the home secretary says the number of migrants crossing 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 christmases speed through the city! now on bbc news, newscast. this is the moment when we meet in erson. , ., ., in person. it is. you are misleadingly _ in person. it is. you are misleadingly shy - in person. it is. you are misleadingly shy for - in person. it is. you are misleadingly shy for a l in person. it is. you are - misleadingly shy for a moment. i didn't know it was me first, but i am next to henry on the

sofa in his christmasjumper. it's christmassy but it's quite interesting i thought this was christmassy even though it has no trees or anything. it is a christmas adjacent pattern. he christmas ad'acent pattern. he is christmas adjacent pattern. he: is adjacent. i am wearing a christmas jumper but it's not technically a christmas jumper either. technically a christmas “umper either. :, :, technically a christmas “umper either. :, ., ~ either. you are sparkling. exactly- _ either. you are sparkling. exactly. and _ either. you are sparkling. exactly. and you - either. you are sparkling. exactly. and you are - either. you are sparkling. i exactly. and you are wearing sparkling _ exactly. and you are wearing sparkling clothes. we are here to celebrate the last one of the year. hurrah. you had a scoop, so let's get under way with— scoop, so let's get under way with sunday's newscast. newscast from the bbc. hello, paddy in the studio. laura in the studio.— the studio. and henry in the studio. the studio. and henry in the studio- very _ the studio. and henry in the studio. very nice _ the studio. and henry in the studio. very nice to - the studio. and henry in the studio. very nice to have - the studio. and henry in the | studio. very nice to have you with us and _ studio. very nice to have you with us and good _ studio. very nice to have you with us and good of- studio. very nice to have you with us and good of you - studio. very nice to have you with us and good of you to i studio. very nice to have you l with us and good of you to give up with us and good of you to give up your sunday morning in person for newscast. the big story was _ across the political spectrum, the problem of the numbers of migration. the problem of the numbers of

migration-— migration. let's start with two key numbers _ migration. let's start with two key numbers before _ migration. let's start with two key numbers before we - migration. let's start with two key numbers before we delve | migration. let's start with two i key numbers before we delve in the discussion. more than 20,000 people have arrived illegally on uk shores from small boats since labour took power. that is up from 17,000 during the same period last year, but it is a lot less than during the record year in 2022. but what the home office is keen to hail, however, have returned 13,000 people who did not have permission to be here in the last six months. they say that is a half thousand people sent back to their home country since the election injuly. there are tonnes of stats in the whole debate, but those are two of the key ones in this moment this morning. find two of the key ones in this moment this morning. and henry, the other way _ moment this morning. and henry, the other way to _ moment this morning. and henry, the other way to look _ moment this morning. and henry, the other way to look at _ moment this morning. and henry, the other way to look at the - the other way to look at the statistics is failure, the conservatives failed by their own targets and labour are not succeeding yet on smashing the gangs. succeeding yet on smashing the hans, ., �* , succeeding yet on smashing the .an.s, ., �*,

succeeding yet on smashing the hans, ., �*, gangs. that's right. look, you should never _ gangs. that's right. look, you should never ascribe - gangs. that's right. look, you should never ascribe to - should never ascribe to politics _ should never ascribe to politics what is better explained by policy. the numbers are high, and any government of any stripe would want _ government of any stripe would want those numbers to come down — want those numbers to come down. people die making those crossings _ down. people die making those crossings. it's notjust a sign of government failure, it is perilous _ of government failure, it is perilous for those people who feel like — perilous for those people who feel like they are driven to try to _ feel like they are driven to try to come to the uk across the english channel in an inflatable dinghy. that is why this government, like the last government, is trying to bring numbers— government, is trying to bring numbers down, albeit in a different— numbers down, albeit in a different way. but there is also — different way. but there is also politics here. there is a reason — also politics here. there is a reason that yvette cooper, the home — reason that yvette cooper, the home secretary, wanted to end the year— home secretary, wanted to end the year talking to you, laura, from _ the year talking to you, laura, from rome, a visual demonstration that she is dealing _ demonstration that she is dealing with her european counterparts in an attempt to sort _ counterparts in an attempt to sort this— counterparts in an attempt to sort this problem, and that is because — sort this problem, and that is because labour know in the government know that a lot of their— government know that a lot of their voters, just a few months a-o their voters, just a few months ago in — their voters, just a few months ago injuly_ their voters, just a few months ago injuly voted for them. they— ago injuly voted for them. they want to see the government dealing _ they want to see the government dealing with it. it they want to see the government dealing with it.— dealing with it. it interesting yvette cooper _ dealing with it. it interesting yvette cooper has _ dealing with it. it interesting yvette cooper has spent - dealing with it. it interesting yvette cooper has spent a i dealing with it. it interesting | yvette cooper has spent a lot of her first few months as home

