will be here with a full round up of the days news. first, it's newcast. hello, it is adam in the studio. and laura in the same studio. and chris in the same studio for now. until i vacate the spot for a guest in a bit. so, actually, we have got less covid rules, but we have still got some covid rules, which is actually quite a good summary of whether a plan b still exists or not, because some bits of plan b in england still exist, but some bits of plan b disappear next week. but, it has been quite a dramatic week, where the prime minister's fortunes have ebbed and flowed and then they have relatively flowed, compared to where they were ebbing before. it has all been quite up and down. it has been really up and down. you know, downing street is still in a pretty precarious position, no doubt about that. if i choose my normal metaphor of choice, thejenga tower is very wobbly, some big pieces have been taken out, a few more may be crammed back in, maybe a little bit of scaffolding for the ministers who have been publicly willing to defend him. some of them, not very many of them, but some of them have been more visible in the last few days, but things are very, very tough indeed for downing street and there have been so many big kind ofjaw—dropping moments this week, starting at the beginning, with when we finally saw borisjohnson emerge from his self—imposed self isolation. self—imposed semi self isolation, because what happened was a member of his family had tested positive for covid and he was following the government advice, incredibly strictly, which is to limit your social contact, which means for him, he could limit his contact with the media, while dealing with this big unfolding story. but then along comes an encounter with beth rigby from sky news, doing something that we call in westminster, a pool clip, as it traditionally was, where one of us, on behalf of all of the broadcasters, asks a couple of questions of the minister or prime minister. and convention used to dictate that these things were relatively short. but now we are into something of a febrile moment, there is another westminster word, pulled off the shelf at a time of, you know, crisis. i know, exactly. an encounter with beth rigby that lasted, was it 16 minutes, something like that? fascinating, actually, that borisjohnson stood there for all of that time and some people wondered, posed quietly to themselves, and i think this is probably true, that it had been suggested that he looks sorry, very, very sorry and really, really very, very sorry for what had been going on. shall we have a listen to how it unfolded? nobody said to me, this is an event that is against the rules, _ that is in breach of what we are asking everybody else to do, i that it should not go ahead. two boozy parties held in the garden, in the building of number 10, the night before prince philip's funeral, when the country was in national morning. was having to apologise to the queen about those parties, the night before she put her husband of over 70 years, she laid him to rest, was that the moment of shame for you? i deeply and bitterly- regret that that happened. now, the reason borisjohnson was talking like that was because dominic cummings, his former adviser, had accused him of knowing in advance that this was an event that could have broken the rules. then it became a story of, does the prime minister even know what the rules are, when he made them up himself? yes, and a question about whether or not he was telling the truth when he said, oh, i thought it was a work event. nobody told me that it might be a party, so it goes to his truthfulness, but also a lot of people would have been shouting at the telly, going, hang on a minute, nobody told me it was against the rules, when he was setting the rules and he was giving press conferences every day announcing to people what the rules were. but, let's see what happens, there is a lot of work going into this, there is a spectrum of scenarios and some of borisjohnson�*s defenders and allies said, just remember, he had just had covid, a busy situation, isn't it possible and actually your civil servants, if you are a very busy minister, just say, next in your diary, go and do this and you will go, oh, right, 0k and off i go. but anyway, a huge amount to get through. then we got to wednesday and whenjo coburn was presenting politics live on wednesday before prime minister's questions, she thought the most exciting thing that was going to happen was about the pork pie plot, which we have already discussed, and then this happened. let me just show you this tweet |from the bbc's political editor, | laura kuenssberg, hearing christian wakefield, - the bury mp is defecting to the labour party, - just as the prime minister leaves number 10 for pmq's. _ well, that is quite incredible. jeering. and what a moment of drama. absolutely. this happens so rarely, doesn't it? i was talking to a labour shadow cabinet minister today and i said, what are you up to today? they said, looking for defectors. and walking around with a massive smile on their face, because