paris olympic gold medalists keely hodgkinson has been named the bbc�*s sports personality of the year. we visit a small town in scotland where some wonky christmas lights designed by children at a primary school have gone viral. this is not the christmas gift that many households will have been hoping for, but prices are rising more sharply as we approach an already expensive time of year. the uk inflation rate has gone up for the second month in a row, rising at the fastest rate since march. fuel and clothing were among the main drivers behind the rise. increasing ticket prices for gigs and plays were also a factor. so let's take a look at the numbers. according to official figures uk inflation rate rose to 2.6% in the year to november. the bank of england raises interest rates to try to keep

inflation at its target of 2%. its next rates decision is on thursday, but economists expect rates to be held at 4.75%. henry settlements that the numbers on inflation are not going in the right direction. this government is desperate for people around the uk to feel like some of the pressures on the finances is easing. this is concerning news for them. we have heard in the last few minutes from rachel reeves for her response. the minutes from rachel reeves for her response-— her response. the inflation numbers — her response. the inflation numbers today _ her response. the inflation numbers today show - her response. the inflation i numbers today show inflation her response. the inflation - numbers today show inflation at 2~6%~ _ numbers today show inflation at 2.6%. that is comparable to other— 2.6%. that is comparable to other countries around the world _ other countries around the world and in the united states is 2~7%~ — world and in the united states is 27%~ in_ world and in the united states is 2.7%. in the euro area it is 2~3%~ — is 2.7%. in the euro area it is 2~3%~ 50— is 2.7%. in the euro area it is 2.3%. so broadly in line with our— 2.3%. so broadly in line with our international peers. i recognise the cost of living

crisis — recognise the cost of living crisis continues to bite. that is why— crisis continues to bite. that is why in— crisis continues to bite. that is why in the budget we increase the national living wage, _ increase the national living wage, a _ increase the national living wage, a pay rise for 3 million workers _ wage, a pay rise for 3 million workers and it is why we froze a fuel— workers and it is why we froze a fuel duty so motorists are not paying more at the pumps. so not paying more at the pumps. 50 we — not paying more at the pumps. so we recognise the challenges that families remain under and are taking action to address that— are taking action to address that ongoing cost of living challenge. he that ongoing cost of living challenge-— that ongoing cost of living challenue. ., .,. challenge. he heard rachel reeves saying _ challenge. he heard rachel reeves saying these - challenge. he heard rachel. reeves saying these inflation figures were broadly in line with international comparatives. but she knows that that is not how ordinary people interpret their own household finances. they care about what they can perhaps can't afford. and the political challenge for this is still very new government going into 2025 is aware that they can find a way for people to feel like the economic forces are not weighing so heavy on them in 2025.

let's speak to martin mctague, national chair of the federation of small businesses. what will this mean for those small businesses? it what will this mean for those small businesses?— small businesses? it is a real worry because _ small businesses? it is a real worry because one _ small businesses? it is a real worry because one of- small businesses? it is a real worry because one of the - small businesses? it is a real. worry because one of the things they were hanging on to was the prospect of maybe lower base rate which could have helped a lot of small businesses. coming on the back of poor gdp figures and increasing labour costs, that seems unlikely. and when you think about how small businesses can respond to this, their options are limited. big companies have market dominance, they can pass on these costs and this is obviously what we are seeing. at smaller businesses are very limited and their options are really about cutting costs within the organisation, which can sometimes mean losing employees or pulling back expenditure on growth, which is

bad from the government's point of view. ~ ., , ., ., , of view. would you argue they are the hardest _ of view. would you argue they are the hardest group - of view. would you argue they are the hardest group then? l are the hardest group then? definitely the hardest—hit group in the business community because they don't have the resources to respond to it. at the moment, late teys, which is where larger companies don't pay their suppliers on time has been a thorn in the flesh. the government has taken positive steps to address that. but we do have some worrying issues, it is very difficult for small businesses to get access to adequate finance. we would like to see them improve the situation by getting rid of some of the personal guarantees that most banks insist on. there is also the looming fear of new employment rights which could damage the way in which a lot of small businesses recruit. lot of small businesses recruit-— lot of small businesses recruit. ~ , ., ., ., recruit. when you have got the chancellor _ recruit. when you have got the chancellor of _ recruit. when you have got the chancellor of the _ recruit. when you have got the chancellor of the exchequer i chancellor of the exchequer saying the uk figures are

