Image source, PA Media

Greater Manchester is claiming vindication after the chancellor extended furlough and announced additional support for self employed people.

Mayor Andy Burnham was involved in a prolonged stand-off with government after he insisted the region should not be put into the highest tier of restrictions without additional economic support, something the government rejected at the time.

His night-time economy adviser, Sacha Lord, said on Twitter, external that Burnham and other local leaders "stood up and fought for our city region" and "it's now proven that they were 100% correct".

"It's also proven that the government decided to play politics, instead of working together to find solutions that work," he said.

Image source, Reuters

The prime minister is aware there are improvements to make to England's Test and Trace system, Downing Street has said, after the latest figures showed it had reached a new low in the proportion of contacts it had traced of people who tested positive for Covid-19.

According to the latest figures, 59.9% of close contacts of people who tested positive were reached through the system in the week ending 28 October.

The prime minister's official spokesman told reporters that Boris Johnson was perfectly willing to accept where there were failings in relation to Test and Trace.

He added: "You can see some progress in the figures this week - the number of in-person tests that were received the next day increased to 61.8% compared with 46.5% in the previous week.

"But there is much more improvement that is needed and I think there is a lot of work going on to continue to improve the Test and Trace network."

Image source, Reuters

Jet engine manufacturer has confirmed another 1,400 job cuts in the UK and globally, saying that the pandemic "hit our business hard".

The job losses are part of 9,000 revealed in May, as the Derby-based firm said it was cutting nearly a fifth of its workforce in the face of a slump in demand for aircraft and engines.

It comes as the governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, pledged to do "everything we can" to support the economy, but said the disruption caused by coronavirus had been "unprecedented".

A Rolls-Royce spokesman said the company had to reduce costs to safeguard its future, break even once again and reach its target of achieving positive cash flow in the second half of 2021.

“The global pandemic has hit our business hard," he said.

Image source, Reuters

Soldiers have arrived at the Pontins Southport Holiday Park in Merseyside, as Liverpool prepares for a mass coronavirus testing programme.

About 2,000 armed forces personnel are being deployed to the area to help with the pilot of mass testing in England.

Image source, Reuters

The soldiers will be staying at Pontins, which is usually a holiday destination for families staying at the seaside resort.

The testing programme, which will begin on Friday, will mean anyone living or working in the city can be tested regularly, even if they have no symptoms.

Image source, Reuters

Bob Dale
BBC Live reporter

Southern Rail has cancelled services to several stations around Lewes this evening, to discourage people from travelling to the town for Bonfire Night.

The town's traditional event, one of the biggest Bonfire Night celebrations in the country, has been cancelled because of lockdown, but there are concerns large numbers could still turn up.

Because of this, from 17:00 GMT trains will not stop at Lewes, Cooksbridge, Glynde or Southease.

Nick Triggle
Health Correspondent

The Office for Statistics Regulation has got involved in the row about the way the government is presenting coronavirus data.

At the weekend, when the government announced England’s second lockdown it presented modelling suggesting the UK could soon see 4,000 deaths a day.

The problem was that the model was out of date. It gave the impression that the number of deaths was four times higher than it currently was.

Now the OSR has called for greater transparency, including being clear about what assumptions are being made and providing full access to the data being presented.

But this is not the only chart that looks like it is making the picture worse than it is.

Another one also used on Saturday - and again by NHS England on Wednesday - suggests we are weeks away from hospital capacity being breached.

This chart is also out of date with the modelling turning out to have overestimated the numbers in hospital by early November.

Does this matter? It may just mean capacity is breached slightly later than suggested.

But it does mean there is more wriggle room in the system than suggested. When the public is being asked to make such huge sacrifices, questions are quite rightly being asked.

Image source, Getty Images

House of Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg has defended the UK government's awarding of Covid-19 contracts, after Labour accused it of favouring those with links to the Conservative Party.

