the channel is "far too high" — as figures show over 20,000 have arrived illegally since labour took power. yvette cooper said international cooperation was key to securing the uk's borders. and santas on the run! the mexican capital comes alive as hundreds of father christmasses speed through the city! a two—year—old boy has died and four adults injured in a hit—and—run crash involving a stolen car in the west midlands. police say the driver of the porsche, which had been stolen earlier this month, fled the scene. with me is greg mckenzie. just bring this up to date with what happened. this just bring this up to date with

what happened.— just bring this up to date with what happened. this crash took lace last what happened. this crash took place last night. _ what happened. this crash took place last night, a _ what happened. this crash took place last night, a collision - place last night, a collision at 11 o'clock night in the smethwick area of the west midlands, so about four miles away from the centre of birmingham city centre. two cars were involved, in toyota and a grey porsche km, and ultimately the porsche has crashed into this toyota which had a number of occupants in there, four adults and a child. sadly despite the efforts of the emergency services a two—year—old boy who was a passenger in the toyota sadly died and four others are still in hospital. a woman aged 29 and the 30—year—old man are in and the 30—year—old man are in a serious condition as are a further two people from the occupants of that car. the police have issued a statement and they are calling for the driver of the stolen porsche to hand himself in. to

driver of the stolen porsche to hand himself in.— hand himself in. to bring us more on _ hand himself in. to bring us more on the _ hand himself in. to bring us more on the statement - hand himself in. to bring us. more on the statement which hand himself in. to bring us i more on the statement which i know has recently come in. that's right. police have confirmed their dealing with a number of door—to—door inquiries in the area it took place in is quite industrial so they are trawling through cctv cameras and also asking for anyone with footage they may have filmed in their cars to bring that forward to the police and they have said in the last few hours, the detective leading the murder investigation says his thoughts remain with the family of the little boy at this extremely difficult time and goes on to say i would urge the driver of the porsche to do the right thing and come and talk to us. they made the wrong decision to run away and i'm asking them now to make the right one. fix, now to make the right one. a very difficult story, greg, thank you for bringing it to us. nearly 13,500 migrants who did not have the right to stay in the uk —

have been returned to their home countries since the election — according to the british government. but, new figures are expected to reveal more than 35,000 people have arrived in britain in small boats this year — a number the home secretary says is "far too high". yvette cooper has been speaking to the bbc�*s laura kuenssberg. raids and returns. the home secretary has revealed more than 13,000 people who came to the uk without permission have been sent home since the election. with illegal immigration at a level no politician is happy with. .. mind your head. ..she was keen to highlight the highest number of so—called returns in five years. we have moved people in. we've actually moved around 1,000 people into returns and enforcement, and as a result of that, we're now on track for over 13,000 removals returns since the election. a big increase in returns and also a big increase in the raids on illegal working. a big increase on arrests and enforcement, because the rules have to be

respected and enforced. theyjust haven't been for far too long. she was in rome speaking to her opposite number. getting on with other countries is crucial to the government's hope to cut the numbers of migrants trying to make it to the uk. she promised more cash for technology — body cameras and fingerprint kits for officials on the border. it's part of cracking down on criminals who profit from migrants' desire for a new life. but labour's repeated promise to smash the gangs has no timetable to match. what we're not going to do is deal this by slogans. so, you know, rishi sunak did say stop the boats in a year... but it's not about slogans in a year, home secretary. when it comes to something like waiting lists and the nhs, the government's very happy to put targets publicly on that and say, "measure us by whether we hit those." when it comes to kids' education, the government's been very happy to put a target

on that, saying, "judge us by this measure." when it comes to this issue, you won't give us a yardstick by when we could know when people can actually expect there'll be a significant difference — why not? because it makes it feel like it's not a priority to the government in the way that some other issues are. well, quite the opposite. we've made clear that the border security is actually one of the foundational issues, before you even get to any of the missions. the conservatives say labour is failing to control the country's borders, yet it's a problem the government's rivals know all too well is hard to solve. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, rome. an animal charity in the north of england says it's struggling to cope with the number of cruelty cases being brought in. the rspca team in north yorkshire are concerned the problem could get worse due to financial hardship at christmas. it comes as the charity has seen a 25 per cent rise in pet neglect compared to last year across the uk. 0ur repoter kate sweeting has more.

