This is bbc news. The headlines at seven. The government signals that families could be allowed to celebrate christmas together in what it calls a limited and cautious way. But how many can meet and for how long is still being decided, as the options are considered. We have to find a balance, i guess, between covid restrictions and the well being and Mental Health of our nations. The head of the us Coronavirus Programme says he hopes the First Americans will be vaccinated in december, as the country passes 12 million confirmed cases. At the end of the virtual 620 summit, leaders of the worlds richest nations call for the vaccine to be made affordable so poorer countries dont get left behind. The nhs in england is set to get an extra £3 billion,
but the chancellor warns of tough times ahead for the economy because of the pandemic. And coming up on sportsday everton end a run of three straight defeats with a 2 3 win away to fulham. Good evening. Families will be allowed to celebrate christmas together in what the government is calling a limited and cautious way, it confirmed this afternoon. The Prime Minister and the leaders of the devolved nations are finalising the details of a joint approach, allowing different households to travel and meet but how many, and for how long is still being discussed. England is still to emerge from lockdown on december second, and will then face a tougher tiered system of restrictions. Heres our deputy Political Editor vicki young. Christmas cheer, but not too much. The Prime Minister has warned us that the Festive Season will not be normal, but across the four nations of the uk, they have been trying to come up with a joint set of rules, allowing families and friends to meet up. It is not quite finalised, but in a statement, the Cabinet Office said there was a shared objective to allow some limited additional household bubbling for a small number of days. But the public will be advised to remain cautious and, wherever possible, people should avoid travelling and minimise social contact. But it is notjust christmas that ministers in england have to think about. Before that, on december the 2nd, National Restrictions will end, but with coronavirus still spreading, many measures will have to stay in place. We will be going back into a more localised approach, a tiered system, which i think is enormously welcome. A tougher tiered system . Yes, and i think what people should realise is we learn more as we go through this crisis and as we get more data, more information, we can see what works well, what does not, and then essentially evolve our response to ensure it is effective as it can be. After complaints from many scientists, the new tiers will be tougher than before, and more areas will be in the higher levels to keep the virus under control. But 70 of borisjohnsons own mps have written to tell him they will not vote for the system unless they see evidence it will save more lives than it costs. Labour want clarity as soon as possible. You cannotjust open a restaurant, open by a bar, start brewing beer, getting ready for after a National Lockdown overnight. You need some notice of that. And all of us, from andy burnham, everybody else, members
of the public, we need a clear understanding about what about what the criteria are going to be. Across the uk, the rules on households mixing will be relaxed for christmas. Shoppers in london are giving that a cautious welcome. Ifeel ecstatic because i miss my friends, i miss my family, so any opportunity will be so welcome. Covid doesnt know its christmas, so even if we couldnt, i would be ok with not celebrating it if it meant saving more peoples lives. I think it will be important to see what the levels are like before christmas, but the idea of being able to celebrate with family is obviously really nice. But the risks from covid havent gone away. Celebrations at christmas could be followed by many more weeks of hardship. With me now is our deputy Political Editor vicki young. These discussions, as far as we know, are still ongoing. There are two things here in the cabinet is talking more about those english
tiers and that is pretty controversial. Lots of conservative mps do not think things should be tightened. They are called for the opposite. They have clearly said, 70 of them, that they will not back it at less the government comes up with some written analysis of what it means. They are worried about not just covid deaths, but other consequences of that, and we have seen that in terms of waiting lists on the nhs for other illnesses. There is some backlash from a sizeable number of conservative mps. They will be a vote in the commons over this and it could be Boris Johnson relies on labour vote if they vote for these tiered restrictions. They have up until now voted for tighter restrictions so you imagine this will be the case. We know on the 3rd of december, wanting and comes out of National Restrictions, it will be a tighter tiered system. We do not know what it will be yet, but tear one, the government scientists have complained that it had no effect
