this is bbc news. members of the stormont assembly stage a walk out over a vote of no confidence against northern ireland's first minister arlene foster, who's been embroiled in a controversy over a green energy scheme. lam i am sorry that the initial scheme did not contain cost control measures and that there were fundamental flaws in its design. this is the deepest political regret of my time in this house. thousands more syrians are evacuated from eastern aleppo, including seven year—old bana alabed whose tweets about conditions there gained attention around the world. thousands of workers are launching strikes in the run—up to christmas, affecting postal services, rail companies and airlines. a walk—out at crown post offices has closed about 50 high street branches. 101—year—old ralph clarke is jailed for 13 years for sex offences against children in the 1970s and 80s. also in the next hour... tributes to a hollywood legend. actress and socialite zsa zsa gabor, best known for her string of husbands and her witty sound

bites, dies aged 99. and the reform rabbi and radio 4 thought for the day broadcaster lionel blue has died aged 86. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. the first minister of northern ireland, arlene foster, is fighting for her political future after a morning of high drama at stormont. she is facing a vote of no confidence over her involvement in a botched heating scheme. addressing the assembly within the past hour, mrs foster said she deeply regretted the fundamental flaws in the scheme. 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.

at the start of proceedings, assembly members from parties except the dup walked out of the chamber, claiming the speaker should intervene. the session was adjourned, before the first minister made her statement. while it may have been lost amid the media hype i am on record saying i entirely accept my accountability to the assembly during my tenure as minister. i am sorry the scheme did not include cost control measures and there were fundamental flaws in its design. this is the deepest political regret of my time in this house. as minister i accept responsibility for the work of the departments during my time. again for the avoidance of doubt it is right and proper that i answer to this assembly for my role in the rhi scheme, and not for one moment do i think to shirk or avoid that responsibility but if we are to learn lessons from this entire experience it is essential we know exactly where things went wrong.

meanwhile the deputy first minister, martin mcguinness of sinn fein, has explained why his party walked out —— saying that mrs foster would be acting without his approval or authority i want to make a very, very clear from my perspective and my party's perspective that the statement which arlene foster is scheduled to make to the assembly, today, does not have my authority oi’ approval as deputy first minister. she is speaking in a personal capacity and not in her role as first minister. i have already said that a full, independent investigation needs to be held into the design, the operation, and the abuse of the rhi scheme. there is no credibility whatsoever in an investigation established solely by the dup or in the selective release of some documents by dup departments.

an independent investigation is the only way to establish the truth of what has occurred, and to begin to restore public faith in these institutions. meanwhile our correspondent is at stormont. arlene foster has led to —— said she excepts full response ability. what is the better she is under? why should you take responsibility? she is no doubt under a considerable amount of pressure, being as she was the minister earned the department of enterprise setting up the renewable heating scheme back in 2012. other parts of the uk had a similar scheme with cost control measures built into them so they did not overrun their budget but that got lost in translating when they were introduced here, and whilst when she

was in place there wasn't any kind of massive overspend, indeed there was an underspend, the fact the safeguards were put in place eventually really cost the northern ireland budget day because under her successor the scheme ran out control. so, she is saying in her defence it wasn'tjust don't do her, this was a scheme that was scrutinised by ace —— assembly members, no one in the industry nor them picked up on it. what happens, common outcome in terms of where things go, because she does not have the support of her deputy first minister, there is going to be a vote of no—confidence... minister, there is going to be a vote of no-confidence. .. yes, under the stormont rules, there will be this boat, called an exclusion vote. probably, this afternoon. actually, arlene foster could still stay in place because in order to exclude herfrom place because in order to exclude her from office place because in order to exclude herfrom office for six months, which is what the opposition politicians have been proposing here, you had to get a majority of both unionists and nationalists, and on her own she can command the

support of a majority of unionists, and is indeed right now in the chamber speaking to the dup, eve ryo ne chamber speaking to the dup, everyone else has left. she can say that the stability of the coalition is gravely damaged given she has proceeded with the statement, now, which clearly a partner in government martin mcguinness did not wa nt government martin mcguinness did not want her to make. thank you very much, mark. the evacuation of civilians fleeing the fighting in east aleppo in syria has resumed. dozens of buses containing hundreds of people — who aid workers say are in a terrible condition — were brought out of the city last night, but thousands are still waiting to leave. among those to have left is seven—year—old bana alabed, who had tweeted about conditions in besieged areas of aleppo. her departure was confirmed by the head of the syrian—american medical society aid group. the united nations security council will later today vote on plans to send in un observers to aleppo. greg dawson reports. not as soon as they'd 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 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 end up in places like this. this camp is in idlib province. it's crowded, it's muddy, but for now, it's much safer than where they have come from. translation: it's better than it was in aleppo. there's 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're eating biscuits and everything! although hundreds have escaped eastern aleppo, thousands are still stranded.

