author of tinker tailor soldier spy — has died aged 89. arsenal's misery continues. they've suffered their worst ever start to a premier league season after losing at home to burnley. 2000 fans in the ground but some could barely watch. ready, freddie, go. we catch up with the nine—year—old running every day to raise funds for the hospital treating his best friend. welcome to the london coliseum. the largest west end theatre in london and we will be joined all morning by the chorus from the english national 0pera to bring christmas cheer. 0utside 0pera to bring christmas cheer. outside the weather is rather wet. showers and longer spells of rain and it will be windy. i will have all the details in ten minutes. it's monday, 14th december. our top story. around 100 gp practices in england are to receive their first batches of the coronavirus vaccine. some will start giving the vaccinations to patients from today, with those aged over 80 given priority. 0ur science correspondent pallab ghosh has this report. dr ammara hughes is getting her surgery ready for the next phase of the nhs vaccination campaign. in the heart of london, bloomsbury surgery will aim to vaccinate between 800—1000 over—80s in the next three and a half days. that will mean injecting up to a0 patients every hour. like others receiving the doses, the practice will be open between 8am and 8pm, seven days a week. those eligible for a jab will be contacted by the surgery. do sit tight, we will be phoning you. so it is by appointment, and we will get to everybody, so don't start ringing your practices, because we will be ringing you to ensure that, if you're eligible, that you are invited for your vaccine. the roll—out to gp surgeries comes less than a week after margaret keenan made history, when the uk became the first country in the world to begin vaccinations in hospitals. the jab is now being administered in the community. an immunisation campaign of this magnitude has never been undertaken by the nhs. it has been a real roller—coaster. many of my colleagues have been working all hours through the covid pandemic and, now, to finally be in a position to offer vaccination to our community is incredibly powerful. and, as a gp, i'm really quite blown away. around 100 practices in england will receive their doses. a further 100—200 are expected to receive them by the end of the week. pallab ghosh, bbc news. 0ur reporter geeta pendse is outside a gp practice in the west midlands that will begin vaccinating people later today. is itan is it an exciting day? yes. excitement and i understand from staff a real sense of pride to be one of the first gp surgeries in the country to be able to give this vaccination to the most vulnerable of patients in this area in hailes 0wen of patients in this area in hailes owen and the surrounding area. as we heard in the film, today, 100 surgeries across england will receive a batch of this pfizer vaccine, which some of them will open clinics this afternoon, which is happening here, which is why they will be among the first patients. most surgeries, it will start from tomorrow. it will be the most vulnerable people first, as we saw last week, the beginning of the mass vaccination programme beginning in designated hospitals across the country. this is about bringing it into the heart of the community. at this surgery, they say they are contacting those who are 80 and over, not just at this contacting those who are 80 and over, notjust at this surgery but in other surgery. nurses and farm and —— nurses and pharmacists will work alongside the gps. a real milestone, as we heard in the film, this is the greatest vaccination programme to be undertaken by the nhs. i think there will be a lot of smiles here today. we will be back with you later. vaccinations will also begin in care homes in scotland today. staff and older residents will be the first to receive the jab. there had been fears that the roll out wouldn't go ahead because of difficulties in storing the vaccine. the scottish government says it's a "step on the road to recovery" from the pandemic. schools in the london borough of greenwich have been asked to close from this evening, because of a rise in coronavirus cases in the capital. the council's labour leader wrote to all headteachers and parents in the area suggesting that teaching moves online. the national education union said the decision was very sensible. talks will continue today between the uk and the eu, after both sides agreed to go the extra mile to secure a post—brexit deal. the eu's chief negotiator, michel barnier, will brief ambassadors of the 27 member states in brussels this morning. 0ur correspondent nick beake is there. normally, we would be starting to hear rumours and think sneaking out from the talks. but so far, this seems to be quite quiet. good morning, you are right. the tap of information coming from inside the negotiation room has been turned down to a trickle so anybody who tells you they know is going on, i suggest they are telling porkie pies. it is about the competition rules, a level playing field, if you think of a football field, and the talks are coming down to this, the extent to wear in future one side might undercut the other. that is what they will try to sort out. interestingly, they have not set a new deadline. is it recognition that this is hard enough anyway without a short—term deadline imposed on things? the deadline that really cou nts things? the deadline that really counts is the end of the year, 31st of december, when the uk leaves the transition period. michel barnier will be updating eu ambassadors today. normally he gives a bleak assessment of what has been going on so assessment of what has been going on so interesting to see if he thinks after this phone call yesterday between boris johnson after this phone call yesterday between borisjohnson and the european commission president, there is renewed hope. i do not want to exaggerate. the feeling is still gloomy. they think no deal is still very likely, but maybe that they are talking is a good sign and the deal could be snatched at the last minute. one of britain's best—known novelists, john le carre, has died aged 89, following a short illness. described as an undisputed giant of english literature, his most famous works include tinker tailor soldier spy, the night manager, and the spy who came in from the cold. 0ur reporter keith doyle takes a look back at his life and career. then he must have a man on the inside, mustn't he? alec guinness in the television version of tinker tailor soldier spy, playing george smiley. the spy master wasjohn le carre's most enduring and celebrated creation. like smiley, le carre had been a spy. david cornwell, his real name, had been fascinated by lies and duplicity since childhood. he was first recruited for intelligence work at university in switzerland. then, at oxford, he spied on left—wing contemporaries. when the option was presented to me, it was immensely attractive. it really was as if the whole of my life had prepared me for this moment. the spy who came in from the cold, laterfilmed with richard burton, was le carre's breakthrough novel, written while he was working for mi6 at the british embassy in bonn, when the berlin wall went up. the author stephen king tweeted: "john le carre has passed at the age of 89. this terrible year has claimed a literary giant and a humanitarian spirit." his agent of 15 years, jonny geller, wrote: his work did define the cold war era, but his first post—cold war novel... the night manager. ..was an other bestseller and a hit tv adaptation, 20 years later, in which the author played a rare cameo. but it was his spy novels he will be most remembered for. he believed authors and spies had much in common — both hiding their real selves in characters of their own creation. keith doyle, bbc news. an incredible career. amazing. we'll be paying tribute tojohn le carre throughout the programme. at 08.30, we'll hear from novelists robert harris and ian rankin. if you're a keen stargazer, you'll know that last night was a good chance to see the geminid meteor shower. but, of course, some places give you a better view than others. these pictures were taken in a mountainous area of southwest china, where the high altitude and clear skies helped to set up this incredible display. the geminids are huge chunks of ice and rock from an asteroid, and the earth passes through the debris every december. it was not like that when i got up this morning. it's nearly christmas. i went to my first christmas carols by candlelight online. i went early. did you join by candlelight online. i went early. did youjoin in? by candlelight online. i went early. did you join in? in our home bubble. not self—conscious at all. give it both barrels. it's our annual "carol's carols". and to start us off this year — carol is at the home of the english national opera in the heart of london's west end. will you be singing? certainly not. i want to hang on to the audience, not lose them completely, but a fabulous view of the london coliseum. it is empty, not an audience member in sight. it is the largest theatre in london's west end. we will be joined largest theatre in london's west end. we will bejoined by largest theatre in london's west end. we will be joined by the chorus of the english national opera. they will sing traditional christmas carols. they are a joy to behold. if you have not heard them yet, you are infora you have not heard them yet, you are in for a treat. if you wonder why i am not wearing a mask, we are socially distance, we —— and they as a professional chorus are allowed to perform. temperatures between 8—12 already but nowhere today is immune toa already but nowhere today is immune to a shower. the forecast today is showery and blustery. we had a loss of rain and showers through the night, some of them heavy and thundery. it has been windy. today we continue in that vein. showers and longer spells of rain. most of them in the north and west but not exclusively. some brightness and temperatures in high single figures or into double figures, above average for the time of year. through the afternoon and tonight a weather front from the south—east will bring rain, clearing into the north sea. rain into north—west scotland. there will be some showers and equally clear spells. temperatures between 4—7. tomorrow, northern and western areas will see most of the showers. central and eastern areas with brighter conditions and it should stay dry much of the day with an outside chance of a shower and still temperatures in double figures. if you are out of the wind, it will not feel too bad. i will have more from the chorus and a longer weather forecast later. look forward to that. what a beautiful setting. let's take a look at some of today's front pages. the guardian leads on the extension of talks between the uk and eu to find a post—brexit trade agreement. it says boris johnson and ursula von der leyen, the european commission president, have vowed to go "the extra mile" to get a deal. the daily express takes a more partisan view — its front page says the eu has "finally got the message" about the uk's demand for sovereignty. and the daily telegraph reports that the talks could continue all the way until new year's eve. and here's something completely different from the aberdeen press and journal, which says football fans are "on the naughty step" after using ladders to sneak a look at a match in banff. they've been urged to respect coronavirus restrictions and stay away. you know we talked about it is hard to get hold of an outdoor patio heater. some information in the daily telegraph saying john lewis said sales of outdoor cooking products are up 84% and everybody is buying barbecues and lots of hot tubs, hard to get hold of. outdoor coats, ha rd to tubs, hard to get hold of. outdoor coats, hard to get hold of. in one week in november pizza oven sales we re week in november pizza oven sales were up 792% compared to the same month last year. those are the things we are doing over christmas. i have been trying to get a patio heater and ifailed. i bought one that was supposed to turn up in october, then november, then december, now post—christmas. imight then december, now post—christmas. i might cancel it. as negotiations between the uk and the eu continue over brexit, many businesses are worried about what this uncertainty means for them. nina is at a play equipment manufacturer in cumbria for us this morning. good morning. good morning. welcome. good morning. welcome. if good morning. welcome. if you good morning. welcome. if you spend good morning. welcome. if you spend welcome. i‘ a good morning. welcome. if you spend a lot of time in playgrounds, you will probably recognise this brand. full stop the beams will be turned into swings and climbing frames and the hope is some will end up in the european union, so they are closely watching the talks. to me to rules on this site which is why i am not wearing a mask. they have been making equipment for generations and export 250 countries and are one of many businesses waiting to see what happens next. —— they export to 50 countries. around £400 billion exports go to the eu from the uk, about two fifths of our exports. imports from the eu work around £400 billion, around half of our imports. and food is one of the biggest imports, around one quarter of the food we consume to last year came from mainland europe, and we exported £20 billion of food and drink to the eu, so it is incredibly valuable to the industry. whiskey, salmon, chocolate and cheese are the top products. some businesses say this period has been incredibly painful but it will be worth it. james is a farmer in somerset who exports lamb to europe and his theory is come what may british produce will still be popular.‘ continuation as much as possible on free and frictionless trade. we have to recognise a proportion of lamb exports go to the european market. they want those imports. business will still be able to one thing is, we need to understand, if there is a deal, how it will work and if there is no deal, will there be tariffs we will be faced with and what certification and requirements are neededin certification and requirements are needed in order to be able to put our products into an external market and what products import to us face, as well. even those who are resolutely for leaving are incredibly frustrated about the fact they do not know how it will look. steve runs a haulage company. 60% of your business goes to ireland and northern ireland. what is on your mind today? we need clarity and need to know what is going on. customers are not sure still what to do. daily meetings with customers at this late stage and we do not know what to do and whether to still ship. whatever happens with these talks, we are leaving the customs union so you have to organise in terms of paperwork. are you ready? as a business we are, we have been prepared quite a few years and we have invested around one quarter of £1 million in infrastructure. customers are still unsure because there is additional information, commercial invoice, origin of goods, thatis commercial invoice, origin of goods, that is still not clarified, which is causing problems. some of your business is clustering together different products from different businesses are moving them around clumped. if one does not adhere to the rules, your cargo is gone. we area the rules, your cargo is gone. we are a group operator and consolidate freight and that is how you bring costs down for customers. if one customer has a piece of information wrong, the whole load is rejected by customs and is left behind. and with freight, it can miss its connections. the prime minister said yesterday we have had time to prepare for this so we are ready. is he right? no. in a nutshell. thank you. the society of motor manufacturing traders said they will bea manufacturing traders said they will be a 10% tax on exports and no deal would be nothing less than catastrophic for the automotive sector. some believe if we export less prices come down here and we buy more than british produce but long—term that is not good for economic growth in the uk, and all businesses are in agreement they need to know what they are working with now. we will speak to the business secretary at 7:30am. you may remember that we've been following nine—year—old freddie, as he continues his fundraising two kilometres every day, all in the name of friendship. he's doing it to raise money for the hospital treating his best friend, hughie, for leukaemia. brea kfast‘s jayne mccubbin went to meet them. ready. freddie. run! this is the nine—year—old who is running two kilometres every day for 50 days. the goal — 100 kilometres by christmas day. it's all to raise money for the hospital treating his close family friend hughie. and, today, a morale—boosting treat. are you ready for your run? come on in. there's a surprise in here for you. to run on the hallowed turf of their favourite football club. go for it! with their star players. ready to set off? ready? come on, let's go. but this is who it is all about. hello, you, how are you doing? hello, good, yeah. tell me what's happening right now, as we chat. i'm currently in hospital. i'm having some chemotherapy today, so i'm hooked up now to this machine behind me. that's what my medicine is going through. and you're feeling 0k? yeah, yeah, i'm feeling really good. do you remember when hughie found out he was poorly? yeah, it wasjust like... like ijust needed to try to help them to do something and try and help him get through it, because it's a really hard thing to get through. listen, we've got somebody here to say hello, as well. i want you to tell me what you make of what your friend is doing for you in the hospital. it's amazing. like, he's just doing such a greatjob and i couldn't thank him any more. and everybody at the hospital, all the nurses, doctors, everybody, i just want to thank them all so much. they are doing tremendous work, aren't they? yeah. hughie will spend the next three and a half years in their care. but the end of freddie's challenge is now in sight, and their home town is rooting for both of them. freddie is doing an amazing job. we are delighted we could come out and do it with him. it is an amazing achievement, isn't it? yeah, is