police in new zealand are treating the disappearance of backpacker grace millane as murder. a 26—year—old man is being questioned. paris in lockdown as security services brace for a fourth weekend of protests. amber rudd has become the first cabinet minister to openly propose plan b if theresa may's brexit deal is rejected by mps. the hand of rod earns west brom a controversial draw in the west midlands derby in the championship. aston villa up in arms over jay rodriguez's goal. even though he didn't really mean it! and it's supposed to be a display of athleticism and accuracy, but i'm left chasing my own tail when i gave dog agility a go. good morning. another windy day to come today, even windier tonight gci’oss come today, even windier tonight across parts of southern england. them tomorrow, it turns colder. all the details right here on breakfast. —— then. it's saturday the

eighth of december. our top story: in the last few hours, police in new zealand have said the disappearance of 22—year—old british backpacker grace millane is being treated as a suspected murder. a 26—year—old man is being questioned. auckland police say they have not located grace millane‘s body. she was last seen at a hotel on first december. more from our correspondent, hywel griffith. fun—loving and family orientated, grace millane‘s parents say her disappearance one week ago was entirely out of character and extremely hard for them to take. today, they were given the worst possible news about their daughter. the evidence we have gathered to this point in the enquiry has established that this is a common side. —— homicide. grace's family have been advised of this development, and they‘ re devastated. a man is still being spoken to at this point. grace arrived in new zealand last month, and had been staying

at a backpackers‘ hostel in auckland. she was last spotted on saturday night entering a hotel in the city with a male companion who the police say had been with her during the evening. detectives have released pictures ofjewellery they believe grace had with her, a necklace and a distinctive pink watch are both missing from her possessions and could help them find her body. grace's father arrived in new zealand yesterday. when he spoke to the media, he was hopeful she could be found alive. while this has now become a murder investigation, officers have told the family they'll do everything possible to return her to them. hywel griffith, bbc news. earlier we spoke to tvnz reporter gill higgins, who is in auckland, and explained how people there have reacted to the news. people are very emotional about the story.

it's been really closely followed. this is a major news story here, as it would be in many places around the world. but new zealand is a small country, they really welcome visitors and they're absolutely horrified something like this has happened. a huge heartfelt response to david millane when he came on and spoke about his daughter and there was hope then, people hoped she would be found alive. it's a shock today on this lovely sunny saturday in new zealand that the news has come out that it's being treated as a homicide. more on that story later in the programme. six people have been killed and more than 100 injured in a stampede at a nightclub in northern italy. about 1,000 people were at the lanterna azzurra club for a concert by an italian rapper when panic broke out, reportedly after pepper spray was used. jon donnison has the details. emergency services did what they

could to help those who managed to get out alive. bodies laid out in the road. many had crush injuries having been caught up in the stampede. it happened around iam local time, when it's thought up to 1000 people were inside the venue. they'd been attending a concert by one of italy's best—known wrappers. some reports say panic broke out after pepper spray was fired inside the club. jon donnison, bbc news. the work and pensions secretary, amber rudd, has become the first government minister to openly back an alternative brexit strategy if theresa may's deal is rejected by the commons next week. speaking to the times, ms rudd said the so—called norway plus option seemed a plausible plan b. we're joined now by our political correspondent, matt cole. the timing is interesting? yes, ahead of this very bigwig, this very

big vote on tuesday which many people think we'll go against the prime minister cash and weak. amber ruddis prime minister cash and weak. amber rudd is clear, she will still back the prime minister's vote on tuesday evening —— big week. she's the first cabinet minister to openly speculate on what a plan b might be in the event that this deal, as many expect, goes down on tuesday night. the norway option is one some brexiteers had floated during the referendum campaign as an acceptable and then moved away from it, not least because it would see britain join the european economic area, like lichtenstein, like iceland and norway. now, this would involve being in the single market but not the customs union. still having freedom of movement, still paying large amounts of money to brussels but not being at the table to decide and make those decisions and crucially, actually, it should be flagged, and amber rudd nods to this, she doesn't know how it would

work, you wouldn't be in a customs union with the european union under this model and therefore the thorny northern ireland backstop question, what to do with the northern ireland border, wouldn't be resolved. there would need to be an add—on, a norway plus to find a way around that. matt cole, thank you very much. paris is in virtual lockdown today amid fears of a fourth straight weekend of violence from anti—government demonstrations. the yellow vest movement began as a protest about fuel tax rises but has attracted wide ranging support. 90,000 police and riot officers have been deployed across france. we can now speak to our paris correspondent, hugh schofield. good morning, hugh. give us a sense of the scale of the preparations there. well, i mean, the numbers are already impressive. 8000 gendarme and riot police in paris, 89,000 across the country because let's not forget, there are other cities where there's been protests. but the focus is on paris and very much where i am

