with me is our political correspondent, helen catt. a lot of this sounds very familiar, taking us back to where we we re familiar, taking us back to where we were nearly one year ago now. yes, that withdrawal agreement, the brexit divorce deal, a big part of that was about coming up with special arrangements for northern ireland, to make sure they would not have to be a hard border between it and the republic of ireland. the agreement for that —— provided a political solution but left a detail as to how it would work to be negotiated, and that is what we are seeing now. borisjohnson are seeing 110w. seeing now. borisjohnson are seeing now. boris johnson seeing now. borisjohnson are seeing now. borisjohnson is seeing, actually, there seems to be a serious misunderstanding between the two sides on what they actually signed up to. he is claiming that the eu's interpretation is extreme and that they cannot agree on alternative then it could see the eu agreeing to put tariffs on foods and exports between great britain or northern ireland be

helen catt, thank you.ctions of motorway in england as part of a trial to reduce pollution levels. speeds will be reduced from 70 miles per hour to 60 in areas which have seen higher than recommended levels of nitrogen dioxide. the limit will be imposed twenty four hours a day and its impact will be reviewed in a year's time. the m6, m1, m5 and the m602 will all be affected. sir terence conran, the designer and retailer best known for creating habitat, has died at the age of 88. the design museum, which he founded in 1989, said he was a visionary who "promoted the best of british design, culture and the arts around the world". 0ur arts correspondent, david sillito looks back at his life. i believe in what i call easy living. duvets, flatpack furniture, the wok. it wasn't just a shop. sir terence conran introduced britain to a new way of living — a design philosophy that had its roots in the festival of britain. bank holiday, and the festival spirit pulls the crowd to the southbank exhibition. as a young ind

helen catt, our political correspondent.e been killed by wildfires that are sweeping through us west coast states, officials say. dozens of people are missing in oregon alone, with one emergency official saying the state should be preparing for a "mass fatality incident. kathryn armstrong reports. the city of portland, almost invisible under a thick layer of smoke — the result of deadly wildfires that have been raging on the west coast for weeks. meteorologists on saturday said that the air quality here and in neighbouring states was the worst in the world, and warnings are in place in canada as the smoke travels north. so awfully kind of you guys. thank you so much. elsewhere in oregon, these residents are now relying on the kindness of strangers after having to flee their homes, unsure when they will be able to return and what they will find when they get there. to be honest, if we have to rebuild, we have to rebuild. if we don't have to rebuild, we still have so much clean—up to do because of the ash. because when we left

that was helen catt.tion to an incident in newquay in which a police officer sustained serious burns. devon and cornwall police said 30—year—old blajovest hadgigeorgieev appeared before truro magistrates‘ court today to face three charges. the defence secretary, ben wallace, has dismissed speculation that the british army could mothball all its tanks as part of the current defence review. he says some old military equipment will be replaced. it was reported last month that modernisation plans could see the army invest in new technologies, with a greater focus on cyber—warfare. police on the greek island of lesbos fired tear gas at protesting migrants who were left homeless when their camp burned down on wednesday. clashes broke out near a temporary camp built by greek authorities to house around 13,000 migrants and refugees who had been living in squalor in the overcrowded moria camp and are desperate to leave the island. efforts to build alternative accommodation for more than 12,000 former residents of

helen catt, bbc news.parkerjoins us now live from the houses of parliament. pretty remarkable intervention from the house speaker there. yes. the real action today before prime minister's questions even began. as you say, an explosive intervention from the speaker, lindsay hoyle, usually somebody who is regarded as a pretty mild mannered figure but really giving it both barrels today, accusing the government of treating parliament with content, saying ministers have been using emergency powers in a totally unsatisfactory way. in saying ministers must remedy the situation. crucially, though, he did reveal, as expected, he would not be selecting an amendment designed to give mps a greater say over national restrictions, saying it would create legal uncertainty. talks have been going on between conservative mps and the government to try and reach some kind of compromise. one tory mp spoke to earlier, though, very insistent that he will need to see the small print first. importa ntly as he will need to see the

helen catt, our political correspondent.ies of stabbings in the city centre yesterday morning. the man was arrested in the selly oak area of the city at around 4am this morning. the attacks happened at four different locations across the city centre over 90 minutes early in the early hours. our correspondent phil mackie has the latest. we spoke to the day yesterday when details of these incidents were only just emerging, really stop a much clearer picture has now emerged. some sad news. we have had confirmation of the identity of the 22—year—old man killed in birmingham in the earlier as of yesterday morning. jacob billington. they say he was visiting the city, visiting a friend studying here, and with a group of people was here in saturday night and sunday morning. still quite a heavy police presence around. that is really for reassurance today and that man who was arrested this morning is still in police custody, so we are nearly 48 hours on, really, from that dramatic date of events that unfolded here in the city centre.

