the prime minister promises big changes, after securing the post—brexit trade deal this week. the government says it will focus on spreading opportunity and delivering for those left behind. for those who were anxious about the economic implications of leaving, they should be enormously reassured by the comprehensive nature of this free trade agreement. but the government's been criticised for the deal by the fishing industry, and by labour. this is a thin deal, but we don't want to create more problems for businesses right now by preventing the implementation of what the government has achieved. mps are set to vote on the deal this wednesday. also this lunchtime... the rollout of the pfizer biontech covid vaccine begins for millions of people across the eu.

storm bella brings gusts of more than a hundred miles an hour, with roads in parts of wales, and devon and cornwall blocked by falling trees. and after 80 years working in the same post office in a village in shropshire, postmistress kay white finally retires. good afternoon. borisjohnson has promised that "big" changes are on the way for the uk following his brexit deal with the european union. in an interview with the sunday telegraph, he said he wants to focus on "leveling up the country" and "spreading opportunity" across the uk. mrjohnson said the brexit deal would provide new regulatory freedoms to "deliver for people who felt left behind".

but some fishing leaders have accused him of "caving in" to the eu and sacrificing their interests. mps will vote on the deal in parliament on 30th december. our business correspondent vivienne nunis has more. it is now 2a hours since the government published its 1200 page trade deal with brussels. this morning, the chancellor was quick to dispel fears the uk might be economically worse off under this new trading relationship with the eu. for those who were anxious about the economic implications of leaving, they should be enormously reassured. the free trade agreement will come out nearly £670 billion worth of trade every year, making it the largest in history. there will be no added taxes on imports, known as tariffs, and no imports on how much can be bought and sold. but there will be checks, red tape and form filling when goods cross the

border. that could mean delays and added costs for businesses. labour says the deal is better than no deal but it's not happy with what has been agreed. this is a thin deal, it's not the deal the government promised. and there are large areas of our economy for example financial services, that employs one in 14 people in our country, where there are not clear elements within this deal and where much more work will need to be done. the chancellor says the uk will remain in close dialogue with the eu about how things will work moving forward, for instance with financial services. indeed, many are asking for more clarity on how services will be dealt with under this deal since the services sector makes up 80% of the uk economy. now we have left the european union we can do things a bit differently and we are embarking on that journey. bit differently and we are embarking on thatjourney. for example, how we make the city of london the most attractive place to list new companies anywhere in the world. mps will vote on the trade deal in

parliament on wednesday, despite labour‘s criticisms, opposition leader keir starmer has confirmed labour mps will support the deal. but as a scrutiny of the document continues in the coming days, more questions will inevitably arise about what exactly this new trading relationship will mean. the deal itself comes into force in just five days' time. viviennejoins me now. as you said in your report, mps are set to vote on this deal on wednesday. what are we expecting? 0pposition leader keir starmer has said he will support the deal and he urges labour mps to do the same. we do expect the possibility of a labour rebellion among some mps. labour rebellion among some mps. labour is in a pretty awkward position. 0n labour is in a pretty awkward position. on one hand they say they will support it largely, but on the other hand they criticise the deal, saying it is a thin, as we had shadow chancellor anneliese dodds say. she explains that position by saying there is already so much uncertainty out there for business at the moment, and they had to wait at the moment, and they had to wait a week until the end of the

transition period until they saw this deal, and they are also dealing with the economic repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic, so that is what labour has been saying. that's why they will support the deal. we could see some pushback from eurosceptic members of the conservative party. we have heard some criticism from them saying there isn't enough time to scrutinise the detail of the deal. we know lots of them have been poring over this 1200 page document at the moment. but it is expected to be passed on wednesday. from the prime minister possible point of view, he was in the sunday telegraph today saying he will now focus on levelling up the economy, using some of the freedoms granted by leaving the eu to spread opportunity. speaking about financial services, he says the deal doesn't go as far as he would have liked it to on that point and as he would have liked it to on that pointandi as he would have liked it to on that point and i think this is an area we will hear a lot about given that it employs a lot of people, 1 million people, and makes up such a large sector of the uk economy. vivienne

