hello, i'm sarah campbell. president—elect donald trump has continued to shock the political establishment in washington by naming loyalists from the fringes of american politics to topjobs. among the latest nominations, and perhaps the most controversial yet, is robert f kennedyjunior, a known vaccine sceptic for health secretary. trump said rfkjr has a "great mind". mr trump made the announcement on his truth social platform saying mr kennedy will restore agencies to the traditions of gold standard scientific research and beacons of transparency to end the chronic disease epidemic and to "make america great and healthy again!" but there has already been backlash. the executive director of the american public health association says he and his organisation will "absolutely oppose" donald trump's appointment of robert f kenneder

as health secretary. let's remind ourselves of some of the other key announcements made in the last few days. marco rubio as secretary of state. the former democrat tulsi gabbard, for director of national intelligence. and the controversial appointment of matt gaetz as attorney general. several of the posts will require senate approval. our correspondent, rowan bridge, has the latest. america could soon have a vaccine sceptic who repeated covid—19 conspiracy theories running its health department. robert kenneder comes from democratic party royalty. his uncle was presidentjohn f kennedy and his father was attorney general. mr kennedy made his own name as an environmental lawyer and activist, but that's been overshadowed by his controversial views on vaccines. do i want children to get measles? of course i don't. why do you spread this doubt? because... i'm asking you to be responsible and ask the question. the questions have been asked.

the vaccines are safe. the vaccines are safe from what? cause autoimmune disease. i'm in court right now arguing the case. there's no evidence they do. well, there's plenty of evidence that they do. you're just not looking at it. last year, he launched an independent bid for the presidency before dropping out and throwing his weight behind donald trump. he was one of the speakers at mr trump's new york rally, where he condemned the party his family had dedicated their lives to. today's democratic party is the party of war. it's the party of the cia. you have kamala harris giving a speech at the democratic convention that was written by neocons. it was belligerent, pugnacious and they talked about the domination of the world by the united states through our weapons of war and it is the party today that wants to

divide americans. it is the party that is dismantling women's sports by letting in men play women's sports. it is the party of wall street, it is the party of wall street, it is the party of bill gates who just gave $50 million to kamala harris. his loyalty to the trump cause has now been rewarded. in a speech at his mar—a—lago resort, the president—elect praised mr kennedy. ijust look at i just look at the news reports, people like you, bobby. reports, people like you, bobb . �* reports, people like you, bobb. �* ., bobby. don't get too popular, bobb . bobby. don't get too popular, bobby- you — bobby. don't get too popular, bobby. you know _ bobby. don't get too popular, bobby. you know it _ bobby. don't get too popular, bobby. you know it is - bobby. don't get too popular, j bobby. you know it is reached about that level now. we want you to come up with things and ideas and what you've been talking about for a long time, and i think you're going to do some unbelievable things. nobody�*s going to be able to do it like you. and, boy, does he feel it in his heart! so congratulations also to your family. during his campaign, donald trump said he would let robert kennedy go wild when it comes to the nation's health.

mr trump vowed to shake up the establishment — this latest pick shows he plans to do just that. rowan bridge, bbc news, washington. let's speak to lord kim darroch, former uk ambassador to the us, and who served in that position during the first trump presidency. good morning, always good to have you here on bbc news. morning. have you here on bbc news. morning-— have you here on bbc news. morninu. , ., , .,, morning. plenty of new people and personalities _ morning. plenty of new people and personalities for _ morning. plenty of new people and personalities for the - morning. plenty of new people and personalities for the world j and personalities for the world to get their head around who may well be part of the incoming donald trump administration. we will go through some of them. let's start with your initial reaction to rfkjunior as reaction to rfk junior as potential reaction to rfkjunior as potential health secretary. i think this is the wildest of all the trump appointments, as your reporter stated. this guy is an anti—vax who has said he believes vaccines cause autism and he is a conspiracy theorist. putting him in charge

