this is bbc news. the headlines at 11:00pm: what's it like living in the jungle? well, it's... rather dull boring, really. the actress damejune whitfield, best known for her roles in the sitcoms terry and june and absolutely fabulous, has died at the age of 93. the uk's immigration minister defends the government's handling of the increase in migrants crossing the channel. he's on his way back and he will be at his desk on monday, but yes, he's taken control of the situation. i'm in regular contact with him and we had a conference call yesterday. one person has died and 23 people have been taken to hospital after a minibus overturned

in the scottish borders. more than £100 million is to be spent chartering extra ferries to bring in vital supplies in the event of a no—deal brexit. also in the next hour: more than 1,000 people are named in the new year honours list they include the british divers who rescued a boys‘ football team from a cave in thailand, twiggy, who is made a dame, and michael palin, who receives a knighthood. and at 11:30pm we will be taking an in—depth look at the papers with our reviewers, lucy fisher from the times and john rentoul of the independent. stay with us for that. the comedy actress dame june whitfield has died. she was 93. best known for her roles in the bbc sitcoms terry and june and absolutely fabulous, june whitfield started acting

at the age of three before going on to study at rada. sarah campbell looks back on her life in entertainment. kiss me, kiss me, bite me! bite me! i can't, dear, i'm a vegetarian! in a career spanning seven decades, june whitfield played alongside some of british comedy‘s greatest talents. what's it like, living in the jungle? well, it's... drums play. it's rather dull and boring, really. i realised very early on that i was never going to play the glamorous, you know, leading lady roles. and serious roles, i always thought, ooh, i'd better not do that. they might laugh at me.

and laugh they did. as a comedy performer, she first found fame on the radio in the 1950s, appearing in take it from here oppositejimmy edwards. butjune but june whitfield's ability butjune whitfield's ability to conjure characters seemingly at the drop ofa conjure characters seemingly at the drop of a hat saw her become a foil for benny hill and frankie howard. in the 1970s she teamed up with her regular comedy partner, terry scott, in terry and june. hello, darling. i'm having awful trouble deciding what to give you tonight. well, you can start on an explanation. i'm talking about food. what about eating out? what about the garage? 0h, i'd much prefera restaurant. it was gentle, undemanding comedy, hugely popular, and ran for eight yea rs. but, to younger audiences, june whitfield will be best known as edina's mother in ab fab. inside of me, there is a thin person just screaming to get out.

just the one, dear? and, even in old age, she continued to delight audiences on programmes like radio's news huddlines. a versatile and reliable performer to the end. and in a statement, shane allen, the controller of bbc comedy, paid tribute to the actress. the bbc producerjon plowman, who produced the first four series of absolutely fabulous, spoke to us in the last hour to pay tribute to dame june. she was wonderful. she was a very,

very skilled actress. i mean, that's a horrible word to use, but she absolutely knew how to do comedy. she knew what made comedy work, and that, you know, you pause in the right place, you jump on the line at the right place, and it gets a big laugh. and if you did it another way it wouldn't get quite such a big laugh. she was a wonderful woman. she was terribly good to work with. she was terribly good to work with. she was terribly good to work with. she was entirely, as it were, a nice human being, and she did herjob terribly well. and, you know, over seven decades, as far as i can make out, you know, take it from here on the radio in the early 1950s, and her other radio stuff, things like miss marple and news huddlines for yea rs miss marple and news huddlines for years and years and years, and on television, as you said, terry and june and ab fab, and everything in

between, working with the likes of benny hill and arthur and tommy and almost anybody you can name, not to mention the relatively famous performance in the blood donor, with tony hancock, where she plays the nurse. let's speak now to the actress helen lederer, who played catriona in ab fab. thank you very much indeed for joining us this evening. what was it like acting alongside damejune in that series? it was absolutely wonderful. i noticed increasingly, being there at the beginning, that people like guest artists would become increasingly nervous as it became more iconic in the widest sense, and june was so friendly. fantastic at the crossword. she would be busy with her crossword, she would be asking you what kind of sandwiches you are having for lunch, talk to everybody, and yet very,

