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afterjanuary 1st due to pandemic rules. and following those latest talks, are you concerned or not about a no deal? get in touch. i'm @annita—mcveigh on twitter or use the hashtag #bbcyourquestions. official figures show the uk economy grew byjust 0.4% in october, as the recovery from a record slump continues to slow. the united states records more than 3,000 coronavirus deaths in a single day — the highest total anywhere in the world. an experimental rocket belonging to elon musk‘s spacex company crashes and burns on landing. the billionaire calls it a rapid unscheduled disassembly. # say you'll share with me...# and how about a pop—up musical on your doorstep? with most of britain's theatres still closed, one company is bringing performances direct to the people. hello and welcome, if you're watching in the uk or around the world, and do stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here and across the globe. talks between borisjohnson and the president of the european commission, ursula von der leyen, have ended without agreement. the two leaders have been trying to break the deadlock in the long—running brexit trade negotiations between the uk and eu. a spokesperson for number 10 said very large gaps remain between the two sides, but talks will continue in brussels later today between the uk's chief negotiator lord frost and the eu's michel barnier. a decision on whether a deal can be reached is expected to be announced by sunday. without a deal, tariffs will be imposed on british exports, and trade will be disrupted by increased border checks. the foreign secretary, dominic raab, has sought to play down the impact of a potential no—deal brexit on food prices but acknowledged there will be bumps along the road. in the past few minutes, reuters news agency is reporting ursula von der leyen has said the eu has to be prepared for not having a deal in place on january prepared for not having a deal in place onjanuary one. 0ur political correspondent, jessica parker, reports. they met, a quick photo, masks off, and on again. then down to business. three hours of talks over a three—course meal. but in the end, big gaps remained. there is still clearly some scope to keep talking, but there are significant points of difference that remain. so, i think the prime minister's view is we will leave no stone unturned. if there is a deal to be done, and we think there is, if the eu is pragmatic and respects the basic points of democratic principle, we won't be wanting for trying to find that way through. she described the conversation as lively, downing street as frank. but negotiations that had stalled are now back on. david frost for the uk and michel barnierfor the eu are getting around the table again in brussels. we must remember that a trade deal is for keeps, notjust for christmas, and i think the prime minister deserves praise for standing firm and not allowing fudge and compromise we may later regret just to get a deal over the line. fishing rights, business competition rules, and how a deal would be policed, the now familiar stumbling blocks. number 10 said that borisjohnson was determined not to leave any route to what they described as a fair deal untested. let's be clear, there was never any doubt that the promise to the british people was that there would be a trade deal. quite frankly, there should be one already. this is not an ambitious deal that the government is seeking. it is now exactly three weeks until the brexit transition period ends. the uk and the eu have named this sunday as the new deadline, when a decision must be made on the future of these talks. jessica parker, bbc news. we mentioned a few moments ago comments from the president of the european commission ursula von der leyen and if we look at her twitter feed and she is saying, negotiations are still ongoing... contingency measures are measures many of the 27 have been calling for for a long time but the commission is now giving some detail. she attaches a link to a letter from the european commission saying, while the commission still continues to do its utmost to reach a mutually beneficial agreement with the uk, there was no significant uncertainty whether a deal will be in place on the ist of january 2021. pretty small print, allow me to weed out for you the areas the commission is talking about contingency planning for —— read out. a proposalfor a regulation to ensure the provision of certain air services between the uk and the eu for six months provided ukraine shows the same. aviation safety —— the uk ensures the aviation safety. therefore, avoiding the grounding of the aircraft. there is also basic road connectivity and also fisheries. let me lead you what she says about fisheries because that is one of the key areas —— read you. proposalfor a regulation to create the appropriate legal framework until the 31st of december 2021 or until a fisheries agreement with the uk has been concluded, whichever date is earlier in the four continued reciprocal access by eu and uk vessels to each other‘s waters after sist vessels to each other‘s waters after 31st december 2020. a lot of detail. the european commission very significantly publishing contingency planning for a no deal scenario, if indeed that is what emerges in the next few days. a little earlier, i spoke to our political correspondent about the talks last night. i think it is significant that although we had that really downbeat assessment from both sides about how the dinner had gone. remember, that was a third attempt by borisjohnson and ursula von der leyen to have some progress. they had two phone calls already before boris johnson headed to brussels for that face—to—face meeting. they came out of it saying, look, the two sides are really far apart, we have still got gaps and we are going to see, though, whether we can still bridge them. so i do think it is significant that they didn't say just call it a day last night and they are giving their negotiators a few more days to see if they can come up with something. but i think what is unclear is that whether they are going to be able to give, to come up with anything new or whether they're just going to be going over new ground in these coming days. and certainly the message we're getting from number 10 this morning is that they do see sunday as the crucial decision point, if you like, whether they're going to decide on whether there is going to be a deal or not. dominic raab, the foreign secretary, talking about needing a point of finality in order to basically call time on the negotiations if there is not going to be a deal in order to give businesses some time to prepare. have a listen to what he had to say earlier this morning. we know with the eu that these negotiations go to the wire, but i think it's significant both sides jointly have agreed that we need to actually take stock and have some finality. and that sunday is the point at which the future negotiations will have that stocktake. so, can't rule it out, but i think we we are rapidly approaching the point now where we need some finality. but, you know, charlie, been here before, never quite say never when you're negotiating with the eu. i think what's interesting is that, you know, never say never does leave the door open to the fact that, you know, sunday might not be the crunch point that it is now being built up to be. but if in the next couple of days with the negotiators in brussels still around the table, they can see some sort of chink of light and they can see that there might be some progress made, i think it's impossible that they would basically stop the negotiations at that hard deadline on sunday. you've heard that message from the eu before saying that, look, we don't want the timetable to get in the way of a good deal. that said, there is obviously the deadline of the end of the year, that is creeping up now a few weeks away only, when that transition period comes to an end, and both sides want there to be a good deal. so something that they see in their own eyes as a good deal, they're still stuck on this point of principle. the fundamentals, really, the uk not wanting to move on, surrendering any sovereignty, and the eu not wanting any compromises to the integrity of the single market. so, you know, huge issues, insurmountable in the eyes of some. but i think it's not beyond the realm of possibility that we could see some progress in the next few days and therefore negotiations continuing up to the end of the year. 0k, leila. meanwhile, minds turn to what may possibly happen after december 31st. and with the boss of tesco talking about the company stockpiling some supplies, dominic raab was again in interviews this morning also talking about that and about whether there would be significant bumps in the road when it comes to access to certain goods and services. yeah, i mean, you know, ministers are trying to sort of prepare the ground, if you like, for no deal by saying that, look, we're going to be able to prosper whatever the outcome. boris johnson has been clearfor a long time that he thinks no deal... that britain would be able to succeed if there was no agreed trade deal with the eu and we had to trade on world trade organization terms. but, yes, there have obviously been warnings about the implications of no deal, the practical consequences, what is going to happen onjanuary the ist if actually we are having this major upheaval in our trading rules between the uk and the eu. we've had that warning from tesco talking about the potential for price increases. dominic raab saying that he didn't recognise the figure of a 5% increase, but, you know, admitting that, yes, there would be bumps in the road. and i think that this brings us back to the point that both sides ultimately say they do want a deal. that is still the message from both the eu and the uk. borisjohnson, before he headed to brussels yesterday, was talking about the fact that there is a deal still to be done, and the very fact that they are still round the negotiating table still up until sunday apparently shows that there is still the intention to try and get a deal because it is in the interests of both sides. but, yes, there is now the sort of looming possibility that there could be major disruption for some at the border if there is no deal. and i do think that outcome is now looking more likely, although it is definitely one that both sides want to avoid. the irish mep for fianna fail, billy kelleher, said that despite the december 31st transition deadline, it was still possible for both sides to be creative about the timeline. if there is a chance of a deal being done and if we have the bones of a deal, what they call a skinny deal, then you could obviously be creative in timelines and synchronisation of the passage of it through parliament and european union and the ratification process through the uk parliament, so we could be creative, but you have to be creative around the fact we need something tangible by sunday at the latest. bear in mind, trade deals are one aspect, but mairead mcguinness, the commissioner for financial services, over the next number of months, you will have that huge challenge as well, if we don't have a trade deal around equivalence in financial services and that is when the pressure will come on the uk because of the size of the financial services in london. it is notjust about the trade deal itself, today, tomorrow, next week, it is about the relationship over the weeks and months in terms of addressing the other big issue, financial services. all in all, huge pressure. you would like to think prime ministerjohnson understands the impact this will have on the uk economy. in ireland, the issue has been resolved because the uk has come back to the table in terms of the northern ireland protocol, withdrawn the internal market offending articles. that is welcome. but we do need to see something that will allow commerce. we don't want lorries and trucks in dover and calais on istjanuary and chaos across the uk, ireland and the european union. it is in the gift of the uk prime minister and ursula von der leyen to bring sense and reason and an end to this eternal discussion around the trade deal. ursula von der leyen has said with regard to contingency planning for a no deal scenario, she has laid out a series of measures to cope if the uk and the eu failed to agree a trade deal by 31st december, allowing smooth air and road travel for the next six months, among other measures. she said our responsibility is to be prepared for all eventualities. air connectivity, aviation safety, basic road connectivity and fisheries the areas she is setting out some detail on in terms of a contingency plan if there is no deal between the eu and the uk, trade deal, by the end of the transition phase, 31st december. meanwhile, aside from brexit, eu leaders are meeting today to consider a last—minute compromise to save the bloc‘s landmark recovery fund that is threatened by a row with hungary and poland. last month, warsaw and budapest blocked the eu's 1.8 trillion euro budget and recovery package because of provisions, agreed by the other 25 eu members, linking funds to respect for the rule of law. both governments have been accused by brussels of rolling back democratic freedoms, notably judicial independence in poland and press freedom in hungary. the us has passed another unwanted milestone in its fight against covid—i9 after johns hopkins university announced coronavirus deaths rose by at least 3,112 on wednesday. that's the highest reported one day increase since the pandemic started. our washington correspondent has more. covid-19 infections and hospitalisations have been searching across the us and there's that grim milestone of more than 3000 deaths in one day. but as well as that, there's also another number that's emerged. there's been 106,000 hospitalisations of people with the infection and, of course, this is all playing out as the country awaits approval of two vaccinations. it's got to clear those regulatory hurdles by the fda before it can be rolled out and the chief adviser for donald trump's operation warpspeed, which is the initiative that is aimed at rolling out the vaccinations, says that if that approval comes potentially this week, then we could see the first few injections happening this weekend, so we are still waiting on that to happen, but that grim figure of more than 3,000 deaths per day is just a real stark reminder of the devastating impact the pandemic is having on this country. donald trump's personal lawyer, rudy giuliani, has left hospital, after being treated for covid—19. the former mayor of new york, who's 76, was diagnosed with the virus last weekend. he was treated with some of the same drugs given to president trump, when he contracted covid—19. mr giuliani said he would quarantine for an additional few days and said that he was now feeling just about 100%. advisers to the us vaccines regulator are due to meet today to assess the pfizer coronavirus vaccine for emergency approval. that vaccine is already being rolled out here in the uk. the us‘s top infectious disease expert dr anthony fauci has encouraged americans to get the vaccine when it's available. let's say we get 75%, 80% of the population vaccinated. if we do that, i believe, if we do it efficiently enough over the second quarter of 2021, by the time we get to the end of the summer, the third quarter, we may actually have enough herd immunity protecting our society that, as we get to the end of 2021, we can approach very much some degree of normality that is close to where we were before. dr anthony fauci. the headlines on bbc news: the european commission publishes contingency plans after little progress in negotiations. uk travellers could be prevented from entering eu countries from the 1st of january because of pandemic rules. the uk economy grew by 0.4% in october as the recovery from the record slump continues to slow. official figures released this morning show that uk economic growth slowed sharply in october as restrictions were tightened to control the spread of covid—19. our business presenter gave me some context to the figures. apologies, we are having a problem with that particular clip. let's move on to other needs. —— other news. greater manchester police has been accused of letting down vulerable victims of crime by failing to record 80,000 offences in a year. the police inspectorate said some cases were being closed without a proper investigation and no record was kept of a quarter of violent crimes, including domestic abuse and stalking. greater manchester police said it had a long—term plan to address the concerns. the car maker honda says production at its swindon plant will remain closed until monday due to a shortage of parts. the factory shut down yesterday because of severe congestion at uk ports has affected the company's supply chain. the company will not comment on the extent of lost output. authorities in the united states have launched a major lawsuit against facebook. officials have accused the social media giant of stifling competition when it bought whatsapp and instagram, which it could now be forced to sell. facebook insists that the deals were all fully approved. new york's attorney general is leading a coalition of 48 states suing the company and explained why they decided to take action. for nearly a decade, facebook has used its dominance and monopoly power to crush smaller rivals, snuff out competition, all at the expense of everyday users. by using its vast troves of data and money, facebook has squashed or hindered what the company perceived as potential threats. they have reduced choices for consumers. they stifled innovation. and they degraded privacy protections for millions of americans. let's return to the news on uk gdp figures. officialfigures released this morning showing there is a slowdown in the recovery because of the pandemic and that is from a massive slump earlier in the year in the economy, then a bit of a recovery, but the recovery itself is slowing down. our business presenter sima kotecha was telling me more earlier. gdp, here we are again, another monthly figure released by the ons this morning. remember, gross domestic product is the value of goods and services produced by the