faiza, we're good to with, it's got to be dominic cummings, and it's the front page of the ft we are kick off with first —johnson the ft we are going to kick off with first — johnson cuts cummings list. what details did you pick out in this that you found intriguing? one of the things i want to say, this is the story that is dominating across the story that is dominating across the papers, a picture of dominic cummings, whichi the papers, a picture of dominic cummings, which i think is really interesting, him walking out of number ten with a cardboard box. he does not have to walk out that way, and this speaks to me to the drama in numberten, to and this speaks to me to the drama in number ten, to the spectacle of him wanting to be seen to walk out in this way. and i think one of the things that is really irritated me about this story is that it is really political gossip in a lot of ways, there is very different pieces that will come out, for instance what cummings may or may not have said about boris johnson's fiance, various turn arguments internally, andi various turn arguments i

we are not going to follow dominic cummings, which is a market difference from when dominic cummingsxact same trick when he was running the leave campaign when there was a bit of attention and conflict, shall we say come at the top there, and various numbers of vote leave tried to sack him from that position, again, he threatened to take half the staff with him. and on that occasion, they said that they would follow him, on this occasion it looked like they sent no, actually, he will be on his owfi. sent no, actually, he will be on his own. so even though you can never predict what he's going to do, and i will completely agree that there have been numerous occasions when i would've thought he would've resigned or been sacked and he hasn't. he is certainly losing allies at the moment, and i don't think he necessarily wants to work ina work think he necessarily wants to work in a work environment that he is no longer in full control. also it's what the independent is focusing on as well with the rather dramatic picture on the front page. it's this idea that boris johnson picture on the

who will replace dominic cummings, the...be the new power brokers in number ten, and what does that mean importantly for us, with the rest of the country in the middle of a pandemic? what does that mean for how things will be dealt with in terms of track and trace? will that finally be sorted out? what happens with lockdown measures and the vaccine? will that be left in the shambles? what does it mean for the unemployment rate thatis it mean for the unemployment rate that is rocketing up and the various economic implications? and we just haven't had anything this year from government as told from a wider direction. that's what we really need to look for for yesterday's key, what does that mean for the type of government we will have going into 2021? rememberthat type of government we will have going into 2021? remember that a year ago borisjohnson going into 2021? remember that a year ago boris johnson came going into 2021? remember that a year ago borisjohnson came in, and an 80 seat majority. this is been a big fall from gr

and someone influence that dominic cummings and someone like lee cain has had.e is a lot of mps in the parliamentary party who had a very strong feelings about to dominic cummings and his allies. and it's being said, reported in westminster this evening that actually, dominic cummings who probably will be a household name in a way that lee cain isn't, may be thinking about resigning in solidarity with lee cain. so that's a lot of names being chucked out there, a lot of internal politics. i think for a lot of us, they will be sitting at home thinking, "goodness, what is going on a number ten? " we have got a global pandemic, brexit is about to happen, the number of official deaths from covert exceeded 50,000 today in the uk, the first european country whose official death toll has done that, and it just feels kind of awful to be meeting about —— reading about number ten meeting about —— reading about numberten in meeting about —— reading about number ten in meltdown on the front page. just thinking about her international audience, page. just thinking about her i

which is very dominic cummings way of handling it. iwould very dominic cummings way of handling it.tle bit more complicated than that. but certainly people in the tory party and friends who are not coming fans have seized on this as their moment to say, get rid of him. and reset your primary ship. reach across the aisle, talk to your party, talk to parliament. put forward a more positive vision of conservatism which we haven't really seen. also a reminder again in the guardian, dominic cummings said that he is not a conservative, he doesn't particularly like the conservative party anyway. that should also remind us of what kind ofan should also remind us of what kind of an individual he is. he's been running time but not downing street in the prime minister as a... even a tory. that is one way of putting it. this is one of the most dominic cummings resignation, not resignation, i won't be here by the end of 2021. he points to his blog andi end of 2021. he points to his blog and ijust end of 2021. he points to his blog and i just had end of 2021. he points to his blog and ijust had a