starved, isolated and neglected. these are just some of the hundreds of animals rescued in the last year. there definitely is more cruelty cases, unintended cruelty cases, i may add, from covid. and we've seen a lot more families relying on ourfood banks for animals. cruelty is around the animal's behaviour, cruelty for being left alone. that's separation anxiety. it's sad to see those behaviours coming through in this generation of animals. beautiful. bella and george came in needing urgent care that their owner couldn't afford. and the rspca says across the country, animals bought in lockdown are being rescued because their owners no longer have the time or money for them. animals are falling victim to people having less disposable income. unfortunately, people tend not to seek early advice and support and so all too often we're called when things have come into crisis

and it's all too late. new animals are arriving here almost every day, and in fact, this site has taken in almost 300 abused or neglected animals in the last year, and it would have taken more, except that the number of people adopting animals has gone down by 30%, which means it simply doesn't have room. it's cost of living, and everybody thinks that when they come to the rspca, they want healthy animals. but these animals have experienced some trauma, some form of cruelty. they might have ongoing medical concerns. and then you've obviously got the vet bills, vet insurance and things like that. so ijust think, yeah, the way the world is changing out there, animals, you know, unfortunately less and less adopted. bella and george are now up for adoption, but their current carers say the chances of finding them a new home are more unlikely than ever.

there's a warning that disabled people are being failed by the planning system because of a lack of suitable new housing. the district councils network — which represents 169 councils across england — wants housing authorities to be given new powers to ensure developers build more accessible homes. nikki fox reports. daniel has a physics degree. he's a photographer, writes code and has worked alongside nasa. he's done much of this from his bedroom. he has had to because the home he has lived in with his mum julia for more than 30 years isn't accessible or adaptable. this is daniel's room. the ceiling hoist isn't right for daniel. we have to move the bed every time we want to get daniel out. we have to get him in the sling and hoist him up over to the chair, then he moves out the way so we can move other things out the way. that is a tight squeeze for him to get around and not take the gate with him.

daniel says he has been on the housing waiting list for seven years. next year he will finally move into his new home with his mum, but it's still not ideal. yeah, better than where you are at the moment. yes, yeah. two years ago the previous government promised that all new homes would be built to the new adaptable standard,

meaning they don't have steps and are more spacious. but that hasn't happened, and there are growing calls for labour to make this a priority. there's certainly not enough quality accessible accommodation available for them, and that is something that urgently needs to be reviewed and addressed. so we would be looking for commitments of around 8—10% of homes being built that are accessible. there's no way of really knowing just how many new accessible homes are being built in england because the government doesn't collect that data. the district councils' network says one of the problems is that homes may start out as being accessible, but then the features that help disabled people live independently are then removed. emma was on the housing registerfor eight years before she moved here. her bungalow wasn't built to the adaptable home standard, but it works, and it has changed her and her partner's life. i've got so much more independence, you know,

we are stronger as a couple, we have been able to foster a dog, we've been able to... i've been able to do a bit more voluntary work. it's not just the fact that we live together, it is all, you know, all aspects, really. emma and daniel both say it took years to find their new homes because of a lack of accessible options. you have applied for a few of those? yeah. 50 or 60? and is that because the others just aren't suitable? daniel's local authority says it took over the management of housing in order to build and deliver more affordable and social rented homes,

including those better suited to disabled people. it says it's a national issue and strongly relies on increased and more urgent support from government. the government says it is providing a range of safe and suitable accessible housing of part of its ambitions to build 1.5 million new homes over the next five years and it will set out its policies shortly. nikki fox, bbc news. as people in the uk deck their halls with boughs of holly, many are noticing that there aren't as many berries around this year. the red flash of colour is likely to be missing from lots of decorations. an exceptional crop last winter, means many trees have taken a year off to replenish. 0ur reporter alex dunlop has more. with christmas just days away, most of nick's orchard in norfolk is decked with holly.

