yes, we've been working really hard with sheffield city council and public health england and the dcmsctually, and trying to work out about a safe way of opening theatres. we've been doing this now for a few weeks now in sheffield, and, yeah,

clive betts is the labour mp for sheffield south east and is the former leader of sheffield city councilhat was a little while ago. the challenge really gets me going for council leaders be stated in this situation. it's interesting to talk to you for that reason. how what is awaiting your constituents this weekend, how much confidence do you have that they will get the financial support at least that they will need. the leaders of the local authority —— authorities in south yorkshire made out to what they believed they needed to support businesses and support workers and support people who are being asked to isolate. they are basically told this is the governing package and that's it, ta ke governing package and that's it, take it or leave it. it was not a negotiation. it was the government stepping down what they are going to do. i spoke to dan jarvis in the last hour and he said he wanted people to rest assured him that weekend that he would be constantly talking to the government throughout this period and that he would be co nsta ntly this period and that he would be constantly push

earlier i spoke to councillor shaffaq mohammed, who leads the lib dems on sheffield city council. ed clarity for sheffield's residents. look, i think sheffield's been in a very difficult place for the last two weeks in terms of high infection rates. clearly something had to be done. i'm not really convinced by these tiers, if i'm going to be honest with you. what is the difference between tier 2 and tier 3? how on earth do you move from tier 2 to tier 3? no one has yet to explain that to me, but i think what we do need is some action in sheffield, and that's why i am keen to save lives and actually bring that certainty to people, because this has been hanging over us for the last ten days, whether we're going to go from tier 2 to tier 3. you mentioned the uncertainty. how confident are you that people not only understand the rules and restrictions but also will comply with them 7 well, at the moment, it seems that there's a lot of confusion about what the actual legislation is, so what's been said, so i know earlier this week the leader of the council here in sheffield was talking

yes, we've been working really hard with sheffield city council and public health england and the dcmsweeks now in sheffield, and, yeah, we feel confident that we can keep people safe. the auditorium capacity has reduced from just under 1,000 seats to 230. people are sat in bubbles of four, three, or twos or ones and there's lots of kind of measures put in, like wearing masks as well when you're watching a performance, really. so we felt it was really important that theatres, our theatre particularly should do something and not ride this out but to make sure that people are getting some kind of live entertainment, really, and i think people need to... you know, we all need a little bit more, kind of, joy in our lives, particularly at the moment. yeah, i think everyone would say you can say that again. but in terms of being inside the auditorium, people are having to wear face masks, they're sitting in groups depending on who they've come in with. i mean, how has that affected the atmosphere of performances? every day we're kind of learning and we're refining the kind of experience real

let's speak to councillor shaffaq mohammed, who leads the lib dems on sheffield city council. on a bbc news, thanks forjoining us. i want to ask you first, do you think tier macro three is the right place for sheffield? i mean, sheffield has been very difficult place for the last two weeks in terms of our infection rates. clearly, something had to be done. i'm not really convinced by these tiers, to be honest with you and what is the difference between tier 2 and three? how do move from tier 2 to three? no one has yet explained that me and i think we do need some action in sheffield which is why i plea to save lives and actually bring that certainty to people, because this has been hanging over us the last ten days, whether we were going to go from tier 2 to tier 3. you mention the uncertainty, how confident are you that people not only understand the rules and restrictions, but also will comply with them? at the moment, it seems that there is a lot of confusion about what the actual legislation is and what is being said. i know earlier this week the leader of the council here

we have been working really hard with sheffield city council and public health england and the dc mstres and we have been doing this 110w theatres and we have been doing this now for a few weeks now sheffield and we feel confident that we can keep people safe. the auditorium capacity is reduced from just over a thousand seats to 230. people are satin bubbles of four, three, two is one and there are lots of kind of measures put in like wearing masks as well when you're watching a performance, really, so we felt it was really important that theatres, oui’ was really important that theatres, our theatre particularly should do something and not ride this out but to make sure that people are getting some kind of live entertainment, really, and i think people need to... you know, we all need a little bit ofjoy in our lives, particularly at the moment. bit ofjoy in our lives, particularly at the momentlj bit ofjoy in our lives, particularly at the moment. i think everybody would say you can say that again. in terms of being inside the auditorium, people having to wear face masks, sitting in