incredible. if he keeps going till christmas, that will be 100 kilometres. so if we can be here to help him whenever we can, then that's brilliant, as long as hughie knows there is a community of people behind him, supporting him, that's brilliant. are you very, very, very proud? oh, yeah, so proud. the amount of money he has raised, helping so many people. yeah, really proud of him. he's a good lad. he is, he is, yeah. 0h, last leg. last leg for today. come on! well done, you. it has to be a 2k. he's been playing football some nights. he'll get home at nine o'clock. i'm like, "i'm sure you've done enough.". he's like, "no, i've got to go and do a 2k." there is nothing stopping him. no, no, he's doing it, yeah. he's determined to finish. freddie, well done. he's an absolute star, because i know he's been running when it's dark and being cold. and, after everything else, playing football. he's amazing. a superstar. how much have you raised, freddie, so far? 16 and a half, so we're doing really good. well done. so you kick him off one last time, katie, 0k? ready, freddie, go! here he goes. good luck, young man. bravo, you. listen, last treat, how do you fancy coming out of the tunnel at turf moor, running out onto the pitch as if you're about to play? yeah, that would be really cool. his initial target of £1000 is well and truly smashed. and there is still the 12 days of christmas left to go. ready. what a boy. playing football and doing his two kilometres. he is like a young kevin sinfield. he is like a young kevin sinfield. he is like a young kevin sinfield. he is exactly that. the way they speak about each other, that is a beautiful young friendship that has produced magic and well done to burnley for getting involved. time now to get the news, travel and weather where you are. good morning from bbc london. the mayor is calling on the government to consider asking secondary schools and colleges in the capital to close early ahead of christmas and to stay closed for longer as the number of coronavirus cases continues to surge. sadiq khan has written to the prime minister demanding that testing in london be urgently extended to anyone who can't work from home as well as students in every borough. he also wants the government to come up with a lost income compensation scheme for businesses affected by the pandemic. meanwhile schools in the royal borough of greenwich have been asked to close after today due to what's described as an "exponential growth" in covid—19 cases. council leader danny thorpe has written to parents and guardians saying all schools should move to online learning to, in his words, "reduce the risk of transmission". the government says its priority is to keep education settings open. the night tube could be removed as part of changes to the london underground to try and reduce a £2 billion funding gap. an independent review commissioned by transport for london suggests £35 million could be saved from annual budgets if the night tube service was stopped. in other cost cutting recommendations ten tube stations could also be forced to close at weekends. a hospital choirfrom south london has teamed up with canadian pop—star justin bieber in a bid to reach the christmas number one spot. bieber met the lewisham and greenwich nhs choir after they beat him to the christmas number one in 2015. the two have now come together to create a version of his latest single holy. let's take a look at the travel situation now. there's a good service on the tubes this morning. 0n the a13 there's water main work westbound at beckton roundabout, queues from goresbrook interchange. 0n the m25 in surrey, one lane is closed anti—clockwise at junction 11 chertsey due to flooding. now the weather with elizabeth rizzini. hello, good morning. it's looking mild and unsettled as we head through this week, so wet and windy at times. certainly a very mild start to this morning, temperatures are in double figures, and have been throughout the night. there is a lot of dry weather around this morning, some of us have seen some early heavy showers around but plenty of dry weather as well, some spells of sunshine, in fact, and it's rather blustery today. a very brisk south—westerly wind blowing, we will be keeping that throughout the day. watch out for some more afternoon showers. a bit cloudier as we head through the second half of the day, it does stay windy and we'll see highs of 12 or 13 degrees celsius so well above the seasonal average. through this evening and overnight come again, there will be a few showers around at times. the winds ease down somewhat and there will also be some clear spells. temperatures down perhaps as low as seven or eight celsius tomorrow morning. so a slightly cooler night than we saw last night. tomorrow, lighter winds and fewer showers, there will also be some sunny spells around. once more temperatures in double figures. i'm back with the latest from the bbc london newsroom in half an hour. plenty more on our website at the usual address. now though it's back to dan and sally. hello, this is breakfast with dan walker and sally nugent. coming up on breakfast this morning. remembering john le carre. after eight this morning, we'll have tributes from the literary world after the death of the former spy turned master of the espionage novel. the call the midwife christmas special promises some much needed festive cheer. actorjenny agutter, tells us what we can expect from the episode. and damejenni murray will be with us later, telling us why she's decided to bare all live on tv. it's not call the midwife, we have them slightly the wrong way round! she will be talking to us later this morning. you know what we meant. they are all coming up this morning. it's another big day in the roll—out of the pfizer biontech coronavirus vaccine. 100 gp practices in england will begin offering the jab in the next few days. we're joined now by one of our regular gps, dr nighat arif. lovely to see this morning. so, we are seeing the vaccine rolled out in some gp surgeries today, how ready do you feel in your practice? our local practice is not getting involved in this, locally to us is wrexham park hospital which has already started the vaccine roll—out and this is going to be a massive undertaking. see us are trying to work really ha rd undertaking. see us are trying to work really hard to find any location, a vaccination hub, where the local population can come to. the roll—out will be amongst eight—year—olds first and then health care professionals from all ——18—year—olds health care professionals from all —— 18—year—olds first. and then health care professionals —— 80—year—olds. we have to be aware of the logistical issues, it is winter, general under a lot of pressure, we have the rest of medicine and we are rolling out a vaccination programme. the nhs is prepared to do this because we have the infrastructure to do it, and it's going to be a huge undertaking, it is exciting. we have stuff to look out for and things we will be learning along the way. the population will hopefully be getting a lot of the vaccine. we are saying to the community that we serve at the minute, please bear with us. you will be contacted, try not to contact your gp surgery and ask us when it's happening because you will be contacted by us. so sit tight, and wait for that call or text. in general terms, what are your patients telling you about how they feel about the vaccine? there's a huge mixture of feelings, a lot of patients, especially those who have been affected by covid—19, those who have lost loved ones, which are in the thousands, colleagues who have had lost colleagues, because this is a terrible disease. they are looking forward to getting the vaccine and trying to drive out this vaccine. we need a large proportion of the community to get vaccinated to get the herd immunity we need. the questions have been brought up about safety, the british muslim council have said that it is safe. there are a lot of questions about whether there are animal derivatives in there, there are no animal derivatives, some vaccines do have pork gelatine in them and this is not, this is not a live vaccine. we need to get that misinformation out. mass testing is going to be available in more tier 3 areas previously. what do you make of that and what are your thoughts on secondary school children being offered the mass testing in parts of the south—east? what do you think about that? if we use the liverpool model, we know that mass testing drove down the numbers a lot, they went down from tier 3 to tier 2, testing is something that right at the start, the who were saying, test, test, test. i personally feel that getting secondary schools tested now is too little, too late, the schools are closing on thursday or friday anyway. the rapid flow tests that they are doing in schools and universities to try and get these students home, the take—up rate is quite small. they find that the tests are not as accurate, you still need to do the swap that goes to the lab to get the most accurate test. it is good because we get some indication of where people are who are asymptomatic you have no symptoms that carry the virus, and people can prepare for their christmas holidays better and make plans of who they want in their bubble, if grandpa or grandma is going to come round this year. it allows people to plan a little bit more. but we should have been doing this back in september. ifeel personally, when we open to the schools after the summer holidays, we should have been doing testing in schools because that is where we found that some of the numbers were coming back up again. we didn't do that, we went into lockdown in november. at least we are learning, this is part of the process. but i don't know whether this will have the massive impact that we feel it might do. that's really interesting to hear from you, might do. that's really interesting to hearfrom you, nighat. finally from me, the length of time that people have to quarantine four is coming down, why has that changed, what are your thoughts?” coming down, why has that changed, what are your thoughts? i came across this on friday, i think, and there are a couple of studies that have been done and i guess data from around the world is being collated at the same time which shows that if you are infected, if you are positive for covid—19 and in quarantine, you don't need to be in quarantine, you don't need to be in quarantine for 14 days, you can be in quarantine for ten days. that is for days afterwards that you can come out of quarantine. that is driven by a couple of factors, the economy, people need to be up and about and working, children need to go back to school because when you are positive for covid—19, the whole family needs to quarantine at home. a lot of it is because quarantine is tough, it plays havoc on your mental health. we already know that loneliness, mental health, anxiety and stress is going through the roof. if we know you are not infecting people after ten days, you can come out. there are a couple of studies, i need to see a bit more research on that to be able to say to my patients, that is what we should be doing. something to watch out for in the next couple of weeks. you guys will probably know a lot more than me and a lot quicker!” doubt that very much. lovely to talk to you this morning. i love hearing from you. i'm off to have my brea kfast. from you. i'm off to have my breakfast. cheers! not many of those mugs around, take ca re of not many of those mugs around, take care of it. that is the last three, i think. thank you for the lovely m essa g es i think. thank you for the lovely messages about freddie running in burnley. we saw a couple of burnley players with big smiles on their faces with good reason this morning. they had a great night. more misery for arsenal. worst ever start to the season? yes, in 45 years. i was reading mikel arteta's interview, he was asked, where does this defeat leaves them? his answer was, asked, where does this defeat leaves them? his answerwas, in asked, where does this defeat leaves them? his answer was, in a worse position. pretty much sums it up! and a 1—0 defeat at home to burnley perfectly demonstrated their problems. granit xhaka losing his cool and grabbing ashley westwood's neck. that's twice this season an arsenal player has been sent off for violent conduct. and captain pierre emerick aubameyang put the ball in his own net. that took burnley out of the relegation zone but left arsenal fans and the players in despair. it's terrible, to be honest. not what we are, not as a club, not what the fans deserve. not what the manager deserves, not what the board deserves. it's us players that need to take responsibility for this. we are arsenal, we need to be better than this. we're not performing up to the standards and we don't deserve to be, not playing well enough, we're doing well in stages but it's not good enough, we need to be better for the full game, take charge and score goals. it's arsenal, it's just not good enough, man. and this won't make arsenal fans feel any better. tottenham are still top of the table, despite only managing a 1—1 draw at crystal palace. harry kane put them ahead, jeffrey schlupp put away the equaliser. liverpool could have gone top but they also drew, 1—1 at fulham, who were arguably the better side, and they took a lead through bobby decordova—reid. but late in the game, liverpool won a penalty and mohamed salah gave them a somewhat fortunate point. leicester are up to third, just a point behind the top two, after a 3—0 win against brighton. james maddison scoring twice for brendan rodgers' side. sheffield united are still searching for their first win of the season. they were beaten 3—0 by southampton, who are up to fourth. rangers captain james tavernier is having an outstanding season. he was on the scoresheet again, as they beat dundee united 2—1 to stay 13 points clear at the top of the scottish premiership. tavernier has been involved in 30 goals so far and he hit a superb free kick before setting up their second. rangers are now unbeaten in 26 games. with celtic still trailing way behind them. they did beat kilmarnock 2—0 though, to ease the pressure a little on manager neil lennon. manchester united are still unbeaten in the women's super league, nine games in. they beat reading 2—1, hayley ladd with the winner. they're three points clear of chelsea at the top of the table. elsewhere, manchester city beat arsenal. exeter showed no mercy as they began their defence of rugby union's european champions cup. they beat glasgow warriors 42—nil. fans were back in the stadium for the first time and they saw their team score six tries, including this brilliant finish from 0lly woodburn. chasing the ball through, quick cap and over the line, look at that. lewis hamilton said he was "destroyed" after the abu dhabi grand prix, the final race of the season. he finished third but he was still suffering from the after—effects of coronavirus. red bull's max verstappen led from start to finish, taking the flag ahead of mercedes' valtteri bottas and then hamilton, who said he was looking forward to a rest. that was a really hard race for me, physically. all year physically i've been fine but today it wasn't. so i'm just glad it's over. ronnie 0'sullivan said he had no complaints, after being well beaten by mark selby in the final of the scottish 0pen. there's always a bit of needle between these two, but selby was never behind and he eased to victory by nine frames to three in milton keynes, to retain his title. there was an extraordinary finish to the european golf season, with lee westwood winning the race to dubai — that's the title given to the best player on the tour. another englishman, matt fitzpatrick, won the final tournament, but westwood finished second to take the prize for the first time in 20 years. i didn't know what to expect at the start of the year because i hadn't played a lot, and i came out and won. and coming into this week, i hadn't hit balls for more than half an hour, 45 minutes because i've had a bad back. i only played nine holes practice. so, you know, i'm a little bit better when there's no, kind of, goal and anticipation there. and the us women's open will be played to a finish today, after round four was suspended due to dangerous weather in houston. the leader, japan's hinako shibuno, had yet to tee off. she is one clear of the field, on four under. my my money would be on her to do it, she is a steely contender, i watched her win the open last year at woburn, she is awesome. whether it is in that great though. no, -- the weather doesn't look that great. still going strong at 47, lee westwood. the only man on tour to have world ranking the same as his age, 47 in the world. that is that of the week, already! fishing may only account for a small part of the economy but it's proving to be a major sticking point in talks to thrash out a post brexit trade deal. breakfast‘s john maguire is at brixham harbour in devon for us this morning. john, what is the mood amongst fisherman there? iimagine i imagine they want some answers and some decisions fairly soon. yes, we hear it over and again, we heard it from nina this morning, what people want in business, no matter what business, business, fishing, farming, manufacturing, is some sort of certainty or guidance. here is a quick look around bricks on this one, never a dull moment are normally in a fishing harbour but it has been quiet. a couple of boats getting ready to set out and go fishing over the next couple of hours, a bit of maintenance going on. you can see a couple of the trawlers have pulled up alongside the main fish marketjust behind there, so much of the market trading is now online so not so much hustle and bustle as you would normally associate it with a fish market. december is a time in the eyes of the fishing industry are trained on brussels because it is always when the common fisheries policy quota to make our done, the common fisheries policy quota to make ourdone, —— the common fisheries policy quota to make our done, —— the quotas are made. so there are normally a lot of long meetings into the night, and the fishing industry is told what species it can catch, wear, and in what numbers. this is what it is all about. the quota system which you will have heard so much about, that determines year by year traditionally in the european union who can catch what and where. but with britain leaving the european union, the idea is to tear up that agreement and try and come up with something else. it is tricky, of course. a couple of reasons, fish do not respect international borders and areas. they will swim around in different locations. and everybody wa nts to different locations. and everybody wants to cash the best fish in the best area. there are complications, traditionally some of the british quotas have been sold to foreign vessels and owners. so what fishermen here wants to see is the new deal, they want sovereignty of the waters here, the uk waters and a bigger share of the catch. as you can imagine, extremely complicated and therefore you can understand why it is proving to be one of the sticking points in the negotiations that as we now know are still ongoing. thank you very much, john. for us here at breakfast christmas can mean only one thing, the return of carol's carols. my my favourite time of the year! kicking off proceedings this year, the english national opera chorus, and carol is with them now. morning, everybody. good morning to you, isn't it amazing to be here? i'm in the coliseum in london. you might recognise the royal box behind me, this was used in one of the scenes of the netflix series the crown, when you saw the prince and princess of wales watching a performance taking place. this morning it is nice and mild outside and inside. temperatures currently between eight and 12 degrees. today, nobody is immune to a shower, the forecast is a little bit of sunshine and blustery showers. some heavy ones overnight, heavy rain as well pushing through through the night, some of that has been thundery and through today, very similar conditions. we are looking at showers and longer spells of rain. most in the north and west, but some getting its essential areas and this afternoon especially, a weather front coming across the south—east will bring some showers. temperatures today in high single figures or loadable figures. this evening and overnight, the front in the south—east clears off with the showers into the north sea, another one coming from the north—west will introduce some rain. many of the showers will ease and the wind will ease down. as we head through tomorrow, a similar story, ease down. as we head through tomorrow, a similarstory, in ease down. as we head through tomorrow, a similar story, in the north and west, particularly, some of those showers will be merging to give longer spells of rain. dry conditions across central and eastern areas. 