this is bbc news. i'm ben brown. the headlines at three. britain and russia admit relations are at their worst for years — on a visit to moscow the foreign secretary says he hopes they'll improve. there is no point in us sitting on the sidelines and complaining about each other, we have to engage. theresa may denies knowing about allegations of inappropriate conduct against damian green before she promoted him. after catalan separatist parties win a majority in the region's elections — spain's prime minister says he's prepared to talk. translation: i hope that now, in catalonia, we will have a new phase based on dialogue, cooperation and plurality. police in wales say they've foiled several dangerous far—right extremist attacks in the last three years. also in this hour — preventing plastic pollution. calls for deposits on plastic

bottles and free drinking water fountains, to protect the seas from plastic debris. millions are expected to be on the move today as the christmas getaway begins. music and in the race to christmas number one — can ed sheeran hold off competition from eminem and wham to make it a perfect christmas? we'll speak to a music journalist later this hour. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. the foreign secretary borisjohnson has acknowledged there are "serious difficulties" in the relationship between russia and the uk —

he's on the first visit to moscow by a british foreign secretary for more than five years. in a tense press conference, the russian foreign minister sergei lavrov rejected suggestions that russia had behaved aggressively towards the uk, but agreed that relations are at a "very low level". our moscow correspondent sarah rainsford reports. the first handshake looked warm enough, but borisjohnson came here promising to talk tough, to warn russia to stop what he called its destabilising actions. it was russia's foreign minister who set the tone. sergei lavrov said relations with britain were at a very low level, and chided the foreign secretary for such public criticism. things aren't easy, borisjohnson agreed, before baffling the russians with talk of crisps. there are increasing exports of british kettle crisps to russia. but both men agreed one thing, that after five years

without a visit by a uk foreign minister, it was time to talk face—to—face again. relations broke down over the conflict in ukraine, still unresolved, still deadly, after almost four years. theresa may recently accused russia of fermenting the crisis here. today, borisjohnson again called the annexation of crimea from ukraine "illegal". then there's syria, and russia's controversial military support for president assad. this month, vladimir putin declared mission accomplished in syria, but the threat of terrorism there, the need to build the peace now, is one that concerns britain and russia equally. so, it was that sense of common interest that the foreign secretary underlined, after talks that lasted well over the hour. there is no point in simply sitting on the sidelines and complaining about each other. we have to engage, we have to talk to each other. there were some light moments.

sergei lavrov said he trusted borisjohnson so much, he'd used his russian name, ba rys. ba rys! but there were frosty touches, as well. translation: i cannot recall any action by russia that was aggressive in relation to the uk, but we have heard accusations, even insultingly, that we support a criminal regime in syria, that we are aggressors, that we are occupiers, we annex other territories. those are all claims russia denies, even now. relations with moscow have been bad, verging on hostile. borisjohnson came here to address the reasons for that directly. there were no breakthroughs. none were expected, but the first steps towards thawing the chill have now been taken. sarah rainsford, bbc news, moscow. our diplomatic correspondent james landale is here. we've just heard a bit more from the

foreign secretary during that visit to moscow. he's been talking to stu d e nts to moscow. he's been talking to students at moscow university and he said he needed to speak frankly about the current state of the relationship between russia and the uk. my feelings today are tinged with sadness, deep sadness, because theice with sadness, deep sadness, because the ice flows did crack in the 19905, the ice flows did crack in the 1990s, but the truth is that we've i'iow 1990s, but the truth is that we've now been carried far apart on our respective bergs by the turbulent currents of recent history. and i cannot and must not conceal the obstructions in our relationship today, and as our prime minister theresa may has said, we cannot ignore the areas where we are at odds. we cannot accept the annexation of crimea, the war or rashes efforts to destabilise its

neighbours in countries in europe such as the western balkans. we disapprove of russia's sustained campaign of cyber espionage and disruption. i know that when i say this, i may accused of excessive frankness. but it still has to be said, because it is a vital part of my message that we have issues between us. serious issues that must between us. serious issues that must be addressed. that was the foreign secretary speaking. our diplomatic correspondent james landale is here. borisjohnson being boris johnson being pretty frank about the state of relations between the uk and russia. he said some people might say excessively frank but clearly laying out the huge obstacles there are. it's kind of strange that he goes to russia to rehearse the differences between the

two nations. but i think the reason he does that is because it gives him the opportunity to talk about the other side of the coin. in other words, by being frank and robust it means that he can deliver the message is that other allies also wa nt to message is that other allies also want to send to the russians. say, look, the west considers its behaviour to be unacceptable and here is why. that also allows him to get onto the other side of the coin, namely that there are other issues where their commonality is of interest. but actually the uk and the west have a vital national interest to discuss and open dialogues with russia, whether it's north korea, syria or the iran nuclear deal. he said earlier there's no point in shouting each other from the sidelines, complaining about each other, which ina complaining about each other, which in a sense implies that is what's been going on for the past few yea rs. been going on for the past few years. do you think the ice is now broken? i think they are both on the same nice talking to each other, but