mayor of the sheffield city region and also labourmpfor sheffield city region and also labour mp for barnsley central. he says, following extensive discussions with ministers, local councilve agreed with the government that south yorkshire will move into tier 3, the very high alert level for coronavirus restrictions. they will come into force at one minute past midnight, the early hours of saturday morning. the same as manchester, greater manchester. and it will cover all four local authority areas. barnsley, doncaster, rotherham and sheffield. dan jarvis goes on, doncaster, rotherham and sheffield. danjarvis goes on, we all recognise the gravity of the situation and have taken a responsible route to make sure we save lives and livelihoods, and protect our nhs. more older people are contracting the virus. the number of people with covid in our hospitals has doubled over nine days, with no signs it will relent. an action was not an option. we called on the government back to offer a lifeline for the economy, and new restrictions will be introduced alongside resources, meaning that we are better equipped to control the damage and limit the damage onjobs to control the dama

sheffield city region mayor danjarvis. a very good afternoon. good afternoon. a couple days ago, people might have seen one of your tweets that said, "our council leaders and i standt, but they must be ready to offer the support we need to protect the lives and livelihoods in south yorkshire and they haven't done that yet." but there is a deal today, so what happened in the last couple days? there were a number of things, not least the urgency of the situation that we find ourselves in. myself and other leaders were acutely conscious of the pressures on our nhs hospital admissions are rising and there is an urgent need to alleviate that burden on the 00:09:26,1000 --> 00:09:27,357 nhs. so we needed to get on with this. i also think what we have to do is seek to protect our economy, which is under massive pressure as well. soi is under massive pressure as well. so i was engaged in negotiations with the government for a period of time. we reached an agreement, of course i'd like more. what i said to the government is that this is a conversation that we will need to keep having because we will be entering into tier 3 at the weekend. clearly from our point of view, we

in a statement, the mayor of the sheffield city region, danjarvis, said: "following extensive discussions with ministers, local councilover all four local authority areas — barnsley, doncaster, rotherham and sheffield. we all recognise the gravity of the situation and have taken the responsible route to ensure we save lives and livelihoods, and protect our nhs. more older people are contracting the virus. the number of people with covid in our hospitals has doubled over the last ten days, with no signs this will relent over the coming weeks. inaction was not an option." let's speak now to miriam cates, a conservative mp for penistone and stocksbridge — in south yorkshire. welcome and thank you very much for joining us. what's your reaction to going into tier 3? this is a position none of us wanted to be in. it's hard news for people all over the region who are weary of lockdown, who are suffering economically, suffering from the deprivation of relationships with family and friends. but the truth is, as danjarvis said, this is a dangerous and serious situation. the nhs isn't overwhelmed but we are starting to be at the

sheffield city region mayor dan jarvis, government and the sheffield city region mayor danjarvis, the labour mayor, however it would appear a few hours later that there is a lot more descent, and the leader of rotherham councilor example saying there were only offered a take it or leave it deal, the government wasn't listening or it would have got more money. the former leader of sheffield council now an mp clive betts so much the same thing and accusing the government of not listening. and then of this regional approach of this regional approach, there tends to be a confusion about what some of the measures are. again, the labourmp what some of the measures are. again, the labour mp was asking a government health minister whether people could go on holiday from tier 3and got people could go on holiday from tier 3 and got three contradictory a nswe i’s 3 and got three contradictory answers during one vitriol zoom session. so that is a consequence of doing things on a regional basis but the argument the government has made consistently as it is simply wrong to lockdown places with a low prevalence of the virus, to close down their economies, and what it is doing is having a targeted approach, but the difficul

sheffield, are also on the brink, watching how this plays out. danjohnson, bbc news, manchester. we can speak to the labour mp for blackley and broughton — graham stringer. you are also leader of manchester city councilany extension of the restrictions on people's freedom, for two reasons, one, restrictions on people's freedom, fortwo reasons, one, i restrictions on people's freedom, for two reasons, one, i think the economy is taking a big hit, it has already taken a hit and that means that people will be out of work, there will be no money to pay for much of the health service and public services. that is doing serious damage. but there is no real evidence that increasing restrictions is doing anything but kicking the can down the road. it is not really being effective public health administration, mainly because the government has failed, they have not transfer information and needs to be a transfer of resources to local public health officials so that if there is a problem in a factory, school, street then they can take immediate action. we have had many months of this. if the system does not work are you saying to let the virus rip? no, absolutely not. i am saying the exact opposite. you just po