' wintry wintry showers tomorrow. a few wintry showers overnight. boxing day will be colder, particularly across scotland with snow showers to low levels. there is an amberwarning snow showers to low levels. there is an amber warning from the met office in the far north of scotland, 80 miles an hour possible from storm conor. plenty of showers. elsewhere, a lot of dry weather and sunshine. hello. this is bbc news with christian fraser. the headlines at 10:30: the queen will miss the christmas day service at sandringham, as she has a heavy cold. the duke of edinburgh and other members of the royal family are on their way to church on the norfolk estate. the queen will say she draws strength from "ordinary people doing extraordinary things" — such as carers and volunteers — a search and rescue mission is under way in the black sea after a russian military plane bound for syria crashes with more than ninety people on board.

in his christmas sermon, the archbishop of canterburyjustin welby has spoken of the "anxiety and uncertainty" felt by many in the world. now on bbc news, there was the vote to leave the european union, the resignation of one prime minister, and the arrival of another. adam fleming looks back on a tumultuous year in british politics in review 2016: the year in politics. ever feel you need to get away from it all? especially when ten years‘ worth of politics has been squeezed into just one?

i believe that this thursday can be our country's independence day. applause. i do not think it would be right for me to try and be the captain that steers our country to its next destination. tomorrow is going to be a very historic day, i believe that. i think it will be brexit plus plus plus, does that make sense? i'm theresa may and i think i'm the best person to be prime minister. i'm adam fleming. come with me to a secluded log cabin, there no wi—fi, no phone reception, just you, me and a lot of events to think about. it was the issue that split the nation. the european union — leave or remain. in the first part of the year, david cameron embarked on the first

half of his europe strategy, renegotiating our membership of the eu with his fellow leaders. it meant lots of these, known in the trade as the grip and grin. if it was thursday, it must be hungary. is that the prime minister of slovenia or slovakia ? it all came to a head at a tense summit in brussels in february. i will be battling for britain. if we can get a good deal i will take that deal but i will not take a deal that doesn't meet what we need. that involved a lot of croissants. cameron's agreement with the euro bosses limited benefits for migrants from the eu and exempted britain from the idea of ever—closer union. deal done, the referendum was on. i will go to parliament and propose the british people decide ourfuture in europe through an in—out referendum on thursday the 23rd ofjune. time for the cabinet to choose sides.

home secretary, are you a remainer? are you a pair of outers? chancellor, i'm guessing you're in? six frontbenchers joined the official out campaign, called vote leave. among them, david cameron's political pal michael gove. the world waited to see which way this other beast would jump. after a weekend of agonising, boris johnson leapt for leave. the last thing i wanted was to go against david cameron or the government, but after a great deal of heartache, i don't think there's anything else i can do. if that's really what you thought all along, why have you kept your party waiting for such a long time? because the truth is that it has been agonisingly difficult. the other side geared up, launching britain stronger in europe, led by sir stuart rose, the former boss of m&s. a few other things were happening.

factually wrong, racist remarks. like a bad—tempered row in labour about how the party handled accusations of anti—semitism. in the us, donald trump was about to become the republican nominee for president. on our side of the atlantic, mps criticised his plan to ban muslims entering the us. his comments regarding muslims are wrong. his policy to close borders if elected as president is bonkers. and if he met one or two of my constituents in one of the many excellent pubs in my constituency, then they may well tell him that he is a wazzock for dealing with this issue in this way. but it was all right, because he would never win, would he? and the work and pensions secretary iain duncan smith resigned, some thought it was really about europe. he said it was because the government was hurting the poor. that unfairness is damaging to the government, to the party,

and it is damaging to the public. incredibly strong passions had been kindled, now it was time to fire up the referendum campaign for real. the remain campaign relied on potential risks, spelt out in a series of weighty treasury documents. britain would be permanently poorer if we left the eu. it was all backed up with assertions from the global great and the good who claimed brexit would be bad for britain's place in the world. our focus is in negotiating with a big block of the european union to get a trade agreement done. and the uk is going to be in the back of the queue. bad for the economy. negotiations on new arrangements with the european union and other

trading partners could, in our view, take years. which would be bad for your wallet, even when it came to holidays. it is just not as easy to fly across europe as it is today if you leave the eu. a message spelt out in a government leaflet sent to every single household. politically, the remain campaign was made up of blue, red, yellow, and green. the labour leader, jeremy corbyn, tended to stick to his own script. i believe we have to vote to remain in order to defend investment, jobs, workers' rights and defend our environment. he left much of his side's campaigning to alan johnson. vote leave had its own large red vehicle, let's call it the borisjohnson fun bus. cheering. the uk's asparagus will be just as delicious. vote leave!

