alison holt, bbc news.other word about the events in the united states, where yesterday's presidential election still hasn't produced a winner. president trump is threatening a wave of legal action contesting close results, while his challenger, joe biden, is insisting that every vote must be counted before a final result can de declared. let's go back to our north america editor, jon sopel. much has been said in recent weeks about the health of us democracy, and you have been talking at length about the problems in the united states, but the reason the world is interested in this is because that incumbent in that place behind you will have enormous power worldwide. yes. let me deal with the health of us democracy. people were fearful yesterday that vigilantes would turn up yesterday that vigilantes would turn up outside polling stations, intimidate people about which way to vote and not, but that didn't happen. donald trump was asked not long ago, do you support a peaceful tra nsfer of long ago, do you sup

our social affairs correspondent alison holt reports.st time 67—year—old bob sutch and his wife kris were able to hug. he has alzheimer's and had just moved into a care home. i miss you so much. she cries. yeah. since then, most of their contact‘s been like this, deeply distressing for them both. the testing pilot offers hope for the future, but it still feels a long way off. it has been absolutely cruel to see him scratching at the window, him calling, "come on, come in." he doesn't understand, he's in the latter stages of dementia, and his wellbeing and quality of life has been severely impacted, as has mine. their son's a doctor working on a busy hospital covid ward. he deals with the risks each day and says it should be possible for families to have closer contact in care homes. it's a catastrophe, but everyone's ina similarscenario, including me, because you don't get this time back. my father and lots of other people will deteriorate during this period, and we appreciate the difficulties everybody's facing, it's not easy for us all

alison holt, bbc news, nottingham.of borisjohnson's key aides. the upheaval at the heart of government comes as ministers grapple with the pandemic and concerns over a post—brexit trade deal. and with 50 days to go until the end of the transition period, there's a warning from the irish taoiseach that the uk must "knuckle down" to agree a deal with the european union. here's our political editor laura kuenssberg. borisjohnson is boris johnson is in borisjohnson is in charge because of brexit. he wants to change how we deal with the rest of the world but there has been melt down among his band of brexiteers and if there is no trade deal there could be economic turmoil too, so michael gove is warning business to be prepared agreement or not. by choosing to leave the european union we became a sovereign equal and it is important the eu recognise that. it is rather extraordinary that only a matter of a few weeks ago you cannot tell businesses, particularly in northern ireland, how they will have to trade. there are still t

alison holt, bbc news.ks and jaeger, have gone into administration. 4,700 jobs and 500 shops are at risk. it comes after the owner, edinburgh woollen mill group, failed to find a buyer for both businesses. the prime minister says the days of cutting the uk's defence budget are over. borisjohnson told the house of commons that britain's military was "the pride of britain" as he announced £16 billion of new money to "modernise" defence over the next four years. the extra money will help fund space and cyber projects. 0ur defence correspondent jonathan beale reports. britain's armed forces say they are about to undergo their biggest transformation since the end of the cold war. it will inevitably mean less of the old, like tanks and heavy armour and more of the new, to defend in the domains of cyber and space. british troops are already encountering threats such as this information and they will be part of a new national cyber force are ready to carry out offensive cyber operations. and there will be a new spa

families can finally have closer contact with their loved ones. 0ur social affairs correspondent alison holtthis one in nottingham, but here they hope rapid testing could be the key to allowing more visits. i think it's three or four. i think it's number four. at the moment, 96—year—old janet can only see her family through the glass of a specially built pod. they can't touch, but it's a step forward from lockdown, which she found difficult. it felt as if you'd done something wrong and you had to be kept in prison. and you knew you hadn't. and not to be able to see your family is dreadful. this is one of four homes trialling fast tests, which could be a game changerfor visiting. in an outbuilding, kelly, one of the nurses, prepares to check if i have covid. rapid testing is being trialled on staff here at the moment, but the hope is eventually it will be rolled out for relatives as well. rather than having to send swabs off to a laboratory, kelly has been trained to prepare the solution, then run checks on it in the machine provided. the care home staff have found the technology relatively e