uk economy and we use it as an indicator of how healthy the economy actually is. the figure at today is 0.4% growth in october. a couple of graphs to show you how the trend has been going. the sixth consecutive month of growth. if you look at the graph closely, you can see the three monthly gdp is at 10.2%, meaning in that period the economy grew by 10%. the second graph shows you the monthly growth in october. in september, you may recall, 1.1% growth. october, 0.4% growth. a lot less but i must say economists had predicted it to be even less than that. some of them quite surprised this morning at 0.4% growth. the six months running down the economy has grown. but the reason it has grown by such a small amount is if you rewind back to october, you may remember some parts of the country we re remember some parts of the country were facing tougher restrictions and there was also a curfew placed on there was also a curfew placed on the service sector, hospitality sector, restaurants and bars had to be closed by ten o'clock, you put it ina pot be closed by ten o'clock, you put it in a pot and it has led to the figure. the cbi said today it did not expect the economy to expect pre—pandemic levels until the end of 2022. the economy still 8% smaller thanit 2022. the economy still 8% smaller than it was before the pandemic hit. a very fragile economy, we are expecting unemployment to go up and in november we expect the figure to bea in november we expect the figure to be a lot worse because november is when the second lockdown came into force and many businesses were. to close as a result. talk to us about house of fraser results today and bought all of that might mean for the fate of debenhams. -- and what all of that might mean. we know the high street has been going through an incredibly difficult time in recent weeks. various companies going into administration and liquidation. some positive news for a change. the fraser group, the retail group that owns sports direct and house of fraser has seen profits go and house of fraser has seen profits 9° up and house of fraser has seen profits go up in the six months to the end of october in comparison to last year. last year, in that time, it made a profit of 90 million. this year, 106 million. it says online sales along with a strong revenue after the first lockdown has led to the boost. we know online sales have done very well through the pandemic as people have been sitting at home or doing things on their tablet device or on their phones. it is what a lot of us have been doing. the fraser group has been a beneficiary of that. you may recall the fraser group is owned by the billionaire mike ashley and he is in talks with debenhams at the moment facing liquidation, 12,000 jobs at risk. they are in talks to perhaps by debenhams. we know from listening to interviews from staff at debenhams this morning those talks are ongoing. unhealthy pre—tax profit result and into october perhaps makes that more likely —— healthy pre—tax profit result, that they could actually buy struggling debenhams. sima kotecha there. one year after the first cases of coronavirus were reported in china, wuhan — the initial epicentre of the pandemic — is striving to return to normality. for months, the city hasn't had any locally transmitted cases and the local government is marking what it calls its victory in the battle. but how has wuhan changed and what's life like for ordinary people? vincent ni has this report. millions of people in wuhan lived under strict lockdown for 76 days. nearly 4,000 people lost their lives to the virus. six months after wu han‘s lockdown was lifted, the city's local government has launched an exhibition to mark the fight against the covid—19 pandemic. the three months exhibition hails the effort of the government, front—line workers and volunteers. this man was among volunteers who fought against the pandemic by giving free haircuts to front—line workers. his volunteer work has had an unexpected impact on his business. the recovery hasn't been as smooth for everyone. a year since the outbreak began, wuhan strives to return to normality. the scars of the pandemic will run deep, but for now, its people are trying to move on. vincent ni, bbc news. we can discuss this further with drjan knoerich, a senior lecturer in the economy of china at kings college, london. good to have you with us. give your assessment of how socially and economically wuhan and china mobile rudely are faring one year on? -- more broadly. fascinating and intriguing case because wuhan was the place where the whole pandemic started and it had a struggling time in january. after that, started and it had a struggling time injanuary. after that, it is also a case of enormous success. the epicentre of the virus, the outbreak of the pandemic, going back to normal while the rest of the world are struggling enormously. this is probably one of the most intriguing stories of the entire pandemic. what has been the key to this success in wuhan in china? i think it is difficult to say, obviously. this is something we need to investigate in the future. there might be another pandemic. what has china done to make this work? we should probably not ignore that because china has a very different system of governance, there are certain lessons probably to be learnt from wuhan. i think one of them may be patients. they had a very long lockdown. they opened up quite slowly afterwards. and that probably helped. also, china had the experience of the sars crisis of 2003 and what it probably learnt from that experience is that it is possible with a coronavirus, seems to be possible, to not only contain it but you can try to eliminate it. that worked in 2003. and it seems to me that they had a similar ambition and almost it looks as if it worked. and in other places in the world, we probably did not have that determination... just picking up on that word, patience, really interesting word. how has that patience paid off in terms of the economic recovery? yes, of course. the patients cost quite a lot more. because you need a longer lockdown and you need to open up longer lockdown and you need to open up again slowly. but you can see china now is almost returning to normal. it is still not back to the growth we would have expected had there not been a pandemic. but we are getting there, so exports are doing very well, consumption is still trying to catch up because people have limited financial means after the pandemic. but it seems to be the way to get your economy back, ta ke be the way to get your economy back, take a little bit more time with the lockdown measures and so on and then you can benefit later on, reap the benefits for the economy. that may benefits for the economy. that may bea benefits for the economy. that may be a lesson to be learned from china's case. how much of a bubble, ifi china's case. how much of a bubble, if i can put it like that, does wuhan and other parts of china need to be in to allow this sort of success , to be in to allow this sort of success, relative success against the pandemic to continue? with cases on the rise in other parts of the well, presumably they have pretty strict controls in terms of movement still? yes, that is the challenge. basically it will work as long as borders are closed and international travel is limited. but if in this sort of circumstance that china and wuhan are in, you open up and allow international travellers to come in, you will have the virus coming back. iam not you will have the virus coming back. i am not sure how they are going to resolve that, but china might have to stay in this bubble for quite some time still. that will also have economic consequences, you know, if you are trading with the world and you are trading with the world and you cannot have the business meetings and interactions, you don't have international tourism, that is also not ideal. 0k, really good to talk to you about that, an interesting subject. breaking news coming to us from our home affairs correspondent, daniel sandford. this is in relation to the kirklees investigation, 32 men have been charged in connection with the kirklees investigation into child sexual exploitation between 1999 and 2012. west yorkshire police saying that 32 men largely from the kirklees area have been charged with a variety of offences as part of operation tollway. the allegations against the defendants are from the dates between 1999 to 2012 and involve alleged offences committed against eight young girls aged between 13 and 16 years old at the time of the alleged offences. this involves the kirklees, bradford and wakefield areas and west yorkshire police say the men, 32 men are due to appeara police say the men, 32 men are due to appear a kirklees magistrates' court on the 11th and 14th of december. an experimental rocket belonging to elon musk‘s spacex company has exploded while attempting to land. the 16 storey high starship rocket was being tested as part of the company's plans to eventually carry people and cargo to the moon and mars. no—one was on board. tanya dendrinos reports. it looks like a scene from a hollywood blockbuster. but this fiery spectacle wasn't planned. it's the crash landing of the latest prototype of the spacex starship. two, one, zero. codenamed sn8, it was the craft‘s first attempt at a high altitude flight test. early on, it was was smooth sailing for the uncrewed mission. it lifted off from the boca chica facility in texas on a brief flight to just over 12km, achieving much of what it set out to do. including a horizontal descent. but after a flip back into the vertical position for touchdown, things went a little awry. it might not have looked like it, but according to spacex ceo elon musk, the flight was a success, congratulating his team, saying, "we got all the data we needed". his sights firmly set, tweeting, "mars, here we come". tanya dendrinos, bbc news. just want to show you the house of commons because we are expecting an urgent question from labour's rachel reeve asking michael gove on the progress of the uk's future relationship with the eu. i beg your pardon, iam relationship with the eu. i beg your pardon, i am understanding penny mordaunt will be responding for the government. that follows those talks between the prime minister, the uk prime minister, boris johnson, between the prime minister, the uk prime minister, borisjohnson, and the president of the european commission, ursula von der leyen, yesterday evening. talks from which the main parties are merged saying the main parties are merged saying the negotiators for both parties will continue to talk, but saying also that sunday, the sunday is being set as the deadline for a firm decision on whether a deal can be reached, a trade deal can be reached in time for the end of the transition period, which is the 31st of december. interesting comments from the irish prime minister he said the issue of the level playing field, to do with fair competition, theissue field, to do with fair competition, the issue of the level playing field seems to be the biggest stumbling block between a trade deal between the eu and the uk. he was speaking on rte radio and said the eu was absolutely right to insist on fair competition. he said politics always has the capacity to find a way, but also that the gap is still very wide. make a statement on the progress of negotiations on the uk's future relationship with the eu and preparations for the end of the transition period. i'm gratefulfor the opportunity to update the house on the progress of our negotiations with the european union. the prime minister met with the european commissioner president yesterday in brussels and with lord frost and michel barnier, discussed the significant obstacles which still remain in the negotiations. it is clear we remain far remain in the negotiations. it is clearwe remainfarapart remain in the negotiations. it is clear we remain far apart on the so—called level playing field, fisheries and governance. however, they agreed talks should resume in brussels today to see if the gaps can be bridged. they also agreed that a decision should be taken by sunday regarding the future of the talks. we are working tirelessly to get a deal. but we cannot accept a deal at any cost. we cannot accept a deal at any cost. we cannot accept a deal that would compromise the control of our money, laws, borders and fish. the only deal that is possible is one that is compatible with all sovereignty and takes back control of all laws, trade and waters. as the prime minister has said, whether we agree trading arrangements resembling those of australia or canada, the united kingdom will prosper as an independent nation. mr speaker, we will continue to keep the house updated as we seek to secure a future relationship with our eu friends that respects our status as a sovereign equal and independent country. mr speaker, the country was hoping for a breakthrough last night, yet there was not. there is a sense of huge dismay as we all wanted to hear significant progress. but we heard more about the prime minister's meal than we did about his deal. in fact, we have not heard from the prime minister at all, even though he was supposed to be taking charge of these negotiations. on sunday we will have just 18 days to go until the end of the transition period, how has it come to this? business is desperately trying to plan need to know what is going on. if the talks break down and government pursues no deal, what happens next? with the government look to restart negotiations or does the government believe there should be no talks next year or even for the rest of this parliament? 0r be no talks next year or even for the rest of this parliament? or have the rest of this parliament? or have the government not for that far ahead. iwant the government not for that far ahead. i want to focus my question today on the security implications of no deal. the political declaration signed by the prime minister stated there should be abroad and balanced security partnership. despite numerous questions from the side of the house, and indeed from the right honourable member for maidenhead, ministers have been unable to tell us how border officers and police would be able to access security data. the government's no deal readiness report said the uk would lose access to key law enforcement laws. these data bases lose access to key law enforcement laws. these databases help us fight organised crime and terrorism. can the minister guarantee the security of the british people will be in their way undermined of the british people will be in theirway undermined in of the british people will be in their way undermined in the event of no security agreement. mr speaker, the labour party believes that the security of our country and our people are crucial. and the government will not be forgiven for undermining those. for our economic prosperity and our country's security, will the government do the responsible thing and bring back the deal? i thank the right honourable lady for her comments. let me assure her of the prime minister's resolve, effo rts her of the prime minister's resolve, efforts and determination into securing a deal, one reason why you are having to endure me today and others. we are going to do everything we can to secure a deal. it is the best outcome, a canada style arrangement and we are going to leave no stone unturned and we will carry on talks and negotiating until there is no hope of that happening. but at the moment, mr speaker, there is hope of that happening, even though things do appear gloomy. i appreciate also that members of the house are very concerned about these matters. ministers are always happy to come and answer questions and update as much as we can on these issues. but all colleagues, particularly those on the opposition benches, in calling urgent questions or asking other questions on the floor of the house, with the express permission of trying to undermine our negotiating position by pretending we are not ready for any outcome that these negotiations might yield. i think that is not helping secure the outcome we all want and it is not in the interests of the country. these are serious times and none of it should be doing anything which may undermine the possibility of us getting the deal we all want. let me turn to the issues which she raises. mr speaker, we have been clear that at the end of the transition period it will bring both opportunities, but also challenges. we have been making extensive preparations for a wide range of scenarios at the end of the year, including whether it is an australian style outcome and we are ready to seize those opportunities are being outside the single market on the customs union. it includes investing over 700 million jobs, it includes investing over 700 millionjobs, technology it includes investing over 700 million jobs, technology and infrastructure at the border, and providing 84 million in grants to boost the customs intermediary sector alongside implementing border controls in stages and ensuring we have the necessary time to prepare. we will not compromise on security. this has been an absolutely key part of our preparations on any outcomes and it is one of the reasons why, evenin and it is one of the reasons why, even in these gloomy times, i am still optimistic that a deal can be secured. i do not believe that any european member state would wish to affect or compromise the security of its own citizens. but, if we leave on an australian style outcome, we have measures in place to ensure that our citizens will be safe and that our citizens will be safe and that we will be able to share intelligence and the other things we need to do to ensure our security arrangements are as they should be. i would urge all colleagues, mr speaker, whatever their political hue, whatever their political imperative to put our nation first over the next few days and support our negotiating team, demonstrate our negotiating team, demonstrate our readiness under any scenario and our readiness under any scenario and our resolve and help us get a deal. thank you very much, mr speaker. i thought it was interesting that the honourable lady, who speaks for the opposition did not address the central question that is at the root of these issues, which is about the ability of this house of commons to make decisions about our laws without the european union being able to override it. that is the central question and on that question, i would like the government to hold firm. my constituents voted to leave the european union and take back control of making art laws. can i say to my right honourable friend, take a message to the prime minister, whatever decision he takes on sunday, i am glad we are still talking, it shows opportunity, but whatever decision he takes to control all laws, he has the support of the side of the house and perhaps the other side should reflect on their approach as to why they have lost the last two general elections and will probably lose a third?