Whit ur m. ;itit u15 u mum a fltr putting in place. I want have been putting in place. I want to put on the record my thanks to those in bolton council, the leader, david greenall, he has been doing an excellent job. The david greenall, he has been doing an excellentjob. The director of Public Health and the chief executive. It has been a difficult challenge in bolton. Thankfully, what we have learnt from this sort of local action elsewhere in the country, is that we dont see large scale country, is that we dont see la rge scale numbers of country, is that we dont see large scale numbers of people travelling nearby, to nearby other areas. Where there is a problem. We havent seen that yet. Of course we remain vigilant on that and all of these measures, but im sure that these measures, but im sure that the people of bolton will understand how significant this problem is and will follow the guidance and indeed the new laws that we will bring in to back up the proposal so we have made today. Cani can i thank the Health Secretary for his public recognition of the terrible symptoms that many people face many months after their coronavirus bout has ended. His words will give great comfort to the 60,000 people who have been suffering from more than three months. On testing i think its very important to recognise the step change that we have seen and a massive increase in the volume of testing that is now taking place. Could he give the house some sense of the confidence that he has that with this increased testing, with local trends that are now being rightly pursued, we will be able to follow the low infection levels in south korea, taiwan, singapore and hong kong, and not see those increases that we have seen in france, spain and see ourselves getting back into another National Lockdown . The chairman of the select
committee precisely sets out our goal. In some countries, not only in the far east but also closer to home, they have seen a rise in cases, especially amongst young people, taken action and that has turned the curve. Thats particularly true for instance in belgium, which we were very worried about a month ago but the case rates have come right down when they put a cu rfew have come right down when they put a curfew in place. We are taking action, local action here, curfew in place. We are taking action, localaction here, our approach to local action has been commended by the world health organization, but of course, the responsibility is on all of us and i know that this is rf that we talked about a lot in march and april and may as the cases came down, but we all have a role to play in this because the local action and the test and trace, actions that we take
in government and with local authorities, are only the second and third line of defence. The first line of defence for everybody in this chamber and all of our constituents is to follow the social distancing, so we will be stepping up the communications, making sure that people are reminded very clearly with clarity of the rules, we will be taking action to step up enforcement too, to make sure that we compute this virus under control until we build up both a mass testing and and as i mentioned ultimately the vaccine on which the scientists are doing great work but all vaccine work is uncertain until we get clarity from the regulators that it is safe and effective to use. Thank you very much mr deputy speaker. I would agree its indeed critical that eve ryo ne agree its indeed critical that everyone recognises the importance of our personal actions in
controlling covid i9, but we also need an efficient test, base and isolate system and the first step of thatis isolate system and the first step of that is to actually get access to a test. With uk cases trebling over the last fortnight, demand has increased and there have been many reports of people being sent hundreds of miles to get a covid i9 test. One of the most extreme included someone in plymouth being sent by the booking system to the test centre in inverness. I understand that demand varies depending on local incidents, but surely its dangerous to have possibly infectious people travelling long distances when they are unwell and may need to use Motor Services facilities on the way. So would it not make more sense to still allow covid i9 tests to be taken still allow covid i9 tests to be ta ken locally and just still allow covid i9 tests to be taken locally and just shift the samples around the uk, to the labs with greatest capacities . While the commercial pillar to testing has increased magically since april, the
laboratories are very centralised. Nhs hospital laboratories are far more numerous and based within easier reach of communities. So to meet the high demand that is likely this coming winter, will the secretary of state consider additionalfunding to secretary of state consider additional funding to the secretary of state consider additionalfunding to the nhs secretary of state consider additional funding to the nhs to allow expansion of their pcr facilities and maximise pillar one Testing Capacity . The answer is absolutely, yes. To that last question. Shes quite right that expanding nhs capacity as well as expanding nhs capacity as well as expanding the so called pillar two capacity is right and i think we sometimes have robust exchanges, the spokesperson for the snp and out, but on this she is completely right, its an and together strategy of having the pillar two mass testing across the board having the pillar two mass testing across the boa rd and expansion having the pillar two mass testing across the board and expansion of nhs capacity and im working as
closely as i possibly can with my opposite number in the snp government in edinburgh to deliver that as effectively as possible right across the uk. Please dont ta ke right across the uk. Please dont take this as unduly critical because none of us would have done any better, but the problem for the secretary of state. Laughter its easy to be wise after the event. The problem for the secretary of state is given the contradictory nature of the advice given to people, maybe necessitated by events is that fewer and fewer people are listening to the secretary of state, particularly young people and i think we need a different approach. The approach of the nanny state of ordering people about in this country is not going to work. You got to appeal to the good sense of the young people. Stay away from grandpa and grandma, its your responsibility, these lockdown is not going to work, its your responsibility and for us grandads, stay away from your grandchildren because the problem is that if you are the people more and more about they stop listening and they realise
they stop listening and they realise the secretary of state cannot enforce it and he will become the emperor without clothes and we will go backwards. So we need an approach based on traditional Self Reliance and trust of the people. Based on traditional Self Reliance and trust of the peoplelj understand the argument that my right honourable friend is making, u nfortu nately, we right honourable friend is making, unfortunately, we have seen this play out in other countries around the world. And we have seen a sharp rise in the number of cases in the first instance among younger people and we have seen people make the argument entirely understandably because yes, young people are much less likely to have, to die of this disease. Notwithstanding the point about long covid i9 and the fact young people can have debilitating long term consequences from this disease, the problem is that the isolation of older people who are more likely because of their age to have very serious consequences, it has simply not been effective anywhere in the world and the challenge is that younger people may pass it on france and to their
pa rents pass it on france and to their parents who can in turn pass it onto theirs. This disease is absolutely assiduous at getting into, insidious, thank you, getting into, from person to person, and in its natural state this disease spreads on average from one person to between two and three others and it doubles in the Community Every 3 4 days and the challenge is that without widespread social distancing, as opposed to the segregation proposed by the, my right honourable friend, that all the evidence is that you end up with more hospitalisations and more deaths and i would rather get ahead of this year, learning the lessons from what we have seen first in america then in spain and now sadly starting to happen in france, and i absolutely take the point about the need to communicate more but i
believe with my whole heart that we need to communicate, that we all have a responsibility including young people and we cannot let this rip through any part of the population because it will inevitably then get into us all. Thank you mr deputy speaker. Today in hull prospects of getting a local covid i9 test are patchy. People are being sent as far away as leeds so how can it be right that local Councils Like hull with statutory Public Health responsibilities are being kept completely out of the loop in sorting out local testing problems. In a sense which, system which seems about protecting, rather than having that joined which seems about protecting, rather than having thatjoined up national and local system, that safeguards Public Health during this pandemic . I will do everything i can to solve the problems in and the challenge of having more demand than supply, and
capacity for testing everywhere in the country including in hull but im afraid that trying to split off and split according to their employer the different people who are working on this, whether thats in local authorities, and the local nhs, in Public Health england or in the private sector in parts of this delivery is just not going to help. In fact, it will make the problem worse. It was a pity to hear it from the honourable gentleman the shadow secretary of state because he is so often a very sensible person and what we have to do instead is Work Together to solve these operational problems. I congratulate the secretary of state for the positive elements of his statement but he will know all too well that Rural Communities have lived in fear over the last few months especially during lockdown. He and the chancellor have made a great deal of money accessible and available through the budget. Can he provide further funding through the budget. Can he provide furtherfunding for a through the budget. Can he provide further funding for a rural health ca re further funding for a Rural Health Care network as we enter winter not
only to ramp up testing but also to deal with cases that have not been diagnosed and operations are not undertaking . He makes a very important point that especially in parts of the world like the south west, we have got to make sure that we get the treatment out and we get the recovery of the nhs from covid i9 so that people who have been waiting for operations that might have been delayed and might necessarily have been delayed because of the pandemic, that we can get going again. We have a goal, the nhs has set a goal of getting back to 95 of these elective operations, including the funding to make that happen and we have got to make that happen, especially in Rural Communities and right across the country. The secretary of state says we all need to Work Together and im sure he will agree that to make better use of the excellent Public Health officials at local level. The
director of Public Health in sheffield said to move there are two obstacles sheffield said to move there are two o bsta cles to sheffield said to move there are two obstacles to doing that. One is a need for more resources from the centre to enable local level activity to take place but secondly, he says that local authorities like sheffield have not got full access to the data under the system. Currently they only have access to the Case Management element of the system and not to the contact management element and that second element is only made available for top authorities on the watch list. Will he now remove that watchlist author sure all of to want to engage fully in this are able to do the honourable gentleman makes an important technical point i will ta ke important technical point i will take away look at. Can i say to my right honourable friend i welcome the announcement about increasing Testing Capacity for comprehensive Flu Vaccination Programme and of course yearly access to coronavirus vaccines but he referred, there are problems of access and availability. Can he set out what plans he has
ove rco m e can he set out what plans he has overcome those operational difficulties so its available to people both at local centres . In the short term, we have seen a rise in demand for testing and the capacity, the supply has been increasing too. We had some short term problems with contracts and i describe the problem with particular contract to do with swa bs with particular contract to do with swabs and the cleanliness of the swa bs. Swabs and the cleanliness of the swabs. But the bigger challenge is to make sure capacity stays ahead of demand and when demand has gone up, quite sharply, we need to make sure that capacity expands. There are two ways to do that. The first is more expansion on the Current Technology which we are doing both within the nhs as the snp spokesman, spokesperson correct called for, and also using more private sector capacity, the combination of the two. The secondary can really breakthrough this with the new generation of tests which are much,
much easier and much better value for money and easier for people to use. So the combination of trying to drive up capacity in the existing system as we have been doing for months and months, and then bring on these Innovative New tests, its a combination of the two that we are trying to pull off. The party of mr smith is wrong in the call list, he is from the snp. Alan smith. Im a former labour supporter and switched to the snp like many people in scotla nd to the snp like many people in scotland will stop laughter ifi laughter if i was in england i would be, but im in scotland, so i am snp. Mr speaker, i have much sympathy for the secretary of state who is doing a difficultjob at a difficult time and if he is promoting precautionary approach he held have allies on these benches. Thats edward here drew with me that the exhortation from the Prime Minister to get
people back into crowded city centres and transport and offices is an irresponsible at this time and undermines his Public Health messaging . Its incredibly important, its incredibly important people have a confidence to know that when workplaces are covid i9 secure then it is safe to go to them. And trying to get through this pandemic protecting as much as is possible the education of a young people and the livelihoods of people in work, whilst keeping the virus under control is a difficult and challenging problem but it is the right balance to be attempting to strike. And he might note that both the actions of the Scottish Government and the actions that we are taking locally for instance today in bolton, they do have economic consequences and i regret that, but they are targeted as much as possible on reducing the social activity which is where we are
increasingly seeing the transmission. We have heard from Prostate Cancer uk today that further evidence of how the original National Lockdown impacted detrimentally on cancer referrals and other aspects of cat cancer care. I accept that was unavoidable to protect the nhs through the peak of the pandemic in spring but as we move to a new phase of local rather than National Lockdown is, hopefully, can he assure me the nhs will do Everything Possible to ensure rising numbers do not again translate into a negative impact on those with other conditions that can also be fatal . Yes, absolutely. He makes an incredibly important point with which i agree wholeheartedly. The backlog that was caused by the inevitable and unavoidable as he put it, delays to treatment in the peak has more or less halved which means there is progress and we have changed the nhs to essentially be
split between sites that are covid secure split between sites that are covid secu re and sites split between sites that are covid secure and sites where there may be covid i9 and that will help us to protect cancer treatments as we go forward exactly as he asked for. On the 16th ofjuly, i flagged with the secretary of state that the academy of medical sciences was warning we needed a rapid expansion of test and trace to be prepared for a second way. He told me they were learning lessons as we go. Today, pupils and parents in my constituency are being sent as far afield as aberdeen and newquay for tests. They cannot get home tests. Children are back at school. Forget world beating, what is he doing to ensure we have a functioning test and tray system in place right now . Thank you. We have the largest testing system imaginable. We want to expand it further and of course
there are challenges as many members have raised, but the imperative for people who have symptoms to get a testis people who have symptoms to get a test is important and we are trying to solve the operational problems she talks about. I was saddened yesterday to hear that because of a rise in local cases, care home visits in wolverhampton are to be severely restricted again. I have a dearfriend who severely restricted again. I have a dear friend who lives in a care home, without regular visits from family and loved ones, her Mental Health and well being has declined very noticeably over the past months. I absolutely recognise the heroic efforts of care home staff but how can we facilitate safe family visits so that care home residents can enjoy quality of life . She asks an incredibly important question. With great sensitivity. And the decisions over the visitor arrangements for care homes are
rightly made by the care home in consultation with a local director of Public Health according to the local risk. And i do want of course to see as much visiting as possible and to see done safely, this is a difficult balance that needs to be struck. Not least because of the negative Health Impact both mental and frankly physical on the restriction of visiting to care homes. And i also very much hope that as again as testing expands we will be able to use that more and more to provide for safe visiting. Looking to the long term, obesity is a leading risk factor in contracting covid i9. Problems with obesity usually start in childhood. By this year the government was aiming to reduce sugar by 20 in Food Products most popular with children. But Public Health englands 2019 review
on this showdown should the reduction ofjust 2. 9 . So the government is way off track. Why has this 20 ambition not be met . |j entirely this 20 ambition not be met . entirely agree with the premise of the question which is that tackling obesity is critical for the long term half of people and that has been highlighted because of the impact of the likelihood of you dying from covid i9. And i want to see that sugar reduction, the sugar tax has had a very Significant Impact on the areas that it covers and we have got a wider obesity strategy that the Prime Minister set out injuly strategy that the Prime Minister set out in july to strategy that the Prime Minister set out injuly to drive forward this agenda. Across watford and the entire uk there have been volunteers going out on the front line and helping our nhs and, one group i met
with recently was the stjohns ambulance and the explain that the red tape in place a year ago would have made it impossible to help and now they have been able to cut through that during the covid i9 crisis. Can you, can i right honourable friend please assure me that as we move forward that red tape wont start binding their hands again so they can continue to help . He is quite right, there are improvements we made in the heat of this crisis we should never go back on, he hasjust highlighted one example, there are a legion of others and in this house sometimes of course we discuss the problem that need to be fixed and thats quite right and often they are raised and i didnt know about them in advance i will go out and fix them, that is myjob as the honourable gentleman of opposite raised. But we should also note where things have gone well because of changes and be clear that we will not be going back on that. This month more than i not be going back on that. This month more thani million not be going back on that. This month more than 1 Million Students are moving to university for the new
