04/12/2017 Breakfast

Hello, this is Breakfast,

with Dan Walker and Louise Minchin.

Negotiations through the night

to clear the way for the next stage

of Brexit talks.

Theresa May heads to Brussels today

to try break weeks of deadlock.

The main sticking point

is thought to be the border

between Northern

Ireland and Ireland.

Good morning, it is

Monday four December.

Also this morning: A British foreign

aid scheme for civilian police

in Syria is suspended,

after a BBC investigation finds some

of the money was being

diverted to extremists.

Major changes to the driving

test come into effect,

but some examiners stage a 48-hour

strike over the new regime.

Over the past five years there has

been a decline in the number

of schoolchildren doing part-time

work like Saturday jobs

and newspaper rounds.

I'll be looking at why,

and whether they're a good

thing or not.

In sport: It's all looking

rather uncomfortable

in Australia for England.

Theyve lost four wickets

already this morning,

including captain Joe Root.

And the only supermoon of 2017

provides plenty of opportunities

for some amazing pictures.

We will have more of these

throughout the morning.

And Matt has the weather.

Good morning.

Good morning. Well,

clear skies out there for some of

you. A touch of frost as well but

the most it is a dry start to the

week before things turn wet and

windy mid week, before warming up

later on.

Good morning.

First, our main story: Britain

and the European Union appear close

to reaching a deal that will clear

the way for the second phase

of Brexit talks.

EU sources said the two sides

were nearing solutions ahead

of Theresa May's meeting with

the European Commission President,

Jean-Claude Juncker,

in Brussels later today.

Diplomats held negotiations

through the night on the last

remaining sticking point,

the Irish border.

Our Europe correspondent

Adam Fleming reports.

Three trips in three months.

Now, the Prime Minister is making

a fourth visit to Brussels

to get the Brexit talks going.

She will meet EU Commission

President, Jean-Claude Junker,

and others, to apply the finishing

political touches to a package

of commitments that has been sweated

over by officials.

It sounds like there have been

progress in talks about the rights

of EU citizens staying

in the UK after Brexit,

and British

people living abroad.

Discussions about how much money

is owed owed by the UK appear

to have been unblocked by a more

detailed offer from Britain.

But the big sticking point

is what to do about the border

between Northern Ireland

and the Republic of Ireland.

The Irish Government

does not want to wait

for a possible trade deal.

They want certainty

on what is going to happen, now.

Downing Street has called today

an important staging post on the way

to a European summit in ten days'

time, because that is when EU

leaders

will decide whether there has been

enough talk about the divorce

to start working out the future.

Adam Fleming, BBC News, Brussels.

Our political correspondent

Leila Nathoo is in Westminster.

We hear of talks going through the

night, and it sounds rather

dramatic. Are we close to a

breakthrough?

Well, there is

certainly a sense of urgency and

this does feel like one of the key

moment so far in the Brexit process.

There is only a week or so to go

before EU leaders need to decide

whether to move those talks on the

trade, and it certainly feels like

today's talks in Brussels are trying

to persuade the EU side that we have

simply offered enough. Today was a

deadline the EU had set to say,

look, Britain, you need to come up

with the goods on the divorce bill,

on EU citizens' rights, and the

Irish border. On the first two, on

EU citizens' writes, there is

agreement, we are broadly on the way

there. On the divorce Bill, Britain

has offered to put more money on the

table, up to 50 billion euros to

settle our accounts. Brussels have

welcomed that. But the big sticking

point now seems to be the issue of

how the Irish border will look after

Brexit. Now, there is a sense that

agreement could be close, but if

that happens, if Theresa May does

manage to persuade Brussels the

green light should be given to trade

talks next week, that is merely the

outline of an agreement on the three

main divorce issues. What we are

into next is figuring out how our

relationship with the EU will look

after Brexit, how some sort of

transition period might get us

there, and that is the big leap into

the unknown.

700,000 children and pensioners

in the UK have fallen into relative

poverty over the past four years,

according to a new report.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation says

it is the first sustained rise

affecting these age

groups for 20 years.

The left-leaning think tank warns

decades of progress are in danger

of unravelling, and has called

on the Government to take action.

Our social affairs correspondent

Michael Buchanan has more.

For Flo Singleton, this drop-in

centre has many benefits.

She can use its computers

to keep up with herfamily.

She can meet friends.

And, by being here, the 84-year-old

does not have to spend money

heating her own home.

If you go out, you don't

have to have heating

on, do you?

The trouble is, once it's dark,

and the evenings are now cold,

you need to put

the heating on.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation says,

since 2013, an extra 300,000

pensioners and an additional 400,000

children are now living in poverty.

In total, 14 million people

in the UK are in poverty.

What our report is now

showing is that we're

at

a significant turning point.

Two years of sustained increases

in the number of children

and pensioners in poverty is a real

red flag to Government

that they really have

to do something now.

Researchers say the Government

should end the freeze on benefits,

describing it as the biggest single

change that would reduce poverty.

But ministers say they are already

spending tens of billions of pounds

helping those in need,

and that the national living wage

has given a significant pay

rise to households.

Michael Buchanan, BBC News.

Government funding for a flagship

British aid project to support

civilian police in Syria

has been suspended.

It is after whistleblowers told

the BBC's Panorama programme that

some of the money was ending up

in the hands of extremists.

The Foreign Office says

it is investigating the allegations,

as Panorama's Jane Corbyn explains.

Britain is one of six countries that

funds the free Syrian police, set up

to bring security to opposition held

areas. For eight months, British aid

money meant to pay for officers'

salaries was handed over by the

police to an extremist group.

TRANSLATION: They used to get a

percentage from the salaries of the

Free Syrian Police members. It was

just about taking a percentage in

return for the services, and to

create a sort of equilibrium between

the police and the fighters.

The

police we fund also provide support

for their barbaric justice system,

responsible for torture and summary

killings. The company which runs the

aid projects, Adam Smith

International, ASI, told us the

government was aware of cash going

to them, and they have this is in

place to make sure they are treated

fairly and plainly. The Foreign

Office has suspended funding while

it investigates Panorama's

allegations.

Panorama is on BBC One

tonight at 7:30pm.

As new driving tests come

into force, to better reflect modern

roads, examiners have

begun a 48-hour strike.

The new tests will see

an end to manoeuvres such

as the three-point turn

and reversing round a corner,

but learners will now have

to parallel park and follow

directions from a sat nav.