similar to international figures, the us, for example, does that offer you any comfort? i does that offer you any comfort?— comfort? i am afraid it doesn't. _ comfort? i am afraid it doesn't, because - comfort? i am afraid it doesn't, because the l comfort? i am afraid it - doesn't, because the domestic market, most people are having to deal with the day—to—day realities working in this economy. one example is, something like 30% of small businesses have got no cash reserves to fall back on. that means they are in a very vulnerable position. these kind of shocks can be very damaging to their prospects.— to their prospects. each business _ to their prospects. each business is _ to their prospects. each business is unique - to their prospects. each business is unique and l business is unique and situations are unique upon themselves, but in terms of broader advice, what would you be saying to them and what would you want to be hearing from the government itself? i from the government itself? i would like to see the government do more on the growth guarantee scheme. i think they could do more on personal guarantees and i would like them to listen to our concerns about employment

rights bill. we are saying this could have a really long—term damaging effect on how small businesses operate in their local communities. we think it is really important they take note and make the changes that are needed. note and make the changes that are needed-— are needed. martin mattei, thank you _ are needed. martin mattei, thank you very _ are needed. martin mattei, thank you very much - are needed. martin mattei, thank you very much for . are needed. martin mattei, - thank you very much forjoining us. expressing those concerns. pmqs is coming up at midday and the economy could be one of the lines of questioning to say a keir starmer and this is the last time the prime minister will take questions from the conservative leader. mps. stay with us and watch that on bbc news, rolling coverage from just before midday. furious campaigners say a uk government decision not to compensate women hit by changes to the state pension age is an "insult". nine months ago, a parliamentary ombudsman recommended compensation for thousands of women born in the 19505 who hadn't

been adequately informed about the changes to increase the state pension age, and bring it in line with men. but ministers now say payouts would be neither right, nor affordable leaving many women outraged — as our cost of living correspondent colletta smith reports. it's been ia long years of campaigning for women born in the 19505, and in recent years they've signed up some friends in high places. when in opposition, keir starmer and liz kendall were all too happy to support the movement. but now things have changed. we don't agree with the ombudsman's approach. there'll be no compensation for that group of women, who had their pension pots pushed out of reach. with the hope that we were going to get something from this new labour government, they're all feeling very let down, and i think that's been quite obvious today when i've spoken to one or two of the ladies that are in my group.

the age is to claim a state pension had been 60 for women, and 65 for men. from 2010, the state pension age for women was due to gradually increase to 65 over the following decade. but then it was announced that process would happen by 2018, two years sooner than originally announced. this march, the parliamentary ombudsman said the change had been unfair and women should be compensated. but the government has decided not to. this was maladministration. we accept that we and we are sorry. but we don't agree to what the ombudsman concluded on injustice and on remedy. even if we had sent those letters out, we provided research which showed it wouldn't have made the difference the ombudsman said. and for that reason, we aren't providing compensation. for this cohort of women, it's a second, unexpected blow within four months, as many of them have also had their winter

fuel payment removed. these are women who have had the rug pulled from underneath them in terms of, um, uh, compensation, thinking that they would have a pension payment, having to make plans at the last minute — some women had to sell their house. then they get the cost of living crisis. then they have the winter fuel allowance, again, pulled from them with very little notice at all. the government has made its decision. but if these women have anything to do with it, that might not be the end of the story. colletta smith, bbc news. bbc analysis has revealed that facebook severely restricted the ability of palestinian news outlets to reach an audience during the israel—gaza war. in the first comprehensive research in the territory since the war�*s start, data and tech specialists at bbc news arabic and bbc world service calculated how many people interacted with news content across hundreds of thousands of facebook

posts from journalists. meta says any suggestion that it deliberately suppressed particular voices is "unequivocally false". joe tidy reports. in times of conflict, access to reliable news is vital, and today many turn to social media as their primary source of information. on platforms like facebook and instagram, how people engage with content so comments, likes, shares, reactions can increase visibility and shape public opinion. but for the last year, palestinian journalists have raised concerns that their posts are being suppressed. and according to our research, something has happened. in the first comprehensive data analysis by territory since the start of the war in gaza, we analysed more than 100,000 facebook posts by different palestinian news organisations. this bar represents the average engagement per post in the lead up to the october 7th hamas attack on israel.