very focused on what she had to do. and there was just such... she gave and received something which was normal but not normal, because anyone in that career is not normal,". very driven, with a kind of realist. but it's interesting how people are applauding now the fashion, you know, a icon. iam sure in hertime fashion, you know, a icon. iam sure in her time she was a natural. i remember having a conversation with her about it, you know, if those are the lines you get, you do them well. so fashions have changed well about how we admire iconic women. and she did, in that role, in absolutely fabulous, really create this extraordinary persona, and i think just brought so much into that role and made it a greater one than many people had expected at the outset. absolutely, well, one of the lovely

surprises of the casting of that programme is that, you know, people just loved it, and they were correct. just a very sort of understated, but perfectly pitched line that was really in the written byjennifer saunders, but she was like everybody‘s mother, and yet she wasn't, and that was just the humour. she played normal without being normal, just brilliantly. and such a nice person to be around. lovely to everyone. and when she started out on her long career, of course, there won't many women who we re course, there won't many women who were successful in comedy. know, and certainly not in the way they are now. then the expectations, accordingly, wouldn't have been the same, would it? ithink people expect quite rightly to achieve more now, with more currency. but at the time you get the feeling that she was a true professional. she trained

at rada, and just embraced the work that came her way and just did the best with it. and that character that she has, of getting on with everyone, serves her very well, when she was in probably the only woman ina she was in probably the only woman in a cast of men. and of course, that has changed now, but people... you know, it is a lesson, perhaps this might be a bit pompous, to look at how good women can be. and she put billy was a trailblazer. and she carried on, still, performing until very recently. yes, and i think again the spirit of wanting to work is just again the spirit of wanting to work isjust in your again the spirit of wanting to work is just in your blood. i again the spirit of wanting to work isjust in your blood. i remember hearing her on some weird radio play a few years ago, very out of character. just somebody who love the work, embraced it. yes, wonderful to meet, and an excellent

actress. thank you very much indeed for talking to us this evening. and more tributes have been coming in for damejune. the actressjulia sawalha, her co—star in absolutely fabulous, tweeted: another co—star, the actress jane horrocks, described her as a "wonderful lady, versatile, funny and generous. much loved and will be much missed." and the comedian miranda hart tweeted: the comedian and impressionist rory bremner said dame june

was... and the charity age uk also tweeted to say it was devastated to hear of dame june's death. june was a huge supporter of the work we do, and we'll all miss her greatly, it said. the government has insisted that it is working very effectively with france to tackle an increase in the number of migrants crossing the channel in small boats. more than 200 people have arrived since the start of november and there have been calls for more patrol boats off dover. today the immigration minister, caroline nokes, held talks with border force officials. richard lister reports. you're iranian? you have to be desperate to make this journey. these migrants were picked up crossing the channel earlier this month.

0thers arrived yesterday — part of a growing number using ill—equipped boats to flee war zones, persecution and poverty. in dover today, the immigration minister met border force officials to consider their response. the home secretary, sajid javid, cut short his christmas holiday to tackle what he is declared a major incident. the government says french cooperation is vital. what we want to make sure is that we continue to work with the french, so that people are prevented from leaving beaches in northern france, to make sure that we are providing joint operations, both in terms of intelligence and policing. the number of migrants heading for these shores is minuscule compared to the million or so who tried to cross the mediterranean three years ago. but the figure is rising — up from about a dozen or so who successfully crossed the channel last year to more than 220 who have made the crossing since the beginning

of november alone. so why the sudden surge? in the autumn, french police intensified efforts to clear migrant camps around dunkirk and calais, leaving large numbers of people looking for ways to leave france. secret filming by the bbc a few weeks ago revealed that people smugglers have now become increasingly organised in helping migrants cross the channel. translation: a boat, it will cost you £3,000—4,000. it is border force vessels like this one that have to intercept them. there is only one on active patrol here at the moment, and some say there should be more. there is no resilience within border force. we've got no spare capacity to increase and put resources into trying to stop this, trying to deal with these large numbers as they arrive. we are stripped to our bare bones. there is nothing more that border force has got to give. the government is weighing up whether deploying more patrol boats would deter migrants and save lives, or if it would give these desperate

