they're hoping to bag the number—one spot with some of the proceeds going to charity. just don't say it's rubbish. keith doyle reports. lockdown has shone a light on many heroes. three binmen from wolverhampton have been raising people's spirits through the year, dancing around bins on their rounds. now they've released a single... you know what i want to be number one? ..and they have set their sights on the christmas number one. it is called... well, what else could it be? boogie round the bins at christmas. # boogie, boogie # boogie round the bins at christmas time #. for a christmas song, things need to look, well, christmassy. it may not be lapland, but all proceeds go to charity. we are all trying our best in these difficult circumstances. we are cracking on, and it is obviously a

hard time, so, you know, as long as we make people happy, that's the main thing. it's enjoyable, it's fun, i think it's a track that kids will enjoy, it's a catchy song, so i think they'll enjoy it. we are here to bring fun, we are here to bring hope and joy. if people enjoy it, if they can truly have a boogie round the bins at christmas, that's what we are looking for. have some good fun, good festive fun, you know, let's go for it. dancing binmen becoming the christmas number one is entirely possible. singing sausage rolls reached number one last year with ladba by‘s i love sausage rolls. we could all be having a boogie round the bins at christmas, which is set to be a big festive hit. it's been a funny old year. keith doyle, bbc news. # boogie round the bins at christmas time. # you can say that again. time for a look at the weather.

follow that, sarah. a bit of a taste of something wintry, coldest night of something wintry, coldest night of the autumn so far. but the cloud has been working in from the west, the picture in cambridgeshire earlier on, and the cloud has been bringing quite a bit of rain. the rest of today, keeping a lot of cloud, the rain will be spreading east, turning much milder after the chilly start. here we will see the rain over the next few hours, across parts of eastern england, north—west scotland, gradually the rain pushing towards the east, but temperatures up towards the east, but temperatures up at 13 for belfast, and under the cloud, rain, only eight in norwich. quite a breeze picking up from the south—west, average wind speeds, turning particularly windy in the north and north—west of scotland this evening and tonight, gales with gusts of 60 mph. more rain tonight for scotland and northern ireland, cold front pushing south. england

and wales, much milder, temperatures staying in double figures, a lot of cloud and perhaps drizzly rain. the weekend, the weather will be dominated by low pressure to the north of the uk and this is where the front slowly pushing south. a cold front, bringing colder air to scotla nd cold front, bringing colder air to scotland and northern ireland saturday morning. plenty of heavy showers and gales likely especially in the far north of scotland. england and wales, fairly cloudy tomorrow, band of rain particularly affecting northern england and wales, and to the south, a few brighter spells breaking through the cloud. the gusts of wind will be a feature of the weather. for many of us, 20—30 mph, strongerfor the northern and western isles. saturday evening, keeping blustery showers in the north, cloud in the south, lingering into sunday, the cold front parking itself across parts of southern england. sunday, that could

bring more cloud, maybe to the south of the ma, perhaps the odd shower. to the north, for much of the uk, different feeling, more sunshine, still showers, still windy across parts of scotland, cooler than saturday, and things are remaining fairly unsettled, mild and quite breezy into next week. a reminder of our top story... boris johnson's adviser borisjohnson‘s adviser on ministerial standards has resigned after the prime minister backed the home secretary priti patel over a bullying inquiry. that's all from the bbc news at one. good afternoon, it's 1.30pm and here's your latest sports news.

iam i am holly hamilton. it's been confirmed in the last hour that scotland's final autumn nations cup pool match against fiji at murrayfield next weekend is off. the decision was expected after fiji's matches against france and italy were also postponed, following a covid—19 outbreak within the touring party. there have been 29 cases among the fijian staff. 0rganisers say postponing the match was "unavoidable," due to the ten—day isolation period required for players. liverpool managerjurgen klopp says he has spoken to mo salah about his conduct after the striker tested positive for coronavirus. it follows his brother's wedding ceremony in egypt where he was seen on camera dancing and socialising with guests. he's now in isolation in liverpool and will miss sunday's premier league clash with leicester. klopp says he's happy to have him back on home soil. it is better you have them around because then you can judge exactly what they do and stuff like this, and they do things they are used to