it's still pretty frosty beneath their feet. as a it's still pretty frosty beneath theirfeet. as a result it's still pretty frosty beneath their feet. as a result of this visit, the first visit in five years bya visit, the first visit in five years by a british foreign secretary, there are now officials who have slightly better relations because they've had to do all the work to build up to this trip. those people i'iow build up to this trip. those people now have slightly better relationships with their russian counterparts. it means the relationship between the boris johnson and sergey lavrov is better. sergey lavrov has been foreign minister for 13 sergey lavrov has been foreign ministerfor 13 years. sergey lavrov has been foreign minister for 13 years. before that he was the ambassador to the un. borisjohnson has he was the ambassador to the un. boris johnson has been he was the ambassador to the un. borisjohnson has been foreign secretary for 18 months, he's a spring chicken. that relationship is a little bit better, which means that if for example the americans decided to pull out of the iran nuclear deal, the uk and russia are two of the nations outside iran that have to help pick up the pieces, could they do something to protect some of that deal to keep the iranians onside. that kind of

discussion needs a relationship. if you just shouting at each other from the sidelines it's hard to do that. asa the sidelines it's hard to do that. as a result of these visits, it's a little less ha rd as a result of these visits, it's a little less hard to have that kind of conversation in the future. thank you. theresa may has denied she knew about claims that the former first secretary of state damian green made inappropriate advances towards the conservative activist kate maltby — when she promoted him to serve as her deputy. yesterday ms maltby told the bbc that she had raised concerns about him with a downing street official last year. speaking this morning on a visit to cyprus, the prime minister said she only knew about the allegations when they were published in a newspaper last month. i first learnt of these allegations when kate maltby wrote about them in the times. i recognise that kate maltby was obviously extremely distressed by what had happened. damian green has recognised that, he said that in the letter he wrote to me, and he has apologised. and i think that's absolutely the right thing to do. i've been speaking to the bbc

political correspondent alex forsyth about this. it's worth remembering why damian green was sacked. it wasn't to do with those allegations by kate maltby of inappropriate behaviour, it was because he said he didn't know about a whole other matter which was pornography found on parliamentary computers in his office. he actually did know. he's a lwa ys office. he actually did know. he's always maintained that pornography wasn't his, denied he downloaded or viewed it. but it was that which led to his resignation. nonetheless, the other element to this is the wider issue of claims of sexual harassment in westminster. kate maltby, who made those claims against damian green, said the reason she's chosen to speak about this is because she is effectively saying she doesn't think enough is being done to make sure this is properly dealt with. damian green has apologised to kate maltby for making her feel

uncomfortable, although he disputes her version of events. you get the sense now that the debate has come back to what really was the origins of all of this which was whether or not people are taking allegations of sexual harassment seriously enough. all the parties have toughened their sta nce all the parties have toughened their stance in the wake of several people being named her having carried out inappropriate behaviour. i think that element of this debate will go on for some time. a 44—year—old man is being questioned on suspicion of murder, after a woman was stabbed to death while at work in a supermarket in skipton in north yorkshire. the victim — who has been named locally as 30—year—old jodie willsher — was attacked in the aldi store in front of shoppers yesterday afternoon. i spoke to our correspondent olivia richwald, who was at the scene. they're still continuing to question a 44—year—old man who was arrested yesterday on suspicion of murder. we haven't had any updates since then. it was around 3:30pm yesterday when a man burst into this supermarket and attacked and killed a supermarket worker.

she's been named locally asjodie willsher. she was 30, from the skipton area in north yorkshire, and she was a mother. customers and staff in the store pinned down the attacker and held him down until police arrived. all morning people have been coming here to the scene and laying flowers, tributes and soft toys, and paying tribute tojodie. they've described her as a lovely, bubbly, friendly, popular and kind woman. no one had a bad word to say about her. they said no one could ever have a bad word to say about her. she was the mother of a young girl, and was married and from this area. very popular, lots of friends have been here, heartbroken at the scene. it's so tragic for this to happen at any time but people have been saying how even worse it is that it's coming few days before christmas. here at the scene,

the supermarket remains closed. there is a large cordon in place covering the car park. there are police guarding the scene, and not a lot of activity to be seen in the supermarket itself. the windows are brightly lit, but when you look through them what you can see is trolleys laden with food that had been abandoned in the aisles and food waiting to be scanned at the checkouts. "high risk", dangerous far—right extremists in wales have been prevented from carrying out violent attacks in the last three years, according to a home office advisor. one man from newport was preparing for a so called "race war" by making explosives. welsh anti—terrorism police say they devote half their time to countering far right extremism. jordan davies has this exclusive report. the facebook page of a group called the infidels of south wales. among these are images of nazi salutes and slogans. it's not hard to find content from welsh organisations like this. but they aren't banned, and there is no suggestion here they are violent.