academic year and i welcome the thousands who will be joining Coventry University and the university of warwick both in my constituency. Both sage and independent sage have warned the government needs to get a grip and work to minimise the risk of this leading to more covid i9 spreading. Will the secretary of state worked with his colleagues to support the universities, heed the recommendations of scientists, the universities and college union, the including the recommendation to move to re m ote including the recommendation to move to Remote Learning as default . We are working very closely with the university sector, including the two universities she mentions to make sure we can get the universities open and get it done in a covid secure way. Open and get it done in a covidsecure way. From today indoor gyms and and studios are able to openin gyms and and studios are able to open in keighley so can i thank him for this move and it comes as a welcome to many. I have however been contacted welcome to many. I have however been co nta cted by welcome to many. I have however been contacted by many shop owners who u nfortu nately a re contacted by many shop owners who unfortunately are being verbally abused when reminding customers to wear Face Coverings. I
abused when reminding customers to wearFace Coverings. I right honourable friend join me in calling for all to adhere to the basic rules, wearing Face Coverings, washing hands and social distancing . Yes and people will hear far, far more about this. Hands, face, space, its really easy. Wash hands, where a Face Covering when you need to keep that social distance when you need to. Thats the responsibility of everyone to help us control this virus. In two studio lets pull away from that statement from matt hancock the Health Secretary starting with an acknowledgement of course that long covid i9 is something gps and other are looking at. We will talk about that through the afternoon. We will also analyse what he had to say but lets just move on because another aspect of this from 6pm tonight, nobody will be allowed to leave the county of caerphilly in south wales without good reason. Its the first local lockdown in wales and is due
to last until october, as our wales correspondent Hywel Griffiths explains. So, as of 6pm, people who live in this county, about 180,000 of them, will be told not to go in or out of the county unless they have an essential reason to do so, for example travelling to work if they cant work from home, orfor a medical appointment. But they shouldnt be going a few miles down south to cardiff shopping, for example. That will be familiar from earlier on this year. There was a five mile travel restriction in wales untiljuly. People here had hoped they had been through the worst of it. In fact, at the end ofjuly, caerphilly was covid free. But it has come back very suddenly in the last week. We are told almost 100 cases in the last seven days. According to the welsh government, a large part of that is due to people breaking the social distancing rules, with the Health Minister saying in a press conference in the last hour that people had been deliberately flouting the rules, hosting house parties, mixing and houses when they are simply not meant to. He says these measures are essential. The schools here are remaining open. Pubs, cafes and restaurants too. That confused some people. They thought that would be the first to shut. But the evidence suggests that is not where the virus has been transmitting. When people go into pubs, they have to abide by social distancing. But in their own homes, and certainly in house parties, that is where the problem has emerged. How long will it last . Well, potentially into october, because they know while the cases start now and may continue for a few weeks, we may see hospital admissions at the beginning of next month. And if you want to find out about how coronavirus is affecting the area where you live, the latest information is available on the bbc news website. There you can see how many cases and deaths there have been by searching for your postcode or location. Go to bbc. Co. Uk news or the bbc news app. Doctors have told the bbc that more
support is needed for people who have been left chronically ill for months with the symptoms of covid i9. The Royal College of gps is calling for a National Network to be set up of post covid clinics. Lynne turner stokes is professor of rehabilitation medicine at Kings College london. Shejoins me now. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. We seem to be talking about long cove road, where not long ago very few people seemed to know anything about it. People seemed to know anything about it. Long covid i9. While we suddenly accepting this exists when many people have known all this time . Initially we thought this was a respiratory disease, we thought it would be over and done with quite quickly and people would be unwell and then they would recover but as time has gone on we have realised that actually this is a disease of the blood vessels and it can affect any organ in the body, it can affect the brain, heart, lungs, kidneys, and of course if it involves many different organs and actually the
combination of that disability can be worse, even though each individual disability is quite mild, so its a very diverse classification we get from this and we have to be able to have Rehabilitation Services to deal with all of that variety of presentation. In terms of the cause, we now have a much cleaver idea, do we . We understand more about the condition and how it causes this. We understand quite a lot about how we rehabilitate people and try and help them get past the condition, but its a long haul, its not something to be done quickly, it involves a lot of careful working together from many different disciplines trying to pull together the things that people need based on their individual presentation. Anyone suffering from it, i know several people who have, and doctors in the last few months have given very conflicting evidence. Some suggest its a
psychological issue, others are saying get out, get some exercise. In hindsight, this is the wrong approach, isnt it . Yes, its not helpful to take one size fits all approach. This is not a psychological condition, this is a very severe physical illness in a very severe physical illness in a very widely spread one so i think we have to be careful to understand for each person who presents we need to look at them carefully, understand what the various problems are, look carefully whether they have long problems, heart problems, neurological problems, how those impact on the ability to function, manage their everyday tasks, be it at home or at work and look at how we can help with rehabilitation to help them regain their independence and that ability to work and return to productivity. What are the consequences if they do not . Disability is a major problem. It
leads to significant Socio Economic effects. If people cannot work, they cannot maintain their finances, we need to help them to be able to do that. People will need help and care whether it is paid for by the state or whether its provided by family members who may also have to give up work to help care for the patients. It has huge Socio Economic effects on everybody. The patients, the family, society as a whole, so we really need to tackle these problems proactively. Many of these people suffering with long long covid did not go to hospital, they caught the virus, they thought as everyone does hopefully i will recover from it. Yet in the time since the seem to slip through the cracks of the medical system so what advice would you give them . First of all to make
sure they do contact local health and get properly assessed. We as the nhs have to provide those services, we have tended to provide services in hospital, a lot of focus on providing ventilators and so on but we need to provide those Rehabilitation Services to review them properly to discuss what their needs are and to try and direct them into the right sorts of care for that particular individual. But yes they need to make sure they do seek help. People need to not be afraid to either come to hospital or seek help from their gp and try to get into the right systems. But we still need to produce enough services to be able to manage their needs. We have been short of services particularly in the community for very many decades. Now is the time to develop those services. Q very much for your time. Now its time for a look at the weather with nick miller. Hello, a brighter day out there for many of us. Some sunshine in eastern parts of the uk, occasionally. But there is a lot of cloud feeding into was the west where you may encounter some light rain or drizzle, heavier rain coming into north west scotland. Any prolonged sunshine will live temperatures to 2a or 25 degrees in one or two spots. This evening, for Northern Ireland and scotland, rain reaching into Northern England and north wales. The rate will clear south through england and wales through wednesday. A decent amount of sunshine for many of us, scattered showers running through northern scotland, which is where it will be breezy as. A north westerly for some of us,
introducing some cooler, fresher air. To purchase into the mid to high teens and a cooler night to come on wednesday night. Hello this is bbc news. The headlines the Health Secretary says each and every citizen has a responsibility to follow social distancing guidelines as the number of coronavirus cases rise across the country, particularly among young people. This must be a moment of clarity for us all. This is not over stopjust because we have come through one peak doesnt mean we cannot see another one coming towards our shores. In scotland, there are now new cornavirus cases reported in all mainland healthboard areas. Three people who tested positive for the virus have died in the last 2a hours. The Northern Ireland secretary says uk proposals linked to the Withdrawal Agreement will break International Law in a very specific and limited way. Greater Manchester Police say they werent aware
of the Ariana Grande concert at the arena, because British Transport Police had jurisdiction. As furloughing comes to an end the figures that reveal companies plans to cut hundreds of thousands of jobs. The mp for Nazanin Zaghari ratcliffe, the british iranian woman held in iran, says shes been told shell face another trial at the end of the week. Sport now, and for a full round up from the bbc sport centre. Good afternoon. Mason greenwood has apologised for breaking quarantine rules after agreeing to meet two women at the team Hotel Following englands win over iceland at the weekend. In a Statement Released this morning, the Manchester United forward says his actions were irresponsible and has promised to learn lessons from the incident. He was sent home with phil foden,
who has already apologised. So neither player is involved in tonights Nations League game against denmark. Fodens absence means manager Gareth Southgate will be forced into changes for the game in copenhagen, something he was already planning. We have tried things in training across the week with a long term view on different possibilities for us as a team. Where it is the right thing to be able to win the game, weve got to think that through, but it is no secret because everything in this camp seems to have got out, so we have tried three at the back earlier in the week, but you know, we will make a decision on that. One of the most decoated players in the womens game is back in the wsl the england defender lucy bronze has re signed for Manchester City from lyon on a free transfer. Bronze moved to france in 2017, winning three Successive Champions League titles among a host of other honours. She says shes returning
to a much stronger league than the one she left. I can only see the English League getting better, and the way it has improved already in the past four years, even the last six years when it kind of hit the scene, it has changed massively every single year and i just cant see that coming to a halt anytime soon. England, especially with the fa, there are a lot of premier league clubs, Manchester United, who have burst onto the scene. Tottenham, west ham. I think it is just going to get bigger because they are global brands, known all around the world, everybody has heard of them and everybody wants to be part of english football. Aston villa are closing in on a new striker theyve agreed a fee with brentford for ollie watkins. The 24 year old was a key man for brentford last year, scoring 26 goals as they lost in the championship play off final. Villa have a agreed a fee of £28 million, that could rise to £33 million. If it all goes through, itll
make him the clubs record signing. The arsenal defender Hector Bellerin has become the second largest shareholder at the League Two Side forest green rovers, saying he wants to support their environmentally friendly ethos. Forest green have been recognised by fifa and the United Nations as the worlds most environmentally friendly team, having become the worlds first Carbon Neutral sports club in 2017. Bellerins new role will see him work with the club on raising the environmental agenda across football. Ashleigh barty wont defend her title at the french open later this month. Shes pulled out of the tournament because of the coronavirus pandemic. The world number one also missed the us open, which is going on in new york at the moment. She says she wont play at Roland Garros because the health and wellbeing of her family is her priority. Golfs world number one dustinjohnson is almost £11. 5 million richer today after winning the season ending fed ex cup
bonus on the pga tour. He won the tour championship at east lake by three shots to secure the prize, and continuesjohnsons rich vein of form having become the first player since tiger woods in 1999 to hold the lead in four consecutive events heading into the final round. And you can follow the latest from stage ten of the Tour De France on the bbc sport website and app. It continues today, despite the race director testing positive for coronavirus, along with Staff Members from four teams. All the riders though have returned negative tests. More on that at bbc. Co. Uk sport. And more from me in the next hour. The government says the European Union needs to show flexibility and realism as talks about a brexit trade deal resume this afternoon in london. The eu says both sides must compromise. It comes after Prime Minister borisjohnson pledged to walk away from the table if no agreement is reached by october 15th. The uks chief negotiator, lord frost, has said there is still time to agree a deal. Our Political Correspondent, iain watson, has more. You have a minister of the crown admitting that it breaches International Law. We must take a deep breath and collect ourselves was to what we have seen in the house of commons, about an out so ago, before the Health Secretary spoke, was the Northern Ireland secretary saying that the government was prepared to breach International Law. In a limited and specific way. That admission may well influence trade talks that you were mentioning, going on all week, the eighth row between the eu and uk. There were concerns as to weather it and would stand by its previous obligations in the Withdrawal Agreement that
allowed brexit to happen in the first place. We should listen to Brandon Lewis, let him speakfor himself or stop you was answering a question about weather potentially the law could be broken by a forthcoming bill to be published tomorrow, dealing with the uks internal market after the transition period ends. The question was asked bya period ends. The question was asked by a fellow conservative. Will he assure us that nothing in this legislation does potentially might breach International Obligations or legal arrangements that we have entered into, and can he answered specifically, was any ministerial direction given . he answered specifically, was any ministerial direction given . I would say to my honourable friend that, yes, this does break International Law any specific, limited way. We are taking the power of direct effects required by article four in a certain very tightly defined circumstances. Our clear president s for the uk circumstances. Our clear president s forthe uk and circumstances. Our clear president s for the uk and other countries needing to consider their
International Obligations change. I would say, many of whom will have beenin would say, many of whom will have been in the house will be past the finance act into thousand 13, which contains an example of treaty override, it contains provisions that expressly content with these laws. We are delivering on the agreement we have in the protocol, and ourleading agreement we have in the protocol, and our leading priority is to do that through the negotiations and through the joint committee work. The clauses in the bill tomorrow are their that, should that fail, we will deliver on our commitment to Northern Ireland. Effectively, what is at issue here is how this Northern Ireland protocol that the government negotiated last year as part of the Withdrawal Agreement would operate in practice. What the government is saying is that the big and contentious bits of that agreement, they will not meddle with that at all, that would include very
co ntroversially for all, that would include very controversially for some Northern Irish parties, some checks on goods including livestock going from Great Britain into Northern Ireland when the brexit transition period finishes at the end of the year. What the government is saying is it wa nts to what the government is saying is it wants to make these limited changes that Brandon Lewis was talking about about how other aspects of this would operate, including which goods may have to have tariffs apply on them if they go through Northern Ireland into the republic of ireland. They have dress this up as largely a technical exercise. They have been other occasions where government have overridden International Law. The trouble here is that the European Union site in these negotiations are saying that these negotiations are saying that the government has got to stick by the government has got to stick by the letter of its Withdrawal Agreement. There are still negotiations going on behind the scenes, and i think basically what will happen is that if these negotiations run into the ground and there is no wider trade deal, the government is giving themselves powers as a back up,
unilaterally, to decide how to establish the new rules on Northern Ireland. But simply in principle breaching International Law is seen as quite serious, including on the conservative side. A former europe minister in france saying, you cannot be half pregnant when it comes to saying you are only breaking the law in a limited and specific way. So some criticism there. The most pointed criticism came from theresa may, a veteran of these negotiations, and she suggests that government may be undermining trust with european partners. The United Kingdom government signed the agreement with the Northern Ireland protocol. This parliament voted that Withdrawal Agreement in the uk legislation. The government is now changing the operation of that agreement. Given that, how can the government reassure future International Partners that the uk can be trusted to abide by the legal
