we're nearly there, it's the friday before xmas — it's 103m, i'm victoria derbyshire. after chaos for almost 36 hours, a small number of flights have started taking off again from gatwick airport, despite the rogue drone operator evading capture and their device not being located. the transport secretary insists passengers are safe. there's no evidence that it is terror—related in the conventional sense, not linked, as far as we are aware, to an international terrorist group. this kind of incident is unprecedented anywhere in the world, the disruption of an airport in this way. but clearly there are a range of measures which are there today which should give passengers confidence that they are safe to fly. we'll have the latest. do you back the decision to reopen the runway? could the sunderland supporter behind this track be the christmas umber one. # and if you could see me now # and if you could see me now # and if you could see me now # i hope that i'm making you proud... # marty longstaff wrote this song about his granddad. or could it be this

dad from nottingham — known on youtube as lad baby. # we built this city on sausage rolls # we built this city # on sausage rolls # built this city they are both in competition with ariana grande and the winner will be revealed on radioi ariana grande and the winner will be revealed on radio i this afternoon. we'll talk to some lake poets and ladbaby. the rspca release figures today showing last december they received over 6,000 reports about the neglect and abandonment of dogs — this morning we'll meet hokee and stella — hokee was rescued last xmas eve from a pub car park and stella is looking for a home after 15 months living in kennels. good morning.

hello. welcome to the programme. we're live until ”am this morning. it's our last programme of the year — and so this morning i want you to let us know your breaking news of 2018. we have brought you so many stories. what's happened in your life, your work, your home, yourfamily — do send me an email victoria@bbc.co.uk or a tweet — use the #victorialive. if you're emailing and want to come on air today — we could have a christmas chat but put your phone number in the e—mail. before that we have a summary of the news so far today. with a gatwick‘s runway has reopened — and around 700 flights are expected to arrive and depart — yet the drone and the drone operator have managed to evade capture so far. it's reported in a couple of papers that a lone wolf eco activist there is no evidence it is linked to

an international terrorist group but it isa an international terrorist group but it is a disruptive activity we have not seen before. this kind of incident is unprecedented anywhere in the world, the disruption of an airport in this way. we will have to learn quickly from what has happened. i plan to convene discussions with other airports around the uk very quickly indeed so that they know what has happened, they understand what lessons need to be learned and we put in place every measure we possibly can to ensure this can't happen again. the us defence secretary james mattis has announced his resignation a day after president trump said he was withdrawing america's remaining troops from syria. james mattis is the sixth senior official to leave the sixth senior official to leave the trump administration in recent weeks. in his resignation letter he hints at disagreements with the president, criticising mr trump a's approach to american allies as well as to china and russia. the former

foreign secretary borisjohnson is understood to have been cleared of breaking conservative party rules after suggesting that muslim women wearing the burger look like letterboxes or back rubbers. an independent panel established by the party is reported to have decided that he was entitled to use satire to make his points. —— burqa. the column in the autumn attracted dozens column in the autumn attracted d oze ns of column in the autumn attracted dozens of complaints. the chief medical officer from england has called for attacks to be imposed on unhealthy foods if manufacturers fail to meet targets for sugar and salt reduction. professor dame sally davies that the proceeds could be spent on initiatives to promote healthy eating such as the cost of healthy vegetables. in the past half hour a self—employed builder has been revealed as the winner of the £76 million euromillions jackpot which went unclaimed for six weeks. andrew clark who is 51 and from boston in

lincolnshire has netted the 12th biggest win ever in the uk. and that is what you call quite a christmas present. back to you, victoria. i'm so envious of him, i really am. this morning we are asking for your breaking news, the big stuff that's happened to you in 2018. on twitter, kaos simian says, "getting diagnosed with adhd at the age of 46 and finally understanding myself after all this time. profoundly, positively life—changing." on twitter again — helen says she got a divorce! do you say congratulations? and jessica says: "my baby girl, amelia, born injuly, on what would have been her great granddad's birthday. as a disabled woman, i didn't think i could have children. she was meant to be." i would definitely say congratulations to you jessica and amelia. do get in touch with us throughout the morning — use the #victorialive. if you're emailing and are happy for us to contact you — and maybe want to take part

in the programme — please include your phone number in your message. tell us your breaking news of 2018. coming up at around 10:30am — we're talking christmas number ones. this dad from nottingham is in competition with ariana grande, amongst others. #we # we built this city on sausage rolls #we rolls # we built this city # we built this city #we # we built this city # we built this city # we built this city... # we built this city... # we'll talk to ladba by in just under half an hour, alongside marty, a sunderland fan who's also in the running. gatwick has reopened and around 700 flights are expected to arrive today yet the drone and or drones, and the operator, or operators, have still managed to evade capture so far. it is reported in a couple of papers today that "a lone wolf ego activist" is feared to be behind the drone flights but no organisation has claimed responsibility and transport secretary said he could