Appearing before MPs, shadow Commons leader Valerie Vaz said the government seemed to be "bypassing the normal procurement process and helping "VIPs win lucrative contracts" for PPE (personal protective equipment).

"Could the government prove to us that they're not misusing public money so far characterised by cronyism and incompetence?" she added.

In response, Mr Rees-Mogg said the government had had to act quickly because it had gone "from a standing start to try to ensure that the country deals with a pandemic".

"Our usual processes for procurement assume there is plenty of time. In this instance there wasn't," he said.

Mr Rees-Mogg listed the UK's Covid-19 testing capacity, deliveries to care homes, vaccines and PPE supplies, adding: "And yes of course they must be scrutinised, that's absolutely right."

"And when they're scrutinised, the government will have turned out to have behaved with impeccable propriety."

Kevin Peachey
Personal finance reporter

The sense of injustice felt by some self-employed people missing out on financial assistance will undoubtedly intensify after this announcement.

The furlough scheme for employed workers is now set to last for a year. Three grants, each covering a loss of income for three months at a time, have been – or will be - paid for those eligible among the self-employed.

But there are a lot of people missing out – including the newly self-employed, those whose pay themselves in dividends, freelancers, and sole traders who previously had a trading profit of more than £50,000.

The government says the eligibility terms are generous and fair. Those affected say it is not only their income that has been hit, but also their mental health.

We spoke to some of those affected earlier.

Image source, Reuters

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says “we should have had the ongoing assurance of 80% furlough from the chancellor all along” following Rishi Sunak's announcement that the wage subsidy scheme was being extended.

She says it is “deeply regrettable” businesses have had to make people redundant and gone into liquidation because they thought it was due to end.

Although she had not yet seen the detail of the chancellor’s announcement, Sturgeon told MSPs at Holyrood that she would “unreservedly welcome” it if it was “an extension of furlough on 80% terms”.

She said for her “the acid test" on the scheme would be if somebody - whether in Scotland, England, Wales or Northern Ireland - "who is on 80% furlough now just because England is in a full national lockdown, will continue to be on 80% furlough once England is out of a full national lockdown”.

England's lockdown began today and is due to end on 2 December.

Image source, Getty Images

Wales' First Minister Mark Drakeford has "welcomed" the chancellor's decision to extend the furlough scheme to March, but added that "we've been calling for this for some time".

He tweeted:, external "At long last, businesses and workers have some certainty about this vital support scheme to help them get through the pandemic."

He has previously criticised the UK government for not providing wage subsidies for Wales when it brought in a national 17-day "firebreak" lockdown, which ends on 9 November.

He said the way Wales had been treated compared to England was "not fair at all".

Nick Eardley
Political correspondent

This is a change of heart from ministers - and a really significant one. The chancellor and the prime minister did not want to be here.

The furlough scheme was due to end at the start of November. At the weekend we found out it would last until the end of December. Now, it’s staying until the end of March.

The government will argue it is necessary because of a changing health picture. They are clearly worried about the economic outlook.

But political opponents have been calling for this for some time - they believe the chancellor has waited too long.

The Treasury has said anyone who was made redundant after 23 September – when the furlough replacement was announced – can be brought back on to the scheme. But the government will face accusations it should have done this sooner.

Scotland First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says indicators show that the tough measures which have been in place in recent weeks are "starting to have an effect".

Speaking just before First Minister's Questions at Holyrood, she told MSPs that the R number in Scotland - the average number of people that one infected person will pass on a virus to - was now "hovering around 1".

Sturgeon described that as being "clearly progress on the last couple of weeks".

Despite that, she stressed "we have to continue to be careful and cautious" as Scotland approaches its first review on Tuesday of the restrictions placed on different parts of the country, as part of the new five-tier approach.

"It is not enough for us as we head into winter simply to see a levelling off or a slowing down in the rise of cases - that is what an R number slightly above 1 would deliver," Sturgeon added.

Scotland has recorded another 39 coronavirus deaths and 1,216 positive tests in the past 24 hours.