our political correspondent helen catt is at the houses of parliament for us. let'sjust clear something up first of all. the suggestion the amendment, suggesting there may be an extra layer of protection from the uk going into breaking international law, with this internal market bill, has that been agreed with number ten? how the government agreed that to try and get this part of the legislation? that is what we understand. it is not confirmed yet, but we understand there been discussions between some of those conservative mps who are going to try and change the legislation next week, as it goes to parliament, they have not reached agreement with number ten which would give a degree of more parliamentary, an extra layer of parliamentary, an extra layer of parliamentary oversight of ministers hope that will be enough to stave offa hope that will be enough to stave off a rebellion next week because what bob neal was going to do with his amendment was to try and give parliament a say over whether these powers that are included within the bill will ever actually be

helen catt reports.cements of more restrictions, a high visibility outing for the prime minister to launch a skills plan to build back the economy. the keystone pledge, a free college course for anyone in england who doesn't have a qualification equivalent to an a—level. a huge number of them are going to have to change jobs, change skills, and at the moment if you are over 23, the state provides virtually no free training to help you. in fact, we have seen a haemorrhage in the last 20 years in adult education. a million fewer than there were. we are going to change that right now. the funding will be in place from april. details of the courses themselves are set to be unveiled next month. there will be more flexibility in apprenticeships too, with apprentices able to switch companies. there will be easier access to higher education loans for technical qualifications. now is the time to end the pointless, snooty and frankly vacuous distinction between the practical and the academic. and now is the time t

criticism, saying the country is facing an unprecedented situation. 0ur political correspondent, helen catt

i've been speaking to our political correspondent helen catt we can speak now to catherine barnard, professor about what the government thinks the eu might do —— are you? what seems to have spooked the uk government is the threat by the eu that the uk will not appear on an approved list of third country providers on what are called sps products. if you look on the eu's website, there are a large number of countries that have been approved, which range from countries with might expect, like australia and new zealand, such tarmac and those you might not expect, like afghanistan. ifthe uk might not expect, like afghanistan. if the uk didn't move on some of theissues if the uk didn't move on some of the issues future regulation ship —— relationship, the uk would not appear on this list and that is crucial for the northern ireland border. if we weren't on the approved list, it is possible, not certain but possible, the eu could say, sorry, we don't think that meets our standards. because there isa meets our standards. because there is a danger that that might cross the border into the republic, wh

our political correspondent helen catt is at westminster.ime minister being pressed on the context of the test and tray system and around what sort of financial support he is going to put in place for industries badly hit by that. i'm joined by the conservative mp, andrew griffiths. the labour mp and shadow health minister, justin madders. and munira wilson from the liberal democrats. before we get into the meat of pmqs, i wanted to ask you, your colleague writing in the guardian these new restrictions are about as far as he thinks he could ask his constituents to go, do you think that is the case and that is why borisjohnson hasn't got as far as scotland? nobody wants to introduce restrictions like this, that curtail the liberty of individuals and affect the lives of businesses, the economy so the government is doing so not to play. what is important rather than drawing abstract lines at particular moments in time is that there is a balance to be struck versus the threat perceived at that moment so i do not think anyone can say thus far and

let's get more from our political correspondent helen catt in westminster.m the treasury this afternoon both significant. one thing on and one thing off, the one thing on and one thing off, the one thing off is the autumn budget we we re thing off is the autumn budget we were expecting to get in later this year sometime in november i think it was expected. that's now not going to happen because the treasury source says essay of the uncertainty caused by the public finances around the covid pandemic. we look at the spending review which might cover one year rather than three and that looks at the overall shape of government spending but we will not be getting the full budget. of more immediate into trust might be the other announcement that is coming. —— immediate interest. we understand rishi sunak is giving a statement to the house of commons. we understand he will announce assistance for the economy. there has been a lot of pressure on him for him to do that since those restrictions were announced last night, those curves on hospitality in particular, ther