Members of the Public

and Commercial Services Union

are protesting against the changes,

as well as pay and working hours.

Facebook says it is creating 800

new jobs in the UK as it opens

a new office in central London.

It will become the firm's biggest

engineering hub outside

of the United States.

An estimated 2,300 people will be

employed by the social media company

in the UK by the end of next year.

A co-operative group

is to start selling food

beyond its "best before" date.

125 shops in East Anglia will sell

tinned goods and dried food such

as pasta, crisps and rice

for a flat rate of 10p.

It is part of a drive to reduce

the seven million tons of food

thrown away in the UK each year.

A supermoon illuminated the sky last

night, as it moved closer to earth,

appearing bigger and

brighter than usual.

It is the first super moon

since November of last year.

But, if you missed it, don't fear.

There will be two more

before the end of January.

Many of you did see it, though,

and you have been sending

in your pictures.

This is from Craig Broadbridge,

in Gloucestershire.

You can really see how bright

the moon is from this one,

taken by Allan Ballard

in Warwickshire.

Shaun George captured a more

yellowy moon over Leeds.

And this is a spectacular photo

taken by professional photographer

Danny Lawson at Whitby

Abbey in Yorkshire.

And we have a blue moon in January,

all wolf moon and a blue moon. I

think it is a blue or a snow moon,

you can call it either.

I want to know how they take this --

these pictures, as well.

Absolutely wonderful. This was the

scene last night...

Wait for it.

Press the button.

Here we go.

It is

worth it! Yes! That is Washington,

DC. Beautiful. Here it is over Cape

Town, in South Africa. Let's go to

Yangon, in Myanmar. And what a view

that is, a Ferris wheel in Tokyo.

How many pictures of the supermoon

have we got today? We have about

1000 to get through.

So far we have

done ten.

We will have to move quite

a lot quicker to get all those

pictures in. I thought blue moon was

a song.

It is.

I didn't realise it

was actually a thing, as well. Shall

we talk about that and not the

cricket? Everybody at home, when I

came in this morning, said you don't

need words, you just need to sit on

the sofa and look sad. So that is

what I am going to do. And another

wicket has gone since you walked in

and sat down.

Six wickets have fallen... Sorry,

you are right, five wickets have

gone this morning, the latest is

Moeen Ali. England are now 133-6, as

Walker throws his pen and discussed.

-- in disgust.

David Silva gives Manchester City

a record-equalling 13th

Premier League win in a row,

with a late goal against West Ham.

Alfie Hewett is the wheelchair

masters singles champion.

He beat his compatriot

Gordon Reid in Loughborough,

to become the first British winner

in 23 years of the event.

And the tournament favourite,

Ronnie O'Sullivan, marches

on at the UK Snooker

Championship in York.

He is comfortably through

to the third round.

But there is somewhere else he would

really rather be, I will tell you

when we talk about the papers in a

minute.

Can you talk about anything

other than the cricket? Let's talk

about the weather.

This moon this time of year, the

cold moon or the moon before yours,

there you go. You might have frosts

this morning, and little chilly.

Weatherwise, the week starts on a

fine note with dry weather today.

Get ready for wet and windy weather.

Once that has gone, wind is back. As

we head to the weekend, more details

coming up. Let's start with this

morning. Wind west north-westerly

around an area of high pressure back

into the Atlantic. That is why it is

not desperately chilly. In eastern

areas, clear skies, down across

southern counties. Sunny start, mist

and fog, and a little frost as well.

The cloud is thick enough for one or

two showers not just this morning

but through the day. Most will be

dry this morning. The same for

Northern Ireland and Scotland with

Shetland the exception, wet weather

clearing at the moment. Once it has

gone. It is breezy across the north

of the country. Showers across the

north and west of Scotland and into

western England, Wales. Foremost it

is with breaks in the cloud, the

best in eastern areas and

temperatures where they should be

for the time of year, seven to 10

degrees for most of you. Not bad to

start the week with a dry commute

home for the vast majority. It is

still breezy in Scotland. That will

be the case. It keeps temperatures

up and brings rain into the

Hebrides, Orkney & Shetland,

Shetland has persistent rain. With

breaks in the cloud, across eastern

and southern parts, a touch of frost

to get you into tomorrow. Not lastly

dissimilar to today. Spots of rain

in the west, mostly dry, most

persistent rain in the Hebrides and

Shetland. More breezy tomorrow and

more cloud. With the sunshine in

southern counties, eastern Scotland

and England, temperatures might

reach double figures for one or two.

As you see, we start fine.

Wednesday, signs of change. Eastern

areas should be dry and bright. Gale

force winds develop from the

south-west. Temperatures in double

figures. Particularly wet in

northern and western parts of

Wednesday afternoon. Wet and windy

weather sweeps through with this

area of low pressure to get into

Thursday. And frankly as from the

south-east on Thursday -- and rain

clears from the south-east on

Thursday. It will be a cold end to

the week to take us into the

weekend. We start on a fine note,

wet and windy into Thursday and then

reigning at the end of the week.

The

cold

reigning at the end of the week.

The

cold air is back again. Thank you.

You're watching

Breakfast from BBC News.

The main stories this morning:

It's understood Britain

and the European Union are close

to reaching a deal that will pave

the way for the second phase

of Brexit talks.

Government funding for a British aid

project that supports civilian

police in Syria has been suspended

after a BBC investigation found some

of the money was

going to extremists.

We are going to look at... Excuse

me.

Are you AK?

Something went a

long way. -- are you OK? We will

look at the front pages, and we

start with the Daily Mirror. Who won

the X factor? Meghan and her

mysterious dad. And words are cheap.

The Prime Minister quoted from July

last year. We will make ridge that

works for everyone of us. Theresa

May has failed to tackle inequality,

last night exposed as a sham,

talking about children and

pensioners living in poverty, which

we will look at later on, according

to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

The front of The Mall, we will talk

about it later, in a panorama

investigation, £12 million of

foreign aid halted with fears it has

gone to jihadis. And we will speak

with our reporter little later.

Treasury targets bitcoin criminals.

Ministers launching a crackdown on

bitcoin. Brexit in doubt as May in a

border row. And Keira Knightley,

what he/she doing, at the Evening

Standards theatre awards.

