hello this is bbc news. the headlines. the lib—dems launch their election campaign,

with their leaderjo swinson saying the party's message is clear — stop brexit and offer the country new leadership. when i look at borisjohnson and jeremy corbyn i am absolutely certain i could do a betterjob than either of them. jeremy corbyn says labour would get brexit sorted next year — and then put a new deal to a referendum. the former conservative chancellor philip hammond, who criticised the prime minister's handling of brexit has announced he's standing down as an mp. cabinet ministerjacob rees—mogg apologises after he's accused of insulting the families of the grenfell victims. he'd said that families should have ignored the fire brigade and left the building. going without food in today's britain — we bring you an exclusive report after a new study reveals

the massive increase in the number of people using food banks. in a moment it will be time for sportsday but first a look at what else is coming up this evening on bbc news. at seven o'clock beyond 100 days hence to new hampshire ahead of the election. as the lib dems launch their campaign today, we'll be speaking to vince cable about the party's plans to revoke article 50 or call for a second referendum. and at ten forty and half past eleven, we'll take a first look at tomorrow's front pages in the papers — our reviewers tonight are the ceo of the acca, helen brand, and political commentator lance price. that's all ahead on bbc news. now on bbc news it's

time for sportsday. hello and a warm welcome to sportsday with me, ben croucher. these are your tuesday headlines. a £5 million fine and a 35 point deduction. that could be the punishment awaiting saracens after breaking rules on players salaries. genk are waiting for liverpool in the champions league tonight — they know victory at anfield will go a long way to qualifying for the knockout stages. and new zealand didn't have to wait long for wickets to fall in the third t20 international. we'll show you how five of them fell in no time at all in nelson. also on sportsday this evening... a heroes welcome injohannesberg for south africa's world champions.

we'll start with one of the biggest stories in english rugby history. saracens, the dominant force over the last few years, reigning premiership and european champions have been hit with a 35 point deduction and a fine of over £5 million. it comes after a nine month investigation found they had broken salary cap rules over the past three seasons. they say they're disappointed and will appeal — as such their punishment has been suspended pending the outcome of the review process. well our correspondent katie gornall joins us live on sportsday. a watershed moment in english rugby. just what have saracens done wrong? as you mentioned them shipped rugby imposes a salary cap on teams to try to ensure the financial viability of the clubs and provide a level playing field. saracens have a squad

like no other pact with star names and many of them we just saw in the world cup, and they have dominated in england and in europe. the premiership rugby investigation found that saracens had failed to disclose payments to players and exceeded the ceiling for payments to senior players, that was the key point of the statement. as a consequence saracens have been hit with this unprecedented punishment, suspended pending an appeal but regardless of the outcome of that it has already had a damaging effect to the reputation and has the potential to affect their superiority in the sport. saracens are appealing what is the response been? they said they we re is the response been? they said they were shocked and disappointed by the heavy—handed sanctions and will launch an appeal. 0wner nigel wray released a statement saying he was devastated and that the club never deliberately sought to mislead anyone or breach the cap. the

investigation centred on the financial relationship between the owner nigel wray and the players. he went into business for some of them, entered into co—investment arrangements. saracen said they had done nothing wrong there, but the key question in all this is does not constitute a salary and is at breaking the rules. if the punishment is a pelt it raises a huge number of questions, how this will affect saracens going forward, what does it mean for the current squad, and maybe other clubs also involved in this kind of thing so the ramifications could be huge. thanks forjoining us. former england scrum half kyran bracken spent 10 years at saracens between 1996 and 2006. he told me earlier that he thinks the punishment is too harsh.

it feels like a bit of a witchhunt but it is a very sad day. what makes you say it feels like a witchhunt?” think the fine and the point seem disproportionate to what happened. the question is have saracens cheated the system. and what came out of the report is the panel said they did not think saracens had intentionally tried to cheat the system in any way. in fact what had happened was it was more technicality about what was allowed to be investable and part of the salary cap and what was not. saracens presumed what they were doing was outside of the salary cap and the owners are allowed to come best with players. it is more a question of to do with their share certificates and transfers, it seems like the fine and the points look

like the fine and the points look like they have masterminded some kind of secret cheating system where they have millions and millions on they have millions and millions on the playbook and they are sending the playbook and they are sending the money elsewhere and clearly that is not what happened. some people might say why are they so successful but that is because they've in their academy system. that is why they are successful. maybe they were unwise with some of their investments and should have taken better advice their investments and should have ta ken better advice and their investments and should have taken better advice and done things according to the rules but i think it is more of a technicality than cheating the system. everyone wants to be seen to be playing within the rules and if saracens have not been playing within the rules i would say throw the book at them but i cannot see how they have won the panel actually said they did not

