hello, this is breakfast, with steph mcgovern. universities are warned they must protect free speech and allow students to both hear and challenge contorversial views. the universities minister says academic institutions should be places which open minds, not close them. good morning. it's tuesday the 26th of december. also this morning — the boxing day sales have used to be big news for bargain—hunters, but new bbc research suggests that the traditional post—christmas spending spree is losing its appeal. in sport — the boxing day test is under way. the task for england is to avoid a 5—0 whitewash in the ashes series but so far, melbourne is being kinder to australia. some parts of the uk officially had a white christmas but what can

we expect this boxing day? philip has the weather. good morning. yes. at least for some, there was a white christmas. i will have all the details on whether many more of you will see something a bit like this. good morning. first, our main story. the universities minister, jojohnson, will use a speech today to give his clearest warning yet that academic institutions must protect free speech. he'll say students must be able to both hear and challenge controversial views during their years of study. some universities and student groups have refused entry to speakers, edward curwen reports. the body said it would not allow legitimate debate to be stifled. millions are expected to head out to the boxing day sales,

marking the start of a what has traditionally been a crucial period for retailers across the uk. our reporterjohn mcmanus is on oxford street in london. there aren't many people here. 300 shops are here on 0xford there aren't many people here. 300 shops are here on oxford street. i counted less than ten people here this morning who are waiting for the shops to open at nine o'clock for the boxing day sale. we know that many people out across the high streets today trying to grab a bargain but perhaps those boxing day sales are not as spectacular as they we re sales are not as spectacular as they were in the past. a survey has said... inaudible. a bbc survey has said... inaudible. a bbc survey has said some of the shine had been taken of the boxing day sales because of the black friday sales before christmas. inaudible. sorry

about the line. basically, because we have been shopping a lot on black friday and the run—up to christmas, it is not looking like a big deal with the boxing day sales. we will be speaking about it later on. we will get the line sorted withjohn as well. the royal navy says there has been an increase in the number of russian ships travelling through, or near the uk's territorial waters over the festive period. on christmas day, hms st albans was sent to escort a russian warship through the north sea as it passed close to uk waters. defence secretary gavin williamson said he will not "tolerate any form of aggression". a british woman being held on suspicion of drug—smuggling will appear in court in egypt later this morning. laura plummer was arrested in october when officials found 290 tramadol tablets in her suitcase, which are legal in the uk, but not in egypt. the shop assistant from hull claims

she was carrying the pills for her egyptian partner, who suffers from back pain. a tropical storm that was threatening southern vietnam has weakened and is expected to dissipate within the next 48 hours. yesterday, hundreds of thousands of people were told they may need to evacuate their homes as forecasters warned that up to 200 centimetres of rain could fall. a 20—year—old man will appear before magistrates this morning charged with murder after a fatal stabbing in a restaurant in middlesbrough on christmas eve. efreeqi mohamed siddig is accused of killing 41—year—old mazhar ali from stockton—on—tees who died in hospital yesterday. the nhs has promised to cut back on prescribing gluten—free biscuits, pasta and anti—dandruff shampoo. a study by the taxpayers alliance has found many items which are prescribed by gps in england are available in supermarkets — often at a much cheaper price. nick quraishi reports. the taxpayers alliance has

highlighted a number of items it says was prescribed the nhs last year. they include this sunscreen, a nonbranded version is available for half the price. branded gluten—free biscuits, significantly more expensive than the supermarket equivalent. argue present, away from the nhs. -- equivalent. argue present, away from the nhs. —— ibuprophen. in response, and nhs england a spokesman said... the health service says it is

already reviewing ten items it claims are ineffective, unnecessary and inappropriate for prescriptions. if you've enjoyed a day of festive excess — eating and drinking a little too much — perhaps the most you want to do to exert yourself is to try and reach for the remote control. so — spare a thought for the competitors of the wingsuit flying world cup. they spent most of their christmas jumping out of planes or balloon as tim allman explains. you know what they say — what goes up must come down. a principle they understand all too well at the wingsuit flying world cup. teams from around the globe competing in this extreme and hair—raising sport. translation: i travelled more than 400 kilometres to see this. we arrived here early in the morning, just to watch the wingsuit flying show. it's spectacular!

