to highlight child poverty, the iniquities of what was happening in britain in what has now become known as the hungry 405. the whole message of this book really is encapsulated in the two children, ignorance and want, who appear with the second christmas ghost. they are the future of the country and dickens says, if you leave children to grow up in ignorance and deprivation, society is doomed. that was david sillitoe reporting. time for a look at the weather. here's matt taylor lovely scenes at trafalgar square, nice to have some sunshine after the grim weather conditions yesterday. it is not quite the case of staying dry for the rest of the day because we have clumps of cloud, some claiming from the east where they have showers, but more cloud in the west and plenty of showers. this is showing up on the radar where the rain is currently falling. in western areas, particularly wales

and the south—west, heavy rain. parts of north—west england and south—west scotland, the showers will be a bit more abundant this afternoon. the further north and east you are, you will stay dry and sunny with lighter winds than yesterday coming in from the south oi’ yesterday coming in from the south or south—west. a bit fresher than yesterday because the air is coming off the north atlantic, 7—iod, and that will lead into another cool night. plenty of cloud and showers spreading from west to east for any length of clearer skies in scotland and eastern england will have the chance of a touch of frost tomorrow morning. for the morning commute, a few showers in southern areas but it isa few showers in southern areas but it is a morning feature rather than the full day. a lot of sunshine in the rest of the day. parts of eastern scotla nd rest of the day. parts of eastern scotland and north—east thing that will just have scotland and north—east thing that willjust have a few showers. tomorrow it is western scotland, northern ireland, north—west england where the showers keep on going and temperatures again around 7—iidc.

you will notice the cloud starting to come into the south—west by the end of the day and it will be a night—time feature for most, heavy rain and strong winds. clearer skies in northern scotland, maybe some frost on friday morning many will stay dry all day long. a cloudy and damp start elsewhere. blustery conditions in the south, sunshine and a few showers later. elsewhere, cloudy and damp all day long. the far north of scotland might be coolest a ball around 6 degrees. but probably driest as well. at the weekend, low pressure is close by, a bit of a mess on the weather charts, signs of front coming and going so some rain at times if you are out christmas shopping. not desperately cold, the windiest and wettest on sunday but temperatures into the teens and if that does not get you feeling festive, there are signs in the early part of the next week that milder weather pushes away and something cool and perhaps frosty exiting to christmas day.

thank you. a reminder of our main story this lunchtime... the government outlines its plans to reform the immigration after brexit based it says on skills and not where people come from this is a historic moment but let's be clear. the united kingdom has a proud history of being an open and welcoming ignition and this will not change. —— welcoming nation. that's all from the bbc news at one so it's goodbye from me and on bbc one we nowjoin the bbc‘s news teams where you are. good afternoon, i'm katherine downes at the bbc sports centre with your latest sports news. ole gunner solskjaer has been confirmed at has been confirmed as the new manchester united boss — for now at least. he's taking over as caretaker manager, until the end of the season, and will be joined by mike phelan, as first—team

coach, who was once sir alex ferguson's number two. peter odemwingie was signed by solskjaer when he was manager at cardiff, and says he's an exciting choice to inspire the players. what i was obviously he looked enthusiastic about the premier league. you didn't come across as a defensive minded manager. ifelt that they would play more attacking football and offensive which the ordering at the moment. he inherited a squad he could not spend a lot of money. now he can probably play the attacking football lee addy mine. i don't think we will have too much pressure because he loves the club so pressure because he loves the club so much. he played for them for about 11 years. into great opportunity for him because we know he was a superb substitute at his time there and that's about it. i think you will tell the players that opportunities don't come often in life. time flies. he came on the

pitch sometimes and it made a difference within minutes. petr necas opportunities and that's why he stayed so long. he scored the most important goal of his career in the champions league final. at the same time, he will remind his players how big this club is and he was happy to be a fourth choice striker. this could be a key role in bringing the best of the young tell them they're not here forever, it's a big club and take your chance while it is here. so it's solskjaer in the short term. what about the longer term? well, the favourite is the tottenham boss mauricio pochettino whose spurs side play the type of football that united fans crave and he has a track record of developing young talent — he is yet to win a trophy as a manager, though. but as our football reporter simon stone explains, it's notjust about getting the managerial appointment right. i think, pochettino is at the top of

