this is bbc news. i'm annita mcveigh. the headlines at nine: universities must protect free speech and "open minds, not close them", or face the consequences. a warning prices for many everyday items will rise unless the government focuses on replacing trade agreements after brexit. millions of shoppers are expected to head out to the boxing day sales today. but a bbc survey finds them not as popular as they used to be. the doors are opening here at selfridge's on oxford street in central london. these shoppers have been queueing here before dawn, but have these sales lost their allure? also in the next hour, monitoring territorial waters. a royal navy frigate spending christmas day escorting a russian frigate through the north sea, one of several russian ships to pass close to the

uk in recent days. how on mother managed to get the best snap of the royal family. and australia's batsmen get the better of england's bowlers yet again as they take command on the opening day of the fourth ashes test. and sir bruce forsyth, liz dawn and sir roger moore — just a few of those who left us this year, and whose lives are celebrated in review 2017: we remember — that's in half an hour. hello. good morning and welcome to bbc news. 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. time spent at university must open minds, not close them. that's the view ofjojohnson, the universities minister, who will today set out a firm defence of free speech on campus. that's the view ofjojohnson, the universities minister, who will today set out a firm defence of free speech on campus. speaking at a jewish cultural festival in birmingham, he will say students must be free to challenge each other‘s views, and groups seeking to stifle those who do not agree with them must be stopped. his defence of open debate comes after speakers on subjects from the state of israel to transgender rights have faced bans, sometimes by student unions, for having views considered inappropriate. others have demanded so—called safe spaces, where they won't hear about issues they may find upsetting. mrjohnson will say this cannot be tolerated, reiterating universities have an obligation to protect free speech and encourage frank and rigorous debate. from next april, a new regulator, the office for students,

will have the power to fine universities that fail to uphold free speech. the body representing british universities said it would not allow legitimate debate be stifled. the challenge for university leaders will be deciding where to draw the line between extremist speech and a frank exchange of views. edward curwen, bbc news. let's speak now to tom slater, he's a senior editor of spiked magazine, that champions free speech. thank you forjoining us. do you agree with the basic premise of what joejohnson is agree with the basic premise of what joe johnson is going agree with the basic premise of what joejohnson is going to be saying today? i agree with the premise in so today? i agree with the premise in so far as free speech is important. we run free speech in the university rankings. we found last year that 65% of universities severely censor speech. but what i think he gets wrong is what we need to do about that. i think the approach needs to

be different. it could be counter—productive. .. tom, we are having difficulty hearing you. we will persist for a little longer and see if the line improves. in terms of the fines being talked about for universities... i'm told we've lost that line completely. apologies for that. we will try to get back to him hopefully with a better line, that was tom slater. prices for many everyday items will rise unless the government focuses on replacing trade agreements which will no longer apply when britain leaves the eu. the department for exiting the european union said it is committed to continuing current trade and investment deals. but the chief executive of the british retail consortium says about 80 current deals would be lost when britain left the eu, and replacing the would be a big task. the job in

hand is focusing on those trade arrangements and replicating the bits particularly from the point of view of uk consumers, and we are talking here about everyday products that people buy week in, week out. fish from norway, wine from south africa, clothes from turkey. so all of those products that are on our shelves or on websites we are buying from everyday, each of those have lower ta riff rates from everyday, each of those have lower tariff rates on them that would exist if we didn't have those deals in place. what we are trying to do with the research that we have gathered from our membership, so from many of the retailers in this country, is to highlight which countries are the ones that are most important for what people in the uk are buying every day, and south africa and turkey are the top two of those. and really just africa and turkey are the top two of those. and reallyjust put a little bit of focus on it, given as you say the focus up to now has been all about the relationship with the eu.

let's recognise that there is another world out there which is the relationship with all of those other countries, and that has an impact on uk consumers. palin dickenson from the british retail consortium. millions of shoppers are expected to head out to the boxing day sales today. it marks the start of a what has traditionally been a crucial period for retailers across the uk. but the majority of shoppers surveyed by bbc radio 4's you & yours programme believe online shopping and early black friday deals have made the post christmas sales less appealing. let's get a sense of what it is like out there. john mcmanus is on the uk's busiest shopping street — oxford street in central london. certainly there is a kuwait you are, but is it fair to say that the boxing day sales have lost something of the appeal they have had in previous years? —— certainly there isa previous years? —— certainly there is a queue where you are. accuse