dominic cummings was right in a lot of his analysis.ting about government and what does not work well sometimes. but as always, the solutions are much harder than the diagnosis. like everyone, he found it very hard to change those things. in doing so, having bought quite a degree of antagonism to some of those relationships... that's not to say... every government has the right to change people and get people to see things its way, to try to get things to move more quickly. it takes most governments some time to do that, about six months anyway, and on top of that this government has had a pandemic. dominic cummings did have a supper no falls quality to it, which meant some people who perhaps would have been helpful to the government would not have been as helpful as they could have been. —— suffering no. as helpful as they could have been. -- suffering no. you talked about the relationship between boris johnson and his party. i wonder about the relationship between politicians and the public. we had controversy politicians and the publ

prime minister is being urged by conservative mps to use the departure of his chief adviser dominic cummings to "reset government". mr cummings left downing street for the final time last night after internal battles about his role. former brexit secretary david davis told the bbc that senior ministers are hoping for "more of a say" in how the country is governed. a warning — this report from our political correspondent jonathan blake contains flashing images. stepping out of number 10, but staying in the spotlight until the last possible moment. dominic cummings left downing street for the final time last night at the end of a torrid week. after a meeting yesterday afternoon at which the prime minister, we're told, wanted to clear the air and move on, mr cummings, already due out by christmas, was gone for good by the end the day. with that, say many, comes a chance for change. it does give the government a chance to reset all sorts of things. its relationship with parliament, the way it deals with the press, i'm told, its relationship with cabinet. so that, in one respect, is an advantage

it is hard to overstate the influence of dominic cummings and borisjohnson, influence of dominic cummingsf dominic cummings and borisjohnson, and on government as a whole. go back to before the election, remember, the government going to extreme lengths to get its brexit legislation through, chucking mps out of the party, suspending parliament as a whole and then, in the tory party manifesto, dominic cummings‘s personal priorities of investment in science and to and reaching out to areas left behind economically, taking the government support well beyond traditional tory areas of support. some will be sorry to see him go. but being far more vocal today are those who, frankly, are happy to see the back of him. 0ne tory backbencher described this as an opportunity to mock out the sta bles as an opportunity to mock out the stables and get a new team in. another tory mp said dominic cummings had such disdain for those on the backbenches, he couldn't care less that he was going and he should have gone sooner. less that he was going and he should have gone sooner. perhaps that gets to the heart

once in downing street, dominic cummings was hired to be the prime minister's right—hand man, brexit minister's right—hand man, brexit battles with parliament dominated before a landslide election win. if few month later, the pandemic and this. yesterday, i gave a full account to the prime minister of my actions... a trip to county durham during lockdown, putting dominic cummings once again at the centre of the story. it was very notable, there has not been a single mp who has come out this morning, that i have heard, anyway, who has said, lee cain should have stayed, dominic cummings should have stayed, i think there is a big chance for the prime minister to reset the way he runs number ten, to find a new chief of staff and impose a new structure that means that the decision—making comes from the top, it is very clear, and of course, that chief of staff and all the aids should be anonymous people. we should not be talking about them. much more than a man in the shadows, dominic cummings has heavily influenced borisjohnson‘s premiership so far and his departure will leave big question

narrative. 0k. does sort of play into the dominic cummings narrative.ence of this. at this and talking about whether it might mean a bit of what they call it backsliding on brexit in terms of the new trade deal if there is going to be a trade deal with the eu. will the fact that the vote leaf action are leaving downing street, will that —— vote leave. vote leaf action are leaving downing street, will that -- vote leave. we had about 50 days unless to the end of the transition period on december the 31st. there is undoubtedly concern at the loss of the mastermind of the brexit campaign, dominic cummings, will affect that. one of the reasons i think boris johnson liked to have dominic cummings on the payroll was that he has been dubbed a career psychopath by david cameron, the ex prime minister. that actually focus the minds of the european union like negotiators because when he said he was ready to drive britain over the edge of a cliff and a lever 30 deal, they actually believed when and this has brought them to a negotiation table and start to behave a

