20/12/2015 BBC Weekend News

The former Prime Minister, Sir John Major, has strongly

defended David Cameron's approach to renegotiating Britain's

relationship with the European Union.

Sir John said it was a "fantasy" that the UK could somehow be better

It comes as the former Conservative Defence Secretary,

Liam Fox, urged Mr Cameron to allow Cabinet members to campaign for

Here's our political correspondent, Tom Barton.

It's 43 years since Ted Heath signed us up to the EU and in the next two

years we'll be asked whether we want to stay. From one forger Prime

Minister the answer today was an emphatic yes. If we vote to stay

out, then we are out and we'll have to get on with it and face the

consequences. Would we be as safe? No, would we be as well off? No.

Would we be as influential? No. David Cameron laid out his hopes for

reform to other European leaders in Brussels. Euro-sceptics says what he

is asking for is trivial and he is unlikely to get that. They will be

immensely diminished and they know that. Everybody is setting out

positions. It is a classic European situation, on both sides they are

setting out positions. They will meet and the compromise will meet

and it won't deal with trivial issues. Some of David Cameron's most

senior Ministers, including the Work and Pensions Minister Iain Duncan

Smith, are well known Euro-sceptics. Today there was a call from one of

his former colleagues for Euro-sceptic Ministers to be allowed

to campaign to leave. We'll work together to govern the country up to

2020. That's best done by having freedom for individuals to express

what is effectively a matter of conscience for them. I think the

more that we are able to give freedom to our colleagues and the

more we treat one another's views with respect and tolerance the

easier I think it will be for us to come together after that referendum.

At the last EU referendum, in 1975, Labour Cabinet Ministers were

allowed to campaign on both sides of the debate. David Cameron though has

so far avoided saying whether he'll allow that precedent to be repeated.

An Air France flight from Mauritius to Paris has been forced to make

an emergency landing in the Kenyan city of Mombasa after a suspect

It's being examined by bomb disposal experts.

It was found a few hours into the flight. Some reports say it looked

like a watch on top of a box. Inside one of the plane's toilets. The

pilots diverted to Mombasa, the passengers are all safe. The plane

just went down slowly, slowly, slowly, so we realised probably

something was wrong, but the personnel of Air France was great,

wonderful, they kept everybody calm and real quiet. We didn't know what

was happening actually. Now they say they found a bomb, so very tired,

very difficult. Kenyan officials are still analysing the package. All

that the awares authority has said is that it was a suspicious parcel,

but several passengers are at this moment being questioned by the

authorities. The investigation is still continuing. A few passengers

of concern are being interrogated to find out exactly what has caused

this. Whatever the answer, it's been an anxious time for the passengers

and crew. They've all been taken to hotels in Mombasa. Matthew is with

me now. Are we any clearer to what happened? Not really. The airports

authority initially said it was a bomb and then changed their

statement to saying it was a suspicious package. It's the context

that's making people nervous. We know after that Russian airliner

came down over Sinai this year it is possible at least in one of the

world's airports to get a bomb on board a plane, and we know that the

French and French nationals are targets after the attacks in Paris,

and because of the French action in Syria against Islamic State. We hope

to get more answers from the Kenyan authorities some time this

afternoon. Thank you. The BBC understands that

David Cameron has ordered a review into the use of guns by police

in England and Wales It will look at whether the law

gives enough support to officers having to make a split-second

decision to shoot. Fewer than one in 20 police officers

in England and Wales are trained to carry guns. The Government have said

it wants to increase that number significantly, because of the

heightened terrorist threat brought home by the Paris attacks. 130

people were killed in November when gunmen and suicide bombers targeted

numerous sites in the city. Politicians and the politician seen

here undertaking train having been forced to focus on how we would cope

in the same thing happened here. The Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir

Bernard Hogan-Howe is said to have raised concerns with the Prime

Minister about the legal position of armed officers. David Cameron wants

an internal review to check if the law goes far enough in allowing

officers to use reasonable force and whether it sufficiently recognises

the against that an officer had an honest and instinctive belief that

opening fire was appropriate. It is important to get the balance right.

It's got to be democratically decided. We can't have shoot to kill

without any kind of democratic involvement. The internal review

must examine if existing legislation provides sufficient safeguards for

armed police tasked with making split-second decisions, while

balancing that against any potential risk to the public.

Motorists who use a mobile phone while driving could face tougher

penalties if Government plans are approved.

There are plans to increase fixed penalty fines as well as the number

Clare Fallon reports from Manchester.

It's been illegal for 12 years but some still do it. So now a warning

of tougher consequences to try and stock top people using their phones

while driving. Simply it is a question of concentration. If you

have your hands on your phone, they are not on the wheel. If you have

your mind on the message, it is not on the road. So we know it matters.