started outside selfridge's, and it is certainly a very enthusiastic queue, people keen to get inside and get some bargains, many people whispered to quite excited about it. but there is a concern that the boxing day sales don't have the usual poll. we know some of that is because of the growth of online sales. traders have been very good at getting people to sit down at la pto ps at getting people to sit down at laptops and buy online, and we know that much of that started yesterday on christmas day when people sat down when they received online gift vouchers and started shopping. that is one of the problems for retailers, and a bbc survey also believe that many people believe black friday, the discount day before christmas, takes some of the sheen off boxing day sales, so retailers might have to make a decision about where they are going to target their christmas discounts, before or after christmas, but certainly much enthusiasm here, and we know that retailers are notjust

counting on brits to come out and buy, but also members of the tourists here in london to also do the same, because many of them are going to be spending quite heavily here. in fact the trade association which represents oxford street says a third of the sales that will happen over the following week will be by people who aren't british, tourists, visitors, and they are the people who are helping these shops keep going, and retailers are glad they are here. it certainly seems you can find a sale any time of the year these days. but are people still spending the same amount? that is another key question. some of the spending might have shifted towards black friday rather than boxing day, but are they still spending overall the same amounts of money, or is that dropping? that is a key question for retailers as they look at their accounts, isn't it? retailers have told us that spending has been going up. it went up last year on boxing day sales, and it is going up again this year, they predict. they are just worried that

the growth isn't as large as it has beenin the growth isn't as large as it has been in recent years, and that is partly as i said because of their own su ccess partly as i said because of their own success in getting people online, and also because people are very canny now. they know that many shops are having sales notjust on boxing day or black friday but in many other parts of the year as well. so they are holding onto their money and being cautious and clever shoppers, and they are waiting for the best bargains at the best time of year that them. thank you for that, john mcmanus on oxford street in central london. we are going back to our top story, the universities ministerjo johnson is going to give a speech later warning that academic institutions must protect free speech. we had a little problem with the sound on an interview earlier, but we return now to tom slater, senior editor of spiked magazine who champions free speech. let's go right back to that first question that i was asking you. do you agree with the basic premise of whatjo johnson

you. do you agree with the basic premise of whatjojohnson is going to be saying in this speech? precisely, i think he really recognises the problem, which many of us have been talking about for some years now, which is that universities administrations are becoming increasingly hostile to freedom of speech. university rankings released each year found that 63.5% of universities are severely restricting speech, and thatis severely restricting speech, and that is a huge problem. where we disagree is that i don't think these kind of sanctions and finds is beefing up the office of the stu d e nts to beefing up the office of the students to reprimand universities is going to work. practically it doesn't make sense, and it gets away from the real hill we have to climb, which is convincing universities and student unions why free speech is imported, and you can't twist someone's arm into believing that. at what point you think there was a culture change that you are talking about, universities or groups associated with those universities

set up by students and other bodies within universities starting to encourage these practices of no platforming, where people with controversial views were planned or safe s pa ces controversial views were planned or safe spaces where certain subjects would not be discussed? one thing we have seen is definitely over the last four years, from around 2013 onwards, we have really seen an acceleration of censorship on campus, and that is when you can see at going that while some unions used to censor fascists, now they are censoring pop songs or feminists likejermaine censoring pop songs or feminists like jermaine gresham. this censoring pop songs or feminists likejermaine gresham. this has a very long history, so there is a platform which jo johnson and very long history, so there is a platform whichjojohnson and others have taken up, that has been an statute since the late 1970s, so we are dealing with everyday censorship, that is the product of what free speech absolutists like us

have been dealing with, if you allow it to go on in any circumstance, it is only natural that is what is considered to offensive will spread, so we are considered to offensive will spread, so we are seeing at the moment this huge explosion in the past few yea rs, huge explosion in the past few years, and it is the bearings through the censorship that is allowed to fester unchallenged, and 110w allowed to fester unchallenged, and now it has spread to almost anything. you say the bar for censorship is getting lower, but equally do you think that at some point they does have to be a line to be drawn, and how do you encourage universities and student groups to differentiate between allowing free speech, even if it is controversial, and protecting some people from offensive views? i think when it comes to free speech, it is either for all offer none at all. if we're talking about people issuing threats 01’ talking about people issuing threats or staring talking about people issuing threats orstaring up talking about people issuing threats or staring up violence, that is something the law already deals with. but should they be heard? should they be allowed to express

those views and then arrested if necessary afterwards ? those views and then arrested if necessary afterwards? that is the crucial point, but i wish that was what we were talking about, that tough line between what is and isn't in site map. but what we are seeing on campus is the question of views that are offensive to certain groups, so that are offensive to certain groups, so people are finding themselves banned from campus are not members of proscribed groups. and that is the question. universities and student unions have got this idea the wrong way around. if what you're really concerned about is challenging prejudice, you should allow those views to be aired in the open where they can be challenged, and we need to drop this patronising view that many student unions and universities have that women, minorities, gay people, etc, are seemingly less capable than the rest of us of hearing potentially discriminatory views. let's trust

