>> very good morning to you. it's 930 on friday, december the 20th. live across the uk. this is britain's newsroom with ben leo and nana akua. >> yes. good morning to you. now the trump tamer. labour peer lord mandelson, who was instrumental in new labour, will be the uk ambassador to the united states. now this is the man who called donald trump a bully back in 2018 fixing britain's roads. >> the government has pledged £1.6 billion for road maintenance and filling in those ghastly potholes. but is this a victory for drivers? transport secretary heidi alexander thinks so. 50. >> so. >> it's imperative that this new labour government takes action to fix this. that is why we are investing an additional £500

million into local council highways budgets next year. >> the great christmas getaway it's expected to be the busiest travel day of the year today, as 4 million people plan to spend christmas overseas. >> millions of drivers getting away today. but travel bosses fear there could be chaos on the rails and the roads. >> the countdown is on for pensioners to apply for pension credit, so you can receive this year's winter fuel payment. the deaduneis year's winter fuel payment. the deadline is tomorrow. we'll tell you how. >> and as christmas sales come early in some major outlets, we're asking is it better to do your shopping online or on the high street? we will debate that. >> elsewhere, top doctors claim that 70th may be the new 60. that's as older people in england have never been in such good health. what are your top tips to keep you feeling young?

>> are christmas shopping? you know, like i said, i haven't actually done all of it only because my kids go off somewhere and they come back after christmas so i can actually take advantage of the sales. >> so i don't know, i think i think that's such a good idea. why not go out on boxing day when everything's 70% off? all your waiting is one day, 24 hours, and you save so much money. and i can bet you as well, for families that are hard pressed trying to save a couple of quid, it's such a good idea. >> but then it is and it isn't. i mean, in the morning when there's nothing under the tree and the kids are. >> yeah, you could have a few little bits and bobs and then get all the big stuff in the sales on boxing day and even january as well, if you can wait. but i suppose you'd have to convince the kids to wait as well. >> yeah, i don't think that would work, actually. now, thinking about it, when you thinking about it, when you think of say it out loud, but it doesn't work. it's a bit naff. send me your thoughts, post your comments gbnews.com/yoursay. but first, here's your news with

tatiana sanchez. >> ben nana. thank you very much and good morning. the top stories. while lord mandelson is expected to be named as the uk's next ambassador to the us. lord mandelson, who served in the cabinets of sir tony blair and gordon brown, is poised to be the uk's next top diplomat in washington in a political appointment as donald trump returns to the white house. prime minister sir keir starmer believes the labour veteran has the trade expertise and networking abilities to bring the uk and america closer together. dame karen pierce, the current ambassador, will remain in the post until trump is inaugurated on the 20th of january, according to the times. elsewhere, millions of drivers start their holiday journeys from today, with motor agencies warning of a pre—christmas panic on the roads and record levels of traffic. data from the rac estimates 29.3 million journeys will be made by motorists in the run up to christmas day. about half of these are set to be made over the weekend, after around

5.7 million journeys on wednesday and thursday. the rac said today will be frantic friday on the roads, with an expected 3 million trips in a bid to help make those journeys smoother, national highways said the agency will remove roadworks on 95% of the roads they manage. the prime minister says councils should get on with the job of fixing pothole plagued roads. sir keir starmer says damaged roads can risk lives and cost hundreds, if not thousands of pounds for car repairs. he made the comments as the department for transport announced how much each local authority in england will receive to maintain roads in the next financial year. the treasury announced in the budget in october that total local road maintenance funding for 2025 and 2026 is nearly £1.6 billion, representing a £500 million uplift compared with the previous 12 months. the increase is estimated to be enough to fix around 7 million potholes , and

around 7 million potholes, and king charles will continue his cancer treatment into next year, gb news understands. buckingham palace says his treatment has been moving in a positive direction and as a managed condition, the treatment cycle will continue. the palace is said to be optimistic about the king's health as he continues his royal engagements in 2025. further details of the king's condition have not been disclosed and when announcing the diagnosis in february, the palace asked for privacy and only confirmed it's a form of cancen only confirmed it's a form of cancer. and those are the latest gb news headlines for now. i'm tatiana sanchez. more in half an hour for the very latest gb news direct to your smartphone, sign up to news alerts by scanning the qr code or go to gbnews.com/alerts. >> hello. good morning to you. hope you're well and you've had a good week. it's our last show before christmas. >> yes. careful, though. those

words. christmas. >> yes. >> yes. >> my last show before christmas. yes. >> oh, right. okay. okay. right. yes. it feels a bit a bit premature. there's so much going on politically, isn't there? laboun on politically, isn't there? labour. the gift. i mean, christmas terms. the gift that keep on giving. >> well, they do, don't they? and this is this a good, good gift, though? i mean, seriously, peter mandelson. who is he? what kind of a man is he? labour peer peter mandelson. he's set to be made the british ambassador to the us as the prime minister attempts to forge a relationship with the incoming trump administration. yes. >> lord mandelson, who was instrumental in the new labour movement under tony blair. of course he'll take over as donald trump begins his second term as us president. >> now this comes as the prime minister's chief of staff, morgan mcsweeney, held a secret meeting with donald trump top his top team this week. so can labour get trump onside to speak to former labour special adviser paul richards? listen, paul, it's going to be a tall order, isn't it? surely. i know lots of people have said horrible things to donald trump and he seems to

get over it. but let's not forget our foreign secretary david lammy and his words, calling him a neo—nazi sociopath or whatever it was. do you think that we can get trump onside? >> well, i think we can. and if anyone can, i think it's peter mandelson. he could charm the birds out of the trees. i don't know if you know him, but i mean, he's one of the most brilliant people. i think he's had a long record both in british parliament and in government, in the cabinet, of course, but also as a in trade in the eu, as a trade commissioner and in the house of lords and in private business. he's pro atlanticist. so he's never said anything bad about trump, as far as i can tell. he called him a bully and i think he called him. i think trump would rather like that. i think that would go down. that would be a compliment. and i think i can imagine him in a room with trump, and i imagine he would lay the flattery on with a trowel, you know, and he would really get on. well, i think this is a brilliant, brilliant appointment. >> well, i'd like to see him charm the birds out of the tree. >> i can actually imagine. i agree with you. i can't imagine trump would like that. he

probably takes some merit in being called a bully. look, mandelson is a massive remainer. i'm not sure if he still wants to rejoin the eu. probably by his record. what does it say about keir starmer's message to donald trump and his new administration? because there was some narrative and conjecture in recent weeks about the uk needing to side with either the us or either the quote unquote socialist eu. so is starmer saying here we're going to be sticking with, you know, the eu? >> i don't think that's the signal it sends. i think the signal it sends. i think the signal it sends is that, you know, this is a serious appointment of a big political figure, ap