality which has been hard—hit. but i am particularly concerned about those 3 million or so people who have been excluded from all these games so far will stop for

nine months i have fallen outside of the scheme. that has been really tough. every time they have asked the government to act it is fallen on deaf ears. now we are facing, you know, another month or two, even longer, restrictions. the government is to fill that gap. for those 3 million people to go another two or three months without any support is pretty unforgivable by the government. keir starmer, thank you for talking to us. in the next ten minutes we will be speaking to michael gove from the government as well. thank you for the commons and the questions. lots of comments around —— about nurseries. talking about schools. i know you are probably lying in bed, orup know you are probably lying in bed, or up with know you are probably lying in bed, orup witha know you are probably lying in bed, or up with a cup of tea and thinking through many of these things yourself. we will try to address as many as we can. we have an expert panel. we have been sending questions for them as well. yesterday, millions of children in england returned to the classroom for the start of the new term,

butjust one day later and the guidance has changed. this means a return to online learning at home for most primary and secondary pupils. vulnerable children and the children of key workers can still go into school. breakfast‘s jayne mccubbin has been hearing from families about what the new measures mean for them. sunday morning, 9am. very straightforward question. yes. should parents of primary school children in england send them to school tomorrow morning? yes, absolutely they should in the areas where schools are open. schools are safe. watching at home was camille, who decided to go against the prime minister's advice and, keep her child home. i texted into the whatsapp chat for our year group and lots of parents were feeling really unsure and didn't know what to do — which is why government advice is so important, right? we shouldn't have been in this position as parents to have to make these decisions on our own. we've been piling on 50,000+ cases a day, day in, day out, close to... you know, a quarter of a million cases in the last week.

and, quite frankly, it's kind of disgusting that we had to make those decisions at an individual level and the government's inaction has cost so many lives. just 35 hours after saying it was safe for parents to send kids in... schools may nonetheless act as vectors for transmission. primary schools, secondary schools and colleges across england must move to remote provision from tomorrow. you're furious, glenn. yeah! i really... more than i thought i'd be. because this wasn't something that was unforeseen, this wasn't something that came along and hit us out of the blue. this is something that everybody has known for a long, long time. glenn will now home—school his four children while juggling a full—time job. his daughter's gcse exams have been scrapped. i hate exams, but i hate not taking them more! you feel you going to miss out. i'm going to... do so much worse on so many subjects and quite possibly not get

into the further education that i desire because of this. because they've consistently been told, "look, we'll get it sorted and there'll be exams, there's still going to be exams, we've got no chance of not having exams," that's what they've been preparing for. this has really pulled the rug out from under theirfeet. in scotland, five hours before boris johnson's address to the nation... i can confirm that we have now decided to extend that date and keep schools closed to the majority of pupils until the 1st of february. watching at home was andrina. this is little kitty, who is four. and this is duke, who is eight. and you've now got a lot more childcare on your hands. yeah. i mean, some of us are delighted not to be going back to school, but the rest of us — not quite so much! one week was a challenge. four weeks will be... a big challenge. yeah. your husband works in a testing centre. yeah, absolutely. the uplift in the numbers seem to be, you know,

going from not very busy to hugely busy the week up to christmas — and since, basically. so it makes perfect sense. yes, it definitely feels like the virus is a lot more out there right now. also watching in was scottish primary school teacher sarah. my dad is 80 next month. and, you know, i'm a single women, so my parents are my support bubble. and i am conscious every time i walk into their house — which i'm allowed to do — what am i carrying? i don't know what i've got. so when people might say, "oh, but children very rarely are impacted by this virus seriously," you say it's not just about the kids. it's not about the children. and, you know, schools are not full... they are full of children, but they're also full of adults and they're full of the adults that keep the place going. our hospitals are under more pressure from covid than at any time since the start of the pandemic. the number of deaths is up

by 20% over the last week, and will sadly rise further. when news broke, amika was one of the few not to be watching — he was putting his kids to bed. bring them in. if you're happy for them to go on telly, bring them in. now he says he'll struggle tojuggle his business with home—schooling. but for his family and his community, he supports what lies ahead. i think it's the right thing, i think it's a sacrifice that we have to, you know, make. yeah, we're taking it on the chin for the country. stay at home, protect the nhs, and save lives. i'm sure so many of you were watching last night, digesting what it means for you, all the implications. we will try to keep you up to date with all the changes. it is changing all the time. we will try to get the latest position from

the government by speaking to michael gove. time now to get the news, travel and weather where you are. good morning, i'm asad ahmad. it's been said that enforcing the new national lockdown will put "a lot of pressure" on police officers in london, whose numbers are already reduced by the coronavirus pandemic. the chairman of the metropolitan police federation — which represents front line officers — says 1,300 are currently off sick or self—isolating in london. ken marsh is urging government to place police personnel on a priority list to receive coronavirus vaccines, but he claims his requests to government are "falling on deaf ears". well, the sudden lockdown caught many secondary schools and colleges by surprise and, according to a food—waste company it'll therefore lead to millions of school dinners being thrown away. as pupils prepare to attend lessons online, food which has already been

bought for school dinners is likely be binned. the company, businesswaste, has called it a "national disaster". it says london schools will have stocked up with meals — which will now end up in landfill. and to find out about all the restrictions coming into force and how it'll affect you and your family, go to the bbc news website. you can also go on our social media channels. all you do is search for bbc london, on facebook, twitter or instagram. let's take a look at the travel situation now. on the tubes, there's no service on the london overground between upper holloway and gospel oak due to a faulty track. other issues from this morning on the tubes have all cleared. there are diversions in place again — and they are likely to be

there for another week to 10 days due to emergency water works. now the weather with kate. good morning. well, it's another very chilly start this morning with temperatures just above zero in most places. now we'll see some more showers feeding in from the north sea — again falling largely as rain — but over higher ground, you might get something a little more wintry, maybe some wet snow and sleet accompanied by quite a brisk north—easterly. the temperatures cold — between three and five celsius — but factor in the wind—chill, it is going to feel that bit colder. now, overnight tonight, we're still going to see further showers feeding in. again, similarstory — higher ground might get something wintry, lower levels falling as rain. it's another chilly night — the minimum between one and three celsius. now for tomorrow, the wind falls a bit lighter. it starts to veer from the north, as well. we're still, however, you can see, hanging onto the cold air — that's the blue. it's not until the end of the weekend you'll start to see that slightly less—blue air or less—cold air heading in our direction. now, it's not going to get very much warmer. however, the temperature as we head into the first part of next week, a little less cold.

with us going into lockdown again — there's no need to feel alone. please tune into your bbc local radio station — and give them a call. they're discussing what this lockdown right now — and i know they welcome lots of calls into their show. tune in via the bbc sounds app, smartspeaker or on 94.9fm. hello, this is breakfast with louise minchin and dan walker. let's get you right up to date with the latest at 7:30am. the prime minister has announced a new national lockdown in england to stop the rising spread of coronavirus. the new restrictions include the closures of schools and colleges and people are only allowed to leave home for limited reasons. scotland has also imposed a lockdown, which means all four nations now have similar restrictions in an effort to slow down the surging cases.

we will speak to michael gove about all of that shortly. police have arrested a scottish mp after she apologised for using public transport while infected with coronavirus. margaret ferrier has been charged with "culpable and reckless conduct" for travelling from glasgow to london in september while awaiting the results of a covid test — and then making the return train journey having tested positive. she was suspended by the snp at westminster but has refused to resign from parliament. donald trump and joe biden have both been campaigning in the us state of georgia ahead of today's crucial vote for two senate seats. more than three million people have already cast ballots — nearly 40% of the state's registered voters. if the democrats win, they will control all of congress and the white house. shall ijust let shall i just let you shall ijust let you know shall i just let you know what shall ijust let you know what is happening in the next few minutes? we are expecting to speak to michael gove. we are standing by. exactly,

that's what we are doing. in the meantime we are going to find out what is happening in the sport. there is some similar done across the wire, isn't there? there is sport! in contrast you mind when our tv screens were empty and there was nothing to entertain us on the sporting field, elite football will be continuing. they will be stuff to watch on tv. we will not be able to play a sport is necessarily ourselves. this lady herewith hair incredible rafale adult style wit beforehand follow through, she will not be able to do that. elite level sport in england, such as premier league football, will continue behind closed doors — but amateur sport will have to stop. the lawn tennis association will be asking the government to allow outdoor tennis to resume as soon as possible — they say it's a naturally socially distanced sport that is safe to play . and england golf say they're extremely disappointed and will continue to make the case for courses to be allowed to reopen. recreational golf can continue in scotland under strict rules.