They been

talking all night, Brexit deal is

90% there, according to a senior EU

official. And we mentioned this,

supermarkets sells food past best

before date to cut waste.

And I will

show you the front page of the

Guardian, sharp rise in child

poverty as cuts bite, or and we will

cover that today. Smog in Delhi - we

will talk about this rather than the

Ashes this morning.

I am afraid part

of our job is telling people bad

news.

I am sure there are plenty of

Australians watching. May hints at

Brexit talks without an Irish deal

and we will talk about the three

prongs, two have been sorted out,

the divorce Bill and EU citizenship.

The Irish border is outstanding and

hasn't been resolved.

Sally is not

going to talk about cricket.

I have

listened to Michael Vaughan said

that he wasn't going to mention the

W work, whitewash, but he has done

it already.

The big W.

Let's move

onto something else, Wimbledon next

year, the final, can you believe it,

it could on BBC Two.

What?

Because

it is a clash with the World Cup

final.

Get yourself on BBC Two.

And

there is a really important

triathlon that.

That will be on BBC

Four if you are lucky. What a thing,

if it could be on BBC Two, and the

All England Club had been approached

to try to move the final 21 o'clock

rather than two o'clock.

You could

make it a bonanza of a day -- final

to one o'clock.

The football starts

at four o'clock.

What an exciting

day.

Can I tell you about bungalows?

Yes.

You saw a lots being built and

then they went into decline. Now

they are coming back out of decline

for the first time in 30 years.

And

why is it?

I don't know, people want

more homes without stairs.

I like

bungalows.

Yes, it is probably

because we have an ageing

population, here we are, everyone

else can do my job for me, and they

have said that in 1986 there were

30,000 bungalows registered to be

built. By 2016, it was dropped to

2000. Now they say the number is on

the rise and one reason is the

rising price of land and greater

competition for land planning

policy, that is what they have said.

Interesting. My mum and dad live

next door to a lady that lives in a

bungalow and I always thought it

would be a nice house to buy one

day.

You has said it now on TV. Who

knows?

She still lives in it.

The

prices are going to go.

Did anybody

watch Blue Planet? What about the

Blue Planet?

People trying to stall

their fish!

And my favourite fact,

which I forgot from last time, is

that a baby puffin is called a

puffling.

And one quick thing on

Ronnie O'Sullivan. Where would he

rather be rather than snooker in

York? He wants to go to the jungle

and he wants to do I Am A Celebrity.

I thought he had already done it.

He

would be great.

He would be good,

you need someone with a little bit

of bite.

Literally, yes. He would be

fab in Australia.

Is that the end?

Yes.

I thought we were running out

of time. Would anyone like an

wheelie bin for Christmas? Bromley

Council has said a 240 litre wheelie

bin for garden waste with

fortnightly collection could be the

perfect present. £60, you can pay

for the wheelie bin.

Imagine.

They

have suggested it as a perfect

Christmas present for a member of

your family in Environment Matters.

Treat that special someone to one

year's worth of garden waste

collection.

What an extraordinary

presence.

That is right up there

with a pan.

It doesn't get more

funny.

It is a rubbish gift.

Imagine

if you got that for Christmas.

It is

a rubbish gift.

Excellent, thank

you.

Morning. Lovely to see you.

Domestic abuse affects millions

of people in the UK and takes many

forms, from the physical attacks

to psychological bullying.

Today, campaigners are calling

for financial abuse,

when one person controls

another's access to money,

to be recognised as a crime

in its own right.

Vishala Sri-Pathma has this report.

Financial abuse is where one partner

has control over another's access to

money.

I was totally invisible in

terms of credit status. I didn't

have a tenancy agreement in my name.

I had no bank account. No access to

cash or stops or shares, nothing. I

didn't realise at the time I had

given up everything.

Rachel's

Partner gradually took control of

all her money. He made her leave her

job to work with him, stopping her

having access to wages or bank

accounts. Instead he gave her a

weekly allowance. The financial

abuse Rachel experienced lead to

physical violence and eventually she

found the courage to leave. Despite

going to police and taking her case

to the Crown Prosecution Service is

on several occasions, Rachel's

partner was never prosecuted.

My

experience has gone three times to

the Crown Prosecution Service and

bounced back and no further action

has been taken and that is just so

disappointing. When I kept the

diaries, I kept all of the e-mails

and text messages, the bank

statements, the court orders and...

It failed. And that is extremely

frustrating.

In 2015 a new law

against controlling and coercive

behaviour was introduced. It meant

people could be prosecuted for

emotional and psychological abuse,

not just physical violence.

Financial abuse can be a type of

coercive control but this behaviour

alone may not constitute a criminal

offence. The government is currently

consulting on proposed domestic

abuse and violence act. One campaign

group is today calling for the bill

to include financial abuse as a

criminal offence in its own right.

There is a bill that is being

consulted on that is looking to put

a definition of domestic violence

into legislation. And that would be

incredibly helpful if we could have

economic abuse within a statutory

definition of domestic violence. So

that we can say this is what it is

and these are the things that we

need to be able to do in order to

tackle it.

The government says that

domestic violence and abuse bill

will enshrine a definition of

domestic abuse in law to make sure

it is properly understood in all its

forms. Critics insist that those

carrying out law enforcement need to

be trained and aware of the science

of financial control for them to be

able to spot it. While cases like

Rachel's will continue to go

unpunished. Feel free to get in

contact if you are affected by

issues to do with that report.

Vanessa Feltz is on BBC Radio

London, one thing she is talking

about in half an hour is the problem

of poverty in London. Goodbye for

now.

Hello, this is Breakfast

with Dan Walker and Louise Minchin.

It is 6:30am.

We will bring you all the latest

news and sport in a moment.

But also on Breakfast this morning:

From paperboys to farmhands,

Saturday jobs for

teenagers are in decline.

Steph is finding out why.

A gear change for driving tests,

but how did our reporter get

on with the new rules?

And we will be joined

by the singer Midge Ure,

to find out why he has decided

to give some of his biggest hits

an orchestral makeover.

Good morning.

Here is a summary of this morning's

main stories from BBC News.

Britain and the European Union

appear close to reaching a deal that

will clear the way for the second

phase of Brexit talks.

EU sources said the two sides

were nearing solutions,

ahead of Theresa May's meeting with

the European Commission President,

Jean-Claude Juncker,

in Brussels later today.

