‘ start fit? “it via ‘a ‘ start with some frost day. a chilly start with some frost but mainly dry and sunny. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines. boeing's chief executive, dennis muilenberg, has been sacked — after serious criticism following two major plane accidents which killed 346 people. the sports minister says the government is committed to working closely with the football authorities to stamp out racism after chelsea's antonio rudiger said he heard monkey noises during yesterday's match against tottenham. five people have been sentenced to death in saudi arabia for the murder of the journalist jamal khashoggi — but a un investigator says the "masterminds" behind the crime have walked free. the prince of wales has visited fishlake in south yorkshire, where hundreds face chrstimas out of their homes after last month's flooding.

the former love island presenter caroline flack has pleaded not guilty to assaulting her boyfriend at herflat in london. now on bbc news, the brexitcast team look back on a roller coaster of a year in politics in — review 2019's brexitcast. this is cassie adler in westminster. it is adam fleming in westminster.

and laura in westminster as well. the three wise people. in empty chairing, not an ice sculpture melting. ourfriend chris. he is on holiday. in new zealand. so he has gone as far away as you can possibly get from brexit. for anyone who is just tuning in and has not seen brexitcast is a podcast that feeds multiple times per week. the tv show on thursday night and we just talk about brexit. we also talked a lot about a big giant election in the uk and a bit of porn. i mean, we are talking 2019 and looking back over the year. and that was a big moment for us, the danish np advertising on a porn aggregating website. right, ok let's rewind swiftly. the start of the year was a different cast of characters and in completely different context talking about different stuff.

i suppose the big moment at the start of the year was the mv one. the meaningful vote one. it was when theresa may had a deal with the european union and she tried and tried to get it through parliament, but it was a total unmitigated disaster. notjust because the opposition did not like her deal or not going to vote for it anyway, but she had a large tribe of euroskeptic conservatives who did not like herand did not like the deal. and that did sink her in the end. and she had all of the remaining mps as well. so no one was going to be happy. i remember you saying and over again. how do you make everybody happy when everybody wants so many different things? yeah, and the eu sort of, she went to the eu and said "we agreed this deal, and it was argued over "and discussed, you just give me something else to persuade "people

to vote for in parliament?" and really, i mean, they went to the motions but frankly, it wasn't very much, it was not enough. and then there was another couple of meaningful votes and they were not as disastrous as the first one, but still pretty bad for her and the most really disastrous was the european parliament elections, which we had to have because we had stayed in the eu beyond the original exit date of march, one of the conditions were that we had to be a part of the elections and it ended super badly. and the brexit party did extremely well and lots of people saw that as the straw that broke the camels back for theresa may not long after that, with the lovely sound effect of adam, she was toast and she was done in the conservative prime minister who had tried to keep her party together, very much tried

to keep her party together and tried to keep the country together in an extraordinary period after the referendum, her time was up. and a famously unemotional woman, she cracked. so i am today announcing that i will resign as leader of the conservative and unionist party on friday the 7th ofjune. so that a successor can be chosen. i will shortly leave the job that has been the honour of my life to hold. the second female prime minister, but certainly not the last. i do so with no ill will but with enormous and enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country i love. at downing street come at that moment was quite, british politics is always brutal and that was a particularly brutal moment and there is no question that there's a small number of people in the tory party who tried to bring her down since the day she moved in.

some of them were supporters of the person who followed her and next. some of them were supporters of the person who followed her in next. when we look back at this and of course, the whole brexit chapter of uk history is going to be poured over for many years to come, but already with the benefit of hindsight, you could, i'm often asked does the eu regret not giving david cameron moore when he asked for reform? does the eu regret not giving theresa may more at the junction at the beginning of 2019 that could have kept a more moderate brexit than the more hard—line conservatives who are now in government? and actually, on both occasions, the answer is no for the europeans because when it came down to a david cameron it what it meant breaking up those eu fundamental rules about freedoms, he wanted to get rid of the freedom of movement for the uk.