but grassroots football for all ages has been suspended — that's matches and training. only organised outdoor sport for disabled people is exempt from the new measures. southampton manager ralph hasenhuttl was reduced to tears, after his side beat the champions and league leaders liverpool last night. the only goal of the game came in the second minute, with former liverpool striker danny ings coming back to haunt his former club. and holding on for the rest of the game was all too much for hasenhuttl, who finally managed to get the better of his good friend jurgen klopp. it was the last one i have never taken points so far, yeah. and, yeah, even... i think i had a phone call two months ago where i said, look, when i wish something that i take a point against you one time. and, yeah, it was tactically, for both sides, very demanding and this was maybe the perfect day today — this was a special day.

england cricketer moeen ali has tested positive for coronavirus, just a day after the squad landed in sri lanka for two test matches. he'll have to go into self isolation, as well chris woakes. they will hopefully have no positive results and get back to training. fingers crossed, we will see some test cricket there. thank you very much. we have already spoken to the leader of the liberal democrats, sir ed davey, the leader of the labour party, sir keir starmer, let's now speak to michael gove. good morning. really good to speak to you this morning. we have had lots of questions and queries and concerns from our viewers and we will try to get through some of those. can i start with you today by asking, i suppose, the message to the british people this morning. there are millions watching you now and many will be

worried about health, finance, supporting their family. many have probably had enough, they aren't fatigued, angry, they have lost loved ones. what is your message to many of those watching? well, i have enormous sympathy for people facing very difficult circumstances. we all asa very difficult circumstances. we all as a country are facing an nhs crisis. it is the case that all of us have to take steps to reduce pressure on the nhs, to make sure that those that we love can be effectively cared for. it is not easy stop heavens, it is not easy. but the instructions are clear that we should all stay at home wherever possible, limit social contact and of course we hope that we will be able to increase the number of people who are vaccinated. it is good news that we now have two vaccines that are effective, they can provide protection. the more people we vaccinate the easier it will be to lift these restrictions

but the governor it will do everything we can to help people through what is, as you quite rightly said, a difficult time. many of the people who have contacted us today... there is broad support for what the prime minister was talking about yesterday and yet there is annoyance at the way the language changed in such a short space of time, particularly around schools. it went from there is no doubt in my mind, he said yesterday in the morning, that schools were safe, two in the evening then being vectors of the virus. can you explain what caused that change? yes, the chief medical officers, the four of the uk, metand medical officers, the four of the uk, met and discussed yesterday the situation and their recommendation, all four, was that the country had to move to level five, the highest level of alert, which meant there was an imminent danger to the nhs of being overwhelmed unless action was taken. and so in the circumstances we felt the only thing we could do was to close those primary schools which were open. of course it was

with the heaviest of hearts because education is such an important part of any young person's life. we wa nted of any young person's life. we wanted to keep schools open as much as possible but the message from the chief medical officers yesterday was clear and therefore with a heavy heart but with clear evidence we had to act. we were talking to sir ed davey, as i mentioned, about 45 minutes ago, and on the issue of lockdowns, he said this prime minister is always late on lockdown. he puts off difficult decisions until the very last minute and refuses and ignored the advice of experts. what do you say in defence of your prime minister this morning? well, the whole government has followed the advice we have been given by the medical and scientific authorities which have been cleared throughout that one of the things it is important to do is make sure that young people benefit from education. there are real costs notjust in terms of educational achievement but

in health and well—being of schools closing. but when the evidence is clear that we have to take every step including those very last resorts in order to stop the infection, then we will and we a lwa ys infection, then we will and we always make sure we put the nhs first. practical advice, i think, and some help for many viewers are getting in contact this morning. on that area of education, can we start with gcse and a—levels? when will skills be notified of what will replace that and what is your idea, what are your plans this morning? the education secretary should be updating the house of commons tomorrow on how we want to make sure that children are fairly assessed so the knowledge they have acquired, the knowledge they have acquired, the skills they have developed can be properly rewarded. he is talking to the exam regulator, quual, about how to do that in the fairest possible way. and of course as the pa rent of possible way. and of course as the parent of a daughter doing a—level and a son doing gcses, i know it is

important that students continue with their learning, even in these very difficult circumstances, and there are ways in which we can ensure that they can be appropriately assessed, but these are technical questions because we wa nt to are technical questions because we want to make sure we are notjust better individual students but fair to schools and we also take account of the fact that there are particular challenges for children in the most disadvantaged circumstances, who find it, inevitably because of their circumstances, more difficult sometimes to secure the remote learning that inevitably all children have to have at the moment. you mentioned the age of your own children, so you are probably acutely aware of many concerns that pa rents acutely aware of many concerns that parents have based on what we saw, the mess around assessments last year. we were speaking to sir keir starmer about that assessment programme. do you think that is the fa i rest programme. do you think that is the fairest way of doing it, potentially, even though, what do you assess it on? many people have not been in school for such a long time. well, that is precisely the

challenge. of course we have to take account of the fact that some stu d e nts account of the fact that some students in particular will have had their education very profoundly disrupted and we need to try to be fairto them, disrupted and we need to try to be fair to them, but we will be working with teachers in order to make sure that we can get the most accurate assessment possible of children's achievement and potential because we wa nt to achievement and potential because we want to make sure we can move onto the next stage of their education with the confidence of knowing that they have been supported and are fairly assessed. as keir pointed out, it was right to do so, there are particular challenges for poorer children and in those settings where education has been most disruptive. are you looking for extra help for those children who struggle to have access to laptops and devices enabling them to work remotely with yes, absolutely. we have been providing white laptops, routers and so on, to help children ——

providing white laptops, routers and so on, to help children -- we have been providing laptops. we are working with head teachers and teachers in order to do that and i wa nted teachers in order to do that and i wanted to say thank you to our teachers who have been through a lot, but who are doing everything they can to provide students with they can to provide students with the best possible education. lots of comments this morning from parents of university students and from university students themselves. they have already gone back to university, what do they do now? people should stay where they are. so state university if you have gone back. people should stay in the location that they are in at the moment. the home you are in at the moment. the home you are in at the moment is where you should state. on that, and more broadly, do you think, in terms of the fatigue many people are feeling now, going into another lockdown, do you think there isa another lockdown, do you think there is a concern, and how worried are you that people will stop listening? well, there is naturally a concern

about people following the guidance, of course, but the evidence suggests that the overwhelming majority of people in the country understand why these steps have to be taken. nobody relishes it. nobody welcomes it but people do appreciate that if we want to make sure the nhs is therefore all of us that we need to reduce the rate of infection, as the prime minister informed us last night, we have more than 26,000 people with covid in the nhs at the moment. a significant increase in just last week. more people in hospital with covid now than they were at the peak of the first wave april last year. so people understand that by doing their very best to follow these restrictions that we can make sure the nhs is there for those who need it most but is it easy? no, of course not, god, no. it is a very

difficult thing for the whole country. that is why it is so important that we do everything we can in government to work with the nhs. i suppose the big difference this time around is the vaccination programme. can you give us an idea of numbers? we spoke to matt hancock, the health secretary, yesterday and he was speaking about 530 vaccinations, doses available this week. that was for the oxford vaccine. what are the numbers and that? how many people are we able to vaccinate this week? well, it was broadcast at the weekend, up until the weekend, we are increasing the numbers this week and we hope to be able, as the prime minister outlined, to reach thatjust over 13 million number in february. we will be updating people regularly on progress in vaccination but we need to make sure that figures are absolutely robust and we need to

make sure that we are also understandably concentrating vaccination on those who need it most. the elderly, the clinically extremely vulnerable, and people in social care. ok, that is going to happen, the 13 million by the end effector —— middle of february, we have to be up to speed, 2 million per week, very quickly, and again the health secretary had concerns about logistics about the supply system, safety checks, what is being done to make sure that those vaccinations can be done in time? everything. we do want to make sure these vaccines are delivered in the safest possible way, that we do everything we can or not to waste a drop. the process of making sure that the vaccines can be placed in the appropriate vials and safely injected into people's arms is a complicated exercise, but the nhs has more than risen to the challenge

and we have some of the best public serva nts and we have some of the best public servants in the world working in our nhs and they are working 24/7 in order to ensure we can inject people, whether in hospitals or through gps or in other ways that we are seeking to reach as many people as possible as quickly as possible. let me read you that don't this comic. it feels like the right decision, this lockdown, hopefully with an endgame site. but the governmentjust for once with an endgame site. but the government just for once cannot mess up government just for once cannot mess up the vaccine roll—out. we are addressing everything again and they need to actually deliver on their premises. this is the last time. that is from stuart. can you guarantee to him and others that you are not overpromising on the vaccine? we are doing everything we can in order to make sure that we can in order to make sure that we can get as many people vaccinated as possible. so far the vaccine roll—out has gone, you know, well, thanks to the efforts of nhs professionals but it is up to us in government to back them all the way and ensure we support them in the

