history is thankfully and finally beginning to accord a rightful place to those men and women of the windrush generation. you look beautiful. how are you? it is, i believe, crucially important that we should truly see and hear these pioneers who stepped off the empire windrush at tilbury injune 1948, only a few months before i was born, and those who followed over the decades, to recognise and celebrate the immeasurable difference that they, their children and their grandchildren have made to this country. many served with distinction in the british armed forces during the second world war, just as their fathers and grandfathers had

in the first world war. once in britain, they worked hard, offering their skills to rebuild a country during peacetime, and seeking opportunities to forge a better future for themselves and their families. when they arrived on our shores with little more than what they were able to carry with them, few could hardly have imagined then how they and those that followed them would make such a profound and permanent contribution to british life. obviously wearing gloves to protect my...my fancy nails from the paint.

i had a degree of ambition that drove me. i felt also that i could achieve more here. i'm linda beatrice haye. and i was born in...on 26th ofjanuary, 1933, which meant that the 26th of january this year, i'm 90 years of age. i'll start off by sectioning off the different parts of the canvas. i'm using acrylics, acrylic paints, spray bottle. i use these large brushes. i believe they're, like, painting brushes for, like, homes, but they're really thick and they hold a lot of, um, water and colour.

hello. hello, miss linda. greetings. shannon laughs how are you? nice to see you. that you would recognise, because that is a picture of the caribbean sea. i think it's in negril. 0k. that is in jamaica. usually when i'm approaching the painting, i try to find the connection between myself and the sitter. so, miss linda is from jamaica, but she's had her hand in, like, a lot of different, you know, countries, a lot of different, um, spaces and communities. so, she says she classifies herself as a caribbean woman, but with african roots and, like, this worldly impact. when she was actually saying that, we were actually looking at a painting by an african artist. this is a picture representing a african village. mmm.

i guess the colours in that as well has inspired the colours i've chosen for this piece. these are some of my earliest memories of my childhood. mm—hm. and this is actually my first british passport picture. oh, really? my mother, she, in fact, saved to ensure that i had the opportunities that she didn't have, because in those days, girls were more inclined to be married and, you know, to be home—based. this is when i was appointed the first woman of colour to the independent police commission, and this was my first day at the office.

i was appointed by the home secretary at the time, who was kenneth clarke. i was responsible for a number of police forces throughout the kingdom. wow. you look like you're ready for business as well in this... yes. ..in this picture. yes. some of the largest forces in the country, i oversee the police discipline within the, um, legislation. being the first black woman in this role, how do you feel maybe your experiences growing up, um, influenced the way you approached? that is important, my experience of growing up in what i would describe as a humble home, but a home that gave me great sense of purpose, grounded in character, discipline, respect and more important, my christian beliefs came from my early upbringing. why is this photograph so important to you?

because... ..it, in a...perhaps a small way, helped to break down... ..the barriers, cultural barriers, to set an example for others to follow. and i have to say, whatjamaica gave me, which was that strong sense of identity... hmm. ..of who i am. so you can be british and you can be caribbean oryou canjamaican, and i am very proud... hmm. ..of both. i guess, as an artist, when i first see this photo, um, because my practice is, you know, uplifting the...the black female experience, you know, trying to bring light to our stories and our accomplishments, and seeing, understanding the background of this image and then seeing how proud you are and understanding your...your

background and upbringing, i think this is, like, the perfect image to...to work from to represent you. somebody said that, "you're the first black professor "in scotland." and i found it very surprising, because i've never seen myself in that way. i wasn't made a professor because i was black. i was made a professor because i started my research in 1964, and this was i980—odd, can't remember the date, um, and therefore, ifelt i had achieved something, which i probably deserved. you know, i think a portrait at its best is a likeness. but i think when you can reveal something about the inner life of a person in how the portrait is rendered, i think that's when something more

