this is bbc news. the headlines: eleven council areas will be placed under scotland's toughest coronavirus restrictions for a three week period from 6pm on friday. our would inject it —— objective in taking this action now is to protect the nhs and create the prospect of seeing some of the one at christmas and completing the journey to next spring with as few restrictions as possible and with the minimum impact of life and health. the health secretary says he can't confirm which restrictions will be in place once the lockdown in england ends at the beginning of next month, amid reports the tier system could be strengthened. mr speaker it is too early to do the analysis that the honourable gentleman requests but of course we remain
vigilant. well soon he has to make a decision on the future of the lockdown so the earlier we get that information the better. a decision is expected soon as members of labour's ruling national executive meet to consider jeremy corbyn‘s suspension from the party last month. a bbc investigation into the awarding of ppe government contracts shows 21 million pounds of taxpayers money was paid in "consulting fees" to a recently—formed firm in miami, florida. anger as borisjohnson describes devolution as a "disaster" in scotland — and tony blair's biggest mistake. and — lewis hamilton speaks of his continuing fight against racism in formula one.
good afternoon. the scottish government is imposing level 4 coronavirus restrictions across large areas of the country where infection rates remain stubbornly high. scotland's first minister, nicola sturgeon, said she hoped the strict measures would be in force for a limited time. moving to level 4 from six on friday evening, the 11 councils of glasgow, renfrewshire and east renfrewshire, west and east dunbartonshire, north and south lanarkshire, east and south ayrshire, stirling and west lothian. these restrictions are almost as severe as the second national lockdown in england. non—essentialshops, bars, restaurants, hairdressers and visitor attractions will close. a ban on non—essential travel also applies but schools, nurseries and essential shops can stay open. here's the first minister speaking earlier this afternoon. in all of these areas there are grounds for concern.
in the seven days up to friday scotland, as a whole had just over 140 new cases of coronavirus per 100,000 people. all of the areas moving to level four are above that level, ranging from west lothian with a rate of 158 cases per 100,000 to glasgow with 277. test positivity for all of these areas with the exception of west dunbartonshire was also above the average. stirling has experienced a particularly sharp increase in cases over the past week. while some of that can be attributed to specific outbreaks, there is also a level of community transmission there that must be tackled. in the other areas, infection rates have stabilised or even slightly fallen as a result of level three measures, however, and this is the key point, the infection rate in all of these areas remains stubbornly high. at these levels we simply do not have the assurance we need that
hospital and icu services will be able to cope as we go deeper into the winter. pressure on hospitals in these areas and on those who work in them is already severe and with the additional pressure that the coming weeks may bring, it could easily become intolerable. further, at these levels we would not have the flexibility we need to ease restrictions for christmas, which in common with the other uk nations we so desperately want to do. the clear advice of our public health experts is that we must drive infection rates down further in these areas and they are not confident that level three restrictions will do this to the extent necessary. that is why reluctantly we have taken the decision to place these areas into level four for a limited period. in response — the scottish conservatives holyrood leader, ruth davidson acknowledged that the increased restrictions were necessary, but that the announcement was a further ‘hammer—blow‘ to many businesses in the run—up to christmas.
we all appreciate there are no guarantees in a situation like this, but if the evidence points to an essential calculation that accepting three weeks of level four restrictions for those authorities affected in order to win a more general easing of restriction over the christmas period, then that is, with regret, a judgement we will take at face value. the need to get through the next few months is all the more important with the enormously encouraging news that vaccines are now a real prospect. but whatever the promise of an eventual vaccination programme, today will come as a hammer blow for thousands of small businesses who have been trying to survive the spring lockdown and autumn restrictions, only to be faced again now with a further period of closure. sustained government support will be critical for their survival and we have seen concerns from businesses, concerns we expect
ministers to address head—on. joining us now is the deputy leader of north lanarkshire council paul kelly. 0ne one of the council areas with these new restrictions. do you support what the first minister was saying with coronavirus levels stubbornly and worryingly high and there is no choice really but to impose these restrictions. first of all we have to thank those who have stopped and we had seen a reduction in the average is per hundred thousand on cell thank you to them for doing that. 0bviously cell thank you to them for doing that. obviously the first minister's outlined concerns the hospital admission acu rates becoming very high over the coming weeks so we expect that as we go into level four and we want to work with the government with what that means. what would it mean for businesses in
your area? we were listening to davidson saying it is a hammer blow for businesses across scotland. davidson saying it is a hammer blow for businesses across scotlandm is devastating for businesses and nonessential shops. setting to customers which is a current period for them and supply will be a scene from the government to support these businesses there's also individuals and be with you number of individuals potentially lose their employment and see themselves going into poverty and really struggle with their own welfare and survival so we with their own welfare and survival so we need as much weight as we can to separate these individuals and that means that government needs to give us that as a point in terms of financial packages available. what sort of better support are you looking for? what sort of financial packages are you looking for specifically to help those businesses that frankly, could go out of business very soon?” businesses that frankly, could go out of business very soon? i think that figures announced by the first minister when we first found out by watching first of all apes are far