over the weekend, the evacuations were put on hold, with both sides blaming each other for breaking their word. later the un security council will vote on a deal to allow their workers to monitor the process. in the short term, those who have left aleppo may feel the relief of safety, but there are no guarantees. idlib province, where many are heading, may well be the next battleground in this long conflict. thousands of workers have begun a wave of strikes in the run—up to christmas affecting rail, postal and air services. a strike by workers at the crown post office has closed around 50 high street branches. workers are protesting over pension changes, job security and closures — but a spokeswoman for the post office said 250 of the 300 branches targeted by the walk—out are open. up to 300,000 southern rail passengers face more misery as conductors began a further two days of strike action. their dispute is over who should close the doors on trains.

and up to 7% of cabin crew at british airways are due to strike on christmas day and boxing day over pay and conditions. representatives from the unite union and the airline are meeting at the conciliation service acas to try and resolve the dispute. figures published by the office for national statistics last week show the number of days lost through strikes in the year to october rose to 304,000. that's an increase of one hundred thousand compared with the same period the previous year. there are also ongoing disputes with swissport baggage handlers, it is however lower than 788 thousand strike days in 2014. there are also ongoing disputes with swissport baggage handlers, london underground workers and virgin atlantic pilots. a downing street spokesperson says that people's lives are being unacceptable league disrupted. the

prime minister wants all parties round the table to resolve these disputes and put the end to the stuff ring. 0ur correspondent lisa hampele is at victoria station in central london. we arejust we are just hearing a tannoy messaged in fact telling us once again that they are very sorry here to be telling passengers about delays and many cancellations on southern rail once again. this is a two—day strike, this time, today passengers had a very difficult time getting in to london, and this evening it is likely to be even worse, with the strike continuing tomorrow, and that is coupled with the strike from aslef, the ongoing strike which is continuing to cause problems, and then of course it is the busiest day, busiest week of the yearfor the busiest day, busiest week of the year for postal workers and they have 3000 staff who are in an ongoing dispute and as you have just

been saying 50 crown post offices, the main post offices on the high street, are now closed, according to the post office, but the union says that many more may still be disrupted. so that strike is going to go on because of pension changes, job security and closures, and they will bejoined on job security and closures, and they will be joined on thursday and friday by sub post office staff, who are going to be going on strike again, and the royal mail insists that in fact they'll will be little or no or no effect. there are fears that the strikes could mean that some postal workers won't cross picket lines. —— will cross picket lines. strikes also going on with british airways, and now over to my colleague in the conciliation service acas in central london. yes, the talks here at acas are trying to avert a strike on christmas day and

boxing day by some ba cabin crews. the company employs around 16,000 cabin crews and of those four and a half thousand joint after 2010, they are on what are known as mixed fleet contract, flying short—haul and long—haul routes. of those, around two and a half thousand belong to the unite union. it is those union members on those specific contracts that are planning to go out on strike if this dispute can be resolved before that. —— if it cannot be resolved for that. he talks here are focused on resolving issues are squishing —— quickly as possible. the unite union says that it is only going to find solution around the table. there is a dispute over pay and conditions. if it cannot be resolved then bae says that it will not affect long haul

routes and it will also not affect flights from gatwick or london city airports, but it is still drawing up its contingency plans, though both sides hope to resolve this here at acas. daniel, thank you very much. british airways says it is planning to run its full service on christmas day and boxing day despite the planned strikes. with me now, with me is paul cox from the rmt union. are we seeing a christmas of discontent that is not we have intended to do coverage. we have amended with of our strike days, we had booked off 23rd and 24th, but members got requests from the public to keep christmas free from strikes because the public have been very good with our members in supporting the cause and rmt didn't have a

problem changing the dates, so we are going today and tomorrow rather than friday and christmas eve. are going today and tomorrow rather than friday and christmas evem are going today and tomorrow rather than friday and christmas eve. it is still the week before christmas, isn't it? it is, yes. still huge amounts of disruption. southern rail passengers have been having all sorts of issues arising from the dispute. we have heard of workers losing out on page, people not being able to do jobs because of this ongoing dispute. i think on strike days, joanna, we do intend to cause as much disruption as possible, but i think generally we have only had... this is the 21st strike day in months, and outside of that we have done nothing to disrupt the service, and our members have actually been trying to help keep the service going, but southern are a bit ofa the service going, but southern are a bit of a basket case company, unable to run a service. even when there is a strike action. the dispute effectively boils down to

who closes the door is on the trends, doesn't it? in a matter that's an extreme oversimplification and a trivialisation. there are 35 very important and a trivialisation. there are 35 very im porta nt safety and a trivialisation. there are 35 very important safety critical roles that they conduct and guard can carry out. the doors is one of them that protection of the train and the emergency contract duration of the train, to others. communications... they are all very significant and important issues, that are not going to be wrecked located by the replacement for a conductor. downing street says people's lives are being disrupted unacceptably by strike action. prime minister wants all parties around the table to settle the dispute is notjust yours, but all other disputes, and to put an end to suffering. the government has also been talking about... it has talked about a trade union act, and whether strike action would be ruled

