good morning. welcome to breakfast with victoria fritz and roger johnson. our headlines today: tributes to the former liberal democrat leader lord ashdown who's died at the age of 77. more than 60 people are killed and hundreds injured as a tsunami hits the coast of indonesia. flights return to normal at gatwick as police investigating the drone disruption continue to question two people. the last weekend before christmas but no sign of a super saturday on the high street. in sport, manchester city lose valuable points in the title race but a winning start for ole gunnar solskjaer as manchester united's caretaker manager. good morning. a much cloudier day to day across many parts of the uk. there is some rain in the forecast as well. more details coming up. it's sunday the 23rd of december. good morning.

our top story: friends and colleagues have been remembering the former leader of the liberal democrats, lord ashdown, who's died at he age of 77 just months after revealing he was being treated for bladder cancer. he led the lib dems for more than a decade — from 1988 until 1999 — and is credited with making the party a significant third force in british politics. vicky young has taken a look back at his life. this is how most people will remember paddy ashdown, the action man, the party leader with the least affection for westminster. long before he fired his first political salvos, he was a military man, a marine he saw active surface in borneo and malaya. after a period as a diplomat and sometime on the dole, paddy ashdown got involved with the liberals, elected mp for yeovil in 1983. in 1988, after the painful merger with the sdp that formed the

liberal democrats, he became leader. act the millions out there who are concerned about poverty and about unemployment, come and join its —— i say to be. the party was at rock bottom in the polls and financially crippled. paddy ashdown built it up again. but at some cost to his home life. he admitted an affair with his former secretary, tricia howard. what paddy said stands. he has made a statement already and i was perfectly well aware of what he was going to say. fears that his party's poll rating would suffer were unfounded, and in 1997 he guided it to his greatest election achievement in the 1920s, doubling the number of lib dem mps. charles kennedy is duly elected... paddy ashdown resigned the leadership in 1999, having the baton on to charles kennedy and retiring from the house of commons two years later. he spent time in

bosnia at some personal risk, at the height of the war there. and in 2002 became the high representative in bosnia and herzegovina. but he wasn't done with westminster politics. in 2015, after the lib dems had spent five years in coalition with the conservatives, lord ashdown returned to chair the pa rty‘s lord ashdown returned to chair the party's general election campaign. and we are saying the conservatives are the largest party. famously disputing the exit polls prediction ofa disputing the exit polls prediction of a dye result. if this exit poll is right, andhra, i will publicly eat my hat on your programme. this isa eat my hat on your programme. this is a hat. you are so predictable, onto? i wanted to get aid bigger one —— aren't you. onto? i wanted to get aid bigger one -- aren't you. he inspired respect for his constant ideas and enthusiasm and his efforts to build the liberal democrats into a force in national politics. let's have a look now at some of the tributes that have been paid to lord ashdown. the prime minister theresa may

sent her thoughts to his family and friends, adding that he had "dedicated his life to public service" and would be "sorely missed" the labour leaderjeremy corbyn praised lord ashdown‘s work as the mp for yeovil, and reminisced on their time in government. he said they "often found themselves voting together against damaging policies". former lib dem leader tim farron said lord ashdown had "saved and revived the liberal democrats at their lowest ebb" and current leader of the party vince cable declared it a "hugely sad day" for the liberal democrats, and said many members of the public had "immense affection and respect" for him. let's get more on this from our political reporterjessica parker. shejoins us. they she joins us. they reminisced shejoins us. they reminisced on their time shejoins us. they reminisced on theirtime in shejoins us. they reminisced on their time in government. he was never actually in government, paddy ashdown. there was a time in parliament together. maybe that is

one great sadness is that he was such a distinguished man who never attained that top—level politics. yeah. to some extent he came close, because there had been discussions with, for example, the labour party over a potential role in government. but it never quite came off. he will still be remembered as a man who had a huge impact on british politics, not least of all turning the liberal democrats into a significant political force. i democrats into a significant politicalforce. i think democrats into a significant political force. i think a democrats into a significant politicalforce. i think a lot democrats into a significant political force. i think a lot of people today might be slightly shocked to hear of his passing. it was only in october he was diagnosed with bladder cancer. you have talked about the many tributes that have come in over the past 12 hours. among them, the former conservative prime minister, sirjohn major. he says "in government paddy ashdown was my opponent in life... "