better consultation with local authorities and we are partners with nhs and commitment to fight the pandemic and support the residence so pandemic and support the residence so they had spoken to us and outline serious concerns among businesses and tell us what they need and concerns on residence. we are seeing numbers of residents who are struggling with the current situation and that would only get worse and as a console we have to do all we can to support them and that isa all we can to support them and that is a situation we are facing but we think the government needs to go further and look into how that dialogue in the coming days will offer support. do you think there are businesses in your area that are going to shots with these restrictions that will never be open? absolutely. there is no doubt about it and i think that is the difference between the first minister and prime minister etc and the reality of the small businesses and the impact it has and there is other harms that come notjust from covid—19 but harms that come from losing employment and the anxiety and the lockdown measures is in almost every residential be severely
impacted by these lockdown measures. as much as we support them he wants to make sure we can reassure them and support them and offers an app —— financial support to get everybody through this difficult period. we are grateful to you for your time. david lonsdale is director of the scottish retail consortium, hejoins me from stirling. we were just talking about the impact on businesses, give us the picture across scotland. ruth davidson as i mentioned calling it a hammer blow for businesses. is that how you see it? very much so. it has been a tough year for me to, if it falls down about a third, i vacancies are a five—year high and really since the start of the pandemic in the spring, we can't in scotla nd pandemic in the spring, we can't in scotland have lost about two and a half billion of retail revenues and we estimate that this decision will
cost retailers who are affected in scotla nd cost retailers who are affected in scotland over the next three weeks £90 million of lost revenue each and every week. as you say, three weeks, the hope is that then businesses can reopen ahead of christmas, the preshow christmas trading period. how important is it that they can trade before christmas? absolutely vital. he shops that are closing our so—called nonessential shops and buy many of them this is actually their key trading period of the year. november, december account for about a faith of annual retail spending in scotla nd a faith of annual retail spending in scotland and the money and the revenue they generate now in the coming weeks, is money that often tides them over the period of the winter months post—christmas as well so it's absolutely critical that period of the year for retailers in scotland. so that period of a few weeks would normally be a few weeks will be reduced injust a weeks would normally be a few weeks will be reduced in just a few days before christmas. that is right. we
have been trying to encourage people to shop early christmas for a variety of reasons, primarily to do lace same shopping in times of customers but also staff as well but we do not appreciate it and have a lockdown was on the cards are busy until the last few days but that's going to mean that the period after this lockdown is even more critical for retailers. not everyone, of course has an online presence as well but those will be sorely tested over the days ahead. in terms of government help for businesses that are in serious trouble, is there anything else you would like the scottish government to be doing that he is not doing now?|j scottish government to be doing that he is not doing now? i think we are realistic, the loss of £90 million or so of revenue each and every week thatis or so of revenue each and every week that is unlikely to be and that government is unlikely to make good on that. the grounds that are on offer are barely scratch the surface
offer are barely scratch the surface of what is required. yes, there is for no money and that is an option for no money and that is an option for companies to put staff on parallel but they have rank and other employee related costs, with the employer and so on so it's a very difficult time a busy money has been announced today to go through councils but we need to see the detail of that over the coming days. how much support do you think there is for what nicola sturgeon has announced today. amongst businesses, shops and so on, the beast businesses that are under such dire threats, do they understand the scientific need for what's she's announced or are they pretty hostile to it? i think most people are 10096 to it? i think most people are 100% behind the effort to get on top of the virus and to bring down the r number. a challenge for me to and of course is that public health advises ata uk course is that public health advises at a uk level and also the
equivalent in wales would advise the welsh government. of course actually closing nonessential shops in this country would have very minimal impact on the transmission of the coronavirus so it's very frustrating and there are clearly issues and we totally get the ministers have to get on top of the situation but it seems we are as an industry in the firing line despite all the great effo rts firing line despite all the great efforts and investment retailers have put in and reestimate retailers in scotland spent about a0 through £45 in scotland spent about a0 through £a5 million thus far on physical distancing and hygiene measures. good to talk to you and good luck with all of your endeavours. i know it isa with all of your endeavours. i know it is a really tough time on the scottish retail consortium. england's lockdown is supposed to end in just two and a half weeks time but in the house of commons the health secretary couldn't
give any guarantees. this comes as some health experts are arguing for tougher tiers to be introduced in england. our health correspondent anna collinson reports. in just seven days, two potential coronavirus vaccines have provided real hope of normality returning. both the moderna and pfizer vaccines have yet to be approved but millions of doses have been ordered and stjohn ambulance says its volunteers will support the nhs when it is time. we will train, first of all, our 10,000 already trained clinical volunteers, they will have additional training to go into service in a vaccination programme. and then we will move on to recruiting volunteers from outside of stjohn ambulance, from a range of other voluntary organisations, making sure they have the requisite skills to function in a vaccination centre. the most at risk of the virus will be first in line to receive a vaccine, starting with those who live and work in care homes. but a vaccine is a way off yet and we still have winter to get through. with england's lockdown due to end on 2nd of december,
there are calls for the covid tier system to be strengthened. currently there are three levels, the medium level is the base where there is a rule of six and 10pm hospitality curfew. high alert is next, meaning no mixing of households indoors and the rule of six applies outdoors. the most severe level is very high, which means no mixing of households indoors or outdoors. pubs and bars are closed unless they provide a substantial meal. it is claimed tier1 had very little effect on reducing transmission, while the creation of a new tier a has been suggested. the health secretary says the measures are being reviewed but it's too early to see how they will proceed. but labour wants answers. can he confirm that it is the government's intention to impose tougher restrictions on tier1 areas post lockdown? mr speaker, it is too early to do the analysis that the honourable gentleman requests, but of course, we remain vigilant.