obligations of the agreements it signs . I thank my right honourable friend for her question. We have worked in a spirit of good faith, to make sure we do uphold the pin spots behind the protocol. Our First Priority continues to be to secure agreement on the protocol for the joint committee and the wider Free Trade Agreement. What is interesting is that her intervention came shortly after the announcement that a senior Civil Servant had resigned. The Legal Department makes it clear that they are there to follow the rule of law. He has resigned ahead of this bill,
the concerns over which have led to his departure. From the governments point of view, if they are going to be living some lawyers and Civil Servants, they are looking as though they are tough on standing up to the European Union. Maybe the calculation they have made is that they can live with it. Prime ministers questions will be interesting tomorrow thank you. One of the biggest sticking points between the European Union and the uk government is state aid. Thats the Financial Assistance given by government to businesses. Our reality check correspondent, chris morris, is here and has been taking a look at this and other outstanding issues in the negotiations. With time running short, things are coming toa with time running short, things are coming to a head. All of the niggling issues that have become
difficult, state aid is one of those. There is some kind of understanding of the eu and uk will follow the same rules as part of a trade agreement to make sure that businesses in one country dont gain an unfair advantage over their competitors in another. The eu has softened its demand slightly, but it still once pretty strict conditions because the uk is so closely linked to the european economy. It is waiting for the uk to disclose what kind of competition policy it will follow outside the Single Market, and what kind of system it plans to put in place to resolve disputes in the future. But the uk says the eu is asking for too much. They say the negotiators are failing to accept the full consequences of the uk leaving the eu and customs union. The message from london is, we will follow our own rules. That they say is bicycle what brexit is all about, the freedom to choose stop that
could be following new technology as the economy changes, or issues around the redwall seats in former labour seats they took in the election last year. The Withdrawal Agreement is an International Treaty, and it said that the government is obliged to inform the eu ofany government is obliged to inform the eu of any state eight decisions that affect Northern Ireland. But now the government is planning a full back option, Domestic Legislation that overrides parts of the trade agreement. Just sensible planning, says the uk. Potentially breaking International Law, fears the eu, with all of the things that implies. Many businesses that trade across the board with the eu would have to deal with new tariffs, checks and bureaucracy, and they one
that the consequences would be disastrous. We are back at deal or no deal with the eu, is no certainty about which way it will go. We can speak now to two people who voted to leave the eu jake gregory, who works for crown cabinets in burnley, andjohn hardman, who is the director of hops Labour Solutions who supply farms with Seasonal Workers, mostly from the eu. Thank you forjoining us. Jake, is this way you expected to be when you thought that leaving the eu was the right thing to do . No, i expected that we would be long departed now. I think four years this has gone on is long enough, and the problems we are seeing now are due to the fact it has gone on for so long. We have left, we a re it has gone on for so long. We have left, we are in the transition period and coming to the end of it, and it looks as though they will not bea and it looks as though they will not be a trade deal. What will that mean to you . To be honest, the things
that they are demanding for a trade deal, i think they dont have any right demanding access to. For example, a trade deal that has access to our fishing waters. We are an independent coastal nation, you cannot demand access to our fishing waters. Those are our resources. Im happy that our government has stopped there. State eight has nothing to do with what is going on in france or germany if our government is subsidising our companies. That is another place that i am happy that our government has stopped. It is a reasonable place to stop and we should not concede on those things to secure a trade deal. You supply farms with Seasonal Workers from the eu. You voted to leave, but ending freedom of movement will mean what to you . We will not have a business at the end of this year. Regrets . No, i dont regret it for the reasons that
i voted to leave, but i find it incredible that it is taken four years of complete chaos to think that we are heading for a World Trade Organisation exit. Those who are pushing to remain before the vote was ta ken are pushing to remain before the vote was taken made all of these points. What was it that told you that the government that you voted for, in effect, new different . voted to leave for my own reasons, in that voted to leave for my own reasons, in that i dont believe in the european state or the bureaucratic machine that is brussels. Believe it or not, i do believe in a Free Trade Agreement and years ago, back into the 19705, that is what we voted to go into. We didnt vote for a non Democratic Parliament in europe. So if there is no trade deal, you
would accept that, and you think that britain would be all right of that . I dont have any choice. That i5 that . I dont have any choice. That is what i voted and that is what the uk chose, we chose to leave. The impact on our business will be staggering, a5 impact on our business will be staggering, as it will be for many others. But im sure that we will survive. I saw you wanted to come m, survive. I saw you wanted to come in, jake . I work at a place where we mana in, jake . I work at a place where we man a fracture cabinets. I also have a second job where i work and it would yard. Ideal a second job where i work and it would yard. I deal with so many tradespeople, and everyone is incredibly busy. I task you to come and find somebody who is not absolutely busy. These are all Small Business owners that are doing work for local people, and we cannot get supplies to them fast enough. So i really. When i voted to leave, this trade deal that popped up after
the vote was never even a consideration. It was not a consideration. It was not a consideration for me or my vote. The trade deal completely did not have anything to do with it, it is about the fundamentals. The details change over time because circumstances change over time, but we need to get back to being an independent nation. A lot of people will listen to you, admitting that this will devastate your business. They will be scratching their heads a bit as to why you still think that this course is the right course for britain. Well, thats an interesting question. We voted to leave, we are going to leave. I will not have access to labour from the 15t of january, at noble any of my competitors. And nor will any of my competitors. We will have a huge
increase in unemployment, so one would hope that those unemployed would hope that those unemployed would pick our vegetables. We are running out of time, but how much was the language that was used in the campaigning before the vote and since, we have been hearing about oven ready deals and so one, which clearly were misleading, many would argue. I think there is a lot of rhetoric on both sides, to be honest. I think both sides told a lot of lies on the run up to the vote, and objective journalism probably would have been more useful. So what did we get wrong . I think certain News Agencies were very much slanted towards remain. Jake, does that reflect how you felt . Here we are, we have left the eu, yet in this transition period, the clock is marching on. Is now the
moment to look back and rethink question what it was just a case of campaigning on both sides, both try to win votes. You see it no matter where you see a 50 50, both sides exaggerate, and this is why people have to be independent thinkers and be able to come up with their own ideas, because there is campaigning. You need to be aware that both sides are campaigning, and use your own mind to come to your own judgment. You are optimistic . Yes, i cannot wait, i think it will be amazing. John, i dont think you are optimistic, but what about the long term . Optimistic, but what about the longterm . Cautiously optimistic. Good to talk to you both. Thank you very much for your time. Strong winds are threatening to hamper the effort to contain more than 20 wildfires in california. More than two million acres across the state have already burned this year making it the worse season for wildfires since records began. Dozens of houses have been destroyed
and thousands of residents have been moved out of their homes. Peter bowes reports from los angeles. Searing heat, tinder dry brush, and now the threat of strong winds, conditions that are ripe for wildfires to spread rapidly. A perfect storm thats already led to more destruction in 2020, than any other year on record in california. Around the state, more than two dozen wildfires are burning, the so called bobcat fire in the Angeles National forest, near the city of azusa is encroaching on several nearby communities. We have a red flag warning today, and we have santa ana winds predicted for the next two days. So what that means for the public is, we really need you to Pay Attention to any instructions on evacuation, as the fire is likely to move south towards six communities. The sheer number of fires and the intense conditions are stretching the states resources to the limit. It became apparent yesterday,
based on the activity going on, not only southern california, but throughout california at large, with a number of incidents that we were gonna be challenged with. Resources to make an aggressive attack, not only through the afternoon, but last night. Thousands of residents in the path of another fire, which has been raging since saturday, near yucaipa, to the east of los angeles, are on standby to evacuate their homes. Its hard to know what you know, whether were just going to get up and leave. Um, so i really dont know what my future is. Well get through this one day at a time. It could be a long week. Over the next few days, the weather is expected to cool down slightly, but the winds could fan the flames further. This is a relentless california fires season like no other. Peter bowes, bbc news, los angeles. Now its time for a look at the weather with nick miller. Hello. It is a somewhat brighter day out there compared with yesterday,
especially if you are across the eastern side of the uk, where there are some breaks in the cloud to be had. You can see on the satellite picture, you remember from had. You can see on the satellite picture, you rememberfrom yesterday it was cloud pretty much across the uk, but there are some breaks to be had. Again main across the eastern side. We are in this gap here between this one front and this cold front on the big picture here, and whenever you see some thing like that, you know there is a lot of moist air out there, you can expect plenty of cloud, but it is likely to be warm. That is exactly what we have for the rest of the day. While many places are dry, you could encounter some light rain and drizzle, with heavier rain coming into north west scotland later. Couto sunshine, many of us creeping into the low 20s, couto sunshine, many of us creeping into the low 205, while Eastern England could be closer to 25 celsius given prolonged sunshine. What will be another rather warm light, particular to england and wales, 16 degrees for some of us as we start the day tomorrow. This area of cloud with not much rain left on it will work south through england and wales as the day goes on, clearing southern parts as we get into the evening. Behind it, brightening up with a decent amount of sunshine, with some scattered showers across northern scotland on this stronger breeze. It moves round toa this stronger breeze. It moves round to a north westerly, a cooler direction, so although we get the sunshine coming back more widely, temperatures tend to be in the mid to upper teens. Just some spots in southern england in the low 20s. A cooler start to the day on thursday, we will see some further our bricks of rain reaching into north west scotland. Most of us, that averages in the teens. This area of low pressure will bring some heavy rain towards particularly scotland on friday, with a strong wind as well,
and also some rain pushing down across Northern Ireland. Further weather systems, particularly into scotla nd weather systems, particularly into scotland over the weekend, the wettest a nd scotland over the weekend, the wettest and windiest the further north you are. Many of us over the weekend are seeing a warming trend beginning. This is bbc news. The headlines. The Health Secretary says each and every citizen has a responsibility to follow social distancing guidelines as the number of coronavirus cases rise across the country, particularly among young people. This is not over. Just because we have come through when pete doesnt mean we cant see another one coming towards our short. Coronavirus restrictions are tightened in bolton, with hospitality venues limited to takeaways only. In scotland, there are now new cornavirus cases reported in all mainland healthboard areas. Three people who tested positive for the virus have died in the last 2a hours. The Northern Ireland secretary says a new bill to amend the uks brexit deal with the eu will break International Law in a very specific and limited way. Labour has said this seriously undermines our authority on the international stage. Greater Manchester Police say they werent aware of the Ariana Grande concert ahead of the Manchester Arena bombing because British Transport Police had jurisdiction Nazanin Zaghari ratcliffe, the british iranian woman who was arrested in iran four years ago, is told shell face another trial. The show must go on. A warning to mp5 that theatres have to re open soon. There comes a point now where we really cant go on much more. The Health Secretary says it is a moment of clarity for us all as two of the uk governments
scientific advisers have given warnings over the increase in coronavirus cases, saying that weve relaxed too much over the summer and must now re engage with social distancing rules. Englands depty chief medical officer, professor Jonathan Van Tam said the country faces a bumpy ride unless the virus is taken seriously again. And professorjohn edmunds, a member of the Scientific Advisory group for emergencies or sage, said cases were now increasing exponentially. Bolton has become the latest area to have tighter restrictions introduced, including only allowing takeaways from hospitality venues, after a rise in covid 19 cases. In wales, a local lockdown in the county of caerphilly will take effect this evening, after 98 new coronavirus cases were reported there in the last week. And in scotland, more than 1. 1 Million People are now affected by new restrictions on going into other peoples homes. In the house of commons, the Health Secretary, matt hancock, has urged people not to become complacent about the spread of the coronavirus. These figures serve as a salutary reminder that this virus is still very much with us and remains a threat. So it is critical that we maintain our collective commitment to controlling this disease. And social distancing is the first line of defence. While young people are less likely to die from this disease, be in no doubt that they are still at risk. The long term effects can be terrible and of course they can infect others. Six months on many people are still suffering Chronic Fatigue, muscle pain and breathing difficulties. Previously fit and Healthy People being reduced to barely being able
to function. A survey today shows 300,000 people in the uk have reported symptoms lasting for more than a month and 60,000 people have beeniu than a month and 60,000 people have been ill for more than three months. Our Health Correspondent nick triggle is here. Real problems in bolton. Yes they have seen cases rise over the last few weeks. They were one of the areas they were going to lift restrictions and then decided not to and that was just stopping people from different households going into other homes. Indoors. Today they have announced that the hospitality venues have announced that the hospitality venues will have to close between 10pm and 5pm with the Health Secretary matt hancock. 5am. 5am, yes, matt hancock blooming young people for not following the rules. Six times higher in the past week
than the National Average and much higher than the next highest area which is bradford which has seen 71 cases per hundred thousand so they are cases per hundred thousand so they a re really cases per hundred thousand so they are really trying to crack down on the virus there. A lot of alarm bells sounding over the rise of cases but how much perspective can you put on that given the number we saw six months ago . Over the last two days we have seen nationally 3000 extra, nearly 3000 extra cases announced each day over the last two days. When you look back at the peak in the spring it looked like there was around 6000 cases a day on average but that was just the tip of iceberg. We will only testing in hospitals. Now we are testing widely in the community so back when its estimated there were probably maybe 100,000 cases a day whereas the 3000 we have seen over the last two days is obviously a fraction of that. We arent picking up every infection,
probably missing 1000 2000 according to reports but the concern is we are seeing diagnoses in young people driving the increases we are seeing in the concern is that they will not necessarily get elbert they were passed on to more Vulnerable People and we could see hospitalisations increase. I wanted to talk that the consensus seems to be a rising complacency particularly because the death figures seem to be coming down dramatically. It does and this has been one of the paradoxes we have seen recently with rising cases. When you look at the numbers of hospitals latest figures showjust over 750 people in hospital down from the peak of around 20,000 back in the spring. The number of deaths has been around ten or below everyday, nhs england have announced today another eight deaths linked to coronavirus in hospital. So that is remaining low. Number of people in hospital remaining low but the
concern is as we get into winter when risk retrieve viruses spread more easily with the cold weather people are more likely to spend time indoors, these infections will end up indoors, these infections will end up being transmitted to the older, more vulnerable groups and we could see deaths start to rise again. Thank you very much. Nicola sturgeon has said restrictions in five scottish local authorities are absolutely necessary to stem the increase in coronavirus cases. Rules limiting household visits came into effect in East Dunbartonshire and renfrewshire at midnight, having already been reimposed in glasgow city, West Dunbartonshire and East Renfrewshire last week. The first minister said there was evidence that house gatherings were driving the rise in cases. I know that these rules are really unwelcome as i have already said i lived in glasgow so i know frustrating real and i just like lived in glasgow so i know frustrating real and ijust like all of you watching dont want them to be in place for any longer than is necessary. But overall i believe