work they do. so, yes, there is a responsibility on all of us and we will do everything we can to support the nhs and getting the vaccine into people's arms. we have spoken to you on numerous occasions about the pressure on businesses of all sizes. what support will they be? we are getting a lot of this this morning. for business going forward over the coming weeks and months. well, there is already support in place. will there be additional support? just going to make the point. yes. the level of support that the chancellor has given his most generous of any western country but the chancellor will say more later today about additional support and of course we stand ready to do everything we can. what about the issue of international travel? is there some point where you are going to insist ona point where you are going to insist on a negative test for people coming into the uk, are you looking at that? we are looking at further options to restrict international travel. i talked last night to the

first ministers of scotland, wales and northern ireland, to ensure we can have a coordinated approach and we are working together to do that, and of course, as i think people know, the prime minister's create message last night was that people should not be travelling, but of course what we do need to do is review the situation, at our ports and airports, there are some vital reasons why people should travel. commercial reasons to make sure that we have food on our shelves and fuel for our industry. but we are looking very ha rd to for our industry. but we are looking very hard to see how we can make sure that our ports and airports are as safe as possible. i have two more questions, if i can. you have busy morning but many viewers have got in touch about nursery. i would like to highlight the level of disregard for nursery staff as front line works. unlike teachers we work in extremely close contact with our children. she goes on to say the level of government disregard for early years of stuff is shocking. lots of

comments on that. why are nursery is still open? well, we believe it is important to continue to provide childcare and the judgment we have made is that by making sure childcare can be provided we can ensure that some of the people whose work is so vital to getting us out of this lockdown, nurses and doctors and others can continue to do their work. i have nothing but the greatest respect for those who work in early years settings, in nurseries, and providing early years education and childcare. a balance a lwa ys education and childcare. a balance always has to be struck between making sure that those who are doing absolutely vital work can continue to do that work, also doing everything we can to make sure childcare settings are safe. we appreciate your time today, thank you for talking to us. not at all, thank you. you are watching brea kfast thank you. you are watching breakfast and i'm sure many of you will have been watching that, trying to glean information, as we all live. he is saying on the question

you asked about additional support for businesses, the chancellor will give more detail on that today and also gavin williamson will update the comments tomorrow about what is going on with schools, as well —— update the comments. we will try to keep you across all the changes. michael gove was talking about the premises of trying to vaccinate 30 million people by the middle of february and you are speaking to matt hancock yesterday about some of those logistical supply issues. that will be the great challenge over the next few weeks. we will talk about all those things through the programme. carol has a lovely picture. it looks like a road, not the canal. there is a lot of ice about, i'm guessing the. there is some eyes, you are quite right. the met office has a weather warning out forice, met office has a weather warning out for ice, yellow one, plus parts of northern ireland, east of scotland and eastern england. something to bearin and eastern england. something to bear in mind. slippery underfoot. we are looking at further wintry

showers today across in some areas, it will feel cold wherever you are. we also have this weather front draped across parts of the south—east and into the channel islands. that will continue to produce showery outbreaks of rain, some of that could be wintry and higher ground, as indeed cut the showers be across northern england and also southern scotland. the other thing we have today across england and wales are gusty winds. not quite as strong as yesterday but we could still see gusts up to about 30 mph. that will blow some of the showers inland a bit further towards the midlands and also wales. temperatures today below average for the time of year across the board, we are looking at three to 6 degrees. on the north—easterly gusty wind and it will feel cooler than those temperatures suggest. through this evening and overnight we hang on to the showery outbreaks of rain across the south—east and channel islands. still some wintry showers to come across northern england, parts of wales and also southern scotland. under clear skies it will be another cold one. some frost,

widespread across scotland, frost in other parts of the uk, as well. and also the risk of ice on untreated surfaces. so tomorrow we start off with our showery outbreaks of rain across parts of the south—east and the channel islands. tomorrow with lighter winds and also a change in the wind direction. they will not be as frequent and will be in slightly different areas, as well. still see one or two coming down an icy coastline. there will be a lot of dry weather around. a cold day, even in the sunshine, and then through the afternoon we will have this new weather fronts arriving across the fat north west of scotland. that will introduce rain, but as it sinks across scotland and eventually into northern ireland overnight, it will also produce some snow, regularly across scotland, and some of that will be down to lower levels. again something to bear in mind. there is lots to look out for. thank you very much. see you shortly.

we have heard on this programme how coronavirus has devastated many families since the pandemic took hold. last week, 81—year—old ahsan—ul—haq chaudry died after contracting the virus before christmas. he had spent most of last year shielding. his daughter, saleyha, is an emergency medicine doctor and is urging others to take precautions and stay safe. shejoins us now with her sister, syira, who also works on the front line as a gp. thank you both forjoining us and i know this is a horrible thing to have to talk about. saleyha tell us a bit about your dad. my dad, we talk about him as we remember and know him. my dad is a retired teacher. larger than life. know him. my dad is a retired teacher. largerthan life. really quite an influential character. not just to his own children but to many others within the community. he was an advocate for education and he backed us in whatever ambitions we

all wanted. he had six children and even though i had a convoluted route to medicine through other careers first, he supported us in absolutely anything and everything we wanted to do. he sacrificed a lot of his own ambitions and career aspirations and life ambitions to support his six children and we all now work for the nhs. five of us eye doctors, one is a pharmacist. we have had quite a year of it this year, with covid shot he had asthma and he was really quite concerned about the risks and contracting it, because, like other people with lung conditions, this cohorts of the population know what it is like to struggle to breathe. soi it is like to struggle to breathe. so i remember him saying to me once, i'm really frightened by the prospect of struggling to breathe. so he shielded all year whilst the

children went out to work in the nhs, and we had to keep away from him. we had to work out long convoluted ways of working, isolating to make sure that we work to infection a clear, and then seeing him. it was quite a yearfor him. but then unfortunately, somehow, the week before christmas he caught it. i'm so sorry to hear that. and syira, i know you are listening into your sister and you have obviously discussed this closely and carefully as a family. that was the to think about all those levels of care that you as a family and your dad has taken to make sure he has been shielding for such a long time, and yet on how still the virus gets through stops still the virus gets through stops still got through. i remember my dad was admitted and i was working in aged care downstairs in the hospital and every patient i saw, every patient either have symptoms of covid or had a diagnosis of it and i

was seeing grown men in their 405 crying because of the symptoms. there was very little we could offer if they didn't meet the threshold for admission. it is an incredibly cruel di5ea5e for admission. it is an incredibly cruel disease and it seems that no matter how stringent we were, and we didn't elapse, that it still got my dad. it's been really difficult. saleyha, you were able to be with him, weren't you, during quite a long height of his illness?” think... one of the things working within. .. think... one of the things working within... i work within itu this year and one of height rating things has been a family member is not being able to be with loved ones. however, queens hospital, where my dad had the most kindest, compassionate care, hospital which is really facing the brunt of covid, they had a policy that carers were allowed in with patients and particularly towards the end of life, when that decision is made

that the patient is at the end of life, up to two family members are allowed in. when i'm not working clinically, traditionally, i have been my dad's carer, so that did not change. i was officially his carer, whether he was in community or in the hospital, so that meant i was allowed to be bedside and i have looked after covid patients all year, but i have to say, i had not looked after someone around—the—clock 24/7 for four or five days and watched their decline. idid five days and watched their decline. i did that with my dad and i learnt something. i learnt about how lethal this disease is. and how... and what not being able to grieve actually means. i mean, if! not being able to grieve actually means. i mean, if i mayjust macro i mean, it's quite graphic. my dad had to sometimes make... he ended up first of all with a big oxygen mask

on but his levels of requirement of oxygen on but his levels of requirement of oxyg e n ke pt on but his levels of requirement of oxygen kept increasing so we ended up oxygen kept increasing so we ended up with that machine, the cpap machine, the really big mask squashes onto the patient‘s face. his requirements for that kept increasing day by day and the worst thing was having knowledge and just knowing what was going on on my part. and it was... it was frightening. he had to make the choice eventually between being able to ta ke choice eventually between being able to take that mask off for a second just to squeeze in some water in, or keeping it on. so we have to make the choice between breathing or drinking fluids. it's tragic to hear you describe what happened to someone you love so dearly and so clearly, saleyha. syira, people watching will have sympathy for what you are going through but some people will be thinking, you know, and still believe this is not as serious as you are suggesting is

that the nhs is not under as much pressure as is being described. what are your messy —— what is your message to them? all six of you, brothers and sisters, he worked in the nhs, five on the front line, one isa the nhs, five on the front line, one is a pharmacist. what do you say to those people this morning? when we came in march, everybody was a bit unsure, not sure how this was going. coming into the second lockdown, i not stopped working and i can categorically say it feels like a war zone. categorically say it feels like a warzone. i categorically say it feels like a war zone. i don't know what has happened. myself and my colleagues we re happened. myself and my colleagues were exhausted. we are limited as to what we can offer. this new strain, do not underestimate it, do not become complacent. it is a horrible disease. i struggled to get up the stairs now and i consider myself reasonably fit. and for our elderly population it is lethal, as we have

experienced ourselves. so please, what i am saying is... we are being told all these precautions are for a reason and when i go out there and i see grown men crying because they cannot speak, because they cannot breathe, and we have our hands tied as to what we can offer if they don't meet the threshold to be admitted, then really do not underestimate covid, it is a lethal and very cruel disease. syira, saleyha, thank you very much indeed for your time this morning, talking to us at what is a very difficult time for your whole family. we really appreciated, thank you. are pretty clear picture of what is happening on the front line. is fast approaching 8am. stay with us, headlines coming up.