well, soon he has to make a decision on the future of the lockdown so the earlier we get that information, the better. excess deaths are the difference between those seen this year and what we would expect based on the past five years. latest figures show there have been more than 70,000 to the pandemic started. this graph shows a huge spike in the number of deaths during the first wave, and the numbers are starting to rise again. winter is always a difficult time for the nhs, with fears of staff burn out the government is desperate to minimise the damaging impact of covid. unfortunately i have been in a position where i have actually lost colleagues this year to covid—19. for myself personally, i have been in a situation where i have been treating some of the illest patients with covid—19 on covid wards and in emergency medicine on the front line. you do wonder, could this be you next? while england waits for a vaccine and new restrictions, one thing that is certain is december will be different this year.
anna collinson, bbc news. police chiefs in england and wales have suspended the use of £10,000 fixed penalties for breaches of covid rules on gatherings of more than 30 people. the national police chief's council says forces should instead issue court summons to rulebreakers. let's get more on this with our correspondent phil mackie. is this about fairness? absolutely. this emerged today at a meeting of the west midlands panel and it came from the commissioner who asked the question of the chief constable about guidance that was issued last friday. about police forces should be giving the £10,000 fine for people who are in breach of regulations and they should in fact be invited to go to court and that
is because it can only pay that £10,000 fine but if you go to court you may end up paying less if the court accesses that your means are such but i can think of at least of a couple of examples in nottingham where students were fined £10,000 for having illegal parties during the lockdown and it may be that their parents have upped the money and they were paying stuff they would not have £10,000 but this would not have £10,000 but this would be a more fair system. what it does not tell us is what's going to haveit does not tell us is what's going to have it —— i think the people who already paid that money. could they launch legal action and go back to the courts and have the spines reduced? a campaign group is planning to take legal action against the government over the awarding of contracts for nhs personal protective equipment to a recently formed miami firm. court documents in florida — which have been seen by bbc news — reveal that as part
of the contract, 21 million pounds of taxpayers money was paid in "consulting fees" to a go—between in spain. our special correspondent, lucy manning joins me now. it all starts in miami with a designerjewellery it all starts in miami with a designer jewellery company some distance away from britain's covid—19 crisis and the desire to get ppe into the front line. but the man who owns thatjewellery company, michael decided that during the crisis that hit with covid—19 he was going to try and use his chinese contacts and source ppe. and these newly formed company was given a government contract. he did not know exactly how much because they details have not been published but his company appeared to get at least £200 million from the uk government to provide things like masks and gowns and gloves. now he brought
another businessman on board to help deliver these goods and help source the products to find a manufacturer is to help with the logistics id was a spanish businessman called gabriel anderson and mr anderson it's revealed in quite the praise was actually getting a very large consulting fee on this. quite papers we have seen show that he delivered two contracts and got from the american company $28 million. that is around £21 million for helping to deliver this contract. and they talked about the uk contracts being lucrative ones that he was doing very well out of this and the court documents also reveal in miami that there were three new contracts that there were three new contracts that the uk government signed and if they had been delivered by mr anderson was in line for another $20 million and that is around 50 million —— £50
million. so the questions being asked about the amount of money that government is paying contracts if this ability to be a minister making these enormous sums. it's important to say he did not get involved with a spinal contract so he did not get a spinal contract so he did not get a second amounts but he certainly got the first amount. —— the final contract. we talked to the executive director of the national care for him and he joins us now. thank you for being with us. tell us about how care staff have coped with these covid—19 crisis for so many months. it is really good that health and care select committee where focusing on burn—out and including social care staff in that because they have enormous amounts of pressure on them
during the covid—19 crisis and of course it's important to remember that they did not go into this crisis without some of those levels of stress and burn—out already. there have been previous research that showed that the impacts are up to 79% of staff felt they had burn—out at some level already going in. the things that work —— work creating big precious by the staff during this period where all of those pressures that we have become very familiar with and talking through his self there are things in relation to the emotional support that they need to provide both to those who they were caring for and theirfamilies. we those who they were caring for and their families. we know those who they were caring for and theirfamilies. we know very those who they were caring for and their families. we know very sadly that early on in the pandemic they we re that early on in the pandemic they were large numbers of them and care homes so huge amounts of stress incurred in providing that support for end—of—life care and they would normally be able to do that in a way involving families but of course the
people were not being able to come in and visit and be part of that so often ca re in and visit and be part of that so often care home staff had to cover that for themselves. they were not able to grieve and go to funerals in the same kind of ways that they might have done before. they were trying to cope with a new pandemic and a new virus that people did not know how that would manifest and then the university beats a very interesting research which showed just how difficult it was for a care staff to really understand what was happening with the virus and let the people that they were providing care and support for. and how often the way that everybody was talking about how the virus would manifest with not happening with those individual ca re not happening with those individual care staff. so they were expecting people to behave and the virus to behave in a particular way and the people are getting better, for example, and people were having dips and deterioration in their lives. scylla, they were also really
