21/12/2017 BBC News at One

The sacking of Damian Green,

one of the Prime Minister's closest

allies, prompts a furious backlash

from Tory MPs over

information leaked by police.

They call for action against former

officers who revealed pornography

was found on a computer in from

Green's office nine years ago.

They

should be investigated for

misconduct in public office, that's

a criminal offence. What they've

done is completely wrong and

undermines trust in the police.

Scored says it's asked the

Information Commissioner to

investigate the disclosure of the

material gathered during the police

investigation. Also this lunch time:

A man's arrested in the Australian

city of Melbourne, after he drove

of Melbourne, after he drove

into a crowd at a busy junction,

injuring at least 19.

More than 60,000 mothers and babies

in England have been harmed

during incidents at maternity units

over the last two years

according to new figures.

Hanging in the balance; the future

of the struggling retailer Toys R Us

and more than 3,000 jobs could be

decided this lunchtime.

Birmingham is confirmed as host city

for the 2022 Commonwealth Games;

it'll be the UK's most expensive

sporting event since the Olympics.

And the official engagement

portraits as Prince Harry

and Meghan Markle prepare to spend

Christmas at Sandringham.

And coming up in sport later

in the hour on BBC News,

a famous night for Bristol City

knocking Manchester United out

of the League Cup and next up

it's Manchester City.

Good afternoon and welcome

to the BBC News at One.

The sacking of Damian Green,

one of Theresa May's closest allies,

has prompted a furious backlash

from Conservative MPs who are angry

about how confidential material

gathered during a police

investigation came

into the public domain.

The First Secretary of State

was sacked from the cabinet last

night after a government inquiry

found he made "inaccurate

and misleading" statements

about the pornography

on his Parliamentary

office computer.

He is the third cabinet

minister to leave their role

in the space of two months.

Our Political Correspondent Ben

Wright has this report.

Sacked from the Cabinet and out the

door. The third senior minister to

leave Theresa May's team in less

than two months.

REPORTER: Why did you liethe public,

Mister Green...

This morning, Damian Green wasn't

keen to talk, but former Cabinet

colleagues did, accepting Mrs May

had no choice but to fire, with a

heavy heart, her de facto deputy and

long time friend.

He lied on a

particular incident, yes. I think

lots of people who understand the

context would appreciate why that

might have happened but that doesn't

make it any more acceptable. I think

what this shows is that in our

democracy, we hold Cabinet Ministers

to the very highest standards of

conduct.

It stems back to this

police raid on Mister Green's

Parliamentary office nine years ago.

Officers say legal pornography was

found on computers. Damian Green's

always denied it was his but as

recently as last month insisted he'd

not been told about it. That wasn't

true. He's now admitted the police

talked to his lawyers about it in

2008 and the police raised it with

him in 2013. In his resignation

letter Mister Green said:

Damian Green was judged to have

broken the minutial code and he had

to pay the price for that, and the

Prime Minister, not letting a life

long friendship with him entire fear

with calling for him to do the right

thing, which was for him to resign.

The concerns were aired by a former

Commissioner of The Met Police Bob

Quick and a number of people are

angry.

They should be investigated

for misconduct in public office,

that's a criminal offence. What

they've done is completely wrong, it

undermines trust in the police. How

can any of us trust giving

information to the police if senior

officers leak in this way.

The

Cabinet Office investigation also

examined claims from this Tory

activist about inappropriate

behaviour by Damian Green. Her

account was said to be plausible but

there was no clear conclusion about

what happened. Mister Green apology

islands for making her feel

uncomfortable but denied any

wrongdoing.

His resignation and a

consequence for an action sends a

very, very clear message to young

men and women who work in and around

politics to feel that if they do

come forward, there is a chance

there'll be consequences.

Damian

Green's departure is a personal loss

for the Prime Minister. He was a

quietly powerful member of the

Government and, an adviser and

friend to Theresa May, but all Tory

MPs seem to accept he had to go and

the political damage feels limited.

This morning, Theresa May arrived in

Poland, having survived a turbulent

difficult political year. But her

readiness to dismiss one of her

closest allies shows some steel and

a determination to carry on. Ben

Wright, BBC News, Westminster.

In a moment we'll talk

to our Political Correspondent

Eleanor Garnier who is in the Polish

capital Warsaw with the Prime

Minister but first lets talk

to our Assistant Political Editor

Norman Smith who is in Westminster.

