it will be a cold night across scotland, perhaps north—east england. a fairly widespread frost in scotland and some patchy fog after the day's showers, that's the real concern for travellers on sunday more. for most of us, sunday has a very different complexion, one of weather fronts, cloud and rain. some heavy rain initially, although the heaviest pulses of rain may well clear away across southern areas through the morning and diminish further north as well. further pulses coming in. it will remain grey, dank and drizzly. with the rain comes a lot of low cloud. misty around the hills and coast. it may dry up in northern ireland in the afternoon. looks as if southern and central northern scotland will see the best bright weather, especially central and northern scotland. and here after the fog clears we'll see some sunshine but for most of us, mild and dank and grey. the weather front is still with us on christmas eve in the south but high pressure building through it, meaning it will weaken, the weather front. so the rain initially could be a bit on the heavy side but it will tend to weaken and ease away as we go through the day. more areas of northern ireland, england and wales will enjoy the drier weather.

brighter weather with some sunshine coming through once we get rid of the morning fog. again, foggy in some areas, much of the day. at this time of the year there's little strength to clear it away. you see the rain in the south into monday and that weather front still around on christmas day, bringing a lot of cloud in the skies after the early frost and fog. plenty more on the website. hello. this is bbc news. we'll be taking a look at tomorrow morning's papers in a moment first the headlines. the former leader of the liberal democrats lord paddy ashdown has died at the age of 77. he led the liberal democrats for over a decade and was the first leader after the liberal party merged with the social democrats in 1988. he was a very formidable man, it's very sad that we've lost him. he was politically active right to the end. he also served as international high representative

to bosnia herzegovina following the war which saw the break—up of yugoslavia. from across the political spectrum tributes have been paid to lord ashdown including from former prime ministers sirjohn major and tony blair. police investigating the drones at gatwick search a house in west sussex, following the arrest of a man and a woman from crawley. hello and welcome to our look ahead to what the the papers will be bringing us tomorrow. with me are sian griffiths, the education editor at the sunday times, and martin bentham from the evening standard. good evening to you both. many of tomorrow's front pages are already in. the death of lord ashdown features

on the front of the sunday times which has paid tribute to him, saying he made the liberal democrats a "formidable force". the sunda express fronts with a picture of the couple who are being questioned in relation to the gatwick airport chaos. that couple also feature in the daily mail with a rather blunt headline: "are these the morons who ruined christmas?" government ministers are reportedly scrambling to protect britain against similar attacks in the future that's in the telegraph. the independent has a story about the key policies may make has reportedly had to put on hold because of brexit, such as obesity, helping abuse victim victims and venting exploitation. starting in the sunday telegraph, that story that has dominated our output most of the week, the drone chaos at

gatwick. martin, what are the sunday telegraph saying? there's a massive scramble now because this has happened and there's a fear it will happened and there's a fear it will happen again. clearly there's been a massive failure to deal with this inappropriate time. all sorts of reasons potentially, as to whether we have the technology and whether we have the technology and whether we we re we have the technology and whether we were better prepared but we need to be, forany we were better prepared but we need to be, for any future attempt to do this, whether it's by people deliberately going out. that brilliant headline about morons wanting to cause trouble, that's the allegation against whoever it is, that they are that kind of person. if it is a prankster, whatever they are, whether they have malign intent, it can cause massive disruption, millions of pounds of damage and massive inconvenience to people. the sunday telegraph is talking about this scramble to ensure it doesn't happen but the

truth is that when someone does something like this, whoever it is, it puts the idea in other people's heads. sun, the paper points out that in 2006 a report set out how terror groups such as has his brother researched how to use rose to drop bombs, so this could have been worse. this links to the sunday times front page, talking about al-qaeda returning to potentially target airliners. that's the huge worry about these drones. as martin says, of course they can be used by pranksters or people just flying them and not knowing what they are doing but they could potentially be used to terror group —— by terror groups like al-qaeda to cause mayhem

and kill people. that's why we are so and kill people. that's why we are so alarmed and why gatwick took such a strong absent and grounded so many planes because we just didn't know. we still don't know. two people arrested. —— why gatwick took such a strong stand. the people haven't been charged, and we still don't know who is behind these rogue drones that have caused 1000 flights to be delayed or cancelled and about 40,000 passengers not going on their journey. in this case clearly anything that flies in the path of anything that flies in the path of an aircraft, whether it is birds, which can bring down planes by getting in the engines, a bird strike one engines dot potentially lethal. it's so simple, so dangerous. there is a separate problem, we don't need to talk about terrorism into thousand and six, the drones were used by islamic state in syria and elsewhere. —— terrorism in