worried about their own colleagues and in fact, their own families. there is lots of evidence about staff getting very anxious about the risks of taking the virus home to their own families. many people who work in care are often drawn to care because they themselves provide informal care within their own families. the parents or children who have high levels of vulnerability. they were particularly worried about how they might do that. one of the other things that happen very early on within the pandemic was that there we re within the pandemic was that there were significant amounts of staff absences. so we had staff who were already stressed by the conditions they were working within and having to ta ke they were working within and having to take on additional responsibilities and also having to provide coverfor their responsibilities and also having to provide cover for their colleagues. so an incredible amount of pressure and a group of people who say up until that pandemic did not feel they well might be recognised in their role and widely recognised for
their role and widely recognised for the event that the contribution that they make. have you outlined very adequately hear all the pressures on ca re adequately hear all the pressures on care staff and they have really been on the front line in this war against covid—19. it is hard to imagine the stress they have been under. the question is who cares for the carers? who is looking after the people who are doing the caring and are there enough measures in place to help them? i think that is one of the things i particularly wanted to mention rick to select committee today. so, we have got ourselves in a place where nhs colleagues of course, have been doing a fantastic job as well but we have a really clear people plan nhs staff which outlines all the things that though staff should expect in terms of their training and staff should expect in terms of theirtraining and in staff should expect in terms of their training and in terms of recruitment and in terms of the support for their well—being but for the1.6 support for their well—being but for the 1.6 million people who work in social care we don't have a commensurate social care plan and
that's one of the things we urgently need. we also understand and i have been co—chairing something called the workforce advisory group which had been looking at the impact of covid—19 on social care staff and there was a recognition within that group that we do not have been the same structure is in place around keyissues same structure is in place around key issues associated with occupational health, for example. so this sort of thing that you might expect this class to be receiving as a matter of cause across the sector are not there because we have not got that same level of infrastructure support that we might see in other areas of public service. there are big gaps they are. thank you so much for being with us. borisjohnson has come under fire for reportedly telling a virtual meeting of conservative mps that devolution had been a "disaster" in scotland. the snp and labour have both criticised the prime minister. but the government say mrjohnson has "always supported devolution". 0ur political correspondent
chris mason reports. 1999 and the return of a scottish parliament for the first time in nearly 300 years. devolution in action, the transfer of power away from westminster, described like this by the then first minister, labour's donald dewar. the past is part of us. part of every one of us. and we respect it. but today there is a new voice in the land, the voice of a democratic parliament, a voice to shake scotland, a voice above all for the future. the conservatives opposed devolution then, they now support it. and yet look at what the prime minister told a group of his mps last night. it has been, he reportedly said, a disaster north of the border, and was tony blair's biggest mistake.
he wants to ensure that local people and communities can save their own destiny, what he does feel strongly andi destiny, what he does feel strongly and i agree is that devolution in scotla nd and i agree is that devolution in scotland has facilitated the rise of separatism and nationalism in the form of the snp and that's trying to break apart the united kingdom. this is something that he would obtain about borisjohnson, is something that he would obtain about boris johnson, he is something that he would obtain about borisjohnson, he meant to say something different but his ministers are out to apologise for him. he did mean that and that's what he thinks of devolution. the scottish national party want another independence referendum like the one in 201a, perhaps as soon as next year, and they'll campaign for one at the scottish parliament elections in may. labour and the conservatives will say the opposite. the scottish conservatives leader says he will speak to the prime minister later about his remarks and adds... any distraction takes us away from the record which has been dismal
over the last 13 and a half years and we have to look at the positives going forward. we do not think the rather neanderthal views that have been expressed by borisjohnson rather neanderthal views that have been expressed by boris johnson that anybody any further except to say it really does expose the underlying thinking and philosophy in downing street. 0pinion polls suggest there is overwhelming support for the scottish parliament, for devolution in scotland, and growing support for independence. we've now had 13 opinion polls in a row, dating from the summer of this year, all of which have shown the majority the majority for yes, this is the first time in scottish polling history that we have had that kind of record. like an x—ray on fractured bone, the pandemic and brexit has portrayed in black—and—white the tensions in how the uk is now governed. the prime minister's comments electrify that debate, as far as scotland's future is now concerned. a debate that will only get louder. chris mason, bbc news,
at westminster. as the post—brexit trade talks in brussels head into what could be their final few days, one thing at least is clear — whatever happens, northern ireland will be trading with europe next year on slightly different terms from the rest of the uk. most businesses can't do much to change that. but what about the fishermen who ply their trade out at sea, between the two parts of the uk? could some scottish fishermen benefit by re—registering their boats in northern ireland? 0ur reality check correspondent chris morris is here to explain. why might this benefit scottish fishermen? we are not talking about all fishermen in scotland, we are not talking about the big industrial societies, on the west coast most of the fishing is for shellfish and nearly all the catch is expected to give up. you can see the area we are talking about. the most narrow
point, the channel between scotland and northern ireland, only 12 miles across, you have scottish and northern irish fishermen fishing in the same place for the same stuff. but from the beginning of next year with the brexit withdrawal agreement, northern ireland will remain in the single market for goods, including fish. they will have a different relationship with the rest of the eu. now if there is no deal, that could mean northern irish fishermen be able to sell their shellfish into the eu without any tariffs and scottish fishermen having a tariff on that trade making been incredibly uncompetitive. even if there is a deal there will still be lots of extra bureaucratic hurdles the scottish fishermen will have to cross. we have been speaking to some of the fishermen, i was hoping we could show a photo of one of them. this is tommy who had been fishing out of campbell town on the peninsula for a0 years. he has got a good catch. they are not shellfish but he has caught something. basically his point is...
