this is bbc news. the headlines at four: criticism grows of two former police officers who revealed that legal pornograpy had been found on a work computer of the cabinet minister, damian green. the vast majority of police officers and vast majority of chiefs of police realise it is very important that policing in our country stays out of party politics. after his former national security adviser pleads guilty to lying, donald trump insists there was "no collusion" between his election campaign and russia. republicans in the us celebrate getting their tax reforms through the senate in their first major legislative success under president trump. barclays bank says it will no longer offer a russian anti virus software programme free to customers after warnings it could be exploited by the kremlin. coming up: it's already been a big sporting day down under.

australia narrowly beat england in brisbane by 6—0 to lift the rugby league world cup. and it's honours even in adelaide as england's cricketers make key breathroughs on the opening day of the second test, the first day—night match in the history of the ashes. australia ended the day on 209—4. and in half an hour here on bbc news, dateline london discusses why ireland's border could be a brexit barrier, come monday. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. criticism is growing over the actions of two former police officers who leaked allegations that legal pornographic images had been found on a work computer of the cabinet minister damian green. the former chief constable of greater manchester, sir peter fahy, strongly rejected

suggestions that it was in the public interest to disclose information allegedly found during the course of an unrelated investigation in 2008. he stressed that the officers were entering "dangerous territory". here's our political correspondent, tom barton. when police raided damian green's parliamentary office in 2008, no—one would have imagined the implications would still be resonating nine years later. the raid was part of an inquiry into home office leaks and no—one was charged. but unrelated allegations, denied by mr green that legal pornography was found on a computer seized by police have sparked a furious row. the allegations were originally made by former met assistant comissioner bob quick. while yesterday, retired met detective neil lewis said he had no doubt whatsoever that mr green had been viewing the material. it was ridiculous to suggest that anybody else could have done it.

but today, the former chief constable of greater manchester police attacked their decision to speak out. most police officers would be very uncomfortable about the police getting involved in making judgments about whether a politician is lying or not. that is ultimately a matter for the courts and public opinion. 0r breaching this duty of keeping matters confidential, which are gathered in an investigation, unless they end up as evidence. this row matters because damian green is theresa may's closest political ally and it pits his word against those of two former police officers. but conservative allies have come to his aid. brexit secretary david davis warning downing street not to fire him. while this former cabinet minister questioned the conduct of the officers making the allegations. if you think something's relevant, you do it by a proper official means. you do not go freelancing,

as these two officers have done, and it has the smack of the police state about it. i didn't download or look at pornography. damian green has consistently denied the allegations. he's waiting to hear the results of a cabinet office investigation into them. we're told that report could be on the prime minister's desk within days. tom barton, bbc news. and earlier i asked tom why does this investigation matter so much. it matters partly because it is a distraction theresa may does not want nor need. the government is in the middle of brexit negotiations. there is a crucial month ahead as they try to navigate through discussions around the brexit bill, the irish border. meanwhile the prime minister is in a weakened position, partly as a result of this year's disappointing election results but also a few weeks ago she lost a key ally in the cabinet, michael fallon, and having another ally underfire puts pressure on the government at a time they could do without it

and as this cabinet office report lands on her desk, probably in the next few days, we will hear more about it. the row is not over. this is about bob quick confirming that this material had been found and in the case of the second officer, he said he wanted to take part in an enquiry and they did not approach me and therefore i am putting this information out. to what extent do politicians believe the police are acting inappropriately? former police officers. if you look at the response from damian green's conservative colleagues, almost to a person they have argued along the lines similar to sir peter fahy, that the material is confidential and from a police operation and it should have remained private. it dates back to 2008. it was nine years ago this happened and there is an enormous

amount of bad feeling between the conservative party and police over the raid on damian green's office, with damian green at the time the shadow home office minister. he had been leaked information by a home office civil servant that he used to embarrass the then labour government and the police were called in by the home office and they raided his office and subsequently were heavily criticised for getting involved in what was, they argued, the conservatives argued, was essentially a political dispute. bob quick, who brought these allegations forward, left the metropolitan police from his position as assistant commissioner a few months later and the suspicion among conservatives is, and damian green has put this into words, is that this is a vendetta by a police officer who feels he has been badly treated by the conservative party.