and they do things they are used to and all this kind of thing, if you go to and all this kind of thing, if you gotoa and all this kind of thing, if you go to a national team or the fitness coaches have been working with them for may be the last six weeks and are for may be the last six weeks and a re really for may be the last six weeks and are really in it, that is possible, but that is the situation. no, the most intense period is coming up now, so i am happy that they are back and i'm happy that most of them came back till healthy and how fit, we will see. salah isn't the only one. a number of high profile players have tested positive for the virus while on international duty. others have returned with injuries ahead of this weekend's premier league matches, prompting further criticism of the congested fixture list. chelsea travel to newcastle for tomorrow's lunchtime game. boss frank lampard says there's clearly a problem. if you want to look after the players and get the product as well as we can, change the time of 12.30. change the time, that is not a difficult conversation for me to have. the amount of things we changed due

to covid—19 and project restart because of these incredible times, then we have to be looking for the best ways to change it, so the answer is stop talking and act upon it. there's growing criticism of the fa and its decision to withdraw the england futsal squad from a european qualification play—off. the organisation was fined by uefa last week for "refusing" to fulfil the euro 2022 play—off games against north macedonia. pressure on the sport is mounting, with the pandemic forcing massive budget cuts in england, putting the national side under threat. joe lynskey reports. this is futsal. it's like football, but indoors and at top speed. it is played with a smaller, heavier ball, designed to build skill on the floor. but now the game here is under threat. commentator: ...and scores! england's team say nearly 90% of their funding has been cut. by he fa.

by the fa. that could be the end for both the national side and the grassroots. we would estimate at least 100,000 kids are playing the game every year. instead of going around slashing budgets, you need to look at the impact. this is a very inclusive sport, played, as it is, by boys and girls, and this will have a major impact on them. the england men's team were due to play in north macedonia in a play—off this month, but the fa pulled them out at short notice, due to travel restrictions. the governing body were then fined by uefa. we were preparing by ourselves because the fa had took away all ourfunding for the preparation, but we still wanted to represent our country. every other nation in europe went ahead and played and now we have had the england football team playing games in much worse situations in countries that are suffering from covid—19. this is obviously a really difficult time for your sport, but there might be people watching this who will say futsal is an indoor game, which is less safe during a pandemic and the football association has got its own issues to deal with funding—wise, namely trying to keep its professional clubs afloat, so what would you say

to them? i think with it being an indoor sport, yes, there is a slight risk. but we've seen with the research into gyms shows there has been very little infections and futsal really benefits kids participating in sport... they have not said these are temporary cuts, these are permanent cuts leaving hardly anything left to fund the game of futsal. the fa say... english football expects losses of £300 million this year. they say they have to prioritise its core functions. every sport right now is fighting for its future, but for futsal in england, the game could soon be over. joe lynskey, bbc news. that's all the sport for now. in the next half hour, world number one novak djokovic is on court for his final round—robin match at the atp finals. you can follow it at bbc.co.uk/sport — and it's live on bbc two.

more from me in an hour. jane. holly, thank you very much indeed. we will see you in the next hour. a very good afternoon, you're watching bbc news. i am jane a very good afternoon, you're watching bbc news. i amjane hill, to ta ke watching bbc news. i amjane hill, to take you through the next few hours of coronavirus news and more, but let's start with a story away from coronavirus. let's get more now on the news that the prime minister's adviser on ministerial standards, sir alex allan, has resigned, following the inquiry into allegations of bullying by the home secretary. earlier my colleage geeta guru—murthy spoke to the shadow home secretary nick thomas—symonds — who said the prime minister has shown a lack of leadership. the prime minister has said that he loathes bullying, and yet today he has comprehensively failed a test of his leadership when he has had a report on his desk precisely on that issue. sir alex allan could not have been clearer that the home secretary has not consistently met the high standards of the ministerial code.

the home secretary is the person in government responsible for law and order. i am frankly shocked that the home secretary remains in post when it is sir alex allan who has made those findings, had a very, very distinguished career, and yet it is him that is resigning today. the report does say that her behaviour has been in breach of the ministerial code, even if unintentionally. so perhaps newly into one of the biggestjobs in government, her behaviour was unintentionally bullying. she deserves a second chance, doesn't she? sir alex allan's advice suggests that the behaviour may not be intentional, but the crucial point here is his finding that she has not consistently met the ministerial code. the ministerial code is absolutely crucial, and in the foreword to it, borisjohnson has said that there shall be no bullying.