Diplomats held negotiations

through the night on the last

remaining sticking point,

the Irish border.

Our Europe correspondent

Adam Fleming reports.

Three trips in three months.

Now, the Prime Minister is making

a fourth visit to Brussels to get

the Brexit talks going.

She will meet EU Commission

President, Jean-Claude Junker,

and others, to apply the finishing

political touches to a package

of commitments that has been

sweated over by officials.

It sounds like there have been

progress in talks about the rights

of EU citizens staying

in the UK after Brexit,

and British people living abroad.

Discussions about how much money

is owed owed by the UK appear

to have been unblocked by a more

detailed offer from Britain.

But the big sticking point

is what to do about the border

between Northern Ireland

and the Republic of Ireland.

The Irish Government

does not want to wait

for a possible trade deal.

They want certainty

on what is going to happen, now.

Downing Street has called today

an important staging post on the way

to a European summit in ten days'

time, because that is when EU

leaders will decide whether there

has been enough talk

about the divorce to start

working out the future.

Adam Fleming, BBC News, Brussels.

Nearly 750,000 children

and pensioners in the UK have fallen

into relative poverty over

the past four years,

according to a new report

by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

The left-leaning think tank warns

decades of progress are in danger

of unravelling, and has called

on the Government to take action,

including ending

a freeze on benefits.

Ministers say the number of people

living in absolute poverty has

fallen by more than 500,000,

with pensioner poverty close

to historically low levels.

Funding for a British aid project

to support civilian police in Syria

has been suspended

by the Foreign Office.

It is alleged some of the money

was being diverted to extremist

groups known for carrying out

torture and executions.

The Government has said

it is investigating allegations

which came to light

during an investigation by the BBC's

Panorama programme.

As new driving tests come

into force, to better reflect modern

roads, examiners have

begun a 48-hour strike.

The new tests will see

an end to manoeuvres such

as the three-point turn

and reversing round a corner,

but learners will now have

to parallel park and follow

directions from a sat nav.

Members of the Public

and Commercial Services Union

are protesting against the changes,

as well as pay and working hours.

Facebook says it is creating 800

new jobs in the UK as it opens

a new office in central London.

It will become the firm's biggest

engineering hub outside

of the United States.

An estimated 2,300 people will be

employed by the social media company

in the UK by the end of next year.

A co-operative group

is to start selling food

beyond its "best before" date.

125 shops in East Anglia will sell

tinned goods and dried food such

as pasta, crisps and rice

for a flat rate of 10p.

It is part of a drive to reduce

the seven million tons of food

thrown away in the UK each year.

And finally: A derelict sports

stadium in the American state

of Michigan is still standing,

despite efforts to flatten it.

Crowds gathered to watch

the Silverdome in Detroit knocked

down.

But as we can see here,

despite several blasts,

the building remained

standing proud.

Fans of the Detroit Lions,

the team that called the arena home

until 2001, joked on social media

that it was not the first time

they had left the parking lot

feeling disappointed.

I always find it quite distressing

when they knocked down what seemed

to be perfectly good old things. It

is obviously not perfect.

Do you

want distressing?

Another one?

We

will watch the news while you are

talking about the sport, because

they are falling every few minutes.

Since I have walked in there has

been another one? No.

You said that

Moeen Ali and Jonny Bairstow needed

to bat for ever and they are now

both out.

Not great. Australia just

look a bit bigger than England at

the moment. Does that make sense?

They really do.

Caught and bowled, a

beautiful effort.

England are in real trouble

on day three of the second

Ashes Test in Adelaide.

They have lost five

wickets this morning.

James Vince was the first man to go,

as England struggled to get going.

Captain Joe Root wasn't too far

behind him on his way back

to the pavilion.

Alastair Cook was the only man

contributing to the score

for England, but Nathan Lyon

got him out for 37.

Latest to go is Moeen Ali,

brilliantly caught and bowled

by Nathan Lyon for 25.

And Jonny Bairstow is down as well.

England really struggling now. They

are 143-7.

Manchester City are eight

points clear at the top

of the Premier League,

thanks to a record-equalling 13th

win in a row.

Their visitors, West Ham,

put up a real fight though.

Angelo Ogbonna put them ahead,

but after City levelled,

David Silva put away the winner

seven minutes from time.

The second half,

we were outstanding.

It was quite similar,

I thought, in the first half,

I thought we would score.

But today was a bit different.

So it was massive.

It shows that they can do it. I have

been pleased with the amount of

training, I can't have any

complaints. I think that what you

see today is we ran the course, not

enough but hopefully we can take

some positives from that.

There was controversy on the south

coast, where Bournemouth defender

Adam Smith claimed referee Jon Moss

told him after the match

he was wrong to book him

for diving instead of awarding

a penalty against Southampton.

The match ended in a 1-1 draw,

and Smith will miss the next game

for his fifth yellow

card of the season.

In the Scottish Premiership,

Rangers moved into second place,

above Aberdeen on goal difference,

after beating them 2-1 at Pittodrie.

Josh Windass with the winning goal.

And non-League Woking will be

in the hat for this evening's FA

Cup third-round draw.

A late goal from Joe Ward

earned them a 1-1 draw,

and a replay with Peterborough

United of League One.

And that is all the sports news from

me for now. Sally will be with us a

bit later on, and we have Matt with

the weather. Thank you for your

pictures of the supermoon. We have

had pictures from America, from

Japan, and we will be bringing you

plenty more on that throughout the

morning, as well as plenty more on

an expert who can tell us, even

though there has been a supermoon

this year, there is a wolf moon

coming in January and a blue moon. I

have been doing some serious moon

and puff and research in the last

few hours -- puffin.

Funding for a British Government aid

project in Syria has been suspended

by the Foreign Office.

It is after whistleblowers revealed

to the BBC's Panorama programme that

some of the money was being

diverted to extremists.

Let's get more on this from Panorama

reporter Jane Corbyn,

who joins us from London.

How did you first

become aware of this?

Well, it was thanks to some very

brave Syrian whistleblowers, and

they decided to tell panorama about

their concern, indeed, their shock,

that some of the British aid money

which was supposed to be going to

help their people, the Syrian

people, was ending up in the hands

of extremists. These whistleblowers

work for a private British company

called Adam Smith International, and

they run a major project in Syria

for the British government and five

other international donors. To meet

these whistleblowers I had to go to

Gaziantep, in southern Turkey, about

an hour's drive from the Syrian

border and obviously very dangerous.