you can say that again. a couple of skydivers perform a 360—degree rotating nosedive. while others piggybacked from their teammates. but not everybody was happy with how things turned out. translation: i think our performance this time didn't reflect our real strength. we will get to our best through regular competition. i hope we perform better next time. the chinese team finished third overall, behind the winners, france, and the united states, who came second. it is a non—profit event, and the local school received a cheque worth more than $30,000. so some charitable spirit, combined with a little heart—stopping terror. how can you get more festive than that? it has officially been a white christmas in the uk for some, with areas of cumbria and the south of scotland

recording light snowfall. the last officially white christmas was recorded three years ago, when parts of the northern isles in scotland saw some snow. more wintry showers are expected — we'll get the latest from phil in the weather centre in ten minutes. lovely pictures from yesterday. out of all the photographers waiting to snap a picture of the royal family at the christmas day service in sandringham, it was a mum from norfolk who managed to capture the perfect image. this photograph taken by karen anvil has now been used by journalists from all over the world. she says she hopes its sale will help with her daughter's university costs. that picture is on a lot of the front covers this morning. we will

look at the papers later. for many people christmas can be a very lonely time, but there are hundreds of volunteers across the uk trying to help those who feel isolated. children from the ahmadiyya muslim youth association are writing christmas cards, visiting care homes and giving out food to those in need. joining us now are the head of the organisation abdul lodhi and the yorkshire regional youth leader nadeem ahmed. yesterday we were out all over the country. visiting care homes and spending time with elderly members and just doing all sorts of welfare activities, leading homeless people. we don't actually celebrate christmas ourselves at it is a time where wejoined christmas ourselves at it is a time where we joined the nation, christmas ourselves at it is a time where wejoined the nation, as christmas ourselves at it is a time where we joined the nation, as the majority do, to show solidarity and thatis majority do, to show solidarity and that is how we get involved, i

serving a local community in any way possible. yesterday we were in yorkshire. i was with nadeem. possible. yesterday we were in yorkshire. iwas with nadeem. did you get a good reception? as you know, these people get lonely towards christmas. we just go there towards christmas. we just go there to put a smile on their face and as an act of charity. we go out of our way, at our own expense, and spend the whole day with them. we provide a free taxi service. there is no public transport here. so we go out in ourown cars public transport here. so we go out in our own cars and go to these centres, pick them up and take them to their reception where they have

every christmas day and replayed bingo. we provide toiletries and sleeping bags for the homeless people that attend and give gifts to the orphans that are also there. basically, as muslims, it turns, we are duty— bound to basically, as muslims, it turns, we are duty—bound to provide basically, as muslims, it turns, we are duty— bound to provide assistance and it is our right to fill the rights of god and to have filled the rights of god and to have filled the rights of god and to have filled the rights of man. is that the reason you do it? this is purely driven by oui’ you do it? this is purely driven by our faith. you do it? this is purely driven by ourfaith. as practising muslims, it is our obligation to serve humanity and mankind. it is notjust christmas, we do at all throughout the year. we plan our activities, we get all our youth members involved, to practise their faith at this level. not just, we

to practise their faith at this level. notjust, we can say islam means peace but we try to practise what we preach. it is a way of showing it, by helping those who are most vulnerable and this is ongoing throughout the year. notjust in the winter, around christmas time, but throughout the year. children as young as the age of seven and up until a0 young as the age of seven and up until40 in young as the age of seven and up until a0 in the ahmadiyya muslim youth association get involved. until a0 in the ahmadiyya muslim youth association get involvedm works both ways. we were talking yesterday about loneliness at christmas and it can be really tough. especially if you have some of your youth teams meeting the elderly. they get really happy seeing the young members. there is so seeing the young members. there is so much people can do, especially young members, invest their time. so much people can do, especially young members, invest theirtime. ——

in their spare time. to see the young people take part in these activities, i think it is encouraging for me to see as an organiser, that these guys want to do this. this is all driven by their faith and true teachings of islam and it is how we are all brought up within our community. nadeem. are senior citizens have given a lot to this country. there is no point sitting at home. we might as well get engaged. we go out and visit and meet these people as well and we get a good response from them and they acknowledged us as well.|j a good response from them and they acknowledged us as well. i bet you do. you have the big clear up coming up do. you have the big clear up coming up as well. to conclude our winter campaign, on new year's day we get together, we have over 130 branches

