borisjohnson and sadiq khan were among the two teams of debaters, representing the leave and remain campaignsere was also a second stage, where a panel of ten people represented voices beyond the official campaigns. all seven uk parties were back on the stage for the 2017 general election — but not theresa may. she chose not to take part in this bbc debate, sending the then home secretary, amber rudd, in her place. but, with so many voices taking part, the politicians sometimes struggled to make themselves heard. joining me now to discuss this is former editor in chief at itn and the relic of course, he's now a board member of the channel 4. did you attempt to get a wii debate that itn? i tried and failed many times. that is is, you haven't got a debate on mice the debate with turnovers they've all the cards. if they've all the cars. if they didn't turn up for the debate, there would be a debate. that talk about what has happened in this case. the busy debate, the one that didn't happen, why didn't it happen? we don't have all the details. as i understand it, the offers from itv and bbc were

and we came into office, sadiq khan said that was unacceptable, and he changed the policy so that nows critics say that that is very well, but failure to address the housing crisis is making a bad situation even worse. for mark, the rights and wrongs of the government policy is of cold comfort as he faces christmas on the streets. some of us are a bit unfortunate. you know, than others. and to the people at home, all i will say is merry christmas and happy new year. and just keep blessed. a british yachtswoman whose boat capsized in a storm in the south pacific two thousand miles offshore has finally set foot on dry land in chile. it's a week since she was rescued by a chinese cargo ship. susie goodall had been competing in the solo golden globe round the world race. duncan kennedy has more. this is what relief looks like when you step ashore after surviving the drama of a mid—ocean crisis. no wonder the hug from mum, brigitte, and brother tim... ..meant susie goodall‘s ordeal was finally over. 0k? all the best. with just a medical check—up to go. she is in shock now, she stayed in a

meanwhile, london's mayor, sadiq khan, has renewed his call for the charity—worker, nazanin zaghari—ratcliffefrom prison in iran today, in time for christmas and her birthday on boxing day. jim wee—bull reports. he is a renowned expert in computer science at london's imperial college and also a prominent campaigner. he was giving media interviews often about his opposition to sanctions and military intervention in iran. yet despite this, while visiting tehran professor abbas edalat, a dual british citizen, was arrested and accused of being a spy. the foreign office and imperial college london both confirmed today that professor edalat had returned to the uk, ending his eight—month ordeal. no doubt providing relief for his family and for the many in the academic world who campaigned for his release. but he is not the only dual british citizen who has been held in iran. nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, from west hampstead, will be spending her second christmas in an iranianjail, in prison for spying. a charge she vehemently denies. today, along with her husband richard ratcliffe, the mayor issued a s

but there were protests, including this giant baby trump balloon, which london mayor sadiq khan approvedor the summer recess, there were still some votes on the customs bill to get through. the european research group of conservative brexiteers had started to make life difficult for the prime minister by tabling amendments that they said would prevent the government pursuing what they saw as a soft brexit. the government supported those amendments and the bill narrowly passed, but they were accused of caving in to threats by the erg. some even talked about chequers being dead. never one to let things get her down, theresa may turned her hand to dancefloor diplomacy on a trade trip to africa. not once but twice, she got her groove on, proving there was more to life than brexit. the green party elected a new co—leader. sian berry won the contest after caroline lucas stood down. jonathan barclay, the other co—leader, was re—elected. the former first minister of scotland and leader of the snp alex salmond resigned from his party after claims of sexual misconduct were made against him. he den

it would be the second year in a row sadiq khan has opted for the biggest rise available to him.ority of services from 2020. —— finding love using mobile phone apps has increased ‘diversity‘ in dating in the capital — with more of us willing to meet people from a different background. that's according to one dating historian who's told bbc london playing the numbers game leads to more success than using niche apps which promise to filter users. one of the newest, toffee, is exclusively for those who went to private school. it's very tempting to go for a niche app because it sounds like it will save you all this annoying, degrading labour but my research suggests that they just degrading labour but my research suggests that theyjust don't degrading labour but my research suggests that they just don't work. you have to go through the juror asked to get to what you want. you have to do it, not a third party. 0ne have to do it, not a third party. one of the interesting things that has changed with the rise of these secretary is rising people interested in dating people of a different

mayor sadiq khan has pledged to crack down on it. 132 homicides and 57% of them we re on it. 132 homicidesem were due to stabbings. it's a significant problem in london that the mayor is under pressure to tackle, and he says he is going to do that. the headlines on bbc news... the home secretary prepares to chair a meeting this morning with the border force and other agencies, as he attempts to deal with the rising number of migrants trying to cross the channel. 39 people are arrested on suspicion of attempted murder following a stabbing in west london. the uk's political leaders deliver their new year messages, with a focus on britain's departure from the eu. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's katherine downes. let's start with the premier league, and manchester city — who had a bit of a wobble over christmas, but are back up to second after beating southampton. they beat southampton 3—1 but are second behind leaders liverpool, and they play each other on thursday for stop and this piece of skill from marcus rashford to providing the openerfor marcus rashford

the london assembly is demanding the mayor, sadiq khan takes urgent action to tackle the high levels and crime committee says it welcomes the newly formed violence reduction unit, but is concerned about the lack of detail about how it will operate. the mayors office says it's "clear there is no one single solution to tackling this complex issue". uncertainty caused by brexit is causing buyers and sellers in the capital to sit tight. the number of people looking for a new home fell in november in london — down 1a%, with many attributing this to brexit and the limited choice of properties for sale. for those desperate to escape the busy christmas bustle, the postal museum might have just the ticket. it's now offering walking tours through its subterranean network. visitors can explore the century old tunnels, which used to transport mail between depots under the capital's streets. is something that is really different from what most people have never experienced. but also the smallest of the tunnel. there are places where you have to bend over in orderjust to get through because the ce