Foreigners can't go in and this is

the nearest we can get. It is pretty

dangerous, actually, Gaziantep in

itself. There is the constant threat

of kidnap from Islamic State sells,

but that is where I met them.

And

when you met them, what did you find

out?

Well, as I say, Britain is one

of the major donors for this project

inside Syria which is funding the

Free Syria Police, an armed civilian

force which is trying to bring

security to parts of northern Syria.

Now, for eight months some of the

British aid money which went into

the Free Syria Police force, was

handed over by officers to an

extremist force called Nour al-Din

al-Zenki in Aleppo province and I

met a lawyer who works for the civil

administration in the area dominated

by Zenki.

And I think we can hear

from him now. We seem to be having a

problem with that. I am not sure if

you can tell me exactly what he

says.

Yes, he basically said that a

percentage of the Free Syria Police

salary at a time was handed over to

Zenki, to reach equilibrium between

the police and the fighters. And

this was in return for the services

of Zenki, providing military and

security protection in the area.

That is what he said. It wasn't just

a random event. It was systematic,

it was happening quite widely.

And

just talk about why this might be

happening, why Free Syria Police

were giving some of their salary to

this group, Zenki.

As I say, we have

obtained hundreds of documents from

inside the project that ran it,

which is Adam Smith International,

and one warns that 20% of the

salaries were being transferred to

Zenki, which provides them to five

SFP stations in the area. That

sounds a bit like detection money.

And we also discovered that the

police we are paying for are also

providing support for Zenki's

so-called justice system, which

stands accused of torture and

summary execution. And the police

work or operating with Zenki's

courts by arresting people and

handing them over to the courts.

Now, Adam Smith International says

it has strict guidelines in place to

ensure that detainees are being

treated fairly and humanely, and it

says the British government was

aware of cash going to Zenki.

Are

there other instances, as well,

where you found a dish aid money in

Syria to diverted to places where

abuses might have been taking place?

Yes, Panorama discovered in 2014

officers from the Free Syrian Police

were present at the stoning of women

in northern Syria. We were told they

blocked off the road to enable the

stoning to take place although the

police Chief at the time said they

were just accidentally passing by.

Adam Smith International said the

stoning was only five weeks after

the company took over the project,

and the men were not formally

officers, but they had since been

removed permanently. I also spoke

about this whole situation in

northern Syria with the Free Syria

Police, to Crispin Blunt, a

Conservative MP and former head of

the Foreign Affairs Committee. He

had this to say about British funded

police cooperating with extremist

run courts in Syria.

We had people being sentenced to

death for homosexuality, clearly

that is completely and utterly

unacceptable by any standard, and

the idea that this taxpayers' money

was associated with that would of

course be completely abhorrent.

And let's talk about whether it is

hard for British aid companies to

operate in a place like Syria.

Well,

there is no doubt that it is

undoubtedly difficult and dangerous

operating in Syria. But that doesn't

mean that there should be proper

accountability, for the aid that is

obviously being paid for by British

taxpayers. We did ask the company,

ASI, for an interview, but they

didn't want to take part in our

programme. Now, the Foreign Office

has suspended funding while it

investigates Panorama's allegations,

which will be in our programme

tonight on a busy one, Jihadis You

Pay For. And that is that 7:30pm

tonight.

You are watching

Breakfast from BBC News.

The main stories this morning:

It is understood Britain

and the European Union are close

to reaching a deal that will pave

the way for the second

phase of Brexit talks.

700,000 children and pensioners have

fallen into relative poverty

in the UK within the last four

years, according to new research.

If you are interested in the

cricket, England are currently 159

for seven, it

cricket, England are currently 159

for seven, it is not going

particularly well this morning.

Possibly an understatement.

Let's

catch up about something that might

go Bashar, the weather.

catch up about something that might

go Bashar, the weather. Good

morning. A quick flavour of what's

happening weatherwise. Not bad to

start for many, most places dry and

find with sunny spells the next

couple of days. Midweek, things

change wet and windy, then winter

returns at the end of the week, with

snow here and there and a noticeable

windchill. And that is where we get

back to the mostly fine start,

Monday is dry and fine, frost across

eastern and southern parts, high

pressure to the west, so we may have

western north-westerly wind, coming

off the Atlantic, so it would be too

cold with a touch of frost and fold

as well in southern and eastern

areas, and a dry and bright start --

fog.. The odd shower threatening,

most places dry and few and far

between with a chance of a shower

across western Scotland but even

here most will be dry with a damp

start across Shetland for the

morning, and the rain gradually

clear a way, with a breeze across

the north pushing bank into the

North Sea, still bringing cloud to

western areas and odd isolated

shower, some breaks in the cloud,

sunny spells, the best in eastern

areas and temperatures and nudge

above where they should be around 7-

degrees

above where they should be around 7-

11 degrees. Tonight will be late

last night, most places will be dry

with the shower in the west. Wet

weather into the Hebrides, Orkney &

Shetland at times. The breeze

keeping up temperatures in Scotland

and Northern Ireland but across

eastern and southern England with

clear skies like this morning there

might be a touch of frost to your

Tuesday morning commute. Thursday

weather is not dissimilar to today

with rain for the Hebrides and

Shetland, quite wet in Shetland in

fact, the odd shower in western

parts of the country, but most will

have a dry day and a little more

cloud tomorrow compared with today

but still to the south and east with

breaks in the cloud temperatures in

the order of eight to 11 degrees. As

it gets mild on Wednesday, stronger

gale force across western areas,

heavy and persistent into northern

and western Scotland, and outbreaks

of rain spreading widely across

Northern Ireland and western England

and Wales. Eastern areas should be

dry until Wednesday night with low

pressure passing across, gales is

not severe into Thursday night. As

it clears into Thursday it opens the

door to much colder air to finish

the week with wind all the way down

from the Arctic, temperatures to end

the week around three to five

degrees. So cold weather on the way

but out there Dan and Louise most

degrees. So cold weather on the way

but out there Dan and Louise most

places will be dry and fine.

Just

before we move on, we are talking

about people's first jobs, Saturday

jobs, can you remember yours?

I was

a fresh and frozen food assistant in

a well-known supermarket, 12 hours

coming home smelling of stale

yoghurts and cheese and milk, it was

lovely.

Did you enjoy it?