now, the champs—elysees. behind me, the arc de triomphe, the scene of the arc de triomphe, the scene of the terrible violence from last saturday, abalone, the elysee palace, where macron is watching these events with great attention —— baloney. the gendarme for the first time in decades had to deal with this —— baloney. this is the day the government has to get things right. if there's escalation again today, we are in difficult and uncharted territory. police here are meeting and a costing the various groups of yellow vest is beginning to arrive already, all perfectly good humoured so already, all perfectly good humoured so far, they are searching bags and so on so far, they are searching bags and so on for projectiles so people don't arrive at the triomphe with stuff in their bag. they say there's a new tactic on the part of the gendarme today —— arc de triomphe. they say they were too static,

positioned in single positions which prevented them meeting the protesters and they gave the protesters and they gave the protesters the run of the land if you like. this time they're going to be much more mobile, going out and breaking up groups as soon as they see them forming, that's the idea and the hope is that will ward off some of the worst scenes we saw last week. hugh, for the moment, thank you. a man who drove his car into a crowd of protesters during a rally in the us city of charlottesville has been found guilty of murder. 21—year—old alex fields junior was described by prosecutors as a white supremacist and was convicted on all 10 charges he faced, including killing 32—year—old civil rights activist heather heyer. a british sailor whose yacht was crippled by a ferocious storm during a round—the—world race has been rescued. susie goodall was sailing alone when she ran into trouble 2,000 miles off the coast of chile, leaving her stranded for days before a cargo vessell came to her to aid. andy moore reports. safety at last.

the cargo ship that rescued susie goodall used its crane to winch her on board. she's reported to be uninjured and in good spirits. it was an ordeal that began 50 hours earlier when this distress call in the teeth of a ferocious storm. her yacht had lost its mast and water had to be pumped out. in one of the remotest places on earth, she had a long wait for help to arrive. she was tossed about, seasick, in a disabled boat, in heavy seas. it was a difficult rescue right to the end. the engine on susie's yacht kept cutting out as it manoeuvred alongside the rescue ship, the tian fu. and then the first news of success in a brief tweet. "0n the ship", she wrote, followed by three exclamation marks. in the time waiting to be rescued with a broken cooker,

she said she'd been longing for a cup of tea. so it was no surprise that in the second message she said she had enjoyed a very good hot drink. her friends welcomed the good news after an agonising wait. it was an absolutely huge relief, a massive relief, and i think everybody in our sailing community was just absolutely overjoyed by the news. susie is now on her way to chile. her dream of sailing solo around the world is over, for now, but at least she's safe. andy moore, bbc news. the events sam byng —— the events surrounding brexit over the last few weeks have seen the uk enter a period of unprecedented political history. on tuesday, mps will take part in a crucial vote on whether to accept theresa may's proposed deal.

however, westminster is operating on the assumption that the government will lose this meaningful vote, what happens next could see our political system, tested in ways rarely seen. sir anthony seldon, political historian and author, joins us now from brighton. good morning, anthony. there's a word being used at the moment, constitutional crisis. is that the way that you see things... maybe if not now, but in the very near future? yeah, ithink future? yeah, i think that's absolutely right. we have a major political crisis at the moment. it's not overdramatising it to say that. the parties are deeply split. the issue facing the country is of enormous importance. we have the future continuation of scotland and northern ireland within the union being called into question at the same time. we have an unprecedented number of resignations. and there is no clear way forward. so this is a class a political crisis the like of

which we haven't seen since the second world war —— class a. and it could spill over into a constitutional crisis. and if we have one laid on top of the other, then that is serious for the country. there's no escaping that. at the heart of this, though, there's some fairly basic fundamentals. a referendum vote went in one direction and now we have mps, some would say thwarting what was a democratic decision—maker people. that's a big problem in itself, isn't it? allowed well, i think it is. when you throw the question over to the public, as happened with the referendum, as happened three times in the space of six years with the vote... in the space of six years with the vote. . . the in the space of six years with the vote... the proportional reputations bloat, then the vote on the future of scotla nd bloat, then the vote on the future

of scotland and then the vote about whether scotland should remain —— the uk should remain within the eu, you change the way the country operates cash proportional representation vote —— proportional representation vote —— proportional representation vote. then if you don't like the result, in this case less tha n don't like the result, in this case less than 52% voting for leave, so it is pretty close, you can argue, was that a clean vote and what was that for? you move into a difficult territory. now the risk is, or one of several risks are, if that vote is not respected, to leave the eu, there could be great anger, fury from the point of view of those people who voted leave who feel thwarted. you were just talking there on the news about the fourth weekend of riots in paris, we did have riots in this country in 2011.