but there is concern that parts of the south wales valleys remain strongholds for the far right. nigel co—founded the violent ultra—right—wing combat 18. he was active in wales as far back as the 80s, trying to hijack causes to further his then beliefs. south wales was seen as a big area where we could not only go in and support the miners offering food and picket line support, support, but it was also very much about once we were into that community we could open up and support other things. he believes far right groups are still using these tactics here. his organisation, small steps, now works in wales educating people against the dangers of the far right. recent official figures show... nick daines works

with the home office to de—radicalise potential extremists. he says the mindset of some is becoming more extreme. i don't often come across very scary people in terms of using the kind of perspective of that person is psychopathic. but there have been a couple, one of which i'd say has been based in south wales, that was very high risk. welsh anti—terrorist police say they spend half their time countering the extreme right, but active membership of far right groups in wales is still relatively small. the headlines on bbc news. borisjohnson

boris johnson says borisjohnson says he hopes relations between britain and russia will improve, as he meets the russian foreign minister in moscow. theresa may denies she knew about allegations of inappropriate behaviour against damian green before she promoted him. she said she first learned about the allegations from a newspaper. spain's prime minister says he is willing to talk to whoever takes control of the catalan regional government, as long as they stay within the law. in sport mason crane says he's ready to make his debut for england in the fourth ashes test. it's likely the tourists will choose between him and tom curran for the boxing day match with craig overton missing out. rohit sharma equals the record for the fastest t20 international century reaching three figures injust t20 international century reaching three figures in just 35 balls in their match against sri lanka. rangers appoint graham murthy as managerfor the rest rangers appoint graham murthy as manager for the rest of the season. he had been in temporary charge

after the sacking of pedro caixinha in october. the spanish prime minister, mariano rajoy says he's prepared to hold talks with whoever takes control of the catalan regional government, as long as they stay within the law. the spanish government has been meeting to discuss the results of regional elections in catalonia which saw separatist parties win a slim majority in the new assembly. he said he hoped the elections are sure ina he said he hoped the elections are sure in a new phase of politics based on dialogue. well earlier i spoke to the bbc‘s tim willcox, and i began by asking him if calling for fresh elections had backfired on mr rajoy. madrid is trying to spin it in a different way, as you would imagine, and the spin they are putting on things is that the popular vote shows there are more people in this region who want to remain part of spain than to leave spain. the harsh political arithmetic

of the situation is that none of the unionist parties can form enough of a block here to win a majority in the catalan parliament. they need 68 seats out of 135 to form that majority, and the only parties who can would appear to be the secessionists. it's not a good day for mariano rajoy, even though he's proclaiming the victors in this election, the centre—right pro—unionist party which has emerged with the most number of seats, but as i say they can't form a coalition. mr rajoy has been speaking saying he's open to dialogue within the constitution, within the law. which will obviate any discussions about independence as far as the spanish government is concerned. mr puigdemont, the former catalan president in self—imposed exile in brussels, has been speaking as well and he's been calling for dialogue and saying that spain

can't have it any other which way now. basically that referendum he called on october the 1st when 90% of people voted in favour of separatism on a turnout of under 50%, now that spain has called these elections with a turnout of 82%, this is the will of the catalan people, according to carles puigdemont. people should pay a deposit on plastic bottles, to try to protect the seas from the devastating effects of plastic pollution — that's the call from a group of mps. the commons environmental audit committee recommends a deposit of between 10p and 20p per bottle, which would be refunded when the bottle is returned. it's also calling for more public water fountains so that people can top up refillable bottles. here's our environment analyst roger harrabin. the uk uses around 13 billion plastic bottles every year. nearly half are put into landfill, incinerated or left as litter.

many ultimately find their way into the sea. the mps are urging the government to introduce a deposit—and—return scheme for bottles as soon as possible. they want a new rule obliging all cafes, pubs and restaurants to provide free tap water so people can top up their own refillable bottles. and they want many more public water fountains. we want people to think before they leave the house, will i be needing water? to re—use the bottles they've got. we want people to be able to fill up for free in cafes and restaurants. and we want then to capture the bottles that we do use, so we have a sustainable, resource—efficient economy. but crucially, so that we end up with far fewer of these bottles in our streets and on our beaches and in the sea. the mps also propose a sliding scale of charges on plastic packaging — so firms using easy—to—recycle materials pay least, and those using complex materials paid most. ministers say they're consulting

with firms to find the best solutions to what they acknowledge is a serious problem with plastic waste. roger harrabin, bbc news. head of oceans at greenpeace will mccallum is here. thank you forjoining us. how much damage do you think plastic bottles in particular are doing to the oceans, to the world? the government committee in their report today said about 700,000 are being littered every day. that means 700,000 bottles every day are finding their way into the environment and ultimately many of them will end up in the oceans. once they are there it can take hundreds of years to break down. the initiatives proposed in this report, things like water fountains and the deposit return scheme will go a long way to tackling this immediate plastic