Real anger now amongst Tory MPs

about how this information came to

light in the first place?

I think

that gives you a sense of just how

much venom there is felt about the

demise of Damian Green, because

although there's been an attempt

really to play down the significance

of this resignation, saying the fact

Mrs May despatched Damian Green so

ruthlessly, demonstrates a killer

instinct, the fact she's got her

mojo back, she's showing authority

and leadership. But you look at the

backlash against the police,

significantly even from Mrs May in

her letter to Damian Green,

expressing her concerns about the

conduct of these former officers.

The Health Secretary saying their

behaviour raises questions about the

conduct of the police in a democracy

and then that suggestion that they

should now be charged for misconduct

in public office, a charge which, if

they were found guilty of, could

come with a potential prison

sentence and the fact the

Information Commissioner's now

confirmed that they are going to be

investigated I think is evidence of

just how seriously this demise of

Damian Green is viewed. It may be

this whole saga has some way to run

and there could be other casualties

beyond Damian Green if these two

police officers are prosecuted and

convicted of misconduct in public

office.

Eleanor Garnier in Warsaw, Theresa

May is there today, at a summit

about strengthening the ties with

Poland ahead of Brexit. That is

likely to overshadow what has

happened here?

Theresa May came here

wanting to talk about the UK's

deepening relationship with Poland,

how she wants the countries to grow

closer, not further apart with

Brexit. This trip's been

overshadowed by the sacking of her

close confidante and colleague

Damian Green. There's a press

conference in little under an hour

with Theresa May and her Polish

counterpart, but everyone will of

course be asking about Damian Green.

It will be the first time we have

heard from Theresa May since she

asked him to resign last night.

While she might have lost her Deputy

Prime Minister, Brexit of course

continues and so too the need to win

over allies as talks with Brussels

go into their next phase with trade

and a transition period. Britain

wants the support of Poland, as it

tries to get that free trade deal,

with the European Union. But Poland

also wants the support of Britain.

It's currently facing its own battle

with the EU over reforms here to the

judiciary and it faces unprecedented

disciplinary action from Brussels. I

think Sophie, it's a little reminder

that whilst Brexit might be the UK

Government's number one priority,

the other 27 member states each have

their own agendas, they each have

their own difficulties and, in the

end, Britain is one against many.

Eleanor and Norman, thank you both.

Two men have been arrested

in Australia after police say a car

was deliberately driven into a crowd

of pedestrians in a busy

street in Melbourne.

14 people have been injured,

several of them critically.

Police say the driver

was a 32-year-old Australian citizen

of Afghan origin with a history

of mental health

issues and drug use.

A second man, who was arrested

nearby, was said to be filming

the incident and was carrying

a bag containing knives.

But police say at this stage there's

no evidence of a terror link.

From there, Hywel Griffith reports.

Pinned to the ground,

a man arrested by the police just

a few meters from the 4x4 vehicle

used to mow down pedestrians.

Around them, paramedics rushed

to help the injured pedestrians left

lying in the street.

Minutes earlier, the city centre

was packed with commuters

and Christmas shoppers.

The car drove towards them

at speed, leaving some

in a critical condition.

The police say the driver

was a 32-year-old Australian

of Afghan decent with a history

of mental health problems.

At this time we don't have any

evidence or intelligence to indicate

a connection with terrorism.

Having said that, however,

we continue to support this

investigation with our

Counter Terrorism Command to ensure

that there isn't that connection

and that there is no ongoing threat.

Eyewitnesses were left in shock.

One business owner watched events

unfold in front of him.

He just ploughed into

them without stopping.

All I could hear was people hitting

the front bumper and windscreen

and people screaming and the only

reason I think he slowed down

was because of the sheer

volume of people he hit.

Special security measures to prevent

vehicle attacks have been introduced

in Melbourne after a similar

incident in January.

But nothing was able to stop

the 4x4 bringing chaos

to the city once again.

We have seen a horrific act,

an evil act, an act of cowardice

perpetrated against innocent

bystanders, we are all

caught up in this.

We are all deeply sad

and deeply wounded.

Police are still questioning

the driver and a second man

arrested at the scene.

They've stressed they believe this

was a one-off incident,

but Melbourne remains a city

on high alert.

Hywel Griffiths, BBC News.

Shots have been fired from both

sides of the border separating North

and South Korea as a North Korean

soldier defected to the South.