helen catt, bbc news, westminster. very latest on this — our political correspondent iain watson is at the central lobby of the houses of parliament. difficult times for boris johnson difficult times for borisjohnson at the moment. what about the split and this amendment not happening, but what will happen in the house this afternoon? it will be very interesting few hours. it was jaw—dropping when the speaker, even before the prime minister got up to ta ke before the prime minister got up to take part in prime minister's questions, delivered a statement. really whacked the government all over the place, saying that they had effectively been treating parliament with contempt the way they have been going about announcing some of these emergency measures to deal with the coronavirus crisis. he suggested they were totally unsatisfactory. one senior conservative mp said to me afterwards it was the strongest intervention he had heard from a speaker in 29 years, even including john burke out, he was a very controversial figur

fergus walsh, bbc news. 0ur political correspondent helen catt has the latest details on the 10pm curfewhursday, all pubs and restaurants and hospitality venues in england will have to close at 10pm. the usual closing time here in the uk is about 11 —ish. that is a restriction there. they will also be limited to table service only by law. so those are some changes there on the hospitality sector. we also know that borisjohnson has plans to address the nation tomorrow evening. to set out the next steps the government is going to take in tackling the spread of coronavirus. he's got a bit of a busy day tomorrow before he gets to that point. in the morning, he's got a meeting of the emergency committee. the first ministers of wales, scotland and northern ireland have been invited to attend that, too. he spoke to them on the phone earlier today and any the street said they agreed to take united approach as possible. he then has a meeting with his cabinet after that he will then go to the house of commons to update mps and make a statement in the house of commons there. some of his own mps hav

government's action is shaming itself and embarrassing our nation." 0ur political correspondent, helen cattey both have criticised boris johnson in the past but these are very strong words of criticism. these are two former prime ministers from different parties, one labour and one conservative so to striking they have at this point decided to come back together again and also in the letter they have attacked the justification boris johnson is given for taking this action. he says he needs to do to protect the integrity of the uk and the peace process in northern ireland. they say they disagree with that and the government action does not protect the good friday agreement, it puts it in peril. they have poured scorn on the idea of this difference of opinion has just come to light saying to claim no the government has onlyjust discovered this consequence is a nonsense thought it was the prime minister himself who negotiated it. the justice secretary robert buckland has been saying with this morning with respect these prime ministers did not have to deal with the situation. it is very difficu

the uk was carrying out more tests than any other country in europe. 0ur political correspondent, helen cattan unusual pmqs less at lunchtime, with angela rayner standing infor lunchtime, with angela rayner standing in for the labour leader, sir keir starmer who is at home waiting for a coronavirus test. she started with what she called a message from a man called kear who was at home self—isolating. angela rayner is a former care worker herself so we saw a lot of questions on care, particularly if show is challenging the prime minister and on whether or not the government had delivered on its promise to test all ca re delivered on its promise to test all care home workers by september. he said to the best of his knowledge it had, she was querying that. it is not surprising labour went on testing because that has been such a huge issue this week, something labour has been raising for a long time. this week, we saw those particular problems with people unable to particular problems with people u na ble to access particular problems with people unable to access testing to stop i have three mps

legal action if the uk government presses ahead with its proposals. 0ur political correspondent helen cattl agreement that was signed and agreed between the eu and the uk last year, around this time last year in october. and in that, one of the key parts was coming up with a special arrangement for northern ireland, called the northern ireland protocol. and that did was to make sure that there wasn't a hard border between northern ireland and the republic of ireland. it set out the sort of high—level way that would work in terms of whose customs territory northern ireland would be in etc. that left a lot of details and decisions that still needed to be made, and they are being thrashed out by a joint committee of the uk and the eu that has been meeting for most of this year. they have hit a sticking point on some of these issues. what borisjohnson has said today is that he believes there is a serious misunderstanding between the two sides about what they thought they had signed up to. he is saying the eu's interpretation of it is extreme. he says that if they couldn't find another agreemen