pollution crisis. do you think those ideas will be implemented?” pollution crisis. do you think those ideas will be implemented? i think so. i think the public really understands this issue. everyone has seen the impact of plastic pollution and wants action now. they don't wa nt and wants action now. they don't want it in a few years. what a brilliant about this report is they are saying action can be taken, deposit return schemes, water fountains, free water, all those kinds of things. the deposit scheme is something that is carried out in other countries, in germany and sweden and so on. does it work there? its operating in 17 countries and we are seeing recapture rates of up and we are seeing recapture rates of up to 95% in some countries. 95% of those 700,000 bottles is huge amounts that we could stop from getting into the oceans. up until 110w getting into the oceans. up until now we've sent a lot of plastic to china for recycling. but that's not going to happen any more. will see what happens onjanuary

going to happen any more. will see what happens on january the 1st. china has said they don't want our plastic any more and who can blame them. wejust plastic any more and who can blame them. we just need to be plastic any more and who can blame them. wejust need to be producing less of it. i think the longer term solutions, things like water fountains and alternative delivery methods needs to be the way we go. people think it's part of a healthy lifestyle, to drink lots of water so you carry plastic water bottles around but then it's a question of what you do when you've drunk the water. exactly. they are a relatively recent phenomenon. i'm sure my parents and grandparents didn't. we can find alternatives, it's easy and i think reports like this served to show how easy these steps are. thank you. drivers, rail passengers and coach travellers are being warned to expect delays as millions of people begin the christmas getaway. highways england has suspended 400 miles of roadworks — but says busy road conditions should be expected. virgin trains says strikes which were due to affect the west coast mainline have been called off.

our transport correspondent richard westcott has the latest. it's not the white christmas the kids were hoping for. the midlands motorway, shrouded in fog today. but despite the warnings, the christmas getaway seems to be running smoothly. so, a busy day for you guys? yes, busy. of course, not everyone gets christmas off. the motorways still need patrolling. well, they had called this frantic friday, because they thought that the commuter traffic would be mixing with all the holiday traffic, creating millions morejourneys. touch wood, though, despite the fog, the roads haven't been too bad so far. at the nearby services, some were taking a little break from the driving. it's been quite quiet, hasn't it? yeah, not too bad at all. it hasn't been busy at all, really. we've come from chippenham, and it's been straight through. even the junction m4 to m5 was fine. it's been quite busy, just zipping about the roads and stuff. the motorway's not been too bad, but the side roads with the snow

and stuff will be quite slippy. highways england are temporarily lifting 400 miles of road works to help ease anyjams. airports will also have their busiest day of the season — with the biggest, heathrow, handling 130,000 passengers. another christmas holiday tradition is engineering works on the railways, with a £160 million upgrade programme starting tomorrow. if you're travelling, check online. some services will be cut. some london stations will be shut or partly shut. including london bridge, where they are putting the finishing touches to a £1 billion rebuild. if you've used london bridge station over the last few years, you know how stressful it's been as they've tried to redevelop it whilst keeping it open as best they can. there's going to be lots of work going on over here over christmas so that these five platforms can open onjanuary the 2nd.

it's more frustration for holiday travellers. so why do it at christmas? we do it at this time of year because the railway is closed anyway on christmas day and boxing day. but also, at this time of year, about 50% fewer people travel by train, so in terms of the overall level of impact on passengers, this is the best time of year to do it. back on the roads, it could be busy later today, tomorrow and when the shops are back open after christmas. a bit worrying for adults... well, yeah, it was kind of hyped up, but we were going to have to make the journey either way. we kind of prepared for it, but it's been a lot better than we thought it would be. but some have got other things on their mind. happy christmas! richard westcott, bbc news, on the m5. an incident at bristol airport involving a plane has been causing

significant delays there. let's get the latest from our reporter. at 11:36am a flight was coming in from frankfurt. as it came down on the ru nway frankfurt. as it came down on the runway it left the runway while taxiing. we don't know how that's been caused yet but all the 25 passengers on board are safe. they we re passengers on board are safe. they were taken into the airport by coach. at the moment that plane is being towed away from the runway so that has been causing a of disruption. we know that 16 arrivals been diverted, and there are five cancellations. as for departures, there are five cancellations there as well and eight flights worth of passengers waiting around in the airport to find out what's happening. we've had some tweets coming in, nigel says there are scenes of utter chaos inside the airport at the moment. as you can imagine it is one of the busiest travel days of the year with the run—up to christmas. 190,000

passengers are due to travel from here through the airport until the 1st of january. the advice is checked before setting off, look at the airport website and will bring you more when we know. lets see how the weather is affecting frantic friday. good afternoon. the festive forecast is a pretty mild and cloudy one across many parts of the country. a lot of dry weather as we head through into the evening and overnight with low cloud, hill fog and drizzle moving in across cloud, hill fog and drizzle moving in across western cloud, hill fog and drizzle moving in across western parts. slightly clearer conditions further east but mild where ever you are with those temperatures, overnight holding at 8-10. temperatures, overnight holding at 8—10. turning windy in the north, particularly from northern scotland where we'll see some wet weather. mostly dry elsewhere with that breeze breaking up. temperatures around 10—12. then heading through