sadiq khan claimed he only found out about the delay two days before it was made public, in late augusteurope's biggest infrastructure project has been pushed back again beyond its launch date of autumn 2019. a £1.4 billion bailout was announced earlier this month. a christmas party has been held in west london for those affected by the grenfell tower fire. organised by a residents association, the event included a meal cooked by members of the local tunisian community and support from mental health counsellors. it is now a year and a half since the fire, which killed 72 people. yes, we recently celebrated the 18 month anniversary, which was particularly challenging for all of us. so i think it was important as a community we tell people, you won't be on your own through the festive season, because it can be quite daunting, and a lot of people feel isolated, quite depressed, and still traumatised. let's take a look at the travel situation now. there is a good service on the tubes this morning. 0n the roads, it is starting to get busy on the m4 into town through the brentford elevated se

sadiq khan met her husband richard to offer his support.d euston station are closed, and planned engineering work will affect liverpool street station as well as many of the major lines. the family of a woman who was critcally ill with leukamia are preparing to welcome her home for christmas after raising thousands of pounds to pay for a private ambulance to transport her from hospital. sunita, from woolwich, spent 28 days in an induced coma after surviving multiple organ failure and sepsis. christmas is always a special time of year, but i think this one, definitely, this one definitely more special than most of the others have been. she is actually testament that miracles do happen. now let's take a look at this morning's travel. on the tubes, there are planned christmas closures on the overground between edmonton green and cheshunt, romford and upminster and south tottenham and barking. there are also planned closures on tfl rail. on the trains, lots of engineering works as i mentioned earlier, there's no service on southern between vict

the mayor sadiq khan has warned the number of met police officers will drop to its lowest level sinceunite them with theirfamilies in time for christmas. throughout december, five hundred riders will carry the photos of eight people as part of a campaign with the charity missing people. an earlier trial of the scheme across four cities including london resulted in three out of four people featured being found safe and well. next year the copper box will become home to another top—flight sports team, netball super league side london pulse. the venue‘s a regular home for netball, including yesterday‘s win for england over uganda in the third test. pulse founder natalie seaton thinks the new team will help inspire the next generation of players. we need to have opportunities and create opportunities for that local girl that plays in her primary school and loves the game, that pathway may not be that clear about how do you go to the next steps and, as you know, in london, a mile can feel like miles away. you‘ve got to do things nearby and close and accessible and itjust seemed like a no—b

borisjohnson and sadiq khan were among the two teams of debaters, representing the leave and remain campaigns this bbc debate, sending the then home secretary, amber rudd, in her place. but, with so many voices taking part, the politicians sometimes struggled to make themselves heard. joining me now to discuss this is former editor in chief at itn and the relic of course, he's now a board member of the channel 4. did you attempt to get a wii debate that itn? i tried and failed many times. that is is, you haven't got a debate on mice the debate with turnovers they've all the cards. if they've all the cars. if they didn't turn up for the debate, there would be a debate. that talk about what has happened in this case. the busy debate, the one that didn't happen, why didn't it happen? we don't have all the details. as i understand it, the offers from itv and bbc were quite similar. there would be a head—to—head section and then a other voices section. 0n bbc, this was good to beat one programme. 0n itv, there was good to be a debate before and after i misled to get the others you. are you surpris

the mayor of london sadiq khan has warned the number of met police officers will drop to its lowest levelhings stand, scotland yard is required to make a further £335 million of savings over the next three years. that's ten million more than previous forecasts. the mayor's call for more funding for police has been mirrored in other regions. i'm nowjoined by detective inspector warren hines, west midlands police federation spokesperson. thank you for adjoining us. what is the situation in the west midlands, we have had that morning from the mayor of london, what is it like where you are? well, i think sir, can is right to highlight the issue that they face in terms of police numbers in london. but in the west midlands, we are now in a situation where we have less police officers then we had in 1974 and you do not need to be any kind of expert to know that that leaves us in a really, really difficult position when it comes to delivering the kind of service that nobody expects from modern policing. and is that because of budgetary cuts? it is. aside from london, london is catching up with wh

but there were protests, including this giant baby trump balloon, which london mayor sadiq khan approved research group of conservative brexiteers had started to make life difficult for the prime minister by tabling amendments that they said would prevent the government pursuing what they saw as a soft brexit. the government supported those amendments and the bill narrowly passed, but they were accused of caving in to threats by the erg. some even talked about chequers being dead. never one to let things get her down, theresa may turned her hand to dance floor diplomacy on a trade trip to africa. not once but twice, she got her groove on, proving there was more to life than brexit. the green party elected a new co—leader. sian berry won the contest after caroline lucas stood down. jonathan barclay, the other co—leader, was re—elected. the former first minister of scotland and leader of the snp alex salmond resigned from his party after claims of sexual misconduct were made against him. he denied the allegations, but said he would resign to avoid any potential tensions within the party, w

the mayor of london sadiq khan has warned the number of met police officers will drop to its lowest levelh of savings over the next three years. that's ten million more than previous forecasts. the mayor's call for more funding for police has been mirrored in other regions. i'm nowjoined by sophie linden, london's deputy mayor for policing and crime. thank you forjoining us. are you concerned is about the reducing numbers of police? we are extremely worried about the level of are theions in police officers that london is facing, —— reductions, if the government don't reverse the cuts the metropolitan police have to ta ke cuts the metropolitan police have to take £335 million of of its budget and that will mean that police officer numbers will reduce and they will reduce down to the lowest level since 2002. below 27,000, that is at a time when we have london's population rising, violence on the streets of london riding and yet the government is still not putting its money where its mouth is and making sure that londoners and the met have the police force and police officer numbers they nee