not rule out potentially a foreign state being involved. 0ver not rule out potentially a foreign state being involved. over 100,000 state being involved. 0ver100,000 passengers have had their travel plans disrupted and thousands remain stranded. the civil aviation authority says it is treating the situation as an extraordinary circumstance, which means airlines don't have to pay compensation to passengers. let's talk now to drone pilot gemma alcock who uses drones to aid search and rescue missions, alastair rosenschein a former british airways pilot, and judi palmer who yesterday tried to fly to cyprus for her close friends funeral, and joanne mason — a dog that she is fostering spent 2a hours in a crate, after the flight she was on was diverted to liverpool. first, thank you for talking to us. do you back the decision to reopen gatwick despite the drones and drone operator still not having been caught? yes, i thinki do today. i

think so many people yesterday were trying to get home for christmas, andi trying to get home for christmas, and i think it's quite important that the airport does everything they can to get them the. i couldn't get to cyprus for today but if they can get people home, yes. and as long as it is safe for them to do so. what do you say, joanne? yes, definitely, as long as this is safe for them to do so the airport should be reopened. people need to get home to friends and family so yes, as long as it is so. it is a safety and security issue and one relies on the police to give advice to the airport authorities and the decision was made, andl authorities and the decision was made, and i think rightly, to open the airport if the drone reappears they will clearly have to close it again but at the moment it appears that the perpetrator may have left the scene and taken his drone with him. if he or she was ever at the scene. gemma, what is your view on the fact the device has not yet been located, nor the operator or

operators? i think there has been lots of discussions about changing regulations, improvements in the technology of all of this. but the analogy i quite often give really makes it stark and how we should be viewing the situation. when you hear ofa car viewing the situation. when you hear of a car crash caused by reckless driving people's thoughts don't immediately go to cars are terrible and let's take them off the road, or clearly driving regulations need to change. instead, our thoughts clearly driving regulations need to change. instead, ourthoughts go straight to i bet the driver was drinking, or on their phone, or speeding. we automatically blame the individual driver's behaviour and bad decisions. not the card technology and not the driving community. i think this same thought process needs to be applied to reckless drone operations. it is not the technology, it is not the drone community, it is reckless individuals and at this negative behaviour is not unique to drone

technology, so firstly people need to start viewing it with that same kind of thought process. if they have reopened the airport, safety is at the heart of every decision and airport makes, so if they have reopened the airport they have systems in place now. what needs to change so that this doesn't happen ain? change so that this doesn't happen again? i do not entirely share the view of the previous speaker, in the sense that drones allow disruption and dangerto sense that drones allow disruption and danger to aircraft to be done with relative impunity, as we have seen over the last few days. i don't think this is the last of the sort of disruption. the real danger is if an aircraft was to hit a commercial size drone, i'm not talking about the toys that young men and women by in the high street, i'm talking about the heavier weight ones, 20 kilograms and so on, they can do extreme damage to an aircraft, especially those taking off and

landing. and so something really has to be done to curtail their use. at the moment the law is you cannot operate drone within an airfield up to 400 feet and as any pilot will tell you that puts a drone very close indeed to the flight path of an aircraft, either landing or taking off, so that has to be changed. and increase the distances. very distressing for you, i'm guessing, to miss the funeral of a very close friend. yes, absolutely. i was devastated yesterday. i think probably from about two o'clock we knew there wouldn't be any more flights out and i made the decision to go home. and, honestly, i cried most of the way home in the car because i wanted to be there so badly today to say my farewells to my friend. at the same time, i think

i also felt that my safety, because i've got family, obviously, was paramount, so i was equally pleased that they did, in the end, cancel all the flights. it was a very disruptive day, it was a horrible day and there was no information. i think that was the thing that really got to me most of all. they would put upa got to me most of all. they would put up a sign on the departure boards, information in an hour and the hour would go by and then it would be information in another hour, and that went on until one o'clock. at which point i think everybody was getting quite frustrated and we alljust sort of sad, please, somebody, just make the decision to cancel, or tell us what is happening. and i went to the information desk and asked about my flight. information desk and asked about my flight. yes, your flight information desk and asked about my flight. yes, yourflight is information desk and asked about my flight. yes, your flight is still scheduled to fly. but how is it

going to fly? there were drones going to fly? there were drones going up everywhere. itjust wouldn't have been feasible? do you have sympathy with tens of thousands of passengers there today, hundreds of passengers there today, hundreds of flights, and the hunt on for the drone operator and drone, or drones? it is an unprecedented situation, isn't it? it is and i think the person who did this yesterday, quite frankly, is an absolute moron, he chose one of the busiest days at the airport, people trying to get home for christmas, people with families trying to get their children to see father christmas, it was just the worst. the other thing i think gatwick probably didn't manage terribly well was the departure of the passengers because up on the departure board would come the flight departure board would come the flight gate number and you thought, the flight is going out, and actually what it was as it was diverting you to the gate to pick up your luggage to then depart from the

airport. it was a very frustrating day all round for everybody. joanne, ava, who i cannot see now, has she gone? she is still here. you just fostered her, she was in a crate for 24 hours because the flight you were on was diverted to liverpool. how was she when you got to her?|j wasn't was she when you got to her?” wasn't on the flight, i live in the uk and fostered them from cyprus. she was very traumatised when we got her, she was very frightened. as you can see she is now sat beside me, she has had her breakfast and she slept well last night and she is trying to give me kisses. yeah, she does look very calm actually, i'd rather contented. how many dogs do you foster from cyprus, just out of interest? this year we have probably fostered about 15, probably. they are all in new homes now and living

