hello, this is breakfast with dan walker and louise minchin. thousands of workers launch a wave of strikes, hitting postal services and rail companies in the run up to christmas. services at some of the post office's larger branches will be affected, and passengers on the rail network in the south east of england are also being told to expect disruption. good morning, it's monday the 19th of december. the evacuation of thousands of people trapped in eastern aleppo has resumed with around 350 moved out on buses last night. i'm live with durham constabulary during one of the busiest weeks of the year to show the reality of modern day policing. in particular the rise of mental health incidents that are taking up more and more police time.

could flat—pack houses built in factories be the answer to the national housing shortage? i'll be looking at a new £2 billion scheme to deliver more new homes. a £2.5 billion joint venture to create six factories to make modular houses will be announced today. in sport, andy murray is the sports personality of the year for a record third time. the olympic and wimbledon champion beat the triathlete alistair brownlee and showjumper nick skelton into second and third. and guess who else i managed to catch up with on the red carpet? the winner of strictly‘s coveted glitter—ball trophy, ore. and carol has the weather. good morning. this morning there is some fog around, that might make you cry, it will slowly lift for most but it will stick around the vale of york and linkage for most. rain in the forecast in parts of the south east and north—east, but in between

there's sunshine. more details in 15 minutes. -- lincolnshire. good morning. first, our main story: thousands of post office workers are beginning strike action today. the walkout by the communication workers union is the latest move in a dispute over pension changes, job security and closures. industrial action this week will also affect airports and southern rail services, as keith doyle reports. this last week before christmas is already busy and stressful. but strikes and industrial action could make it a christmas of discontent for many. on the trains, southern railway passengers face more disruption as 400 conductors strike today and tomorrow. is not expected today and tomorrow. is not expected to cause the same level of disruption as last week's strikes by drivers, however many routes and services will be affected. 3500 workers are starting a five—day strike today at the post office and it could see the closure of larger

high street branches, although the post office says disruption to the public should be minimal. a line travellers face double trouble this week as baggage handlers working for swiss port are set to strike on friday and saturday. this will mainly affect regional airports. but a strike by 4500 british airways cabin crew overpaid could also see flights disrupted on christmas day and boxing day. there are efforts being made to resolve these disputes. ba management and the union unite will meet today and a meeting tomorrow to resolve the baggage handlers' dispute is due to be held but the post office strike is on and there seems little prospect of an early end to the long—running dispute between the rmt union and southern railway, meaning 300,000 commuters face even more disruption. bbc news. keith doyle is at victoria station in london with the latest on the industrial action. what do we know, what might have changed today? victoria station just

coming to life but for many thousands of commuters making their journey today, it will be a long and difficult journey. some journey today, it will be a long and difficultjourney. some routes are cancelled but many routes, nearly all the routes, seem to have some sort of delays on them. southern railway are saying that there's going to be packed trains, many services are going to be cancelled. looking at those other strikes as well, talking about the post office, the post office managers are saying 9796 the post office managers are saying 97% of branches will be open but the problems could be if other union members decide not to cross picket lines. all these strikes are going to affect people in the run—up to christmas, so there's going to be a difficulty getting festive cheer in this week running up to christmas. thanks, kate. see you later on. —— keith. just after 6:30am we'll speak to a conservative mp about whether he thinks the rules

surrounding strike action should be changed. we'll also hear from the deputy general secretary of the trades union congress later in the programme. the evacuation of the ruins of east aleppo in syria has resumed. around 350 people, said by aid workers to be in a terrible condition, were brought out of the city last night on buses but thousands are still waiting to leave. the united nations security council will vote today on plans to send un observers to aleppo. greg dawson reports. not as soon as they would have liked, not in the circumstances many would have wanted, but at last the buses arrived to take hundreds out of eastern aleppo. these people may now be refugees in their own country, but their release is obvious. but their relief is obvious. some were met by charity workers in turkey who provided medical care, food, and comfort. many, though, have nowhere else to go, so they end up in places like this.

this camp is in idlib province. it's cramped, it's muddy, but for now, it is much safer than where they have come from. translation: it is better than it was in aleppo. there is no bombing. we have new friends walking and playing together. there was a food shortage back there but we're eating food here. we hated life but here we are eating biscuits and everything! thousands are still stranded. over the weekend, evacuations were put on hold, with both sides blaming each other for breaking their word. this bus was set to take people out of government—controlled areas, but was besieged by rebels and set alight, delaying the evacuations further. later on, the un security council will agree on a deal to monitor evacuations with the hope that the process can speed up. in the short—term, those who have left aleppo may feel the release of safety, but there

are no guarantees. idlib province, where many are heading, may well be the next battleground in this conflict. greg dawson, bbc news. the number of lives lost due to suicide in england is unacceptable according to a group of mps. it remains the biggest cause of death in men under 49. in a report, the health select committee says a government prevention strategy for england in 2012 didn't result in any improvements. it's due to be updated early next year. our health editor hugh pym reports. it was 13 years ago. angela and her partner, mark, had two young sons. he had no history of mental illness but he took his own life. one minute you're talking to them on the phone and the next many you never going to speak to them again. i think the shock of that almost... your head kind of tricks you into thinking this can't be real. she now heads a national charity supporting those affected by suicide. she also presented a bbc documentary encouraging people to talk more

about the issue. my work and the work of the trustees and volunteers was to really kind of break that isolation that exists. the report says a government suicide prevention strategy for england in 2012 didn't achieve its aim is. the report's proposals include: the key message here is that suicide is preventable. and what we heard from one witness very powerfully was that... she said it wasn't my son that... she said it wasn't my son that was hard to reach, it was the services that were hard to reach. department of health spokesperson said every death by suicide was tragic forfamilies said every death by suicide was tragic for families and an updated strategy during next year would address many of the issues raised by the committee. angela has welcomed the committee. angela has welcomed the report. she hopes it will make a difference and will help prevent more of the sort of devastating

losses she had to endure. hugh pym, bbc news. just after 8am, we'll speak to a father whose son killed himself about what extra support is needed. police officers in england, wales and northern ireland have seen mental health—related callouts increase by more than a quarter injust three years, according to figures obtained by bbc brea kfast. 30 out of 49 forces answered the freedom of information request. the government says it has halved the use of police cells to deal with people undergoing a mental health crisis and that officers are now working more closely with healthcare services. we used to often take people into custody so they would be there for a number of hours while they're being assessed, so it's not the right environment. if we did take them into custody often we would take them to accident and emergency, which, again, isn't the right place to ta ke which, again, isn't the right place to take them. in around ten minutes you can see how breakfast'sjohn maguire got on when he spent a night with leicestershire police's mental health team. a special sitting of

the stormont assembly will be held today to examine a green energy scheme that's been described as the biggest financial scandal ever in northern ireland. stormont‘s first minister arlene foster will face a motion of no confidence during today's proceedings. but she's rejected calls from sinn fein to step aside during an investigation into the project, which is thought to have overspent by £400 million. our ireland correspondent chris buckler reports. arlene foster was a popular choice. when she was selected to become dup leader and northern ireland's first minister almost exactly a year ago. but she is now under pressure and facing damaging accusations, some of which come from within her own party. this is foster was enterprise minister when a badly flawed green energy scheme was set up. it's left 2000 businesses in a position where the more they burned, the more they earn “— the more they burned, the more they earn —— mrs foster. the scheme works like this. for every £1 of you

company uses they are paid around £1 60, that was to encourage them to buy environmentally friendly boilers. but because initially there we re boilers. but because initially there were no caps or limits its projected to have gone £400 million over budget. last week a dup politician accused officials from within his own party of delaying crucial changes to the scheme despite warnings. the special advisers of the dup interfered in my decision—making. the dup interfered in my decision-making. i have this too close to a less lucrative rake. mr bell's claims have been denied by the dup and he has been suspended from the party. but they have stirred up old divisions at stormont with the dup rejecting calls from their partner in government, sinn fein, for arlene foster to step aside during an investigation. the first minister will face a motion of no—confidence today. it's expected to fail but it will be the most heated debates. chris buckler, news,

belfast. the hungarian—born actress and socialite zsa zsa gabor has died. her age was a closely guarded secret, but she was thought to have been 99. her husband announced her death yesterday evening. she made more than seventy films, but as one of the first socialites, she helped invent a new kind of fame out of multiple marriages and conspicuous wealth. by her own reckoning she was only married eight—and—a—half times. she didn't really count a spanish duke, who she left after a few hours. this report from nick higham contains some flashing images. zsa zsa gabor may have been a great beauty, but she was never a great actress. i know everything — i heard the verdict. it's dangerous for you to come here. i must take that risk, and so must you. her screen career was undistinguished, though it did include camp classics like the truly terrible queen of outer space. if you must go, promise me you're going to come back to me. her greatest role was as herself, one of the first professional celebrities, famous for simply being famous. she was rich, she was gorgeous, she was outrageous and she ate men for breakfast.

her last marriage, in 1986, was her eighth, or ninth, if you include an illegal ceremony conducted at sea. women don't even get married any more today. theyjust have love affairs. i was raised in a convent. they said you have to get married, legalised, which was done but now ijust leave myself to live in sin, it's wonderful. girls, don't get married. it's insanity. you have to become their servant! we have to look after their house and they cheat on you. who the hell needs that? in 1989, she was brieflyjailed for hitting a hollywood traffic cop twice her size. she was well into her 70s, though during the court case she was accused of doctoring her driving licence to disguise her age. by then, herfilm career had collapsed into self—parody. here she is with frankie howard. every time i see you, i get lumps in my throat. but she never lost a certain innocence, nor her wit. as she once said, "i'm a marvellous housekeeper. "every time i leave a man, i keep his house". she led a very interesting life.

zsa zsa gabor, who died yesterday. you're watching breakfast from bbc news. sally is he with the weather. she turned up this morning after the sports personality of the year awards last night. multitalented. multi— skilling us always. we are moving, removing the party wristband for the party i never went to. what a night it was. a wonderful night for andy murray again. that trophy looks like it has been through the ringer. if you look carefully varies

silver tape on one of the legs to hold it together. he was delighted with it. he has won this title for a record third time. he was awarded a ahead of lennox lewis. there they are and 80 really loved it. andy murray won olympic gold, a second wimbledon title and became the men's world number one in the last year. the test between india in chennai they are now 463— five. manchester city moved up to second in the premier league as stirling scored a winner against an arsenal side who squandered a lead to lose for the second season of the game. while in the south coast derby, two goals

including this cracker gave southampton a 3—1win at bournemouth. the defeated burnley stop a busy day yesterday. let's look at the papers, shall we? there isa look at the papers, shall we? there is a lot to get through. andy murray on the front page of many of the papers today. the main story is also on the mail strike. the front page of the guardian has a picture of andy murray as well. and of an attack in jordan on andy murray as well. and of an attack injordan on tourists. in the mail, this story here, sally spoke to ore yesterday. he was in demand. we have a chat on the carpet. we will see that later. here it is on

the next paper, my incredible story. and andy murray is an the front cover of the times. stephanie is with us as well. so, christmas, lots of people trying to decide what sort of people trying to decide what sort of alcohol they want to drink. of people trying to decide what sort of alcohol they want to drinkm would using one presenter? have they run out again? it has put a lot of pressure stop the times has picked up pressure stop the times has picked up on that this morning saying that british people are so keen to drink at present though the italian producers have redoubled efforts to supply bottles for export. there is a stampede to play more fines going on at the moment in north—eastern italy. it annoys the locals because of the environment, environmental pressure. so, think about all the work that goes into your bottle of prosecco. there were a couple drunk

last night. i want to talk about this man here. look at this little picture here of runny area who got coach of the year. we had a wonderful time with them after the programme last night. they are in a great mood and i said to him, if he would let them go and have a party. he said no, no. he did suggest they might go have a briefing together. and, very quickly, in news about eggs because i know this is... this is your speciality, isn't it? a p pa re ntly is your speciality, isn't it? apparently it is difficult, i think. there is a well—known supermarket thatis there is a well—known supermarket that is making, you can basically bake this poached egg and it is running and it is beautiful. no need for a whirlpool or vinegar or any of those things. one day, give me the back half hour of the programme one day and i will show you how it is done. i think it is time free