so, who is dominic cummings?15, the former advisor to michael gove ran the pro—brexit vote leave campaign in the eu referendum and was behind the group's "take back control" slogan. after becoming the prime minister's senior adviser in 2019, the "get brexit done" campaign message helped the conservatives win a large majority in the general election. but he made enemies. there were many disparaging comments. he described some tory brexiteer mps as "useful idiots". sajid javid resigned as chancellor after refusing to comply with mr cummings' request to dismiss his special advisers. three months later, he was fighting for his political life in the downing street rose garden, after two opposition party leaders demanded his resignation for travelling to his parents‘ farm during the covid—i9 lockdown. he survived. but it seems the announcement of his departure was accelerated after the news his close colleague, lee cain, resigned as communications director on wednesday night. dominic cummings insists he always wanted t

what do we now understand about the circumstances in which dominic cummings departed?f tension at number ten did come to a head yesterday afternoon. we know the prime minister had a meeting yesterday afternoon with lee cain, his former director of communications, and dominic cummings and it was said the prime minister wa nted and it was said the prime minister wanted to, at that meeting, clear the airand move wanted to, at that meeting, clear the air and move on. there are conflicting and colourful accounts about what was said and what happened in the hours after that. it is being claimed the prime minister accused the two men of briefing against his fiancee carrie symonds and that version of events is a hotly disputed by others. one source any room at the time described it as any room at the time described it as a lovely conversation between the three men at which they reminisced about their various achievements together. and then it yesterday evening, as we saw, dominic cummings left number ten by the front door carrying that cardboard box, a very deliberate move tha

and there's more on dominic cummings and his impact on british politics in taking control: the dominiclayer now. the serial killer peter sutcliffe, known as the yorkshire ripper, has died in hospital at the age of 7a. he had coronavirus. sutcliffe murdered 13 women across yorkshire and the north west of england between 1975 and 1980. he was also convicted of the attempted murder of seven other women. this report from our correspondent danny savage contains some flashing images. over a period of six years, all of these women were murdered by the same man. 13 families‘ lives torn apart by peter sutcliffe. wilma mccann was the first to be killed, in leeds in 1975. her son richard was just five years old when she died. he believes today brings some sort of closure. i know that there will be many people that welcome this day, and maybe some of them will get some peace. it is the man that took my mum's life, so it is significant. it's not... well, it is emotive in some ways, but i have got my own life and my own family now. let's get on with our lives with a bit more peace, shall we say, aft

comes after reports of a ongoing feud between ms symonds and the pm's now ousted senior adviser, dominic cummingsday mirror carries the headline ‘princess nut nuts‘ — believed to be used by some in downing street to describe ms symonds. it says the feud between the two was the reason mr cummings was ‘axed‘ from his position. the express urges the pm to ‘hold his nerve‘ as it claims brexiteers continue to back mrjohnson after what it describes as a ‘week of turmoil‘ the sunday times says one of britain‘s most influential lobbyists secretly served as an adviser to a health minister for six months — before sending sensitive information on lockdown policy to paying clients. the observer reports on claims that the prime minister‘s new press chief — allegra stratton, was left in tears after negative briefings made by the former director of communications, lee cain the mail on sunday leads on the palace‘s anger over netflix tv series, the crown. the paper claims friends of prince charles are furious at producers — accusing them of ‘trolling on a hollywood budget. and finally, the sunday people speak to

to an a p pa re ntly dominic cummings and lead to an apparently used about kerry simmons, the fiancently used about kerry simmons, the fiance of borisjohnson and it speaks to the counter briefings encounter, counter briefings that we have a nation have been subject to over who said what‘s, who thought what, who was on whose side and the one version of events as to what led to dominic cummings leaving very dramatically through the front door of number ten was a borisjohnson had been shown text that had been sent by dominic cummings which referenced kerry is being described by this nickname of princess nut nuts and we do not know whether that is actually true and they have said, thatis is actually true and they have said, that is definitely not what happened and allies have said that this is pa rt and allies have said that this is part of the picture that they were fighting against, but it does speak to the factions, the tension that has been going on behind that locked door in downing street but we do not necessarily know and in human relationships, you also do not know who was right