interesting occurs. so i'm really hopeful that i'm able to...to get a bit more of his interior life. sir geoff. oh, good morning, derek. how are you? what a pleasure to meet you. nice. it's nice meeting you, too. i did a degree in honours botany. i had no idea what i was going to do with the honours degree. no idea. i went back to london to my mum. and i went to the labour exchange. and i stood in the queue and i went up and i said to the guy, "i'm looking for a job." and he said, "well, what can you do?" and i said, "i've got a degree." and he turned to his friend and he said, "here y'are, johnny," he says, "this guy's got a temperature." degree, temperature? he chuckles and he was making

fun of the fact that it was - a black guy... ..in the labour exchange at seven sisters road who said he'd got a degree. he didn't believe it. and one may think, "oh, that was racist then." a couple of days ago, somebody said, "um...who...and who are you?" and i said, "on your list, you'll see "it's professor sir geoff palmer." and she said, "is he the person you're looking for?" and that was last week. my own father is someone who, you know, ithink, experienced success despite great odds. um, i know at some point sir geoff palmer was a potato peeler, with... uh, even after he finished university, and a lot of that is evidence of the structural racism that he was working against. and i think with figures like him, we see their accomplishments and they hide a lot of the scars. and i think, for me, i'm interested in where the discomfort lies

and what he might be keeping beneath the surface, and how we can bring that into a richer understanding of who he is. so my parents are from ghana. oh, yeah. and so fathers are not expected to raise their children. yeah. the women raise the children. mm—hm. and... oh, yeah. you know, and... my mum would leave me with her sisters. yes. and when i was leaving jamaica, my grand—aunt, a lovely lady, i'll show a picture of her, who was the boss... yeah. wow. ..my grand—aunt in kingston, and she called me over and wrapped me in newspaper, my chest, so i wasn't that cold when i got to... newspaper? yeah. the actual newspaper? newspaper she was reading. she wrapped it around your chest? she got me to take my shirt off and wrap my chest in it. and then you put yourshirt on...? put my shirt on and got the plane. so you were insulated... i was insulated... ..with paper? ..with newspaper. london, compared with georgetown in guyana, vast!

you think, "my god!" yeah. and you can see the... you're able to actually look at those buildings that you've read about. well, it's exciting, feel excited. - you hear about britain. it's the world biggest. and i want to know| what britain is like. yeah, that... but you're young and you're... well, i wasn't that young. i was 26. but still, it's young _ to leave home and don't know where you're going, - what to expect and so forth. it was quite fascinating. exciting. exciting, and sometimes... ..a little bit... ..depressing. notjust the weather, but some of the... ..the...the behaviours.

you thought, "why would anybody do that?" i'd come down here with| the money from london. do you want the zip up? no. i was satisfied with newport. it was brilliant. well, newport, everybody was so friendly, black and white. . it put me in mindl of a district home. i came here the saturday, and the monday, - i got a job straight away. assembly. car batteries - and lorry batteries. and that's where... i worked there for three i months short of 27 years. that's the onlyjob i had in newport. i

our old houses go right through. - and that's where i lived first. that's... 29 mill parade was here. yeah. yeah, they knocked them all down. - when i was in london, | i'd...have a payable job and i couldn't get- anywhere up there to buy. i could, but the agents told us not to buy the houses - in battersea, where i was living, for they was going| to knock them down, and them houses there right now. - yeah, that's on latchmere. but, you know, things was going on with... i they see the blacks buying houses, and they decide, i said, "well, lets' put a stop to it." have you heard the

saying, "no blacks... "..no irish, no dogs"? that's what they said. you didn't expect to have that type of hardship. we have it up here now. it hasn't gone away. it's still around. you might heard about. the teddy boys and them. that was in the early '605. they... and late... yeah, late 705. early '605. they was vicious. but still, we managedl to come through them. they was cruel lot. they used the bicycle chain. that's what they used to hit people with. . and that cut you up. you'd get cut - anywhere he hit you. so, that was the way of life here. - and we come through it. you know, so, there's a lot i...i see. -

and it's... but, it's human being. we shouldn't be like that to each other, i but what you going to do? there's a lot of lickle, lickle things, but i didn't... i'm a personality so i don't take on everything because, as i said, people don't... sometimes people say things to you and they don't even realise that it is wrong. so you have to look at it and say it is wrong and everything. you jump to it. you have to say, "well, you know, iwouldn't like this," or, "i forgive "her," let'sjust say, or "forgive him", let'sjust say. well, i remember just. .. i willjust tell you this one... more than one, but i will say this one. i went into the shopping mall and i... there was a long queue, so i stood to the back of the queue and i wait there until... when i had my turn, this lady, this white lady, she stepped in front of me and she go up to the front.