i think, overall, ithink, overall, lord i think, overall, lord ashdown will be remembered as a dedicated, dynamic, passionate man. the longest serving leader of the liberal democrats. but so much more besides. thank you very much indeed, jessica parker there. we'll be getting more reaction to lord ashdown‘s death throughout this morning's programme — including from nick clegg and vince cable. at least 62 people have died and nearly 600 more have been injured after a tsunami hit the coast of indonesia. it's thought to have been caused by an undersea landslide following eruptions from the krakatoa volcano. the tsunami hit the coast on the sunda strait, which separates the islands of java and sumatra. the country's disaster management agency says hundreds of buildings were damaged and at least 20 people are still missing. let us talk to rebecca. she joins

us. let us talk to rebecca. she joins us. what more can you tell us. i don't think you are actually at the site, but you are in the region, what more do you know? that is right. we are heading to one of the worst affected areas on the west coast of java this role of features that are a popular holiday destination where we are seeing the footage and reports of quite widespread devastation there are along the coast. lots of houses reduced to rubble. ships badly damaged, cars turned upside down, local health centres saying that they are struggling to cope with the injured and also that of body bags are piling up at these small health centres in this area. at the moment

the official death toll is 62. we are hearing our reports more from the sumatran side of that straight, that we have not received before, with a warning that the death toll there could be in the hundreds. rob baker, obviously it is a developing situation. what more do we know about the timing and magnitude of the quake that cause the tsunami? -- rebecca. it was not in fact a quake. what the disaster agency is saying is that it was volcanic activity on this volcano that sits in the middle of this or nut straight, anak krakatau. —— sunda strait. it has risen out of the sea at the same place that krakatoa, which erupted in 1883, killing thousands of people, that was one of the deadliest and most devastating volcanic events in recorded history. the child about volcano has been

erupting. ——of that volcano. some believe it may have caused an underwater landslides so powerful that it triggered this tsunami. but because there was not a quake and there was not the usual warning or taming, this tsunami has taken them by surprise. extraordinary footage ofa by surprise. extraordinary footage of a band playing to a crowd and then suddenly the waves engulfed the stage, really showing the fact that people had no warning whatsoever when this tsunami hits at about 9:30pm local time. when this tsunami hits at about 9:30pm localtime. rebecca, thank you very much indeed. that is rebecca henschke how indonesia editor. a man and woman are still being held in connection with multiple drone sightings that brought gatwick airport to a standstill. police searched a house in the nearby town of crawley yesterday. the disruption lasted for three days, as tens of thousands of passengers had their flights cancelled or delayed. simon clemison has the latest. simon, what we know at this stage

about the two people who are being held? a very good morning to you, victoria. and for ours has now passed since their arrest. we are to hear whether the police will look for more time to question them or they will charge them or release them —— 2a hours have passed. we know the man is a7, we know the woman is 5a. we know one of them is thought to be a driving enthusiast. a house in crawley, the main town near the airport has now been searched. this is in relation to the times 80 drone was spotted above the airfield —— the number of times. in the week before christmas it caused all that disruption which we now know only too well about 1000 flights were either diverted all is.

1a0,000 passengers were affected. every time the airport tried to reopen the drones reappeared. the army has now secured the airspace. flights have been taking off and landing this morning, but the advice is still to check with your airline before you travel. thank you very much, simon. last minute christmas shoppers led to a surge on the british high street yesterday, with footfall up 6% on friday. but retail analysts said people were still reining in their spending compared to last year, with figures down 1% on the same weekend in 2017. sarah corker has more. we just two days to go until christmas, millions of us are hitting the high street to back those last—minute presents. in leeds city centre shoppers have been getting into the fast —— festive mood —— leeds. getting into the fast —— festive