of the health department... i always thought he would get a job, trump always promised him, but i thought he would be outside the government machinery, but now he is in charge of the health department machinery, so it will be a bumpy ride. he machinery, so it will be a bumpy ride-— machinery, so it will be a bumpy ride. he has to be nominated _ bumpy ride. he has to be nominated by _ bumpy ride. he has to be nominated by the - bumpy ride. he has to be| nominated by the senate. bumpy ride. he has to be - nominated by the senate. he has to be approved — nominated by the senate. he has to be approved by _ nominated by the senate. he has to be approved by the _ nominated by the senate. he has to be approved by the senate - to be approved by the senate but there are ways around that by putting the senate into recess. the senate will challenge a number of these appointments, some of them have already been challenged, and trump will feel that with republican majorities in both houses he will stay on the coat—tails of his election victory and the senate should approve his appointments because he is a man who got them the majority. there will be quite a clash if the senate

does attempt to block these appointments.— appointments. let's look at some of— appointments. let's look at some of the _ appointments. let's look at some of the implications i some of the implications outside, some of the other people donald trump has nominated. mike huckabee is the us ambassador to israel, a nomination that has been welcomed by the far right in israel. how would you say this might change the way the us has approached israel, gaza and the conflict with lebanon? mike huckabee — conflict with lebanon? mike huckabee is _ conflict with lebanon? mike huckabee is an _ conflict with lebanon? mike huckabee is an evangelical. huckabee is an evangelical christian, so in a sense trump is looking towards that community who voted for him in the election and is saying one of yours is going to do this job. he is the father of sarah huckabee sanders, who was the press secretary in trump's first term. he is absolutely committed and a total supporter of israel, to the extent that he basically thinks, and has said publicly, there is no such thing as a palestinian, and he

has implied that he would support israel and extend the whole of the west bank and gaza as israeli territory. he is right out there in the same place as the far right in israeli politics. but we shouldn't overstate the importance of an ambassadorial job. the secretary of state marco rubio will be in charge of policy on this underneath the white house and i would expect donald trump to take a very close interest in issues like this, where he was the strongest supporter of israel in his first term, making the capital cityjerusalem. that capital city jerusalem. that will be capital cityjerusalem. that will be much use over the next four years. will be much use over the next four veere— will be much use over the next four years. antony blinken, the current secretary _ four years. antony blinken, the current secretary of _ four years. antony blinken, the current secretary of state, - four years. antony blinken, the current secretary of state, we i current secretary of state, we have seen him travel to the middle east numerous times to try and broker a ceasefire there. how do you think marco

rubio might approach the job? it is a good question and i am not aware of what he thinks except he is again a very strong supporter of israel and has supported the israeli military operation in gaza. so he is already out there in that sense, giving more or less unconditional support to israel. 0bviously trump and the administration would like to do something to stop the fighting, trump said that on the campaign trail. so i think marco rubio will undertake some diplomacy there. i am will undertake some diplomacy there. iam not will undertake some diplomacy there. i am not sure that i can see his administration putting as much pressure on the netanyahu government as the biden administration has tried to do, although all that has been ineffective. honestly, i can't see much change in what is happening in the middle east as a result of the change of administration in the us. but you can always expect the unexpected with donald trump. which takes us to the other

conflict of the moment between russia and ukraine. donald trump has said he wants to stop it as soon as possible. he said he would do it within the first 24 he would do it within the first 2a hours. he has made some appointments that are interesting on that front with tulsi gabbard, director of national intelligence. again, what does this tell us about what does this tell us about what is likely to happen on that front?— what is likely to happen on that front? , , , that front? trump will see this as a matter — that front? trump will see this as a matter basically _ that front? trump will see this as a matter basically to - that front? trump will see this as a matter basically to be - as a matter basically to be settled between him and putin and him and zelensky. so again, let's not overstate the importance of people here. tulsi gabbard has said some strange things about the ukraine war, notably saying publicly that putin was justified with his concerns about ukraine joining justified with his concerns about ukrainejoining nato. so there is something we will have to watch. as for the new defence secretary, who was formerly the fox news host, he has been very, very critical of

us weapons supplies to ukraine, saying that money should be spent on the american people, not on ukraine. so he will be a hardliner on stopping that. but in the end the decisions on this will be taken by donald trump. this will be taken by donald trum -. ~ this will be taken by donald trum. ~ ., this will be taken by donald trum-. ~ ., ., this will be taken by donald trum. ~ ., ., ., , trump. we are out of time, but it is really _ trump. we are out of time, but it is really interesting _ trump. we are out of time, but it is really interesting to - it is really interesting to hear your views on the various people and personalities that may well be at the top of our headlines. it may well be at the top of our headline-— headlines. it is going to be a wild ride- — headlines. it is going to be a wild ride. a _ headlines. it is going to be a wild ride. a wild _ headlines. it is going to be a wild ride. a wild ride - headlines. it is going to be a | wild ride. a wild ride indeed, thank you- — the governor of the bank of england, andrew bailey, has called for britain to "rebuild relations" with the eu while respecting the decision of the british people to leave the bloc. in a speech in the city of london, he said brexit had weighed on the economy. 0ur economic editor, faisal islam, reports. there have been many reasons why the british economy has been sluggish in recent years. extra goods trade barriers with our nearest neighbours after brexit haven't helped, and the government says it wants to do something about them. but when britain's top