|j thank and will probably lose a third?” thank my honourable friend for his remarks and i think it is helpful for the negotiating team members opposite to hear the resolve of members in this house and they are representing the views of their constituents. we have had many years of wrangling over this, but we have a clear mandate in this government to deliver on the referendum result and we will do that and we will hold to our promises. we heading up to scotland to snp spokesperson, pete wishart. here we are again, another deadline, october was the deadline, then november, then 1st of december, friday, then it was monday, then it was the last supper, then it is sunday. god knows when it will be after that. i remember when brexit was concluded and this was a mystery. the easiest deal in history, it has more cliffhangers than east enders. 21 days away from unlikely no—deal brexit, no deal that will bring chaos, destruction and ruinfor that will bring chaos, destruction and ruin for many. the only one policy in the negotiating position the government seems to has left is the government seems to has left is the forlorn hope that the eu back down to their demands and concede that the british are right. they have made themselves hostages to their own brexit right wing. any compromise will be interpreted as a sell—out for them. and they only have themselves to blame and the demonisation of the eve. the eu will not back down and this government will not compromise, so what is going to change in the next few days? i am going to miss these exchanges with the right honourable gentleman. but i have to say that in my experiences in my involvement on thejoint committee my experiences in my involvement on the joint committee under their withdrawal agreement and all of these aspects of these negotiations, i think they have been done constructively and that there has been a good rapport. what i would say is that the critical factor in this is the eu recognising that the united kingdom is a sovereign equal in these negotiations. that is, it can be laid on the table in a charming way, but that is the bottom line, that is the cold, hard facts of the situation. i would appeal to the eu to notjust recognise that fa ct, the eu to notjust recognise that fact, but put the interests of the citizens and businesses in their own member states first. above any political project, above the political project, above the political imperatives of the commission. that is what we should all be doing and the negotiating position of the united kingdom is one that creates that mutual beneficial outcome. i am one that creates that mutual beneficial outcome. iam hopeful the eu will recognise that before the time runs out. chair of the select committee, hilary benn. thank you, mr speaker. we all want a deal but uk businesses, let's be frank, are looking at the prospect of no deal with utter dismay. in the political declaration, the government signed up declaration, the government signed up to common high standards commensurate with the scope and depth of a future relationship and agree to robust level playing field commitment to prevent distortions of trade and unfair competitive advantage. what proposals has the uk made in the negotiations to maintain common high standards in the years ahead? given that it is inevitable that these standards may change on both sides of the relationship? we have always given that committing and there have been discussions in recent days focused on that precise issue. but even when we set out our opening positions, the uk position made those commitments. this government, future governments would not want to roll back on those standards and so we didn't hesitate in giving those guarantees. the sticking point is our ability to control our own destiny. the eu has got to recognise it cannot keep us within its own orbit and that is something we will not compromise on. many on the opposition benches see the biggest failure would be no deal. but does my right honourable friend agree with me would be the biggest failure for capitulation and not accept a sovereign britain leaving the eu ? not accept a sovereign britain leaving the eu? does my right honourable friend agree with me, it is not a great look from the opposition benches when it comes to this negotiation, because it does ta ke two this negotiation, because it does take two to tango, and be reasonable of the eu and unreasonable of your own government and for a party looking to reconnect with its patriotic voters, it is hardly a good look. i thank my honourable friend for his remarks. we have compromised on a great deal, we have not been intransigent in these negotiations. we have compromised on all sorts of things, including accepting an overarching framework to the agreement. but we are going to the agreement. but we are going to be as creative and as determined as we possibly can be in the next few days in order to try and secure the deal. but he is right, we will not compromise on the fundamental issues. thank you very much. can i assure the right honourable lady that no one, as far as i am aware on the side of the house, in any way wa nts to the side of the house, in any way wants to undermine the negotiating position of this government in europe. because so much about the future of this country hangs on successful negotiations with the european union. but in the roller—coaster of emotions that we have been through in the past few days, there is going to be a deal, there isn't going to be a deal... at there isn't going to be a deal... at the end of four years of a roller—coaster, with the honourable lady accept that we need some reassurance, that if by sunday there is not in agreement, that the government will not give up on trying to reach a trade deal with the european union that does not see us crash out on the 1st of january with the catastrophic effect that could have for our local businesses and the economy? we are already out, i would just remind the honourable lady, but clearly we have prepared for every eventuality and we have a phased approach to the border, we have many pots of work going on into the new year to ensure there aren't those cliff edges she refers to. we have thought long and hard and there has been a huge effort made by the civil service to ensure that whatever the outcome, it will be as smooth as possible for our businesses and our citizens. i would thank the honourable lady, who has been consistent in helping secure a deal and i would urge all members of this house to follow her example. i think all members can, from whichever seat they sit in in this chamber, help us. i would ask eve ryo ne chamber, help us. i would ask everyone does that in the coming days. we go straight up to scotland with margaret ferrier. thank you, mr speaker. one of the concessions the government made this week is clause 45 of the internal market bill, which would have allowed the uk government to apply uk state aid rules in northern ireland. given the uk government feels comfortable conceding this clause, will the minister now also look at deleting clause 50, which reserves the power to westminster to apply state aid rules in scotland and wales?” to westminster to apply state aid rules in scotland and wales? i would refer the honourable lady to the statement given by my right honourable friend, the duchy of lancaster yesterday, i think. honourable friend, the duchy of lancasteryesterday, ithink. i would just reiterate northern ireland's unique position in the united kingdom. geraint davies in wales. mr speaker, the government has already published an economic impact assessment of no deal. will she ensure the government publishes any economic assessment of any eu deal on offer? so if any deal is rejected, we will all know at what cost? minister. at the moment, effo rts cost? minister. at the moment, efforts are on securing a deal and the deal that is there, the component parts of it are in the best interests of the people of the united kingdom and they are in the best interests of the citizens and businesses in... studio: penny mordaunt, answering a question on a trade deal between the uk and the eu. saying the government would continue to work tirelessly to get a deal but not at any cost. rachel reeves for the labour party asked her about security implications and with the uk lose access to key security tools? penny mordaunt said if we leave without a daily that have measures in place to ensure our citizens are safe. that discussion continues. you are watching bbc news. now, tomasz schafernaker has the weather. well, it's going to stay pretty grey across most of the uk through this afternoon. there is a chance of a little bit of sunshine here and there, but also at times some light rain and drizzle. there is a change on the way later on today, and actually the weather is turning a lot more dynamic across the atlantic. there's a jet stream, it is pushing weather fronts in our direction, one of these weather fronts will reach us later today, but not for the coming hours. it's actually a case of light winds in those overcast skies. so here's the picture. around about midday into lunchtime, pretty chilly for some of us as well. temperatures will be around 6 degrees in newcastle and hull, but already that slightly mild air starting to reach the southwest of the country. 11 in plymouth. here's the rain, it will sweep across northern ireland during the afternoon, reach the rest of the country this evening and overnight. all of us will get a bit of rain, some of it could be heavy. it is also going to turn windier, and with that, also that much milder atlantic air arrives. so tonight it is going to be frost free across the board. so here's a weather map for friday, you can see a big low—pressure parked just south of iceland, is a large area of low pressure and it is pushing that milder air in ourdirection. but it's not that mild, the really mild air, you can see the sort of orange colours, have actually gone to the south of us across portugal and spain, unsurprisingly. so here's friday's weather map. you can see quite a messy picture again, a lot of cloud across the uk, bits and pieces of rain from time to time, certainly some showers on the cards, also the possibility of a crack of thunder. and you can see those temperatures now widespread at double figures across the south of the uk. and we will continue to see that whether becoming more unsettled through the course of the weekend, but there will be a gap between weather systems i think on saturday. so saturday itself isn't looking too bad, there will be some sunshine around. now, this weekend, again, by the time we get to sunday, the next weather system arrives. now, this one is going to again bring more substantial rain and stronger winds, so i think out of the two days, sunday is certainly going to be the more unsettled day with outbreaks of rain, heavy at times. but you can see right across the board, we will see those temperatures recovering into double figures. bye— bye. this is bbc news. the headlines at 11... the european commission publishes contingency plans for a no—deal brexit following little progress in face to face talks between the prime minister and the eu chief last night. downing street says "large gaps" remain between the uk and the eu, with sunday being set as the deadline for a "firm decision" on whether a deal can be reached. we are going to leave no stone unturned and we will carry on in talks, we will carry on negotiating until there is no hope of that happening. uk travellers could be prevented from entering eu countries afterjanuary the 1st due to pandemic rules. the number of patients in england waiting more than a year for routine surgery is at its highest level since may 2008. and an experimental rocket belonging to elon musk‘s spacex company crashes and burns on landing. the billionaire calls it a "rapid unscheduled disassembly. " in the last hour, the president of the european commission ursula von der leyen has published contingency policies in the event of a no—deal brexit including plans for air and road travel for the next six months. it follows the break up of talks with boris johnson without agreement. a spokesperson for number 10 said "very large gaps remain" between the two sides. but talks will continue in brussels today, between the uk's chief negotiator lord frost and the eu's michel barnier. a decision on whether a deal can be reached is expected to be announced by sunday. without a deal, tariffs will be imposed on british exports, and trade will be disrupted by increased border checks. meanwhile, the foreign secretary dominic raab has sought to play down the impact of a potential no—deal brexit on food prices, but acknowledged there will be "bumps along the road". joining me now is lord ricketts, former ambassador to france from 2012 to 2016. welcome to bbc news and thank you for joining welcome to bbc news and thank you forjoining us. where do you think we are this morning on both sides? well, i am a more pessimistic, i am afraid, this morning, then i was a few days ago because i thought that meeting between the two leaders was an opportunity not to magically produce a deal but break some of the deadlock we have seen recent months and give the negotiators a last checklist of things to get done. instead, it seems that both sides repeated their familiar positions and there does not seem to have been any real movement which is going to be needed if there is a deal. i am afraid the prospect of a known deal brexit and the wide chaos and disruption that could cause have grown. ijust want disruption that could cause have grown. i just want to talk to you about the publication by the european commission of these contingency plans in the event of a no—deal within the last hour. what do you make of the timing of leaves publications given that the eu side say there striving to strike a deal? both sides have been making contingency plans for a no—deal, and the uk has been doing that with the extra customs officials and the lorry parks in kent and so on. i think the eu is making last—ditch preparations in case there is a no—deal. for example, aircraft continuing to fly, the tunnel continuing to fly, the tunnel continuing to fly, the tunnel continuing to run, central links are maintained for a period keeping the disruption to less than it would be if there was a total cut off. it shows that everyone is serious now about the prospect that in two weeks' time we won't have any legal basis for our relationship with the eu. on the uk site, boris johnson has said he is ready to walk away if a deal can't be agreed. how relaxed do you think he really is about a no—deal brexit‘s he shouldn't be relaxed about it, because it is not just a question of these tariffs and quotas on our trade, but there are all sorts of other links with the eu that will be at risk, for example, security co—operation between police forces, energy, aviation, all sorts of walks of life. we have had very close relations including this transition period which could a bru ptly transition period which could abruptly come to an end. it is not the time for anybody to be relaxed andi the time for anybody to be relaxed and i understand that the prime minister has to maintain a positive front on the prospect of a no—deal, but that is a very bad outcome for all parties. to avoid it means compromise on all sides. do you think the prime minister is right to be resisting european demands on the level playing field, that the uk should keep to uk standards after january? the eu are insisting on this spurs britain is a large exporter to the market and they don't want to find that britain is undercutting their standards on food security or environment. in most negotiations at this point, if there was a 5% gap on the two sides, you would turn to political assurances to the two sides that they would act in good faith with each other. the problem is that britain has very little trust now with europe because of the way they have behaved over the last year, so they want everything nailed down in a legal text, which makes everything more difficult. let us explore this a little bit more about what the impact ofa little bit more about what the impact of a no—deal would be. what would it be, both on the uk and eu in practical terms? the would it be, both on the uk and eu in practicalterms? the most physical or visible sign would be disruption at the border. if both sides impose customs checks on food, on whether birds are aligned with regulations on both sides, that will delay every lorry that goes through calais and other channel ports. we rely on the eu for all links. police forces work with counterparts on terrorism and international crime using databases terrorism and international crime using data bases and terrorism and international crime using databases and systems that are in the eu and which we will no longer be members of or have any access to if we leave without a deal. we have energy links, we have links in all sorts of walks of life that will be disrupted and we have uncertainty about how we could cooperate with the eu. you mentioned in the bulletin we might find that the travel restrictions on people going to the eu will be much tougher, at least while the pandemic lasts, because there has been a group of european countries that have had access to other eu countries, but beyond that there is basically an exclusion, and we will join now the excluded category from the eu unless they take a decision to vary that. i would like to end where you started. you said you were pessimistic, but let us be a little bit more optimistic. they have not called time on the talks. is there a new