into christmas eve, the rain pushes further south across central scotla nd further south across central scotland and northern ireland. there could be some localised flooding the parts of scotland. dreyer further south but breezy and mild wherever you are. no great changes for christmas day as the rain moves further south. mild, christmas day as the rain moves furthersouth. mild, breezy and mostly dry further south. bye—bye. this is bbc news — our latest headlines... the foreign secretary, borisjohnson, has met his russian counterpart sergei lavrov in moscow. he acknowledged there are "serious difficulties" between the countries, but said he wanted the situation to improve. the prime minister has denied that she knew about claims of inappropriate behaviour made against damian green before she appointed him first secretary of state. theresa may says she wasn't made aware until she read the allegations in the press. the spanish prime minister, mariano rajoy, says he's willing to talk to whoever takes control of the catalan regional government, as long as they stay within the law.

his comments come after separatist parties won a majority in the region's elections. drivers, rail passengers and coach travellers are being warned to expect delays as millions of people begin the christmas getaway. as well as the usual commuter traffic, christmas travellers will add to the congestion on the roads, while rail disruption is expected to add to "frantic friday" on the transport networks. let's get the latest sport news... cricket and football to come. we start with cricket... the ashes might be lost but england still have selection issues to consider with the fourth test starting on boxing day. with craig overton expected to miss the game, they're likely to decide between two potential debutants for the mcg. if they pick mason crane, the 20—year—old would become the youngest specialist spinner

to make his debut for england since 1927. and he'd be playing at the home of the greatest leg spinner in history, shane warne. we have had a couple of charts in the morning, we will catch up more as the tour goes on. he is the best ever and i want to pick his brains. what did he say? nothing yet about bowling just yet. we will wait until he can say me up close and personal. hopefully i will get a goal in the next couple of games and he can then let me know. meanwhile, rohit sharma has equalled the fastest century in t2o international history this afternoon in india's match against sri lanka. he reached three figures in just 35 balls — the same as south africa's david miller. rohit was eventually out for 118 — a record high score for india. rangers have appointed graeme murty as manager until the end of the season. he's been in temporary charge since the sacking of pedro caixinha and had been given thejob until the end of the year at least after the club failed

in their attempts to talk to aberdeen boss derek mcinnes about taking over. rangers are currently third in the scottish premiership. stoke manager mark hughes says he doesn't recognise stories that he has only one game to save hisjob. they're just above the premier league bottom three after only one win in their last eight games and reports have surfaced that defeat in their next match against west brom could spell the end of his four—a—half—year reign. hughes says, "the longer it goes on, clearly, the more difficult it gets. but i don't sense any apprehension about where we are." finally, cricket has only been included at the commonwealth games once — that was back in 1998, with south africa beating australia in the final. but now, with birmingham being awarded the event for 2022, there's a chance it could return. but it's not clear whether the competition would be men's, women's or mixed. it needs to work for everyone. and

we just need to see what that looks like. but i think it would be a disservice to speculate on exactly what that is going to look like. what is important is that cricket does have a place in the commonwealth games, it is one of the optional sports in our constitution so it already has its mark, it is just how we make that happen. that's all the sport for now. lizzie greenwood—hughes will have more for you in the next hour. many thanks. for nearly 30 years, britons have been carrying these burgundy passports, the common colour of the eu. but it's been confirmed this will change when britain leaves. the home office has announced that the covers will revert to blue from 2019. the new design won't carry the eu insignia and for some brexit campaigners the colour blue has become a symbol of independence. let us discuss this. joining me in the studio is journalist and editor of standpoint magazine, danieljohnson, and ash sarkar,

senior editor at novara media. thanks to both of you. firstly, you think this is quite good? going back to the blue passport? although it has been called a return to the iconic blue british passport but it is not going to be exactly like the old one? no, it will be a modern, high—tech passport with biometrics and all that stuff. we have not yet been told what the wording will be, whether it will still be her britannic majesty and all that, i imagine it also citizens rather than subject these days. to see this as going back is perhaps not quite the right way to do it, this is not about nostalgia, this is about britain being proudly independent, reasserting its sovereignty, its independence and values. i think

that cannot be bad. how on earth could we continue to have the old burgundy passport when we are no longer part of the eu? ash, we have heard from nigel farage saying of return to british passports means we are coming —— becoming a proper country again, getting our individuality and national identity back? in a literal sense, passport is all about national identity but this idea that britain was not a sovereign country with the burgundy passport is nonsense. the eu has never had the power to impose —— impose passport designs and britain voluntarily changed its design to what is a fetching burgundy back in the 80s under thatcher and any other eu nations have kept individual designs, including some quite nice shades of blue, a nice black number that i'm quite keen on and i find this shade of scillonion quite tacky. after brexit, would you be