so it is not pan out, are you not to reregister your fishing boat? absolutely. in theory it's relatively simple, if we have spoken to government departments in westminster, and they said if it genuinely moves in places of operation that you can'tjust genuinely moves in places of operation that you can't just say, genuinely moves in places of operation that you can'tjust say, a night ireland, if you set up a company somewhere else and you prove that you have got links with this new parts that you can do that. companies do that all the time. they move if they think there can be potential benefit and we can show you a quote from the government department in northern ireland they say they would not issue a licence to about if they thought the only purpose was to take advantage to see
benefits arriving from the northern ireland protocol in the brexit agreement. if you set up a company in northern ireland it would be quite difficult for them to stop the scottish bullets from doing that. i think what we're seeing here is one of the anomalies bound to arise as he started to see from the beginning of next year. northern ireland and having a slightly different relationship and in some places a very different relationship with the eu single market and the rest of the uk. and of course fishing is one of the big outstanding issues in the trade talks? could knows. it could go either way state is the honest answer. it could bea state is the honest answer. it could be a deal or no deal. it's a big pa rt be a deal or no deal. it's a big part of it and beat now they are pa rt part of it and beat now they are part of it and beat now they are part of the economy but they are a crucial part of the talks. and it's interesting. why is that, you say a small part of the company but a huge pa rt small part of the company but a huge part of the talks. don't forget back in 2016 it was a big emotional part of the brexit campaign, they leave
campaign and it's worth saying. we talk about fishermen here who are worried about what might happen as a result of brexit. most fishing communities that are big brexit fans and they hate the eu fisheries policy and they want to take back control of british waters fully. but he is now making specific links saying yes we want, but it's the fish in your waters but let us face it you want full access to our energy markets for example. we help supply electricity and gas so if you're going to say you can't fish in our water you're going to say you can't fish in ourwater is, you're going to say you can't fish in our water is, what are we going to say about our energy markets? is that a threat potential you could say that but it is one of those issues which i think the politicians on both sides is a very difficult for borisjohnson because of the promises that were made to brexit motors and it's difficult for somebody like emmanuel macron because he does not want to see implicit —— political advantage in advance of the next presidential election in france. because at those fishing communities don't want to be
let down by him. it's at small issue economically and a big issue politically. thank you very much. here is all the support for you now. here is all the support for you now. here we go to the bbc sport centre. the world cup winner died earlier at the age of 78 hippies suffering from the age of 78 hippies suffering from the disease and also prostate cancer. family have also criticised the lack of support given by the professional football association. ifa said professional football association. if a said they are collaborating closely with an independent task force to expand their own research studies. that's a key part of their strategy for the next four years. well, it's slightly obvious. hitting the ball is given them dementia. there's nothing else that they've done. again all i hearfrom the football authorities is we need more studies, we need more studies. while
they are doing that, the players aren't getting the help that they need. and they need it now. england cricket has proposed pakistan next year won't go ahead. they also do to face relaxed in the new year. couldn't guarantee being able to feel the full strength team. england arrived in south africa. it's their first tour since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. they've got three 20s and 31 years. the match will be played in cape town for the up will be played in cape town for the up the players again having to remain in bio secure bubbles. we just had a fantastic game at the atp tour finals this afternoon. us open dominic team beating the french open champion nadal at the 02 dominic team beating the french open champion nadal at the o2 arena in london. did it in straight sets in their round robin match. really tight bar set but after an hour the corded team took it on a tiebreak. standard was incredibly high. brilliant rallies throughout the players exchanged breaks of serve in a thrilling 2nd. team squandered three match points before it went to
another tiebreaker. three match points before it went to another tiebrea ker. the austrian coming out on top again. if tsitsipas wins this evening the team there will be the first man through to the semis. nadal now has to beat tsitsipas on thursday. to reach the last fall. it's very tough times at the moment. lockdowns are stripped and extract most in the countries and austria today. i really hope people enjoy it, the match back home and then they forgot a little bit for two hours the hard times we are living through right now. i think it's important that we players who are privileged to do ourjob to give all the people who are not the privilege a great time. at least two and half hours when we are in court and that would be great stuff. really was a fantastic game. jane will be back at
half past six but that's all for now. thank you very much. pvc sport center. tesco say they are reviewing working practices in one of their suppliers. that's after a bbc investigation found that workers were being exploited. women at a factory which makes home test towel said they were forced to work excessive hours and we re forced to work excessive hours and were not even allowed toilet breaks. bbc also heard claims of poor working conditions from staff and indian supplier at ralph lauren. 0ur correspondent has this report. in the world of fashion they are the forgotten. the women who make our clothes. a million miles from the catwalk, they often live in dire poverty, their monthly salaries, barely enough to feed theirfamilies. but these women produce garments for some of the world's biggest brands. ralph's talent beyond creating beautiful things is his talent to recognise people.