possible route that has not been explored per smack you have been party to high—level negotiations. what can be done to break this kind of deadlock? you are right, negotiations are still going on. we mustn't be too pessimistic. i have gone up and down like a roller—coaster over recent weeks. you can sometimes sort problems with side letters, political undertakings if you can't get them into legal text. or potentially, you could break out different bits of what we are told is a largely agreed set of proposals, for example, on security and introduce those separately. there are some final steps that could be taken to try and close those gaps or give us time in the new year to sort out those things, but it requires goodwill on both sides and that seems to be on in short supply at the moment. thank you for your thoughts and insights. our political correspondent helen catt is at westminster. talks are resuming in brussels between those negotiators, or moving towards sunday. it feels like sunday isa towards sunday. it feels like sunday is a moment. we have had a lot of deadlines that have come and gone in brexit and it always feels like this is the moment, but it certainly feels like sunday is a real point where if there is going to be a walk away moment, that is going to be it. it may be that they come back on sunday and say we are going to talk for a bit more, sunday and say we are going to talk fora bit more, but sunday and say we are going to talk for a bit more, but it seems that it is building to that moment. the foreign secretary this morning described it as a moment of finality, a recognition that there wasn't a political breakthrough in the meeting last night. downing street described it as a frank, but said there were differences. from the uk side, there's sense that the eu needs to budge... this idea that the uk should be free to set its own rules and not really have to answer to others, because for the uk government, that has been the whole point of brexit, it is about taking back control, that was the phrase, about the ability to set your own rules and laws and not be tied to others in future. there is quite a fundamental disagreement to still be thrashed out here. they have set a deadline for sunday to thrash out those fundamental disagreements. how real is that deadline? if there was any progress, could they go beyond it? as i said, it could be that they come back on sunday and say they have got a few more days, but there isa have got a few more days, but there is a sense that that would be a moment for deciding if there is any future in these talks. downing street has been clear in recent days that it street has been clear in recent days thatitis street has been clear in recent days that it is not looking at those negotiations going beyond the end of the year, so they had a suggestion from the eu earlier in the week that it would be happy to keep negotiating even if the transition period is over and once the uk has left the single market and customs union, they would still be willing to come back and look at a trade deal in future. downing street have been clear that that is not an option for them and there will not be any negotiations in 2021 and the time for sorting out a future relationship is now, before the end of the year. and if it doesn't happen, the suggestion is that that is it. you have heard borisjohnson say repeatedly that the uk prosper mightily if it leaves on trade organisation terms on the 1st of january. those negotiators are still trying to get a deal, she might be thinking why are they still talking if it does not really matter? both sides do want a deal despite these quite large issues. the statement from downing street last night saying that the prime minister was determined not to leave any route to afairer determined not to leave any route to a fairer deal uncontested. good to talk to you, thank you. i want to bring you some breaking news because the initial findings of a review into allegations of poor maternity ca re into allegations of poor maternity care at hospitals in shropshire has just been published. now, there were more than 1800 deaths and cases of neglect that were being investigated at the shrewsbury and telford nhs trust. this initial review investigating those deaths at the trust has identified seven what it calls immediate and essential actions that are needed to be taken to improve maternity services in england. responding to the report, the patient safety maternity minister nadine dorries said she expects to shrewsbury and telford nhs trust to act on the recommendations immediately following what she describes as the shocking failings at the trust. as i say, the report investigated more than 1800 deaths and cases of neglect with the majority of incidents happening between the year 2000 and 2019. that news is just breaking now and a news conference is happening at the moment and we will bring you much more on this in the coming moments, so stay with us. the foreign secretary dominic raab has acknowledged that britons could face new covid restrictions on travel to eu countries in the new year. afterjanuary the 1st, the uk will no longer be part of the european union's free movement rules, potentially leaving britons affected by measures to close the borders due to the pandemic. the independent‘s travel editor, simon calder, gave us more details about how the restrictions imposed by eu countries could affect uk travellers. they all have their own different rules, so many of them will actually ban particular countries outright. others, well, greece hasjust introduced quarantine for people going there at christmas and new year, which effectively rules those countries out in terms of worthwhile destinations. but they can similarly, and, particularly, iwould imagine countries or regions such as the canary islands might do this, they may well say "ok, it's all right, we will make an exemption for brits." but there is no obligation to at the moment. and, of course, on top of all this, you have the uk rules, which basically say the entire, well, almost the rest of the world is a no—go area. we warn against all but essential travel to the vast majority of european countries, and your travel insurance will therefore be invalid. and on top of that, you have got to quarantine when you get back. whether that's for 14 days or, in scotland and northern ireland ten days in wales or as from next week, five days in the uk if you take a test. the headlines on bbc news... the european commission publishes contingency plans for a no—deal brexit following little progress in face to face talks between the prime minister and the eu chief last night. uk travellers could be prevented from entering eu countries afterjanuary the 1st due to pandemic rules. the number of patients in england waiting more than a year for routine surgery is at its highest level since may 2008. greater manchester police has been accused of letting down vulerable victims of crime by failing to record 80,000 offences in a year. the police inspectorate said some cases were being closed without a proper investigation and no record was kept of a quarter of violent crimes, including domestic abuse and stalking. greater manchester police said it had a long term plan to address the concerns. we can speak to hm inspector of constabulary zoe billingham now. thanks so much forjoining us. how concerned and surprised where you buy these findings? very concerned. to find a force that has been under a degree of scrutiny by us for some time now still not putting one in five crimes on the books, and actually a quarter of all violent crime, and when you think with violent crime you are often dealing with victims who are particularly vulnerable, perhaps domestic abuse victims, and for those crimes do not even be getting on to the books for the police to start looking to investigate really was deeply disappointing. and the force has been asked by us to make improvements in this regard for over four years now. and while i am encouraged that the force is now saying they have infrastructure changes that will lead to rapid improvement, i am changes that will lead to rapid improvement, iam really changes that will lead to rapid improvement, i am really very concerned with what we are seen today in greater manchester. when you talk about cases not been put on the books, this question of recording crimes, i take it it is more than a matter of paperwork, is it? yes, absolutely, and this is the point. it isn't just it? yes, absolutely, and this is the point. it isn'tjust a bureaucratic exercise, because if a crime is not recorded, police are not going to pursue the investigation and the offender is not going to be brought to justice, but there other reasons why it is so important. the force has a good view of crime in the local area, and most people don't wa nt local area, and most people don't want crime happening and the principal job want crime happening and the principaljob of the police is to prevent crime. if you do not know where your crime hotspots are, if you don't know where most of your repeat offenders are because you have got such an incomplete view of crime in yourarea, have got such an incomplete view of crime in your area, you're not going to be able to take preventative action. it is like trying to fly a plane with most of the instruments covered up. it is not going to work, and i'm sure the public of manchester will understand that there is not a complete picture of crime in their area they are not being appropriately served by the police force. took place in the spring where it was centralising elements of its crime recording in control rooms and presumably dealing with the impacts of the pandemic as well. should certain allowances be made for that? that is a difficult one, because what we know during the immediate lockdown which started in the middle of march and went through for three months is that in nearly every force in the country, the number of crimes plummeted because people were not out and about in the same way. if people were on the streets, there was more suspicion about what they were doing on the streets. we were very much tucked away and not moving around, so crime rates across all forces went down significantly, so there is an argument to say that we inspected greater manchester police at a time where it was really quite advantageous for the force to have been inspected, other except the point is that something changes they may have wanted to make with staffing may have been difficult. we've been looking for the force to improve the way it records, crime forfour improve the way it records, crime for four years, improve the way it records, crime forfour years, so i'm not sure that a matter of two or three months would have made that much difference. for this reason, would have made that much difference. forthis reason, i decided to go back in and re—inspect the force much more rapidly than we would usually, so we are going to go backin would usually, so we are going to go back in and inspect the force in around the quality of its crime recording and response to victims in six months. zoe billingham, good to talk to you. official figures released this morning show that uk economic growth slowed sharply in october as restrictions were tightened to control the spread of covid—19. gross domestic product rose 0.4% month on month in october, marking the sixth consecutive month of recovery. but that growth was pared back significantly from 1.1% in september as new coronavirus restrictions were brought in. the economy still remains 7.9% below pre—pandemic levels. monthly statistics for nhs england have been released this morning showing a rise in the number of people in england waiting for routine operations. in october, nearly 163,000 people had been waiting more than a year for routine surgery. that's the highest since may 2008. and in comaprison, in february, before the covid crisis hit the nhs, that figure was just 1,600. professor neil mortensen, president of the royal college of surgeons of england, says this is a national crisis. if you think that in october 2019, the number of people waiting more than 52 weeks was 1,321, it's now over 160,000 and that obviously underlines the devastating impact of the pandemic. this is obviously something that's really, really concerning. overall, the wait times have been increasing throughout the pandemic, despite lots and lots of heroic efforts by nhs trusts and staff and so on, to get things back to normal, but that hasn't really happened. i suppose most hospitals are getting round to about 50, 60, 70% of previous capacity, so that's just adding increasingly to this massive problem. i think the total waiting list is now 4.45 million up on the previous month. so, it's all right i guess for us to just think about figures but these are people and in the lowest priority groups, these are people with hips and knee operations, for example, ear, nose and throat problems and they are already waiting for many months and now they are going to have to wait many many more months, in pain, needing painkillers, maybe off work, maybe their mobility decreasing, so it's a real national crisis. and i suppose the college of surgeons of england's view is that whilst we understand that the immediate, if you like, effort for everybody is to get over the pandemic, there will be a moment where we have to reconsider this enormous problem. there needs to be a national strategy to sort out this waiting list problem, a kind of new dealfor surgery so that we can make some impact on these elective waiting times. let's get more on the news that the president of the european commission has published contingency policies in the event of a no—deal brexit. without a deal, tariffs will be imposed on british exports and trade will be disrupted by increased border checks. joining me now is alex veitch, general manager of public policy at logistics uk, the association representing freight trade. good of you to join us good of you tojoin us here on bbc news. the longer these brexit talks go on, of course, the longer the uncertainty goes on. what kind of impact is that having? the uncertainty is causing stockpiling. we know that there are a lot of importers buying goods before the end of the year on the basis that we could be any position of those imports attract and, in some cases, very substantial import taxes known as tariffs on those goods. that is one example that is causing some element of disruption at the ports at the moment. think the other worry we have about a no deal from the logistic side is connections, connectivity from the uk to the eu. before i came on eric, the european commission has published its no deal contingency proposals suggesting there should be around a six month period of allowing the flow of hgvs and freight vehicles to and from the uk and eu. it is a relief and a good thing to see, and we need to make sure that gets enacted by different authorities to make that happen. how easy will it be to make that happen? it isa easy will it be to make that happen? it is a unilateral decision by the european commission, so it is their decision to take. but it is dependent upon the uk agreeing to reciprocate it, to allow symmetrical access to uk and eu hauliers, so they are pulling today to allow for a six—month bilateral agreement to allow trucks to move across the uk and eu to make sure we all get the goods that we need. you have talked about stockpiling. is it your view that consumers, in the event of a no deal, should prepare for prices to go up? that is a question about what happens to the rest of our economy and to some extent what position our government takes on tariffs coming from outside the eu. it is difficult to generalise or make predictions. to reassure people, logistics is a resilient sector as we have seen throughout this terrible pandemic we have been living through, and we would not advise or there to be any shortages on a personal level. but businesses are trained to get the goodsin businesses are trained to get the goods in before the 1st of january just in case there is no deal, at which point they would attract taxes. really good to talk to you. thank you. the mayor of london sadiq khan has warned that the capital could move to tier 3 tighter restrictions if infections in the city keep on rising. he's urged londoners to follow the rules to avoid a further surge in cases. i don't want to go into tier 3. i think we've got to do all that we can to avoid going into tier 3. i speak on a daily basis to those that run pubs, bars and restaurants who are really struggling, many have already closed down, many are on the cusp of closing down. i think us going into tier 3 will be really bad for those businesses. the numbers aren't great in relation to the virus, so all of us have a responsibility to do what we can to follow the rules, keep our social distance, wear a face mask inside a shop where you can't keep distances, avoid public transport during the rush—hour, wash your hands regularly and thoroughly. we've got to avoid a situation where there's an increase in the virus spread both before christmas, during christmas and thereafter, because what none of us wants is the nhs overwhelmed in january. the us has passed another unwanted milestone in its fight against covid—19 afterjohn hopkins university announced coronavirus deaths rose by at least 3,112 on wednesday. that's the highest reported one day increase since the pandemic started. our washington correspondent nomia iqbal has more. covid—19 infections and hospitalisations have been surging across the us, and there is that grim milestone of more than 3000 deaths in one day. but as well as that, there is also another number that has emerged. there has been more than 106,000 hospitalisations of people with the infection. and of course, this is all playing out as the country awaits approval of two vaccinations. it has got to clear those regulatory hurdles by the fda before it can be rolled out. the chief adviser for donald trump's operation warp speed, which is the initiative that is aimed at rolling out the vaccination, says that if that approval comes potentially this week, then we could see the first few injections happening this weekend. so we are still waiting for that to happen, but that grim figure of more than 3000 deaths per day is just a real stark