the lives they deserve to live and this little lady will stay with us over christmas and then she will find herself a new home in the new year. gemma, ijust want to come back to you. most drones are fitted with an automated system that won't allow them to go near airports, is my understanding. but clearly not in this case. well, yeah, there is something called geofencing which often uses gps technology. put simply, it creates an invisible fence that stops your drone from entering a specific area. in theory this is great and it would have prevented this kind of incident from happening. but unfortunately, in practice, it is not in all drones, it is easily hacked, and it is also easily disabled. because it is using gps, as soon as you disable your gps you are switching off geofencing so it needs to be made a lot more secure moving forward to really have that impact that we need. thank you

all of you very much. thanks for coming on the programme, i appreciate your time. thank you for your messages about your breaking news of 2018. moira says my year has been amazing. i went on my first cruise, i got engaged in dublin and my son had a baby girl last month. david says, this year my young son harvey who has mosaic down syndrome was selected for the gb down syndrome swimming squad and we went to the world championships in canada and harvey was the youngest competitor, broke a world record, won several races and was the overalljunior won several races and was the overall junior champion, which is not bad because he's only 13. jackie says my son has autism and is racing in 2019 with the most inspirational tea m in 2019 with the most inspirational team in motorsport, showing disability need not be a barrier to competing on a level playing field

in sport. keep them coming up. coming up. a reminderfrom the rspca that a dog is for life and notjust christmas. we speak to the charity and meet some rescued pets as new figures from rspca reveal that more than half of the calls they receive at christmas relate to dogs that are neglected. and later, we'll find out what this year's christmas number one is. could this man's tribute to his beloved sunderland top the charts? james corden hopes so. we'll speak to marty longstaff and another contender ladba by later. memorial services will take place in scotland and the us today, to remember the 270 people killed when a passenger plane exploded over lockerbie 30 years ago. wreaths will be laid in the dumfries and galloway town where the wreckage of the bombed pan am flight 103 came down on the night of december 21st, 1988. 11 people died in lockerbie,

along with the 259 passengers and crew on board the new york—bound plane which had set off from heathrow. the plane was blown up when an explosive stored in a suitcase in the plane hold detonated. 0ur correspondent lorna gordon is in lockerbie, at the garden of remembrance where a memorial service is being held later. good morning, lorna. good morning. there will across this town, quiet, private acts of remembrance today at points where the plane fell to earth across the countryside and in the town itself. but here in the garden of remembrance a little later there will be the service of commemoration where victims, the relatives of the victims, and members of the emergency services will come

together to pay tribute. relatives have travelled across the water, cross the atlantic from the united states, to come to this service today, and some have come, of course, from england and across scotla nd course, from england and across scotland as well. jim swire is one of those expected here today. his daughter flora died in the attack. for him there are still many u na nswered for him there are still many unanswered questions. but he says todayis unanswered questions. but he says today is a chance to remember those who died and to thank lockerbie for opening its arms and giving comfort to those who have been grieving.” have often felt that we owe a debt to both american families and to the people of lockerbie in that they have seldom complained about our dragon, in the case of lockerbie, the town's name back into the public limelight again. but i hope we would be able to meet some of them today

and, perhaps, get to know some a little better. today is a chance for people to come together and remember those who died. what will your emotions be today and what is your message to the people of lockerbie? i think today is a day when we should talk not so much about campaigning and the rights and wrongs and the truth and all of the fallacies. i think we should think of the people who died. 0ur attention should be centred on those who were actually murdered in this avoidable atrocity. this is a quiet place, a place of reflection, of deep thoughts, their families remembering their loved ones, thinking about what might have been. there are moments of commemoration here every year. but perhaps added significance this year on this 30th anniversary of the worst terrorist atrocity that the uk has ever suffered. services here, but of course come across in the

united states as well. those will ta ke united states as well. those will take place a little later. the majority of the victims came from north america. among them, 35 stu d e nts north america. among them, 35 students from syracuse university. they, of course, remembered at the university today and by their relatives and friends. lorna gordon reporting, thank you. thank you for your messages. ellis tweets i got the grades i needed to do games design at university gout. design at university celebrating 25 years of living healthily with hiv. judy says i met my pen pal of over 25 years. it was delightful, the highlight of my year. on drones, vincent e—mailed to say anything that limits our liberty and freedom is terrorism, no matter what, and those behind the drone

chaos at gatwick should get ten plus yea rs chaos at gatwick should get ten plus years in custody. and sue says, where those trained eagles that attack drones? some airports in europe have them and they bring down the drones. a former met police commissioner talked about using eagles to bring drones down but we haven't seen that as yet. could a nottingham dad's novelty song about sausage rolls be the christmas number one? this afternoon the winner of the year's biggest chart race will be announced. here are three of the main contenders. # i've loved and i've lost # but that's not what i see # so, look what i got # look what you taught me # and for that, i say # thank you, next, next...# # ..kinda crazy # she's poison but tasty # yeah, people say, "run, don't walk away" # cos she's sweet but a psycho # a little bit psycho # at night she screamin'