2006. there is a live example of them being used by people very deliberately, for a malign purpose in that way. on this occasion the issue seems to be, for all we know, the police said it wasn't regarded asa the police said it wasn't regarded as a terrorist incident, the issue is simply the disruption. that is another issue. there's a great effort to protect our national infrastructure, power stations etc, water supplies and of course the airports are a massive part of that. if you bring the second biggest airport in the country and one of the biggest in the world to a halt for as long as you do you inflate a massive amount of damage on the country economically. that's a massive fear in itself. and at peak holiday season as well. let's move on. the front page dot is the same

paper, beg your pardon, the sunday telegraph. a brexit story. the leader of the house of commons andrea leadsom morning that you can't stop a no—deal brexit. andrea leadsom morning that you can't stop a no-deal brexit. yes, andrea leadsom, as we know, is a brexiteer and she says that mps cannot prevent the uk leaving the eu without a deal if they don't approve theresa may's plan or an alternative. i think that her intervention is likely to anger those who are pro remain. she is warning against a second referendum. i think you think she's right, don't you? is she technically right? she is and she isn't. she is taking the theresa may line that you've got to have a deal or else you delay it. i don't think... you got to find some

alternative in the time we've got and therefore have an alternative deal to the theresa may deal where you end up with no deal or you postpone it by deferring article 50, which brings in a different set of questions about a second referendum, a general election and so on. so technically it is right, unless we have a deal and unless we do something to stop it before march the 29th, as it's dines we are leaving then —— as it stands. the 29th, as it's dines we are leaving then -- as it stands. but the point is the message, apart from the point is the message, apart from the technicality. exactly, the message to people who are obstructing theresa may's deal, to say that the only way to avoid the no deal is to back the prime minister's deal. that's what theresa may has been saying, without much success so far. as the time gets nearer, the hope on the prime minister's side and presumably andrea leadsom as well, that it will

concentrate people's minds. people are so concentrate people's minds. people are so focused on brexit, this links back to the drones, so focused about brexit and brexit legislation, there isa brexit and brexit legislation, there is a lot of domestic legislation we should be pushing through which isn't happening. going back to the drones, there is this law that possibly should have been considered this year, and now it will be next year, giving airports, it should enable them to have the licensing powers to have software to jam these drones and bring them down safely in which they don't have the power to do now. there is a sense that mps are so do now. there is a sense that mps are so focused on brexit that there are so focused on brexit that there are many issues, important issues not being debated, discussed and taken through parliament. moving on to the sunday telegraph, a story on which we've been leading this evening, the death of lord ashdown, paddy ashdown. very characteristic

photo on the front, martin. he was a majorfigure for quite a photo on the front, martin. he was a major figure for quite a long time in british politics. it actually seems hard when you look at him standing as the leader in 1999. he was a majorfigure in standing as the leader in 1999. he was a major figure in that period, leading the lib dems to a very successful result in 1997. of course in one way he was unlucky i suppose because although the tories were in disarray, at the same time he was confronted with the labour party and tony blair, who were very popular. perhaps the lib dems would have been more successful if labour hadn't moved into the centre ground, into the lib dems field. but he's been a majorfigure and the lib dems field. but he's been a major figure and some of your reports talked about his greatest legacy possibly being over bosnia. as your correspond was talking about, he's remained very interested in that, and was still concerned right until his death,

u nfortu nately, right until his death, unfortunately, about the fragility of the settlement that was achieved and the progress made. when people have remembered him and paid tribute, they talked about him as being a politician of a different era, someone embodying certain qualities of honesty and integrity. absolutely, i interviewed him years ago. he was the education spokesman for the lib dems at the time. he came across as a very principled man, came across as a very principled marl, very came across as a very principled man, very charismatic. he talked a lot about education, he felt passionately that we should spend more. he linked it back, he was on the dole himself twice. most people don't know that he was unemployed. it had quite a big impact on him. i think perhaps that is why his reach was so think perhaps that is why his reach was so great. he had to come up from a difficult place. i think the headlines, about fighting a lot of

battles in his life, even the last one he fought, against cancer, very short, only a few weeks since his diagnosis. and yeah, a very brave man, ithink. diagnosis. and yeah, a very brave man, i think. let's diagnosis. and yeah, a very brave man, ithink. let's move diagnosis. and yeah, a very brave man, i think. let's move on to a story on the front page of the daily telegraph. may hoping to seal her deal and go on until 2021. c has made it known that she won't leave the party into the next election —— she has made it known. going back to the andrea leadsom story, according to the sunday times, theresa may's allies suggesting she is closer to getting enough support and more people coming to support her plan. partly based on the idea of making progress with getting meaningful guarantees about the irish backstop from europe. this story is predicated on that, that people will come round to the idea that she has a concession on the backstop. that

