this is bbc news. i'm jane hill. the headlines at three... britain's most senior diplomat at the european union, sir ivan rogers, has resigned. he had been expected to play a key role in brexit talks. a man is shot dead by police near the m62 in huddersfield. he's been named locally as yasser yaqub. kurdish forces say 20—year—old briton ryan lock has been killed fighting islamic state militants in syria. i'm simon mccoy, and in the next hour... marking the 100th anniversary of one of the bloodiest battles of the first world war. the battle of passchendaele claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of allied and german soldiers. special events will take place over the summer. and, going full—circle: how vinyl is making a comeback, with sales last year reaching a 25—year high. hello, good afternoon and welcome to bbc news.

the uk's most senior diplomat in brussels, sir ivan rogers, has resigned. sir ivan was criticised for warning the government that it could take a decade to reach a new post—brexit trade deal with the european union. he told his office today that he would be stepping down as ambassador early — just two months before formal brexit talks are due to begin. he was appointed by the then prime minister david cameron in november 2013. the reason for his resignation has not been revealed. let's get more from our political correspondent iain watson at westminster. quite a surprise, iain. a surprise to many people, he has not got back

to many people, he has not got back to us to cast any light on the reasons for his resignation. he has not given by public resignation letter, that is unlikely to happen as he is supposed to remain impartial and behind—the—scenes. he was brought from the shadows if you like into the limelight, and uncomfortable place for a diplomat when he suggested it could take up to ten years to get a trade deal on leaving the european union. he revealed that advice that should have been private advice a few weeks ago and he was roundly denounced by many leave campaigners for being overly pessimistic. those who want britain to stay in the eu or the eu single market are saying his resignation is to be regretted. peter mandelson from the campaign to keep britain with very close ties to the eu talked about the knowledge

and experience that ivan rogers built up. nick clegg, the former lib dem leader, said this has dealt a body blow to the government's brexit plans and is urging a very quick replacement for ivan rogers as soon as possible. when we ask downing street for a reaction to his departure, there did seem to be some surprise at least among some of the people at under ten downing st. this was not a strategic decision to try and get rid of him before the negotiations began, this was clearly unexpected. it also came as a surprise to former foreign secretary hilary benn who now chairs a large committee of mps from all parties thatis committee of mps from all parties that is meant to be scrutinising our departure from the european union wa nts departure from the european union wants the brexit negotiations get under way. i asked wants the brexit negotiations get under way. iasked if wants the brexit negotiations get under way. i asked if he was surprised and this was his reaction. yes, i mean, this news has taken everybody by surprise. it was reported that sir ivan was due to be stepping down in november anyway, but it is not clear to me from the statement and the comments made

since he informed his staff exactly when he is going to go, whether it is immediately or whether there will be a handover period. but look, we are about to embark upon, as a country, the most significant, important negotiations for decades, on our withdrawal from the european union. the outcome is going to affect every part of the country, every area of our national life, business, industry, jobs, families. and it's clearly not a good thing to have the person at the top in brussels, because sir ivan occupies a very important place, hisjob is to talk to other member states to convey the british government's policy and approach, but also to report back and without fear or favour what the other member states are saying to us, and that will be crucial information given that what we will ultimately get out of the negotiations will depend largely

on what the 27 member states are prepared to give us. interesting that he was saying that we will get out of the negotiations what the other member states are prepared to give us. there is a view from many leave campaigners that sir ivan rogers was giving in to demands from other eu members rather too easily when he was negotiating with david cameron to get a deal that would keep us inside the eu in the first place, and they are certainly not sorry to see him go. former ukip leader nigel farage takes it a stage further and says other ambassadors around the world should go as well, because the political establishment, the mandarins around the world with the mandarins around the world with the foreign office have not come to terms with the result of the referendum. they say that the foreign office itself should also be given a clear out and the campaign leave eu not shedding any tears for

sir ivan rogers, saying he was part of the old eu establishment and others are saying it is time to get someone who strongly believes in brexit into that position as the crucial position of ambassador to the eu before negotiations begin in the eu before negotiations begin in the spring. a very brief statement, the spring. a very brief statement, the uk government saying, "sir ivan rogers has resigned if you months early. he has taken this decision now to enable a successor to the appointed before the uk in vokes article 50 before the end of march. we are grateful for his work and commitment over the last three yea rs" commitment over the last three years". that is a statement, pretty short. i wonder what you make of that, it has just come through. short. i wonder what you make of that, it hasjust come throughm is rather terse. no statement from sir ivan rogers, no resignation letter, none of that. yes it is true he was due to stand down in november, it was a four—year term and he was appointed in november 2013 but there was no suggestion

earlier that he would stand down before the brexit negotiations got under way and the talks were whether he would be persuaded to stay on beyond november this year. you would expect his efforts to be thanked by downing street, he was a key player in those negotiations ahead of the referendum with other eu states, but it is also interesting that if this was a strategic decision to try to get someone else in place you would expect a very swift announcement of his successor and you would also suspect that most of the senior people in downing street would not have been surprised with the speed of his departure. interesting, thank you very much for now, iain watson at westminster. we will be getting the thoughts of the mp and brexit campaignerjohn redwood is coming up at half past. we will be talking to him just after half past. a man has been shot dead by police in a pre—planned operation near the m62 motorway in huddersfield. west yorkshire police say the operation was in relation to information received about criminal possession of a firearm. the man has been named