briefing, sally. see you later for that briefing. here is carol was a look at the weather. good morning. for once again. at the moment it is not as dense as it was this time yesterday that it may lead to travel disruption. we are looking at areas like the vale of york and lincolnshire. the south—east, the midlands, southern england. it is patchy and not as dense as it was yesterday but in one or two places you can see a few dense patches. a dank and cloudy start to the day. there is low cloud and drizzle and parts of east anglia heading towards the midlands. even further north again cloud around with fog. splashes of rain just out towards the west. at seven o'clock we will see that moving across the outer hebrides. and as we drift east there

are some clearing skies. as we had an through the course of the morning you will find most of the fog will lift as the cloud comes across. we have all this rain coming in from the south—east. that will drift westwards through the day. equally another band coming in from the west. it will have south—east and behind its clear conditions and a little bit of sunshine. temperature wise today, nothing to write home about. 7— 10 celsius. overnight a band of rain continues to advance towards the west and overhear it meets with this band here. cool with a touch of frost and parts of northern scotland tonight. likely to be freezing fog forming as well. tomorrow we begin once again with a band of rain. it weakens all the time, now that day, actually because for much of the rest of england will be sunshine and sunshine across

scotla nd be sunshine and sunshine across scotland as well. but then we have our next band of wet and windy weather coming our way in the wind will continue to strengthen as we go through of the day. looking at gales, severe gales, across parts of the west and north of scotland with exposure for the western isles and the outer hebrides for example. later on, luckily, we could even have storm force winds. bear that in mind if you are doing anything outdoors tomorrow evening or overnight. as we have through tuesday into wednesday there is a front heading steadily southwards and another one comes in light behind it look at these isobars. it will be another windy day. all this race produced into the south—east. a second wind comes in from the west as well and behind it and clear skies with sunshine and also some showers. some showers across scotla nd showers. some showers across scotland will be windy in nature so that will be a cold day here. has

become further south we got back into double figures. and then as we head towards christmas it looks like at the moment it will be wet and windy and the hills are likely to cease now at time. a wet and windy christmas. thank you very much, carol. police are increasingly having to deal with people who have mental health issues. all this week on breakfast, we're looking at the realities of modern policing, and have discovered through a freedom of information request that officers in england, wales and northern ireland have seen mental health—related call—outs increase by more than a quarter injust three years. john maguire has been investigating how police are responding to this new challenge. we canjoin him now at a custody suite in darlington. good morning. we are being hosted this week by the police here in durham. this is a custody suite. there are 16 celsius. not a very busy night last night, only a few

people left however earlier in the weekend it was quite different. hopefully you will never experience inside of one of these but as you can see this as the bedding. a solid platform at the bottom. a mattress, a fellow. you will be given a blanket. a toilet and washing facilities will stomp all the time—honoured set by video and by audio. a rather sobering message here. it is not love the queen of late to avoid further arrest ask to speak to the custody sergeant. that is the person who runs this place and is the very heart of it. but as you can imagine, as you can appreciate, this is not the kind of place remotely suitable to how someone place remotely suitable to how someone with mental hills issues. kind of mattress... it was a weird environment to be in. the last time that combines was that this police station he had been detained under the mental hills act and taken to the mental hills act and taken to the cells for this own safety. there we re the cells for this own safety. there were no secure hospital beds available. given the relative

severity you know you need specialist care, especially when you are ina specialist care, especially when you are in a situation like that where you feel suicidal, notjust stressed or anxious. dealing with mental hills as a major issue for police forces and incidents are increasing. freedom of information figures obtained by bbc breakfast show a rise of over 25% in recent years. of the 49 forces contacted, 30 responded. not including the metropolitan police, they recorded over 184,000 cases in 2012. that number has since risen to almost 230 2000. i would estimate that our officers currently spend about 20% officers currently spend about 20% of their time dealing with people with mental hills issues. the use of police cells is declining. the devon and cornwall force previously threatened to sue the nhs. so far this year 58 people had been detained in self. three years ago it

was 800. that, for us, was com pletely was 800. that, for us, was completely unforgivable. we cannot sustain a position. we worked really ha rd sustain a position. we worked really hard with partners and we got a lot of protocols in place, we really worked hard to make them realise that a police cell was not the place for a person suffering from a mental hills issue. we are out on the night shift with what is known as the mental hills triage team in leicestershire. comprised of a specially trained police officer and a mental hills nurse they can respond to incidents and offer advice to other offices. they are deployed to reports of a man threatening to jump into a deployed to reports of a man threatening tojump into a canal. it isa threatening tojump into a canal. it is a large—scale response from all three emergency services. the first job is to check if one of the secure hospital beds in leicester is free tonight. potential will be if he is not cooperative... and this colleague talks to offices on the path. presenting as mentally unwell

seeing things, hearing things. i just want to buy this fluid situation. after a few hours the incident is under control and is not being treated as a mental hills case. the next task is in the city centre of leicester police centre where a man is said to be agitated and acting irrationally. we need to see what is going on to try get the best outcome. he is presenting with mental hills issues which i think would be harmful in the community setting. their objective is to make sure the people of that was appropriately and not criminalised. all sides recognise a major problem, even a crisis. one is complex as it is contentious and one for which there is still no quick fix. this is the best weather custody sergeant said. screens above monitors all the cells and record

video and audio. this is somewhere where people will come in and be certain what is interesting here, a smart water system with a uv light so, if for example someone is arrested and suspected of burglary, then they have the tell—tale signs of coming into contact with smart water when they should not. we will be talking to the police chief of durham to get this views on how offices across the uk are dealing with a very, very challenging issue of people with mental hills issues. that is very interesting. i did not know that was how it worked. thank you to tomorrow we shall continue our series with a special report from inside a domestic violence project looked at aiming them to control their behaviour. preventing them from becoming abusive. all part of our policing britain series which will run all this week. time now to get the news, travel and weather where you are. good morning from bbc

london news, i'm sonja jessop. thousands of the capital's commuters are again facing difficultjourneys to work today with a fresh strike by conductors on southern rail services. members of the rmt union are walking out today and tomorrow. there's a reduced timetable in place but some routes have no trains at all. let us have a close look at it now. no southern trains. there is a revised service on all other routes including into victoria and london. it also affects the gatwick express. on the tube, meanwhile, severe delays westbound on the piccadilly line. now we've been told that's due to engineering work finishing late. other lines appear to be running normally. usual rush—hour delays on this road and in brixton road is closed

southbound. in other news, an investigation has begun after a single—decker bus crashed into a home in high wycombe. it happened on saturday afternoon. two people inside the house escaped, but their property is badly damaged. one passenger was taken to hospital, but no—one suffered any serious injuries. no arrests have been made. a complaint about an undelivered fridge freezer and an enquiry from someone being followed by a hissing cat. those are among the 999 calls made to the met police over the last year. the force says the total number of emergency calls has increased by 11% from last december, but is reminding people they should only dial 999 if someone is in danger, not for cases like this one: hello, police. where is your emergency? i hello, police. where is your emergency? lam hello, police. where is your emergency? i am lost. i can't find the building.

building. let's have a check on the weather now with aisling creevy a foggy start yet again for some of us a foggy start yet again for some of us this morning and as we head through the day before will lift with light rain in the forecast. a murky start this morning in default will slowly lift that it could be further disruption to travel. as we go through the day the cloud will be thick enough to give a couple of spots of light rain and drizzle but the further west you were you can see heavier bursts of rain. it will sylla ble see heavier bursts of rain. it will syllable chilly today and we will see— seven celsius. as we go through this evening and overnight we will see very little change in the forecast. it stays cloudy. the cloud almost enough to give a couple of spots of light rain and drizzle. you can see bit of distant fog forming again in the early hours of the morning but it is unlikely to cause any disruption to travel. close of five celsius. actually start to tomorrow morning and as we head

through tuesday you can see very little sunshine. i surveyed degrees. heading into wednesday we see a speu heading into wednesday we see a spell of wet and windy weather pushing through. by the time we get to thursday we will see little bit of sunshine starting to break through and it turns chilly as we head towards the end of the week. i'm back with the latest from the bbc london newsroom in half an hour. plenty more on our website at the usual address. it was a reporter from the daily chronicle. hang on, why am i telling you the truth? spooky, isn't it? after a year—long absence,

doctor who is back. we'll meet his latest companion in a sneak peak of the christmas special. and he kicked, flicked and shimmied his way to strictly‘s coveted glitter—ball trophy, we caught up with ore fresh after his triumph on the dance floor. all that still to come. but now a summary of this morning's main news. thousands of post office workers are beginning strike action this morning. the walkout by the communication workers union is the latest move in a dispute over pension changes, job security and closures. commuters on southern rail are also facing further disruption and there are talks due to take place aimed at preventing industrial action by airport staff. we can speak now to the conservative mp chris philp who is among those calling for the introduction of tighter rules governing strike action. good morning and thank you for joining us. good morning. what roles are you talking about? —— rules. there are already odorous ones in place. there are in terms of the ballot you are required for a strike but unfortunately it looks like

organisations like the rmt are going to farc on southern and we need a new law to require strikes on critical public infrastructure to be reasonable and proportionate and you would have a high courtjudge deciding that —— too far. on southern the conductors are arguing about who presses the button to open and closed the doors, it's a relatively minor dispute, there is no safety issue because 1.5 million trains in the last five years have run this way without a single fatality and yet thousands of people are being prevented from getting into work for the better part of a month. so it's not reasonable or proportionate and they are abusing their powers as a trade union to call strikes and the government should legislate and as a backbench mp i'm calling on the government to do that. we will speak to the unions later and we have spoken to them through this dispute, what they are clear on, it's about safety as far as they are concerned. that isjust as they are concerned. that isjust a facade. 1.5 million trains have

run in the last five years with driver operated doors with no fatalities, every single underground train in london runs with driver operated doors safely, a third of all the uk surface trains run using this system. the truth came out yesterday when sean hoyle, the president of the rmt, was quoted and uncovered by the sunday times as saying his real objective is, and these are his words, to bring down these are his words, to bring down the government, and he went on to say he wanted to try to replace the capitalist system with a socialist system. so sean hoyle, the president of the rmt, in his own words has admitted what his real objectives are. we have spoken to the unions and they say striking is a last resort and this is an ongoing dispute with the company they had for many months now. you're right, it's been going on for many months but nobody is losing theirjob or getting a pay cut, every train rather, that reigns with two members of staff, a driver and conductor, will be scheduled like that in the

future —— that runs. is it reasonable to stop 300,000 people from getting to work for the better pa rt from getting to work for the better part of a month simply over who presses the button to open and close the doors? the answer is no. it's not just the official strike the doors? the answer is no. it's notjust the official strike action on strike days like this week, outside strike days we have an overtime ban, a work to rule, huge numbers of drivers and conductors calling in sick. so the service is being disrupted on non—striker days as well strike days. chris, thank you for your time on breakfast this morning. and after 7am we will be hearing from the deputy general secretary of the trades union congress. we will keep you up to date with how the action is affecting people as well. the evacuation of the ruins of east aleppo in syria has resumed. around 350 people, said by aid workers to be in a terrible condition, were brought out of the city last night on buses. but thousands are still waiting to leave. the united nations security council

will vote today on plans to send un observers to aleppo. the number of lives lost due to suicide in england is unacceptable according to a group of mps. it remains the biggest cause of death in men under 49. in a report, the health select committee says a government prevention strategy for england in 2012 didn't result in any improvements. it's due to be updated early next year. the committee said support needed to be more accessible to those at risk. police officers in england, wales and northern ireland have seen mental health—related callouts increase by more than a quarter injust three years, according to figures obtained by bbc brea kfast. 30 out of 49 forces answered the freedom of information request. the government says it has halved the use of police cells to deal with people undergoing a mental health crisis and that officers are now working more closely with healthcare services. a special sitting of the stormont assembly will be held

today to examine a green energy scheme that's been described as the biggest financial scandal ever in northern ireland. stormont‘s first minister arlene foster will face a motion of no confidence during today's proceedings. but she's rejected calls from sinn fein to step aside during an investigation into the project, which is thought to have overspent by £400 million. the hungarian—born actress and socialite, zsa zsa gabor, has died. she made more than 70 films, but as one of the first socialites, she helped invent a new kind of fame out of multiple marriages and conspicuous wealth. by her own reckoning she was only married eight—and—a—half times. she didn't really count a spanish duke, who she left after a few hours. her age was a closely guarded secret, but she was thought to have been 99. her husband said she died at home surrounded by her friends and family. 99! still quite impressive, even though we don't really know how old she was. possibly she may have been

older. or even younger! who knows? what we do know for sure is that andy murray is sports personality of the year for the third time. winner, winner, chicken dinner! what a year he has had. i wonder if he had a chicken dinner. i think he loves chicken dinner. i think he loves chicken dinner. i think he loves chicken dinner. with steamed broccoli no doubt. a bit of inside information, after the photo shoots and the glamour of sports personality of the year, he was going to start his christmas shopping in miami. with all those people in the background? with people in the background? with people in the background? with people in bikinis around the pool, did anyone notice that at home? andy murray was by the pool and people we re murray was by the pool and people were getting on with their day. " who is that bloke over there with the big broken trophy? " andy murray has become the first person to win the bbc sports personality of the year award three times. the 2013 and 2015 winner, took olympic gold, claimed his second wimbledon title and became tennis' world number one for the first time in a remarkable 2016.