good morning, welcome to breakfast with louise minchin and dan walker. our headlines today: "stay at home" — that's the message across the uk, as england and scotland go back into lockdown. our hospitals are under more pressure from covid than at any time since the start of the pandemic. in england, the number of covid patients in hospitals has increased by nearly a third in the past week. all schools will close for most pupils, just a day after the prime minister urged parents of primary children to send them back to the classroom. borisjohnson says he aims to have the most vulnerable in england vaccinated by the middle of february. over the next hour on breakfast, we'll be telling you all you need to know about the latest lockdowns around the uk, and we'll get answers to your questions with a panel of experts.

is more cash coming for business? the chancellor will give an update on support schemes later. unions and business groups say thousands of companies and jobs are at stake. good morning. it is another cold day in prospect. a lot of dry weather. some wintry showers in scotland and northern england. still have those showers in the south—east and the channel islands. more details later in the programme. good morning. it's tuesday, the 5th of january. our top story. england is back in lockdown this morning for at least the next seven weeks, with people being told, once again, to stay at home. the new restrictions include the closures of schools and colleges. scotland has also imposed a lockdown, which means all four nations now have similar restrictions. the prime minister has warned the weeks ahead will be "the hardest yet". let's get more now from our political correspondent, nick eardley, whojoins

us from westminster. next, plenty of politicians to listen to on this programme. we have spoken to sir ed davey, sir keir starmer, michael gove as well. he gave us quite a clear indication of why the language changed so significantly yesterday? morning, dan. yeah, i did. it changed really quickly as well. it was just on sunday that boris johnson was urging parents to send to school in england. it was only yesterday he said yes, new restrictions are common, but didn't seem in a massive rush to announce them, saying they would happen in due course. but it seems to be that one of the things that change the government thinking yesterday, where some figures they got from the scientists that basically showed how bad the situation was in england, in that action really needed to be taken to stop the nhs from being overwhelmed. have a listen to how michael gove, the cabinet office minister

explained it. the four chief medical officers of the united kingdom discussed the situation yesterday and their recommendation, all four, was that the country had to move to the highest level of alert, which meant that there was an imminent danger to the nhs of being overwhelmed unless action was taken. and so in the circumstances we felt that the only thing that we could do was to close those primary schools which were open. of course, it was with the heaviest of hearts. a couple of other things to take away from that interview. michael gove singh tomorrow, those worried about school exams will get some more details from the education secretary when parliament is recalled. and michael gove also saying that the chancellor will provide some more detail today on the support the government will provide for businesses in this new lockdown. it is interesting though, because a language that move

quickly. and part of that was a medical pressure, the changing picture of the government was getting. there was also a real political pressure yesterday after scotland announced a lockdown, after tory grandees said things needed to change in england. the labour leader had been calling for that matter lockdown in england as well. he explained to breakfast what he wants to happen now. we are in a race against time now. we are in a race against time now. we have got a contract, i suppose, with the british people which is to say these are tough restrictions, and they are tough, and in return for that the government has to roll out the vaccination programme at speed and accelerate that. that is a huge challenge. i suppose the other huge area of this is the way out. talking to michael gove about the vaccination programme and some of the difficulties with hitting those numbers. that is crucial to us all coming out of this lockdown at some

stage? i think that's right. although a lot of the news is really depressing this morning, the vaccine is seen by the government as the way out. it is the thing that is different now to the picture we had la st different now to the picture we had last march. the government is planning to really ramp up the vaccination programme. it is putting a lot of its cards on that happening. 30 million is the goal by mid—february. that is not going to be easy though. and if you listen to what the prime minister said last night, i'm sure a lot of people will have noticed all the caveats. so although the government wants to start lifting these restrictions in around seven weeks' time, that will involve reopening schools potentially after the half term break, there is no guarantee that is going to happen. it is based on the vaccine working well, it is based on people adhering to the rules, and it is also based on nothing changing in our understanding of the virus. if

we've learned one thing that is certain in recent weeks and months is that this picture keeps changing and nothing is guaranteed. nick, thank you very much. we will be speaking to nicola sturgeon at half past eight. we'll get the latest on restrictions in wales and northern ireland in a moment. but first, let's speak to our scotland reporter, alexandra mackenzie. take us through what is going on where you are? well, scotland is waking up to yet another lockdown this morning that is likely to last at least until the end of the month. possibly longer, very much like the lockdown we had in march. it means for people living in level four, which includes all of mainland scotland, it is illegal to leave your home unless that is absolutely necessary. there are some exceptions. you can go out for groceries, you can go out to care for someone, you can go out to an extended household. that is pretty much it. it is very strict

restrictions. you shouldn't be leaving your home either to go to work unless you absolutely cannot work unless you absolutely cannot work from home. and anyone who was shielding the last time, they should also stay at home and should not be going out to work. the restrictions have been tightened for meeting people outside. you can only meet one person from one household. children aged 11 and under are exempt from that. they can meet in larger groups outside. also, schools. nicola sturgeon said that was one of the most difficult decisions that she had to make. schools will be closed for most pupils until at least the 1st of february. there are also some exceptions for that. vulnerable children and the children of care —— key workers will still be able to go to the classroom. alexander, thank you. let's take you around the rest of wales. in wales, lockdown measures have been in place since the 20th of december.

our reporter, mark hutchings, joins us now in cardiff. good morning to you. how have they government been strengthening their restrictions? the welsh government had said that closing schools would be the last resort and it's one they have now opted for. really it is a case of new year, old routine. it does seem that whatever route different uk governments try to plod out of the pandemic. satnav takes them back to lockdown. it is where wales has been stuck since december the 20th. the key difference between this lockdown and the one in march was meant to be that schools would be reopening, that children would be going back into the classroom as as tomorrow. that has all changed because now all schools and colleges will shut until at least january the 18th. apart from providing access to the children of key workers and vulnerable pupils, as well as those

taking exams. more generally, the lockdown will be reviewed by the welsh government tomorrow. but really there is zero chance of it being lifted. as for case rates, they have been falling in many parts of wales since christmas. you can put that down to rather less testing taking place over the christmas period. so really, nothing rosy as the pictures. and if you are a parent, pupil or teacher looking at that rather empty 2021 wall planner, i think that rather empty 2021 wall planner, ithinkl that rather empty 2021 wall planner, i think i have got one here somewhere, if you are thinking of putting back to school alongside january the 18th, maybe do it in pencil. sound advice. thank you. northern ireland is already part—way through a six—week lockdown that began on boxing day. our ireland correspondent, chris page, is in belfast this morning. any more changes where you are? good morning. morning. yes, we are already in a lockdown here. but northern ireland is set to be locked down more tightly. since boxing day

nonessential retail, leisure facilities have all been closed. this week, the first week of term, pupils in all age groups are being taught online. but ministers here in the devolved government at stormont have now decided that school closure will be extended. they have not decided how long for what they are meeting again today to discuss that. there is an added dimension here to decisions about education. most pupils in their last year of primary school set a series of tests to determine who gets into a grammar school. and the first of those exams is due to take place this coming saturday. is big uncertainty to say the least about that. the belfast telegraph focusing on that issue this morning. its headline says, pupils left in limbo for days. the other morning papers in belfast. the irish news, executive considers tougher lockdown. and the belfast newsletter, northern ireland joining the rest of the uk in another full