whatsoever. We also know they will be more areas of england put into those higher tiers. It is too early to celebrate the end of what we have been calling lockdown. As far as christmas is concerned, still very much up to negotiations between the government in westminster and the devolved administrations. Yes, for obvious reasons they wanted to be a four nation approach. It is much easier given there has been a lot of complaints about the confusion about all these rules, if they can at least try and adopt something together. I think they have today said that they do agree that there will be a relaxed asian and the mixing of households will be. There will be a relaxation. 0ne mixing of households will be. There will be a relaxation. One idea suggested yesterday that there could be three households mixing indoors. That has not been signed off and it raises questions. Does it include
the time it takes to get from devon to scotland 7 that the time it takes to get from devon to scotland . That is a days travelling in itself. Plus, if you haveit travelling in itself. Plus, if you have it as five days, people will then be going on the trains, the roads, at the same time, crowding and then going against what they are trying to achieve. It is fraught with difficulty. The government scientists would rather, lets face it, it was not happening at all, they are concerned this will mean more infections and inevitably more deaths. One more thing we have to look at this week is the chancellors Spending Review. He has given some interesting signals today about, for example, not looking at tax rises, more money for the nhs. Is the message, we will not worry about the orange until were well past the crisis, both and health until. Not worry about the borrowing until were well past the crisis. He will surely plan for how
things will get back onto. The hint is he will not have to actually implement tax rises yet but they will be coming. What is still up for negotiation is when they decide to do it. The electoral cycle comes into this and some are saying, it is better to do that now, so having been the chancellor who has been throwing money around and being incredibly popular, lots of people say that because of it, that will actually mean he has to do the opposite. When is best to do that . For the conservative party, notjust before a general election. And on whom it falls and when it falls is going to be extremely throat. I think he is very much aware of all of that. Extremely throat. He said that whatever it takes, he will still continue to do that, particularly funding the nhs. Thank you very much. What is the impact of the return to the tiered system in england and tier systems being
tougher when lockdown ends in england . And which areas of the country are likely to return to the tightest levels of restrictions . Our Health CorrespondentDominic Hughes reports from west yorkshire. Its a busy sunday in Hebden Bridge in west yorkshire. Those who could were making the most of the chance to get out and about. But even as the Christmas Decorations are given a final touch, for some businesses, the days to come are filled with uncertainty. This place is my baby. I am worried we will not make it through lockdown. We cant plan anything, we cant think ahead about, all right, maybe in two weeks time, lockdown could be lifted, but there is also the chance it might not be. Before this latest lockdown, the local council, calderdale, was poised to enter tier 3. But Covid Infection rates have stayed stubbornly high. So what is the right thing to do over christmas . I mean, look around you. You know, this is a market that, in a time of lockdown, people are desperate for connection, people want to be out meeting each other. And we have to find a balance, i guess. We have to find a balance between the Mental Health and well being and that of our nations. Ultimately, we have got to look at the bigger picture. Its very easy to focus on christmas as the big family thing, and it is, but one christmas might not have as big a deal for less christmases in the future for some members of our families. This map shows the areas with the highest rates of covid i9 infections. In england, parts of the northwest and northeast, east and west yorkshire, North Lincolnshire and the east midlands could well find themselves back in tier 3. Meanwhile, parts of west and Central Scotland are already in the countrys highest level of restrictions until december the 11th. And Northern Ireland is facing another two weeks of lockdown from friday, having just reopened some services. It is the pressure that hospitals like this one that are under that is the real source of concern. They are busy now, i am told, then they were
during the first surge of covid in the spring. There are now concerns about the advice for people over christmas. I would like to see the right advice being made based on the signs. I think people can get together at christmas if they stick rigidly to what is being recommended right now. I worry about people bridging recommendations and being in itfor bridging recommendations and being in it for the long haul. The uk government is in talks with the administrations in scotland, wales and Northern Ireland to try to agree a unified approach to covid restrictions over christmas. But many families will be determined to get together over christmas, whatever the government says. Dominic hughes, bbc news. The latest government figures show there were 18,662 new Coronavirus Infections recorded in the latest 24 hour period. The average number of new cases reported per day in the last week is now 20,390. Just over 1700 people have been admitted to hospital on average each day over the week to last friday. 