the day the uk's set to leave the eu. during a tumultuous time in british politics, hidden from view, this 4—year refurbishment has continued. all of the stone that we put onto the tower is hard—carved, which is a phenomenal thing to see, brilliant, and it may take them between three and four weeks to produce a carving such as this crown that you can see along here. so, a real labour of love. so, this is the eastern clock face, high up the elizabeth tower, and the most striking thing is the colours. it's not the black paint we're familiar with, but gold and blue. so, we found that as we scratched back through the layers, we were scratching, basically going back through time, and found that this was the colour that it was originally. so, it's really exciting to find that blue colour as we went back through the layers. and it's prussian blue. prussian blue, yeah. this is gold leaf. and we've reglazed the whole of the clock face with hand—blow opal glass. even standing here, on a rainy day, surrounded by scaffolding, you see that — that's one of the faces of elizabeth tower...big ben. yes. it's so iconic. to actually be able to stand here and — i won't touch the gold, but i will touch in between — it's — not many people can do that. in 2021, the scaffolding will disappear and the world's most famous bell will again be heard not just on special occasions, but every hour, every day. tim muffett, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with sarah keith—lucas. good evening. sunday brought a mild day for most of the uk and that's set to continue over the next few days. in the run—up to the new year, lots of dry, settled weather. some patchy rain in the north—west of scotla nd patchy rain in the north—west of scotland tonight, but for the rest of the uk it should be dry. some clear spells. variable amounts of cloud. there could be a bit of frost and missed an us across parts of england and wales but now there and cloudierfor england and wales but now there and cloudier for scotland and northern ireland, where it will be frost free. the weather front is sitting across northern scotland for monday morning, drifting slowly south but high pressure across europe holding onto the weather for most. some patchy rain for the likes of aberdeenshire in the morning. by the afternoon that will push into argyll and bute, towards northern ireland as well. sunny, clearer conditions to the north of that. for england and wales that should stay dry during the day with temperatures around 11—12, cooler for the during the day with temperatures around 11—12, coolerfor the north of scotland. new year's eve looks mostly dry, but be prepared for some mist and fog. i buy. mostly dry, but be prepared for some mistand fog. i buy. —— mostly dry, but be prepared for some mist and fog. i buy. —— goodbye. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines... a man has appeared in court in the us, afterfive people were stabbed at the home of a rabbi in new york state. the governor calls it "domestic terrorism". the mayor of sydney says the new year fireworks display will go ahead as planned — despite a petition calling for it to be cancelled out of respect for those affected by the ravaging bushfires. in an effort to ease pressure on hospitals and doctors‘ surgeries, the nhs has trained paramedics who can prescribe medicine. and restoration work on london's big ben will pause for one night only — so its famous bongs can ring in the new decade. next, simon mccoy looks back at the challenges and opportunities faced by britain s coastal communities this year, in review 2019: coastal britain. hello, i'm simon mccoy. this year, as part of a special series, we have looked at some of the main challenges and opportunities facing britain's coastal communities. we have been looking at a whole range of subjects, from employment and the future of tourism, to issues including poverty, loneliness and the environment. earlier this year i went to penzance. we will hear from there later in the programme, but first, back in may, we visited great yarmouth in norfolk. three years ago it was chosen as a pilot site for the introduction of universal credit — a welfare reform which combines six benefits into a monthly payment. 0ne school in town was running its own food bank because it said some families did not have enough money to feed their own children. the government at the time said it could not be claimed that universal credit was driving the overall use of food banks. great yarmouth — like many coastal towns, deprivation is an issue here. and one primary school knows about this issue all to well. sharon is a support advisor and helped to set up a food bank at the school. michael is a parent. right, what would you prefer for breakfast? why do you have to do this? because what we are on, we are on universal credit. they think that we can live on the money that they give us. and we can't. how important is the school? it's majorly important for me and my family. without the food bank or the school, we would be stuffed. i would have had to go out stealing. you'd have to go out stealing without this school? yes. it was head teacher debbie whiting's decision to start the food bank last autumn in response to an increase in the number of students turning up to school hungry. in orderfor a child to be able to learn and come into school ready to learn, there is a whole raft of things that need to be in place. they need to be fed, warm, feel safe. it is difficult. we've had parents who find it difficult to manage financially to actually feed their children. because of, really, the introduction