lockdown. it is clear the rules are going to be toughened. we should find out this afternoon the extent of that. the other matter is being considered by leading politicians, possible new travel restrictions and how to make the stay message legally enforceable. thank you very much, chris. thank you to all of you for bringing us up to date with the situation across the uk. so for the third time, england is entering a national lockdown, and tough new restrictions have also been implemented in scotland, wales and northern ireland. people living in england should not leave their homes except for certain reasons, similar to the first lockdown last march. these include for essential medical needs, food shopping, exercise and work for those who cannot do so from home. those who are clinically extremely vulnerable are being asked to shield again. all schools and colleges will close to most pupils from today, with remote learning until at least february half term. and most gcse and a—level exams are not likely to go ahead

in england this year. in scotland, people have also been ordered to stay at home. in wales, all schools and colleges will move to online learning until january the 18th. and in northern ireland, the executive also plans to give its stay at home message legal force, with new restrictions on travel. the prime minister said if we don't ta ke the prime minister said if we don't take these restrictions, the nhs would be in danger of being overwhelmed. hospitals are under more pressure from covid than at any time since the start of the pandemic. dr bethan gibson is a senior intensive care doctor at the royal glamorgan hospital in wales. she's recorded this video diary for us. i'm ready to go in for another day shift. i've been off for three days, so i'm quite refreshed, ready to go

into work to look after the patient on the intensive care unit. these days there is some trepidation going into work because i was last there on sunday, on sunday was a busy day, and it's got busier since then. staff have had to move into a different word to accommodate the more covid patients we have had to admit. unfortunately, we have lost at least three, if not more than that, patients since i was in. it will be a difficult day. i know it is going to be released is —— busy. hoping we can manage with what we've got with the staff we have. so i know that staffing will be a problem or another complication today. i'm going to have to try and make sure that the staff we have are looked after and feel supported, and the staff that have come into intensive care to help us also need a lot of support and encouragement. so i'm in itu. i've just finished the ward round and i've been in this ppe for about two and a half hours now and i can't wait to get it off. i'm dying for a drink.

and though it looks comfortable, there is a constant whirring noise from the pump at the back, but i have to appreciate our nurses are in this for probably hours on end, quite often missing breaks because there isn't enough of them, and it's really busy at times. but we try and find time that they do get breaks. i've had enough after two and a half hours and i can't wait to get this off. so i'm just about to go to ward 3 — and that's where our patients with covid are having cpap — to review a patient who the staff are worried about. it sounds like he is deteriorating, despite being on pretty high support with a cpap machine. personally, this is quite a difficult time because you have to make an assessment if the patient needs to come to intensive care. i know we are currently already struggling with the number of patients versus the number of staff, so i know it's going to put more pressure on my team if the patient has to come, and i know for that patient, if he does need to come, and come to intensive care,

his chances of survival are pretty small, to be honest — or less than 50%. and i will have to communicate that with the patient. a busy few hours have just gone past. one of the patients we already have on covid itu has deteriorated and the team have had to rush in to prone the patient — so flip onto his belly — and we are in the process of referring to guy's and st thomas' in london to see if the patient would be suitable or accepted as an ecmo candidate, so we are just waiting for this and hopefully some stability before we update his family. and also i've been on the telephone with other units in wales who are full and struggling with staffing to see if we are able to accept a patient to help them. this is quite a difficult scenario because we are also pretty full and struggling, but maybe they are worse than we are.

we're not in a great place, either. and to accept another patient is going to stress the team here out all the more. but it will probably help the team that need the patient transferred, so it's a difficultjuggling act at times to decide what's the best or the greatest good that we can achieve. it's one of the toughest parts of the job, especially lately, is updating the relatives because they can't come and see their loved one who is on itu, and so we try and update them most days. can't say we do it every day — we are busy, we miss it — but we try and update most days and i find that most of the time it's breaking bad news or not really giving any positive news because the patients are so sick, and even if you see a bit of improvement we know they are nowhere out of the woods. ifind i'm using the word "but" a lot, so you say the oxygen is a bit better but... or, you know, they are improving, the kidneys are fine, but... and i always remember somebody telling me their dad had been to itu —

at one of the conferences — and the son was talking about his experience as the relative and how much he hated the word "but". and ifind i'm using it a lot now, unfortunately. it's quite upsetting, as well, emotionally, for me, because i can't imagine what it's like to be the relative, not seeing your loved one and then having this news broken to them constantly, and hearing their suffering and upset. and quite often they are ill themselves with covid, so it's not my most favourite part of the job, but it's quite an important part of the job. so i am now going home after a medium shift, i would say. i think there are some positives. managed to discharge three patients today to the ward and only admit two, so that is going in the right direction and the hope is the lockdown now will have a big impact on the number of patients coming in to make things a bit more manageable in the coming weeks. really interesting to hear from someone on the front line. let's now speak to virologist

professor calum semple, and linda bauld, professor of public health at the university of edinburgh. thank you both very much indeed. good morning. so many questions, things to get through. callum semple, we know this lockdown has come into place. very much like march but with some differences. do you think this is what was necessary? necessary and sadly, inevitable. the combination of the new variant, along with lifting restrictions for the festive period, is what is causing this problem. and of the nature of the high infectivity means that so many more people are getting sick at the same time as putting huge pressure on our services and starting to put pressure on other services as well, including the ability to starve other parts, other sectors of

society. professor linda bould, i think when we have spoken to you on many occasions on breakfast in recent weeks, when we have mentioned things like vaccinations, you have a lwa ys things like vaccinations, you have always tempered that good news with always tempered that good news with a bot. isuppose always tempered that good news with a bot. i suppose for you and for many people in contact this morning, this is the vote this morning, the fa ct this is the vote this morning, the fact many people felt this was inevitable? yes. i think as we have discussed before, the public health response has been sub optimal throughout the pandemic, absolutely. there are many things we have not done well. and i think we have often acted too slowly. so i think if we go back to september, where sage had recommended a circuit break that didn't happen, people had been calling for restrictions, for example, the member restrictions in england were not sustained enough, and some of the basic things like test and tries haven't operated well. and of course we have not dealt with our international borders. we have continually been chopping and changing in the uk.

it's really difficult for the population. as the professor is saying, it was inevitable that we would end up where we are now. the vaccines are hour hope but we mustn't let up on the public health message because they will be key for the coming weeks and months. lots of different questions coming in. this one from chris. if two metres was the distance for the standard covid—19, with the new variant should the distance be increased? what do you know about the new variant? what can you tell us? what are the differences? we know that the protein surface of the virus, the protein surface of the virus, the key that it uses to unlock cells, has changed. it now fits better to the humans. that is why it is more infectious. the concept of distance, for the social distance and, yes, if you can increase it, that's great. it is not a mathematical process. the sheer fact that people are mixing is the issue. so that's why we have to reduce opportunities for mixing. rather

thanjust increasing opportunities for mixing. rather than just increasing the opportunities for mixing. rather thanjust increasing the distance. but yes, if you're at the supermarket today, just think a bit harder about how far you are from the person in front. increase it while you can. we have to come back to the fact there are good news stories. science will get us out of this problem eventually. the health scientists have improved survival. people coming into hospital, one in three used to die. it is now one in five. and the people that go into intensive care are receiving better, more modern methods of ventilation, more modern methods of ventilation, more sophisticated techniques. we heard about noninvasive ventilation and the drugs that are coming on board. so science and society can get us out of this. and linda, i suppose the big difference between where we are now is the vaccine. professor semple was talking about good news. that is the game changer, we help? it is. the other thing from

a behavioural perspective, it's really important for people to have something to aim for, a road map if you will come out of this. i think we do have that much more clearly now. we heard from our first minister in scotland yesterday that she is aiming, or we minister in scotland yesterday that she is aiming, orwe hope to nhs in scotland will be able to vaccinate all of the groups, the priority groups, everybody over 50 and those with underlying health conditions, by the end of may or mid may. that is really important for scotland and the other parts of the uk that will look at similar measures. that, in combination with the framework we already have up here, which shows us the indicators, where we need to move to, towards loosening restrictions, i think will give people a timeline. we can also track progress towards that. it is not indefinite. science, as professor semple says, is what delivers a solution to this, but we can also can put clear timelines on it now,

which is important. we have also got a question from roy, which i will put to you, linda. this will be echoed by so many people waking up, things have changed for them, difficult times whatever your situation. roy says, what is being done for people like myself who live alone through a lockdown, mental health wise? this is really important. and again we need adequate support for all the third sector organisations and the support thatis sector organisations and the support that is available in communities for people who are really struggling. for roy, for our behaviour and perspective, it's important we go back to the kinds of things we were doing in the spring, which is thinking about people who are alone and isolated. our neighbours and family members, how can we reach out to them? we are still able to see people outdoors. we need to make sure that people like roy and others have got that type of contact. i think keeping a focus on mental health, both things we can do

individually in our communities and also supporting the organisations that are going to be so vital to give that support to the people like roy for the next few weeks and months, potentially. professor semple, one of the other issues which lots of viewers have been contacting us about this morning as nurseries are staying open. we spoke to michael gove about this and he was talking about parents in work i think, in the nhs. can you give us an idea of scientifically why schools are closing yet nurseries are remaining open?” schools are closing yet nurseries are remaining open? i can't. the reality is under these circumstances every opportunity to remove social mixing and work mixing of human beings is vitally important. so if a political decision has been made to keep nurseries open to keep central staff at work, that could be tempered by restricting the nursery capacity to those essential workers.