ralph lauren's clothes don't come cheap, but the women we spoke to say they are paying a far higher price. workers at one south indian factory which supplies the label earn as little as £2.50 a day, making clothes that sell for hundreds. they say they are forced to work punishing hours and even end up sleeping on the factory floor. translation: we are made to work continuously, often through the night. sleeping at 3am then waking up by five for another full day of work. 0ur bosses don't care, they are only bothered about production. translation: they ask us to work so late, i can't even feed my children at night. they shouldn't treat us like slaves, they should give us respect. in a statement, ralph lauren said it was deeply concerned by the allegations and will investigate. we require...
the factory concerned has denied all allegations. we also talked to female staff at another indian supplier which produces home furnishings for big british brands such as tesco, marks & spencer and sainsbury‘s. speaking from their village, the women told us they are made to work in appalling conditions which would be unthinkable to employees at the same brands in the uk. translation: we are not given time to drink water or even to use the bathroom. we barely get time to eat lunch. translation: they have increased our workload. we are forced to stay late to finish it or they yell at us and threaten to fire us. we are scared. in statements, all three supermarkets said they were shocked and troubled to hear the reports. sainsbury‘s said it is insisting on a number of actions the supplier must take in orderfor us to continue to work with them.
tesco has told us that plan includes prohibiting excessive overtime, strengthening grievance procedures and ensuring workers are fully compensated at the correct rates for the hours they have worked, while marks & spencer said it has a robust plan in place and would be undertaking regular unannounced audits to ensure its implementation. earlier in the year, there was an outcry after allegations of exploitation emerged in british factories supplying the fashion label boohoo. but activists say the bigger issue lies in asia where most of our clothes are made. exploitation happens around the world for people who make our clothes on a regular basis, but it is out of view and people aren't engaging with who those people are, but brands really have a responsibility to look at what is happening and their supply chains and say, are those people being treated fairly or are they being exploited? as consumers chase cheaper clothes and brands bank bigger profits,
it seems the exploitation of the women who make them is one thing that hasn't gone out of fashion. rajini vaidyanathan, bbc news, india. i can now speak to esther mariaselvam, who's the associate director at actionaid india. sort of a familiar story but shocking nonetheless. what can be done about this that isn't being done about this that isn't being done at the moment do you think? hello. hello, can you hear me? i was just asking what can be done about the shocking conditions? the situation has been prevailing for sucked quite some time. it is important for the different stakeholders elect for example, the factories, the brand, the local administration the company with whom
we are the main workers of the garment workers. the organisations, all of us have to come to gather to protect the rights of garment workers in the long run. do you think the big companies that are involved are not doing enough to check the working conditions of these staff? well, the situation on these staff? well, the situation on the ground from the workers point of view however it is important for the different stakeholders, the different stakeholders, the different players who are involved as part of this have to come together to look at the rights of the garment workers. see how their rights are being violated, how the rights are being violated, how the rights of the garment workers are being denied. if everyone can work together i'm sure the rights of the government workers could be protected. there is a lot to be done. all of us coming together. are these workers organised ? done. all of us coming together. are these workers organised? who represents them? people like yourself, i know you are speaking on
their behalf at the moment but can you represent them when it comes to their employers? well, yes. actually, we are mobilised and we are organised these women workers with the over 1600 garment workers we have formed into different collectives. we educate them, on labour rights. we make them aware of their rights or they are able to claim their rights. also they can ta ke claim their rights. also they can take up their issues with their respective employers. also we have taken up in the past to the labour commissions the strict administrative level. were you shocked by these findings, these long hours the people are working, very little sleep, the very low wages that they are getting? yes. this is an issue we keep hearing from the workers with whom we are actually working. they've been asked
to work for long hours. beyond eight hours. some of the women have testified that after the working hour they are practically during the covid time and in the recent past they've been asked to stretch their working hours for four hours. sometimes they've been asked to stay back to work without giving prior information about to continue their work. many thanks indeed forjoining us. thank you very much for being with us. lewis hamilton says being formula one's most successful driver will mean nothing unless he can continue to lead the fight against racism in the sport. the mercedes driver equalled michael schumacher‘s record of seven world titles as he won the turkish grand prix in istanbul.