I did, I

did enjoy it.

Thank you. We are

talking about that through the

morning.

What was your first job?

Picking up horse manure, the polite

way of picking it up. 50p per bag.

Obviously you were rewarded for the

more that you do.

Exactly. And

yours?

I worked at a popular burger

joint for a month because I was

offered 10p more to work in able

shop, so I went there for the rest

of the year.

Every penny counts.

I

loved it. And that is what we are

talking about. There has been a

reduction in the number of people

doing Saturday jobs because life is

much more busy.

From paper rounds to glass

collecting, most of us

remember our first foray

into the world of work,

but an investigation for this

programme has revealed Saturday jobs

carried out by teenagers

are in decline.

So why is that?

Steph's looking into this

for us this morning.

Before we speak to Steph, we will

hear Christian's story.

I am

Christian and I work here since I

and 15. I really wanted to have my

own sense of independence and buy

own money and this was an easy way

to have it. Usually I would come in

and wash up. Then when people start

coming I can help with anything. The

BBC has found a steady decline in

the number of children officially

employed in part-time work over the

last 12 years.

No one in their 25-

30s will work Saturday and Sunday so

I am limited to taking on teenage

workers. Then you stick to the

regulations. Obviously you can't

have a 15-year-old working on a

Sunday or after-school and

restricted to six hours on Saturday.

Here you go, ma'am.

Oh, thanks.

Why

is it important to get a job when

you are 16?

It is important to work

before you are 16 just to get a kind

of idea of what working life is like

and you can use that knowledge in a

way that will build you up for life.

What do you think having a job has

done for you, what positives?

It has

been really helpful for me because

even though it seems annoying when I

don't have time on Saturday, it

means I get to value the time I

spend with my friends more as well

as making money so I can have fun

when I go to town.

OK, so, how do

you find that you balance work,

school, friends, that kind of thing?

I think you do a really good job of

making sure that during the school

day and stuff I am on top of all my

work and that means that I don't

have loads of stuff to do when I am

on Saturday when I am doing my job

so it means I have less to worry

about.

Something rather lovely about

watching their conversation, about

his job.

And Steph will look at this

throughout the morning and we would

love you to send in your ideas of

what you were doing and your first

sort or Saturday job, and like

Krishan, if you are involved in

work, maybe the paper round, which

has been a big demise, let us know.

And lots of you have already sent in

your photos already. This is from

David in, oh, look at this, 1975, he

spent his summer driving around

Sheffield selling ice cream. What a

fantastic van as well.

Brian was a

paperboy in the Isle of Wight in

1957!

And before sitting on the sofa

, Dan was stacking shelves in a

bookshop in Crawley, but I don't

know what on earth you were doing.

Even then you were mucking about.

I

don't really know.

That is an

innovative approach to stacking

shelves.

I was in charge of the map

section.

Oh, that explains quite a

lot, actually. Steph is talking

about this all morning, she is just

one floor below us to speak with

some guests. Morning again, Steph.

Good morning, yes. Mentioning

pictures sent in. We've got a

fabulous wall behind me. Lots of

those pictures. Dan was talking

about one of those jobs. A lovely

picture you can see. Thank you to

everyone who has sent those in. One

of the big questions is the rules

about working under 16. Well, Gareth

is an expert who can tell us more.

First of all, from a business

perspective, you need a special

licence?

Yes, employing children

between 13 and 16, you have to get

unemployment licence from the local

authority, that is the employers'

responsibility.

And if you are

someone who wants a job under 16,

what are the rules?

The hours are

that you can do two hours on a

school day which can either be one

hour before school and one hour

after school, or two hours after

school, you can't work before 7am or

after 7pm and there are restrictions

on the number of hours you can do on

a school day, holidays and weekend.

It is complicated.

It is

complicated. Thank you. We have some

young people here and there mums and

head teacher to talk about this.

Let's run over and join them. I know

that you girls in the middle have

both got jobs, tell us about them.

We work in a bargain shop near where

we live.

And what have you got to

do?

Tidy the shelves and if

customers need to know where the

product is, we take them to that.

And is it something you like to do?

Yes, it gives you lots of skills.

And how old are you?

13.

And

yourself?

13.

Do you like it?

Yes.

You talk to the customers and it is

a fun environment to be around.

It

sounds good, I love it, was young.

As a mother, what was it like to

have your dirt are walking already?

I am proud of her. It is a great

thing. -- daughter working already?

To have the work ethic and she can

buy her own things.

That is handy,

isn't it? And Sarah?

I am proud that

she wanted to go and earn money to

buy clothes and she has grown in

confidence already.

That is

brilliant to hear. And we have a

head teacher here, what are your

thoughts?

It is brilliant, what they

are doing. We don't spend enough

time developing young people. It is

all about exams. Whereas skills

which they are picking up our life

skills and will help them get jobs

in future, so it is really good they

are doing what they are doing in a

controlled way.

There are some

concerns, though, in terms of too

much pressure on children.

Too much

pressure and also we have a number

of children who we are have found

working way over those hours and a

worse case is one lad working 49

hours a week.

Oh, wow.

And when we

found out we obviously put a stop to

it, we try to put a stop to it, who

knows what's going on around that,

but increasingly young people are

having to support their families. So

you've got young carers and young

earners and none of the support is

working. It seems to have gotten

worse over the last few years. They

are working in takeaways, working

washing cars, working in corner

shops, so that concerns me.

Regulated activity like this,

superb, couldn't want more of it.

But in terms of the legal stuff

which is going on, that really is a

concern for me, and it is getting

worse as children are trying to plug

the gap which the benefit system

seems to have left.

And that puts a

lot of pressure. And girls, do you

feel that pressure, do you feel like

you have to study and work, is it

hard?

It helps to balance everything

out because it gives you a set time

to go to work and do your homework

so you know when to do it.

You must

be super organised? Thank you for

joining us this morning. I really

appreciate that. And we will be here

through the morning. Send in your

pictures, it is great to reminisce.

I work in a shop when I was 15.

Definitely good fun. More from me a

little bit later.

See you later.

Good morning, if you have just

turned on your TV.

Time now to get the news,

travel and weather where you are.

Vanessa Feltz is on BBC Radio

London, starting in a minute,

And she is speaking with the Met

Police Commissioner and asking how

safe Londoners are after the

difficult year we have had.