secretary on a plane going round the world trying to do deals with countries to make sure they increase or can do returns, which sounds like technicaljargon but is essentially that you have to get other countries to take their people back if the uk government concludes they do not have any more right to be here, so she's been to germany, italy, iraq, she's been all over the place. on the other part of the home office's strategy is trying to essentially fill in what she is going to say the broken links of chains of law enforcement. so tracking down on the people smuggling gangs, notjust by the time they get to the channel but as far away as thousands of miles away in iraq and kurdistan where a lot of this trade has been developed from. �* , :, this trade has been developed from. �* , ., ., this trade has been developed from. �*, :, ., , ., from. let's have a listen to her saying _ from. let's have a listen to her saying what _ from. let's have a listen to her saying what she - from. let's have a listen to her saying what she says . from. let's have a listen to her saying what she says is evidence of progress. i think we are being _ evidence of progress. i think we are being very _ evidence of progress. i think we are being very clear - evidence of progress. i think we are being very clear and l we are being very clear and straight _ we are being very clear and straight with— we are being very clear and straight with people - we are being very clear and straight with people aboutl we are being very clear and i straight with people about the complexity— straight with people about the complexity of _ straight with people about the complexity of this _ straight with people about the complexity of this because - straight with people about the| complexity of this because the gimmicks _ complexity of this because the gimmicks did _ complexity of this because the gimmicks did not— complexity of this because the gimmicks did not work. - complexity of this because the gimmicks did not work. what. complexity of this because the . gimmicks did not work. what we had previously— gimmicks did not work. what we had previously was _ gimmicks did not work. what we

had previously was a _ gimmicks did not work. what we had previously was a load - gimmicks did not work. what we had previously was a load of - had previously was a load of gimmicks _ had previously was a load of gimmicks and _ had previously was a load of gimmicks and everybody - had previously was a load of - gimmicks and everybody promised it would _ gimmicks and everybody promised it would solve _ gimmicks and everybody promised it would solve it _ gimmicks and everybody promised it would solve it immediately- it would solve it immediately and what _ it would solve it immediately and what we _ it would solve it immediately and what we are _ it would solve it immediately and what we are doing - it would solve it immediately and what we are doing is - it would solve it immediately and what we are doing is the | and what we are doing is the very— and what we are doing is the very serious _ and what we are doing is the very serious action. - and what we are doing is the very serious action. we've . very serious action. we've already— very serious action. we've already substantially- already substantially increased, _ already substantially increased, we've - already substantiallyj increased, we've had already substantially - increased, we've had over 25% increase — increased, we've had over 25% increase in— increased, we've had over 25% increase in terms _ increased, we've had over 25% increase in terms of— increased, we've had over 25% increase in terms of the - increase in terms of the returns. _ increase in terms of the returns, we've - increase in terms of the returns, we've had - increase in terms of the returns, we've had over increase in terms of the - returns, we've had over 30% increase _ returns, we've had over 30% increase in— returns, we've had over 30% increase in enforcement - returns, we've had over 30%| increase in enforcement raids so we — increase in enforcement raids so we have _ increase in enforcement raids so we have already _ increase in enforcement raidsl so we have already increased, step-hy-step, _ so we have already increased, step—by—step, but _ so we have already increased, step—by—step, but of - so we have already increased, step—by—step, but of course, i step—by—step, but of course, this— step—by—step, but of course, this is— step—by—step, but of course, this is complex _ step—by—step, but of course, this is complex and - step—by—step, but of course, this is complex and of- step—by—step, but of course, this is complex and of course this— this is complex and of course this takes— this is complex and of course this takes time. _ this is complex and of course this takes time.— this takes time. what she wouldn't _ this takes time. what she wouldn't do... _ this takes time. what she wouldn't do... is - this takes time. what she wouldn't do... is but - this takes time. what she wouldn't do... is but a . this takes time. what she - wouldn't do... is but a number on it. wouldn't do... is but a number on it- not _ wouldn't do... is but a number on it. not even _ wouldn't do... is but a number on it. not even give _ wouldn't do... is but a number on it. not even give a - wouldn't do... is but a numberj on it. not even give a number, wouldn't _ on it. not even give a number, wouldn't give _ on it. not even give a number, wouldn't give any _ on it. not even give a number, wouldn't give any shape - on it. not even give a number, wouldn't give any shape or- on it. not even give a number, | wouldn't give any shape or form of a timetable about when they hope to achieve.— hope to achieve. rishi sunak completely _ hope to achieve. rishi sunak completely got _ hope to achieve. rishi sunak completely got that - hope to achieve. rishi sunak completely got that wrong. i hope to achieve. rishi sunak- completely got that wrong. yes, and she does — completely got that wrong. yes, and she does not _ completely got that wrong. yes, and she does not want _ completely got that wrong. yes, and she does not want to - completely got that wrong. ie: and she does not want to be another home secretary with what she described as bad history of making a promise on immigration and then spectacularly failing on it, but it does leave them open as a government to charges from their political opponents that they are not really making it a priority, because you get targets on kids education and

