conservative mps who represent seats in the north of england earlier this evening. the subject of devolution came up and that is when the prime minister is reported to have said devolution has been a disaster north of the border and it was tony blair's biggest mistake. what these two developments have in common is that information emerged unofficially without a need to source and through unknown channels. last week's anonymous briefings for and against mr kane and mr cummings were followed by the leak of the prime minister's comments which had been neither confirmed nor denied. simonjessop was one of a number of viewers that questioned whether they should be how we discover the views of our political leaders.

we wanted to discuss the use of anonymous sources and leaks with someone from the bbc‘s legal unit but no one was available. our invitation to them to come on the programme remains open. another problem borisjohnson has faced this week is that he is having to self isolate in number ten after an mp he met last week tested positive for coronavirus. this led to a new outbreak of the phenomenon with which newswatch viewers will be familiar, the bbc correspondent standing outside the famous black door while it remains resolutely shut. what number ten have planned for the next week, they might not be calling a reset for the government but it certainly sounds a lot like one. the hope was for mrjohnson this morning was to be out and about energetically and talking about brexit and climate change and meeting northern conservative mps who have been grumbling about a lack of attention and focus from the government.

a lot of metaphorical blood has been spilled on downing street's plush carpets of late but the prime minister wanted to use this week to clean up. after watching one of those appearances, annette raised again this question. that's not the only allegation this week that bbc staff have been behaving irresponsibly in relation to the guidance issued around the pandemic. matt hancock's interview on monday morning down the line from the camera overlooking the newsroom here in london.

but the attention of some viewers was drawn to what was happening behind him. for instance, a number of people behind him coming and going in apparently close promximity. sarah campbell e—mails. cecilia echoed that. we asked bbc news for a response to that and they

told us. the use of pre—recorded background footage on the green screen is not unusual. in fact, we're using one right now because i'm in a broom cupboard—sized studio but while on the topic of abiding by covid—19 related guidelines, we have mentioned before your reactions to bbc reporters and interviewees wearing or not wearing masks when being filmed out and about. some viewers are annoyed that face coverings are not used more often. others have problems when they are worn, as was the case in this report on monday's news. sally got in touch with us after watching that.

at least one bbc reporter has found a solution to this problem. here is the north of england reporter danjohnson on recently. the idea is that people across the city will be able to come and get tested when they want, it is entirely voluntary but whenever they want their test, they will be able to come and get one. that appearance met with the approval of victoria who tweeted.

the most high—profile way in which bbc news has got itself into the news this week concerns a programme broadcast 25 years ago. the interview conducted by martin basheer with the late princess diana panorama caused shock waves at the time and now it is doing so again. on wednesday, the bbc announced lord dyson, the retired seniorjudge, which had an independent inquiry into how the scoop was obtained. it follows allegations by the princesse‘s brother, lord spencer, that martin showed him fake bank statements which led him to introduce the journalist to his sister. martin basheer has yet to respond to the charges as he is seriously ill but while we await the outcome of the inquiry, there is no shortage of opinion on the subject. this week's panorama also produced some audio reaction,

although for a more mundane reason. its additional programme was due to air at 7:35, but instead, viewers were greeted with this, for a full ten minutes. a replacement programme was announced but then bbc‘s flagship current affairs programme did finally make it on air, only for this to happen. america is in turmoil. what is your iq, what is your iq?

a country dangerously torn. when i go shopping... n0 audio. the programme ran in silence for almost two minutes before the problem was corrected, leaving jane distinctly unimpressed. some of us can remember when continuity announcers filled such gaps with pop videos or cartoons. malcolm clearly can, posing this question which older viewers will appreciate. in a statement, the bbc said.

in the united states, despite the efforts of president trump and those around him, joe biden is preparing to enter the white house and there's been plenty of focus not just on what sort of president he might be but also on vice president elect harris. just how should her first name be said? here are a couple of versions from the last few days on bbc news. his choice for vice president making history, kamala harris will be the first female, first black and first asian in this role. kamala harris struggled when she ran to be the democratic party's pick for president. a few groups are not particularly friendly about kamala harris and some of the abuse wasjust horrendous. those versions are in fact incorrect and we know this because the then senator harris released a video four years ago with instructions on how to pronounce her name. robert revealed the answer in a recent e—mail to us after watching

bbc news. thank you for all your comments this week. if you want to share your opinions about what you see or hear on bbc news, on tv, radio, online and social media, e—mail us. or you can find us on twitter. you can call us. or have a look at our website. that's all from us, we will be back to get your thoughts about bbc news coverage again next week. goodbye. good evening. friday brought us a fairly cloudy,

grey sort of day with outbreaks of rain that have been making their way from west to east. as we head into the weekend, we will be keeping the rain for some areas but there will be a bit more sunshine coming through for some of us, particularly in the north. through the day tomorrow, as the weather front slip south, it'll be mild and breezy and it'll be some rain around. we are seeing that rain overnight pushing across scotland and northern ireland, too, turning particularly windy across the north of scotland, the northern isles seeing gales and gusts of around 60 miles an hour. in the south, breezy, cloudy, a few breaks in the cloud but it'll be a mild night, a few spots of drizzle around, and temperatures for most of us holding up between 10—12, but turning a little bit cooler in that cool air moving across scotland. so, heading through the day tomorrow, we have this cold front slowly sinking its way south, low pressure to the north and quite a lot of isobars on the map as you can see, especially across the northern half of scotland. so, another windy day to come, could be gale force gusts of up towards the northern isles, western isles and northern highlands as well.

plenty of showers rattling through on that brisk breeze across scotland and northern ireland, then we have this band of cloud and rain sinking across northern england into wales, too. further south, mostly dry, fairly cloudy at a few breaks in that cloud and it'll be mild. if the sunshine does break through, 13—14 down towards the south, typically about 8—10 further north. these are the gusts of wind we are likely to see so the wind will be a feature. 20—30 miles an hour, even stronger, 30, 40, 50 or even 60 across the northern half of scotland once again. saturday evening remains breezy in the north with scattered showers, cloudy and mild, still, in the south because this frontal system, this cold front pushes its way south overnight into sunday and it parked itself across southern england and south wales so we still have the mild air in the far south, quite cloudy, a few spots of showery rain here but away from that anywhere north of the m4 probably sunday is going to be a largely dry day, lots of sunshine around although there will be lots of showers packing in across the west of scotland. single figures temperatures

for most of us, about 8—9, butjust in the south where we have that milder air, up to about 11—12 and, then, a look ahead into the new working week and things are remaining unsettled, quite a lot of cloud, rain especially in the north and west, a little bit brighter in the south by the time we get to tuesday. bye— bye.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. pfizer formally applies to health regulators for emergency authorisation for its new covid vaccine. governments around the world are hoping it can be approved next month. the british prime minister boris johnson gives his full support to the home secretary priti patel, despite an inquiry upholding claims against her of bullying. yelling. as we still wait for georgia to officially certify joe biden as the state's winner — donald trump invites michigan state legislators to the white house in another attempt to overturn the result of the presidential election. in an interview with the bbc, saudi arabia's minister of state for foreign affairs rejects calls from human rights groups