Setting out the new support for jobs as England begins its lockdown, Chancellor Rishi Sunak said he wants to "reassure" people in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

"The furlough scheme was designed and delivered by the government of the United Kingdom on behalf of all the people of the United Kingdom, wherever they live," he says.

“That has been the case since March, it is the case now and will remain the case until next March."

Image source, PA

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is to give a press conference at Downing Street this afternoon, on the day England's four-week lockdown has started.

The PM is due to speak at 17:00 GMT. He's going to be joined by Sir Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England.

The SNP's Alison Thewliss says the UK is "not unique" in offering this type of job support and many do it "more competently and generously than the UK".

She asks the chancellor to confirm that the furlough is not tied to a particular tier of restrictions and that the 80% of salary subsidy will be available to everyone who needs it.

Thewliss also criticises the lack of support for people excluded from furlough and self-employment schemes since March, asking: "Why is he still choosing to ignore three million people in these islands?"

Sunak says the furlough scheme is available "no matter which region" you live in.

He says the upfront guarantee of funding to the Scottish government is increasing by £1bn to £8bn and Holyrood can spend it how it wishes.

The chancellor also points out that the Scottish government has tax-raising powers and can use them to fund anything it deems important.

Image source, House of Commons

Addressing the criticism from Labour that the government acted too late, Rishi Sunak says there is “no perfect moment” to bring in measures that have “far-reaching” consequences for businesses.

The chancellor says the government should only bring in those strict measures when it becomes “truly unavoidable”.

He says Labour's calls for a six-month plan are unrealistic as the government is dealing with a “once-in-a-century event” and that the government "must be flexible" in the face of such a crisis.

He says in ever-changing circumstances it is a strength rather than a weakness to be “agile and fast-moving in the face of a crisis”.

"Businesses and workers have been pleading for certainty," says Labour's shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds, in response to Rishi Sunak.

"The chancellor keeps ignoring them until the last possible moment after jobs have been lost and businesses gone bust."

She says the chancellor "ridiculed" earlier calls for a shorter lockdown and repeatedly had to change his economic plans, producing four versions of his winter economic plan in six weeks.

"We need a chancellor who’s in front of the problems we face, not one who’s always a step behind," says Dodds.

"How many jobs could have been saved if this government had recognised reality and let businesses plan for the future?"

She calls for him to apologise to people already made redundant before this latest package of support was announced.

Dodds adds that there is still no support for people excluded from previous job support schemes, including about 2.9m self-employed people.

The chancellor says he has had to make “rapid adjustments” to the government’s economic plans as the spread of the virus has accelerated.

Rishi Sunak says the government’s approach to keep the economy open had “wide-ranging support” but the virus has continued to spread and it had to alter its economic plans.

However, he says the only viable solution to protect the NHS was increasing restrictions, and as a result he decided to extend the furlough scheme.

He says in response to criticism of the government’s approach, the support the government has provided will “protect millions of jobs”.

He finishes his statement by saying today’s announcement “will give people up and down the country immense comfort over what will be a difficult winter”.

Sunak says the support for the self-employed will double to 80% of average earnings in the previous year, up to a maximum of £7,500.

And he says he wants to "reassure" the people of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales that the furlough scheme was developed "by the government of the United kingdom on behalf of all the people in the United Kingdom".

He says that any part of the UK will be able to access it until next March.

The chancellor says this is a "a demonstration of the strength of the union" and says this level of support is only possible because "we are a United Kingdom".

Chancellor Rishi Sunak tells MPs says the government’s highest priority remains the same – to “protect jobs and livelihoods”.

However, he says given the worse economic situation, he believes it is “right to go further”.

He says the furlough scheme will be extended until the end of March. He confirms it will pay 80% of salaries.

He says the policy will be reviewed in January “to decide whether economic circumstances are improving enough to ask employers to contribute more”.

He says this means the incentive of the Job Retention bonus falls away.