0nce conditions across central and eastern areas. once again, temperatures for the state —— stage in december, pretty good, low double figures. we arejoined all we are joined all morning we arejoined all morning by we are joined all morning by the english national opera chorus. but the coliseum also plays host to the english national ballet, so let's meet the music director of the ballet, gavin sutherland. good morning. this has been a mighty peculiar year for everybody. how has the pandemic affected you? the a lwa ys the pandemic affected you? the always need to dance and musicians a lwa ys always need to dance and musicians always need to dance and musicians always need to dance and musicians always need to play. following the first lockdown, we were back in the studio as quickly as we could, with all the guidelines in place and our medical team worked and astonishing miracle to get to the dances in studios during class, warming up after a long time away. and we were all confident that performances would emerge and come back again and that has not been the case yet. how have the dances kept themselves occupied? beyond the banana bread and the crocheting, there is no doubt that there are lots of things we can prepare, we are looking way ahead to new productions we are planning that we are looking to get on with next year. they are always difficult productions to mount but we are always keen to find new ways of using digital platforms and also good old—fashioned of using digital platforms and also good old —fashioned live performances. 0r good old —fashioned live performances. or just a good old —fashioned live performances. 0rjust a zoom chat to somebody, anything we can do to communicate our company of dance and music, to the wider public. and you are hoping to perform again from this thursday, dependent on what happens with london and tear to or tier 3. —— tier 2. happens with london and tear to or tier 3. -- tier 2. we are very alert of the situation, and we are keeping an eye on what is happening, we are confident, committed and passionate and desperate to get back on stage in front of real people. the nutcracker is very important to you asa nutcracker is very important to you as a company, why? this is the company's as a company, why? this is the compa ny‘s 70th year of as a company, why? this is the company's 70th year of existence and the english national ballet, for that entire time, has had the nutcracker on its books as one of our premiere productions. it is important that every year our audience expects the nutcracker and we should be able to deliver it. this year, whilst it is a slightly pared down a little, so we have a few of the sparkly delights of the production, we are doing a 75 minute version of the piece with 20 dancers and 31 in the orchestra. performing to audiences of 1000, as far as we know, and hopefully that will be the christmas delight for this particular year until things achieve some normality from next year onwards. we keep everything crossed for that, thank you so much. absolute pleasure. now we have the pleasure of listening to the english national opera chorus performing hark the herald angels sing. # hark the herald angels sing # hark the herald angels sing # glory to the newborn king # glory to the newborn king # peace on earth and mercy mild # peace on earth and mercy mild # god and sinners reconciled # god and sinners reconciled #joyful all # god and sinners reconciled # joyful all these nations # god and sinners reconciled #joyful all these nations rise #joyful all these nations rise #join the #joyful all these nations rise # join the triumph of the skies # join the triumph of the skies # with the angelic hosts proclaim # with the angelic hosts proclaim # christ is born in bethlehem # christ is born in bethlehem # hark, the herald angels sing # hark, the herald angels sing # glory to the newborn king. # hale, the sun of righteousness # hale, the sun of righteousness # lightand # hale, the sun of righteousness # light and life to all, he brings # light and life to all, he brings # resin with —— risen with heaven in his wings. light and life to all he brings risen with healing in his wings mild he lay his glory by born that man no more may die # hark, the herald angels sing # hark, the herald angels sing # glory to the newborn king! wow! let's give them a round of applause! no one else is there. that was amazing. absolutely gorgeous, feeling very christmassy now. normally that is the big finish, we have gone early with hark the herald angels sing! we will also hear 0 holy night and 0 come all ye faithful. i cannot wait for that. the nhs in wales is in danger of becoming the "national coronavirus service". that's the stark warning from the first minister mark drakeford as cases there continue to rise. last week the number of people in welsh hospitals with covid reached a record high and from today, one health board is postponing all non—urgent care as hospitals struggle to find beds for patients. joining us now is dr amijones who's an intensive care consultant at the grange university hospital in cwmbran. thank you for being with us this morning. i know you have a long shift ahead of you today. we have really, not, enjoyed but appreciated speaking to you over the last few months because you have had a hard time. a patient waited 90 hours in an ambulance before being admitted to hospital. it is an awful situation but does that give us an idea of the pressures you are under at the moment? i think it does. the first thing to go into hospital when it is busy is the flow, so we have not got the beds and we have had to stop doing elective operations. it is not just like a stop doing elective operations. it is notjust like a normal winter, we have had to put completely different pathways in four patients having elective operations because we want to have no risk of them catch covid. as the number of covid patients gets more and more, it is more difficult. it is just more and more, it is more difficult. it isjust keeping more and more, it is more difficult. it is just keeping this patient safe. when we spoke to you last week, we were talking about the vaccine being the light being ends of what you refer to as a very long tunnel. have things gone considerably worse since we spoke to you last? i think it hasjust been a steady stream of patients. we have reached a tipping point, we have more patients in hospital with covid than do not have covid now. intensive care is probably three quarters covid patients, and there is no in hospital. we have people queueing up in ambulances. it is very difficult but the staff are working really hard and we are sorry to the patient is not getting the ca re we to the patient is not getting the care we would like to give them. but what can we do? we are stuffed full of patients who have very significant needs. we had the warning from mark drakeford that the nhs in wales could become the national coronavirus service, do you share that fear? yeah, in the first wave, that is all we were doing, coronavirus. as the second race started, we understood we needed to do both elective work and other work. winter is always difficult. i think the coronavirus just tipped us over. the vast proportion of what we are doing in the health board is coronavirus so i guess in its it are the national coronavirus service. how are you and your colleagues coping? we have spoken to at various points and you have told us how hard it is to keep morale up. how are things in the weeks approaching christmas? they are tough. we know what we are doing but we have had nine months of slogging it out and compounded by that, at the moment, i'm not bursting to the gills at intensive care but i don't have the staff to look after my patients. that is similar everywhere in wales. we have enough ventilators but we need the nurses. we have a huge amount of staff sickness, partly stressed because we have had a rough year. a lot of staff are off with covid themselves or their families have been diagnosed or they have had track and trace notifications. under the first wave, we didn't know what we're doing, we know what we are doing now that we are under resourced in terms of people and the nature of what's happening. it's tough because we don't want to get tough because we don't want to get to the point where we cannot get the ca re to the point where we cannot get the care out to the people we need. where are you on the shift pattern? starting tonight, i have a couple of late shifts on the air ambulance towards the end of the week. a coming up. thank you for talking to us coming up. thank you for talking to us before your shift today. incredible to hear from us before your shift today. incredible to hearfrom her. time now to get the news, travel and weather where you are. good morning from bbc london. the mayor is calling on the government to consider asking secondary schools and colleges in the capital to close early ahead of christmas and to stay closed for longer as the number of coronavirus cases continues to surge. sadiq khan has written to the prime minister demanding that testing in london be urgently extended to anyone who can't work from home, as well as students in every borough. he also wants the government to come up with a lost—income compensation scheme for businesses affected by the pandemic. meanwhile, schools in the royal borough of greenwich have been asked to close after today due to what's described as an "exponential growth" in covid—19 cases. council leader danny thorpe has written to parents and guardians saying all schools should move to online learning to — in his words — reduce the risk of transmission. the government says its priority is to keep education settings open. the night tube could be removed as part of changes to the london underground to try and reduce a £2 billion funding gap. an independent review commissioned by transport for london suggests £35 million could be saved from annual budgets if the night tube service was stopped. in other cost cutting recommendations, ten tube stations could also be forced to close at weekends. a hospital choirfrom south london has teamed up with canadian pop star justin bieber in a bid to reach the christmas no 1 spot. bieber met the lewisham and greenwich nhs choir after they beat him to the christmas number one in 2015. the two have now come together to create a version of his latest single holy. let's take a look at the travel situation now... there's a good service on the tubes this morning. 0n the roads a13 — water main workwestbound at beckton roundabout — queues from marsh way m25 in surrey has a lane closed anti—clockwise at j11 chertsey due to flooding. a4 — two lanes blocked westbound after hammersmith bridge — again because of flooding. now the weather with elizabeth rizzini. it's looking mild and unsettled as we head through this week, so wet and windy at times. certainly a very mild start to this morning, temperatures are in double figures, and have been throughout the night. there is a lot of dry weather around this morning, some of us have seen some early heavy showers around but plenty of dry weather as well, some spells of sunshine, in fact, and it's rather blustery today. a very brisk south—westerly wind blowing, we will be keeping that throughout the day. watch out for some more afternoon showers. a bit cloudier as we head through the second half of the day, it does stay windy and we'll see highs of 12 or 13 degrees celsius so well above the seasonal average. through this evening and overnight, again, there will be a few showers around at times. the winds ease down somewhat and there will also be some clear spells. temperatures down perhaps as low as seven or eight celsius tomorrow morning. so a slightly cooler night than we saw last night. tomorrow, lighter winds and fewer showers, there will also be some sunny spells around. once more, temperatures in double figures. i'm back with the latest from the bbc london newsroom in half an hour. plenty more on our website at the usual address. bye for now. good morning, welcome to breakfast with dan walker and sally nugent. 0ur headlines today. ready to roll out — gp surgeries in england and care homes in scotland will start giving doses of the covid vaccine today. going the extra mile — both sides agree to keep talking in an attempt to break the deadlock over a brexit trade deal. the master of the spy novel, john le carre, author of tinker tailor soldier spy, has died aged 89 . arsenal have had their worst ever start to a season after losing at home to burnley. 2000 fans in the ground, but some could barely watch. christmas wouldn't be christmas without a call the midwife special. jenny agutter will be here to tell us about filming during a pandemic. # us about filming during a pandemic. we wish you a wish # we wish you a merry christmas, we wish you a merry christmas. good morning from the coliseum in london. the largest west end theatre in london. we are here all morning with the english national opera chorus who will perform traditional christmas carols and bringing christmas carols and bringing christmas joy. the forecast, christmas carols and bringing christmasjoy. the forecast, showers and longer spells of rain and the wind easing through the day. the details in ten minutes. it's monday 14th december. our top story. around a hundred gp practices in england are to receive their first batches of the coronavirus vaccine. some will start giving the vaccinations to patients from today with those aged over 80 given priority. 