the list but that is for the summer. he wants to get to the end of the season he wants to get to the end of the season but then manchester united will take it up. manchester united are committed to bringing in a sporting director. they need chain between a manager, a link in the middle to edward lord. it is what has been missing since sir alex ferguson left. he never needed one. the people of common sense didn't want. without that, i think whoever comes in is almost doomed to failure, i think. lewis hamilton says he chose the wrong words after insulting his home—town. he described stevenage, as a slum during sports personality of the year, and got plenty of criticism, including from the local council. but hamilton says he just made a mistake. please, if you getting feelings about a mistake i made on stage, don't bother, get rid of it. i am

proud of where i come from. nobody is perfect. i make mistakes quite often, particularly in front of a crowd, trying to find the right words to express the long journey i have added life. i chose the wrong words. i didn't mean anything by it. those of you who know me know that i a lwa ys those of you who know me know that i always mean love. god bless you. have a great day. will stevenage forgive him? i'll have more for you in the next hour. let's return now to our main news. the government is revealing long—awaited plans for how the uk's immigration system will work after brexit. here's the home secretary sajid javid making the announcement in the last hour. the future system is about making sure immigration works in the best interests of the uk. we are absolutely not closing our daughters, we are simply making sure that we have control over who comes through them. insuring, as we

committed to in our manifesto, they we re committed to in our manifesto, they were able to bring annual net migration down to more sustainable levels. today, we published a white paper setting out the government's proposals for doing this. through a single skills —based immigration system that will seize the unique opportunities enabled by the end of free movement. copies are available for honourable and right honourable members in the vote office. i would like to highlight the key proposals and principles within it to the house. firstly, free movement will come to an end. tomorrow, we will introduce the immigration and social security coordination eu withdrawal bill to implement this. it will make ea and swiss nationals and their family members subject to uk immigration control. and will protect the status of irish nationals. in the future, everyone other than british and irish citizens will need to get uk

permission before they can come here. secondly, it will be a single immigration system for all nationalities. the existing automatic preference for eu citizens will end. this approach will give eve ryo ne will end. this approach will give everyone the same chance, regardless of where they are from. levering the playing field to welcome the most talented people from anywhere in the world. and thirdly, it will be a skills —based system, giving priority to those with the skills that we need. we are taking this approach to ensure we can attract the brightest and best people to the uk. those who will help our economy flourished. this follows advice that has been commissioned by the government from the independent migration advisory committee on the impact of european migration on the uk economy and society. we believe this is fairand uk economy and society. we believe this is fair and it will help drive up this is fair and it will help drive up wages this is fair and it will help drive up wages and productivity across our economy. following these three

principles, we are acting to make the future immigration system work. for those coming to our country, for businesses, for public services and the uk as a whole. our approach will maintain protections for british workers while cutting bureaucracy. fundamental to this will be a new route for skilled workers to ensure employers can route for skilled workers to ensure em ployers ca n access route for skilled workers to ensure employers can access the talent they need to compete on the world stage. there will be no cap on numbers are no requirement for the higher skilled workers to undertake a resident worker test. there will be a minimum salary threshold. we are creating a time—limited short—term workers to ensure businesses have to fill thejobs and workers to ensure businesses have to fill the jobs and adapt to a new immigration system. we will ask for this to be kept under review to ensure a smooth transition. this route will be open to seasonal and

low skilled workers, as well as high skilled workers who need to come to the uk for longer than current visitor visas allowed. those who come into the uk under the scheme will have no access to public funds or will be allowed to bring dependence. there will be a year—long cooling off period to vent long—term working. we will be engaging extensively with stakeholders on the length of stay in cooling off period to make sure we get this right. these proposals will give protection to british workers but we have recognised that immigration alone cannot be the solution, so we will continue as a government working in partnership with business to invest them and improve the productivity skills of the uk workforce. mr speaker, our world —class the uk workforce. mr speaker, our world—class universities will also benefit from the imposed new system. there will be no limits on the