what a coup! totally. had not happened since 2007. a massive coup for the labour party, no question about that, they had been plotting it for months, christian wakeford, and it is very rare and you could hear there, how happy the labour party were in the house of commons and definitely, for the public, it is a bad look, isn't it, someone leaves your party, because they think the other side are now better. except in the narrative of borisjohnson, it ended up weirdly being good! well, i mean, it depends who you ask, but what it did do, it gave unhappy conservative mps, someone else to hate for the afternoon, because i am not being harsh, and particularly about mr wakeford, but politicians hate a defector. remember how tribal politics often is, how people feel it in their heart and in their gut and it is notjust that you do not like us any more, it is that you are going to go and join the other side, and it is seen a real betrayal and therefore, you did see, at least for a few hours, tory mps going, well, that is not the way and also looking and thinking, who are we helping here? are we helping ourselves or helping the labour party? that does not mean that all the woes disappeared, farfrom it. and then the world's most exciting pmq's got even more exciting, when david davis entered the stage and then quoted an mp from the second world war, who was actually quoting cromwell. i expect my leaders - to shoulder the responsibility for the actions they take. yesterday, he did i the opposite of that. so, iwould remind him. of a quotation altogether all—too—familiar to him, _ of leo amery to neville chamberlain, you have sat there too longi for the good you have done. in the name of god, go. and that a student of politics, borisjohnson, said he was not familiar with that quote. that might have been a way of trying to avoid answering the question, but there we are. it was really electric. you can hear one mp going there, shut up! sighs, people are gasping at the end of the session, who wants to do a lincolnshire accent? it is against my very being. what a day! there we go. the speaker at the end, went, what a day! amazing. and could there have been a better phrase for it, absolutely not. it has been crazy. i suppose the question is, does it matter? it was a moment of huge drama and he is a guy who was a minister back whenjohn major was prime minister, who was a brexit secretary a couple of years ago and, you know, what a thing. but does he take people with him, does he persuade others? i am not sure he takes that many people with him, david davis, but he is a prominent person, so he creates headlines, creates an impression, it tells us that this is far from just fans of pork pies and everything else in 2019, it is a generational problem across the tory party. and also it is i think something that has been building and we have seen really profoundly this week, downing street is not in control of the house of commons, they are not, they are just not. they are not in control of the parliamentary party and they don't know what is coming. that is, with an 80 seat majority, that is remarkable and it is really, really serious and i think they have got to find ways of getting that control back or they are in very deep trouble. and then we got to today, thursday, when we were recording this episode of newscast and ten o'clock meant it was time for the public administration and constitutional affairs committee. of course it was, there was an alert flashing on adam's phone. i mean, some nights i can't sleep because i am just so excited to know what is going to happen there. and also because i have to get up at 4:30am in the morning as well. and, so it was worth tuning into today for everyone because the chairman, william bragg, who is quite critical of borisjohnson, became very critical... conservative mp, though. yes, of one of the tactics often used around westminster, by the people that instill the party discipline, the whips, and this is how he kind of lifted the lid on that kind of process. the intimidation of a member- of parliament is a serious matter. moreover, reports of which i am aware, would seem to _ constitute blackmail. as such, it would be my general- advice to colleagues to report these matters to the speaker of the house of commons and the commissionerl of the metropolitan police. goodness me! big, big words, though. big words. police, blackmail. i thought you were going to say that wragg lost his rag, but she didn't. so, i got to say it. yeah, there are very difficult conversations, very tough conversations and yes, we all know, if you're in westminster, we all know that sometimes party whips, and i am not singling out any political party in particular, do make, cajole, strong—arm, twist arms, persuade and sometimes dangle, what some people might call warnings, what some people might call threats, often enticements, vote with us in this tricky time, i know it is very difficult, maybe there will be a place for you as minister for paperclips next time around... to call it intimidation and blackmail, blimey, that is a very incendiary claim to make. other