people more of an incentive to make the crossing. richard lister, bbc news, dover. a man has died and 23 people have been taken to hospital after a minibus overturned in the scottish borders. the accident happened between carfraemill and gordon just before 11:00am this morning. 0ur scotland correspondent catriona renton sent this report from the scene. this was the scene facing emergency crews responding to reports of a minibus that overturned. it happened just before 11:00am this morning. the minibus had been travelling from newtongrange to kelso, with 23 adult passengers on board, plus the driver. it is believed they were on an annual day out to the races. the minibus overturned on this stretch of road between the tiny villages of carfraemill and gordon. one man was pronounced dead at the scene. his next—of—kin have

now been informed. the other passengers and the driver were taken to various hospitals for treatment. police initially declared the collision a major incident. as evening fell, the minibus was loaded onto a recovery truck. officers have asked for anyone concerned about loved ones to get in touch. an horrific accident, just days after christmas — what should have been one of the happiest times of the year. catriona renton, bbc news, in the scottish borders. more than 1,000 people, including the monty python star michael palin, the model twiggy and the england football captain harry kane, have been recognised in the new year honours list. and hundreds of members of the public have been honoured for their service and bravery, including a father who campaigns against knife crime after his teenage son was killed. 0ur correspondent lizo mzimba has more. you want me to do what? i'm going to go round the world. michael palin says he's immensely grateful to receive a knighthood

for services to travel, culture and geography. i've done lots of things in my life, none of which i felt were totally worthy of such recognition. but maybe the cumulative effect is one of some kind of achievement. the world's top fashion cover girl... leading fashion figure leslie lawson, better known as twiggy, has been honoured for her work in the arts, charity and fashion. i didn't expect it, it was completely out of the blue, a shock. but the nicest shock in the world. who wouldn't want to be dame twiggy?! in the world of entertainment, westworld and line of duty actress thandie newton becomes an 0be. as does downton abbey star, jim carter. and here must be the happiest englishman in the british isles tonight... in the world of sport, former england rugby captain bill beaumont has received a knighthood. i got a letter in the post and i opened it up and thought, crikey!

absolutely delighted, surprised. and really pleased. welsh tour de france winner geraint thomas is made an 0be. also becoming an 0be, england football manager gareth southgate, while captain, harry kane, is made an mbe. the majority of honours have gone to people who aren't in the public eye and who never expected this time of recognition. kiyan prince was murdered when he was 15. his father set up a foundation which educates young people about the dangers of knife culture. we have a platform now. we have influence with the 0be. so this is something that we can actually make happen. we can have a real impact on knife crime with this platform. and then we can get the premises, we can create the opportunities for young people, build the role models we need. this is awesome, man. britain's longest—serving lollipop lady — beryl quantrill from cleethorpes — has also been honoured with the british empire medal. it was my birthday.

when i got my letter i was over the moon. i couldn't wait to tell my son when he came in. i never thought i'd get an award, anything. i just thought they would say goodbye to me and that was it! just one of the often unsung heroes being honoured. lizo mzimba, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news: the actress damejune whitfield, best known for her roles in the sitcoms terry and june and absolutely fabulous, has died at the age of 93. the immigration minister, caroline nokes, visits dover, and the home secretary cuts short a family holiday to deal with the rising number of migrants crossing the channel in small boats. one person has died and 23 others are hurt when a minibus overturns on the scottish borders. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre. joined byjohn.