number of international students who will come and we will continue to encourage them to study here. we will make it easier for graduates to stay and work. this will widen the talent pool for businesses and boost economic growth. our plans are about opening brecknock for business, rather than creating new red tape. the future immigration system will be quick and easy to use. we will introduce a streamlined application process for those visiting or coming to work or coming to study and this will use the very latest technology. this will improve the experience of visitors crossing the border. we will make it possible for more people to use the gates. we will improve security at the border by introducing an electronic authorisation scheme and phasing out the use of national identity cards. we are proposing a single skills

—based immigration system fit for the future, flexible to accommodate trade deals we agree with the eu and other countries. it will operate from 2021 and will be phased in to give individuals, businesses and government time to adapt. this means businesses do not need to rush through plans based on guesswork about the future system. that the sajid javid with a statement about a proposed immigration policy. brexit dominated the final prime minister's questions of the year in the house of commons this afternoon. our assistant political editor norman smithjoins us now from the houses of parliament. as you might expect, plenty of argy—bargy about brexit, all of which i suspect will be overshadowed bya which i suspect will be overshadowed by a row over stupid woman. during the exchanges, it looked as though the exchanges, it looked as though the prime minister was called a stupid woman byjeremy corbyn as she

was answering one of his questions. that prompted demands for him to apologise and points of order. and have a look for yourself. see whether you think he did actually say that. i have some advice for the right honourable gentleman. look behind you. they are not impressed. now, as if that wasn't enough, the speaker then got dragged into the road big—time as he got up and said he didn't see or hear anything and none of his advisers saw or heard anything, then he tried to stop andrea leadsom from making a point of order. she eventually battled her way to the dispatch box. these two have history because back injune it is alleged that the speaker called andrea leadsom a stupid woman. and so she questioned whyjohn bercow

was not forcing jeremy corbyn to apologise. i'm afraid we don't have that clip. watching all of this work are guests whojoin that clip. watching all of this work are guests who join us now. from the liberal democrats, labour and the conservatives. it's not clear. i guess it is hard from your position, but did you see what happened? let us but did you see what happened? let us just suppose that jeremy but did you see what happened? let us just suppose thatjeremy corbyn did refer to mrs may as a stupid woman, how should he now responds? if he did, he should apologise. i don't think it's acceptable for that of behaviour in the house. if you we re of behaviour in the house. if you were working in an office anywhere in this country and cold is a stupid woman, you would expect to have to apologise. we have to be held to at

least as high a standard as elsewhere. you know how roundly pmqs can get. is there any case for saying in the heat of the moment you can can of understand how that thing can can of understand how that thing can happen? it seemed to me from the footage that this was at the end of the exchange between the prime ministerandjeremy the exchange between the prime minister and jeremy corbyn. she the exchange between the prime ministerandjeremy corbyn. she had the last word and he muttered something under his breath. i don't know what it was. if it is as is widely being reported, then i think most people would accept that jeremy is one of the personally most courteous people in parliament. he doesn't use bad language. if he did doesn't use bad language. if he did do that, then obviously i'm sure he would recognise that it is something that it would recognise that it is something thatitis would recognise that it is something that it is appropriate to apologise for. but i think the key point here is the real stupidity is that we have a prime minister who is trying to run down the clock on brexit. we will talk about that in a minute. we

will talk about that in a minute. we will talk about brexit. let me finish this point. everyone knows jeremy corbyn. he is basically quite a polite individual. what is the anger amongst tory women genuine or anger amongst tory women genuine or a bit put on? well, i think he didn't have a good pmqs, he was quite rattled. i think he was irritated and that's why he probably responded in this way. when you feel like that, you're not at your best. if you look at the footage, it does look quite clear. i have seen it slowed down. he should apologise. what i don't understand is why it is such a big deal that someone should apologise. we all apologise for things we do in everyday life. he should apologise. the bigger substantial points are what is being discussed, as opposed to the comment. he should apologise, it is inappropriate. either way, the prime minister may be a of things, but a stupid woman she is not. perhaps the