and something presumably bob quick denies? absolutely, he says it is information pertinent to other allegations, within that investigation carried out by the cabinet office, there are separate allegations that damian green behaved inappropriately with a conservative party activist, allegations he denies. and bob quick said he came forward because he thought these points he remembered from nine years ago were pertinent to that. tom barton talking to me earlier. us republicans are celebrating after the senate passed a sweeping tax reform bill which is seen as the first big legislative achievement of donald trump's presidency. in a tweet, mr trump described the move as the biggest tax cut in history. but a senior democrat senator, chuck schumer, said the changes would "stuff even more money into the pockets of the wealthy while raising taxes on the middle class." my

my republican friends will ultimately pay consequences for this bill in 2018 and beyond. republican party will never again be the party of tax cuts for middle class people. with the passage of this tax bill today will be the first day of the new republican party, one that raises taxes on the middle class, abandoning its principles for its political paymasters. chuck schumer who is the leader of the minority group in the us senate, the democrats. senate, the democrats. meanwhile, president trump has once again insisted there was "absolutely no collusion" between his campaign and russia. his comments came as us media reported that his son—in—law, jared kushner, has been implicated in the investigation. 0ur washington correspondent, laura bicker reports. michael flynn, a retired three—star general, left the court in washington to a familiar chant, "lock him up." he'd once encouraged donald trump

supporters to use a similar version against rival hillary clinton. the 58—year—old played a key part in mrtrump's campaign and often travelled with him. if i did a tenth, a tenth of what she did, i would be injail today. he was rewarded with the post of national security adviser, but was forced to resign afterjust 23 days, when his contacts with russia to discuss us sanctions were disclosed. 0n the 29th of december, michael flynn spoke to the russian ambassador on the phone in the first of a series of calls. 0n the 15th of january, vice president mike pence said that sanctions were not discussed in those calls. only after the 9th of february, when a newspaper revealed general flynn did discuss sanctions, did pressure increase and michael flynn lost his job. as part of his guilty plea, prosecutors said mr flynn is now cooperating with the investigation. us media claims he will testify that senior members of the trump team,

including mr trump's son—in—law jared kushner, directed him to make contact with russian officials. the white house is now trying to distance itself from flynn's actions and the lies he told to the fbi, but having reached a plea bargain to co—operate, what else has mr flynn told the enquiry and what further revelations are to come? donald trump has been giving his reaction. what has been shown is no collusion. there has been absolutely no collusion. so we are very happy. and, frankly, last night was one of the big nights. we will see what happens. thank you all very much. thank you very much. president trump is arriving in new

york. let's hear what he has to say no. i think we have 66 times where we hit a record high since the election. 66 times. 66. but, if they won, and by the way wasn't it like 306-223? that is a won, and by the way wasn't it like 306—223? that is a big difference. 226. i am sorry about that. he was speaking and we lost the feed from the agency providing the material. that was president trump speaking at a finance breakfast in new york where it is lunchtime now and it was obviously a late breakfast. earlier i spoke to mallory factor — senior visiting fellow at the university of oxford, and us political commentator about both the allegations of collusion between the trump administration and russia

and what this major change in tax will mean. this is a major change that is going to be affecting everyone. but also this corporate tax rate that eve ryo ne this corporate tax rate that everyone is yelling and screaming about that has been brought down, america is one of the highest in the world at 35%. the tax rate he is 19 for corporations. what has been happening is corporations keep their money in other countries. that is something president trump has criticised before. and by bringing the tax rate down he has a shot at getting some of that money back. the tax rate down he has a shot at getting some of that money backlj was talking tojeffrey kaufmann, the former us network correspondent a little earlier and he was saying it is fine to have this tax cut, but it is fine to have this tax cut, but it is loaded towards the wealthy americans. does that help middle americans. does that help middle

americans very much? also their ids clauses where it will expire, whereas the corporate tax cut is for life. firstly i believe you'd should not have sunset clauses in tax. it causes major dislocation in business and what people are going to do. you need consistency. whatever that is, you need it. but more important a lot of people will benefit including the middle—class. yes, the upper earners will benefit as well and that bothers a lot of the so—called socialists. but the big benefit will come to that middle class. let me ask you about the kind of cost of it. we are told it will add 1.4 trillion over ten years to the 20 trillion over ten years to the 20 trillion national debt. we have one republican senator who would not vote for it. he said as a fiscal conservative... was conservative?

officially a republican, but he is a fiscal conservative and he's saying ido fiscal conservative and he's saying i do not think the figures add up. it isa i do not think the figures add up. it is a legitimate concern. it is more than a legitimate concern. that has been one of the cornerstones of the republican agenda, bringing the debt down, not increasing it. the trump administration says because of this tax cut business will pick up and you will get more taxes overall. i think it will be negative, i think it will increase our debt and that isa it will increase our debt and that is a significant problem. we have to bring that debt down because what we are doing is putting the debt on the back of our children and grandchildren as you are doing that right here as well as commissioner mark let me ask you about michael flynn's confirmation that he lied to the fbi, having already lied to the vice president and got sacked by it. now he is saying he was directed by

someone now he is saying he was directed by someone senior in the transition tea m someone senior in the transition team to actually make these approaches to russia. it has been widely reported that that person was jared kushner, the president's son—in—law. should the president be worried? absolutely, but we are talking about the guy who generally lies. michael flynn? he said he lied to the vice president and now he says he lied to the fbi and he will be fingerling other people to save his own neck. it has been about a year already. he has to move forward on issues about the ukraine and money—laundering that go way back before the campaign. long before he was a candidate. when the president says there was no collusion do you think he can stand behind those remarks? if he does not or if he