out as a result of that. what would you think about something like that? i think is absolutely scandalous that they are exploiting the misery that they are exploiting the misery that has been foisted upon the people to rationalise and justified even considering steps of that nature. it is a free country where people have got to have the ability to move their labour should they wish, andi to move their labour should they wish, and i think people should really be concerned about statements such as that from the government. looking at the figures on the numbers of days lost through strike action, they are up this year compared with 2015, but down dramatically from 2014. 300,000 this year, 750,000 a couple of years ago. how do you see things unfolding, because we are seeing obviously a lot of different actions happening all at once in the run—up to christmas. it is my to sit and look at that and see the discontent out

there and the number of strike days increasing, could that happen in the new year? other people taking industrial action will be doing this relu cta ntly a nd industrial action will be doing this reluctantly and out of desperation, andi reluctantly and out of desperation, and ijust reluctantly and out of desperation, and i just want to sayjoanna that there is no political motivation behind my dispute at all. the dispute that my members are in is entirely about safety there is a campaign of smears by the government and by the train company, gcr, but i give you my word and i have given my word to travelling public, politics is the furthest thing from my mind. it is all about decent people, not politically motivated at all, taking industrial action in defence of something that is very important. generally, if people feel strongly enough about an issue, to have to ta ke enough about an issue, to have to take industrial action, then perhaps employers are significantly involved

as much as the trade unions. paul cox, thank you very much. the fur in england have been fined —— fifa have been fined in england. it was for the wearing of the poppy in remembrance day. fifa has said that the poppy wasn't allowed to be worn. the fa said they would let the players where the poppy and fifa could do what it likes, effectively. and fifa have find england £35,000. wales has also been fined a bit less about £15,000, northern ireland has been fined, a bit less than that,

around £10,000, scotland find the same pounds as wales. all relating to the wearing of the poppy during the remembrance day matches, so that has just the remembrance day matches, so that hasjust come the remembrance day matches, so that has just come through, fifa confirmed sanctions on several football associations for incident during world cup qualifying matches and internationalfriendlies. during world cup qualifying matches and international friendlies. we will get more reaction to that and bring it to you. the headlines on bbc news: members of the stormont assembly have staged a walk—out over a vote of no—confidence against northern ireland first minister arlene foster who has been embroiled in a controversy who has been embroiled in a co ntrove rsy over a who has been embroiled in a controversy over a energy scheme. thousands more syrians are evacuated from eastern aleppo, including seven—year—old bana from eastern aleppo, including seven—year—old ba na alabed from eastern aleppo, including seven—year—old bana alabed who has tweeted about conditions there. and post office and rail workers strike in the run up to christmas, a

walk—out at crown post offices has closed 50 high—street branches. more sport. england have suffered misery in the highest test total ever declaring their first innings on the seven inch ni, declared. unbeaten on 303, the third battle in history to turn a maiden century into a third century. the final day needs to be batted out to avoid a full series defeat. leicester city say they will appealjamie vardy‘s red card from this game at stoke. they were sent off for a dangerous tackle but argue he was knocked off balance before the tackle. they came

back from 2— milk down to draw the game 3—3. everton need to be beaten in the merseyside derby. it is the first before you can plop, and he says that derbies are a unit —— unique kind of pressure.“ says that derbies are a unit —— unique kind of pressure. if you win, everything is good but if you lose it isa everything is good but if you lose it is a lot of problems. it is likely to talk for a long time when you lose about it, not so much when you lose about it, not so much when you win. it is pressure, but i like that situation so no worries. the pressure is talking, the press the fans... if you could walk through liverpool, for example, players, everyone will speak about that game and it is an easy motivation to bring to the players and it is about a tactical questions, about control,

emotions, because it is always a big pa rt emotions, because it is always a big part in the game, and you don't make stupid falls, don't make stupid reactions and stay with 11 on the pitch. and this year's bbc sport personality of the year andy murray says he wants to keep improving his game, having received more than double the number of votes than the second placed athletes alistair brownlee. this year has been the best of my career, and it was a difficult time after losing the french open final two djokovic, another big match, another file i had lost, are but winning wimbledon again for the second time really gave me a huge amount of confidence. obviously i ended up having a great few months after that. didn't he just! we will have more sport in an hour's time. see you later. the broadcaster and rabbi,

lionel blue, has died, aged 86. he became a rabbi in 1960 and was a regular contributor to thought for the day on bbc radio four. he was also known for his liberal teachings and supporting other gay members of his faith. the thing i try to do on the radio programmes in the morning is on a monday morning people need some encouragement. said needs courage to get out of bed, out of their duvet, to face the rates, bill, her boss... they also have two love themselves a little bit which people forget because the bible says you should love your neighbour as you love yourself stop and unless you live in charity with yourself you won't get much charity from anyone nearby and people are really wicked to themselves. they bullied themselves, they dominate themselves, they nag themselves, but they aren't very good at loving themselves. rabbi lionel blue has died at the