398 deaths were reported, thats people who died within 28 days of a positive covid i9 test. It means on average in the past week, a42 deaths were announced every day. It takes the total number of deaths so far across the uk to 55,024. And well find out how this story, and many others, are covering in tomorrows front pages at 10 30 and 11 30 this evening in the papers our guests joining me tonight are john rentoul, chief political commentator for the independent and sam lister, deputy Political Editor at the daily express. I hope youll stay us for that on abc news. Bbc news. Bbc news. Chancellor rishi sunak is set to announce an extra £3 billion of funding for the nhs next week, but has warned of tough times ahead for the economy. Despite the boost to the health service, due to be pledged in the Spending Review on wednesday, today the chancellor said the impact of coronavirus on the economy must eventually be paid for. Public sector debt currently stands at over £2 trillion. The chancellor told andrew marr that the high level of spending was justified. Now is the right time to focus on responding to the crisis, and that means, yes, we will be borrowing, quite frankly, an enormous sum this year to help us do that, but that is the right thing to do for the Long Term Health of the economy and public finances. And we are doing that to protect peoples jobs, their livelihoods, support businesses, as weve talked about, but also provide the funds necessary to fight coronavirus, and that will be at the centre of the Spending Review next week. Well be providing those funds, whether its for testing, for vaccines, for the nhs, and thats the right thing to do now, and that is an approach thats been endorsed by the imf, the 0br, the bank of england and others. Our business correspondent, katy austin, said the chancellor faces a difficult a challenge in balancing the competing demands of spending to tackle coronavirus and how the borrowing will be paid for. What we have got here is these two sort of competing realities, if you like, where in the immediate term you have the chancellor saying, look, we still need to be putting the money up to notjust fight coronavirus, but to support businesses, protectjobs through it. And also, we need to invest in the future, we need to be thinking about the money we will put towards these big Infrastructure Projects that will benefit the economy in the long term, enable a bigger recovery, if you like. The government likes to say, build back better. That is one of their slogans around this. There is that aim that we need to be spending on important things,
but there is just this reality that borrowing has got so high and the chancellor has talked about the need to make it more sustainable and make the public finances more sustainable. How might he do that . That is exactly the big question. He seems to be saying in interviews today we will not go to austerity this week, that is not how we will approach it in the immediate term. There has also been speculation about tax rises. Again, the chancellor has been signalling it is not the time for that, at least not now. That is, really, the big debate now there is going to have to be some sort of action to raise money. The question is how soon you can do that without it being counter productive and preventing a recovery. It is now 7 15pm. The headlines. The government signals that families will be allowed to celebrate christmas together in what it calls a limited
and cautious way. But how many can meet and for how long is still being decided, as the options are considered. The us hopes to start vaccinating people against coronavirus in fewer than three weeks, as the country passes 12 million confirmed infections. At the end of the virtual g20 summit, leaders of the worlds richest nations have called for the vaccine to be made affordable so poorer countries dont get left behind. The United States could start the first coronavirus immunisations as soon as 11th of december, according to the head of the us governments covid 19 vaccine programme. The us food and Drug Administration is due to meet to consider emergency approval for two vaccines from pfizer and moderna on december the 10th. Dr Moncef Slaoui said the vaccines could swiftly shipped out within 2a hours of after that. The us is battling with a surge in cases, with infections now totalling more than 12 million. Lebo diseko is in washington. This is some good news against the backdrop of a frankly worsening situation in the United States. Backdrop of a frankly worsening situation in the United Statesm is certainly encouraging, but asjoe bidens team have pointed out, the bulk of the vaccination process, if in back these two vaccines do clear that fda approval, will take place under the biden administration. At the moment, because the trump team refused to recognise that there is a transition taking place, they do not have access to the type of people need to speak to, they cannot begin these discussions around what the plan is to roll out this vaccine. A Senior Adviser to the biden team, she is also Kamala Harriss spokesperson, says that every Single Person there is a delay in
ascertainment, the formal signing off of the transition, puts the effective distribution of the vaccination in danger. That is something joe biden has set himself. He said a few days ago that lives we re he said a few days ago that lives were at risk, really, because they cannot speak to the people they need to about this roll out. Joe biden has said that himself. One thing that dr Moncef Slaoui was warning about was that the number of people who were vaccine sceptics, reluctant to have the vaccines. Looking at surveys , to have the vaccines. Looking at surveys, it has fallen slightly, but one infour surveys, it has fallen slightly, but one in four people are saying they would refuse the vaccine even if offered to them, as the biden team are saying it will be, free of charge. I was really interested to and see dr Moncef Slaoui at the has been no that dr Moncef Slaoui had said there was no political interference. That goes to show
