this is bbc news. these are the latest headlines in the uk and around the world. the british government is playing down expectations it could adopt a proposal to pay £500 to everyone who tests positive for covid—19, saying it could create perverse incentives, but ministers are looking at support for those who have to isolate. we have always had the £500 support payment for those on certain benefits. we have always kept that under review. we know that it is sometimes quite challenging to ask people to isolate for that length of time. police in east london broke up a wedding party with 400 guests last night — and handed the organisers a £10,000 fine. what do you make of that — people holding a 400—strong

wedding during a lockdown? do get in touch with me on twitter @annita—mcveigh and use #bbcyourquestions, and i'll try to read out some of your comments. british retail sales saw their largest annual fall in history last year as the impact of the pandemic took its toll. japanese car maker nissan has told the bbc its plant in north east england is secure for the long term, because of the post—brexit trade deal. google threatens to withdraw its search engine from australia — if the government passes a law forcing tech giants to pay local media for their content. and coming up this hour: the release of the next james bond film has been delayed for a third time, because of the coronavirus pandemic.

hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. the british government has played down expectations it could adopt a proposal to pay £500 to everyone who tests positive for covid—19, saying it could create perverse incentives. but ministers are actively looking at ways of encouraging people to isolate where needed. there are concerns the current financial support is not enough, and that some low—paid workers cannot afford to self—isolate. it's also emerged that police last night broke up a wedding party in east london with more than 400 guests. we'll have more on that shortly, but first this report from andy moore. it's the news nobody wants to hear — that they have to isolate because they've tested positive. and the evidence is that many people don't follow that advice. a recent study from university college london found more than a third of people didn't isolate for the recommended number of days when they developed symptoms of covid—19,

while less than half of people who developed symptoms said they'd requested a test. a £500 payment is available for the lowest—paid, but it can be difficult to get. this new suggestion is that there would be a universal payment of £500 to anyone who needed to self—isolate because they've tested positive. this is one of a number of proposals being looked at to revamp the current system. in the meantime, the government is keen to do whatever it can to reduce transmission rates. and so there was this announcement from the home secretary. today i can announce that next week we will be introducing a new £800 fine for those attending house parties, which will double for each repeat offence to a maximum level of £6,400. these fines will apply to those who attend illegal gatherings of more than 15 people in homes. in northern ireland,

coronavirus lockdown restrictions will be extended until at least the 5th of march, the first and deputy first ministers have said. but ministers were also told that restrictions may have to remain in place until after the easter holidays. the westminster government hasn't set any date for the lifting of restrictions in england. the scottish and welsh administrations are expected to give updates today. new cases are continuing to fall, with government figures showing there were 37,892 new infections recorded in the latest 24—hour period. 1,290 deaths were reported. a record 363,508 people were vaccinated in the latest 24—hour period, bringing the total number who've had their first dose to nearly five million. another casualty of the restrictions is the glastonbury festival in somerset in june. it's the second year in a row that it's been cancelled, but the organisers said they were very confident 2022

would be a very special year. andy moore, bbc news. let's get more from our political correspondent leila nathoo. remind us what exactly the situation is currently in terms of payments if you are required to self—isolate. the first thing to see is that there has long been an acknowledgement or criticism that isolation was the weak point if you like the weak link in the test, trace, isolate system which is supposed to be to help stop the spread of coronavirus, and currently people on low incomes who are in receipt of certain benefits are in receipt of certain benefits are eligible for a £500 payment if they cannot work from home, if they do need that money. it doesn't mean everyone who applies for it necessarily gets it but there is a support system in place for those on

lower incomes, the idea being if you are going to be put off isolating because of financial need then you can get some money to top up your income during that period on top of any sick pay if you are not receiving a salary during that isolation period. the idea to go further, to make a £500 payment universal, that is something that has been drawn up by officials, reported in the guardian first, saying that this was one idea under consideration, but extending this £500 payment universally is something that i do not think the government are going to go for at all not least because of the cost but also the idea that is going to go to people who really do not need that money in the first place. this is what the environment secretary had to see earlier. we've always had the £500 support payment for those that are on certain benefits. we've always kept this under review. we know that it's sometimes quite

challenging to ask people to isolate for that length of time. of course, at the moment we are in a full lockdown anyway, so while people can leave to work, in many cases people will be staying home anyway, but we constantly keep this under review. we've got to consider all sorts of policies in order to make sure that people abide by the rules, are able to abide by the rules, and that we get the infection rate down. interestingly, the environment secretary acknowledging this morning that compliance with the isolation rules has been a problem and is proving a pretty tall order for people who are asked to isolate if they have tested positive for covid come into contact with a positive covid test and it goes back to the beginning because if you do not want to isolate you might not go for a test in the first place if you are symptomatic so it has implications for stopping the spread of coronavirus and it is on the minds of ministers. george eustice seeing they are looking forward as to when

after locke turn, whenever that is, when the restrictions do start to be lifted, how they keep a lid on cases, and the test, trace, isolate system is going to be crucial to that and they hope will play a more important role going forward, but this idea the £500 payment is going to be extended across the board i think is just not going to happen. thank you. a serving metropolitan police service officer has sadly died after he tested positive for covid—i9 earlier this week. pc michael warren, aged 37, who was attached to the met�*s territorial support group. he has sadly died after testing positive for covid—i9. a lovely,

genuine, hard—working officer. to lose his life is heartbreaking. 0ur lose his life is heartbreaking. our thoughts are with his family and friends. but as from the metropolitan police. hejoined in 2005 he joined in 2005 and performed hejoined in 2005 and performed a number of different policing roles. he had been shielding at home. however his ambition to support his team in front when colleagues was not deterred. he regularly went above and beyond to support his colleagues doing virtually anything he could to add value. he regularly spoke about how he looked forward to putting his uniform back on and going out on patrol with his colleagues. his death is a stark reminder of the human impact of this virus. he is survived by his

parents, his wife and two young children aged eight and five. the mayor of london has been tweeting in tribute, seeing my heart goes out to the entire met police family following the tragic loss of pc warren. the government playing down expectations that it could adopt an idea to pay £500 to people to self—isolate, to get tested if they suspect they have covid and to then self—isolate. stephen reicher is professor of social psychology at the university of st andrews and advises both the scottish and uk governments on covid—i9. good to have you with us.

interesting the government is playing down the specific idea. certainly it is looking at whether there are better ways to motivate people to self—isolate if necessary, but interesting looking at comments from viewers today. a lot of people saying to us this is going to watch the government calls create a perverse incentive, people who are not really bothered about this virus won't care whether they get it in order to get the money. what do you think about the motivations around getting the right kind of incentives in place? if getting the right kind of incentives in lace? , ., getting the right kind of incentives in lace? l, getting the right kind of incentives in lace? ., in place? if you look about debate about benefits _ in place? if you look about debate about benefits more _ in place? if you look about debate about benefits more widely - in place? if you look about debate about benefits more widely there | in place? if you look about debate | about benefits more widely there is always a for only about people cheating who are getting the benefits do not need then and you always find a far greater problem is if you make it hard to get benefits people do not pick up benefits and the amount of people who under claim is about ten times as many who overcame, so by focusing on those who might cheat the system you

actually make a system that doesn't work, and the point here is we want people to self—isolate quickly, immediately. if they wait for several days wondering if they will get a payment it will be too late so the system has to be immediate and the system has to be immediate and the more bureaucracy there is the less people are likely to do that. when it comes to cost, remember that we are spending £22 billion on our test and trace system and testing and chasing people is pointless unless they self—isolate so if people are worried about the cost of getting people to self—isolate think about the cost of not getting people to self—isolate. finally if you look around the world at the places which are effective in getting people to self—isolate, taiwan and south korea and also new york, they have comprehensive packages of support and care. they not only people so that they can afford it, they also

give people accommodation, they give people medicine, they even walk your dog for you. we need to be going further and getting comprehensive care and support to people because if not we have a huge hole in our pandemic response and we undermine everything else we are spending so much money on. you everything else we are spending so much money on-— everything else we are spending so much money on. you think this idea of makin: much money on. you think this idea of making it — much money on. you think this idea of making it easier _ much money on. you think this idea of making it easier for _ much money on. you think this idea of making it easier for people - much money on. you think this idea of making it easier for people to - of making it easier for people to get a 500 pain payments to enable them to self—isolate is a good one because we know the current £500 is proving quite difficult for people to access. ~ , ., ., ., ~' proving quite difficult for people to access. ~ , ., ., ., ~ ., to access. when you look at the fi . ures, to access. when you look at the figures. 77% _ to access. when you look at the figures. 77% of— to access. when you look at the figures, 77% of liverpool - to access. when you look at the j figures, 77% of liverpool people to access. when you look at the - figures, 77% of liverpool people are turned down, in many places it is over 50%, are not only the fact they are turned down, it is the delay. every day you delay people are out and about and spreading the virus so you need a system which is seamless and a system which is quick. the money isjust one and a system which is quick. the money is just one part of it. if you look around the world and you look at the factors which led to her high

self isolation directly. 0ne at the factors which led to her high self isolation directly. one of them is support and whether you can do it. second is a strong environment where everybody else believes you should isolate and will be, if you like, just need if you do not. the third is monitoring. monitoring both to see what it needs people have and give them, deal with those needs, and secondly monitoring to make sure people do self—isolate, and that is a reasonable deal. people do self-isolate, and that is a reasonable deal.— a reasonable deal. sorry to interject. _ a reasonable deal. sorry to interject, briefly, - a reasonable deal. sorry to interject, briefly, if- a reasonable deal. sorry to interject, briefly, if it- a reasonable deal. sorry to interject, briefly, if it is- a reasonable deal. sorry to| interject, briefly, if it is not seamless, as you see it should be, and it is not speedy, whatever tweaks to the system may be put in place, is that going to counteract the positive effects of more people getting vaccinated? just the positive effects of more people getting vaccinated?— getting vaccinated? just like testina , getting vaccinated? just like testing, testing _ getting vaccinated? just like testing, testing has - getting vaccinated? just like testing, testing has to - getting vaccinated? just like testing, testing has to be i getting vaccinated? just like i testing, testing has to be fast. getting vaccinated? just like - testing, testing has to be fast. if you test people and it is too long before you give them results in a civil point of testing which is to find out who is infected as quickly

as possible and get them out of circulation. equally when it comes to isolation it has to be done quickly. you cannot have a bureaucratic system where people do not know if they will get the support or not. it has to be immediate. the way to do that is to make it universal. going back to benefits we find time and again if you want take—up of benefits they have to be universal. 0f you want take—up of benefits they have to be universal. of course you have to be universal. of course you have said that with progressive taxation to those who can pay well people right now in the middle of the emergency, in the middle of a situation where the nhs is close to being overwhelmed, we need to stop the x infection spreading by every means possible, he comprehensive package of care which includes making it easy for people to access money, but goes beyond that to have a comprehensive package of care, is an absolutely essential element of our pandemic response. it is the big

hole we have to fill if we want to succeed. . ~ hole we have to fill if we want to succeed. ., ~ , ., and for viewers in the uk, borisjohnson will be leading today's coronavirus downing street briefing at five o'clock gmt this afternoon. we'll bring that to you live on bbc one and the bbc news channel. police in east london broke up a wedding party with 400 guests last night — and handed the organisers a £10,000 fine. guests fled the scene as officers arrived. the area is home to the uk's largest ultra—0rthodoxjewish community. with me is our correspondent jon donnison. what more can you tell us? we understand _ what more can you tell us? - understand this wedding was taking place at the girls school in stamford hill. apparently police the windows had been covered up so

people could not see inside. 400 people could not see inside. 400 people in attendance. when police arrived they see many people fled. five people were issued with fixed penalty notices of £200. police say that the organiser of the wedding has been reported for consideration of this £10,000 fine. fine has been reported for consideration of this £10,000 fine.— of this £10,000 fine. five people out of 400 _ of this £10,000 fine. five people out of 400 is _ of this £10,000 fine. five people out of 400 is not _ of this £10,000 fine. five people out of 400 is not a _ of this £10,000 fine. five people out of 400 is not a lot. _ of this £10,000 fine. five people out of 400 is not a lot. a - of this £10,000 fine. five people out of 400 is not a lot. a lot - of this £10,000 fine. five people out of 400 is not a lot. a lot of i out of 400 is not a lot. a lot of --eole out of 400 is not a lot. a lot of peeple apparently _ out of 400 is not a lot. a lot of people apparently ran - out of 400 is not a lot. a lot of people apparently ran away. i out of 400 is not a lot. a lot of. people apparently ran away. the biggest fine for the person who organised the wedding potentially. all of this happened just a day after we had the home secretary saying there would be tougher penalties for anyone attending parties. we have had a statement from the detective superintendent from the detective superintendent from the detective superintendent from the metropolitan police saying this was a completely unacceptable breach of the law, people across the country are making sacrifices by cancelling or postponing weddings and there is no excuse for this type of behaviour.

and there is no excuse for this type of behaviour-— and there is no excuse for this type of behaviour. extraordinary when we look at the story _ of behaviour. extraordinary when we look at the story is _ of behaviour. extraordinary when we look at the story is the _ of behaviour. extraordinary when we look at the story is the news - of behaviour. extraordinary when we look at the story is the news that - of behaviour. extraordinary when we look at the story is the news that a l look at the story is the news that a rabbi and i am not clear if it was the senior orjunior but clearly on the senior orjunior but clearly on the same premises, a rabbi that died from covid last year and here we have this event, 400 people in this school premises of which he was a principle. school premises of which he was a rinci - le. , school premises of which he was a --rincile. , ., , ., principle. yes, and in this part of east london _ principle. yes, and in this part of east london it _ principle. yes, and in this part of east london it has _ principle. yes, and in this part of east london it has had _ principle. yes, and in this part of east london it has had some - principle. yes, and in this part of east london it has had some of l principle. yes, and in this part of. east london it has had some of the highest covid infection rates not just in the capital but in the country in recent months, and there has been a big campaign by local community leaders in that part of the city urging people not to mangle, not to meet in groups, and you have to remember at the moment meeting indoors with anyone outside your family meeting indoors with anyone outside yourfamily group or meeting indoors with anyone outside your family group or someone you love life is completely forbidden at the moment. love life is completely forbidden at the moment-— love life is completely forbidden at

the moment. . ,, , ., , . the moment. thank you very much. -- ou live the moment. thank you very much. -- you live with- — the moment. thank you very much. -- you live with. jill_ the moment. thank you very much. -- you live with. jill says _ the moment. thank you very much. -- you live with. jill says 400 _ the moment. thank you very much. -- you live with. jill says 400 people - you live with. jill says 400 people at a wedding, find all of them. send out a strong message. too late now. in terms of any transmission of the virus she means. but every person should be fined. the next one, will the police ensure they follow up on every guest present at the wedding party and make sure they are famed as well? well any more severe penalties be actioned? it is that they cannot have a big wedding like everyone else but what many is that the expected creating light of the harsh reality? what sort of sentiment that they think it would lead to? on the idea of £500 to self—isolate, although the government playing down that expectation that it might adopt that proposal, very mixed views on that.

some people think it will encourage people to be more careless frankly about whether they pick up the virus or not. too many young and reckless people who do not believe its severity will go out and try to catch it. back to the wedding, jean says as someone who has cancelled three weddings, stories like this infuriate me. follow the rules so we can all have our days. you can get in touch with us on twitter. we will try to read out some more of your comments. google has threatened to switch off its search engine in australia — if the government passes a law forcing digital giants — like google and facebook — to pay local media outlets for using their news content. if they can't agree, a government arbitrator would set the price. google's australian director, mel silva, told a senate committee that the proposed media code was untenable and would create a dangerous precedent.

if this version of the code were to become law it would give us no real choice but to stop making google search available in australia. in its current form the code remains unworkable and if it became law it would hurt notjust google but small publishers, small businesses and millions of australians that use our services every day. mel silvia's comments drew a sharp reaction from australia's prime minister, scott morrison. australia makes our rules for things you can do in australia. that is done in our parliament, it's done by government, and that's how things work here in australia, and people who want to work with that in australia are very welcome, but we don't respond to threats. here's our correspondent in sydney, shaimaa khalil, with more on that planned law.

what the government wants is it wants google, facebook and other tech companies to acknowledge thejournalism of these media outlets and pay them for using it on their platform. the government argues that because these tech platforms gain millions of customers with people who go on it to read the news, billions of dollars in advertising revenue, that they should pay news outlets for their journalism. and this really is an essential and badly—needed financial support avenue for news outlets that have essentially been haemorrhaging money, really, for decades. we have official reports that say the print media in australia, for example, have lost 75% of its advertising revenue, so the operations are becoming smaller, tighter, they are losing jobs, so this money in the proposed law is hopefully going to support them going forward, but, of course, a very strong resistance from google and from facebook as well.