locally as yassar yaqub. police say an officer's firearm was fired during the incident and five people have been arrested. the independent police complaints commission has sent investigators to the scene. bbc look north's harry gration is at ainley top. good afternoon. good afternoon. the incident happened no more than 50 or 60 yards from where i'm standing and the slip road interesting in itself because those of you who may know the 62, this is a rather steady climb from the bottom in the first turn off the field and that may well have initiated the police response, which they say was a preplanned police operation based on information received about the criminal possession of a firearm. more details are emerging and danny savage has more. it was about 6pm yesterday evening when police boxed in a car leaving the m62 at huddersfield and brought it to a stop. armed officers were quickly out

of the dark—coloured, unmarked cars and shots were fired. bullet holes can be seen in the windscreen of a white audi. one man died and three others were arrested here. we were hoping to get back down there as soon as we could get home... rahul tandon was in a carjust behind the incident as it happened. as soon as the ambulance pulled up, some of the policemen ran up and told the ambulance staff to get down as quickly as possible to where the incident took place. it looked like somebody needed urgent medical help. more police soon arrived. another car was stopped a few miles away as part of a pre—planned operation and two more people were arrested. it's not clear who was the target, but west yorkshire police say it was not terrorism—related. early today, screens have been put up around the scene. investigators were working on the site from mid—morning. the independent police complaints commission will oversee the operation. the cars remain exactly where they stopped. the keys of the police vehicles

involved have been left on the bonnet of the car with the bullet holes. for now though, this busy junction, high on a hill between halifax and huddersfield, remains sealed off. danny savage reporting. as danny pointed out, the road is still closed. police sources tell us that within the next couple of hours they are expecting to reopen this road. at the moment, those drivers are having a 2k maelbeek tour. more information will emerge in the next hour or so. harry, thank you. turkish police are continuing their hunt for the gunman who killed 39 people at an istanbul nightclub on new year's eve. some media reports have identified the suspect as a 28—year—old from kyrgyzstan, but that has not been confirmed by the authorities. the islamic state militant group has said it carried out the attack in retaliation for turkish military action against its

fighters in syria. 0ur correspondent selin girit sent this report. a massive manhunt is under way. the turkish police are searching for the man who is now called a monster by the media. this is a selfie video of the alleged attacker, apparently walking around istanbul's central taksim square. the footage is circulated by tv channels across the country. security experts say he seems to be well versed in guerilla warfare and may have been trained in syria. is a kurdish national who travelled to turkey last year, along with his family, so as not to draw attention. authorities say they are investigating a 28—year—old man based on turkish media reports showing his passport. but conflicting information emerged about his identity. at least 16 people have been detained in connection

with the investigation, including two foreign nationals at the airport. in this neighbourhood of istanbul, where operations have intensified, locals are in a worried mood. the police raids were held in this building and several others in the area. there are many immigrants coming from central asian countries who choose to settle in this neighbourhood and locals tell us many of them live in packed flats. could there be an islamic state cell around 7 that is what the police are trying to determine. the central asian minority here feels increasingly tense. translation: there could be traitors anywhere, but it would make us very sad if the attacker was from central asia. because we love this country. i have not seen him before. if i had seen him, i would have killed him with my bare hands. 0utside reina club, where 39 partygoers were killed, around 200 people gathered today ina show of solidarity and to protest the spate of attacks that have crippled turkey, especially the tourism industry. this country has already seen around 30 attacks last year alone

and the fear is the spiralling violence could get out of hand. kurdish militants say a british man has been killed fighting with them against so—called islamic state in syria. they've told the bbc that ryan lock, who was 20 and from west sussex, died during an assault on the is stronghold of raqqa. at least two other british men are known to have died while fighting against is in syria. 0ur correspondent duncan kennedy reports. ryan lock had told his family he was going to turkey on holiday last august. but he instead went to join kurdish forces fighting so—called islamic state in syria. a kurdish militia group called the ypg said he had been killed on december the 21st, whilst fighting to take the is—held city of raqqa. there has been no official confirmation of his death, but a statement from the family home here in chichester, his father said

he was a caring and loving boy who do to help anyone. he had a heart of gold, he said. ryan lock is thought to be one of several british nationals to fight and die for the kurds. many like him had no military training but had wanted to go after seeing pictures of the kurds trying to defeat islamic state. those who have spoken to ryan lock‘s family say they are devastated by what has happened. i mean, the one thing we have been able to tell them, that the ypg will be doing absolutely everything they can to facilitate the return of the body to the uk and would urge other parties such as the british government and the kurdistan regional government to please support the family in every sort of way they can in facilitating the return of ryan lock‘s body to the uk. in a statement, ryan lock‘s former school near portsmouth said... the foreign office hasn't commented