mood -- leeds. we came into leeds to get the atmosphere. two days before christmas, it is quite a nice atmosphere, it is nice to see everybody. it is quite stressful. i am ina everybody. it is quite stressful. i am in a bad move. i can't find anything i want. i should prepare. why have you left it in the last minute? i always do. christmas eve as last minute. i have seven grandchildren from nine months to the age of 23. you have all the food to feed the family. definitely. 2018 has been one of the toughest is on record for retailers who have been squeezed by rising costs and online competition. big chains are now slashing prices to boost gloomy sales and shift stock. consumers are feeling less confident around what the future is holding, so they have been holding back in spending. ultimately footfall the volume of activity in the number of people go into retail destinations is lower than last year. even for internet retailers sales this season have

been lower than expected. but one thing people are splashing out on this weekend is the turkey and all the trimmings. it has been non-stop since 6:30 a.m.. we were here since 5:30 a.m.. we have the starting to cope with that. while it may still be one of the busy shopping weekends of 2018, this year more than ever the high street has lost some of its sparkle. sarah corker, bbc news, in leeds. universal credit is leaving too many claimants with children facing a stark choice between turning down jobs or getting into debt, mps have warned. the work and pensions select committee says the way parents have to pay for childcare up front, then claim it back afterwards, is a "barrier to work". the government says the system is designed to cut out fraud and error. for poorer people, for whom the benefit is designed for, they do not have surpluses in the bank and,

therefore, however anxious they are to work, but if they have children they will actually need to find money for a month or more to cover childcare costs while they make that transition from benefit to work. ministers have been urged to take urgent action after it was revealed more than 170,000 people — a record high — will be homeless this christmas. the charity crisis also said more than a,000 people over the age of 65 were facing what it called "the worst forms of homelessness". the government says it's investing £1.2 billion to tackle the problem. let's ta ke let's take a quick look at the papers. the mirror is the one you can see at the bottom, featuring the two people reportedly in custody in connection with the drone sightings in gatwick. the telegraph quotes a

whitehall source saying officials are concerned about potential copycat drone attacks similar to the one at gatwick and that the government is struggling to protect other uk airports. the observer is celebrating the life of lord ashdown. its lead is a story about the labour leaderjeremy corbyn, who said he would continue to pursue brexit if his party won a snap general election in 2019. the main story in the sunday times comes from its interview with security minister ben wallace. he warns that the terror group al-qaeda is resurgent and trying to attack airliners and airports. you are watching breakfast from bbc news. senior politicians have been remembering the former liberal democrat leader lord ashdown, who has died at the age of 77. at least 62 people have been killed by a tsunami which hit the indonesian islands of java and sumatra. here is susan with a look

at this morning's weather. susan, how is it looking for the next few days? not a disaster, but a bit greyer and a bit wetter than it was yesterday, and as we going to christmas week, it is not going to settle down, but we could get stuck with quite a lot of cloud lingering. iam going with quite a lot of cloud lingering. i am going grey rather than light for this christmas period. today, these weather fronts pushing for this christmas period. today, these weatherfronts pushing in bring a cloudy outbreak for much of the uk and some spells of rain as well. popping out to the north, and doing very nicely in comparison, will be scotland. a chilly start, some patches of mist and fog but driest and brightest throughout the day. further south, things will gradually improve as the day goes on across parts of northern england and northern ireland. scotland will keep the fair weather through much of the

day. one or two areas getting stuck with some lingering mist and fog. to the south, some heavy rain to come across parts of northern england, north wales and east anglia. that will slide further south for the latter pa rt will slide further south for the latter part of the day. some improvement through the afternoon in some areas, but look out towards the west and you can see this little blue snake, if you like, towards the atlantic. that will feed some heavy rain across southern counties of england, parts of the midlands and south wales through this evening and into the early part of the night. what you will notice are the clearer skies pushing their way further south as we go into monday morning. that does allow more widespread frost to form for christmas eve morning. still pretty mild as we move towards the south coast, because here we will have our weather front and still some rain around for monday morning. so quite grey, and bank, murky prospects for south wales and the south—west of england on christmas eve. elsewhere, dry and bright and most of us should see some decent sunshine. one or two