targets on kids education and targets on kids education and targets on waiting lists and the government has made huge claims in the last few weeks about here are the things you can measure us by but when it comes to immigration, the home secretary, maybe she is more savvy than some of her colleagues, she won't put a number on it that she can then be held to account. find number on it that she can then be held to account.— be held to account. and you made that _ be held to account. and you made that point _ be held to account. and you made that point to - be held to account. and you made that point to yvette . made that point to yvette cooper _ made that point to yvette cooper effectively and i don't think— cooper effectively and i don't think she had much of an answer~ _ think she had much of an answer. it is quite hard for the — answer. it is quite hard for the government to say target -based — the government to say target —based milestone based on whatever the current word is, based — whatever the current word is, based government works, except in the _ based government works, except in the area — based government works, except in the area of immigration policy _ in the area of immigration policy. i_ in the area of immigration policy. i think that is a hard argument. policy. i think that is a hard argument-— argument. and it is fair for labour to _ argument. and it is fair for labour to say _ argument. and it is fair for labour to say that - argument. and it is fair for labour to say that on - argument. and it is fair for labour to say that on the l labour to say that on the tories watch migration both legal and illegal sword will stop its legal and illegal sword will stop it's absolutely true and the voters who voted for brexit in park thought they could control the borders. and it went up after brexit. controlthe borders. and it went up after brexit.- controlthe borders. and it went up after brexit. that is what they — went up after brexit. that is what they were _ went up after brexit. that is what they were told. - went up after brexit. that is what they were told. that i went up after brexit. that is what they were told. that is j what they were told. that is what they were told. that is what they — what they were told. that is what they were _ what they were told. that is what they were told - what they were told. that is what they were told that. what they were told. that is | what they were told that this is part of the distrust in politics and some of the angriest people i meet because i do a lot of street interviews i've interviewed everyone in the country outside woolworths.

it is people feel let down by a system where they thought they would get x and they got y. there is a fair argument to be made — there is a fair argument to be made that— there is a fair argument to be made that every election dating back to — made that every election dating back to who knows when plus the eu referendum in 2017, a plurality— eu referendum in 2017, a plurality of voters voted for a party — plurality of voters voted for a party or — plurality of voters voted for a party or referendum proposition that they— party or referendum proposition that they were told would result _ that they were told would result in fewer people coming to the — result in fewer people coming to the uk, be it legally or illegally. and every term it has — illegally. and every term it has not _ illegally. and every term it has not happened. it�*s has not happened. it's interesting _ has not happened. it's interesting we - has not happened. it's interesting we had - has not happened. it�*s interesting we had andy burnham to former government minister and now mayor of manchester on the programme and he talked about when he was immigration minister back in the day because it was one of the differentjobs he did when he was a westminster politician and he said i remember it. what you had to do is get on your phone to the counterparts and say, can you take these people and it was all about pressing the flesh with your contacts around the continent and he made the point you did, paddy, in a political way, and you are

making it in a political way, but actually the difficulties around brexit and how that made it harderfor the uk to cooperate with other countries these,in cooperate with other countries these, in his view at the root of the problem, and that meant people were sold something in his view that was not achieved. what you see in yvette cooper's approach — what you see in yvette cooper's approach to illegal immigration is a specific example of keir starmer's broader analysis of where — starmer's broader analysis of where the uk has gone wrong diplomatically since brexit. he thinks — diplomatically since brexit. he thinks there are all sorts of issues _ thinks there are all sorts of issues that can be solved or at least _ issues that can be solved or at least come closer to being sold by the — least come closer to being sold by the uk — least come closer to being sold by the uk basically being a better member of the international community. we want to hear a little bit more from andy burnham. going forward from here in 2025. they need to be held to account for the consequences of their own policies.