Officials in Seoul said the soldier

appeared in front of a South Korean

military post in dense fog

early on Thursday.

It's the second such

incident in weeks.

Last month a soldier from the North

was shot and seriously injured

by his own side after driving

to the border and dashing across.

The man accused of the Finsbury Park

attack last June has pleaded

not guilty to murder

and attempted murder.

Darren Osborne is accused

of deliberately driving a hired van

into worshippers close

to the Muslim Welfare

House in North London.

One man, Makram Ali, was killed.

More than 60,000 mothers or babies

have been harmed by potential lapses

in maternity care in England

in the past two years.

The BBC has learned that more

than 250,000 incidents were logged

by hospital staff between April 2015

and March 2017, the equivalent of

one mistake for every five births.

Our Health Correspondent

Adina Campbell reports.

Three years ago, Wendy and Ryan

Agius lost their daughter who was

stillborn. An investigation found

some maternity guidelines were not

followed, something which has deeply

affected the couple ever since.

Leaving the hospital with a box of

things instead of your baby was

just...

Having to leave her there,

going home having to leave your baby

there, just can't comprehend it.

It

was at this hospital with a

midwifery-led unit where Wendy Agius

was cared for. Despite reporting to

staff that she had concerns about

her baby's movements, she was sent

home on two different occasions. But

she should have been reviewed by a

consultant at another local hospital

with a consultant-led midwifery

unit. Over the last two years, there

were nearly 1.3 million births in

England. NHS staff are encouraged to

use a voluntary reporting scheme if

they have concerns about care and,

since 2015, more than 275,000

incidents at maternity units have

been reported. The problems

included: Women being told to stay

at home. Babies being left brain

damaged. And potentially avoidable

deaths. Just over three quarters of

the cases reported did not cause any

harm to mother or baby. But more

than 60,000 did. Something the

Government says it's hoping to

reduce under new plans announced

last month.

There is just too much

heartache, too many appalling

tragedies when these kinds of things

happen. We want to be the safest

investment system in the world, the

vast majority of births are

completely safe. But what is going

wrong at the moment is, when we have

a tragedy, we are not learning from

it nearly as effectively as we

should.

The Royal College of

Midwives says staffing levels must

improve.

The Royal College of

Midwives is concerned about the

levels of midwifery staffing and

they are low. We would like to think

of solutions and ways of making sure

that we have more midwifes in the

future.

East Sussex Healthcare Trust

have apologised to Wendy and Ryan

and admitted some aspects of their

service did not meet their usual

standards. But that's no comfort to

the couple.

Can't move forward. We

have tried to, but we can't. It's

always there every day. Memories. It

never goes away. To me, it's the

first thing when I think wake up

that I think about and the last

thing at night.

The future of the troubled retailer

Toys "R" Us will be known shortly

after creditors voted this morning

on whether to agree

to a restructuring plan

which could save over 3,000 jobs

in the UK.

Our Personal Finance Correspondent

Simon Gompertz is outside

a store in south London.

When is the decision going to be

made public?

It could be in a matter

of minutes, perhaps an hour or so. I

met one of the outlets that is under

threat in south London, on the Old

Kent Road. It's busy, there is trade

going on today, Christmas shoppers

going in to take advantage of the

discounts that Toys "R" Us have, but

a lot of trepidation and worry among

staff, because they are concerned

the talks will break down. On the

one side, you have the company. On

the other side, you have the Pension

Protection Fund, speaking on the

half of the company's pension

scheme, and they are holding out for

a big payment from the company to

shore up the pension scheme, but

Toys "R" Us says it doesn't have

that money. The creditors meeting

has been suspended twice while talks

between the two sides go on. The

latest suspension ends at 1:30pm,

and there is a glimmer of hope

there, that there is something to

talk about. The Pension Protection

Fund said they would vote against a

rescue deal, but clearly they have

got something they are working on,

and the hope for staff is that, in

the next 20 minutes or so, they

arrive at a solution which means

that Toys "R" Us can stagger on.

Our top story this lunchtime:

The sacking of Damian Green,

one of the Prime Minister's closest

allies, prompts a furious backlash

from Tory MPs over

information leaked by police.

Still to come, why this car park has

been designated as a site of

national archaeological importance.

Coming up in sport in the next

15 minutes on BBC News:

It's official - Birmingham gets

the Commonwealth Games,

and now the race is on to be

ready for 2022.