so i said, "i was here before you." she says to me, "go back to your country." i said, "i paid my fare to come here. "did you pay your fare to go to the bull ring?" i met norma in the dance hall, the mecca dance hall in leeds. and we danced. and she told me, if i want to really go to that, i had to see her parents. so i decided... ..i'll go and see her parents. i went to the house and she invited me in. iwalked in, and her mother greeted me. her mother greeted me. her father was in the kitchen or somewhere. and hejust walked in and all he said was, "what's he doing here? get him out of here." i just turned without saying a word... ..and walked out. and as i opened the door, she just came and said, "i'm coming with you."

and that was that. you went into a pub and the...the landlord was putting bottles on the table for white guys to throw them at you, and you had to run. you know, the police was called and the police did not turn up. um, you... then, you know, a judge is making a decision in a court about whether you're evicted or not. a school says you're educationally subnormal. but you didn't see it as race, because we weren't educated in the british colonial education that that was race. with each canvas, there's lots of preparation. much of it you cannot see. there are these kind of subterranean levels underneath paper and cardboard. these are hundreds of small pieces of paper that have been adhered to the surface of newspaper by hand.

in the case of sir geoff, where, you know, he talks about, for example, being wrapped in newspaper by his aunts because he didn't have a coat. and, so, i love the pairing between the use of newspaper and paper here to prepare him, in a very similar sense. there's a conceptual tie to his story that i enjoy, but i do think that this idea of working with scraps, working with what's left over, and trying to imbue it with a sense of dignity is very appropriate for this portrait. one of the things that i try to avoid getting into the pitfall on is that everything was horrid. with a sense of dignity is very appropriate for this portrait.

one of the things that i try to avoid getting into the pitfall on is that everything was horrid. it wasn't. although i know that prejudices against people of my colour existed, what i did, even at those young earlier years, is to rise above what many people... ..rightly describe as discrimination and racial discrimination, and not allow it to, um, needle away

and became a burden to you so that you become disaffected and disenfranchised, but that you tried to see the positive side of life. it was just disappointing, but when it was good, it was absolutely incredible. you thought, "amazing people. "look!" but then, you had people who were... who took a...naturally, a dislike to you, as though you had done them a wrong. you know what i mean? so what have i done? just being me could create this? just being who i am, another human being, could create this...

..uiti... ..well, i...i can't think... very, very... could... it was... that was very disappointing and very, um, you kind ofjust swallowed the lump and carried on. archive: carmen munroe is one of britain's most experienced actresses. she's been in the business for over 25 years, working in both theatre and television, and will be well—remembered for her performances in general hospital and the fosters. most recently, she's starred in channel 4's popular comedy series desmond's. i saw myself on the stage at the earliest when i could think. how many plays are there that's written that's got a black person in it? somebody's got to be brave enough to say, "well, i'm going to cast her," you know? and that, that speaks for itself. it's not...it's not in your literature. it's not in...in the canon. you're not there. and if you are there, you'd be what we saw at home. you'd be standing there with a tuft of hair, a bone through your nose, and a loincloth, and tarzan would be the master.

so that...that was black. your agent... whispers: ..if you got a black agent... - ..would, um, suggest you and, "no, no, no. we're not seeing... "she wouldn't be right," or whatever. without a...a look—in, not a... but, you know, you struggle. you keep on because there's got to be... there is going to be someone who is going to say, "yeah, come on. let's, um..." you know, and...and you're in. what else are you going to do? just not do it? just decide it's too hard? i can't imagine that. i cannot imagine that. i'm looking for the multi—millionaire rock star, movie actor and international businessman who drinks in this pub. my knowledge of her really has been on the screen. and so i wanted to do a print of her where she's in a cinema looking at images of herself.