he wasn't at the event in birmingham and was given the trophy by former undisputed heavyweight boxing champion lennox lewis while on a training camp in miami. triathlete alistair brownlee was voted second and showjumper nick skelton third. leicester city took team of the year. it's the fourth day of the fifth and final test between england and india in chennai. it is lunch. the hosts began the day on 391—4 in reply to england's 477. they are 463—5, 14 runs behind. india have already won the series. manchester city came from behind to beat arsenal 2—1 at the etihad to move second in the premier league. the gunners shot into the lead after only five minutes when theo walcott slotted them ahead. but a second half equaliser from leroy sane was followed by a raheem sterling winner. it's the second successive game arsenal led and then lost, but the manager felt the officials were at fault and says the group in charge of referees isn't doing itsjob properly. we conceded two offside goals and

thatis we conceded two offside goals and that is very difficult to accept in a game like that. i believe there's a game like that. i believe there's a lot going on at the moment that is not serious on the pitch. it's unbelievable. tottenham are fifth in the table, just one point behind arsenal, as they beat burnley 2—1 at white hart lane. danny rose scored the winner midway through the second half. but spurs had to come from behind. ashley barnes had given burnley the lead before dele alli equalised. we need to fight till the end of the season. it's a lot of games ahead, it's a long way to the end of the season. i think our position, we are very calm, and only working hard to go with that and try to win games. southampton also came from behind to beat south coast neighbours bournemouth 3—1 at the vitality stadium. this was the stunning second goal

of the game forjay rodriguez and helped move claude puel‘s side up to seventh. in rugby there was an upset in the european champions cup as scarlets held on to beat three—time champions toulon 22—21. toulon and wales star leigh halfpenny missed this penalty, the last kick of the game, to hand scarlets their first ever victory over the french giants. scott williams scored the only try for the hosts as fly—half rhys patchell kicked 17 points. defending champions saracens continued their 100% record in the competition, but they were made to work for a 26—10 victory against sale sharks. owen farrell scored 19 of those points including this opening try of the match late on. sarries top pool three while sale are bottom. elsewhere ulster lost to clermont auvergne. i know lots of people at home watched sports personality of the year last night and saw it on the television, what do you really want to know about? what was happening

behind the scenes! i was there! soaking it all up! and filming it all for bbc breakfast. here's my peace. max whitlock, ladies and gentlemen! no rehearsing, no nothing. wow!|j could no rehearsing, no nothing. wow!” could have stood there all day. ok! you look lovely. thank you. what an incredible year 2016 has been. we are rubbing shoulders with sporting royalty here on the red carpet tonight. look at this, it is the gold winning women's hockey team. so we are now inside the arena where as you can probably tell the excitement really is building. i have to go and find my seat so you lot need to go! we are backstage. that was a moment and a half, can you hear the crowd

inside here? leicester city have just been announced as team of the year. the fairytale for them continues. i'm hoping to speak to a couple of the players in just a moment but i better get my skates on. ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the leicester city squad. coach of the year, congratulations. thank you. i was very surprised but of course i am very pleased. want to say thank you to the owner for bringing me back in england. and, of course, the players, because without the players it is difficult to win something. let's find out the results then. jess, can you tell us, please, who is in third place? in third place is nick skelton. in second place is alistair brownlee. hang ona hang on a minute, look who i've found in the corridor. nick skelton, alistair brownlee. come on in, lads. second and third place in bbc sports

personality of the year. can i get you to take a seat on our lovely red sofa here, make yourself at home, this is our bbc breakfast sofa for the evening. huge congratulations to both of you, it's such an honour to be nominated. how do you feel after your award tonight? it was amazing to be in the first three. and to be sitting there in front of all those great sportsmen and sportswomen, i think very happy. you know what i've noticed about both of you, you both have a story that goes beyond sport in many ways. sport is a fantastic thing and winning things is brilliant and that's what we're about as sports people, it's all about as sports people, it's all about winning but actually to the wider public, it's what goes along with it that shows you're a normal person like any normal person, what's interesting and that's what captures peoples imaginations. brilliant, lovely to talk to both of

you. and the bbc sports personality of the year 2016 is andy murray. andy murray has just been announced as the winnerfor 2016. andy murray has just been announced as the winner for 2016. we can talk to him now live from miami, but i have to tell you, andy, there's something i haven't mentioned, i have a new bbc breakfast co— presenter with me, you might recognise this voice. hi, darling. well done! high, mum! sorry, andy, sorry to spring that new. is it a bit embarrassing to hear your mum being so nice about you? -- on you. i'm used to being embarrassed by my mum honestly, obviously! but, yeah, look, it's obviously nice because now that i'm a parent myself i know how difficult it must have been for them to allow me and jamie to go away and pursue our tennis careers when we were, like, 13, 14 years old. we wouldn't have been able to

do what we've done without their sacrifices. so, yeah. andy, thank you so much for your time, thank you for talking to us and huge congratulations. thank you. by, mum. by, darling. i love that. he genuinely didn't know she would be there and i think he handled it really well. proper access all areas! the sofa is there and it was fantastic. a great night and it was fantastic. a great night and all worthy winners on the night, great and sorry i'm a bit croaky. it's inspiring but makes you feel inadequate! totally! we have spoken obviously to andy murray, which is fantastic, and we are speaking to alistair brownlee later? yes, in the next hour or so, we are waking him up next hour or so, we are waking him up early so he won't have had much sleep. thanks very much. shall we catch up with the weather. have a look at the fog. sally looked gorgeous last night, she normally

does but especially last night. we have some fog in the forecast today but as we go through the week it is a mainly dry start. some rain around but from mid week we will seem or a net and it will be turning windy. that's because of what is happening across the atlantic, cold air across canada and the united states, but you can see in florida the milder amber colours. temperatures here in the mid—20s, the blues are subzero, that is a thermal gradient. that pumps a lot ofair into thermal gradient. that pumps a lot of air into thejet thermal gradient. that pumps a lot of air into the jet stream. it is unusually strong at the moment, wind speeds were planes fly at 230 mph. if you know anyone coming back from the states this week they will be getting back quite quickly. it will have an impact on our weather. especially in the northern half it will be wet and windy. this morning it is fog. anywhere patchy fog from the vale of york, lincolnshire, east

anglia, the south—east, the midlands, southern england, we have some of that this morning but not as dense as this time yesterday and most of it will lift, although it could stick for much of the day across the vale of york and leakage. but generally a cloudy start, a dank one, some damp incher —— linkage. —— dampness. further north away from the fog we have a bit of cloud. —— lincolnshire. rain coming in across western scotland and patchy rain coming in across northern ireland. through the course of the day what's going to happen is this band of rain will move south—east. more rain developing across the wash heading towards the midlands and the isle of wight and channel islands, both of them eventually will clash. —— wash. before that happens, some cloud and some brighter skies in western scotla nd some brighter skies in western scotland and northern ireland. temperatures roughly where they should be at this stage in december, between seven and ten. through the

evening and overnight, we continue to watch our two bands of rain moving together, eventually they merge so moving together, eventually they merge so heavy bursts for a time in parts of england and wales. cloud with showers behind and ahead it will be cold in parts of northern ireland and scotland. colder night for some frost and also patchy fog so for some frost and also patchy fog so we're likely to see pockets of freezing fog. tomorrow here's our band of rain, it more or less dies in situ through the day. some brighter skies in much of england, again some cloud around but then another band of rain coming in across the north—west. it's going to be accompanied by strengthening winds. in fact strengthening winds is putting it mildly because we're looking at very strong winds in the north and west of scotland courtesy of this weather front, you can see the squeeze on the isobars as well but we could be looking at severe gales in parts of the north and west of scotla nd gales in parts of the north and west of scotland with exposure even storm force in the outer hebrides. wednesday is looking wet and windy

with some it sounds as if it will be busy. thank you, carol. could flat—pack houses be the answer to the national housing shortage? steph is looking at plans to create six factories that will make modular houses. this is an interesting one. essentially a new way to build houses. let me explain. last year the government set a target of building one million new homes by 2020. that works out at a rate of about 200,000 a year. many experts think that number should be higher according to the last set of published figures, there were about 150,000 new homes built in the year to september. that's well short of the target so could modular houses like these be the answer? they're constructed off site in a factory and are made from flat—packs or kits before they're delivered to their final destination. because there is a new project to

build six factories in the uk to do this at a cost of £2.5 billion. let's have a chat about what is involved. we are here with rob henderson is from jenning design architects. he's been involved in a project to deliver 30 modular homes. can you explain what a modular home is? they are exactly the same at a whole they are built off—site. so everything has been built of science while the plumbing and everything is put in place. they are then delivered to the site, stepped up and put in place. are they built from the same materials and things? there are many ways of doing it but essentially, yes. we have been building timber frame houses all over the country. what is the benefit? can you make them fast? several benefits. they can be made faster, delivered faster but the

quality is also factory conditions. the specific levels of quality that we can achieve all test and are coming on to site ready to go. are they the same quality as the traditional houses built on site? that is what people will be concerned about. people don't want them to be disposable. everyone looks back to the prefab post—war technology back in the 1940s. technology has come further. tenants will not be able to tell that was made house or a modular house stop we have had fantastic feedback from residents who love living in these fantastic quality houses. how about the cost? are they cheaper? they are about like for like at the moment. the current thought is that the volume will need to be there to meet the target set by the government. as soon as our volume comes the target set by the government. as soon as our volume comes that will drive down the cost to build and

drive down the cost to build and drive up the efficiency and become a real alternative. you think this is how we will make houses in the future? it is certainly a definitely opportunity for us to be able to deliver houses more quickly and better. thank you for that. if you have any thoughts, please get in touch with us. he was hailed as the "the spirit of strictly" by head judge len goodman, and this weekend, just over 13 million viewers saw ore oduba and his dance partner joanne clifton win the final of strictly come dancing. sally caught up with him fresh off the dance floor on the red carpet at the bbc sports personality of the year award. the winner 2016, ore! thank you. you

can imagine how many times i've heard that said in the last 24 hours. it hasn't sunk in at all. the whole thing has beenjust hours. it hasn't sunk in at all. the whole thing has been just a hours. it hasn't sunk in at all. the whole thing has beenjust a circus but the most incredible experience ever. we saw you win, we saw you win the trophy. what was the party afterwards like? i had... it was wonderful seeing everybody altogether. it was really nice to get everybody back together and have the fun that we have been having over last four months. good thing i have gone any better for you?” don't think it could have done. everything went... well, craig evans and nine in the american smooth. so, craig, you ruined it... no, you didn't. it was perfect. and what

will you do now? can you work next tuesday? christmas is coming. we have had no buildup. my wife is here. we have this, we have christmas and then we have a holiday. that is what we are doing. will you be dancing on your holiday? no?! it will be lie down, poolside, beachside and relax. i will reflect on this for months over the festive period because it isjust on this for months over the festive period because it is just amazing. congratulations. we are so proud of you. i love you all. i have missed you. i love you all. i have missed you. don't lie. i have been getting up you. don't lie. i have been getting up at 330 in the morning.” you. don't lie. i have been getting up at 330 in the morning. i didn't say i missed the time. i said i missed you. come on, sally. it goes like this. and now i get you

backwards. there we go a bit of swing and sway. i don't have the ability to do this. and i can't teach. but i enjoyed it. 100 umbrella thing is still... how many times have you practise that? you're watching breakfast from bbc news. still to come this morning: in a strictly double, hollyoaks star danny mac will also be here to tell us about swapping dancing for singing as he brings "sleepless in seattle" from the big screen to the stage. i think it is an excuse to watch the summeragaina i think it is an excuse to watch the summer again a little bit. let's get news and travel now from wherever you are watching this morning. good morning from bbc london news, i'm sonja jessop. thousands of the capital's commuters are again facing difficultjourneys to work today with a fresh