may be alleviated and enough people will support herfor may be alleviated and enough people will support her for her to get a deal secured and then, interestingly, not to step down pretty much immediately, which is what some people think, but to carry on for nine months before the next election is due and cling on until the last possible moment. she has said she will go before that and she said she will go before that and she said herself she probably wants to carry on until the general election. she is a person people have written off and thought she would be going any moment now but even now she seems to want to carry on until the last possible moment. it's a curious position to be in, isn't it? it is, it is one of the things, when you think about her, she's very resilient. she doesn't give up, she doesn't quit, she stays in there. this story says she is going to try and capitalise on the momentum behind her brexit deal by inviting all tory mps to a party at number ten in the week beginning january

seven. you get the sense that over christmas this is going to beyond, there will be no holiday for the cabinet —— this is going to be on. the other thing here, goes against the conventional wisdom that when you've announced your departure you are basically doomed and it accelerates to tony blair and gordon brown scenario. this suggests the opposite can be true. i suppose it really depends on what the various people who are hoping to step into her shoes, exactly what they are calculating and whether someone calculates the chance they have to seize the initiative. and whether the party believes they need to have a leader in place sooner. interesting. strange political times! we will have more in a little while. they will be back at half past 11 for another look at the papers. we are returning to our main story,

the death of the former leader of the death of the former leader of the demo, —— liberal democrat party, paddy ashdown. early this evening sir vince cable shared his memories. he was a very formidable man. it is very sad that we have lost him. he was politically active and very dynamic and full of ideas right to the end. he was a big figure in the party conference only a few months ago. going back to the beginning he was mr anchorman, ex military, full of drive —— mr action man. that's how he led the party, leading us from a low base in the low 80s to

being a formidable third force in british politics in the mid—90s, which is when i got elected, in 1997, on his coat—tails. he was very charismatic, a strong leader, leading from the front. good, strong opinions and very idealistic. a strong belief in britain's international mission. he was in favour of humanitarian intervention in yugoslavia and later served as our representative there, the united nations. he fought for the rights of people of hong kong when they were threatened with exclusion from britain. he was a strong pro—european. these are some of the elements in this really remarkable individual. you spoke earlier of the immense affection he would inspire? yes, indeed. i mean, he was a tough man, actually. you know, he had strong opinions, strong views about

how things should be done. but he was always very clear and straightforward and honest and people knew what they were taking on andi people knew what they were taking on and i think that inspire trust and affection in him. it was a very long career that he had. he started as leader of the liberal democrats effectively being the first leader of this new party, this merged party between the liberals and social democrats. a difficultjob at the time? it was difficult indeed. i think he described it, we were at that point and make * in the opinion polls and we didn't count —— we were an* polls and we didn't count —— we were an *. we progressed through by—elections, growing influence, and we had a very successful period in the late 90s when all of his hard work and leadership produced good

results. i think actually you have to go back before his leadership of the party. he served an example about how politics is done. he started from virtually nothing in yeoville, where he was unemployed for a while, doing interesting jobs in the local community. a youth worker, fighting his way up from nothing to becoming their mp. that certain example about how we, the rest of us, should campaign. he served as a terrific role model for campaigning politicians. listening to the tributes coming into him this evening, one is really struck by the number of times people have talked about his honesty, his integrity and strongly held principles. yes, indeed. i think more than that, the period when he was at his peak as a party leader, he had a very positive

view about the country. this was a relatively optimistic period and he was an optimistic man. he gave great leadership when it was needed and it was a pity that his vision, that we should work with labour in the administration wasn't realised because there was a labour landslide and his achievement in doubling our number of mps was slightly overshadowed. he played a major role in influencing the way that gap developed and took on that usual reform and made it his own. it's only a few weeks ago that it was revealed he was diagnosed with bladder cancer. were you aware of how seriously ill he was? well, i heard it second hand. unfortunately it's all happened very quickly. the last dealings i had were whom were at the party conference where he was

