>> good morning. 930 on monday the 16th of december live across the 16th of december live across the uk. this is britain's newsroom with andrew pierce and miriam cates, who's standing in for bev turner. >> well, prince andrew is urged to go into hiding this christmas over his connections to the alleged chinese spy. the identity of the accused man is currently being kept secret, but reform mps are threatening to name him in parliament and the

prime minister. >> sir keir starmer's international diplomatic tour continues as he looks to form closer ties with norway and estonia to build partnerships on green energy and defence. >> yes, the prime minister on a two day trip talking about security, energy security and defence. i will bring you more from a very windy norway shortly. >> and the foreign secretary, david lammy, has announced a £50 million aid package for vulnerable syrians after the fall of president assad. meanwhile, lammy says diplomatic talks are open with the syrian rebels who toppled the assad regime. >> hts remains a proscribed organisation, but we can have diplomatic contact and so we do have diplomatic contact . have diplomatic contact. >> and are we seeing a seismic shift in british politics.7 a new poll suggests it's now a three horse race between one of the usual suspects, labour, the tories and reform uk. we're

going to crunch the numbers . going to crunch the numbers. >> and in more bad news for sir keir, voters believe he's the worst prime minister in modern history. after five months in the job, is starmer's popularity on a downward trend, or can he turn it around? >> and do you have a nightmare? relative prince andrew's comes to mind. or argumentative siblings staying with you this christmas? because if so, we're going to bring you some top tips on how to stay sane over the festive period. withdraw the invitation. >> yeah. >> yeah. >> relatives coming this christmas. you couldn't admit it if you if you. >> of course i could. but no, i have fantastic family and i'm very much looking forward to seeing them. but, you know, it isn't always easy in families, isn't always easy in families, is it? and there is that expectation at christmas that everybody should see each other and get on well. and sometimes that's easier said than done. >> of course, that brings us to prince andrew, because will he or won't he be there at sandringham?

>> i, i have i might be the only person in the country, but i feel really sorry for him because, okay, he's messed up in his public role. but, you know, they're still his family. he doesn't have another family. where is he supposed to go on christmas day? >> i think you're right. you are. the only person in the country make me feel sorry for prince andrew. i suspect sarah ferguson does too. >> well, i'm sure we'll have plenty of views. do send your comments to gbnews.com/yoursay. but here is the news. first with saint francis. >> miriam, andrew, thank you very much. good morning to you. it's just after 9:30. well, mps are ramping up pressure over the alleged chinese infiltration of the uk following claims a suspected spy formed close ties with senior politicians and royals. the man, identified only as h—6, is accused of working for beijing's united front work department and reportedly met former prime ministers and became a confidante of prince andrew. former conservative leader sir iain duncan smith is

demanding answers in parliament, while nigel farage has threatened to name h—6 under parliamentary privilege unless a court lifts the anonymity order. home secretary yvette cooper has acknowledged the complex relationship with china, balancing economic ties with safeguarding national security, while security officials are warning the case is just the tip of the iceberg and are calling as calls rather grow for a tougher foreign influence registration scheme. while the conservatives tom tugendhat told us earlier this morning that he thinks the government are moving too fast to re—establish uk china relations in what is frankly being reckless in reaching out to china as they did at the 620 and as rachel reevesis did at the 620 and as rachel reeves is planning to do in january, without having the proper protections ready. >> look, the foreign influence registration scheme would have built up the pattern of life. that means that incidents like this would have been alerted, would have been brought to attention earlier, and we would have been able to deal with them because as the intelligence expression goes, if you want to

find a needle in a haystack, first you need a haystack. and the first scheme, particularly with the enhanced tier, would build up that haystack, which means that you can actually find out what's going on. >> calls are mounting for the archbishop of york to resign this morning, after an investigation revealed his handung investigation revealed his handling of a sexual abuse case involving priest david tudor, while bishop of chelmsford, stephen cottrell allowed tudor to remain in ministry despite knowing he was barred from being alone with children, and had previously paid compensation to a victim. the bishop of newcastle, helen—ann hartley, says mr cottrell's actions completely undermine his credibility and believes he should step down well. it comes after a damning report into child abuse cover ups in the church of england led to the resignation of archbishop of canterbury justin welby. the government has approved the £36 billion sale of royal mail's parent company to czech billionaire daniel kawczynski. the deal includes guarantees to

maintain six day a week letter deliveries to protect pensions and avoid any compulsory redundancies until 2025. unions say they've also secured commitments for a worker voice group and 10% share of dividends in the future, while the government retains a so—called golden share. the company, though, has faced heavy losses, pubuc though, has faced heavy losses, public complaints and a recent £10 million fine for missed delivery targets. but krasinski's plans are for major investment, saying he'll support the royal mail for as long as i'm alive. a 12 year old girl has been charged with manslaughter this morning over the death of an eight year old grandfather in leicestershire. she's set to appear in youth court in leicester later today. bhim kohli was fatally injured in franklin park on september the 1st while walking his dog and later died in hospital. a 15 year old boy has already been charged with murdering the pensioner and is due at crown court later this week. both teenagers can't be named for legal reasons , and labour is

legal reasons, and labour is planning the biggest shake up of local government in england since the 1970s. a paper out later today will outline plans to abolish district councils, introduce more elected mayors and merge smaller councils into larger authorities. the government says it will streamline services and give mayors new powers over planning to deliver housing and infrastructure faster. but district councils warn the changes could cause turmoil, they say, and undermine undermine a local decision making. deputy prime minister angela rayner will call the devolution default position for the government in a speech later. those are the latest headunes later. those are the latest headlines for now. i'll be back with you for a full round up at the top of the hour for the very latest 6b news direct to your smartphone, sign up to news alerts by scanning the qr code or go to gbnews.com/alerts.

>> morning and welcome! this is britain's newsroom live across the uk and 6b news with andrew pierce and miriam cates. who's here in for bev turner. >> well, if 15 visits to 13 countries since the july election wasn't enough travels for sir keir starmer, he's clocking up more air miles today as he heads to norway and estonia. >> he's there officially in norway to launch a new green energy deal. i thought we had an energy deal. i thought we had an energy secretary who could have done that called ed miliband, who is a pile of appalling before joining other world leaders at a defence summit in estonia. >> well, i suppose the question is, as you said, is that what secretary of states are for? but every prime minister has a different style, and he's obviously taking the first months of his premiership as an opportunity to build bridges around the world. >> yeah, they tend to miss him, don't they? prime minister has become foreign secretary as well in the latter years of their premiership. yeah, but this one right at the beginning i mean that's this will be 17 countries. he's only been he's been prime minister for six months. >> but i suppose on the other hand, you could say, well, we want britain to be represented

on the world stage at the highest levels and shouldn't it? isn't he right to leave his cabinet secretaries to run the different departments, rather than trying to micromanage them, as previous prime ministers have been accused of? >> well that's interesting. let's talk to our political correspondent, katherine forster, who joins us from a rather chilly norway. >> yes. good morning. both. it's very cold and very windy here, but the rain has just stopped. hoping it holds off. and picking up on what you were saying a