cannot, there will be a constitutional crisis in america. i worry about america. trump was elected by a very significant majority in our way. the electoral college. i hope that for the sake of america that is not the case that there is collusion. i think it will be very hard to prove. i think moller has to wrap this thing up. it is starting to look bad, particularly when he has only been able to get michael flynn. professor mallory factor. now the headlines: there's growing criticism over the actions of two former police officers who leaked allegations that legal pornographic images had been found on a work computer of the cabinet minister, damian green. president trump has insisted there was "absolutely no collusion" between his campaign and moscow, after his former national security adviser admitted lying to fbi about his meetings with russian officials. barclays bank says it will no longer

offer a russian anti virus software programme free to customers after warnings it could be exploited by the kremlin. in sport england have lost to australia in the rugby league world cup final, the lowest scoring final in history with just the one tried from the kangaroos as they won 6—0 in brisbane. craig overton made his debut and took the wicket of captain smith, but australia edged the first day in the second test in adelaide. and chelsea beat newcastle 3—1. eden hazard scored twice at stamford bridge and they are level on points with manchester united and i second will stop manchester united play arsenal later. liverpool beat brighton 3—1, everton one, leicester one, stoke won as well and watford are drawing against ten man sprayers

and west bromwich albion are drawing against crystal palace. a full update at about half past five. a full update at about half past five. barclays bank says it will no longer offer a russian anti virus software programme free to customers. it comes after officials recommended that government departments stop using kaspersky lab products because of fears it could be exploited by the kremlin. the national cyber security centre says the advice doesn't apply to domestic users. kaspersky lab denies any links to the russian government. jon donnison reports. cyber—security software like that provided by kaspersky lab requires extensive access to the files on a computer phone or network to look for viruses. our mission has always been to protect... kaspersky is used by consumers and businesses as well as some parts of government to protect systems from criminals and hackers. but now a new warning about russian anti—virus software, amid fears it could be used for spying.

secrets of global significance... at britain's national cyber security centre, they say they've not seen actual proof of such espionage, but they've told government departments not to use kaspersky for systems containing sensitive data. this is specifically about entities that may be of interest to the russian government and so for us that's about national security systems in government, of which there are a very small number. kaspersky lab has already denied allegations that it's been used for espionage in america. we don't do anything wrong. they are just speculating about some rumours, opinions, and there is zero of the hard data. 400 million people use kaspersky products around the world, but officials say they're not telling the general public to stop using it. kaspersky lab denies any wrongdoing, but today's warning is another sign

about growing fears over the risk posed by russia. our business correspondent, joe lynam explained why this warning has been issued. let's explain what antivirus software is. this is something that has to go deep into your computer to protect it and has to know where your files are and what is in the file so it is not attacked by malware or viruses. the advice since last night by the national cyber security centre is that they worry anti—viral software provided by kaspersky could make your computer vulnerable. they think that russian hackers could use kaspersky and its software network, they are based in moscow, to attack computers in the west. the us imposed this concern a few weeks ago and the british are now joining it and today barclays bank, one of the biggest retail banks,

which gives this software for free to new current account holders, say they will no longer give it to you for free. it is not because kaspersky are necessarily a problem, it is other people could use them. the concern is it could be like a trojan horse into your computer. these guys are pretty bright. they are first class honours, far brighter than anybody at this table. they suspect, yes, there are holes in the kaspersky anti—viral system. we need to stress that kaspersky said they have no links to the kremlin and have done nothing wrong. but this could have a negative impact on kaspersky sales around the world. what should somebody do if they have had this free software from their bank? should they wipe it? definitely not.

the advice from the agency and kaspersky is do not uninstall this until you have a replacement, otherwise you are exposing yourself. joe line our business correspondent. a 14—year—old boy who died after a collision with a car on the m67 motorway in greater manchester has been named as samuel berkley. he was found unconscious yesterday afternoon on the hard shoulder nearjunction 3 of the motorway in hyde. the teenager was in a critical condition and died later in hospital. samuel attended audenshaw school and in a statement posted on twitter, the headteacher said: everyone at the school is shocked and terribly saddened by the news of sam. our heartfelt sympathies go out to his family. it's a terrible tragedy and his loss will be felt by everyone at the school. greater manchester police said in a statement: his family said they are completely heartbroken by their loss and although nothing will ever replace losing sam they hope everyone remembers him for the fun, outgoing and friendly boy he will always be.