the idea is that these are kind of prompts for you to kind of think about. "oh, yes, i remember doing that." everywhere i worked, i was the only black person... ..which, at...at the time, itjust seemed, well, you know, it's...these are early days. we... i have a mission, in a way, i didn't see it as such, but a deeply held something in there, saying, "i have a mission to be in these places, "so that i can..." so that black people could be in these places. and then we started making our own situation, you know, own companies and helping the other person and so on and so forth. but it was difficult and very frustrating. wonderful. i was very fortunate... ..to be constantly working at something or other, and in some other capacity, some other group, some other something, at the edinburgh festival, at something ground—breaking for us to be seen in this... ..in that capacity. and in some other capacity, some other group, some other

something, at the edinburgh festival, at something ground—breaking for us to be seen in this... ..in that capacity. i was always there. i filmed her and photographed her, and out of that series of stills, i've chosen an image that i hope she'll like... ..that i think really captures her brilliance. i hope. she was born when, like, women, especially, like, black women, were... there was so much against them, and she, like, rose above it. yeah, she's really inspirational. this isjust, like, another step to show that the windrush generation is important and that we do care and they deserve a spot in the royal gallery. like, that's a pretty big thing. whoa!

hello. we had some christmas day weather contrasts, with a high of 13.6 celsius, it was the mildest christmas day since 2016, but at the same time, northern scotland had snow, and so it was a white christmas. this stripe of cloud here brought rain solace for some of us, but in the north of the uk, colder air was in place,

and that colder air is now pushing just a little bit further southward. so a chillier day in prospect for boxing day. cold enough for some icy stretches through the morning across northern parts of scotland. some further wintry showers here through the first part of the day. one or two showers elsewhere, but broadly speaking, it should be a much drier and brighter day with some spells of sunshine. some of the showers in northern scotland could turn thundery through the afternoon. and at the same time, cloud and rain will be gathering across the southwest of england and the channel islands, where temperatures will reach 11—12 celsius. but elsewhere, 4—9 celsius covers it in most spots. and then as we head through boxing day night, we'll see cloud and rain spreading from the southwest, things turning very wet and very windy with some snow mixing in over high ground in northern england, and more especially across parts of scotland. temperatures coming up as the night wears on. a big area of low pressure dominating the scene for wednesday. if you have travel plans on wednesday, things do not look too pretty, i have to say, with a combination

of heavy rain — could well be enough rain in places to give some issues with flooding — but also some significant snow over high ground in the northern half of scotland. some areas could see 10—15cm of snow, say, above 200m elevation. it's possible that some spots exposed to the south—easterly wind could see even more snow than that. and the wind will be a big feature, widely a very windy day. we could see gusts of 50—60mph or more, gales around some of the coasts. temperatures, well, quite mild in the south, actually, 12—13 celsius. a little bit colder across northern parts of scotland, particularly where we will have snow falling. and then later in the week, through thursday into friday, we'll see various weather systems working from west to east. outbreaks of rain, perhaps a little bit of wintriness mixing in, as colder air tries to stage a comeback as we head towards the end of the year. that's all from me. bye— bye.

good morning. welcome to breakfast with rogerjohnson. our headlines today... aid agencies in gaza warn of desperate conditions for civilians, as the israeli prime minister benjamin netenyahu vows to intensify the war against hamas.

behind—the—scenes at buckingham palace. a new documentary gives an insight into the first year of king charles�* reign. it used to be one of the biggest shopping days of the year. this morning, we're live on the high street to see if the boxing day sales still pack a punch. it's one of the busiest football days of the year but will manchester united end their poor run of form? they host high—flying aston villa at old trafford tonight, with the pressure building on erik ten hag. plus there may be more wet and windy weather to come this christmas period. today a drier day with plenty of sunshine for most. a full full cast here on breakfast. hgppy happy christmas. it's boxing day, the 26th of december. our main story. aid agencies have renewed calls for a ceasefire in gaza after the hamas—run health ministry said hundreds were killed in airstrikes over the weekend. israel's prime minister benjamin

netanyahu said his army will "deepen" its fight against hamas in the coming days.