age of 86. thank you fro much joining us from maidenhead synagogue. what are your thoughts on the saturday? when he first started broadcasting he was a breath of fresh air to religious broadcasting and took the pomposity that perhaps characterised it before he arrived and never pretended life was easy, and never pretended life was easy, and never pretended that religion had all the solutions but he could help, and the great thing about lionel's broadcasts was he often illustrated through examples of his own life and was famously accident prone. just to give you a couple of examples. one time he was doing a funeral and he stood to near the grave and actually fell in to the grave. as he emerged from the grave, pulling himself out, he said i don't this that i hope this does an offended anybody, now i know that jesus felt like this. he also thought it would be nice to throw

some rose petals, but put his hand in the wrong popping out instead some stamps and chucked them on the grave, not realising. another occasion, a cremation where he made the mistake of giving the eulogy of putting his prayer books on the coffin, only to turn round and see with a look of horror that the carphone was disappearing with the prayer book on top through the hatch. that was typical of him. he gave very hatch. that was typical of him. he gave very homely, down—to—earth stories, that people identified with. he cheered people up and made them feel good. for him to be able to do that he had to be a man in a com pletely to do that he had to be a man in a completely at ease with himself. it wasn't easy for him to get to that point, what it? if you read his biography the a loss of troubles. he came from a very poor background in the east end, and when from the east end to oxford and that was an enormous journey. end to oxford and that was an enormousjourney. he end to oxford and that was an enormous journey. he also end to oxford and that was an enormousjourney. he also had to deal with his own sexuality and eventually came out as one of

written's first gay rabbi. and he experienced the toughness of life and knew what it felt like and was totally honest and that is i think what people related to, he didn't preach, he just talked about himself and managed to give very simple and homely lessons from everyday life that people thought yeah, that's me, ican that people thought yeah, that's me, i can identify with that, and that is why he often talks about things that went wrong, not just at funerals but on holidays or waiting at the airport, actually that's cheered people up, and he buoyed peoples moods, and it was a great start to the day listening to lionel blue. what do you think his has been? well, you change religious broadcasting was up instead of being very pious and sonorous, it was very much sort of laid—back and real, realistic, directly talking to people. he certainly altered people's perceptions of rabbis. he was clean—shaven, oxford educated, spoke finish without an accident where is perhaps rabbis perhaps had been seen as sort of eastern

european, foreign speaking... he made judaism more acceptable, and accessible, and he made region generally much more user—friendly and he was god's best pr agent in britain, no doubt. so much so that people often quipped when the archbishop of canterbury resigned and a new one was being searched for that actually lionel blue would make a great archbishop of canterbury. very comforting to know that, you know, everybody has issues, goes through troubles, particularly somebody who is in a venerated position and the fact he was so opened about it where have obviously brought a huge amount of comfort to people. in terms of the wisdom that he imparted though as well, what would you say about that ability that he had ? would you say about that ability that he had? yes, he was very good at saying, i suppose, obvious things that we all know, but he just put it ina way that we all know, but he just put it in a way that was very arresting. like the clip we just heard about

love your neighbour as yourself, and just reminding people that yes, we have to love our neighbour but actually it also says as yourself, and you have to be kind to yourself sometimes, because life is tough and the world is a jungle sometimes, and it makes me wonder. if you do that, you have a better understanding of people and how they relate to each other. you didn't invent anything new but he communicated it very, very simply. rabbi jonathan, thank you very much. hi there, joanna. another drab start to the day, some low cloud and fog and that will be accompanied in the south—east by some bits and pieces of showery drivel, steadily moving into the midlands. at the st andrew east scotland, north—east england and wales, some cloud, a little bits of drizzle, but is the sunshine in western scotland, highs of 10

degrees. through the night to night outbreaks of rain pushing westwards, with the clear skies we will have a touch of frost forming. temperatures just below freezing in rural spots. all will change after sparkling skies and frosting starts the cloud arrives very quickly, wind strengthening, gales and severe gales likely, and heavy rain into northern ireland and western scotland. elsewhere breeze breaks up the clouds, temperatures of 68 degrees. as we go through the week we will turn increasingly unsettled, wet and windy weather, but not all doom and gloom, hopefully some brighter interludes. you are watching bbc news, the main headlines at half past 12. members of the northern ireland assembly have staged a mass—walk out of the chamber ahead of a statement by northern ireland's first minister arlene foster on a flawed heating scheme that could cost

the northern ireland tax payer £400 million. she is facing a vote of no confidence over her involvement in the scheme. iam i am sorry that the initial scheme did not contain cost control measures and there were fundamental flaws in its design. this is the deepest political regret in my time in this house. the evacuation of thousands of people trapped in eastern aleppo has resumed with hundreds of residents moved out on buses last night. thousands more are still trapped in the ruins of the syrian city. a wave of strikes by thousands of workers is underway, hitting postal, rail and air services in the run—up to christmas. some of the country's biggest trade unions are involved in disputes overjobs, pay, pensions and safety. 101—year—old ralph clarke, believed to be the oldest person ever convicted by a jury in britain — has been jailed for 13 years for committing a string of sex offences against three young children in the 1970s and 1980s. more now on the news that thousands

