around it and windy conditions around it and windy across southern counties of england. tomorrow, this band of cloud and rain will start to break up and ease up. behind ita rain will start to break up and ease up. behind it a lot of dry weather and a fair bit of sunshine. fewer showers and not as windy as it will be today. by the end of the day, the cloud will be for getting in the south, heralding the arrival of the next band of rain and tomorrow's temperatures, 6—12. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: ambulance workers go on strike today in a dispute over pay as union leaders criticise the prime ministerfor not being willing to negotiate. this lies squarely at the door of the government. i have been negotiating for 25 years and i have never seen such an application of leadership as i have seen from rishi sunak. an abdication of leadership as i have seen from rishi sunak. ukraine's president volodomyr zelensky is travelling to washington

today in his first overseas trip since war broke out. now on bbc news, review 2022. over the next half an hour, we'll reflect on what has been an especially turbulent year in british politics, which featured three prime ministers and four chancellors. helen catt looks back at the year's most significant events at westminster during an extraordinary year in politics: 2022 was a year when politics came at you fast. three prime ministers in the space of a few months, a mini—budget that had a dramatic impact within hours, all against the backdrop of a war in europe and the cost of living going up at its fastest rate in decades.

but it all started with a hangover. tonight at ten, boris johnson faces new questions about apparent breaches of lockdown in downing street. the end of 2021 had been dominated by partygate and just days into the new year, there was more. itv got hold of an e—mail sent in may 2020 inviting more than 100 staff to bring their own booze to the downing street garden to make the most of the lovely weather. it came from borisjohnson�*s principal private secretary martin reynolds. given that the rules said you could only meet one person, some staff were shocked. in messages seen by the bbc, they said, "why is martin encouraging a mass gathering in the garden?" boris johnson at first tried to bat away questions about whether he was there. all of that, as you know, is the subject of a proper investigation by sue gray. but there was outrage. this is utterly indefensible. it cannot be defended.

there was upset too, particularly from those who lost loved ones during the pandemic. including my mother—in—law, who died alone, won't... people died sticking to the rules, and they broke those rules to have a bottle of wine. did you lie about the - parties, prime minister? the pressure grew until mrjohnson was forced to say yes, he had been at the garden party. mr speaker, i want to apologise. i know that millions of people across this country have made extraordinary sacrifices, and i know the rage they feel with me and with the government i lead. but... i want to repeat that i thought it was a work event and mr speaker... jeering.

i regret very much that we did not do things differently that evening. labour was having none of it. his defence that he didn't realise he was at a party... laughter. it's so ridiculous that it's actually offensive to the british public. opposition mps had one message. resign. he must resign. in the following days, more parties hit the headlines with damaging details. staff at downing street have been accused of holding two parties the night before the duke of edinburgh's funeral last april. restrictions in england at the time banned indoor mixing between different households and meant the queen had to sit alone during the service. mps are calling for borisjohnson to resign. the telegraph is reporting that around 30 people were present, drinking alcohol and dancing to music.

according to the daily telegraph, downing street staff were sent to a nearby shop with a suitcase to buy more booze. number ten has not denied any of this. tory mps are livid. boris johnson was forced to apologise to the palace. was having to apologise to the queen about those parties the night before she put her husband of over 70 years, she laid him to rest, was that a moment of shame for you? i deeply and bitterly regret that that happened. i can only renew my apologies, both to her majesty and to the country. then came claims of another party attended by the prime minister himself, a birthday gathering in the cabinet room, organised by his wife. it was enough for the police to announce that they would now investigate. there was evidence that those involved knew, or ought to have

known, that what they were doing was an offence. sue gray put her full report on hold as a result, but she published some initial findings, saying some of the events had been difficult to justify, and criticising a failure of leadership. in late february, partygate was wiped off the front pages as russia did the unthinkable and invaded ukraine. how are you? nice to see you. borisjohnson offered support and forged a close alliance with president zelensky, going on to make a surprise visit to ukraine later in the spring. it had been a roller—coaster start to the year. anger among conservative mps were still simmering. letters of no confidence in the prime minister had already gone in. but now some were saying the war in ukraine meant it wasn't the right time to challenge borisjohnson. westminster paused to draw breath. how are you?

the chancellor announced support for energy bills and a cut fuel duty, marked with a photocall in which he filled up someone else's car and then struggled to pay for it co nta ctlessly. 0ur headlines this afternoon: the prime minister and the chancellor of the exchequer will both be fined by the police for attending parties during lockdown. a major development from the police kicked partygate back into the headlines. for the first time in history, both the prime minister and the chancellor were fined for breaking the laws they set at the birthday gathering. i have, of course, paid the fpn and i apologise once again for the mistake that i made. this is an extraordinary moment, a prime minister standing here in chequers, admitting he has broken the law. tory anger flared up again.