strike by conductors on southern rail services. members of the rmt union are walking out today and tomorrow. there's a reduced timetable in place but some routes have no trains at all. so we've got no southern trains between clapham junction and milton keynes central. there's a revised service on all other routes, including into victoria and london bridge. it's also affecting the gatwick express — which has a reduced service this morning too. on the tube, we've got severe delays westbound on the piccadilly line. now we've been told that's due to engineering work finishing late. this is how it looks at the blackwall tunnel — four slow southbound. and in brixton — the a204 effra road is closed southbound from brixton road to st matthew's road for water main from brixton road to st matthew's road for water main repairs. in other news, an investigation has begun after a single—decker bus

crashed into a home in high wycombe. it happened on saturday afternoon. two people inside the house escaped, but their property is badly damaged. one passenger was taken to hospital, but no—one suffered any serious injuries. no arrests have been made. among the nuisance 999 calls made last year was a complaint about an undelivered fruit freezer and one from somebody being followed by a hissing cat. cat. the force says the total number of emergency calls has increased by 11% from last december, but is reminding people they should only dial 999 if someone is in danger, not for cases like this one: hello, police. where is your emergency? i am lost. let's have a check on the weather now with aisling creevy a foggy start yet again for some of us this morning and as we head through the day the fog will lift with light rain in the forecast. a murky start this morning

will slowly lift but it could be further disruption to travel. as we go through the day the cloud will be thick enough to give a couple of spots of light rain and drizzle but the further west you are, you can see heavier bursts of rain. it will be chilly today and we will see 7 celsius. as we go through this evening and overnight we will see very little change in the forecast. it stays cloudy. the cloud almost enough to give a couple of spots of light rain and drizzle. you can see bit of mist and fog forming again in the early hours of the morning but it is unlikely to cause any disruption to travel. lows of five celsius. a chilly start to tomorrow morning and as we head through tuesday you can see very little sunshine. highs of 8 degrees. heading into wednesday we see a spell of wet and windy weather pushing through. by the time we get to thursday we will see little bit of sunshine starting to break

through and it turns chilly as we head towards the end of the week. i'm back with the latest from the bbc london newsroom in half an hour. plenty more on our website at the usual address. may face disruption. airport baggage handlers and ground staff are expected to walk out later in the week. i'll be talking to the union which represents post office workers to find out what impact the strike will have in the final days before christmas. good morning, it's monday 19th december.

also this morning: around 350 people are moved out of eastern aleppo as the evacuation resumes but many are said by aid workers to be in a terrible condition. eve ryo ne everyone agrees a police cell is not the place for someone who has been detained under the mental health act. of the major challenges being faced by modern uk police forces. we kick offa by modern uk police forces. we kick off a series of special reports later this morning —— it's one of. in sport, andy murray is the sports personality of the year for a record third time. hi, darling. well done! hi, mum! the olympic and wimbledon champion beat the triathlete alistair brownlee and showjumper nick skelton into second and third.

and guess who else i managed to catch up with on the red carpet? the winner of strictly‘s coveted glitter—ball trophy, ore. and carol has the weather. a fairly cloudy start to the day and patchy fog especially in england, most will lift but could stick in the vale of york and lincolnshire. rain coming in from the north—west, but in between some sunshine. more details in around 15 minutes. good morning. first, our main story: thousands of post office workers are beginning strike action today. the walkout by the communication workers union is the latest move in a dispute over pension changes, job security and closures. industrial action this week will also affect airports and southern rail services, as keith doyle reports. this last week before christmas is already busy and stressful. but strikes and industrial action could make it a christmas of discontent for many. on the trains, southern rail passengers face more disruption as 400 conductors strike today and tomorrow.

it's not expected to cause the same level of disruption as last week's strikes by drivers, however many routes and services will be affected. 3,500 workers at crown post offices are starting a five—day strike today in a despute overjobs and pensions that may see the closure of larger high street branches, although the post office says disruption to the public should be minimal. airline travellers face double trouble this week as baggage handlers working for swissport are set to strike on friday and saturday. this will mainly affect regional airports. but a strike by 4,500 british airways cabin crew over pay could also see flights disrupted on christmas day and boxing day. there are efforts being made to resolve these disputes. ba management and the union unite will meet today and a meeting tomorrow to resolve the baggage handlers' dispute is due to be held but the post office strike is on and there seems little prospect of an early end to the long—running dispute between the rmt union

and southern rail, meaning 300,000 commuters face even more disruption. keith doyle, bbc news. steph joins us on the sofa. this feels like a surge of discontent, how does it compare to other years? there is a lot going on and at this time of year particularly it feels like it is hitting lots of parts of different people's lives, the post— element and the rail and the flights, this time of year when tensions arriving high because of christmas and lots of people wanting to travel and get presents delivered, it can feel really hard if you're one of those affected but is it worse than other years? to give you some stats, there have been 280,000 working days lost to industrial action so far this year. that is more than last year but actually if you compare it to 2014 it's a lot less than other years. in 2014 there were more than three

quarters of a million days lost to strike action. when i mean that i am talking about days when people are not working, they could be working but they have chosen to strike. although it feels really bad because it is this time of year and a lot of them are happening at once, compared to other years it isn't necessarily any worse, which might not make you feel better if you're somebody impacted by it at the moment but strikes are something we see regularly and have done over the last few years. if you're stuck at home it will feel quite different. thanks. and in just under ten minutes we will be speaking to the deputy general secretary of the trade union congress. the evacuation of the ruins of east aleppo in syria has resumed. around 350 people, who aid workers say are in a terrible condition, were brought out of the city last night on buses, but thousands are still waiting to leave. the united nations security council will vote today on plans to send un observers to aleppo. the bbc‘s james longman is in beirut. what's the latest news about the evacuations? good morning. yes, it looks as

though the evacuations are back on. we heard this morning 1200 people had made it out of east aleppo to a staging point where they are receiving medical care and now they will be able to make the choice whether or not to go to live in government aleppo, west aleppo, which is largely unscathed by the war, all go back to idlib, which is a rebel held part of syria, the last pa rt a rebel held part of syria, the last part of syria to be under rebel control —— or go. the evacuations of east aleppo starting again and also the evacuation of the government pa rt the evacuation of the government part of the country as well. this was the whole plan, the idea was to be able to evacuate people from both parts of syria so they can continue and that seems to be happening this morning. as i say, 1200 have been

evacuated but another 50,000 people are waiting in east aleppo to get out and they're waiting in particularly difficult conditions. we will see if this continues. we are seeing some of the pictures of people leaving and we hear many are ina people leaving and we hear many are in a terrible way. what more can you tell us about where they're going and what condition there in? -- they are in. they will be going to a town just outside of aleppo. it is run by the rebels, a rebel part of syria, but there a staging post where medical professionals and volunteers are waiting to give them the help they need. the first people able to leave these parts are women, children, the sick and the wounded, many are suffering from malnutrition. thousands of people in aleppo our children and they will be the ones who will be given the most ca re the ones who will be given the most care and also the families of rebels. they're the ones who were able to leave first. they will be needing a lot of medical attention and then when that's been given they

can makea and then when that's been given they can make a choice about where they wa nt to can make a choice about where they want to go next. james, in beirut, thank you. the number of lives lost due to suicide in england is unacceptable according to a group of mps. it remains the biggest cause of death in men under 49. in a report, the health select committee says a government prevention strategy for england in 2012 didn't result in any improvements. it's due to be updated early next year. our health editor hugh pym reports. it was 13 years ago. angela and her partner, mark, had two young sons. he had no history of mental illness but he took his own life. one minute you're talking to them on the phone and the next minute you never going to speak to them again. i think the shock of that almost... your head kind of tricks you into thinking this can't be real. she now heads a national charity supporting those affected by suicide. she also presented a bbc documentary encouraging people to talk more about the issue.

my work and the work of the trustees and volunteers was to really kind of break that isolation that exists. the report says a government suicide prevention strategy for england in 2012 didn't achieve its aims. the report's proposals include: the key message here is that suicide is preventable. and what we heard from one witness very powerfully was that... she said it wasn't my son that was hard to reach, it was the services that were hard to reach. a department of health spokesperson said every death by suicide was tragic for families and an updated strategy during next year would address many of the issues raised by the committee. angela has welcomed the report. she hopes it will make a difference and will help prevent more of the sort of devastating losses she had to endure. hugh pym, bbc news.

just after 8am, we'll speak to a father whose son killed himself about what extra support is needed. police officers in england, wales and northern ireland have seen mental health—related callouts increase by more than a quarter injust three years, according to figures obtained by bbc brea kfast. 30 out of 49 forces answered the freedom of information request. the government says it has halved the use of police cells to deal with people undergoing a mental health crisis and that officers are now working more closely with healthcare services. we used to often take people into custody, so they would be there for a number of hours while they're being assessed, so it's not the right environment. if we did take them into custody often we would take them to accident and emergency, which, again, isn't the right place to take them. and as part of breakfast‘s special week of programming looking at modern policing john maguire spent a night on call with leicestershire police's front line mental health team.

he will be with us a little bit later. a special sitting of the stormont assembly will be held today to examine a green energy scheme that's been described as the biggest financial scandal ever in northern ireland. stormont‘s first minister arlene foster will face a motion of no confidence during today's proceedings. but she's rejected calls from sinn fein to step aside during an investigation into the project, which is thought to have overspent by £400 million. the hungarian—born actress and socialite, zsa zsa gabor, has died. she made more than 70 films, but as one of the first socialites, she helped invent a new kind of fame out of multiple marriages and conspicuous wealth. by her own reckoning she was only married eight—and—a—half times. she didn't really count a spanish duke, who she left after a few hours. her age was a closely guarded secret, but she was thought to have been 99. her husband said she died at home surrounded by her friends and family.

andy murray was voted bbc sports personality of the year last night, the first person to win it three times. i love the way he received the award in front of a pool. with lennox lewis! this year murray won wimbledon, secured olympic gold and finished the season as tennis world number one. our sports news correspondent, andy swiss, reports. and the bbc sports personality of the year 2016 is andy murray! applause it was an ovation that echoed all the way to florida. at his training base in miami, andy murray receiving that famous trophy from lennox lewis, as he beat alistair brownlee in second and nick skelton in third. i've got a bit of a bone to pick with my wife because she told me about an hour ago that she voted for nick skelton, so... not smart from her with christmas coming up. it's been an amazing year for british sport. i'm very proud to be a part of it.

so thank you and i hope you all have a great night. applause well, 2016 was certainly an incredible year for british sport. tonight was all about celebrating that success and once again, there were plenty of winners. especially leicester city. the shock premier league champions took the tea m premier league champions took the team award while their manager claudio ranieri one coach of the year. there was an emotional reception for michael phelps, the americans were collecting a lifetime achievement award but the night belonged to andy murray, britain's history maker has done it again. andy swiss, bbc news, birmingham. we spoke to alistair brownlee and also nick skelton. we have more on that later. as post offices, railways and airports brace themselves for disruption due to industrial action this week, are we facing

a christmas of discontent? the unrest is all the more unusual because for the last 30 years strikes have been falling to record low levels in the uk. we'rejoined by paul nowak, the deputy secretary general of the trades union congress. good morning and thank you for coming on. is it cynical to be striking at this time of year, what is your take on it? i don't think there's any attempt at cynicism, what we've got is a series of disputes and southern and the post office and other places are involved and they are all different disputes with different causes, but what unites them all is people feel they have no alternative. it's a difficult decision to take to strike but those taking action, whether they work on the trains or the post offices, they don't like doing it and it's a last resort and what those workers will be hoping is that employers will take notice and sit down and negotiate to reach a fair settlement. let's talk about

southern because it has caused enormous disruption? guest, they have caused real disruption and the union will bitterly regret that. the issues at southern aren'tjust, about industrial action —— yes. there were two days of strikes. hold ona there were two days of strikes. hold on a second. we have heard they are politically motivated, those are the accusations people have been making, and also it's not about safety because the trains are operating under this system? these strikes are about safety and they aren't politically motivated. to take industrial action in this country you have to go through a dim aquatic ballot and these decisions are made behind closed doors. i know when people take the difficult decision to ta ke people take the difficult decision to take industrial action they wouldn't have been thinking about politics, it's about safety. we're not train drivers but i have spoken to them and they are worried about what it means to be in charge of a