president biden has set out a national strategy to combat coronavirus — describing the task as a "wartime undertaking". it will include the production of more vaccines and increased testing. it's after the new commander—in—chief warned the worst of the pandemic is still to come. 0ur north america correspondent, peter bowes, reports. the day started with a prayer, a moment of reflection before the new president got down to work. with a stack of executive orders to be signed, joe biden wasted no time in putting pen to paper. a signature is all it takes to reverse some of donald trump's key policies, and to reinvigorate a coronavirus effort that mr biden said had been a dismalfailure. the death toll will likely top 500,000 next month. the cases will continue to mount. we didn't get into this mess overnight, and it's going to take months for us to turn things around. but let me be equally clear —

we will get through this. the plan is ambitious — according to mr biden, one of the greatest operational challenges america has ever undertaken — 100 million doses of the vaccine in 100 days. working alongsidejoe biden, a familiarface — dr anthony fauci, america's leading infectious disease expert, who was part of the trump administration's coronavirus task force. he said mr biden's approach — with the federal government taking control of the vaccine rollout — could see normal life returning by the autumn. the concern i have, and something we're working on, is getting people who have vaccine hesitancy, who don't want to get vaccinated, because many people are sceptical about that. so we really need to do a lot of good outreach for that. i don't know what the best case... the best case scenario for me is that we'd get 85% of the people vaccinated by the end of the summer. dr fauci also reflected on the sometimes awkward

relationship he had with donald trump — especially when the former president said things that weren't based on scientific facts. the idea that you can get up here and talk about what you know, what the evidence, what the science is, and know that's it — let the science speak — it is somewhat of a liberating feeling. the goal now, according to dr fauci, is to rebuild the trust of americans as the war on the coronavirus moves into a new phase. peter bowes, bbc news, los angeles. the new us president has said he wants to restore the nuclear deal with iran — making it a top foreign policy priority. donald trump pulled out of the agreement in 2018 and during his time in office the two countries came to the brink of war. so, with so much hostility and mistrust between washington and tehran, will president biden be able to revive the deal? let's get more on this and speak to dr sanam vakil — deputy director of the middle east north africa programme at chatham house, where

she leads the iran forum. good to have you with us. in terms of those international priorities, where does the set on president biden's list? where does the set on president itiden's list?— where does the set on president biden's list? thank you for having me. i biden's list? thank you for having me- i think— biden's list? thank you for having me. i think with _ biden's list? thank you for having me. i think with regards - biden's list? thank you for having me. i think with regards to - biden's list? thank you for having me. i think with regards to the i me. i think with regards to the middle east and iran and the return to the nuclear deal sets very high on the agenda. this issue is connected to iran's nuclear programme but obviously that is a pressing international concern for the united states and for the uk and european states but it is also connected to regional stability, so there is a lot to untangle and unwrap and if the nuclear agreement is restored what needs to happen are a series of follow—on discussions to address regional tensions that continue to drag western countries into the middle east and that poses

the biggest challenge. tell into the middle east and that poses the biggest challenge.— the biggest challenge. tell us more about what you _ the biggest challenge. tell us more about what you think _ the biggest challenge. tell us more about what you think the _ the biggest challenge. tell us more about what you think the us - the biggest challenge. tell us more i about what you think the us approach will be under president biden to prevent further acceleration of the nuclear programme and how receptive do you think iran will be to this new administration?— do you think iran will be to this new administration? president biden has stated that _ new administration? president biden has stated that he _ new administration? president biden has stated that he would _ new administration? president biden has stated that he would like - new administration? president biden has stated that he would like to - has stated that he would like to return to the iran nuclear agreement on a compliance for compliance basis. , ., , ., . on a compliance for compliance basis. , ., . ., basis. explain compliance for compliance- _ basis. explain compliance for compliance. the _ basis. explain compliance for compliance. the us - basis. explain compliance forj compliance. the us withdrew basis. explain compliance for - compliance. the us withdrew from the deal and in reaction _ compliance. the us withdrew from the deal and in reaction to _ compliance. the us withdrew from the deal and in reaction to the _ compliance. the us withdrew from the deal and in reaction to the us - deal and in reaction to the us withdrawal of the iranian government began to breach its commitments and began to breach its commitments and began to breach its commitments and began to restart uranium enrichment and other breaches as well, so if the us is going to return to the deal it would have to agree to remove the sanctions imposed on iran by president trump and the iranians would have to reverse their nuclear

breaches and return to compliance, but it is a bit more complicated than that. because the timing of who goes first very much matters. the sequencing of this compliance process very much matters. it requires the us to engage with european countries and china and russia that are also signatories to the deal and then there is the next level, which is making the deal sustainable and not vulnerable to further us departures are iranian breaches. ~ , , ., breaches. while the presidential elections in _ breaches. while the presidential elections in iran _ breaches. while the presidential elections in iran later _ breaches. while the presidential elections in iran later this - breaches. while the presidential elections in iran later this year l elections in iran later this year have a bearing on what might happen? the iranians are calling for a quick us re—entry and they are stating that if the us comes back they can reverse all of the breaches that they have made, but the iranian elections not because these negotiations with the us and the

signatories to the nuclear agreement are going to take a number of months and so there will be a transition of power injune once the elections are resolved and a new candidate will come into office in august of this year, so this will last a number of months. it is not going to be resolved quickly.— months. it is not going to be resolved quickly. thank you very much for your— resolved quickly. thank you very much for your time _ resolved quickly. thank you very much for your time today. - the release of the next james bond film has been delayed for a third time because of the coronavirus pandemic. no time to die had orginally been due to hit screens last april but will now debut globally on the 8th of october. the film is the 25th instalment in the bond franchise, and marks daniel craig's final appearance as 007. let's get more from the bbc�*s arts and entertainment correspondent colin paterson. a guest from the james bond international fan a guest from the james bond internationalfan club a guest from the james bond international fan club insisted absence makes the heart grow fonder, but do you think this is the right

decision from the producers? 0ther producers have decided to make their films available to view on tv but in the case of james bond they are holding out. it the case of james bond they are holding out-— holding out. it is a very interesting _ holding out. it is a very interesting argument. l holding out. it is a very| interesting argument. it holding out. it is a very i interesting argument. it is holding out. it is a very - interesting argument. it is going holding out. it is a very _ interesting argument. it is going to be six years since we have seen a new james bond be six years since we have seen a newjames bond film. it is almost the longest time ever. if it is delayed again it will break the record of six and a half years between timothy dalton's last one and piers brosnan. was it a good decision to decide to keep it in cinemas? the premier was supposed to be the 1st of march last year at the royal albert hall. why this has been done is because ofjames bond's international appeal, the fact that mgm who have made this film wanted to open on as many screens in as many countries as possible at one time, and that simply is not possible at the moment.

you mentioned how some firms have been going to streaming now, like wonder woman, and coming to america, the sequel with eddie murphy which is coming to amazon later. but the production companies have decided it is important to keep bond as a cinematic expense. this is not a one—off movie, it is a franchise that has been going on for 60 years and they want to protect james bond as a cinema going experience for the future. if it went straight to streaming, they would be seen as demeaning its likely but it is costly, there is word that mgm could be losing up to $1 million a month every time this is delayed.- every time this is delayed. colin, thank ou every time this is delayed. colin, thank you very — every time this is delayed. colin, thank you very much. _ every time this is delayed. colin, thank you very much. colin i every time this is delayed. colin, i thank you very much. colin paterson, there. astronomicalfigures. uk government borrowing was the highest for any december on record last month, according to new figures from the office for national statistics. the figure hit

£34.1 billion last month, as the cost of pandemic support weighed on the economy. it comes as retail sales volumes fell by 1.9%, the largest year on year fall since records began in 1997. the figures come ahead of the chancellor's budget on 3rd march. our business correspondent katie prescott has been taking a look at the figures. when we are talking about that vast sums, we need to get you to put this in context first, especially as we look forward as to whether the government can afford to offer additional support to various sectors w you start to wonder about the number of zeros going on and i think at any other time, this would be leading the news. but think at any other time, this would be leading the news.— think at any other time, this would be leading the news. but these eye waterin: be leading the news. but these eye watering uppers — be leading the news. but these eye watering uppers have _ be leading the news. but these eye watering uppers have become i be leading the news. but these eye watering uppers have become very| watering uppers have become very common, to put the december number into context, it is five times higher than last year. 0fficials think that we could borrow £400 billion by the end of the financial year because of course, we are not there yet. but the reason for all of this, the context as you say is very clear, the money the government needs to tackle the pandemic, the money they need for the vaccination

programme, for the testing programme, for the testing programme, for the testing programme, for example and for ppe and then there is the cost of supporting the economy through all of this, like the furlough scheme, propping upjobs that of this, like the furlough scheme, propping up jobs that are not viable during this period, helping businesses to get through this very difficult time. added to that, the treasury is not bringing in as much money as it normally would because businesses are paying less in tax. the government says, and economists in the main agree with them that this is quite a good time to borrow because costs are very low. as you say, it leaves the chancellor in a bit of a quandary about what this means in the long term. let’s bit of a quandary about what this means in the long term. let's talk about the retail— means in the long term. let's talk about the retail sales _ means in the long term. let's talk about the retail sales volumes, i about the retail sales volumes, we were not expecting anything amazing, clearly, but one wonders what the impact is going to be with no clear date yet as to when the high streets around the uk can reopen. will we end up seeing some retailers going entirely online perhaps? it is end up seeing some retailers going entirely online perhaps?— entirely online perhaps? it is a really interesting _ entirely online perhaps? it is a really interesting point - entirely online perhaps? it is a really interesting point and i entirely online perhaps? it is a really interesting point and it | entirely online perhaps? it is a i really interesting point and it will be one of the numbers the chancellor will be looking at when it comes to what shape the economy is on, when he is looking at the budget,

thinking how much support we need to give to the retailers because as you say, wejust give to the retailers because as you say, we just don't know when this is all going to come to an end and the reason that sales have been so poor is that so many shops and nonessential retailers were closed for such a chunk of the year, especially when you mention online, a third of sales are now online and we are seeing businesses that are very shaped online doing well and more traditional retailers like debenhams and arcadia, to namejust two come in administration, shops that were struggling before the pandemic but this push into the change of behaviourjust send them over the brink. change of behaviour 'ust send them over the brink._ over the brink. thank you for “oininr over the brink. thank you for joining us- — over the brink. thank you for joining us. katie _ over the brink. thank you for joining us. katie prescott, i over the brink. thank you for i joining us. katie prescott, there. nissan has told the bbc that its plant in sunderland is now secure. the carmarker says the trade agreement reached between the uk and the eu was positive. chief operating officer ashwani gupta said around 7,000 jobs in the uk were safe, and by implication tens of thousands more across the supply chain. mr gupta has been speaking to our business editor simonjack,

from nissan's headquarters injapan. the sunderland plant being one of the best plants we have in the world with more than 35 years of history, we have invested more than £4 billion in this plant and we have spent £3.5 billion every year which goes to the uk economy. we are going to redefine the auto industry in the united kingdom because brexit makes the nissan sunderland plant competitive in the uk and outside uk when it comes to the exports. i'm joined now byjames ramsbotham, chief executive of the north east of england chamber of commerce. thank you forjoining us. hugely important news for the north—east of england, and the news that it is secure for the long term, that is what you've been waiting to hear for quite awhile?— quite awhile? absolutely, it is treat quite awhile? absolutely, it is great news- — quite awhile? absolutely, it is great news- i— quite awhile? absolutely, it is great news. i would _ quite awhile? absolutely, it is great news. i would add i quite awhile? absolutely, it is great news. i would add a i quite awhile? absolutely, it is great news. i would add a bit| quite awhile? absolutely, it is. great news. i would add a bit of caution when you say secure the long—term, it is absolutely secure

in the immediate future is really important but we are also very conscious that we are still going to have to make sure that everybody involved works really hard to secure new models to the plant but we were so concerned that short—term decisions might be taken, that we absolutely welcome the announcement today. absolutely welcome the announcement toda . ., . ,, ., absolutely welcome the announcement toda . ., ., ., ., today. coming back to that in a moment but — today. coming back to that in a moment but first, _ today. coming back to that in a moment but first, put - today. coming back to that in a moment but first, put in i today. coming back to that in a moment but first, put in more | moment but first, put in more context what this means for the employees immediately affected by this, of course, and the wider economy in the north—east, all of those in the supply chain? absolutely, it is huge. there are 6000-7000 absolutely, it is huge. there are 6000—7000 people at any one time employed full time at the plant itself. and many times that, 30 5000-40,000 in the itself. and many times that, 30 5000—40,000 in the supply chain but the impact that the nissan plant has had throughout the north—east is absolutely incredible and it is not really possible to overstate. so many businesses outside the motive —— automotive supply chain have directly benefited from the impact of the expertise the plant has

brought, and we know that the longer term future of the whole region really gets impacted by what happens at the nissan plant here. let’s really gets impacted by what happens at the nissan plant here.— at the nissan plant here. let's go back to the _ at the nissan plant here. let's go back to the note _ at the nissan plant here. let's go back to the note of _ at the nissan plant here. let's go back to the note of caution i at the nissan plant here. let's go back to the note of caution you i at the nissan plant here. let's go i back to the note of caution you were sounding. why do you make that distinction between the immediate future and the longer term, then, and what is it going to take to ensure that those new models are made in sunderland?— made in sunderland? well, the automotive _ made in sunderland? well, the automotive sector _ made in sunderland? well, the automotive sector as _ made in sunderland? well, the automotive sector as a - made in sunderland? well, the automotive sector as a whole l made in sunderland? well, the l automotive sector as a whole has been going through a really tough time and the issues to do with diesel engines that impacted a couple of years ago but have continued to impact and now of course, the big transformation to electric. whereas this plant here was the first part anywhere, really, to start producing mass—produced electric cars, i drive one myself, they are absolutely superb, but so much of the electric car fleet manufacturing is based outside the uk and indeed within this announcement is the important bit about bringing the batteries for the

62 kilowatts cars, the bigger battery cars here to the uk. but it is the next generation that really matters. any model has a five year, six year life span and so their current models are secure but we have got to do so much more to really make sure that whatever we do as a country as a whole, and in the plant itself, ensures that nissan give future models to the sunderland plant. give future models to the sunderland lant, , ., ., give future models to the sunderland lant, ,., ., ., give future models to the sunderland lant, ., ., ~' give future models to the sunderland lant. ., ., ,, ., give future models to the sunderland lant. ., ., ~' ., [q give future models to the sunderland plant. good to talk to you, james. the chief executive _ plant. good to talk to you, james. the chief executive of _ plant. good to talk to you, james. the chief executive of the - the chief executive of the north—east england chamber of commerce, there. japan is standing firm on its commitment to host the tokyo olympics and paralympics. it's following newspaper reports some ministers are privately saying they should be cancelled because of concerns over covid infections. tomorrow marks exactly six months to go until the sporting event is due to start after they were postponed last year. prime minister yoshihide suga said he was "determined" to hold the games. translation: the tokyo games will be

a symbol of mankind overcoming - the coronavirus and a chance to show japan's recovery from the devastating earthquake and tsunami. we will be well prepared to tackle the infection. we are determined to work closely together with the tokyo metropolitan government, the 2020 organising committee and the international olympic committee to achieve a safe and secure 0lympics. in brazil, scientists are working hard to understand the new coronavirus variant that was found in the amazon. at the same time, doctors in the rainforest�*s biggest city, manaus, are struggling to control rising deaths and soaring cases. brazil has started vaccinating people this week, but it's been a patchy roll—out. from manaus, katy watson reports. this is no way to know funeral, no

remembrance, just a deluge and a dikken. —— no way to say goodbye. a of hasty burialfor dikken. —— no way to say goodbye. a of hasty burial for 34—year—old sergio, another victim in the depressingly long line forming at the cemetery. translation: what the cemetery. translation: what kills eo - le the cemetery. translation: what kills people is _ the cemetery. translation: what kills people is not _ the cemetery. translation: what kills people is not the _ the cemetery. translation: “wrist kills people is not the virus, the cemetery. translation: ltdrisgt kills people is not the virus, it the cemetery. translation: ltd"isgt kills people is not the virus, it is not having someone familiar with them to talk to them, supporting them, to let them know you are not alone. lt them, to let them know you are not alone. , ., , ., alone. it is not the first time and ours has been — alone. it is not the first time and ours has been brought _ alone. it is not the first time and ours has been brought to - alone. it is not the first time and ours has been brought to its i alone. it is not the first time and i ours has been brought to its knees. this section of the cemetery is a reminder of the amazon's first wave, where digging mass graves was the only way to keep up with a number of people dying. the biggest city in the rainforest, people here feel forgotten, again, and the second wave is worse. last week, the city's hospitals run out of oxygen, and supplies are still patchy. so the queues have formed that local gas

companies, people buying oxygen to take home, in the hope of keeping their loved ones alive. families here are continually bringing their oxygen cylinders to fill up, a pilgrimage they say that they are doing every single day. if you ask them why they don't take their loved ones to hospital, they say they there is no point because they are all full. "don't worry", says this company representative. "cylinders are now being delivered across the city". but it is of little comfort to this woman, who has had to leave her mother at home with no oxygen to come here. she only has one cylinder. translation: there is no for her at the _ cylinder. translation: there is no for her at the hospital. _ cylinder. translation: there is no for her at the hospital. if _ cylinder. translation: there is no for her at the hospital. if she - cylinder. translation: there is no for her at the hospital. if she goes l for her at the hospital. if she goes there, there is no oxygen there, either, and i won't let her die there. we pay tax and when our parents need it, there isn't any help. we have to come to keep a

loved one alive.— loved one alive. hospitals are overwhelmed. _ loved one alive. hospitals are overwhelmed. even _ loved one alive. hospitals are overwhelmed. even in - loved one alive. hospitals are overwhelmed. even in this i loved one alive. hospitals are i overwhelmed. even in this private intensive care unit, patients are now sharing rooms. this is the oldest patient here, at 77. his survival, his son fabio says, is down to luck. the rest of the ward is full of young people. this woman is full of young people. this woman is 23. next to her, a man in his 30s. is 23. next to her, a man in his 305. it is 23. next to her, a man in his 30s. it has shocked doctors here. we have 305. it has shocked doctors here. - have never seen 305. it has shocked doctor5 here. - have never seen anything like 305. it has shocked doctors here. - have never seen anything like that. sometimes, you get frustrated because this new type of strain is much different than the first one that we saw in the first wave. the death rates are bigger now. aha, that we saw in the first wave. the death rates are bigger now. a grim icture of death rates are bigger now. a grim picture of brazil's _ death rates are bigger now. a grim picture of brazil's reality, - death rates are bigger now. a grim picture of brazil's reality, but i picture of brazil's reality, but then, some good news. jaime response to his family for the first time in weeks. a rare glimpse of hope in otherwise dark times. katy watson, bbc news will stop —— bbc news. the

headlines in bbc news. the uk government is playing down expectations it could adopt a proposal to pay £500 to everyone who tests positive for covid—19, saying it could create perverse incentives. police in east london broke up a wedding party with 400 guests last night and handed the organisers a £10,000 fine. uk retail sales saw their largest annual fall in history last year as the impact of the pandemic took its toll. the pressure coronavirus is putting on hospitals doesn'tjust relate to treating patients with the virus, but also the knock—on effects to other vital services. the queen elizabeth university hospital in glasgow is the biggest and busiest in scotland. staff there say it has been relentless, and they face a really difficult few weeks ahead, as lisa summers reports. we are ten months into strange and difficult times. this winter, no—one has had a holiday, no—one has had much downtime.