as you can see, it fluctuates, but its steady. and then hamas' attack and israel's subsequent and ongoing war in gaza became one of the biggest talking points in the world. but look what happens to the engagement on those same facebook pages. it nosedives. in fact, since that date, there's been a 77% drop in average engagement. one of the pages analysed in our investigation is the well—established palestine tv. they have 5.8 million followers on facebook and have had some posts about the war restricted by the platform. we did the same analysis on similar news pages from israel and neighbouring arabic speaking countries, and found that engagement went up. meta confirmed that temporary product and policy measures were brought in in response

to the conflict. the company admitted that pages posting exclusively about the war were more likely to see engagement impacted, but it said any implication that this was done to deliberately suppress a particular voice is unequivocally false. but according to some people from inside the company, palestinians have been deliberately suppressed. this former meta employee asked us to keep them anonymous, but shared internal documents about a change that was made to instagram's algorithm. within a week of the hamas attack the code was changed, essentially making it more aggressive towards palestinian people writing comments on instagram posts. they gave us these leaked documents showing an order to strengthen the precision threshold further from a0 to 25 for palestinian authors only. this means the algorithm only has to be 25% sure a comment from a palestinian based in the west bank or gaza was potentially violating guidelines to make it less visible to other users. meta confirmed that this measure was taken, but said it was necessary to respond to what it calls a spike in hateful content.

but clearly some staff were unhappy about it. this kind of bias will affect the whole narrative. customers, regular customers would be looking at their phones, thinking that they're seeing the truth when they're actually seeing just a very small slice, or they're being trapped in a bubble because other people were silenced. the decades long israeli—palestinian conflict continues to be one of the most difficult topics to address for many media organisations. but what our research suggests is that when platforms are as large as meta's, even small changes can have big implications. joe tidy reporting there. the uk government has set out plans to spend £1 billion in england over the next year to tackle homelessness. the number of people living in temporary accommodation is at record levels and those rough sleeping is on the increase too. our social affairs correspondent michael buchanan reports. homelessness

is at record levels. rough sleeping is on the increase, while the number of families in temporary accommodation has never been higher. more than 160,000 children are staying in such council funded properties, many in hotels and bed and breakfasts. ministers say they inherited the worst housing crisis in living memory, and this is theirfirst major down payment on tackling the problem. the bulk of the money, more than £630 million, will be spent on preventing homelessness and paying for temporary accommodation, an increase of almost £200 million from this year. almost £190 million will be spent reducing rough sleeping. homeless charities have welcomed the money, first announced in the budget, but say more has to be done. i think we need to stop looking at, um, you know, announcements that are sticking plasters. they're very much needed for right now, but so that we don't get the rising numbers of homelessness every single year, we need to be really looking at a long term and sustainable solution.

the government says it intends to build 1.5 million homes over the course of this parliament. ministers insist that will include what they've called the largest programme of social and affordable homes in a generation. that will take years to deliver. in the meantime, taxpayers will continue to fund a homelessness crisis caused by decades of underinvestment in the country's housing stock. michael buchanan, bbc news. it was a night of glitz and glamour — with all the biggest sporting names coming together to celebrate another year of sparkling achievements. over the past seven decades bbc sports personality of the year has been won by the likes of bobby moore, paula radcliffe, and sir andy murray — and all eyes were on who was going to take home the title this year. john watson was on the red carpet — and backstage.

how excited are you both to be here? oh, i mean, sports personality for us is one of the key nights of the year. fun, partying and celebrating sport. an amazing year that i've visualised for many, - many years before the olympics. for it to actually come to reality nd me beingj here today is unique. you get to catch up and reminisce and tell stories and it is a celebration. sporting royalty is out on the red carpet tonight for one of the nights of the year. and as the stars prepare to head inside to take their seats, i'm off to find the breakfast sofa as we prepare to speak to the winners later on. our lifetime achievement award winner, sir mark cavendish.