happy to keep the current burgundy passport but without the words eu on it? i am indifferent. the reason is i think this is quite a cheap and hollow victory and the reason why nigel farage has hailed this as the first major win for leaving voters is actually because brexit negotiations have not been covering this nation's political classes in glory and a recent report by the financial times showed that output is zero. 9% lower than it would have been had we voted to stay in the eu, costing roughly £350 million each week andl costing roughly £350 million each week and i thought this was supposed to be going towards the nhs. to discuss nigel farage further, busy overstating this when he says this return to the blue british passport is getting our country back again and getting our individuality and

national identity back? is that an overstatement? of course! but passports do matter in the same way that other symbols of national identity manager, such as currency, the pound sterling, or the flag, the unionjack, the pound sterling, or the flag, the union jack, these things the pound sterling, or the flag, the unionjack, these things matter to people and everyone has a passport, practically. so we do mind what it says on it and what colour it is and that sort of thing. more interesting than just discussing whether or not we like the shade of blue is thinking, what is this about? what does it mean? and will britain step up does it mean? and will britain step up to the plate and show that it still has something unique to offer the world? i would agree that during the world? i would agree that during the 40 years or so we were in the eu, it did not mean that we lost all identity but it did mean that a lot of decisions were being taken that we re of decisions were being taken that were not really accountable, that

the british people did not have com plete the british people did not have complete discretion in. that is what is changing. that is a challenge from us as a country, to show that we know how to use this new independence. daniel says is a lot of political implications wind up in that little thing we call a passport. most people don't really care, 36% of people wanted to change to the blue passport and this will revert to a 1920s style british but, this is an exercise in imperial nostalgia, not about britain being independent but having a very narrow sense of what it means to be in the and it is in the - and it is a dominant in the world and it is a history of violence that lots of people in this country feel quite queasy about. the thing about symbols is their meaning is fundamentally illusory. i would agree that brexit could have the potential to be an exercise in popular empowerment but that is not what we are seeing, we have a highly

unaccountable government with theresa may and cabinet secretary is telling us different things every day in the press and yet it lurches on and the thing about the true political meaning of this moment is not quite being seized and instead we re not quite being seized and instead were being thrown cheap wins. we're out of time. very interesting to hear both sides of the argument. thank you very much indeed. thank you for your time. a leading cyber—security expert says parents must become much more tech savvy to stop hackers turning toys against their children. professor bill buchanan of edinburgh napier university studies threat analysis, cryptography and digital forensics. he also hacks internet—connected toys to highlight the possible pitfalls. hejoins us from he joins us from glasgow to explain more about this. joining me now from glasgow to explain more is bbc scotland's science correspondent, kenneth macdonald. are hackable toys something we need

to worry about this christmas? it is christmas, but this is all year round so many digital toys flying off the shelves at the moment. it is worth thinking about and not just perhaps moment. it is worth thinking about and notjust perhaps santer‘s advisers who are telling him what to purchase but also there might be unexpected connected toys coming into the house as a result of doting relatives. with any kind of connected device, notjust a toy, people are going to try to crack it and they will try to get in there in some way, the moment it goes on the web. if you are lucky these are people wearing white hats, these hackers will try to find and exploit and warn people about it, if it is a black cat hacker, they might try to do something dodgy and they might also put that on the internet for everybody else. there are issues

surrounding that but let me show you something i have prepared earlier. isn't as good? grown—ups can connect the toy to a nap, tickle it and record a message for the youngster to pick up. hello! nice to hear from you, hope to hearfrom to pick up. hello! nice to hear from you, hope to hear from you soon. it has received the message. we then use this in here to play back the message. hello, nice to hear from you... what could possibly go wrong? somebody else can hack into the toy to leave a kind of messagejunior might not like. exterminate! annihilate, destroy! professor buchanan is an expert in cyber—security but warns this is a game anybody can play. there are very few things that can hide from the internet, once something has been broken the whole world can do better. the company that makes the teddy bear says they are already

improving their toys against vulnerabilities but elsewhere the growing number of connected toys means the number of hacks is growing. this has become a poster girlfor growing. this has become a poster girl for the vulnerabilities of connected toys. she has been banned in germany as a security risk. the professor says it means santa and those advising him need to be more tech savvy. if the toy is going to connect to the internet and be available, they need to understand the risks involved in that. toys are just one aspect of the internet of things to which increasing numbers of household objects are connected. inexpensive security cameras can be hijacked to keep an eye on their owners and you could be looking at a spy owners and you could be looking at a spy in yourfront owners and you could be looking at a spy in your front room right now. the television is smart, your tv connects to the internet and can listen to you and make sense of what you are saying. santa could be bringing the wi—fi cattle but some of them have security holes. the

default passport is 000 and along with this, this particular kettle gives away your wi—fi password. with this, this particular kettle gives away your wi-fi password. the manufacturer says this is an old version and it has been updated to remove the issue and those currently available are safe. kenneth, still with us, where does the responsibility lie when it comes to privacy? with the consumers or manufacturers? both. this is sociological as well as technological as an issue, manufacturers fighting the onward rush of people trying to hack equipment using sophisticated ways. it is also about us taking for granted this digital technology. and no checking for things like, what is the default password on this? doesn't have a lock—out? the default password on a security camera was