12 cartrain what it means to be in charge of a 12 car train with 1200 people on it with a crowded platform and poor visibility, they are worried someone could be injured or harmed, they don't want it happening on their watch so the strike is absolutely about safety. one of the other accusations is across the board this isa accusations is across the board this is a toward a major effort to bring the government to its knees at this time of year, how do you respond? that is fanciful media reporting and it's not borne out by the facts. all of these disputes have different root causes and they have difficult solutions. when those decisions are made they aren't made by union leaders in a room, they are made by ordinary men and women exercising their ballot and they are thinking about the issues, not politics. the way you resolve any dispute is sitting down and talking for a fair settlement. one of my frustrations in the southern dispute, looking at that as an example, rather than negotiating with the unions company took the unions to court and drag

the process through the mill for weeks but they should have sat down. did these strikes need to be done in christmas week? the workers involved wa nted christmas week? the workers involved wanted to avoid taking industrial action during christmas but it's important to note these disputes have been months in the waiting. there's been strike action before thames to sit down and negotiate. nobody wants industrial action. —— before a tense. they bitterly regret this but they are losing” before a tense. they bitterly regret this but they are losing i just want to ask you an extra question about legislation to curb industrial action. this concern you? it does concern me because we already have some of the most restrictive legislation in the western world and if you think about the big issues we are facing what the government should be doing is to help secure employment, combat statement he,

deputy general secretary, thank you very much for your time. let's get the weather now with carol. grim out there in places. fog everywhere. good morning. fog this morning across parts of the vale of york, lincolnshire, anglia and the midlands. the blanket is patchy but could lead to travel disruptions. generally this morning it is a cloudy and banks start to the day for some of us. chilly as well. most of that fog will lift. it could stick for most of the day across the vale of york and lincolnshire. we may see a little bit of brightness across the far north—east of england and the far north—east of scotland. for the western scotland and northern ireland we have clouded splashes of rain. as we go through the day you will see another band of rain develop across parts of the wash through east anglia heading

down into the midlands. that is going to be drifting towards the west. meanwhile the rain coming in is sinking south—eastward is so behind that bad it will brighten up and we will see some sunshine. but for the rest of us a fairly cloudy murky and damp day. through the evening and overnight of band will bump into the band coming north and give a period of heavy rain across parts of england and wales. clear skies for ireland and scotland and a touch of frost. and we have patchy fog in the north where it could be freezing. tomorrow morning we begin with a band of rain across parts of northern england, wales and the south—west. that will fragment and die in situ. behind we will see brighter skies. not bad for much of england and eastern scotland but cloud our west will introduce more rain and the winner will be a feature of the weather later on tomorrow because of continued to

strengthen. —— the wind will be a feature. in fact, that we will strengthen civil point of touching storm strength. exposure we could even have storm force winds across the outer hebrides. from tuesday into wednesday the first front end southwards and the other one comes hot on its hills. can see from the isobars it will be windy. this takes rain with it into southern and south—eastern counties. behind that a weaker affair south—eastern counties. behind that a weakeraffairand we south—eastern counties. behind that a weaker affair and we see some sunshine and we will also see showers, some of which will be wintry. a dry start to the day and thenit wintry. a dry start to the day and then it turns much more unsettled with bands of rain, turning windy, particularly windy across the northern half of the country. the reason for this is we have all of this cold air coming across canada and the united states, bumping into the milder air across florida. that is what we call a pretty bad, gradient and it puts a lot of energy into the atmosphere, strengthening

the jet stream. the wind on into the atmosphere, strengthening thejet stream. the wind on it into the atmosphere, strengthening the jet stream. the wind on it will be about 230 mph. you will come back quite quickly as you are returning from the states and it will have an impact on our weather meaning wetter and windy weather. if you have relatives coming back from america for christmas, there you go. get to the airport early. police are increasingly having to deal with people who have mental health issues. all this week on breakfast we're looking at the realities of modern policing, and have discovered through a freedom of information request that officers in england, wales and northern ireland have seen mental health—related call—outs increase by more than a quarter injust three years. john maguire has been investigating how police are responding to this new challenge. we canjoin him now at a custody suite in darlington. he is showing us how it all works. good morning. good morning, the

wheeze. this is a photo booth where the mugshots are taken when people first come in. these days are more sophisticated system. fingerprints of linking up to the national police computer. but is also a place where officers can take a foot in print if thatis officers can take a foot in print if that is the type of thing they need. it can be as good as a fingerprint, actually in placing somebody at the scene of a truck crime. a breathalyser and drug testing. 16 self here in the custody suite in darlington with durham police. not salubrious surroundings. a sickbed, mattress, pillow, toilet and washing facilities and a sobering message on the wall. as you can imagine this is not the type of place, not an ideal place to keep someone who is suffering from mental health problems. a kind of mattress... it was a weird environment to be in. the last time declan barnes was at this police station he had been detained under the mental health act and taken to the cells for his own safety.

there were no secure hospital beds available. given the relative severity you know you need specialist care, especially when you are in a situation like that where you feel suicidal, notjust stressed or anxious. dealing with mental health is a major issue for police forces and incidents are increasing. freedom of information figures obtained by bbc breakfast show a rise of over 25% in recent years. of the 49 forces contacted, 30 responded. not including the metropolitan police, they recorded over 184,000 cases in 2012. that number has since risen to almost 232,000. i would estimate that our officers currently spend about 20% of their time dealing with people with mental health issues. the use of police cells is declining. the devon and cornwall force previously threatened to sue the nhs. so far this year 58 people had been detained in cells. three years ago it was 800.

that, for us, was completely unforgivable. we cannot sustain that position. we worked really hard with partners and we got a lot of protocols in place, we really worked hard to make them realise that a police cell was not the place for a person suffering from a mental health issue. we are out on the night shift with what is known as the mental health triage team in leicestershire. comprised of a specially trained police officer and a mental health nurse they can respond to incidents and offer advice to other officers. they are deployed to reports of a man threatening tojump into a canal. it is a large—scale response from all three emergency services. the firstjob is to check if one of the secure hospital beds in leicester is free tonight. potential will be if he is not cooperative... and this colleague talks to officers on the path. presenting as mentally unwell,

seeing things, hearing things. i just want to watch this fluid situation. after a few hours the incident is under control and is not being treated as a mental health case. the next task is in the city centre of leicester police centre where a man is said to be agitated and acting irrationally. we need to see what is going on to try get the best outcome. he is presenting with mental health issues which i think would be harmful in the community setting. their objective is to make sure the people are treated appropriately and not criminalised. all sides recognise a major problem, even a crisis. one is complex as it is contentious and one for which there is still no quick fix. let's put some of those issues to

the inspector here from the college of policing. we know it is a growing problem. what is being done to address it? we are one of the national signatories to a pan government cross organisation to try and address the cause and columns of growth of air. we have produced new guidelines for policing and professional practice. training packages for the first time as well which set a benchmark nationally for how to treat these people. all of thatis how to treat these people. all of that is about the police response. wider questions are about addressing why this is demanded of the police force. our demand has gone up over the last decade and we know that that fits into a broader set about the mental health act. one big problem is the paucity of secure beds across the uk. the nhs tells us

it is investing more money but that again isa it is investing more money but that again is a very tight pot. we are standing ina again is a very tight pot. we are standing in a custody office and there can be problems where people have been arrested or detained and taken into have been arrested or detained and ta ken into custody have been arrested or detained and taken into custody but they are removed as fast as possible from there. we know there are pinch points in bed provision that is important to note that there has been success. section 136 has produced about 57% over the last three years and we are seeing fewer and fewer people going to custody. thank you for talking to us. more from us darlington custody centre later in the programme. i know you will show us exactly how it works. thank you very much and see you later. tomorrow we'll continue the series with a special report from inside a domestic violence project aimed at helping men to control their behaviour to prevent them from becoming abusive. let us know what you think about it.

time now to get the news, travel and weather where you are. good morning from bbc london news, i'm sonja jessop. thousands of the capital's commuters are again facing difficultjourneys to work today with a fresh strike by conductors on southern rail services. members of the rmt union are walking out today and tomorrow. there's a reduced timetable in place but some routes have no trains at all. so we've got no southern trains between clapham junction and milton keynes central. there's a revised service on all other routes, including into victoria and london bridge. it's also affecting the gatwick express — which has a reduced service this morning too. gwr trains have a 15 minute delay. on the tube, the piccadilly line

is now running well. we is now running well. have had anticlockwise delays traffic we have had anticlockwise delays on traffic but that is now running well at the moment. in other news, an investigation has begun after a single—decker bus crashed into a home in high wycombe. it happened on saturday afternoon. two people inside the house escaped, but their property is badly damaged. one passenger was taken to hospital, but no—one suffered any serious injuries. among the nuisance 999 calls made to the met police last year was a complaint about an undelivered fridge and one from somebody being followed by a hissing cat. the force says the total number of emergency calls has increased by 11% from last december, but is reminding people they should only dial 999 if someone is in danger, not for cases like this one: hello, police. what's your emergency? hello, sorry to bother you, i'm lost. i'm looking for a security centre in stratford and i can't find it. let's have a check on the weather

now with aisling creevy. a foggy start yet again for some of us this morning and as we head through the day the fog will lift with light rain in the forecast. a murky start this morning will slowly lift but it could be further disruption to travel. as we go through the day the cloud will be thick enough to give a couple of spots of light rain and drizzle but the further west you are, you can see heavier bursts of rain. it will be chilly today and we will see 7 celsius. as we go through this evening and overnight we will see very little change in the forecast. it stays cloudy. the cloud almost enough to give a couple of spots of light rain and drizzle. you can see bit of mist and fog forming again in the early hours of the morning but it is unlikely to cause any disruption to travel. lows of five celsius. a chilly start to tomorrow morning and as we head

through tuesday you can see very little sunshine. highs of 8 degrees. heading into wednesday we see a spell of wet and windy weather pushing through. by the time we get to thursday we will see little bit of sunshine starting to break through and it turns chilly as we head towards the end of the week. i'm back with the latest from the bbc london newsroom in half an hour. now, though, it's back to dan and louise. bye for now. action by airport staff. we need a law to require strikes on critical public infrastructure to be reasonable and proportionate and you would have a high courtjudge deciding what is reasonable and proportionate. on southern the conductors are arguing about who presses the button to open and close the doors, it's a relatively minor dispute, there is no safety issue because 1.5 million trains in the last five years have run this way without a single fatality and yet 300,000 people are being prevented from getting into work. these

strikes are absolutely about safety and they're certainly not politically motivated. to take industrial action in this country you have to go through a democratic ballot, these decisions aren't made behind closed doors. i know when people took the difficult decision to take industrial action on southern trains they wouldn't be thinking about politics, they would have been thinking about the key issue, which is safety. the evacuation of the ruins of east aleppo in syria has resumed. around 1,000 people, who aid workers say are in a terrible condition, have left the city, but many more remain. the united nations security council will vote today on plans to send un observers to aleppo. police officers in england, wales and northern ireland have seen mental health—related callouts increase by more than a quarter injust three years, according to figures obtained by bbc brea kfast. 30 out of 49 forces answered the freedom of information request. the government says it has halved the use of police cells to deal with people undergoing a mental health crisis and that officers are now working more closely with healthcare services. a special sitting of

the stormont assembly will be held today to examine a green energy scheme that's been described as the biggest financial scandal ever in northern ireland. stormont‘s first minister arlene foster will face a motion of no confidence during today's proceedings. but she's rejected calls from sinn fein to step aside during an investigation into the project, which is thought to have overspent by £400 million. the hungarian—born actress and socialite, zsa zsa gabor, has died. she made more than 70 films, but as one of the first socialites, she helped invent a new kind of fame out of multiple marriages and conspicuous wealth. by her own reckoning she was only married eight—and—a—half times. she didn't really count a spanish duke, who she left after a few hours. her age was a closely guarded secret, but she was thought to have been 99. her husband said she died at home surrounded by her friends and family. father christmas has been given

a bit of a helping hand by people who've donated hundreds of presents after an appeal for two young boys in foster care. footballs, teddies and books have all been sent in after a tweet from west yorkshire police said the boys didn't own any toys or even a pillow. officers insist though that the youngsters, who are both under six, now have enough. and in the true spirit of christmas, some will be shared with other children in similar situations. i don't think they got sent a dog. dogs are for life, notjust i don't think they got sent a dog. dogs are for life, not just for christmas. a very busy night for you and others at sports personality of the year. it was a late one. house—mate? the year. it was a late one.