of workers are expected to strike this week in the run up to christmas. staff at hundreds of crown post offices have started three days of action in a dispute overjobs. around 50 of the 300 crown post offices — the large branches, found on the high street — are closed due to strike action, according to the post office. there's also been further disruption on southern rail, as rmt workers stage another 48—hour strike over guards on trains. and talks are taking place at the conciliation service, acas, in an attempt to stop ba cabin crew walking out on christmas day in a dispute about pay. the government said unions were showing a "shared contempt" for people trying to go about their daily lives. dave ward is general secretary of the cwu union — he told our assistant political editor norman smith the government to intervene in the dispute. it is important people remember the

government still own the post office. royal mail is privatised but the government of a body that are post office. they are sitting behind the company in putting forward these plans for closure and franchising of high street post offices, so it is important the intervene. last week, we wrote to the government and to the company had offered to call off this action if we could get in serious negotiations about the future of the industry. when you say intervene, do you mean shell, stop, the closure programme? what i mean is let's sit down and see if it is possible to explore a different future other than the operating models they are putting forward at the moment. one of the problems we have would be approached the government are taking is that in many ways, it really is a case study of exactly what is wrong with businesses, with government owned industries, where they have no imagination about creating a different type of future. all they do is manage the decline, set

financial parameters that no business can work seriously under and instead of coming up with ideas like introducing a postbank on the high street that could support affordable housing, the growth of small businesses, all they choose to do is the old model, the failed model, of privatisation by the back door, franchising, getting rid of good qualityjobs and services we provide and replacing them with minimum wagejobs, provide and replacing them with minimum wage jobs, said provide and replacing them with minimum wagejobs, said the government should intervene because they hold the strategy. they would say they have to look up the interests of the taxpayer and the post offices are losing around 30 million a year. that can't continue. we are not arguing that the status quo. iam we are not arguing that the status quo. i am a great believer that if we could sit down, we could explore the possibilities, as they do in other european countries, creating some new ideas and whilst i understand some of the points you are making, which i recognise when i wrote to the government and the company last week, it is also about

having ideas about the future. this isa having ideas about the future. this is a case study of everything that is a case study of everything that is wrong in britain in the world of work today, where we almost drive ourselves into the race to the bottom because we have no vision for the future and there are other ideas out there that could build a sustainable future for the post office. how do you react to suggestions from some conservative mps that this strike and other strikes are all part of a political move to destabilise the government? let me make it absolutely clear, this is a very difficult time as well for our members in the run—up to christmas. we would never sacrifice our members in some higher political objective. this is a fight about the future of our industry, our members' jobs and services they provide to communities and their pensions. i wouldn't be interested in that type of approach. do i think the government need to be held to account many of the issues taking place in the uk today? yes, i do. the post office is in crisis,

ra i lwa ys the post office is in crisis, railways are in crisis, the nhs is in crisis, so i think the government has a lot to answer for but they do alone our industry so inevitably we need to deal with them to put this right. let's just take you to the culture, media and sport select committee, which are looking at doping in cycling, currently giving evidence to mps is former british cycling technical director and team sky koji shane sutton, who worked closely with bradley wiggins for much of his career. “— with bradley wiggins for much of his career. —— coach. with bradley wiggins for much of his career. -- coach. what would you reasonably known as head coach about medication the riders might be on, what doctors were recommending riders take because of various conditions they might have? well, i think if you take it right back, from the inception in 2010 and coming over to take over bradley's programme at the end of 2010, the first thing we said was he had to

create in british cycling was zero tolerance to any performance enhancing drugs and we have done that better than anybody. we run the clea nest that better than anybody. we run the cleanest pro team in the world, the cyclists always have their doors open to see how we came and worked and operated and in the case of bradley or anyone else in the system, it wasn't something i really cared about because i knew we were operating a very clean environment. but with something like... if a rider was taking such a powerful drug, it would be clear there was a medical leave, so as head coach, you would be consulted to say this rider has a particular need, whether it is in or out of competition, for this particular drug. was it a conversation you were party to?m wasn't a conversation i had with the

medical team at all. i think it was well—known that bradley suffered badly during certain parts of the season with his allergies and for me, historically, it was one of those things that the doctors would attend to whatever his needs were at the time and to keep him fit and healthy and on the bike and you just allowed them to do theirjob angie carried on doing yours. it's a big operation, a lot of athletes involved and staff. so if we take for example the first incident in 2011, when were you told a tb has been requested, when you informed? well, i'm not really informed. as far as well, i'm not really informed. as farasi well, i'm not really informed. as faras i am well, i'm not really informed. as far as i am concerned, that is something between the doctor and the medical team and it always worked that way and my job was totally different to the medical teams. the same as the carers, the physios and mechanics or anyone else. so you are

not part of the decision—making process? but are you told after the event or whilst the decision is being made? even if you are not consulted, were you aware of the fa ct consulted, were you aware of the fact that a tv was needed?” consulted, were you aware of the fact that a tv was needed? i am not aware that a t u e is needed, there is no one in the medical team i would have the discussion with u nless would have the discussion with unless there was a major medical injury. but as i have said from day one, my role in all of this was to be part of brad's coaching team and not part of his medical team and as isaid, it not part of his medical team and as i said, it is not part of his medical team and as isaid, it is a not part of his medical team and as i said, it is a big group of people that make up the ingredients to get this guy, to make this guy into a winning shape and for me, i had no knowledge of the medical team's workings with brad. and from my