today voting number one. which showcases the most powerful people of african caribbean and african—american heritage in the united kingdom. he is the first sporting star in to claim the top spotin sporting star in to claim the top spot in the list this year included storms eat at number three. honestly i just want to go honestly ijust want to go have honestly i just want to go have fun. i had no idea what would happen but i was relieved that i could make it to the front. all the obstacles came andi to the front. all the obstacles came and i did 50 laps on one set of tires. which is i guess... you even ignored the team cut value come in and change tires with a pleasant, lap 37, you took the lead 37 out of 58 you took the lead and never looked back. but this is the thing that struck me, when you bolden normally you hop out of the car, you
greet your team, you greet your crew but you said in the car it was very clearly emotional moment for you. what we are thinking at that moment? honestly, i've been racing for 27 yea rs. honestly, i've been racing for 27 years. it's always been a dream to be not only formula 1 but i watched she might not win those seven world titles. it was such a far—fetched dream. buti titles. it was such a far—fetched dream. but i kept believing that i could potentially get there. you had the highs and lows and i think as i came across the line, the build—up of that last lap and the fact that it was right in front of me, ijust got a stay on the track don't make mistakes, keep believing in yourself is up and i did all the wafers of i just burst out in tears as i came across the line. ijust couldn't get out of the car because ijust can't believe it. were you thinking about your dad to? yeah, thinking about a lot of my life and a flash before my eyes. particular he just knowing that my dad worked so hard. at one stage having fourjobs. just having
soft delete next such beliefs. i felt i finally accomplished what we set out to do. and hopefully, he feels that it was worth the hard work. 14 years ago you started is the only black race car driver in formula 1, ia the only black race car driver in formula 1, 14 years later you are still the only black race car driver in formula 1. and you write this, you said being the first black anything is a proud and lonely walk. help us understand what it's been like for you. we started out back in 1993 and we were always back on the scene. honestly i thought that is being there but the time i went to formula 1 i thoughtjust me being there would break down barriers, open up doors and encourage it to be a more diverse sport. but i realised last year after the 1a years that that hasn't barely shifted. now you're speaking out about this now. you are speaking out. yeah, it was
difficult. i tried to speak in the past but it was always a bit of pushback. it wasn't the easiest thing to speak about. i think particularly they share with black lives matter movement there's been an awakening and an opportunity to use your voice will stop felt such ace responsibility to my niece and nephew are biracial, to all the young kids particular black and minority that potentially feel they don't have a voice. i have got to use this platform to help and courage. no one is doing the homework to find out why our sport is not diverse. so i put together a commission to really try and find out what the barriers are and to see how we can find a fundamental, a real platform to be able to open up the doors for young black kids to get in to stem and engineering. you challenge mercedes. you ask them some very tough questions. your contract is up, your negotiations are under way, should they back up the truck or are you thinking let's
discuss this, fellas? the rumours that you're thinking about walking away. ten seconds, lewis. i love doing what i'm doing and honestly, winning the seventh world title is an incredible thing. i think we still have two fight for racial equality. ten seconds lewis. lewis hamilton talking to gayle king from cbs. following the news yesterday of the apparent success of the moderna vaccine which is said to have 9a.5% success rate and a week ago the claimed 90% efficiacy of the pfizer vaccine, there are lots of other covid vaccines in development too. earlier i spoke to drjennifer rohn, a cell biologist at university college london and dr chris smith — a virologist at the university of cambridge about some of the other vaccines in development. dr rohn began by explaining the nucleic acid vaccines.