sold! yes, that is him auctioning a cow. two questions. firstly, where are your wellies? there's hardly any muck. his message was summed up in three words. take back control! what was that? take back control! we can take back control, if we take back control. they meant control of immigration with a points—based system. those who are the brightest and best with the right skills for our economy would be welcome here, and this would be a fairersystem. control over whether turkey would eventuallyjoin the eu. this referendum is going to be our last chance to have a say on that, we are not going to be consulted or asked to vote on whether we think those countries or others should join. and control of the money britain sent to the eu, although that was hotly disputed. i am staggered borisjohnson

is standing here tonight still defending this £350 million a week figure. it's a scandal that is still emblazoned across the campaign bus. and there wasn'tjust one leave campaign. nigel farage and the ukip crew ran their own with boats and a tougher tone on immigration. the eu is making a mess of virtually everything. first we had the eurozone, then the eu's common asylum policy compounded by angela merkel, and what we've seen are huge streams of people coming into europe over the course of the last year, no security checks done on anybody. or you could sign up for grassroots out, an alliance of tory backbenchers and a few other characters. left, right! forward march! to victory! on the 23rd ofjune. as the battle went on, leavers capitalised on feelings that there was something fishy about the entire political establishment.

i think this country has had enough of experts with organisations from acronyms. people have had enough of experts? what do you mean? acronyms saying they know what is best and getting it consistently wrong. old foes became firm allies, but among the tories things were getting more and more unfriendly. boris is the life and soul of the party. but he is not the man you want driving you home at the end of the evening. blue on blue, as it was known, turned into all—out war when george osborne theorised about a harsh brexit budget. the sort of tax rises we could see include a 2p rise on the basic rate of income tax to 22%, a 3p rise in a higher rate of 43%. it is probably the most irresponsible act by a chancellor i've seen in 24 years the house of by a chancellor i've seen in 24 years the house of commons. then everything stopped. the labour mpjo cox is killed in west yorkshire constituency.

the labour mp and mum of twojo cox was murdered in a street in her constituency. her killer idolised the nazis and would later be sentenced to life in prison. the referendum gave way to reflection. campaigning resumed a few days later, and there was this final plea from the prime minister. so, as you take this decision whether to remain or leave, do think about the hopes and dreams of your children and grandchildren. the big finish, the bbc‘s great debate at wembley arena. that is the enormous audience, we have a massive stage which has six lecterns on it. shall we have a debate about the eu? the closing arguments went like this. the economists, the scientists, the business leaders, trade unions, health professionals, they all agree that britain is better off in.

you are better off in. if we vote leave and take back control, i believe that this thursday can be our country's independence day. onjune 23rd, the uk decided its future. and we all know how that went. the british people have spoken and the answer is we are out. for leavers, jubilation that they won almost 52%, more than 17 million votes. brexit! for remainers, who had secured 48%, simply shock. early in the morning in downing street, david cameron announced it was game over. i will do everything i can as prime minister to steady the ship over the coming weeks and months, but i do not think it would be right think it would be right for me to try and be the captain that steers our country to its next destination.

although i will always remember that look on sam cam's face. scotland voted to remain and the first minister hinted at a renewed push for independence. it is a statement of the obvious that the option of a second referendum must be on the table and it is on the table. back at westminster, the winners took in the gravity of the situation. we are still and always have been an exceptionally outward—looking country and we will continue to be so. we will be a good neighbour and a good internationalist but we will have taken back control of our democratic institutions. so, can you see why i wanted a bit of peace and quiet in my log cabin in the woods? and the vote to leave only takes us halfway through the year. a heap of books have been written about the referendum byjournalists, party donors, david cameron's former spin doctor, but to many people

what happened next was more like a like a box set of game of thrones. any message of reassurance for the country? his profile sky—high after the referendum, boris johnson looked like he might inherit the crown. or would it be someone less showy? my pitch is simple, i'm theresa may and i think i'm the best person to be prime minister of this country. michael gove launched an attempt that was ultimately doomed. the problem: he was supposed to be managing boris johnson's bid for the topjob. having consulted colleagues and in view of the circumstances in parliament, i have concluded that person cannot be me. yes, his supporters wept on a day that has become synonymous with tory treachery. over the course of the last few days i've realised that while boris does have those special abilities to communicate and to reach out, what he did not have