people have said, you know, it is complete nonsense, basically overblowing the situation, but it is interesting because again it shows us, even though he is a critic of borisjohnson, it shows us that downing street cannot control what their mps are up to. i think there is something wider as well, a bit of a generational thing there as well, people going, do you know what, actually, we don't like some of this behaviour that we have seen. i have been talking to mps in the 19 committee about that this week and it also shows you that that generation is not afraid of the centre. yes. now, chris, i'm afraid you're going to have to be led out of the studio and go to your socially distance cupboard of news. i will return to the socially distanced boutique of news. it is not because we do not like you, it is because someone else coming in. i shall stand aside. i shall defect. i'm crossing the floor. and chris is going to be room place by simon clark, chief secretary to the treasury, hello! hello. get your giant headphones on. absolutely. nice to have a government minister actually allowed in the studio. both are allowed to be on the airwaves and also allowed to be on here, because plan b has disappeared. the one thing this week- as they are trying to get much clearer action on that, so good to be here. i there we are, thank you for coming out. there is so much we can talk to you about. first of all, we were just wondering, what is it like being the government minister sent out to defend lots of controversial stuff that maybe you did not even have anything to do with? look, it is always good i to be out there, speaking for the government and making the case for what we are doing. j no one would deny, this has been a challenging week and, - you know, for all the reasons- which we all know, it is important |that we get through to next week| and sue gray's a much anticipated report and that will allow us to have a discussion- based on all the facts, _ which is i think what everyone wants now, that we get this report, - we get the perspective of everyone on what happened, the full context and then based on that, _ the pm will come back to parliament and give a statement. _ what is it like when you are the minister at the end of the phone and you see who is calling and you think, oh, does it have to be me? because sometimes, and credit to you for coming on, because sometimes it is the case at moments of political risk, for governments, quite often lots of ministers do not perhaps not this week, have you ever thought, does it really have to be me? laura, an evening with you, chris... i needed no second invitation. look, obviously there - are ministers out all over the place making the case, - you know, in good times and in bad. we all recognise that, - you know, what has happened in downing street isn't right. that's why the prime - minister has apologised. we mustn't lose sight of the fact he has taken responsibility- for the overarching nature of what happened, it's - the specific nature of the stuff that we are going to get - into when sue gray comes forward. but it is absolutely vital, as well, that we also remind the public. about the stuff that is going right. this is a week where we've been able to make the move - back to plan a precisely because of the success i of the prime minister's decisions both on the vaccine booster - roll—out, but also not _ going for a tougher lockdown prior to christmas with omicron. do you admit, though, evenjust a little bit, that part of the problem here has been how all of this is handled? because you're quite right, there are huge, important, dominating issues in the world, but the thing is that your mps and many members of the public have got really upset about this ongoing saga, and you admit, evenjust a little bit, and i know you're very loyal, but it should have been handled better and quicker and then you wouldn't have to be talking about it tonight. i think you can be absolutely loyal and admit that this, _ you know, has been really difficult and frustrating. i the prime minister himself would say that he looks back on this _ in retrospect and wishes it had been handled differently, _ and that goes right back- to the decisions, you know, back in may 2021. look, it's one of those . issues where we are now absolutely determined to bring everything to light. _ i some of this detail is stuff no onei was even fully aware of, you know, candidly there's a whole range of different perspectives. - some people were, weren't they? well, indeed, but, for example, what happened, chris, - when the prime minister was away in may 2021, he wasn't even - in downing street that night, he was at chequers. - stuff like that. you are referring to the night before the duke of edinburgh's funeral. indeed, which was, i think, - in many ways, the most frustrating incident of all of this. that happened in his absence. there is no reasonable way- he could have known about that. well, his son's swing got broken. well, apparently he wasn't, no, i don't know... - did they run out and replace the swing before the boss got back? there could