i'm very sorry to have to say this, but i no longer think he is worthy of the great office that he holds. really, the prime minister should know the gig is up. not, it turned out, quite yet. first, sir keir starmer found himself under investigation by police over beergate — curry and a beer he had had a curry and a beer he had had with others on the campaign trail in durham in 2021. if the police decide to issue me with a fixed penalty notice, i would of course do the right thing and step down. he didn't get one. sir keir and his deputy angela rayner were cleared by the police. still, many tory mps were, like most of westminster, waiting for sue gray. on 25th may, she finally published her full report, and it was quite the read. this is it, finally. we've been waiting months for this report. it gave details of late night drinking, even vomiting.

there were photos of several events as well as criticism of a lack of leadership. did you tell parliament the truth, prime minister? do you stand by everything you told mps before? i have been as surprised and disappointed as anyone else in this house is the revelations have unfolded. that report lays bare the rot that under the prime minister has spread in number ten. with nothing more left to wait for, more tory mps got out their pens to try to trigger a confidence vote. it's thought 28 have now been sent. 5a are needed to trigger a vote. as the country spent the weekend celebrating thejubilee, the prime minister was booed on his way into st paul's cathedral. the tory drumbeat of discontent finally reached a climax.

it's monday and mps return to westminster today amid growing speculation that borisjohnson could face a vote on his leadership. what more can you tell us? we are expecting that sir graham brady, the chair of the 1922 committee, as it's known... we're holding a vote of confidence and it will take place today. you will have a result this evening. just two and a half years ago, borisjohnson won a stonking majority. tonight, he is reduced to scrabbling around for every single vote among his colleagues. boris johnson's fate was now in the hands of his own mps. it should be any second that we find out that result from sir graham brady. the vote in favour of having confidence in borisjohnson as leader was 211 votes. and the vote against was 148 votes. therefore, i can announce that the parliamentary party does have confidence in borisjohnson. borisjohnson was safe, for now.

well, after all that drama, surely things were about to quieten down? well, there were a couple of by—elections to come, one of them triggered by one of the year's stranger political stories. a conservative mp has reportedly been caught watching pornography while sitting in the chamber of the house of commons. although, as he told bbc southwest, he hadn't meant to, at first. funnily enough, it was tractors that i was looking at. so i did get into another website that had a very similar name, and i watched it for a bit, which i shouldn't have done. but my biggest crime is that on another occasion, i went in a second time. neil parish resigned, triggering a by—election in tiverton and honiton, one of the safest conservative seats in the country. if liberal democrats win it, then boris is in trouble. who i vote for, i don't know, but it won't be boris.

the ever—subtle lib dems overturned the majority of 211,000 to win. with borisjohnson's leadership, things keep getting worse. so let me tell the prime minister what the british people expect. they expect to be led and to be led with decency. 0n the same day, labour won back the seat in wakefield in west yorkshire. the tory mp who took it in 2019, imran ahmad khan, had resigned after being convicted of sexually assaulting a 15—year—old boy. boris johnson had somehow survived months of ever—increasing pressure and unhappiness in his own party about his way of going about things. but when the tipping point came, things moved very quickly. it started when chris pincher resigned as the government's deputy chief whip after reports that he had groped two men in london's carlton club. number ten initially said borisjohnson hadn't known of any allegations when he appointed

mr pincher to the government. that line was then finessed when given to ministers. how can you be sure he didn't know about the allegations? well, i have been informed this morning that he did not know about specific allegations. i am joined now from westminster by our political correspondent ione wells. ione, tell us more about the fresh revelations tonight about what boris johnson knew? well, reeta, i can reveal this evening that borisjohnson was made aware of a formal complaint about alleged inappropriate behaviour by chris pincher when he was a foreign office minister from 2019 to 2020. a revelation followed by a damning interview from a former senior civil servant. i think they need to come clean. i think that the language is ambiguous. it's sort of telling the truth and crossing your

fingers at the same time. day after day, people speaking on your behalf were talking rubbish. well, i'm afraid i was focusing on other things at the time. but what i'm telling you now is my recollection of events. even his most ardent supporters looked dejected. for some, it would be too much. breaking news this evening. the chancellor rishi sunak and health secretary sajid javid resign from the cabinet, telling the prime minister that the tone he sets reflects on his colleagues and party. good evening. i'm just going to spend some time with my family. borisjohnson is holed up in downing street with aides, trying to plug the holes in what looks like a sinking premiership. is it all over, prime minister? many of his mps thought so. today i ask him to do the honourable thing, to put the interests of the nation before his own interests. does the prime minister think there are any circumstances in which he should resign?