hospitals are fuller in winter, beds are tighter. and patients are sick. we have no space to move patients into the department. this is the biggest emergency department in scotland and it's the middle of the afternoon. we have very few beds and very few patients who are identified for beds at the moment which is causing a blockage at the bed management end to move patients in this department to wards. nevertheless, ambulances continue to arrive, bringing more and more patients. it's the same pain that i've had, just been avoiding coming in here because of everything that is going on, if you know what i'm talking about. we are seeing undoubtedly the effect of people not seeking health care for six to ten months. so we're seeing disease that we wouldn't always see, and we are seeing it further down the road. and then build on top of that, that you have got lots and lots of covid patients coming through the door that we wouldn't see were we not

in the middle of the pandemic. so it's that, those two things together that currently put the nhs under that significant pressure. upstairs, this ward is ordinarily used to treat patients with infectious diseases like flu or norovirus. it's now a covid ward and it's completely full. we've got people on high flow oxygen within the ward, lots of oxygen that normally wouldn't be nursed within this sort of environment. they might have been moved on to medical high dependency but we are having to make harder decisions now. patients appear to be sicker for what feels like longer, patients are here for long periods of time, away from their families, and socially isolated. gerry gilroy fell unwell two days before new year. itjust hit me. i was hallucinating, i was lying and i knew that i was in my flat but it was all different. his daughter called an ambulance onjanuary 8th. the paramedics appeared at the door. they didn't mess about, theyjust grabbed me and said, "you're going to hospital."

gerry ended up in high dependency but now he is recovering. glad to see you're doing a lot better now. the impact of coronavirus has been felt right across this hospital. here they are assessing people who were sent by their gp or nhs 24. compared to the first wave, this has been going on for quite a long time, so how much more difficult is it? it feels different this time. i think in the first wave, our intensive care area was very busy and it remains very busy. but in the first wave, we had free beds during that period whereas this time, we have much more pressure on the downstream ward areas. and so it is harder to manage the wider needs of the hospital, i suppose, in terms of these beds and making room for patients to move through the system. the numbers within the hospital are certainly far higher than they were a year ago. repurposing so many wards to treat coronavirus patients has meant some routine work has had to be postponed. but staff are working to prioritise care. coming to hospital is a different experience now and services are stretched.

but staff say they will cope. i think there is an uncertainty about what the next two or three weeks looks like. worst case scenario, it might be very, very challenging. in intensive care and in inpatient wards, that we will continue to do everything that is required. i think the public should be reassured that no matter what's thrown at us, we will definitely get through it. lisa summers, bbc news. you more of your comments on the stories, the idea that the government is now playing down of paying everybody £500 in order to encourage people to test and self—isolate if necessary for covid. cat takes exception to those people who have been writing and saying this is a bad idea and would somehow encourage people to be less careful about whether they get covid or not because they don't think it is serious in the first place. they say, "most people are doing their

best to follow the rules and may need a bit of extra financial help to do so." sean says, "as a nonessential worker, to do so." sean says, "as a nonessentialworker, it to do so." sean says, "as a nonessential worker, it is not exactly reassuring that contracted covid, you get £500 as compensation. close but he says that is not any compensation considering the people who are dying. then on the wedding, the 400 people at a wedding which police in london broke up last night, michelle says, "a wedding is not attended by random people, surely the fixed penalty can be imposed on the couple and all of their guest list?" back to the £500, tony says, "is it going to be real support for low—paid workers or is it going to be classed as extra pay one month for universal credit to be reduced to next?" she says she is a cleaner at a school and only gets paid £94 six pay if you test positive. lots of you getting in touch today and i'm sorry we cannot

read out all of the messages. thank you for the ones that you have sent in. i do take a look at all of them. more rain and flooding could be on the way for areas in england and wales already hit hard by bad weather this week. flood warnings remain in place, after thousands of people had to be evacuated from their homes. 0ur correspondent adam mcclean gave us this update from northwich near chester. the clean—up operation is continuing here in northwich this morning. tractors have been towing huge water tankers in and out of the town centre every couple of minutes to take excess water away from this area. water is being pumped back towards the river behind me. the floodwater has caused devastation to properties and businesses here in northwich and the environment agency have been here since tuesday. dave brown is the flood risk manager for the environment agency. what is the situation at the minute? it is an improving

situation right now. we have a situation where the high water levels we experienced yesterday, the highest levels ever recorded on the river weaver, which we kept behind our flood defences, are on the way down, and effectively that is an improving situation but the problems brought with storm christoph were that the surface water infrastructure and the foul waste was unable to cope with that amount of rainfall falling on the catchment in that small space of time and we then had a problem of surface water rising on the other side of the defences which has caused problems to those businesses affected and the care home to be evacuated. practically speaking, how do you even begin to deal with this amount of water? what is taking place at the minute? at the moment, we are trying to overpump the surface water back to the river. when the river level is low, the surface water can drain to the river and when it is high, it gets blocked by a flap

so it cannot come back but it means that cannot get away, which creates a problem and the rest of the infrastructure sometimes struggles, and with the amount of rainfall we have seen, that has caused this problem. all of the authorities combined, the local authority and the water company, united utilities, are involved with over pumping that back. important to say we had contingency in place before the storm but the sheer scale of the rainfall and the amount of rainfall has caused that to be overwhelmed. is this out of the ordinary for this area? residents we have spoken to say this is not something that usually happens here. this is quite different, isn't it, in terms of the amount of water? yes, we've seen the highest river levels we have ever recorded over the last two days. we have been manning an operation here since tuesday and it has been a round—the—clock response from all those involved to try to mitigate it, and what you are seeing is that recovery phase, as we try to basically get the water out from the town centre, away from those businesses and properties, and allow

people to return back to normal. people will understandably be nervous, many affected by all the flood warnings over the last 24 or 48 hours. what can be done to prevent things like this happening? how can people be reassured that where they live will not fall victim to flooding like this? it is about preparation and the preparation we've done, everyone has done prior to this event has been very good, very large. we have cleared all the debris we can, we have undertaken to make sure contingency is in place, but sometimes the sheer scale of events and events themselves do cause problems and that is what we have seen. and if people want to find out their own risk, i would encourage them to look at our flood map which is available on our website. they can look for their postcode and see their risk and sign up to our floodline number to receive warnings prior to events happening to ensure

they are mitigated where they live. sum up the scale of the response here. this is a picture taking place in towns across the country, but how much goes into a clean—up operation like this? yes, that is what the authority are looking at now, we are all working together towards that. the pumping scenario you see behind me, the number of units on site, overpumping, are all trying to effectively get that surface water back into the river, away from those premises and properties that are flooded so that clean—up can begin and then it is around cleaning the infrastructure and all the public areas to make sure they are safe and people can return to some kind of normality. dave brown from the environment agency, thank you. as the flood water rose here, 48 people had to be evacuated. dozens of pensioners from a nearby retirement village had to be moved to safety by boat. as you can see, there

is still so much work to do here. those people who have been affected by flooding will be keeping a very close eye on the situation over the coming days. you'll no doubt remember the team of nepalese climbers who became the first to reach the summit of the world's second highest mountain — k2 — in winter. they're continuing theirjourney home and have been giving more details about how they battled freezing temperatures and hurricane—force winds. the bbc�*s tim allman has more. the journey there was arduous. the journey back a lot more enjoyable. this team of nepalese climbers were given a hero's welcome in islamabad. garlanded with flowers and posing for selfies, their achievement is a source of pride. i think it was a great honour and a great team effort. i think it is emotional because we all walked the summit together

and it is a clear message for everybody in the world to say that if you unite together, anything is possible. not quite on top of the world but near enough. k2 has been called the savage mountain — the only one higher than 8,000 metres that had never been climbed in winter. that is, until a few days ago. hazardous conditions only making what they did all the more impressive. it was very cold, i couldn't bear it so i almost quit the expedition and there was, like, a sunrise which warmed my body and it was fine again. and imagine, if this is the sort of welcome they received in pakistan, what will it be like when they finally get back home to nepal? tim allman, bbc news. geeta guru—murthy is up next and

will have — geeta guru—murthy is up next and will have more on the discussion around _ will have more on the discussion around incentives encourage people to around incentives encourage people lo gel— around incentives encourage people to get tested for covid symptoms and supporl— to get tested for covid symptoms and support to _ to get tested for covid symptoms and support to self—isolate. you're watching bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with matt taylor. hello. after a rather turbulent weather week, the worst of the rain clouds have parted now. still some showers around but we have to keep an eye on river levels all the way to the weekend. for some areas, they will continue to rise in response to what has fallen through the week. the latest flood warning details on the bbc website. a bit more sunshine around over the next few days. some showers to come and what we will find through this weekend is they will turn increasingly to sleet and snow, a covering of snow possible for some. wintry showers today, mainly across northern and western areas. they could be heavy in places and some heavier showers and livelier showers into parts of southern wales and south—west england later and the odd rumble of thunder. strong winds still dominate,

particularly to the north—east of the country, although winds generally lighter than yesterday but enough to have an impact on the way things feel out there. 3—8 degree on the thermometer but feeling sub zero across parts of eastern scotland and north—east england. this evening, showers across southern england, the channel islands and south wales pushing their way eastwards. that will leave a legacy of wet roads. there will be some ice around. continuing sleet and snow flurries into the west is gone, northern ireland, north—west england and wales and potentially part of the middle and so a covering of snow for some into the morning and widespread frost for many. temperatures may be as low as —8, —9 or even lower in some parts of eastern scholar. a pretty cold start to the weekend. probably the showers a bit more abundant across northern england, the midlands, wales and northern ireland. northern ireland probably seeing fewer in the afternoon. fewer showers across northern scotland tomorrow. some areas of eastern scotland, north—east england and across the south will stay predominantly dry throughout saturday with some good sunny spells. feeling colder than today, even with lighter wind, 2—5 degrees and with cold air

in place, that will be crucial to what happens through saturday night and into sunday. low pressure, the remnants of storm christoph but around that, another little feature developing, and it is how that develops exactly, still a while away, that will be crucial to who sees the snow and how much. at the moment, saturday night into sunday, snow clearing away from northern ireland, spreading mainly across parts of england and wales. it won't be for everyone but where it pushes across on sunday, we could see a fair few centimetres of snow here and there. could be some of the first snowfall of the season for some of the central and southern areas, drier and brighter further north and east. stay tuned for all the details.

this is bbc news. the headlines at 11... the british government is playing down expectations it could adopt a proposal to pay £500 to everyone who tests positive for covid—19, saying it could create perverse incentives, but ministers are looking at support for those who have to isolate: there is a question that as we start to emerge from the lot don't go into a new phase, how do we ensure during that exit, if you like, from the lockdown, that you ensure people who are axed to isolate do so. —— asked to isolate. police in east london broke up a wedding party with 400 guests last night — and handed the organisers a £10,000 fine. uk retail sales saw their largest

annual fall in history last year as the impact of the pandemic took its toll. japanese car maker nissan has told the bbc its plant in north east england is secure for the long term, because of the post—brexit trade deal. google threatens to withdraw its search engine from australia — if the government passes a law forcing tech giants to pay local media for their content. and coming up this hour. the release of the next james bond film has been delayed for a third time, because of the coronavirus pandemic. the government has played down expectations it could adopt a proposal to pay £500 to everyone who tests positive for covid—19, saying it could create perverse incentives. but ministers are actively looking at ways of encouraging people to isolate where needed.

there are concerns the current financial support is not enough, and that some low paid workers cannot afford to self—isolate. it's also emerged that police last night broke up a wedding party at a school in east london with more than 400 guests, we'll have more on that shortly, but first this report from andy moore. it's the news nobody wants to hear — that they have to isolate because they've tested positive. and the evidence is that many people don't follow that advice. a recent study from university college london found more than a third of people didn't isolate for the recommended number of days when they developed symptoms of covid—19, while less than half of people who developed symptoms said they'd requested a test. a £500 payment is available for the lowest—paid, but it can be difficult to get. this new suggestion is that there would be a universal payment of £500 to anyone who needed to self—isolate because they've tested positive.

this is one of a number of proposals being looked at to revamp the current system. in the meantime, the government is keen to do whatever it can to reduce transmission rates. and so there was this announcement from the home secretary. today i can announce that next week we will be introducing a new £800 fine for those attending house parties, which will double for each repeat offence to a maximum level of £6,400. these fines will apply to those who attend illegal gatherings of more than 15 people in homes. in northern ireland, coronavirus lockdown restrictions will be extended until at least the 5th of march, the first and deputy first ministers have said. but ministers were also told that restrictions may have to remain in place until after the easter holidays. the westminster government hasn't set any date for the lifting of restrictions in england.

the scottish and welsh administrations are expected to give updates today. new cases are continuing to fall, with government figures showing there were 37,892 new infections recorded in the latest 24—hour period. 1,290 deaths were reported. a record 363,508 people were vaccinated in the latest 24—hour period, bringing the total number who've had their first dose to nearly five million. another casualty of the restrictions is the glastonbury festival in somerset in june. it's the second year in a row that it's been cancelled, but the organisers said they were very confident 2022 would be a very special year. andy moore, bbc news. let's get more from our political correspondent leila nathoo. the correspondent leila nathoo. newspapers are full o�* documents the newspapers are full of leaked documents from the cabinet office sing only 17% of people were coming

forward for a test for covid if they have symptoms. there is this real worry about how to bring the numbers down. £500 per person sounds very expensive. l down. £500 per person sounds very exensive. ., , down. £500 per person sounds very exensive. ~' , . ., , expensive. i think there is clearly an awareness _ expensive. i think there is clearly an awareness in _ expensive. i think there is clearly an awareness in government i expensive. i think there is clearlyj an awareness in government now expensive. i think there is clearly i an awareness in government now that the isolation rate, if you like, is not where they would like it to be. it is something that has been pointed out for many months, since the start of the pandemic, really, that isolation was perhaps the weakest link in the test, trace, isolate system that was supposed to help stop the spread of coronavirus. there is already some financial help available to people who are in receipt of certain benefits, if they can't work from home, do theirjobs from home, and would lose out on money if they had to go through that isolation period if they tested positive for covid. it is not available to everyone, does not necessarily a straightforward process to apply for those grants, but there is some financial support available in the form of the £500 payment. the idea of extending this

payment. the idea of extending this payment to everybody who is required to isolate is clearly something that has been under consideration, an idea going round in whitehall. whether that translates into policy is another thing, something that government sources are pouring cold water on this morning saying it hasn't crossed the prime minister's desk and is not something the treasury would be critically partial to, given the cost. have a listen to what the environment secretary george used said about it earlier this morning. george used said about it earlier this morning-— george used said about it earlier this mornind. _, . , this morning. there were concerns around this. _ this morning. there were concerns around this, but _ this morning. there were concerns around this, but at _ this morning. there were concerns around this, but at the _ this morning. there were concerns around this, but at the moment i this morning. there were concerns| around this, but at the moment we are any— around this, but at the moment we are any full— around this, but at the moment we are any full lockdown, so everybody should _ are any full lockdown, so everybody should be _ are any full lockdown, so everybody should be staying at home and generally they are and we are starting — generally they are and we are starting to see the prevalence of the virus — starting to see the prevalence of the virus start to go down, as you would _ the virus start to go down, as you would expect. there is a question, that as _ would expect. there is a question, that as we — would expect. there is a question, that as we start to emerge from the lockdown— that as we start to emerge from the lockdown and go into a new phase, how do— lockdown and go into a new phase, how do we — lockdown and go into a new phase, how do we ensure during that exit, if you _ how do we ensure during that exit, if you like. — how do we ensure during that exit, if you like, from the lockdown, that you ensure — if you like, from the lockdown, that you ensure people who are asked to isolate _ you ensure people who are asked to isolate do _ you ensure people who are asked to isolate do so, and there were problems— isolate do so, and there were problems in the previous tiered

systems— problems in the previous tiered systems of a lack of compliance, people _ systems of a lack of compliance, people being reluctant to isolate when _ people being reluctant to isolate when they came into contact with somebody— when they came into contact with somebody who tested positive. interesting there. george eustace acknowledging there has been a problem with compliance around self isolation, the key issue being whether people can simply afford to isolate and is the financial issue the thing that's stopping people entirely from adhering to those requirements. i think there are other factors requirements. i think there are otherfactors that would requirements. i think there are other factors that would clearly play a part in whether people stick to the rules completely, financial incentives are not would be only one factor. it's quite a complex picture, but i think on this, the extension of a 510 payment is not something that is under active consideration across the board —— £500 universal payment. 0ne consideration across the board —— £500 universal payment. one idea could be boosting the payment to those already eligible borrower or encouraging isolation, but this idea