of universal credit. one of those parents is lee. he is learning to cook at the school alongside others going through tough times. we waited eight weeks for the universal credit payment. in the meantime, the school has been a great help, giving us food parcels. but the school's ability to help disadvantaged families now faces a new threat. the school budget has been cut. staff will have to go. debbie's job is on the line. will i end up as one of these who would rely on the food bank that we have here? who knows? i don't know. i'm a single—parent, i've got children. one of those things. it can't be helped. there are efforts to regenerate and create jobs for the community. for example, in the renewable energy sector. three of the biggest wind farms in the world are either currently under construction or planned off the norfolk coast. earlier in the year, we followed gwyn evans, unemployed but after months of training, got himself a job in this emerging job market. six months ago i found myself unemployed. being out of work is no fun. there have been times when money has been really, really tight and you had to budget hard to get through day by day. you are keeping an eye on your meter beeping, thinking, when is the electric going to cut off? all crew, abandon ship! and to get more on this emerging industry, i spoke to the chief executive of the east of england energy group, simon gray, in great yarmouth. people don't mind offshore wind as much as onshore, we had some objections to that but these will be larger turbines being more efficient and cost—effective. offshore wind is really coming home and hitting great yarmouth and lowestoft and the entire east coast. 0ver your shoulder they are putting together the next generation of these turbines. what struck me, talking to someone this morning, is the speed of progress in the power that one turbine can produce. one of those now is producing what ten of those were producing not long ago? pretty much. they are getting bigger and bigger and the output greater and greater so they are more cost—effective. it's good news for everyone. so, before renewable energy, tourism was king. but what about now? to find out more about how the tourism industry is faring, i spoke to the founder ofjoyland theme park in great yarmouth, michael cole. we went on a snail ride together... this isn't something you do every day. this is your snail ride. 70 years old this year. what have you seen change in great yarmouth in that time? i can remember the late 1960s, into the ‘70s. yarmouth boomed and it was really busy. into the 1980s, it kind of declined a little bit into the ‘90s. to be quite honest, the last three orfour years, i think there has been a bit of a resurgence. we are coming to the big dip. hold tight! right, anyway! laughter. you're enjoying this, aren't you? i thought i would! what about things like wind farms and things like that, does that change the feel of a town like this? i think it is, to a degree but we have always had industry here. the oil industry, i think the wind technology is taking over from what the oil industry was doing so there is a mix in yarmouth with tourism and industry. as you can see, i rather enjoyed my visit to great yarmouth. next, penzance in cornwall. we visited in october and found similar challenges facing the town. in fact, bbc news analysis found that seaside workers in areas like that are likely to earn £1600 per year less than those employed inland. the all—parliamentary group for coastal communities said the findings showed seaside towns were being left behind. jon kay went to meeet three generations of one family living in penzance. just a mile from the beach... the treneere estate — one of the poorest parts of britain. the coram family wanted to show us how they get by. we survive day by day. dad mike is a full—time security guard and earns 18 grand a year. he is paid on a friday, and it's soon gone. by monday morning i will be already into my overdraft. thursday, i could be asking my boss if she could sub me from next week's wages so i could put fuel in my tank to go to work. that is every week. then she takes that out of my wages so next week i will be low again, so we just start again. it's a vicious circle? yes. it's a familiar story here in penzance — a town literally at the end of the line. analysis by the bbc has found a typical worker in coastal areas like this earned just over £22,000 last year whereas a typical worker inland earned over £23,500. a difference of £1600. there are 12 grandchildren and seven adults. mike's wife, amanda, runs the household budget and has to make food last. it is a matter of, you have to find the cheapest option to live. are you all right back there? she is a trained chef but cannot find a job around here that pays anything like what she would earn inland. it is disgusting. i don't see why we should be paid so much less. i mean, you are going to get lower wages, it is a smaller place but you can't afford to go out. where are you going to go? when we do, mcdonald's. we get a cappuccino and go and sit on the beach because that's about all you can afford. the government says it is investing millions to boost coastal communities like penzance and level up the uk. but a lot of tourism jobs here are only seasonal and other big employers like fishing, farming and mining have all been hit. their daughter, lucy, dreams of getting a place of her own. energy would be £49 per month. prices around here are high and even though she works 50 hours a week, on the minimum wage she feels trapped. it is so, so ridiculous. people further up have this