dominic cummings, in style and substance, has made his mark.s up. well, he was always someone who would shake things up. he didn‘t take things as if, just because they‘d been done that way, that they couldn‘t be done any other way, and it‘s good, ithink, to have people who challenge the system and challenge the way things are done. i'm not surprised, in a way, that it's ending in the way that it is. but no prime minister can afford a single adviser to become a running story, dominating his government's communications and crowding out the proper messages the government wants to convey. and nobody is indispensable. after another senior aide to the prime minister resigned earlier this week, dominic cummings told the bbc that rumours he too had threatened to quit were invented. but asked about claims he could be gone by christmas, he said his position hadn‘t changed since a blog which he wrote earlier in the year. in that, he said he planned to make himself redundant by the end of 2020. masterminding the successful vote leave campaign was dominic c

dominic cummings, the prime minister's top adviser, is to leave his job by christmas.l expressing a frequent concern about the bbc‘s political reporting... it'll be a few more weeks before the votes cast in the us presidental election are certified and the winner officially declared. but there's no doubt about who that will be in most people's minds, as ben wright described from washington on monday morning. donald trump continues to say nothing publicly aboutjoe biden having won this election. he has not given him his approval, he hasn't conceded, he's complained on twitter a lot, of course, about what he thinks is a rigged election — which he has no evidence for at all. on thursday, federal and state us election officials rejected president trump's claims of fraud, but the phrase used in that clip — that there was no evidence at all for those claims — and similar statements elsewhere on bbc news, was queried by graham lascelles... there were also objections from the other side of that argument, with someone using the twitter name wattsupdoc? wondering... in recent mo

dominic cummings will lead by the end of the year. as the second key advisor to johnson to head for the exit after tensions blew up. cummings was the mastermind of the successful brexit campaign vote leave. this is being portrayed as an internal fight over communications, over access. is that what this is about? financial markets are reading this as a significant develop and in the brexit story. is it the former, or is there some degree of brexit leaking into the story as well? reporter: ultimately it has been a bit of a power struggle at the top of number 10 for a while. dominic cummings has been by boris johnson's side since he became prime minister last july. dominic cummings led the very successful vote leave campaign. he ultimately propelled boris johnson to that position come so boris johnson owes him a lot for that. but i think in the past year, we have seen factions evolving in number 10. a lot of criticism about how boris johnson surrounds himself with a very small gang of people , and in terms of dominic cummings, that a lot

and dominic cummings is reputation. his ability to function as an effective adviser to the prime minister was i think we can, we can weakened 2nd episode. and of course, if dominic cummings is not able to function effectively as an advisor, then his usefulness to the prime minister is of course, greatly diminished. and so perhaps in that sense, what we're seeing in recent days in terms of his, the part number 10, is just an inevitable consequence of the events that occurred earlier this year. like him alone have he's obviously good at what he does says he said, the architect or mastermind of the brics. it campaign behind bars. johnson's reelection campaign or election campaign? is this the last thing of him? do you think or where do you think ted is and to next? well, i think you're quite right. whether or not one agrees with dominic cummings politics, the position he takes on the european union and so on. he is undoubtedly one of the most influential and important figures to have emerged in british government over the

lee cain, a close ally of dominic cummings and while he is an important figure in downing street, dominic street. the prime minister's cheap aid, a man who really does have the ear of boris johnson. there was huge controversy at the earlier in the year when dominic cummings travelled from county durham during lockdown and boris johnson refused to ask him to step down. there has been a lot of speculation over the future of speculation over the future of dominic cummings since this event and he has been speaking to our political editor tonight and asked about the rumours that he would be leaving number 10 by christmas. said in his blog that he planned to make himself redundant by the end of 2020 and a senior downing street sources said that he will be out of government by christmas. why this is important, a couple of big picture things, there is clearly been right a lot of turbulence in downing street over who gets whatjob and who has the ear of the prime minister and it is a government trying to tackle the pandemic on the other thing as well that lee cain and dominic cummings both worked o