nunis, thank you. health officials in south wales have thanked medical students who've responded to an appeal for volunteers to help in intensive care departments. the cardiff and vale university health board had tweeted that it was urgently looking for medical students for its critical care department. the health board said while staffing was still challenging, the situation had improved and it had now withdrawn its appeal. the scottish government has pledged an extra £41 million to support businesses that were forced to close as they entered the country's top tier of coronavirus measures yesterday. the holyrood government says it's now allocated more than £3.5 billion to support businesses and help the economy recover from the pandemic. meanwhile, the coronavirus vaccine will be given to millions of people across europe from today, as countries including france, spain and italy begin the rollout of their vaccination programmes. more than 14 million people have been infected and strict lockdown measures are currently in place in nearly all the eu member states.

damien mcguinness reports now from berlin. the european vaccine roll—out has begun. in berlin mobile teams are taking the first vaccines from this distribution center to those who need it most, the elderly in nursing homes. this airport once provided a lifeline for west berlin at the height of the cold war. it was closed down in november to make way for a larger airport and now it has been turned into a mass vaccination center, providing, yet again, a lifeline for berliners, but this time in the fight against the pandemic. 0ne time in the fight against the pandemic. one of the first people in berlin to get the vaccine this morning was this 101—year—old woman. in italy, where fatalities among health care workers have been particularly high, doctors and nurses are also among the first to

get the jab. translation: it's not the end of the pandemic because there is still a long way to go, but it is the beginning of the end. todayis it is the beginning of the end. today is a beautiful day. to boost support, seem european leaders have also gone first. the czech prime minister said he wanted to set an example and said the vaccine provides hope that we will return to a normal life. across europe, elderly people have been isolated, afraid and vulnerable. now they are the first to be protected. damien mcguinness, bbc news, burling. —— berlin. authorities in the us are investigating whether a campervan explosion in the city of nashville on christmas day was a suicide bombing. three people were injured in the blast, and dna tests are now being carried out after human remains were found near the site of the explosion. no motive has been established, and

no—one has claimed responsibility. gusts of more than 100mph have been recorded as storm bella continues to bring heavy rain to large parts of the uk. the needles, on the isle of wight, saw winds that reached 106mph with a number of train operators reporting delays across the south of england. the met office has also issued yellow warnings for snow and ice — meaning disruption is likely for parts of wales, north—west england, scotland and the whole of northern ireland. chi chi izundu reports. storm bella making her presence known on british shores. winds of up to 106 miles an hour have been recorded on the isle of wight, bringing down trees, including on this car, and huts alongside brighton beachfront. train operators haveissued brighton beachfront. train operators have issued warnings about delays and cancellations because of debris and cancellations because of debris and flooding on railway lines. but parts of the uk are still reeling from heavy rains over christmas,

like cirencester in gloucestershire. residents are trying to adapt. more than 70 homes were without power and the environment agency has warned some river levels are still rising. this farm in oxfordshire, the farmer's priority has been the safety of her animals. the amount of rain we have had in the last few days has made it very difficult for us. days has made it very difficult for us. we have 3000 sheep and had to move 1200 of them in the last three days. the whole of christmas we have been moving sheep. they are pregnant, and their welfare is our priority at the moment and finding dry ground is almost impossible because it's almost completely saturated. the met office has issued three weather warnings about snow and ice in parts of scotland in particular and the north—east. officials say they are working hard to help those in need but have added there may be at least another day of harsh weather to come. chi chi izundu, bbc news.

can you imagine working in the same job for almost 80 years? well, postmistress kay white has done just that. now she's set to retire from her post office in shropshire and in that time, she's seen it all. from world war two, to the transformation of the postal service, she's been honoured by the queen as well. as geeta pendse has been finding out. put your letter through. thank you. a life behind the counter. at 93, kay white is the oldest postmistress in the country, assisted by ann, her spritely 75—year—old niece. kay started working at her village post office in claverley at the age of 14. there we are. mrs drew, that was postmistress, asked mother if i'd come and help in the office. and in those days, if your mother says you're going to do something, you do it.