it is not beyond the realm of the possible to think that right—wing forces could whip up this anger and we could have riots if there was to bea we could have riots if there was to be a blunting of the leaving of the eu. so at the moment it's not a constitutional crisis. if the prime minister is ousted and there isn't time... or there isn't a clear successoi’, time... or there isn't a clear successor, that would pivot us from a political to a constitutional crisis. so on the subject of the prime minister, this is an area you know quite a bit about because you've profiled prime ministers in the past, you've written a lot about them. theresa may is in this situation where she's back in 100% the deal she's presenting, this is the deal she's presenting, this is the deal, the only deal, she says, so the deal, the only deal, she says, so she's stating a lot on what she's backing. where does that leave her

if the commons votes against it? well, look, if there was an alternative leader, or a clear alternative leader, or a clear alternative plan that would work, then i think she might well be in much greaterjeopardy then i think she might well be in much greater jeopardy than then i think she might well be in much greaterjeopardy than she is. but if you look at her approval rating, she is now becoming a more popular prime minister. people admire her grit, her resilience. and there are signs that they're beginning to accept that the plan she's come up with, while it is very farfrom she's come up with, while it is very far from perfect and far from satisfying people on both sides, it is the best plan that you can get out of the eu. so there is a real question about what happens if she goes. in 1940, when germany invaded

france, there was a huge crisis. there was a new prime minister, winston churchill, and he had a clear plan, which was to stand up to nazi germany. there is not a clear leader who can unite, that was the key point about churchill in 1940, he was able to unite both sides of the house, labour and can is that it, and the country, and he had a clear plan and he had the clear ability to unite the country, unite cabinet, unite government in a common purpose “— cabinet, unite government in a common purpose —— labour and conservative parties. there's no clear plan at the moment whose advantages for this country, all people in this country, including the most vulnerable people in this country, who are the people most likely to suffer if we have a bad brexit or if we are forced out without a deal, there is no other alternative. so i think myself that theresa may will come through this, as she has come through the other crises in her short but highly

dramatic time as prime minister at downing street. we will see what happens. tuesday, of course, is the big night. anthony seldon, thank you for your time this morning. windy day out today across the uk. but but a lot more sunshine to look forward to. we are not completely done without the sunshine today. certainly to begin with, a pretty chilly wind. this little swirl in the satellite imagery, an area of low pressure bringing in north—westerly winds. touching 60 mph. quite a few showers at the moment. england and wales, many of them will fade in time. a lot more sunshine through the morning and eastern areas. northern ireland com or cloud and showers. spreading

eastwards into the afternoon. central scotland, staying largely dry through the afternoon. a bit of an example of the wind gusts, touching gale force across the country. picking up later across england and wales. temperatures up a degree or so on yesterday afternoon. still feeling chilly in the breeze. the breeze will be a key feature tonight. northern ireland, southern scotla nd tonight. northern ireland, southern scotland continuing through the night. southern england, we could see winds tonight, 50, 60, maybe 70 miles an hour. some of you will have a difficult night to get to sleep in. furthermore, some clearer skies. temperatures dropping down into those single figures. waking up to frost tomorrow. showers clear they are worth —— clear they wear —— showers clear their way southwards. colder air pushing in. chillier

date. bits of cloud, a few showers to begin with. the winds falling a bit lighter. still, a breezy day across the country. a few wintry showers. for many view, a dry day. temperatures in single figures, even though the winds will be a bit lighter compared to today. to take this the start of next week, we see clearer skies on sunday night. just clipping these eastern coasts. with that in mind, parts of northern england, calling down across eastern parts. a frosty start here. not quite as chile. we are going to cms is battling out. milder trying to push up the atlantic ahead of this

one. those two are going to be tussling it out all week. which one wins is the big uncertainty because we are going to see a little bit of snow on the hills for a time but as isaid, quite snow on the hills for a time but as i said, quite a bit of uncertainty about that and we will keep you updated. back to you both. universal credit has been criticised for pushing people into "unacceptable hardship" — and now the bbc understands it will be rolled out in north kensington — just days before christmas — which could impact many of those affected by the fire at grenfell tower. the welfare reform scheme combines six different benefits into one monthly payment but delays of up to 5 weeks have been blamed for rent arrears and a growing reliance on food banks. ashleyjohn—baptiste has more. maher has lived with polio since he was a child in syria. he moved to england a decade ago and lived in

g re nfell tower england a decade ago and lived in grenfell tower with his wife and three daughters. 0n the night of the tyre —— the fire, he hobbled down 13 sets of stairs true black and smoke to escape with his family. they now live in this kensington flat, still struggling with the impact of the fire at his disability, maher is out of work and receives employment support allowance. he is worried about the rollout of universal credit. don't make that decision now, it is wrong. because the people going for christmas time, they don't know. the move will affect people in the area whose sign—on from the 12th of december and existing claimants whose circumstances change. universal credit ‘s combined six different benefits and is paid in arrears. people who switch to the scheme must wait five weeks for