be a whole saga around that. - the point stands, he wasn't aware. in good faith. it is important that we, you know, this is one of a huge number- of things that have been going on and, as i said, | the only commitment i can give to viewers tonight is sue gray'sj report will be a definitive report. it is bringing together everybody's account of what happened. - will we see the whole thing in full? i don't know. so, we might not? the commitment is to bring the findings to parliament, | and i fully anticipate total candour in that sphere, and the prime - minister is then going to comej and give a statement, as well. i'm not involved in the immediate circumstances of its, _ you know, dissemination. the whole spirit now is ofjust, you know, let the sun shine i in and then answer the questions that flow from that. _ you talked there about the most frustrating incident, which seems a very focused on, sort of, government survival and pr rather than the outrage that people feel about some of these incidents that were going on when people were out on furlough, forced to work from home, couldn't send their kids to school, and you call it a most frustrating incident. it is frustrating. i mean, frustrating for me - because i recognise the enormous strength of feeling this evokes. i find it frustrating - that this has happened. it is profoundly frustrating that... is it not more than frustrating? i like to think i'm a fairly understated man, chris. j i recognise fully the i angerand the upset... i bet frustrating isn't the word that people in your e—mail inbox are using when they are offering a view to you as to what has gone on. it's important to... what, 50-50? half of people say it's great and the other half don't? actually, over the last couple - of days it has been about 50—50, people saying they continue - to believe in this prime minister, that they think this needs to be, you know, that he needs to be l supported in what is _ unquestionably a difficult time. no one is denying, and i'm certainly not sitting and denying, chris, - that there is real public angerand upset. - rightly so. what happened in downing street, as the prime minister— himself said, was wrong. i make no qualification to that. it was wrong. is it wrong, though, too, that some conservative mps who had concerns about this, who have spoken out, is it wrong that they feel they've been intimidated? and pressurised into toeing the party line. is that wrong? |well, i would absolutely say that, | you know, intimidation in any walk of life would be wrong. i think in regards to the very. specific allegations being made by will wragg today. from pacac! indeed. marvellous acronym. look, all i would sayl is i do not recognise, as a government minister, - and as indeed the government minister responsible for public spending, | that account of how- government ever operates. not least because that's| never how i or any of my associates would behave. but also because the civil service, | of course, when i make a spending allegation i do so on the basis. of formal submissions by the civil service about, you know, - how x policy should be delivered, and that goes to y location. it simply wouldn't be i possible for me to say to my civil servants, - well, strike that name out because they haven't voted the right way. i the system wouldn't allow it. whilst i'm not in any way making light of the allegation. _ i think if there is . specific evidence it should be brought forward. in practice, i don't . think it's a threat that could ever be realised. that's different from the threat being made, though, isuppose, and, like, anyone who has spent any time in westminster knows that it is just one of those, sort of common legends that when things get tough all sorts of enticements, bribes, are offered or withdrawn. you must have just as a backbench mp of a few years standing have heard this legend, too. well, the whips have a job to do in both governmentl and opposition side, and we shouldn't be| naive about this. theirjob is to make sure government business is delivered and that - a mixture of tactics that - are legitimately involved in that work, and i don't think- that we would be being honest if we didn't pretend that can in times involves some - robust conversations about what we were | elected to deliver. that's the nature of delivering on a collective policy- programme to which mps, when you are elected for i a particular party, should sign up. that is obviously very different - from public spending being brought into that conversation. as i say, i have never known that happen. i it certainly never happened to me. nor have i known of any colleague ever going. about doing it in that way. maybe you've just been a very good boy. i am a very good boy, i hasten to add. - but, you know, quite seriously, it is not a tactic. _ it is not one we would ever, you know, put in motion, i nor with the civil service allow it. simon, can wejust play you, then, this clip from christian wakeford today? now, the important context, until yesterday he was a conservative mp, things have obviously gone wrong and his relationship