they represent a proportional, hopefully effective but necessary response of increasing covid 19 across these areas. The restrictions will be reviewed again next week and will be reviewed again next week and will stay in place as long as they are needed but they will not stay in place for any longer than that. Yesterdays meeting i discussed the situation in other parts of scotland such as inverclyde and north and lanarkshire. The such as inverclyde and north and la narkshire. The new such as inverclyde and north and lanarkshire. The new cases here while rising does not warrant additional restrictions but this will be kept under close review. We also discussed the hospitality sector. The evidence we have at this stage suggests house gatherings which by their nature are hard to regulate for things like physical distancing, have made the biggest contribution to the spread of covid 19 across Greater Glasgow and clyde. They are also a setting in which older and more Vulnerable People are often most at risk of infection because of older and more found local people or perhaps more likely to socialise at home rather than visit pubs and restaurants. As
a result, iwill than visit pubs and restaurants. As a result, i will restrictions focus on meetings in peoples houses however some transmission we know is taking place in pubs and restaurants and so we will also keep that under close review. Scotland Political Correspondent andrew kerrjoins us from glasgow. New cases in all scottish mainland areas . Thats right. A rise of 176 cases overnight and we had three deaths is well under the 28 day measurement test so that is the first time we have had that many deaths in scotland sincejune 30 so the first minister said we ought to listen to these Warning Signals and it was a sharp reminder that coronavirus is now spreading in scotland, echoing what we are hearing from Matt Hancockjust in the clip earlier. Areas such as inverclyde, lanarkshire keeping a close eye on those as well . Infection rates seem to be bubbling up infection rates seem to be bubbling up there as well. He pointed out to
new areas in the Greater Glasgow area have been put under the local lockdown. Thats East Dunbartonshire and renfrewshire. A close eye is being kept on those cases as well. On friday we thought new measures might have to be imposed there but not yet, and of course as we are hearing from the first minister, hospitality being kept under review because many people keep asking the question why can we gather in a pub but not gather indoors . The first minister has been saying hospitality where you are under close supervision but thats definitely being kept under review and they may have to take action on that in the near future as well. Thank you very much for that. Talks have resumed in whitehall between the uk and the European Union in an effort to secure a post brexit trade deal. But there appears to be little sign of consensus, leading to the government announcing limited changes to the European UnionWithdrawal Agreement, a move thats been widely criticised. Our Political Correspondent
iain watson explains more. What we have just seen in the house of commons before the Health Secretary spoke was Northern Ireland secretary spoke was Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis standing up and saying the government was prepared to breach International Law. In a limited and a specific way. That admission may well influence the trade talks you mentioned, trade talks going on all week around the eu and uk and there has been some concerns in the eu side as to whether britain will stand by its previous obligations under whats called the Withdrawal Agreement that helps brexit happen in the first place. So i think you should now listen to Brandon Lewis, let him speak for himself, answering a question about whether potentially the law could be broken a forthcoming bill to be published tomorrow dealing with the internal market after it ends and the person asking the question was his fellow conservative. Confirm that nothing that is proposed in this legislation does or potentially might breach International Legal obligations or International Legal arrangements that we have entered into . And can he answer specifically the other point, was any ministerial direction given . I would say to my honourable friend that yes this does break International Law in a very specific limited ways. We are taking the power to desupply the eu law concept of direct affect required by article four under certain, very tightly defined circumstances. There are clear precedents forthe uk and indeed other countries needing to consider their International Obligations as circumstances change and i would say to honourable members here, many of whom would have been in this house when we passed the finance act in 2013 which contains an example of treaty override, it contains provisions that expressly desupply International Tax treaties to the extent that these conflict with a general anti abuse rule and i would say to my honourable friend, we are determined to ensure we are delivering on the agreement we have in the protocol and our leading priority is to do that through the negotiations and through the joint committee work. The clauses that will be in the bill tomorrow are specifically there so that should that fail it is to be able to deliver on our commitments to the people of Northern Ireland. Let me translate and give that some context. Effectually effectively what the issue is the Northern Ireland protocol negotiated by the government last year would operate in practice and what the government saysis in practice and what the government says is that the really big and contentious bits of that agreement they will not with that all including very controversially for some Northern Irish parties some checks on goods including livestock going from Great Britain into Northern Ireland when brexit transition period finishes at the end of the year. What the government saysis end of the year. What the government says is it wants to make these limited changes Brandon Lewis was talking about how other aspects of this would operate including for example which goods may have to have ta riffs example which goods may have to have tariffs applied on them if they go via Northern Ireland into the republic of ireland so they have
addressed this up effectively as largely a technical exercise and there are other occasions when governments have overridden International Law. The trouble here is the European Union side, the wider trade negotiations are saying the government has got to stick by the government has got to stick by the letter of its Withdrawal Agreement, still negotiations going on behind the scenes and i think the joint Ministerial Committee, what is basically going to happen is if these negotiations run into the ground and there is no wider trade dealer government is giving itself powers as a back up unilaterally to decide how to decide the new rules on Northern Ireland but simply in principle potentially breaching International Law is seen by some as quite serious. Including on the conservative side, a former minister saying we must and by International Obligations today for example. Former europe minister in france. Saying you cannot be half pregnant when it comes to saying youre only breaking the law in a specific and limited way so some criticism there but i think the most pointed criticism came from the former prime
minister, theresa may, a veteran of these negotiations suggesting the government may well be undermining trust with their european partners. The United Kingdom government signed the agreement with the Northern Ireland protocol. This parliament voted that Withdrawal Agreement in the uk legislation. The government is now changing the operation of that agreement. Given that, how can the government reassure future International Partners that the uk can be trusted to abide by the legal obligations of the agreements it signs . I thank my right honourable friend for her question. We have worked in a spirit of good faith, to make sure we do uphold the pin spots behind the protocol. Our First Priority continues to be to secure agreement on the protocol for the joint committee and the wider Free Trade Agreement. Whats interesting is theresa mays intervention came soon after it was announced ahead of the governments Legal Services and the treasury solicitor, a fairly senior Civil Servant with the right of permanent secretary, Jonathan Jones, resigned. The government Legal Departments will was there if you look at the website says its a Health Minister does within the rule of law. He has resigned a day before legislation is going to be published which as Brandon Lewis admits good in limited and specific ways breach International Law. And certainly the ft newspaper saying his concerns over that is what led him to leave. We had no independent confirmation as to the reasons for his departure but there are those concerns. From the Government Point of yate has to be said if they are going to lose some lawyers and Civil Servants, they look as if they are tough and sending up to the eu as a crucial time in the negotiations may be the calculation they have made is that they can live with it. Its been a grim few months on the jobs market, we all know that, and now, new figures obtained by the bbc, Show Companies drew up plans injuly to cut almost 150,000 posts. As the pandemic took its toll on the economy, the combined figure forjune and july, was more than 300,000. We can now speak to labours Bridget Phillipson, shadow chief secretary to the treasury. That cant be a great surprise given the level of this pandemic and the damage its done. Sadly these figures are exactly as we feared. Labour has called for months for the government to change its approach to wage the port and instead look at the more targeted scheme that could support the sectors of the economy in most trouble that will need help to get through these months ahead. That has support from the tcu, businesses and even some conservative mps. Its not too late for the chancellor the change course on this and adopt a different approach. He should not allow his
stubbornness to hold britain back. Notan stubbornness to hold britain back. Not an extension of the furlough scheme which was widely acknowledged to be the right thing to do. When you see more targeted what do you mean . We believe the government should look at the sectors of the economy that will struggle for longer, childcare, and aviation. Only the government has the Data Available to design that targeted scheme that will support those jobs and businesses most at risk. Its absolutely essential if we are to avoid that wave of redundancies we are likely to see in the autumn and all the economic damage and harm that would cause across our country to our world beating industries. The chancellor should not be too stubborn to admit he got it wrong and change course. Its been two months since the summer statement. Weve called on the government since then and that head of steam building but the chancellor should look again and make sure he doing the right thing. Key has to one eye on income and the problem is this is literally costing billions of pounds. At some point it will have to be paid for. Are we at a stage where those businesses and its a horrible moment for many businesses who may just have to decide we just cant go on and thats the reality of this . 0f on and thats the reality of this . Of course the furlough scheme cannot continue indefinitely, no one is arguing for that but at the same time the government is giving over billions of pounds to companies themselves admit dont necessarily need it through the jobs Retention Bonus that would have been bringing staff back anyway. What were saying is the government should target that support more effectively to sectors of the economy that most need it. If were to come through this with a Strong Economy that can compete into the future, we have to do everything we can to protectjobs right now and the chancellor really should not allow his stubbornness to get in the of that. Thank you. Lets get the thoughts now of the former dragons den investor and a founder of two large recruitment firms, james caan. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Terrible figures in terms of redundancies but given what the country and globally the economy has gone through you surprise . Not at all. I was expecting those numbers. In fact the worst is yet to come. When the furlough scheme enzyme think you will see literally thousands of people added to that list. I absolutely agree, i think the government money they set aside, the government money they set aside, the thousand pounds bonus for employers to bring back employees i think was a very ill thought through strategy. Because we have 9 Million People unfurlough right now. Its around funding and this is clear evidence it makes no difference whatsoever because on the one hand i believe 60 of uk businesses will have brought people back anyway and therefore the 6 billion invested in that segment was a complete waste because it achieved nothing. The
money left actually isnt going to help an employer if he has an employee earning 13,000 a year hes not going to for the sake of £1000 bring somebody back if they are just not the work available. Clearly we have funding available, ijust think it has been misappropriated in the wrong area. What we should be doing is investing that money in people who are going to be made redundant and help those people get back into employment and encourage people to start businesses, help simulate the economy by getting people to become freelance employees and independent contractors, stocked on businesses, thats where the money should be channelling right now. You agree with Bridget Phillips and that a more targeted approach . Absolutely. Because if you look at the sectors right now we know your high street. Because of the rise of e commerce would be decimated we will have hundreds of thousands ofjobs going missing in the retail sector. We know hospitality is facing really
challenging times. Just hospitality sector and retail alone probably representsi sector and retail alone probably represents 1 million jobs. What sector and retail alone probably representsi millionjobs. What are we doing to save those jobs and how are we going to cross train some of those people to get back into employment . The money is available, were just not putting it in the right place. But you are not saving jobs, you are retraining, you cannot do both. What im saying is we have got a situation where people will be out of work and not have the jobs available. We need to retrain those people and a new economy which is e commerce can help people start businesses. I was chairman of the start up loan company we created nearly 30,000 businesses. It can be done. Resources are there. We just need the government to focus on what matters right now and what will actually work. Looking back, there was widespread acceptance of what rishi sunak did at the start of this saved millions ofjobs. Do you believe those jobs will be saved eventually . What percentage do you think are going to have to go .
dont believe he saved the jobs. Being honest we put a plaster over the problem because we simply switch the problem because we simply switch the payroll costs of those employees from private sector into the government sector so we did not save the jobs we just switched the payroll costs. The key challenge will be when that furlough scheme ins that is when you will see the evidence of whether that scheme worked or did not work. At the moment i believe probably 20 of people unfurlough today will regrettably not have a job to go back to and therefore i think they would have gone anyway so i think the furlough scheme has been extremely helpful but will it save jobs or simply delay the inevitable . Good to talk to you, thank you for your time this afternoon. Thank you. Doctors have told the bbc that more support is needed for people who have been left chronically ill for months with the
symptoms of covid 19. The Royal College of gps is calling for a National Network to be set up of post covid clinics. Tim spector, professor of genetic epidemiology at at Kings College london, who is leading the covid symptom study app, said that 60,000 people have been ill for more than three months. Hejoins me now. You must look at whats happening in the house of commons today and the recent days and the acceptance that long covid is a thing and feel i have said this for ages . Yes and not just new but many other sufferers have said this for ages and no one believed them. Because in the early days we were told this is just the flu that gets better in a week and there is only two symptoms and we now have recorded at least 20 common symptoms of the virus and many different patterns and courses that u nfortu nately leave ma ny different patterns and courses that unfortunately leave many people disabled with it. Long pass the time
when any other normal infection would have gone and its obviously affecting different bits of their body and immune system etc. Its a real problem and these people have been forgotten by the Health Service and the government. You are one of the early, found one of the early indications of anosmia, the lack of smell and thousands of people are suffering. Given that they have slipped through the cracks, the medical cracks if you like of treatment up until now, what advice would you give them . The data we have from all these people logging on the app tells us that when around 10 of people still have some symptoms at a month between a month in three months 80 of those will get better. Its the group that actually months are still having symptoms we need to focus our attention. These people need support like they would for any other common
disease and there are many autoimmune diseases where you would be seeing getting trials of drugs like steroids, have access to physio and ways to help them get through the fatigue and headaches. And how to deal with the sense of smell and trying to work through that. And get into trials. At the moment the infrastructure just isnt there and we have been very slow to mobilise and help these people that really have been forgotten. But they should be treated like mostly common diseases we have and because its more common than many of the ones we dedicate huge amounts of money to at the moment. You say many feel forgotten, some would say they would go further and that actually the medical profession rather sneered, rather went go and go for a long walk he will feel better. Do you
think doctors, we have heard the Royal College of gps has come out of this but have doctors up until now perhaps got this very wrong . this but have doctors up until now perhaps got this very wrong . I think so and perhaps got this very wrong . I think so and i think it all stems from the fa ct so and i think it all stems from the fact that doctors were all told this is just like flu and therefore its like me or it used to be derogatory called yuppie flu if you didnt get over a flu and so there has been this stigma in the past of people with Chronic Fatigue syndrome who we re with Chronic Fatigue syndrome who were not taken set seriously by the medical profession and i think this is exposing that Old Fashioned bias for people that are really having problems and obviously having major immune problems as well we are seeing people getting fevers several months after the initial infection, people having skin rashes, problems with recording information,
vasculitis, they really do need to be taken seriously and just because fatigue is ill understood it needs real education of many doctors to get to grips with them and given proper services. Thank you very much for your time. My pleasure. In 12 the Public Inquiry into the Manchester Arena bombing has been hearing that greater Manchester Police didnt know the Ariana Grande concert was happening. The inquiry was told that British Transport Police were in charge of the arena foyer because it is part of a Train Station complex. They reacted within seconds of the attack. 22 people were killed when salman abedi exploded a bomb in may 2017. Our correspondent fiona trott is in manchester. Fiona can you give us the latest. You mentioned British Transport Police were in control of the area because it was on their complex and what we heard is that they declared a Major Incident at 20 to 39 but did