money and are able to spend this money willy—nilly because it is easier for them because they earn more money up there. we don't earn so much down here. lucy now thinks she will have to move inland, splitting up a family who are cornwall born and bred. why should i have to move from my home to get more money? i don't see why we should be treated any different to anybody else. cornwall is well—known for its beautiful beaches, dramatic cliffs and pretty fishing villages. but being right at the end of the uk can make living and working here a lonely experience, especially for younger people. alex 0sborne has been meeting those who use social media to overcome rural isolation. starting a newjob, moving to a new country. it's bleak. there's not a lot of people, not knowing anybody. you know, it's all the ingredients, really, to feel quite isolated. kelvin relocated to cornwall from the netherlands in 2018. his marriage ended and he was offered a job in penzance. the geography of the place, it definitely adds to that feeling of being sort of stuck out on a far edge of something. many people view west cornwall as a dream location to live in. but not knowing anyone was challenging for kelvin. whenever you turn up to somewhere and you are new, you are coming into other peoples lives that are established, which is very different. you know, they have their lives and you make friends but you are not going to see them every day so it isjust a different kind of situation. your room can become your prison. you can be in a flat, and you are just there and there's nobody about you. a university of exeter study revealed that levels of loneliness are higher in younger people, with 40% feeling lonely compared with only 27% of over 75s. it's a particular problem in places like cornwall. given its rural location, it really can be quite isolating, especially for young people. professor manuela barreto is head of psychology at the university of exeter. rural isolation makes it harder for young people or older people, for that matter, to access the kinds of activities that make it easier for social connections to flow and to be sustained over time. so if it is hard to access the right kind of transport that gets you into those places, then it is going to be harder to sustain social relationships. lam kay, i moved to cornwall in october 2016. i didn't know anyone at all when i first moved down. after working and travelling abroad for six years, kay decided it was time to settle down and save for a house. the idea of living by the sea drew her to cornwall. going from being around people constantly to being by yourself, it was quite lonely and horrible coming back to an empty house and not having anyone you could call up to go for a drink or anything like that. i've seen a lot of people who know each other from school. i wasn't sure how i would go about making friends. enter social media and a solution to kay and kelvin‘s isolation. all of these people met online. it's sort of like internet dating, but for new friends. you are instantly channelled towards people who have the same experiences as yourselves. it fast—tracks a process that might take many years. my life turned around in many respects. it has had a major impact on my life, pretty much a majority of my friends have been through these social media platforms. definitely the future is bright. thanks to social media, i have a partner now and a big group of friends. we do lots of activities together so it's good fun. as you drive into penzance, you will see signs welcoming you into a plastic—free town. it is the first community in the uk — in fact, the world — to gain that status from the marine conservation charity surfers against sewage. sarah ransome has been to visit the charity to see how their campaign has been getting on. grassroots protests for global awareness. this is a town that works hard to keep its eco—friendly credentials and is happy to shout about it. we will not stop until action is taken! we are surrounded by the environment and nature. it would be horrible to see that go. something you are so close to, to be taken away from you, really. really upsetting. it is notjust the shore line that has been polluted by plastics. local fishermen have been catching it for years, too. now, 160 vessels around the southwest have signed up to help tackle the problem. the mission for penzance to go plastic—free began around two years ago. residents have worked with local businesses in the wider community to try and crack down on single—use plastics that sometimes wash up on beaches like this one and blight them. the ultimate aim is to make the town more environmentally friendly and for it to have a more sustainable future. now, hundreds of other communities around the uk are following its lead. so we have got the compostable cutlery. this one—stop health food shop and cafe was quick to do its bit to get rid of single—use plastic. as a town, we felt that we could make a big difference. it hasn't happened overnight, and customers have had to get used to paying a bit more for a substitute. there is nothing but positivity for penzance. i think people are really believing in the town now and the more they see these things happening, the better it will be. and this enthusiasm for all things environmental seems to be catching. campaigners in penzance are hopeful the number of towns looking at what they can do in their own backyard continues to grow. so with the town flying the plastic—free flag, the hope is that small steps can help make big changes. when we visited penzance, we broadcast from thejubilee pool — a lido on the coast which is currently being refurbished to include a geothermal pool. it is part of their sustainable approach to boost the local economy so it can be open all year round. susan stewart is one of the pool‘s directors and told me more about the project. penzance is a seasonal economy. we've got lots of really high proportions of people with part—time work so they have five or six part—time jobs in summer, almost nothing in winter. this project will mean we are creating something like eight new full—time jobs across the year, which isn't many in number but it's quite a significant change. we go geothermal and nod our heads but what does it mean and how does it work? we have hot rocks here in penzance. 