doesn't seem to be a goer in government right now. police have broken up a wedding party with 400 guests in north london. officers found the windows at the yesoday hatorah girls senior school, a charedi school in stamford hill, had been covered when they arrived at 9:15 pm on thursday. the guests fled the scene when officers arrived. 0ur correspondentjon donnison has been following the story. we understand this wedding was taking place at the girls school in stamford hill. home to the uk's largest 0rthodox jewish—mack community. 400 people were in attendance. when police arrived they say many people fled. five people were issued with fixed penalty notices of £200. police say that the organiser of the wedding has been reported for consideration of a £10,000 fine. the biggest fine for

the person who organised the wedding potentially. all of this happened just a day after we had the home secretary saying there would be tougher penalties for anyone attending parties. we have had a statement from the detective superintendent from the metropolitan police saying this was a completely unacceptable breach of the law, people across the country are making sacrifices by cancelling or postponing weddings and there is no excuse for this type of behaviour. philip glanville is the mayor of hackney. thanks forjoining us. what is your response to seeing this latest big breach of the covid rules with this huge wedding?— huge wedding? thank you for interviewing _ huge wedding? thank you for interviewing me, _ huge wedding? thank you for interviewing me, i— huge wedding? thank you for interviewing me, i can - huge wedding? thank you for interviewing me, i can only. huge wedding? thank you for i interviewing me, i can only echo what the police have said. it is deeply disturbing, an incident at the time in hackney when we've seen the time in hackney when we've seen the largest number of deaths reported since last april. a huge

epoch from the community and nhs to respond to the crisis. incidents like this, while rare, are really disturbing for all of us. it is a clearly unlawful event, and unfortunately similar events have taken place, even at this venue before. we need to be clear how unacceptable it is, but also empower the community to say people shouldn't be attending these events going forward. i'm as disturbed as the police are.— the police are. we've had reports that the former _ the police are. we've had reports that the former rabbi _ the police are. we've had reports that the former rabbi in - the police are. we've had reports that the former rabbi in the i the police are. we've had reportsj that the former rabbi in the area, who is involved with this school, a former principal himself lost his life to covid, and so, even with that tragic event, it seems the message isjust that tragic event, it seems the message is just not getting through to everybody. the message isjust not getting through to everybody-— to everybody. the rabbi's loss was somethin: to everybody. the rabbi's loss was something for— to everybody. the rabbi's loss was something for the _ to everybody. the rabbi's loss was something for the greater - to everybody. the rabbi's loss was i something for the greater community and those of us who worked with him, and those of us who worked with him, and a central figure and those of us who worked with him, and a centralfigure in all our

communications with the community and he took the bag is incredibly seriously. we've been working with local community leaders, the ambulance service and others to make sure the community is kept safe, and we communicate that message around staying home and saving lives very clearly to people. ls it staying home and saving lives very clearly to people.— clearly to people. is it being oliced clearly to people. is it being policed heavily _ clearly to people. is it being policed heavily enough? i clearly to people. is it being j policed heavily enough? are clearly to people. is it being i policed heavily enough? are you having to have extra police resources targeted in that area now? we've actually been working very closely with the police across the borough, and only last weekend we had a day of enforcement, notjust in stamford hill, but in other places where there had been covid breaches, making sure we engage with people, educate and enforce where we need to. i wouldn't want people to think that it is just putting police resources into this community because the stigmatisation is not something i would want to see, but we need to make sure people get the message, and events like this should not be taking place anywhere in

hackney. and that weddings and religious ceremonies, there are strict rules around those, and 400 guess is simply unacceptable. you have seen the _ guess is simply unacceptable. you have seen the reports the government is perhaps pushing back a bit now in the last hour or so, the idea of giving people more support if they do test positive, even if they are pinged by the test and trace app. do you think that is a good idea? would that help the people you are seeing in your part of london to follow the rules? i in your part of london to follow the rules? ., , in your part of london to follow the rules? ~' , ., ., rules? i think these are two different — rules? i think these are two different issues, _ rules? i think these are two different issues, both i rules? i think these are two different issues, both are i rules? i think these are two i different issues, both are with the important. i support a lot more effort going into supporting people that may be an insecure employment, have zero—hour contracts, that may struggle to self—isolate when asked to do so. we have done a huge amount to do so. we have done a huge amount to advocate on behalf of people that do struggle to do that. a lot of people do still have to go out to work, we've put in place testing for those locally and doing what we can

to support them. what we were talking about last night as a party that didn't need to be held and people didn't need to attend. we shouldn't mix those two things together. i would welcome any announcement that helps follow people in our capital. white maggot people in our capital. white maggot people break the rules and then get covid, they do pick up the —— iii covid, they do pick up the —— if people do break the rules and then get covid, should they get that payment? l get covid, should they get that -a ment? ., ., , ., payment? i think that should get complicated. _ payment? i think that should get complicated, to _ payment? i think that should get complicated, to introduce - payment? i think that should get complicated, to introduce somel payment? i think that should get i complicated, to introduce some sort of blame a penalty, obviously attending events like this is unacceptable but if someone brought the virus home and then the breadwinner in the household had to take time off work, i don't think plunging a family into poverty is the thing to do. what we need to see is more targeted support while we do

enforcement on events like this. lt enforcement on events like this. it is not a question of singling out any community, because we are seeing breaches all over the country and in many areas in many parts of the population, but when people see these headlines of this big breach of the wedding party, how do you think people who are working on the nhs are going to feel and react to that given the huge pressures on hospital? l that given the huge pressures on hos - ital? ., that given the huge pressures on hosital? ., , hospital? i think it is disheartening - hospital? ithink it is disheartening and i hospital? i think it is i disheartening and makes people angry. i see that when i'm talking to local residents. we have a fantastic local hospital that has been under real pressure and serves all the communities in our borough and anyone breaching rules on the scale is going to dishearten those rolling out the vaccine and working in social care under hospitals and gp practices. i think that is why, busily, it disturbs people so much. we have had good support from faith leaders. it lot of people are following the rules. i've had people come forward and say we are moving our religious events online, and

really understanding the places of worship can be really difficult at this time. we have lost notjust community leaders in this community, but in all communities. i know the value of spiritually and faith for people in hackney, but now is not the time to come together in the settings in this way, there is a huge risk of the virus spreading when we are so close to the vaccine protecting our most vulnerable residents. brute protecting our most vulnerable residents. ~ ~' ., protecting our most vulnerable residents. ~ ,, ., , residents. we know the government is concerned about _ residents. we know the government is concerned about the _ residents. we know the government is concerned about the messaging - residents. we know the government is concerned about the messaging on i concerned about the messaging on vaccines and behaviour are getting into the more diverse communities across the country. why do you think there is more resistance, perhaps? l there is more resistance, perhaps? i think there is a huge history of people being worried about their relationship with government. there is obvious that you history in some communities of people being, obviously, test it on and people worried about that. we have been

doing a huge amount of work in the borough, using ourfaith groups, we have community champions, different gps that have done testing videos from our diverse communities are making it clear that these vaccines are safe, that they are suitable for all communities and religious traditions, and making sure that people come forward when they're called to get the vaccine. we have had huge support from faith leaders are in that community leaders and i really pay to be to the work of the voluntary sector in hackney and those are supporting them. we have also heard focus groups to understand where people are getting misinformation from and to work through that uncertainty and what would encourage people to come forward. i have been to see the vaccine sites myself and it is just a really positive message out there, when people come forward. serra; a really positive message out there, when people come forward. sorry to contend that — when people come forward. sorry to contend that we _ when people come forward. sorry to contend that we are _ when people come forward. sorry to contend that we are out _ when people come forward. sorry to contend that we are out of— when people come forward. sorry to contend that we are out of time. i when people come forward. sorry to contend that we are out of time. -- | contend that we are out of time. —— sorry to cut end. the home secretary has said anyone who attends a house party of more than 15 people will be fined

at least £800 as the police continue to crackdown on people who flout the lockdown rules. these fines will double for every repeat offence up to a maximum of £6,400. let's discuss this with david jamieson, the police and crime commissioner for the west midlands. thanks for your time. before i go on to any changes in rules, can ijust ask you for your thoughts on news of this wedding party of 400 people? are you surprised to see these big gathering still happening anywhere in the country at the moment? that is really quite _ in the country at the moment? “i"isgt is really quite extraordinary and very unusual. we have had some gatherings with smaller numbers and that in the west midlands. they are disturbing. these people are spreading the virus, they are also putting their own lives at risk. it does cross my mind as well that when people break the law, two laws in this way, they are actually putting the police officer lives at risk as

well. 0rganising and attending events like this is unacceptable. in terms of the government, and penalties, is this the right way forward which mac will make a difference? there is a limit in terms of police officers on the ground being able to and then break up ground being able to and then break up weddings or his parties? please resources are _ up weddings or his parties? please resources are limited. _ up weddings or his parties? please resources are limited. my - up weddings or his parties? please resources are limited. my own i up weddings or his parties? please | resources are limited. my own force has lost a quarter of its officers since 2010. nevertheless, our officers are well focused and will tackle it where we can. i'm not sure that raising the fines is necessarily going to make any difference, but what i have been saying to ministers as, as well as having to finds, we should also have tough means of enforcement as well. what i mean by that is, i've been officer goes along to a house were clearly there is breaches of the covid law, 30 people or more in the house, then if the householder

denies entry to the police officer, there is very little they can do. if other offences are being committed like violence or someone has drugs or a weapon, then the officer has that right of entry. i'm not in favour of police going into people's houses, what i'm saying is, if these tough new measures are going to be taken, you've got to give the police the powers to enforce them. the other area that concerns is the super fines, other area that concerns is the superfines, the £10,000 other area that concerns is the super fines, the £10,000 fines for people organising them, i understand now a defence has been put up by some people, saying to the police officer, exactly how many people were there in their... you say there is over there too, you see the might of been 50, was a 55 or 56? if officers have to count every single person, it would be like counting geesein person, it would be like counting geese in a field. if they have to count every single person, that could be an unfortunate liberal of a defence and that this fully with the

home secretary should be her time as well —— a loophole of a defence. that is really home secretary should be spending her time as well. the government _ be spending her time as well. the government pushing back a bit on the 500 pounds payment, with that encourage people to self—isolate to create the wrong incentive miss we have create the wrong incentive miss we: have to help create the wrong incentive miss we have to help people create the wrong incentive miss iwe have to help people that create the wrong incentive miss "we have to help people that have create the wrong incentive miss we have to help people that have to sell vitally, critically at the added breadwinner and if there is little money in the house. i am not entirely sure of this particular situation, it is the detail you have to look at. when the government have brought in new measures, very often they haven't looked at the detail and how people can circumvent it or misuse whatever measure ties. —— measure it is.

and for viewers in the uk, borisjohnson will be leading today's coronavirus downing street briefing at 5 o'clock this afternoon. we'll bring that to you live on bbc one and the bbc news channel. a 14—year—old boy has been arrested on suspicion of murder after another teenager was attacked in the street in birmingham. the victim, a 15—year—old boy, died after an incident in handsworth yesterday afternoon. the boy, who lived locally, was taken to hospital but died a short time later from his injuries. more rain and flooding could be on the way for areas already hit hard by bad weather this week. flood warnings remain in place, after thousands of people had to be evacuated from their homes in england and wales. 0ur correspondent adam mcclean gave us this update from northwich near chester. the clean—up operation is continuing here in northwich this morning. tractors have been towing huge water tankers in and out of the town centre every couple of minutes to take excess water away from this area. water is being pumped back towards the river behind me. the floodwater has caused devastation to properties and businesses here in northwich and the environment agency have been here since tuesday. dave brown is the flood risk manager for the environment agency.

what is the situation at the minute? it is an improving situation right now. we have a situation where the high water levels we experienced yesterday, the highest levels ever recorded on the river weaver, which we kept behind our flood defences, are on the way down, and effectively that is an improving situation but the problems brought with storm christoph were that the surface water infrastructure for the fouls waste was unable to cope with that amount of rainfall falling on the catchment in that small space of time and we then had a problem of surface water rising on the other side of the defences which has caused problems to those businesses affected and the care home to be evacuated.

practically speaking, how do you even begin to deal with this amount of water? what is taking place at the minute? at the moment, we are trying to overpump the surface water back to the river. when the river level is low, the surface water can drain to the river and when it is high, it gets blocked so it cannot come back but it means that cannot get away which creates a problem and the rest of the infrastructure sometimes struggles, and with the amount of rainfall we have seen, that has caused this problem. all of the authorities combined, the local authority and the water company, united utilities, involved with over pumping that back. important to say we had contingency in place before the storm but the sheer scale of the rainfall and the amount of rainfall has caused that to be overwhelmed. is this out of the ordinary for this area? residents we have spoken to say this is not something that we have seen, that has caused this problem.

this is quite different, isn't it, in terms of the amount of water? yes, we've seen the highest river levels we have ever recorded over the last two days. we have been manning an operation here since tuesday and it has been a round—the—clock response from all those involved to try to mitigate it, and what you are seeing is that recovery phase, as we try to basically get the water out from the town centre, away from those businesses and properties, and allow people to return back to normal. people will understandably be nervous, many affected by all the flood warnings over the last 2a or 48 hours. what can be done to prevent things like this happening? how can people be reassured that where they live will not fall victim to flooding like this? it is about preparation and the preparation we've done, everyone has done prior to this event has been very good, very large. we have cleared all the debris we can, we have undertaken to make sure contingency is in place, but sometimes the sheer scale of events and events themselves do cause problems and that is what we have seen.

and if people want to find out their own risk, i would encourage them to look at our flood map which is available on our website. they can look for their postcode and see their risk and sign up to our floodline number to receive warnings prior to events happening to ensure they are mitigated where they live. sum up the scale of the response here. this is a picture taking place in towns across the country, but how much goes into a clean—up operation like this? yes, that is what the authority are looking at now, we are all working together towards that. the pumping scenario you see behind me, the number of units on site, overpumping, are all trying to effectively get that surface water back into the river, away from those premises and properties that are flooded so that clean—up can begin and then it is around cleaning

the infrastructure and all the public areas to make sure they are safe and people can return to some kind of normality. dave brown from the environment agency, thank you. as the flood water rose here, 48 people had to be evacuated. dozens of pensioners from a nearby retirement village had to be moved to safety by boat. as you can see, there is still so much work to do here. those people who have been affected by flooding will be keeping a very close eye on the situation over the coming days. nissan has told the bbc that its plant in sunderland is now secure. the carmarker says the trade agreement reached between the uk and the eu was positive. chief operating officer, ashwani gupta said around 7000 jobs in the uk were safe, and by implication — tens of thousands more across the supply chain. mr gupta has been speaking to our business editor simonjack, from nissan's headquarters injapan. the sunderland plant being one of the best plants we have in the world in our more than 35 years of history. we have invested more

than £4 billion in this plant and we spend £3.5 billion every year, which goes to the uk economy. we are going to redefine the auto industry in the united kingdom because the brexit makes nissan's sunderland plant competitive in the uk and outside the uk when it comes to exports. last year saw a record drop in annual retail sales volumes — according to new figures from the office for national statistics. sales fell by 1.9%, the largest year on year fall since records began in 1997. clothes shops have been hit particularly hard — with a record annual fall of more than a quarter. retail sales grew in december but the growth was less than had been expected — retail sales volumes rose byjust 0.3% compared with the previous month. it comes as uk government borrowing hit £34.1 billion last month — the highest december figure on record. the figures come ahead

of the chancellor's budget on 3rd march. we can speak now to ross bailey — who runs the world's largest platform for retail space appear here, and is launching a new campaign called save the street. we can also speak to aimee felone — co—founder of round table books — an independent book store in brixton. thank you both. what are you finding in terms of her surviving and struggling on the high street after so many difficult ones? i struggling on the high street after so many difficult ones?— struggling on the high street after so many difficult ones? i think what covid has shown _ so many difficult ones? i think what covid has shown us _ so many difficult ones? i think what covid has shown us as _ so many difficult ones? i think what covid has shown us as it _ so many difficult ones? i think what covid has shown us as it has - so many difficult ones? i think what covid has shown us as it has been l covid has shown us as it has been this great accelerator of things that were already under way, we are seeing a lot of the big traditional retailers, about opening up as many stores as possible onto as many streets as possible and selling as much power docked as possible, they

are starting to disappear, the idea of mass retail. on the other side, what we are seeing doing incredibly well before covid and in different parts of the year as restrictions ease, the store is doing well are independents, entrepreneurs doing new ideas, small stores on local high streets. they have been thriving through this period when they have had the chance open. how difficult has — they have had the chance open. how difficult has it _ they have had the chance open. how difficult has it been for you? it - difficult has it been for you? it was a strimmer difficult to go from being _ was a strimmer difficult to go from being open, doing really well in december and having our busiest weeks _ december and having our busiest weeks to— december and having our busiest weeks to be enclosed and having a day notice — weeks to be enclosed and having a day notice to shut our shop. it has been _ day notice to shut our shop. it has been extremely difficult. may you have a _ been extremely difficult. may you have a specialist company, tells about _ have a specialist company, tells about the — have a specialist company, tells about the books yourself. we opened in may _ about the books yourself. we opened in may of _ about the books yourself. we opened in may of two this and 19, and inclusive — in may of two this and 19, and inclusive children's book shop, we stopped _ inclusive children's book shop, we stopped diverse titles by diverse authors — stopped diverse titles by diverse authors and we are a community space that does— authors and we are a community space that does events as well. we were extremely— that does events as well. we were extremely disappointed to have to