some years might not be aware how important i think your dominic cumming is.ll us how significant his departure is —— i think dominic cummings is. he's an influential figure in the last ten years of british politics because he was one of the masterminds behind the vote leave campaign, the campaign for the uk to leave the european union back in 2016. he came back into downing street, actually he came into downing street for the first time with boris johnson downing street for the first time with borisjohnson became prime minister, and he was a really influential member of mrjohnson's. he had more power than most special advisers have in the uk government over things like policy. he was part ofa over things like policy. he was part of a faction in downing street which was designed to push brexit over the line to make sure it happened. they help make some of the really controversial decisions. unlawfully suspending parliament, introducing that legislation earlier this year, which ministers accept would break international law by going against the brexit withdrawa

—— dominic cummings is gone?king about the fact he personally isn't going to pound on this. david frost was unhappy with the departure of lee cain and dominic cummings. i do think there area dominic cummings. i do think there are a few ways. firstly, nigel farage after dominic cummings left. he took to the social media to suggest this meant a brexit sell—out was coming, so i think it could make a little bit harder to make brexit feel the success if you weapon eyes that side of it. i also have heard of view tory mps raise the question of view tory mps raise the question of what the team currently in number ten be the ones borisjohnson would wa nt ten be the ones borisjohnson would want but by his side and i know you'll brexit. —— a no—deal brexit. you have the scenarios... i think it pla nts you have the scenarios... i think it plants the seeds of doubt. very briefly, who agreed to allow dominic cummings to leave? i think he agreed to it. it clearly at choice, i think we can say. let's go the mail. end of the road

leaving by the front door for the last time — dominic cummings, who had been boris johnson's most seniortial aide, but whose time at the heart of government is over. when boris johnson became prime minister, he turned to his allies from the brexit referendum. mr cummings and his vote leave colleagues were brought in to make sure brexit was delivered and to shake up the way the government worked. but mr cummings was deeply controversial, often finding himself in the limelight, in particular after he refused to apologise after driving to barnard castle from london during lockdown. sorry i'm late. we agreed that we should go for a short drive to see if i could drive safely. but it's tensions in here which have proved his downfall, with faction fights in number ten bursting into the open in recent days as different groups fought for influence over the prime minister. boris johnson's fiancee, carrie symonds, was one of those who'd raised concerns, but for months, many of borisjohnson‘s mps and even some ministers had been unhappy at the style of government with mr cummings in number ten and t

a close ally of dominic cummings.g street, dominic cummings is central —— while lee cain. there was a huge controversy earlier in the year when mr huge controversy earlier in the yearwhen mrcummings huge controversy earlier in the year when mr cummings travelled from london to county durham during the height of lockdown. borisjohnson during the height of lockdown. boris johnson refused during the height of lockdown. borisjohnson refused pressure for calls to sacked the dominic cummings, displaying his importance to the prime minister. after the departure of lee cain, there's been a lot of lee cain, there's been a lot of speculation over the future of speculation over the future of dominic cummings and as you say, he's been speaking to our political editor laura kuenssberg tonight and he was asked about these rumours that he would be leaving number ten by christmas. saying his position has not changed. he has a blog in which he said he planned to make himself redundant by the end of 2020. a senior downing street source

dominic cummings was a key figure behind the successful brexit campaign.ars up for its biggest festival, diwali, this weekend.