their first payment but from next year, this will be reduced to three weeks. it's now been a year in five months since the grenfell tower by a tower but still, many locals continue to struggle rebuilding their lives and moving forward. it is against this backdrop that some question whether days before christmas is the right time to be rolling out universal credit. the peter kensington has set up credit. the peter kensington has set up this new food bank in time to christmas. she has written to the department of work and pensions asking them to stop the rollout. department of work and pensions asking them to stop the rolloutm is unthinkable, really. they don't have another christmas now wondering whether or not they are going to be able to afford to buy food that loan presents to their children. we have people coming to us were completely destitute, lost their home, they've been through the most horrific experience, they lost family members and neighbours and friends, i com pletely u nsettled and neighbours and friends, i completely unsettled in our lives we re

completely unsettled in our lives were now destitute because of g re nfell tower. were now destitute because of grenfell tower. we asked the government for an interview. they declined but gave us this reply: in his budget speech last month, the chart source —— the chancellor pledged to spend another £1 billion in universal credit over the next five years but in recent months, however, the welfare scheme has been blamed for causing destitution and increased bank usage. antonio, who lived in the 10th floor of grenfell tower, doesn't plan to sign on but he is also critical. it is bad timing. when it comes to putting policies into place like this one, they should totally know the sense of reality, that's the right word, a sense of reality of what goes on in the normal life, in the normal world, in the normal working class people. us comedian, kevin hart,

has stepped down from hosting the 2019 oscars — after he was criticised for posting alleged homophobic tweets, nearly a decade ago. he was only announced as the host on tuesday — and has apologised on twitter, saying, "i do not want to be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so many amazing talented artists. i sincerely apologise to the lgbtq community for my insensitive words from my past. "i'm sorry that i hurt people. i am evolving and want to continue to do so. my goal is to bring people together and not tear us apart." we're joined now byjournalist and lgbt campaigner, benjamin butterworth and celebrity social media expert, david levin. benjamin, has the right thing happened? how about that for a starting point question he was right

to step down. he was making deeply homophobic comments repeatedly and it wasn't just on twitter. homophobic comments repeatedly and it wasn'tjust on twitter. if homophobic comments repeatedly and it wasn't just on twitter. if you wa nt to it wasn't just on twitter. if you want to stand upon netflix, he made the same comments about thinking it would be wrong to his kid to be gay, he wouldn't like this can to be gay and a lot of people don't share those views. just on the sequence of events, he was given the opportunity by the academy to apologise and stay in thejob. he by the academy to apologise and stay in the job. he chose by the academy to apologise and stay in thejob. he chose not by the academy to apologise and stay in the job. he chose not to do that. exactly, if he offered a profound apology, then maybe it would have been 0k to him to stay in it. but given how many times he made these comments, actually think you couldn't possibly host something like the oscars. when you have a roomful of people make amazing films, many of whom deal with things like gay rights, you can't have someone who set a comment like i don't want my kids to be gay to host a night like that. the academy were

aware. they were part of the stand—up routine survey booked him knowing this. they responded to online outrage. is that right, david? yes, i think it is right that it's become a bigger deal. it's not like he made these statements, some of these twitter gaps which happened, the justification was i was very young, i was a teenager. it is ashley only a few years ago. he is ashley only a few years ago. he is allowed to have his opinion but as to the point that was just made, to be represented, an industry that is so much about and inclusion, it isn't really right. the business you are in is to avoid people getting into trouble around these things, things that are sent. it seems like all sorts of problems. how could the

academy have bought this wouldn't be an issue? it's almost like this was an issue? it's almost like this was a problem that was going to arise. it wasn't a secret. i'm not sure how much they knew about it. what was most surprising was that no one from his team had told him to delete these tweets. working with someone these tweets. working with someone the public eye, people who are about to on tv, doing a bit of a digital ‘s spring clean. is there anything you said that he wouldn't want your mum or your grandmother or journalists to see? 0n mum or your grandmother or journalists to see? on this theme, how much time can pass before someone is justifiably able to say that was then, this is now and how often do summon up to apologise for something to be laid to rest? and it can't be thrown back at them over and over again. this is the grey area. we are dealing with these things for the first time. you get a

lot of situations where teenagers have tweeted serbian offensive things. in the previous generation, nobody would have found that. i am 26 signed the first stage of people who said these on social media and never occurred that they would come back but it's important on what david said. he was in his early 30s, he was famous and well known. it reveals something about him and his views and the other thing is, it's more about your actions than words. the best comparison i would say someone who tweeted something that was considered anti—semitic, a labourmp, she came was considered anti—semitic, a labour mp, she came back and would accuse her of that now. they said she resolved the problem. if he went off and she resolved the problem. if he went offand did she resolved the problem. if he went off and did things with the lgbt community. i became the president —— the prejudice that he once had. that