all students to challenge these views when they come across them. so let me be clarify, be clear about what you are saying, you think that evenif what you are saying, you think that even if someone speaks and what they say could be regarded as incitement to violence, they should still be allowed to speak? incitement to violence is a line in the law, that is 100% clear, we speech crosses over into not being speech. what i was trying to point to is the fact that what is being censored on campus is not that kind of speech, it is just people expressing offensive views. in all countries, incitement to violence is not ok, it is not a free speech issue. the problem is that we are far beyond that in terms of what is being censored at the moment. tom slater from spiked magazine, good to talk to you, thank you very much. 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 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 says she was carrying the pills for her egyptian partner, who suffers from back pain. the nhs has promised to cutback 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 were prescribed on the nhs last year. they include this sunscreen. a non—branded version is available for half the price. branded gluten—free biscuits, significantly more expensive than a supermarket equivalent. ibuprofen, 30% cheaper away from the nhs. and colgate total advance toothpaste, over—the—counter it is a seventh of the cost. the taxpayers' alliance says... in response, an nhs england spokesman said... the health service says it is already reviewing ten items it claims are ineffective,

unnecessary and inappropriate for prescription. nick quraishi, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news: the universities minister, jojohnson, is issuing his clearest warning so far that academic institutions must protect free speech. the head of the british retail consortium says prices for many everyday items will rise unless the government focuses on new post—brexit trade agreements. and boxing day sales are getting under way, but a survey for the bbc suggests that they won't be as popular as they used to be. let's get the sport with with holly hamilton. the. it is not good news from melbourne as england will now be trying to avoid a series whitewash in the ashes, and the first day of the fourth test hasn't given us much hope that that might be possible. a century from david warner and

another great performance from steve smith left australia on 2411—3 other close. patrick kyrie was watching. to borrow an australian phrase, from the moment they lost the toss and had to field on a day that they had to win, they were in for some hard work. england tightened things up and got rid of the out of sorts cameron bancroft, and frustrated warner as he neared his century. 99, he blinked, and it seemed he had given tom curran his first test wicket on debut, but a replay revealed no ball. that he came, and got his hundred on the very next ball. after tea, stuart broad got his first wicket for more than 400 deliveries. he so nearly got another with his next one, shaun marsh given not out lbw. the review went for the

umpire's call. a key moment, and from there, marsh and steve smith stabilised things. smith remained unbeaten, and england must worry, perhaps unbeatable. people want to see exciting cricket. we are doing out see exciting cricket. we are doing our best, we didn't bowl great first session, we didn't add to that excitement, unless you are a david warner fan. but excitement, unless you are a david warnerfan. but in excitement, unless you are a david warner fan. but in the second session we did all we could, i know it wasn't exciting to watch, it wasn't exciting to play, to be honest. when it is that attritional, but there is not a lot we can do about it from here, that is the pitch we have got for the next five days, we have to put up with it. 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 goals in the calendar year. manchester united's task today is to narrow the huge 14—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, when they had to dig in and get a win, actually, against a brighton side that played very well. but that's the mark of a good side. you know, if it's not quite their day or the other team are playing well, they still come out of it with result. so i don't think we're going there expecting it to be anything other than a tough game. everton‘s fortunes have been on the up, since sam allardyce took over — they're aiming to extend their unbeaten premier league run to six games when they face west bromwich albion away later. in contrast, west brom are still without a win in the league since august. definitely in that dressing room, for me, there's enough quality. they've just got to believe in it.

and a little bit of good fortune, get a win somewhere along the line, and suddenly one or two of these players will blossom. but there's one or two still playing a little bit hampered. 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—3 draw with arsenal on friday, so they've had an extra day to recoverfor this match — but managerjurgen klopp knows a side in trouble can be a dangerous one. they are under pressure. and that's clear, because they fight for the league, 100%. and that will not change until boxing day. but we will be ready. and, yeah, we will perform. and there'sjust one game in the scottish premiership this afternoon, with champions celtic away to dundee. the horse—racing world is looking forward to one of the highlights of the national hunt calendar — the king george the sixth chase at kempton. the nicky henderson—trained ‘might bite' is the favourite and will face a seven—strong field