# "i'm—ma—ma—ma out my mind"...# # they're party—sized to foot—long # listen to your belly groan # don't you remember # we built this city on sausage rolls # we built this city...# that was ariana grande, ava max and mark hoyle aka ladbaby — who we'll hear from in a minute. but first, another track to look out for is called shipyards by the lake poets. released in 2015, it has shot up the charts after it was included in a documentary about sunderland fc. football fans including james corden are calling for it to be christmas number one. # 0n the river where they used to build the boats # by the harbour wall the place you loved the most # i can see you there but all you know # i'll be there soon.#

let's talk to the lake poets, also known as marty longstaff, good morning to you. good morning. to youtube star mark hoyle or ladbaby. hello. his entry forced bookmaker coral to suspend betting on who will be number one after loads of people put money on his track. and we also have kylie 0lsson who is a musicjournalist. thank you for coming on the programme. marty, you released this three years ago but because of this documentary which i think came out on netflix last week, it suddenly gained in popularity again. that's right. what is the song about? written in 2015 about my grandfather who passed away, shipyard worker in the north—east, he was a hero of

mine, quiet, humble, hard—working man and when he passed away it was a tribute to him and those who worked so hard to sacrifice for their loved ones in the industry. when james corden tweeted he wanted you to be number one, how did it feel?m corden tweeted he wanted you to be number one, how did it feel? it has been a trip, i woke up in the morning, took the dog for a walk, came back, freezing cold, james had tweeted, so i was quite pleased.” bet you were. it seems to have a lot of support from football fans, even, you were telling me, newcastle supporters. what a turn up, natural enemies, but newcastle and sunderland, very similar people and places, so it is great to see the groundswell of support. mark, you are in competition with marty and ariana grande. how do you feel about that? it is bizarre, isn't it, that on even in the same category as these actual people that do music was met but it's exciting, isn't it? it really is but did you ever in a million years think you would be in this position? never. never in my wildest dreams. we did it to have a

bit of fun and to bring attention and raise money to an amazing charity and the fact we are even in contention isjust charity and the fact we are even in contention is just unbelievable, amazing, really. you are doing it for a brilliant cause, tell our audience about that. we are doing it for the trestle trust, they support some of the 14 million people in the uk that live below the poverty line, 4 million of them children, and as a family with two young children we know how difficult it can be living ona know how difficult it can be living on a budget so we are supporting food banks across the uk so it is all going to that. did you come up with changing rock and roll to sausage rolls, or your other half, or your kids? it originally came from twitter about six months ago. i don't even know who it was, somebody jokingly sent me a tweet saying i should do it and i downloaded the song and was singing along doing it naturally like a lot of people already have over the years and it snowballed from there. it is crazy, really. the son reckons you are

going to do it today. i've been reading it this morning so we will see. we will keep everything crossed. stephen has e-mailed to say iama crossed. stephen has e-mailed to say i am a sunderland fan and work at the stadium on match days, this is for you, marty. the netflix series was insightful and music. from shipbuilding and mining, the people of sunderland only have the football clu b of sunderland only have the football club now and this song is great and i hope it gets to number one. kylie, who is your money on?” i hope it gets to number one. kylie, who is your money on? i love the ladbaby song who is your money on? i love the ladba by song but who is your money on? i love the ladbaby song but unfortunately i think that they max will take the numberone think that they max will take the number one spot. unfortunately. no, don't tell me that, come on come! does it matter what the christmas number one spot is as it did when i was a teenager? i think it does, it isa was a teenager? i think it does, it is a british tradition, it's been going for over 65 years. i think it's nice. this time of year, to have that thing to look forward to where we all get together and we

just root for something that means something to us. how many downloads do you need to get to number one? do you know? i don't know, ladbaby, do you know? i don't know, ladbaby, do you know? i don't know, ladbaby, do you know? to your previous question, does it still means something, i know that it did to ed sheeran, who drafted in beyonce to help him get there. he got something like 84,000 downloads last year to help them get there. who knows? who knows if the competition is that strong this year? but we will see. and it doesn't have to be cool either, that's the thing, i don't think christmas has ever been cool and some of the biggest christmas songs, some of the biggest christmas songs, some of the biggest christmas songs, some of the biggest artists like david bowie, elvis, they've done the best christmas songs there are. how old are you, marty? 30. what is your favourite christmas number one? to be honest there is quite a few but it has to be fairy tale of new york. what is your favourite christmas number one, mark? i'm all about the novelty, bob the builder and mr

blobby and i'm away! band aid, do they know it's christmas?! blobby and i'm away! band aid, do they know it's christmas? . the first one, i'm with you on that. do you fancy doing a bit more, marty because it is so moving.” you fancy doing a bit more, marty because it is so moving. i will do, no worries. in your own time. #if # if you could see me now # if you could see me now # and if you could see me now # and if you could see me now # i hope that i'm making you proud # i hope that i'm making you proud # i hope that i'm making you proud # proud... beautiful. absolutely and very moving. we will find out with scott mills on radio 1. good luck, mark and marty and thank you for coming in. i really appreciate it. and, kylie, thank you for coming on the

programme. if you are getting in touch use the #victoria live, or e—mailand touch use the #victoria live, or e—mail and include your phone number in the message, if you are texting we have to charge you. thank you for your messages about breaking news in 2018. simon on text: "back in march i was diagnosed with a brain tumour. after a biopsy, iwas told was inoperable. then injune, i got sicker and emergency surgery was done and it worked and the outcomes did not happen. iam here for christmas and didn't think i would so i am very happy and will be enjoying." wow, understatement. amazing, you must be amazing. and the nhs, as well. julia says, me and my husband have moved to the south of france this year to start a new life in a beautiful country. the best decision that we have ever made.