liverpool have opened up a nine point lead at the top of the premier league after beating arsenal 5—1 at anfield, leaving jurgen klopp‘s side in control in the title race arsenal took the lead but liverpool equalised almost immediately thanks to roberto firminho, who went on to score a hat—trick. sadio mane and mo salah were also on the score sheet in the comprehensive win which sees liverpool end the year on a high. not too bad. i'm not sure how many points we have got over the whole year. we have won a few games, obviously, and the champions league run in the first part of the season, we have been pretty successful, winning a lot of games there, so the boys have made a big step. it is important to show the process, a positive process, and for 2018, i have nothing to moan about any more. tottenham manager mauricio pochettino had claimed his side

were intruders in the title race after impressive wins against everton and bournemouth, but second placed spurs slipped to a surprise 3—1 defeat to wolves at wembley, as their own title ambitions suffered a set back. we were ruining the way that we tried to play. for the team, we drove a little bit. how neg dropped, it dropped much —— our energy. and, of course, to concede in the way that we conceded the first goal, from the corner. and then it was so difficult. fulham came out on top in a battle at the bottom as they beat huddersfield 1—0. everton lost to brighton, while leicester were beaten by cardiff. watford newcastle ended 1—1. rangers moved level on points with scottish premiership leaders celtic after a 1—0 at ibrox.

ryanjack scored the goal to inflict a first defeat for celtic manager brendan rodgers is 13 auld firm games. hearts beat hibs1—0 at easter road in the edinburgh derby, 0lly lee with the goal. the result moves hearts up a place to fifth. scottish police hibs say they will do everything they can to identify a supporter who appeared to racially abuse hearts' clevid dikamona during the match. tv pictures caught a home fan apparently shouting at the frenchman. alex dombrandt scored the fastest premiership try of the season so far as harlequins beat wasps by 20 points to 13 at twickenham. dombrandt crossed the line after just 50 seconds. quins' victory ensured they'll finish the year in the top four. wasps have now won just once in 13 matches. after exeter‘s surprise defeat on friday to northampton, second placed saracens have trimmed the gap at the top to a point after beating worcester, while sale beat gloucester 30

points to 15. in the pro 1a, edinburgh beat glasgow warriors 16—8 at scotstoun. it means that edinburgh retain the 1872 cup, the oldest inter—district rugby series in the world. elsewhere — cardiff blues thrashed scarlets by 3a points to five. gareth anscombe scored the bonus point earning fourth try in llanelli. scarlets have now lost their last five games. reigning champion michael van gerwan is into the semi finals of the world darts championship where he will play gary anderson after beating england's ryanjoyce this evening earlier michael smith beat luke humphries 5—1. humphries had caused a shock, beating last years winner rob cross in the previous round, but couldn't repeat his heriocs again. he will play nathan aspinall. the former england cricket captain andrew strauss has paid tribute to his wife ruth, who has died at the age of 46.

she had been receiving treatment for a rare form of lung cancer, but died in her native melbourne overnight. strauss stepped down from his role as england team director earlier this year to support his wife and children. that's all the sport for now. many thanks. it's been revealed that more than a £100 million has been spent on extra capacity on ferries — to ensure the delivery of critical goods in the event of a no—deal brexit. the ships have been chartered by the department for transport to ease congestion at dover and allow more lorries through other ports. here's our business it might not look like much now, but if the uk leaves the eu in march without an agreement and dover turns into a parking lot, this port will play a vital role in getting emergency medicine to british shores. in the run—up to christmas,

the department for transport quietly awarded three shipping groups lucrative contracts to provide up to half a million tons a month of additional freight capacity. the french firm brittany ferries and danish company dfds got the bulk of the money with deals worth around £47 million each while a small british start—up got £14 million. five uk ports, including plymouth, poole and felixstowe, will benefit from additional traffic, as will portsmouth. in offering this safety net we will be helping to provide the essential goods and services that people in the uk relay on. so, yes, it is very good news for us but it's also good news for the uk. this is the no—deal brexit contingency plan — predominantly french and danish vessels making dozens of additional trips across the channel each week and taking thousands of lorries with them. but the shipping industry is already saying that extra capacity along the english coast won't help solve the problem of delays to critical