many, many congratulations. thank you. where's the trophy? i've left it with my wife. love it. it's a beautiful honour because it's bestowed upon you. it's a, it's... obviously everything we do during our career is like you have a goal to do something, you know? but a subjective award is always really nice. it's like respect from your peers or from the public or people who watch what you do. and, uh, that's a very nice thing. it's very inspiring. you've talked about inspiring people, other people to try cycling. if you could go back and tell your seven—year—old self, you'd have the career you've had, what would you say to yourself? go for it. you know, it's what i tell my kids now. you know, uh, as long as you put the work in. i'm a firm believer that

if you put the work in, you can achieve what you want to do, no matter what you want to do in life. and, obviously, if you love it, you put the work in. i'm a firm believer that anybody can do what they want to do and that'll never change. so the winner is wigan warriors. 0k. you could play for us. well, i don't know about that. i mean, blimey, look at the size of you lads. the season we had is something that's never been done before. and then to go and win an award like this, which is recognition forforyouryear, it almost puts the cherry on top of the cake. in second place is luke littler. the bbc sports personality of the year 2024 is keely hodgkinson. cheering.

kick us off in style. take two, take two. queen of the track, now queen of bbc sports personality of the year. how are you feeling? yeah, i'm feeling good. i was saying before i was just reading the names on the top of the trophy, and you just kind of get a grasp of, like, the history behind it and how prestigious it is. we've loved watching you. you had us all in a spin this summer. that moment. winning the 800m title at the olympics, incredible. it was really fun. and, yeah, it was just a great time. i had all my friends and family there, people that... everyone i knew was in one place. and unlike tokyo, which wasn't like that at all. so it was really nice to have that and have my team there and all that support. and there was a lot of pressure going into it. but yeah, we pulled it off. you delivered. yeah. the winner of the coach of the year award are trevor painter. and jenny meadows.

what is she like to coach? what are those mornings really like? you know, those tough mornings where. i'm sure, keely, you're thinking i don't want to go training today. there's been a few of them. yeah, i was going to say keely's not really a morning person. um, yeah, she's got a lot better. but the really good thing about keely is, you know, she wants to put in the hard work. so, you know, the gold in paris was amazing, but she just only wants to deal in gold currency now. there's no going back to silver. she just wants to keep winning. and does this not mean you get a morning off? surely, guys. come on. unfortunately, mornings off christmases, bank holidays they don't apply to us. no. so no christmas pudding this year? oh, that's allowed. all right, there you go. after seeing what keely did this year, how many young kids have been through the doors saying, "sign me up, i want to run with you guys." we've got to admit we've had a lot of emails. - keely's home club, leigh harriers, they've got a waiting list.

there's so many kids wanting tojoin, which is the legacy already straight away, which is quite incredible. you've done that. that was me in 2012. let me back in. but that must mean a lot hearing that. yeah, it does. i actually didn't know that. so that is really nice. i think it shows the power of the olympics, not just myself, butjust what sport can do. like, it really has this ability to just give people emotion, bring people together. you're all supporting the same person, going after their dreams, and you don't even know them, but you can get behind it. and i think that's really incredible. nice to heara nice to hear a better christmas pudding is still allowed. congratulations to keely hodgkinson. now, think of a festive carol concert and you probably imagine a school, a church or a community hall — not a hospice treating people who are terminally ill. but a young pianist from swansea wants to show that hospices can also be places ofjoy. inspired by the death of his mum, joe cavalli—price founded music in hospices —

and this christmas its won the backing of one of the world s biggest classical stars, asjon kay has been finding out. one day i went on a walk around the hospice and ifound an one day i went on a walk around the hospice and i found an old piano covered in covers and books. even though there were notes missing, i wheeled the piano to my mum's bedside and i began to play. it had this transformative impact. it was a moment that wasjust meant for impact. it was a moment that was just meant for mum and impact. it was a moment that wasjust meant for mum and i but i had families and patients coming up to me and thanking me. even the staff were saying how beautiful it was to hear music. i knew then we had done something very special.