knowledge, everything is above board and was above board. when we first aware that bradley wiggins had ever taken the medication to treat his asthma and allergies?” taken the medication to treat his asthma and allergies? i don't think i was ever made asthma and allergies? i don't think i was ever made aware asthma and allergies? i don't think i was ever made aware that he was treating via the drug for the allergies, i was never made aware. it came to my knowledge later, you know, that he had had previous tues in 2009 which i wasn't even aware of. with regards to 2011 and 2012, when you are working with him, are you saying you had never known he had taken the drug?|j you saying you had never known he had taken the drug? i never knew the product he had taken. did you know he had taken corticosteroids? yes. when did you know that? when the doctor informed me there was an application for tue, but from my

point of view, it was, fine, whatever, if he is suffering, he is suffering, but there was never any detailed conversation and as i said, ijust detailed conversation and as i said, i just carried detailed conversation and as i said, ijust carried on playing my role and didn't get too involved in the medical side of it. i am not a doctor, so for me, it was an area of their expertise and i did mine in my area. so with the application for the corticosteroids, when you first informed, before they were administered or afterwards. —— question mark it is so long ago now, i can't recollect exactly when i was informed. are you aware of any discussion to use corticosteroids to treat bradley wiggins' conditions krish with medical staff or other coaches involving yourself?”

krish with medical staff or other coaches involving yourself? i have never had a discussion involving any medication regarding badly in any detail —— regarding bradley. as i said, the tue was there for a reason and obviously, you know he was suffering in that period and therefore he was granted, by the authorities and the powers that be and all the doping agencies around the world and everything else and from my point of view, looking back on that, there is no wrongdoing, so it is not something i have thought about and we are talking 2011, a long time ago. i appreciate it is a long time ago. i appreciate it is a long time ago and remembering exact times and dates might be difficult, but i think many people would find it surprising that you weren't really pa rt of it surprising that you weren't really part of these discussions at all, based on what you have said, given that if you take corticosteroids, they are regarded as being a drug that whilst it is legal out of competition, open to abuse and indeed, there have been

high profile cases of people who have abused corticosteroids, so given the team's philosophy, you would imagine the use of a drug like that would be taken incredibly seriously and the senior people in the team would be involved in making a decision to apply for its use. yes, but as i said, it is one you would have to discuss with the medical team, and have them sitting in front of you, because i had very little knowledge of it. going back to what you just said in reference to what you just said in reference to that it is not illegal outside competition, then, you know, as i said, ican't competition, then, you know, as i said, i can't really elaborate on any conversations i have had with brad and knowing the kid for many, many years and as far as i'm concerned, he never worked outside any rules and i'm quite sure, given the fact that dave brailsford was

probably the pioneer behind clean cycling and created this team, the clea nest tea m in cycling and created this team, the cleanest team in the world, and he set out a zero tolerance programme and there was no wrongdoing here. obviously, the use of corticosteroids out of competition is not against the rules anyway, so i think that is quite interesting, because given one of the side—effects of their use can be dramatic weight loss, you'd imagine that if the decision had been made that an athlete would be proscribed this because of medical need, there would be a discussion about the impact it would have on them but it doesn't seem to have been the case at team sky. know, at the end of the day, i'll go back to what i stated earlier on, this is a medical team that runs outside the programme. brad has dieticians around him as

well. so everybody has a role to play. i can't state strongly enough that there is no wrongdoing on the pa rt that there is no wrongdoing on the part of bradley wiggins and team sky in all of this for sure and i think you're questioning me on something thatis you're questioning me on something that is irrelevant because it has been proven there is no wrongdoing and the fact remains that, as i said, team sky, when you go back to the inception, they created something that they wanted people to become in and be part of a clean tea m become in and be part of a clean team where me as a parent would send my son to race, given the history of cycling and the armstrong situation and everything else, where people might have had doubts. i think so dave bra ilsford might have had doubts. i think so dave brailsford and team sky... the point is behind what is the most police to sport in the world, in cycling, in running a clean team.

sorry to interrupt, the point i'm getting at is i understand what you're saying about the team's philosophy and to use your word, the way it is policed, but it also seems a huge amount of autonomy is given to the medical staff and as part of a team that is run in that way, you might expect their head coach would have very strong knowledge of the use of certainly drugs that are at the highest end of their power and known to have been abused by cyclists in the past and are... and cannot be used because of their strength and side—effects in competition. it would seem to be normal in a team you say the waste team sky was run to be party of that, is —— for you to be party to those conversations. i wasn't party and if you look british cycling and tea m and if you look british cycling and team sky coming off the back bridges cycling for 15 years —— bridges cycling. the record stands unblemished in bridges cycling and very rarely would i have had

conversations with athletes using corticosteroids during that 15 year period, because at the end of the day, the coaches are track—side and we just day, the coaches are track—side and wejust get on day, the coaches are track—side and we just get on with the job. as i said, it is a lot of people and it's a big process and a big team of people around each rider and eve ryo ne people around each rider and everyone had an individual role, you are so focused on doing what you're doing, you are really not interested in what is going on outside that. finally on this particular line of questioning, are you aware during your time working for team sky of any other rider using corticosteroids at any time? non—whatsoever. corticosteroids at any time? non-whatsoever. the subject that is up non-whatsoever. the subject that is up in -- non-whatsoever. the subject that is up in —— has been of considerable interest is the package delivered to team sky injune 2011 by simon cope.