bigger row is actually aboutjohn bercow because we know he has been here before, the row with andrea leadsom. how damaged is he by what we saw in the chamber today, with people getting up and demanding points of order and him trying to crush it all, it seemed to me? again, i would say, if you are due to apologise, i personally would apologise. if i had offended somebody, even if i didn't mean it ori somebody, even if i didn't mean it or i didn't say what they thought i said, it easierfor me or i didn't say what they thought i said, it easier for me to say i'm sorry if i offended you. i do understand why it's such a big deal to make an apology. i'll think you we re to make an apology. i'll think you were ina to make an apology. i'll think you were in a chamber as you were in a television studio. the speaker row, how significant? i was speaking to a senior mp who has been here for 20 years and he said he has never seen anything like it. at one point, it looked like he had lost control. i don't think it was an orchestrated

riots, but there was a lot of feeling running very high in the house and it did seem to get out of control. i thought it should have been over quite quickly after the first point of order. if he just saidl first point of order. if he just said i will review it and come back to it then, it would've been over. but it escalated. jeremy corbyn did not get the cast iron guarantee of the meaningful vote in the middle of january. i'm deeply worried, as i think most others in parliament are. we cannot end up in a situation where the deadline of 21 is looming and there is no other option except what the prime minister wants to force parliament to accept, knowing that all sites, even of her own party, have no confidence that is right forward for the country. party, have no confidence that is right forward for the country]! the date going to result in disaster for mrs may, or do you think she can get this through off the back of

maybe fear and the old alternative is crashing out without a deal?m you listen to pretty much all the businesses, the cbi, small businesses, the cbi, small businesses, trade unions, hold them see to back this deal. what i cannot understand is why labour politicians and maybe some of the others who don't really get this, i spent 30 yea rs don't really get this, i spent 30 years in business and i would sign this deal tomorrow, they need to listen to those most affected by no deal, providing jobs to constituents and back the deal. very quickly. i think business would prefer we are not leaving. we all know this might be the best deal mrs may might get, but it's still not as good as being in the european union. if i have to go through the lobbies on my own with the liberal democrats, we will go through the lobbies on that principle. people deserve a vote. guys, we have to hold that there

are. i'm terribly sorry. we need to leave it. the brexit argument never ends. even when you are not filming it. norman, many thanks. in a moment we'll have all the business news, but first the headlines on bbc news: the government sets out its post—brexit immigration policy, based, it says, on skills and not where people come from. the european commission says it has started to implement its preparations for a no—deal brexit. the competitions watchdog issues a warning and says millions of consumers are worse off for sticking with the same service providers. in the business news... uk inflation has fallen to its lowest rate since early 2017, according to the latest official figures. the office for national statistics says that slowing price rises could bring some relief to consumers who have recently cut down on spending.

average prices rose by 2.3% over the year, the lowest since march 2017. banking giant santander has been fined nearly £33 million by the financial conduct authority for failing to process the accounts and investments of deceased customers. the uk arm of the spanish bank did not transfer £183 million to beneficiaries when it should have done. it says the failures affected over 40,000 customers. but we start with a deal announced earlier today. the drugs giants glaxosmithkline and pfizer are to join their health care divisions to create a business with combined sales of £10 billion. gsk will have a 68% stake and pfizer 32%. glaxosmithkline's chief executive emma walmsley will chair the newjoint venture. two giants giving birth to a new

baby, but a giant baby because this thing will have global sales of $13 billion. and the rationale for this is that this business is less risky, it has higher cash flows and by splitting it off you will get more. the parts will be worth more than some was before. the uncertainty over brexit is hitting the uk's employment situation and in particular creating a shortage among skilled drivers. the road haulage association says the industry is 55 to 60,000 drivers short and the workforce is rapidly ageing. the rha says it has as many of their members' drivers are eu citizens and most would not qualify as highly skilled under proposed immigration arrangements. let's talk to richard burnett, ceo of the road haulage association. thank you forjoining us. explain why there is such a skills shortage amongst drivers. the average age of