with the conservative party, for whatever reason, he crossed the floor in dramatic fashion to the labour party. he was asked about some of his reasoning today and he was asked about his experiences of some of it. i want you to hear this clip. you might not have heard it earlier today. let's have a listen. i was threatened that i would not get the school for radcliffe if i did not vote one particular way. this is a town that's not had a high school for the best part of ten years. how would you feel when holding back a regeneration of a town for a vote? it did not sit comfortably. that was when i was starting to question my place, where it was, and ultimately to where i am now. now, you say you've never heard of it happen, and it couldn't happen in the system. as a treasury minister, as a conservative minister, listening to that allegation there, and i know he has crossed the floor and he is no longer a tory mp, but listening to that where we've got somebody on the record saying very clearly that money resources for his constituents was dangled in front of him as an enticement to tow the party line in a vote. what do you think of that? i mean, look, all i can say is, you know, if christian wantsl to give an account of that| to the commons speaker, i mean that would be i the appropriate forum, i think, down which to proceed. obviously any of these allegations need to be evidenced, really. - that's the long and the short of it. do you believe him? i would need to see - the basis of the evidence on which he makes that allegation. but with that kind of thing be acceptable, i suppose. clearly i do not think- that is an appropriate way for westminster to behave. we've seen what sajid javid, the health secretary, said on the today programme this morning. we've seen what steve baker, your colleague on the conservative backbenches has said. that this ultimately is about the culture of the government that you are a part of and borisjohnson leads. whether it is the allegations from william wragg or plenty of what we've heard about, not just the parties during the various covid restrictions, but also downing street's response to them, leaves many a bad taste in the mouth about how this government conducts itself. has it damaged the image of politics? i think anything like this i is corrosive, and, as i say, i think there is a depth - of understanding and upset, which is entirely understandable. we think about when we saw, l you know, for example various high—profile footballers - misbehaving during lockdown. these sorts of things. it reminds you. people who have... they aren't governing the country, though, and they didn't make the rules. no, but people who have a high profile, who are very much, - you know, in the spotlight, - do have a double responsibility to live up to the laws of the land. i know the prime minister- is genuinely and sincerely sorry for what happened and i do not doubt the depth of that apology. _ he is mortified that this has happened on his watch. - i think that has come across, actually, in his appearances. in the commons, and certainly in his private _ conversations with me. before that there is a temporary increase to national insurance. is that temporary increase for one year definitely increase to national insurance. is that temporary increase for one year definitely going increase to national insurance. is that temporary increase for one year definitely going to increase to national insurance. is that temporary increase for one year definitely going to go increase to national insurance. is that temporary increase for one year definitely going to go ahead? increase to national insurance. is that temporary increase for one year definitely going to go ahead? es. definitely going to go ahead? e5, the reason we've got this enormous nhs backlog — the reason we've got this enormous nhs backlog as _ the reason we've got this enormous nhs backlog as long _ the reason we've got this enormous nhs backlog as long as _ the reason we've got this enormous nhs backlog as long as the - nhs backlog as long as the long—standing _ nhs backlog as long as the long—standing problems. nhs backlog as long as the | long—standing problems we nhs backlog as long as the - long—standing problems we face an ageing _ long—standing problems we face an ageing society _ long—standing problems we face an ageing society. you _ long—standing problems we face an ageing society. you simply- long—standing problems we face an ageing society. you simply cannot. ageing society. you simply cannot fund the _ ageing society. you simply cannot fund the kind _ ageing society. you simply cannot fund the kind of— ageing society. you simply cannot fund the kind of increase - ageing society. you simply cannot fund the kind of increase that - ageing society. you simply cannot l fund the kind of increase that where the living, _ fund the kind of increase that where the living, 12 — fund the kind of increase that where the living, 12 billion— fund the kind of increase that where the living, 12 billion for— fund the kind of increase that where the living, 12 billion for the - fund