Drivers are aware it matters. This is about giving the police more

powers to enforce. The Government says the use of mobile phones was a

contributing factor in 21 fatal accidents in 2014 and 4 serious

accidents. So under the new plans fixed penalty fines would go up from

?100 to ?150. And penalty points would increase from three to four.

For HGV drivers a bigger increase, from 3 points to 6 With more points

and bigger fines Transport Ministers say they want to send a message to

those who are still flouting the law. They hope in time driving while

using a hand-held mobile will become a social taboo like drink-driving.

In Manchester today most people welcomed the plans. Too many people

use them while driving and if your attention is on your phone it is not

on the road. We saw people on the motorway this morning doing exactly

the same thing, driving along, I think it is very dangerous. I use my

mobile phone in the car on a regular basis but purely through hands-free.

Some though point out that penalties have been previously increased, and

yet many still phone while driving. Finally, it's the Sports Personality

of the Year 2015 tonight and the awards ceremony

is being held in Belfast. Let's go straight to our sports

correspondent there, Andy, when can we expect

to see the stars arrive? They should start arriving here

round about 5 o'clock. This is always one of the most glittering

occasions in the sporting calendar and tonight should be no exception.

There's a short-list of 12 to choose from from the main award. They are

Lizzie Armitstead, Lucy Bronze, Jessica Ennis-Hill, Mo Farah, Chris

Froome, Tyson Fury, Lewis Hamilton, Andy Murray, Adam Peaty, Greg

Rutherford, Kevin Sinfield and Max Whitlock. The winner will be decided

by a public vote. You can vote by telephone or by registering online.

Full details will be given out during the programme. There'll be a

lot of attention in particular on Tyson Fury after his recent

controversial comment about women and homosexuality. It will be

interesting to see what reaction he gets here this evening. The show

gets under way at 10 to 7 and you can catch it live on BBC One. Andy,

thank you. You can see more on all of today's

stories on the BBC News Channel. The next news on BBC

One is at 5.25pm. Good afternoon. We've seen some

exception little mild ly weather around this weekend. Yesterday we

had 17 degrees Celsius in Gravesend in Kent. There's a downward trend in

temperatures in the week ahead bar a blip in the weather on Tuesday when

warmer air will briefly make an incursion into eastern counties of

England. Today, plenty of showers merging to give lengthier spells of

rain in Scotland. More sunshine in between showers than in recent days

in England and Wales. Temperature-wise, it feels fresher

compared with yesterday, with highs ranging between 8 and 13 degrees.

Overnight tonight those brisk winds will continue to feed in a number of

showers. Particularly across north-western parts of the country.

You could get a shower anywhere through the night. Temperatures

dipping away. It will be cooler compared with recent nights. But

these temperatures are a long way from where they should be for

night-time at this time of year. In the week ahead, although we start on

a mild note we are looking at spells of wet and windy weather. It will

turn cooler just in time for the big day. Ill turn cooler just in time

for the big day. Monday - an area of low pressure bringing a band of rain

across Northern Ireland. That the rain will spread into Scotland

through the morning. After a bright start across England and Wales we'll

see wet weather being driven in by strong winds. Around the Irish Sea

coasts we could be looking at gales or severe gales. That said there'll

be a modest improvement in the weather through the afternoon.

Sunshine for Northern Ireland and Scotland. A mixture of showers here.

But in the sunnier skies that's where the coldest air is. 7-9

degrees in northern areas. Re the coldest air is. 7-9 degrees in

northern areas. Tuesday - a weather front will be particularly slow

moving as it moves south and eastwards across England and Wales,

bringing very wet weather to north-west England and Wales. Behind

the front, brighter skies. Ahead of the front with southwesterly winds

flowing, we'll be dredging up an incursion of warm air. We so see 15

degrees or so in London. Fresher for Scotland and Northern Ireland, with

a mix of bright spells and scattered showers. The rain is likely to cause

a few concerns across Wales and north-west England. We could see as

much as 80 m, many of rain. That could lead to localised surface

flooding water issues. It will clear. Ised surface flooding water

issues. It will clear. Wednesday - a calmer day. Bright and breezy.

There'll be showers across north-western areas, with Brit and

sunny spells. A fresh feel. Temperatures close to normal in

northern parts of the UK. That leads to Christmas Eve. A deep area of low

pressure moving just to the north-west of the British Isles.

That will bring strong winds to northern areas of Scotland, with

gales, severe gales. Through the morning time. A band of rain swings

eastwards across the country. Behind it, the skies brighten up. The

coldest weather of this week will be behind that weather front. Although

it is technically mild in eastern areas of England, that colder air

will be arriving just in time for Christmas Day. What can we expect on

Christmas Day? A few showers in northern areas. Cold enough to see a

bit of snow over the high ground of Scotland. A a chilli day for y With

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