: the prime minister is said to want to "clear the air and move on" after his chief adviser, dominic cummings, left downing street for the last time following a long—running power struggle. mr cummings, who's been one of the most influential figures in westminster in recent years, is expected to continue his work from home until he leaves his post in mid—december. our political correspondent nick eardley reports. leaving by the front door for the last time, dominic cummings, who had been boris johnson's last time, dominic cummings, who had been borisjohnson‘s most senior, influential aid, but whose time at the heart of government is over. when borisjohnson the heart of government is over. when boris johnson became the heart of government is over. when borisjohnson became prime minister he turned to his allies from the brexit referendum. mr cummings and his vote leave collea g u es cummings and his vote leave colleagues were brought in to make sure brexit was delivered to shake up sure brexit was delivered to shake up the way the government worked. but mrcummings was up the way the government

the uk prime minister's most senior and influential adviser dominic cummings has left downing street of number 10 very publicly on friday afternoon after clearing his desk. mr cummings, you may remember, ran the campaign to leave the eu in 2016. vicki young's report contains flash photography. leaving for the final time. one of the most influential figures in westminster propelled out of the door after a power struggle that erupted publicly and left downing street in turmoil. two. -- cheering and applause. dominic cummings has been at borisjohnson‘s side for years, and made plenty of enemies. the prime minister has been persuaded he needs a different style of government, which means no place for some of his most loyal advisers. dominic cummings made his name as a formidable campaigner, first against the uk joining the euro. it was the eu referendum that forged his relationship with borisjohnson, and he was credited with the winning slogan "take back control". but the move into government threw up different challenges. mr cummings was ruthless with those he didn't consider to be loyal.

the dominic cummings era in government is coming to an end.to clear the air in downing street, and that means his chief aide, seen here this morning leaving home, won't be returning to number 10. the way this place works matters to us all — to how decisions are made, to the direction of policy. after the very high—profile departures of recent days, and some of the drama inside, some tories are hoping for a change. it does give the government a chance to reset all sorts of things — its relationship with parliament, the way it deals with the press. i'm told, its relationship with cabinet. many of the failures of the last nine months have not been mr cummings‘s fault, they've been intrinsic in the system. there have been many unhappy tory mps in recent months, angry at high—profile u—turns, worried the prime minister wasn't listening to them. one of them told me changes in the top team would be important. it's going to make an enormous difference. over the past year, there has been a significant and growing gap between the number 10 operation and

the cane, a close ally of dominic cummings, and while he is an important figure —— lee cain, dominic 's chief aid, a man who really has the ear of boris johnson. chief aid, a man who really has the ear of borisjohnson. and if you remember, there was a huge controversy earlier in the year when mr huge controversy earlier in the yearwhen mrcummings huge controversy earlier in the year when mr cummings travelled from london to county durham during the height of lockdown. borisjohnson during the height of lockdown. boris johnson refused during the height of lockdown. borisjohnson refused because to sack him, emphasising his importance to the prime minister but following the departure of lee cain, there is a lot of speculation regarding the future of dominic cummings, and he has been speaking to our political editor, laura kuenssberg, tonight, and a nswered kuenssberg, tonight, and answered these rumours about him earlier. he said his position hasn't changed and that he seeks to be largely redundant by the end of 2020. a senior government redundant by the end of 2020. a senior government s

dominic cummings was very keen for that to happen. the uk has been blamed for that.down. many of prime minister, advices come and go. there area minister, advices come and go. there are a lot of members of the tory party celebrating his departure. he got ina party celebrating his departure. he got in a lot of fights with the media, band ministers from going on holiday, etc. serve his purpose to the prime minister but it would appear that purpose has expired. the prime minister but it would appear that purpose has expiredlj wonder appear that purpose has expired.” wonder if we'll find out who leaked that. in the meantime, the labour party issuing a statement about this. basically flagging up the fact that this has been a green milestone when it comes to the coronavirus deaths for the uk. we don't have much time, but this is happening politically? that's right. expect the opposition to be pointing this out, but it's grim and depressing to see numberten out, but it's grim and depressing to see number ten melting down before our eyes when the country is managing the bigg