would demonstrate. mel gibson was out of favour for so long and then last year was nominated for a directing 0scar despite his racist and anti—semitic comments which were public knowledge. what you said earlier about his age, that's important because the fact that he was in his early 30s shows that. the 0scars appointed without knowing this verse. the 0scars are accused of not having a racial diversity, allegations against people like harvey weinstein and now you have kevin hart who had made homophobic comments. the wonder of hollywood is as thorough and oppressive —— progressive as it makes out. what would you have said. it was given the opportunity to apologise again. he didn't want to go over old ground. i would he didn't want to go over old ground. iwould have he didn't want to go over old ground. i would have said, you should really come out on the other

thing, much stronger in his apology and really, it shows that you had to be, so many celebrities, donald trump, looking for work in a few yea rs trump, looking for work in a few years time. it is a problem to him particularly. good to speak to this morning. stay with us, the headlines are coming up. hello, this is breakfast, with charlie stayt and tina daheley. good morning. here's a summary of today's main stories from bbc news: in the last few hours, police in new zealand police have said the disappearance of 22—year—old british backpacker grace millane is being treated as a suspected murder. she was last seen at a hotel on 1st december. a 26—year—old man is being questioned. auckland police say they have not found her body, but have released images of a silver necklace and pink

watch, which are missing from her luggage in the hope that it will help them find her. sadly, the evidence we have gathered to this point in the inquiry has established that this is a homicide. grace's family have been advised of this development, and they are devastated. the man is still being spoken to at this point. at least six people, most of them teenagers, have been crushed to death in stampede at a nightclub in northern italy, italian media are reporting. the incident took place at around 1am near the eastern coastal city of ancona. about 1,000 people were at the lanterna azzurra club for a concert by an italian rapper when panic broke out, reportedly after pepper spray was used. firefighters say dozens of others were injured as they rushed for the exit. the work and pensions secretary, amber rudd, has become the first government minister to openly back an alternative brexit strategy if theresa may's deal is rejected

by the commons next week. speaking to the times, ms rudd said the so—called norway plus option seemed a plausible plan b, which would see the uk staying in the eu customs union with full access to the single market. under this proposal, freedom of movement and payments to brussels would be likely to continue. paris is in virtual lockdown today amid fears of a fourth straight weekend of violence from anti—government demonstrations. the yellow vest movement began as a protest about fuel tax rises, but has attracted wide ranging support. 90,000 police and riot officers have been deployed across france, while tourist sites, shops and restaurants in paris will remain closed. prosecutors in new york have asked a judge to impose a substantial prison sentence on donald trump's former lawyer, michael cohen. mr cowen has

admitted tax evasion, breaking election campaign spending rules and lying to congress —— cohen. his legal team said he should be spared jail because he is cooperating with a second investigation into possible russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign. a british sailor whose yacht was crippled by a ferocious storm in a round—the—world race has been rescued. this dramatic picture shows susie goodall being wynched to safety yesterday, by a 40,000—tonne cargo ship. she'd been left stranded for two days after her boat violently capsized, 2,000 miles off the coast of chile. yesterday morning we were talking about the difficult circumstances she was in. everyone was saying it is such a dangerous sport, when things go wrong, they really go wrong, and you're so isolated. that's in the middle of nowhere,

i've been in a tricky situation in the solent just i've been in a tricky situation in the solentjust off the needles and i was trapped inside a boat with former hostagejohn i was trapped inside a boat with former hostage john mccarthy, i was trapped inside a boat with former hostagejohn mccarthy, and if he was scared! we got out safely, just to add. the ship she says will ta ke two just to add. the ship she says will take two weeks to get to land, that's how far away she is! but she is safe. never underestimate the force of the sea! the big news in sport, boxing, while the cure after the drama on sunday morning when fury got knocked down twice and got back up —— wilder cure. the w dc have sanctioned a potential rematch —— wilder fury —— wbc. they have said you can defend your title against fury because it was so good the first time round.