hgppy christmas to you and all our family and friends in the uk." anon on text: "this year we welcomed our first child, faye, after several years of loss and mourning. families." very happy for you. back to gatwick. the airport has reopened over 100,000 passengers have had their travel plans ruined and passengers stranded. let's speak to our reporter navtej johal who is at gatwick airport. what is the latest? as you can see behind me, passengers are continuing to arrive. things are a little bit quieter than they were yesterday but the big difference at the moment is the big difference at the moment is the sound and sight of aircraft landing and taking off from gatwick airport. we have been here over the last couple of hours and seen at least half a dozen aeroplanes coming in and leaving gatwick in the time that we have been here. the key figures from today, 126,000 passengers are expected to be taking

off or arriving here at gatwick. 165 flights in total. but overall, 140,000 passengers we are expecting to come into gatwick today. a lot of thatis to come into gatwick today. a lot of that is also the knock on from yesterday as well, with the disruption likely to continue into the weekend. the advice from the airport continues to be to check the status of your flight with your airline before travelling. that backlog will continue to affect the airport for some considerable time. at least 100 flights, we understand, have been cancelled today. again, due to that backlog. the identity of the people behind the drones that have caused all of this, all these issues and disruption, is still unknown. the police and the military have been looking for the people behind it all the person behind it. he or she or they, plus the drone or drones, are still, have not been found yet. that

is the current situation here. flights have been resuming. the first flight to take off from here since wednesday evening was at 6:30am and was a china flight, which arrived here from shanghai. the first flight to take off was going to lapland a short while later. passengers arriving here, some of them more in hope than expectation. thank you, and thank you for your messages. lucy said, my child is on a school trip and hopefully flying back from salzburg to gatwick. i'm confident as a parent the airport is able to maintain security and not compromise safety, although, of course, i'm still nervous the drone is still at large. another said, it's an absolutely ridiculous situation where someone can buy a flying toy and shut down one of the world's most busiest airports. anyone with common sense would have legislated two years or so ago when drones were developed to make them licensed and chipped. david says all it needed a skilled clay pigeon shooter with a patrolling the

airport. jackie says, might i suggest when the drone culprit is found, as well as facing criminal prosecution, all those passengers who miss their flights should take out a civil procedure for compensation. let's talk now to emma foster, who tried to fly to lapland for a one—day trip with her kids meghan and lottie, but never made it. we can also speak to leana grech, who is stranded in the dominican republic and has serious health issues. is that right? yes, that's right. i have quite a few health worries. i did bring my main medication but u nfortu nately did bring my main medication but unfortunately some of my medication has run out, so we are trying to get hold of that, hopefully by today, otherwise i'm in big trouble! what do you need? i have my insulin and

steroids and an emergency injection. but it's steroids and an emergency injection. but its other things that i need for blood pressure. crikey, i can't quite remember at the moment. no worries. are you feeling a bit stressed? i'm a bit stressed. we've been up all night, trying to get in contact with ba. we did try yesterday, but to no avail. their systems were down, so we couldn't do it online either. we finally managed to get in contact with them about three o'clock this morning, our time, and unfortunately, we missed the flight on sunday. the next available flight is the 27th. and we we re available flight is the 27th. and we were both supposed to fly out yesterday, so we are going to miss christmas with our family and my

son, which is really upsetting. how old is your son? he is 17. yeah, he didn't want to come this year because he's obviously nearly a grown up, as because he's obviously nearly a grown up, as far because he's obviously nearly a grown up, as far as because he's obviously nearly a grown up, as far as he is concerned. so it would have been my last christmas with him as a child, as well. you know what? your health is the main priority, isn't it? yes. definitely. that is the main priority. i am just going to talk to emma, who is back here. hello to both of you, emma and lottie, thank you for coming on the programme. hello. hugely disappointing, but do you have sympathy for the airport authorities? i do. i mean, there's nothing they could have done. safety has to come first, but it was just hugely disappointing, and something that we now won't be able to do this

year. hopefully, maybe next year, but there is no availability left for this year. and how did you find out? we waited at the gate. so, we got our boarding passes, went through security and we we re passes, went through security and we were at the gate for about five, five and a half hours. the captain ? here is megan. the captain was absolutely fantastic, really lovely, singing carols with the kids, took some of them to the flight deck if they wanted to go. but eventually, at about 12:30pm, he made the announcement that flight had been cancelled. so we were waiting there for a good 4—5 hours, just hoping and hoping we would be able to go. megan, how did you react when you realised you couldn't go to lapland? i was quite sad. and you, lottie? i was really sad. i suppose emma, when

you hear our other guest, stuck in the dominican republic with some stresses, some worries about getting access to drugs that she needs, you are back home, you will have christmas, that something, isn't it? absolutely, absolutely right. we are sad but we are lucky. we just have to hope that we can do it next year, and hope that all of those people that are stuck can actually get back and get what they need. we are just showing a picture of your two and some other children stuck at the airport. great big grins. lottie, sorry, what did you say? megan was just going. that's fine. not looking too sad, i have to say. i am going too sad, i have to say. i am going to bring in ron at gatwick. good morning, can you hear me 0k?” to bring in ron at gatwick. good morning, can you hear me ok? i can, good morning. good morning, it is victoria here at bbc two and bbc