close _ extremely disappointed to have to close when we were having one of our busiest _ close when we were having one of our busiest weeks and having our community come to supporters, all in a covid _ community come to supporters, all in a covid secure way, but it was extremely— a covid secure way, but it was extremely frustrating to have to close _ extremely frustrating to have to close. white maccabee been selling online _ close. white maccabee been selling online and is there any help you would _ online and is there any help you would like — online and is there any help you would like to have that the government is not be able to be so far? we are selling online, and it is an option— we are selling online, and it is an option and — we are selling online, and it is an option and it isn't, because we are unable _ option and it isn't, because we are unable to— option and it isn't, because we are unable to get the post offices and run click_ unable to get the post offices and run click and collect. and while they— run click and collect. and while they are — run click and collect. and while they are organizations that are able to be _ they are organizations that are able to be put— they are organizations that are able to be put online orders for us, we would _ to be put online orders for us, we would like — to be put online orders for us, we would like to see the support in the same _ would like to see the support in the same weather was for restaurants with the _ same weather was for restaurants with the heat out to help out. i am constantly— with the heat out to help out. i am constantly asking why there is not more _ constantly asking why there is not more help— constantly asking why there is not more help for independent retailers as welt _ more help for independent retailers as well. :,, , . more help for independent retailers as well. , ., ., i. as well. ross, what are you campaigning _ as well. ross, what are you campaigning for? _ as well. ross, what are you campaigning for? i- as well. ross, what are you campaigning for? i think . as well. ross, what are you i campaigning for? i think we as well. ross, what are you - campaigning for? i think we are competing _ campaigning for? i think we are competing for _ campaigning for? i think we are competing for exactly _ campaigning for? i think we are competing for exactly that, - campaigning for? i think we are competing for exactly that, for| campaigning for? i think we are i competing for exactly that, for the race to be extended. because the real thing is that what kills businesses is uncertainty. so we want the government to give these

independents certainty so that they can see this period through. and i think what is frustrating as you look at industries when you went into the pandemic, the ease of restrictions like with the technology sector, fortunately we are part of that here. the technology sector got 1.2 billion of funding support, and retailers got nothing. and if you think about the technology sector, it's a lot of people from the very similar background. and you've got retail, which is the biggest employer, which has huge adversity the lie —— has huge diversity, so we want the government support to cs through this period. government support to cs through this eriod. :, :, , government support to cs through this eriod. :, . , , , ,, , government support to cs through this eriod. :, :, , , , ,, , :, this period. how many businesses are auoin to this period. how many businesses are going to come — this period. how many businesses are going to come back? _ this period. how many businesses are going to come back? how— this period. how many businesses are going to come back? how much - this period. how many businesses are going to come back? how much do i this period. how many businesses are l going to come back? how much do you think the small high streets are going to be hit? indie think the small high streets are going to be hit?— think the small high streets are auoin to be hit? ~ , ,.._ going to be hit? we see some scary stuff coming — going to be hit? we see some scary stuff coming out, _ going to be hit? we see some scary stuff coming out, recently - going to be hit? we see some scary stuff coming out, recently it - going to be hit? we see some scary stuff coming out, recently it was - going to be hit? we see some scary stuff coming out, recently it was at| stuff coming out, recently it was at one in three retailers won't see this through. i think the really sad thing is that often a lot of these

businesses won't fail because of lack of profit, it is not being able to see the next period through, not because they are great businesses. and i think that is really important point that going into this pandemic we saw independent retailers doing better than ever. and there is a sort of view from the government, look like the high street is dead, but more than ever the high street in local communities have been driving if they are independent and others and truly unique. filmy. driving if they are independent and others and truly unique.— others and truly unique. amy, are ou auoin others and truly unique. amy, are you going to _ others and truly unique. amy, are you going to be — others and truly unique. amy, are you going to be able _ others and truly unique. amy, are you going to be able to _ others and truly unique. amy, are you going to be able to keep - others and truly unique. amy, are i you going to be able to keep going, do you think?— you going to be able to keep going, do you think? yeah, we will be back as soon as — do you think? yeah, we will be back as soon as we _ do you think? yeah, we will be back as soon as we can _ do you think? yeah, we will be back as soon as we can reopen, - do you think? yeah, we will be back as soon as we can reopen, but - do you think? yeah, we will be back as soon as we can reopen, but we l as soon as we can reopen, but we don't _ as soon as we can reopen, but we don't know— as soon as we can reopen, but we don't know when that will be. so we will continue to support our community and the way that we can, we give _ community and the way that we can, we give away a lot of books to those that are _ we give away a lot of books to those that are in _ we give away a lot of books to those that are in need, and so as soon as we are _ that are in need, and so as soon as we are able — that are in need, and so as soon as we are able to have our doors open in a safe _ we are able to have our doors open in a safe and — we are able to have our doors open in a safe and secure way, we will. it isjust— in a safe and secure way, we will. it is just who _ in a safe and secure way, we will. it isjust who knows in a safe and secure way, we will. it is just who knows when that will be. it is 'ust who knows when that will be. :, , :, it is 'ust who knows when that will be. :, , ., , ., be. tough times are everyone, we appreciate — be. tough times are everyone, we appreciate your — be. tough times are everyone, we appreciate your time. _ be. tough times are everyone, we appreciate your time. good - be. tough times are everyone, we appreciate your time. good luck i be. tough times are everyone, we j appreciate your time. good luck to both of you, thank you so much. now it's time for a look at the weather with matt taylor. hello. river levels will continue

to respond to this week's rain in some parts of the country this weekend but overall, a lot more in the way of dry weather around and certainly this afternoon, plenty of sunshine across the central and eastern half of the country. more showers in the north and west, sleet and snow increasingly across scotland and northern ireland, but largely rain showers towards wales and the midlands, as well as the south—west. some of those heavy with a rumble of thunder and a bit wintry over higher ground and they will be pushed along by a keen breeze. winds not as strong as yesterday, but still there to make it feel colder than 3—8 celsius would suggest. a cold night to come, this evening and overnight, showers initially across southern parts, leaving lots of wet ground. so there could be some ice later as temperatures drop. sleet and snow showers across western scotland, northern ireland, northern england, north wales and the north midlands, giving another dusting or coating of snow in places and a very cold start to saturday morning, may be lower than —8 or —9 in parts of aberdeenshire. sunshine and showers for saturday but by sunday, england and wales could see a bit more in the way of snow. goodbye for now.

hello this is bbc news. the headlines... the british government is playing down expectations it could adopt a proposal to pay £500 to everyone who tests positive for covid—19, saying it could create perverse incentives, but ministers are looking at support for those who have to isolate. there is a question that as we start to emerge from the lockdown and go into a new phase, how do we ensure, during the exit, if you like, from the lockdown, ensure that people who are asked to isolate do so. police in east london broke up a wedding party with 400 guests last night — and handed the organisers a £10,000 fine. it makes people angry. i see that when i am talking to local residents, it is a fantastic local hospital here that has been under real pressure and serves all the communities in our borough. and

anyone breaching these rules on that scale is going to dishearten those who are working in social care, with a vaccine, and in hospitals and gp practices. uk retail sales saw their largest annual fall in history last year as the impact of the pandemic took its toll. japanese car maker nissan has told the bbc its plant in north east england is secure for the long term, because of the post—brexit trade deal. google threatens to withdraw its search engine from australia if the government passes a law forcing tech giants to pay local media for their content. sport and for a full round up from the bbc sport centre. cricket from the bbc sport centre. is on in my house early every cricket is on in my house early every single day. at least it is something to watch, but i have to say it has been tough for england's bowlers and the unforgiving conditions on that first day against

sri lanka. they did make an excellent start withjimmy anderson, back in the side in place of the rested stuart broad, taking two early wickets. sri lanka recovered well though, with angelo mathews in particularly good form. a few moments ago he reached his century. england persevered, though, and were eventually rewarded when mark wood dismissed dinesh chandimalfor 52. sri lanka currently 214 for 1l you can follow that across the bbc. japan's prime minister has insisted that the tokyo olympics will go ahead this year, despite a report in the times this morning claiming the government has privately concluded the event will be cancelled, with the city aiming to secure the games in 2032. speaking in parliament, prime minister yoshee heday suga said: "the government is leading a series of coordination meetings, for covid—19 countermeasures,

and is implementing thorough infection countermeasures, in order to be able to hold the games. all our delivery partners are fully focused on hosting the games this summer. well, sailor hannah mills, who won gold at rio 2016, says the ongoing uncertainty is "exhausting" and all athletes can do is try to prepare as normal. i don't know if they will go ahead. i don't know if they will go ahead. i definitely switch in terms of my opinion on that quite frequently, but ultimately, i have to push that aside right now because it is an irrelevant point. all we can do is go with the fact that they are happening, and so we have to do everything we can in this day towards being ready for the summer. and that is kind of the mindset that we have got. the cornovirus pandemic has forced the cancellation of the british athletics indoor championships, which were due to be staged at glasgow's emirates arena on the 20th and 21st february. british athletics says

it's exploring different covid—19—compliant events to enable athletes to quailfy for the european indoor championships, which are currently scheduled to take place in poland between the 5th and 7th march. contrasting emotions for liverpool and burnley fans this morning, after sean dyche's team managed to some thing, that no other team has managed for nearly 11 years, beating liverpool at anfield in the premier league. burnley defended brilliantly, digging in for most of the match, keeper nick pope making some fantastic saves, and then late on they got a break at the other end when liverpool keeper, alisson fouled ashley barnes, and it was barnes who dusted himself off to score, and move burnley away from trouble, in the lower half of the table. but what about the defending champions, now 6 points off the top.

you have to work hard to do the right things more often, more consistent, but not talking that thatis consistent, but not talking that that is easy, it is not. it shows a lot of things, it is incredible how it can go, but that was never something that anyone should have taken for granted. we had to work very hard for the performance, as you do in these places. before the game you have to be diligent, — before the game you have to be diligent, i— before the game you have to be diligent, i thought the shape was good, _ diligent, i thought the shape was good, and we created a good chance and i _ good, and we created a good chance and i thought we could get across the front— and i thought we could get across the front step. we kept searching the front step. we kept searching the best— the front step. we kept searching the best we could, topside and the ball well, _ the best we could, topside and the ball well, but you have to do with the basics — ball well, but you have to do with the basics and i thought we did the basics _ the basics and i thought we did the basics very— the basics and i thought we did the basics very well. manchester united women have signed defender maria thorisdottir from chelsea on a two—and—a—half year contract. the 27—year—old has 46 caps for norway and played with klepp in the top division there before

moving to chelsea in 2017. she joins casey stoney�*s side from the west london club where she made 22 appearances and scored once. and before i go, just a reminder that you can follow all the latest from golf�*s abu dhabi championship on the bbc sport website. rory mcilroy is out on the course for his second round leading on 9 under par, 1 ahead of tyrell hatton. that's bbc.co.uk/sport thanks very much indeed, great to see you. ijust thanks very much indeed, great to see you. i just want to let you know on the story about the police breaking up a wedding party with 400 guests yesterday, handing over a £10,000 fine, we have a statement from the school. yesodey hatorah school has issued this statement: "we are absolutely horrified about last night's event and condemn it in the strongest possible terms. we lease our hall to an external organisation which manages all lettings and, as such,

we had no knowledge that the wedding was taking place. we have terminated the agreement with immediate effect. we are investigating how this shocking breach has happened and have no plans to re—lease the premises to any third party. we deplore the actions of anyone in any community breaking the law and risking people's lives in this way." a very clear message there from the organizers, the people who own that school, the premises, and the detective chief superintendent marcus barnett said this was a completely unacceptable breach of the law, which is very clearly in place to save lives and protect the nhs. so condemnation universally coming in on that huge gathering in london, which was run by a rabbi who died by covid himself and was seen as an influential and respected figure from the orthodox community

there. but despite the widespread messages on safety, clearly a very big breach there in london. more now on the government actively looking at ways of encouraging people to self—isolate. ministers have downplayed suggestions they would adopt a proposal to pay a universal payment of £500 for anyone who test positive for covid—19 and is told to stay at home. mike brewer is chief economist at the resolution foundation. the government are playing this down, but obviously somebody seems to have collected up to some of the newspapers, and therefore created headlines today. what do you make of this idea of £500 going out universally, notjust for those most in need? it universally, not 'ust for those most in need? , , ::, in need? it is extremely welcome that people _ in need? it is extremely welcome that people in _ in need? it is extremely welcome that people in government - in need? it is extremely welcome that people in government are i that people in government are looking seriously at the matter of payment to those who self—isolate. we do need to move to a situation where those who are asked to comply with tests and trays are not financially penalized if they do so. is it affordable? i

financially penalized if they do so. is it affordable?— is it affordable? i read the newspapers _ is it affordable? i read the newspapers just _ is it affordable? i read the newspapers just as - is it affordable? i read the newspapersjust as much l is it affordable? i read the | newspapersjust as much a is it affordable? i read the i newspapersjust as much a you, is it affordable? i read the - newspapersjust as much a you, so newspapers just as much a you, so yes, it could cost up to £470 a week at everyone tested positive, that would be a very large sum of money. the government have spent billions of pounds into pandemic started, but i think it would decide what is the best way to encourage people to self—isolate, and ultimately to bear down on transmission of the virus. what would be the logic of giving this to everyone, including those who don't need it, those who are in salaries and are going to be paid whether they are sick or isolating or paying by the app? is a just trying to reach people quickly and universally? i trying to reach people quickly and universally?— universally? i think in all the schemes _ universally? i think in all the schemes the _ universally? i think in all the schemes the government i universally? i think in all the | schemes the government has universally? i think in all the - schemes the government has created since a pandemic started, there's been a trade off between wanting to get money to people quickly and easily, that would be the benefit of a universal system, but also the need to target it for people who need to target it for people who need it most. the problem with introducing an aspect of targeting

into being completed for people and the government and the ministers are perhaps a bit slower, so i think thatis perhaps a bit slower, so i think that is what they are wrestling with. it is very welcome that they are trying to do something, they need to do it quickly as we move in the final months of the pandemic. indie the final months of the pandemic. we know that other countries happen then a lot of other support for people who are isolating, those in east asia, they provide accommodation sometimes. there are lots of different ways, aren't there, of getting money and resources to people, notjust cash in your hand. i resources to people, not 'ust cash in your mph resources to people, not 'ust cash in your mi in your hand. i believe it to the -ublic in your hand. i believe it to the public health _ in your hand. i believe it to the public health experts _ in your hand. i believe it to the public health experts to - in your hand. i believe it to the public health experts to decidej in your hand. i believe it to the i public health experts to decide on the best way we can get people that self—isolate, but is undoubtably true that we came to this crisis with very low levels of sick pay, andindeed with very low levels of sick pay, and indeed when the crisis started, you have to wait three days for any help at all through sick pay, but the government change that quickly. but it is notable that the government hasn't done much to be more generous to improve the payments to those who self—isolate. in contrast, the large amount of support that against the people did the furlough scheme if yourjob has

temporarily disappeared, or grants for self employed businesses have dried up, and i think this is one area the government needs to look at very rapidly now. irate area the government needs to look at very rapidly now— very rapidly now. we have seen 1 billion hit last — very rapidly now. we have seen 1 billion hit last month, _ very rapidly now. we have seen 1 billion hit last month, the - very rapidly now. we have seen 1| billion hit last month, the highest on record, are there limits going forward? is impossible to quantify things? obviously we have the budget coming up in march, in terms of the endless demands on government spending, how far can they go? irate spending, how far can they go? we think spending, how far can they go? , think the government is basically free to borrow what it takes to control the crisis. that is partly because not controlling the crisis would be extremely costly, but also because the government is able to borrow at very low interest rate and can pay back the loan over very long periods of time. so it is absolutely right that the government is spending hundreds of billions of pounds in tackling this virus. just finall , pounds in tackling this virus. just finally. the _ pounds in tackling this virus. just finally, the £500 idea, do you think it would create a perverse incentive? for example, we saw people gathering for a wedding

voluntarily. people even put their selves and harm's way, flouting the law, but then get paid for that to pick up the virus, how does that work in terms of public policy? ithink that is one of the things that the civil servants will be looking at quite closely. etiquette is hard to regulate that and sometimes it may put extra cost on copy you might be forced to have things delivered to your house rather than going to a local supermarket. some self isolating is expensive, and that is probably the rationale why they are thinking about paying people some money, but as soon as he start paying more money, you might get some of them an incentive to do so. i do know that the government is proposing that it wasn't going to get this to people who are contacts of those herself isolating, that will be a massive risk, but only those who are testing positive. as i noted earlier, this would be a very expensive scheme. thank you so much.

here in the uk, the fire brigades union has been accused of holding back firefighters in their response to the pandemic, because of "unreasonable" safety demands. in a report, the fire service watchdog criticised the union for insisting on "unworkable" requirements for testing and self—isolation. but the union says employers are to blame for pulling out of an agreement to protect firefighters. tom symonds reports. last year, firefighters were driving ambulances — among thousands of fire service volunteers tackling the covid crisis. the deal — they'd self—isolate and be tested before returning to the fire station... if it does tear, all you're going to do is use a bit of tape. ..after all, some were transporting the deceased, in close contact with the virus. but the deal has fallen apart. fire chiefs said having firefighters self—isolating made it impossible to run a flexible fire service — the fire brigades union was being unreasonable.