that was not something that the eu would countenance, because once you give that up for the uk, everyone else would've demanded it as well and coming back to theresa may and she wanted to have a time limit at least on the backstop, the famous backstop to keep the irish border open after brexit and the eu could not do that because ireland would not let them in the eu, other eu member states would've accepted a time limit and ireland said no and that is a key point that thing behind the scenes, i was in a lot of frustration from other eu member states because they wanted to get it done and dusted and they want to get this deal signed off with theresa may, but there was no way that they were going to turn their back on ireland and they wanted to ensure that there would be no customs mess on the island of ireland affecting their single market. so, there is no regrets on the eu side. there were a lot of ifs and there is a great story that i cannot tell all of, but there is a story that involves a lot of wine and a lot of very

important people from the uk and ireland in dublin at a particularly critical point where they might have been able to get there even on time limit, but the proper niche nerds will remember this brady amendment and let's not go into all of that here. it's something happened in westminster and all that possibility went away. it just went away. so we are up to the end of may, that's when she resigned. that was the friday after the elections on the thursday where the results came out on the sunday. also, remember the backstop, the backstop takes me back. to solve the problem of how do you have an open border between northern ireland and ireland, once the uk is out. the idea was you would have a sort of customs union between the uk and the eu, a shared customs territory which meant that the uk's tariffs to the outside world with the same as the eu's in the outside world and you could have a thing that went around the uk and the eu which means you do not have to worry about the irish border. which meant that the uk would in a lot of ways still up and staying in the eu, even though it supposedly left. which is why it was not acceptable to the tory party and was never going to be accepted in uk

parliament and that is why the government was desperate to get a time limit because then they said they would do that until, but then it all went away. regulatory alignment following the eu's rules and regulations on lots of bits of the single market with the uk voluntarily following the same rules so you would not have to have checks on goods going from great britain to northern ireland, which will be raised up again. people are not hung over they listen to this. just think of you manage to spend hours talking about the backstop. stopping their way going to 2020. before we got to the front stop, we had to hire a new prime minister and we had the tory leadership contest. we did. happy memories? i mean, this isjust been the most extraordinary story to cover. part of the nature of this extraordinary story has been for a long time, following the career of borisjohnson, who is the ultimate

up and then down and then up and then down politician who had quit the cabinet and had been decried by colleagues as part of sabotaging theresa may's deal, although he did vote for it at the end. never forget that. but although he had been written off by loads of people and his party, he came back as mr big brexit, i am the man who, after the disaster of that european election, and setting himself a deadline that he would be out of the european union by halloween, ended up winning. actually. not too surprisingly, but it was an astonishing campaign. the number of votes given to each candidate was as follows. jeremy hunt, 46,656. borisjohnson, 92,153. and therefore i give notice that borisjohnson is elected as the leader of the conservative and unionist party.

and we know the mantra of the campaign that has just gone by, in case you have forgotten it, you probably have. it is deliver brexit, unite the country and defeatjeremy corbyn. and that is what we are going to do. i think the assumption amongst those in the uk who wanted to stay in the eu or want a much softer brexit is that the eu would hate the idea of borisjohnson as prime minister and that was not the case and suspicious, yes, but there was a sense about him that with his charisma that this would be a leader that could get a deal sold back home and read from beginning, this is what the eu wanted. back home and right from beginning, this is what the eu wanted. it never want to brexit, so forget that, but of brexit was going to happen, the eu, all my contacts of set, we need a leader strong enough in the uk to do a deal with us

in brussels and sell it back home and in boris johnson, so brexit fatigued at this point, they saw someone who had a lot more potential to do that than the predecessor, theresa may. that's really what he won the leadership contest so overwhelmingly in the end, lots of people have reservations about him, lots of people in the tory party have deep reservations about him. a lot of people, senior conservatives believe bascially that he is not trustworthy enough to be in office. there are very deep wells of concern about boris johnson. but that moment came, moments find politicians and the brexit fiasco had been such a car crash under theresa may that the feeling in the tory party, even amongst people who had walked out was that if anyone was going to be able to salvage this in terms of getting a new deal and then selling it to the contrary, it kind of had to be him. he was the person who made the most difference in the vote leave campaign in 2016 and there was also a sense of "this is your mess. you come in and clean this up."