across the uk and we just encourage eve ryo ne across the uk and we just encourage everyone to engage the local council and work with them, identify an area that needs attention for clearing up and that's it. our members go out and that's it. our members go out and they just and that's it. our members go out and theyjust clear the roads. it's just picking up rubbish, basically. yes, across various areas. we work with many organisations but it is mainly with the council because they help us with giving us equipment and things like that. it is great. again, a lot of the youth members come out in the early hours of the morning and we spend a few hours every morning on new year's day and it's great to see for think probably around, —— it is great to see. we get lots of people. these guys come out and clear up with a smile on

theirfaces. out and clear up with a smile on their faces. when you have finished that, you can come and do my house. thank you so much, good luck with everything. time to find out what is happening with the weather. full of festive cheer, still? yes! ona full of festive cheer, still? yes! on a personal night, going back to that previous item, if you are suffering from loneliness, from own personal experience i can tell you that going out and litter picking in your local community is a great way of breaking down those momentous barriers and getting people to say hello and how are you and all the rest of it. it works very well. and there is plenty of litter out of there, i can assure you. enough of there, i can assure you. enough of the public service broadcast. we we re the public service broadcast. we were talking about when she weather getting into the central belt last night. lo and behold, a white christmas. . it is pretty confined,

but lots of folk up and down the eight and the higher ground on either side of the eight workup today covering this morning, several centimetres in some locations. —— the m8. there are plenty of reasons to be out and about today, the sport is on some shops are open, so be aware of the ice issue. that threat of snow pulling away into the north sea but leaving behind a peppering of showers which will become increasingly wintry across the northern half of scotland as we go through the day. showers to be had as we go into northern ireland across the high ground of northern england. generally speaking it is a much brighter and much fresher they then we have had lately. no more than ten or 12. as you can see, it is actually start. make the most of the relatively bright start in the south—west, because i lunchtime we should have the first signs of more wet and windy weather piling into the south—western quarter and becoming ever more extensive across good parts of the southern half of

the uk as we get through the uk. yesterday, this was ten or ii or 12 territory. the wind freshening up as well. away from that zone, there is plenty of sunshine around. 12 isolated showers but they will be the exception to a dry rule in that central swathe of the british isles. these showers becoming increasingly wintry, and they will be coming down to low levels. now we are not done with the wintry stuff just yet. all of that cold air is lurking there. all this moisture coming in underneath. look at this. a conversion. as that cool a row on the northern ireland western flanks of the low pressure sinks down towards the peaks and the pennines, coming into the welsh hills and into the midlands, and then for wednesday, we'd just wished that threat of snow a little bit further south and a little bit further east. lots of wet weather in there as well. if you stay with the rain, my

word, that is 35 or a5 millimetres of rain. once that is gone, there is a bright day and actually won as well. lots of weather going on at the moment. i will be back tomorrow, probably telling you about slow for the southern half of the uk. then it gets a bit unsettled those who go into that second half of the week with the fronts coming in from the atlantic. philip, i must ask, how was the bbc christmas canteen dinner? yesterday? it was right upper there, along with all the other years i have dragged the family in. that makes it sound like it is against their will, actually, they volunteer me to work so they can come in and enjoy the hospitality of the bbc. well, that says lots about your cooking. thank you. you're watching breakfast from bbc news. the main stories this morning: universities are warned by the government they must allow students to hear controversial views in order to protect free speech. boxing day bargain hunting could be losing its appeal, according to new bbc research, as shops open their doors for the traditional sales. let's take a look at

this morning's papers. no papers yesterday, of course. these are the first ones which have lots of pictures of the royal family this morning. hollyjoins us to go through the sport pages as well. this is the picture on a lot of the front covers this morning. what is interesting about this is that it is not an official photographer which took this, despite lots of karachi on the sandringham estate yesterday to capture the pictures of the royal families on the way the church service. —— paparazzi. this was actually taken by karen, he was there with her iphone. —— who was. meghan markle was the focus of lots of people there yesterday. she got on with her first official trip with the royal family. the