not communicate that to greater Manchester Police but todays hearing is looking at one of the questions as to how well did the Emergency Services worked together that night. Also what we heard as the British Transport Police appointed a tactical commander based in birmingham and an operational commander based in blackpool on the night of the blast. We heard he took a taxi to manchester but the hearing heard by the time he arrived the need for an Immediate Response had long since passed. As for the other Emergency Services, you have mentioned greater Manchester Police operationally did not know that pop concert was taking place that night. The fire brigade, we have heard the first fire brigade arrived two hours and six minutes after the explosion. After the Ambulance Service we heard after the first a0 minutes only one paramedic was actually at the scene where the bomb went off. 2a minutes
after the first request, a British Transport Police officer said the control youre going to hate new, but where are our ambulances please and control replied we dont know, we are calling them again. We also heard this. One person was moved out on a board 3a minutes after the blast. One person was moved out on a board 34 minutes after the blast. It was an issue for the enquiry to consider. It also said this, the enquiry process must not be used to vilify those who did their best on the night but made mistakes, and could have done better. We must probe deeply, but fairly into the emergency responses. The enquiry continues. Thank you. Now its time for a look at the weather with nick miller. Hello, a brighter day out
there for many of us. Some sunshine in eastern parts of the uk, occasionally. But there is a lot of cloud feeding in towards the west where you may encounter some light rain or drizzle, heavier rain coming into north west scotland. Any prolonged sunshine will lift temperatures to 2a or 25 degrees in one or two spots. This evening, for Northern Ireland and scotland, rain reaching into Northern England and north wales. The rain will clear south through england and wales through wednesday. Brighter skies following. A decent amount of sunshine for many of us into the afternoon, some scattered showers running through northern scotland. This is where it will be most breezy. The wind switching round to a north westerly, bringing some cooler air. Cabbages into mid to high teens, and a colour night to come on wednesday night. A cooler
night. Hello this is bbc news. The headlines the Health Secretary says each and every citizen has a responsibility to follow social distancing guidelines as the number of coronavirus cases rise across the country, particularly among young people. This must be a moment of clarity for us all. This is not over. Just because we have come through one peak doesnt mean we cannot see another one coming towards our shores. Coronavirus restrictions are tightened in bolton, with hospitality venues limited to takeaways only. In scotland, there are now new coronavirus cases reported in all mainland healthboard areas. Three people who tested positive for the virus have died in the last 2a hours. The Northern Ireland secretary says a new bill to amend the uks brexit deal with the eu will break International Law in a very specific and limited way. Labour has said this seriously undermines our authority on the international stage. Greater Manchester Police say they werent aware of the Ariana Grande concert ahead of the Manchester Arena bombing, because British Transport Police had jurisdiction. Nazanin Zaghari Ratcliffe the british iranian woman who was arrested in iran four years ago is told shell face another trial. Sport now, and a full round up from the bbc sport centre. Good afternoon. One of the most decoated players in the womens game is back in the womens superleague lucy bronze has re signed for Manchester City from lyon on a free transfer. The england defender moved to france in 2017. She went on to win three Successive Champions League titles, along with a host of other honours. Shes now 28, and her new coach Gareth Taylor says she an unrivalled talent. Bronze herself says shes returning to a much stronger league than the one she left. I can only see the English League getting better,
and the way it has improved already in the past four years, even the last six years when it kind of hit the scene, it has changed massively every single year and i just cant see that coming to a halt anytime soon. England, especially with the fa, there are a lot of premier league clubs, Manchester United, who have burst onto the scene. Tottenham, west ham. I think it is just going to get bigger because they are global brands, known all around the world, everybody has heard of them and everybody wants to be part of english football. Mason greenwood has apologised for breaking quarantine rules after agreeing to meet two women at the england team Hotel Following their win over iceland at the weekend. In a Statement Released this morning, the Manchester United forward says his actions were irresponsible and has promised to learn lessons from the incident. Greenwoods been sent home, along with Manchester Citys phil foden, who has already apologised. So neither player is involved in tonights Nations League game against denmark. Fodens absence means manager Gareth Southgate will be forced into changes for the game in copenhagen, but he says he has plenty of options. We are pleased with the condition of the players following the iceland game. It was played in predominately one half of the pitch, so the physical demands were a lot lower than they sometimes can be. So there are players short of training minutes and match minutes, but in actual fact everybody has reported well both before and after training. Aston villa are closing in on a new striker theyve agreed a fee with brentford for ollie watkins. The 2a year old was a key man for brentford last year, scoring 26 goals as they lost in the championship play off final. Villa have a agreed a fee of £28 million, which could rise to £33 million. If it all goes through, itll
make him the clubs record signing. Meanwhile, Michy Batshuayi is set to move to Crystal Palace on loan and sign a contract extension at his parent club chelsea. It would be a second stint at palace for the striker, who scored 13 goals for the club during a loan spell there last year. The arsenal defender Hector Bellerin has become the second largest shareholder at the League Two Side forest green rovers, saying he wants to support their environmentally friendly ethos. Forest green have been recognised by fifa and the United Nations as the worlds most environmentally friendly team, having become the worlds first Carbon Neutral sports club in 2017. Bellerins new role will see him work with the club on raising the environmental agenda across football. Ashleigh barty wont defend her title at the french open later this month. Shes pulled out of the tournament because of the coronavirus pandemic. The world number one
also missed the us open, which is going on in new york at the moment. She says she wont play at Roland Garros because the health and wellbeing of her family is her priority. Englands cricketers will have the chance to complete a series whitewash over australia later when they play their final t20 international in southamptin this evening. England are 2 0 up in the three match series. But they will be without jos buttler tonight he misses the match to spend time with his family after being in the teams bio bubble for the last ten weeks. Theres even more cricket to come. The two sides start of their one day series at old trafford on friday. And you can follow the latest from stage 10 of the Tour De France on the bbc sport website and app. It continues today despite the race director testing positive for coronavirus. All the riders though have returned negative tests. More from me at 5 30pm. As brexit negotiations continue, one of the biggest sticking points between the European Union and the uk government is state aid. Thats the Financial Assistance given by government to businesses. Our reality check correspondent, chris morris, has been taking a look at this and other outstanding issues in the negotiations. With time running short, things are coming toa with time running short, things are coming to a head. Of all of the niggling issues that have become stumbling blocks, state aid, basically Financial Assistance from government to businesses, is probably the most difficult. The eu is demanding a level Playing Field on state aid, some kind of understanding that the eu and uk will follow the same rules as part ofa will follow the same rules as part of a Free Trade Agreement. To make sure businesses in one country dont gain an unfairadvantage sure businesses in one country dont gain an unfair advantage over their competitors in another. The eu has softened its demands slightly, but still wa nts softened its demands slightly, but still wants pretty strict conditions because the uk is so closely linked
to the european economy. It is waiting for the uk to disclose what kind of competition policy it will follow outside of the sickle market. And what kind of system it plans to put in place to resolve disputes in the future. But the uk says the eu is still asking forfar to the future. But the uk says the eu is still asking for far to much. It argues that eu negotiators have yet to a cce pt argues that eu negotiators have yet to accept the full consequences of the uk leaving the eu, and soon the sickle market and customs union. The message from london is, we are a sovereign state and will follow our own rules. That they say is basically what brexit is all about, the freedom to choose. That could mean supporting new technology as the economy changes or helping companies in the former redwall seats, taken from labour in last yea rs seats, taken from labour in last years election. There is another comp location, Northern Ireland. Their Withdrawal Agreement signed last year by Boris Johnsons government is now an International Treaty and it says that eu law on state aid will apply to the uk in relation to the goods trade in
Northern Ireland. That means the government is obliged to inform the eu ofany government is obliged to inform the eu of any state aid decisions that affect Northern Ireland. Now the government is planning a full back option, Domestic Legislation which overrides parts of the original agreement if trade talks breakdown. Just sensible planning, said the uk. Potentially breaking International Law, fears the easy you come with all that implies was up fears the eu. Many businesses that trade across the board with the eu and would have to deal with new tariffs, checks and bureaucracy, one that the consequences would be disastrous. So we are back at deal or no deal with relations with the eu, and no certainty on which way it will go. Nazanin Zaghari Ratcliffe, the british iranian woman jailed in iran, has been told shes
to face another trial. She was jailed for five years in 2016 after being convicted of espionage. She has always denied the charges. The uk has also insisted she is innocent. Its not clear what new charge she is facing. A teenage boy remains critically ill in hospital after he was shot while walking to school. The 15 year old was on his way to Kesgrave High School near ipswich, in suffolk, when the attack took place yesterday morning. Police have since found a car with a long barrelled firearm inside it. They have arrested a 15 year old boy on suspicion of attempted murder. The Airline Easyjet says it is expecting to fly fewer passengers because Consumer Confidence has been hit by uk coronavirus quarantine measures. Their comments come after seven greek islands including crete and mykonos were added to the governments list of destinations which will now require a period of self isolation on return to england. Easyjets boss told the bbc the latest change to the quarantine rules, which means islands can be treated differently from their mainland countries if infection rates differ, was too little, too late, as the peak of the Summer Holiday season had passed. Officials in belarus say the opposition leader, Maria Kolesnikova, has been detained
at the border with ukraine. Ms kolesnikova was one of three women whojoined forces to challenge incumbent alexander lu kashenko in augusts president ial election. Earlier reports said that ms kolesnikova who had been bundled into a van by masked men in minsk on monday also crossed the frontier into ukraine. But sources in the Ukrainian Border service say only two other opposition politicians, Ivan Kravtsov and Anton Rodnenkov, crossed the border. A report on Belarusian State Television denied opposition accounts of how ms kolesnikova had been taken from the streets. Instead, they said she has been detained whilst trying to cross the border. Ukraines interior Ministry Said with the aim of compromising the bela rusian opposition. Earlier we heard from our correspondent, jonah fisher, who gave us a timeline of events over the last 2a hours. Maria kolesnikova was picked up by an unmarked vehicle, by masked men
in minsk yesterday, and then overnight she was taken to the border between belarus and ukraine, with two other activists. They were effectively instructed by the authorities to cross over into ukraine and to go into exile. The two men who were with her went across into ukraine, but something happened at the border, whereby Maria Kolesnikova refused to cross. There are lots of stories here in ukraine circulating that what she did at the border was in fact tear up did at the border was in fact tear up her passport, to make it impossible for them to send her across into ukraine. So what we understand has happened now is that she is still in belarus, back in detention, back in the custody of the belarus authorities. We will have to wait to see what they decide to do with her. Will it affect the demonstrations we have seen against alexander lu kashenko for the demonstrations we have seen against Alexander Lukashenko for the last two weeks since that disputed election . I very much doubt that,
because they are extremely decentralised, run by lots of different organisations and groups, and not really by the opposition figures. If anything, and not really by the opposition figures. Ifanything, it and not really by the opposition figures. If anything, it is likely that the targeting of the opposition like this will lead to even greater numbers of people taking to the streets in belarus. The bela russian opposition candidate for president , svetla na ti kha novs kaya, has been speaking to the council of europe about the situation in the country. Shes currently in exile in lithuania, and addresssed the meeting via videolink, outlining the oppressive measures being taken by president lukashenko as he tries to maintain his grip on power. Only yesterday, one of the leaders of the peaceful protests, Maria Kolesnikova, was kidnapped. Also kidnapped were Anton Rodnenkov and Ivan Kravtsov. All of them were members of the team of viktor babaryko, who is injailfor simply daring to run for president. My husband, sergei tikhanovsky,
is injailfor the same reason. Sergei dylevsky, jailed. Hundreds of people are jailed, beaten, raped. This should not be the norm in europe. This cant be the norm in the civilised world. The headlines on bbc news the Health Secretary says each and every citizen has a responsibility to follow social distancing guidelines as the number of coronavirus cases rise across the country, particularly among young people. Coronavirus restrictions are tightened in bolton, with hospitality venues limited to takeaways only. In scotland, there are now new coronavirus cases reported in all mainland healthboard areas. Three people who tested positive for the virus have died in the last 2a hours. The last two journalists working for australian media in china have flown home after a five day diplomatic standoff during which police demanded to interview them. Bill birtles, the Australian Broadcasting corporations correspondent based in beijing, and mike smith, the Australian Financial reviews correspondent based in shanghai, boarded a flight to sydney on monday night. So whats it like when the chinese authorities consider that you may have broken those laws . One of the australian journalists who was involved in this incident is abc correspondent bill birtles heres what he had to say. It was a whirlwind week, where to meet this kind of came out of nowhere. Last monday, i got a call advising me that i needed to leave china immediately. This was the australian officials who had received some sort of warming or advice, they never specified what, but they said, our advice is for you to get out quickly, which not easy
during coronavirus which i had some serious questions about it in the first two days and sure enough at midnight on the wednesday, six state Security Police plus a translator we re Security Police plus a translator were at my door in beijing, not to detain me, but to inform me that i am involved in a National Security investigation, that there is an exit ban placed on the and im not allowed to leave the country, but curiously they said, we will give you a call tomorrow afternoon to talk about it. They didnt seem to have the urgency you would expect when they turn up at your door at midnight. I sought advice from the australian ministry, and they said that i needed to stay in the embassy while they sorted it out. There was not a great deal of trust with china at the moment about how sci fi would have been if initially by myself i went and did that meeting. Strong winds are threatening to hamper the effort to contain more than 20 wildfires in california. More than two million acres across the state have already burned this year,
making it the worse season for wildfires since records began. Dozens of houses have been destroyed and thousands of residents have been moved out of their homes. Peter bowes reports from los angeles. Searing heat, tinder dry brush, and now the threat of strong winds, conditions that are ripe for wildfires to spread rapidly. A perfect storm thats already led to more destruction in 2020, than any other year on record in california. Around the state, more than two dozen wildfires are burning, the so called bobcat fire in the Angeles National forest, near the city of azusa is encroaching on several nearby communities. We have a red flag warning today, and we have santa ana winds predicted for the next two days. So what that means for the public is, we really need you to Pay Attention to any instructions on evacuation, as the fire is likely to move south towards six communities. The sheer number of fires and the intense conditions are stretching the states resources to the limit. It became apparent yesterday, based on the activity going on, not only southern california, but throughout california at large, with a number of incidents that we were gonna be challenged with. Resources to make an aggressive attack, not only through the afternoon, but last night. Thousands of residents in the path of another fire, which has been raging since saturday, near yucaipa, to the east of los angeles, are on standby to evacuate their homes. Its hard to know what you know, whether were just going to get up and leave. Um, so i really dont know what my future is. Well get through this one day at a time. It could be a long week. Over the next few days, the weather is expected to cool down slightly, but the winds could fan the flames further. This is a relentless california fires season like no other. Peter bowes, bbc news, los angeles. The Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford helped to make sure that thousands of children didnt go hungry over the Summer Holidays
but new figures released today show there is still much work to be done. A survey has revealed that more than six Million People have suffered from a lack of food at some point in the last six months, and marcuss Child Food Poverty Task force is calling for the government to take immediate action. Graham satchell reports. Ive heard some real Horror Stories for want of a better word in connection with people going hungry. If i think about my finances, id say its pretty tough. Simone has struggled through lockdown. Money is tight. She is a full time student doing a law degree and a single mum. I buy things that stretch and i buy ingredients that can be versatile and have a long life, like pasta and rice, etc, and meals that stretch over more than one day. Simone is not alone. New figures today from the charity the Food Foundation show 1a of adults living with children said