spots potentially getting stuck with some lingering fog or maybe low cloud and that will have a knock—on effect on the temperatures. as we go into christmas day, high pressure continues to dominate us, and that will mean that we block any fronts coming in from the atlantic. it will also tend to allow us to get stuck with quite a lot of low cloud in some areas. it could be a frosty start to christmas day, but i think a fine day to come. just, as i said, a fine day to come. just, as i said, a little bit on the graveside. cloud in the west and patches of mist elsewhere. the best of the brightness in some sheltered eastern spots. around the murray firth of scotla nd spots. around the murray firth of scotland could be looking good, near the pennines, perhaps some brightness in the south—east of england. in terms of temperatures, down a little on the weekend, which has been very mild, especially in the south, about where it should be for the time of year. on christmas day, 12 in belfast, 11 in plymouth, seven 01’ day, 12 in belfast, 11 in plymouth, seven or eight as we look across towards eastern england. not too bad. misty and mainly dry for

christmas day. it could be worse. they are two of our most famous sporting heroes. torvill and dean became british, european, world and olympic champions, cheered on by huge tv audiences. now, a christmas day one—off drama tells their story from early childhood to the peak of their careers. lizo mzimba has been to meet them, and the actors who play them on screen. the winter olympics, 198a. close to half the uk population watched nervously as, to the tune of rebel‘s bolero, two friends from nottinghamshire took to the serie. now, the story of jayne torvill and christopher dean's is journey to the top of the ice skating world has been immortalised for a christmas day drama. well, we were quite honoured and humbled, really, because no—one has ever done that

before, and to think that they thought our story could be a story as part of a drama, it was... thought our story could be a story as part ofa drama, it was... yes, we thought it was a fantastic idea. i think we were very humbled by it, and the fact that somebody would be interested too, as you say, immortalised it and put it on film. and for hopefully millions of people to watch. when they first met, they of course never dreamt they would become two of british sport's best loved figures. you are here, good. a lot of responsibility for the actors playing them. you have met christopher, haven't you? well, you have seen him around, anyway. there are a lot of people we need to serve. we need to serve the script. we needed to serve the director's vision, we need to serve our own vision, we need to serve our own vision, and on top of that, the public's vision of these two amazing skaters, and bend them as well. there is pressure. i hope that they enjoy it, and they see some kind of similarities in what we are doing on

screen. behind-the-scenes of their public skating life, there are perhaps hints that their relationship was recently more than just friendship. the chemistry has to be right. we spent 40 plus years together, and at some point as teenagers, you know... you kind of think about it. yes. and then i think about it. yes. and then i think we thought, no, we're all right. we would rather focus on the skating. yes, the skating became the most important thing. many of those watching won't have even been born when torvill and dean scored their olympic victory. many, though, could still find it an inspiration. funny to bea still find it an inspiration. funny to be a fly on the wall in some of the households watching, because you can imagine the young children saying, well, who are they? what did they do? and then the parents going onto youtube and showing the actual olympic performances. but also, i think, kids whether they are in skating or any sport, they can see the potential. you know, it is all

about dedication and passion and perseverance , to about dedication and passion and perseverance, to get to the top. it is not handed to you. you have to work really hard for it. torvill and dean, still remembered today as the nottinghamshire ice dancers who skated their way into sporting history. it brings back memories, doesn't it? it brings back memories, doesn't it? it really does, fond memories. we we re it really does, fond memories. we were saying while watching that, it is one of our first memories, were saying while watching that, it is one of ourfirst memories, or an early memory. definitely, iwas trying to explain to one of my kids how big it was. it was enormous, because a lot of people who were necessarily interested in iceskating, or whatever, wejust watched it. it was in the days when there was only two or three tv channels, and know youtube. shall we talk about the premier league? lots to talk about. liverpool doing well, manchester united doing well,

manchester united doing well, manchester city not so well. where do you start? i think you start with manchester city surprisingly losing at home to crystal palace. a brilliant win for palace and it means liverpool are four points clear at the top of the premier league table, and the andros townsend goal was stunning. and the first game for the new manager of manchester united. so liverpool will sit on top of the premier league table on christmas day with a four—point lead over manchester city. that wasn't the only shock of the day, as chelsea were beaten by leicester, and of course, ole gunnar solskjaer got off to the perfect start with manchester united. joe lynskey reports. this is the week manchester united found a fresh start in an old face. ole gunnar solskjaer once scored the goal that sealed the treble in 1999.