but we have —— but if we have got to the point of closing universities, secondary schools and primary schools on the grounds of public health, then i would be looking to close all other nonessential activities. and it may be a political decision has been made here that nurseries are essential but it is not a scientific one. you indicated in your answer is that lots of people thinking that we are where we are, but at what point do we get out of it? what needs to be in place, professor semple, for these restrictions to be eased? is it the vaccine, the r number coming down, or is it a combination? the r number in the downslope is not a useful indicator. what needs to come down are case numbers presenting to hospital and levels of sickness within the community. it is both the absolute numbers in community and in hospitals that will predict when we are coming out of higher degrees of restrictions. you talked about a

sense of optimism. people also will be looking towards a date. can we put a date on it at this point? no. i think we can identify what the milestones are, louise. it is absolutely... how many people are in hospital, how many people are nicu? those are two key measures that we will be able to track. as they decline through time and that is sustained, i think governments around the uk will have more confidence to ease the measures. also, the number of cases on the test positivity rate. what i would suggest is that perhaps in three or four week chunks, we can monitor the progress. think back to the summer when we had very small numbers every day. low numbers of people in hospital. when we get to that situation again or similar we will be able to loosen restrictions and we will be also able to track how many people have received a first dose of the vaccine and then the days after until some protection is

offered. the government needs to be absolutely transparent with people. governments around the uk. give them information, tell them what is going on and again, have a clear road map out of it at this time, so that people don't feel it is going to go on indefinitely. thank you both. appreciate your time on breakfast. thank you both. great to hearfrom the experts. two professors answering your questions. thank you to all those who have been sending in questions. lots of people after practical advice about schools, vaccinations, nurseries, lots of questions. we try to do with it so many of those as we can this morning. time now to get the news, travel and weather where you are. good morning, i'm asad ahmad. it's been said that enforcing the new national lockdown will put "a lot of pressure" on police officers in london, whose numbers are already reduced by the coronavirus pandemic. the chairman of the metropolitan police federation,

which represents front line officers, says 1,300 are currently off sick or self—isolating in london. ken marsh is urging government to place police personnel on a priority list to receive coronavirus vaccines. but he claims his requests to government are "falling on deaf ears". well, the sudden lockdown caught many schools and colleges by surprise. and according to a food waste company, it'll therefore lead to millions of school dinners being thrown away. as pupils prepare to attend lessons online, food which has already been bought for school dinners is likely be binned. the company, businesswaste, has called it a "national disaster". it says london schools will have stocked up with meals which'll now end—up in landfill. and to find out about all the restrictions coming into force, and how it'll effect you and your family, go to the bbc news website. and how it'll affect you and your family, go to the bbc news website. you can also go on our

social media channels. all you do is search for bbc london, on facebook, twitter or instagram. let's take a look at the travel situation now. on the tubes, there's no service on the london overground between upper holloway to gospel oak due to a faulty track. on the roads, its slow on the a13 in to town closed at the beckton roundabout. there are diversions ion place again, and they are likely to be there for another week to 10 days due to emergency water works. and four—way temporary traffic lights on shooters hill road now the weather with kate. good morning. well, it's another very chilly start this morning with temperatures just above zero in most places. now we'll see some more showers feeding in from the north sea — again falling largely as rain — but over higher ground, you might get something a little more wintry, maybe some wet snow and sleet accompanied by quite a brisk north—easterly. the temperatures cold — between three and five celsius —

but factor in the wind—chill, it is going to feel that bit colder. now, overnight tonight, we're still going to see further showers feeding in. again, similarstory — higher ground might get something wintry, lower levels falling as rain. it's another chilly night — the minimum between one and three celsius. now for tomorrow, the wind falls a bit lighter. it starts to veer from the north, as well. we're still, however, you can see, hanging onto the cold air — that's the blue. it's not until the end of the weekend you'll start to see that slightly less—blue air or less—cold air heading in our direction. now, it's not going to get very much warmer. however, the temperature as we head into the first part of next week, a little less cold. with us going into lockdown again, there's no need to feel alone. please tune into your bbc local radio station and give them a call. they're discussing this lockdown right now, and i know they welcome lots of calls into their show. tune in via the bbc sounds app, smartspeaker, or on 94.9fm. bye for now.

hello, this is breakfast with louise minchin and dan walker. let's tell you more about that announcement. the announcement of a third lockdown in england might not have come as a surprise to many, but it all happened very quickly yesterday. so how do people across the country feel about once again being told to stay at home? john mcmanus has been finding out. monday night in york, a place previously in tier 3, but where cases of the virus are rising as winter tightens its grip. as the prime minister announced a further english lockdown on tv, the frustration on the face of this gym owner was easy to see. this news has broken me a little bit. erm, i like to think i'm a strong, resilient person. i pride myself on that.

but i'm going home now, wondering, what are the things i can do to make sure my bills are paid? it's a double blow for frankie. as a self—employed businesswoman, she's not eligible for the furlough scheme. meanwhile, hundreds of miles away, devon has one of the lowest rates of infection in england. but nowhere in the county can escape lockdown. i think the whole country needs to be treated the same, really. it's probably just easier for the whole country to go into lockdown, and then see the whole rates decline, and then we can start again after that. i had it back in march. and then when i had it, obviously getting it down here was very rare. i wouldn't wish it on anybody. so i think whatever it takes to protect who we need to protect, its worth it. just a few days ago, the people of hull were hoping they might move down a tier. those hopes now dashed. and university students here, and across the country, have also been told they won't be returning to campus just yet.

gutted. i'm a uni student, so i feel a bit let down boris didn't talk about universities. but, yeah, it sort of feels like we've not gone anywhere in ten months. we're key workers, obviously. we can still work and things like that. but like, we both live on our own, and obviously we can't see our family and friends. like, it is a bit lonely, especially when we live on our own. yeah. across england the outlook is challenging, with only the vaccine roll—out offering a glimmer of hope. john mcmanus, bbc news. take a deep breath, i don't know why. i do know why. it's one of those mourning. yesterday millions of children returned for the start of children returned for the start of new term. one day later that guidance changed. this means a return to online learning at home for most primary pupils. that's what the prime minister was talking about yesterday and that is the big change

from today. geoff barton is from the association of school and college leaders. he joins us from suffolk. good morning. ithink good morning. i think i've spoken to you about this time yesterday. things have really changed, haven't they? tell us about the way forward from here. we know that btecs when it happened in the next couple of weeks, they still happening? the government says they are happening. the trouble is that if you were listening to the prime minister's speech you wouldn't know that and they may be lots of young people therefore assuming they should follow the advice and not go to college. it feels pretty impossible that he could be running those exams this week, even though we would have wa nted this week, even though we would have wanted them to run because you are just going to increase the unfairness of some young people being there and some not. those who wear invigorating exams, should they or it should they not be there? it is an example of where if the government had said earlier in the day, look, there will be a really big announcement but we can't tell you because it is clouded in secrecy, but we want the message out

that btecs will run and we need invigilators, we could, as representatives of schools and couege representatives of schools and college leaders coming to everything we could to give some sense of normality to the young people who we re normality to the young people who were today will feel they have been placed on the back foot. so what is happening with regard to those btecs? i have to say, at this point, it really isn't clear. it's one of the things we will talk to the department about. i spoke to the schools minister yesterday and his view was that they would take place. of course it is easy to say that from westminster. if you are in a couege from westminster. if you are in a college and unclear about whether you are young people, the invigilators will be there, then it creates huge uncertainty. i think the organisation that looks after those, pearson itself, will be looking at the arrangements for that. people will have to watch this space and i'm sorry for those young people suddenly caught in the middle of all this turmoil. gavin williamson will update the house of commons tomorrow, we understand.