pundit steve bunce is linking may be in las vegas in may, but tube read one sit in this country. relatively soon. not confirmed? not completely, but the door is open so it will probably happen. let's have a look at the controversial ending to last night's championship game. a brilliant goal from anwar el ghazi put aston villa ahead, against their west midlands rivals west brom, and it looked to be the winner until a stoppage—time equalier, which clearly came off the hand ofjay rodriguez. he didn't know too much about it, he threw himself at the ball but admitted afterwards it had hit his arm. no var in the championship. it stood, though, and it finished 2—2. villa were furious. they stay eighth. west brom 3rd. the manchester city manager pep guardiola, says they will not be banned from the champions league, but if they were, they'd deal with it. allegations have been made that they found a way to get around financial fair play rules, the regulations put in place by uefa to stop clubs from spending beyond their means. but guardiola says senior figures

at city have assured him there is nothing to worry about. we won't be banned. you won't be banned? no. i have chatted with the chairman, with my ceo, they explained to me, if it happens, because uefa decide that, we will accept it, it's our fault. manchester city are away to chelsea this evening. before that, liverpool could go top if they win at bournemouth. plenty of build—up on the bbc sport website. england have suffered a real blow before the draw has even taken place for next year's women's world cup. arsenal midfielderjordan nobbs has ruptured a knee ligament so she'll miss the tournament in june. manager phil neville described his vice—captain as invaluable. the draw takes place in paris at 5pm this evening, with scotland also in the hat. it's live on bbc two. there was an all—or—nothing game in the hockey world cup in india yesterday, and it went england's way. they beat ireland 4—2,

knocking them out of the competition in the process. and as patrick gearey reports, it could make for an awkward christmas for one family in particular. the gleghorne brothers, paul and mark, born two years apart in antrim, northern ireland. both played hockey for the local club. both still play hockey for different nations. mark represents england, paul, ireland. only one could stay in the world cup. mark's england side had the tougher task. they needed to win. it was 1—1 in the third quarter when liam ansell smashed them ahead. it was some twist of fate for him. he'd only been drafted into the squad late on. there were stories everywhere. ten of ireland's squad had to take leave to be at the tournament. and yet, within a minute, shane 0'donoghue steered them level. as it stood, they were going through. it didn't stand for long. another minute later and in a flash, england were back ahead. james gall‘s goal was crucial. now ireland had to chase this. paul gleghorne overstretched, yellow card. the final seconds of his world cup spent watching his brother score for england.

international sport at its most personal. patrick gearey, bbc news. interesting conversation there in that family around the christmas table! defending champion ronnie 0'sullivan is two wins away from a record seventh uk championship title. he takes on tom ford in the semi—finals after beating martin 0'donnell 6—1, though 0'suliivan said it took him a while to settle into the match. i wasjust a bit on edge, you know, just trying to feel my way into it and it's never good because you got to try and impose yourself as much as you can. that's probably a really good match for me because i had to play some safety and be patient. sometimes i'm not taking my match form immediately onto the match floor, i'm finding my feet. i know my game's there, it's nice to just get it right from the off, you know? the best trouser award goes to lewis hamilton! there was a glitzy ceremony in st petersburg last night to present him with his formula one world championship trophy. he won his fifth title

back in october, but had to wait to get his hands on the prize. mercedes also collected their trophy for winning the constructors' championship. there are those rather bright green trousers. i've got a similar pair. you need a wider shot to get a better view of them. just teasing you! thank you for the pictures you have sentin thank you for the pictures you have sent in your dogs watching the dog agility report we've got this morning. the police. my dog, dill, would go mad if she saw a horse with no rider on the tv. isn't it more natural to not have a man on the horse? surely it is more normalfor an animalto see horse? surely it is more normalfor an animal to see an animal without someone. she didn't like dogs that weren't on leads either. we are going off on one! hence why she

didn't like the horses... you've been watching dog agility? the fa cup final of dog agility coming up in the next couple of weeks at 0lympia. well, the former world number one has been at it again, the 12 remaining teams are in training for their world cup, the grand final at the london international horse show at olympia later this month, and i've been to a training camp in kent to see how hard it can be. the race is on to be top dog for 2018, and while it may look like the dogs are doing all the work here — tearing around the 260m course at over 30mph — this is a team sport, with the owner's fitness, voice commands and hand signals crucial to success. it's all over in less than a minute, but it's such high—intensity, the energy required by the dog and owner. dog agility competitions have been going since 1978, and have now become so widespread that 48 nations from around the world compete. the world cup at olympia is one of the highlights of the dog calendar. it's our fa cup final. 0lympia, with all the hype

and the people, and the noise and the excitement, it's great to be there, and to actually win it is just something else. the 12 finalists competing at olympia this month have spent all year beating off thousands of other owner—and—dog teams to reach this point. i like to be as fit as i can to keep up with my dogs. sam's not the most naturally motivated dog, and yeah, so to get the quickest time out of him, i need to be as fit as i can. 0k, go, run, run, post... amongst the favourites will again be shannon. she reached her first 0lympia final when she was just ten. when you actually run, and you're so focused, you hear nothing, because it's literallyjust you and your dog on that course. you hear nothing going on in the background. i'm probably not the fittest person, definitely not the skinniest out there, but i do really try. a decade later, shannon has managed to get every dog she's trained to the final. well, the athletes are in fine physical condition, raring to go. i think the same can be said about the owners too. and for this breakfast 0lympia warmup race, well, i'm missing just