intentionally try to do anything. i think we need a full investigation on what has happened. it is a very sad day for those players, a tough day and i hope they can survive but it is going to be a year of turmoil this year in the premiership. let's have a quick look at some of the other stories making the headlines on tuesday. frankie dettori said he wanted to cry after finishing second and then subsequently being demoted to fourth aboard master of reality in the melbourne cup. dettori was penalised for impeding another horse as vow and declare won a tight finish in the race that stops a nation. everton midfielder andre gomes has been discharged from hospital after successful surgery on a fracture dislocation of his right ankle. after being sent off for the tackle causing gomes‘ injury, son heung—min has had his red card overturned. meanwhile... liverpool will need to field two different teams in as many days, because the date of their league cup quarter—final with aston villa will not be changed. the match, on the 17th of december,

is less than 2a hours before club world cup semi—final in qatar. the champions league is back tonight. a couple of early kick offs already underway — including barcelona — but liverpool and chelsea will be our focus for the next couple of minutes on sportsday. rhia chohan has been looking at how they're fairing at the halfway point. starting with liverpool then rhia. ben, it's another big night of champions league football at anfield. liverpool lost their first game against napoli back in september but they have managed to get back on track in these group stages. so, how does tonight's game look? well, klopp's side beat genk 4—1 when they met in belgium almost a fortnight ago and the omens for genk‘s trip to anfield... they're are not promising. they've conceded five goals in each of their past three champions league away games — tonight could be a significant win for liverpool. they sit currently

second in their group. but they're unbeaten in 23 european games at anfield and, with their next two group matches at home, it's a chance to take control of qualification for those knockout stages, with maximum points against genk, and then the group e leaders napoli. butjurgen klopp has warned that there will be no foregone conclusions. it is an open group and everything is possible. we have to create an incredible atmosphere again. we have to make life uncomfortable as possible for them. we have to make sure we get these three points because that is why we are doing all this stuff. and that only works if you are 100% focused on it. that's everyone else. what about chelsea then — at home to ajax. last season's semi finalists. but that didn't deter them last time out. and remember chelsea have a 100% win record in champions league matches

against dutch opponents. fielder and colour is back from injury tonight. but the young side have coped surprisingly well with the likes of virginia, vital to the chelsea win at ajax a couple of weeks ago. victory at stamford bridge would see chelsea go three points clear of ajax and put them in a strong position to progress to the last 16 with games against valencia remaining. but manager frank lampard knows it is not going to be an easy feat. i felt it would be tight, and that has proved to be correct. but another good result would be great. two games left but we must understand even though we are at home, the quality of ajax and the danger is as much if not more than

the game we played away. they are such a good technical team. and keep in mind ajax had never lost an away champions league match in england. they are top and unbeaten in the dutch league and will pose problems in attack so there is expected to be some fireworks. looking forward to that and you can listen to that on bbc radio 5 live. the winter might be here but you can still count on an england batting collapse. they're playing new zealand in a five match t20 international series right now. you were probably asleep when the third match was being played. you'd have missed england losing 5 wickets for 10 runs on their way to a 1k run defeat. it leaves them needing to win the final two matches to take the series. here's michael redford. four debutants in the series already and today two more. tom banton and matt parkinson. and just five balls

into his first over, parkinson got ina spin. into his first over, parkinson got in a spin. but the new zealand batsmen can blow away the opposition. the run chase started brightly for the england racing to 25 without loss. he was up for 18 but the top order marched on. james vince adding 49. england in control. then a new zealand well went and england batting collapse. england windswept, new zealand winning by 1a runs. today they will sit down and think losing the game, that was the only period when they lost it because otherwise they were in control so it is about getting over the line and that comes with

experience. we had a lot of inexperienced guys tonight. england are to have in a series. sonny bill williams is coming to a rugby pitch near you soon. not a rugby union one though. it looks like he'll be playing in rugby league's super league next year for the newly promoted toronto wolfpack. a big coup to get one of global rugby's biggest stars to leave union behind and finish his career in the code that he started with. adam wild has more. the sporting journey of sonny bill williams has been spectacular as it has been unusual. his career now seem certain to break more new ground for the ways —— just days after waving goodbye to the bulk up his journey continues to the sport where he first began. it was