dominic cummings has been at borisjohnson's side for years and made plenty of enemies.aded he needs a different style of government, which means no place for some of his most loyal advisers. dominic cummings made his name as a formidable campaigner, first against the uk joining the euro. it was the eu referendum that forged his relationship with borisjohnson, and he was credited with the winning slogan, "take back control." but the move into government threw up different challenges. mr cummings was ruthless with those he didn't consider to be loyal. he was dismissive of the cabinet, conservative mps and the civil service. parliament was controversially suspended when it tried to block a no—deal brexit. although he wasn't a member of the conservative party, he masterminded a huge election victory, appealing to leave voters in the north of england. well, he was always someone who would sort of shake things up, he didn't take things as, just cos they had been done that way they couldn't be done any other way. and it's always good, i think, to have people who challenge the

senior conservatives have urged the prime minister to use the departure of his chief adviser, dominic cummings walked out of downing street last night after the resignation of another seniorfigure, the director of communications, lee cain. the former brexit secretary, david davis told the bbc that ministers are now hoping for "more of a say" in how the country is governed. a warning — this report from our political correspondent, nick eardley, contains flashing images. the dominic cummings era in government is coming to an end. borisjohnson wants to clear the air in downing street, and that means his chief aide, seen here this morning leaving home, won't be returning to number ten. the way this place works matters to us all — to how decisions are made, to the direction of policy. after the very high—profile departures of recent days, and some of the drama inside, some tories are hoping for a change. it does give the government a chance to reset all sorts of things — its relationship with parliament, the way it deals with the press. and many of the failures of the last nine months have not been

our top story this evening: dominic cummings has left his role as done for good.or good. coming up, a0 years of children in need. how it has had to change to cope with covid. coming up on sportsday on bbc news: scotland's history makers reflect on a night of drama — as the men's side make the finals of a major tournament for the first time in 22 years. there could be a radical shake up in the way students in england are offered university places. 0ffers offers of places will be made after exa m offers of places will be made after exam results, not on the basis of predicted grades. it could happen as $0011 predicted grades. it could happen as 50011 as predicted grades. it could happen as soon as 2023. the move has been welcomed by university lecturers and head teachers was more the unions amid concerns the current system is unfairto amid concerns the current system is unfair to disadvantaged students. working hard to get to university. they are applying with predicted grades. in an exclusive interview, the education secretary said change would help disadvantaged st

the prime minister's most senior adviser, dominic cummings, is to leave downing street by christmas. confirmation of his departure comes amid reports of internal tensions in number ten. let's speak now to our political correspondent, leila nathoo, who joins us from westminster. this has been rumbling now for a couple of days at least. a lot of people saying it is exposing some real issues at the heart of downing street, where are we now? there had been rumours that dominic cummings was going to resign following the departure of his close ally, lee cain, who was the prime minister's director of communications, who said he was going to stand down yesterday. this was all as a result of factionalfighting, yesterday. this was all as a result of factional fighting, personality clashes, tensions in downing street which have been exposed in recent days. dominic cummings has said to the bbc that nothing has changed in his position, he always intended to step down really in the new year, he wrote a blog back injanuary where he said he intended to make himself largely redundant by the end of 202

we spelled dominic cummings wrong. lee cain walked — dominic cummings walked soon after. quietly. lets talk to sketch writer matt chorley, who now has his own programme on times radio. max, good to see you. i saw your tweet earlier, you set out to go the mitchell brothers who are the two ha rd mitchell brothers who are the two hard men in the long—running tv show e standards and income thelma and louise. is that the right analogy? because i think thelma and louise drove off a cliff at the end, didn't they? i dunno, we had a lot of fun while they were doing it. —— they had a lot of fun while they were doing it. probably the middle of the thelma and louise film at the moment. but it is very much committed scenes, carrie simons, the prime minister's beyonce and allegra stratton's his new press secretary, are going to front up the new white house style briefings from the new year. i seem to be in the driving seat on all of us. what's interesting though is that lee kane's idea to bring in someone to tv briefings and allegra stratton was the person that the prime minister chose,