one thing, a dog. after a battle, my former lab, lurcher, is no longer with us. i've still got a fancy lead. and actually i have persuaded a former 0lympia champion to come out of retirement. first of all, a quick recce of the course without my dog partner, making notes and working out my signals. i never realised there were so many different signals with your hands, your arms, your leg positions. yeah, so the dog then comes down this. this arm comes across my chest, so the dog then only sees this hand. it's a bit like dancing, isn't it? yeah, it's a bit strictly. i'm truly honoured because indiana is the only dog to have one at olympia two years running. can she do the same with a complete novice? indie, 0k. indie, 0k! 0ver, over... not the greatest starts. i was in the doghouse for confusing my dog partner with all the wrong signals and body positioning. you've got to be thinking ahead and keep working in front of them, all the while telling them in advance what's happening. i did have more success with a different dog maybe more my size. my trousers! but i was starting

to take it personally. even my attempts to demonstrate just fell on floppy ears. not the weave, not the weave! over here! up, up! i did eventually get around with that first dog, indiana, but it had taken over four minutes. it was obvious that to succeed, i needed to start right at the beginning and work towards the finals in maybe a few years' time. wolf wolf to all the dogs watching this morning. we will see some much —— will some pictures later. matt, now with the weather. a bit of everything. good morning. christmas shopping today, you will probably need to take an umbrella with you but keep a very tight hold of it. a windy day once again especially across england and wales with the mixture of sunshine and a few

showers. more sunshine, a bit drive but also turning it cold as well. sok an umbrella for a woman jacket and jumper. at the moment, the wind is being driven by this little swirl of cloud. you see how the winscombe around that in an anticlockwise fashion. bring a few showers this morning. more sunshine, southern scotla nd morning. more sunshine, southern scotland and across england. northern ireland, some heavy bursts as well. still that of sunshine in between. gusty winds throughout, widespread gales expected. temperatures a bit up on yesterday afternoon. the wind will be strong tonight. the showers will be pushed

along quite smartly. southern parts of england, into south and west wales, 60, maybe 70 miles an hour. rattling the rain. maybe a difficult one. temperatures 7— nine degrees. a touch of frost around. all the showers and strong winds rehab overnight, they will clear south. 0r tomorrow, chile and large. a few showers, wintry nature. showers returning to northern ireland and wales later. some of you will get through the day dry. but the vast majority, at least, the wins will not be quite as strong. and because

we have lighter winds, clearer skies to ta ke we have lighter winds, clearer skies to take us through sunday night, it's going to be colder. even down these eastern counties of england, we may see freezing temperatures. southern and western areas, not quite as chile and that is because we have atlantic are trying to push in. we will keep you updated, that you both. matt will be back with another weather update soon. we'll have all the headlines at 8:00 — but first it's time for newswatch with samira ahmed. hello, and welcome to newswatch. broadcasters and politicians said they all wanted a tv debate about the prime minister's brexit proposals, along with her and other party leaders. but, it's not happening, why not? how to keep broadcasting when the world is collapsing behind you. no question where most of the news focus was this week — in the house of commons.

where the government suffered three defeats on tuesday, much of the action was britain's live on the news channel and all of it on the parliament channel, a duplication which urked some people. can you tell me why, when you have a channel dedicated to mr dobinson and may not have been a potential viewer of the planned leaders debate on brexit, which bbc one mr dobinson and may not have been a potential viewer of the planned leaders debate on brexit, which bbc one and itv had hoped to show this weekend. but, instead of the spectacle of theresa may and jeremy corbyn arguing over the finer points of the eu withdrawal agreement, audiences of regular sunday evening broadcasting can enjoy their usual programmes as planned. some though, thought

the failure of broadcasters and politicians to agree on a format was a real loss for the democratic process. a snp mp suggested: and harry hayfield wondered: the bbc said, it's disappointed to have dogged the planned programme, which would have involved, what are they called, a substantive head to head debate. as well as contributions from other voices, including other political parties.

reflecting the wide range of views on brexit. neither that nor any other format proposed by broadcasters met with the agreement of both theresa may and jeremy corbyn. if that's a shame for some, it's not a surprise. after all, the history of tv debates between political leaders in the uk is a rather tortured one. after many failed attempts to get off the ground, the 2010 general election finally saw the party leaders debate together for the first time. david cameron and gordon brown famously spent a lot of time agreeing with nick clegg — but not with each other. sorry, can ijust try and move beyond the political point scoring? competition between broadcasters and calls for other parties to be represented meant the format had become far more complex by 2015. the bbc hosted this debate between the five opposition parties, while the prime minister took part in a seven—way debate on itv. the eu referendum campaign

