Image source, PA Media

Boris Johnson has announced the government will give £1,000 to pubs and bars unable to serve "substantial" meals in England's tiers two and three from Wednesday.

But the offer has received an underwhelming response from publicans and trade bodies, who say the amount on offer is not enough to cover costs at so-called "wet-led" venues.

Kate Nicholls of trade body UK Hosptiality says the grant "does not even count as a token gesture".

She added: "Equivalent to just 1.1% of last year’s takings, it falls far short of the bare minimum required to keep these businesses alive.

“The government’s entire approach to this lacked any sliver of logic, as evidenced by the farcical debate around Scotch eggs over the past 24 hours."

'Cost of a keg'

The Federation of Small Businesses said the money would only cover the cost of a single keg of beer and little else.

National chair Mike Cherry said: "The proposed funds from the government hardly scratch the surface and we need to see this figure quadrupled at a bare minimum if it is going to have any genuine positive impact for the businesses affected.

“These funds would only cover the cost of a single keg of beer and very little more, which will come as little comfort to pubs who churn out multiple kegs a day during the festive period."

Sacha Lord, Greater Manchester's nightime economy tsar, said £1,000 "will not save most of the 1,806 wed-led pubs across" the city region.

Pub landlord Adam Brooks wrote on Twitter, external that his electricity bill alone is £1,500 a month. "What would a £1,000 one off payment do to stop a pub that’s struggling, going out of business?" he asked.

An estimated 36,000 pubs of all variaties will be under England's top two tiers of restrictions from 2 December.

Image source, HoC

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey says his party has been pushing the government for three things - clear information; proper financial support and a comprehensive test and trace system.

"Sadly the government has failed to deliver on each of those things," he says.

He says the £500 self-isolation payments have not got through to many of the people who need them and that "self-isolation rates have become dangerously low" as a result.

"Is anyone surprised the government has no confidence in this government's ability to handle this pandemic," he asks.

"The prime minister's proposal are arbitrary, confusing and chaotic and we will not support them."

Hannah Richardson
BBC News education and social affairs reporter

Image source, PA Media

Away from the debate on restrictions on daily life, education in England has been "completely disrupted" by the sheer scale of Covid absences in some schools in some areas, Ofsted regional bosses have warned.

Regional directors for north-west England and the West Midlands say the impact of rules around self-isolation has significantly impacted attendance.

They highlight areas where hundreds of pupils are absent and self-isolating at a time, some again and again.

In contrast, some areas will have seen relatively little impact this term, Ofsted said.

The latest official figures for overall attendance in England show 22% of pupils in secondary schools were absent last Thursday.

This was the same as the previous week, when figures also showed at least some pupils being sent home in 75% of schools.

Read more

BBC Radio 5 Live

Boris Johnson has set out his case for toughened tier restrictions ahead of the Commons vote later.

More than 55 million people will enter the two toughest tiers from 00:01 GMT on Wednesday if the plans are approved.

A number of Tory MPs have criticised the new regional restrictions with Labour and the SNP abstaining.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said he was "far from convinced" the new system will work, and economic support for affected firms was "nowhere near sufficient”.

Diana Johnson is a Labour MP in Hull.

She told BBC Radio 5 Live, external earlier she had never broken the party whip but admitted she was thinking “long and hard” about how to vote.

“Because my initial feeling about this is I would support it,” she said. "To be blunt, that’s how I felt.

“Because I believe we need those restrictions in place to save lives and to support our local NHS.”

“I’m really loyal to my party,” she added. “But I’m also very concerned that we do the right thing on behalf of my constituents.”

Listen to BBC Radio 5 Live on the free BBC Sounds app.

Helen Catt
Political correspondent

Sir Graham Brady and Damian Green's contributions to the debate this afternoon suggest that efforts to win over the main group of Tory MPs who were against restrictions (the Covid Recovery Group) haven't worked. Wait to see if any of them have changed their mind.

Labour's Graham Stringer also provides a reminder that it's not only the Tories who have rebels on this issue. He plans to vote against the regulations despite his party saying that wouldn't be in the national interest.

Image source, Huw Fairclough/Getty Images

The boss of Wales' biggest brewery has called new alcohol rules "closure by stealth" and announced more than 100 managed pubs will be closed from Friday.

Welsh pubs and restaurants will be banned from selling alcohol from Friday and must close after 18:00 GMT.

Brains said the majority of its 1,500 staff will be put on furlough on 80% of their wages.

The company's chief executive, Alistair Darby, also said the country's earlier firebreak lockdown cost it £1.6m.

Describing the new rules as a "huge slap in the face" for the sector, Darby called on politicians to "stop changing their mind" on what is required.

Health Minister Vaughan Gething said he understood why companies in the industry were upset, but said limiting hospitality had "a major impact" on the spread of coronavirus.

Read more here.

Sir Graham Brady, the chair of the influential 1922 committee of Tory backbench MPs, tells the Commons he will oppose the new tier system.

“If government is to take away fundamental liberties of the people whom we represent they must demonstrate beyond question that they are acting in a way that is both proportionate and absolutely necessary," he says.

“Today... I believe the government has failed to make that compelling case.”

He says his own constituency of Altrincham and Sale West, in Greater Manchester, has been "unfairly" placed in tier three, despite infection levels being "well below" the average for England.

He adds that the government has also failed to set out how areas could move to lower tiers.

Image source, Reuters

Away from Westminster to Bahrain, and in the past hour Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton has tweeted out a statement about his coronavirus diagnosis.