the union blamed the chiefs and local councils for pulling out of the deal. its priority — the safety of its members. on the 9th of december, you told them not to volunteer — does that still stand ? we... i don't know the situation in each individual fire and rescue service. we want a national agreement so that our members can volunteer with confidence. i'm not prepared to ask people to volunteer if there are not safety measures in place — and i would hope that neither would you, i would hope that neither would a chief fire officer. firefighters in some areas have reached local agreements and are still volunteering — including for vaccines. but the fire service inspectorate said today the national union's position is "deeply regrettable" and "not what the public would expect of a fire service during a crisis". the union insists it will keep talking — but safety has to be the priority. tom symonds, bbc news. the new national lockdown is seeing museums 'fighting for survival�*,

according to the director of the art fund, the national charity for art, with small institutions likely to suffer the most. research conducted by the charity at the end of last year found that six in ten museums in the uk were worried about their survival. the new lockdown is not only likely to significantly increase this figure, but is seeing some facing permanently closing their doors. let's hear more on this now from sir ian blatchford, director of the science museum in london. thanks much forjoining us. given lots of museums do have pre—entry and are subsidized by the government, people might be wondering why —— free entry, people are wondering why they are in such a dire situation? lbs, are wondering why they are in such a dire situation?— dire situation? a huge number don't have free entry. _ dire situation? a huge number don't have free entry, and _ dire situation? a huge number don't have free entry, and even _ dire situation? a huge number don't have free entry, and even those i dire situation? a huge number don't| have free entry, and even those that do, huge amount of income from their visitors in terms of exhibitions and shop sales. in fact, britain has an extraordinary museum culture. there are lots of museums way beyond a

grand institution like the science museum in london. there about 2000 museums across the country, very intrapreneurial, they don't really reliance on city, so a course having no visitors is a big crisis for them. and the great thing about the art fund initiative is trying to encourage the public to join togetherfor museums encourage the public to join together for museums campaign to really help them survive the uncertainty. because so often in situations like this, everyone assumes that the solution has to be entirely the government. actually, the government, to be fair has done a huge amount already with the cultural recovery fund, but we are encouraging the public to also turn their love of museums into donations with the art fund for two reasons. one because it will help them survive, but also then we can go back to the government and say, look, this is something the public really do care about. iblnd look, this is something the public really do care about.— look, this is something the public really do care about. and half term cominr really do care about. and half term coming up. — really do care about. and half term coming up. lots — really do care about. and half term coming up, lots of _ really do care about. and half term coming up, lots of us _ really do care about. and half term coming up, lots of us have - really do care about. and half term coming up, lots of us have visited. coming up, lots of us have visited your museum and many of the holidays are going to be missing as these museums they closed, i'm sure. you

sa that, museums they closed, i'm sure. you say that. but — museums they closed, i'm sure. you say that. but the _ museums they closed, i'm sure. vol. say that, but the other thing that is overwhelming as we look at social media and all of those parents at home with their children and home—schooling, four years they loved museums, and i think they realized just how much they value the museums because given incredible family experience. we are just overwhelmed by people saying around museums and art, we love digital activity and it is great you have invested in it, but we want the real thing as soon as possible. mr; invested in it, but we want the real thing as soon as possible. my family would certainly _ thing as soon as possible. my family would certainly concur— thing as soon as possible. my family would certainly concur with - thing as soon as possible. my family would certainly concur with that. i would certainly concur with that. the real question is how people can donate. i see that some artists are donating works to help where people can buy some of those works. i don't know if those pieces are going to go for norma sons —— enormous sums. they're going to create whatever objects that they will get to people as they donate to the art fund. the other thing to stress, is that british people already, one of the

other wonderful things by britain which we forget that is so unique is the thousands of people who volunteer for museums. and those people, many of whom who are now suffering huge disconnection and loneliness. the art fund is really rallying behind museums, and the more we can show people really care, the more we can get through this. just really quickly, and some of these pieces of work come on sale, are they going for massive sums, or can normal people like me even look at them? :, :, :, ., at them? you going to the art fund website, at them? you going to the art fund website. you _ at them? you going to the art fund website, you can _ at them? you going to the art fund website, you can see _ at them? you going to the art fund website, you can see what - at them? you going to the art fund website, you can see what people | website, you can see what people will get a return for their donations. so if i were taking a long—term view and making a donation to the art fund, it is likely to be a good investment for the museums, but also these are serious legal artist who anything by them is going to be worth something in the future anyway. i to be worth something in the future an a . :, :, ~' to be worth something in the future an a . :, :, to be worth something in the future an a. :, :, . , anyway. i will look out of curiosity and the joy _ anyway. i will look out of curiosity and the joy of _ anyway. i will look out of curiosity and the joy of it. _ anyway. i will look out of curiosity and the joy of it. thank— anyway. i will look out of curiosity and the joy of it. thank you i anyway. i will look out of curiosity and the joy of it. thank you so i and the joy of it. thank you so much, sir ian blatchford, and the best of luck going forward.

the release of the next james bond film has been delayed for a third time, because of the coronavirus pandemic. no time to die had orginally been due to hit screens last april but will now debut globally on the 8th of october. it marks daniel craig's final appearance as 007. let's talk to siobhan synnot, film expert and journalist. shouldn't this come on down to the tv screens or streaming rather than waiting for cinema? irate tv screens or streaming rather than waiting for cinema?— waiting for cinema? we are talking about a james _ waiting for cinema? we are talking about a james bond _ waiting for cinema? we are talking about a james bond film, - waiting for cinema? we are talking about a james bond film, a - waiting for cinema? we are talking about a james bond film, a budget waiting for cinema? we are talking i about a james bond film, a budget of $200 million. when you are talking about looking at movies that have released in the past, notably trolls, that was a mid—range movie, 25 million, not a lot of money that it made, but mgm the distributor of the james bond movie have already moved to squash that rumor. there was a rumor that it was going to be sold to streaming services for $600

million, one—year deal, and mgm have called that stupid and said the film is not for sale. and it seems very difficult to see how they could make money back on a streaming service. what they need is a global audience and a global market, and at the moment, many of the sentiments around the world are shut. —— screens and cinemas. around the world are shut. -- screens and cinemas.- around the world are shut. -- screens and cinemas. what happens if the still screens and cinemas. what happens if they still can't — screens and cinemas. what happens if they still can't release _ screens and cinemas. what happens if they still can't release it _ screens and cinemas. what happens if they still can't release it in _ they still can't release it in august? they still can't release it in au . ust? they still can't release it in aurust? , , , . they still can't release it in aurust? , ,, . ., , they still can't release it in aurust? , ,, : ., , august? one suspect that they may move it again- _ august? one suspect that they may move it again. but _ august? one suspect that they may move it again. but this _ august? one suspect that they may move it again. but this is _ august? one suspect that they may move it again. but this is all- august? one suspect that they may move it again. but this is all new i move it again. but this is all new territory, and the 25th bond film is seen very much as a canary in the coal mine for other blockbusters. you will see in the near future other films that were lined up to come out after this one that will now be moving back towards the art in themselves. so we're talking about top gun maverick, mission

impossible, the furious, which is already said it will not be selling streaming service either. so we will see it coming along, and this is new territory and the bond movie seems to be the canary in the coal mine. some people may think there is a lot of money in the movies and the pockets of major stars. can they not just afford to take a hit for the moment and get these films out so you can watch them? that moment and get these films out so you can watch them?— moment and get these films out so you can watch them? that has been tried, you can watch them? that has been tried. hasn't — you can watch them? that has been tried, hasn't it? _ you can watch them? that has been tried, hasn't it? tenent _ you can watch them? that has been tried, hasn't it? tenent was - tried, hasn't it? tenent was released and did all right, but it didn't get the results of the christopher nolan movie usually does. i think the film industry, as much as it can afford to put films on the shelf, will keep films on the shelf. but the problem is for cinemas. you look at amc, the american cinema change, —— american cinema chain, it has told investors

that it cinema chain, it has told investors thatitis cinema chain, it has told investors that it is running out of money. i think at the end, something close to normal, we are going to see far fewer of the independent and small cinema chains opening. so as film distributors are holding out until the sentiments are open again, once i do open, i think there will be far fewer cinema screens for them to show something like the new movie. that will be sad, thinking to much for your time. now it's time for a look at the weather with matt taylor. hello. after a rather turbulent weather week, the worst of the rain clouds have parted now. still some showers around, but we have to keep an eye on river levels all the way to the weekend. for some areas, they will continue to rise in response to what has fallen through the week. the latest flood warning details on the bbc website. a bit more sunshine around over the next few days. some showers to come and what we will find through this weekend is they will turn increasingly to sleet and snow, a covering of snow possible for some. wintry showers today, mainly across northern and western areas.

they could be heavy in places, and some heavier showers and livelier showers into parts of southern wales and south—west england later and the odd rumble of thunder. strong winds still dominate, particularly to the north—east of the country, although winds generally lighter than yesterday, but enough to have an impact on the way things feel out there. 3—8 degree on the thermometer, but feeling sub zero across parts of eastern scotland and north—east england. this evening, showers across southern england, the channel islands and south wales pushing their way eastwards. that will leave a legacy of wet roads. there will be some ice around. continuing sleet and snow flurries into western scotland, northern ireland, north—west england and wales and potentially part of the midlands and so a covering of snow for some into the morning and widespread frost for many. temperatures may be as low as —8, —9 or even lower in some parts of eastern scotland. a pretty cold start to the weekend. probably the showers a bit more abundant across northern england, the midlands, wales and northern ireland. northern ireland probably seeing fewer in the afternoon. fewer showers across northern scotland tomorrow. some areas of eastern

scotland, north—east england and across the south will stay predominantly dry throughout saturday with some good sunny spells. feeling colder than today, even with lighter wind, 2—5 degrees and with cold air in place, that will be crucial to what happens through saturday night and into sunday. low pressure, the remnants of storm christoph but around that, another little feature developing, and it is how that develops exactly, still a while away, that will be crucial to who sees the snow and how much. at the moment, saturday night into sunday, snow clearing away from northern ireland, spreading mainly across parts of england and wales. it won't be for everyone, but where it pushes across on sunday, we could see a fair few centimetres of snow here and there. could be some of the first snowfall of the season for some of the central and southern areas, drier and brighter further north and east. stay tuned for all the details.

this is bbc news. the headlines... the british government is playing down expectations it could adopt a proposal to pay £500 to everyone who tests positive for covid—19, saying it could create perverse incentives, but ministers are looking at support for those who have to isolate: there is a question that as we start to emerge from the lockdown into a new phase, how do we ensure during that exit, if you like, from the lockdown, that you ensure people who are asked to isolate do so. police in east london broke up a wedding party with 400 guests last night — and handed the organisers a £10,000 fine. it makes people angry. i see that when i am talking to local residents, it is a fantastic local hospital

here that has been under real pressure and serves all the communities in our borough. and anyone breaching these rules on this scale is going to dishearten those who are working in social care, with a vaccine, and in hospitals and gp practices. uk retail sales saw their largest annual fall in history last year as the impact of the pandemic took its toll. japanese car maker nissan has told the bbc its plant in north east england is secure for the long term, because of the post—brexit trade deal. google threatens to withdraw its search engine from australia — if the government passes a law forcing tech giants to pay local media for their content. and coming up this hour... the release of the next james bond film has been delayed for a third time, because of the coronavirus pandemic.

the government has played down expectations it could adopt a proposal to pay £500 to everyone who tests positive for covid—19, saying it could create perverse incentives. but ministers are actively looking at ways of encouraging people to isolate where needed. there are concerns the current financial support is not enough, and that some low paid workers cannot afford to self—isolate. it's also emerged that police last night broke up a wedding party at a school in east london with more than 400 guests, we'll have more on that shortly, but first this report from andy moore. it's the news nobody wants to hear — that they have to isolate because they've tested positive. and the evidence is that many people don't follow that advice. a recent study from university college london found more than a third of people didn't isolate for the recommended number

of days when they developed symptoms of covid—19, while less than half of people who developed symptoms said they'd requested a test. a £500 payment is available for the lowest—paid, but it can be difficult to get. this new suggestion is that there would be a universal payment of £500 to anyone who needed to self—isolate because they've tested positive. this is one of a number of proposals being looked at to revamp the current system. in the meantime, the government is keen to do whatever it can to reduce transmission rates. and so there was this announcement from the home secretary. today i can announce that next week we will be introducing a new £800 fine for those attending house parties, which will double for each repeat offence to a maximum level of £6,400. these fines will apply to those who attend illegal gatherings of more than 15 people in homes.

in northern ireland, coronavirus lockdown restrictions will be extended until at least the 5th of march, the first and deputy first ministers have said. but ministers were also told that restrictions may have to remain in place until after the easter holidays. the westminster government hasn't set any date for the lifting of restrictions in england. the scottish and welsh administrations are expected to give updates today. new cases are continuing to fall, with government figures showing there were 37,892 new infections recorded in the latest 24—hour period. 1,290 deaths were reported. a record 363,508 people were vaccinated in the latest 24—hour period, bringing the total number who've had their first dose to nearly five million. another casualty of the restrictions is the glastonbury festival in somerset in june. it's the second year in a row that it's been cancelled,

but the organisers said they were very confident 2022 would be a very special year. andy moore, bbc news. the latest ons figures are coming out. so far what is emerging is that the percentage of people with the new variant testing positive has decreased in london, the south—east and east of england in the week ending the 16th of january this year. which sounds good news, but we will get you more detail as soon as we can. our political correspondent leila nathoo said ministers are actively looking at ways to help people who have to self—isolate. dr mike tildesley is an associate professor of infectious disease modelling at the university of warwick. thanks forjoining us. we are just getting these numbers and from the ons. have you seen these reports that the new variant numbers look like they are coming down a bit with lockdown? , �* , ,

lockdown? yes, i've seen these numbers come _ lockdown? yes, i've seen these numbers come in _ lockdown? yes, i've seen these numbers come in and _ lockdown? yes, i've seen these numbers come in and it - lockdown? yes, i've seen these numbers come in and it is i lockdown? yes, i've seen these numbers come in and it is very| lockdown? yes, i've seen these i numbers come in and it is very much breaking news, but it does seem to support what we found in those parts of the country with the art number. there is evidence that particularly south—east of england, the r number seems of that blow one in the last few weeks. early evidence, hopefully, that lockdown is beginning to work.- hopefully, that lockdown is beginning to work. hopefully, that lockdown is berrinnintowork. g; , beginning to work. one in 35 people in london had _ beginning to work. one in 35 people in london had covid, _ beginning to work. one in 35 people in london had covid, is _ beginning to work. one in 35 people in london had covid, is that - beginning to work. one in 35 people in london had covid, is that if- beginning to work. one in 35 people in london had covid, is that if all- in london had covid, is that if all or a rise? i in london had covid, is that if all or a rise?— or a rise? i think that is obviously... _ or a rise? i think that is obviously... yeah, i or a rise? i think that is obviously... yeah, this | or a rise? i think that is i obviously... yeah, this is or a rise? i think that is - obviously... yeah, this is what it is slightly less true about. taking that overall, it should be starting to decrease —— less clear about. given that with the r number, we will start to see that going down. my will start to see that going down. my belief is we should be getting fewer people getting infected in london knowing we have done over the past few weeks. iblre london knowing we have done over the past few weeks-— past few weeks. are pretty full number break _ past few weeks. are pretty full number break down _ past few weeks. are pretty full number break down here, i past few weeks. are pretty full number break down here, this | past few weeks. are pretty full i number break down here, this is the

percentage of people testing positive in england has decreased slightly in the week ending 6th of january and equates to around one in 55 people. in london, london had the highest percentage of people testing positive, and that is about one and 35 people. just looking at these numbers, in wales it is one in 70, northern ireland one in 60, scotland, one in 100. a lot of detail coming and now from the ons. still the number is very high and the senior statistician from the infection service set in england we've seen a slight decrease in the percentage of people testing positive, but rates remain high and we think the level of infection are still over 1 we think the level of infection are still over1 million people. across the uk does mix, in scotland and wales levels infection have levelled off... the question that many have been asking, is lockdown workingwith

this new variant that is more infectious, is the proportion of the new variants falling to? this infectious, is the proportion of the new variants falling to?— new variants falling to? this is the $64,000 question, _ new variants falling to? this is the $64,000 question, is _ new variants falling to? this is the $64,000 question, is aware. i new variants falling to? this is the $64,000 question, is aware. the | $64,000 question, is aware. the evidence suggesting it is working. if we look at the south—east of england, in particular, regions that were in tier 4 prior to christmas, and were seeing much more infection than the rest of the country, it seems they are a little ahead of the rest of the country. if we look at the r numbers in the north—west and the r numbers in the north—west and the north east and the midlands, they are a little higher indicating things that things are not quite turning around yet in those regions. science and the south—east are fairly promising, and hopefully over the next week or two we should start to see a turnaround throughout the rest of the country, indicating that perhaps lockdown are starting to have an effect.— perhaps lockdown are starting to have an effect. lots of people have been trying — have an effect. lots of people have been trying to _ have an effect. lots of people have been trying to work— have an effect. lots of people have been trying to work out _ have an effect. lots of people have been trying to work out when i been trying to work out when lockdown might left. is it possible from these numbers to give a projection? the next review comes in

