>> good afternoon britain. it's midday on the 16th of december. it's a monday and this is merry christmas britain. i'm emily carver and i'm tom harwood. >> well, one afternoon at the palladium, farmers gather in a theatrical show of unity against labour's contentious tax raid. andrew lloyd webber's venue will play andrew lloyd webber's venue will play host to the major event as workers demand a reversal. our reporter adam cherry is there for us. >> that's right. i'm here in the

west end, where the farmers have descended upon the london palladium to protest those measures in the budget, that inheritance tax measure that they hated so much by farming communities will also be hearing from kemi badenoch, the leader of the opposition, later today as well. >> and of course, it's not just that in london, we're also going to be up in darlington, where 150 farmers will rally in a peaceful tractor showcase. anna o'reilly is there for us. tell us more. us more. >> us more. >> that's right. yes, we're here at darlington farmers auction mart up in the north east, where farmers are going to be rallying together in 150 tractors like this one. this one reads my family feeds yours. and farmers are going to be gathering in solidarity to show their opposition towards inheritance tax. >> fantastic stuff. and in other news, the foreign secretary, david lammy, has announced a £50 million aid package for vulnerable syrians after the fall of president assad. but should charity start at home,

and should prince andrew uninvite himself from christmas festivities over his alleged links to a chinese spy.7 >> links to a chinese spy? >> it comes as keir starmer expresses his concern about the challenge posed by the chinese government. was this royal taking advantage? >> yes, you may have noticed that we've had a bit of a rebrand this monday morning. we are no longer. good afternoon britain, we are merry christmas britain. >> absolutely. it's feeling very christmassy. i feel like we're sort of very much running up to that, but it doesn't mean that the news stops, even though we now have a bit of snow up here on the up here on the branding, which is a remarkable. >> things always changing here. things are always changing here @gbnews. we never stay still. >> do we know you've got to, you've got to, you've got to move. and also and also having just returned from the united states of america where all of

the signs say happy holidays and where that has sort of pervaded the sort of element of this time of year. i'm very glad we're we're making sure it is merry christmas rather than happy winter festivities. >> well, that's why we've had so many comments about this yet. i mean, happy holidays, happy festivities. happy festive period. oh it's christmas, happy winter, happy winter. may as well just say that happy winter or even drop the happy if you're going to be that you know pernickety about it all. there is a debate over whether to use merry or happy. i was always taught that you say happy christmas, but apparently merry christmas. i always thought merry christmas was american, but then perhaps i'm wrong. >> yeah, i don't know, i say, i say both, it depends. i think it depends on the setting. i mean, i'm going to do one in formal settings and one in informal settings and one in informal settings perhaps. >> but anyway, tom is back from america. he did dash from heathrow. your plane was a little bit late. >> i was delayed plane. slight anxiety as to whether we'd make it here in time, but plenty of

time. >> he didn't care about my anxiety. you know, whether i was going to have tom next to me or not. i've missed it. he doesn't appreciate this. >> oh, no. no, here's here's the thing. i didn't want to put you under too much anxiety, so i didn't actually tell you that there was there was a risk the flight would be delayed. >> classic man, classic man. drip feeding you information? >> no, no, no, it was very calm. everyone had a great time. and this is merry christmas britain. but it's your show as well. so please do get involved. gbnews.com/yoursay is the way to get in touch, but that's all to come after your very latest news headunes come after your very latest news headlines with sam francis. >> very good afternoon to you. it's just coming up to five minutes past midday. well, sir keir starmer says the government is concerned about the challenge that china poses 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 and reportedly met former prime

ministers and became a confidante of prince andrew. former conservative leader sir iain duncan smith is now demanding answers in parliament, while reform uk's 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, but says balancing economic ties is important with safeguarding national security. the conservatives tom tugendhat, meanwhile, has told us today that he thinks the labour government are moving too fast to re—establish relations with china. >> labour party is frankly being reckless in reaching out to china as they 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. >> the archbishop of york, stephen cottrell, has apologised for not acting sooner. he said in the case of sex abuse by priest david tudor, but insists there was no cover up in the church of england. tudor banned for life from ministry after admitting abuse involving two girls, was not removed until fresh complaints emerged. stephen cottrell said it was impossible to have acted sooner and described the case as horrible and intolerable. his statement today follows an investigation and he stressed that tudor was never protected. cottrell is set to take on additional duties when the archbishop of canterbury, justin welby, steps down in january. the government has approved the £56 the government has approved the £3.6 billion sale of royal mail's parent company today to czech billionaire daniel kretinsky. the deal includes guarantees to maintain six day a

week letter deliveries, protect pensions and avoid compulsory redundancies until 2025. unions say they've also secured commitments for a worker voice group and 10% share of future dividends, while the government retains a so—called golden share of the company. the firm has, though, faced heavy losses, pubuc though, faced heavy losses, public complaints and a £10 million fine for missed delivery targets. but kretinsky plans major investments, saying he'll support royal mail for as long as he's alive. a 25 year old onlyfans model has been handed a 13 week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months for throwing a milkshake at reform. ukip leader nigel farage victoria thomas bowen admitted assaulting mr farage outside a clacton pub during the general election, covering him with yellow liquid and damaging a security guard's jacket. mr farage, now mp for clacton, said the attack left him saddened but unhurt as he was simply doing his job. unhurt as he was simply doing hisjob. labour unhurt as he was simply doing his job. labour is planning the biggest shake up of local government in england since the 19705.

government in england since the 1970s. today, a paper out later 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. but district councils are warning the changes could cause turmoil and undermine local decision making. later this afternoon we're expecting to hear from the deputy prime minister, angela raynen deputy prime minister, angela rayner, and she will call devolution the default position for the labour government. a convicted terrorist is reportedly suing a pub called the saracen's head inn, saying he was deeply offended by its sign. it's reported that 60 year old khalid bakr claims the depiction of a bearded arab inches depiction of a bearded arab incites violence, despite him previously being jailed for preparing jihadi propaganda. he also claims it's racist and wants more than £1,800 from the pub's landlord, and plans to take on 30 more pubs with the same name if successful. but the owner, robbie hayes, has called

it a complete joke, adding that the pub has been called the saracen's head for 500 years and close to 1000 people are feared dead after cyclone chido tore through mayotte in the indian ocean, making it the strongest storm to hit the region in over 90 years. winds of up to 125 miles an hour ripped apart homes, leaving entire neighbourhoods in 1516 00:09:22,552 -->