the kind of increase that where the living, 12 billion for the nhs- the living, 12 billion for the nhs budget— the living, 12 billion for the nhs budget and _ the living, 12 billion for the nhs budget and 5_ the living, 12 billion for the nhs budget and 5 million _ the living, 12 billion for the nhs budget and 5 million over- the living, 12 billion for the nhs budget and 5 million over the l the living, 12 billion for the nhs. budget and 5 million over the next three _ budget and 5 million over the next three years — budget and 5 million over the next three years for _ budget and 5 million over the next three years for social— budget and 5 million over the next three years for social care. - budget and 5 million over the next three years for social care. you . three years for social care. you can't _ three years for social care. you can't do — three years for social care. you can't do that _ three years for social care. you can't do that without _ three years for social care. you can't do that without raising. three years for social care. you - can't do that without raising taxes. as a conservative _ can't do that without raising taxes. as a conservative i— can't do that without raising taxes. as a conservative i fundamentally. as a conservative i fundamentally betieve _ as a conservative i fundamentally believe in — as a conservative i fundamentally believe in tow _ as a conservative i fundamentally believe in low tax, _ as a conservative i fundamentally believe in low tax, high—growth . believe in low tax, high—growth economy — believe in low tax, high—growth economy but _ believe in low tax, high—growth economy. but i _ believe in low tax, high—growth economy. but i also _ believe in low tax, high—growth economy. but i also believed i believe in low tax, high—growth economy. but i also believed in baiahced — economy. but i also believed in balanced budget— economy. but i also believed in balanced budget finance. - economy. but i also believed in balanced budget finance. we i economy. but i also believed in- balanced budget finance. we spent the second — balanced budget finance. we spent the secohd of— balanced budget finance. we spent the second of 500 _ balanced budget finance. we spent the second of 500 billion— balanced budget finance. we spent the second of 500 billion on- balanced budget finance. we spent the second of 500 billion on covid.| the second of 500 billion on covid. thats— the second of 500 billion on covid. that's a _ the second of 500 billion on covid. that's a big — the second of 500 billion on covid. that's a big old _ the second of 500 billion on covid. that's a big old check. _ the second of 500 billion on covid. that's a big old check. it— the second of 500 billion on covid. that's a big old check. it is- the second of 500 billion on covid. that's a big old check. it is a big. that's a big old check. it is a big old check — that's a big old check. it is a big old check if— that's a big old check. it is a big old check. if you _ that's a big old check. it is a big old check. if you want to - that's a big old check. it is a big old check. if you want to be - that's a big old check. it is a big i old check. if you want to be honest with the _ old check. if you want to be honest with the public, _ old check. if you want to be honest with the public, i— old check. if you want to be honest with the public, i hope _ old check. if you want to be honest with the public, i hope the - with the public, i hope the fundamental— with the public, i hope the fundamental hallmark- with the public, i hope the fundamental hallmark of. with the public, i hope the . fundamental hallmark of the conservative _ fundamental hallmark of the conservative government - fundamental hallmark of the conservative government isi fundamental hallmark of the - conservative government is always economic— conservative government is always economic honesty— conservative government is always economic honesty about _ conservative government is always economic honesty about the - conservative government is always economic honesty about the toughj economic honesty about the tough choices— economic honesty about the tough choices sometimes— economic honesty about the tough choices sometimes entailed - economic honesty about the tough choices sometimes entailed in - choices sometimes entailed in delivering _ choices sometimes entailed in delivering public— choices sometimes entailed in delivering public services. - choices sometimes entailed in delivering public services. you can't without. _ delivering public services. you can't without. 0k, _ delivering public services. can't without. ok, you said delivering public services.