i've been speaking to our political correspondent helen catt about the government's position.he steady toughening up of the government's position on this. and just to spit it back a bit, this all relates to the deal that has already been done. the divorce deal, the withdrawal agreement that was signed and agreed by the eu and the uk last october. now, there is one bit in it that deals with special arrangements for northern ireland, gives it a special status in terms of customs and trade to try and make sure there is no hard border, as they put it, between northern ireland and the republic of ireland. and while it was agreed in principle, the details of how that would actually work in practice were not nailed down. they have been ever since there has been this joint committee of the uk and eu working together to try and thrash out the detail of how that would actually work in practice. and it has hit some sticking points. whatjohnson is saying, he is characterising it as a serious misunderstanding has arisen about basically what both sides thought they had signed up today. and

here's helen catt with the latest from westminster.is johnson plans to do about it. the signs that he planned to do something to stop you heard vicki talking about things like a circuit breaker. there's been a lot of options talked about over the last couple of weeks. we think for example, it's likely perhaps that there will be some restrictions announced on the hospitality sector. perhaps closing at ten o'clock at night. that sort of thing is what's likely to happen tomorrow. i thinks what's clear is clear is there is no political will for another full, national lockdown like we were back in march. not from the government, labour, the official opposition here. they also believe it would be catastrophic for the economy. and certainly not from northern ireland, scotland, wales either. they don't wa nt to scotland, wales either. they don't want to go back there. today what seen want to go back there. today what seen as want to go back there. today what seen as well as the public explanation of the data there's also been stuff happening b

our political correspondent, helen catt, reports. former prime ministers, one conservative, one labour, both angry. they have joined forces before to speak against brexit, but now they have strong words for a government planning to alter parts of the treaty which paved the way for leaving the eu less than a year ago. writing in the sunday times, sirjohn and mr blair said the government's actions were irresponsible, wrong in principle and dangerous in practice. they said it raises questions that go far beyond the impact on ireland, the peace process and negotiations for a trade deal, crucial that they are. it questioned the very integrity of oui’ it questioned the very integrity of our nation. the government has defended the plan, saying it is an unprecedented situation and the powers it will give itself will probably never be used. powers it will give itself will probably never be usedlj powers it will give itself will probably never be used. i believe that with our determination to seek an agreement, both on the joint committee and

criticism, saying the country is facing an unprecedented situation. 0ur political correspondent, helen cattwo former prime ministers, one conservative, one labour, both angry. they have joined forces before to speak against brexit, but now they have strong words for a government planning to alter parts of the treaty which paved the way for leaving the eu less than a year ago. writing in the sunday times, sirjohn and mr blair said the government's actions were irresponsible, wrong in principle and dangerous in practice. they said... the government has defended the plan, "it is an unprecedented situation," it says, and the powers it will give itself will probably never be used. this is all about insurance planning. is it sabre rattling and bluster? no, it's a break the glass in emergency provision if we need it. but if the uk were to break international law, where would that leave individual lawmakers? is that the moment that robert buckland resigns from the government, if we break international law itself? if i see the rule of law being broken in a way i find unacceptable, of course, i will

his plan — despite the admission that it breaks international law. 0ur political correspondent, helen cattter is trying to get across with his newspaper article and talking to his backbench mps? this is a toughening up of the language. this steady toughening up of the government because my position on this. this all relates to the deal that has already been done, the divorce deal which was signed and agreed by the eu and uk last october. there is one bit in it which deals with special arrangements for ireland to make sure there is no hard border between northern ireland and the republic of ireland. while it was agreed in principle, the details of how that would work in practice were not nailed down. ever since there has been thisjoint nailed down. ever since there has been this joint committee working together to try and thrash out the detail of how that would actually work in practice. it has hit some sticking points. what borisjohnson the thing is he is characterising it asa the thing is he is characterising it as a serious misunderstanding has arisen about what both sides thought they h

our political correspondent helen catt is in westminster.of the test and trace and referred it before but growing concerns about fellow as it comes to an end. it is interesting it wasn't the substance of the new restrictions the prime minister was being pushed on there but the context around them in particular the furloughs scheme coming to an end and lots of questions about having announced these curbs on the hospitality sector, that closure at 10pm, what was the prime minister going to put in place to help those businesses through it? we heard labour and the businesses through it? we heard labourand the snp businesses through it? we heard labour and the snp calling for extensions of the furloughs scheme in some form. borisjohnson resisting that although he said the chancellor would be bringing forward creative and imaginative measures to get through this crisis. and a reminder from get through this crisis. and a reminderfrom the get through this crisis. and a reminder from the snp when it comes to things like the fellow scheme while the de