the big lie of brexit, in my view, needs to be exposed because it promised. control immigration. it's done the opposite. it's weakened control of immigration because it's weakened those relationships with our neighbours that are absolutely critical to having an orderly system. but at the same time, it's changed the nature of migration. so they've been issuing more and more visas for people coming from further afield, staying permanently, whereas with free movement, it would have been somebody would come for a few years and then go back. andy burnham, at the beginning of that clip, they was talking about the risk to labour from the reform party, but then more generally about the promises that were made to people by brexiteers. the fact, however, is that labour is trying this approach. they can't be sure that it's going to work significantly. they can't be sure that it's going to be effective in the way that they want it to be. and the home office is very happy to highlight figures that they say show things going in the right direction today, but they do not

have a guarantee that they're going to be able to show persuasive differences in the levels of illegal immigration and the small boat crossings. of course they want to, but they can't be sure that it's going to happen, not least because it's dependent on lots of other bits and lots of other bits of what's happening around the world, and also whether or not other countries are really ready to do the kind of cooperation that they want. and giorgia meloni, the italian prime minister, has said she wants more action from the other eu countries. so she's already making that point. there's a great profile of her, given that we sometimes try and sum up the sundayjournalism. there's some great profiles of her. the people who've been rushing to meet her — keir starmer�*s gone. donald trump likes sitting next to her in paris. she gets out her fags. she has an aperol. she takes her daughter to the things, bambina, she says. and she's a working class woman who grew up in a council house. you see a lot of the photographs of maybe more traditional, less exciting politicians appearing to be really quite dazzled by this unconventional, plain talking female italian leader who's brought the figures down. she's brought the figures down. absolutely. but her scheme to send people to albania.

..is shelved. ...has run into all sorts of legal problems. but who would have thought a few years ago that of all people, yvette cooper would have been making a speech at an italian political conference run by a party that has its roots in the far right. i mean, you just couldn't have made that up. but meloni is a really interesting character, not least because france and germany are in quite weakened positions and she has very effectively moved into a leadership space, to use a terrible term. but, you know, she looks like the queen of europe at the moment. and if we're talking and i hope this isn't too clunky a segue, but if we're talking... newscast, it's fine. if we're talking about a party of the radical right. perhaps if you want to use that phrase in a european counterpart, i don't think we should talk about the domestic political debate on immigration, legal or illegal, in the uk, without me sharing how utterly spooked labour people as well as tories i speak to, but you'd expect it

of the tories are by reform here in the uk. i have been quite taken aback in the last few weeks, um, by the number of quite senior influential people in this government, which, let's remember, has been in office for, what, five months coming up already panicking about not the conservatives nipping at their heels at the general election in, what, four and a half years' time? probably. but at reform. i am really struck. i mean, it's almost at the point where i talk to contacts and i say, you know, you've only been in office five months. you know, the next general election is some time away, it's a reversal of what you would expect the usual conversational interaction to be. and that is why this is so politically important. i mean, it's great that we've got you here because i'm feeling the briefing of you because ijust want to risk using a figure now myself, because it's easy to remember, reform came second in 98 seats, and 89 of them are labour's. and i can remember that number because it's nine and eight.