123456, which you could have guessed or maybe have got by using a programme that downloads from the web and does a brute force attack to fight its way in. there are these issues to be considered all the time and because people will always try to exploit this and try to fight back, connected toys and items like kettles, it is what they call the internet of things, growing all the time under new frontier. as with any frontier land, you find that those in the blackouts have their fun before the law turns later on. thank you very much, kenneth macdonald, science correspondent. in a moment, a summary of the business news this hour. but first, the headlines on bbc news. borisjohnson hopes relations between britain and russia will improve, he has been meeting the russian foreign minister in moscow. theresa may denies she knew about allegations of inappropriate behaviour against damian green before promoting him, saying she

first learned about them in a newspaper. spain's prime minister says he's willing to talk to whoever ta kes says he's willing to talk to whoever takes control of the catalan regional government, as long as they stay within the law. in the business news... it's been a big year in the world of business and economics for the uk. we'll hear from a leading economist about what it all means and what we can expect for the new year. britain's biggest high street bookie is gobbled up by its online rival, gvc, who own foxy bingo. the deal is worth about £4 billion. the deal follows mounting pressure on the industry over betting machines, which have been blasted as the "crack cocaine of gambling" by shadow culture secretary tom watson. and turning the tide on plastic pollution in our seas. mps says people should pay a deposit on plastic bottles to help cut waste. the report also wants free drinking water fountains at all places that serve food and drink.

so a snapshot of the economy as 2017 comes to a close. a good year for the stock markets — notjust in the uk but around the world. morale amongst consumers is sinking, inflation is higher than wage growth, which means people generally feel poorer. the us economy is booming, but every think of mrtrump, the us economy is booming, but every think of mr trump, and if you want to do with money you could have made a fortune out of bitcoin. getting in and out at the right point. tom stevenson is with fidelity international. why has the uk done so well in terms of the stock market? was that a surprise? it came as a little bit of a surprise because if you look at the headwinds for the uk economy, they have been significant. the

growth rate has slowed down progressively as the year has gone by with a lot of uncertainty about brexit. and we have seen rising inflation with lots of bad headlines about the productivity gap in the uk. but the uk stock market is a pretty international market, it benefits from growth around the world and we can see that everywhere. a pretty synchronised pick—up in activity around the world. that is good news. the other good news is the pound has fallen, which means all of those company earnings from around the world are worth more when converted back into pounds. what about the us? a lot of the excitement about the us stock market is based on the tax cuts, and even as we speak i think president trump is signing into law at the moment and that really has been the generator of all this excitement and profit? that is true. but actually, the us stock market was rising a

long time before the tax reforms came into effect and if you look at trump's first year in office, what it is notable for is what he did not achieve, there wasn't the trade wars that he promised, he did not build the mexican wall and wasn't the infrastructure spending. but with these tax reforms that he has pushed throughjust these tax reforms that he has pushed through just before christmas, that isa game through just before christmas, that is a game changer. that would increase the profitability of us businesses by six or 7%. and that is going to help the stock market in the us, which is highly valued, but those rising profits will mean the valuations fall to more reasonable levels. we have to talk about bitcoin. i have been watching that today. it is entertaining, it has gone up to around £18,000 and then down to around £7,000 in the space of ours. what is going on? it is like tulip or is some value?

something to be invested in at some point? it feels to me like a classic investment bubble. it is difficult to know what the value of bitcoin is, it is difficult to know what bitcoin is, it is a currency or commodity? nobody is sure. for the price to go from less than $1000 to nearly $20,000 in less than one year really smacks of a bubble and what we have seen over the past week is a dramatic change around, losing around 45% of the value in the last week and just today it was down by 396. i week and just today it was down by 3%. i think it could go further, to be honest. tom stevenson, thank you very much. are you prepared for christmas? are you aware of your right to return goods? helen dewdney is a consumer expert at a company called the complaining kyle. it doesn't,

big stores well but they are under no legal obligation to do so unless the item is faulty. because they are under the shredder are under no obligation to refund for any change of mind, you should be grateful for a credit note or a gift voucher because they are under no obligation to do so. if they do give you something, take that with open arms. you have more rights if you bought online because you have the cooling off period of around 14 days. and if the goods are faulty. you do have rights to return. one other story you might like to look up on the business live web page — the german shoemaker birkenstock is stopping selling shoes on amazon because it says the online retailer is doing nothing to stop fraudsters who sell fake birkenstock products. amazon says this is not true. more on that bbc. co. uk/news/business. and a quick look at the markets...

the ftse is down. ladbrokes has been taken over, only up 2.5 pence. and the eurostock. .. the taken over, only up 2.5 pence. and the eurostock... the pine is weak against the euro. just under 1.13. and that is the business news. thank you. from the financial charts to the music charts... this afternoon at 5.45pm the christmas number one for 2017 will be announced, and this year the race is between ed sheeran's latest single and some golden oldies from christmases past. let's have a listen to some of the contenders. # i never knew you were the someone waiting for me. # ‘cause we were just kids when we fell in love. # not knowing what it was. # i will not give you up this time. # but darling, just kiss me slow, your heart is all i own.