summer going into the autumn, boris johnson has been prime minister for a couple of weeks, been a bit tricky with also the things happening domestically in the courts and stuff. his europe envoy, david frost has been going back and forth between london and brussels and we are starting to detect the shape of where a new deal can be done, especially on changing the backstop, the arrangements for northern ireland on keeping the border open. and then there was this meeting. i disagree, actually. i think the autumn was looking like it was going nowhere, david frost was coming backwards and forwards the eu version was he was just there to deliver borisjohnson's messages, he was not negotiating. and unless borisjohnson takes a big leap, there is no deal to be done. and this autumn was kind of surreal for me, i found myself at midnight talking to brexit contacts in brussels and scratching her in brussels and scratching our heads talking to brexit contacts in brussels and scratching our heads

like how, how does this ever get squared? boris johnson clearly does not want no deal, whatever he says. the eu does not want no deal, we know that. they have made no secret of that how are they going to square this circle? back to theresa may's nightmare. with this border between northern ireland and ireland. how do you square the circle and keep everybody happy? and it looked like there was going to be no deal made because the eu said they were not going to budge over the single market fundamentally, never mind the peace process and then, there was this magical mystery surprise meeting between borisjohnson and the person who held the keys to a deal here, which was the irish prime minister. and this is why thing, there was so much of, and this is why i think, there was so much of, this cannot happen and this cannot happen, and i always say this, it is about the politics, right? we get to politicians who can actually look each other we get two politicians who can actually look each other in the eye and get on and say, we both need to fix this and the problem is theresa may never had that relationship,

she made it very difficult to build up relationships with her counterparts and there was never any small talk, her and leo varadkar didn't really get on. borisjohnson by that point, he was desperate for a deal. point, he never wanted to take people out without a deal. if you talk to the inner core, there was work going on between david frost and counterparts, the new what was possible it might not be possible to know what the boundaries were in there was a huge concession to get the eu to open a withdrawal agreement which were told they cannot do that that point, the decision was did they throw the dup under the bus or not. the northern irish allies the borisjohnson relied on in parliament and they made the big decision that basically, breaking the promise they made to the dup about never accepting a different situation for northern ireland was worth it in order to get a deal. and in order to, they might say get brexit done, that was the political calculation for varadkar who was also desperate not to have a deal because he was in a minority government and yes it tricky

situation home and the awesomeness situation home and the autumn of parkland in cheshire, we see the lovely stills of them walking around and it made a bit of a catalogue shoot. in the middle distance, they did a deal, they looked each other in the eye and this is what politics comes down down to, it is very much about the technicalities. but it is, but it is political expediency. you're totally right when you say, it seems like all was lost and they were never going to be able to meet in the middle, i think back to all of the leaks we got of those papers that david frost was presenting, all of the ingredients was there, but everything in the brexit process, the fog of war meant it was so difficult to separate tactics from actual substantial discussions, briefing that was designed to send a message mrs briefing that was designed to tell you what was actually going on and taking all of the individual pieces and putting them together in that combining the politics.

it was very, very hard. it comes down to very simple concessions. and big ones. regulatory alignment and northern ireland with a single market. basically, allowing the trade border down the irish sea, separating northern ireland in practical terms in the rest of the united kingdoms, huge concession for boris johnson and the irish accepting what will of earlier been impossible and the irish accepting what earlier would've been impossible was an effective time limit on the backstop. the power was given, but this is something that ireland said could never be, it has to be open—ended and not a security mechanism and here they were, allowing a de facto time limit. the eu will argue again and again was that the concession was smaller than boris johnson's concession and enter the same kind of realm now when it comes to the trade deal, but those are the fundamental shifts. and from this end, what they're saying is that maybe some extra checks but there already checks that does not have to be that different. they have democratic consent, as you see, if they ever get