Homelessness in England -

it's been called a national crisis

by a committee of MPs,

with more than 9,000 people sleeping

on the streets and tens of thousands

in temporary accommodation.

Homelessness is not just

a complex problem, it can

also be a hidden one.

A BBC poll has found that one in ten

young people across the UK has spent

at least a month so-called

"sofa-surfing" - staying

with friends because they've

nowhere else to go.

1,000 people aged between 16 and 25

were questioned for the survey.

Two-fifths said there had been

at least one night where they had

nowhere to call home.

Ian Palmer reports.

Four years ago, Dale

was thrown out of home

by his mother on Christmas Day.

He was 16 years old.

On the day, I just called a friend

and went over there and that's how

I ended Christmas Day and then,

from there, it was sofa-surfing

for two months, between friends

and families' houses,

just finding somewhere to stay

while I was doing my A-levels.

Dale's problems began aged seven,

when his father left home.

He began living with his

grandmother, caring

for her after a stroke.

But, during his GCSEs,

she needed 24-hour assistance,

so he moved back in with his mum.

After being kicked out,

Dale says he often didn't know

where he was going to spend

the night while studying at school.

It was very hard trying to balance

worklife and personal life,

because it's hard to focus

on doing your schoolwork

and revision during the day

when you're worried where you're

going to sleep at night.

The poll company Comres spoke

to more than 1,000 people

aged between 16 and 25.

The study found just over 9.3% had

spent the night on a friend's floor

or sofa for up to a month.

The most common reasons included

parents being unable

or unwilling to provide housing,

extended family being unable to

help, and splitting from a partner.

The homeless charity Key,

based in Leyland in Lancashire,

helps young people who have

nowhere to live.

Its operations director says

sofa-surfing is a hidden

and growing problem.

About 70% of the young people

we see in our homeless

drop-in have sofa-surfed,

and that's often before

they come to see us at Key,

perhaps thinking they can go home,

back to their parents' houses,

or that maybe it's OK

in the long-term to stay

with different friends or family.

When they run out of options,

it's often then they seek help,

either from the council

or directly from ourselves.

Charities say the Government needs

to improve the way it counts

the number of people

who are homeless.

There is a really big gap

between those people

who are actually homeless -

they have literally nowhere to live,

or they are in temporary,

very unsuitable accommodation -

and the statistics that

the Government puts together,

and it's really important that,

if we are to tackle homelessness,

the Government gets its figures

right because, unless it

gets its figures right,

it won't persuade the Treasury

to make the resources available

to tackle the problem.

From next April, the way

the Government collates information

about homelessness will change.

It says local authorities

will have a legal duty to find out

more information on people

in a homeless household.

Dale Taylor Gentles says,

although he never had to sleep

rough, he often came close to it.

The 20-year-old has found somewhere

to live with the help

of the charity Centrepoint.

He is in his second year

at university, studying

sociology and criminology.

Ian Palmer, BBC News.

There's a glimmer of hope

for the British mother being held

in an Iranian prison after her case

was made eligible for early release.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is serving

a five-year sentence

for allegedly plotting to topple

the Iranian government.

Our diplomatic correspondent

James Landale is here.

She's been in prison for 18 months.

Harper family now hoping she could

be out soon?

I think they are daring

to hope. They see the latest

announcement by the Iranians not as

automatic or definite. They are

talking days, weeks rather than

months, is what they are hoping for.

Part of the announcement is

technical, when you have served a

certain period of time in an Iranian

jail, you technically become

eligible for early release, but this

didn't have to happen. The judiciary

could have chosen not to make this

happen, but they have, and it's from

bad that her family and campaigners

are drawing hope. They see it as

part of a trend, the Foreign

Secretary's visit, the decision by

the Iranians not to go ahead with a

planned court appearance, the fact

she has managed to get more access

to telephone calls to call her

family, things like that, they see

it as part of a continuum, so they

are daring to hope but, as ever,

they are being cautious. Nothing is

over until this is over, and there

is always the possibility for things

to move in another direction.

A child's chances of attending

a high-performing secondary school

depend heavily on where they live,

according to a new report.

The Education Policy Institute,

which is led by former education

minister David Laws,

says that the regional divide

in access to good schools

in England is getting wider,

with areas in the north

and north-east being left behind.

Richard Lister reports.

It is no secret that where you live

can have a big impact

on your life chances.