news. where were you meant to be flying i was flying to antigua at 11 o'clock yesterday. was that simply for a holiday or special occasion? it was for a family christmas. my family is already there, some of them, and some travelling today as well, on a different flight. they managed to get there today. and do you feel quite emotional about that? yes, i mean, it's very sad i won't be spending christmas with them. i've been quite fortunate in the fa ct i've been quite fortunate in the fact that virgin managed to rebook me ona fact that virgin managed to rebook me on a flight, not flying until the 25th, but i will still get to spend some of the christmas with the family but not until four o'clock on christmas day. as you say, at least you will get there. in the meantime, you will get there. in the meantime, you are going home, i assume? yes. again, i have good friends that have

offered to come and pick me up and ta ke offered to come and pick me up and take me back home. that has been great. what is the situation inside? has it calmed down a bit now that some flights have resumed, how would you describe it? i would still say it's fairly chaotic. there are still people sitting on the floor and lying on the floor in sleeping bags and stuff. again, i have been fortunate because i've been given a plan, i know what i'm doing. but there are a lot of people at the airport that don't know what's happening, whether they are going to be flying or not. listen, i'm grateful to all of you for talking to us. leana, take care. keep calm. i will try. and you will be back as soon as you can. ron, say flying on christmas day. and emma, thank you very much for coming on. emma, lottie and megan. we can now speak to a security

expert, mr griffiths. good morning. does this event show authorities in this country really have not woken up this country really have not woken up to the threat from drones? no, i don't think so. i do know from discussions i've had of late that the aviation authority have been doing risk assessments for this particular type of attack or incident over the past three or four yea rs, incident over the past three or four years, so prior to that it wasn't pa rt years, so prior to that it wasn't part of the risk assessment that it has been for three or four years and i have no doubt they have procedures and are adopting those procedures at this moment. right, but it's too late, isn't it? well, the thing is, it's never happened before. this is the first time that i don't think it will be the last time that it is the first time, and obviously they will be on first time, and obviously they will beona first time, and obviously they will be on a learning curve as well foster it was a waste going to happen, sooner or later. as i said, they have a risk assessment in place. i have no doubt that risk

assessment will be updated and upgraded to take account of what has been happening at the moment. do you have any theories on who might be behind this disruption?” have any theories on who might be behind this disruption? i think in this case, i probably down the route ofan this case, i probably down the route of an individual who isjust this case, i probably down the route of an individual who is just getting a bit ofa of an individual who is just getting a bit of a kick out of this. i think if it was an organisation, by now they would have put some claim to it because if it was to make a point or make somebody have an impact on the world, then they would want to be named so people would know which organisation they are from. that has not happened, so i think it's more likely to be an individual. that's where i think it is. i don't know if you heard the transport secretary on the radio this morning but he said he wasn't ruling anyone out, including foreign states. yes. i'm sure that's the case. you can't rule things out, but in my opinion, at this moment in time, my knowledge

around the subject would be to someone who is working on their own, getting a kick out of it. as i say, ido getting a kick out of it. as i say, i do think in the future other organisations may well decide to use this type of tactic. you think there might be copycat incidents, elsewhere in the uk or around the world ? elsewhere in the uk or around the world? i'm sure, around the world, probably. certainly in the uk, i've no doubt. what sort of a person would you be to be able to remotely control this technology, evade ca ptu re control this technology, evade capture and come in your view, get a kick out of causing this disruption? do you think? in essence, it's a big area of space around that airfield, and a drone can be taken up and taken down very quickly by a good operator. not very easy to catch, individually, like that. so it doesn't surprise me they are struggling with this. it is a difficult thing to do. it is not

like a strike drone, one of the big ones used in military campaigns. they are much bigger and much easier to locate and track and destroy. with something as small as this, not very easy at all. this idea of shooting it down does not equate with me at all, really. itjust can't happen that way. that is the possibility of they see it again, apparently. yes, well, as i said, they would be lucky to hit it. i know certainly when it's been used, when ground fire has been used against drones in places of conflict, they've not been very successful. they will be hard pushed to fetch this thing down, certainly wouldn't do it with one single round. that would be very, very unusual. you say it is inevitable this will happen again but is there anything that can be put in place to stop that? yeah, there are, there is equipment available now. it has been

developed and is developing better all the time, which can take a drone away from an area. the signalling of the drone is taken over by a ground piece of equipment and that equipment could take it off. it's been used in germany and i have no doubt at all it is on the radar here in the uk, to be used in the future. thank you for talking to us. kenn griffiths, terrorism and security consultant. thank you for your messages about your own news from 2018. molly says, i've been offered a job at berkshire nhs to study child mental health. congratulations foster sarah says, i am going to go for a joint transplant next year for both kidney and pancreas. it is the best news i have received and i can now see my seven—year—old boy grover. i'm looking forward to starting a new life next year. thank you for those, do keep them coming in. almost half of all adults