turn it round the other way. that's a handy isn't it good mnemonic. is that a mnemonic. yeah. so that's something else. a sort of numerical version of it. yeah. but we had lucy fraser on the program today who was the conservatives last culture secretary. yes. don't be mean. and i said she was talking about elon musk may give money, which is not allowed to do, but if he uses a british firm he could give money to reform. and i said are the conservatives worried about nigel farage? and she said yes. then she said everyone should be and i think she was meaning political class. so there's and there's no doubt, as you were saying, henry, it's very fashionable to be terribly worried about reform in political circles. but what someone else in government was saying to me the other day, actually, we have to take a breath, wait and see if they're a real party. beyond nigel farage on tiktok. now, i'm not suggesting that they're not at all. it is very clear they they made very significant gains in the general election. they're working very hard to professionalise and to expand the party. they clearly have huge potential as we come around to 2025. but sometimes in politics, as

in everything, you get a sort of frenzy in fashion. but there is a sense, though, isn't there, that it's like they don't want to be caught out again. they'll be caught out in the general election, and they don't want to be caught out another time. definitely. and they're just also very aware that they won this astonishing parliamentary landslide. on what was not at all in vote share a landslide. that's labour, 33%. labour, that is. and there is this feeling, if you look at the opinion polling, that there is a much more sort of european multi—party system straining at the seams of our electoral system, which funnels votes generally to two parties. and it sort of feels to me a bit, actually, that politics in the last couple of months has been happening outside parliament. right? we've got a different parliament now with an absolutely enormous majority for the governing party. so therefore, how much action is there going to be in parliament? well, maybe not that much. perhaps the more important things that have been happening in the last few months are things like reform working hard in wales, where there are assembly elections, sorry,

senned elections coming down the track, maybe the more important things actually are the snp feeling they've got a little bit of confidence back because labour has struggled over winter fuel allowance and things like that. so maybe for once people should pay a bit more attention to what's happening outside westminster as what's happening inside. but it's challenging though too, for the tories, isn't it? and last weekend we had ben houchen, the teesside mayor, who said he felt kemi badenoch had to say more about immigration, had to not leave a vacuum for nigel farage. this was what the shadow home secretary, chris philp, told us this morning about their plans for a low, hard cap on migration. so there's no way that can be i circumvented, and we would set that out in law. in terms of numbers, we haven't said a number yet, but we're working. on that at the moment. broadly speaking, it| will be far, far lower than the figures - that were published a couple of weeks ago. and it will also be far, - far lower than the 0br forecast accompanying the budget. that was 350,000 per year. interestingly, keir starmer and yvette cooper- have refused to set out a cap at all. - so there's a big difference | there between the parties. so, interesting.

that's a sort of new thing there. it's not a specific target, but the tories will set a cap for migration of lower than 300,000, which is what the government's official number crunchers were already forecasting for, i think 2028. yeah, i mean, the argument is now if we are talking about reform, nigel farage has said we've got to leave the european convention on human rights and once we've done that, we can deport people. so that's a very carnivorous piece of policy versus going round the doorstep saying we're going to have a cap, a hard cap. well, it could be 300... it could be 400,000. 0oh! i mean, this issue is running away from them. well, kemi badenoch attacked keir starmer at pmqs on wednesday on the subject of immigration. and not surprisingly, keir starmer hit the ball into the open goal in response, which was, "hang on a second. a few months ago you were in government and it was on your party's watch that these numbers ballooned", and that is the strategic challenge

here for kemi badenoch. she was in the conservative governments on whose watch these numbers went up. 0k, she was a relatively small part, but she was a minister, as was chris philp. her shadow foreign secretary is priti patel, who was the home secretary when legal illegal immigration and illegal immigration went up in boris johnson's government. so it's tricky. and a lot of people i spoke to in both of the main two parties after that pmqs on wednesday said, "hang on, i think the real winner of that session for anyone watching was reform, because you had the two establishment parties knocking lumps out of each other over who was more culpable for numbers that many people aren't happy with. 0ne quick point i think we should make as well, just when we're talking about. take it slowly, because we want to hear. well, no, i... ijust ijust feel like i've talked a lot, but i know. that's why you're here.

which is when we talk about the political debate on immigration, i think we should also reflect because it often gets missed. there is a chunk of the british public, though not as big, who support immigration, who believe that it's good for the country, who believe that talking in the terms that even the labour party do about immigration is to demonise migrants. they think that we should have safe routes so that people who are crossing the channel can come here in large numbers. they think that legal migration is good. and historically, i think those voters have generally found a place in the labour coalition. if they feel put off by the way in which yvette cooper is talking to giorgia meloni or whatever in italy, then you have this challenge for the governing party where they have their voters splitting off in all directions. and just as reform did extremely well at the general election getting five seats, the green party have four mps in parliament. jeremy corbyn and a group of independents are likely to set up a political party early next year. so we should just always be mindful, even though it's a smaller chunk of british public opinion, of that group of people. as we talked about yesterday, a bit about this is that labour has got the right saying, you're not radical