reminder of the devastating impact the pandemic is having on this country. now it's time for a look at the weather with tomasz shafernaeker. well, it started off pretty cloudy across most of the uk. not much change into the afternoon. it will stay overcast for most of us, and also we are expecting more light rain and drizzle. this is the picture into this afternoon. you can see there is a change on the way. a band of rain is heading towards northern ireland. it should reach belfast early in the evening. today's temperatures typically ranging between 6 and 10 celsius. here is that rain overnight. the winds are going to strengthen as well. most of us are going to get at least some rain. not an awful lot. then, tomorrow, it's going to start off milder. in fact, these are the starting temperatures for friday. double figures in the south west of the country with frost free across—the—board. tomorrow it's going to be a changeable day, i think some sunny spells on the cards but also a few showers. some of them could be on the heavy side, particularly in the west of the uk here and even the possibility of a crack of thunder and feeling just that little bit milder. hello. this is bbc news with rebecca jones. the headlines... the european commission publishes contingency plans for a no—deal brexit following little progress in face to face talks between the prime minister and the eu chief last night. downing street says ‘large gaps' remain between the uk and the eu, with sunday being set as the deadline for a ‘firm decision' on whether a deal can be reached. we are going to leave no stone unturned and we will carry on in talks. we will carry on negotiating until there is no hope of that happening. uk travellers could be prevented from entering eu countries afterjanuary the 1st due to pandemic rules. the number of patients in england waiting more than a year for routine surgery is at its highest level since may 2008. and an experimental rocket belonging to elon musk‘s spacex company crashes and burns on landing. the billionaire calls it a ‘rapid unscheduled disassembly‘. sport now and the full round up from the bbc sport centre. higher, well the lawyer leading the action against rugby union authorities has warned that this port faces dementia epidemic among professionals without serious reform. the initial group represent seven players including michael lipman who is suffering from onset dementia. my symptoms really started to show about four years ago. the severe migraines. they then developed into intolerable migraines and then the obvious signs of a mental health disorder, stress, depression and anxiety but what i‘m suffering from the moment is my inability to finish my sentence and i will make up words just to com plete i will make up words just to complete my sentence. so having a conversation, i find complete my sentence. so having a conversation, ifind quite difficult. that is michael lipman speaking, one of eight rugby union players preparing top training methods need to be addressed very quickly. i think injuries occur during training so i think that has to be part of the opportunity to address these things and look at what can we do to make the game safer, as has been talked about? and perhaps training protocols is something that we need to address very quickly. gregor townsend said his honoured and privileged to extend his contract. we will see him at the 2023 world cup. he‘s been in charge since 2017 so his six—year tenure will make him the longest serving head coach in scotland in that area. he is wave had some sad news overnight from the world of football. the 1982 world cup player paolo rossi has died aged 64. he was the player of the tournament as italy won the trophy in spain and he nearly missed the competition after being banned for two years from football after a match fixing scandal. he managed to score six, his hat—trick against brazil being one of the greatest in world cup history. he ended up world player of the year in 1982. the cricket board has confirmed venues and dates for england‘s till in march next year. it will begin on the 5th of february and then the 28th of march. plenty to look forward to. the first two test matches will be played here, the third test match will be... 31—day internationals in puno. the world athletics indoor championships in china have now been postponed until 2023. this decision was made due to the uncertainties of the coronavirus pandemic in the early pa rt coronavirus pandemic in the early part of the new year and because the indoor season falls within a pretty narrow window, right up to the end of march, it has not been possible to schedule the event in 2021. finally, the pressure is on british heavyweight world champ any anthony joshua as he gets ready for his first bite of the year on saturday night. that‘s according tojoshua‘s promoter eddie hearn who says the boxer is almost certain to fight tyson theory next year if he can first overcome his opponent at wembley arena. he‘s defending his heavyweight belts and it‘s what‘s at sta ke heavyweight belts and it‘s what‘s at stake that is making him edgy. he feels the pressure because he wants the theory fight so badly and we need to do is beat his opponent at wembley. i wish this was a gimmick. it's wembley. i wish this was a gimmick. it‘s not. it‘s a mandatory challenger. a guy who is clearly a top ten in the world, he looks lame, leaner than i‘ve ever seen before and they are up for it. they always raise their game when they fight anthonyjoshua because they need to and they know the rewards three victor real life changing. that's all the sport for now. we will have more but the afternoon. the european commission has published its contingency plans in case no agreement is reached with the uk on a post—brexit trade deal. our reality check correspondent chris morris is here to explain. where shall we start? air travel? these are just a few of the contingency plans, really. the commission is saying, both sides are saying that they will be a lot of disruption if there is no deal. in some areas, more immediately than others. so, if we start with travel, it‘s one of those ones where there is little to full back on. they‘re proposing basic aircon activity for six months. what does that min? number one, it means the uk has to agree to it. you can‘t do it one way or another. some air travel will be able to continue. planes can fly over other countries‘ territory, provides services, stop at airports. so, the basics of what an in—service can do. secondly, links to that, is aviation safety because any eu planes there may be products that have uk safety certificates so there is againa have uk safety certificates so there is again a provision to say those safety certificates on a temporary basis will continue to be recognised. if they won‘t, you would have to ground the planes. never mind the airports, if you can‘t use the planes, that is no good. travel is where you need some fairly immediate measures but the eu is saying, and you would imagine the uk would agree because its not good for either side death the basic measures aren‘t there, but it‘s a temporary fix for six months. what about other modes of transport? similarly, for road travel, come activity, that would be for six months and that would be for six months and that would be for businesses, freight but also for passengers. there would be the licences for drivers to drive across borders, the ability for people to do the basic trade. interestingly, last month, another contingency measure that was put in on the eu side was to essentially allow the channel tunnel to continue to operate. you would think, doesn‘t it just keep going? to operate. you would think, doesn‘t itjust keep going? but there are safety certificates but a way that the tunnel operates which will run out automatically if there is no deal on the 31st of december. so, it‘s a simple step in a way that it has to be done on both sides to make sure that the safety measures are there, their insurance purposes, as much as anything else, to make sure the tunnel doesn‘t shot. therefore thing that they have put out today which is perhaps the most intriguing is about fisheries, and as we know that‘s a big sticking point in the talks. what the eu is proposing and it needs the uk is reciprocal access to each other‘s waters until an agreement is made before that point. as we know, on the uk sign, sovereignty over our fishing waters is one of the big sticking point that they are insisting on. that is a little more intriguing that these are the kind of measures we are going to see as these talks come to a point where there‘s not much time left them, this is the type of measure we will see proposed. on the eu side it needs to be approved by all member states but you can imagine it would go through. presumably, the uk is making contingency plans? to we have any sense of what they are deciding? contingency plans? to we have any sense of what they are deciding7m all sorts of areas, one of them, for example, which will be there, if there was a deal in place, even if there was a deal in place, even if there was a deal in place, even if there was a deal in place, they should be checking stuff coming into the country for all sorts of things, all sorts of checks on products and so forth. the uk has said it will waste those cheques for six months to allow transport into the country to allow transport into the country to continue —— wave those checkpoints. there will be other things also that they are doing to make sure as much as possible to ensure things carry on as normal. we have to be in no doubt that if there is no deal, we talk about a trade deal but it‘s all aspects, and a lot of technical details, but if technical things like safety certificates are not in place, then it could be problems. if some of these measures come in, chris, which last for six months, is the idea that talking carries on for six months and what happens at the end of that period? this is a problem that we talk about me talk about no deal. no deal really means, when do we stop talking really. even if things break down acrimoniously, the two sides would have to get together to talk about the basics of the relationship again. it could take even longer than some people think, if things breakdown badly but there are all sorts of measures. we saw yesterday the announcements made about northern ireland, food going from great britain into northern ireland, they won‘t be any checks on that for three months but nobody knows what‘s going to happen in april. they could be whole host of issues if easements and contingency measures are put in place, pretty soon they are going to have to talk about something or permanently put in their place all contingency measures rollover which would be pretty unsatisfactory on both sides. an experimental rocket belonging to elon musk‘s spacex company has exploded while attempting to land. the 16 storey high starship rocket was being tested as part of the company‘s plans to eventually carry people and cargo to the moon and mars. no—one was on board. tanya dendrinos reports. it looks like a scene from a hollywood blockbuster. but this fiery spectacle wasn‘t planned. it‘s the crash landing of the latest prototype of the spacex starship. two, one, zero. codenamed sn8, it was the craft‘s first attempt at a high altitude flight test. early on was smooth sailing for the uncrewed mission. it lifted off from the boca chica facility in texas on a brief flight tojust over 12km, achieving much of what it set out to do. including a horizontal descent. but after a flip back into the vertical position for touchdown, things went a little awry. it might not have looked like it, but according to spacex ceo elon musk, the flight was a success, congratulating his team, saying, "we got all the data we needed". his sights firmly set, tweeting, "mars, here we come". tanya dendrinos, bbc news. now on bbc news it‘s time for your questions answered. you‘ve been sending in your questions on the coronavirus vaccine. here to answer them is dr bharat pankhania from the university of exeter medical school and professor stephen evans from the london school of hygiene and tropical medicine. welcome to you both and we are delighted you are here because we have had a lot of questions. let's get straight to it. this is a question from aaron george in leeds, why should i have the vaccine if i‘m not worried about coronavirus and, indeed, if other people having the banks in? well, the point of having a vaccine is it provides protection for you but if it doesn‘t doesn‘t provide protection for you because you don‘t have the vaccine, remember, you could become a case and if you are a case, you may in fa ct, and if you are a case, you may in fact, yourfamily and if you are a case, you may in fact, your family members, and if you are a case, you may in fact, yourfamily members, other people, you may infect them and therefore is better to protect yourself. it‘s very important because you don‘t know what your situation will be like in two, three, four, five years time. protection is good and you can thing assured that you are not going to get infected and infect other people. that is the important bit. professor evans, a question from an in nottingham, she wants to know would being vaccinated ensure it doesn‘t transmit the virus to other people? thank you. really good question. when we say ensure, the answer is no. reduce the likelihood, the answer is almost undoubtedly yes. it's very difficult to measure transmission to other people and so the best we can do is measure the virus levels and those who have been vaccinated and in the pfizer trials, . .. vaccinated and in the pfizer trials,... in the oxford trials, they measured asymptomatic people and it was clear there was reduction in the virus level in those who are asymptomatic. so, the answer is, it will reduce the transmission but it won't make it zero. so it doesn't mean we can get rid of the distancing and masks, even if people have been vaccinated, ourselves and those around us. very interesting. andy from sheffield wants to know is it safe to have that vaccine if you have epilepsy? i think so. my answer to andy is there is no reason why that vaccine, the one that has been licensed, will interfere with his epilepsy medication or his epilepsy. talking empirically, i would say yes. it‘s better when you are having a vaccine is to have a conversation at that point as well. richard wants to know how safe the vaccine is. i know this is a question that is occupying the minds of a lot of people because he says the m h r a missed a very obvious exception for taking the vaccine and he asks what else might have been mr? again, really good question, richard. i don‘t know that it is certain that the m don‘t know that it is certain that themhr don‘t know that it is certain that the m h r eight missed this. we‘ll to say what it is. what it is is that allergic reactions have occurred in two health care workers, as we understand it, who had a history of having very severe allergic reactions. now, the information given to professionals and patients was that those with hypersensitivity to any of the constituents should not be given the vaccine. now, in some senses that is not very helpful because people don‘t know if they‘re hypersensitive to that so you could argue that the mhr a to that so you could argue that the mhrafailto to that so you could argue that the mhr a fail to warn that people who have hypersensitivity, really severe allergic reactions should not have the vaccine. we do the best we can entrance but there will be people who were not in the trials who we will vaccinate we want to protect them and it means that there will be things, most of them will be coincidence rather than actually caused by the vaccine, but there will be some things that could be because by the vaccine that we don‘t know about, because they are rare. so we have to monitor it. and, in the uk, we are doing a phenomenal job that the records of people who getting vaccinated are getting back into the gb record so we are able to follow them up. so, when we say is it safe? well, how many health care workers have died because of covert. really sad for the people who have had these nasty reactions but they we re had these nasty reactions but they were prepared for it and it‘s part of the reason why you have to wait 15 minutes or so after getting the vaccine to 15 minutes or so after getting the vaccine to ensure 15 minutes or so after getting the vaccine to ensure that you are doing 0k. all vaccine to ensure that you are doing ok. all vaccines, you are warned, whenever you are given an injection, to be careful about these kinds of allergic reactions. but, they occur rapidly and there is help on hand to deal with the consequences, so, yes, i think that the balance of benefits to harm is very clearly in favour of having the vaccine. it‘s annoying in some senses that the world of euphoria that these have happened, but, at the same time, it‘s good that we have learned about them. it is not hidden away and we know how to advise people to delay at least until we know the cause of these allergic reactions. it is worth saying that the mhr eight is the regulatory authority. a question from richard griffiths in warsaw. if a person is vaccinated while they have the virus, could the autoimmune response be affected? we have no evidence that that is the case, say what richard is asking is, will the immunisation then give me extra trouble with my autoimmune system acting against my other organs. we have no evidence for this. this is another reason why when we get the vaccine, the doses very carefully monitored, meaning the right amount should induce the right amount of immunity without hype stimulating the immune system, so while there is no evidence that this has happened, we are still very cautious about giving the right dose in order to only create immunity and an immune response. susan kavanagh from chillingham once to know how do scientists know that the vaccine will not react badly or reduce the effectiveness of other medications someone might be taking? we do not know the certain whether this will be so. however, our previous experience with vaccines and how they work suggests that any possible interaction with ordinary medicines that you take will be almost entirely absent, or probably entirely