mid february, it doesn't look like there will be massive change, does it? :, :, :, there will be massive change, does it? :, :, ., : :, there will be massive change, does it? ., ., ., . ., it? no, ifear not. what i will say is it's not— it? no, ifear not. what i will say is it's notiust — it? no, ifear not. what i will say is it's notjust about _ it? no, ifear not. what i will say is it's notjust about getting i it? no, ifear not. what i will say is it's notjust about getting the i it? no, ifear not. what i will say| is it's notjust about getting the r number below one, comments were getting quite a bit below, because the more you do the more rapidly the figures come down. the other aspect worth mentioning as we need to ease out of lockdown very carefully, we can't flip from high—level lockdown to essentially going back to normal. gradual reduction of these controls, so that we can keep things under control as much as possible, it really has to be the way forward so we don't a resurgence.— we don't a resurgence. given the restrictions _ we don't a resurgence. given the restrictions are _ we don't a resurgence. given the restrictions are almost _ we don't a resurgence. given the restrictions are almost other- restrictions are almost other titres, there are things that could be taken further. does this suggest lack of compliance do you? to suggest suggesting new variant is much easier to catch? what this tells? i much easier to catch? what this tells? ~ , ., , ., :, tells? i think it is a combination, clearly the _ tells? i think it is a combination, clearly the new _ tells? i think it is a combination, clearly the new variant _ tells? i think it is a combination, clearly the new variant is - tells? i think it is a combination, clearly the new variant is playing j tells? i think it is a combination, i clearly the new variant is playing a role, we notice more transmissible and that is contributing to infection. also, it is pretty clear that we are not getting the same

levels of adherence as we were back in april. i have some level of understanding of this. there is a lot of fatigue going around. we have had a wave of restrictions for a long period of time, but i would relieve stress that the government shouldn't just use this relieve stress that the government shouldn'tjust use this to tighten restrictions, but to have very clear messaging around the need to adhere to the rules that are in place. what to the rules that are in place. what about the idea _ to the rules that are in place. what about the idea of _ to the rules that are in place. what about the idea of giving _ to the rules that are in place. what about the idea of giving £500 to everyone, i know that it's not your expert field, as it were, but do you think those sorts of measures of generosity, perhaps, would help? this is certainly something we have been concerned about, the length of time some people have been spending in isolation, which has been pretty evident a lot of people aren't isolating for the full period. it may be that some people aren't able to do that, they may be a risk of losing theirjob, they don't have the finances to support them... i think providing people with at least some compensation, is aware, to stay

in isolation for the full may help. at least it is a step in the right direction. , , :, :, at least it is a step in the right direction. , :, :, ., ., direction. just to mention again, the regional— direction. just to mention again, the regional breakdown, - direction. just to mention again, the regional breakdown, the i direction. just to mention again, i the regional breakdown, the numbers of our to suggest that the number slightly decreased in england, levelled off in scotland and wales and the rose and northern ireland. how do you explain the slightly different trends? irate how do you explain the slightly different trends?— different trends? we need to remember — different trends? we need to remember is _ different trends? we need to remember is we _ different trends? we need to remember is we are - different trends? we need to remember is we are not i different trends? we need to | remember is we are not really dealing with one epidemic, this is the problem. we have an epidemic that... various different epidemic spreading a different part of the country. if we go all the way back to march, february last year. it was introduced in the south—east and london, and london was always a little bit ahead for four else, that is the problem, we can take a single time point and look at the whole country and determine how the behaviour is. you'll see these waves of infection that happened at slightly different times. hopefully the northern ireland situation, we will see that turning around, but it

may take a week or two more. you may not be able _ may take a week or two more. you may not be able to — may take a week or two more. you may not be able to give _ may take a week or two more. you may not be able to give me _ may take a week or two more. you may not be able to give me a _ may take a week or two more. you may not be able to give me a precise - not be able to give me a precise answer, but people are wondering when schools will open, do you think will be after the easter holiday? do you think will be able to leave the country to go on holiday if we want to and can afford to do some? i alters; to and can afford to do some? i very much advocated _ to and can afford to do some? i very much advocated that _ to and can afford to do some? i very much advocated that we _ to and can afford to do some? i very much advocated that we need i to and can afford to do some? i very much advocated that we need to - to and can afford to do some? ur much advocated that we need to get our children back to school as soon as possible, because we know there is long—term harm to education, we need to get them back to school safely. i would be reluctant to be committing to be releasing rejections in february, just because even though we may be on the peak, there is a realfear of even though we may be on the peak, there is a real fear of resurgence, so i would think a cautious approach, so that when we get children back into school, we keep them in school, that's was needed. the summer holidays, a lot more uncertainty over that. trying to predict what is going to happen in five months of challenging. my hope is we can get to the levels of immunity through vaccination that we can have enough relaxation over the summer. so the summer holiday season hopefully may happen, i think people need something to look forward to.

we absolutely did. thank you so much. thank you for reacting so quickly to all the new information coming in. and for viewers in the uk, borisjohnson will be leading today's coronavirus downing street briefing at 5 o'clock this afternoon. we'll bring that to you live on bbc one and the bbc news channel. police have broken up a wedding party with 400 guests in north london. officers found the windows at the hatorah girls senior school, a charedi school in stamford hill, had been covered when they arrived at 9:15 pm on thursday. the guests fled the scene when officers arrived. our correspondentjon donnison has been following the story. we understand this wedding was taking place at a jewish girls school in stamford hill. — home to the uk's largest ultra orthodoxjewish community. 400 people were in attendance. when police arrived

they say many people fled. five people were issued with fixed penalty notices of £200. police say that the organiser of the wedding has been reported for consideration of a £10,000 fine. the biggest fine for the person who organised the wedding potentially. all of this happened just a day after we had the home secretary saying there would be tougher penalties for anyone attending parties. we have had a statement from the detective superintendent from the metropolitan police saying this was a completely unacceptable breach of the law, people across the country are making sacrifices by cancelling or postponing weddings and there is no excuse for this type of behaviour. in the last hour we have heard from the school where the wedding was held. a spokesperson from

the school said... let's speak now to jonathan goldstein, chair of thejewish leadership council, which representsjewish organisations in britain. what is your response to this? well, like everybody _ what is your response to this? well, like everybody else, _ what is your response to this? well, like everybody else, we _ what is your response to this? well, like everybody else, we are - like everybody else, we are horrified by the news that a large wedding party was held in stamford hill last night. that is unacceptable, a clear and flagrant breach of the law. we, like everybody else in society, condemn this behaviour. i think, everybody else in society, condemn this behaviour. ithink, however, it is important not to take us an entire community by the behaviour of a small minority. notwithstanding

how pure that behaviour is. like everybody else, we condemn it. —— how poor that behaviour is. flan everybody else, we condemn it. -- how poor that behaviour is. can you exlain how poor that behaviour is. can you explain any — how poor that behaviour is. can you explain any resistance? _ how poor that behaviour is. can you explain any resistance? you - how poor that behaviour is. can you explain any resistance? you are - explain any resistance? you are talkin: explain any resistance? you are talking about — explain any resistance? you are talking about small— explain any resistance? you are talking about small minority, i explain any resistance? you are i talking about small minority, and explain any resistance? you are - talking about small minority, and it is a difficult question to answer bearing in mind that community has been very hip by covid itself and there have been a significant number of deaths within that community. there are, however, resistance to accepting certain authorities at certain times, but it is very difficult for most people to understand. i think the important point to come back to is that the vast majority of the jewish community, as in vast majority of thejewish community, as in wider society, vast majority of the jewish community, as in wider society, have under state they need to follow the rules and protect the nhs.- under state they need to follow the rules and protect the nhs. nobody to take castin: rules and protect the nhs. nobody to take casting or _ rules and protect the nhs. nobody to

take casting or blaming _ rules and protect the nhs. nobody to take casting or blaming dipping - take casting or blaming dipping communities, because there is lots of lots of sections of society with lots of different views of what is going on at the moment, but are there any religious reasons or arguments for not wanting to wear masks or not wanting to stop these religious festivals or observances? no, there are no excuses. and none should be given and none should be accepted. i don't think we should go down that road, vast, vast, vast majority of the jewish down that road, vast, vast, vast majority of thejewish community, including in the ultraorthodox community, obey the rules, where mass and ensure the social distance. there is no religious excuse —— wear masks. i would go further, there is a specificjewish obligation to ensure you do everything you can to save life, and i'm afraid there's a small minority people who will not listen to those rules.

wales first minister mark drakeford is providing an update on the coronavirus situation in wales. let's listen in... this is a real step forward in our vaccination programme. this slide shows you just how quickly the programme is picking up speed across wales, as supplies of the vaccine increase. two weeks ago, i set out plans for increasing the number of mass vaccination centres and gp practices offering vaccination. since then, we have exceeded all those plans. we have more clinics than ever, providing vaccinations, more gp practices offering the oxford astrazeneca jab, and almost 1000 care home residents a day are being vaccinated in wales. that is because vaccination is our number one priority. we are on target to hit ourfirst milestone one priority. we are on target to hit our first milestone of offering vaccination to the first four

priority groups by the middle of february. and there is, as you can imagine, a massive amount of work going on in wales to make this happen. and of course, i understand that everyone is eager to have their jab and not everybody will be vaccinated in the first couple of weeks. forthose vaccinated in the first couple of weeks. for those who are waiting, i thank you for your patience. and if you haven't been vaccinated yet, you will soon hear from the you haven't been vaccinated yet, you will soon hearfrom the nhs about your appointment. will soon hearfrom the nhs about yourappointment. if will soon hearfrom the nhs about your appointment. if you are in one of those top priority groups. now, vaccination offers us a path away from the current public health crisis, but for the moment we must all carry on working together to slow the spread of this awful virus. last week i said we were seeing some

encouraging signs that the virus was stabilising in wales. as you can see from this side, we can now say confidently that cases are falling in all areas of wales. overall, the seven day case rate for wales has dropped from over 650 before christmas to around 270 cases per 100,000 people. that is almost 100 points lower than it was last week, and as this slide shows, the rate is falling in all health boards, right across wales, including north wales where the highly contagious strain of the virus has become so dominant is. but despite that promising picture, these are still very high rates. around 16% of tests are still

coming back positive, which demonstrate there are still lots of infection happening in the community. eric ttp service continues to work very well. 90% of tests that need a rapid result got one in a single day last week. overall, since our test, trace, protect service began back injune, 99% of cases eligible for contact tracing art successfully reached. now, all of that is because of the hard work that goes on across wales. by hard work that goes on across wales. by the efforts each one of us is making every day, and the sacrifices that go alongside that. that is what is helping to bring the values under control. thank you for staying at home. for protecting the nhs. and

for helping us all to save lives. now, every three weeks we review the current level of restrictions, and next week we will complete the second review of the alert level for lockdown measures. every day, as you soften the slide, we are now seeing cases of the virus fall in the community. but we need to see that fall, also happen in our nhs, to alleviate the pressures health service are seeing. we have some encouraging early signs that the number of people admitted to hospital with coronavirus is starting to stabilise. as of today, we still have high numbers in hospital with covid—19, under critical care units particularly remain under enormous pressure. we are having to factor in the added dimension of the new and emerging

strains of the virus. we know that the highly contagious strain, sometimes called the kent gradient, is now widespread across wales. we are closely monitoring three other new variants, one from south africa and two from brazil. all of these are cause for concern. we already have six cases of the south african variant, identified here in wales. we are not immune at all to changes which can happen in other parts of the world. this is why we all have to go on taking that cautious and careful approach, living with the restrictions that we have and that are making that difference. as we go into the review next week, our first priority, as ever, will be our

children and all young people. looking for ways to get them back into schools and colleges, when we have sufficient headroom to do so. next week, alongside a three week review, we will also review the details of a package of support to help the tens of thousands of businesses which continue to be affected by the pandemic. today, i can say that next week we will be making a further £200 million available to support those businesses with their operating costs. our unique £180 million support scheme for leisure, tourism and their supply chains is still open for applications. altogether we have committed more than £2 billion in support for businesses here in wales. and of that, 1.7 billion has

already reached those businesses. that includes 178,000 grants worth £1 billion, delivered through the hard work of local authorities. we have provided the most generous package support for businesses anywhere in the united kingdom. over and above the support available through uk government. we will go on doing all we can to make sure that businesses are able to recover from the pandemic, and continue supporting jobs and our economy. before i moved to questions, i want to see if you words about the flooding we saw in many parts of wales following storm christophe. once again, communities have seen record rainfall, and the damage that

flooding causes, just a year after two previous terms. our thoughts are with those returning to see their homes flooded. i want to extend my thanks to all those who worked through the night on wednesday to perfect them and protect life and property as the waters rose. these are unprecedented times for those having to deal with the pandemic and defaulted home. it is a reminder to us all that while the public health crisis has dominated our thoughts, the climate crisis continues. now, to support all those affected by flooding, the welsh government will put in place arrangements for local authorities to be able to make support payments of up to £1000 available per household, for the

events of the last 48 hours, and retrospectively to those who have been affected by similar events in the last few months. this is the same level support available to a year ago, when storms chiara and dennis hit walesjust year ago, when storms chiara and dennis hit wales just before the pandemic. the support will therefore be in place to help people who have suffered significant flooding while coronavirus restrictions have been in place. i'll turn out to take questions, and as ever, all the answers will be broadcast live on the welsh government's own social media channels. i'm going first of all to bbc wales...

30% according to today's back see numbers _ 30% according to today's back see numbers of the over 80s have been vaccinated~ — numbers of the over 80s have been vaccinated. one man said this week that he _ vaccinated. one man said this week that he was— vaccinated. one man said this week that he was confident over 70% of over 805 — that he was confident over 70% of over 80s would be vaccinated by the end of— over 80s would be vaccinated by the end of the _ over 80s would be vaccinated by the end of the week. forgive me, but that sounds— end of the week. forgive me, but that sounds like a very ambitious target _ that sounds like a very ambitious target ls — that sounds like a very ambitious target is it— that sounds like a very ambitious target. is it achievable? or will 70% _ target. is it achievable? or will 70% have — target. is it achievable? or will 70% have been offered are supposed to have _ 70% have been offered are supposed to have been vaccinated? well, 70% have been offered are supposed to have been vaccinated?— to have been vaccinated? well, let me 'ust to have been vaccinated? well, let me just exulain — to have been vaccinated? well, let me just explain some _ to have been vaccinated? well, let me just explain some of— to have been vaccinated? well, let me just explain some of the - me just explain some of the complexity behind what you have said. ministers every day see information, operational data, that comes in from the health service, more or less in real time. the statistics that are published every day have a lag in them. they have to be collected formally from the health service, they have to be interrogated, they have to be quality assured, and then they are published as formal figures. they

lag a number of days behind the information that we see, and track every day as ministers. just to give you an example or two, this morning i will have seen information that tells me that in one area 16 practices are already sending out letters to people aged over 75, giving them appointments this week. i will have seen figures that tell me in one area 46 for care homes have now got everyone vaccination complete. i will sing a set of figures of gp practices in one area where vaccination of the over 80s has been finished. because we see the absolutely up—to—date day by day —— are, that is what gives us the confidence to know that by the end of sunday, 70% of over 80s and

people in care homes will have been offered the vaccine and the vaccine delivered. there will be a number of days delay before the official data fully records what has been achieved by the end of this weekend. mark drakeford mark dra keford they mark drakeford they are in wales giving the daily briefing, he was talking about the flooding as well, the amount of people affected there. but also on the coronavirus situation, being questioned about the vaccination programme, also saying they are going to get 200 million for business support. and we know from the ons numbers that the numbers across the uk are still very

high at this stage of the lockdown. we will bring you more details on that as soon as we can. now it's time for a look at the weather with matt taylor. hello. river levels will continue to respond to this week's rain in some parts of the country this weekend but overall, a lot more in the way of dry weather around and certainly this afternoon, plenty of sunshine across the central and eastern half of the country. more showers in the north and west, sleet and snow increasingly across scotland and northern ireland, but largely rain showers towards wales and the midlands, as well as the south—west. some of those heavy with a rumble of thunder and a bit wintry over higher ground, and they will be pushed along by a keen breeze. winds not as strong as yesterday, but still there to make it feel colder than 3—8 celsius would suggest. a cold night to come, this evening and overnight, showers initially across southern parts, leaving lots of wet ground. so there could be some ice later as temperatures drop. sleet and snow showers across western scotland, northern ireland, northern england, north wales and the north midlands, giving another dusting or coating of snow in places and a very cold start to saturday morning, maybe lower than —8 or —9 in parts of aberdeenshire.