and so, that's how i came to be here. kay became postmistress in 1960, and whilst technology has changed, she still remembers doing the accounts by herself. mother used to say to me, "kay, isn't there anybody who could help you?" i used to say, "nobody would understand this lot!" laughter. now, after almost 80 years, kay has decided to retire, leaving a big hole in the community. bells chime. how important is kay to the village? she is very important. it's about being the heart of the village, where people come to share their news. reverend garry ward says when the post office closed temporarily this year during the first lockdown, people really felt the loss then. some people pop in dailyjust to say hello and just to, you know, speak to kay. so, if the church is the soul, then the post office is definitely the heart of the village and kay

is a very important part of that. every week without fail, kay pops over to the only other shop in the village — the hairdresser‘s — for her weekly wash and set. and it's safe to say that her departure has become something of a talking point. she started working at the post office when she was 14. linda has known kay all her life. she is an absolute character. i think the person who will miss the post office the most is kay herself, because it's just been her life. what's your secret, kay? you've been working here almost 80 years. i think you've got to like people and helping one another. and how do you think both of you are going to feel on that last day? and how do you think both of you are going to feel on that last day7m will be very strange, really. you know, we shall be sorry, you know? i never thought i

would live till now. and i thought i shall die and the place will all be sold. and i shouldn't have had all this! i didn't think i'd be here! laughter. as 2020 draws to an end, kay and ann will lock up for the last time, but there is no doubting the imprint this shropshire postmistress has left on her beloved village. geeta pendse, bbc news, claverley. you can see more on all of today's stories on the bbc news channel. the next news on bbc one is at 6:35pm — bye for now. hello.

sport, and a full round—up from the bbc sport centre. the first of today's four premier league games is under way at elland road, with leeds taking on burnley. they're into the second half. patrick ba mford's penalty the difference — 1—0 to leeds. later this afternoon, west ham take on brighton, while tottenham can move back into the top four with a win at wolves in the evening game. and the champions liverpool are also in action at 4.30pm against second—from—bottom west brom. jurgen klopp's side top once again at christmas — not that they've gone to win the title every time they've been in that position, something the manager was reminded of in his pre—match press conference. the last 11 to have been top, only twice has that team not gone on to win the title. and we were one of them! iam here win the title. and we were one of them! i am here already now... we

can't blame you for that. look, it's the best position to be in at the moment but that's it, that's all. we know how tough it is, how tough it will be. andy murray will make a playing return to the australian open in february, two years on from his emotional announcement there that he may have to finish his career due to injury. murray's been handed a wildcard for the tournament in melbourne where, in 2019, he held a tearful press conference outlining his plans to end his career after wimbledon that year. he subsequently underwent hip resurfacing surgery and won the antwerp open seven months later. there was never any doubt andy murray would be awarded a wildcard, a former world number one, a five time runner—up, and two years ago, talked about retiring in melbourne.

he played an amazing first round match with roberto bautista agut, he lost in five sets and he thought his chronic hip pain would end his career, the retirement video played on court after that match. the tournament director said today, we welcome andy murray back with open arms. he will play as a wild card in an event in the first week of january in delray beach in florida. after a miserable 2020, could not play much because of the suspension of the talk and an injury, he hopes this longer period of preseason will get him into the shape you need to be in, to be truly competitive once again. bryony frost should have been getting back in to the saddle today after her history making win in the king george the sixth chase, but the welsh grand national meeting at chepstow has been abandoned due to storm bella causing parts of the course to be waterlogged. frost made racing history yesterday as she became the first female jockey to win the king george, riding 20—1 shot

frodon to victory at kempton. as for the welsh grand national, it's been rescheduled for 9th january. india might be without their star man in virat kohli for the second test against australia in melbourne, but stand in captain ajinkya rahane's century has kept them on top after day two at the mcg. kohli's returned home for the birth of his first child, with rahane taking over the reins as skipper, and he's led from the front, bringing up his 12th test century in style. and he's made the most of some good fortune — dropped here on 104 by travis head — who somehow let the ball out of his grasp. india closing on 277—5, a lead of 82, as they look to level the four—match series. once the ball got a bit softer, the wicket was pretty placid. not many