We reported earlier that his F1 team, Mercedes, said the British racer woke up with mild symptoms on Monday and returned a positive result.

In his tweeted statement, Hamilton said he was “devastated” he won’t be able to race in this weekend's Sakhir Grand Prix in Bahrain.

“I’ve immediately gone into self-isolation for 10 days,” he wrote. "I'm gutted not to be able to race this weekend but my priority is to follow the protocols and advice and protect others."

"I am really lucky that I feel OK with only mild symptoms. Please look after yourselves out there. You can never be too careful."

He's also lucky that he has already won the championship this year - Sunday's race will be the first Hamilton has missed since his F1 debut at the 2007 season-opening race in Australia.

These restrictions only relate to England and therefore the SNP have said they will abstain on tonight's vote.

Although he won't be voting tonight, SNP MP Patrick Grady still speaks in the debate arguing that what happens in England will impact his constituents.

He says there has been more consensus in the Scottish Parliament than in Westminster and praises Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon's "frank and honest approach".

He urges the government to "make it affordable" for people to self-isolate, including paying "a decent level of statutory sick pay".

"Perhaps if the government had made more effort to support families who are struggling they would not now be feeling the heat form their own backbenchers," he adds.

Sir Keir Starmer finishes his speech by saying it is "not in the national interest" to vote down the restrictions so his party will allow them to pass.

He says he accepts the case for restrictions but we “want a plan that’s going to work” and the prime minister’s is “full of holes”.

The Labour leader again highlights issues with test and trace and support for those self-isolating.

“These are huge gaps in the system and to simply vote through a plan without recognising those problems is not going to help," he adds.

Sir Keir says it is clear that there is a strength of feeling among those excluded from government support packages - including those who started businesses just before the pandemic and the directors of small limited companies.

He says it's "the failure to get control of the virus or take a long-term approach to shielding our economy that's left the UK with the worst economic recession of the G7 and the highest death toll in Europe".

The Labour leader outlines what he describes as a "summary of mistakes" in the past 48 hours as the prime minister battles to appease his own backbenchers.

"The reality is that tough restrictions will be needed until the vaccine is rolled out," Sir Keir says.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned against "moving too quickly" in easing Covid restrictions, as he defended his plan for exiting England's national lockdown.

Speaking during a Commons debate on the government's plans for a revised system of tiered restrictions, Mr Johnson said: "Of course, I accept that this is not a return to normality - I wish it were so.

"But it is a bit closer to normality than the present restrictions, and what we can't do is to lift all the restrictions at once or move too quickly in such a way that the virus would begin to spread rapidly again."

On economic support, Starmer says despite "six economic plans in nine months" the level of support is still insufficient.

He says the scheme "doesn't fairly reflect" the difficulties of different regions and notes that Manchester has been given the same level of support as the Isle of Wight.

"That is unfair and everybody knows it is unfair," he says.

He also says millions of self-employed people "remain unfairly excluded from the government's support schemes".

Sir Keir Starmer says there are half a million people who should be self-isolating but have been missed by the test and trace system.

"That is a huge gap in the defences," he says adding "blind optimism is not a plan."

Sir Keir Starmer says one of the main problems the prime minister hasn't addressed is that only a fraction of people who should be self-isolating are doing so.

The Labour leader says there are "huge gaps in support" for these people, with only one in eight workers qualifying for the £500 self-isolation support payment.

“People want to do the right thing but for many there’s a real fear that self-isolation means a huge loss of income that they simply can’t afford," he says.

Image source, Getty Images

Meanwhile, UK house prices are 6.5% higher than a year ago - the sharpest rise for nearly six years, the Nationwide has said.

The acceleration came as the housing market remained "robust" despite the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic, the lender said.

House prices were 0.9% higher in November than in October, with the average property valued at £229,721, the Nationwide said.

But it added that property price growth was expected to slow.

Read more

Image source, Getty Images

As MPs debate restrictions for England from tomorrow, it's a tough time in the UK and world jobs market, as firms struggle to operate or shed staff to cut costs.

The collapse of Topshop owner Arcadia and Debenhams could ultimately lead to 25,000 job losses in the retail sector.

But some sectors are still hiring, with job vacancies being posted at roughly 70% of last year's average.

Here we take you through how to get a new job during the pandemic, including which sectors are hiring and how to stand out from other applicants.

Sir Keir says the public cannot be blamed for being "sceptical" about government's handling of the pandemic.

"This is at least plan number five and the first four didn't work," Sir Keir says.

"We need to proceed with precision and caution, but instead of levelling with the British public, the prime minister has spent the weekend telling his backbenchers that... within two weeks or so local areas have a real prospect of dropping to a tier below the one they are in."

"In my view that is highly unlikely and we might as well face that now," he adds.

"We've been here before," says Sir Keir Starmer.

He recalls the PM telling MPs on 10 June that local restrictions would only last for "a few weeks or even a few days".

Leicester has just gone into the 154th day of restrictions, he says.

He tells MPs that the PM's previous plans, including the rule of six and the original tier system haven't worked either.

"The prime minister has a record of over-promising and under-delivering," Sir Keir says.

"He should not be surprised that we and the British people are far less convinced this time around."

Responding to the prime minister, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer says he recognises the need for continued restrictions and tougher measures.

But he says the financial support in place for affected communities is "nowhere near sufficient".

He adds that without the right health measures in place - such as a working trace and isolate system "there are real risks that this plan is incapable of controlling the virus this winter".