on with her first official trip with the royalfamily. the story on with her first official trip with the royal family. the story next to it on the times this morning, just talking about universities opening their minds of students, not closing them. this is to do with that story we re them. this is to do with that story were talking about this morning from the universities minister, joe johnson, who is morning academic —— warning academic institutions today that they should allow free speech, so that they should allow free speech, so allow any controversial speakers to bea so allow any controversial speakers to be a will to speak within academic settings. the daily express, that picture again of the royal couple there. the story there about boxing day sales, they say £a billion will be spent in the shops today. we will be talking this morning about how that will compare to previous years. there is some speculation that, actually, we are not looking too attractive for the boxing day sales. the daily telegraph, this is a story this morning which is connect it to the christmas charity appeal. they say the homeless were denied food left to waste. michael gove has said that much, much more must be done to tackle food waste. producers are

incentivised to send their surplus food to green energy plants rather than to charities to feed the vulnerable. lots of stories about the royal family and a couple of others. and sport, it is all about cricket? it is, though we haven't had much action over the past few days, so lots of the back pages are dominated by pale blue. we are talking about boxing day sales as well. this time it is the january sales we are referring to and i don't there will be many bargains. reading the headlines, unstoppable, is the premier league over already? man city miles ahead of anybody else. they are looking ahead to how much they will be spending. this caught my eye. during the ashes, it seems they are managing to have a bit of fun down under despite the 29 oi’ bit of fun down under despite the 29 or 30 degrees heat. jonny bairstow, tom curren and stuart broad enjoying christmas festivities with santa claus in the background as well. they were only going to get away

with that on boxing day, they would criticise them to christmas day. did you have a good day yesterday? yes, i ate far too much, like everybody else, but it was lovely. it was really nice to relax and see family and eat far too much turkey. you didn't fancy throwing yourself into the sea, did you? lots of people seem the sea, did you? lots of people seem to have done that yesterday. it is really interesting. i go to the boxing day version, up in the north—east where i am from, and all the people who, in various costumes, will run into the ocean. it is incredible. who wants to do that on christmas morning? lots of people, apparently. there is a group of people dressed as mermaids. it must be absolutely baltic. hundreds of christmas swimmers, they say, enjoying a festive dip, singing as they ran in. you would have to sing, just to... just to keep your mind off it. i think i will stick to the

onesie. yes, the onesie in front of the telly. now, more about cricket? well, talking about being cold, that isn't a problem for the england team in australia. they are into their fourth test now, the penultimate test. but already, as we know, the series has already gone to australia. they have won the ashes. we just need a bit of pride, don't we? it can't be 5—0? we just need a bit of pride, don't we? it can't be 5-0? can you |magine? we? it can't be 5-0? can you imagine? this is the concern now, a whitewash, which has happened in the past and it is something england will be trying to avoid. england have some work to do if they're to avoid going a—0 down in the series. david warner punished the england bowlers again, making a century. the tourists did recover slightly, taking two wickets between lunch and tea, and another in the final session, but tom curran's debut hasn't gone as he'd have liked and australia are now 208/3. football's festive fixtures continue with eight games today, leaders manchester city play newcastle tomorrow but in this

afternoon's early kick—off, tottenham meet southampton with harry kane looking to break a record held by alan shearer. kane's hat—trick in saturday's win over burnley put him level with shearer on 36. manchester united's task today is to narrow the huge ia—point gap between themselves and manchester city at the top of the table. they're at home to burnley today. united slipped up at the weekend, allowing leicester to equalise in injury time, but burnley manager sean dyche knows that doesn't mean his side will get an easy ride. they still look a high—quality group of players to me. i was there recently, about to dig in and get a win, actually, but that is a mark of a good side. if it is not quite fair day or the other team are playing well, still out with a result. i do think we are going there expecting it to be anything other than a tough