enough on our way, and the left saying you're not radical enough the other way. so then you end up with a muddle in the middle. and that is one of the sort of central criticisms of starmer�*s government overall, is that in trying to please everyone, they might end up pleasing no one at all. but i think we should have a listener question, because i think we've all wanged on quite a lot. and paddy, it is about starmer and maybe it is relating to this muddle in the middle. and i know you've got a really good point to make, because you've got that look in your eye. i was about to say something wise, and you, strumpet, have cut me off in my prime. but i am going to ask this listener question. we've heard a lot about starmer�*s manifestos, missions, and milestones. so staying with the m theme, what are his minefields where he can't go? or to mix my metaphors, which areas should he avoid like the plague or not touch with a bargepole. so i think this is relevant now in our conversation. what is it that keir starmer has to avoid, paddy? i mean, let's talk about the streets of the united kingdom, which were full of rioters just a few months ago, who were throwing petrol bombs at hotels where people known in the press as migrants. but we can call them

people, people where people, people, where families were firebombed, because that's what the state of this argument had been. and when he became the prime minister. he cannot be blamed politically for what happened at the moment he took office. what he then did, of course, was send them all to prison very quickly. and that, you know, to answer this point, what does he have to do? what does he have to avoid? he has to avoid looking like he's not the prime minister when something like that happens. so i would answer that this issue posed him a question straight away when he was in power. "what are you going to do?" so he addressed the riots. well, now he's got to address what's happening with the actual state of the problem itself. and it's worth saying there that keir starmer has said very, very little about the aspect which those riots highlighted of all of this, which is sort of social cohesion. integration. communities sticking together, integration, cohesion. and, you know, some people close to him would say, "look, we know this

is a there is a major problem with social cohesion when you have hotels in communities, you put large numbers of migrants in places where there's no support, no infrastructure. they're not allowed to work. that doesn't work for the community and it doesn't work for them. there's an awareness of that inside government. but keir starmer himself hasn't really done much actually to talk about that. and you do get the sense that he just doesn't really want to touch it with a bargepole. the other thing that's difficult for him to touch with a short bargepole or any pole at all, is this reset with the european union. so they talk a lot, as you were saying, henry, about this reset, whatever reset means. in other words, how do you get close to countries in europe again, in order so that you can do things that are effective and useful? however, how do you do that without creating an immediate sense from some parts of the press and some parts of the political spectrum that actually it's all a secret remainer plot, and he's about to surrender to brussels. well, i think one question which we almost need to answer before we find out that is how

salient is the issue of brexit now? are there people who would be furious if keir starmer began to unpick substantial elements of the brexit deal. i genuinely don't know that — that's not a rhetorical question. i don't know the answer to that. i don't think we really know the answer to that. and it it sort of gets to an earlier question, which i don't think was ever really resolved about the extent to which brexit and getting brexit done was about that, or was it a proxy— for a feeling that the government wasn't listening to the will of the people and so on and so on? although i think we can say that we don't think it's unlikely there'd be people in the streets if the government does a phytosanitary arrangement or a veterinarian, in other words, those niche agreements about animal welfare or about bits of chemical regulation or whatever. and that gets to the question of whether it's that sort of stuff that they want to do, in which case, sure, you might have some to—the—wire negotiations, but no one's going to notice or care or whether it's something more profound like unpicking. and i don't think they're going to do this because keir starmer has said many times, and we know his word

is his bond, that unpicking the single market or the customs union membership. i mean, one thing that is, i think, revealing though niche, is that the government has been hiring for a very senior civil servant to... ..i can't remember what the title is. it's something like second permanent secretary, future eu relationship, something like that. not quite that, but you know, the sort of whitehall blancmange title which conveys whitehall blancmange! saw it on the menu in the bbc canteen. sounds christmassy and, um, uh, may your days be merry in whitehall. and, um, ithink that shows actually is more thanjust a bit of phytosanitary. yeah. so back to the mail on sunday, which i was mentioning earlier, says that a new department with up to 100 civil servants, which would thus be bigger than the actual brexit department because we didn't have any trade negotiators. that was another thing david cameron didn't reveal to the world about his in—out referendum. oh, you didn't need them. we didn't need them!