things in it any more. typical melbourne. it flattens out. even with the glass compared to what we are normally used to, it has become are normally used to, it has become a flat wicket. —— the grass. important to bat big and get into the game again. that's all your sport for now, i'll have more for your later. you're watching the bbc news channel. let's get more on the impact of the rise in coronavirus on nhs services across the uk. a little earlier i spoke to saffron cordery — the deputy chief execuitve of nhs providers. they work with hospitals and trusts across england. i asked her how much pressure services are currently under. we are seeing a real rise in the pressure for hospital services, but also other types of nhs services as well. it is notjust hospitals.

ambulance trusts in particular are coming under extreme pressure, as are community and mental health services. everybody affected by the impact of covid and talking to trust leaders overnight, they are under no illusion about how challenging this is at the moment, and part of the issue is demand, many more people coming through the door with covid, but also people coming through the door with other conditions as well and we can see that to an extent as a success of the campaigns that have been run over the summer, to make sure that people do keep coming forward, if they have a suspected heart attack or stroke, so it is really important that people do use services, but it is also adding to the demand. we are seeing real pressure, particularly in london and the south and that comes from this added demand, but also staff absence. it is localised at the moment, but we could see that growing and i think it is really important to remember that what is going on in the community will also be going on in health care settings, so if someone was unwell with covid,

and they cannot go to work and if a member of their family or they have been in contact with someone who has tested positive, they need to self—isolate. this impacts hugely on staffing levels across the nhs. so i think that is worth remembering and then the final thing is that we have got this new strain of covid and it is much more transmissible, so we are seeing this spread much more quickly than before and we have got those three things coming together really adding to the demand. we hear frequently warnings that the nhs is in danger of being overwhelmed, are we getting closer to that point, do you think? we are getting to a very challenging place for the nhs. i never want to say that the nhs is going to be overwhelmed, because we see the nhs being endlessly innovative and ingenious in how it can actually manage to spread incredibly thin resources, but i think it is worth remembering that things

are incredibly challenging. we are nearly at the point, in terms of the levels of covid in—patients across england. we are nearly at the high point of april, in terms of numbers and that is really difficult. people will say that that is what the nightingale hospitals are for, a sort of overflow when things got really stretch, but they don't seem to be being used? to remember about the nightingales is that they are an insurance policy and you only want to use your insurance policy when you absolutely have to. i think what we have to bring into the frame here is the fact that the challenges we have got are around staffing as well as physical bricks and mortar, so we are calling on the same pool of staff to work in either our hospital and other nhs services or in the nightingales, so we have got to remember

that we cannotjust conjure staff out of nowhere and they are being affected with covid just as the rest of the population is. an open letter to the prime minister published in the sunday times today is calling on the government to shift its focus from economic to well—being, when it rebuilds the country after the coronavirus crisis. instead of building back better, the government should build back happier, lord gus o'donnell and richard layard write. earlier i spoke to lord o'donnell, and i asked him what exactly he meant by build back happier. i think when people talk about building back better, they often talk about, let's build more roads, more physical capital. what we are saying is actually, let's bring the nation together, let's find these warring factions about brexit, about covid and the treatment of it and say, look, there is a common agenda here. we actually have real problems that covid has thrown up and the election has shown us about inequalities,

north and south, between rich and poor. let's find ways to actually look at the well—being of the population, their mental and physical health, let's sort that out. let's think about education as well, building resilience and character and kids that can take shocks and think about about making things happierfor all of us and our sustainability agenda. i think those are the things which could bring the whole nation together and really result in 2021 ending in a way that 2020, alas, hasn't. and give us some specific examples of how we can do that. i mean, mental health for example, we know that has been a real hidden cost, often not so hidden, of the coronavirus pandemic. yes, and to be honest it was the case beforehand, so we know that there are plenty of people with diagnosed mental health conditions who are not getting any treatment. that wouldn't happen in the physical health sphere.