But this new report says regional

differences in education

are getting bigger.

The new study looks at secondary

schools ranked in the top third

for how much progress their pupils

make before they leave.

It found that of the top 20 such

schools, 16 are in London,

while high-performing schools

in the north and the Midlands

are getting fewer, with children

in Blackpool and Hartlepool having

the worst access to

high-performing schools.

One of the biggest issues

is retaining high-quality teachers

in schools with problems.

It is easier for better schools

to recruit better teachers.

London has been particularly

successful in doing that,

and that has contributed

to its success over the last few

years, whereas parts of the north

have been less successful

in doing that.

And there are localised issues like

poverty and isolation that can have

an impact on child outcomes.

The Education Secretary,

here visiting her old school

in Rotherham, has already announced

more focused investment in areas

with particular problems.

Her department said, we are

targeting the areas that need the

most support through the £72 million

opportunity areas programme, and

investing £280 million in the school

's most in need.

But the Education Policy Institute

says some of the places

with the fewest high-performing

schools aren't getting

the help they need.

It says the Government must find

new ways to bring good schools

to all communities.

Birmingham has been officially

confirmed as the host of the 2022

Commonwealth Games after beating

Liverpool in the bidding process.

The Games are expected

to cost £750 million -

the most expensive sports event

in Britain since

the London Olympics.

Our correspondent Phil Mackie

is at the Alexander Stadium

in Birmingham, which will be one

of the venues for the Games.

This is where they'll have the

opening ceremony and where the

athletics will take place. It's one

of the reasons Birmingham won

debate, because it already has a lot

of facilities. This one needs a

revamp but it's probably would cost

as much as in other parts of the

world. Birmingham has a young

population which is diverse, with

lots of people with heritage from

Commonwealth nations that will be

participating but, in the end, it

was the only bidder, so the news

wasn't really a shock.

It hardly came as a surprise,

but in the end Birmingham

was the only bidder.

But there was genuine joy

when the announcement was made.

It's my great pleasure to announce

that the host of the 2022

Commonwealth Games will be...

Birmingham.

CHEERING.

The bid focused on the second

city's population which is

the youngest in Europe.

It also looked at its diversity.

There are people here who can

trace their heritage

to all of the Commonwealth nations.

Most of the venues already exist

and simply need an upgrade.

The benefits to the city are huge.

Not only is this the opportunity

to re-position the city

of Birmingham nationally

and internationally,

but the economic benefit,

it'll generate over £0.5 billion

gross for the city of Birmingham

and over £1 billion

for the UK as a whole.

So this is a fantastic opportunity.

A wonderful Christmas present

for the city of Birmingham.

It's all about the legacy, not just

the stadia and infrastructure.

These teenagers could be

participants in 2022.

It's great.

I thought it would be a great

opportunity for me to aim for to get

to the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

I'd love to be a part of it

with my Team England and it's

a great opportunity for me

as a person to aim for

something in my hometown.

There are already fantastic

facilities here in Birmingham

like the high-performance centre

here at the Alexandra Stadium.

But there are also concerns

that the amount of money it

will cost to stage the Games

at the time of austerity could leave

the wrong kind of legacy.

Well, opinion is very

mixed about it.

Some people are very excited

about the event coming.

It's good news for Birmingham.

Others are very concerned

about the effect both

on council services,

which are not a great

standard at the moment,

and then they are also concerned

about the disruption in the local

community and whether we'll end up

worse off or better off

as a result of it.

Despite concerns over costs,

Birmingham desperately fought

to win the bid and today

is about celebrations.

These are the athletes

of the future and today

when I announced that up there,

these 11 and 12-year-olds, any

of one them could be a competitor.

There will be a few spectators.

I doubt if any of them

will be officiating,

but they could be volunteers

because 16 is a volunteering age

in the Commonwealth Games.

So the world is their oyster

here, yes - fantastic.

The second city often feels

overlooked and disparaged,

showing itself off in 2022

is now its goal.

Birmingham was originally going to

apply for the 2026 Commonwealth

Games and it was only when Durban

dropped out of the race and couldn't

post it that the city came in to

take over. The Commonwealth Games

needed Birmingham as much as

Birmingham and the West Midlands

need the Commonwealth Games. It's a

city that often gets overlooked and

is perhaps disparaged, but what they

really want to use this as an

opportunity for is to focus

attention on a region that is really

growing at the moment.