it's just a fancy word for a dna or rna. which are two different kinds of blueprints. what we want to do is educate the immune system to recognise virus parts. traditionally this would be a whole virus or a piece of a virus. at this new technology is really interesting because we just take the blueprint itself and this blueprint is the code for the spike protein. which is the sticky audi bit on the surface of the coronavirus that the immune system c. we take the blueprint, and injected into the muscle of the person and then the muscle cells make, they are duped into making protein. they make lots of virus proteins for this blueprint. essentially those proteins go out and the immune system season. they see a real coronavirus next time they will have been educated. really interesting new strategy because it's never been tried before. there's never been a marketed vaccine based on this new methodology. it's a really, really interesting because you can respond quickly, once you have the blueprint you can just go for it. it's no coincidence that the two front
runners in the vaccine rates are based on nucleic acid. what's the difference between that and the virus vector vaccines? the virus vector vaccine is a more classic way of doing it. you take the same blueprint or the spike protein and you put it inside a virus that's not harmful. for example the common cold virus. or in this case the chimpanzee cold virus was up you stick that covid—19 spike gene into a harmless virus and you basically infect a person with that virus was up infect a person with that virus was up it's quite nice because it looks more like a real virus was up at some maybe it's a better way to educate our immune system. chris, a couple more vaccine alternatives, it feels like a biology lesson but it's very important stuff. tell us what's in an inactive whole virus vaccine? people are probably very familiar with this maybe without realising it. that's because most flu vaccines work this way. we grow flu in
usually eggs, actually. and then we chemically brutalise the virus for two grown in the egg. bust it to pieces and you are left with his virus shrapnel which we then inject or if we don't bust it to pieces we just chemically inactivate the virus. either way you end up with inactive bits of virus. which are then injected into the body. they are picked up by parts of the immune syste m are picked up by parts of the immune system that then present them to other parts of the immune system saying, look what i found. this looks like it's bad news, you better learn how to respond to this was up it then makes it, especially the pa rt of it then makes it, especially the part of the immune system that makes antibodies respond to stop and you make present inventive antibodies. so that if you encounter the virus for real, you've already got these things in the bloodstream. usually antibodies that can stick onto the virus for real. and they stick onto the business end of the virus and they inactivated. so i can't then infect you or spread amongst your cells and make you are spread amongst your cells and make ul. love the idea of blue light not brutalise
shrapnel in the body. we've got another alternative which is protein based vaccine. the other way of doing this is rather than grow a whole virus, which can be difficult, and sometimes dangerous, it sometimes very difficult to do at scale. instead you take the gene that the virus uses to make a key pa rt of that the virus uses to make a key part of the virus that it absolutely relies on to grow in your body. if you inactivate that the virus when you inactivate that the virus when you are able to grow. you growjust that part of the virus in a cell culture. in other words, you have cells in a cell culture. in other words, you have cells in addition and you persuade them to take out that genetic message and make or turn out huge amounts of this particular part of the virus without you don't even have to eat use human cells to do it. the power of the genetic code means you can use things like yeast, for example. those grow without complaint and enormously high density and dishes and liberatory. you make these proteins and then collect and purify
protein. there is no danger that you're going to get whole virus or anything that can make a person i well. it'sjust the pure protein from the virus. part of the outer coat, usually. you inject that but you add to it something called an agile end. this is a chemical that makes your immune system set up and ta ke makes your immune system set up and take notice. it's a kick up to the backside of the immune system saying, you need to build a powerful response against this particular chemical. in that way you can make a little to a very long way. so you don't have to give people a enormous doses of the protein in order to get a very powerful immune response without in that way, on dose lots of response, and immunity for lots of people. hello there. it's been a very mild so the past couple of days. and we hold onto the mild theme into tonight but then it set to turn much colder from wednesday afternoon onwards. tonight mild, breezy and dry for most but we still have some rain around.
that's tied in with this weather front effecting the northwest of scotland. it'll spread further northwards into the northern aisles during the course of the night. elsewhere it's going to be dry, rather cloudy. some spots of drizzle and parts of the western hills breezy too. stays very wet overnight northern isles, northern and western scotland on into the western parts of northern island with up you will see those temperatures very mild this time a year. 1a degrees with the overnight lows. area of low pressure sits to the northwest of the country on wednesday. stays very wet here but this cold front will start to spread eastward through the course of the day. a wet start out west bride, cloudy and mild in the east eventually that rain band will continue to journey through the course of the day. behind it, skies will brighten up. and there will be some blustery showers but it will be cold behind that front single figure values. but on the front and ahead of it it's stays relatively mild. at least until the towards
the latter part of the afternoon. during wednesday night the cold air wins out. arctic plunge sinks southward right across the country and it stays cold into thursday. it's a short—lived cold spell because there's weather front will start to move in during friday. that will introduce milder air once again. lots of isobars on the charts in the eastern side of the country. thursday is a cold start for most windy with gales across northern and eastern areas. tend to ease down through the day so the ridge of high pressure builds and and as that ridge builds and it was dark to kill off the wintry showers which will be affecting central and northern parts of scotland. here will really be quite cold when we factor in the wind. further south eight to 10 degrees. friday that weather system pushes off the atlantic. although it's a dry, chilly start on the eastern areas it will start to turn wetter, windier and gradually milder as we move through the day as temperatures back into the 12 and 13. quite chilly across the east. as we head on into the weekend, stays windy particularly
in the northern part of the country. turns bit cooler here on sunday. generally, south, it will stay mild.
tonight at six — tough new covid restrictions for parts of scotland — they won't be lifted until a fortnight before christmas. restaurants, pubs and non essential shops will close from friday in glasgow and much of western scotland — more than two million people are affected. these decisions will give us the best possible chance albeit, in a limited and careful way, of being able to ease restrictions in all parts of scotland for christmas. travel restrictions are also being imposed — people leaving their local area without good reason could face arrest. also tonight. the spanish businessman paid £21 million of taxpayers money for acting as a go between to secure ppe for nhs staff. after months of protests in thailand the most violent day yet —
dozens are injured in bangkok as demonstrators demand