we know that the returns from investing in mental health are huge. you know, when i was cabinet secretary, i used to visit a number of prisons and the number of people i would see there and the actual reason they were there was mental health issues, which led to crime, violence, all sorts of costs for society. if we could kind of tilt the spending towards prevention, rather than forever curing things, then i think we could make a really big difference. that would mean, in practical terms, improving the mental health programmes in schools, for example, improving mental health programmes in prisons and throughout our health service, to think about treating the individual and finding ways to actually avoid them going to hospital, you know. when people talk about health, they often talk about doctors and hospitals, i really want to get at the prevention side of things. let's think about a behaviour change so that we can get people healthier and happier and not in need of the repairs that they have to do in hospital.

when you talk about building back happier, are you saying that the united kingdom is not very happy nation? obviously coronavirus has made us deeply unhappy, there is no doubt about that, but apart from that, are you saying that generally, compared to other nations, we are not as happy as we should be perhaps? yes, i am afraid so. you're right, the virus had a big and a bigger impact here than elsewhere. i wrote about that in a journal. for our children, the pisa study of exams also look at well—being and the results for the uk are depressing, i have to say. really depressing. we are right down at the bottom of the league table. very sad. as a nation, we are not too bad. the scandinavians, who always seem to win everything, are better than us, and there are some lessons i think we can learn there about how to look after things like social care, that they do much better than us. yeah, i think we need to learn from others,

and particularly we have a problem with people who have got particularly low well—being, when you look at them, you see that there are issues that could be solved quite straightforwardly, mental health being one, that people who are out of work, you know, unemployed, who have no sense of meaning in their lives, people injobs which are low—income and basically not very fulfilling, those things and yet, at the other end, you have got things like volunteering, which actually enhance the well—being of people, and which we should be promoting. the whole charitable sector, which is suffering a great deal during this pandemic, if we could boost them and unleash their potential, that would be a huge boost for well—being. and, just very quickly, we just have a few seconds left, you started off talking about brexit and how that has divided us, as a source of unhappiness, but i suppose at least that now, with a trade deal, whether you are a remainer or a leaver, that is now to one side.

well, yes, let's hope so. we spent four years negotiating the most neutral trade deal i have ever heard of, because both sides ended up with lower trade access than they had at the start, but yes, that is done, although we will be negotiating around the details on the services side for years to come, but let us get past those arguments and bring everybody together around an agenda of improving the quality of everybody‘s lives, particularly those who are most disadvantaged. lord o'donnell talking to me earlier about building back happier. now it's time for a look at the weather with alina jenkins. after battering a lodged wave of the uk with rain and winds storm bella has moved away. some flood warnings in place. the details on our website. behind the rain, plenty of

showers pushing in from the west, many bringing snow across scotland. into parts of wales and northern ireland and later in the night into central and southern england, a mixture of rain, sleet and snow. where there are clear skies, forced and patchy fog in places, with temperatures at or below freezing, perhaps as low as minus eight celsius across the glens of scotland. sunny spells tomorrow but further winds, a longer spell of snow through central and southern england, and further wintry showers into eastern and north—eastern coast, as we head through the afternoon. a cold day for some, temperatures will not get much above freezing. goodbye. hello this is bbc news. the headlines. borisjohnson promises big changes following his brexit trade deal, as his chancellor rishi sunak says the deal brings reassurance to those who were worried about the impact on businesses. the rollout of the pfizer biontech covid vaccine begins

for millions of people across the eu — starting with italy and the czech republic. the met office issues yellow warnings for snow and ice following storm bella with disruption likely — for parts of wales, north—west england, scotland and the whole of northern ireland. now on bbc news... marcus rashford: feeding britain's children following the footballer‘s journey this year to raise national awareness of the effects of child food poverty in the uk. i've not been here for ages. this is where it all began. we used to be able to go upstairs and get a cup of coffee and what have you. his painting is on the wall, that's incredible, isn't it? there's no way you would ever think that would have happened. it is like a dream come true, isn't it? he has worked hard to get to where he has got to now.