500 metres down, the granite is quite hot. a well has been drilled which will bring water up at over 30 degrees, and we pump it into our new geothermal pool, which will be open all year round. so in the winter you can sit in 35 degree water, with steam rising around your head. you can be one of our first guests, if you like! but it will be great. some of it will bring in higher value tourism business and we can help to extend the winter tourism or the off—the—shoulder season into penzance, and support retail, hotels, leisure, restaurants. it is notjust the lido here in penzance which is the subject of major renovation. the same could be said for the local language. cornish has been long written off as dead or dying, but that has been changed by local musicians. singer—songwriters have rediscovered the ancient language and are giving it a new lease of life. sarah gosling has been to meet them. i'm sarah gosling and i present bbc music introducing in devon and cornwall, where we showcase the very best local music and since i've been doing the show i've noticed a really happy and unexpected increase in the amount of artists singing in cornish. think of cornish and you might think of bards and druids, folk music and old blokes with beards. there are some beards dotted around but in terms of the music it is as contemporary and cool as it gets. without the language, it acts as an anchor to our history and our past and future. it is a celtic language which was derived from breton in the iron age and was spoken widely all the way up until the 19th century but if it weren't for recent efforts to try and revive it, it would have died out completely. speaks cornish. we have about 300 fluent speakers. and about 1000 to 2000 speakers of some competency. the music scene in cornwall is buoyant, there is a diverse amount of groups coming through which is great to see in general. some sing their entire songs in cornish but others just play with words and use it a little bit. it all helps! sings in cornish. this is gwenno, half welsh and half cornish with english being her third language. last year year she released a critically acclaimed album — all in cornish. for me, there is something about the cornish language, about its survival. it is fascinating. it has been up against the wall, really, and it is still here. it isn'tjust music — all across the county people are taking time out of their evenings to learn their language. we are not appreciated, we are on the end of england! and it is a way of identifying us. and i think it gives us a lift. so while cornish might not be completely safe as a language yet, with the efforts of guys like these, the future is looking a lot brighter. would you consider learning cornish? yes, i would like to know if it works. it would be nice to learn a little bit. it is good to see bands singing cornish and keeping it alive, yeah. speaks cornish. that is all for our in—depth look at how two coastal communities are dealing with the challenges they face. i hope you've enjoyed it as much as i have. from me, simon mccoy, goodbye. good evening. sunday brought us a mild, dry day for most of the uk, and that theme is set to continue over the next few days. in the run—up to new year, lots of dry, settled weather. we have some patchy rain across the north—west of scotla nd rain across the north—west of scotland tonight but for the rest of the uk should be dry. some clear skies, variable amounts of cloud, a touch of frost and mr ness across parts of england and wales, but milder and cloudierfor parts of england and wales, but milder and cloudier for scotland and northern ireland where it will be frustrate. the weather front is sitting across northern scotland for monday morning. it's going to drift slowly south but high pressure across europe holding onto the weather for most of us. some patchy rainfor weather for most of us. some patchy rain for aberdeenshire for instance in the morning. by the afternoon that will push into argyll and bute, towards northern ireland, patchy, fairly light rain. sunny, clear conditions to the north of that. for england and wales it should stay dry during the day, 11—12dc, cooler for the north of scotland. new year's eve looks mostly dry. be prepared for some mist and fog. goodbye. this is bbc world news today. i'm lewis vaughan jones. our top stories... a man is charged with five counts of attempted murder, following a knife attack at the home of a rabbi in new york state. emotional scenes at kyiv airport as ukraine and pro—russian separatists complete a long—awaited prisoner exchange. sydney s new year's eve fireworks are to go ahead, despite calls for the iconic display to be cancelled due to the bushfires crisis. and "go back to mainland china": that's the message to some traders in hong kong as anti—government protesters switch to a new target.

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