yes, we had contact yesterday, late yesterday afternoon, with edward lister and his team around the tierwhere we will be placed on in liverpool, liverpool city. that was in that conversation with city leaders, and we had our public health directors all talking to edward lister about what we feel. that is about what we need and what we feel they need to listen to... either listening, and can you give us listen to... either listening, and can you give us an listen to... either listening, and can you give us an idea about what you want and if you are going to get it? we have got conversations this afternoon. we have had discussions around what the lockdown will mean, the new lockdown measures for liverpool city and the north. and we have got further conversations this afternoon. the thing is, the policy, how we have a better track and trace and testing model, he was very receptive to that. they understand that we can do that better than the national track and trace system. how quickly will that change. there has been a long time call for more local control on that, but can that switch immed

we will see, what, if anything, sir edward lister, on the phone.ng, comes of that. he is trying to mount a national challenge to the government approach, suggesting in an interview this morning that pretty much everywhere in england may well find itself under the strictest form of restrictions, tier 3, at some point of this winter, and the government needs to change its approach from what he describes as doing side deals with individual councils, to offering a fair financial framework. he said that he does want to move towards a resolution and step back from the war of words, if you like. there are a lot of negotiating tactics at play. but speaking on the andrew marr programme this morning, the mayor of greater manchester called on the government to change their approach. the places they are trying to close in tier3, these the places they are trying to close in tier 3, these are places where people are on low wages. and what we are saying is you cannot take away their place of work and not give them support. an 80% for a lot of them support. an 80%

a telephone conversation with no 10, a representative of no 10, at least, most likely to be so edward listerncil in london and has been acting a lot as a go—between on these issues for the prime minister. —— mr byrne. he is one of the most influential figures in borisjohnson‘s one of the most influential figures in boris johnson's team. one of the most influential figures in borisjohnson‘s team. the important thing from the prime minister's point of view, he was a mayor of london for two terms himself, of course, but edward lister has the understanding of council powers and the relationship between central and local government and is likely to be a more sympathetic voice, if you like, to be talking and negotiating, there may be somebody who sees itjust from a no 10 perspective. we will obviously bring you more on that, reaction from andy burnham, confirmation of the telephone call later, stay with us on bbc news. the uk space agency has today backed a health care drone start—up founded by nhs staff, to help in the response to covid—19. the start—up, called apian, aims to establish a network

edward lister, so we will see what, if anything, comes of that.attempt to up the ante again on the government, mr burnham has written to the prime minister and other party leaders at westminster, calling for an urgent debate and vote in an attempt to create a cross—party consensus and break the impasse, as he puts it, over the possible introduction of new restrictions in greater manchester. i doubt very much that that is going to happen because it would need the government to make time in parliament or perhaps labour could possibly engineer a debate which would not necessarily result in a binding vote, but you can see what he is trying to do here. it's to push the issue at a national level and make the argument that the government should change its approach and provide more financial support across the board for areas facing higher restrictions. it is interesting because it's notjust a government opposition issue either. you have some tory mps united with andy burnham. where does labour stand on this? bceause andy burnham, of course, is a former c

in the letter seen by the bbc, sir edward lister says ministers would hold discussions with local authoritiesgion during the weekend. the prime minister is expected to announce details of the new measures on monday. the deputy director of public health england told the bbc action is needed now to ensure hospitals can cope with demand. there are still many hospital beds available in the north—west and much lower numbers of admissions across the country than we saw and rising much slower. but if we don't take action now and wait until the point where we are at a critical point, then we will actually have challenges in the numbers of hospital beds, and challenges in icu admissions. we all need to take personal actions to try and slow this down right now. our political correspondentjessica parker said conversations between downing street and local leaders are being held over the weekend. reaching an agreement may be, in many ways harder than actually going through that engagement because different areas may want different things, local leaders may say different things. we have been hearing, this

boris johnson's chief strategic adviser, sir edward lister, has written to mps in northern england sayingstrictions in certain areas are "very likely." 0ur political correspondent jessica parker is in london. jessica, what do we know about this announcement? we know that boris johnson, we know that borisjohnson, as you quys we know that borisjohnson, as you guys are we know that borisjohnson, as you guys are saying, is going to address mps on monday, and it does of course follow days of speculation about what restrictions may be brought in, when and where, and some frustration from leaders, particularly in the north of england, about the way that news has spilt out. some things have changed overnight, we had from chancellor rishi sunak yesterday afternoon about this package of support measures to help businesses that may be legally forced to close in the coming weeks and months, and we heard as well that the prime minister will set out his plans on monday. we think it will be around this plan for a three tier system across england. 0ver this plan for a three tier system across england. ov

of england, particularly have received a letter from the prime minister's director of strategy, edward listery likely that certain local areas will face further restrictions, and he adds that the prime minister will make that statement to mps on monday and the government is looking to finalise the details as soon as possible. so we can read from that, i think, that the final decisions and details may not yet be signed off, but we know at least now the timing that we will get the details on monday. there is also an acknowledgement from those in downing street and from the prime minister that there needs to be more engagement with local politicians who over the last few days have been expressing their frustration that they haven't been involved enough in they haven't been involved enough in the decision—making process, and they and people in the areas they represent have been left too much in the dark about what is coming their way. we are told by senior government sources tonight that the prime minister's officials —— told officials he wants much more close engagement with local leaders. going

of england particularly have received a letter from the prime minister's director of strategy, edward listert is now very likely that certain local areas will face further restrictions, and he adds that the prime minister will make that statement to mps on monday and the government is looking to finalise the details as soon as possible. so we can read from that, i think, that the final decisions and details may not yet be signed off, but we know at least now the timing and we will get the details on monday. there's renewed confusion over when president trump will return to the campaign trail after being treated in hospital for coronavirus. following the latest assessment by trump's white house's physician, the president said he may attend election rallies over the weekend. but a separate administration official later said mr trump was unlikely to travel so soon because the logistics of organising events at short notice was problematic. 0ur washington correspondent, nomia iqbal, told us that information regarding the president's condition is patchy. we haven't really been given any more infor

i am doing so with the prime minister's adviser, said edward lister, so the two of us will continue toeement and working closely with the people who know their communities best, thatis who know their communities best, that is how we are going to have the best outcomes for local people. how close are you to a deal? we have had productive discussions in greater manchester over the weekend, and i'm hopeful we can now bring this to a conclusion, because there has been some uncertainty as a result of the discussions going on too long in greater manchester, people who are living there, the business community and more importantly, or most importantly, the number of cases remains at a seriously high level across greater manchester and in particular in some parts of the region. icu capacity is uncomfortably high. we do know need to ta ke uncomfortably high. we do know need to take action, so i hope we can reach agreement, but one way or another we need to draw this to conclusion, put in the measures that are conclusion, put in the measures that a re necessary conclusion, put in the measures tha