back up and running, they can vote down and northern ireland as the power to say that we do not like having a different arrangement. and there's even a back—up plan. exactly, both sides will fight over the history of who budged more but they both budged and there was a deal and that in the end was what really matters and they both budged for political reasons because there desperate to have it happen, but i'll always remember the very beginning of all this, someone very senior and the government said to me, i will bet you 5p that we can get a deal done. they wanted a deal and they always wanted to deal, they never wanted to leave no deal but everyone was very, very dubious about whether or not they could actually do it. we spend longer on the footnotes to the backstop than we do on the general election of 2019. forgotten already? it was a weird general election because it felt like the build up went on for ages and the least surprising snap election in history, wasn't it? only happen

because boris johnson history, wasn't it? only happen because borisjohnson looked out the steel and he wasn't sure he could get it through parliament. so he did not trust parliament, so he tried to clear the place out, which is what he managed to do in the end. is also the case of the tories would've only gone to the selection becausejeremy corbyn was in charge, so from a historic point of view, why stories say look at this on paper, they have beenin say look at this on paper, they have been in powerfor nearly ten say look at this on paper, they have been in power for nearly ten years, there presided over a total fiasco of brexit three years. and they have really squeezed budgets and people have felt that around the country, by any historical measure, they should of been out on their posteriors at the selection. but when the reasons why they pushed for it is because they thought the liberal party might be thinking of getting rid ofjeremy corbyn and the new year and felt that it was far better when he was in place. the

result, which we are about to hear in the most nerve—racking moment of the exit,. is suggesting that there will be a conservative majority when all of the votes are counted after the selection of december 2019, the conservatives on 368 seats and labour way down on the hundred 91. 0n those figures, we are looking at the conservative majority of 86. if the conservative majority of 86. if the votes actually tally up with this prediction and that will be the biggest conservative majority since margaret thatcher's victory back in 1987. that result changed everything. number one, for brexit cast, we are leaving the european at the end of next month unless something the odd happens. and if you are watching this injanuary, we are leaving the eu and a few weeks.

and that is massive. for me, the other side of the channel, this change in the eu's understanding perception and hopes for the future, because we saw the slow dying of the second referendum, leading to a soft brexit or the uk staying in. hope for the uk staying in for many countries that already went last year, but that really went so that when we got to the selection, the eu cheered borisjohnson's election victory, not because borisjohnson, not because of his politics, but for clarity. it is a big majority the means that he can bring for the negotiated brexit deal and there's no doubt from the eu's mind that they can move on. getting it wrong within seconds, the big majority met borisjohnson has

within seconds, the big majority met boris johnson has room within seconds, the big majority met borisjohnson has room to manoeuvre, he can go to a softer brexit than the first thing you can do is extend the first thing you can do is extend the transition period for several sophisticated, add legislation to the brexit bill banning him from extending the transition period. we we re extending the transition period. we were getting it wrong already. this is all wishful thinking we have talked about this in the past two yea rs talked about this in the past two years and whenever from the eu side, maybe we'll move to a second referendum or that kind of, it is astonishing to me that brussels that it is not going to happen. because fundamentally to the soul they believe that the same massive act self harm, and they're thinking there is so clever and theyjust cannot let go, they cannot let go and it is wishful thinking. and it is something we have talked about a lot, how the two sites never really understood each other and it's one of the reasons why the vote happened in 2016. people look back on the

extent of the defeat, was a corbyn or brexit, i think in history, people will look back and think, people will look back and think, people voted on something to that of the 16 and the political establishment spend a lot of time trying to undo that. what? famously on the night of the referendum, he himself said, i think people that when i said that that we would be out the next day. during the campaign, politicians on both sites, including the prime minister stood on platforms and said, if you vote this way, this will happen, there will be no going back. this is not a voter you get a second opinion. and now three years later, people are scratching their heads in the labour party sa ke, scratching their heads in the labour party sake, maybe it was a bit of a problem the return to undo something that people voted for. and there are perfectly legitimate reasons for people to campaign for another referendum, but covering, as a