where we are, people do not trust the administration or the process. They perhaps feel that the current president may have lent on the medical teams to try and find a vaccine quicker than might be do so. That was underscored by doctor anthony voucher, also speaking this morning saying, look, we need people to ta ke morning saying, look, we need people to take up this vaccine because there is no point having a vaccine thatis there is no point having a vaccine that is more than 90 effective if you dont have the 70 take up you need for herd immunity. Underscored by doctor anthony found g. You talk about president trumps resista nce g. You talk about president trumps resistance to leaving office. He spoke on sunday despite the legal loss in pennsylvania. Why the resistance . There are certified results. You are asking something many are. Perhaps the answer is in
rudy giulianis response to the scathing write up from the judge on that decision who basically called ita that decision who basically called it a frankensteins monster. He said it a frankensteins monster. He said it has been haphazardly stitched together and has a strained legal arguments without merit and with speculative accusations. Rudy giuliani said this brings closer to what they wanted to do, which was to bring this in front of the supreme court. Many suspected that this was the overall goal of the trump team, to bring this in front of the supreme court. From washington, it is clearly not over yet, thanks very much. Leaders of the worlds biggest economies have ended the g20 Virtual Summit with a pledge to make coronavirus Vaccines Available to everyone and support the economies of debt ridden poor countries. In a final communique, they said they were determined to support african countries in overcoming the coronavirus crisis, with strategies such as debt relief for the continents poorest countries. 0ur chief International Correspondent is in the saudi
capital of riyadh for us. I think, really, the top item, its been this way from the beginning in all of the statements and conversations here, its about tackling the Global Pandemic that has forced even the worlds most powerful leaders to meet online, staying at their own tables in their homes and offices wherever they live. But also the Global Pandemic, which is affecting countries around the world affecting the health and the wealth of countries. There has been a constant mantra no one is safe until everyone is safe. The communique stresses their commitment of all the g20 leaders to affordable and equitable access to vaccines for all, and also to diagnostics and to therapeutics. They say they have secured the immediate financing needed to close some of the gaps in the main initiatives that will ensure the vaccines are distributed. A little short on the detail
of where the money will actually come from, but emmanuel macron, the french president , was clear. He said, our response to this coronavirus pandemic will be a test of our g20 organisation. Saudi arabia have been very excited about hosting this. Of course, as we know, its virtual. Ijust wonder, because of the virtual nature, how much of the criticism that the rest of the world of saudi arabia on issues like womens rights, human rights, the killing of Jamal Khashoggi how much of that has been diluted by not having World Leaders physically there . It certainly did not erase the criticism. Everything went online, in the same way this was an online summit. Human Rights Groups staged what they described as an online counter summit with a lot more videos, attempts to hijack the hashtag g20saudiarabia. There were even photographs projected of the three most famous female saudi dissidents who are languishing behind bars on the walls of the Louvre Museum in paris. The activists, the human Rights Groups, the European Parliament who called for a boycott they tried to shine a harsh light on this summit. But of course, here in riyadh and in other capitals around the world, the issue of human rights was not on the agenda. Womens empowerment was, youth engagement, lots of other values that the world would aspire to, but leaders of the g20 say questions like human rights are things we deal with bilaterally, quietly. None of them heeded the calls to boycott this major gathering, whether it is online or in person. Do you get any sense of anxiety, trepidation, about the change
in leadership in the United States . We put this question to a number of senior Saudi Arabian officials, including the minister of Foreign Affairs and to the minister of investment, and the response is the same. There is a 75 year old strategic relationship between saudi arabia and the United States. When we point out thatjoe biden, during his election campaign, talked about the kingdom as a pariah, emphasising human rights, they shoot back and say, donald trump said terrible things about us during the campaign and talked about making us pay for whatever we gained in the relationship. At least in public, they are taking a very confident line, because they are the worlds top oil exporters, they are a major Strategic Partner in this region. They know the United States needs them in terms of counterterrorism,