alison holt, bbc news, nottingham. # what will be will be.ils to fund grants for firms forced to close as a result of lockdown measures. mr sharma said it will benefit 600,000 business premises. speaking at the downing street news conference, he said the government understood how people's jobs and livelihoods were being affected. whilst the economy grew by 15% in the third quarter, it slowed in september, and remains 8.2% below where we were in february. we in government understand acutely the human impact this statistic represents. it is jobs, livelihoods and families affected. so we will continue to support businesses now and as they recover. the government has provided unprecedented levels of support for businesses over the past eight months. to date, that represents over £200 billion in support. this is one of the most generous and comprehensive packages of financial support provided in the world, which the international monetary fund has praised. just this month, we have announced an extension of the self—employed grant scheme to march n

alison holt, bbc news. have gone into administration. 4,700 jobs and 500 shops are at risk. it comes after the owner — edinburgh woollen mill group — failed to find a buyer for both businesses. the energy firm e.0n has announced it is planning to cut nearly 700 jobs. the cuts will take place over the next two years as part of the migration of customers to a new platform — and will mainly affect those in support and management roles. the headlines on bbc news... as their trials approach the final stages, researchers in oxford working with astrazeneca say the latest data suggests theirjab works well on older people. a draft report into claims that the home secretary, priti patel, had bullied staff concluded this summer that she had broken rules on ministerial behaviour. modernising britain's defence — the armed forces are given billions of pounds to fund space and cyber projects. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's chetan —— crowds do to the pandemic of the union is the biggest be

alison holt reports.ust moved into a care home. since then, most of their contact‘s been like this, deeply distressing for them both. the testing pilot offers hope for the future, but it still feels a long way off. it has been absolutely cruel to see him scratching at the window, him calling, "come on, come in." he doesn't understand, he's in the latter stages of dementia, and his well—being and quality of life has been severely impacted, as has mine. their son's a doctor working on a busy hospital covid ward. he deals with the risks each day and says it should be possible for families to have closer contact in care homes. it's a catastrophe, but everyone's in a similar scenario, including me, because you don't get this time back. testing is seen as the key to safe visits. i was tested at home by care staff last week who had a machine to provide a quick result. the pilot scheme will use slightly different tests but will allow regular checks for named relatives and friends. it's promised this will then rol

closer contact between care home residents and their visitors. 0ur social affairs correspondent alison holtut of care homes, like this one in nottingham, but here they hope rapid testing could be the key to allowing more visits. i think its three or four. i think it's number four. at the moment, 96—year—old janet can only see her family through the glass of a specially built pod. they can't touch, but it's a step forward from lockdown, which she found difficult. it felt as if you'd done something wrong and you've got to be kept in prison. and you knew you hadn't. and not to be able to see your family is dreadful. this is one of four homes trialling fast tests, which could be a game changerfor visiting. in an outbuilding, kelly, one of the nurses, prepares to check if i have covid. rapid testing is being trialled on staff here at the moment, but the hope is eventually it'll be rolled out for relatives as well. rather than having to send swabs off to a laboratory, kelly's been trained to prepare the solution, then run checks on it in the machine provided. the care home staff have found the te

relatives who say residents are deteriorating without family contact. 0ur social affairs correspondent alison holtthis was before lockdown, the last time 67—year—old bob sutch and his wife chris were able to hug. he has alzheimer's and has just moved into a care home. i miss you so much. since then, most of their contact has been like this, deeply distressing for them both. the testing pilot offers hope for the future, but it still feels a long way off. it has been absolutely cruel to see him scratching at the window, saying come on, come in. he does not understand, he is in the latter stages of dementia and his well—being and quality of life has been severely impacted, as has mine. their son is a doctor working on a busy hospital covid ward and deals with the risks each day and says it should be possible forfamilies with the risks each day and says it should be possible for families to have closer contact in care homes. it is the same as people in my scenario. my father and people in hospital will deteriorate in this period and we appreciate the difficulties everybody is facing, it is not easy fo