absent, or probably entirely absent. when you get interactions with drugs, don‘t forget the drugs are being taken day after day after day and the effect of two different drugs can be that they interact. with a vaccine, you are given it twice and the effects in terms of something on the drug is short—term. what is happening is is that the vaccine is training your immune system to itself respond to the incoming virus when you are exposed to it. so, you train your immune system to be able to fight off that virus and that training is a rather different process to the ones that we have the drugs. now, it‘s possible that some drugs that affect the immune system, so—called immunosuppressants, affect the immune system, so—called immunosuppressa nts, may affect the immune system, so—called immunosuppressants, may end up giving a reduced response that the vaccine and that is certainly a possibility and there are warnings that that could be so. so, u nfortu nately that that could be so. so, unfortunately those who have immuno — compromised systems who may be at risk may also have reduced efficacy for this vaccine. debra from london has a simple question. do blood types make a difference to the taking of the vaccine? in answer to deborah, no, there is no evidence that one blood type performs better than another. my answer to all people who are worried about this is to say, look, the vaccine has shown to say, look, the vaccine has shown to be effective in a wide range of groups of people and there is no reason to think that one blood group performs better than the other. u nfortu nately, performs better than the other. unfortunately, we‘ve run out of time which is a real same because we‘ve got a lot of other really good questions and we got through quite a lot. thank you both. always good to have you join us on bbc news. thank you. we are bringing you some breaking news. the european commission president ursula von der leyen has just been giving an update on the post—brexit trade deal talks. let‘s listen in. i had ihada i had a very long conversation yesterday night with prime minister borisjohnson. it was yesterday night with prime minister boris johnson. it was a good conversation but it is difficult. we are willing to grant access to the single market to our british friends. it's the largest single market in the world. but, the conditions have to be fair, therefore our workers and our companies and this fine balance of fairness hasn't been achieved so far. our negotiators are still working and we will take a decision on sunday. thank you. the president there of the european commission. let‘s pause now and catch up with the weather. now it‘s time for a look at the weather with tomasz shafernaeker. well, it‘s going to stay pretty grey across the uk this afternoon. there‘s a chance of little bit of sunshine hear and there but also, at times some light rain and drizzle. now, there is a change on the way later on today. the weather is turning a lot more dynamic across the atlantic. the jet stream is pushing weather fronts in our direction. one of these weather fronts will reach us later today but not in the coming hours. it‘s actually a case of light wins and those overcast skies. so, here is the picture. round about midday into lunchtime. pretty chilly for some of us, as well. temperatures will be around 6 degrees in newcastle and hull, but, already that slightly mild air starting to reach the rest of the country. 11 degrees in plymouth. here is the rain. it will sweep across northern ireland during the afternoon, reach the rest of the country this evening and overnight. all of us will get at least a bit of rain. some of it will be heavy. it‘s also going to turn windier and with that, some much milder atlantic air arrives. so, tonight, it‘s going to be frost— free across the board. so, here‘s the weather map for friday. you can see big low pressure parked just south of iceland. it‘s a large area of low pressure and it is pushing that milder air in our direction but it‘s not that mild. the really mild air you can see in these orange colours, has gone to the south of us towards portugal and spain, not surprisingly. so, here‘s friday‘s weather map. another messy picture again. a lot of cloud across the uk. bits and pieces of rain from time to time. certainly some showers on the cards. also, the possibility of a crack of thunder and you can see those temperatures now widespread in double figures across the south of the uk. we will continue to see that weather becoming more unsettled through the weekend but they will be a gap in the weather systems unsettled through the weekend but there will be a gap in the weather systems on saturday so saturday itself is not looking too bad. they will be some sunshine around. there will be some sunshine around. now, this weekend, by the time we get to sunday, the next weather system arrives and this one is going to bring more substantial rain and stronger winds, so out of the two days, sunday is certainly going to be more unsettled, with outbreaks of rain, heavy at times. but, you can see right across—the—boa rd those temperatures recovering into double figures. goodbye. this is bbc news. the headlines... the european commission publishes contingency plans for a no—deal brexit following little progress in face to face talks between the prime minister and the eu chief last night. it was a good conversation, but it is difficult. we are willing to grant is difficult. we are willing to g ra nt a ccess is difficult. we are willing to grant access to the single market to our british friends. it is the largest single market in the world. but the conditions have to be fair. downing street says "large gaps" remain between the uk and the eu — with sunday being set as the deadline for a "firm decision" on whether a deal can be reached. we are going to leave no stone unturned and we will carry on in talks, we will carry on negotiating until there is no hope of that happening. uk travellers could be prevented from entering eu countries afterjanuary the 1st due to pandemic rules. senior doctors have warned that hospital waiting times in england are a "national crisis" as the number of patients waiting more than a year for routine surgery is at its highest level since may 2008. a review into failures at shrewsbury and telford nhs trust has called for all maternity services in england to take immediate action to improve patient safety. in the last few minutes, the president of the european commission ursula von der leyen says negotiations have been difficult with britain and "a fine balance of fairness has not been achieved." the eu has today published contingency policies in the event of a no—deal brexit including plans for air and road travel for the next six months. it follows the break up of talks with boris johnson without agreement. a spokesperson for number 10 said "very large gaps remain" between the two sides. but talks will continue in brussels today, between the uk‘s chief negotiator lord frost and the eu‘s michel barnier. a decision on whether a deal can be reached is expected to be announced by sunday. as part of the eu‘s plans if there‘s a "no deal" brexit, they are asking for a series of reciprocal arrangements — including access to british waters forfishing, for the next 12 months. they are calling for "air connectivity" between the uk and the eu and continued aviation safety measures to avoid the grounding of aircraft. and the plan wants continued guarantees for passenger and freight road transport. without a deal, tariffs will be imposed on british exports, and trade will be disrupted by increased border checks. let‘s hear a little of what ursula von der leyen has been saying. had a very long co yesterday i had a very long conversation yesterday night with the prime minister borisjohnson. yesterday night with the prime minister boris johnson. it yesterday night with the prime minister borisjohnson. it was a good conversation, but it is difficult. we are willing to grant access to the single market to our british friends, it is the largest single market in the world. but the conditions have to be fair. they have to be fair for our workers and our companies, and this fine balance of fairness has not been achieved so far. our negotiators are still working, and we will take a decision on sunday. thank you. joining me now is lord barwell, former chief of staff to theresa may. he is now a senior advisor at pricewaterhousecoopers. good a you tojoin us, thank you good a you to join us, thank you for your time. where do you think we are this morning, especially in light of that statement from ursula von der leyen ? that statement from ursula von der leyen? there is a significant risk of this process is going to end without us reaching a deal. the news last night wasn‘t very encouraging. ona more last night wasn‘t very encouraging. on a more positive note, the progress that michael gove has made this week in negotiations on the northern ireland protocol, they were able to reach a compromise and agreement there, and let‘s hope the same can be said of the trade talks. and they have not pulled time on the trade talks yet, have they? can you see any possible route which might break the deadlock‘s i think it is fairly easy to see where the compromise is. the question is whether boris johnson on compromise is. the question is whether borisjohnson on the uk side and the various european leaders on the eu side are willing to make the necessary compromises, and it sounds from last night we are not there yet. do you think boris johnson is as relaxed about a no deal as he appears to be? is talking about walking away if a deal can‘t be reached? a no deal outcome would be very bad economically, we heard that a couple of weeks ago when the chancellor announced the spending review, it would mean the immediate end of all security cooperation between the uk and the eu, and it would also, i think, gives further ammunition to nicola sturgeon as she seeks to get scotland out of the united kingdom. for all of those reasons, it would be a bad outcome for borisjohnson reasons, it would be a bad outcome for boris johnson and reasons, it would be a bad outcome for borisjohnson and i also think it would be a bad outcome for the eu. this is notjust about us needing to compromise. both sides needing to compromise. both sides need to compromise if we are to get the deal that both sides, workers here and in europe, need. tell us what that compromise would involve because you were negotiating closely with theresa may as she negotiated with theresa may as she negotiated with the eu. what is it like to actually negotiate these deals and make compromises? it is not easy and it was never going to be easy, and if you would allow me, maybe it is worth spending 30 seconds why. the eu does not want brexit to be a success and i do not mean that in a majority way. they value their single market, and if they allow a country that has left to have too good access to that market, it is going to destabilise the whole thing. there whole thing is protecting the integrity of what they have built. where does the compromise like? you heard it from ursula von der leyen there that they are willing to give completely tariff free access to that market for goods, but they needed some assurances from the uk, legally enforcea ble assurances from the uk, legally enforceable assurances, that we are not to cut environmental standards or workers‘ rights, or give companies an unfair advantage. from boris johnson‘s companies an unfair advantage. from borisjohnson‘s side, he doesn‘t wa nt to borisjohnson‘s side, he doesn‘t want to be bound into following eu rules now we have left the eu. so the question is can they find a formulation about first of all, no regression from existing standards, and it does sound like they are there on that. but if one side or there on that. but if one side or the other raises their standards, what does that mean for the other side and how do you avoid a situation where companies from one side have but an unfair advantage over the other? this new deadline of sunday, let us say that they do begin to make progress on the issues you are talking to, is it a full stop? if you are a business at the moment, on sunday, it will be 18 days until the end of the transition period, and to give businesses that little notice to prepare for such a profound difference in our trading relationship, we would be going from the closest relationship anywhere in the closest relationship anywhere in the world to the worst trade relationship, and businesses would have just 18 days notice of that. in one sense, it is observed that it has got theirs, but in another sense, if you are on a verge of a deal on sunday, you wouldn‘t want to give up if you thought you were just a day or two away from getting it over the line. there is no absolute deadline here other than the 31st of december which is when the transition period comes to an end. lord ba rwell, thank transition period comes to an end. lord barwell, thank you very much for joining lord barwell, thank you very much forjoining us. our political correspondent helen catt gave us this update earlier. those talks are resuming in brussels between the negotiators, all moving towards that moment of sunday. and it does feel like sunday is a moment. i know we have had a lot of deadlines that have come in brexit and they have gone in brexit, and it has always been a case of this is the moment. but it certainly feels like sunday is a real point where, if there is going to be a walk—away moment, that could well be it. and it may come back that they come back on sunday and say, "we will talk for a few days more," but it does certainly feel that that is building to this proper moment. i think dominic raab, the foreign secretary, described it this morning as a moment of finality, this sort of recognition that there wasn‘t that big political breakthrough in the meeting last night. downing street described the discussion as frank, but said that there were still very significant differences. and this still seems to be a feeling from the uk side that it has got to be the eu that budges here, the sort of sense of frustration that they feel the eu hasn‘t quite got it when it comes to the uk‘s demands on sovereignty, this idea that the uk should be free to set its own rules and not really have to answer to others in that. because, for the uk government, of course, that has been the whole point of brexit — it is about taking back control, that was the phrase, about the ability to set your own rules and laws and not be tied to others in future. there is quite a fundamental disagreement still to be thrashed out here. let‘s get more from our europe correspondent nick beake, who‘s in brussels. we have been hearing that fairly downbeat assessment from ursula von der leyen and indeed the european commission publishing contingency plans in the event of a no—deal brexit. my question is why publish those now when they are saying they are still seeking a deal? they have been under a lot of pressure to do so from business across europe but also the individual member states for a week or two now. behind closed doors, they have been urging the commission to give them an idea of what would happen if no deal was agreed. michel barnier has told ambassadors, trust me, we can do this deal if it is to be done, but let us just hold off. the commission have decided after this dinner last night between its president, ursula von der leyen and the british prime minister, to put these plans out in the public domain. ursula von der leyen, it is worth stressing, in her tweet when she sent a link to these plans, it doesn‘t prejudge the outcome, the talks continue, but this is what we are proposing specifically for some things like aviation and hauliers. they talk about a six—month extension period, planes can ta ke—off about a six—month extension period, planes can take—off and land as usual and fishing, guaranteeing for a year that access will remain the same. we wait and see what the british make of these plans. we have got to leave it there. good to talk to you. the initial findings of a review into allegations of poor maternity care at shrewsbury and telford hospital nhs trust has identified seven "immediate and essential actions" needed to improve maternity care in england and 27 local actions for learning. more than 1800 deaths and cases of neglect were being investigated by the independent review. mercia police has also launched its own investigation to establish if there are grounds for criminal proceedings. let‘s get more on this breaking story witrh chris king, who‘s news editor at bbc radio shropshire. tell us more about what is in this report. it is important to say that the problems at shropshire‘s maternity service date back more than 40 years but the vast majority of the issues raised in the report are between 2000 and 2019. potentially hundreds of mothers or babies have been harmed or died, things like not monitoring fatal heart rates properly and delaying delivery. reluctance to carry out cesa rea n delivery. reluctance to carry out cesarean sections. in 2017, the government announced this independent requiring led by maternity expert looking into cases where patients died or were harmed unnecessarily. the campaign for this we re unnecessarily. the campaign for this were led by two families, who lost their daughter, and also kate griffiths whose daughter also passed away. —— kayleigh griffiths. parents said they won‘t listen to by the trust, many suffered badly and suffered mental health problems. there are about 27 local recommendations for the trust to carry out national recommendations. you are watching bbc news. greater oversight for maternity care within the trust, ongoing risk assessments for pregnant women, more involvement from families in the investigations of serious incidents. nationally, better partnerships between nhs trusts investigating incidents, senior advocates to represent women and families and executive directors to make sure voices are heard at board to make sure voices are heard at boa rd level to make sure voices are heard at board level as well as better staff training. what reaction has there been from the trust? the trust has sent out a statement from its chief executive, who it is important to point out only started at the beginning of this