but we see these report's findings, and it is frankly awful today to see that it is alex allan who is resigning and the home secretary who remains in post, despite the fact that there is this clear finding that she has not met those standards in the ministerial code. it is extraordinarily serious and there are serious questions now, both for the home secretary and for the prime minister, they should both be answering questions in parliament next week. we should see this report in full. we are seeing this statement from the permanent secretary, the most senior civil servant in the home office, saying that although it is difficult reading, they are determined to work together to improve the home office and build the strongest possible partnership between ministers and officials. so, given that, surely she deserves to stay, despite these findings. look, clearly there are significant improvements to be made. i would not expect anything else

to be said after a report as damning as this one. that is just in terms of the summary that we have actually seen. we cannot get away from the fact that the standards of the ministerial code have not been met. that is not something just to be brushed under the carpet. that is extraordinarily serious. but it is not legally binding, is it, this code? that is absolutely right, but it has been setting the standards for ministerial behaviour throughout the post—war era. it is an extraordinarily serious and important document, and it is vital for trust and confidence in government that those standards are met, particularly at a time when during this global pandemic we have handed over even greater powers to the government in order to get through the pandemic. that imperative of trust and confidence is even higher than it usually would be. the home secretary has been found, by sir alex allan, not to have met the standards of the ministerial code. the prime minister should have acted, he has not,

he has failed his test of leadership. ultimately there is nothing you or anyone else can do though, is there? the prime minister is the ultimate arbiter of the ministerial code and he has failed this test of leadership. but i will be doing what i can to make sure that the prime minister and home secretary do answer questions on this in parliament. the prime minister, today, on anti—bullying week, to be trying to brush to one side a document, a serious report like this, that came across his desk on the issue of bullying is frankly shameful and wrong. what do you say to those friends who, we have seen ministers tweeting saying she was very polite with them, saying she's not from a privileged background and has perhaps been patronised by people in the civil service. what do you say to those claims? firstly, the issue is not, and has never been, how the home secretary speaks to her political colleagues,

speaks to opposition politicians. it has been in this situation where the power dynamic is very different, where she is the person with status and power. it has been her civil servants, and this very clear finding that they have not been treated with consideration and with respect. the issue then comes back to these breaches of the ministerial code that she consistently has not met those standards. if that is the case, there have to be consequences for that because otherwise trust and confidence in our government is completely and utterly undermined. just finally, and briefly if i can, again, others in her defence have said that she was an arch brexiteer, very strong views on immigration and so on, and she perhaps ran into people in the civil service who were more on the remain side, politically did not agree with her, and that is why there were perhaps even more tensions. look, i am a realfan of our civil service,

our neutral civil service, but even if the home secretary came into contact with people with whom she disagreed, which is not uncommon in politics, frankly, that does notjustify the kind of behaviour that we have seen in this report. it does notjustify not treating people with consideration and respect. whether you agree with someone or disagree with someone, those standards of behaviour are extraordinarily important. what the government is doing today is sending out a message from the very top, from the prime minister, that clearly he is willing to tolerate behaviour of this kind, which is completely the wrong judgment. the shadow home secretary there, speaking to my colleague a little earlier. geeta also spoke to the conservative mp for penistone and stocksbridge miriam cates, who has defended ms patel. she was asked whether the home secretary should consider her position. i do not think that is the case at all. clearly, the report shows that there were some very strained relationships on all sides during the period that is being looked at.