dominic cummings, the prime minister's top adviser, is to leave his job by christmas.street. not all the audience shared the media's fascination with all this, with phil campbell expressing a frequent concern about the bbc‘s political reporting... it'll be a few more weeks before the votes cast in the us presidental election are certified and the winner officially declared. but there's no doubt about who that will be in most people's minds, as ben wright described from washington on monday morning. donald trump continues to say nothing publicly aboutjoe biden having won this election. he has not given him his approval, he hasn't conceded, he's complained on twitter a lot, of course, about what he thinks is a rigged election — which he has no evidence for at all. on thursday, federal and state us election officials rejected president trump's claims of fraud, but the phrase used in that clip — that there was no evidence at all for those claims — and similar statements elsewhere on bbc news,

the difficulty that dominic cummings has had is he's become so high profile that he almost is the story. he dominated is the political profile image of the government almost beyond any other minister, including the prime minister, and that's not really sustainable in the long term. so not since i think his position became unsustainable as growing outrage in bell or suffer the death of an addict of the protest at 31 year old roman on that anchor died on wednesday in the capital. minsk. witnesses say, had been detained and beaten by security forces. the interior ministry has denied responsibility here opinion has threatened further sanctions. shelling between indian and pakistani troops has killed 9 people on both sides of the disputed region of kashmir. these are the moments after the bombs dropped on pakistan administered kashmir. india and pakistan are accusing each other of violating the longstanding ceasefire. aid organizations are warning of an unfolding crisis on west africa's atlanta coast, with a record number of migrants trying to make it to europe. last weekend, more than 2600

so back in the summer when we did the dominic cummings story, which is one of those great stories that do, and it was late on a friday night that we finally got enough to get it over the line to get it up online at seven and then in print in next morning, and so there was me in my spare room and then there was our head of news, who was sat by his son's bunk beds working and then our night editor there in his flat and i was thinking, this is not how it looks in the movies, is it? where you try to break a really big, important story. i would love to get your side of that whole story, this whole business of dominic cummings and the trip to barnard castle back in may. this is a big exclusive you shared with the guardian. we spoke to pippa crerar, your political editor, about it. just tell us again why we ended up working together with the guardian on something like that. as you say, people are very protective of their ideas. yes, we are, but pippa crerar had had a call on that story within a couple of hours of the siting of dominic cummings. was this the alleged... yes, so we had had a cal

lee cain is a key ally of dominic cummings. lot of people who are massively unhappy with his promotion to chief of staff and didn't think it was the right thing for the prime minister to do. and i think what time was saying earlier is exactly right. this feels like a westminster bible story. but the reason why it's important is it speaks to the internal divisions within government. it probably will have lots of real—world ramifications in terms of what direction the government goes on in terms of the pandemic and how it manages communications around that. a real critical public health issue. and in terms of brexit. so, it feels like we are watching a westminster soap opera, but it's a soap opera that is probably going to end up affecting all of our day—to—day lives, but you know, i just all of our day—to—day lives, but you know, ijust come back to this point, itjust know, ijust come back to this point, it just feels know, ijust come back to this point, itjust feels so unnerving and so unsettling to know all of this stuff is goi

, dominic cummings is a very centralfigure in downing street. johnson. if you remember, there a huge controversy earlier in the year when mrcummings huge controversy earlier in the year when mr cummings travelled from london to county durham during the highlight of lockdown. boris johnson refused to sack him, displaying his importance to the prime minister. after the departure of lee cain, a lot has been said about the future of cummings. he's been speaking to laura kuenssberg tonight and he was asked about these rumours. he has a blog in which he said he planned to make himself redundant by the end of 2020 a source said mr cumming will be out of government by christmas. why this is important, there is clearly been quite a lot of turbulence in downing street over the past couple of days about who has the ear of the prime minister. does government that is trying to tackle a pandemic and the other thing is both of them worked on the vote leave, the brexit campaign, along with boris johnson. vote leave, the brexit campaign, along with borisjohnson.