theyd experienced moderate or severe Food Insecurity in the last six months thats a Million People, including 2. 3 million children. They also found 12 of adults living with children said theyd skipped meals because they couldnt afford food in the last six months. I feel like at times people think that theyre being looked down on if they ask somebody for help, and i think in this generation that we are in, thats one thing that should change. The footballer Marcus Rashfords campaigning over lockdown has put food poverty on the political agenda. Talking openly about his own experiences as a child helped to change government policy. A food Voucher Scheme was extended through the Summer Holiday for those entitled to Free School Meals. Im doing bubble writing. The scheme was a huge benefit to simone and her ten year old son, malachi. It gave her an extra £15 a week to spend at the supermarkets. It was excellent and was really good,
and really easy to put in place. I thought. | was worried i would take it down there and it wouldnt work and that would be quite embarrassing, but, no, very smooth from beginning to end. Were spending more time at home, so, you know, you are using more resources such as gas and electric, so it kind of eased the worries in connection with the extra expenditure in connection with food. Malachi is also hugely appreciative of rashfords campaigning and the Voucher Scheme. I think its great and ive never really experienced anything like not enough food or anything. I think its right well. For your physical health, to keep in shape, not get fat or not get, like, any diseases and even mentally, if you dont eat well, you could start, like, something could happen, but i think eating healthy and keeping it balanced is a good way to live and, like, right. Come on, get it 0hh
Marcus Rashfords food Poverty Task Force now wants Free School Meals to be extended to anyone on universal benefits. The government in westminster says theyve ta ken substantial action to make sure children dont go hungry through the pandemic, and will consider the task forces recommendations at the next spending review. Simone and malachi are just one mother and son among millions struggling to make ends meet who will be watching government policy closely in the coming months. Graham satchell, bbc news. We are at the point of no return thats the stark warning about theatres and the wider arts sector from andrew lloyd webber. Hes been giving evidence about the impact of coronavirus to a committee of mps. He said venues must be allowed to re open as soon as possible. Our entertainment correspondent, Colin Paterson, reports. Past the point of no return. Point of no return from
phantom of the opera. This morning, lord lloyd webber quoted his own song to a dcms select committee when describing the position of theatre in the uk. It is. Its in my view, i think we are now at the point of no return, really. It was hoped that lord Lloyd Webbers new musical, cinderella, would be one of the shows to kick start west end theatre next year. But he said there was now a chance he may open the production abroad instead if the government did not give theatres a date when they can reopen without social distancing. I have to take the decision about whether we go into rehearsal with my cinderella or not. If i dont go into rehearsal, there is also the chance that it might open somewhere where people are being a little more helpful. Lord lloyd webber said he believed that theatres should be treated in the same way as aeroplanes and be allowed to reopen with full capacity if measures were put in place, including everyone wearing masks, the use of self sanitising door handles and temperature tests at the door. Simon callow says that something has to happen quickly. Its a very alarming position. You almost see a whole industry disappearing before your eyes. Mum wouldnt want us to go crazy. Right, so thats where were headed, away from crazy. A new musical, sleepless, had its premiere last week after being allowed to open with government permission. But with capacity reduced from 1,200 to a00, this production is making a statement but not a profit. Dad, theres someone on the phone for you. I think it shines a light and gives a bit of hope to the industry that this is possible. You know, at some point, social distancing will be reduced and hopefully will be a memory. Every fairy tale for sure can use one. For cinderella and british theatre, the clock could be about to strike midnight. Colin paterson, bbc news. Some amazing wildlife pictures to share with you now from india, of a leopardess, who raised four newborn cubs in a farmers shed. When conservationists heard, they set up hidden cameras, and caught the best moments as the big cat family grew up. The leopards stayed in the shelter for six days, waiting for monsoon rains to pass, before eventually taking themselves back into the forest, none the worse for wear. This is scooter. Hes a poodle cross, and has been learning to surf forjust one year. His owner, kirstie martin, took him in as a therapy dog to support her with the effects of ptsd. Hes now been entered into his first competition the surfdog surf a thon, based in california. This year, contestants are sending video entries, because of the pandemic. Now its time for a look at the weather with nick miller. Hello. It is a somewhat brighter day out there compared with yesterday, especially across the eastern side of the uk, where we are seeing some sunshine. Eastern scotland as well, you can see on the satellite picture, yesterday it was cloud pretty much across the uk, but there are some brakes to be had. Again, mainly across the eastern side. We are in this gap here between this one front and cold front on the big picture here, and whenever you see Something Like that you know there is quite a lot of moist air out there, you can expect plenty of cloud, but it is likely to be on the warm side. That is exact what we have for the rest of the day. While many places are dry with the cloud, you could encounter some light rain and drizzle for top heavy rain coming into north west scotland later. Cloud or sunshine, coming into north west scotland later. Cloud orsunshine, many coming into north west scotland later. Cloud or sunshine, many of us
treat into the low 20s, later. Cloud or sunshine, many of us treat into the low 205, while Eastern England could see closer to 25 celsius given any prolonged sunshine. Tonight, some rain across scotla nd sunshine. Tonight, some rain across scotland and Northern Ireland, reaching into parts of Northern Ireland and north wales later in the night. Another rather warm light, particularly through england and wales, 16 celsius for some of us as we start the day tomorrow. This area cloud with not much rain on it will work further south through england and wales as the day goes on, clearing southern parts as we go into the evening. Behind it, brightening up with a decent about of sunshine to come and scattered showers across north scotland on the strong breeze, turning to more of a north westerly put up that is a cooler direction, so although we have more sunshine coming back, temperatures tend to be in the mid to upper teens, just some spots in the south of england into the low 20s. A much coloured start to the day on thursday, reg of High Pressure around. We will see some
further outbreaks of rain reaching into north west scotland for most of us on thursday that averages in the teens will stop this area of low pressure will bring some heavy rain towards particularly scotland on friday with a stronger wind as well. Also some rain pushing down across Northern Ireland. Further weather systems particular into scotland over the weekend, the wettest and windiest the further north you are. Some rain reaching into Northern Ireland, but a warming trend over the weekend for many of us. This is bbc news, im ben brown. The headlines. The Health Secretary says every citizen has a responsibility to follow social distancing guidelines as coronavirus cases rise across the country, particularly among young people. This is not over. Just because we have come through one peak it doesnt mean we cant see another one coming towards our shores. Coronavirus restrictions are tightened in bolton, with hospitality venues limited to takeaways only. In scotland, there are now new cornavirus cases reported in all mainland healthboard areas. The Northern Ireland secretary admits a new bill to amend the uks brexit deal with the European Union will break International Law but only in a limited way. Labour says it undermines
britains authority on the international stage. Greater Manchester Police say they werent aware of the Ariana Grande concert ahead of the Manchester Arena bombing because British Transport Police had jurisdiction Nazanin Zaghari ratcliffe, because British Transport Police had jurisdiction Nazanin Zaghari ratcliffe, the british iranian woman arrested in iran four years ago, is told shell face another trial. The show must go on. A warning to mp5 that theatres have to re open soon. There comes a point now where we really cant go on much more. Are warning about the increase in coronavirus cases. Two of the uk governments scientific advisers are warning about the increase in coronavirus cases. They say weve relaxed too much over the summer and must now re engage with social distancing rules. Englands deputy chief medical officer, professor Jonathan Van Tam said the country faces a bumpy ride unless the virus is taken seriously again. And professorjohn edmunds, a member of the Scientific Advisory group for emergencies or sage, says cases are now increasing exponentially. Bolton has become the latest area to see tighter restrictions after a rise in cases only takeaways will be allowed at hospitality venues in wales, a local lockdown in the county of caerphilly takes effect this evening, after 98 new coronavirus cases were reported there in the last week. And in scotland, more than 1. 1 Million People are now affected by new restrictions on going into other peoples homes. In the house of commons, the Health Secretary, matt hancock, urged
people not to become complacent about the spread of the coronavirus. We have seen a concerning rise in the number of positive cases particularly in younger people. These figures serve as a salutary reminder that this virus is still very much with us and remains a threat. So it is critical that we maintain our collective commitment to controlling this disease. And social distancing is the first line of defence. While young people are less likely to die from this disease, be in no doubt that they are still at risk. The long term effects can be terrible and of course they can infect others. Six months on many people are still suffering Chronic Fatigue, muscle pain and breathing difficulties. Previously fit and Healthy People being reduced to barely being able to function. A survey today shows 300,000 people
in the uk have reported symptoms lasting for more than a month and 60,000 people have been ill for more than three months. Our Health Correspondent nick triggle is here. Quite a steep rise in the number of cases and we have had the concerted warning from various scientists . Yes there is a lot of concern. 3000 new cases reported on sunday, close to 3000, another close to 3000 on monday. We need to put this into some context. Back in the peak in spring the figures showed around 6000 cases a day at times so that 3000 seems alarmingly high. Back then we were testing people in hospitals so it was just the tip of the iceberg we were picking up on and estimates have suggested there may have been as many as 100
thousand new cases a day in the end of march. Probably not to picking up all the cases. Its clear that it still a relatively low level of infections and we are also testing more so if we take that into account the recent rise doesnt seem quite a shock but it is clearly going up and thats why the officials we have been hearing from our concerned the new cases are in young people, half in recent weeks have been in people in their 20s in recent weeks have been in people in their20s and in recent weeks have been in people in their 20s and 30s and i think thats why were not seeing rising numbers of people being admitted to hospital or the death going up. Those young people will pass the virus alter more vulnerable groups and with winter around the corner, there is a concern it could start spiralling. You mention testing, we have had what has been described as a heartfelt apology programme
admitting there had not been good enough because of the Laboratory Capacity . Yes, whilst we see more testing back in mid june, there were 100,000 test process every day, that has recently got up to 180,000 so we are testing more but its such demand on the system that the labs are maxed out we are told. They cannot process any more so when you look at the drive in local centres they seem relatively quiet but they cannot take bookings on the website. Because the labs are too busy and Sarah Jane Marshall who because the labs are too busy and sarahjane marshall who is the director of testing said she offered her heartfelt apologies, she tweeted this morning saying the labs are the critical pinch point. Now the government says they will be imposing capacity. Theres a lab opening the loughborough in the coming weeks which will process 50,000 tests a day increasing capacity by a fifth and that should
help but the problems people are experiencing will continue. We see new restrictions on places like bolton, carefully and so on. Is this an impending second wave as it has been described . Gets interesting when you look at a lot of new infections, a lot are clearly in areas with hotspots. In the areas with hotspots even more testing is put in with mobile units going door to door testing to people without symptoms so the more you look the more you find but i think whats concerning when you look at areas like bolton, bradford as well, the numbers of new cases are going up the numbers of new cases are going up and the numbers of new cases are going up and i think thats why were seeing restrictions imposed but i would say its still relatively low level so what they are trying to do a head of winter stamped down on these local outbreaks and prevent
them increasing thank you. Nicola sturgeon has said restrictions in five scottish local authorities are absolutely necessary to stem the increase in coronavirus cases. Rules limiting household visits came into effect in East Dunbartonshire and renfrewshire at midnight, having already been reimposed in glasgow city, West Dunbartonshire and East Renfrewshire last week. The first minister said there was evidence that house gatherings were driving the rise in cases. I know that these rules are really unwelcome. As i have already said i live in glasgow so i know frustrating real and i just like all of you watching dont want them to be in place for any longer than is necessary. But overall i believe they represent a proportional, hopefully effective but also absolutely necessary of increase in covid 19 across these areas. The restrictions will be reviewed again next week and will stay
in place as long as they are needed but they will not stay in place for any longer than that. At yesterdays meeting i discussed the situation in other parts of scotland such as inverclyde and north and south lanarkshire. The new cases here while rising does not warrant additional restrictions but this will be kept under close review. We also discussed the hospitality sector. The evidence we have at this stage suggests house gatherings which by their nature are hard to regulate for things like physical distancing, have made the biggest contribution to the spread of covid 19 across Greater Glasgow and clyde. They are also a setting in which older and more Vulnerable People are often most at risk of infection because older and more Vulnerable People or perhaps more likely to socialise at home rather than visit pubs and restaurants. As a result, i will restrictions focus on meetings in peoples houses however some transmission we know
is taking place in pubs and restaurants and so we will also keep that under close review. Our scotland Political Correspondent andrew kerr says this means there are new cases in all scottish mainland areas. A rise of 176 cases overnight and we had three deaths as well under the 28 day measurement test so that is the first time we have had that many deaths in scotland sincejune 30 so the first minister said we ought to listen to these Warning Signals and it was a sharp reminder that coronavirus is now spreading in scotland, echoing what we are hearing from matt hancock just the clip earlier. Its been a grim few months on the jobs market, we all know that, and now, new figures obtained by the bbc, Show Companies drew up plans injuly to cut almost 150,000 posts. As the pandemic took its toll on the economy, the combined
figure forjune and july, was more than 300,000. Our economics correspondent andy verity reports. Boots, john lewis, marks spencer, dfs. Just some of the well known companies who announced redundancies in june and july. The job cuts hitting the headlines were only a tiny fraction of the jobs being lost and the official unemployment numbers havent yet captured the impact of the pandemic. Instead, the more up to date picture emerges from forms which employers have to file with the Insolvency Service if they plan to make more than 20 people redundant, saying how many jobs they want to cut. The bbcs freedom of information request discovered that injune, 1,888 employers planned to cut 156,000 jobs. Then, injuly, a further 1,78a gave notice of plans to cut nearly 150,000 jobs. Many more people will have been made redundant from smaller companies, pushing the overall number ofjob cuts substantially higher. Businesses are concerned, of course, that the end of furlough brings a bit of a cliff edge to the labour market,
but the government can do other things to help firms weather that change. For example, they should step in now and say they are willing to cut the jobs tax, employers national insurance, so firms can spend their money paying their people over the coming months, rather than paying the revenue. Recruitment consultants today reported a modest pick up in hiring for temporaryjobs since lockdown was eased. But the number of candidates available for work rose at a near record pace. We havent seen the full impact of this crisis in the jobs market yet, although employee jobs have fallen by 750,000, which is obviously a big impact. But because the Job Retention scheme is being wound down now, the real concern is what happens after october and this is what is being reflected in these figures, it is Companies Looking ahead and deciding that actually they do want to make workforce reductions. Employers wanting to cutjobs before the furlough scheme closes at the end of october have to give 30 days notice if more than 20 jobs are
going, and a5 days if it is more than 100 jobs, meaning it is highly likely that further redundancy notices are being handed out this month. The pace and scale ofjob cuts is likely to get worse before it gets better. Andy verity, bbc news. The government says the European Union needs to show flexibility and realism as talks about a brexit trade deal resume in london. The eu says both sides must compromise. It comes after the Prime Minister borisjohnson pledged to walk away from the table if no agreement is reached by october 15th. The uks chief negotiator, lord frost, has said there is still time to agree a deal. Our Political Correspondent iain watson has more. Time beginning to run out and an extraordinary admission today from the Northern Ireland secretary that the Northern Ireland secretary that the government knew bill amending the government knew bill amending the eu Withdrawal Agreement does break International Law although he said only in a specific and limited