0ur science correspondent pallab ghosh has this report. dr ammara hughes is getting her surgery ready for the next phase of the nhs vaccination campaign. in the heart of london, bloomsbury surgery will aim to vaccinate between 800—1000 over—80s in the next three and a half days. that will mean injecting up to 40 patients every hour. like others receiving the doses, the practice will be open between 8am and 8pm, seven days a week. those eligible for a jab will be contacted by the surgery. do sit tight, we will be phoning you. so it is by appointment, and we will get to everybody, so don't start ringing your practices, because we will be ringing you to ensure that, if you're eligible, that you are invited for your vaccine. the roll—out to gp surgeries comes less than a week after margaret keenan made history, when the uk became the first country in the world to begin vaccinations in hospitals. the jab is now being administered in the community. an immunisation campaign of this magnitude has never been undertaken by the nhs. it has been a real roller—coaster. many of my colleagues have been working all hours through the covid pandemic and, now, to finally be in a position now, to finally be in a position to offer a vaccination to our community is incredibly powerful. and, as a gp, i'm really quite blown away. around 100 practices in england will receive their doses. a further 100—200 are expected to receive them by the end of the week. pallab ghosh, bbc news. vaccinations will also begin in care homes in scotland today. staff and older residents will be the first to receive the jab. there had been fears that the roll out wouldn't go ahead because of difficulties in storing the vaccine. the scottish government says it's a "step on the road to recovery" from the pandemic. schools in the london borough of greenwich have been asked to close from this evening, because of a rise in coronavirus cases in the capital. the council's labour leader wrote to all head teachers and parents in the area suggesting that teaching moves online. the department for education said keeping schools open was a national priority. negotiations will continue today between the uk and the eu, after both sides agreed to go the extra mile to secure a post—brexit deal. london and brussels have said enough progress has been made for the talks to carry on, although the prime minister maintained that the most likely outcome is still no deal. we'll get the latest from our brussels correspondent nick beake in just a moment, but first let's go to downing street where our political correspondent jessica parker is this morning. has there been progress? there is a suggestion i think from those close to the british side that if there had been no progress, things would have stalled yesterday following that deadline. but what we do not know is who might have given way and exactly know is who might have given way and exa ctly o n know is who might have given way and exactly on what. the sticking point is that people might be familiar with in terms of getting a trade deal, fishing rights, to what extent eu boats can access british waters. and rules diverging between the uk and eu, the mechanism to arbitrate on that. the negotiators in brussels will go back into the weeds. yesterday's deadline was missed. in thejoint statement from yesterday's deadline was missed. in the joint statement from the european commission president boris johnson, no new deadline was set and perhaps because both leaders might be aware that having missed deadlines over the course of brexit, people might treat a new one with scepticism. whether the ultimate deadline is really the 31st of december, the end of the transition period, senior government sources telling me that is not the case, because that would not leave enough time for both sides to ratify any trade thank you. now to brussels. we know the chief negotiator michel barnier will brief the ambassadors of 27 member states this morning. let's find out what he will be telling them. good morning. he does this quite often, updating the ambassadors and it is important. you have to keep each country happy if there is to be a deal. you have the uk on one side and on the eu side, michel barnier is negotiating for all those countries and they need to be happy if there is to be a deal. previously, he has given a gloomy assessment and in recent days, he has said it is looking more likely that there will be no trade deal before the 31st of december. the big question is is there a sign of optimism over the past 24 hours, the fa ct optimism over the past 24 hours, the fact the talks continue. i think people in brussels welcome the fact they have not put a new deadline on this, does it give more room for manoeuvre? the negotiating teams are exhausted. does it allow them to go into more detail without the pressure of time? the talks continue today and lauder frost and michel barnier will get around the table. most people in brussels thinking it is increasingly likely there will be no deal but they say they live in hope and we will have to see what this week brings. one of britain's best—known spy novelists, john le carre, has died aged 89, following a short illness. described as an "undisputed giant of english literature", his most famous works include tinker tailor soldier spy, the night manager, and the spy who came in from the cold. 0ur reporter keith doyle takes a look back at his life and career. then he must have a man on the inside, mustn't he? alec guinness in the television version of tinker tailor soldier spy, playing george smiley. the spy master wasjohn le carre's most enduring and celebrated creation. like smiley, le carre had been a spy. david cornwell, his real name, had been fascinated by lies and duplicity since childhood. he was first recruited for intelligence work at university in switzerland. then, at oxford, he spied on left—wing contemporaries. when the option was presented to me, it was immensely attractive. it really was as if the whole of my life had prepared me for this moment. the spy who came in from the cold, laterfilmed with richard burton, was le carre's breakthrough novel, written while he was working for mi6 at the british embassy in bonn, when the berlin wall went up. the author stephen king tweeted: his agent of 15 years, jonny geller, wrote: his work did define the cold war era, but his first post—cold war novel... the night manager. ..was another bestseller and a hit tv adaptation, 20 years later, in which the author played a rare cameo. but it was his spy novels he will be most remembered for. he believed authors and spies had much in common — both hiding their real selves in characters of their own creation. keith doyle, bbc news. we'll be paying tribute tojohn le carre throughout the programme this morning and, at 08.30, we'll hearfrom novelists robert harris and ian rankin. they both have personal recollections of the great man. if you're a keen stargazer you'll know that last night was a good chance to see the geminid meteor shower. but, of course, some places give you a better view than others. these pictures were taken in a mountainous area of south—west china — where the high altitude and clear skies helped to set up this incredible display. the geminids are huge chunks of ice and rock from an asteroid, and the earth passes through the debris every december. carol has you could argue a better view this morning. normally she goes outside but today, it is the start of carol's carols. and starting off the singalong series, at home, of course, she is at the home of the english national opera. good morning. i even have my preprinted cards saying carol's carols. we are at the coliseum. a beautiful theatre. the largest theatre in london's west end. it has 2359 seats. there has been no performance here since march. but they hope to reopen the doors this thursday to perform an abridged version of the nutcracker. it is shorter because there is no interval, to avoid the clash of people sometimes you get in the interval rushing off to the bar. but it very much depends on what happens in london. there are rumours london could go into tier three, which would have an impact. if you wonder why i am not wearing a mask, it is because everybody here is socially distanced by 2.5 metres and the english national opera are a professional chorus and as such they are allowed to perform together. sally mentioned that i was inside. it is nice and cosy, but even outside it is not particularly cold. temperatures currently between 8—12. but the forecast today is wet. showers and longer spells of rain, particularly but not exclusively across the north and west of the country. and you can see that on the charts. there will be brightness between the showers. some of the showers will be heavy. also quite windy, with the wind slowly easing. in the afternoon, a weather system coming in across the channel will bring showers in the south—east. temperatures widely in high single figures. pretty good for this stage in december. this evening and overnight the front will come into the south—east, clearing, taking showers with it into the north sea but another will bring rain to northern scotland. there will be showers but also clear skies. in central and eastern areas, clear skies and we will hang onto dry weather in those areas. prolific showers, some of those could be heavy. if you are in sunshine, with the lighter wind and temperatures in double figures, it will feel not too bad for december. a white christmas? i anticipate the question already. the forecast the next ten days is mild, but after that it turns colder. at the moment we think, in the hills in the north and west you could perhaps see a white christmas. note i am saying could and perhaps. you tell me we are not allowed to ask until christmas eve and here you are two weeks out giving a christmas forecast! i anticipate it because no matter what i say, you will do the opposite. i am glad we have such a wonderful working relationship. opposite. i am glad we have such a wonderfulworking relationship. i did enjoy hark the herald angels sing. back for more later. talks between the uk and the eu to secure a post—brexit trade deal will continue today. but, after months of failed negotiations, labour has accused the prime minister of being "cavalier" with the nation's interests. shadow cabinet office member rachel reeves said the inability to strike an agreement had caused huge dismay. shejoins us now. good morning. we know compromises will be needed on both sides. what areas would you look to negotiate on? where would you compromise? the differences are not insignificant but we do not think they are insurmountable. there is precedent for getting trade deals but there needs to be independent arbitration if the rules diverging, but at the moment the government seem to suggest that because we want to deregulate the economy, we should not sign up to any form of level playing field. i do not think that is the priority of british people. we enjoy rights for workers and environmental rights and i do not wa nt environmental rights and i do not want those diluted and that should not be a reason for not signing up for a deal. fishing, there is a precedent, like the deal norway has with the eu so a deal is there to be done. many businesses, with 17 days to go, it gives a new meaning to the night before christmas. incredibly frustrating for businesses trying to plan. government say to business get ready for brexit. many businesses say to me at the government, get ready for what? we do not know we will be able to trade in 17 days, which is no way to treat great british businesses. we know this has to come back to parliament. what would stop you voting for whatever deal might or does come back?” think we have been clear that we are minded to support a deal the government brings back, but we would have to see the detail before it comes to any vote on implementation and legislation in parliament. no deal would be the worse thing, particularly in the middle of a global pandemic, and deep recession. to foist greater pressure on businesses would not be the right thing. although we have concerns about the deal the government will bring back and the lack of planning for where we will be, deal or no deal at the new year, no deal is in a league of its own in terms of damage it will do to the economy and also security, because of lack of access to eu databases to fight organised crime and terrorism. what are your red lines? what deal would you not support and what areas of a potential deal are you concerned about? you mention fishing. many things, services are unlikely to be included in any trade deal. likely to be limitations to access to databases on security and fighting organised crime. we are worried about car manufacture and rules of origin but in the end there are two macro paths, to trade with the deal or without one, and we have to look at those combined, because there are no other options on the table now. it is not like the last parliament when we could push for the government to get a better deal. there is a deadline at the end of the year and we have to weigh up the deal the government secures verses, imean, deal the government secures verses, i mean, frankly, looking to the a byss i mean, frankly, looking to the abyss with no deal. we are minded to support a deal but we have to see what the government brings back. we will hold them to account for whatever they bring back and if it isa whatever they bring back and if it is a limited dealfor services whatever they bring back and if it is a limited deal for services and car manufacturing and security, the government owned that and have to ta ke government owned that and have to take responsibility for it. how can you help them to account when it seems to me you are saying any deal is better than no deal. no deal would be catastrophic. talk to any business and that is what they say. 10% tariffs on car exports, 40% on british lamb. those additional costs to businesses for many, that would be the difference between being in business and out of business. we have to look at the two options available now. we hope the government gets a deal because that would be in the best interests of british business, workers and our security, but the government have to ta ke security, but the government have to take responsibility for any deal they bring back, including the limitations of it, particularly around services and car manufacturing and security. there are now two paths available. the labour party will always act in the national interest and if that means supporting a deal, even if it is not the deal labour would have brought back and the government promised, it is likely to be better than the alternative, which is no deal and the catastrophic consequences that would have for british business. thank you. we will talk to the business secretary in about ten minutes. let's return to our top story. the vaccine roll—out continues and, from today, 100 gp surgeries in england will start to receive doses of the pfizer biontech jab. some practices will immunise the over—80s from this afternoon. dr mohit mandiratta is outside his surgery now. good morning. i imagine it will be a busy day. first, talk us through preparation. what has gone into you being able to do this today? good morning. it is an absolutely proud moment to be a gp and proud moment for primary care with so much work donein for primary care with so much work done in the background and the nhs has prepared for this such a long time and the biggest roll—out in our history and we are ready to deliver, it has been a collaborative approach across primary care networks with gps working together and a multidisciplinary team ready to deliver this vaccine with pharmacists, nurses, health care assistance, the admin team and gps are ready to deliver it. we looked on in pride last week at what happened in coventry with margaret keenan and it is great we are here today ready to deliver vaccines to our community. in terms of workload, how much extra work is this going to be and will you and the rest of your staff be able to do all the jobs you would normally do at this time of year? absolutely, our intention will be to continue vital services we offer. it will be an added workload but we are ready. we are working as a collaboration of practices, led by the primary care network to deliver this vaccine. 0ur cells in the practice are lucky with two branches so this branch will be a vaccination hub and day—to—day work takes place in another branch but we are ready to deliver. the nhs has been here throughout the pandemic and primary ca re throughout the pandemic and primary care has been here, so we are ready to deliver this and happy to be here saying we can do this from today. do you know how many doses you are planning to have and will have and how many you will be able to give from this afternoon per day? how many you will be able to give from this afternoon per day7m how many you will be able to give from this afternoon per day? it is difficult to get into specifics of numbers we can give but we are looking to give as many as possible safely to the population. we know two vaccines have to be delivered, one from today and another in three weeks and it is important those who get the vaccine get both done because you need both for the vaccine to be effective.” because you need both for the vaccine to be effective. i am not trying to put you on the spot but for our knowledge. hundreds, tends per day? i would say hundreds per day, starting this week. practically, a lot of gps have been talking about waiting to be called. a lot of people may be aware of the job you are doing and where your surgery job you are doing and where your surgery is and think they can just turn up. that is not the way it works? absolutely. we encourage everybody to wait to be contacted, whether the national booking system or your whether the national booking system oryourgp whether the national booking system or your gp practice inviting you. try not to call to book in. we are working through advice given and no age is the highest factor for covid mortality. we will be in touch and when we are please make sure you come forward to attend your appointments. i appreciate your time. thank you. dr mohit mandiratta. vaccinations are also getting under way in care homes in scotland today. staff and older residents will be the first to receive the pfizer jab. there had been fears the roll—out wouldn't go ahead because of difficulties storing the vaccine. dr nicola steedman is the deputy chief medical officer for scotland. good morning. can you tell me how the roll—out will work, how is scotla nd the roll—out will work, how is scotland making the vaccine work, considering it is difficult to transport and store? this has been our priority, to protect the most vulnerable to covid infection and thatis vulnerable to covid infection and that is care home residents, particularly older adults. 