# i don't want a lot for christmas. # there isjust one thing i need. # i don't care about the presents. # underneath the christmas tree. # i don't need to hang my stocking. # there upon the fireplace. # santa claus won't make me happy with a toy on christmas day... # last christmas, i gave you my heart. # but the very next day you gave it away. # this year, to save me from tears. # i'll give it to someone special. # last christmas, i gave you my heart. # but the very next day you gave it away. you can't beat a bit of wham.

with me in the studio to see if anyone has a chance of throwing ed sheeran off the top spot is music journalist mark beaumont. when i was growing up the christmas chumbawamba such an important thing, is it still a big deal? i don't think it is quite as big a deal in terms of being difficult for a new christmas on to become part of the christmas on to become part of the christmas culture. it is very difficult for a lesser—known band to write a christmas song and get it through all of the charts and into the radio and get that big payday of having a christmas song becomes part of the whole season. less important. as we saw in that little montage, some of the oldies are coming back, wham, mariah carey. why is that? it feels like christmas is having a comeback. you have to look at the history. looking at the 70s and 80s,

it used to be there would be a bunch of bands putting a christmas songs and they were lucky enough to be number one and through the 90s that slips towards pop acts and novelty a cts slips towards pop acts and novelty acts taking charge. and then the naughties, x factor owned that and it killed off the art of the christmas single. by the time we to the point where we had charity things and online campaigns fighting back against by factor, the idea of a christmas single being number one was out the window. then we have the point were streaming comes in so we have last year, clean bandit was the christmas number one with a song that could have been a chart hit in the summer. streaming has changed things? completely. it has got to the point were just because it is christmas, people don't necessarily listen to ed sheeran less. you have to beat the other christmas songs and things people listen to anyway, ed sheeran in the running and eminem putting out an album in a period

we re putting out an album in a period were usually big names avoid that because people listen to this the same time as any the same as any other time of the year. doesn't matter to an artist being christmas number one? any pr value? it is a big payday. if you get to the point like slade or wizard, that is a regular income, every year. if you become part of that, you become part of the tradition of christmas. immortality. are people just deliberately trying to write a great, catchy christmas number one? there are loads of them, they are still making them. the killers made a christmas song every year for a number of years, there was a great album by tim wheeler. it always seems to be the same ones getting played. online shopping centres, it is always slade and those once? they became head in that period and with the likes of wham and mariah carey, this year, that is streaming. people

having christmas parties, they will be streaming the classics rather than any newer ones. it is very difficult to break through that glass ceiling. the christmas glass ceiling! we could see some contenders but we will not know until 5:45pm what is the number one this year. what is your tip? tightly run race, i would love to see one of the christmas head, like wham, getting there because of the like people getting back into the spirit of christmas. ed sheeran is a tough competitor so it is too tight to call! sitting on the fence! thank you very much. and happy christmas! lets see what the weather is doing this christmas as well. sarah has the latest. the first forecast is pretty mild and cloudy across many parts of the country with a lot of dry weather heading through this evening and tonight with low cloud,

hill fog and drizzle moving in across many western parts of the country. slightly clearer conditions further eased but mild whatever you are with temperatures overnight holding at around 8—10d. frost free starting saturday, turning windy in the north, particularly for northern scotla nd the north, particularly for northern scotland where we will have wet weather. mostly dry across the rest of the country with the presiding break up the cloud into the afternoon. temperatures around 10-12d. afternoon. temperatures around 10—12d. heading into christmas eve on sunday, the rain pushes further south across central scotland and northern ireland, who could be localised flooding parts of the west of scotland. try further south across england and wales. breezy and mild wherever you are. the rain moves further south. a wintry flurry perhaps over the mountains of scotla nd perhaps over the mountains of scotland but mostly dry further south. goodbye. this is bbc news.

i'm ben brown. the headlines at 4.00pm. britain and russia admit relations are at their worst for years — on a visit to moscow the foreign secretary says he hopes they'll improve. there is no point in us sitting on the sidelines and complaining about each other, we have to engage. theresa may denies knowing about allegations of inappropriate conduct against damian green before she promoted him. after catalan separatist parties win a majority in the region's elections — spain's prime minister says he's prepared to talk. translation: i hope that now, in catalonia, we will have a new phase based on dialogue, cooperation and plurality. police in wales say they've foiled several dangerous