was the capacity to build and to lead that team and provide leadership this country needs at this critical moment. it left only one other contender. andrea ledsom. the energy minister, an energetic leave campaigner, andrea leadsom. what do we want? leadsom for leader! but supporters mounted a march on parliament then she gave a newspaper interview that was interpreted as her saying she would make a better pm because she had kids and her campaign ground to a halt. i have, however, concluded that the interests of our country are best served by the immediate appointment of a strong and well—supported prime minister. so theresa may arrived in downing street. if you are just managing, i want to address you directly. i know you're working around the clock, i know you're doing your best, but i know that sometimes life can be a struggle. the government i lead will be

driven, not by the interests of the privileged few, but by yours. we will do everything we can to give you more control over your lives. she paused plans for a new nuclear power station at hinkley point over concerns about chinese involvement, then gave it the go—ahead. she approved a third runway at heathrow with a vote in parliament due in a year. she plans to let schools expand in england, and who said she didn't have a funny side? what message of reassurance does the prime minister have for fat middle—aged white men who may feel that we have been left behind? that is a very interesting point, perhaps my honourable friend would like to come up and see me sometime. the job of chancellor went to philip hammond, whose nicknames include

spreadsheet and box office. he ditched a target to balance the nation's books by 2020 and amber rudd was named home secretary, she faced a near—record level of immigration. and we were introduced to the three brexiteers, the international trade secretary liam fox, rebooted as foreign secretary. spreading charm. and keeping comedians and work. foreign secretary, on the subject of europe, is brexit living up to all of your hopes and expectations for britain so far? of course, brexit has already been a wonderful journey. borisjohnson, what do you say? i would say, we never really expected to win. i think getting behind brexit

was a bit of a laugh, the numbers all over bus. in scotland, the tories other leading lady, ruth davidson, was having a blast. the conservatives steamed in second, forcing labour into third place north of the border. labour found itself with a bit of a puzzle, its leader jeremy corbyn was immensely popular with party members, not so much with his members of parliament, some of whom described his performance in the referendum campaign as pretty lacklustre. morning. early one morning the shadow foreign secretary, hilary benn, was sacked, much of the rest of the shadow cabinet packed their bags, including angela eagle. you found this personally very difficult. yeah. i feel i have served in the best way i can and today i had to go. she launched a leadership

challenge but dropped out when the welsh labour mp owen smith got more support. can we get through, please? at a fractious party meeting there was a row about whetherjeremy corbyn could automatically stand in the contest. yes, he could, and there was a court case over which members and supporters could actually vote. no, not all of them. owen smith presented himself as a more competent corbyn. i think the party that i love and the party that has been such an engine for social change and an engine forjustice in this country is in jeopardy of not being able to do that, in danger of not being able to form a future labour government and change people's lives for the better. whilejc criss—crossed the country, often by train, getting into a furious row with virgin about whether he could get a seat. didn't stop him winning the election as leader and with a bigger share of the vote than before.

we are proud as a party that we are not afraid to discuss openly, to debate and disagree, that is essential for a party that wants to change people's lives for the better, that is not prepared to accept things as they are. it is also an essential part of what has drawn over half a million people into membership of what is now the largest political party anywhere in western europe. the labour party had victories elsewhere, like the mayoral election in bristol. sadiq khan was elected mayor of london. the former shadow chancellor ed balls did surprisingly well on strictly. krabby'sjumping up and down.

jezza had time for fun catching some pokemon with me in a park. the party ended the year where it started — withjeremy corbyn at its centre. a previously leader, tony blair, came under scrutiny with the publication of the chilcott inquiry‘s report into the iraq war. it was 2.3 million words long. the decision to go to war in iraq and to remove saddam hussein from power in a coalition of over a0 countries led by the usa as much was the hardest, most momentous and agonising decision i took in my ten years as prime minister. now, ukip, where to start? after basically causing the referendum and then winning it, nigel farage resigned as ukip leader. during the referendum campaign i said that i want my country back. what i'm saying today is i want my life back. and it begins right now, thank you.

diane james succeeded him but didn't much like the look of it and quit after 18 days. steven woolfe was hospitalised following an alleged punch—up with a fellow mep. after he left hospital, he left ukip. i will be withdrawing my application to become leader of ukip and i'm actually withdrawing myself from ukip. you are resigning from the party? yes, with immediate effect. the next leadership contest was won by paul nuttall. there are open goals in british politics today. but ukip has to be on the pitch to kick the ball into the back of the empty net and that is no more apparent than when it comes to the labour party. mr farage was making friends in the usa. i've just received a call from secretary clinton. cheering. from secretary clinton.