Hello, this is Breakfast,

with Dan Walker and Louise Minchin.

Negotiations through the night

to clear the way for the next stage

of Brexit talks.

Theresa May heads to Brussels today

to try to break weeks of deadlock.

The main sticking point

is thought to be the border

between Northern

Ireland and Ireland.

Good morning, it is

Monday four December.

Also this morning: A warning that

more children and pensioners

are falling into poverty.

Heat or eat, isn't it?

If you go out, you don't

have to have heating

on, do you?

The trouble is, once it's dark,

and the evenings are now cold,

you need to put the heating on.

Numbers of have risen by 700,000

since 2013, say researchers.

We will be asking why.

Major changes to the driving

test come into effect,

but some examiners stage a 48-hour

strike over the new regime.

Over the past five years there has

been a decline in the number

of schoolchildren doing part-time

work like Saturday jobs

and newspaper rounds.

I'll be looking at why,

and whether they're a good

thing or not.

In sport: England are in deep

trouble in the Ashes.

They have lost six wickets this

morning in Adelaide.

They are 171-7.

Australia, remember,

passed the 400 mark.

And the only super moon of 2017

provides plenty of opportunities

for some amazing pictures.

We will have more of these

throughout the morning.

And Matt has the weather.

Tahir good morning. -- good morning,

a touch of frost for eastern areas.

Winter is on its way back this week.

I will tell you when the full

forecast in 15 minutes.

Good morning.

First, our main story: Britain

and the European Union appear close

to reaching a deal that will clear

the way for the second phase

of Brexit talks,

according to EU sources.

Diplomats held negotiations

through the night ahead

of Theresa May's meeting with

the European Commission President,

Jean-Claude Juncker,

in Brussels today.

We understand there has already been

progress in talks about the rights

of EU citizens who will stay

in the UK after Brexit,

and British people living abroad.

Discussions about how much money

is owed by the UK also appear

to have been unblocked by a more

detailed offer from Britain.

But the big sticking point

which dominated discussions

overnight is what to do about

the border between Northern Ireland

and the Republic of Ireland.

Three trips in three months.

Now, the Prime Minister is making

a fourth visit to Brussels to get

the Brexit talks going.

She will meet EU Commission

President, Jean-Claude Junker,

and others, to apply the finishing

political touches to a package

of commitments that has been

sweated over by officials.

It sounds like there has been

progress in talks about the rights

of EU citizens who will stay

in the UK after Brexit,

and British people living abroad.

Discussions about how much money

is owed owed by the UK appear

to have been unblocked by a more

detailed offer from Britain.

But the big sticking point

is what to do about the border

between Northern Ireland

and the Republic of Ireland.

The Irish Government

does not want to wait

for a possible trade deal.

They want certainty

on what is going to happen, now.

Downing Street has called today

an important staging post on the way

to a European summit in ten days'

time, because that is when EU

leaders will decide whether there

has been enough talk

about the divorce to start

working out the future.

Adam Fleming, BBC News, Brussels.

First, let's speak to our Ireland

correspondent Chris Page,

who is in Belfast.

Chris, is there any possibility

of agreement when it comes

to the border?

Conflicting reports on the last 20

or 25 minutes or so. Some say it has

gone well and been positive, others

saying there is no resolution.

The

general sense is that progress has

been made, but negotiators who are

putting in the hours are not there

yet. It would always be a diplomatic

riddle but what all sides agree on

is what they are trying to achieve.

They don't want any new border

controls on the frontier between

Northern Ireland and the Irish

Republic. At the moment you hardly

notice the border is there, and

Britain, Ireland and the EU want to

keep it that way. The difficulty is

how you achieve that. The Republic

of Ireland will continue to follow

European regulations on the movement

of goods, and the UK may not. One

way around that would be for

Northern Ireland, at least, to

continue to follow European

regulations. The British government

have said they don't want anything

which would result in trade barriers

between Northern Ireland and the

rest of the UK. That is a pretty

difficult circle to square. The

Irish prime minister has a very

important voice in all of this. That

is because on Friday the European

President Council, Donald Tusk, said

that if the border was unacceptable

to Ireland it would be unacceptable

to the European Union. The Irish

Cabinet will hold a special meeting

this morning. It usually meets on

Monday, but they are meeting in

Dublin and that discussion could be

very important for how things

unfold.

Thank you very much for

that.

We will be talking to

the pro-Brexit Conservative MP

Owen Paterson shortly.

He was among those who put pressure

on Theresa May over the weekend

to demand more

concessions from the EU.

There is a lot of talk about getting

behind the Prime Minister and Owen

Paterson is one of those, and what

stage they have jurisdiction or not.

So lots to talk to Owen Paterson

about.

700,000 children and pensioners

in the UK have fallen into relative

poverty over the past four years,

according to a new report.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation says

it is the first sustained rise

affecting these age

groups for 20 years.

The left-leaning think tank warns

decades of progress are in danger

of unravelling, and has called

on the Government to take action.

Our social affairs correspondent

Michael Buchanan has more.

For Flo Singleton, this drop-in

centre has many benefits.

She can use its computers

to keep up with her family.

She can meet friends.

And, by being here, the 84-year-old

does not have to spend money

heating her own home.

If you go out, you don't

have to have heating

on, do you?

Trouble is, once it's dark,

in the evenings now,

and cold, you need to put

the heating on, don't you?

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation says,

since 2013, an extra 300,000

pensioners and an additional 400,000

children are now living in poverty.

In total, 14 million people

in the UK are in poverty.

What our report is now

showing is that we're

at a significant turning point.

Two years of sustained increases

in the number of children

and pensioners in poverty is a real

red flag to Government

that they really have

to do something now.

Researchers say the Government

should end the freeze on benefits,

describing it as the biggest single

change that would reduce poverty.

But ministers say they are already

spending tens of billions of pounds

helping those in need,

and that the national living wage

has given a significant

pay rise to households.

Michael Buchanan, BBC News.

Government funding for a flagship

British aid project to support

civilian police in Syria

has been suspended.

It is after whistleblowers told

the BBC's Panorama programme that

some of the money was ending up

in the hands of extremists.

The Foreign Office says

it is investigating the allegations,

as Panorama's Jane Corbyn explains.

Britain is one of six countries that

funds the Free Syrian Police,

set up to bring security

to opposition-held areas.