helen catt reports.ctions, a high visibility outing for the prime minister to launch a skills plan to build back the economy. the keystone pledge, a free college course for anyone in england who doesn't have a qualification equivalent to an a—level. a huge number of them are going to have to changejobs, change skills, and at the moment if you are over 23, the state provides virtually no free training to help you. in fact, we have seen a haemorrhage in the last 20 years in adult education. a million fewer than there were. we are going to change that right now. the funding will be in place from april. details of the courses themselves are set to be unveiled next month. there will be more flexibility and apprenticeships too, with apprentices able to switch companies. there will be easier access to higher education loans for technical qualifications. now is the time to end the snooty and frankly vacuous distinction between the practical and the academic. and now is the time to give everybody, with this lifet

let's speak now with our political correspondent, helen catt. helen, how will this work?lly funded because and the government promises that will be at a time and location that suits you. —— a—level qualification. also making changes to higher education loans to make them more flexible so people can use them more flexible so people can use the cash over a lifetime rather than having to study in a block of 3—4 yea rs having to study in a block of 3—4 years at once. also trying to build in effect ability into apprenticeship. why do this? there are bleak unemployment projections coming down the track. we know the chancellor, rishi sunak, said the economy is going to change and some jobs are going to stop existing. that is something we expect the prime minister to push home later today. he was a we are expecting what they can do, while they cannot save everyjob, what they can do, while they cannot save every job, what what they can do, while they cannot save everyjob, what they can do is give people skills to find and create new and betterjobs. labour saying this is simply a m

walk away from the table if no agreement is reached by october 15th. 0ur political correspondent helen catthat will it take for the two sides to reach some sort of compromise? there are two main issues they need to find compromise on and the bad news is that it is the same few issues that have come up through the last seven rounds of works that talks. one is fishing, how much excess talks. one is fishing, how much excess fishermen should have two vision british waters. the eu want something similar to what they have now but the uk says that does not recognise we are an independent coastal state. the other one is around competition and, specifically, how the uk is able to put money into industries it wants to hear either because they are failing or wants to give them a boost. the eu says it does not want a competitor with access to its markets so close that it is able to give businesses what it sees as possibly an unfair advantage. uk saying well, hang on, it wants us to saying well, hang on, it wants us to say what we're going to do with state aid and that is not what they ask other countri

jessica parker, bbc news. 0ur political correspondent, helen catt, is in westminster. 0nce helen cattn, borisjohnso| questions once again, borisjohnson facing questions about test and trace and also about the furlough scheme. yes, since announcing the new restrictions yesterday for england, it is interesting that a lot of those voices have been quieter today, but there seems to be an a cce pta nce today, but there seems to be an acceptance of these restrictions, that don't go quite as far as they did in scotland or northern ireland. the real questions have been around the context of it. what else is the government going to do to support people, to support businesses after introducing these curbs? 0f people, to support businesses after introducing these curbs? of course, yesterday he announced that they would be these restrictions, particularly on hospitality, the indication that that could last as long as six months, that is quite a big hit that businesses are going to take, so now the pressure is on in the government to work out how they will help businesses effectively get through t

we can speak now to our political correspondent helen catt. ter today from the prime minister? helen, tell us about this vote in the commons later today? it's not going to be about those restrictions in northern ireland. the government sets the regulations for england only. we not expecting any drastic change in those regulations to come out of that press c0 nfe re nce . regulations to come out of that press conference. we know the government has been keen to let the rule of six that it announced bed in and see what the impact is from that. the expectation i think is that. the expectation i think is that we might get an update on where the figures are and what, if any impact there has been from those restrictions that were most recently introduced. we know there is a vote in the commons later about regulations, there is a lot of power over our lives. each six months that's the vote that's happening this afternoon, is no suggestion that mps will vote against that. more say over any future coronavirus restrictions. concerns about the fa ct restri

here's helen catt from westminster.kind of options available to borisjohnson as he goes in tomorrow. weaves had the scenes that today, tomorrow we will find out what boris johnson plans to do about it. the signs are all there that he plans to do something, and you heard vicky talking about things like the possibility of a circuit breaker, a lot of options talk about over the last couple of weeks. we think for example it's likely perhaps there will be some restrictions announced on the hospitality sector, perhaps closing at ten o'clock at night. that sort of thing is likely to happen tomorrow. i think what is clear is that there is no political will, not from the government, not from labour. they've also believed it would be catastrophic for the anaconda —— economy. they've all said they don't want to go back there. we've seen today, as well as there. we've seen today, as well as the public data, there's also been things happening behind the scenes. borisjohnson has things happening behind the scenes. boris johnson has b