story, people voted for that and we are already sharing, as we approach the end of this year, from the new head of the european commission, they are already threatening about they are already threatening about the possibility of a cliff edge no deal and we are talking about no trade deal as opposed to a new brexit deal which is a different no deal and have there's no deal, come december 2020 will stop lu by which time he featured a trade deal has to be done, the uk will be worse off than the eu, so here we are again in a predict a lot of shadow—boxing for the next two months of next year before we really get an idea of what realistically will be done by the end of 2020. but the biggest thing above all of that is that the uk is going to leave the eu. of course. that is going to be absolutely enormous. we are making a big turn, either to the right of the left, a huge turn down a path away from the

status quo of the past few years and quite similar in the transition period, the uk next year is making an absolutely huge move that will change its place in the world, its relationship with the rest of the continent, have been so run, new immigration system, knew it was sorts of things, un—plumbing the pipes that have made this country work or not work for decades. and thatis work or not work for decades. and that is a huge head enormous and profound moment. yes, there will be lots of political wrangling about the trade deal and i would probably predict that by the end of next year, there'll be some kind of pledge that is between a trade agreement and will be all kinds of things you can patch up in the middle, divisionalapplication.

u nless middle, divisionalapplication. unless something really odd happens, we are going to be sitting here next year and the biggest thing that will happen politically in the rest of the uk is that we are out of the european union and itjust took us a while to get there because we set up of 4am. i'll always remember, east of 4am. i'll always remember, east of the text somewhere in the depths of the text somewhere in the depths of my phone. leave to win. and we have to leave everyone. so thank you for sharing this amazing year and thank you for sharing it with us too. thank you for listening and make sure you share 2020 with us as well, please. bye-bye.

hello there. the christmas week is looking fairly mixed it with the showers and long spells of rain in the run—up to christmas bye—bye christmas day we see a ridge of high pressure with plenty of sunshine and cool her briefly before turns milder, wet and windy, this feature is going to bring more persistent rain to england and wales as we head through tonight and starting in the southwest, moving northwards and eastward. but the sky is more clear as we go through a few blustery showers across the northern half of the country will stay quite chilly for the bunch of frost and places, and as we head on into christmas eve, it and hang back of that rain but in this feature, we will see activities across the southwest and activities across the southwest and a bit ofa activities across the southwest and a bit of a great start across the north and east england, clearing waivers see the heavy showers and thunderstorms pushing in from south wales in the south west england in the midlands having stronger gusts of wind. what are two showers and

temperatures in the single digits. around 11 or 12 as we head to the latter pa rt around 11 or 12 as we head to the latter part of christmas eve, it will stay fairly showery have 0ff the coast of the country, and louise down as we had through christmas eve and into christmas day and that is because this ridge 0f and into christmas day and that is because this ridge of high pressure will be building in and they'll settle things down for the big day and are stirred quite chilly with the temperatures around a bit of mist and fog which will make it fairly festive and we should see plenty of sunshine and it will turn hazy 0r in the west is the what the system arrives and we will see temperatures in the single figures and will be a cool day as we had through the boxing day and further east, we should see some dense fog and quitea east, we should see some dense fog and quite a chilly night in the northeast but mulder herbst is to push and and strong winds and heavy

rain but as we had through boxing day and we squeeze in the isobars, we could see 30 or 50 mph on the irish sea coast, some of that rain will be quite heavy and there could be some snow in northern england and accumulating snow of the scottish mountains. a cooler feeling accumulating snow of the scottish mountains. a coolerfeeling in accumulating snow of the scottish mountains. a cooler feeling in the northeast but milder in the south in the west.

hello, i'm kasia madera. this is 0utside source. saudi arabia convicts five people for the murder of jamal khashoggi. they're sentenced to death for killing a critic of the saudi government — but the verdict leaves many questions unanswered. we don't even know the names, of those convicted. a trialfor a trial for the a trialfor the killing of a trial for the killing of a journalist that focuses solely on the hit men and ignores those who ordered the crime, the masterminds of the crime, such a trial is nothing but a travesty ofjustice. boeing parts company with its ceo over two fatal air crashes.