this season, something is amiss. there is no red berries to be seen at all on this tree. they've all gone. last year this would have been flushed with red? absolutely, like a red candle. it is the same story with most of his trees. after a bumper harvest last year, this season the berries are taking a break. you knew this was coming? i did, and i told my customers last year we will see a year of very few berries. what does that mean for business? the price has gone up about four fold and in retail you have to pay about five fold for it. it is a very expensive product this year. what is going on? step up gardening guru bob. not a berry in sight. no, sadly, there isn't any this year. there isn't much of a crop. that is from the whole tree. i can count eight.

i don't think there will be much of a christmas. trees use all the resources to make berries so they produce a whole load. they don't want to have another baby straightaway so they are taking a year off. the berries are very important because red and green are traditional christmas colours. for christians, this represents the crown of thorns at the crucifixion and the red symbolises the blood jesus shed. what you have done so far is looking brilliant with all your greenery... for hannah who runs wreath making workshops. red plastic berries are an option but she prefers a natural alternative. i have these berries, and if you put that alongside your holly, then you have as good as we are going to get without holly berries this year. people have all different trends at christmas. some years it is pink and different colours but fundamentally a traditional christmas is red and green, and the wreath on the front door with red and green,

that is traditional christmas. for holly farmers like nick and for those who helped to create christmas, hannah sums up their hopes. if the holly will get its act together for next year, it would be quite nice. alex dunlop, bbc news. after 13 weeks of glitz and glamour, this year's winner of strictly come dancing has been crowned. the comedian, chris mccausland was the show�*s first blind contestant, and he beat three other finalists to lift the glitterball trophy. noor nanji has more. time to announce your strictly come dancing champions... the moment history was made. chris and dianne! and after weeks of tangos, salsas and foxtrots, chris mccausland and his dance partner dianne buswell finally got their hands on the coveted glitterball trophy.

this is for her, and it's for everyone out there that just thought. .. ..they got told they couldn't do something or thought they couldn't do it, and itjust shows with opportunity and support and just determination, just anything can happen. chris was the bookies' favourite and is strictly�*s first—ever blind winner. he and dianne performed three dances on the night, including one recreating their blackout dance moment, which went viral earlier in the season. but they faced stiff competition from the other finalists. the first top scores of the night went tojls singer jb gill and his partner lauren 0akley for their viennese waltz. also in the mix was love islander tasha ghouri and her dance partner aljaz skorjanec, who danced their couples' choice to what about us by pink. # i can feel my spirit rising.... last but not least, it was actress sarah hadland. she and partner vito coppola did an american smooth, scoring them 39 out of a0

despite a wardrobe malfunction. are you 0k, vito? we have a wardrobe issue. yeah. # tears come falling. # i scream. # yes, baby, baby, you can go ahead~~~#_ other highlights included a performance by raye. the full cast of 2024 also came back for one more routine. this year's series came after a number of former contestants spoke up about their experiences on the show. the bbc apologised to amanda abbington and upheld some of her complaints against her dance partner, giovanni pernice, but cleared him of the most serious claims. before the show began, the bbc introduced new duty of care measures, including putting chaperones in rehearsals. overall, this latest series has been largely scandal—free and those behind it will be hoping that this draws a line under a difficult period in the show�*s 20—year history.