amongst drivers. the average age of a driver is 56. we have less than 1% under 25. we have lots of people retiring and nobody coming in. the barrier to entry is the cost of getting a licence. it cost anything from 3000 to £5,000. the other side of it is in terms of eu labour, you've got somewhere in the region of 60,000 eu drivers driving in the uk and we are seeing a high proportion of those going back home because of the brexit effect. whether that is exchange rates of whether or not they want some certainty in terms of their future, and that's exacerbating this driver shortage. it's increased this year from about 55,000 to 60,000. we are really concerned about the potential impact post brexit. why do we need so many drivers? why is it important to the uk economy? if you think

about it, 90% of all goods consumed in the uk are at some point in time delivered on the back of a truck. we keep the uk economy going, we keep the supply chain going. it's a critical part to making sure that we have food and clothes in the shops for people to buy. we've been talking today about the prospect of an audio brexit and the government setting money aside for it. what's your official reaction to the possibility of an ordeal brexit? -- no—deal brexit? the customs process will not work. it's not fit in the event of a no—deal brexit. we think it will have a slowing effect on the fluidity of borders. the uk supply

chain will have a knock—on effect to retail goods that are going into warehouses but also into manufacturing and that will slow the economy pretty quickly in the event ofa economy pretty quickly in the event of a no—deal. economy pretty quickly in the event of a no-deal. thank you very much. a brief look at the markets. the london market is up. glaxosmithkline is still the largest riser. paper packaging company smurfit kappa is the biggest faller, down 4%. the pound, which had been higher against the dollar in anticipation that us rates will be rising this evening, is now down at $1.2636. that's all the business news. now it's time for a look at the weather. we can cross the newsroom. good afternoon. we've seen some sharp clouds over western parts today. for many, it's a day of more sunshine and yesterday. waves hitting the shore in pittenweem in

fife. big gaps in the cloud your. more sour clouds in the west. it is currently reigning over southern counties of england and wales. it is western parts more prone to see the showers. still coming in from a generally south—westerly direction, but it's a slightly cooler air mass that we had through yesterday. tem pters that we had through yesterday. tempters down at around seven to 11 degrees. with some longer spells of drier weather over eastern scotland and bones through england, this is where temperatures will drop the furthest, perhaps down to freezing.

isafairamount furthest, perhaps down to freezing. is a fair amount of cloud tomorrow. showers in the morning will fade away, more sunshine into the afternoon, but not west england, western scotland and northern ireland could see heavy showers with hill makes them. sunshine in between the showers. best of the sunshine will be in southern and eastern areas. temperatures as high as degree. thursday night, night—time rain and strong winds over much of england and wales. the further north you are, lighter winds, england and wales. the further north you are, lighterwinds, clearer skies and a slight frost for friday morning. accordion damp start for many over england. staying cloudy in northern england and southern scotla nd northern england and southern scotland during the day. heavy showers in the west later. 13 degrees in the sunshine in london. only six or 7 degrees for northern scotland. the weekend is looking fairly messy. low—pressure is caused

by. were likely to see outbreaks of rain at times, especially on sunday. if your christmas shopping, there will still be some dry weather to enjoy, some sunshine at times and it will be mild, with temperatures climbing as we going to sunny afternoon before falling away a little as we head into christmas week. more details online. hello, you're watching afternoon live. i'm shaun ley. standing infor simon, the standing in for simon, the real mccoy, which i think makes me his decoy! today at 2: the labour leader, jeremy corbyn, denies using the phrase ‘stupid woman' during this commons exchange with theresa may. look behind you! they‘ re not impressed and neither is the country! in the past hour, the government has set out its immigration policy for the uk after brexit. what matters, ministers says, will be skills not where people come from. we are absolutely not closing our

doors. we simply sure that we have control over who comes through them. the european commission says it has started to implement its preparations for a no—deal brexit.