house-mate? it was quite late. two hours sleep ash how late.” house-mate? it was quite late. two hours sleep ash how late. i have maybe had an hour and a half. —— how late? who maybe had an hour and a half. —— how late ? who knows maybe had an hour and a half. —— how late? who knows what will happen after we'd go off air. we can switch the lights off and make it cosy. all because of this man, andy murray, again he was named bbc sports personality of the year. we are getting used to him being in miami at this time of year, he likes to train there and not to disrupt his training and maybe that's why he is so training and maybe that's why he is so successful, and he certainly isn't having an hour and a half's sleep! ndy murray has become the first person to win the bbc sports personality of the year award three times. the 2013 and 2015 winner, took olympic gold, claimed his second wimbledon title

and became tennis' world number one for the first time in a remarkable 2016. he wasn't at the event in birmingham and was given the trophy by former undisputed heavyweight boxing champion lennox lewis, while on a training camp in miami. triathlete alistair brownlee was voted second and showjumper nick skelton third. leicester city took team of the year. india are building a first innings lead in the fifth test against england. the hosts began the fourth day 86 runs behind in chennai. karun nair has passed 150 in his first test century for india. england took the wicket of murali vijay but karun has been joined by ravi ashwin and india are now 497—5, a lead of 48. india have already won the series. manchester city came from behind to beat arsenal 2—1 at the etihad to move second in the premier league. the gunners shot into the lead after only five minutes when theo walcott slotted them ahead. but a second half equaliser from leroy sane was followed by a raheem sterling winner. it's the second successive game arsenal led and then lost, but the manager felt the officials were at fault and says the group in charge of referees isn't doing itsjob properly. we conceded two offside goals and that is very difficult to accept

in a game like that. i believe there's a lot going on at the moment that is not serious on the pitch. it's unbelievable. tottenham are fifth in the table, just one point behind arsenal, as they beat burnley 2—1 at white hart lane. danny rose scored the winner midway through the second half. but spurs had to come from behind. ashley barnes had given burnley the lead before dele alli equalised. we need to fight till the end of the season. it's a lot of games ahead, it's a long way to the end of the season. i think our position, we are very calm, and only working hard to go with that and try to win games. southampton also came from behind to beat south coast neighbours bournemouth 3—1 at the vitality stadium. this was the stunning second goal of the game forjay rodriguez and helped move claude puel‘s side up to seventh. it's been quite a year for alistair brownlee.

in rio, he and his brother, jonny, made history by becoming the first siblings to take gold and silver in the olympic triathlon. the yorkshireman later made headlines when he selflessly helped his exhausted brother over the line ahead of him in a dramatic end to the triathlon world series. and to cap it all off, last night, alistair was awarded runner—up at bbc sports personality of the year. we'll speak to him shortly, but first here's a reminder of his achievements. it was in the olympic games and had it been the olympic games i would have chosen something different, but it was a spur of the moment decision. —— it wasn't. alistair brownlee joins us now from birmingham.

i think you're alive. good morning. how are you doing? it feels like about ten minutes since i saw you. thank you for getting up so early to talk to us this morning. was it a very light late—night? talk to us this morning. was it a very light late-night? it wasn't too bad, i got to bed just after midnight. there wasn't the infamous spoty party which was going strong andi spoty party which was going strong and i knew i had to be here so i got to bed at a good time —— there was. what was it like, we are seeing pictures of you getting your award, i spoke to you after you got it moments later, has it sunk in? i know you were run up but for a triathlete to be in the top three, even maybe five years ago you would have been surprised by that. an incredible achievement.” have been surprised by that. an incredible achievement. i think i would have been surprised by it five days ago to be honest. even after the olympics i didn't think it was

possible to the extent i booked to go on holiday without telling my mates this week. it was a massive honour even to be stood on that stage. i've been a fan of spoty for as long as i can remember and it's one of the tv highlights for the year so it was an honour to be on the stage in the first place, then to be voted second in a public vote was incredible. really special. it's been a real honour and really good to be on that wave of triathlon's increasing popularity over the last 20 years. as you know i'm biased when it comes to triathlon because i do them myself, as most viewers will know. it is so brilliant that you won for the sport, will that have an impact on the sport in lots of different levels ? impact on the sport in lots of different levels? i hope so. triathlon has literally come from the point where people didn't know what it was. i think it has come a long way. now people know what it is and people know that you can have a

go at it and it's very accessible, it doesn't have to be mad long events. there are the events that anyone can have a go at, like you, to have fun and get fit and set a goal. it's a massive thing. really at spoty i was still the kid who was 10—year is old going to run cross—country the next morning, being a massive fan of watching the programme and sport has given me so much, if anything to maybe inspire and encourage some people to allow sport to give them so much is a special position to be in. lovely to hear you speak so warmly about the sport and the events. i know you had a great night. i know you know that andy murray said his wife voted for nick skelton, what aboutjonny? andy murray said his wife voted for nick skelton, what about jonny? he said he couldn't vote, he couldn't get to his phone to vote because he was in the front row, are not happy

about that. there's no family support there, that's a shambles. not at all. after the support you have given your brother over the past year, that's really naughty.” think so too! although i must admit that i've got a speaking suspicion i wouldn't be on that stage without him, so maybe that's enough. such a lovely thing to say. i know you're in the middle of training, there's no rest for a triathlete, is there? yeah, i've been training a bit, not full on training 35 hours a week, i've been keeping ticking over over the last few weeks and when the new year rolls around it will take off andi year rolls around it will take off and i will start training hard, which i'm relieved looking forward to now because i feel like i haven't done a lot. honest answer please, are you going back to bed now? know, i've got to get back on the train down to london so not yet —— no.

enjoy the rest of your day and thanks for coming on. thanks very much. i'm disappointed you're not wearing that fantastic suit you had on last night, it was the most amazing tweed suit. beautiful tweed suit. i'm glad you like it, i've had different opinions from that so it's great you say that! thank you! very bold. impressive stuff. alistair brownlee, thank you so much. a lovely bloke. he's great. good on him for getting up. lovely to see. only about 30 coffees! in the two minutes we saw him before we started! time for the weather from carol. this morning there is fog around again, perhaps not as dense as it was yesterday but anywhere across the vale of york, lincolnshire, the south—east, the midlands and southern counties. the blanket is patchy but could lead to travel disruptions. generally this morning it is a cloudy and banks start

to the day for some of us. chilly as well. most of that fog will lift. it could stick for most of the day across the vale of york and lincolnshire. we may see a little bit of brightness across the far north—east of england and the far north—east of scotland. for the western scotland and northern ireland we have cloudy splashes of rain. as we go through the day you will see another band of rain develop across parts of the wash through east anglia heading down into the midlands. that is going to be drifting towards the west. meanwhile the rain coming in is sinking south—eastward is so behind that it will brighten up and we will see some sunshine. but for the rest of us a fairly cloudy murky and damp day. sunshine today is going to be very limited. for wales it is a cloudy afternoon. perhaps late brightness but you can see a weak weather front producing a few splashes of rain across anglesey. the sun will come out across northern ireland and the west of scotland behind a band of rain which is coming in at the moment. it will leave a legacy of cloud across eastern areas again with an odd spot here or there.

through the evening and overnight a band of rain in the south—east pushes towards the west and a band of rain heading south—east mixes in which this to give a prolonged band of heavy rain across parts of england and wales. cloud behind it and ahead of across scotland northern ireland we will have clear skies. it will be cold with a touch of frost and freezing patchy fog. as we look through the course of tomorrow we have this band of rain starting to fizzle in situ. for most of england and a lot of scotland we will see some sunny spells. but the cloud will thicken up across northern ireland and western scotla nd northern ireland and western scotland through the day, heralding the arrival of a band of rain and strengthening winds. the wind will bea strengthening winds. the wind will be a feature of the weather as we head through the evening. patching downforce, even severe gales. locally across the outer hebrides, storm force gust of wind so bear that in mind. that's tomorrow evening and into the early part of the night stop what happens on wednesday the first front bringing the rain moves to the south—east and then a weaker one comes in hot on

its hills. here is the first one, taking the reins southwards accompanied by windy conditions. the skies remain. weak front comes accompanied by windy conditions. the skies remain. weakfront comes in from the west moving east of the weakening feature all the time. there will be sunshine that there will be showers behind it in scotla nd will be showers behind it in scotland and some of those will be wintry in nature, especially on the hills. as we head through the rest of the weekend into the christmas it looks like it will be wet and windy. at the moment some of us could see some snow that looks like it is largely going to be in the hills in the north. i will keep you updated on that as we get closer to christmas. windy and busy. thank you, carol. the it's the last monday before christmas, which means it's time for us to open door number 19 in our advent calendar. let's see which famous face is behind the door for us today, with the children of primrose hill primary here is a low and merry christmas.”

would sing for you but it may ruin the festivities. have a great christmas. that would never ruin the festivities. and we'll have more from the children of primrose hill primary school, and some famous faces every day until christmas. as we've been hearing this morning, post office workers are expected to take part in strike action today over pensions, job security and branch closures with more strikes are planned for later in the week. steph's got more. i will be talking to the post office ina minute i will be talking to the post office in a minute but let me explain the background first. the union which represents the workers says the walk out will disrupt christmas mail. the post office says it'll cause minimal problems. this action is being taken at crown post offices. let mejust explain what that means. there are around 11,600 post office branches in the uk. most of them are run as independent businesses, you'll see them sometimes in shops. but 300 are directly managed by the post office ltd which is owned by the government.

these are known as crown offices and are the larger branches mainly on high streets. and it's these ones where the industrial action is taking place. we spread to the union about it. this strike is about the survival of the posters we know it today. we wa nt to the posters we know it today. we want to ensure that is a postal service going forward and that we havejobs. service going forward and that we have jobs. the strike will cause chaos, no doubt about it. we do not deny this position. they need to get their head out of the sand, get around the bargaining table and try to find a way forward together. mark davies is from the post office and joins us from central london the union said the strike will cause chaos. what do you think? it will be minimal impact for customers as a result of this strike and as you said in the introduction, most of the vast majority of post offices

around the country, 11,300 browse branches will be working today, tomorrow, the rest of the business week. they are working hard to their customers and it is an important time for them. 50,000 people across the post offers network working. business as usual this time of year. the strike is regrettable. we wish you weren't happening but we are absolutely clear that the impact will be minimal. mail deliveries will be minimal. mail deliveries will not be impacted by the strike action at all and we will be doing everything we can to minimise customer inconvenience. and on that point about impact. you rightly said there that the crown post offices, they represent about 3% of the network. in terms of traffic, the union is saying that 20% go through the crown post offices. therefore the crown post offices. therefore the impact sounds like it will be more than minimal. i don't recognise that figure. in fact, although we have the 300 branches that you talk about are directly managed and owned tend to be larger branches they are not the only large ones across the

country. there are several thousand in fact. independently run post offices by small businessmen and women and other retail groups. they will be open for business as usual. a vast amount mail going through those branches over the course of the next few days. it is a case that the next few days. it is a case that the impact of this strike action, however regrettable, will be minimal and as! however regrettable, will be minimal and as i say we will do what we can to make sure customers are ok. branches that are closed will have their customers directed to alternative branches and hoping that some of those branches may infect open and we will be updating customers throughout the day. what plans do you have in place to stop the closures? they are not closures and that is an important point to make. what we are doing is where we have a directly managed branch and we think it is possible to run those branches within the same area as an community in a more effective and efficient way in a way that is better for customers, by potentially

moving them into a franchise model, we will do that. and we will continue to do that because it is better for customers and it is better for customers and it is better for customers and it is better for the taxpayer as well. the post office is still a business which was a significant amounts of taxpayer money every year. we have reduced that. from £120 million to 106 million in the most recent figures. we will get to break even on the plans that we have. at the same time we will improve services for customers. we have transformed 7000 branches over the course of the last four years with longer opening hours, later into the evening, earlier in the morning. the largest retail network open on a sunday which surprises people sometimes. we have a clear strategy around improving our services for customers and that must continue. so whenever people talk about strikes at the union says one thing in the company says another. the unions are worried about the jobs of their members and they think there will be job losses as result of this. who should we

believe? they say there will be chaos, use a minimal impact.” believe? they say there will be chaos, use a minimal impact. i guess we will know later today what the impact of the strike action. it is important to say that the post office understands where colleagues or impacted personally, lily that is something we take every step we possibly can to treat our colleagues within the post office network with dignity and respect when theirjobs come under potentially under threat. clearly with our franchising branches, police can move from directly managed to branches to the franchise model under the arrangements we have in place. that is an important protection. taking good care of our colleagues is important to the post office. thank you and we will have to leave it there. it is called a winning weekend. andy murray one a spoty. alana spencer told the apprentice

show and our very own ore won the glitter ball on saturday night. sally caught up with him fresh off the dance floor on the red carpet at the dance floor on the red carpet at the spoty. the winner of strickland come dancing 2016. congratulations. thank you. that has been said many times in the last week for hours, you can imagine. it has yet to sink in. it hasn't sunk in at all. the whole thing has been just hasn't sunk in at all. the whole thing has beenjust a circus but the most incredible experience ever. we saw you win, we saw you in the glitter ball. what happened next? how was the party? do you know what?