the pope's visit to bangladesh and myanmar has officially drawn to a close as he returns home. the plight of rohingya muslim refugees cast a long shadow over the six—day trip — with the pope using the word rohingya for the first time in public just yesterday. our correspondent in bangladesh, yogita limaye, has more on what to take away from the pope's visit. on his final day in bangladesh, pope francis visited a church. he presided over a meeting of priests and nuns from the country and live and nuns from the country and live and it up with his humour. ending on and it up with his humour. ending on a lighter note a trip that has been overshadowed by a more grim reality. this is the moment that will be remembered, pope francis blessing a 12—year—old girl who has lost her entire family. she was among 16

refugees he met on friday and for the first time during the six—day trip pope francis used the name that these people call themselves. the name of god today is rohingya, he told an auditorium packed today with people from different religions. it isa people from different religions. it is a contentious term because the government of myanmar do not recognise the rohingya as an ethnic group. they label them as bengalis and label them as illegal immigrants. by using the word in bangladesh pope francis has addressed some of the criticism he faced for not being more outspoken in myanmar. a few days earlier at a meeting with the country's t factor leader, aung san suu kyi, he had skirted around the issue. translation: the future of myanmar must be peace, a piece based on respect for the dignity and rights of each member of society, respect

for each ethnic group and its identity. respect for the rule of law and respect for democratic order. it has been a tightrope walk for one of the most influential leaders in the world. in myanmar he was advised to be cautious, to ensure there were no repercussions for the christian minority in the country. but in bangladesh, face—to—face with people who have gone through extreme loss and persecution, he decided diplomacy was no longer an option. he decided diplomacy was no longer an option. a driver is recovering from a terrible ordeal which saw his band teacher over a bridge. emergency services were called to the scene on the northbound carriageway before six yesterday morning. pc martin willis tweeted about how he had to grab the vehicle stopping it from swinging. glad it all ended well. it

could have ended so much worse. thanks to his effort to prevent a terrible follow one. the christmas period is often said to be challenging for parents with children with autism. the unfamiliarity of a tall can make it a difficult time for families. john maguire has been to visit santa's grotto with a difference, one that has been adapted to become autism friendly. as the song goes, it'is the most wonderful time of the year, but not for everyone. i used to hate christmas because he never got it, he did not want presents and it is his birthday on new year's day so we miss out on everything. julie's13—year—old sonjoe has autism and in the past, christmas has been difficult for the whole family. we could not wrap the presents for a few years because he couldn't bear the noise of them opening. the autism affects his senses and blocks him from understanding things and we would have to reduce everything. so you don't have a big celebration and everything

is kept on the down low. but as he's got older we've been able to expand every year and add an extra element at christmas, so this year he will have his presents wrapped and i am looking forward to that. julie approached her local garden centre in liverpool and suggested this — silent santa night, designed for children with autism. the music is quieter, there are no queues and julie has trained father christmas and his elves on what to say and, crucially, what not to say to the children. have you been a good boy? that could really stress somebody out. just little tips where they can say, "just try to be the best that you can be," or "have you been the best that you can be?" rather than challenging the child. i like it turned off, really quiet i like it. a few weeks ago we met oscar and his family who told us about the difficulties they face when going shopping. tonight a very excited and very happy oscar is doing

something his parents say would usually be just too much for him. i will give it to the elves when i get back to the north pole. are you real? of course, i am the real santa. do you want to see my beard? a really nice experience. we often avoided santa's grottos at christmas time because of oscar's condition. it could be the lights, the sensory overload, but coming here he was so excited. he is able to engage and understand the whole process, which is not what we would experience in general. what else did he tell you he was going to do to your list? take it to the elves to the north pole. it is a long way. it is hoped these nights will become commonplace, ensuring christmas is special for as many children as possible. goodbye, john.

goodbye, oscar. let's ta ke let's take a look at the weather prospects and i wonder how festive they are? it has been a slow and subtle process but most of us are now feeling something a bit milder. there has been cloud around, pretty great conditions for some today. i am hopeful we will see more sunshine tomorrow. this evening and overnight there will be large areas of clouds. patchy rain moving down into england and wales. as the skies clear out across scotland, there could be apache frost, but generally speaking those temperatures on sunday morning will be higher than of recent. some patchy drizzle in the south which will clear away and tomorrow should bring afairamount will clear away and tomorrow should bring a fair amount of sunshine. one narrow stripe of cloud and some

patchy rain flirting with western areas. on the chilly side up to the north east, in the southwest ten or 11. on monday and tuesday slightly higher temperatures, generally cloud, but it will be mostly dry. hello. this is bbc news. there's growing criticism over the actions of two former police officers who leaked allegations that legal pornographic images had been found on a work computer of the cabinet minister, damian green. president trump has insisted there was "absolutely no collusion" between his campaign and moscow, after his former national security adviser admitted lying to fbi about his meetings with russian officials. the us senate has passed a tax reform bill — president trump's first big legislative achievement.