afterjoe's mum died he started contacting other hospices to see if they would like him to play music for patients. they love the idea. soon he was taking fellow students from the royal academy of music to hospices all over the uk. # up she rises early in the morning. # up she rises early in the morning-— # up she rises early in the mornin. ., morning. hospices are a place of love and — morning. hospices are a place of love and joy _ morning. hospices are a place of love and joy and _ morning. hospices are a place of love and joy and life. - morning. hospices are a place of love and joy and life. and i of love and joy and life. and we all need to know that. what kind of impact _ we all need to know that. what kind of impact have _ we all need to know that. what kind of impact have you - we all need to know that. what kind of impact have you seen, l kind of impact have you seen, what stories can you tell about what stories can you tell about what you have witnessed? {line what you have witnessed? one lad was what you have witnessed? one lady was irish, _ what you have witnessed? one lady was irish, so _ what you have witnessed? one lady was irish, so i _ what you have witnessed? que: lady was irish, so i played what you have witnessed? iez lady was irish, so i played the fields of athenry i, the lovely rugby anthem. she woke up, and then she sang and three verses and three courses of fields of athenry right word perfect.

film—maker christopher nolan and red bull's christian horner are among notable names set to receive honours from the king today. the inception director will formally receive a knighthood from charles — and his wife, film producer emma thomas, will receive a damehood. they've produced major blockbusters including oppenheimer. f1 team principal horner, will formally be made a cbe for his services to motorsport. and broadcaster alan yentob, will also formally be made a cbe for services to the arts and media. the investiture ceremony is being held at buckingham palace. just a reminder of the breaking news we brought you earlier on regarding andrew tate and his brother triston, the controversial social media influencers. a magistrate has ruled that devon and cornwall police can seize more than £2

million from the social media influences. westminster magistrates' court heard that they had failed to pay a penny in tax on £21 million of revenue from their online businesses, including sites such as only fan. the magistrate ruling that devon and cornwall police can seize £2 million from the social media influencers who are awaiting trial in romania for charges that they deny. westminster magistrates' court saying they had failed to pay a penny in tax on £21 million of revenue from their online businesses. lots more on our website and stay with us on bbc news. i will be back in a few moments, but let's get the weather with carol kirkwood. hello again! it's been a windy and a mild start to the day.

we've also had some rain courtesy of this area of low pressure. the rain pushing northwards and eastwards and clearing, only to be replaced later by the next batch of rain coming up from the southwest. so as we go through the course of the afternoon, we will see behind the rain, some brighter skies developing, even some sunshine. a peppering of showers coming in across the northwest, and then heavier rain moving in across the southwest and also in through wales. temperatures today widely ten to 13 degrees, but in scotland and northern ireland, as the wind veers to a northwesterly, temperatures will actually go down. so through this evening and overnight the rain continues to clear away towards the north sea. behind that, some clearer skies, but also a lot of showers coming in to the north and the west, and on the hills in the north and the west. some of those will be wintry. it's going to be a colder night and in fact we could see a touch of frost. northeast scotland, northeast england and also northern ireland. so tomorrow we'll all be bathed in this northwesterly flow. it's going to feel colder than today. it's going to be a blustery day. so when you add on the wind

chill it will feel colder than the temperatures i'm going to show you in a jiffy. but a lot of dry weather, some blue skies, showers in the north and the west again, some of those will be wintry on the hills. temperature wise, well, temperature is much lower than today. on your thermometer it will look like there are five to nine degrees, but add on the wind chill and it will feel colder than that if you're stepping out. overnight thursday, this ridge of high pressure builds in to some of us will see a frost. and then on friday, this next weather front comes in introducing some rain. so a cold start to the day on friday, but there'll be some bright skies to start with. showers developing ahead of the weather front, moving out of scotland and northern ireland into england and wales. and behind that we see a return to bright skies and some showers, but not quite as cold, the wind veering now from a northwesterly to more of a westerly. then, as we head on into the

weekend, while we've got a deep area of low pressure coming our way with its weather fronts, look at the isobars. on saturday it is going to be a windy day worth bearing that in mind, if you're travelling. we could have gales across the north and west, but windy everywhere and through the weekend it's going to turn colder with the showe