aml team sky injune 2011 by simon cope. am i right in saying that package was requested by doctor freeman and delivered to him by simon cope? yes. did doctor freeman tell you at any point what was in the package? he never told me what was in the package. he requested the package be delivered but i had no knowledge of what was in the package, i wasn't there when it was wrapped, i wasn't there when it was wrapped, i wasn't there when it was wrapped, i wasn't there when it was opened, so i had very little knowledge of the package, to be honest. what is the little knowledge you do have?” authorised to have it sent down with simon cope, that was the only knowledge. as i said, i didn't see it wrapped, it was a request from the doctor and that is not unusual. in hong kong, earlier this year, the world cup, i needed something and requested it be sent down to me in hong kong and it was sent down with one of the other coaches. so your authorisation was required for simon cope to come with this package. what

we re cope to come with this package. what were you told about the need for it, what it was? if you had to give authorisation, presumably someone had to tell you what its purpose was? the doctor asked me over a conversation, do you know of anyone coming down logistics wise, i need some stuff delivering and i said simon cope is coming down... but simon cope is coming down... but simon cope is coming down... but simon cope was coming anyway, he came especially to deliver the package, he only came because the request was made for the package. i'm not sure that was the case. i think he was coming down there on a logistics matter anyway and he also took stuff back with him and i grabbed a lift back to the airport with him. so when you say you authorised the delivery, you didn't really authorise it, you just told doctor freeman that simon cope could deliver a package? yes, simon was coming down to the finish and therefore he could bring the package. did doctor freeman tell you

that presumably if he was asking for it, it was some sort of medical supply? he didn't actually relay anything regarding what was in the package or what it contained. did doctor freeman tell you that he had administered any kind of medical treatment to bradley wiggins after the race had been completed that day? sorry nice? -- sorry what? so you were day? sorry nice? -- sorry what? so you we re aware day? sorry nice? -- sorry what? so you were aware the package had been requested, he is a doctor, could have been a medical supply, you don't know for sure. did doctor freeman, as team doctor, did he tell you as coach that he had performed any kind of medical treatment on bradley wiggins after the race had been completed? well, i didn't actually see him there but yes, i

believe he did administer medication. he administered the medication? i believe he did but i didn't see the doctor after the race, i left and got a lift back to the airport with simon. obviously, it was a medical supply he delivered. i don't know what was in the package, there is an ongoing investigation and whatever it was, he will have administered it, yes, but i wasn't there. i understand that you weren't there, you say you believe he administered it, gave medical treatment to bradley wiggins after the race. is that because doctor freeman told you he had? yes. did doctor freeman perform an injection on bradley wiggins, did he tell you that? no. he didn't say he had performed any sort of injection on bradley wiggins to me. did he say that to anyone else? you would have to ask the doctor. are you aware

that he did? no, i'm not aware. no one has told you that, no one has spoken to about it? no one has mentioned that to me. no one has mentioned that to me. no one has mentioned an injection, apart from the media point of view, et. what do you —— the media point of view, et. what do you — — what the media point of view, et. what do you —— what you do know is there was some form of medical treatment administered to doctor freeman after the race and that medical treatment, as faras the race and that medical treatment, as far as you are aware, was with whatever medical supply was in the package? exactly and, you know, when the ingredients of the package comes out, then everyone will be clearer andi out, then everyone will be clearer and i am quite sure that, 100%, there will be no wrongdoing, so from my point of view, that is a question only the doctor can answer. thank you. it seems we are clear that it wasn't pedals or shoes in the package. i have only got a couple of

short questions for you in the time. sky didn't get off to a very good start and had a fairly poor season, but then performances improved over the next couple of years after about 2010. would that be an accurate reflection of the history of the team? i think when you are creating something, it takes time for ever wa nt to something, it takes time for ever want to get to know each other, etc, andi want to get to know each other, etc, and i think, you know, we changed the coaching team after 2010 and obviously the coaching became a lot better and rider started to perform. i think that is basically what it was down to. what kind of things did you do to help the improvement and achieve as large increase in performance? i think we addressed the demands of the event which we we re the demands of the event which we were trying to win and one of those things, we weren't working at altitude at the time and started to work at altitude, we got a base at tenerife. we had a fantastic coach,