let's look ahead to gcses, a—levels in the summerand let's look ahead to gcses, a—levels in the summer and we are now talking about different assessment. can that be done and how will that be done? well, i think what will happened with the announcement last night is that it will have heard what people wa nted that it will have heard what people wanted to hear. for example, the bbc was immediately reporting that exams are cancelled, that is what you have been talking about this morning. from what i heard was that it wouldn't be fair to continue with current arrangements. that gave some wriggle room to say may be all exams couldn't run, that would be unthinkable, but may be some modification to exams. it's worth saying that if you compare the english education system with scotla nd english education system with scotland and wales, scotland and wales kept a very strong emphasis on teacher assessment, they trusted those assessments, and that put them ina those assessments, and that put them in a stronger position than england where all of the young people have been told almost since they were born that exams will be make or break, really important and a lot of

young people will be feeling this morning, shouldn't i have some opportunity to demonstrate my skills againstan opportunity to demonstrate my skills against an external assessor one way or another, particularly at a level whether stakes are high in terms of getting to university? that's not to say in any way we could be running some but we need the space to think through carefully. let's not let the young people feel they will walk into the fiasco of le sommer. we don't know the answer to these questions but, geoff barton, thank you for your insight. if you are watching and thinking, i don't want to come out of the duvet, it could be one of those days but we will speak tojoe wicks. one of those days but we will speak to joe wicks. i asked earlier, can we speak to him? fingers crossed. and also two of the sties in death in paradise. let's tell you about what is going on in scotland. today, people in mainland scotland are waking up to a new national lockdown, with orders to stay at home unless for essential reasons. the first minister admits the latest restrictions are "devastating",

the first minister admits the latest restrictions are devastating", but says without them scottish hospitals could be overwhelmed within weeks. we're joined now by first minister nicola sturgeon. good morning. good morning. so many m essa g es good morning. good morning. so many messages from our viewers this morning. if we are going to theme this interview can we call it where we are and how we get to where we wa nt to we are and how we get to where we want to be? in terms of where we are this morning, these are the toughest restrictions in scotland has faced since march of last year. what convinced you that was the right road to go down? sd and sharp acceleration in cases in the week from the 23rd of the 30th of december, 65% increase in our daily case rate, sharp increase in positivity and an assessment says that we are four weeks possibly behind the much more severe situation being seen right now in london and the south—east, so a realisation we had to act quickly and decisively to stop the situation deteriorating. we have an opportunity to stop our health

service being overwhelmed and many more people dying that would otherwise be the case. to slow down this fast expanding strain of the virus while we get the vaccination programme gathering pace because we now have that, that is much more positive than the situation earlier in march. we are in a race and in one lane we have the vaccine programme, we have to get it to eve ryo ne programme, we have to get it to everyone as fast as possible, but in the other lane we have discussed a spreading virus and we have to slow that down and that is the situation we face now. it is tough for everybody, i know, but we need to do this, to make sure we can save lives and protect the nhs while we get people vaccinated. you say it is tough and i'm sure you appreciate people listening this morning i thinking, ijust had enough. fatigue has taken over. what are your message to them? i know that feeling. i am the first minister, my job and responsibility is to take the decisions that i am also a human being. a citizen, subject to the same restrictions. i know how tough it is. we are all thoroughly

scunnered... a it is. we are all thoroughly scunnered. .. a great way to! we want it to be over. i understand that with every fibre of my being. the ending inside and it is high to talk about that and expect people to hear it given the difficult situation we face right now. the vaccination programme is the way out of this but to go back to that race analogy, we have had two macro game changers in the last few weeks, vaccines, but this punch to the stomach which is the new variant so we have to slow it down while we get vaccinations done and the vaccination programme gives us the way out but we need to allow it to get ahead and win the race and that is a situation we are in. it is horrendously tough. we are not alone, the uk as a whole is in this position. many countries across europe. i understand that. this is about saving lives, stopping people getting ill, making sure our health service can cope and be there for

everybody who needs it. notjust covid patients but non—covid, is well. people when i see the news about the arrest of margaret ferrier andi about the arrest of margaret ferrier and i understand you can't talk about that but more broadly, does not act as a market to people who may be tempted to break restrictions given how this is being looked at so i will not talk about margaret ferrier because that is the subject of criminal proceedings.” ferrier because that is the subject of criminal proceedings. i made my view very known on that at the time. to put that to one side as an extreme case, but generally i think we are all struggling with this. i had a situation before christmas, funeral, momentary lapse of concentration which meant i was speaking to someone without my face covering up. i understand it is difficult but it is more important than at any time since march last yearfor than at any time since march last year for us than at any time since march last yearfor us all to stick than at any time since march last year for us all to stick to these restrictions. not only is the virus

still out there, it is out there and spreading faster and stay at home the message, the toughest of all of these messages with the exception of, of course, not having kids in school. that stay at home message, u nless school. that stay at home message, unless you have an essential purpose to be outside, staying at home is about saving lives and protecting the nhs. our nhs in scotland, there will be regional variations, it it is coping, incredible pressure for front line staff but if we don't do what they are doing now, modelling suggests it could be overwhelmed within three to four weeks so we have to stop that happening. it ta kes have to stop that happening. it takes government to lead and be decisive and do the right things but in this fight against the virus it ta kes all of in this fight against the virus it takes all of us playing our part, that was true at the outset and remains remains true. the situation around skills is what we are talking about. michael gove said gavin williamson, the education secretary, will be talking about that later on. in terms of highers in scotland and

going back to assessors, gcses and a—levels looks like they will be assessed, what is the situation in scotland? we have set out the position that exams cannot take place normally at this year because of the disruption to young people's education. we set out before christmas that our schools would not be open to the majority of pupils at least until the 18th of january. we have now extended that to the 1st of february. that is undoubtedly the most difficult of our whole series of difficult decisions, the disruption to a young people's lives and education has been horrendous and education has been horrendous and is still horrendous. we want to get school back as possible but there are two things that have broken decisions around skills. first, this higher than comfortable level of community transmission. second, there is still uncertainty about the extent to which this new variant might be impacting on young people so we need to get community transmission down, hopefully more certainty about this new variant,

and we will do everything in our power to get young people back in schools and then, of course, having that face—to—face education and make that face—to—face education and make that whole assessment process in place of exams much more possible over the remainder of this academic year. i said i wanted to talk to you about the way we get out of where we are at the moment. in terms of the vaccination programme, am i right in saying that yesterday, the date you suggested for over 50s and those with underlying health conditions in scotla nd with underlying health conditions in scotland to be vaccinated was mid—may, is that right? scotland to be vaccinated was mid-may, is that right? early may and everybody on the jvc i prioritisation list, which is different to the groups the prime minster was talking about. which is why i wanted clarity. from scotland point of view, is that the point at which you can relax things? first, that early may date i set out was a cautious prediction at this moment

in time based on what we are certain about, or as certain as possible about, or as certain as possible about the supply of vaccine. i hope that can be accelerated but i don't wa nt to that can be accelerated but i don't want to promise things before i have the certainty that we have the vaccine supplies. we will try to accelerate that date as far as we possibly can. on the relationship between the vaccine programme and lifting restrictions, it is not necessarily as binary as that. go back to the race analogy. we have to speed up vaccines but slow down the virus. if we manage to suppress the virus. if we manage to suppress the virus again, get case numbers down to the extent that we can start lifting restrictions while we are still in that first phase of vaccination, we will do that. we will not keep this lockdown in place any longer than necessary. but it is not possible for me to be 100% certain about the timing of all of that right now because we first have to get the case numbers down. it is important for me to level with people given the uncertainties we are grappling with. as i try to do

all along, literally on a daily basis, i will keep sharing our understanding of the current situation as openly with people as i can. in terms of levelling with people, some will be watching this interview and will have watched our programme is going to be experts and experts and saying, the situation in the nhs is not as serious as you are making out. these measures are not necessary. what do you say to them? we have spoken to two doctors on the front line and one of them, one sister, described it as a war zone today. yeah, so the situation in scotland, and i'm conscious of saying this and having scottish nurses and doctors are saying it is dreadful top in scottish hospitals, and it is but it is not as severe, thankfully, at the moment, as the accou nts thankfully, at the moment, as the a ccou nts we thankfully, at the moment, as the accounts we are hearing from london in particular. that is why we have acted the way we have so quickly, four weeks behind london at the moment, to stop us getting to that position. i said yesterday our figures on hospital and icu capacity

they will be published later today. one hospital capacity, i expect will be close to the peak of the first wave last april with some health boards getting very close to the covid capacity. icu in scotland is less pressured and that is partly because treatment is better because fewer —— so fewer patients end up in a icu but still, for every health board in mainland scotland right now, icu capacity is above the normal winter level. the pressure is severe. anybody out there, whether on mask wearing, vaccination, hospital pressure, the scepticism about this virus, nobody is making this up. it is real, dangerous, a threat. anybody that is spreading misinformation or trying to say people like me ijust pretending about this is frankly part of the problem, not part of the solution. before we let you go, i know you have a busy morning, we are trying to give our viewers a lift. we are about to speak to joe to give our viewers a lift. we are about to speak tojoe wicks, king of lockdown first time round. we are