0fficials and clinical teams and chief pharmaceutical officer have worked ha rd to pharmaceutical officer have worked hard to put in place a mechanism to bring the vaccine to the care homes. this vaccine has issues about cold storage and limited transport times, but we have mhra approval for our boards, hospitals, to be able to pack down the vaccine into small enough packages and transport it to ta ke enough packages and transport it to take it to care homes to give it to residents and staff in the homes. we are absolutely delighted to hear that. this vaccine is not yet able to go into care homes in england. what has scotland been able to do quicker than england at this point? there are different legal entities in england and scotland. it is a different situation with health devolved in scotland. there are particular ways in which scotland is able to do this that can be approved that perhaps england cannot. we are all across the uk doing our best to protect those most vulnerable within the constraints we have in our individual health care systems. how many residents are you aiming to vaccinate? do you know how quickly the first round of vaccinations will happen? everyone wants to know the magic numbers and it comes down to how much vaccine supply we get. we know how much we have at the moment. we expect and hope to get more vaccines in this month. it is to do with vaccine supply. we will use available vaccines we have to vaccinate as many people in care homes as we possibly can. the most efficient thing is to vaccinate all residents and staff in each care home at the time. we know that the highest risk care homes are those that are largest and obviously those in areas where the prevalence of covid is higher. if we have to prioritise based on vaccine supply thatis prioritise based on vaccine supply that is what we can do, to protect those at highest risk. once residents have received both doses of the vaccine, is there a possibility that families in scotla nd possibility that families in scotland might be able to visit and hug their relatives they may not have seen for many months? gosh, we all really hope so, don't we? that is what we are all aiming for. i cannot give the guarantee in terms ofa cannot give the guarantee in terms of a timescale when that can happen. the vaccine is extremely effective at preventing clinical disease, and thatis at preventing clinical disease, and that is probably the most important thing. we do not want people to get sick or die and the vaccine seems to be 95% effective at preventing that, evenin be 95% effective at preventing that, even in the elderly. but 95% is not 100%. what we don't know is whether the vaccine prevents people from getting infected or transmitting the virus. therefore, until large numbers of the population are vaccinated, even those coming into ca re vaccinated, even those coming into care homes to see people, wejust don't know the effect on transmission, which means we need to continue to take precautions for the time being but rest assured, the efficacy of the vaccine is being evaluated and as soon as we think it's safe to release those restrictions we will do. thank you very much indeed. a lot to come. we have some more hits from carol's carols. we will speak to two famous writers about the sad death ofjohn le carre and did a few minutes we will talk to the business secretary. time now to get the news, travel and weather where you are. good morning from bbc london, i'm victoria hollins. the mayor is calling on the government to consider asking secondary schools and colleges in the capital to close early ahead of christmas and to stay closed for longer as the number of coronavirus cases continues to surge. sadiq khan has written to the prime minister demanding that testing in london be urgently extended to anyone who can't work from home as well as students in every borough. he also wants the government to come up with a ‘lost income' compensation scheme for businesses affected by the pandemic. meanwhile schools in the royal borough of greenwich have been asked to close after today due to what's described as an "exponential growth" in covid—19 cases. council leader, danny thorpe has written to parents and guardians saying all schools should move to online learning to, in his words, "reduce the risk of transmission". the government says its priority is to keep education settings open. the night tube could be removed as part of changes to the london underground to try and reduce a £2 billion funding gap. an independent review commissioned by transport for london suggests £35 million could be saved from annual budgets if the night tube service was stopped. in other cost cutting recommendations ten tube stations could also be forced to close at weekends. a hospital choirfrom south london has teamed up with canadian pop—star justin bieber in a bid to reach the christmas number one spot. bieber met the lewisham and greenwich nhs choir after they beat him to the christmas number one in 2015. the two have now come together to create a version of his latest single holy. let's take a look at the travel situation now. there's a good service on the tubes this morning. 0n the roads, the a13, water main work westbound at beckton roundabout. there's queues from rainham. 0n the m25 in surrey, one lane is closed anti—clockwise at junction 11 chertsey due to flooding. queues back tojunction 13, staines. now the weather with elizabeth rizzini. it's looking mild and unsettled as we head through this week, so wet and windy at times. certainly a very mild start to this morning, temperatures are in double figures, and have been throughout the night. there is a lot of dry weather around this morning, some of us have seen some early heavy showers around but plenty of dry weather as well, some spells of sunshine, in fact, and it's rather blustery today. a very brisk south—westerly wind blowing, we will be keeping that throughout the day. watch out for some more afternoon showers. a bit cloudier as we head through the second half of the day, it does stay windy and we'll see highs of 12 or 13 degrees celsius so well above the seasonal average. through this evening and overnight, again, there will be a few showers around at times. the winds ease down somewhat and there will also be some clear spells. temperatures down perhaps as low as seven or eight celsius tomorrow morning. so a slightly cooler night than we saw last night. tomorrow, lighter winds and fewer showers, there will also be some sunny spells around. once more, temperatures in double figures. i'm back with the latest from the bbc london newsroom in an hour. plenty more on our website at the usual address. hello, this is breakfast with dan walker and sally nugent. negotiations between the uk and eu will continue as the two sides try to come to an agreement on what a post brexit trade deal will look like. the uncertainty has left many businesses wondering how ready they will be when the transition period ends on the 31st of december. we're joined now by the business secretary, alok sharma. good morning. good morning. can you tell us first of all, is progress being made, where are we this morning? as you heard from the prime minister yesterday, we have decided with the eu to continue discussions. there are a number of areas where we still need to make quite significant progress. as the prime minister said, we need to make sure that we go the extra mile, it is what businesses and people in our country wa nt businesses and people in our country want and that is precisely what we are doing. we won't be walking away from these talks. i have come on your programme on a number of occasions, recently, and made the point again and again that if we're going to get a deal with the eu, it has to be on the basis that the eu understands that the uk is a sovereign nation and an independent nation. can i ask you, when the prime minister was updating the cabinet yesterday, where you the call? yes, i was on the call but you would not expect to go into the details of the discussions i had. in terms of his mood, i suppose. did he seem terms of his mood, i suppose. did he seem upbeat about potentially finding a deal in the next few days or weeks? i would say firstly the prime minister is always someone who is very upbeat, and he has been very clear that if course we want to try and get canada style deal, that is what we set out to do, zero tariffs and quotas. but of course if we have to go to australia style terms, wto terms, we will do that and prosper asa terms, we will do that and prosper as a country, he has made that point again and again. i think the fact that we are continuing to have these discussions shows that there is an opportunity to try and make some progress. it is difficult in certain areas. we have had a lot of this australia style, a phrase very popular in the last few days, do you think that is a helpful comparison? there is nojust—in—time provision for australia with the eu because they don't have that proximity. they don't have the medical needs that we have in terms of being close to the eu. there is no shed waters, no fishing issues with australia, and if you look at the size of the trading agreements, the eu and the uk is the biggest single trading partner, only 11% of australian trade is with the eu. why do we keep comparing it when it is a very different deal? if we go to wto terms, that is is the terms on which australia traded the eu. it is a description with the type of arrangement we will have. i think we are confident that we will prosper under those arrangements as well. they are still chewing to organise a trade deal, the australians, and have been since june trade deal, the australians, and have been sincejune 2018. —— trying to organise a trade deal. they are trading with the eu on wto terms and that would be the basis on which we proceed as well. but look, we are doing our very best to see whether we can try and get a deal on canada style terms. there are a number of issues, the issue of dynamic alignment of which we cannot accept, the idea that if the eu changes regulation to we somehow have to follow suit, the issue on fisheries, but we will keep talking. do you think it could go right the way to new year's eve? we have always said the transition period ends at the end of december. and we will not be continuing discussions beyond that. and of course, any deal that we have would then have to go through parliament so that would be really cutting it quite fine. we have seen it in the past that parliament can move it in the past that parliament can m ove very it in the past that parliament can move very quickly and be very agile when it needs to be. so i think the key thing right now is that those discussions continue. we are doing so discussions continue. we are doing so in good faith, david frost is leading on this for us. i worked with david when he was advising the prime minister when he was foreign secretary. he is a great guy and i know he will be doing the very best he can for the united kingdom. do you think there will be a point in the next few days where the uk will walk away from the talks? the prime minister was very clear yesterday that our intention is not to walk away, we will continue to talk as long as there is a possibility to reach a deal but we are preparing as well, i heard earlier on you were talking about businesses. i have been communicating with businesses, my department has been communicating ona my department has been communicating on a very regular my department has been communicating on a very regular basis. and whatever type of terms we end up with at the end of the transition period, there are lots of things that did can already do to prepare andindeed that did can already do to prepare and indeed they are preparing. i'm writing on a weekly basis to hundreds of thousands of businesses, communicating with business representatives... communicating with business representatives. . . sure communicating with business representatives... sure you appreciate, and this is a point that rachel reeves from the shadow cabinet made this morning as well, you keep saying to businesses to get ready, if they come back to you and say, get ready for what, what you say? let me give you some of the things they can already get ready for. if you are looking to trade with the eu, will you need an e 0 aight number, you need to make sure you have customs arrangement sorted out. if you are looking to travel after the transition period to the eu, depending on the type of work you do you will need a work permit, if you look to employ people in the eu to work in the uk, you need to look at immigration relationships that we have going forward. there is a lot that businesses can prepare. i fully a cce pt a lot that businesses can prepare. i fully accept that businesses are looking for certainty on this. that is why we want to try and conclude on these discussions as quickly as possible. can i ask a little about food prices? tesco saying that food prices could rise by 5% potentially, what is your response and what should our viewers be thinking about in terms of shopping and stockpiling, which i know many people are thinking about over the next few weeks? if you look at overall, we are talking less than 2% in terms of potential impact. there will be set on products where it may bea will be set on products where it may be a little bit more. —— certain products. i would be a little bit more. —— certain products. iwould not be a little bit more. —— certain products. i would not advise people to stockpile. we had the same discussion during the first lockdown, the national lockdown all those months ago. at that point, there was all this discussion about stockpiling and there was really no need, people were able to go to the shops and shop, i'm absolutely confident that that will still be the case at the end of the transition period. you have no concerns that that might happen if there is a no deal? the supermarkets plan for eventualities, and as i said, we have seen this kind of discussion in the past as well. and the shops have been able to continue to serve people. i'm pretty confident that will happen as well. cani confident that will happen as well. can i ask you about one thing which is pretty essential that we need to get from the eu at the moment, the vaccine coming in from belgium, the pfizer biontech vaccine. we have spoken to some gp practices where they are planning to roll that out starting this afternoon. what can you tell us about the arrival of more of those vaccines from belgium, can you give us numbers this morning? sure, there is a steady flow of this coming into the uk, i can tell you that. and we are expecting some millions by the end of this year. this whole point about what happens at the end of the transition period, we have put in place arrangements to make sure that the distribution of vaccines is not in any way disrupted. so people can feel completely confident. but it is also the case, the mass vaccination programme if i can call it that it will take place at the start of next year. it is very good news that we have already started that in hospitals, today they are starting in gp surgeries and in due course we will be looking at mass vaccination centres as well when we move into next year. those plans, we asked james cleverly last weekend he could not say what those plans were, can you tell us how it works to make sure that the vaccine arrives? i'm not going to going to the of that. i can tell you that there are a number —— going to go into the detail of that there are a number of ways... why not? there are elements around security as well, since he took about vaccines... forgive me, mr sharma. this is something your government has spoken about an awful lot, we have talking about the availability of these faxing from belgium, matt hancock has been on this programme saying how important it is that this deal has been secured and how many of these vaccines will be coming to this country. all i'm asking you to let us know is how, you have said you will guarantee they will arrive, how are you guaranteeing that those vaccines will come from belgium? as you know, products can come by land and they can also come by air. i think what many of your listeners will want to know is, is the government confident that there will be supply of vaccine?” government confident that there will be supply of vaccine? i think our viewers want to know, with respect, whether they are going to come or not. we are aware that they can buy land orair, not. we are aware that they can buy land or air, they can do, how are they going to come?” land or air, they can do, how are they going to come? i will come onto your programme and explain if there is any disruption but i'm confident as things stand, these vaccines will continue to flow into the uk. matt hancock told us millions of people would be vaccinated by christmas, that was last week. he also said ca re that was last week. he also said care home should be vaccinated for christmas. is that going to happen, but he too ambitious with that promise? he has done a tremendous job, we have procured almost 360 million doses across seven of the most promising vaccine candidates, we have made sure we have access to vaccines. tens of thousands of people have already been vaccinated. we hope that by the end of the year, we will have some millions of the pfizer biontech vaccine in the uk and we are going as fast as we can in terms of the vaccination programme. appreciate your time, look forward to speaking to you again soon, thank you, alok sharma. not a great night for arsenal but a brilliant night for burnley. we are forgetting then in all of this. i get the feeling that arsenal fa ns this. i get the feeling that arsenal fans are not enjoying relaxing sunday nights, only four wins and a draw in12 games, sunday nights, only four wins and a draw in 12 games, their worst start toa draw in 12 games, their worst start to a top—flight season in 45 years. a 1—0 defeat at home to burnley perfectly demonstrated arsenal's problems. early in the second half, granit xhaka grabbed ashley westwood's neck. that's twice this season an arsenal player has been sent off for violent conduct. and captain pierre emerick aubameyang put the ball in his own net. burnley are out of the relegation zone and arsenal are not far above them, in 15th. and their arch—rivals tottenham are still top of the table, after a 1—1 draw at crystal palace, whose keeper vicente guaita pulled off one of the saves of the season, to keep out eric dier in stoppage time. liverpool's draw at fulham meant they failed to overtake spurs. the gap between rangers and celtic at the top of the scottish premiership is still 13 points, after both won yesterday. celtic beat kilmarnock 2—0 and rangers captainjames tavernier was on the scoresheet again, as they beat dundee united 2—1. they're now unbeaten in 26 games. manchester united are still unbeaten in the women's super league, nine games in. they beat reading 2—1, hayley ladd with the winner. they're three points clear of chelsea at the top of the table. lewis hamilton said he was looking forward to a rest, after he finished third in the abu dhabi grand prix, the final race of the season. red bull's max verstappen led from start to finish, taking the flag ahead of mercedes' valtteri bottas and then hamilton, who was still suffering from the after—effects of coronavirus and said he was "destroyed" afterwards. after a series of twists in the last tournament on the european golf tour, lee westwood won the race to dubai — that's the title given to the best player of the season. another englishman, matt fitzpatrick, won the event. but westwood did exactly what he needed to do, finishing second to take the prize for the third time, 20 years after he first won it. that is his fiancee helen, his caddie. what a tour de force they are. i saw that fitzpatrick had a putt on the 17th green, and he got it, and then he had another one of my hands are set shaking. —— then he had another one and my hands were shaking. i know, it'sjust too much pressure. that is why they practice, i guess! now, christmas may look somewhat different for many this year, but one thing you can rely on is some heart—warming festive telly. the annual call the midwife christmas special will be back on our screens and despite filming taking place during the pandemic, it won't be lacking any drama. let's take a look. i'm tolerating it. you are younger than me. in every facet of existence. that does not mean that i am young. i work too, and it exhausts me. i have people to serve and it humbles me. i have nonnatus house to save, and it scares me. what can i do to lighten your burden, sister? pray. pray that money can be found, pray that the council will relent. pray that this time next year, we are still in poplar and not putting up the shutters at nonnatus house. how, pray, can i pray here, in the den of din and disinfectant? 