the now former health secretary delivered a merciless blow. treading the tightrope between loyalty and integrity has become impossible in recent months. and at some point, we have to conclude that enough is enough. the prime minister tried to carry on as usual. it's been reported that there's a delegation of your cabinet colleagues waiting in downing street, including the chief whip, transport secretary and your new chancellor, waiting to tell you when you finish here today that it's time for you to go. how will you respond to that? as ministers and their aides resigned in droves, he sacked michael gove, calling him a snake. we are at 51 ministerial resignations, plus a sacking. and then one final resignation. when the herd moves, it moves. and, my friends, in politics, no one is remotely indispensable. i want you to know how sad i am to be giving up

the bestjob in the world. but them's the breaks. in the commons, there was a characteristic final farewell. hasta la vista, baby! thank you. meanwhile, the race was already on to replace him. so far, no fewer than 11 conservative mps fancy their chances as party leader and prime minister, and this list could get even longer. mps whittled them down through several rounds of voting until there were just two. who will be our next prime minister, liz truss or rishi sunak? as they fought to make it to number ten, they clashed repeatedly, mainly over the economy. your proposals would mean that we get the short term sugar rush of unfunded borrowed tax cuts, but that would be followed by the crash of the higher prices

and higher mortgage rates. rishi, you've just put in the highest tax rate for 70 years. how on earth can you claim that that is going to drive economic growth? and where have the growth policies been for the past two and a half years to drive investment into our towns and cities? meanwhile, labour was having an internal flight of its own on the picket lines. sir keir starmer had said shadow ministers shouldn't be on them and sacked one, sam tarry, for giving unauthorised interviews. and while borisjohnson seemed to be enjoying his last few weeks in office, liz truss and rishi sunak faced a gruelling dash around the country to get the votes of conservative members. it's fantastic to be here in wales. in eastbourne. fantastic to be here in yorkshire. in darlington. in birmingham. it's fantastic to be out and about across the country. apparently, it was fantastic. wherever they were, the main battlegrounds stayed the same — taxes and the economy, but there were also growing worries about the rising cost of energy bills.

liz truss had become the favourite and on 5th september... i give notice that liz truss is elected as the leader of the conservative and unionist party. i will deliver a bold plan to cut taxes and grow our economy. the crowning moment of her political career. liz truss will be prime minister tomorrow, and then confronted by an in—tray from hell. the question for her party and for the country — will she be up to it? well, this is it, folks. the baton will be handed over in what has unexpectedly turned out to be a relay race. they changed the rules halfway through, but never mind that now. and with that, one prime minister left downing street for the last time. in balmoral, the queen formally conducted the handover of power, and a new pm returned.

i have just accepted her majesty the queen's kind invitation to form a new government. this government is moving immediately to introduce a new energy price guarantee. but as liz truss was announcing her energy plan, came this. i wish to say something about the announcement which has just been made about her majesty. i know i speak on behalf of the entire house when i say that we send our best wishes to her majesty the queen and that she and the royal family are in our thoughts and prayers at this moment. we are all devastated by the news that we have just heard from balmoral. the death of her majesty the queen is a huge shock to the nation. politics stopped. parliament took on a new role

as the destination for around a quarter of a million people who queued through the day and night to see the queen lying in state. it was a sobering pause, but when politics got going again, it really got going. mr speaker, we are at the beginning of a new era. i'm not going to cut the additional rate of tax today. i'm going to abolish it altogether. i have another measure. we will cut the basic rate of income tax. this was the lowest value of the pound reached in early trading this morning since the invention of the dollar. bbc local radio presenters gave the prime minister a grilling. the bank of england has had to spend £65 billion to prop up the markets. where've you been? we're going to spend more in mortgage fees under what you've done, based on the predictions, than we would have saved with energy. i don't think anybody- is arguing that we shouldn't have acted on energy.

are you absolutely committed to abolishing the 45p tax rate for the wealthiest people in the country? yes. today at one, a government u—turn on its tax cuts for higher earners. i get it and i have listened. that was the speech of a prime minister trying to hold her party together. have you done enough, prime minister? this has been a conference defined by dysfunction, disagreement, even open civil war. you will be chancellor and liz truss be prime minister this time next month? absolutely, 100%. a day later... he's out, he's been sacked. kwasi kwarteng, the chancellor, he's gone. i acted decisively to ensure that we have economic stability. er... morning, chancellor. the new chancellor lost no time in ripping up the government's whole programme. we will reverse almost

all the tax measures announced in the growth plan. the prime ministerfaced claims that she was in hiding. where is the prime minister? the prime minister is not under a desk. will you lead the conservatives at the next general election? well, look... she got a bit more sure about that. i am a fighter and not a quitter! and for about an hour, it looked like she might survive, but... suella braverman has resigned as home secretary. there are very strong rumours that the government chief whip has apparently resigned. a commons vote turned into chaos. order. could it be possible that members opposite voted in the divisionjust now without any clarity as to what it was they were voting for? i think it's a shambles and a disgrace. - i think it is utterly appalling. you seem... lam livid. i shouldn't say this, _ but i hope all those people that put liz truss in number ten,