on—board and understood the demand of the event and i think it was a learning process, starting team sky in 2010 and obviously by 2011, we had sussed out the demand of the event and changed the way we trained and approached things. you had worked in cycling teams before, hadn't you? yes, but not at pro tour level, as in trying to win the tour de france, as it were. you can look at our history in track cycling and we we re at our history in track cycling and we were invincible because we understood what we were doing and the demand of the event. day and night, it moved into a learning curve by taking on a pro team and i think, as i said, we learned so much in that first year, we went away and implemented what we had learned and we knew where we came up short. and ican we knew where we came up short. and i can tell you to the day where we realised it and what was our change

of philosophy and where we changed it and seeing what happened to brad in the 2010 tour. so what did happen? we were on the bus and we we re happen? we were on the bus and we were watching a climb and there was about 15 left and brad started to come off the back and all of a sudden... you know, the tool was coming to an end and dave and i was sat there and i said i havejust realised, we enough in the red zone at altitude and hence the fact is that tim then set up the training camp and kim has massive knowledge of altitude work and everything else and we went and started training out in tenerife and just got better and better and you know, it was a massive change and it was one that would shape the landscape of success over the next five years or so. did you ever come under any pressure from management or sponsorship because of the poor performances, to

up because of the poor performances, to up yourgame? because of the poor performances, to up your game? to up the game? to start to achieve and start to win? no, never. sky were fully behind us and understood what we were trying to do and trying to create this real healthy, clean environment, moving into a sport that had been a little tainted through the lands armstrong era, etc, and to this day, they have been major supporters and i think they are more concerned about the way we conducted the team, the way we ran the business. we have probably got one of the greatest leaders in world sport in dave b ra ilsfo rd leaders in world sport in dave brailsford and from my point of view, my perspective is that sky are very happy with the way the setup has been run in this moment and we have got massive results along with it. ok, thank you. compared to other sports, what you think it is about

cycling that seems to attract... that is the cycling and technical director for that is the cycling and technical directorfor team sky that is the cycling and technical director for team sky shane sutton giving evidence to the culture media and sport select committee looking into doping and the sport's fight against doping. team sky boss dave b ra ilsfo rd against doping. team sky boss dave brailsford will be up next. full coverage continues on bbc parliament. in a moment, we will have the one o'clock news with sophie bray with. first, time for a look at the weather with louise. good afternoon. it's been a pretty quiet but rather drab december so far, mild for many but a lot of low cloud and early fog and this was the typical picture this morning, sent in bya typical picture this morning, sent in by a weather watcher, but that is set to change through this week, turning increasingly wet and windy. severe gales likely into the far north—west. in between areas of low pressure, brighterfrom north—west. in between areas of low pressure, brighter from time to time. the high pressure that has beenin time. the high pressure that has been in the driving seat trips a little further eased into the near

continent, opening the floodgates we re continent, opening the floodgates were a series of low pressure to move in from the atlantic, powered bya move in from the atlantic, powered by a very fast—moving jet stream. the isobars often squeezing together, gales or severe gales likely with low pressure waiting in the wings perhaps to arrive for christmas day. but for the here and now, it looks as though we will continue to stay pretty quiet. a lot of cloud around, the rain we have is fairly light and patchy and in fact, western scotland along with northern ireland might season decent spells of sunshine into the afternoon. a wea k of sunshine into the afternoon. a weak weather front through eastern scotla nd weak weather front through eastern scotland down into the lake district and western wales producing cloud and western wales producing cloud and the odd spot of drizzly rain and we will have another weather front moving in from the south—east towards the midlands, which will also bring outbreaks of showery rain and drizzle. so it will be a cloudy afternoon and through the night, those two weather fronts actually merge together but further north, with those clearer skies in northern ireland, temperatures will fall away and we could see a touch of frost perhaps in more sheltered areas, fog

is an issue for a time. however, things are set to change into tuesday. it will start cold and frosty but it isn't long before the winds increase and we see outbreaks of heavy rain moving into northern ireland and scotland, perhaps a severe gales likely into the extreme north—west, maybe storm force for a time, but further south is going to bea time, but further south is going to be a different story. hopefully the cloud will break up with a bit more ofa cloud will break up with a bit more of a breeze around, we will see a bit more sunshine but feeling fresher, 6—8d overall. tuesday into wednesday, the weather front sinks further south, introducing cold air and the potential for some squally showers, hand thunder and hail and maybe even snow on the top of the hills but it stays wet further south, 8—10d and much pressure in the north, 5—7. —— much pressure. the orphans of aleppo finally rescued from of their city, as the evacuations in syria resume.

all 47 children who'd been trapped in an orphanage in a rebel held enclave have been evacuated — some are in a critical condition. and seven—year—old seven year old bana al abed — whose tweets about life in aleppo gained her a worldwide following — has also been rescued. we endured endless bombardment in aleppo. we managed to escape the destruction because our house was reduced to rubble. but tens of thousands of people are still trapped in aleppo. we'll have the latest on the evacuations. also this lunchtime. a wave of strikes by thousands of workers gets underway — hitting trains, post offices and airlines in the run—up to christmas. chaos at stormont as members walk out in a row over a no confidence vote in the first minister.