0h, oh, my goodness! she nearly had me then, i nearly went! jenny agutter, who plays sisterjulienne in call the midwife, joins us now. good morning. i don't know if you are able to see that scene but should we prepare ourselves for some drama and emotion? yes, that's one of the more quiet and an inward —looking moments and one of the problems for sisterjulie n. there isa problems for sisterjulie n. there is a lot ofjoy in the christmas serious. we have the circus coming to town and peter davison joined this as a guest artist, there will be lots of fun in there. it is a 1955 going into 1966. yes, there are -- 1965 1955 going into 1966. yes, there are —— 1965 going into 1966. yes, there are problems but there are always ways of getting to and there are a lot of babies born which always gives us hope! in terms of getting round the practical difficulties of filming during a pandemic, what sort of changes did you witness on the set? well, enormous, huge restrictions in filming. and i have to say, i'm so thrilled to be back at work. none of the gossip in the make—up trailer in the morning because you cannot gather together, you are there on your own, everybody is in full ppe doing make up or sound or everyone close to you at all. masks all the time, distance, we had somebody there with a measure making sure we were six foot apart and talking to one another. the masks stay on until the moment the director says action and the cameras are rolling. nobody knows what anybody is going to look like until they take their mask. you have to be very careful not to do that thing when you over express when you have a mask on to indicate stuff! can you believe the way the nation is taken this programme to its heart? what is it about call the midwife which has made it a christmas day institution? it is interesting, the first year it was a lovely script and it is a wonderful production, but i didn't see it continuing. i didn't really fully understand the success of the memoirs, jennifer whethe's memoirs and heidi thomas has created terrific stories, which really hook you in, they are very imaginative. you have that as well as you are looking 50 years back, it always stays the same distance from us and they are absolute years, people can fix on that. in the community that it is in as well, it's very, it's a very close community. nonnatus house is serving the mothers in the community and the children coming up and the families. and i think people just enjoy that sense of, oh, that is what we are about. it's notjust nostalgia, not to sentiment, but it's actually finding... when people stop and talk to me about it, it's really interesting, people get hooked in on personal things. they see things in it that they identify with and i think that's really good. in terms of having conversations with people who watch, i remember miranda hart always saying, she was a lwa ys miranda hart always saying, she was always struck by the number of men who say they watch the series. do you get the same thing? absolutely, i remember arriving at the airport one time when one used to be able to travel, going through the passport control, big burly man said, oh, call the midwife is on tonight, and then he looked at my passport. we have to catch up! very young man stopped me he was collecting money for charity on the street and he said, i love call the midwife. that really touches me, you might think it is for women, there are a lot of women writers, a lot of women directors, it is primarily a female cast, although we have our doctor turner and all that. it is very female. but in fact it hits everybody, because it is about people and what happens. and how one works through changing circumstances, i was going to say difficult circumstances, in the 60s, which is a wonderful time, but in a way, it brings many changes to community and i think people just enjoy that. the show has never been frightened of tackling some really tough issues. it doesn't shy away from anything, does it? no, no. i think some people who don't watch it accused one of being sentimental, and it's all very easy, and they say it is very sunday afternoon, comforting and around the fire. it is comforting but it actually does tackle very difficult issues. we have had thalidomide, which went through one entire year, looking at how that develops. and that is an ongoing problem. we dealt with female genital mutilation, we have dealt with abuse, children? abuse, abuse of women in a domestic situation, it really doesn't shy away from those things. and it doesn't resolve them either, itjust shows the problems as they are and how people deal with it. and where community can help, where the sisters can do whatever they can. sisterjulienne, i'm constantly learning from her because she she doesn't try and change the problems, shejust doesn't try and change the problems, she just tries to deal with them. it doesn't shy away from that. we are about to go and hear our latest carol from carol, i know you are supporting a carol concert supporting a carol concert supporting cystic fibrosis? yes, that's right. 0n the 17th at 7pm, the premier, the first streaming of carols by candlelight, which is the beginning of christmas for me every year. it raises money for the cystic fibrosis trust which is very important to me. it is a wonderful concert, the winchester boys choir and because i usuallyjust sit at the front and watch these young boys in the church. this has been filmed, the boys were shot at abbey road studios. i did a reading at st luke's. all of this very distance. what will be shown is a wonderful carol concert that you feel like you are there and your present. after the 17th at 70 m, which is the premier of it, it will carry on through into january so people can catch up. if you look at cystic you have a chance to see what it is about. —— at the cystic fibrosis website. and the 90—minute call the midwife special will air at 7.40pm on christmas day on bbc one. and series ten starts in april. how many times can you say carol? you did really well! you have got to give it a big build—up. did really well! you have got to give it a big build-up. today, she is at the english national opera chorus. good morning! we are inside the colosseum, it is a beautiful theatre, the largest in the west end. it hasn't seen any performances since march. hopefully that will change this thursday but there are lots of rumours about what tiering system london might go into this week so fingers crossed it does happen. it is rather nice in here, not too bad outside in terms of temperature. widely between eight and 12 degrees at the moment. the forecast is rather unsettled and it will be unsettled for the next two days. today we have some blustery showers. you can see when we look at the pretty sharks we serve —— at the precious charts of this wreck with a pressure chart, the isobars are squeezed tightly together. through today the winds will ease a little bit. a lot of showers today have been heavy and thundery. the rain will continue to push away from the east. a lot will be in the north and west, a few in other areas. there will be some bright skies and sunshine. temperatures nine to 11 or 12 degrees, depending on where you are. by the end of the afternoon, i knew where the front bringing some more showers, eventually clearing. —— there will be a new weather front. they will still be a few showers but equally some clearer spells and temperatures between four and seven generally. some will be a little higher. tomorrow, we start with the showers again in the north and west, some merging to give longer spells of rain. central and eastern areas have drier and brighter spells, a bit more sunshine and light winds, not feeling too bad. temperatures nine to 11 degrees. if you like your weather wetter and windier, you have a treat on wednesday because that is what we have. another area of low pressure with attendant fronts coming in from the atlantic, pushing across all areas with rain, some of which will be heavy and windy. especially out towards the west where we have gusts up towards the west where we have gusts up to gale force across the irish sea, through northern ireland and western scotland. temperatures once again into double figures. having lefty with that bit of news, i'm going to leave you with some good news. a treat in store for you. performing 0 holy night, one of the young singers, and accompanied by marked begins, chorus monster. take it away. # 0 holy night! the stars are brightly shining # it is the night of the dear saviour‘s birth # long lay the world in sin and error pining # till he appeared and the spirit felt its worth # a thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices # for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn # fall on your knees! # 0h, hear the angel voices! # 0 night divine, the night when christ was born # 0 night, 0 holy night, 0 night divine! # 0 night divine! that was brilliant, wasn't it? that is my favourite! the jumper, or the song? the carol! stay with us, headlined in a moment. good morning, welcome to breakfast with dan walker and sally nugent. 0ur headlines today. ready to roll out — gp surgeries in england and care homes in scotland will start giving doses of the covid vaccine today. going the extra mile — both sides agree to keep talking in an attempt to break the deadlock over a brexit trade deal. whether over a brexit trade deal. it is a deal or a no deal, all whether it is a deal or a no deal, all eyes from the fishing industry will be on developments in brussels over the next days. the master of the spy novel, john le carre, author of tinker tailor soldier spy, has died aged 89. ready, freddie, go! we catch up with the nine year old running every day to raise funds for the hospital treating his best friend . #itis # it is the season to be jolly... good morning from the coliseum in london, the largest west end theatre in london and the home of the english national orchestra and choir. we have showers, rain and sunshine and also wind in today's forecasted i'll have the details in ten minutes. it's monday, 14th december. around 100 gp practices in england are to receive their first batches of the coronavirus vaccine. some will start giving the vaccinations to patients from today, with those aged over 80 given priority. 0ur reporter geeta pendse is outside a gp practice in the west midlands that will begin vaccinating people later today. they are. this practice in halesowen is one of the first gp surgeries in england to be able to offer the pfizer coronavirus vaccine to those most at risk in the community and there is a sense of pride and excitement, but they are not the only ones to receive a delivery. there will be 100 practices across england receiving the vaccine. most will begin to open clinics from tomorrow. some surgeries like this one start this afternoon. earlier in the programme, we heard from a gp who spoke of his pride to be able to do this and also the amount of people involved in the operation. we've got a whole multidisciplinary team ready to deliver this vaccine, starting this afternoon. pharmacists and nurses, health care assistants, obviously all our administration team and gps. we are all ready to deliver it. we are so excited. we looked on in pride last week at what happened in coventry with margaret keenan and it's great that we're here today ready to deliver vaccines and he was also keen to say that people should wait to be invited by the nhs to have their inoculation. they will be called in. it will not be what macro time but twice with the space of 21 days between. this is part of a mass vaccination programme that began last week in hospital hubs. this is about getting the vaccination into the community and this is just the the vaccination into the community and this isjust the beginning, but as you heard from the doctor, a real sense of pride and excitement they can get started and be within the community. thanks. vaccinations will also begin in care homes in scotland today. staff and older residents will be the first to receive the jab. there had been fears that the roll out wouldn't go ahead because of difficulties in storing the vaccine. the scottish government says it's a "step on the road to recovery" from the pandemic. schools in the london borough of greenwich have been asked to close from this evening, because of a rise in coronavirus cases in the capital. the council's labour leader wrote to all head teachers and parents in the area suggesting that teaching moves online. the department for education said keeping schools open was a national priority. negotiations will continue today between the uk and the eu, after both sides agreed to go the extra mile to secure a post—brexit deal. london and brussels have said enough progress has been made for the talks to carry on, although the prime minister maintained that the most likely outcome is still no deal. 0ur political correspondent jessica parker is this morning. we were speaking to the business secretary who said he was on a call with the prime minister, briefing the cabinet, and said he is upbeat. yes, i mean it is interesting he remains upbeat but borisjohnson also suggesting the most likely scenario is still is a no deal. that would mean tariffs on certain products, importing and exporting between the uk and european union. borisjohnson, ursula between the uk and european union. boris johnson, ursula von between the uk and european union. borisjohnson, ursula von der leyen, they had their phone call yesterday and agreeing to keep talks going. it is not clear which side may have given way exactly what to provide little impetus for negotiators to keep going but the business secretary giving his assessment this morning. there are a number of areas where we need to make significant progress, but as the prime minister said, we need to make sure we go the extra mile. it is what businesses and people in our country want and thatis and people in our country want and that is what we are doing. we will not walk away from these talks. if we get a deal with the eu it has to be on the basis that the eu understands the uk is a sovereign nation, an independent nation. still seeking that free trade agreement that would potentially remove the need for tariffs between imports and exports between the uk and eu. alok sharma interestingly repeating something borisjohnson said yesterday, that the uk will not walk away from the talks. there is not a lot of time, the end of the transition period on the 31st of december. senior sources suggested talks cannot go right to the wire because both sides need to ratify any trade deal. the sticking points remain, fishing rights, to what extent remain, fishing rights, to what exte nt e u remain, fishing rights, to what extent eu boats can fish in uk waters, and also the idea if the uk and eu diverging terms of common rules and standards, workers' rights, environmental rights, what kind of arbitration process there would be and that is what we think negotiators will get into again today. one of britain's best known spy novelists — john le carre — has died aged 89, following a short illness. in a statement, his agent of 15 years described as an "undisputed giant of english literature". several of his 25 works were adapted for film and television, including tinker tailor soldier spy, the night manager, and the spy who came in from the cold. in the next half an hour, we'll be speaking to novelists robert harris and ian rankin. they will pay tribute to the great john le carre. if you're a keen stargazer, you might know that last night was a good chance to see the geminid meteor shower. but, of course, some places give you a better view than others. these pictures were taken in a mountainous area of southwest china — where the high altitude and clear skies helped this incredible display. the geminids are huge chunks of ice and rock from an asteroid — and the earth passes through the debris every december. gorgeous. looks amazing and so will this. many of you have appreciated the live singing because we are in the live singing because we are in the middle of carol's carols. carol is at the home of the english national opera in the heart of london's west end. good morning, will you play us 18? i wish. i cannot touch it because it has been sanitised. it is lovely to be here, at the colosseum, the largest theatre in london's west end. if you look around and admire its magnificence. from top to bottom. it has not seen a performance here since march. the costu me performance here since march. the costume department has been pretty busy, because they have helped to make ppe for the nhs. it is also host to the english national ballet, who have put online ballet classes, so who have put online ballet classes, so if you've fancied yourself as a ballerina, i hope you took good advantage. inside, it is beautiful, warm. 0utside, nota advantage. inside, it is beautiful, warm. 0utside, not a cold start. but it has been pretty wet as we have gone through the night. through today, the forecast is rather u nsettled. today, the forecast is rather unsettled. we have showers, some merging to give longer spells of rain, and blustery winters. the wind will ease as we go through the day. we continue with showers especially in the north and west and could pick up in the north and west and could pick up showers elsewhere but in between, some sunshine. blustery winters, slowly starting to come down a touch. temperatures ranging from 9-13. as