talking about death in paradise. when you need a lift, when you go?” wish i could say exercise. i need to do more of that so i will possibly listen to joe wicks do more of that so i will possibly listen tojoe wicks to get motivated. i am a reader of fiction novels, that's what i do to relax and lose myself in the pages of story. there was a period last year every novel i started to read seemed to have a plague theme which was not very good for taking my mind off things! that's what i did to relax but new year, we are all thinking about the need to exercise more so i will try to do a bit of that. listen in tojoe wicks, thank you for your time, nicola sturgeon. when we arrived at breakfast we were chatting about what we needed to get us through this and i went there is one man we need to talk to, his name is synonymous with joe doing lockdown, here isjoe wicks! thank you so much forjoining us. good morning. good morning. the a nswer to good morning. good morning. the

answer to that is why we need you on the programme. the good news is you will help us through this, whether you quit saying yeah, yesterday i made the decision even before i knew about boris and that, i was going to do workouts starting next week. many good people in london and anywhere that was close and i made the decision because i want to be there for kids and families with young children to stay active. i will do it monday, wednesday and friday at 9am, just like before in the first lockdown and videos will be saved. if you miss them you can go back. lockdown and videos will be saved. if you miss them you can go backm the room ready? that is what i am most worried about! yeah, i've moved house during lockdown so i would be in this room. i will try to keep it fun. 20 minute work—out and this is about lifting our children's energy and their mood. i had an emotional moment last night thinking about the children around the world at home in tiny flats and they miss their

friends and school. he eat withjoe three days per week will give them some optimism and happiness. that is important because there are a lot of people will be watching this morning and are worried, concerned about theirfamily, their and are worried, concerned about their family, their health, and are worried, concerned about theirfamily, their health, about finance, how they support their family and they are worried about friends and people you haven't worked for a long time. all sorts of mental health concerns, as well. it is not normal that people will feel this way at the start of the new year because you are planning what to change in life and what things will be different. it has, i think, hit quite a few people this morning. definitely. it effects people at different times. i have been so distracted with work and 24—hour running and! distracted with work and 24—hour running and i stopped a process last night i thought about people struggling with mental health, that are lonely, depressed, losing their jobs. that for me really affects me. i burst into cheers last night in

front of thousands of people because that fear and emotion is there and you shouldn't suppress it, let it out and communicate. two things you need more than anything is regular exercise for your mental health, do it to feel good, and regular communication, talk and asked people how they are feeling. we are all feeling this. no matter where you live, ina feeling this. no matter where you live, in a tiny one—bedroom council flat or a bigger house with my space, we all feel the same, we are all very disconnected from our friends and family and that really hit me last night. the reason so many people will be listening to you and inspired by you, but also there is another thing. i wanted to speak to you because we are all losing our routine and you were part of that routine and you were part of that routine and you helped so many hundreds of thousands of people and we need our familiarity hundreds of thousands of people and we need ourfamiliarity back, as well, in some ways, so thank you. what i want people to do is lean on the exercise, use my youtube videos. they are there. there will be

someone on youtube for you. pilates, other great things. use that and don't feel like it is something to avoid and don't go into unhealthy eating, get out, go for walks, fresh airwill eating, get out, go for walks, fresh air will help. this is not optional. it might have been optional last year but this year it is essential for your mental health that you do this, move your body, change your mindset and start to feel optimistic about things. it is the only choice we have a. it wasn'tjust louise who walked in this morning and said we need joe wicks. i'm sure you thought this tweet from peter crouch quite soon after the prime minister made his announcement. i love that. a funny tweet. there are a lot of money memes of people saying they are fed up. i am here, money memes of people saying they are fed up. lam here, i money memes of people saying they are fed up. i am here, i love doing this. i can't do five days a week because i am doing a boot camp on my at the time during three days. not many we re at the time during three days. not many were doing it every day so having a break in between is good.

please use the workouts, tell as many people, friends and families. it is fun, we let loose, we just have fun for 20 minutes and it helps their mood. give us one quick exercise to change our mood. hold on! a simple running on the spot. we will not do burpees! bena lean back. getting excited. you cheering me up already. joe wicks, thank you so much. i will do that at 9:15am. good looks, see you soon. what was that word that nicola sturgeon used? scunnered? lets look at the lovely weather. good morning. good morning. a cold start today. fabulous weather watchers pictures. this one taken in

cou nty watchers pictures. this one taken in county durham looks quite icy and there is the risk of eyes on untreated surfaces in eastern scotland, eastern england and northern ireland. temperatures at the moment... we have got a weather front draped across east anglia, heading down towards the channel islands and here we will have showery outbreaks of rain on and off through the day. could be wintry, especially so on higherground, as could be wintry, especially so on higher ground, as indeed could be showers be across northern england and southern scotland. now in between there will be a lot of dry weather, the brightest conditions out towards the west and gusty winds once again across england and also wales. the black circles represent the gusts you can expect, so not quite as strong as yesterday which you still will notice them. some sunshine was south—west england, wales, northern ireland and western scotland. for the rest, areas are planned at times, some sunshine but also a few showers. most shows will be wintry and higher ground. the

wind direction is quite salient, coming in from the north—east and these are our maximum temperatures, for it to 6 degrees. below average for it to 6 degrees. below average for the staging january. it will feel even colder than those temperatures suggest. this evening and overnight we hang on to the showery outbreaks of rain across the south—east, heading down to is the channel islands. we will see further wintry showers across northern england, southern scotland. if few of those getting into wales, as well, and it will be a cold night with frost around comic widespread across scotland and the risk of icy patches once again to watch out first thing in the morning. oh, thank you, we will rush out. thank you for your company today. new lockdowns in england and scotland mean new headaches for companies forced to shut up shop. both unions and businesses are calling on the government to do more to help prevent permanent closures and job losses. nina's got all the details.

we expect an update from the chancellor a little later this morning. lots of small business owners waking up this morning to an all too familiar story — the plans they had made taken away. the owner of one small business — a group of children's clothing stores — told us it is an ongoing question of plain survival, not growth. in her words "it's like trying to climb a mountain. in the snow. with no way out." in the next few minutes we understand the chancellor will announce "additional grants" for businesses. and we expect some clarification on what self—employed support will look like for the comign months. . . but will those measures go far enough? lord karan bilimoria is the founder and chairman of cobra beer as well as the president of the confederation of british industry. hejoins us now from london.

iamon i am on this understanding that these measures have to happen at the moment? the latest survey says over 7996 moment? the latest survey says over 79% of the british public think a lockdown is essential and here we are ina lockdown is essential and here we are in a lockdown number three. the big difference between a first lockdown in march last year as now as we had lots of uncertainty then and we still have uncertainty but this time we have the vaccines, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. it will be tough for the next few months. there will probably be another recession but our members are saying to the government, keep giving us the help. the government has been fantastic giving us the help of the last year, extend the furlough scheme, the kicks type scheme to prevent unemployment against the young, that needs to be probably extended and made even more attractive. the fantastic government guaranteed loans have saved many businesses, there needs to be more flexibility there. it has been innovative in the past, now is a time of the last mile until these

vaccinations, the inoculations over the coming weeks and months, then we have to stick with this because after that we have proven in a quarter of three last year that business can bounce back very quickly even in the middle of a pandemic with the uncertainties. michael gove told the programme, we do spend that stand ready to do anything we can, but from what we are viewing the chancellor will extend business grants only up to around £3000 through local authorities. many businesses say thatis authorities. many businesses say that is simply not enough. and this is where the chancellor has been very good at working with organisations like the cbi. we speak for one third of the private sector workforce in this country and trade associations, the national farmers' union, the law society, listened to us and we will ask for the help that is required and they must listen and when it comes to budget, we have on coming up in march, no talk of tax increases at the time. business needs all the time that the agenda needs all the time that the agenda needs to be pushed hundred percent.

lowered bilimoria, thank you. we expect that statement in the next few minutes. you are watching bbc brea kfast, few minutes. you are watching bbc breakfast, 8:59am.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines. people in england are waking up to a third national lockdown as the government tries to reduce the spread of coronavirus. we hope that we will be able to increase the number of people who are vaccinated, it's good news that we now have two vaccines which are effective and can provide people with protection. the more people we vaccinate, the easier it will be to lift these restrictions. a lockdown came into force on the scottish mainland at midnight and will last at least until the end of the month. in half an hour we'll be answering your questions on the latest restrictions now in place across different parts of the uk. please do get in touch on twitter — i'm @rebeccajonesbbc —