“ can't without. ok, you said very clearly you knock it to cancel the national insurance rise. that is no wayjose. let's go for economic honesty on something else. labour is calling for a blanket cut labour is calling for a blanket cut in vat on energy bills to help people with the cost. some of your colleagues quite fancy that because it is something some of them claim they can now do because we aren't in the eu any more. economic honesty, is that remotely a possibility in treasury, or is that as ruled out as getting rid of the national insurance rise? well, we are always l monitoring this issue. that's why. .. ooh! no, no, let me insert various caveats here. j chuckles panto season. a blanket cut to vat is not a very targeted way of helping people. i true, yes. much of the benefit, _ if we are going to be really techie, a distributional analysis would show that this benefits people _ with larger homes. yes, and you would get it, we would get it, everybody would get it. we are always focused on making i the most effective interventionsi to support households with the cost of living. that's why, for example, we've made the cut to i the universal credit rate, which is targeted at - the lowest earning families. that's why we are increasing the national living wage. - but on this specific point? on this specific point, look, . the chancellor keeps all taxes and benefits under review. we are grateful to you for coming in tonight and making this happen. thank you, simon. in tonight and making this happen. thank you very much for talking to us about so many issues. and isn't it good, even though chris was in a cupboard, he still got to ask lots of questions. the miracles of modern technology. that's all for this episode of newscast. thanks very much for watching or listening, and if you want to listen to us every day on bbc sounds you can subscribe, and i think tomorrow i'm going to interview armando iannucci. ooh! i bet you've never watched any of his work! chuckles what can i say? thisjob, sometimes you don't need to. l reality tv for westminster inhabitants. goodbye, everyone. bye! we saw a lot of clout coming into england and wales, into the cold air. slow risin: and wales, into the cold air. slow rising temperature _ and wales, into the cold air. slow rising temperature for _ and wales, into the cold air. slow rising temperature for example here in redding, it was only about 5 degrees in the afternoon. some sunshine in the northeast of scotland and here temperatures were in double figures. all of us though dry, high pressure still in charge. it's been a dominant feature of the weather for the last ten days or so. there is a weak weather front approaching the far north west, and eventually that will bring a little bit of rain mainly to the highlands later on in the night. ahead of it, a lot of cloud coming in, but some breaks are likely across some southern and eastern parts of england, and for a while, in eastern scotland. so these areas will be quite chilly, there's a risk of some frost, but it's nowhere near as cold in southern parts of the uk as it was last night. we start the weekend with a lot of cloud, but probably dry for the most part — and that's the way it'll stay for the next five days, this is the rainfall accumulation, most places completely dry, rain is more likely up towards the northwest, into the highlands. and the weekend is not going to be quite as cold, still dry for most places. a lot more cloud around during this weekend, so that will limit the frost, and also the fog, as well. and we start with a lot of cloud, really, on saturday. some sunshine more, especially across some eastern areas of the uk once again. that weak weather front straddling scotland may bring a little light rain or drizzle in the west. otherwise, it's a dry day. a lot of cloud, temperatures not bad, though, for the time of year, 8—9 across england and wales, and again, double figures more widely across scotland and also northern ireland. and that's because the high is centred more to the south of the uk, and around the top of it, we've got some stronger winds, milderaircoming in from the atlantic — the really cold air, that's a long way away, actually, across some eastern parts of europe. so for the second half of the weekend, it's more of the same. could be a chilly start in places, 1—2 mist and fog patches, otherwise a lot of cloud, some sunshine now and again. probably more across eastern scotland, because we've got a stronger wind in scotland and northern ireland. but again, a lot of dry weather, and those temperatures of around 6—8 celsius pretty widely. heading into the early part of next week, and things don't change very much at all, because high pressure is still going to be in charge. away from the northwest and it will be dry, a lot of cloud around, some sunshine now and again, and decent temperatures. as a huge russian military force sits waiting on ukraine's borders, the us and russia hold "frank" talks about moscow's intentions. russia has continued sending troops to the area. it has amassed around 100,000 there in recent months. following talks in geneva, the us warned of "massive consequences" if russia invades. russia says it fears for its security. translation: our concerns are not imaginary, but are about _ real threats and facts. if any russian military forces move across ukraine's border, that's a renewed invasion, it will be met with swift, severe and a united response. russia insists it won't invade. we'll be looking atjust what it might be planning. also tonight...