released from prison reoffend, according to government figures. as part of efforts to change that, a new recruitment agency in birmingham has been set up specifically for ex—offenders, to try to help them get a stable job, and stay out of prison. i spentjust over a year and a half in prison. i was locked up for a violent crime, which i do deeply regret. almost half of people who leave prison in the uk will reoffend within a year, rising to 65% of people released from a custodial sentence of less than 12 months. but here in birmingham, a specialist recruitment agency has been set up to help ex offenders transition into work, in the belief that ex prisoners have much to offer and that a stable job is the best way to avoid the risk of reoffending. i'm a very hard worker, i'm willing to learn new skills, i can communicate very well,

and just my ambition. using mentors who have also been in contact with the criminaljustice system, they match candidates with employers in selected sectors like civil engineering, construction and warehousing. they assure employers that candidates have been fully vetted and drug tested and that they are genuinely ready for employment. ian perkins set up the agency after he himself struggled to find work when he came out of prison, having served two long sentences. after i was released from prison the first time, i applied for multiplejobs and i did put on the application that i've been in prison and they go," oh, sorry, we'll get back to you." and, of course, that never happens. from his time inside the n recognised a pattern. people live in custody face obstacles to employment which very often led to reoffending. my terms in prison were quite long, so during that time in custody i saw the same people coming back time

after time after time. and some of these people i'd spoken to at length and they were trying so hard to gain employment and do the right thing but eventually they would go back into crime because it's one of the things they knew how to do. this is precisely the trap that tashan whittingham has tried hard to avoid and he is now found work through the agency as a rail engineer. since i came out of prison, things haven't been easy. but they've been very progressive. most offenders, if they don't have any way of getting back into work, they are going to go back into crime, which is going to lead to them going back into prison. and do you think that it's reasonable for an employer to think, well, this guy's guilty of a crime, potentially a very serious crime, it's not a risk i'm willing to take on employing them? it's difficult to say whether it is reasonable or not. i can understand why people would have that perception. whilst tashan has found work, israel is still looking for something stable

after a recent spell inside. i was released on the 10th of september, a few weeks back. so, you were in prison for quite a chunk of time. do you mind if i ask what you were in for? i committed an offence of robbery. i'm not ashamed of what i did, but i am ashamed that i ended up in custody. but i'm trying to change my life around and i've learned from that experience. i'm at an age now in my life where it's definitely time for a change and i'm trying to be the best person i can be really. i know that it's not going to be easy, it is a long path ahead of me but i'm staying positive, i know what direction i'm going. because at the end of the day, we're still human beings — we've made a mistake, so i think it's just getting that stigma off us because we are really hard workers and we want to work. we don't just sit around and not do anything. a lot of us are willing and very hard—working people. shafak mohammed served six months in prison on a money—laundering charge in 2015. he was able to find a job for a short period after being released from custody,

but since then he feels that his conviction has severely hampered his efforts to find work. filling out application forms is not a problem. getting interviews and doing well in the interviews is not a problem. however, the next step is a dbs and that's where i feel that i hit a brick wall. he believes that despite his best efforts, he is still being penalised for a single mistake. absolutely. i spoke to a lad when i was in wolverhampton and his cycle of life was he would come out of prison, he would deal drugs, when he got caught, he would go back inside again. it was the only life he knew. i've been to prison once. i don't want to go back. i've no intention of going back. and so, i'm trying to better myself. frustrated would be an understatement. whilst ian stresses that former inmates can have much to offer, often including skills they have learned while in prison,

he acknowledges that some areas of employment might not be suitable for people who have been recently released. there's going to be obvious employment strains that won't be appropriate for offenders to work in — vulnerable children, any of those areas. we would not look to source somebody into a line of employment where they could fail. we would be looking to employment strains that are fit for the candidate. so, we are going to focus primarily on construction, warehousing and driving. the risk factors surrounding those industries are minimal in comparison to others. more than half of animal welfare complaints investigated by the rspca at christmas are to do with dogs. last december, 62% of the 56,000 calls to them related to abuse and neglect of the animals, let's introduce you to hok‘ee, a chihuahua cross who was rescued last xmas eve

by rspca inspector nicola waterworth, after ho'kee was abandoned in a pub car park. stella, a staffie who has spent one year and 3 months in a kennels and is looking for a home, and phil morrison from the millsbrook rspca centre, and chris wainwright is here, deputy ceo of the rspca. thank you very much for coming in. nicola, you responded to a call from a pub landlord, which lead you to ho'kee, who was just a puppy. a pub landlord, which lead you to ho'kee, who wasjust a puppy. 0n christmas eve. what happened? the landlady was with us and found something in a dark corner, a pet carrier. she went and looked and there was a puppy in there, just left in a dark corner of the car park. they called us, i went out and collected him, took him to the vets for a check on christmas eve. about

ten o'clock at night. and he was all right. then we stuck him in foster, which was my house, because the branch staff do amazing work, but over christmas, they are tied up with the dogs that need medication. he needed constant, a puppy needs co nsta nt he needed constant, a puppy needs constant care. and you have adopted him? is it mega yes, yes. do you end up him? is it mega yes, yes. do you end up doing that with many dogs? many dogs! a few, yes. he is very relaxed and happy. enjoying the matching festive bows. stella has been looking for a home for over a year. why does no one want stella? i don't know, she is very well behaved, but unfortunately, people tend to overlook her. is it because of her breed, do you think? possibly, there isa breed, do you think? possibly, there is a bad reputation with them but i think anyone that knows them, knows what lovely, happy and affectionate