goods because of new customs checks. anti—brexit campaigners say public money is being wasted on an entirely preventable scenario. the whole purpose of brexit is supposed to be to bring back control to britain and then we have an imaginary national emergency and the government's got to turn to european companies to sort out their problems for them. the department for transport says it has other no—deal preparations in the offing. but insists the government hopes the day it needs to use them never arrives. joe miller, bbc news, portsmouth. police have fired tear gas at yellow vest protesters during further demonstrations in france — in the cities of paris and nantes. several hundred people wearing high—visibility vests gathered today near the offices of television stations in the centre of paris and called for the resignation of the french president emmanuel macron. in the nantes protests, police detained a number of people after firing tear—gas at the demonstrators. it's the seventh week in a row that protesters have clashed with police — although the number of people

was considerably smaller than previous weeks. a rescue helicopter has crashed in the united arab emirates — killing everyone on board. footage online shows the augusta 139 helicopter spin out of control and hit a mountain in the northern emirate of ras al khaimah. the uae‘s national search and rescue centre said there were four people on board. ras al khaimah's governor has ordered an urgent investigation into the crash. sussex police have acknowledged that some of the sightings of drones over gatwick airport, which grounded flights and left tens of thousands of passengers stranded before christmas, may have been reports of devices belonging to the force. the chief constable, giles york, said police had not yet identified the drone that originally caused the chaos, but he was certain it did exist.

0ur correspondent andy moore gave us this update. police said they found a damaged drone need the perimeter of gatwick airport and they thought this may well have been the drone that cause problems for about 140,000 people. today giles york said that in fact two drones had been found near the airport but he was ruling both of the mounted police enquiries. again, last weekend, a senior officer from the force said there was a possibility there were no drones over gatwick. mr york said today that was not the case. he said "i'm absolutely certain that there was a drone flying throughout the period that the airport was closed." he also said for the first time, i believe, that police drones were used to search the area and search for suspects and that they could have caused some confusion. 115

sightings of this rogue drone, at least 93 of them credible, say police, but no video footage. andy moore. the strictly come dancing star, aj pritchard, has been discharged from hospital after being assaulted at a nightclub. the professional dancer and his brother curtis, also a dancer, were among four men who were attacked in nantwich in the early hours of thursday. a 20—year—old man has been arrested. curtis pritchard's injuries required emergency surgery and he'll no longer appear on next month's dancing with the stars ireland. an army officer has become the first briton to trek unaided across antarctica. it took captain lou rudd 56 days to cover the 925 miles. he was inspired to attempt the adventure after the death of his friend and colleague, henry worsely, along the same route. the father—of—three from hereford said it was tough — but he was in good health. and we'll be taking an in—depth look at the papers with our reviewers, the independent‘s chief political commentator, john rentoul and lucy fisher,

defence correspondent at the times. that's coming up after the headlines at 11:30. now it's time for a look at the weather. thank you. it has been a largely dry and settled they out there today. windy earlier on in the day but the winds have been easing of the high pressure in charge. there was sunshine that came through for some of us, particularly in the east. this was how things were looking in the afternoon on saturday in sterling. blue skies around. a similar picture on sunday. mostly cloudy but there will be brighter spells. and through the rest of 2018 come the last couple of days, a largely dry and mail picture. there are some rain around, courtesy of this weather front pushing its way gradually west to east through the

remnant of tonight. high pressure in charge of the south. we are set to see some of the rain washing across scotla nd see some of the rain washing across scotland and northern england. patchy rain clearing away from northern ireland. some rain in the midlands and southern england. a bit ofa damp midlands and southern england. a bit of a damp start to sunday for some of a damp start to sunday for some of us. could be a touch of frost, particularly east anglia and the south—east where the skies stay clear is longest. most places frost free, a cloudy and make you start to the second half of the weekend. the bring in the east cluzel —— the rain in the east. you can see some spots of drizzle and low cloud over the hills for parts of western scotland and northern ireland. sunny spells for eastern scotland and eastern england. temperatures still doing reasonably well. 10—12 for most of us on reasonably well. 10—12 for most of us on sunday. then e—mailed and settled theme continues into monday, new year's eve on monday that then be mild and settled. weather front to the far north—west. breezy conditions with some rain.