way . Thats right, ben. Its not something you hear everyday in the house of commons, a government minister saying they are prepared to break the law. This shadows the eighth round of trade talks between the uk and eu with no agreement insight and the Prime Minister setting a deadline of men october to get a trade deal through and certainly the atmosphere i dont think well have been helped by the comments in the house of commons today. There has been speculation over the last couple of days that a government bill to be published tomorrow is called the internal market bill about trade between the four nations of the uk once the transition period comes to an end on december 31. That this would seek to override key aspects of Withdrawal Agreement that was reached with the eu last year. One of the major and most contentious parts of that was whats called the Northern Ireland protocol effectively putting custom checks on goods going from Great Britain into Northern Ireland. There
have been lots of aspects of that legislation as well and there were fears on the conservative benches the government might not stick to its International Obligations and today a former minister asked for some reassurance from the Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis that the government would stay within the law. I can tell you right now he did not get it. Will he assure us that nothing that is proposed in this legislation does or potentially might breach International Legal obligations or International Legal arrangements that we have entered into . And can he answer specifically the other point, was any ministerial direction given . I would say to my honourable friend that yes this does break International Law in a very specific limited ways. We are taking the power to desupply the eu law concept of direct affect required by article four under certain, very tightly
defined circumstances. There are clear precedents forthe uk and indeed other countries needing to consider their International Obligations as circumstances change and i would say to honourable members here, many of whom would have been in this house when we passed the finance act in 2013 which contains an example of treaty override, it contains provisions that expressly desupply International Tax treaties to the extent that these conflict with a general anti abuse rule and i would say to my honourable friend, we are determined to ensure we are delivering on the agreement we have in the protocol and our leading priority is to do that through the negotiations and through the joint committee work. The clauses that will be in the bill tomorrow are specifically there so that should that fail it is to be able to deliver on our commitments to the people of Northern Ireland. After admitting the government could breach International Law a lot of detail there from Brandon Lewis so let me summarise what he means. Effectively whats happening is there have been negotiations going on behind the scenes in whats called a joint Ministerial Committee over how to implement some of the
new rules that will apply to Northern Ireland and what Brandon Lewis was saying is that effectively the government would only risk breaching International Law if those ministerial meetings between the eu and government ministers cannot Reach Agreement before the end of the transition period so its a kind of fallback option and simply admitting the principle that the government is willing to break the law has caused ripples of discontent on some of the conservative benches, a former minister saying we must stick by International Treaty obligations, a former europe minister in france saying that breaking the law in a limited and specific way is like saying you are only half pregnant so it has come into a degree of ridicule and concern but the most pointed criticism came from a grizzled vetera n criticism came from a grizzled veteran of eu negotiations none other than former Prime Minister theresa may. The United Kingdom government signed the agreement with the Northern Ireland protocol. This parliament voted that Withdrawal Agreement in the uk legislation. The government is now changing the operation of that agreement. Given that, how can the government reassure future international
partners that the uk can be trusted to abide by the legal obligations of the agreements it signs . I thank my right honourable friend for her question. We have worked in a spirit of good faith, to make sure we do uphold the pin spots behind the protocol. Our First Priority continues to be to secure agreement on the protocol for the joint committee and the wider Free Trade Agreement. The United Kingdom government signed the agreement whats interesting is not only was theresa may saying the government are potentially undermining trust by potentially breaching the law but the government also lost ahead of Legal Services today so Jonathan Jones a Legal ServiceCivil Servant who announced his rugged resignation a day before legislation is
introduced in the speculation that whitehall is that was the main reason he has gone but i think for the Government Point of view its calculation must be if it sounds like its willing to stand up for the eu or its criticism for a Prime Minister who did not deliver brexit then perhaps thats the kind of criticism that could be we have the latest coronavirus figures into us and quite a steep rise in fact. They have been in single figures for the last few days and an average of eight but now 30 deaths reported in the last 2a hour period, deaths within 28 days of a positive covid 19 test. 30 deaths reported in the uk is the latest figure and a number of cases is in line with the last couple of days, around 3000. 29a8. Pretty much the
same as it has been yesterday on the day before, just have a ring below 3000. Thats the figure given such cause for concern to government ministers and scientists as well. Warning that social distancing measures have to be observed because they fear very much a second wave of coronavirus and that increase in cases is causing real concern. 29a8 the latest number of coronavirus cases in the uk and 30 deaths reported in the last 2a hour period. Half of parents say their biggest concerns about the children has been worries about the Mental Health following covid 19. Public Health England have launched a campaign to help young people and their parents and carers
with the issues theyre having. Dr yvonne doyle is medical director and director of Health Protection at Public Health england. Shejoins me now. Thank you very much indeed for being with us. We have known for a while that Mental Health is a real problem with this pandemic. What possible measures are the people you can help ta ke to measures are the people you can help take to alleviate this problem . Good afternoon and thank you. Theres an offer from us today which is afternoon and thank you. Theres an offerfrom us today which is built on our Good Health Programme which is about every mind matters. And its aimed at young people up to the age of 18 and their parents. And it offers people an easy way in to get tips to deal with situations we are into like going back to school and getting a life rhythm back into some fort of normality but that can cause anxieties and as you say, we know
from research commissioned that four out of ten children have felt quite lonely in the last six months and the parents and themselves will anxious about the future so every mind matters which is on a website and its an nhs doctor uk website so its credited by the nhs, it gives pa rents its credited by the nhs, it gives parents and young people some good tips about dealing with loneliness, sleep pattern that may have gone slightly awry, with anxiety and dealing with life of may be working at home as well and the isolation that can bring. There are so many issues. Loneliness, boredom, anxiety about the future, depression, not having a job. Part of the concern is that this is not going to end anytime soon, is it . Were seeing new lockdown measures imposed in certain areas, warnings of a possible second wave, the numbers of cases still pretty high and rising. So this is something we will have to learn to live with. Its a marathon and not a sprint and well have to, we are and will continue to need to live with the virus. Part of the way that we will do that is in order to ita that we will do that is in order to it a region people back to school and its great to see them going back, and the older children thinking about university and further education colleges, the trade off for that is that people do maintain social distancing when they are in crowded areas and that means at least one, preferably two, they wear a facemask and keep their hands clea n. Wear a facemask and keep their hands clean. This helps break the transmission of what is a very infectious virus. Do you think this concern about Mental Health does it particularly apply to young people . Is this across all generations or is
it particularly applying to young people . In other words, it particularly applying to young people . In otherwords, do it particularly applying to young people . In other words, do you think older people can take it in their stride more than young people . We know young people had a tough time over the last few months and have said so. We know its now documented in the research commissioned. They miss their friends and have been lonely and anxious. Others may have seen elements of this before in bad winters or any previous epidemics of flu so they may have some frame of reference. Its understandable in that sense but also there is no doubt that this is quite specific to young people, they are anxious and lonely and every mind matters offers them and their parents simple ways of dealing with that before it gets out of hand. When two really good to talk to you. Medical director and director of Health Protection at Public Health england. Thank you. We are at the point of no return. Thats the stark warning about theatres and the wider arts sector from andrew lloyd webber. Hes been giving evidence about the impact of coronavirus to a committee of mps. He said venues must be allowed to re open as soon as possible. Our entertainment correspondent, Colin Paterson reports. Past the point of no return. Point of no return from phantom of the opera. This morning, lord lloyd webber quoted his own song to a dcms select committee when describing the position of theatre in the uk. It is. Its in my view, i think we are now at the point of no return, really. It was hoped that lord Lloyd Webbers new musical, cinderella, would be one of the shows to kick start west end theatre next year. But he said there was now a chance he may open the production abroad instead if the government did not give theatres a date when they can reopen without social distancing. I have to take the decision about whether we go into rehearsal with my cinderella or not. If i dont go into rehearsal, there is also the chance that it
might open somewhere where people are being a little more helpful. Lord lloyd webber said he believed that theatres should be treated in the same way as aeroplanes and be allowed to reopen with full capacity if measures were put in place, including everyone wearing masks, the use of self sanitising door handles and temperature tests at the door. Sir simon callow says that something has to happen quickly. Its a very alarming position. You almost see a whole industry disappearing before your eyes. Mum wouldnt want us to go crazy. Right, so thats where were headed, away from crazy. A new musical, sleepless in seattle had its premiere last week after being allowed to open with government permission. But with capacity reduced from 1200 to a00, this production is making a statement but not a profit. Dad, theres someone on the phone for you. I think it shines a light and gives a bit of hope to the industry that this is possible. You know, at some point, social distancing will be reduced and hopefully
will be a memory. Every fairy tale for sure can use one. For cinderella and british theatre, the clock could be about to strike midnight. Colin paterson, bbc news. Lets talk now to the singer and west end star, luciejones and shes just come off stage as it were in these strange times you have done a virtual performance, is that right . We were recording a web series here so this is about as show ready as it gets at the moment, yes. At least you are busy and performing which is great news. How worried are you about the future of the west end, the future of theatre in general, the future of the arts in general, the future of the arts in general in this country . Im not worried. I think that the arts is so important to this country and the people of this country that we will
find a way back and we are very resilient. The tricky number is that lots of us have no work right now and very lucky i am in the very few number of people able to work if the moment. People dont have any money. So they are having to leave what is one of the most expensive places in the world to live because they have no work, they have no income and its tricky. When we do restart were going to need to get all those wonderful people back. Acting, singing, Performing Arts in general, they are a pretty precarious profession at the of times. Unless you are a big star like yourself, but coronavirus this will pandemic must have made things so much harder for everybody . Yes, definitely. I was very for everybody . Yes, definitely. I was very lucky before the pandemic i was very lucky before the pandemic i was in work. Unfortunately the show i was and has now closed permanently. But yes, Going Forward when i auditioned for my nextjob, everybody will be available because
nobody is in work so we will all be fighting for the same positions so its even more precarious than it was before because of that if nothing else. Andrew lloyd webber today saying we are at the point of no return. He wants to get the theatres reopen. Would you echo that, would you say we need to get on with this and get people back into the theatres . People need to be safe, of course thats the number one priority but as soon as people are safe and we can do that in a safe manner, then yes, there is absolutely nothing stopping us trying to run things at a low capacity but the problem being lots of these regional venues are not even, and west end theatres have been taught for a long time. There are not the staff to police and think that at the minute so it will ta ke think that at the minute so it will take a minute but we will come back. We have to. People need it. We need it. They do and they want to get back and what shows but the question
is when and some people point to inconsistencies. You see people in pubs and cinemas and on planes and so on, while not back in the theatres . Dont get me started. I wish i knew. Its so frustrating. I am here today and going to walk to the Train Station and get the train home with my mask on and i will walk past pub gardens and get on the train and past pub gardens and get on the train and i will get as far away from people as possible but planes are full, nightclubs can open, why are full, nightclubs can open, why are we not able to do this . It seems ridiculous but it does feel like there is change in the air and we are beginning to hear murmurs and rumours of things afoot. So hopefully thats true. One last question, it is hard if youre not working, you feel as if youre not working, you feel as if you are losing your touch. You have been performing this afternoon, you are lucky, but those who are stuck at home, actors, singers, musicians,
and they are not able to perform for months and months on end. Yeah, there is definitely an element of being out of practice, but let me tell you i am singing a full musical in my house every day, i am trying to keep as fit as possible, using the time to train, and i hope that my fellow colleagues and friends are doing the same thing. All right, good luck to you. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us. Good luck, and lets hope everybody is back on stage very quickly indeed. Lucy is back on stage very quickly indeed. Luchones talking to us from the west end. We were just reporting that sharp rise in the number of coronavirus cases. That number has been updated, we are hearing, on the governors
website, which is what we were quoting from. The department of health has corrected itself. It says that the number was lower than that, 2a20 new cases in the last 2a hour is. Still a relatively high number, a little lower than the last couple of days, which is hovering just below 3000. So around 2500 new cases. That is the sort of figure thatis cases. That is the sort of figure that is concerning government ministers and scientists. The Public Inquiry into the Manchester Arena bombing has been hearing that greater Manchester Police didnt know the Ariana Grande concert was happening. The inquiry was told that British Transport Police were in charge of the arena foyer because it is part of a Train Station complex. They reacted within seconds of the attack. 22 people were killed when salman abedi exploded a bomb in may 2017. Our correspondent fiona trott gave us this update. What we heard is that they declared a Major Incident at wendy 239, but they do not communicate that to greater Manchester Police. At 2239. We also heard that the British Transport Police appointed a tactical commander in birmingham and an operational commander in blackpool on the night of the blast. We heard he took a taxi to manchester, but the hearing heard that by the time he arrived the need foran that by the time he arrived the need for an Immediate Response had long since passed. As for the other Emergency Services, you mentioned greater Manchester Police, operationally did not know that that p0p operationally did not know that that pop concert was taking place that night. The fire brigade, the first fire engine arrived at Manchester Arena two hours and six minutes after the explosion. As for the Ambulance Service, the enquiry heard in the first a0 minutes after the explosion, only one paramedic was
actually at the scene where the bomb went off, and that 2a minutes after the first request, a British Transport Police officer said to control, you are going to hate me, but where are our ambulances, police Gretchen Mike control replied, we dont know, we are calling them again. A teenage boy remains critically ill in hospital after he was shot while walking to school. The 15 year old was on his way to Kesgrave High School near ipswich, in suffolk, when the attack took place yesterday morning. Police have since found a car with a long barrelled firearm inside it. They have arrested a 15 year old boy on suspicion of attempted murder. As brexit negotiations continue, one of the biggest sticking points between the European Union and the uk government is state aid. Thats the Financial Assistance given by government to businesses. Our reality check correspondent, chris morris, has been taking a look at this and other outstanding issues in the negotiations. With time running short, things are coming toa with time running short, things are coming to a head. Of all of the niggling issues that have become stumbling blocks, state aid, the Financial Assistance from government to businesses, is probably the most difficult. The eu is demanding a level Playing Field on state aid, some sort of understanding that the uk will follow the same rules as pa rt uk will follow the same rules as part of a Free Trade Agreement ensure businesses in one country dont gain an unfair advantage over their competitors in another. The eu has softened its demands slightly but still wants strict conditions because the uk is so closely linked to the european economy. It is waiting for the uk to disclose what kind of competition policy it will follow outside of the sigel market. And what kind of system it plans to put in place to resolve disputes in future. The uk says the eu is asking forfar future. The uk says the eu is asking for far too future. The uk says the eu is asking forfar too much, it argues future. The uk says the eu is asking for far too much, it argues that eu negotiators have yet to accept the