it was wonderful. it was wonderful to see everybody again together because i haven't seen the cast and so because i haven't seen the cast and so long so it was nice to get eve ryo ne so long so it was nice to get everyone back together and just have the fun that we have been having for the fun that we have been having for the last four mumps. just in one night. the night have any better for you? i don't think it could have done. everything went... well, craig gave us done. everything went... well, craig gave us a done. everything went... well, craig gave us a nine in the american smooth. so craig, you ruined... no, you didn't ruin anything. it was perfect. what will you do now? how will i use fixed for a shift next weekend? christmas is coming. we have had no buildup. my wife is here. we will have a great night here. we will have a great night here. and then we have a holiday. will you be dancing? no?!. it will be lying down, poolside, beachside so be lying down, poolside, beachside soi be lying down, poolside, beachside

so i will reflect on the whole three months. it has just been amazing. congratulations. we are proud of him. i have missed you. where have you been? to live. i have been getting up at 3:30 a.m..” you been? to live. i have been getting up at 3:30 a.m.. i didn't say is the time. i said i missed you. come on, sally. it is there and thatis you. come on, sally. it is there and that is that they are. and i will dip you backwards. a bit of swing and sway. i do not have the hips for this. and i don't have teaching ability but i enjoyed it. i will practice that. you are jealous about that our umbrella, aren't you? that is class. well done. the runner—up will be here on

brea kfast done. the runner—up will be here on breakfast later on. time now to get the news, travel and weather where you are. good morning from bbc london news, i'm sonja jessop. thousands of the capital's commuters are again facing difficultjourneys to work today with a fresh strike by conductors on southern rail services. members of the rmt union are walking out today and tomorrow. there's a reduced timetable in place but some routes have no trains at all. so we've got no southern trains between clapham junction and milton keynes central. there's a revised service on all other routes, including into victoria and london bridge. it's also affecting the gatwick express — which has a reduced service this morning too. gwr trains have a 15 minute delay. minor delays on the metropolitan line but i have good news. the picadilly at line is now running well after weeks of problems.

finally, let us have a look at rhodes. traffic on the highway is slow into town. moving better than a moment ago. in other news, an investigation has begun after a single—decker bus crashed into a home in high wycombe. it happened on saturday afternoon. two people inside the house escaped, but their property is badly damaged. one passenger was taken to hospital, but no—one suffered any serious injuries. among the nuisance 999 calls made to the met police last year was a complaint about an undelivered fridge and one from somebody being followed by a hissing cat. the force says the total number of emergency calls has increased by 11% from last december, but is reminding people they should only dial 999 if someone is in danger, not for cases like this one: hello, police. what's your emergency? hello, sorry to bother you, i'm lost. i'm looking for a security centre in stratford and i can't find it. let's have a check on the weather

now with aisling creevy. a foggy start yet again for some of us this morning and as we head through the day the fog will lift with light rain in the forecast. a murky start this morning will slowly lift but it could be further disruption to travel. as we go through the day the cloud will be thick enough to give a couple of spots of light rain and drizzle but the further west you are, you can see heavier bursts of rain. it will be chilly today and we will see 7 celsius. as we go through this evening and overnight we will see very little change in the forecast. it stays cloudy. the cloud almost enough to give a couple of spots of light rain and drizzle. you can see bit of mist and fog forming again in the early hours of the morning but it is unlikely to cause any disruption to travel. lows of five celsius. a chilly start to tomorrow morning and as we head through tuesday you can see

very little sunshine. highs of 8 degrees. heading into wednesday we see a spell of wet and windy weather pushing through. by the time we get to thursday we will see little bit of sunshine starting to break through and it turns chilly as we head towards the end of the week. i'm back with the latest from the bbc london newsroom in half an hour. now, though, it's back to dan and louise. bye for now. hello this is breakfast, with dan walker and louise minchin. thousands of workers launch a wave of strikes, hitting postal services, rail companies and airlines in the run up to christmas. services at some of the post office's larger branches will be affected, and rail passengers in the south east of england may face disruption. airport baggage handlers and ground staff are expected to walk out later in the week. the strikes are impacting on many people. i will be looking at how it

co m pa res to people. i will be looking at how it compares to other years. good morning it's monday 19th december. also on the programme this morning: around a thousand people are moved out of eastern aleppo as the evacuation resumes overnight but many are said by aid workers to be in a terrible condition. we're kicking off a special series of reports, looking at the pressures facing modern police forces across the uk. in particular this morning, just how often officers have to deal with people with mental health issues. in sport, andy murray is the sports personality of the year for a record third time. last night we had a surprise for him. hello, darling, well done. hello, i

him. hello, darling, well done. hello, lam him. hello, darling, well done. hello, i am used to being embarrassed by my mum, obviously. chuckles and i had a surprise for him the tennis star was rewarded for a successful year in which he became world number one — but proved he can still be embarrassed by his mum! and guess who else i managed to catch up with on the red carpet — the winner of strictly‘s coveted glitter—ball trophy, ore. and he may have missed out on the top—spot but his samba was described as "one for the history books" — strictly runner—up, danny mac will be here. and carol has the weather. it isa it is a faulty start for some this morning. especially across eastern, central and southern england. most of that will lift but there will be afair bit of that will lift but there will be a fair bit of cloud, some brain, and there will also be some sunshine for some, i will show you where in a few minutes. —— rain. good morning. first, our main story. thousands of post office workers are beginning strike action today. the walkout by the communication workers union is the latest move in a dispute over pension changes, job security and closures. industrial action this week will also affect airports and southern rail services

as keith doyle reports. this last week before christmas is already busy and stressful. but strikes and industrial action could make it a christmas of discontent for many. on the trains, southern rail passengers face more disruption as 400 conductors strike today and tomorrow. it's not expected to cause the same level of disruption as last week's strikes by drivers, however many routes and services will be affected. it is quite frustrating because i get to work an hour late and there are no other options. it is frustrating, i wish they would take control of the situation. 3,500 workers at crown post offices are starting a five—day strike today in a despute overjobs and pensions that may see the closure of larger high street branches, although the post office says disruption to the public should be minimal. airline travellers face double trouble this week as baggage handlers working for swissport

are set to strike on friday and saturday. this will mainly affect regional airports. but a strike by 4,500 british airways cabin crew over pay could also see flights disrupted on christmas day and boxing day. there are efforts being made to resolve these disputes. ba management and the union unite will meet today and a meeting tomorrow to resolve the baggage handlers' dispute is due to be held but the post office strike is on and there seems little prospect of an early end to the long—running dispute between the rmt union and southern rail, meaning 300,000 commuters face even more disruption. lots of things going on. steph joins us on the sofa — this feels like a surge of discontent, how does it compare to other years? when you talk to the unions they say it is coincidence but it feels there isa it is coincidence but it feels there is a lot happening at once because it impacts so many different parts

of our lives. rail is stopping people getting to work in the south—east, which is a problem for workers down there. then you have the flights. lots of people will be thinking about travelling, getting home for christmas. then you have the post office, which essentially means for people wanting to get their presents sorted, that will affect them. that is why it feels ha rd affect them. that is why it feels hard at the moment. but the unions say it is a coincidence it is happening at the same time. if you look at other years, how this compares, it isn't as many as we saw in 2014. the office of national statistics look at working days lost. the days in which people who essentially should be working take strike action. it was around 280,000 so strike action. it was around 280,000 so far this year. that compares to more than 700,000 back in 2014. there are more strikes happening, but, of course, this is in the economic context of a time where a lot of people haven't seen a pay

rise. the unions are concerned about job security for people and about pay in times where things are uncertain at the moment. i say that a lot on this programme. uncertainty is one of the most common words used on this programme. that is why there was concern about what it will mean for members and why unions say they are taking action. they want to make sure that their workers, their members, are looked after. but fall of the businesses that use them it is causing chaos, too. —— all. thanks very much. the evacuation of the ruins of east aleppo in syria has resumed. around 1,000 people left the city this morning, but many more remain. a further 500 have left nearby villages. the evacuees, which include many children, are said by aid workers to be in a very poor state. they will be going to just outside of aleppo city. it is run by the rebels. but there is a staging post

there when medical professionals and volu nteers there when medical professionals and volunteers are waiting to give them the help they need. the number of lives lost due to suicide in england is unacceptable according to a group of mps. it remains the biggest cause of death in men under 49. in a report, the health select committee says a government prevention strategy for england in 2012 didn't result in any improvements. it's due to be updated early next year. our health editor hugh pym reports. it was 13 years ago. angela and her partner, mark, had two young sons. he had no history of mental illness but he took his own life. one minute you're talking to them on the phone and the next minute you're never going to speak to them again. i think the shock of that almost... your head kind of tricks you into thinking this can't be real. she now heads a national charity supporting those affected by suicide. she also presented a bbc documentary encouraging people to talk more about the issue.

my work and the work of the trustees and volunteers was to really kind of break that isolation that exists. the report says a government suicide prevention strategy for england in 2012 didn't achieve its aims. the report's proposals include: the key message here is that suicide is preventable. and what we heard from one witness very powerfully was that... she said it wasn't my son that was hard to reach, it was the services that were hard to reach. a department of health spokesperson said every death by suicide was tragic for families and an updated strategy due next year would address many of the issues raised by the committee. angela has welcomed the report. she hopes it will make a difference and will help prevent more of the sort of devastating losses she had to endure. we will speak to the father whose

son killed himself about the extra support that is needed. police officers in england, wales and northern ireland have seen mental health—related callouts increase by more than a quarter injust three years, according to figures obtained by bbc breakfast. 30 out of 49 forces answered the freedom of information request. the government says it has halved the use of police cells to deal with people undergoing a mental health crisis and that officers are now working more closely with healthcare services. and as part of breakfast‘s special week of programming looking at policing britain, john maguire spent a night on call with leicestershire police's front line mental health team. a special sitting of the stormont assembly will be held today to examine a green energy scheme that's been described as the ‘biggest financial scandal ever in northern ireland'. stormont‘s first minister,

arlene foster, will face a motion of no confidence during today's proceedings. but she's rejected calls from sinn fein to step aside during an investigation into the project, which is thought to have overspent by $400 million. the hungarian born actress and socialite, zsa zsa gabor, has died. her age was a closely guarded secret, but she was thought to have been 99. her husband announced her death yesterday evening. she made more than 70 films, but as one of the first socialites, she helped invent a new kind of fame from multiple marriages and conspicuous wealth. by her own reckoning she was only married eight—and—a—half times. she didn't really count a spanish duke, who she left after a few hours. i think that is the half. fair enough. this report from nick higham contains some flashing images. zsa zsa gabor may have been a great beauty, but she was never a great actress. i know everything — i heard the verdict.

it's dangerous for you to come here. i must take that risk, and so must you. her screen career was undistinguished, though it did include camp classics like the truly terrible queen of outer space. if you must go, promise me you're going to come back to me. her greatest role was as herself, one of the first professional celebrities, famous for simply being famous. she was rich, she was gorgeous, she was outrageous and she ate men for breakfast. her last marriage, in 1986, was her eighth, or ninth, if you include an illegal ceremony conducted at sea. women don't even get married any more today. theyjust have love affairs. i was raised in a convent. i said you have to get married, legalised, which was dumb but now ijust leave myself to live in sin, it's wonderful. girls, don't get married. it's insanity. you have to become their servant! you have to look after their house and they cheat on you. who the hell needs that? in 1989, she was brieflyjailed for hitting a hollywood traffic cop twice her size. she was well into her 70s, though during the court case she was accused of doctoring her driving licence to disguise her age. by then, herfilm career had collapsed into self—parody.