saw the great debate, organised by the bbc at wembley arena. this thursday can be our countries independence day. borisjohnson and sadiq khan were among the two teams of debaters, representing the leave and remain campaigns. there was also a second stage, where a panel of ten people represented voices beyond the official campaigns. all seven uk parties were back on the stage for the 2017 general election — but not theresa may. she chose not to take part in this bbc debate, sending the then home secretary, amber rudd, in her place. but, with so many voices taking part, the politicians sometimes struggled to make themselves heard. joining me now to discuss this is former editor in chief at itn and the relic of course, he's now a board member of the channel 4. did you attempt to get a wii debate that itn? i tried and failed many times. that is is, you haven't got a debate

on mice the debate with turnovers they've all the cards. if they've all the cars. if they didn't turn up for the debate, there would be a debate. that talk about what has happened in this case. the busy debate, the one that didn't happen, why didn't it happen? we don't have all the details. as i understand it, the offers from itv and bbc were quite similar. there would be a head—to—head section and then a other voices section. 0n bbc, this was good to beat one programme. 0n itv, there was good to be a debate before and after i misled to get the others you. are you surprised that they've fallen through? we knew may didn't want to do a debate during the last election.

we knew that is not the best way of doing things. many more one—to—one is with people around the country, but appears to be her strength i was a bit surprised it came forward. i'm a bit surprised that the itv four, which was still on the table until late in the day, did not meet most of what she wanted. that's the point of view of what the leaders might have wanted. given that the public would not have any views on this, it was all about mps voting in parliament. what was even the point? from the broadcaster's point of view, this would be a trophy. in the national occasion.

not a many people would have watched it, compared to regular sunday programming. i don't know if many people would have much out of it, in terms of information. it is probably most important for broadcasters to get on record when there is a moment of debate between two national leaders. that has still not been established over many years now. after the prime minister initially accepted the invitation to do a brexit debate, jeremy, refused and called the bbc the government's preferred broadcasters. there does seem to be a perception issue that this idea came from someone at the bbc. often what happens is that people think, you may want one organisation to join but your heart remains well you came from. looking back at 2010, the leaders debate were popular. it was clear who would be on this debate and why. now, it seems that i see many more voices and opinions on who should

be on them. have broadcasters got them into an unwinnable situation about representation? i think there is some truth in that. if you look back at 2010, there was an oddity about that. why were those three see the display and no one else? the answers given by the broadcasters was that the only three people with chance of becoming prime minister. it would like, let's take the status quo parties and ignore the rest. since then, the liberal democrats have dropped dramatically. the snp are the third biggest party in the uk parliament, where did they fit into this jigsaw? that is the problem. the days of two and three party politics have gone. sky have proposed as a independent commission to set the rules for tv debates. is that the way forward? i looked at this closely.

i came away pretty sceptical about it. the truth is, this is not like a competition where you enter and you know what the rules are. you cannot force political parties do something if they don't want to do. do you think viewers get anything out of the debates? i think viewers deserve a more extensive way of probing issues that they currently get. broadcasters have struggled to do that. they have to balance the requirements of the use with rules of impartiality. they are not under pretty clear on that. i have sympathy with both the audience and the broadcasters who are trying to find the right way of doing things for the nation at like this.

president george bush senior was laid to rest on wednesday in a state ‘s middle, with most of the service being shown live on the bbc news channel. katy kay was commentating on events in washington. this is the casket of george hw bush, the 41st president of the united states. for the next hour or so, katy kay and her guests stayed quiet while the ceremony preceded. there had already been too much talking over events for this viewer. the commentators are talking nonstop. can't we just listen to the service and music? theyjust never stop talking. it's a real intrusion and really annoying. last week, we discussed the presence of anti—brexit protesters in the background of cover shots outside the palace of westminster.

in a studio environment, sometimes what appears behind isn't really better. artificial backgrounds can have problems of the urban. hugh would be leaving under martial law. —— you. there's martial law in the border areas of ukraine, mike. the background hasjust gone crazy on the screen. you were just going to tell us that there was no martial law and it is very cold and wintry. a test of calm, cool and collected presenting skills! as we were saying, as the night returns to us shortly. there were plaudits from his

conclave on twitter. thank you for all your comments this week. join us next week for our last programme of the year. it promises to be a busy easy. if you like ours to quit your opinions, or even appear on the programme. do is an colour. you have a look at previous discussions on our website. that's all from us. will be back next week. goodbye. good morning, welcome to breakfast with tina daheley and charlie stayt. 0ur headlines today... police in new zealand are treating the disappearance of backpacker grace millane as murder — a 26—year—old man is being questioned. amber rudd has become the first cabinet minister to openly propose plan b if theresa may's brexit deal is rejected by mps. paris in lockdown as security services brace for a fourth

weekend of protests. these are the live images from the centre of paris this morning. the yellow vested protesters already gathering. many tens of thousands of police on the