year, so wasn‘t around when the vast majority of these things were happening. she has apologised for the pain and distress that has been caused to mothers and theirfamilies due that has been caused to mothers and their families due to poor maternity ca re their families due to poor maternity care and says they commit to implementing all of the actions in these reports, and encourage people to raise concerns about their care, they will be listened to an action will be taken. chris king, news editor at bbc radio shropshire. thank you forjoining us. tim is a lawyer who represents families, and we may be speaking to him in a short while. in the meantime, let me update you with the headlines on bbc news. the european commission publishes contingency plans for a no—deal brexit following little progress in face to face talks between the prime minister and the eu chief last night. the number of patients in england waiting more than a year for routine surgery is at its highest level since may 2008. a review into maternity failures at an nhs trust has called for all maternity services in england to take immediate action to improve patient safety. sport, and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here‘s holly. hi, well, the lawyer leading the action against rugby union authorities has warned that the sport faces a dementia epidemic among retired professionals without serious reform. the initial group represent seven players including ex—england player michael lipman who is suffering, aged just 40, from early onset dementia. my symptoms really started to show about four years ago. the severe migraines. two years ago, they then developed into intolerable migraines and then the obvious signs of a mental health disorder, stress, depression and anxiety but what i‘m suffering from at the moment is my inability to potentially finish my sentence and i will make up words just to complete my sentence. so having a conversation with people, even now, ifind quite difficult. gregor townsend said his honoured and privileged to sign a two—year contract extension that will see him lead scotland at the 2023 world cup. he‘s been in charge since 2017 so his six—year tenure will make him scotland‘s longest—serving head coach of the professional era. some sad news overnight from the world of football. the standout star of the 1982 world cup player paolo rossi has died aged 64. he was the player of the tournament as italy won the trophy in spain and he nearly missed the competition after being banned for two years from football for his involvement in a match fixing scandal. he managed to score six, his hat—trick against brazil being one of the greatest in world cup history. he ended up world player of the year in 1982. the indian cricket board has confirmed venues and dates for england‘s tour,in february and march next year. the first two test matches will be played. the third test match will be a day—night game. that is all your support for now. i will have more at 130. thank you. the foreign secretary dominic raab has acknowledged that britons could face new covid restrictions on travel to eu countries in the new year. afterjanuary the 1st, the uk will no longer be part of the european union‘s free movement rules, potentially leaving britons affected by measures to close the borders due to the pandemic. the independent‘s travel editor, simon calder, gave us more details about how the restrictions imposed by eu countries could affect uk travellers. they all have their own different rules, so many of them will actually ban particular countries outright. others, well, greece hasjust introduced quarantine for people going there at christmas and new year, which effectively rules those countries out in terms of worthwhile destinations. but they can similarly, and, particularly, iwould imagine countries or regions such as the canary islands might do this, they may well say "ok, it‘s all right, we will make an exemption for brits." but there is no obligation to at the moment. and, of course, on top of all this, you have the uk rules, which basically say the entire, well, almost the rest of the world is a no—go area. we warn against all but essential travel to the vast majority of european countries, and your travel insurance will therefore be invalid. and on top of that, you have got to quarantine when you get back. whether that‘s for 14 days or, in scotland and northern ireland ten days in wales or as from next week, five days in the uk if you take a test. wa nt to ta ke want to take you briefly to brussels and show you pictures here, a meeting at an eu summit, not to discuss brexit. other topics are on the agenda. delegates greeting one another as you can see, but as we have been hearing, the president of the european commission has said that those brexit negotiations have been difficult, with a fine balance of fairness not being achieved, so it is interesting to see whether discussions of a deal or a no deal do raise their heads at that eu meeting in brussels. official figures released this morning show that uk economic growth slowed sharply in october as restrictions were tightened to control the spread of covid—19. gross domestic product rose 0.4% month on month in october, marking the sixth consecutive month of recovery. but that growth was pared back significantly from 1.1% in september as new coronavirus restrictions were brought in. the economy still remains 7.9% below pre—pandemic levels. the car maker honda says production at its swindon plant will remain closed until monday due to a shortage of parts. the factory shut down yesterday, because severe congestion at uk ports has affected the company‘s supply chain. the company will not comment on the extent of lost output. police have charged 32 men, mainly from the kirklees area of west yorkshire, in relation to child sexual exploitation. alleged offences spanned from 1999 to 2012 and related to eight girls aged between 13 and 16. the men are due appear at kirklees magistrates court on friday and monday. the offences include rape, drugs offences and trafficking. let‘s return to that news now about failings at the shrewsbury and telford hospital trust. tim annett is a lawyer, who represents a number of families affected by the review into maternity services at shrewsbury and telford hospitals, and joins me now. we are very grateful for your time. your reaction to this report? we welcome the report to‘s recommendations, and also i think eco comments made by others to pay tribute to the families whose courage and tenacity has led to this review happening. i know people have been waiting a very long time for this and it is only the initial report, and i think a bittersweet moment for the families. clearly, nothing can change what has already happened, but hopefully lessons will be learned from these recommendations, both locally and nationally, and, in particularly, to welcome the trust‘s acknowledgement of the distress and pain that it has caused to the families and their commitment to implement the recommendations, we very much hope that the national recommendations will also be implemented. are you able to tell us for viewers who are perhaps just able to tell us for viewers who are perhapsjustjoining us able to tell us for viewers who are perhaps justjoining us a able to tell us for viewers who are perhapsjustjoining us a data bit more about those recommendations please? there are 27 actions for learning that have been recommended by the review which cover a number of areas including greater co nsulta nt of areas including greater consultant oversight of maternity care, for example. improvements in fee to monitoring, risk assessment for all women, and these are echoed and reinforced in some of these seven immediate actions that have also been recommended in the review which are not only for the shrewsbury and telford trust but also nationally for maternity services across england. there are a number of technical recommendations about things such as foetal monitoring but also, importantly, listening to women and families about their concerns and the way that they are dealt with and the way that they are dealt with and the way that people are treated in terms of the very human side of this as well as important issues about the medical management and the quality of care provided. that was very useful, thank you. the report said the review of 250 cases had identified mr opportunities to learn in order to prevent serious harm to mothers and babies —— missed opportunities. there will be people wondering what happened? opportunities. there will be people wondering what happened ?m opportunities. there will be people wondering what happened? it is difficult to listen to these things andi difficult to listen to these things and i think a terrible time for the families and all of those who have been personally affected by this, and certainly those concerns are consistent with things that we have heard about actions not being taken and concerns not being listened to atan and concerns not being listened to at an earlier stage, and that seems to have been recognised by the review. and with the commitment from the trust to act on this, hopefully also recognised by them, they can‘t change what has already happened, but hopefully significant improvements can now be made to reassure people that they can have confidence and trust in their maternity service, which is absolutely vital. a lawyer representing a number of families affected by this review into maternity services at shrewsbury and telford hospital. thank you so much for joining telford hospital. thank you so much forjoining us. i know that this is a difficult day and we hope, indeed, to hear from the a difficult day and we hope, indeed, to hearfrom the nhs a difficult day and we hope, indeed, to hear from the nhs trust in a few moments, so stay with us for that. greater manchester police has been accused of letting down vulerable victims of crime by failing to record 80,000 offences in a year. the police inspectorate said some cases were being closed without a proper investigation and no record was kept of a quarter of violent crimes, including domestic abuse and stalking. greater manchester police said it had a long term plan to address the concerns. monthly statistics for nhs england have been released this morning showing a rise in the number of people in england waiting for routine operations. in october, nearly 163,000 people had been waiting more than a year for routine surgery. that‘s the highest since may 2008. and in comaprison, in february, before the covid crisis hit the nhs, that figure was just 1,600. professor neil mortensen, president of the royal college of surgeons of england says this is a national crisis. if you think that in october 2019, the number of people waiting more than 52 weeks was 1,321, it‘s now over 160,000 and that obviously underlines the devastating impact of the pandemic. this is obviously something that‘s really, really concerning. overall, the wait times have been increasing throughout the pandemic, despite lots and lots of heroic efforts by nhs trusts and staff and so on, to get things back to normal, but that hasn‘t really happened. i suppose most hospitals are getting round to about 50, 60, 70% of previous capacity, so that‘s just adding increasingly to this massive problem. i think the total waiting list is now 4.45 million up on the previous month. so, it‘s all right i guess for us to just think about figures but these are people and in the lowest priority groups, these are people with hips and knee operations, for example, ear, nose and throat problems and they are already waiting for many months and now they are going to have to wait many many more months, in pain, needing painkillers, maybe off work, maybe their mobility decreasing, so it‘s a real national crisis. and i suppose the college of surgeons of england‘s view is that whilst we understand that the immediate, if you like, effort for everybody is to get over the pandemic, there will be a moment where we have to reconsider this enormous problem. there needs to be a national strategy to sort out this waiting list problem, a kind of new dealfor surgery so that we can make some impact on these elective waiting times. the mayor of london sadiq khan has warned that the capital could move to tier 3 tighter restrictions if infections in the city keep on rising. he‘s urged londoners to follow the rules to avoid a further surge in cases. i don‘t want to go into tier 3. i think we‘ve got to do all that we can to avoid going into tier 3. i speak on a daily basis to those that run pubs, bars and restaurants who are really struggling, many have already closed down, many are on the cusp of closing down. i think us going into tier 3 will be really bad for those businesses. the numbers aren‘t great in relation to the virus, so all of us have a responsibility to do what we can to follow the rules, keep our social distance, wear a face mask inside a shop where you can‘t keep distances, avoid public transport during the rush—hour, wash your hands regularly and thoroughly. we‘ve got to avoid a situation where there‘s an increase in the virus spread both before christmas, during christmas and thereafter, because what none of us wants is the nhs overwhelmed in january. it was found that mothers were sometimes blamed the baby‘s death and denied appropriate care this happen between 2000 and 2018 at the shrewsbury and telford trust. louise barnett, the chief executive of shropshire and telford trust has been giving her reaction. i would like to thank donna for her report and i would like to thank the families but their determination in making this report happen. this is a harrowing read and it sets out poor ca re across a harrowing read and it sets out poor care across a number of decades. as the chief executive of the trust now, i want to say personally and on behalf of the trust that we are very sorry for all of the pain and distress caused to these families. we cannot change the past but i want to reassure women and families that we will continue to make positive changes and we are absolutely committed take all of the actions in this report. chief executive of the shrewsbury and telford nhs trust. let catch up with the weather now. here‘s thomas. tomasz schafernaker. well, it started off pretty cloudy across most of the uk. not much change into the afternoon. it will stay overcast for most of us, and also we are expecting more light rain and drizzle. this is the picture into this afternoon. you can see there is a change on the way. a band of rain is heading towards northern ireland. it should reach belfast early in the evening. today‘s temperatures typically ranging between 6 and 10 celsius. here is that rain overnight. the winds are going to strengthen as well. most of us are going to get at least some rain. not an awful lot. then, tomorrow, it‘s going to start off milder. in fact, these are the starting temperatures for friday. double figures in the south west of the country with frost free across—the—board. tomorrow it‘s going to be a changeable day, i think some sunny spells on the cards but also a few showers. some of them could be on the heavy side, particularly in the west of the uk here and even the possibility of a crack of thunder and feeling just that little bit milder. hello this is bbc news with rebecca jones. the headlines... the european commission publishes contingency plans for a no—deal brexit following little progress in face to face talks between the prime minister and the eu chief last night. it was a good conversation but it is difficult. we are willing to grant access to the single market to our british friends. it's the largest single market in the world. but, the conditions have to be fair, therefore our workers but, the conditions have to be fair. downing street says ‘large gaps‘ remain between the uk and the eu — with sunday being set as the deadline for a ‘firm decision‘ on whether a deal can be reached. we are going to leave no stone unturned and we will carry on in talks. we will carry on negotiating until there is no hope of that happening. uk travellers could be prevented from entering eu countries afterjanuary the 1st due to pandemic rules. the number of patients in england waiting more than a year for routine surgery is at its highest level since may 2008. a review into maternity failures at an nhs trust has called for all maternity services in england to take immediate action to improve patient safety. let‘s return now to brexit. the european commission has published measures to ensure planes and lorries can keep moving between the eu and the uk in the event of no post—brexit deal. it‘s also suggested a one—year extension for fishing access on both sides of the channel. talks between borisjohnson and the president of the european commission, ursula von der leyen, ended last night without agreement though their chief negotiators have resumed talks today. let‘s just have a look at a tweet from the president of the european commission has posted. "i‘m glad we found a way forward." negotiations are ongoing. decision to come on sunday. so, that is the key part of the tweet from the eu president. negotiations are ongoing. decision to come on sunday. lord ricketts, who was the ambassador to france from 2012 to 2016, said a growing lack of trust between both sides is complicating trade negotiations further. (sot trade negotiations further. well, i‘m more pessimistic than i was a few days ago because i thought that meeting between the two leaders was the opportunity not to magically produce a deal but to break through some of the deadlock that we‘ve seen in recent months, and, given the negotiators a last checklist of things to get through. instead, it seems that both sides simply repeated their familiar positions and it doesn‘t seem to have given any movement which needs to happen if there is going to be a deal. so, i‘m afraid that the prospect of a no—deal brexit with uk wide chaos and disruption that could cause, have grown. perhaps we‘ll come back to that. but i just want to talk to you about the publication by the european commission of these contingency plans in the event of a no deal, within the last hour. what do you make of the timing of the publication of these plans, given that the eu side continued to say they are striving to strike a deal? well, both