now he has a new impact from the bench. it's rashford. the perfect start. marcus rashford rewarded for new—found ambition. it was part of a forward line that included paul pogba. back in the 11, the world cup ander herrera to set up to make things better. although cardiff did respond, that brought the best from united. this is the talent they have had all along. a goal in the scoreline that brought back days gone by. the new liberated united eventually scored five, for the first time in the league since the day sir alec left. we knew today we are not going to beat cardiff if this becomes a fight, so we need to get the ball down, pass quickly, move quickly, and the third goal, i think that was just a different class. it all felt like the same routine at manchester city. when they went 1—0 up, crystal

palace were 150—1 to win the game. something extraordinary was about to fall from the sky. what a goal! what a goalfrom andros fall from the sky. what a goal! what a goal from andros townsend. strike as brilliant as it was significant. palace held their nerve to win 3—2, a result that means city trail liverpool at the top by four points. but chelsea are perhaps now too far behind. they were swept away by lester city in one flash from jamie vardy. that goal mayjust keep his under pressure manager puel in charge, because in this league it can take just one match to transform the mood. joe lynskey, bbc news. and here are all of the results from yesterday's premier league action. arsenal eased past burnley 3—1. bournemouth stopped a run of three consecutive defeats with a 2—0 win at home to brighton.

and there were away wins for southampton and watford. celtic have ensured they will be top of the scottish premiership at christmas, after they beat dundee 3—0 at home. aberdeen are second after a 2—0 win at hearts, while hibernian and livingston played out an entertaining 1—1 draw at easter road. ryan hardie opened the scoring for the away side, before ryan porteous nodded in the equaliser. rangers can regain second place when they play stjohnstone later. real madrid have won their third consecutive club world cup title, beating abu dhabi side al ain a—1 in the final. the winner of the ballon d'or, luka modric, opened the scoring with this sweetly struck shot from outside the area. real now hold the record for the most victories in the competition, having won it four times in total. josh warrington retained his ibf featherweight world title belt with a thrilling points win over carl frampton at the manchester arena. warrington got the better of the former champion frampton from the very first round. but somehow, the northern irishman managed to stay on his feet right up to the final bell. it was always obvious, though, that warrington had done enough. he brought a huge following across

the pennines from his home town of leeds. meanwhile, in london, dillian whyte knocked out dereck chisora in the battle of two british heavyweights. he had to wait until the 11th round to find the decisive blow. afterwards, whyte called for a rematch with world champion anthonyjoshua, who he hopes to face at wembley next year. a couple of really significant fights, those. joshua was there, wasn't he? he went up to ringside, and whyte basically said fight me, and whyte basically said fight me, and he said you are third in line, behind while the and fury. so that would depend on a fury— wilder rematch. but we shall see. and what about carl frampton what will happen

to him? with the continuing boxing? it is the second time he has lost in a big world title bout. he indicated maybe he is thinking about it, in terms of the smaller fighters he is coming towards the end of his career. he has been a sensational fighter but maybe it is one fight too many. we shall see. there is a new team at the top of rugby union's premiership table this morning, as exeter beat saracens 31—13, replacing them at the summit. the chiefs put an end to sarries‘ 22—match unbeaten run. the hosts scored four tries, to earn themselves a bonus point, moving them above saracens in the table. elsewhere, there were wins for leicester and sale. leinster staged one of the most remarkable comebacks in pro1a history, scoring 21 points in the final ten minutes to deny connacht. the visitors were leading 29—12, with less than 17 minutes to play, before andrew porter burrowed over deep into injury time to snatch a 33—29 win. edinburgh got the better of glasgow, and ospreys beat scarlets. michael van gerwen is safely

through to the last 16 of the pdc world darts championship. the world number one beat germany's max hopp a—1 at alexandra palace in london. van gerwen has won the tournament twice before, in 201a and then again in 2017. to the olympia horse show in london, where britain's william whitaker won the world cup jump—off. whitaker and his horse proved to be too fast for the other riders in one of showjumping' biggest competitions. william's uncle michael finished fourth. —— showjumping's biggest competitions. iam sure i am sure he is very proud of his nephew. thank you very much indeed, thank you. stay with us. headlines are on the way.