she congratulated us, it is about us, on our victory and i congratulated her and herfamily. the nigel visited the donald in trump tower shortly after his victory. prompting this tweet: no thanks, said the british government. hang on, we haven't mentioned brexit for about four minutes. brexit means brexit. and we are going to make a success of it. at the tory party conference in october, the prime minister explained a bit more about what that meant, for example, the great repeal bill. pay attention.

we will convert the body of existing eu law into british law. when the great repeal bill is given royal assent, parliament will be free, subject to international agreements and treaties with other countries, and the eu on matters such as trade. to amend, repealand improve any law it chooses. she also said she would trigger the negotiation process, article 50, by the end of march. but investor gina miller had other ideas. she won a gate at the high court that only parliament could start it. the government challenge that ruling at the supreme court. big stakes constitutionally. perry mason it was not.

we have a set of files called the ca. the electronic bundle. 1697. bundle three, tab five, think that is the... thejudges will give their verdict in a few weeks. meanwhile, brexit secretary david davis had to explain he hadn't really described his counterpart in the european parliament as "satan". i was being tempted by the chairman of the select committee to criticise you, so i said, "get behind it, satan." he was the satan. that clarifies it all. he is examining the pros and cons of brexit on 50 different sectors of the economy from cakes to cars. it is certainly doing terrible things to the english language. it leaves us towards a smart and smooth brexit — as i like to call it a smexit. mark my words, we will make breakfast — brexit a success. and was there at brexit effect? zac goldsmith triggered a byelection over heathrow, and the lib dems nabbed it

after a pro—eu campaign. it is a good morning, the start of many more. yes, the lib dems, remember them? just now theresa may is listening to the ukip wing controlling because everybody, now maybe she will listen to some panic stricken tory mps with lib dems are breathing down their necks. want brexit, but they certainly don't want a hard brexit? farewell 2016, hello 2017. donald trump will be inaugurated as president of the united states, there will be elections in france and germany, and we will have and birmingham, but british politics will be overwhelmingly dominated by the negotiations for our exit from the eu. hang on, maybe i should head back in there? no, i can't miss all of that! good morning. it has been very

cloudy and mild so far. across northeast scotland, temperatures have lately been in double figures, 14 have lately been in double figures, 1a celsius is the number to beat. plenty of cloud around, a few bright spells. if you have cloud and western parts, you have rain and drizzle. rain pushes southwards through scotland and northern ireland, eventually introducing some colder air so actually it will feel

very different across northern scotla nd very different across northern scotland at the end of today. very gusty winds around to the east and pennines. we could see gusts of 50 miles an houror pennines. we could see gusts of 50 miles an hour or so. where the cloud is thick enough through parts of wales and southwest england, quite wet with outbreaks of rain and drizzle. this is the picture as they go through this evening and tonight. we're taking this band of rain, a cold front behind which cold, clear air moves on. we see showers developing in northern scotland, temperatures dip year with the risk of icy patches and parts of northern ireland as well —— dip here. on boxing day, the southern flank of the storm brings stormy conditions and gusts of 80 miles an hourfor the northern isles. plenty of snow

showers into scotland across northern scotland, even to relatively low levels as well so some more destructive weather to come on boxing day. elsewhere, a lot of dry weather. temperatures are down, but compensated by some sunshine and they will be colder temperatures on boxing day. you get up temperatures on boxing day. you get up and down, the temperatures, but the steady on wednesday and thursday. as pressure builds on, the winds are using —— as pressure builds in. there are met office weather warnings in force at the moment. details are on the website. merry christmas. this is bbc news.

i'm christian fraser. the headlines at 11am: the queen will miss the christmas day service at sandringham as she has a heavy cold. the duke of edinburgh and other members of the royal family are attending church on the norfolk estate. the duke and duchess of cambridge and their children go to church in the berkshire village of englefield. in her pre—recorded message later today, the queen will pay tribute to what she calls unsung heroes, like carers and volunteers. a search—and—rescue mission is underway in the black sea after a russian military plane bound for syria crashed with more than 90 people on board. at the vatican, the pope is giving his christmas blessing to thousands of spectators. visa and live pictures of the pope arriving on the central