For eight months, British aid money

meant to pay for officers' salaries

was handed over by the police

to an extremist group,

Nour al-Din al-Zenki.

TRANSLATION:

Zenki used to get

a percentage from the salaries

of the Free Police members.

It was just about taking

a percentage in return

for the services, and to create

a sort of equilibrium

between the police and the fighters.

The police we fund also provide

support for Zenki's barbaric justice

system, responsible for torture

and summary killings.

The company which runs the aid

projects, Adam Smith International,

or ASI, told us the Government

was aware of cash going to Zenki,

and ASI have strict guidelines

in place to ensure detainees

are treated

fairly and plainly.

The Foreign Office has suspended

funding while it investigates

Panorama's allegations.

Panorama is on BBC One

tonight at 7:30pm.

As new driving tests come

into force, to better reflect modern

roads, examiners have

begun a 48-hour strike.

The new tests will see

an end to manoeuvres such

as the three-point turn

and reversing round a corner,

but learners will now have

to parallel park and follow

directions from a sat nav.

Members of the Public

and Commercial Services Union

are protesting against the changes,

as well as pay and working hours.

Did you really have to reverse

around the corner?

Yes, because it

was a narrow road, and a car was

coming up, and I turned in...

They

are getting rid of that because not

many people do that kind of

manoeuvre any more.

I was just going

to say I have done that in the last

24 hours, did it quite nicely,

actually.

And one of our reporters

has been to do the new test. We will

see what happens later.

Facebook says it is creating

800 new jobs in the UK,

as it opens a new office

in central London.

It will become the firm's biggest

engineering hub outside

of the United States.

An estimated 2,300 people will be

employed by the social media company

in the UK by the end of next year.

A co-operative group

is to start selling food

beyond its "best before" date.

125 shops in East Anglia will sell

tinned goods and dried food such

as pasta, crisps and rice

for a flat rate of 10p.

It is part of a drive to reduce

the seven million tons of food

thrown away in the UK each year.

A supermoon illuminated the sky last

night, as it moved closer to earth,

appearing bigger and

brighter than usual.

It is the first supermoon

since November of last year.

But, if you missed it, don't fear.

There will be two more

before the end of January.

Many of you did see it, though,

and you have been sending

in your pictures.

This is from Craig Broadbridge,

in Gloucestershire.

You can really see how bright

the moon is from this one taken

by Allan Ballard in Warwickshire.

Shaun George captured a more

yellowy moon over Leeds.

And this is a spectacular photo

taken by professional photographer

Danny Lawson at Whitby

Abbey in Yorkshire.

And the super moon wasn't only

visible here in the UK.

It is essentially 5% to 7% larger

when it is a supermoon. It is also

15% brighter.

This was the scene last night,

as the moon rose over

Washington, DC.

That is incredible, it looks

entirely fabricated, but it is not.

Here, we can see it over

Cape Town in South Africa.

This picture was taken

in Yangon, in Myanmar.

And these visitors had some

of the best seats in the house,

viewing the phenomenon

from a Ferris wheel in Tokyo.

If you saw it, lucky you. I saw it

early on in the evening.

Did you

take a snap?

You know what, I just

enjoyed it. I am sure many of you

did as well.

As we have been hearing,

Theresa May is travelling

to Brussels for another

round of Brexit negotiations.

It is a task made even trickier

by hardline Brexiteers

in her own party, some

of whom published a letter over

the weekend demanding more

concessions from the EU.

Yesterday the Health Secretary,

Jeremy Hunt, warned them to fall

in line or risk Brexit

happening at all.

Let's have a listen.

The choice we face now is not

between this Brexit or that Brexit.

If we don't back Theresa May we will

have no Brexit.

Well, one of the people Mr Hunt had

in mind when he made that comment

was the Conservative MP

Owen Paterson, and he joins us now

from Shrewsbury,

in his constituency.

Good morning to you, Mr Paterson.

Thank you for coming on reckless

this morning. In response to what

Jeremy Hunt was saying, for Brexit

to work, everyone has to back the

Prime Minister. Why are you not

being in line?

Absolutely, Jeremy is

completely right about the Prime

Minister, because the alternative is

some crazy Corbyn government. I was

in the chamber last week, and I

asked the Labour Party spokesman

what is their definition of leaving

the European Union, and the Labour

Party spokesman couldn't give me an

answer. So absolutely, we are right

behind the Prime Minister.

Well, you

are not right behind the Prime

Minister really. I am story to jump

in, you signed this letter which you

published yesterday, which demands

that the European Court of Justice

ends in 2019. Theresa May and David

Davis have both made it very clear

that that will not happen. So you

are not really getting behind the

Prime Minister, are you?

This is all

in a state of flux. She has made a

very generous offer at Florence,

which the European Union were pretty

churlish about and didn't come back

and appear to want more money for

more indefinite promises. All we are

doing our restating what we had in

the Conservative Party manifesto,

which was the promised to deliver

what 17.4 million people voted for,

which was to leave the single

market, leave the customs union, and

very importantly leave the ECJ.

Because if we ultimately have a

court outside the jurisdiction of

this country, where we can't appoint

the judges and don't have the

pointy, we won't have left. It is

important to remind those with whom

we have been negotiating that she

has strong support for her stated

aims of the Florence speech --

appointees. So we are absolutely

right behind her, and it is very

important that the European Union

does understand that many of us are

getting absolutely fed up with the

fact that they are treating her in

some ways pretty rudely and

churlishly, and not getting onto the

absolute key negotiation, which is

the economic relationship which we

have with the European Union once we

leave. Now, many of us, most people,

would to see reciprocal free trade

with zero tariffs. That would enable

very significant trade with us.

Don't forget they had a 78 billion

euro surplus with us last year. 5

million Europeans depend on the UK

per trade. And at last the penny is

dropping. I tweeted an article

yesterday from a very reputable,

distinguished research Institute in

unique pointing out that if Brexit

goes ahead on WTO lines it will cost

the EU $40 billion a year. We want

to get on the negotiating a sensible

free-trade agreement when we leave.

The UK has been in the EU for

decades. We know we are leaving. The

PM is negotiating that. Why are you

rushing things through if it is

going to happen, why are you

pressuring it to happen at a certain

date and time with regard to the

European Court of Justice and other

issues?

We won't really have left

until we leave the three main

elements, single market, Customs

union and the court and we can't

enjoy all the benefits of having

left and no one is talking enough of