full consequences of the uk leaving the eu and soon the Single Market and customs union. The message from london is, we are a sovereign state and will follow our own rules. They say that is basically what brexit is all about, the freedom to choose. That could mean supporting new technology as the economy changes, or helping companies in the former redwall seeds taken from labour in last yea rs redwall seeds taken from labour in last years election. The added complication is Northern Ireland. The Withdrawal Agreement signed last year by the government is now an International Treaty, and it says that eu law on state aid will apply to the uk in relation to the good straight into Northern Ireland. That means the government is obliged to inform the eu of any state aid decisions that affect Northern Ireland. Now the government is suggesting policy that will override
the agreement, potentially breaking International Law, with all that implies was the prime and assesses no trade deal would still be a good outcome and the uk would prosper mightily in his words was many businesses that trade across the board with the eu and have to deal with tariffs, checks and bureaucracy, warned that the consequences would be disastrous. So we are back at deal or no deal in relation to the eu, and no uncertainty on which way it will go. And no certainty. The minister for regional growth and local government, simon clarke, has resigned from government for personal reasons. In a letter to the Prime Minister, mr clarke said i would not have made this decision unless i believed it was of the utmost importance. His resignation comes the same day as that of sirjonathonjones, the governments most senior lawyer. His announcement comes amid suggestions ministers plan to override elements of the brexit Withdrawal Agreement in a new bill. We have just heard from our political reporter, confirming those reports that the governments top lawyer, sirJonathan Jones, reports that the governments top lawyer, sirjonathanjones, who is a permanent secretary, was unhappy with the governments plan for that legislation this week which will clarify parts of the Withdrawal Agreement passed into law last year opposition parties say that the government are effectively undermining or tearing up parts of that Withdrawal Agreement, an International Treaty. SirJonathan Jones is understood to have believed that the governments plans for that legislation go to far in breaching governments obligations under International Law. His tenure was due to end in april, but it is likely he will leave the government earlier than that. A departure date has not yet been agreed with the
cabinet secretary. So that is just in from cabinet secretary. So that is just infrom our cabinet secretary. So that is just in from our political editor, confirming those reports that the governments most senior lawyer, sir jonathanjones, governments most senior lawyer, sir Jonathan Jones, was unhappy governments most senior lawyer, sir jonathanjones, was unhappy with the governments plans to amend the eu Withdrawal Agreement. Nazanin Zaghari Ratcliffe, the british iranian woman jailed in iran, has been told she s to face another trial. She was jailed for five years in 2016 after being convicted of espionage. She has always denied the charges. The uk has also insisted she is innocent. Its not clear what new charge she is facing. Officials in belarus say the opposition leader, Maria Kolesnikova, has been detained at the border with ukraine. Ms kolesnikova was one of three women whojoined forces to challenge incumbent alexander lu kashenko in augusts president ial election. Earlier reports said that ms kolesnikova, who had been bundled into a van
by masked men in minsk on monday, also crossed the frontier into ukraine. But sources in the Ukrainian Border service say only two other opposition politicians, Ivan Kravtsov and Anton Rodnenkov, crossed the border. A report on Belarusian State Television denied opposition accounts of how ms kolesnikova had been taken from the streets. Instead, they said she has been detained whilst trying to cross the border, but ukraines interior Ministry Said it was with the aim of compromising the bela rusian opposition. Earlier we heard from our correspondent, jonah fisher, who gave us a timeline of events over the last 2a hours. Maria kolesnikova was picked up by an unmarked vehicle, by masked men in minsk yesterday, and then overnight she was taken to the border between belarus and ukraine, with two other activists. They were effectively instructed by the authorities
to cross over into ukraine and to go into exile. The two men who were with her went across into ukraine, but something happened at the border, whereby Maria Kolesnikova refused to cross. There are lots of stories here in ukraine circulating that what she did at the border was in fact tear up her passport, to make it impossible for them to send her across into ukraine. So what we understand has happened now is that she is still in belarus, back in detention, back in the custody of the belarus authorities. We will have to wait to see what they decide to do with her. Will it affect the demonstrations we have seen against alexander lu kashenko for the last two weeks since that disputed election . I very much doubt that, because they are extremely decentralised, run by lots of different organisations and groups, and not really by the opposition figures. If anything, it is likely that the targeting of the opposition like this will lead to even greater numbers of people
taking to the streets in belarus. The bela russian opposition candidate for president , svetlana tikhanovskaya, has been speaking to the council of europe about the situation in the country. Shes currently in exile in lithuania, and addresssed the meeting via videolink, outlining the oppressive measures being taken by president lukashenko as he tries to maintain his grip on power. Only yesterday, one of the leaders of the peaceful protests, Maria Kolesnikova, was kidnapped. Also kidnapped were Anton Rodnenkov and Ivan Kravtsov. All of them were members of the team of viktor babaryko, who is injailfor simply daring to run for president. My husband, sergei tikhanovsky, is injailfor the same reason. Sergei dylevsky, jailed. Hundreds of people are jailed, beaten, raped. This should not be the norm in europe. This cant be the norm in the civilised world. The Airline Easyjet says it is expecting to fly fewer passengers because Consumer Confidence has been hit by uk coronavirus quarantine measures. Their comments come after seven greek islands including crete and mykonos were added to the governments list of destinations which will now require a period of self isolation on return to england. Easyjets boss told the bbc the latest change to the quarantine rules, which means islands can be treated differently from their mainland countries if infection rates differ, was too little, too late, as the peak of the Summer Holiday season had passed. The last two journalists working for australian media in china have flown home after a five day diplomatic standoff during which police demanded to interview them. Bill birtles, the Australian Broadcasting corporations correspondent based in beijing, and mike smith, the Australian Financial reviews correspondent based in shanghai, boarded a flight to sydney on monday night. So whats it like when the chinese authorities consider that you may have broken those laws . One of the australian journalists who was involved in this incident is abc correspondent bill birtles heres what he had to say. It was a whirlwind week where, to me, this kind of came out of nowhere. Last monday, i got a call advising me that i needed to leave china immediately. This was the australian officials who had received some sort of warning or advice, they never specified what, but they said, our advice is for you to get out quick smart, which not easy during coronavirus. I had some serious questions about it in the first two days and sure enough at midnight on the wednesday, six state Security Police plus a translator were at my door in beijing, not to detain me, but to inform me that i am involved in a National Security investigation, that there is an exit ban placed on me and im not allowed to leave the country but, curiously, they said, we will give you a call tomorrow afternoon to talk about it. So it didnt seem to have the urgency you would expect when they turn up at your door at midnight. I sought advice from the australian embassy, and they said that i needed to stay in the embassy while they sorted it out. There is not a great deal of trust with china at the moment about how safe i would have been if initially by myself i went and did that meeting. The headlines on bbc news
the Health Secretary says each and every citizen has a responsibility to follow social distancing guidelines as the number of coronavirus cases rise across the country, particularly among young people. Coronavirus restrictions are tightened in bolton, with hospitality venues limited to takeaways only. In scotland, there are now new coronavirus cases reported in all mainland healthboard areas. Strong winds are threatening to hamper the effort to contain more than 20 wildfires in california. More than two million acres across the state have already burned this year, making it the worse season for wildfires since records began. Dozens of houses have been destroyed and thousands of residents have been moved out of their homes. Peter bowes reports from los angeles. Searing heat, tinder dry brush, and now the threat of strong winds,
conditions that are ripe for wildfires to spread rapidly. A perfect storm thats already led to more destruction in 2020, than any other year on record in california. Around the state, more than two dozen wildfires are burning, the so called bobcat fire in the Angeles National forest, near the city of azusa is encroaching on several nearby communities. We have a red flag warning today, and we have santa ana winds predicted for the next two days. So what that means for the public is, we really need you to Pay Attention to any instructions on evacuation, as the fire is likely to move south towards six communities. The sheer number of fires and the intense conditions are stretching the states resources to the limit. It became apparent yesterday, based on the activity going on, not only southern california, but throughout california at large, with a number of incidents that we were gonna be challenged with. Resources to make an aggressive attack, not only through the afternoon, but last night. Thousands of residents in the path of another fire,
which has been raging since saturday, near yucaipa, to the east of los angeles, are on standby to evacuate their homes. Its hard to know what you know, whether were just going to get up and leave. Um, so i really dont know what my future is. Well get through this one day at a time. It could be a long week. Over the next few days, the weather is expected to cool down slightly, but the winds could fan the flames further. This is a relentless california fire season like no other. Peter bowes, bbc news, los angeles. The Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford helped to make sure that thousands of children didnt go hungry over the Summer Holidays, but new figures released today show there is still much work to be done. A survey has revealed that more than six Million People have suffered from a lack of food at some point in the last six months, and marcuss Child Food Poverty Task force is calling for the government to take immediate action. Graham satchell reports. Ive heard some real Horror Stories, for want of a better word, in connection with people going hungry. If i think about my finances, id say its pretty tough. Simone has struggled through lockdown. Money is tight. She is a full time student doing a law degree and a single mum. I buy things that stretch and i buy ingredients that can be versatile and have a long life, like pasta and rice, etc, and meals that stretch over more than one day. Simone is not alone. New figures today from the charity the Food Foundation show 1a of adults living with children said theyd experienced moderate or severe Food Insecurity in the last six months thats a Million People, including 2. 3 million children. They also found 12 of adults living with children said theyd skipped meals because they couldnt afford
food in the last six months. I feel like at times people think that theyre being looked down on if they ask somebody for help, and i think in this generation that we are in, thats one thing that should change. The footballer Marcus Rashfords campaigning over lockdown has put food poverty on the political agenda. Talking openly about his own experiences as a child helped to change government policy. A food Voucher Scheme was extended through the Summer Holiday for those entitled to Free School Meals. Im doing bubble writing. The scheme was a huge benefit to simone and her ten year old son, malachi. It gave her an extra £15 a week to spend at the supermarkets. It was excellent, it was really good, and really easy to put in place. I thought. | was worried i would take it down there and it wouldnt work and that would be quite embarrassing, but, no, very smooth from beginning to end. Were spending more time at home,
so, you know, you are using more resources such as gas and electric, so it kind of eased the worries in connection with the extra expenditure in connection with food. Malachi also hugely appreciative of rashfords campaigning and the Voucher Scheme. I think its great and ive never really experienced anything like not enough food or anything. I think its worked well. For your physical health, to keep in shape, not get fat or not get, like, any diseases and even mentally, if you dont eat well, you could start, like, something could happen, but i think eating healthy and keeping it balanced is a good way to live and, like, right. Come on, get it 0hh Marcus Rashfords food Poverty Task Force now wants Free School Meals to be extended to anyone on universal benefits. The government in westminster says theyve ta ken substantial action to make sure children dont go hungry through the pandemic, and will consider the task
forces recommendations at the next spending review. Simone and malachi are just one mother and son among millions struggling to make ends meet who will be watching government policy closely in the coming months. Graham satchell, bbc news. Italian fashion is famous all over the world, but only one black italian designer enjoys any notable recognition. Now, shes launched a campaign, asking do black lives matter in fashion . Sofia bettiza reports from rome. The changing face of italian fashion. This is the woman behind it. Stella jean mixes italian, african and caribbean styles. Her designs have been worn by celebrities, like beyonce and rihanna. Shes launched a campaign that exposes the stereotypes and racist comments that black Italian Women face every day. Translation growing up black in italy was extremely trying. I have been called many insulting things. Italian fashion has faced criticism for racist imagery. Take this jumper from gucci, or these accessories from prada. Translation suffice to say that im the only member of the italian Fashion Council, out of 113, who is black. My uniqueness is absurd. It is the Fashion Council in italy, along with those in the uk, america and france that dictates what happens in fashion around the world. Out of protest, stella cancelled her show at Milan Fashion Week but asked if she could promote her Antiracism Campaign there instead. I asked for support. From that moment on, the Fashion Council stopped all communications with me and didnt even send me an invite to fashion week. But she says those same fashion brands who had blanked her later rushed to show support for black lives matter on social media. Italys Fashion Council says a lot of its brands are trying hard to be more inclusive but that the government has to drive positive change. Racism in italy is blatant. The problem is that after fascism, italy didnt reckon with the colonial past. And it didnt reckon properly with the massive and rooted heritage that fascism left to this country. Stella is now lending her voice to the black lives matter campaign. Shes urging fashion houses to hire more black people and, as the movement grows, she feels they will now finally have to listen. Sofia bettiza, bbc news, rome. Some amazing wildlife pictures to share with you now from india of a leopardess, who raised four newborn cubs in a farmers shed. When conservationists heard, they set up hidden cameras, and caught the best moments as the big cat family grew up. The leopards stayed in the shelter for six days, waiting for monsoon rains to pass, before eventually taking themselves back into the forest, none the worse for wear. Now its time for a look at the weather. A somewhat brighter day out there compared with yesterday, especially if you are across the eastern side of the uk, where there are some brea ks of the uk, where there are some breaks in the cloud to be had. We have seen some sunshine in
north east england so far today, eastern scotland as well. You can see on the picture, yesterday it was pretty much cloud across the uk, and there are some breaks to be had mainly across the eastern side. We are in this gap between this one front and this cold front on the big picture here, and whenever you see Something Like that you know there isa Something Like that you know there is a lot of moist air out there, you can expect a lot of cloud but it is likely to be warm. That is exacting what we have for the rest of the day. While many places are dry, you could encounter some light rain and drizzle, some heavier rain coming into north west scotland later. Out of sunshine, many of us creep into the low 20s, but parts of Eastern England could be closer to 25 celsius given any prolonged sunshine. Tonight, rain across scotla nd sunshine. Tonight, rain across scotland and Northern Ireland, reaching parts of Northern England and north wales late in the night. What will be another warm night, particularly through england and wales. 16 degrees for some of us as
we start the day tomorrow. This area cloud with not much rain left on it will work further south to england and wales as the day goes on, clearing southern parts as we get into the evening. Brightening up behind it with a decent amount of sunshine to become some scattered showers running across northern scotla nd showers running across northern scotland on the strong breeze was top a north westerly breeze, so a cooler direction. Without we get some sunshine coming back more widely tomorrow, temperatures tend to be the mid to upper teens put up just some spots in southern england in the low 20s was not thursday is a much cooler start to the day, a bridge of High Pressure around, increasing cloud will come our way particular in the west and we will see some further outbreak to rain reaching into north west scotland. Most of us on thursday, the ten bridges in the teens. This area of low pressure will bring heavier rain towards scotland on friday, with a strong wind as well post we will see some rain pushing down across Northern Ireland. Further weather
systems into scotland over the weekend, the wettest and windiest further north. Some rain reaching Northern Ireland, but many of us over the weekend see a warmer trend beginning. This is bbc news. Im ben brown. The headlines. The Health Secretary says every citizen has a responsibility to follow social distancing guidelines, as coronavirus cases rise across the country particularly among young people. This particularly among young people. Must be a mom us this must be a moment of clarity for us all. This is not over. Just because we have come through one peak, it doesnt mean we cant see another one coming towards our shores. Coronavirus restrictions are tightened in bolton, with hospitality venues limited to takeaways only. In scotland, there are now new cornavirus cases reported in all mainland healthboard areas. Coronavirus. The Northern Ireland secretary admits a new bill to amend the uks