let's have a look at our final leaderboard. last night, though, it was all about the finalists. the leaderboard placed jb and lauren top and chris and dianne last. congratulations. for one final time to our wonderful... but in the end it came down to the public vote, and it was chris and dianne who had stolen the most hearts. noor nanji, bbc news. let's speak to hosts of the strictly on the sofa podcast, laura stanley and flo sayers. welcome. my goodness, what a final. it was outstanding. the standard we saw last night, i think every couple got a0. three of thejudges think every couple got a0. three of the judges didn't have any other mark other than ten and it was such a final, and so emotionalfor and it was such a final, and so emotional for everyone. and it was such a final, and so

emotionalfor everyone. i don't think there was a dry eye in the house. think there was a dry eye in the house-— the house. you guys were sobbing — the house. you guys were sobbing watching - the house. you guys were sobbing watching it. - the house. you guys were| sobbing watching it. when the house. you guys were i sobbing watching it. when it comes to chris's performance, it was tingling. it was absolutely brilliant. every dance he did last night, it's the best he's danced all season and it's such a great way to finish an incredible journey than he has been on through the series. we were absolutely sobbing watching it. and of the waltz to your never walk alone, and that moment where it turns to black to incorporate what he himself experiences being visually impaired. it was just a genius. it visually impaired. it was 'ust a geniuafi visually impaired. it was 'ust auenius. ., , ., , a genius. it was really, really powerful- _ a genius. it was really, really powerful- we _ a genius. it was really, really powerful. we both _ a genius. it was really, really powerful. we both turned - a genius. it was really, really powerful. we both turned to | powerful. we both turned to each other and said, oh, my god, that song in itself was a powerful song it represented everything about chris because being a liverpudlian, it was so great. i think people forget that millions of people watch it so taking part in and of

itself is a brave thing to do and then being alone on that dance floor their partnership is so important to make sure he feels confident and walks with such confidence on the floor. it was lovely to see that moment encapsulated in that dance. ., ., . ., dance. you will have so much to talk about _ dance. you will have so much to talk about on _ dance. you will have so much to talk about on your _ dance. you will have so much to talk about on your pod - dance. you will have so much to talk about on your pod cast. - talk about on your pod cast. yes, lots of thoughts and and not to— yes, lots of thoughts and and not to interrupt chris and dianne. _ not to interrupt chris and dianne, they will have a lot to talk about and all of the couples in the final were fantastic. there are some brilliant _ fantastic. there are some brilliant dancers and a great group — brilliant dancers and a great group dancers as well and it's been — group dancers as well and it's been a — group dancers as well and it's been a brilliant series and lots — been a brilliant series and lots of— been a brilliant series and lots of thoughts this week on the pod — lots of thoughts this week on the pod cast. lots of thoughts this week on the pod cast-— lots of thoughts this week on the od cast. �* , ., , ., the pod cast. any moments that stood out for _ the pod cast. any moments that stood out for you? _ the pod cast. any moments that stood out for you? we _ the pod cast. any moments that stood out for you? we touched l stood out for you? we touched on the waltz, but anything else from the other dancers where you thought, oh, wow, that is