i hope it was worth it. i i am resigning as leader of the conservative party. she was prime minister for 49 days, the shortest term in office ever. so the tories needed a new leader, and fast. one borisjohnsonjetted back from the caribbean to try to rally support for a rapid return, but after a weekend of speculation, decided not to. so after a process lasting just four days, rishi sunak was crowned prime minister, unopposed. i will work day in and day out to deliver for you. this government will have integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level. that promise was quickly tested. cheer up, rishi! an investigation was opened into the deputy prime minister dominic raab for bullying claims, which he denies. it came after newly appointed cabinet office minister gavin williamson resigned over

claims of bullying, which he also rejected. a deadline to call another election in northern ireland was extended. it's been without a government since may's elections, when sinn fein won the biggest number of seats for the first time ever. unionists refused to restore power—sharing unless post—brexit trading agreements were changed. i'm ready to fight an election. if the secretary of state wants to hold an election, he should tell us and we will prepare for that. we need an executive up and running to serve the people and get them through these tough times. in stranger news, a former health secretary had the whip suspended after he swapped westminster for a box of snakes in the australian jungle. insert your own joke there. late november brought a big development in the debate over scottish independence. the snp went to the supreme court

to clarify if holyrood could call a legally binding referendum. the court ruled it couldn't. this judgment raises profound and deeply uncomfortable questions about the basis and the future of the united kingdom. in england, more and more small boats had continued to cross the channel. overcrowding at a processing centre in kent had sparked fury in the commons and put pressure on the reinstated home secretary. in december, rishi sunak announced a plan to clear the backlog of applications and target arrivals from albania. we cannot persist with a system that was designed for a different era. we have to stop the boats, and this government will do what must be done. but december was largely all about disruption. rail unions upped their strike action in a dispute that had been dragging on since the summer. christmas letters and parcels faced delays as postmen continued to strike.

and the nurses and ambulance drivers were among others who walked out, with ministers insisting they would not budge on pay rises. the health secretary has been clear that the door is always open. that has always been the case, but we want to be fair, reasonable and constructive. that's why we accepted the recommendations of an independent pay body about what fair pay would be. the armed forces were trained up as border forces prepared to walk out too. the christmas lights are now on at number ten, but peace and harmony, there isn't quite. the whirlwind of 2022 has left the conservatives badly damaged, and labour sensing the possibility of power. attention is now turning to the next general election and who might end up in the building behind me after that. it's not expected until 2024, but the run—up starts now.

for some of us, it has been quite a wet start to the day. as we go through the rest of the day, the rain heading south will continue to do so, clearing much later. some sunshine behind it and still those showers backing and across northern and western scotland, northern ireland and for a

time in northern england. it is also going to be rather windy in the north and west. temperature—wise, as we go through the afternoon, we are looking at roughly seven to 12. as we head through the evening and overnight, we have got this next band of rain coming in from the south—west. it's going to be producing rain across southern counties, murky conditions mixed in as well. as the low pressure tracks across the north of scotland, the showers with ease, as will the wind. in between, we are looking at some clear skies. tomorrow, we start on a fine note across the north of the country. there will be some sunshine, but you can see quite a cloudy picture across england and wales, with the rain easing. we have got another band of rain coming in later in the day, bringing more rain into southern counties. if we pick up into southern counties. if we pick up this band of rain as we move from

thursday into friday, it's going to be heavy as it pushes northwards. behind it, it will be quite windy, strong winds in the south. but as it starts to engage with the colder air, you could see some sleet and snow over higher ground. across the north of scotland, some clear skies but also some wintry showers. still cold in the north. but as we come south, we are looking at up to 13 degrees. as we head towards the christmas period, on christmas eve and christmas day you can see how the weatherfront pushes northwards. we have this wind for a time, but thenit we have this wind for a time, but then it turns colder and that is represented by the blues sweeping southwards on boxing day, more or less across the whole of the british isles. so in short, as we head towards the festive period, it remains unsettled.

this is bbc news — these are the latest headlines in the uk and around the world. ukraine's president volodomyr zelensky is travelling to washington today in his first overseas trip since war broke out. ambulance workers go on strike today in a dispute over pay — as union leaders criticise the prime ministerfor not being willing to negotiate. every time the health secretary speaks, i've got my head in my hands. i have never seen such an abdication of leadership that i have from rishi sunak and the health secretary. the health secretary says the three unions striking today have "refused" to work with the government at the national level. the scottish government will allow 16 and 17—year—olds to change their legal gender, after a vote rejects moves to keep

the minimum age at 18.