animals they are. the thing is, stella had a home. what happened, why was she brought to the rspca? just because she wasn't settling very well with the other dog. in a family home? yes, we think maybe she prefers to be the only dog in the home so she can get all the attention. tell us about her nature? she is quite relaxed being here. these are two of the most relaxed dogs we have had on the programme! happy, dogs we have had on the programme! happy, loves to meet people. can be a bit wary of people when she first meets them. i know how that feels! but she's done really well. chris, your figures today show it is dogs in particular that are most likely to be brought into your care at this time of year, why? obviously, you could argue the dog is the nation because my favourite pets so the prevalence of dogs out there. but there are a couple of other reasons. there is that classic syndrome of the puppy purchase, or let's get a dog to complete the family at

christmas. i think ho'kee is a really good example, probably, of that. also christmas, although it is a time ofjoy for most of us, hopefully. it is also very stressful for a hopefully. it is also very stressful fora numberof hopefully. it is also very stressful for a number of people and if people are financially stretched or feeling that emotional stress, often it is their pets that get abandoned or mistreated during that time. so it isa peak mistreated during that time. so it is a peak period for us, in terms of looking after dogs. but when we get them, we will look after them and find them new homes will stop if we can get your viewers to help tweet about stella today, we can perhaps get hera about stella today, we can perhaps get her a home before christmas. i've been told people are ringing in potentially offering a home for stella. i don't want to raise anybody plasma hopes, especially stella's because there is due diligence but we will put you in contact. i know our audience is a compassionate a lot but we have to check people out and all the rest of it. 1172 dogs taken into your care

last december. are you expecting it to be more than that this year? trends are pretty average, so it could well be exactly the same. that is enormous could well be exactly the same. that is enormous amounts could well be exactly the same. that is enormous amounts of work for people like nicola, who are out there rescuing, and people like phil, working christmas day, looking after them at the kennels, giving them love and compassion and retraining so they are suitable for a family home. we will properly have the same sort of influx. it's an enormous pressure for us which is why we need the support of the public, the generosity they often show us, so we can provide for these animals. year on year the numbers have been going down for the number of animals, including dogs, taken into care, is that right? that's right, i think there's two reasons for that. generally, the right, i think there's two reasons forthat. generally, the number of pets has slightly declined in the general population anyway. also, we work much harder when people are struggling with their animals, to help them in any way we can, so those animals can stay in situ. ultimately, it's better for them to

be ina ultimately, it's better for them to be in a family planning kennels or with the rspca, as wonderful as the ca re with the rspca, as wonderful as the care is that we do provide. ok. so what would you say, your advice for families who are thinking of getting a dog families who are thinking of getting a dog now? they may have already connected their puppy or in the new year, what is the advice? they do make the most wonderful companions and family members but do your research, check it out was to make sure you will be able to cope. is it going to be suitable for your family, your lifestyle ? going to be suitable for your family, your lifestyle? equally, can you financially afford it? will you be able to look after that animal properly? if you can, they will make the most wonderful companion. let's see what we can do for stella thank you all of you, thank you all of you very much. happy christmas all of you. really appreciate your time this morning. such well behaved animals, delicious! you can catch up with all the best

bits online. there is another chance to see them on new year's leave. 0ne viewer said, my braking uses my brain tumour has stabilised. thankful and grateful. another says, for me it is after meeting my dad after 18 years apart. best moment ever. happy christmas, see you soon. hello, good morning. a rather grey start to the day for stops and outbreaks of rain out there as well through this morning. that is the scene this morning in worcestershire. not exactly very festive, is it? but as we go through the day, there could be some brighter skies developing in wales, east and southern areas of england. the patchy rain continuing across northern england and across northern ireland. across the south, really quite mild out there. temperatures getting up to 12—14. where you have the cloud and the rain across

northern england and northern ireland and dublin to scotland, those temperatures more like 5—7. there will be a bit of sunshine in the far north. through tonight, showers expected to move eastwards. if you are heading out and about, bear that in if you are heading out and about, bearthat in mind. if you are heading out and about, bear that in mind. some showers could be on the heavy side in parts of england and wales. going into the weekend, i know many of you will be travelling. 0n weekend, i know many of you will be travelling. on saturday, looking dry, there will be some sunshine does not buy some day, rain will move in across england and wales. the best of the brightness will be across northern parts of the uk and we still have that temperature dip, 6-8 we still have that temperature dip, 6—8 in northern parts, 11—12 further south. more and half an hour. bye— bye. you're watching bbc newsroom live — it's11am. these are the main stories this morning: gatwick‘s runway reopens with over

700 planes scheduled for departure and arrival today — the transport secretary insists travellers will be safe. clearly there are a range of measures, which are there today, which should give passengers confidence that they are safe to fly. yes, as the runway reopens at gatwick, thousands of passengers remain stranded as the airport tries to cope with the huge backlog of cancelled flights from yesterday. in other news, us defence secretary james mattis resigns, a day after president trump announces the withdrawal of troops from syria. england's chief medical officer calls for a tax on unhealthy food high in sugar and salt, accusing the food industry of failing the public.