financiers gathered in the city of london to hear the famous mansion house address from the chancellor and the bank of england governor, andrew bailey went further than he has before on this topic. now, i've said many times as a public official, i take no position on brexit per se, and that's very important. but i do have to point out consequences. the changing trading relationship with the eu has weighed on the level of potential supply. the impact on trade seems to be more on goods than services, which i don't think is particularly surprising, but it underlines why we must be alert to and welcome opportunities to rebuild relations while respecting that very important decision of the british people. while those opportunities are coming, spain's finance minister is meeting the chancellor today. he told the bbc, a better relationship could be struck, for example, on travel and work for young people. cana can a better deal be done? would you encourage the british

government to look at it? undoubtedly. i think we need to be positive here and optimistic that a better deal can be actually closed on that front. there was an intense movement in terms of young people travelling between the eu and the uk and i think there is a lot of room for improvement there and hopefully we can find a route for that. the word tariff, properly used, is a beautiful word. but the arrival of a new us president with plans to tax all incoming trade creates a new dilemma. the governor of the bank of england is normally rather shy to talk about brexit, but he will see this as a statement of the economic reality rather than any sort of political intervention. but it comes at a sensitive time. if the stated plans of the incoming trump administration to apply a blanket tariff to all imports does cause some sort of global trade war, many fear the uk will have to make a choice between closer trade relations with europe or trump's united states of

america. the message from the chancellor is that the uk might be able to have it both ways. i look forward to working closely with president—elect trump and his team to strengthen our relationship in the years ahead. and, of course, our biggest trading partner is the european union. we will not be reversing brexit or re—entering the single market or customs union, but we must reset our relationship. rachel reeves also promised to boost the financial industry, saying that some regulations seeking to prevent crisis had gone too far, as she looks over the channel and over the atlantic at the same time for how to boost the economy. faisal islam, bbc news. let's speak to our political correspondent damian grammaticas in westminster. let's go through the governor's

remarks from last night. this is an interesting _ remarks from last night. t�*i 3 is an interesting intervention and interesting as well because you didn't have just the governor of the bank of england, but the chancellor rachel reeves as well, both talking about the desire to improve the relationship with the eu. it is significant for the eu. it is significant for the governor of the bank of england who has gone further than he has before an significant that he wanted to point out, i think, that in his view the reality is that leaving the eu, brexit, has crimped the uk's trade and therefore its growth and the potential of the economy. but you need to see this in context. the chancellor is saying that the government wants to recalibrate the relationship with the eu, to improve trade and investment, but that is still a very limited ambition because she does not want to join the customs union and the single

market, which will be a step change. and even things you heard in that report, talking about a mobility agreement, greater ability for young people to travel back and forth, the eu wants that but the uk is not so keen. timing is pertinent — the uk is not so keen. timing is pertinent because - the uk is not so keen. timing is pertinent because this - is pertinent because this morning we had new figures on how the uk economy has grown over the previous three—month period and the news is not great the chancellor. fir period and the news is not great the chancellor. or not growing- — great the chancellor. or not growing. 0.196 _ great the chancellor. or not growing. 0.1% growth - great the chancellor. or not growing. 0.196 growth in - great the chancellor. or notj growing. 0.196 growth in the growing. 0.1% growth in the last quarter, the third quarter of this calendar year. now, what the chancellor says is that those are far below what she wants. the uk says it wants to get over 2.5%, so she says she has a focus on growth. the argument around this will be the conservative saying, look, this is the government that has taken over the first full

period it has been in charge and you see this weak growth. and the government saying in the last ten years we have had a weak growth and that is what we are trying to tackle. i think the difficulty for the chancellor here is she has had a budget, a big tax—raising budget,