at times, the home secretary did unintentionally upset people. so i think it is important that those things have been made clear, i think it is really important that the home secretary has apologised, but the prime minister has made clear that he is confident that she has not breached the ministerial code and that he has got confidence in her and the civil service to deliver what we have been elected to achieve. this report says there were, on occasions, shouting and swearing. this may not have been done intentionally to cause upset, but that has been the effect on some individuals. anyone knows that if you shout and swear at people that you work with or people who work for you, that is not the way that a minister should behave. well, i think all of us can empathise with stressful and challenging work situations, and situations in our personal lives where perhaps we walk out at the end of the day and think we regret certain things we have said or certain ways we have behaved. but shouting and swearing is beyond the pale, surely? i think the report makes clear that there were some very challenging relationships

on both sides during that period. and i think it is clear the home secretary did not always receive the support that she did. the important points are firstly that this was not raised at the time, so she was not aware that she was intentionally hurting the people around her to that effect. if you shout and swear at people, how can you not know that you are going to hurt people? people will perhaps be too frightened to raise complaints at the time. in a pressure cooker situation where people are not getting on up in a pressure cooker situation where people are not getting on, necessarily, challenging relationships, ithink we all know from personal experience that we do not necessarily behave our best. but i think the point about human relationships, the point about human beings is we can change and we can get better. the important thing today is that she has acknowledged that, unintentional as it was, she has damaged some of those relationships, but she is sorry and that things have started to change. if someone apologises afterwards, that is fine, then, that excuses bullying behaviour?

she has breached the ministerial code, according to this report. you'll find the report has not how bullying ——found bullying behaviour. it has said she had does not always treat civil servants with the consideration that she should have done. this report says her report on occasions amounted to behaviour that could be described as bullying. in terms of the impact felt by individuals. that is in breach of the ministerial code. the fact that this report has not been accepted, presumably, has led to sir alex allan, who wrote it, to resign. the prime minister is the ultimate arbiter of the ministerial code, and as i said, he is clear that she has not reached it. that she has not breached it. he is contradicting the findings of the report, isn't he? there is a difference between not always

showing the consideration that is due and breaching a code. the prime minister is absolutely right to have full confidence in her as a minister. those of us who know her, and this is why we have seen such an outpouring of support from her colleagues, know that she is a strong character, she is assertive, but she is also an incredibly good listener, she shows great empathy. she came to my constituency last year, she listened to a number of people who have been deeply affected by crime, they were really impressed by her. she made some excellent comments, really empathised, really listen. really empathised, really listened. you cannot fake character and integrity. that might be true. in front of you and people she regards as peers, maybe she is not bullying. but clearly this report shows there has been bullying behaviour. i just wonder why is she so important to the prime minister, why does he feel he has to stand by her? do you think she will be moved in a january reshuffle, would this at least be the right thing to do? i would throw that back and say is it the right thing, when someone

discovers that they have unintentionally hurt someone, apologises, changes and make amends, is it then the right thing to force them to resign? i do not think so. what hope is there for any of us if we cannot range or learn if we cannot change or learn and get better? she has clearly shown that she is brilliant at the job, she is forcing through some difficult changes in difficult circumstances, and she has acknowledged her weaknesses and wants to move on. wants to change and move on. that is far better than forcing her to make way for someone else. we do not get into this culture where somebody makes a mistake, which is human nature and we all do, makes ammends, but then has to leave. that is wrong. it was notjust one occasion. if that is the case, why has sir alex allan resigned? he is the independent adviser, very long standing in hisjob, and it is not precedented that ministers who have found to have broken the ministerial code stay in theirjobs. i do not know why he has resigned. i imagine you will have to ask him.

why do you think? i would not like to speculate. i do not know him or why he has resigned. the prime minister has read his report and that has been taken into account, i think it is very important that these reports have been made, but he has decided on balance that the home secretary does have his confidence and she has not breached the ministerial code. i fully support him in that. have you spoken to priti patel since this report was published ? i know it is just out publicly. has she ever told you that she felt patronised in thejob in the home office by civil servants? that is some of the defensive lines we have been hearing. i am not going to reveal any private conversations i have had. but she is highly respected in the parliamentary party because of her character and integrity. she is a warm person, she is strong and assertive. as i said, we can all empathise with situations where people in extremely frustrating

times do not always behave the best way they should. but the important thing is she has apologised publicly and things have changed. we have just heard that statement from the new permanent secretary saying that they are working hard together to improve things at the home office. just finally, is this just brexiteers standing together? borisjohnson is rewarding her for loyalty, she was prominent in vote leave, she stood by him through thick and thin, and he is refusing to accept an independent report? if you are asking me whether loyalty is a good characteristic, then i absolutely agree. but i think what the prime minister is doing is taking an objective view on this report, acknowledging that things went wrong, she is trying to put things right, but giving her his full confidence to get on with herjob. that is the conservative mp, won, speaking with us early today and to stay with that story because some