game. in the late kick—off, liverpool host bottom of the table swansea, who are still looking for a new manager after sacking paul clement last week. liverpool's last game was their 3—0 draw with arsenal on friday, so they've had an extra day to recoverfor this match — but managerjurgen klopp knows a side in trouble is a dangerous one. they are under pressure. and that's clear, because they are fighting for the league, 100%. we will be ready and we will perform. just one game in the scottish premiership this afternoon with champions celtic away to dundee. we will be keeping an eye on england overin will be keeping an eye on england over in melbourne to see how they are getting on, but fingers crossed, we don't want another whitewash. yes, that would be embarrassing. are the boxing day sales still enough to get us off the sofa and down to the shops? with black friday forcing many retailers to cut prices as long ago as november, the majority of shoppers surveyed by bbc radio a's you & yours programme said

the sales had lost their sparkle, as samantha fenwick reports. savinda and her daughterjotie meet up savinda and her daughterjotie meet up every weekend to go shopping and look for bargains. i have waited with people outside, and then gone into the store, and found lovely bargains. but this boxing day, the high street sales don't have the same appeal. sales are on all the time and i'm always getting emails from shops saying, you can it cheaper beforehand and things like that. so i don't be doing anything like that, i'll be in bed. they are here again, the sales and the queues. you can't afford to miss a good light in these days. some all—night cures receive a morning

surprise, a cuppa to warm them up for the battle ahead. the post- christmas sales, a festive tradition in the uk. retailers called it the golden quarter, the discount starting on boxing day when important part of the three months at the end of the year. retailers hope to boost their profits and shoppers to get a bargain. you can get almost anything at these sales. it has changed over the years, though. this is the boxing day sale only five years ago. shoppers didn't cube quite a sedately as in the 19505. but would they do the same today? we asked more than 1000 shoppers what they thought of the boxing day sales, and more than half of them think they have lost the appeal they once had. virtually nobody we survey said they would be getting up early this morning to beat the queues. they have in overshadowed by other sales that run throughout the year. particularly black friday. this year, over a0% of us black friday. this year, over a0% of us bought something on black friday, and that means we spent a lot of christmas money already on the can't

spend money twice. shoppers expect things to be discounted and discounted heavily, and if retailers don't offer great deals, shoppers go somewhere else. yet despite this apparent addiction to discounting, 62% of people we survey believe that ifa 62% of people we survey believe that if a shop always has a sale on, it devalu es if a shop always has a sale on, it devalues the brand. jenny parky is the co—founder of country attire, an online shop selling 180 different brands. it can be extremely damaging for a brand to always be on sale. it is important to be very strategic about when you discount. the brands which are doing well never really have blanket discount sales. they are the ones which are really forensic as to what pricing they go out, and when they go. have you got everything you need ? out, and when they go. have you got everything you need? nothing is more frustrating than when you buy something for price and the prices are constantly getting slashed down. it feels as though they must be struggling. how can they afford to sell it so cheap? retailers are struggling. on petition to get

shoppers spending is as fierce as ever. online and on the high—street. and with family budgets predicted to get tighter next year, it looks like the year—round sale is here to stay. an incredible hat. snapper is here to tell us more. good morning. he was giving us a round of applause with his legs. they are cracking, these hats, aren't they? on the topic of sales, this is something i talk about a lot on this programme with retailers struggling, it does feel, doesn't it, like wejust with retailers struggling, it does feel, doesn't it, like we just of sales or the time. constant sales all year round. they may have started before black friday but there is a real impetus on black friday and from black friday right up friday and from black friday right up until christmas, right up until today. they will be on sale. if you look at your box, there will be lots of different sales offering you 30%

of different sales offering you 30% of this ao% of different sales offering you 30% of this a0% of that, and you wonder how some of them can actually do that. what they are doing, i think they are trying to get us to buy more stuff at a discount —— discounted price. that is how they make their money back on the sales they have going on. is there a difference, in terms of generations, between how people spend during the sales and the festive period? our survey shows it is merely a people who are shopping in the sales, but the black friday sales and the people that we have asked, we asked them if they thought they might be shopping today in the post— christmas sales, and it is mainly people under 35. the other difference that we have seen since five years ago when we saw people queueing up at next, people are shopping online, so they are using their tablets and their phones. they are checking out deals. so if you are checking out deals. so if you are going to go and look for something today, look online first, see where