so obviously, the reason why we're mentioning this is that faisal islam, who was in brussels with the chancellor, was on newscast on friday saying that this reset the mood music is going to be far more expansive than just a couple of tinkering over here with youth movement, and a couple of tinkering over there with the veterinary, whether you can take your poodle into france or not. thatjust really made me laugh. is that on your poodle? pet passports for poodles? yeah, it was one of my favourites. it's notjust designed to set you off. it's the idea that the mood music that you're picking up as well. well, by the way, faisal was in brussels with the chancellor. the chancellor was in brussels. rachel reeves addressed the eu 27, as it now is since 2021. sorry, since 2020. and seeing ijust sort of caught sight as laura knows, the office where i work,

you know, it has tvs everywhere. and i suddenly sort of caught sight out of the corner of my eye of rachel reeves doing one of those clips where all the eu leaders do those sort of mini interviews as they head in and out of eu summits. and i thought, "hang on, hang on." "i sort of double taked." 0h, a british politician is there. having spent many, many happy hours squashed in that press pen, waiting for the leaders to come along so that they can either ignore you or come over and give you exactly what they want to say and not answer any questions, british politicians were not meant to be walking that big long red carpet any more. and i think starmer himself is actually going to go to one of those political summits for the first time as a british pm early next year. and at some point there's going to be a uk eu summit as well. and i think that will be the real moment of revelation of what this really amounts to. so very happiness to you. very happiness to you. and thanks very much for listening. thank you very much, newscasters, for all your messages and loveliness throughout the year. we love doing our weekend programme with you and i hope that everybody listens in 2025.

the upcoming week is looking pretty unsettled, will be dominated by low pressure and that will bring spells of wet and windy weather to our shores. it will be mild to start this new week. like i said, wet and windy at times with low pressure always close by. then it turns a bit colder again later in the week with temperatures returning closer to the seasonal norm. at the moment we're in this wedge of warmer air. a lot of clouds and mist and rain beginning to pile in to the north and west of scotland, but you can see the orange colours right across the board, indicating it is milder temperatures above the seasonal norm. rest of today stay very windy for northern areas with gales in northern scotland. rain really starting to pile up across the highlands with gusty winds and it could be very gusty as well across the yorkshire side of the pennines during this afternoon. that could cause some travel disruption. despite the lack of sunshine, it's going to be mild with temperatures in the low teens for all of us and tonight as well staying mild double figure values for most. the rain still pouring across

the north and west of scotland, this almost stationary weather front likely to start causing some issues as we push towards the end of monday, with the rain heavy and persistent at times elsewhere. looks like monday will be one of a few bright spells. some cloud here and there, maybe some drizzle across western hills. and again it's going to stay quite breezy and mild. could see some concerns with the rain though. across the northwest of scotland by the end of monday in the worst affected areas could be up to 150mm of rain, so that could lead to some localised flooding. but beyond monday into tuesday, we changed the wind direction as a deeper area of low pressure pushes up from the south. so although we will see more rain across the northwest of scotland, our winds will be coming in from the south. it will turn wetter and windy across western areas later in the day on tuesday. i think many central and eastern areas tend to stay dry. variable cloud, a bit of sunshine. turning windy here as well. and again it's going to be mild for all wet and windy through tuesday night. one area of low pressure clears through, another, one hot on its heels, pushing in later on wednesday. but i think for most

of wednesday will be of wednesday we'll be in between these two areas of low pressure. so we will have sunshine and showers across scotland, some sunshine elsewhere. variable cloud, but it starts to turn wet and windy again across southern and western areas as the next low moves in and once again, it's going to be mild. could be up to the mid teens. some sunshine in the east. some sunshine in the east. starts to turn starts to turn cooler from the north cooler from the north during the end of the week, and stays mostly unsettled. during the end of the week, and stays mostly unsettled. you

have diplomatic contact, as you would expect. a two—year—old boy has died and four adults have been injured in a hit—and—run crash involving a stolen car in the west midlands. 0ver thirteen thousand migrants have been removed from the uk since labour took power — but the government admits the rate of illegal channel crossings is still too high. and santas on the run! the mexican capital comes alive as hundreds of father christmases speed through the city! the uk has announced a fifty million pound humanitarian aid package to help the most vulnerable syrians, including refugees across the region. foreign secretary, david lammy, announced the new emergency aid following talks injordan yeserday, alongside international leaders from the european union, the middle east, and the us, with the aim to build long—term stability across the middle east.