let's discuss this with our political correspondent, helen catt. prime minister's bid to win support for his plan worked? what boris johnson what borisjohnson characterises this as is a serious misunderstanding between the uk and the eu about what they actually agreed to last year in terms of special arrangements for northern ireland. boris johnson special arrangements for northern ireland. borisjohnson says the eu was ‘s interpretation is extreme and effectively put somebody up on the irish sea could mean food may not be transferred from the uk to northern ireland. the safety net he wants to put forward is to make sure that does not happen but a number of mps are not happy about this the fact that it would breach international law. last night he had a focal to try and pacify some of them. early indications are that those who were not happy were not convinced. a couple of conservative mps i have spoken to unhappy. and it came to them as a surprise. rebellions do need to be big to get anywhere with the majority of 80, at least a0 conservative mps wou

let's get more on this from our political correspondent helen catt. exactly what is being offered?lege is running them as to when they start, but the government is pledging to make sure there is funding in place from next aprilfor, as you said, anybody there is funding in place from next april for, as you said, anybody who does not have an a—level or equivalent qualification to take one of the three, 30 funded college courses which are valued by employers, that is the phrase the government is attaching. they are also working to change some of the other bits of the training and skill system, making higher education loa ns system, making higher education loans more flexible, for example, making apprenticeships more flexible, the idea being to try to make this a bit more about lifelong learning rather than focusing in one block, that is something the government has been thinking about, we saw it in the conservative ma nifesto we saw it in the conservative manifesto last year, but the real urgency is because of the coronavirus pandemic and the pretty peak projections on unemployment. w

cabinet will make, even though their demands may not be voted on tonight. 0ur political correspondent helen cattis cross, and wide, and is they're going to be a deal between them and downing street? well, this isa them and downing street? well, this is a lot of backbench mps, particularly conservative backbench mps, have been raising concerns over recent weeks about how these restrictions are being introduced, that they are coming in very quickly, sometimes you are getting the detail coming outjust a few hours before these changes to the law take effect and they worry that thatis law take effect and they worry that that is confusing people, how are people supposed to keep up with the legislation that changes so quickly and they are also worried that some of these things perhaps have not been necessarily thought through and if they were given more of a debate and given more of an airing in parliament to, then some of the rationale for it might be made clearer. so, what they are doing is to try to get the government to give parliament more of a say before new coronavirus restrictions come in. idea

let's get more now from our political correspondent, helen catt, whojoins us from westminster. re do we know about the prime minister's address later? we will get another one of these prime ministerial press conferences, we haven't had one in a while and he will use it to set up these new rules, really to ram home the message that we've got to stick to them. he is going to say it is absolutely critical that people know applied by these rules and really focus on the basics, that he is setting this out as simplifying and strengthening of the rules, to make them easier to understand, and also for the police to enforce and there has been criticism levelled at the government about how potentially complicated the rules have been getting, they become less straightforward, did people really understand them. he is also going to explain a bit more about the reasoning behind it. as he told cabinet ministers yesterday, what the government does not want to see isa the government does not want to see is a repeat of what's been seen in france and spain with a rise in the number of infections w

first to westminster and our political correspondent, helen catt.now the talks aren't going well so what's going on, 7 we know the talks aren't going well so what's going on,? there are these two strands of negotiation that are going on. on the one hand you have negotiations with michel barnier, david frost looking at that wider trade deal, the one borisjohnson has set a date on, say it has to be done by october 15 and if it doesn't look like we will get one before then, we should be knocking that on the head and going for an australia style arrangement. there are those on the one hand and we know those have been touchy to put it mildly, but we also know that on the other side there are these other negotiations going on relating to a deal already been done which is the withdrawal agreement from last year. specifically how to make some bits of it work. one of the really big sticking point is that needed resolving was what to do about the situation in northern ireland given its geographical and historical context its geographical and historical co nte