trying to end endless wars in places like yemen, so they are confident that the need for them is greater than the criticism of them. Lets see how it works out in that balance. A search for two missing fishermen whose boat sank off the sussex coast has been called off this afternoon. The alarm was raised when thejoanna c got into trouble just before six oclock on saturday morning. 0ne crew member was rescued from the water several hours later but despite extensive searches, the others havent been found. John ayres reports from brixham. The search began again today at first light. This time the focus was the eastbourne area. This all started yesterday when the coast guard responded to an emergency beacon three nautical miles from seaford near newhaven. One person from thejoanna c was picked up clinging to a buoy. Two more crew are still missing. Yesterday we had shock, we had hope, and we had prayers, and today we have the reality of still trying to search for them but the reality that we might not see them again. And the pain is awful. The pain is for everybody, not just the fishing community. We all feel it in a tight Community Like brixham. Despite extensive efforts, the search was called off today at 2 30pm. You are looking for somebodys loved one, somebodys father, son, grandson or whatever. It is a very difficult decision to make and it is something we do not take very lightly. All through the day, the brixham community has been laying flowers and candles at the man and boy statue that honours those who risk their lives at sea. I looked out of the window late last night and all you could see was lights, and i was trying to work out what it was, and it was all the candles in the windows. And, yes, the community
spirit at the moment is absolutely incredible. The Fishermans Mission helps families in their time of crisis. A gofundme page has been set up in support. I would ask that the community of brixham, and around the uk as well, pray for those families that have been affected by this really, really sad incident at sea. Brixham is a very close knit community. The pain is being felt by everyone. The candles are being lit again this evening. Police are investigating a violent disturbance that took place in the centre of cardiff last night. Four people remain in hospital with serious but not life threatening injuries. Three of the injured are thought to have stab wounds. Four teenagers have been arrested on suspicion of violent disorder. Latex gloves have been a life saver during this pandemic. But they also pose a serious environmental problem. Standard latex takes around 100 years to decompose. Now a team of scientists believe they have come
up with a solution, as our science correspondent Richard Westcott reports. The world pulls on 150 billion pairs of protective latex gloves every year. Most are synthetic and end up in landfill for decades. Its a huge environmental problem and covids making it worse, which is why scientists at cra nfield university in bedfordshire are developing a new type of natural latex thats better for the planet. This is synthetic latex. Made from petroleum, it biodegrades in about 100 years. This is natural latex from rubber trees, still hangs around for a couple of years. This is the new kind of rubber latex theyre developing in this lab, and they say it could biodegrade in a matter of weeks. Its a version of natural latex, but without the allergens so people wont be allergic to them. Theyll also be much quicker to make, but the biggest benefit could be to our carbon footprint. There is a fantastic opportunity, richard. If we go into natural latex, which is produced by rubber trees, from carbon dioxide, water and sun energy, we will be able to have a real impact on the environment. Approximately 50 of the excessive carbon, atmospheric carbon, could be turned into rubber gloves. Thats staggering, thats a staggering figure. Half of the excess carbon potentially taken out of the atmosphere if we just swapped over to these gloves . Yes, but we would have to turn it into Natural Rubber gloves, and that means quite a lot of latex to produce and deliver from the plantations. The project is funded by a big medical company about to start producing the new gloves in malaysia. It had hoped to open a uk factory next year. Banksys mural in nottinghams lenton area has caused quite a stir over the past month or so, but as of this weekend, a new mystery surrounds the artwork. This is what the mural of a little girl and a hoolahoop looked like until yesterday but now, it looks like this. The broken bike tied to a post in front of the wall has disappeared. So far its not known whether it was stolen or simply removed for artistic reasons. If we hear, we will let you know. Now its time for a look at the weather with ben rich. Good evening. Most of us got to see at least some brightness today. That translates into clear spells overnight, allowing it to get quite chilly, a touch of frost in a few places. Still some cloud across the far south of england and certainly the channel islands. Still the odd spot of rain here, and we will see cloud thickening across Northern Ireland and western scotland later in the night. A stronger breeze here, so its not going to get quite as chilly. The lowest temperature to be found
across the eastern areas,