strictly at its best? jib’s strictly at its best? jb's samba was _ strictly at its best? jb's samba was amazing. i l strictly at its best? je�*s samba was amazing. i think it's the only time a male contestant has got a0, which is so amazing and just to see all the dancers let loose, i don't know, i thought it was amazing. for me well but in the end it ends up being so much amazing. 1 that well but in the end it ends up being so much amazing. for at well but in the end it ends up it is the moment _ thought it was amazing. for me being so much amazing. thought it was amazing. for me it is the moment _ thought it was amazing. for me it is the moment they _ thought it was amazing. for me | it is the moment they announced chris_ it is the moment they announced chris and — it is the moment they announced chris and diana is the winner it is the moment they _ thought it was amazing. for me | it is the moment they announced chris_ it is the moment they announced chris and — it is the moment they announced chris and diana is the winner and — chris and diana is the winner and they— and — chris and diana is the winner and they— chris and diana is the winner and they lifted the glitterball chris and diana is the winner and they lifted the glitterball and they lifted the glitterball and great to see the looks on and they lifted the glitterball and great to see the looks on their— their— and great to see the looks on their faces in the family and great to see the looks on their faces in the family members, that will be the members, that will be the standout moment. it doesn't standout moment. it doesn't feel like the _ feel like the _ standout moment. it doesn't feel like the other _ feel like the other contestants, they are enjoying standout moment. it doesn't feel like the other _ feel like the other contestants, they are enjoying it for the winners even though it for the winners even though they haven't necessarily picked they haven't necessarily picked up they haven't necessarily picked up the trophy themselves. they up they haven't necessarily picked up the trophy themselves. they are all in it for each other. are all in it for each other. they all go on a realjourney they all go on a realjourney and it's an overused word with and it's an overused word with strictly, but it is true and strictly, but it is true and you go in there thinking it you go in there thinking it will be a tv show and like will be a tv show and like chris said, it's an chris said, it's an entertainment show and you do entertainment show and you do well but in the end it ends up well but in the end it ends up

being so much more than that being so much more than that and everyone was really happy for chris and just watching them all dance together, the group dance was a lovely moment, all of the contestants back together and it feels like a great series.

picking up confidence and falling _ picking up confidence and falling in love with dancing. it's falling in love with dancing. it's been _ falling in love with dancing. it's been lovely to see that this— it's been lovely to see that this series and hopefully kind of, this series and hopefully kind of. yeah. _ this series and hopefully kind of, yeah, we can get through some — of, yeah, we can get through some of— of, yeah, we can get through some of the more difficult thing _ some of the more difficult thing is _ some of the more difficult thing is that it has had in the last— thing is that it has had in the last yeah _ thing is that it has had in the last year. in thing is that it has had in the last year-— last year. in terms of the 'ud . es last year. in terms of the judges themselves, - last year. in terms of the judges themselves, how| last year. in terms of the i judges themselves, how did last year. in terms of the - judges themselves, how did you feel they were this year, especially craig, because let's face it, he can be quite picky. vary, the only one not to get a ten out — vary, the only one not to get a ten out all— vary, the only one not to get a ten out all of the dancers last night — ten out all of the dancers last night i— ten out all of the dancers last night. i thought the judging, yeah. — night. i thought the judging, yeah, craig could have got his ten out — yeah, craig could have got his ten out more during the final. everything felt like a spiritual ten. everything felt like a spiritualten. but everything felt like a spiritual ten. but on the whole i spiritual ten. but on the whole i like _ spiritual ten. but on the whole i like hearing the expertise and — i like hearing the expertise and i— i like hearing the expertise and i liked what they did with having — and i liked what they did with having the judges in the rehearsal rooms and i think it showed — rehearsal rooms and i think it showed we got to see how good they are — showed we got to see how good they are at dancing and what they— they are at dancing and what they are _ they are at dancing and what they are teaching us as viewers _ they are teaching us as viewers-_ they are teaching us as viewers. ., , ., .,

viewers. we really look forward to the episode _ viewers. we really look forward to the episode for _ viewers. we really look forward to the episode for this - viewers. we really look forward to the episode for this final. - to the episode for this final. laura, flow that is how i enjoy strictly, on the sofa, thank you for talking us through the final. . ~ you for talking us through the final. ., ~' , ., you might have spotted the trailer for the gavin and stacey finale that was released during the final. later on today i will be driving our family across the border to a foreign land.— foreign land. the popular sitcom is _ foreign land. the popular sitcom is returning - foreign land. the popular sitcom is returning to - foreign land. the popularj sitcom is returning to our screens for one last episode five years after the last christmas special that ended on that incredible cliffhanger when nessa proposed to smith e. did he say yes? and will we everfind out did he say yes? and will we ever find out what happened on the fishing trip? you can tune into 154