jonathan blake, bbc news. 0ur political correspondent helen catt is at westminster. follow the rules and doesn't bring infections down, then what will the prime minister do? you heard him say that the government reserves the right to bring in stricter measures and there have been those who had questioned why he has not gone as far as scotland has, has not gone as far as scotland has, has england gone not far enough or has england gone not far enough or has scotland gone too far? the a nswer has scotland gone too far? the answer is to be found in that timeframe that we are hearing now about potentially six months. there isa about potentially six months. there is a concern in government that any measures need to be broke and need to be sustainable. he was very clear that it to be sustainable. he was very clear thatitis to be sustainable. he was very clear that it is down to individual actions as far as the government is concerned and if the reels are not obeyed, they could move further to imposing more stringent conditions. dominic raab, the foreign secretary, was spea

helen catt joins me now from westminster. so this takes the pressure off a bit, does it?exit withdrawal agreement, and there has been a lot of talk, on the conservative whatsapped groups, calls among mps over the weekend, growing concern over this, and there was one mp, sir bob neill, who had tabled an amendment to the bill which would have been looked at next week. that would have given parliament a sort of veto if you like over the use of these clauses, and the worry in government was that quite a lot of tory backbenchers we re quite a lot of tory backbenchers were tempted to support that —— tempted to support that and even though the bill passed on monday reasonably comfortably, there were 30 abstentions, it might not all have been for political reasons, they might have been others, and two conservatives who voted against, so thatis conservatives who voted against, so that is already starting to get dangerously close to the 40 needed for a government defeat, but there we re for a government defeat, but there were also conservative mps who would have voted that on monda

our political correspondent helen catt is at westminster.ogg, making some comments about the controversy over testing that will be pretty controversial. yes, he said that people needed to stop the endless carping around not being able to get test and then celebrate the phenomenal success of the british nation and getting the testing regime to what it is now. the government has been keen to stress that it did build that testing to fascinate from a very low base earlier in the year to doing what they are doing now, 250,000 tests a day. but of course, there are, plenty of people who are unable to access them. so i think those comments are unlikely to go down well with those. a spokesman for downing street today has said that they do accept that there are challenges with the testing system and they are working to build capacity, we heard borisjohnson promise yesterday that they would be up promise yesterday that they would be up to half a million tests by the end of october, of course, happens in the meantime in terms of those people trying to a

let's cross to our political correspondent helen catt at westminster., trustingly british government to implement the withdrawal agreement, an obligation she says under international law and a prerequisite under any future partnership. how high the stakes right now? we are reaching, as you can see, the final phase of these negotiations, and borisjohnson has put a date on it now. the 15th of 0ctober, put a date on it now. the 15th of october, that is when there needs to bea october, that is when there needs to be a free trade deal. you heard george eustice saying that if that is not going to happen, if they cannot get a canada style deal which they are talking about, a very comprehensive trade deal, they would move to what they are calling an australian style arrangement which is in effect not having a big trade agreement that covers things. but that would mean paris on wto terms. —— tariffs. there is also a big issue around the idea of what they call a level playing field standard, which is the eu's concern, it says it doesn't want the uk to be so close

helen catt there.fecting nearly 2 million people in most of the north east of england come into effect at midnight tonight, after what local council leaders describe as an "exponential rise" in cases. ministers insist that the new measures were not introduced lightly and understood how they would affect people in newcastle, gateshead, north tyneside, south tyneside and sunderland, together with northumberland and county durham. there will be a ban on residents socialising with other people outside their own households, the closure of pubs, leisure and entertainment venues at 10pm, and bars will be able to offer a table service only. fiona trott reports from newcastle. a north east night out during the pandemic. like many towns and cities across england, enforcing social distancing has been hard. now it seems there are consequences. unless we act now, act swiftly and decisively, we're going to see ourselves in the kind of really challenging position that we were in march and april, with exponentially ri

let's find out more from our political correspondent, helen catt who joins us from our london newsroom to britain's international standing but they also pick apart borisjohnson's justification for doing it. he said it is necessary for the integrity of the uk and peace in northern ireland. they say it imperils the good friday agreement. they say that the misunderstanding is a nonsense because it was the prime minister who negotiated the changes. it was held at the time as what theresa may had negotiated acceptable. this is not former practice for two former prime minister to come out to be so critical like this but will it change course at downing street? unlikely. i think it will not sway downing street. nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, who is serving a five—year sentence in iran, is due in court later today to face a new charge. she was arrested in 2016 after being accused of spying, which she denies. her husband richard says she's being used as a political pawn. thousands of women are enduring the unimaginable anguish of having to give birth alone due to covid—19 rules according to a group