specifically about ryan lock, but said it was extremely difficult to confirm the status and whereabouts of british nationals in syria. ryan lock told friends he believed in the kurdish cause, but that commitment, it seems, has now led to the death of this 20—year—old former chef, who said he had wanted to make a difference. duncan kennedy, bbc news, in chichester. the time is quarter past three, these are today's headlines... britain's top diplomat to the eu, sir ivan rogers, resigns. he had been expected to play a key role in brexit talks. a man is shot dead by police near the m62 in huddersfield —

he's been named locally as yasser yaqub. and as we've just been hearing, a british man is said to have been killed in syria fighting with kurdish forces against islamic state militants. ryan lock had told his family he was going to turkey on holiday. and in sport, west ham are appealing against the west —— against the red card shown to sofiane feghouli last night against manchester united. andy murray plays jeremy chardy in the first round of the qatar open this afternoon. if the qatar open this afternoon. if the seedings work out correctly, he will face novak djokovic in the final. and in rugby league, bradford bulls have been liquidated after the club's administrator rejected a bid to save them. more on those stories in ten minutes. here, a think tank closely linked o the labour party is warning

that the party has almost no chance of winning the next general election. the fabian society says labour is "too weak" to win a majority and would need to work with rivals like the liberal democrats to stand any chance of getting into government. john curtice, professor of politics at strathclyde university, told me the report goes beyond the current difficulties faced byjeremy corbyn as labour leader. what the fabian society is pointing out is absolutely nothing to do with the current position of the labour party in the polls, the travails and difficulties it has had sincejeremy corbyn became leader, it is pointing out one of the important consequences of the 2015 general election, in which two crucial things happened. first, labour lost scotland and they show no sign of regaining it. secondly, in as far as it made progress in england and wales, it made progress in seats it already held and made very little progress in the kinds of places it needs to gain from the conservatives. the result of that was to leave an electoral geography that puts

the labour party at a very significant disadvantage as compared with the conservatives. that will be made even worse when the boundary changes to the constituencies are in place. to give you some idea, if labour's advance, whatever advance it managed to achieve from the 2015 position, if it is uniform across the country as a whole, labour will need to be as much as 13 and a half points ahead of the conservatives simply to get an overall majority and it will need to be about five points ahead simply to be the largest party. in contrast, the targets for the conservatives are an awful lot lower. now, the truth is, that's nothing to do withjeremy corbyn, it is that labour's electoral geography is now significantly weaker and the first past the post system as a result is likely to punish it. there is another side to this also pointed out in the report, which is indeed if labour's vote

does collapses, and they speculate about the possibility of a 20% vote, because there are some places where labour is still safe in england and wales, it is in some senses insulated from that kind of disaster. but certainly, labour's chances of winning the next general election, irrespective of its leader, have always looked very remote. ever since may of last year. when the fabian society talks about it needing to join forces with others, partly the liberal democrats but not just the liberal democrats, for you, that isjust the maths, is it? that is just how it is? let's distinguish two things here. we're not talking about the labour party needing to enter into a pact with the liberal democrats, the greens, or whoever, in advance. we're talking about what would a sensible labour party do, given the arithmetic, in anticipation of a possibility that we might get hung parliament in which it is the largest party. that seems to be the best prospect for labour at the moment. in truth, the labour party will need to prepare for that circumstance, both in terms of the kinds

of argument we had in the last election about, will labour do a deal with the snp or not... it needs to be ready for that and it certainly needs to be ready for whatever negotiations might take place after it. two months after the us elections, the us congress is back in session today. for the first time in a decade, the incoming administration will be able to rely on aim republican majority in both the house of representatives and the senate. let's speak to our correspondent in washington, jane 0'brien. the incoming president donald trump wants them to crack on with it as soon as possible?m donald trump wants them to crack on with it as soon as possible? it does mean that. they have not been sworn in yet but they are already getting the procedures in place to repeal 0bamacare, the the procedures in place to repeal 0bamaca re, the affordable the procedures in place to repeal 0bamacare, the affordable health ca re 0bamacare, the affordable health care act which was president 0bama's signature piece of legislation. they

can do that on paper pretty easily but the problem is, what will they replace it with? that is where they might need democratic help, particularly in the senate. it's all very well to scrap a piece of legislation but bearing mind that 20 million people gain health insurance under 0bamacare and there is very little political appetite to just leave them high and dry. although this legislation has been incredibly divisive and not popular at all across the board, there are elements of it that people say they do want to keep, such as being able to ensure children until the age of 26 on their parents health care and to make it so that health insurance companies cannot discriminate against people with pre—existing conditions. it's very complicated but the repeal is almost certain, but the repeal is almost certain, but what will they replace it with? just looking at the make—up of this congress, so much talk about diversity and roles for women but it still looks like a bit of an old boys club. it does, when you go down

party lines. there are four more women senators, they are democrats. there is the first american indian, indian american senator in congress now, democrat, and there is the first thai senator in congress. but the vast majority of congress is still white male and that reflects the voters, the breakdown in voters. the majority of white men voted republican and a more diverse group of voters voted for democrats. it's pretty much reflective of the way the red —— the election broke down in the end. is much being made there about this apparent spat between donald trump and general motors? this is a donald trump tweet, of course. in it, he accused general motors of making up one of —— making one of their models in mexico and then bringing it back to the us to sell, which is something he wants to stop. this is part of his broader

campaign to scrap nafta, the free trade agreement guaranteeing free trade agreement guaranteeing free trade in north america. general motors say this is not the case, they make a small number of these ca rs they make a small number of these cars in mexico but they sell them to foreign markets and do not bring them back to the us. what is interesting here is that this is donald trump yet again taking on a us company in a very personal, very direct way to further his broader political agenda. critics are saying, how long can this last? he can't possibly take an individual companies as president because he simply won't have the time. happy new year to you. it's going to be an interesting one. back here, protests have been taking place at railway stations across britain in response to yesterday's average fare increase of 2.3%. the organisers, action for rail, say they want the service returned to public ownership. daniel boettecher is at london's king's cross station. this is one of a number of stations

where those protests took place this morning. for commuters, the first day back at work now facing this rising costs. many were unhappy there will have to pay more. there's a 1.9% increase for regulated fares and that includes most season tickets. 0therfares can go up more than that so an average of 2.3% across the network, with the exception of the northern ireland, where translink says no decision has been taken on a fares revision the 2017. action for rail, which is led by rail unions and the tuc, says passengers are paying much more in other countries. it takes into account london to luton monthly rail ticket of £317. it says that is equivalent to 14% of monthly earnings. in germany, it would cost is 3% of

salary and in france, 2%. the government says it is delivering what it says is that biggest rail modernisation programme for more than a century. they say 97p in every pound passengers pay goes back to running and improving services. it says the government said the increases in the season tickets. now, music lovers have been in a spin this year, pushing vinyl sales to the highest they've been in 25 years. more than 3.2 million records were sold last year, the 9th year in a row that sales have gone up. the industry says it's thanks to artists like david bowie and prince. music streaming was also up by two—thirds, while sales of cds fell again. 0ur arts correspondent david sillito has more. led zep ii.

classic album. why is this better on vinyl? well, it was made to be on vinyl. the actual format of the record, the gate fold sleeve. the artwork. so it was made for vinyl. it was never made to be a cd, it was certainly never to be a download. for phil barton of sister ray records, there is no debate, musicjust sounds better when it comes on a 12—inch disc. but as a business, it's been tough. however, things have begun to change. listen, ten years ago, i would have given you the keys to the shop and said — i can't make any money out of this. i didn't realise this stuff was still going to be hanging around. if we go back to 2007, the industry sold into the trade about 200,000 albums. which is pitiful, really. if we come up to date now, we are about 3.3 million.

next year we may be 4 million—plus. there has always been a market or followed vinyl, this version of let it be is £900. but new vinyl? last year, bowie topped the charts. prince was also in the top 10. memories of those we've lost. but it is notjust men of a certain age rediscovering their lost youth. my parents listen to viynl and they were like — you don't know what music is really like unless you listen on vinyl. and it's really impressive how it has back now. it is a nice feeling where you have spent half an hour in the record store and you've found a gem. the fist thing they look at all the records, skim through, it is like a conversational piece. it is more thanjust a fad now. yes, definitely more than a fad. ijust think it sounds better. it's more crackly. i think it has a better effect to it. of course it is worth putting this into some sort of context. imagine that each of these records represents 1 million sales. the bpi says if you add in streaming, digital downloads,

cds, about 123 million albums were sold last year. the number of vinyl albums sold last year, 3 million. and both piles are totally dwarfed by the real musicjuggernaut of today, streaming. the number of tracks streamed last year, 45 billion. david sillito, bbc news. we are all showing our age when we watch that, aren't we? fantastic. wonderful artwork as well. that's what we've lost, the artwork. there's only one of us showing age right now! darren has the weather forecast. thanks very much indeed. a chilly day today, higher temperatures across the north where we have seen across the north where we have seen a lot of crowd around —— cloud around, aberdeenshire, in somerset we have had some sunshine around but after that frosty start there has

been a rise in temperature. temperatures will fall sharply this evening where we have the clearer skies. cloud moving southwards bringing with it some drizzle. it should not be as cold as last night, mostly frost free but in the south—west and later on across scotla nd south—west and later on across scotland and north—east england, and bridges will be close to freezing with the cloud more unreliable here. more and more sunshine developing through the day as our main area of cloud edges down towards the south—west of england and brings with it one or two spots of rain. some blustery showers and cold wind down the north sea coast. temperatures disappointing, around 4-8d. temperatures disappointing, around 4—8d. there will be a chilly feel and a hard frost on the way on wednesday night. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines at 3.30pm: sir ivan rogers, the uk's ambassador to the european union, has resigned from his rolejust months before the government is due to start formal brexit negotiations. the bbc has learned that the man shot dead by police

on the m62 in huddersfield is mohommed yassar yaqub. the incident took place during an operation to target suspected illegal weapons. turkish police are continuing their hunt for the gunman who carried out the istanbul nightclub massacre. some reports have identified the suspect as a 28—year—old from kyrgyzstan, but this has not been confirmed by the authorities. kurdish activists say a man from west sussex has died while fighting islamic state militants in syria. ryan lock, who was 20 and from chichester, had joined the ypg kurdish militia. a think—tank closely linked with labour says the party is "too weak" to win a majority, and would need to work with rivals like the liberal democrats to stand any chance of getting into government. labour's real problem is it doesn't look as if it has much chance of being the largest party in a hung

parliament given the opinion polls. it is time for sport. let's rejoin jessica. thank you very much indeed. west ham have confirmed they are appealing against the red card received by sofiane ferghouli's, against manchester united, in their 2—0 defeat yesterday. referee mike dean gave feghouli a straight red, after a collision with united defender philjones. west ham manager slaven bilic said jones "made a meal" of the tackle by the algerian. feghouli is the fifth player to be dismissed by dean in the premier league this season. the fa have contacted manchester city full—back bacary sagna, to ask for his observations following a post on the social media platform instagram. the post read "10 against 12", possibly in reference to the referee lee mason who sent off city captain fernandihno in their 2—1 win over burnley last night.

sagna has since deleted the post, and has until friday afternoon to respond to the fa. ahead of his side's premier league match arsenal manager arsene wenger says this season's festive fixture list, is the most "uneven" he's seen in 20 years. wenger‘s team are playing just two days after hosting crystal palace, but leaders chelsea aren't in action until wednesday, following their 11—2 victory over stoke on saturday. we have sold the rights to television for a lot of money. we have to accept that the television chooses the games, but i must say on that front some teams have a bit more luck than others. we are paid a lot of money to play football and it is part of it, but sometimes it goes for you and sometimes against you. former super league and world club champions bradford bulls have been liquidated after the club's administrator rejected a bid to save them. the bulls entered administration for a third time in five years in november. they won four super league titles, before being relegated to the championship in 2014.

despite the liquidation, the bbc understands that a new incarnation of the club will be in the championship this season, but with a 12—point deduction. sir andy murray plasteremy chardy of france in the opening round of the qatar 0pen later this afternoon with the briton insisting that novak djokovic will remain his biggest obstacle in retaining his world number one ranking. the pair are seeded one and two in doha, and if the seedings work out correctly, will meet in the final on sunday. murray then moves on to australia in a bid to win that major title for the first time, but djokovic is first in murray's sights. we played many big matches over the yea rs we played many big matches over the years and slams. we played at the 0lympics years and slams. we played at the olympics and the match at the end of last year for number one ranking so we competed many times against each other for we competed many times against each otherfor some of the we competed many times against each other for some of the biggest prizes. yeah, hopefully it will be

the same again this year. andy has had an incredible 2016 and especially the second part of the year and definitely deserved to be crowned as number one of the world in the end and it is great to have him on the tournament. rafah was here last year. this tournament, the qatar open has always attracted the top players of the world and. world number tenjohanna konta has continued her winning start to the season. she's through to the quarter—finals of the open in china. the briton recovered from a set down, and being a break down in the second, to beat american varnia king. konta wrapped up the match in just over an hour and a half, 1—6, 6—3, 6—2. that's all sport for now. damian johnson will have more in the next hour. the uk's most senior diplomat in brussels, sir ivan rogers, has resigned.

we can now talk to the mp and brexit campaignerjohn redwood, who joins us from westminster. good afternoon to you. good afternoon. what do you make of his resignation? he made a wise decision and we know from leaked information that he doesn't really have his heart fully in getting us out of the eu quickly and with confidence and ina eu quickly and with confidence and in a friendly way. he was giving advice that it would be complicated and takea advice that it would be complicated and take a long time. so i think it will be better if the government can 110w will be better if the government can now choose someone who really believes that we have a great future as an independent country and that we can develop very good relationships with the rest of the european union once we've left the union. there is no way we need to be negotiating things for them for ten yea rs negotiating things for them for ten years and most of the things don't need negotiating, if you leave, you leave and you take back control of your borders and your law making and

that isn't something we need to negotiate with mrs merkel. do we know his heart wasn't in it? wouldn't he said he was reporting back on soundings he made, that he was feeding back the tone and the mood from lots of other european countries? well, i can't speak for him. all! countries? well, i can't speak for him. all i know is what i read in the newspapers and sometimes that can be misleading so let's wait and hear his explanation. but i think the impression was given from the lea ked the impression was given from the leaked materials that he was one of those who thought it was very difficult and complicated and long—winded. whereas what we need is a small, high level team, that really believes in britain's future as an independent country, but above all, believes we can have good relationships with the rest of the eu, by being confident, by being friendly and not being the beggars in this discussion. he is an extremely experienced negotiator thoughment well respected in lots of european countries. isn't he thought just reflecting a reality about the process of negotiation? well, he

maybe very well respected in other european capitals, but in the united kingdom, a lot of people felt that the results that mr cameron achieved with his help fell well short of what was needed to sustain britain's membership of the european union and that was a bitter disappointment to many on that side of the argument so whilst i wouldn't blame the ambassador as one of the principal architects and advisers in the deal to keep britain in, he didn'tjoin in with something that was successful. the british people decided it wasn't a sensible basis for a future relationship and they voted it down. he has gone. it is not long to go before formal negotiations are due too begin. how does the government go about choosing a successor? what should they be looking for? what do you wa nt to they be looking for? what do you want to hear? well, there is plenty of talent around. this isn't a special type of negotiation, it is just one of a series of negotiations that independent countries are used to having on a regular basis about the development of their relationships with other countries.

we're not starting with zero. we have a set of complicated and interesting arrangements, contracts, joint investments and trading arrangements with the rest of the eu and we don't want to change a lot of that. we just want to get powers over our money, our laws and our borders which is not negligentable, i would like someone to be appointed who thinks it is straightforward, who thinks it is straightforward, who is confidence, who thinks that we can get on well with the rest of europe, but understands that you cannot compromise over borders, over money and over law making. do you know who that person would be? well, i don't want to start naming names. no, it is up to the government to choose from the talent they have before them. but they have a lot of talent around the country, it maybe someone that's in the diplomatic service orfrom inside someone that's in the diplomatic service or from inside the someone that's in the diplomatic service orfrom inside the foreign office, it maybe from outside who knows the european network well. clearly a good contacts book would be helpful and understanding what drives brexit is fundamental to being able to do it well. does this throw the timetable in anyway, do you think? no, of course, not. the

senior negotiator will be the prime minister and she will have three specialist ministers on the brexit side backed by three important departments helping her so a lot of the work will be done by then. but clearly, the ambassador to brussels until we change our relationship can be an important figure and choose the right man or woman and they can be supportive for what the prime minister needs to do. john red wood, thank you very much for joining john red wood, thank you very much forjoining us, john red wood, thank you very much for joining us, thank john red wood, thank you very much forjoining us, thank you. one of the largest syrian rebel groups says it has suspended involvement in peace talks planned for later this month. the free syrian army said the regime and its allies had committed "many and large" violations of a ceasefire negotiated by russia and turkey. our correspondent sangita myska reports. this, claim rebel forces, is evidence that the syrian regime is continuing to shell parts of the north—west of the country, around wadi barada. it is, say the rebels, a direct contravention of the tentative truce brokered last week and the reason a number

of anti—assad groups have now withdrawn from peace talks, due to be held in kazakhstan. the ceasefire that we've seen over the last few days has followed the pattern of previous ceasefires, where it is held in many areas, but has been violated in others. so we may be something a familiar story of a slow breakdown, is but it still remains to be seen. the ceasefire received unanimous backing by the united nations on new year's eve. it was brokered by russia and turkey and is the third of its kind to be negotiated in less than a year, but even as voting took place, key players, including the united states, sounded a note of caution. our hope is that a ceasefire will truly hold and will not serve as a justification for further unacceptable offensives. in that regard, we are concerned at reports of a regime offensive, supported by hezbollah militia

in wadi barada. the security council's adoption of this text should be seen as a strong signal that such activities must cease. members of what used to be the called the nusra front, who had connections with al-qaeda, are among the rebel groups that the syrian regime is accused of pursuing. they are not signatories to the ceasefire. nevertheless, rebel forces who have signed up to the deal claim daily bombardment by the regime has crushed the spirit of the agreement. if they carry out their threat to withdraw from talks, negotiations for a lasting peace appear, for the time being, improbable. the syrian army has denied the allegations made against it. earlier i spoke to sajjad malik from the unhcr who is the humanitarian co—ordinator in aleppo. he described the situation there at the moment. i have been to east aleppo several times over the last few days with my colleagues.

you may have seen images coming out of east aleppo, video, pictures, but nothing prepared the team psychologically for what we saw there. it is beyond imagination. the destruction is enormous, it is massive. schools are destroyed. hospitals, clinics, water stations, residential buildings, even the heritage sites are so badly damaged that it is beyond recognition. the old bazaar which is the iconic place in aleppo is beyond recognition. shops are destroyed, businesses are destroyed. but one thing which we saw in east aleppo is that people are beginning to return with some optimism and with some hope that this peace process is going to hold. so other than security, which is always a prerequisite in situations like this, what are the priorities that you are going to set? we have a team of more than 100 un staff working in aleppo right now.

they're working on immediate and urgent needs. there are many competing priorities that we have to look into, but most importantly, over one million people are now getting safe drinking water. we have 12 mobile clinics and seven other units inside east aleppo to provide primary health care. we have propositioned 300,000 treatment supplies in eastern aleppo. 1,400 children who needed special attention have been relocated to hospitals in western aleppo. 10,000 children have been vacinnated. over a quarter of a million people have received emergency assistance for winterisation. it is very cold out here. there is no heating. there is no electricity. we are giving 40,000 fresh baked bread every day, 40,000 meals are distributed twice a day to the people there.

so there is a lot of work that is going on, but still this is the just the immediate and urgent response that we have to provide. important work of reconstruction, debris removal, buildings that have collapsed need to be structurally and sound and need to be taken care of and that's where the long—term investment has to come in. it was one of the bloodiest battles of the first world war with more than 325,000 allied troops and 260,000 german soldiers killed in the three months of fighting. to honour those who fell at passchendaele, and to mark the 100th anniversary, two special events will be held in ypres injuly. our correspondent robert hall is in belgium. "my wound was slight and i was hobbling back and then a shell burst, slick upon the duckboards,

so i fell into the bottomless mud and lost the light." "there was not a sign of life of any sort. not a bird, not even a rat or a blade of grass." the words of those who tried to sum—up the hell of paschendaele. three months when more than half a million men died. three months when the allied army fought an enemy, the mud and the cold, to gain a few miles of ground. a century ago, ypres was under siege. the roads leading north climbed steadily to the german lines, which overlooked the allies on three sides. after the war, the british made this sanitised documentary about the battle. tales of personal heroism to distract from the ghastly reality. the reality of uphill advances, a sucking quagmire, and the horrors of machineguns and gas. this year's commemorations will be focussed in ypres,

a city rebuilt from total destruction. there will be a series of events built around remembrance and the need to help visitors understand what happened here. steve oversees cemetaries across belgium. he says passchendaele holds a particular resonance. as you walk through the cemetaries, you actually see the headstones and see particular dates and there's so many of them at times in one single day, or a month and it'sjust sometimes it's unbelievable that things like that happened. last post sounds. on a freezing night under the menin gate, the bugles sound for the fallen once again. paschendaele is burnt into ypres's turbulent history. paschendaele is the loss of a lot of lives for us. a lot of people that we commemorate day after day, and we want to continue the message

that the last post has not forgotten. this summer's commemorations will be a partnership with a city whose people have never forgotten. in a moment a summary of the business news this hour but first the headlines on bbc news: britain's top diplomat to the eu, sir ivan rogers, resigns. he had been expected to play a key role in brexit talks. a man is shot dead by police near the m62 in huddersfield. he has been named as mohammed yasser yaqub. a british man is said to have been killed in syria fighting with kurdish forces against islamic state militants. ryan lock, had told his family he was going to turkey on holiday. good afternoon. i'm jamie

good afternoon. i'mjamie robertson. british manufacturing growth climbed to a two—and—a—half—year high last month, the quickest pace sincejune 2014 and a much stronger figure than analysts were expecting. it was fuelled by rising orders from both home and abroad. the weaker pound helped boost overseas orders but firms are still facing high cost pressures. thousands of homes for first—time buyers will be built this year, according to the government. 30 areas across england are to receive funding from the £1.2 billion "starter homes land fund" — which develops on brownfield sites. buyers must be aged between 23 and 40 and will receive a discount of at least 20% off market value. today is take—back tuesday — the day all those unwanted presents get sent back! it's the flip—side of the rise in online shopping, matching the rise in deliveries, but it also means overload for the post office which says there will be a rise of more than 50% in returns

against december‘s daily average. another trump tweet, another controversy this time the tweet ran as follows, "general motors is sending mexican made model of chevy cruze to us car dealers tax—free across border. make in usa or pay big border tax!" in reply gm says the vast majority of its cruze cars sold in the us are made in ohio. joining me now is our business editor simonjack. where are the cars made? who is telling the truth in this one? well, it isa telling the truth in this one? well, it is a bit of both jamie. a long time ago the boss of general motors said what's good for general scat motors is good for america. the current presidencies it the other way and blames something called the north american free trade agreement

for the disappearance of jobs north american free trade agreement for the disappearance ofjobs to mexico which come into the us tax—free under that agreement. gm put the record straight. the model he picked out the cruze a fraction sold in the us are made in mecs dough, but millions of cars are made in mexico. the message was clear. his pre—election hostility to the free trade agreement is very much still in force at least according to the followers of his favourite social media site, twitter. what effect is this having on board rooms across the us? it is intimidation. we saw the share prices when he took a swipe at lockheed martin and boeing suffered. gm's rebuttal of the facts of this particular tweet have meant that shares recovered from early losses, but there is no doubt there was a few ruction ins board rooms at gm today. you have to

think that, if push comes to shove and they have a decision about whether to make the next model in ohio or mexico, that's going to make a difference and that kind of intimidation, that shooting from the hip, populist approach that was successful in the election is having precisely the effect on corporate america that he wants it to. what does he actually feel about free trade, about nafta, about ttip, all those,is trade, about nafta, about ttip, all those, is he going to tear them up? he appointed a new trade representative. do we get an idea of what he's going to do about the free trade deals? it is interesting. because we have seen some of the rhetoric scaled back in some other areas of pre—election promises like he was going to tear up 0bamacare and now he says he will keep the good bits. ithink and now he says he will keep the good bits. i think ttip, and now he says he will keep the good bits. ithink ttip, that and now he says he will keep the good bits. i think ttip, that one is deadin good bits. i think ttip, that one is dead in the water. he said it is not completed yet. he said he didn't

like that one bit. nafta is a bigger nut to crack. millions of us jobs in other areas depend on it. it would be incredibly disrupt cif to break up be incredibly disrupt cif to break up that agreement. whether he actually matches that with action, we will only know after he gets into office on 20th january. his new trade secretary, as you say, is an old reaganite, he was tough on china backin old reaganite, he was tough on china back in the day and he is used to doing by lateral deals. if news of the world going to do multilateral deals, the way is by lateral. perhaps it is an indication that he is prepared to match the rhetoric with actual trade action, but we won't know that until he is in the oval office on 20th january. simonjack, oval office on 20th january. simon jack, thank you. a new year — same old commute into work. but with a difference — an average fare increase across the country of 2.3%. campaigners have called the rise was a "kick in the teeth" after months

of widespread strike disruption. the department store harrods has promised to improve the tipping system for staff in its restaurants following a threat of industrial action. the union that represents some of the 483 hospitality workers in the store had complained they were not getting their fair share of the service charge. harrods did not confirm that was the case, but said it would be improving the current distribution system. fashion retailerjigsaw says sales in the five weeks to the end of 2016 were 10% higher than the same period a year earlier. tomorrow we'll get a trading statement from next, to help us get a clearer idea of how shops have performed over the christmas period. we have seen a strong start in the united states. we have seen the ftse 100 moving up 30 points. and also the oil price moving up by almost 2%. and the reason for that is because the agreement which was put

together by opec and unusually non opec countries before christmas, now has come into effect. of course, actually the real effect, whether there is actually a pulling back of oil production amongst all those countries, whether it actually happens, you get compliance, whether it happens remains to be seenment but a deal is in place and the oil price is up. that's the business news. i'm back later. thanks, jamie. the british soldier killed in iraq has been named as scott hetherington. he died in an incident which is still under investigation, not thought to be combat related. snopeb as snowball, he was the father of a young baby daughter. we had a tribute from his boss, the commanding officer of the 2nd battalion, lance corporal scott hetherington was professional and talented and full of character and

full of fun and his enthusiasm was infectious. the battalion lost a real talent and our hearts go out toys his parents, his siblings and his girlfriend and young daughter. we will bring you more on that later on. now the weather. well, we started off with a double whammy today of the it was a cold start, but we didn't have the sunshine to compensate for long. cloud spilling down from the north. the best of the sunshine has been across south wales and southern england. look at this beautiful weather picture in truro in cornwall. into aberdeenshire, there has been a lot of cloud around. gale force gusts of winds likely into the northern isles for a time as the rain sinks south out of scotla nd as the rain sinks south out of scotland as we go through the evening. so more cloud generally across northern ireland and northern england. sandwiched to the south and

to the north, the cloud thin enough for the temperatures to fall close to freezing. it could be a chilly start, but that weather front slices the country in two first thing tomorrow morning. not much in the way of rain from it. but cloud and some nuisance drizzly outbreaks through the day across parts of wales, the midlands and down into the south east corner. so it will be a cloudy start. it will bea damp it will be a cloudy start. it will be a damp start. it is not going to be a damp start. it is not going to be as cold as the one just passed. further north, beautiful clear skies and lots of sunshine first thing. a touch of frost in the far north of scotland. still windy with it and one or two sharp showers running in across the northern isles and through the east coast. there is the risk of a few more showers down through north sea coasts, but across scotland, northern ireland, and northern england, some lovely spells of sunshine. a weak weather front still continue to say drift south and west through the afternoon. not much in the way of rain associated with it and temperatures around four

to eight or nine celsius. as we come out of wednesday and into thursday, with those clear skies continuing, temperatures will fall away once again like a stone. a widespread hard frost is quite likely in towns and city centres, we will see the temperatures falling below freezing. in rural spots we could see minus five and minus six celsius and maybe lower. a bitterly cold start to thursday morning. we will be waking up to scenes like this, but hopefully spells of sunshine. as the sunshine comes through, it will help lift the temperatures slowly, but surely, but it will abcold, crisp affair on thursday. maybe the far south—west clinging on it a few showers, but temperatures struggling in some places to climb just a few degrees above freezing. all change once again for the end of the week and into the weekend. it looks as though it will turn wetter and increasingly windier from it will turn wetter and increasingly windierfrom the it will turn wetter and increasingly windier from the west. more from me later on. this is bbc news.

i'm jane hill. the headlines at four... britain's most senior diplomat at the european union, sir ivan rogers, has resigned. he had been expected to play a key role in brexit talks. a man has been shot dead by police near the m62 in huddersfield. mohammed yasser yaqub died during the pre—planned operation. kurdish forces say a 20—year—old briton, ryan lock, has been killed fighting islamic state militants in syria. i'm simon mccoy, and in the next hour... marking the 100th anniversary of one of the bloodiest battles of the first world war. the battle of passchendaele claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of allied and german soldiers. special events will take place over the summer. and, going full—circle: how vinyl is making a comeback, with sales last year reaching a 25—year high.