sunshine and showers for saturday, but by sunday, england and wales could see a bit more in the way of snow. goodbye for now. hello this is bbc news. the headlines... the british government is playing down expectations it could adopt a proposal to pay £500 to everyone who tests positive for covid—19, saying it could create perverse incentives,

but ministers are looking at support for those who have to isolate. there is a question that as we start to emerge from the lockdown and go into a new phase, how do we ensure, during the exit, if you like, from the lockdown, ensure that people who are asked to isolate do so. police in east london broke up a wedding party with 400 guests last night and handed the organisers a £10,000 fine. it makes people angry. i see that when i am talking to local residents, it is a fantastic local hospital here that has been under real pressure and serves all the communities in our borough. and anyone breaching these rules on this scale is going to dishearten those who are working in social care, with the vaccine, and in hospitals and gp practices. uk retail sales saw their largest annual fall in history last year as the impact of the pandemic took its toll. japanese car maker nissan has told the bbc its plant in north east england is secure for the long term

because of the post—brexit trade deal. google threatens to withdraw its search engine from australia if the government passes a law forcing tech giants to pay local media for their content. ijust i just wanted to ijust wanted to let i just wanted to let you ijust wanted to let you know, a bit more reaction coming into news of the arrests after the wedding last night. it took place in stamford hill at a strictly orthodox, jewish school, and the chief rabbi has condemned that wedding party. it has been said that an overwhelming majority of the jewish community would be appalled at the event. he wrote on twitter saying, this is a most shameful desecration of all that we hold dear at a time would we are all making such rate sacrifices. it amounts to a brazen abrogation of the responsibility to protect life, and such illegal behaviors appalled by the overwhelming majority of the jewish community. a damning

statement there, really people are clearly worried about these big breaches that are still going on. 400 guests at a north london wedding, and the police have made some arrests and there will be no doubt further questions and follow—ups with the school. the school will all show —— also distanced himself saying that they lease out, but i'm sure that there will be further investigation into that. more rain and flooding could be on the way for areas already hit hard by bad weather this week. flood warnings remain in place, after thousands of people had to be evacuated from their homes in england and wales. our correspondent adam mcclean gave us this update from northwich near chester. the clean—up operation is continuing here in northwich this morning. tractors have been towing huge water tankers in and out of the town centre every couple of minutes to take excess water away from this area. water is being pumped back

towards the river behind me. the floodwater has caused devastation to properties and businesses here in northwich and the environment agency have been here since tuesday. dave brown is the flood risk manager for the environment agency. what is the situation at the minute? it is an improving situation right now. we have a situation where the high water levels we experienced yesterday, the highest levels ever recorded on the river weaver, which we kept behind our flood defences, are on the way down, and effectively that is an improving situation, but the problems brought with storm christoph were that the surface water infrastructure and the foul waste was unable to cope with that amount of rainfall falling on the catchment in that small space of time and we then had a problem of surface water rising on the other side

practically speaking, how do you even begin to deal with this amount of water? what is taking place at the minute? at the moment, we are trying to overpump the surface water back to the river. when the river level is low, the surface water can drain to the river and when it is high, it gets blocked by a flap so it cannot come back, but it means that cannot get away, which creates a problem and the rest of the infrastructure sometimes struggles, and with the amount of rainfall we have seen, that has caused this problem. all of the authorities combined, the local authority and the water company, united utilities, are involved with over pumping that back. important to say we had contingency in place before the storm but the sheer scale of the rainfall and the amount of rainfall has caused that to be overwhelmed. is this out of the ordinary for this area? residents we have spoken to say this is not something that usually happens here. this is quite different, isn't it, in terms of the amount of water? yes, we've seen the highest river levels we have ever recorded

over the last two days. we have been manning an operation here since tuesday and it has been a round—the—clock response from all those involved to try to mitigate it, and what you are seeing is that recovery phase, as we try to basically get the water out from the town centre, away from those businesses and properties, and allow people to return back to normal. people will understandably be nervous, many affected by all the flood warnings over the last 24 or 48 hours. what can be done to prevent things like this happening? how can people be reassured that where they live will not fall victim to flooding like this? it is about preparation, and the preparation we've done, everyone has done prior to this event has been very good, very large. we have cleared all the debris we can, we have undertaken to make sure contingency is in place, but sometimes the sheer scale

of events and events themselves do cause problems and that is what we have seen. and if people want to find out their own risk, i would encourage them to look at our flood map which is available on our website. they can look for their postcode and see their risk and sign up to our floodline number to receive warnings prior to events happening to ensure they are mitigated where they live. sum up the scale of the response here. this is a picture taking place in towns across the country, but how much goes into a clean—up operation like this? yes, that is what the authority are looking at now, we are all working together towards that. the pumping scenario you see behind me, the number of units on site, overpumping, are all trying to effectively get that surface water back into the river, away from those premises and properties that are flooded so that clean—up can begin and then it is around cleaning

the infrastructure and all the public areas to make sure they are safe and people can return to some kind of normality. dave brown from the environment agency, thank you. as the flood water rose here, 48 people had to be evacuated. dozens of pensioners from a nearby retirement village had to be moved to safety by boat. as you can see, there is still so much work to do here. those people who have been affected by flooding will be keeping a very close eye on the situation over the coming days. nissan has told the bbc that its plant in sunderland is now secure. the carmarker says the trade agreement reached between the uk and the eu was positive. chief operating officer, ashwani gupta said around 7000 jobs in the uk were safe, and by implication — tens of thousands more across the supply chain. mr gupta has been speaking to our business editor simonjack, from nissan's headquarters injapan. the sunderland plant being one

of the best plants we have in the world in our more than 35 years of history. we have invested more than £4 billion in this plant and we spend £3.5 billion every year, which goes to the uk economy. we are going to redefine the auto industry in the united kingdom because the brexit makes nissan's sunderland plant competitive in the uk and outside the uk when it comes to exports. the business secretary kwasi kwarteng said nissan's decision represents a genuine belief in britain and a huge vote of confidence in the uk economy. i think this is hugely significant news, and great. a positive win for britain, but also for the people of sunderland. i think it's an amazing opportunity, not only to build back better, but also to build evs, to have battery technology built here in giga factories. and it represents a real vote of confidence, not only in the brexit deal, but also in the future this

country and the economic opportunities that we have. and i think for the people of sunderland, this is a really, really big thing. last year saw a record drop in retailfigures. sales fell by 1.9%, the largest year on year fall since records began in 1997. clothes shops have been hit particularly hard — with a record annual fall of more than a quarter. retail sales grew in december, but the growth was less than had been expected — retail sales volumes rose byjust 0.3% compared with the previous month. it comes as uk government borrowing hit £34.1 billion last month — the highest december figure on record. the figures come ahead of the chancellor's budget on 3rd march. the impact of brexit is gradually becoming clearer as the new trading relationship between britain and the eu beds in. some high street and luxury

retailers in the uk are considering abandoning goods their customers in the eu want to return, with some even thinking of burning them, because it is cheaper than bringing them home. they say the new eu trade deal has put costly duties on online returns at a time when firms are already struggling. simon browning reports. scroll, choose, click, deliver. a seamless retail experience. before january the 1st, we could buy from anywhere in europe with ease and speed, and europeans could buy from our retailers also. but since the start of our new trading relationship, problems and delays are appearing. when shoppers in europe have bought goods from uk brands, lots of them have been hit with the new customs charges on delivery. but it's meant lots of shoppers have said simply, i don't want it, take it away. goods being returned from europe to the uk are now subject to another layer of customs charges and checks.

the financials don't make any sense. companies have got no choice but to say, just leave it with the courier company, and courier companies don't have storage spaces. they don't know what to do with these goods, so they may end up being burned or destroyed. uk retailers have goods mounting in german, irish and belgian warehouses. one retailer has been quoted £18,000 to get their returned goods cleared and back to the uk. oula runs a london—based sustainable fashion brand. her sales with europe have grown every year since launch. for now, she's stopped exporting and trading with the eu because of the barriers of increased customs costs. it's been an absolute nightmare, to be honest. so we started out the year canceling orders, a lot of orders actually, which was a really sad way of starting 2021. for those in retail, shipping and freight, they had just a week to adapt

to the terms of our new relationship. lots of new customs procedures to learn. it's a big, big difference, - and it's a lot for a lot of people to accept and to learn - about as well, to educate themselves with. the government says it's working with industry to help them trade effectively under the new rules, but with parcels stuck and retailers believing it is easier to write them off than get them back, it's not the smoothest start to our new trading future. simon browning, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news... the uk government is playing down expectations it could adopt a proposal to pay £500 to everyone who tests positive for covid—19, saying it could create perverse incentives. police in east london broke up a wedding party with 400 guests last night, and handed the organisers a £10,000 fine. uk retail sales saw their largest annual fall in history last year as the impact of the pandemic took its toll.

the fire brigades union has been accused of holding back firefighters in their response to the pandemic, because of "unreasonable" safety demands. in a report, the fire service watchdog criticised the union for insisting on "unworkable" requirements for testing and self—isolation. but the union says employers are to blame for pulling out of an agreement to protect firefighters. here's our home affairs correspondent tom symonds. last year, firefighters were driving ambulances — among thousands of fire service volunteers tackling the covid crisis. the deal — they'd self—isolate and be tested before returning to the fire station... if it does tear, all you're going to do is use a bit of tape. ..after all, some were transporting the deceased, in close contact with the virus. but the deal has fallen apart. fire chiefs said having firefighters self—isolating made it impossible to run a flexible fire service — the fire brigades union

was being unreasonable. the union blamed the chiefs and local councils for pulling out of the deal. its priority — the safety of its members. on the 9th of december, you told them not to volunteer — does that still stand ? we... i don't know the situation in each individual fire and rescue service. we want a national agreement so that our members can volunteer with confidence. i'm not prepared to ask people to volunteer if there are not safety measures in place — and i would hope that neither would you, i would hope that neither would a chief fire officer. firefighters in some areas have reached local agreements and are still volunteering — including for vaccines. but the fire service inspectorate said today the national union's position is "deeply regrettable" and "not what the public would expect of a fire service during a crisis". the union insists it will keep talking — but safety has to be the priority. tom symonds, bbc news.

some information that came out of the scotland briefing today from nicola sturgeon who said that the number of people in hospital with covid and scotland is continuing to rise. 2053 people with a virus and scottish hospitals, which is 49 more than yesterday's figure. 71 deaths with coronavirus have been registered in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 5628. that is from our reporter based in glasgow. a 14—year—old boy has been arrested on suspicion of murder after another teenager was attacked in the street in birmingham. the victim, a 15—year—old boy, died after an incident in handsworth yesterday afternoon. the boy, who lived locally, was taken to hospital, but died a short time later from his injuries. it's been described as a race against time — the operation to vaccinate those most at risk from coronavirus. around two—thirds of elderly care home residents have now

received their firstjab. but the number of covid—related deaths in english care homes has doubled in two—weeks. graham satchell reports. we've had the vaccine today, everybody! the vaccine — a real cause for celebration in care homes. every shot in the arm a victory. but this is a race against time — the number of covid—related deaths in care homes has doubled in a fortnight in england. and while some parts of the uk are making good progress, it's not the same story everywhere. i just feel that we seem to have been forgotten in this area. you know, on the news the other day, slough had done all their care homes and they'd all had their vaccination. madeleine's mum, doreen, is 92. none of the residents in her care home in essex has had the jab yet. it is really scary — really scary. and we need to get on top of that, i think. soon as you get coronavirus

in a care home, it goes through like a dose of salts — it's as simple as that. i feel abandoned — that's the word, i think, here. abandoned on behalf of this population of care home residents, yeah. after we'd spoken to doreen's family, health officials in essex told us her care home will now be vaccinated today. nhs england has set the target for all care home residents to get their first dose by this sunday. the government's target is the end of the month. so where are we? in england, 63% of residents have now had at least one dose. in scotland, which has prioritised care homes, more than 90% have had theirfirstjab. northern ireland has vaccinated 75% of its care home residents with two doses. and in wales, so far, only 56.4% of residents have had their first injection. you just step on the mat there and scrub your feet, put your personal effects on the table. this is glyn williams care home in anglesey in wales —

we first filmed here last april. getting in and out, a military operation. glyn's residents have just had their vaccinations. just can't put it into words, really. i mean, we seem to have gone through the whole year fighting this thing and, finally, it feels like we're getting some help. the welsh government told us 70% of care homes would get the first dose by this weekend, but there is concern here. it's sad that we're a little bit behind in wales. it could be due to...the more rural settings within wales, perhaps. there appears to have been a little bit of a slow uptake on the resident side of things, certainly. residents and staff at a care home run by mha — the largest charity provider in the adult care sector. the majority of residents have had their firstjab, but there is now an uncomfortable wait for the second dose.

i'm concerned that this is a lengthy gap now before the second vaccination takes place, and we are leaving people vulnerable in that space, and clearly the virus is not going away. we are seeing outbreaks in quite a number of our homes, and those vary from just a few cases to, actually, quite a number of cases. and obviously, we are still, at times, seeing people losing their lives as a result of covid. the government in westminster says it will meet its target to give every care home resident in england their first dose by the end of the month. but as death rates continue to rise, there are now calls in the sector to reassess the strategy, to give residents their second dose much more quickly. graham satchell, bbc news. the release of the next james bond film has been delayed for a third time, because of the coronavirus pandemic.

no time to die had orginally been due to hit screens last april but will now debut globally on the 8th of october. it will be daniel craig's final appearance as 007. i spoke earlier to the film expert and journalist, siobhan synnot who explained who the bond movies are so important for the industry. we are talking about a james bond film, a movie with a budget of 200 million dollars. when you talk about movies that have released in the past, notably trolls, it was a mid—range movie is about 25 million, it made money, not a lot of money, but mgm, the distributor of the james bond movie have already moved to squash that is an idea. there was a rumor that was going to be sold to streaming services for a $600 million, when year deal, and mgm have said that is stupid and doesn't make sense. and it is difficult to see how they can make money back on a streaming service. what they need is a global audience and a global

market, and at the moment, many cinemas around the world are shot. what happens if still in october, winter, we saw the numbers going up around, what happens if they still can't release it then? fine around, what happens if they still can't release it then? one suspects that they may _ can't release it then? one suspects that they may move _ can't release it then? one suspects that they may move it _ can't release it then? one suspects that they may move it again. - can't release it then? one suspects that they may move it again. at - can't release it then? one suspects| that they may move it again. at this is all very new territory, and the 25th bond film is the canary in the coal mine for other blockbusters. you will see in the near future other films that were lined up to come out after no time to die will now be moving back towards the autumn themselves, the mission impossible films, fast and furious, have already said that they were not going to be selling to streaming service either, so are you going to see a shuffling along. but this is new territory, and the bond movie seems to be very much the canary in the coal mine. seems to be very much the canary in the coal mine-— the coal mine. some people might think that there _ the coal mine. some people might think that there is _ the coal mine. some people might think that there is a _ the coal mine. some people might think that there is a lot _ the coal mine. some people might think that there is a lot of -

the coal mine. some people might think that there is a lot of money | think that there is a lot of money in the major movies and in the pockets of the major stars, cannot afford to just take a hit for the moment and get the films out so people can watch them? that moment and get the films out so people can watch them? that has been tried, has a debt? _ people can watch them? that has been tried, has a debt? tenent _ people can watch them? that has been tried, has a debt? tenent was - tried, has a debt? tenent was released by warner bros. in the late summer and it released by warner bros. in the late summerand it did released by warner bros. in the late summer and it did all right, but it didn't do the kind of gangbusters money that christopher nolan movie traditionally does. so i think the film industry, as magic can afford to keep films on the shelf, will keep films on the shelf. but the problem is of course when you look at cinemas, amc, it has told investors that it is already running out of money. i think at the end, or once we get to think close to normal, we are going to see far fewer of the independent and small cinema chains opening. movie houses, film distributors are holding out until the cinemas are open again.

once they are open again, i think there will be far fewer cinema screens to show movies like the new bond. mike says on the wedding place, it might�*ve been a private event, but the school should've known what it was being used for and zara says that police should have secured footage and find every guest. peter says a £500 of bribery, better enforcing rules and test entries. in a moment, the bbc news at one with jane hill. but first, it's time for a look at the weather. it isa it is a drier and to what has been an exceptionally wet week for many, and all that rain still working to the river systems. blood warnings will continue write to the weekend, —— flood warnings, you can check those on the weather website, but the weather will be drier and colder. some sunny spells and also

some snow, and that is giving us some snow, and that is giving us some forecasting headaches by the time we get into sunday. more on that to come. as far as the rest of today, we have plenty of showers packing and, snow mixing in with these, especially of her high ground, discuss their heavy showers moving across the south wales, southern england, some thunder and hail in with that. temperatures dropping away this evening, and most temperatures will continue to drop during tonight. still some showers around, increasingly turning wintry across northwestern areas and covering snow to come in some places and widespread ice, with services pretty wet out there and temperatures getting down to freezing or below. it could get down to —9 across some parts of eastern scotland. tomorrow is a day of sunny spells and wintry showers. even low levels in the showers pushing through western scotland, northern ireland, northwest england, northe wales, into the midlands and lincolnshire as well. elsewhere we will see largely find conditions with sunshine, but it will be cold,

despite the winds being lighter than they are today. 2—7 , your temperature, saturday night cold and frosty, and then through the night we are keeping a close eye out west on this weather feature here. that is what is giving us a forecasting headache for sunday, because as this runs into some cold air it is likely to produce some snowfall. exactly how this weather front will behave is still open a question. some computer weather models died in a way southwards quite quickly, others allow it to work its way eastwards —— dive in a way southwards, giving a few nanometers of lying snow in some places, could get up in the parts of northern england. scotland and northern ireland through sunday afternoon should be largely fine with sunshine and some wintry showers, whatever happens with the snow fall further south, it will be cold. 2—6 . snow fall further south, it will be cold. 2—6. but snow fall further south, it will be cold. 2—6 . but that will change during next week, temperatures will rise, temperatures will be much milder, howeverthere

rise, temperatures will be much milder, however there will be some heavy rain at times.

a slight fall in the number of people testing positive for covid—19 — 1 in 55 people had the virus last week in england. the new variant has spread across the uk, but rates in scotland and wales have levelled off, although there's been an increase in cases in northern ireland. could people who test positive for covid be given £500 to ensure they isolate? the government plays down the idea of a one—off payment, but acknowledges the problems. there were problems in the previous tiered systems of a lack of compliance, people been reluctant to isolate when they came into contact with somebody who tested positive. the other stories this lunchtime:

police break up a wedding party with 400 guests being held