including ‘bristol de mai' and last year's winner ‘thistlecrack‘, who's only raced twice since his victory 12 months ago and been beaten both times. serena williams said she'd get back on the tennis circuit pretty quickly, after giving birth to herfirst child — and she's announced her return. she'll play an exhibition match against jelena ostapenko in abu dhabi next week — it'll be four months since her daughter alexis arrived. williams hasn't played since she won the australian open injanuary and although she hasn't yet decided whether she'll be defending her title, the tournament organisers have said it's very likely. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more for you in the next hour. ceo later, thank you very much. now, how did you spend you christmas day? eating, drinking, bit of television? how aboutjumping out of a plane wearing only a floppy suit ? that's what the competitors

at the wingsuit flying world cup got up to 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 team—mates. 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 nonprofit event, and a 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? tim allman, bbc news. they look like those flying squirrels, don't they! 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 on her phone. this photograph taken by karen murdoch 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. she spoke to bbc breakfast this morning, and explained what reaction

she's received from the image. in one word, overwhelming. i've had five likes, maybe, on a tweet before! i just... it is a nice photo, though. i really like it. it's a great photo! yeah, it's lovely. but it's bonkers. now, there's another word for you — bonkers! laughter. so, karen, tell us how you managed to get that shot? because you were down there with your daughter. paint the picture for us, how did you get that perfect picture? yes, well, i was with my daughter, rachel, and my friend sara. and i literally, and i hate to sound like a bit of a geek here, but i was fangirling! i was literally, we were all like, "merry christmas!" as you can probably tell, i can get a bit excitable. and that's it, it was just lucky. it was pure luck. i took it on my iphone. yeah, a great picture, yeah. and i'm glad everybody liked it. so you shouted merry christmas, they turned round and gave you a smile, and then what happened? you put the picture on twitter and facebook and the like? well, what i did...

oh, this is embarrassing! but i couldn't remember if meghan had an h in her name or not. so i put her name in and ijust... i think it was the bbc website just saying, the royals are attending. so i put my picture in the comments. and the rest, as they say, is history. she was on the right place at the right time. it has officially been a white christmas in the uk for some, with cumbria and the south of scotla nd with cumbria and the south of scotland recording light snowfall. the last time we had an official white christmas with three years ago when parts of the northern is in scotla nd when parts of the northern is in scotland saw some snow, and more wintry showers are expected, we are told. here's the man who can tell us more, phil avery. i was going to put my feet up, i thought you were going to tell us the whole lot! still the odd wintry nest about the

showers in the north of england, make the most of your dry, fine start in the south—west, it is already crumbling, and you will notice it is brighter but fresher for many parts, but this area of cloud and rain will cause concern over night. it is very wet but also eventually very wintry across northern and western flanks of this low and as it moves off into the north sea, it won'tjust be the high ground that sees a covering of snow, it will be a cold night with ice around as well, and this winter in as will work its way down into the south—east. if you don't see the snow it will be straightforward wet and windy, but once that is a way, a cold, bright day. good morning. this is bbc news. our latest headlines: the universities minister,

jojohnson, will today issue his clearest warning yet that academic institutions must protect free speech. he'll say students must be able both to hear and challenge controversial views during their years of study. the british retail consortium has warned that consumers face rising prices after brexit unless britain can replicate trade deals negotiated by the eu with dozens of other countries. millions of shoppers are expected to head out to the boxing day sales today. but a survey commissioned by the bbc indicates that the traditional post—christmas spending spree is being eroded by the black friday sales in november. the ministry of defence says a royal navy frigate spent christmas day escorting a russian warship through the north sea. the navy said several russian vessels had passed close to the uk in recent days. voters in liberia are choosing a new president today in the decisive second round run—off between the current vice—president and a former world footballer of the year, george weah. now on bbc news —

sir bruce forsyth, sir roger moore, glenn campbell and john noakes — just a few of those who left us this year, and whose lives are celebrated in review 2017: we remember. # deep down in louisiana cross to new orleans. # where back up in the woods among the evergreens. # there stood a log cabin made of earth and wood. # where lived a country boy named johnny b goode.# # 0h, maybelline. ..#. half of the young people go to school, so that's why i wrote about school, i wrote about cars and most of all — the people, if not now, they'll soon be in love. # it's a jumping little record i want myjockey to play. # roll over beethoven, i got to hear it again today #.

and you, monsieur, are the famous simon templar. but what about brother vincent? supposing he notices something he thinks clinton should know about. mr...? bond. james bond. is there time before we leave for lesson number three? absolutely. there's no sense in going off half—cocked. stir in some crushed ice, shake, strain and pour. top it off with one olive. two. did you say something? i said two. you were perfect up until the olives. two olives. that way you see they can gently bounce up against each other.