jayne mccubbin, bbc news. 0ur social affairs correspondent alison holt is here.n, certainly the health and social care secretary matt hancock was sounding very confident this morning that it would be possible to rule out testing roughly care homes in england. but the pilot is only starting today, involving 20 homes, not the 30 we we re involving 20 homes, not the 30 we were originally told were going to be involved. it's being rolled out in areas of low prevalence of the virus so hampshire, cornwall, devon. there will be regular testing offered to one family member or one friend, and that should allow them to have more meaningful visits that we heard about from that report but ppe will still be there and there will still be restrictions and measures. the department was saying any national roll—out will be phased and dependent on the results of this pilot but for the many relatives and residents who have been desperate for this, they have been calling for it since the summer, they don't see any reason why if care homes are made a priority, why this shouldn't work

society said tonight that the guidance doesn't go far enough. 0ur social affairs correspondent, alison holtfamily's desperation over covid restrictions

our social affairs correspondent alison holt is here. what more do we know?ics of the whole lockdown, isn't it? it is and there will be families and friends of people in care homes who are waiting for that guidance because they are desperate to be able to keep seeing the people they love during the lockdown. they say there has been a real impact on the emotional well—being of residents who they are unable to see. the pm said the guidance will be published today but we do not have details yet. what i understand will be the principle underlying it is that care homes will be encouraged and supported to enable safe visits. the key word is safe. in the first wave of the pandemic we had such a high number of deaths in care homes. in terms of what that will mean in practice, we will have to look at the details of the guidance, but i expect it will be saying that you tailor the visit to the situation in the care home and the needs of the residents. it might be a window visit, it might be a part in the garden or a room with perspex down the middle where a resident can

relatives who say residents are deteriorating without family contact. 0ur social affairs correspondent alison holtand his wife kris were able to hug. he has alzheimer's and has just moved into a care home. i miss you so much. she cries. yeah. since then, most of their contact has been like this, deeply distressing for them both. the testing pilot offers hope for the future, but it still feels a long way off. it has been absolutely cruel to see him scratching at the window, calling "come on, come in." he does not understand, he is in the latter stages of dementia and his well—being and quality of life has been severely impacted, as has mine. their son is a doctor working on a busy hospital covid ward and he deals with the risks each day and says it should be possible for families to have closer contact in care homes. it isa it is a catastrophe, but everyone is ina similarscenario, it is a catastrophe, but everyone is in a similar scenario, including me. you know, you don't get this time back. my father and lots of other people in hospital will deteriorate in this period and we appreciate the diffic

thank you very much, alison holt.istmas, we are being told to have a modest, limited and cautious time. but there will be a relaxation of the rules. from the 23rd of december to the 27th of december you will be able to form a christmas bubble with up to two other households. so for the five days of christmas, up to seven if you are travelling to orfrom northern ireland, most families will be able to celebrate together, but not exactly as normal. but vulnerable people might not want to take the risk. elaine cares for her husband michael, he has dementia, cancer, and diabetes. i can understand people wanting to mix, of course they want to see their families. we do, i yearn to see my children. but, you know, if it is going to make michael poorly, or even me, because i am vulnerable too, then we have to go with the flow and do as we are told. coronavirus is still out there. yesterday, another 608 deaths were recorded, people who died within a month of testing positive for covid. effectively, what this would be doing is th

professor adam gordon from the british geriatrics society and our social affairs correspondent, alison holtng hearing those stories and ijust wonder if you can give us and ijust wonder if you can give us a sense with your knowledge and expertise of the balance that is being weighed up here, of health risk and the psychological damage thatis risk and the psychological damage that is clear and obvious to both sides, those who want to visit and those who are in the homes. so we heard in the report that there were significant excess deaths in care homes during the first wave of the pandemic, somewhere in the order of 17,000 extra deaths. there are many people that i have spoken to that are very distressed at having lost their loved ones during the first wave of the pandemic and who feel that more could have been done. it is clear now, though, that we know what needs to be done to protect ca re what needs to be done to protect care home residents and that is around minimising entry of covid into the care home, minimising spread of covert macros through the ca re spread of covert macros through t