The car park in Leicester

where the body of King Richard III

was unearthed five years

ago has been designated

as a site of national

archaeological importance.

King Richard was buried

in a medieval friary

on the site in 1485,

after his death at

the Battle of Bosworth.

His body wasn't

discovered until 2012.

He has now been reburied

at Leicester Cathedral.

Nick Higham has this report.

2012, and archaeologists

from Leicester University mark out

a council car park in the centre

of the city, just where

someone's spray-painted

the letter R on the tarmac.

Then they start digging

on the site of what was once

the medieval Greyfriars,

looking for the grave of England's

most notorious king.

Astonishingly, they find it,

and the skeleton, complete

with crooked spine and fatal

injuries to the back

of the skull, buried in haste

after the Battle of Bosworth.

Richard III became the villainous

central character of one

Shakespeare's plays,

the man who supposedly

murdered his young nephews,

one of them the rightful heir

to the throne.

Two years ago, the dead king's body

was reburied in a new tomb

in Leicester Cathedral.

Now, the car park, or at least

the archaeological remains hidden

beneath it, has been made

a scheduled ancient monument.

It adds a level of protection

for the buried archaeological

remains of the Franciscan friary

and the priory.

It's not something that sets it

in stone, but it is a way of working

with the local authority,

with owners, to help manage it

in a way that preserves

the archaeological remains over

the coming years -

really, to preserve it

for future generations.

The protection doesn't extend

to the modern road surfaces

or modern buildings,

like the Richard III Visitor Centre,

but it does include the ground

beneath, much of which has never

been built on.

That means archaeologists think

the medieval friary's remains

have stayed undisturbed

since it was demolished

almost 500 years ago.

Nick Higham, BBC News.

Official photographs to mark

the engagement of Prince Harry

and Meghan Markle have been released

by Kensington Palace.

The two pictures were taken

by fashion photographer

Alexi Lubomirski earlier this week

at Frogmore House, Windsor.

The couple will marry

at St George's Chapel

in Windsor Castle

on the 19th of May next year.

They will spend Christmas with the

Queen at Sandringham.

Time for a look at the weather.

Here's Sarah Keith-Lucas.

Here's Sarah Keith-Lucas.

The shortest day is turning out

quite cloudy and drizzly. This foggy

dog walk was captured by one of our

weather watchers in Manchester

earlier. Like similar across many

areas. Some glimmers of sunshine,

and we had this rainbow in

Aberdeenshire sent in. Not much

sunshine, because it is the shortest

day, the winter solstice, so the sun

is going to set fairly shortly for

many of us. Generally, somewhere

between about 3pm and 4pm this

afternoon. By tomorrow, those days

start to get ever so slightly longer

again. This afternoon, this weather

front draped through central parts,

ringing rain to Northern Ireland,

northern England, some drizzle into

Wales. Dry elsewhere and certainly

mild, around seven to 12 degrees.

This evening and tonight, we start

to see that weather front moving

south and east, bringing rain out of

Northern Ireland. Across northern

England, Wales, the south-west of

England, quite a murky night with

low cloud and hill fog moving in. A

touch of frost across parts of

Scotland, but generally frost free

elsewhere. Tomorrow, we quickly lose

the bulk of the rain from Wales in

south-west England. Still a lot of

low cloud and murk in the west,

especially the coasts and hills.

Further east, you are more likely to

get some glimpses of brightness,

especially to the east of

playground, north-east England,

eastern Scotland. Again, it is mild.

At the weekend, further north, the

weather front pushes in on Saturday.

That will be more of a player

throughout the weekend and into

Christmas Day, with heavy rain

persistent at times in northern and

western Scotland. Dry for much of

the country but still fairly cloudy.

The best brightness generally to

eastern parts of the country, and

staying mild cold air in the far

north. For Christmas Eve on Sunday,

we've got that persistent rain for

central and eastern Scotland but

Northern Ireland for a time too. One

or two showers further south, but

breezy, cloudy and certainly staying

mild. Christmas Day, the potential

for a bit of snow on the northern

edge of that system for northern

Scotland, but I think heavy rain

will be more of a factor for central

and western Scotland. Elsewhere,

just the odd shower. A windy feel to

the weather with temperatures of ten

or 11. For most of us, only a slim

chance of a white Christmas, except

for the far north of Scotland.

A reminder of our main

story this lunchtime: