this is bbc news. the headlines at 3pm. the former england football team manager graham taylor has died. he was 72. american intelligence agencies did not leak claims that russia has compromising material on donald trump — according to the head of us national intelligence. the man behind the report claiming russia has compromising material on the us president—elect is understood to be a former mi6 officer from surrey. heavy snow has started falling across britain. it's expected to hit the south east by late afternoon. files on 23 people and organisations involved in the 1989 hillsborough disaster have been passed to the crown prosecution service. several major retailers — including marks and spencer, debenhams and john lewis — report better than expected figures in the run up to christmas. and in the next hour — the world's first tidal lagoon to capture green energy from the sea. the government backs the idea of creating a tidal lagoon in swansea bay — to boost the uk‘s

clean energy supplies. and a 72—year—old female rally driver is coming out of retirement to drive the original car in which she competed in the world rally cup almost 50 years ago. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. the former england manager, graham taylor, has died at the age of 72. a statement from his family said, "with the greatest sadness, we have to announce that graham passed away at his home early this morning of a suspected heart attack. the family are devastated by this sudden and totally unexpected loss." taylor managed england from 1990 until 1993. he was a club manager at lincoln, watford, aston villa and wolves,

and in recent years a pundit for a number of broadcasters. harry redknapp described him as a brilliant manager who lived for football and his family. very sad, obviously. i've known graham taylor a long time and he was a fantastic guide. a great football man. people forget just what a good guide. a great football man. people forgetjust what a good manager he was. what he did at watford, producing that fantastic team, producing that fantastic team, producing players like john producing that fantastic team, producing players likejohn barnes and luther blissett. too many people look back on the end of his england career. with many england managers, it was a time when england managers we re it was a time when england managers were probably getting a lot more ridicule than they deserved, for sure. overall, graham was an

outstanding coach and a top, top manager. and a great guy. a really fantastic, fantastic man. he lived for his football and his family. fantastic, fantastic man. he lived for his football and his familylj think every single person we have spoken to this afternoon has referred to him as very much a gentleman. is that something you would echo? absolutely. i spent a lot of time with luther blissett. he came to play with me when i was manager at bournemouth and he talked about his time at watford, playing with graham and how he nurtured those young players who came through the youth policy and made them into big stars, really. he was a father figure to all those boys at watford at that time and he took them all the way, cup finals, you know, winning to fight for the top of the premier league in his time there at eltonjohn premier league in his time there at elton john and it premier league in his time there at eltonjohn and it was a great and exciting time in football, for not only watford, but football in general. we are looking at pictures

110w general. we are looking at pictures now of exactly those times and elton john has already issued a statement praising him enormously for everything he achieved at watford in really, bringing them up from the bottom in a relatively short space of time. is it fair to say that? absolutely. he picked watford up. watford was a club that was an incredible story, what he did at watford. i'm sorry about the noise in the background. i am watching my horse run in the united arab emirates tonight, so the commentary isa emirates tonight, so the commentary is a little bit deafening. well, we can hear you absolutely fine, harry redknapp. before i let you get back to the race, just a final thought from you about how you will remember him and what he did for the game? just as you say, a gentleman, a fantastic football brain, a great, great manager, in my opinion. he managed at the very top, managed to

his country and i think everybody who came into contact with graham over the years, i've never heard anybody is a bad word about the man. he was an absolute gentleman and a great football person. that was harry redknapp talking to me in the last hour, remembering graham taylor who died this morning at the age of 72. the us director of national intelligence has rejected suggestions made by donald trump that official agencies may have leaked unconfirmed claims that russia had compromising material on him. in a statement, james clapper said he had called the president—elect to say the leak had not come from the intelligence services. this morning, the kremlin said it hoped president putin and donald trump "will get along" — and that there will be more mutual respect between their two countries. christian fraser reports. eight days from now, donald trump goes into battle as the next commander—in—chief. never before has an incoming president been warring on so many fronts. not you, not you. your organisation is terrible.

let's go. go ahead. quiet. he is in conflict with the press, the ethics committee, pharmaceutical and defence industries, some of his own senators, and of course the intelligence agencies. the dossier they investigated was an open secret. journalists had been working on it for months. it is a tale of sordid sexual escapades, russian espionage multi—million dollar cash payments funded to the trump campaign. the question for washington insiders is whether it is fact, part fact orfiction. and was the leaking political? i think it is deeply misguided for anybody at any level to question the integrity and motives of the patriots who serve in our intelligence community. it doesn't mean they are always right, but questioning the motives is another thing altogether.

the man who first compiled the intelligence is 52—year—old christopher steele, a former british buyer who works here. —— british spy. he is now in hiding with his wife and children, in fear of his life. mr steele had worked on the russian desk at mi6 for 20 years. in the 90s, he spent time at the british embassy in moscow. more recently, he had been hired to gather information on mr trump, first by republicans and later democrats. the allegations he uncovered were handed to the fbi. with nothing to support it, the media steered clear until a two—page summary was handed to president obama this week and mr trump himself. as early as last summer, there were reports circulating that the russians had a tape. whether or not the sources were

telling the truth, we wait to see. these allegations are being treated as credible by the us intelligence community. compromat, is how the russians describe it. a spy craft long used by the russian kgb, now the fsb, two ensure the loyalty of politicians. this year, the former prime minister, now a leading opposition figure, was allegedly taped having sex with his assistant behind his wife's back. he blamed the fsb. even if there is no film, mr trump's presidency might already be compromised and not only by his dealings with russia. yesterday, he ceded control of his business empire to his two adult sons, but in the eyes of the ethics committee in congress, there is not enough distance to absolve him of any conflict of interest. in short, there are more questions than answers and no amount of tweeting from the president—elect, this is the latest, is going to remove the clouds that are circling next week's inauguration. we are going to talk about all of

this with a number of guests. let's speak to our moscow correspondent sarah rainsford. is this story getting as much attention where you are as it inevitably is in the united states and in this country? it's getting a fair bit of attention, yes, but perhaps not as much as it getting in the us and europe. certainly, there has been a lot of coverage of the press c0 nfe re nce has been a lot of coverage of the press conference last night with donald trump and i would say there isa donald trump and i would say there is a great deal of pride, almost, in the reporting from state media cause of the focus there was on russia and issues related to russia, which sounds a little odd, given that it was all negative questioning. certainly, i think rush sees itself dominating the agenda and the state media coverage was positive about

that point at least. in terms of what donald trump was saying, the kremlin has responded to the comment from donald trump last night. a spokesman for vladimir putin has said that russia hopes relations can improve and that the two presidents will get on. he says that doesn't mean they will agree on everything but there is hope there can be a dialogue in the future, despite everything happening at the moment. sarah, thank you for now. dr rory cormac is an associate professor of international relations who specialises in secret intelligence at the university of nottingham and joins me now. you study at the university of nottingham rather than study intelligence there. i want to start by asking you whether 2a hours and this has done any real damage to donald trump, because he has handled it head—on and some would say that approach has worked for him? it head—on and some would say that approach has worked for him7m might work for him in the short term

but in the longer term, trump will be compromised by this. if you think about decisions that he's got to take, whether or not he overturns the sanctions at obama placed on the russian spies and intelligence officers before christmas, after christmas, whether or not, how he deals with nato and eastern european allies. the difficult decisions he has got to make, people will say, the president is in putin's pocket and he will have those allegations hanging over his head for the next four years. maybe in the short term this confrontational approach will head off criticism but in the long term, he will be compromised. what about his own intelligence services? he has pretty much put them on notice, hasn't he? it is terrible. he has accused them of leaking, which they deny, and he has gone against the motives of his own intelligence services. this i think is really, really dangerous. intelligence is an integral part of

the decision—making of government of the decision—making of government of the most important decisions that presidents can make, whether or not to go to war. and if he is denigrating his intelligence services, causing a loss of morale or ignoring them, that can store up real problems for when he has got to make very, very serious problems as early as next week, potentially. like what? if you have got an agency that doesn't trust its president and vice versa, how much damage could that cause? it could cause so much damage. intelligence has got to be impartial. intelligence analysts have got to be able to speak truth to power and presidents and prime ministers have to be able to closely enough engaged to take it seriously but far enough away from it to ensure there is no political bias. and trump is breaking all the golden rules. all the golden rule is that consumers of intelligence have do follow. he is breaking them straightaway. and one of the real

challenges the new head of the cia will have do bridge is the gap between the intelligence agency and trump because those men and women who work long hours, risking their lives to provide intelligence to inform decision—making and to pursue us interests are having a crisis of morale. the new cia director will have to tread a very fine line to ensure they are best represented without further alienating the president. what about the global dimension to this? you will have allies, one thinks of him in the uk but in europe as well, he will be slightly concerned and what are the fsb doing? are they rubbing their hands and enjoying this? fsb doing? are they rubbing their hands and enjoying this7m fsb doing? are they rubbing their hands and enjoying this? it is a win win for putin and the fsb. regardless of whether or not it is true, and it is being treated with

enough credibility to make waves, putin wants to undermine confidence in the american electoral process. remember, america prides itself, it is the beacon on a hill, the city on a hill, priding itself on its democratic processes, on its fair and free elections, and suddenly we are having all this confusion, with talk of impeachment, the dreaded watergate word bandied around and this is creating so much confusion and discrediting the american processes that putin and the fsb are rubbing their hands with glee. doctor rory cormack, thank you very much. and let's discuss the politics of it all in washington. this is the associate editor of the us political website, the hill. hello again, 2a hours and, and has much changed politically from your perspective? is donald trump damaged by this or

is he still absolutely teflon?” don't think there has been that much damage to him yet because he has been able to transform this debate, to some extent, as an attack on the media and mediacredibility. he has picked up on some mistakes that are incredibly —— about our apparently in this dossier and has used that as evidence, as he sees it, that none of these allegations should be trusted. but in saying all of that, jane, there is the potentialfor this to be the cause of significant damage because it puts president elected trump are under a cloud and those predisposed to dislike him and question him are likely to believe these allegations? as our last job —— as our last guest was saying, it is about the relationship between the president—elect and the intelligence services. that surely

have to be incredibly low?” intelligence services. that surely have to be incredibly low? i think thatis have to be incredibly low? i think that is right. it is a very problematic relationship at the moment. donald trump even this morning him in the us was saying that the director of national intelligence had contacted him to basically admit these reports were false. that comes on the heels of a statement from the director of national intelligence that did not admit that, that said in fact that the intelligence community had not assessed or come to a judgment about the reliability, a quite different point. that is one symptom of this much more tense relationship and thatis much more tense relationship and that is politically problematic for donald trump, i think. that is politically problematic for donald trump, ithink. meanwhile, on the hill today where you are, there are continuing confirmation hearings. will this, does this have any bearing whatsoever on that sort of thing or is it an entirely separate process? it has a certain amount of bearing in the sense that,

for example, yesterday rex tillerson, the nominee to be secretary of state, is a man who actually received an honour from vladimir putin in 2013 and three rex tillerson pars—mac leading of exxon mobil, had significant business deals in russia. they will always have been controversial to a degree but busy the intensity of the controversy around those questioned is ratcheted up a great deal with other allegations around mr trump circulating. nile, for now, thank you very much. more rail misery has just been announced. the rmt have said that southern rail guards are to have a fresh strike onjanuary southern rail guards are to have a fresh strike on january the southern rail guards are to have a fresh strike onjanuary the 23rd as pa rt fresh strike onjanuary the 23rd as part of their long—running dispute over staffing. that is a 24—hour strike on january 23. it is 3:17pm. good afternoon. these

are today's headlines. the former england football manager graham taylor has died at the age of 72. his family say they believe he died ofa 72. his family say they believe he died of a heart attack. the us director of intelligence rejects suggestions made by donald trump that official agencies leaked claims that russia had compromising material against him. and some of britain's largest retailers including marks & spencer, john lewis and tesco have reported strong christmas trading with sales up strong christmas trading with sales up compared to last year. and in sport, tributes are being paid to the former england manager graham taylor. alan shearer who made his debut under taylor said he was com pletely his debut under taylor said he was completely shocked, calling him a man he held in highest regard. dimitri payet has told slaven bilic he wants to lead —— leave the club. bilic insists he will not leave the club.

and johanna konta looks to be replicating the form that took her to the semifinals of the australian open last year. she reached the final of the sydney open. i will be back with all of those stories at around half past. we continue with our main story, the death of graham taylor, with many paying tribute to the former england manager who has died at the age of 72. one man who knew him well was luther blissett. you were managed by him at watford. but what that experience like? what did he do for you? and my first meeting with graham taylor, i have said it once or twice before, it was when he first arrived at the club from lincoln and he used to meet every player and my meeting with him, he came in, sat down, and he said my

name three times. he said, sign, you have got to be a star, but it turned out that he was the true star at the end of it. he made watford a family clu b end of it. he made watford a family club and it is still known as that to date. graham really believed in family, community and in people doing the right things. he brought all of us, well, dragged all of us up all of us, well, dragged all of us up in that way, and we are all very, very grateful for graham taylor first and foremost for giving us the opportunity to be part of history and a successful part of history. also improving all of us as people as well as footballers. what was his secret? because what he did at watford, by any standard, was incredible. it was. they had been relegated the previous season and he came in and for the next four or five years, he grafted us in one direction. the biggest thing, he gave responsibility to all of us in the dressing room to marshall and be

in control of ourselves and each other. and then on the pitch he gave us other. and then on the pitch he gave us the freedom to go out and play in a manner that brought the best about what we had and we had some very good attacking players at the time so good attacking players at the time so his game was to make those players be the ones that go out and make history for the club by being successful. he did that. many a player can think back to what graham taylor has done. i spoke tojohn barnes this morning and les taylor and they themselves, the things that graham brought to them, they will a lwa ys graham brought to them, they will always be very grateful for those. you turned to coaching. having walked —— worked alongside someone like graham taylor must have been a huge asset to you did that? absolutely. he respected everything he did. yes there were times when you clashed over things but that is normal. you respected everything he said because of his experience and vision. people are won at this stage

in time about how fit the premier league players are. graham taylor was doing that sort of stuck with us way back at that time at the 70s into the 80s. we were always a very strong and committed team to what we we re strong and committed team to what we were playing. i learnt that and bought all that with me through my playing and into my coaching as well and graham was a big part of that, giving me the opportunity when he came back in 96 to be the manager of the club. that was my first will step into management. i learned an awful lot from him and managing players, how you prepare, all the detailed things. the details, thinking about it even more so, is what made him so special. he would a lwa ys what made him so special. he would always preach to us as players, look after the detailed things and the bigger picture will take care of itself and that is very, very true. the same as performance was the biggest thing when you walked onto the pitch, it was about wanting to be the best and putting the

performance then. we have just looked at the moving image of you and graham taylor. i know you know the image because you have used it on twitter as you have paid tribute to him. it is that smile, isn't it? what was it about him as a man that set him apart? you knew that even behind that smile he was very, very strong and very, very... he had a strea k strong and very, very... he had a streak which, when the time came to move people aside to achieve what the club and he wanted, he would do so. the club and he wanted, he would do so. but he had that smile that would make you feel comfortable and you could talk to him. the always felt that whatever he said to you, he was true —— it was true. you knew whatever he said to you, whether he told eu played well or not, it was the truth. he was very honest. they are very important things to players now. if your manager is saying this to you, you need to believe them

because if you believe them, you can go one and produced the performance thatis go one and produced the performance that is within you and he helped you get it out. luther, it is difficult -- it is get it out. luther, it is difficult —— it is very good of you to give us your time on what i know is a difficult day for you. thank you. a blast of arctic weather is expected to cause disruption across much of the uk over the next couple of days, with a warning from the met office of strong winds, ice and snow. today, the wintry weather is already bearing down on scotland, with the m71; in central scotland closed for a time because of ice. meanwhile, gale force winds cut power to 40,000 homes in the north east, cumbria and yorkshire. at heathrow airport, dozens of flights have already been cancelled as a precautionary measure. and in northern ireland, heavy snow is falling in county londonderry, causing major traffic problems. with me is the bbc weather presenterjohn hammond. so, what is happening at the moment? meanwhile in london, it isjust a plain old wet afternoon. what is all the fuss about? the fuss is about the fuss about? the fuss is about the deepening area of low pressure

which is coming up the english channel which will intensify over the next few hours. it is a knife edge meteorological situation at the moment. just a fraction of a degree will turn the rain to snow in time for the rush hour. we are looking at the observations at the moment and they are kind of according to our plan if you like. it isjust starting to turn to snow. if you look at the radar, it is snowing across scotland and northern ireland and parts of wales and northern england as well. bits of white starting to appear across parts of southern england. that is a sign of things to come. the critical period will be over the next hour or two because cold air is rushing down from the north, engaging with the wet weather. the problem is that the computer models, these multi—million pound computer models, some of the most powerful computer models in the world, are still disagreeing about what will happen next. certainly we are expecting snow to develop over the next. high ground, chilterns,

salisbury plain, that sort of thing. a few centimetres. the six de boer thousand dollar question is, how much will hit london? but if you are not watching in london, you are thinking, why are you worried about london? because there are millions of people in london trying to get home. we are talking about london because the impact will be disproportionately large. if we even get a slushy covering of snow in london, you know what happens. the other thing that happens, whether it be rain or snow, as soon as that goes through, it will all turn to ice because the temperature will plummet from late evening onwards so that'll be major hazard tomorrow morning. meanwhile, it carries on snowing in other places and carried on being a hazard. it is already snowing in the north of england scotla nd snowing in the north of england scotland and northern ireland, but if this snow falls in london over the next couple of hours, believe you me, it will be chaos. sorry, i

had to ask. thank you. we are going to find out more as we go to heathrow airport, where there had already been disruption. our correspondent lorna gordon is in sterling as well. lorna, we will head to you first because you have already got the snow. explain a little bit more about the impact and what people make of it? yes, the snow has arrived in scotland. those wintry showers sweeping across the country, leading to travel disruption in some areas. the 89, the road you see behind me, is the road that runs up the spine of scotla nd road that runs up the spine of scotland through the highlands and this part of it at least is clear. those that travel this road often will know to take care when the snow showers hit. as has been mentioned,

the m 74 showers hit. as has been mentioned, the m 7a down south of glasgow, there have been a lot of problems there have been a lot of problems there in the morning rush—hour. it had to be closed for a time because of ice. that has led to some jackknifed lorries and on some roads across scotland, some scars have —— some cars have skidded off the road as well. but the disruption has been relatively minor, thankfully. it is one of those days where people really do have to check on the road conditions before they travel. it is beautiful though but it is bitterly, bitterly cold. —8 overnight at the temperatures are expected to drop again tonight. so people really do have to take care because this melting snow, and that is what this now is at least in this part of the country, this melting snow could now turn to ice. yes. lorna, for now, thank you. let's had to heathrow as well. there were cancellations aplenty put in place much earlier in

the day? yes, that's it. heathrow airport say they decided to cancel a number of flights, 80 flights to be exact, yesterday in preparation for this snow that is due. they say they operate to full capacity so they have no room for delays, so they decided to reduce the number of flights leaving so that those leaving left on time. it was also to give a chance for passengers to get a chance to get onto earlier flights before the cancellations this afternoon or to make other plans. what the airport says is that when snow arrives, the ground operations ta ke snow arrives, the ground operations take much longer, so flights need a little bit longer to take off. other airports around the uk, gatwick say they have

had to cancel for flights because of the weather. speaking to manchester airport moments ago, they said they had around 30 seconds of snow and there have been no delays there. they said they brought extra precautionary staffing. and talking to edinburgh airport as well, they say that business is running as usual. as you can see, there is no snow here at the moment but the advice is to check with your operator before you travel. as for how much disruption this is going to cause, well, we will have to wait and see when the snow arrives. yes, not long to wait, quite possibly. thank you both very much. let's find out. mix of weather on the way in the next 2a hours or so. but is it. the next hour or so will be crucial with what sort of weather we will be getting in southern areas of the uk. further south it would be tricky. we have rain starting to turn to stone. the thinking is that by rush hour it will be snowing across parts of the midlands, east anglia, the south and south—east. strong winds on top of that. it is a headache trying to

forecast how much is no we will get, but be prepared for some settling in the hills around london and possibly in towns and cities as well. in the north there will be frequent snow showers, blizzards in scotland. temperatures tonight will be around freezing. look at what happens first thing in the morning. wintry weather in south—eastern areas. wintry showers in the east. friday afternoon is looking pretty sunny for some of us. it will be called however. strong winds on the sea. this is bbc news with simon mccoy and jane hill. our main stories... the former england football manager, graham taylor, has died of a heart attack at the age of 72. he enjoyed huge success at watford. his chairman, elton john, huge success at watford. his chairman, eltonjohn, said he was like a brother to him. the us

director of national intelligence has denied suggestions by donald trump that government agencies were responsible for leaking claims that russia had amassed damaging material about him. the former british intelligence officer, christopher steele, understood to have written that the dossier that claims russia has comprising material on donald trump, has gone into hiding. snow and strong winds are expected to cause disruption across much of the uk over the next few days. in that office has warned the country will receive a real taste of winter. investigators have announced that 23 people and organisations could face prosecution over the 1989 hillsborough disaster when they do six football fans were unlawfully killed. and we are going to have more sports news now. that said tojohn watson. good afternoon. we will start with the sad news of graham taylor passing. tributes have been paid to

the former aston villa and inward manager who has died at the age of 72. his achievements as an amateur sock and take watford to the fa cup final in 1984 before joining aston villa in 1987. his side finished as runners—up in the old first division. he went on to spend three yea rs division. he went on to spend three years as the manager of england in the early 90s. working underground during his time aston villa was nigel spink hejoins us now. thank you for speaking to us. you made over 300 appearances for villa and we re over 300 appearances for villa and were already there when graham took overin were already there when graham took over in 1987. he had an immediate impact, winning promotion. he had a major impact for me. we were relegated, we are down and out. the squad was totally inept and useless, to be honest and he came in and he told us exactly what he thought of us told us exactly what he thought of us from day one and got on with it

and he changed the face of the club. arguably, for me, the club is what it is today because of what graham taylor started. perhaps that says something about his character, his willingness to take on a team that had been relegated when there are easierjobs out there. even then, aston villa were a major club, size wise, he saw the potential. he didn't suffer fools gladly with the players, but also the winner of the time, doug ellis. he stood up to him. he got exactly what he wanted and what was required and he was only going to do the job if he got what he wanted and he got out and he got us up in the first year. he was an incredible person. psychology,

sports fitness, tactics, all the way three he knew exactly what was required and he proposed that onerous. for me, he was the best manager i played under. we saw him do it at watford and aston villa. what was it about graham taylor at that enabled him to galvanise a team and see those instant results? he was 24—7. he was on us all the time. he made sure we were doing things right, junaid icher the club was set up right, junaid icher the club was set up right. his personality as well. one minute she would be telling you what he thought of you, the next minute you would be laughing and joking with them. that was the respect he had for the man. i saw him just last year at the funeral of his former goalkeeping coach at aston villa and he seemed fine. he

was just as witty, he was laughing and joking with the rest of us who we re and joking with the rest of us who were associated with the club at the time. it wasjust him. he was infectious. he was a football man through and through, but also because of his qualities as a family man, he understood how we needed to be when we were away from the football club. he knew our wives would appreciate it. he would send our wives flowers because he knew that they were at home and he was keeping their men away from them. he was sympathetic to things like that. he was a revelation as a manager and asa he was a revelation as a manager and as a person. the us has been a real shock. many thanks forjoining us on bbc news. that was nigel spink, who played for aston villa under graham taylor, who has died today at the age of 72. that, for the moment, is

from the bbc sports centre. many in the world of football are today paid tribute to former england manager who has died at the age of 72. on the line is the bbc football correspondence, john murray. he cannot and should not be defined by his time at england. no, that stayed with them. that had a lasting effect on graham taylor. he took the job when he was just 46 years old. he was a relatively young man. until then he had only had success with looking at watford and aston villa. that was the first big pond in his career and the way that he received criticism, the way at all and it was particularly vitriolic and typical of the media and the newspapers at that time went there were big circulation wars going on. there we re circulation wars going on. there

were many campaigns of that sort carried out. it was a real lesson, when he met graham, and you talk to him about it, the effect that can have on an individual. that did upset, did it? it did. it says a great deal about graham that he recovered his standing in the gym when he went back to club football with watford and aston villa. when he worked with us at bbc radio, his human qualities overcame that. when you would socialise with graham, the subject didn't often come up, but it did come up from time to time, he was happy to talk about it. almost too willing to talk about it. but disappointment never really left. let's talk about his time at watford. what he did there was incredible. yes, it was. as a young manager, his playing career ended early because of injury and he threw

himself headlong into coaching and management and the character that he had, we could say, i would call them one of the natural leaders in life. he was an organiser. if something was happening, graham would have his hands all over it because he wanted to be involved. that gave us an insight into what he was like as a football manager and the secret of his success. to lift it up in the way he did at watford when, in those times, graham would be all—powerful at watford football club. anything that happened at watford, graham would know and would be the driving force that led them from the bottom to almost the top of the game. one thing is that you was a gentleman and another is that he was good company. great company. a real family man. i was listening to nigel spink. i have never met rita, graham

applause wife, but i knew about her because he would talk about all the time. i know with his daughters were up to, about his grandchildren. he would always tell you what was happening and it reflected what a family when he was and graham was a great socialise as well. doing this job, we travel all over the country and europe and graham will always be there after the match to talk it through and have a good chat with you about what is what, just great company. i will missing for so many reasons. thank you for remembering him with us. we return now to the states. a lot happening with donald trump and intelligence issues. on capitol hill, the confirmation hearings are continuing for various of his

nominees. if we take a look at the scene on the field right now, one of the senate hearings that is is james matos who is nominated as defence secretary. that continuing. this time yesterday we were seeing rex ted larsen nominated as secretary of state and he has further hearings this afternoon. his is not over. we will hear more from him this afternoon as well. following all of this is our state department correspondent. has anything emerged that might surprise us? two things. the hearings on the nominee for secretary of state, the question is whether he is going to pass the committee vote, because it only ta kes committee vote, because it only takes one person to vote against them and there is one republican, marco rubio, he was disappointed

with his answers on human rights who might vote against him. then it goes to the larger senate that he will probably pass there but it would be a slap in the face to a president to not get his nominee three. we will be watching to see if the vote comes today and what the voters. the other thing to watch is the confirmation hearing of the nominee for head of the cia. this comes as quite an unprecedented time with intelligence agencies almost in a civil war with the president—elect. he is being extraordinarily critical of him over the conclusion that russia medal in the conclusion that russia medal in the election with the release of this dossier that have unverified allegations that the russians tried to collect compromising material on him. he blamed intelligence agencies for leaking that, which they said they had not. there is this tension between the cia and mr trump. it will be interesting to see what his

nominee is. it is an interesting time. that tension that you talk about his extraordinary. with just one week to go to the inauguration, these are the organisations that are meant to keep america safe and for relations to be so bad, surely it is not to the benefit of any us citizen? people who have watched this for a long time, former agency members, said this is unprecedented. they have never seen anything like this. moral is low because they pride themselves on quite a thorough, clear eyed presentation of the information and analysis that is not imbued with political interest. that is how they see themselves. they will be looking to the nominee to see if he will protect them against the accusations of mr trump. the overall head of intelligence, the national director of

intelligence, did feel obliged to call mr intelligence, did feel obliged to calertrump intelligence, did feel obliged to call mr trump last night, after the accusations about the dossier and so we are profoundly dismayed that this was leaked. we did not do this. we have not determined that any of the information is reliable and keep statement saying those things. . he felt obliged to stake out a position. mr trump tweeted this morning saying we had a good chat, he spoke against the accusations in the dossier which he didn't actually, he just the dossier which he didn't actually, hejust said the dossier which he didn't actually, he just said the cia hadn't let them. there is this continue to play which makes people wonder what sort of relationship mr trump will have with the intelligence community, which is so vital for the of the country. we will talk more. for now, thank you. 23 people and organisations could face prosecution over the hillsborough disaster, investigators have announced. files have now been passed to the crown prosecution service. last april, a new inquest into the deaths of the 96 people

who died at the hillsborough stadium in 1989, found that the fans were unlawfully killed. the inquests were held at warrington, from where judith moritz gave us the latest. remember that the inquests which finished last year, but at the same time those in question are being conducted into the deaths of 96 fans at hillsborough and investigation, or two investigations, have been running this building in warrington. more than 400 investigators have been running two separate criminal enquiries into hillsborough. operation resolve first of all. that is the investigation looking at the planning and preparation for that day in 1989 and the disaster itself, what happened as it unfolded and the emergency response. the investigators running at enquiry have said they have identified 15 people who they considered to be criminal suspects. that this is second investigation being run from the same building here in warrington

by the independent police convince commission. they have been looking at the aftermath of the alleged cover—up which is said to have followed the disaster and the ipcc have said that they have identified yet suspects. we do not know the names of the people and organisations who have been identified. what we have been told this was about them have been passed to the crown prosecution service and thatis to the crown prosecution service and that is at the cps who will make decisions over whether or not to press charges and to bring prosecutions. we know as guidance that the cps is not expecting to do that the cps is not expecting to do that for up to six months, so there isa that for up to six months, so there is a little longer to go before we hear exactly who might be in the frame to face trial one day. he will remember that at the inquests, the verdicts were unlawful killing and thejury at verdicts were unlawful killing and the jury at those inquest found that the jury at those inquest found that the match commander, david duckenfield, was responsible for manslaughter by gross negligence. it is not known if he is one of the

names that has gone to the crown prosecution service. they have not specified that here. it is the big picture we are being told, the number of individuals and organisations who could one day face legal action in a criminal court. i should just tell you that haven't spoken to some of those who were briefed by hillsborough, there is a degree of anger from some of them, it is fairto degree of anger from some of them, it is fair to say. they believe that to have identified yet suspects for the cover—up is a very low number. they believe it is a much more widespread thing and the number should be higher. at the same time, otherfamilies should be higher. at the same time, other families have said they believe the sorts of charges being considered here including gross negligence, manslaughter, showed they are moving in the right direction. these are the right sort of criminal charges which might follow. the hillsborough of criminal charges which might follow. the hillsborouthury still has a long time to run. more than 27 yea rs has a long time to run. more than 27 years since the disaster. a reminder of the headlines. the

former england football manager, graham taylor, has died at the age of 72. his family said he died this morning of a suspected heart attack. the us director of intelligence rejects suggestions made by donald trump the official agencies make claims russia had come promising material about him. and some of the biggest retailers in britain, including marks & spencer ‘s, jon lewis and tesco have reported strong christmas trading with sales up compared to the same period in the previous year. time for a roundup of the business news now vishala is at a shopping centre in essex for us, on a day that lots of high street retailers have published christmas trading results. iam here i am here at the lakeside shopping centre in essex. we have been talking about how big retailers have had some good numbers over the christmas period, including supermarkets with tesco and morrison's reporting the other day

with record sales for the christmas period. here to talk about that a bit more is ray gol broncan for retail. what is behind that growth? there is a number of factors. one factor has been the price in the british environment, it has been one of the best price environments we could see. of retailers were passing good prices on to their customers their customers and customers were feeling very festive after a lot of difficult news to swallow, whether it be brexit for the american election. people wanted to celebrate a bitand election. people wanted to celebrate a bit and they certainly did. most of the retail resort with morrison and tesco included, they mentioned that the festive solutions they put into the market did better than expected and opened it door for other selling opportunities. let's talk about specific supermarkets. morrisons had a record year. they did well. tesco did well. how did

they turn things around? they have done three things which would go against traditional convention. the first is they have added stuff back in two key positions. for a number of years they were reducing the number of staff in stores. this year they put people back in. tesco added 12,000 people over the year. morrisons added in customer service desks and greeting staff, which really pa id desks and greeting staff, which really paid off, where people were able to listen to customers and the number of things. the second thing is they added some of those solutions they didn't have last year, whether it be a festive party solution, he ideas on how to decorate your home. thirdly, they started to do is take the time to invest in making sure that people we re invest in making sure that people were trained well to listen and respond to customers. we have seen a

fall in the pound, well that impact how shoppers behave in supermarkets this year? in the last few months we have heard from unilever who had a battle with supermarkets overpricing. is that something that will continue? the pressure right now is definitely on suppliers trying to bring in goods from outside the uk into the uk at the same price as they were before. that would be very difficult to do given that costs are much higher with the lower sterling. in the uk itself there have been some efficiencies in supply chain which have kept prices low on things like milk and bread. for sure, petrol prices... they will have to go up in the next year. that is it for this hour. i will be back in the next hour with more business. tidal lagoons, could they be the answer to ensuring secure power supplies for the uk?

a review is recommending that the uk should build tidal lagoons to capture energy from the sea. and today the government gave its backing to plans to build one in swansea bay, after the report said it could provide clean, reliable electricity for more than 150,000 homes for more than a century. here's our environment analyst, roger harrabin. will this be the uk's latest source of low—carbon energy? the tides in swansea bay are some of the highest in the world, and utterly predictable, so why not build a sea wall to capture the outgoing tide? that's the plan from a private firm. the sea wall will trap the outgoing tide, then hydroelectric turbines will generate power as the water flows through the gaps in the sea wall. the cost was thought too high for bill payers to bear. but a review says the annual subsidy isn't as high as it first appeared. if you spread the cost of the subsidy over the 120 lifetime, bear in mind these will last two times as long

as a nuclear power station, three or four times as long as an offshore wind farm, if you look at it in that way, then essentially the cost of this for a consumer is less than a pint of milk on their electricity bills every year. that's why i think it's affordable. supporters hope we'll see lagoons dotted along the western shores. that'll bring down the cost, they say. this is a pathfinder project. we need the government to get on with it. we need manufacturing scale to support industrial regeneration. it's great renewable energy and it's great for supporting jobs, both in the uk and in wales. but what about wildlife? friends of the earth support the lagoon for the clean energy it'll produce. the bird charity rspb are cautious about the impacts. the anglers are dead against. it would stop up fish, it would delay their migration, it could have impacts on seals and dolphins, with loss of habitat in the severn estuary, but furthermore the economics on which this scheme is based are based on a 120 year life span, and that's a huge time

during which other technologies could come on stream, and we just don't think the lagoons will last that long before they get clogged up with silt. plans at swansea are ready to go. today's report suggests the government should agree terms for one lagoon, then wait and see. roger harrabin, bbc news. a 72—year—old female rally driver is coming out of retirement to drive the original car in which she competed in the world rally cup almost 50 years ago. in 1970, bronwyn burrell was the youngest driver in the race from london to mexico. now she's been reunited with her austin maxi sports car, and is preparing to get behind the wheel again to re—create her epic drive. she's currently in training, and john maguire went along to meet her. wembley, 1970, and a car rally marks the handover of the world cup hosting duties from england to mexico. sir alf ramsey waves them off, and in car 20, three women about to start a 16,000 mile race. we were going to be

away for six weeks. it seemed like a lifetime, but wasn't a lifetime, it was a flash. this is us both in our lovely green c&a dresses and red puffer jackets and down the ramp. we were starting our huge adventure. gosh, we were young, weren't we? i think i was the youngest. i had very long hair. it was so unmanageable, really. it was a stupid thing not to have short hairfor that. the team was well—prepared, mechanically and personally. so we decided the best bet here was to have paper knickers, so we had colour—coded paper knickers. i think mine were... mine were probably white. i think tish was pink, and tina was blue. so we could discard, didn't have to worry about washing knickers. such ingenuity may now return, as almost 50 years on, bron has recently brought their original car, nicknamed puff the magic wagon, and they're ready to race again. back with the car again.

what a shame tish is no longer with us. i know, she'd love this, she'd love to be doing it all again, like we're going to be doing. we're going to miss her, we are going to need to change a tyre you know. yes, exactly. thejoy was she'd be pumping up, jacking up the tyre, you'd be loosening the nuts, i'd be getting the wheel off. and then... give me the wheel, back on the roof or in the car. throw it into the car. a minute and 50 seconds? that was right. something like that. i tell you what, shall we take her out on the track? yes. shall we give it a go? give it a go. see if we can still do it. bron hasn't driven competitively since the early ‘70s, but you would never guess. as you can see, bron definitely comes from a rallying background. she's certainly not lacking in confidence out there in the car today, but you also see as well she's making quite a lot of little mistakes and that's why she's coming back to us a little bit in the future, to have those tweaks. in april, they'll drive to portugal once again, this time in a classic car rally. it's a bit more controlled, because of health and safety. you can't do what you used to do.

we used to do rallies and have one night's sleep in five days. not anymore. the sport may have changed, but the car — and especially the driver — look as fast and furious as ever. john maguire, bbc news, oxfordshire. let's catch up with the weather. the problem with forecasting snow in this part of the world is the temperature is never far of freezing point, especially across southern england. hence it only takes a fraction of a degree to turn reading too snow and vice versa. that is the challenge right now because while it is pouring with rain across the london area, that could turn to a messy mix of sleet and snow over the next few hours. it doesn't take much snow to bring everything to a halt. it is just snow to bring everything to a halt. it isjust reading snow to bring everything to a halt. it is just reading at the moment but you can it is just reading at the moment but you can see it is just reading at the moment but you can see the snow in northern ireland and scotland and parts of

wales. a colic is texted to say it is turning to sleep in oxfordshire. over the next hour things will be critical. think it will turn to snow over the high ground. if you centimetres in the children's and the downs. more of it? over lower ground and london in particular. expect some snow and you won't because out. the problem after that is that temperatures will fall rapidly through the latter part of the evening is the snow clears throat and everything will freeze. icy about to come. further still showers into the midlands, wales, northern ireland and for northern scotland, blizzard conditions that on in the night. for many of us, we could wake up to seems like this with the frozen slush and snow on untreated surfaces. it could be quite perilous. temperatures below freezing in scotland. i mentioned blizzards in the north of scotland. an area of snowfall through the

early hours that will be pushed on by gill force winds through the east coast. this could cause problems as it moves through eastern england. it would be 1 it moves through eastern england. it would be1 million miles from england by first thing tomorrow morning. it is somewhat of a will be keeping a close eye on it over the next few hours. gales will sweep down the north sea coast with big waves crashing into the shore. that could cause coastal flooding waves crashing into the shore. that could cause coastalflooding issues. that's where a mix of sun and rejoice. the north and west catching those showers. many others having a lot of centring on friday. it will be cold whatever you are and they could theme continues into the weekend as well. widespread frost to start. showers trip around the coast to the east and west. they will start to turn back to reading in the west. we will start to the warm on terror pushing in both the atlantic. how successful that is is another matter. over the next couple of days, things could change. i will be back with more detail in half an hour. this is bbc news.

the headlines at 4pm: american intelligence agencies did not leak claims that russia has compromising material on donald trump — according to the head of us national intelligence. the man behind the report claiming russia has compromising material on the us president—elect is understood to be a former mi6 officer from surrey. severe weather is sweeping across much of britain — snow is expected in many areas by late afternoon and there are flood warnings for the east coast. files on 23 people and organisations involved in the 1989 hillsborough disaster have been passed to the crown prosecution service. several major retailers — including marks and spencer, debenhams and john lewis — report better than expected figures in the run up to christmas. and in the next hour — the world's first tidal lagoon to capture green energy from the sea. a government—backed report says it's affordable and it's time to build britain's first tidal lagoon in swansea bay.