news we have had in the last few nets, following on from that news that the sir alex allan is stepping down. and following the news that the prime minister's adviser on ministerial code is stepping down from his role, the committee on standards in public life has decided to look into sir alex allen's resignation as part of its review, announced in september, into standards of public conduct. in a statement the chair of the committee, jonathan evans said: "sir alex allan is a man of great wisdom and integrity and it is deeply concerning that he has resigned. this episode raises serious questions about the effectiveness of the current arrangements for investigating and responding to breaches of the ministerial code." so that has come through just in the last few minutes and we will be talking more about that story after 2pm. also some more news in the last little while in terms of coronavirus, some new figures through in terms of the r number, the rate at which someone who has the rate at which someone who has the virus can then give it to other people, so that r number we are told

110w people, so that r number we are told now stands at between one and 1.1. so between 1 and 1.1. it was previously estimated at being between 1—1 point too, so a very slight drop there. the risks of any relaxation of coronavirus restrictions "will not be zero", scotland's first minister has said. nicola sturgeon said that any plans to allow household mixing over the festive period would still carry risks, but she hopes that strict measures in the coming weeks can drive down the virus. it comes as 11 council areas in west and central scotland are being put into level 4 — the toughest level of restrictions. most of these areas have stabilised in recent weeks because of sacrifices everyone has been making. but in all of these areas, the infection rate remains stubbornly high. if the situation continues like that, the fact is more people will die or fall seriously ill.

there is also a danger if we do not get infection rates down that our hospital and icu services will become even more stretched as we move deeper into the winter period. that will obviously affect the nhs‘s ability to treat covid patients and also offer services to people with other illnesses. in addition, we want rates to come down further before the christmas period when people might be meeting up with family members a bit more than is the case now. the fact is the fewer people in the population who have covid by the time we get to christmas, the lower the risk of others being infected with it during that period. it is very important for me to be clear that the risks would not be zero, which is why we must be very careful about any relaxation over christmas. people will have to think carefully themselves, even with any relaxation, about what

they want to do or not. the risks would not be zero, but they would be lower if there are fewer people in the population who have covid at that time. nicola sturgeon speaking this morning and just to remind you, you can find out exactly what those level four restrictions mean on the website. bbc.co.uk/news. there is a breakdown there of the various tiers and restrictions. new figures suggest the number of recorded coronavirus cases is falling in households across northern ireland, wales and parts of england. the office for national statistics found in its latest weekly survey that infections appeared to be flattening in scotland and across england overall. a busy afternoon ahead. we will talk much more about coronavirus and more about the home secretary as well and that report, but right now we will talk about the weather. here is sarah keep lucas. it was a cold night last night for some of us, particularly in the east, but we have had cloud

and rain spreading across the course of today, turning things milder. that is the story for the rest of today into this evening, that rain continuing eastwards and things turning milder than yesterday. temperatures in the west 13 degrees, still chilly around the east coast, eight or 9 degrees, outbreaks of rain that will be clearing out towards the east through this evening and the rest of the rain working infant through in the north—west, really strong winds especially across the north of scotland, gales up here western isles and north—west scotland, many other staying in double figures tomorrow night —— like tonight. introducing cooler conditions coming in from the north—west, further heavy and blustery showers for scotla nd heavy and blustery showers for scotland and northern ireland, gales againa the scotland and northern ireland, gales again a the north of scotland, quite breezy further south, a line of cloud and rain pushing south across england and wales, highs of 10—13. goodbye.

this is bbc news. i'm jane hill. the headlines... the government adviser on ministerial standards resigns — after the prime minister backs the home secretary over a bullying inquiry. priti patel says she's sorry if her behaviour in the past has upset anyone — a civil service union says its disappointed. what is the point of the ministerial code, then? if actually what we are saying is that it doesn't matter what evidence is found, it doesn't matter what the prime minister's and adviser says, if it is politically convenient for the prime minister to ignore it, he will. a pay freeze looks likely for millions of public sector workers in england — though front line nhs staff are likely to be exempt.