here she is with frankie howard. every time i see you, i get lumps in my throat. but she never lost a certain innocence, nor her wit. as she once said, "i'm a marvellous housekeeper. "every time i leave a man, i keep his house". you're watching breakfast from bbc news. suicide remains the biggest killer of men under 49. now a group of mps is calling for ministers to do more to ensure that support is available to those at risk. they say a government prevention strategy for england in 2012 didn't result in any improvements. it's due to be updated early next year. ruth sutherland from the charity samaritans joins us from our london newsroom. and stephen habgood, whose son christopher took his own life when he was just 26, joins us on the sofa. he now chairs papyrus, an organisation which helps people who have lost someone to suicide. good morning to you both. if you

would tell us a little bit about your son. you didn't know that he had attempted this beforehand, hadn't he? that's right, yes. after he died we discovered he had been suffering from depression from the age of 13. but like other men he kept it quiet. he was ashamed of how he felt. he did not want to tell people about it. i was working from home. i was a prisoner governor. people about it. i was working from home. iwas a prisoner governor. he sent via text to say that he was sorry and he said goodbye. at that point he ended life. —— prison governor. it was just an awful experience to go through. you have now devoted your time to a charity to help other people who might be in a similar situation. you are correct in papyrus is a suicide prevention organisation. we are not there just

for people who have lost people through suicide, but we do do that. i welcome this report. this report ta kes i welcome this report. this report takes suicide seriously for the first time. i think that's really great. it takes seriously the damage, the distress it causes those of us who have been touched by a suicide. let's talk to read. the samaritans for many years have been taking this seriously. —— ruth. do you think we need to change the way it is dealt with and how we talk about it? definitely. there is nothing wrong with the government strategy itself, it isjust the implementation. we are really pleased that a select committee has taken our kind of core ask seriously. there needs to be leadership at local level but also at national level. suicide is a public health issue of epic proportion. it is everybody's

business. the government now has the opportunity to make this strategy, lies and actually have an impact. we have heard about the epic impact that suicide has on families. the samaritans listens to 5.4 million contacts every year. from people in distress. and at last the government seems to be waking up and hopefully something will happen now. one of the things you have talked about is missed opportunities, that many of the people you have spoken to, there have been missed opportunities, why are there missed opportunities? suicide is very complex. there is no one reason why somebody might take their own life. what we do know is that it their own life. what we do know is thatitis their own life. what we do know is that it is very difficult for people to discuss those real inner, dark thoughts that they have with people. so samaritans provides that

confidential non judgemental space where people can talk about this. suicidal thoughts are actually quite common. suicidal thoughts are actually quite common. about one in six of the population are thought to have those thoughts and thank goodness that amount of people doesn't translate into the actual figures, but over 6,000 deaths a year, this is still three times as many people as die in road traffic accidents and just think about all the things that we do to prevent road traffic accidents from traffic lights, from teaching children to cross the road, when we get to the point that we're taking suicide prevention that seriously then we'll start to see a reduction in that loss of life. steve, one of the issues is the way that suicide is reported and dealt with by the media. how do you see that as an issue? we often, we know that as an issue? we often, we know that talking about the means is not a good thing to do. to talk about suicide is a great thing. to raise awareness, to be open about suicide is very important, but it is not

good to talk about the means and you know, what happens is you'll, there isa know, what happens is you'll, there is a local death and you will see a picture of a bridge or a picture where the person ended their life and that's not a good thing for other young people to see. so those things, we argue that they shouldn't be too graphic in media reporting about how someone killed themselves. you feel sometimes it is glamourised? yes, it is, yes. if it isa glamourised? yes, it is, yes. if it is a really attractive young lady or young man, you will see their picture over the paper, almost why would this person who is so attractive and so good looking want to end their life? yes, it is grammarised. christmas can be a difficult time for people. have you got any message? yeah, it is a really difficult time for people. i think if you know somebody and you are a circle who lost somebody, think hard about how you're going to include them in your celebrations over the christmas time. christmas isa over the christmas time. christmas is a great time for volunteering and

samaritan volunteers, 21,000 of them over the country will be working all through christmas 24/7 and we are always there so if anybody is alone and anybody needs to talk, they know where to come. thank you very much. the department of health has told us that they are investing almost £1 billion in providing mental health support in a&e and home—based crisis care, and are in the process of updating their suicide prevention strategy. nhs england has also set a goal to reduce suicides by 10% by 2020. it's 8.18am and you're watching breakfast from bbc news. here's carol with a look at this morning's weather. we have some rain around today and a little bit tomorrow. it is going to turn more unsettled from midweek with more rain and it will turn windier. the reason for that is across southern canada and most of america, it is very cold.

temperatures sub—zero as indicated by the blues. in florida we are looking at the mid—20s. so when all that bumps into each other, it creates a thermal gradient. that pumpsa creates a thermal gradient. that pumps a lot of energy into the jet strea m pumps a lot of energy into the jet stream and this week, the jet stream is going to be unusually strong, travelling at about 230mph. the jet strea m travelling at about 230mph. the jet stream is a ripon of fast moving air roughly at the levels which planes fly. if anybody is coming back from new york you will get back quickly, but it will produce some vigorous areas of low pressure which we will feel the influence of. now, this morning there is fog around across the vale of york, east anglia, the south east and most that will lift, it is patchy, but be aware of it. it is likely to linger across the vale of york and lincolnshire and we will see rain develop from the wash heading down to the channel islands. another band of light rain coming in across northern ireland and western scotla nd across northern ireland and western scotland and it will push southwards. in between, there will bea southwards. in between, there will be a lot of cloud, but there will be

sunny spells and across scotland and northern ireland we will see sunny spells. into the afternoon, we will have the rain across parts of yorkshire, lincolnshire, the midlands and drops getting in across east anglia with a lot of cloud and we will see droplets of rain too coming in across southern counties, but more rain across the isle of wight and the channel islands. variable amounts of cloud and sunshine across south—west england and quitea sunshine across south—west england and quite a lot of cloud across wales with the odd bit of limited sunshine, but you can see the dregs of the band of rain affecting anglesey. for northern ireland, a beautiful afternoon with sunny spells. the same too across western scotland, but more cloud across scotland, but more cloud across scotland, the dregs of the weather front producing spots of rain. as we head through the evening and overnight, this weather front continues to heads northwards and this one heads southwards and they clash so we will have a period of longer, heavier rain across northern england and the south—west. clear skies ahead of it in scotland and northern irelandment here, it will bea

northern irelandment here, it will be a cold and frosty night. any fog that forms could prove to be freezing fog. tomorrow then, we start off with our band of rain which will be weakening all the time in the west. then for much of england, a lot of scotland, variable amounts of cloud and sunny skies, but we've got rain coming in across northern ireland and western scotla nd northern ireland and western scotland accompanied by strengthening winds and the winds will be a feature of the weather as we head on in through the evening. . we are looking at gust to gale force and we could see storm force winds, but i'll keep you updated on that, dan and lou. sally, you were in birmingham for bbc sports personality of the year. you have got an hour's sleep, but you have got plenty to tell us. we we re you have got plenty to tell us. we were quite lucky last night because i suppose we had, you know, a backstage pass, we had access to the little bits of gossip and behind the

scenes stuff that you don't get to see. there was so much brilliant stuff happening, not all of it made it into my piece now, one of my favourite moments was when the team gb women's hockey team came on to the red carpet. they were so ready for a party. really, lots and lots of fun with them, but let's look at my night at bbc sports personality of the year. here it is. max whitlock, ladies and gentlemen! no rehearsing, no nothing. wowzers! we'd be stood here all day if we left it up to you! 0k! you look lovely. thank you. what an incredible year 2016 has been. we are rubbing shoulders with sporting royalty here on the red carpet tonight. look at this, it is the gold medal winning women's hockey team. so we are now inside the arena where as you can probably tell the excitement really is building. i have to go and find my seat

so you lot need to go! we are backstage. that was a moment and a half. leicester city have just been announced as team of the year. the football fairytale for them continues. i'm hoping to speak to a couple of the players injust a moment but i better get my skates on. ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the leicester city squad. coach of the year, congratulations. thank you. i was very surprised but, of course, i'm very pleased. i want to say thank you to the owner for bringing me back in england. and, of course, the players, because without the players it is difficult to win something. let's find out the results then. jess, can you tell us, please,

who is in third place? in third place is nick skelton. in second place is alistair brownlee. hang on a minute, look who i've found in the corridor. nick skelton, ali brownlee. come on in, lads. second and third place in bbc sports personality of the year. gentlemen, if i can get you to take a seat on our lovely red sofa here, make yourself at home, this is our bbc breakfast sofa for the evening. huge congratulations to both of you. it's such an honour to be nominated. how do you feel after your award tonight? it was amazing to be in the first three. and to be sitting there in front of all those great sportsmen and sportswomen, i think very, very happy. do you know what i've noticed about both of you, you both have a story that goes beyond sport in many ways. sport is a fantastic thing and winning things is brilliant, and that's what we're about as sports people, it's all about winning but actually to the wider public, what goes along with it is what shows you're a normal person and like any normal person, what's interesting and that's what captures people's imaginations. brilliant, lovely to

talk to both of you. and the bbc sports personality of the year 2016 is andy murray. andy murray has just been announced as the winnerfor 2016. we can talk to him now live from miami, but i have to tell you, andy, there's something we haven't mentioned, i have a new bbc breakfast co—presenter with me, you might recognise this voice. hi, darling. well done! hi, mum! sorry, andy, sorry to spring that on you. is it a bit embarrassing to hear your mum being so nice about you? i'm used to being embarrassed by my mum obviously! but, yeah, look, it's obviously nice because now that i'm a parent myself i know how difficult it must have been for them to allow me and jamie to go away and, sort of, pursue our tennis careers when we were, like,

13, 14 years old. we wouldn't have been able to do what we've done without their sacrifices. so, yeah. andy, thank you so much for your time, thank you for talking to us and huge congratulations. thank you. bye, mum. bye, darling. he was embarrassed by his mum. there he was for the third time getting sports personality of the year. there is people behind him. we had to move a lady in a bikini before we did that interview! did you? yes! we had to get the lady in the bikini to move. more on that later. it's time to get the news, travel and weather where you are. thanks to high pressure we are

starting on a milder note. but things will change and we will have some wet and windy weather which is currently waiting in the winds. we two weather fronts, one across the east and one across the west. they will be meeting in the middle slowly as the day wears on. it'll be a cloudy day for most. the red wrapping up by the central and southern parts of england and across the channel islands as we head into the channel islands as we head into the afternoon. it'll be a chilly day between six to nine celsius, similar to how it was that the weekend. pretty dull in central and eastern areas. some brightness in the north but most places will remain dull. a clea ra nce but most places will remain dull. a clearance behind that weather front for northern ireland and scotland which will be pushing to the east, giving some rain across western parts. under clear skies across this north—west corner it'll be a cold night with frost, maybe mist and

fog. those were the friends meeting through the central slice of the uk. it'll be generally damp. —— knows —— those weather fronts meeting through the central slice of the uk. the england and wales, rain across western areas, but we might see some sunny spells developing through the afternoon through some holes in those clouds. it'll be another chilly day. those winds are a feature across the north—west corner of the uk through tuesday evening. potential severe gales the western isles and northern isles. this system marks a change to our weather. it'll send a belt of wet and windy weather across the uk. then we open the floodgates to more systems which will be moving in. quite cold, you will notice, and wintry showers mixed into the north—west corner of the uk through wednesday. sunshine and showers.

eventually the rain will clear from eastern areas and we will see some showers further south. it will be cold in the north. this week starts dry and settled and then turns u nsettled dry and settled and then turns unsettled midweek onwards. a potential of severe gales to end the week. this is business live from bbc news with ben thompson and sally bundock. panic buying and looting in venezuela as the currency crisis reaches a peak.

live from london, that's our top story on monday, 19th december. venezuela's president nicolas maduro has been forced to delay the withdrawal of the country's most widely used banknote following a period of public unrest. also in the programme, can the eu strike a trade deal with japan amid fears of growing protectionism? the market for looking like this. the market for looking like this. the santa