>> merry christmas britain. it's 12:00 on friday the 20th of december. >> i'm tom harwood and i'm emily carver. >> two men have been charged with actual bodily harm after a disturbance at manchester airport in july. the crown prosecution service have said no police officers will be charged over the incident. we'll have the very latest on this developing story with our home and security editor. >> yes. and in other news, the labour heavyweight, the titan peter mandelson, is poised to become the uk's top diplomat in washington ahead of a trump presidency. but will the prime minister have questions to answer about an apparent relationship between mandelson and jeffrey epstein? we'll be taking a closer look and fresh hope for mh370. >> could one of the biggest mysteries of the last decade finally be solved? today, it's revealed that the search will start again in a new stretch of

the indian ocean. we'll have the very latest. >> it's quite exciting. and later in the show, we're going to bring you an exclusive story of a slightly adult nature as an uber driver is caught watching what appears to be pornography whilst driving. we'll be speaking to the passenger who caught the shocking moment, and bnng caught the shocking moment, and bring you the exclusive footage. all right. mandelson the right person for the job. >> it's interesting. i can't remember the last time that britain had a political appointment in washington dc. the americans, they always send out political appointments. it's always a new president in a new ambassador, a friend of the president, someone who'd been in politics before. that's always that. that's always who gets deployed. i mean, woody johnson, for example, was trump's ambassador in london during his first term. there are always

political. >> so we're doing the american thing. >> but but yes, this is strange because we've had diplomat after diplomat after diplomat, and now we're getting politician. >> yeah. how do we feel about all that? is that what you would expect from sir keir starmer? >> it's interesting. i think they've got to play it cleverly because trump is a is a hard ball to handle. right. but but peter mandelson has been a player in both washington dc and in london for quite some time. >> he's a divisive character, isn't he? i mean, he was forced to resign from the cabinet a couple of times. there's been various scandals. there have been questions over a relationship with jeffrey epstein. keir starmer has had to answer questions relating to that. previously. in january of this year, actually. and he's described trump mandelson has as a danger to the world and little short of a white nationalist. so mandelson, that's how he's described trump. but i mean, that's not much different from most of the cabinet, really. no. >> and this is the thing, they were never going to put someone

who was not of sort of a fellow traveller of this government's ideology in there. i mean, that would sort of be almost like you're giving an appointment to trump rather than someone that represents the government that this country elected. yeah, but i think there is an interesting question over mandelson as a former eu commissioner, as the guy that used to run trade for the european union, we know trump's antipathy, antipathy towards the european union and also the fact that he's mandelson's love for it. right. so is this going to make the uk look too european? isn't our great opportunity with the trump presidency is we can we don't have to be lumped in with the european tariffs. >> i mean remember when there was all that talk about, you know, nigel farage being the ambassador out in washington. mandelson. very different kettle of fish. gbnews.com/yoursay. we're also going to be hearing which new labour peers. they're going to be dozens, apparently. but it is the headlines for tatiana.

>> emily, thank you and good afternoon. the top stories. 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. elsewhere, two men have been charged with assaults on police officers following an incident at manchester airport incident at manchester airport in july. 20 year old mohammed ahmad is charged with two offences of causing actual bodily harm. one charge of assaulting an emergency worker and one charge of common assault. and 25 year old mohammed ahmad is charged with causing actual bodily harm, the crown prosecution service said no police officers would be

charged in relation to the incident. the men are due to appear at liverpool magistrates court on the 16th of january. the met office is urging people to prepare for disruptive weather this weekend as the christmas holidays begin. yellow warnings for wind have been issued in parts of the uk, could be hit by gusts of up to 85mph. millions of drivers start their houday 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 to be made by motorists in the run up to christmas day. about half of these are set to be made over this weekend, after around 5.7 million journeys on wednesday and yesterday, 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.

well, that is, 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 in 2025 and 2026 will be 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. transport secretary heidi alexander says it's important local communities get the best results. >> it will be releasing 75% of this funding next year to start off with, and we withhold 25% to ensure that councils are reporting back to us on how they are using that money, because we know that some roads at the

moment are like obstacle courses, aren't they? you've got huge craters in them. and so what we need to make sure is that those really big safety problems are being tackled first and foremost. but we want councils as well to think strategically about how they use this money in the best way, because it's really important that we get good value for money. >> in other news, the department for health and social care are announcing a package of gp reforms to slash red tape, they say, and bring back the family doctor. the government is consulting with the british medical association on measures including the largest boost to gp funding in years, and reducing outdated targets to free up time. measures also include additional investment and greater flexibility to employ doctors. as the health secretary, wes streeting vows to reform general practice backed by the biggest boost to gp funding in years. an extra £889 million on top of the existing budget for general practice. the proposals would ensure that patients most in need see the

same doctor at every gp appointment. health and social care minister stephen kinnock says the plans will deliver better outcomes for patients. >> package of £889 million of investment that we're bringing forward today is really going to help to fix that front door, but investment always has to come with reform. so the negotiations that we'll be launching with the bma will be based on busting all the bureaucracy and the red tape that they have to deal with. there'll be a patient's charter so patients know what they can expect from the practice that they're registered with. there's going to be much better online access. and we're going to bring back the family doctor. we're going to incentivise surgeries to ensure that people are seeing the same doctor, because that's what gets much better outcomes for them. >> and king charles will reportedly continue his cancer treatment into next year. buckingham palace says his treatment has been moving in a positive direction and as a managed condition, the treatment cycle managed condition, the treatm