sides have been making contingency plans for a no deal, and the uk side has been doing that for months, as you know, with the lorry parks in kent and the extra customs officials, and so on. i think this is the eu making the last—ditch preparations in case there is no deal, with very little notice, for example, to make sure that aircraft can continue to fly, the eurotunnel can continue to run, that essential links are maintained, at least for a period, keeping the disruption to less than it would be if there was a total cut—off. it shows that everyone is serious now abou the prospect that in two weeks‘ time, we won‘t have any legal basis for a relationship with the eu. and of course, on the uk side, borisjohnson has said he is ready to walk away if a deal can‘t be agreed. how relaxed do you think he really is about an ideal brexit? well, he shouldn‘t be relaxed about it because it‘s notjust a question of these tariffs and quotas on our trade but there are all sorts of other links with the eu that will be missed, the example, on security cooperation between police forces, energy, aviation, in all sorts of walks of life. we have had very close relations with the eu including within this transition period, abruptly to an end. so, it‘s not time for anyone to be relaxed. i understand the prime minister will have to maintain a positive front on the prospect of a no deal but are no deal is a very bad outcome for the uk and also for the eu, which is why everyone is striving to avoid it but avoiding it means compromising on both sides. do you think the prime minister is right to be resisting european demands on the level playing field that the uk should keep to uk standards after january? well, the eu insisting on this because britain is a very large exporter to their market and they don‘t want to find that britain is cutting standards to undercut their standards on food security or the environment. in most negotiations at this point, there was a 5% gap between the two sides, you would turn to side—letters, political assurances from the two sides that they will act in good faith with each other. i think the problem here is that britain has very little trust now in europe as a result of the way it‘s behaved over the past year and therefore, they want everything nailed down in legal text, which does of course make everything more difficult. you‘ve mentioned several times so let‘s explore this a little bit more about the impact of a no deal would mean. what with the impact be, both on the uk and on the eu, in practical terms? well, the most visible sign would indeed be much greater disruption at the border. if both sides impose checks, customs checks, checks, customs checks on food, whether goods are aligned with regulations on both sides, that will delay every lorry that goes through dover and calais and there are tens of thousands of them a day and in other ports. but also, we depend on eu for all kinds of other things. information security, where police forces work together with their counterparts against terrorism and international crime, using data bases and systems which are in the eu, which we will no longer be members of. we will have no access to that if we leave without a deal. we had energy links, links in all sorts of walks of life which will be disrupted and there will be uncertainty about how we can co—operate with the eu. you mentioned in the bulletin also, we will find that the travel restrictions on british people going into the eu will be much tougher, at least while the pandemic lasts, because there have been a group of european countries who have had access to other eu countries, but beyond that, join now the excluded category from the eu u nless they take a decision to bury that. they take a decision to vary that. i‘d like to end where you started. you said you were pessimistic, but, let‘s be a little bit more optimistic. they haven‘t called time on the talks. we have got several more days, is there a new possible route that has not been explored? you been party to high—level negotiations. what can be done to break this kind of deadlock? well, you are right of course, negotiations are still going on and we mustn‘t get too pessimistic. i‘ve gone up and down like a roller—coaster in recent weeks. usually, as i say, you can sometime solve problems with side — letters, political undertakings if you can‘t get them into legal text, or you can delay some things or potentially, you can break out different bits of what we are told is a largely agreed set of proposals, for example on security and introduce those separately. so, there are some final steps there could be taken to at least close this gap and give us more time into the new year to sort out some of these things. but, it does require goodwill on both sides and that seems to be in short supply at the moment. earlier, i spoke to our reality check correspondent chris morris, who explained the eu‘s plan in case there is no deal agreed with the uk. these are just a few of the contingency plans, really. the commission is saying, both sides are saying they will be quite a lot of disruption if there is no deal but in some areas more immediately than others. travel is one of those where there is very little to fall back on, so one of the things they are proposing is there will be basic aircon activity for six months. it means that the uk has to agree to it, you can't do it one way or the other. it means that planes can fly over other countries' territory, stop at their airports and provide services. the basics of what an air services. the basics of what an air service can do. secondly, linked to thatis service can do. secondly, linked to that is aviation safety, because in eu planes, for example, there may be parts that have uk safety certificates and so there is a provision to say those certificates ona provision to say those certificates on a temporary basis will be recognised. if they weren't, you would have two ground the plane, never mind use the airports. travel is one of those things where you need fairly immediate measures but the eu is saying, and you would imagine the uk would agree because it's in neither side interest for air travel to be disrupted to that extent, but it's a temporary fix for six months. what about other modes of transport? similarly, ball road travel, your favourite word there, connectivity, that would be for freight, passengers. they would be the licences for drivers to drive across borders, people doing a basic trade. interestingly, last month, another contingency measure was put in place on the eu side which was essentially to allow the channel tunnel to continue to operate. you may think, doesn't itjust keep going? but there are safety certificates which will run out if there is no deal on the 31st of december, so, again, you need a simple step, in a way, but it has to be done on both sides to make sure the safety measures are in place, three insurance as much as anything else, to make sure the tunnel doesn't shot. the poor thing they had put out today which is perhaps the most intriguing, is on fisheries, because that's a pretty big sticking point in the talks and what the eu is proposing and again it needs eu agreement, is, for up to a year, reciprocal access to each other's waters will continue unless an agreement is made before that point. as we know that on the uk side, sovereignty over our fishing waters is one of the big sticking point that they are insisting on, thatis point that they are insisting on, that is a little more intriguing, but these are the kind of measures we are going to see as these talks come to a point where there's not much time left for them. these are the kind of measures we are going to see proposed. on the eu side, they will need to be approved by all member states but... the headlines on bbc news... the european commission publishes contingency plans for a no—deal brexit following little progress in face to face talks between the prime minister and the eu chief last night. the number of patients in england waiting more than a year for routine surgery is at its highest level since may 2008. a review into maternity failures at an nhs trust has called for all maternity services in england to take immediate action to improve patient safety. one year after the first cases of coronavirus were reported in china, wuhan — the initial epicentre of the pandemic, is striving to return to normality. for months, the city hasn‘t had any locally transmitted cases, and the local government is marking — what it calls its victory in the battle.‘ but how has wuhan changed and what‘s life like for ordinary people? vincent ni has this report. millions of people in wuhan lived under strict lockdown for 76 days. nearly 4,000 people lost their lives to the virus. six months after wu han‘s lockdown was lifted, the city‘s local government has launched an exhibition to mark the fight against the covid—19 pandemic. the three months exhibition hails the effort of the government, front—line workers and volunteers. this man was among volunteers who fought against the pandemic by giving free haircuts to front—line workers. his volunteer work has had an unexpected impact on his business. the recovery hasn‘t been as smooth for everyone. a year since the outbreak began, wuhan strives to return to normality. the scars of the pandemic will run deep, but for now, its people are trying to move on. vincent ni, bbc news. it‘s 9 months since the philippines started one it‘s nine months since the philippines started one of the longest and hardest covid—19 lockdowns in the world. restrictions have since eased, but the country‘s commission on population is warning that one consequence will be a baby boom that could add more than 2 million children to the country‘s already children to the country‘s population of around 110 million people. howard johnson reports from manila. it's really hard because even though you are hungry and you want to eat, you are hungry and you want to eat, you have no money. her baby will be one ofan you have no money. her baby will be one of an estimated 2 million lockdown babies delivered next year, according to a recent study by the university of the philippines. the country continues to have one of the highest the fertility rate despite a law making contraception more readily available. even with continued opposition from the catholic church, the policy has been partially successful in bringing down the birth rate but now the experts are saying these early gains will be all but wiped out. we will have more unplanned pregnancies. it's have more unplanned pregnancies. it‘s about a rate of three out of every ten. probably half of the pregnancies next year. at this hospital, this doctor inspects one of the busiest maternity wards. before the reproductive health act, up before the reproductive health act, up to 120 babies were born here everyday, earning the hospital the title the baby factory. this four to two beds at the moment. what did you see when the baby boom hit? five, six, seven patients in two beds together. maximum capacity, the maximum, just 408. just for this year, we reach more than 600. back in this town, people scatter as a police patrol enters the area. they are looking for a drug dealer. one of the only ways to escape poverty is, she says. that is my number one worry. if i can still support their education. sometimes, when i get angry lose my temper, i tell them, what if ijust put them up for adoption to rich people so they'll be able to have proper schooling? the pandemic has driven the philippines into recession and prospects for those at the bottom up later than ever. —— bleaker than ever. this should be the busiest time of year for britain‘s theatres but most are still unable to open their doors. but for some performers, the show must go on. now, if you can‘t go to the musical, one company is bringing the musical to you. david sillito went to see the first performance on a very damp this is normally the busiest time of yearin this is normally the busiest time of year in theatreland. but this year is not so much "it‘s behind you." as on your doorstep. hey guys. we've got a surprise for you come to the door. bert and mary poppins are in the front garden of number 14. meet" doorstep productions." this is real west end performers coming to the doorsteps. yes. i'm in, this is a palladium. it's closed. heartbreaking. all my friends are unemployed. some of them have lost their homes and i thought "hang on a minute, i could get some people some work. and so this is why west end performers are here singing songs from mary poppins in the pouring rain. how long since he last performed in public? march 16, 2020. it's performed in public? march 16, 2020. it‘s been raft, but we are here making the best of it. -- matt roth. currently, we are drenched but it's wonderful. it's wonderful to be performing a ben and we all got in a rehearsal room last week and it's amazing to be back with fellow colleagues, you know, doing something that people who are really grateful, hopefully. # that‘s all i ask of you. this was only the beginning of the performance and they are not the only ones taking the show on the road. in york, the panto is on a tour of the socially distance hall and community centres, playing to dozens rather than hundreds and not shouting "it‘s behind you. " dozens rather than hundreds and not shouting "it's behind you. " they are placed in their household bubbles and they are spread out to metres apart, two metres from the stage and it is a little peculiar in that way but, do you know what? we didn‘t notice a thing yesterday. it was just so lovely to get back with an audience. they were great, making noises, stamping death feet and clapping their hands.” noises, stamping death feet and clapping their hands. i hadn't thought of that. you can‘t encourage people to shout and scream because it‘s a risk. people to shout and scream because it's a risk. that's right. the aerosol spray of people shouting, even though the audience are separated into their bubbles. meanwhile, back by the bins at number 14, we were reaching the big finale. # tomorrow comes... # tomorrow comes... # i loved it. so good. it was brilliant, yeah. so much fun, when you haven't been able to go to the theatre, it'sjust so nice to see professionals singing and dancing and doing something for you on the doorstep. we've had clapping and tea on our doorstep and now it's time for performance. # i knowi for performance. # i know i must do. # i know i must do. # i'm # i know i must do. # i‘m going to leave him, sister. so, the pandemic may have brought to the theatres to close, but on a safe distance on the doorsteps of britain, the show goes on. #onmy britain, the show goes on. # on my own. # now it‘s time for a look at the weather with tomasz shafernaeker. well, it started off pretty cloudy across most of the uk. not much change into the afternoon. it will stay overcast for most of us, and also we are expecting more light rain and drizzle. this is the picture into this afternoon. you can see there is a change on the way. a band of rain is heading towards northern ireland. the weather is turning a lot more dynamic across the atlantic. the jet stream is pushing weather fronts in our direction. one of these weather fronts will reach us later today but not in the coming hours. it‘s actually a case of light wins and those overcast skies. so, here is the picture. round about midday into lunchtime. pretty chilly for some of us, as well. temperatures will be around 6 degrees in newcastle and hull, but, already that slightly mild air starting to reach the rest of the country. 11 degrees in plymouth. here is the rain. it will sweep across northern ireland during the afternoon, reach the rest of the country this evening and overnight. all of us will get at least a bit of rain. some of it will be heavy. it‘s also going to turn windier and with that, some much milder atlantic air arrives. so, tonight, it‘s going to be frost— free across the board. so, here‘s the weather map for friday. you can see big low pressure parked just south of iceland. it‘s a large area of low pressure and it is pushing that milder air in our direction but it‘s not that mild. the really mild air you can see in these orange colours, has gone to the south of us towards portugal and spain, not surprisingly. so, here‘s friday‘s weather map. another messy picture again. a lot of cloud across the uk. bits and pieces of rain from time to time. certainly some showers on the cards. also, the possibility of a crack of thunder and you can see those temperatures now widespread in double figures across the south of the uk. we will continue to see that weather becoming more unsettled through the weekend but there will be a gap in the weather systems on saturday so saturday itself is not looking too bad. there will be some sunshine around. now, this weekend, by the time we get to sunday, the next weather system arrives and this one is going to bring more substantial rain and stronger winds, so out of the two days, sunday is certainly going to be more unsettled, with outbreaks of rain, heavy at times. but, you can see right across—the—boa rd those temperatures recovering into double figures. goodbye. the eu lays out plans to keep road and air travel running with the uk in case there‘s no brexit deal. it comes as the two sides failed to reach agreement yesterday — they say a firm decision should be made by sunday about the future of the talks. it is difficult. we are willing to grant access to the single market to our british friends. it‘s the largest single market in the world, but the conditions have to be fair. we are going to leave no stone unturned and we will carry on in talks, we will carry on negotiating until there is no hope of that happening. uk travellers could be barred from entering many eu countries

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European elections: McNamara, Funchion, Ní Mhurchú elected, Wallace loses seat

European elections: McNamara, Funchion, Ní Mhurchú elected, Wallace loses seat
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McNamara is Clare's first MEP in 30 years - The Clare Herald

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European elections: McNamara, Funchion, Ní Mhurchú elected, Wallace loses seat - Homepage

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