at the party conference where he was a majorforce, at the party conference where he was a major force, speaking at the party conference where he was a majorforce, speaking up for reforms in the party. he had a real vision about where he wanted us to go and where he wanted the country to go. that's how i remember him, in his prime, and that's how he would wa nt to his prime, and that's how he would want to be remembered. sir vince cable with his reflections on paddy ashdown. lord ashdown played a prominent role in the peace process following the balkans war in the 90s. the following the balkans war in the 905. the bbc following the balkans war in the 90s. the bbc special corresponded and a little spent three years in bosnia responding for the bbc from 1992 until 1995 and he got to know lord ashdown and stayed in touch. he's been giving me his memories. lord ashdown and stayed in touch. he's been giving me his memorieslj first he's been giving me his memories.” first met him in bosnia and i was very struck by his impatience and determination to get something done. after that, his physical courage. determination to get something done. afterthat, his physical courage. he came ata afterthat, his physical courage. he came at a time when the war was at its height, there was shelling and sniping in sarajevo everyday. he

wasn't part of a government delegation, he was there under his own stea m delegation, he was there under his own steam so his protection was limited. what struck me was his ability to listen. he understood straightaway come at a time when most western european governments, certainly the labour party in britain, saw the war in bosnia as all sides equally guilty and fuelled by ethnic ancient hatreds. i told him i disagreed with him fundamentally, and i expected him to push me away and defend his

position, and instead, he said i will come back later and we can explore that. and later that night, he came to my office and we sat there for an hour or so and he grilled me and questioned me and he was interested in my take, and that struck me as very unusual for a politician of that stature and calibre. the quality of his listening was very, very impressive. very unusual. how did lord ashdown, how was he received by the various parties while he was there? well, i think he was very well liked in bosnia at that time for simply coming, for having the courage to come and share the danger with the people there. he was not much liked by the serb side, he saw very clearly that the war was coming from that direction but he was, ithink, welcomed by, when he became high representative in 2002, he certainly got a lot done, he managed to help knit the country back together again, to close the divisions. it was under his leadership that bosnia got a single multinational army again, it having obviously divided along ethnic lines during the war, and he managed to knit together

a unified police authority so he helped a lot to rebuild the country after the war. i got an e—mailfrom him a few weeks ago, he was very worried that a lot of what he had achieved at that time was being put into reverse and he was sounding the alarm constantly about the threat of a return to violence in the balkans and the general destabilising with the rise again of nationalist parties. he was agitating right up to the end on that question that was so close to his heart. the voice of the bbc correspondent and little allan little remembering paddy ashdown and his work. time to look at the weather. good evening. it's been a fine day for many parts of the uk, getting out and about, not particularly chilly either, except the north—east of scotland, where temperatures are struggle to get above freezing. we've seen the drier day over the weekend, even though we had showers today, because sunday will

have rain for many. the reason is this area of low pressure and the gathering weather fronts which will push milder atlantic air in but with it a lot of cloud. whilst what we've seen through the day is quite a lot of sunshine, this lumpy cloud giving showers to the north—west and those showers have continued through this evening and will continue to do so through the early evening before becoming confined to western and northern coasts, as this next area of rain takes centre stage. with the cloud rolling in it will limit the fall in temperatures for many. southern and western parts. it will be a cold night across scotland, perhaps north—east england. a fairly widespread frost in scotland and some patchy fog after the day's showers, that's the real concern for travellers on sunday morning. for most of us, sunday has a very different complexion, one of weather fronts, cloud and rain. some heavy rain initially, although the heaviest pulses of rain may well clear away across southern areas through the morning and diminish further north as well.

further pulses coming in. it will remain grey, dank and drizzly. with the rain comes a lot of low cloud. misty around the hills and coast. it may dry up in northern ireland in the afternoon. looks as if southern and central northern scotland will see the best bright weather, especially central and northern scotland. and here after the fog clears we'll see some sunshine but for most of us, mild and dank and grey. the weather front is still with us on christmas eve in the south but high pressure building through it, meaning it will weaken, the weather front. so the rain initially could be a bit on the heavy side but it will tend to weaken and ease away as we go through the day. more areas of northern ireland, england and wales will enjoy the drier weather. brighter weather with some sunshine coming through once we get rid of the morning fog. again, foggy in some areas, much of the day. at this time of the year there's little strength to clear it away. you see the rain in the south into monday and that weather front still around on christmas day, bringing a lot of cloud in the skies after the early frost and fog.

plenty more on the website. this is bbc news. the headlines at 11:00pm: the former leader of the liberal democrats lord paddy ashdown has died at the age of 77. he led the liberal democrats for over a decade and was the first leader after the liberal party merged with the social democrats in 1988. he was a very formidable man. it is, you know, very sad that we've lost him. he was politically act with and really very dynamic and full of ideas, right to the end. he also served as international high representative to bosnia—herzegovina following the war which saw the break—up of yugoslavia. police investigating the drones at gatwick search a house in west sussex, following the arrest of a man and a woman from crawley. and at 11:30pm, we will be taking an in—depth look at the papers