touch. temperatures ranging from 9—13. as we head through the latter pa rt 9—13. as we head through the latter part of the afternoon into the evening, a weather front comes into the south—east, bringing showers. it will clear overnight into the north sea. at the same time, a weather front will bring rain to the north—west of scotland. showers will fade, some clear skies and temperatures falling to between 4—7. tomorrow, showers in the north and west in particular. central and eastern areas, drier conditions, brighter skies and with the wind easing, temperatures 9—11. not feeling too bad for the time of year. i do not know if you like 0nce in royal david's city. or indeed 0 come all ye faithful. weight because we have a treat in store for you. we will see you later. we have been speaking about the fact the talks continue between the eu and uk. and we have told you the chief negotiator, michel barnier, for the eu, is briefing ambassadors from the 27 member states and he has been talking. we have a couple of lines from him a moment ago. michel barnier is saying, the very end will be when we reach an agreement both on fair and free competition and second, reciprocal access to waters and the markets and he went on to say a deal is still possible. he is saying, we want to give it every chance of agreement, a good, balanced agreement. that means two macro conditions not yet met, fair and free competition we know about and free competition we know about and an agreement that reciprocates access to markets and waters. at this point it is finding the right balance and he said the responsibility is to continue with the negotiation and he said never in the negotiation and he said never in the history of the european union have we negotiated with a third country such an important agreement on trade. including transport and security of citizens. we are talking about the issue of fishing later when we will be with john maguire at a port in the uk. also nina is looking at how it is affecting businesses in the uk. we will go tojohn maguire first. i'm sure those you have spent time with and some of those going out today will be interested, if in the next few days there will be a deal found around fishing rights. yes. we have been told it has been a sticking point in negotiations. it is crucial. the european union has defined this industry for the last 40 yea rs defined this industry for the last 40 years since its first inception and the fishing industry has been controlled by the eu in a way many other aspects of british life have not been. at this time, december the 15th, is when the common fisheries policy, quotas for the following year are published. it is a time when the industry focuses on negotiations in brussels. this time, very different. good morning, a trawler owner, mike. two boats out at sea, for six days. fishing in waters that quotas would have been agreed on last year. what would you like to see the message coming out of brussels? i would like to see boris sticking to what he is saying. we need sovereignty of our waters, control of our waters. i think they are saying not to choke everybody out of our waters but we needed agreement how many boats fishing our waters and how many boats fish in their waters because at some times of the year we fishing their waters. fish are no respect is of international borders! ye say they go anywhere, but from dover to the isles of scilly we have the best eating fish in the world. the fish is in the uk sector of the channel. if it was on the french side of the channel, we would not be stood here now talking. what is the biggest issue and how much do you want things to change? the biggest issue isa things to change? the biggest issue is a share of the quotas. in the channel here we have cod and haddock and we have 8% of the quota. that fish is in uk waters. some of the quotas historically since the 90s have been sold by britain to spanish boats, dutch boats. does that need to change? they are flagships, uk registered vessels, uk company owns them but owned by a dutchman or a spaniard, who can fish in uk waters. that needs to be tightened up. the government i think are asking for something about fish landed in the uk, which will benefit everything in the uk. the ports, transport companies, some of them will go back to spain, i guess, but at least the port will get a chunk of commission from that. we are looking at three quarters of fish landing in uk ports that then goes back to europe. they eat more fish than we do. will you always struggle uphill? i do not think so. look at asia, 7 billion fish eating people in asia. at the moment, the fish we catch is the top fish you can buy, so the italians, spanish and french love the fish. there will not be an issue with them not buying the fish. good to see you this morning. a couple of boats getting ready to set out. michael was saying his trawler is out for six days at the moment. it is a process of hunting, we know it is a dangerousjob. it process of hunting, we know it is a dangerous job. it is process of hunting, we know it is a dangerousjob. it is one process of hunting, we know it is a dangerous job. it is one a process of hunting, we know it is a dangerousjob. it is one a lot process of hunting, we know it is a dangerous job. it is one a lot of these families are born into and ta ke these families are born into and take seriously, and it supports some of these communities around fishing ports, so very important these last few details, if that is the case, are ironed out. oh, john, we have lost him. but we got everything we needed to know. thankfully, we have nina. nina is at a play equipment manufacturer in cumbria for us this morning. good morning. do you love seeing how things are put together? these are thousands of laminated sheets. and they are turned into playgrounds like this. a godsend for many pa rents. like this. a godsend for many parents. they export to around 50 countries so they are keenly watching this week's's developments. i will remind you about the impact of eu trade for the uk. last year uk exports to the eu were around £300 billion, two fifths of all exports. imports from the eu, around 400 billion, half of everything we bring m, billion, half of everything we bring in, and food is a big import, around a quarter of everything we had to eat last year came from eu member states. we exported £20 billion of food and drink to the eu. some favourites, whiskey, salmon, chocolate and cheese. and we can talk to stephanie who works here. how are things looking? to what extent is the brexit deadline affecting trade? there is positivity internally and coming from clients as well. we have customers who still wa nt as well. we have customers who still want orders and contracts feeling and we have fresh enquiries coming through. i think now more than ever, it needs to be here to stay but needs to progress. for the wellbeing of pa rents, needs to progress. for the wellbeing of parents, carers, children, playgrounds need to be there for the activity and mental health benefit. did we not miss them over that period in the summer when we could not take the kids to the playground. barry is the boss and stephanie said things are looking optimistic. does that change if we do not get a deal? it is not a disaster for a that change if we do not get a deal? it is not a disasterfor a company like playdale, but for british industry, we prefer to have a deal. in 51 countries, we have spread our risk around the world, but it is a curve ball we do not need. as a boss with 100 employees, what pressure does it put on you, your emotional state ? does it put on you, your emotional state? in the past 12 months we have had the worry around covid at work and home, the stress has continued to build, and now, when we have got through that, we have these worries and it is affecting people's mental health. the stress to people, and the systems. businesses are close to breaking point. it is not knowing what you are dealing with. we will talk tojohn, a local importer who provide salads for restaurants and fast food chains. at this time of year, he has to import a lot of letters from southern europe, italy, spain. what is on your mind? one of the concerns is the time the product can be held at the port. we have to have friction free movement, our product is cut at the farm and takes five days on transport to get to us, we hold it two days and put a shelf life of seven days on it, so a 14 day maximum. if it is held at the port, that will come off the shelf life of the product. when a customer wa nts to life of the product. when a customer wants to buy it, it might only have five days on it. could i end up getting burger with no lettuce or thatis getting burger with no lettuce or that is more expensive because we had to pay more to bring it in? yes because if we are stuck at the port and do not get the ingredient for the burger, or a tariff has to be passed we don't know about yet, that could be added onto the end product. it feels like an inevitability at the moment. and another quick word with nick, who we spoke to 18 months ago. you are fed up with brexit 18 months ago and now?” ago. you are fed up with brexit 18 months ago and now? i am a glass half full man and we will be prepared whichever way, this company. all the families, kids, we need playgrounds for health and wellbeing. 0nly need playgrounds for health and wellbeing. only two macro gears in life, forwards and backwards and you don't want to go backwards. thank you. businesses are resilient, agile. but what they tell us day after day, they need to know what they are working with. thank you. some philosophy in the business news, only two gears in life, forwards and backwards. you may remember that we've been following nine—year—old freddie as he continues his fundraising challenge to run two kilometres every day — all in the name of friendship. he's doing it to raise money for the royal manchester children's hospital, where his best friend, hughie, is being treated for leukaemia. brea kfast‘s jayne mccubbin went to meet them. ready. freddie. run! this is the nine—year—old who is running two kilometres every day for 50 days. the goal — 100 kilometres by christmas day. it's all to raise money for the hospital treating his close family friend hughie. and, today, a morale—boosting treat. are you ready for your run? come on in. there's a surprise in here for you. to run on the hallowed turf of their favourite football club. go for it! with their star players. ready to set off? come on, let's go. but this is who it is all about. hello, you, how are you doing? hello, good, yeah. tell me what's happening right now, as we chat. i'm currently in hospital. i'm having some chemotherapy today, so i'm hooked up now to this machine behind me. that's what my medicine is going through. and you're feeling 0k? yeah, yeah, i'm feeling really good. do you remember when hughie found out he was poorly? yeah, it wasjust like... like ijust needed to try to help him to do something and try and help him get through it, because it's a really hard thing to get through. listen, we've got somebody here to say hello, as well. i want you to tell me what you make of what your friend is doing for you in the hospital. it's amazing. like, he's just doing such a greatjob and i couldn't thank him any more. and everybody at the hospital, all the nurses, doctors, everybody, i just want to thank them all so much. they are doing tremendous work, aren't they? yeah. hughie will spend the next three and a half years in their care. but the end of freddie's challenge is now in sight, and their home town is rooting for both of them. freddie is doing an amazing job. we are delighted we could come out and do it with him. it is an amazing achievement, isn't it? yeah, it's incredible. if he keeps going till christmas, that will be 100 kilometres. so if we can be here to help him whenever we can, then that's brilliant, and as long as hughie knows there is a community of people behind him, supporting him, that's brilliant. are you very, very, very proud? oh, yeah, so proud. the amount of money he has raised, helping so many people. yeah, really proud of him. he's a good lad. he is, he is, yeah. 0h, last leg. last leg for today. come on! well done, you. still going. it has to be a 2k. he's been playing football some nights. he'll get home at nine o'clock. i'm like, "i'm sure you've done enough.". he's like, "no, i've got to go and do a 2k." there is nothing stopping him. no, no, he's doing it, yeah. he's determined to finish. freddie, well done. he's an absolute star, because i know he's been running when it's been dark and cold. and, after everything else, playing football. he's amazing. a superstar. how much have you raised, freddie, so far? 16 and a half, so we're doing really good. well done. so you kick him off one last time, katie, 0k? ready, freddie, go! here he goes. good luck, young man. bravo, you. 0n on christmas morning, what will you be doing? running. i believe you've agreed to do your last bit of run live on bbc breakfast. yes. we can all the ploidy from home. listen, last treat, how do you fancy coming out of the tunnel at turf moor, running out onto the pitch as if you're about to play? yeah, that would be really cool. his initial target of £1000 is well and truly smashed. and there is still the 12 days of christmas left to go. that is brilliant. gorgeous boys. and good on burnley, ashley barnes, all coming out to have a good chat with freddie. time now to get the news, travel and weather where you are. good morning from bbc london, i'm victoria hollins. the mayor is calling on the government to consider asking secondary schools and colleges in the capital to close early ahead of christmas and to stay closed for longer as the number of coronavirus cases continues to surge. sadiq khan has written to the prime minister demanding that testing in london be urgently extended to anyone who can't work from home as well as students in every borough. he also wants the government to come up with a ‘lost income' compensation scheme for businesses affected by the pandemic. meanwhile schools in the royal borough of greenwich have been asked to close after today due to what's described as an "exponential growth" in covid—19 cases. council leader danny thorpe has written to parents and guardians saying all schools should move to online learning to, in his words, "reduce the risk of transmission". the night tube could be removed as part of changes to the london underground to try and reduce a £2 billion funding gap. an independent review commissioned by transport for london suggests £35 million could be saved from annual budgets if the night tube service was stopped. in other cost cutting recommendations ten tube stations could also be forced to close at weekends. a hospital choirfrom south london has teamed up with canadian pop—star justin bieber in a bid to reach the christmas number one spot. bieber met the lewisham and greenwich nhs choir after they beat him to the christmas number one in 2015. the two have now come together to create a version of his latest single holy. let's take a look at the travel situation now. there's a good service on the tubes this morning, just minor delays on the central line. 0n the roads, the a13, water main work westbound at beckton roundabout, there's queues from rainham. and the a406, queues southbound from redbridge roundabout to a13 due to those problems. 0n the m25 in surrey one lane closed anti—clockwise at junction 11 now the weather with elizabeth rizzini. hello, good morning. it's looking mild and unsettled as we head through this week, so wet and windy at times. certainly a very mild start to this morning, temperatures are in double figures, and have been throughout the night. there is a lot of dry weather around this morning, some of us have seen some early heavy showers around but plenty of dry weather as well, some spells of sunshine, in fact, and it's rather blustery today. a very brisk south—westerly wind blowing, we will be keeping that throughout the day. watch out for some more afternoon showers. a bit cloudier as we head through the second half of the day, it does stay windy and we'll see highs of 12 or 13 degrees celsius so well above the seasonal average. through this evening and overnight, again, there will be a few showers around at times. the winds ease down somewhat and there will also be some clear spells. temperatures down perhaps as low as seven or eight celsius tomorrow morning. so a slightly cooler night than we saw last night. tomorrow, lighter winds and fewer showers, there will also be some sunny spells around. once more, temperatures in double figures. i'm back with the latest from the bbc london newsroom in half an hour. plenty more on our website at the usual address. hello, this is breakfast with dan walker and sally nugent. after breakfast, it's morning live with kym and gethin. let's see what's happening on the show today. good morning! hope you had a good weekend. so many of us are facing tough choices about where to spend christmas. even though we can now meet up, how do we do it safely? so dr xand is here with a step by step guide to to everything you need to know about having people round for christmas dinner, 2020 style. and he'll be answering your questions — so send them in to us now. i think it's official that 2020 has been the biggest fail ever! but author and podcaster elizabeth day is here to tell us how a bit of failure can be good for us, and why we shouldn't be setting any new year's resolutions. and it's beginning to smell a lot like christmas. gardener mark lane is here with the festive herbs and spices we can grow at home, and the plants that help beat our winter bugs. also coming up, it's the season of giving and we hear how one woman who wanted to make a change in the world gave care—leaver ruby a gift she'd cherish forever. all that, plus, covid—19 put an end to their strictly come dancing journey but nicola adams and partner katya jones will be shimmying into our studio to tell us how they're taking to the dance floor one last time. so much to talk about, we'll see you at 9.15! let's shimmy our way back to you. where is yours, now? there you go.” came third, there's reason for that. you can tell he was on the show! the spy novelistjohn le carre has been described as an "undisputed giant of english literature" and an "unforgettable character" following his death, aged 89. several of his 25 works were adapted for film and television, including tinker tailor soldier spy, and the night manager. we're joined now by the novelists robert harris and ian rankin. good morning, lovely to see you both. if i can come to you first, robert, i would like you to tell me what you thoughts of le carre, how important he was. hugely important, certainly one of the greatest post—war british novelists. he transcended his genre of spy fiction and was a writer of great literary quality. he made the bridge from books, which, to some degree, are quite eight minority occupation, to popular culture. everyone had heard of le carre. he rewrote spy fiction in this country and across the world. he will always be remembered in my view, 100 years from now people will know who le carre was and will be reading his books. and ona and will be reading his books. and on a personal level, he was the most beguiling, original character, full of charm. it's a terrible, sad loss at the end of this bitter, miserable year to lose a man likejohn le carre as well. thank you for being with us as well, ian. he was a literary legend and i understand you met him on one occasion?” literary legend and i understand you met him on one occasion? i only met him once, at the house of lords, he was being presented with the diamond dagger award from the crime writers association. this is a man who did not accept literary awards that he accepted that one. i was young, i was only published one or two. he had no idea who i was. i used a certain amount of spy craft, i went up certain amount of spy craft, i went up to him with a brochure for the event and said i was collecting signatures for all the right is present to give a memento for the occasion, but really, his was the only signature i wanted and got. what a great tail. and robert, i think one thing that strikes you from reading his novels is actually, he says, doesn't he, he wasn't writing his own story, he wasn't writing his own story, he wasn't writing the truth. but there is so much detail in it that's only there because of his own experience. yes, that's right. he was really complete interesting figure. he went to 0xford, he became a teacher at eton and then he joined 0xford, he became a teacher at eton and then hejoined m15 and m16. he was in the british establishment, and yet are wary observer outside. and his books are filled, for the first time in popularfiction, with the actual details of what spies did, which is not very glamorous mainly but just a did, which is not very glamorous mainly butjust a lot of shifting paper around and following trails and punctuated by moments of very great terror and violence. and he caught that world brilliantly. not only that, it wasn't simply that he did reportage from that world, he was himself a pretty winded character from his childhood. was himself a pretty winded characterfrom his childhood. he'd been left by his mother when he was five years old, and that sense of betrayal, that you can't trust people, that personal wound gave his writing a real edge. he managed to boil down these really complicated relationships and characters, which isa relationships and characters, which is a real skill, isn't it? yes, he made the geopolitical personal, which is interesting. the end of the cold war, the fall of the berlin wall, didn't seem to slow him down. he found new subterfuge to write about. my favourite book of his, is a perfect spy, the main character was based on his father who was a conman, as well as everything else that robert talked about. and his character george smiley is like an anti—james bond, no gadgets and bloodshed or match or violence, it's a world of psychological warfare. le carre had been outed by russian spies, by the burgess, philby and maclean outfit, and after that he was unable to work as a spy any more. he did live an extraordinary life, and rode well about the shadowy world which didn't know us to know it existed. how much an influence do you think he has been on right is of your generation? huge —— writers of your generation? on right is of your generation? huge -- writers of your generation? huge, because he wrote popular fiction antics it into the realms of literature. in doing so, it was ok for all of us to write crime thrillers, spy thrillers, thrillers, to say, because we were all in le carre's shadow and we could all aimed for the stars as he had done. robert, what was it like to be in his presence? was he an entertaining dinner guest, was he good with the microphone? oh, god, yes. he was brilliant, he was very funny. he did brilliant, he was very funny. he did brilliant voices, if anyone watching has ever bought a le carre audiobooks, he used to read them himself unlike most writers. he could do every voice, russian, american, he was a brilliant mimic. he was very funny. he was a powerful personality, a controlling personality, a controlling personality, he divided his time between cornwall and london. he was happiest in cornwall, definitely, andi happiest in cornwall, definitely, and i went down and stayed with him at one stage. i was supposed to be writing his biography but eventually, i gave up to write novels of my own. partly, i realise ifi novels of my own. partly, i realise if i wasn't careful, i would just become le carre's shadow. as ian was saying, he was hugely influential on the generation of novelists, not even just the generation of novelists, not evenjust a spy the generation of novelists, not even just a spy novels but the way that created a world which sometimes ta kes that created a world which sometimes takes the place of the real one, it's a world which sometimes takes the place of the real one, it is find yourself writing something the real one, but a sub—le carre world. his influence is enormous and his personal charm and charisma was immense. robert, do you think he was aware of leaving a legacy and what do you think there will be?” aware of leaving a legacy and what do you think there will be? i think it was pretty conscious of his place in the literary firmament. and i'm confident of it as well. that he will be remembered as a classic english novelist, someone like charles dickens. in that he could create characters, and he could tell a story, but he could also plumb psychological depths and fashion great scenes and two novels in particular. perfect spy, but i would also mention the spy who came in from the cold and tinker tailor soldier spy, they are supreme examples. quite a few of our levers will have seen the adaptations of some of the works on tv as well. absolutely, he was like graham greene, his work transferred well to film. when you deal with morally compromised characters and there's not a lot of action on the page, that's a different and difficult ask but people loved it. we got great actors and screen but people loved it. we got great actors and screen workers working for him, he would have little cameos, like a hitchcock moment when he would suddenly appear on the screen. he would suddenly appear on the screen. the tv and films will last, i hope the books last as well i i hope the books last as well and screen. the tv and films will last, i hope the books last as well and i hope that another generation of authors come along who were influenced by him. lovely to talk to you this morning, thank you for your time and paying such a lovely tribute tojohn le carre. time and paying such a lovely tribute to john le carre. sadly died at the age of 89 but an incredible life and career. as they were both telling us, huge influence on other writers. we were featuring freddie earlier on, raising money for his friend huey by running two kilometres a day. his challenge was to raise £1000, he's already at £22,164. thank you very much for your wonderful support. i think he will continue running right up until christmas day. he will run on christmas day. he will run on christmas morning before he even opened his presents. nine years old, what a superstar. last week we followed kevin sinfield running for rob burrow, now a nine—year—old running for each other, supporting a mate. £22,000, incredible. and rising all the time. from the very start of the pandemic, doctors have been concerned about the knock—on effects on people with other serious illnesses. patients, celebrities and nhs staff are backing a campaign calling on the government and the health service to catch up on the backlog of cancer treatments. we're joined now by latroya hall, whose husband died with cancer after he struggled to get a diagnosis during the pandemic, and professor pat price, who's co—founder of the catch up with cancer campaign. latroya, first of all, i'm so very, very sorry for the loss of sherwin. how are you? i'm not doing too well. i'm really struggling. it'sjust like a i'm really struggling. it'sjust likea domino i'm really struggling. it'sjust like a domino effect, isn't it? it's also very recent, i know, for you, and think you for talking to us. i know you are in the very early days of trying to get your head around what has happened to you over the last few months. if you could tell me the story of yourself and sherwin and what happened to him. well, sherwin was misdiagnosed. he started his journey sherwin was misdiagnosed. he started hisjourney in february sherwin was misdiagnosed. he started his journey in february 2020. sherwin was misdiagnosed. he started hisjourney in february 2020. going to the gp. throughout that, he went to the gp. throughout that, he went to a&e 13 times in one month. so if you rush on that out, that's almost every other day. —— ration that out. he was misdiagnosed with various conditions, they gave him a surgery because they thought he had an a bscess, because they thought he had an abscess, they did the surgery without scanning him and put a drain in him which we later found without scanning him and put a drain in him which we laterfound out without scanning him and put a drain in him which we later found out that they had actually drained directly into his primary tumour. and he was diagnosed with an extremely rare sarcoma , diagnosed with an extremely rare sarcoma, they account for 1% of aduu sarcoma, they account for 1% of adult cancers but his was very rare. there is no protocol for it. so he just battled throughout that for the last six months. if they had found or discovered the cancer, then it was less than five centimetres, his prognosis would have been 20% better. when they found his actual cancer, he had a 14 centimetre tumour in his pelvis alongside 13 nodules in his lungs so he had metastasised. i'm -- and looking back over the last several months, how do you feel that what happened to sherwin was directly because of the situation with the pandemic? do you feel that is the link through all of this? 100%. 100%. i think that especially when everything was starting out, it was all, even a doctor said, when you have a scan, there is no way you are going to risk coming into a&e this many times, you're risking your life, there has to be something wrong with you. he was even taken as a joke at certain times going into a&e. he was willing to take his own life, he was in so much pain and no one would pay him any attention. you had staff who are overworked, everything was overrun and nobody was paying attention to him and it's literally cost him his life and no one, it's not right that you should be able to turn around and say, i'm sorry, now. the government needs to take accountability for what has happened, it has cost my husband his life and my eight—month—old child does not have a father any more it has caused me not to have my husband. we really appreciate you being so open with us this morning. let's come to professor pat price. i know it is difficult for all of us to listen to what latroya has been through, the loss of her husband. explain why you are backing the campaign catch up with cancer. for desperate situations like that, we are launching the film today of patients telling their stories. and what we feel is, the government and the senior nhs have not really understood the magnitude of the problem, and also the urgency which we need to improve things. we were hoping that at the comprehensive spending review, there would be mentions of cancer in new money but cancer was only mentioned once. we need to listen to the front line staff and give them the tools that they need to get on with this and beat the backlog. we know for every four weeks delay, there can be a 10% reduction in survival. so there are things we can do. we need to expand the entire imaging workforce, machine base, and have some smart solutions like our six point plan for radiotherapy with technology, but above all we need the government to give us the investment. front line staff can't just to give us the investment. front line staff can'tjust keep to give us the investment. front line staff can't just keep working harder, they are exhausted, they need the tools. so what more can be done to improve early diagnosis? because we hear from latroya that earlier diagnosis from sherwin would have given him a statistically better chance. we need to encourage people to come forward, and anyone who is listening, if you have a concern, a lump or anything worrying, contact your doctor is. they will listen and most of the time you can be reassured and it's 0k. even if you go and have to have an urgent cancer referral, nine out of ten of those are nothing. so please, go, don't be worried, don't layout worry upon worry. most of you can be reassured. if you are very unlucky and it is something, hopefully you will be diagnosed early. people can do their bit but we need the government and the senior nhs to do their bit. give us the tools and the investment. another six months' time, we need it now. we need to —— and not in six months' time, we need it now. people we re months' time, we need it now. people were exhausted going into this, we had a workforce crisis before this, so had a workforce crisis before this, so give us the investment, free us from bureaucracy and help us help these poor people. i know you are listening into that, latroya, sadly any of those changes would be too late for your husband sherwin. but i'm sure you would be desperate that no otherfamily i'm sure you would be desperate that no other family will have to go through what you have been through. yeah, this is the worst pain of my life. i know it's difficult to talk about. can i just life. i know it's difficult to talk about. can ijust say on behalf of our viewers, thank you so much for coming on and speaking to us this morning. we really deem wish you all the best for the future. thank you for talking to us and all the best to you and the rest of your family. and professor price, good to talk to you. that campaign is called catch up you. that campaign is called catch up with cancer. a spokesman for the department of health and social care said "cancer diagnosis and treatment has remained a priority throughout the pandemic and we urge people to come forward if they have symptoms" adding "we've given £3 billion to support the nhs in tackling the impact of covid, including £1 billion to provide extra checks, scans and operations." that is the government response to that story. it is ten to nine. you know it's nearly christmas when we hear some of our festive favourites with carol's carols. and to start off our sing—a—long series this year, carol is at the home of the english national opera in the heart of london's west end. and perhapsjoining in with the carols herself. #in # in heaven, the bells are ringing! # in heaven, the bells are ringing! # ding dong, merrily on high, they are singing. # gloria, who in excelsis! applause never knew you could, carol. my lungs are really suffering! as you can see, it wasn't me, it was the gorgeous jamie reid, a full—time member of the en note ——jenny reid. a full—time member of the english national opera. they will be singing 0 come all ye faithful later on, it is fabulous. stay tuned for that. the weather is not delightful, showers and rain in the forecast and also rather windy. a lot of wet weather in store, in the north and west, we have seen it getting into eastern areas as well. in between it, bright and sunny skies. more showers introduced and then temperatures nine and 14 degrees. the wind is easing and continuing to do so through the evening. a weather front in the south—east pulls away into the north sea. a new one will coming across the north—west of scotla nd coming across the north—west of scotland bringing some rain and as we head through tomorrow, still in the north—west. showers in northern and western areas, central and eastern parts should stay mostly dry. you can't completely rule out a shower. temperatures again roughly nine to 11 degrees. after that it is downhill, on wednesday it is pretty wet and windy with gales in the west across the board. get your brolly out and don't put it awayjust across the board. get your brolly out and don't put it away just yet. so this morning, we have had hark the herald angels sing, o holy night and we will finish off with 0 come all ye faithful? that's right, just after 9am. it is beautiful, i can't tell you how beautiful it is. you look right at home on a west end stage, i have to tell you, you could get used to it! i could, actually! as soon as the camera is gone, i'm going to go in there and give it large! we look forward to your performance later on. we will be back with you before 9:15am. around 100 gp practices in england are to receive their first batches of the coronavirus vaccine. some will start giving the vaccinations to patients from today with those aged over 80 given priority. 0ur reporter geeta pendse is outside a gp practice in the west midlands that will begin vaccinating people later today. good morning. good morning, i'm actually inside this practice now where the is a lot of anticipation because they are expecting that the really important delivery of the pfizer coronavirus vaccination at some point this morning. not the only gp surgery, around 100 today across england will receive a batch. most will start to open clinics from tomorrow, but this is surgery along with a handful of others will start from this afternoon. we understand here they have invited an elderly couple who live nearby, who are 81 and 84, to be the first people to receive the vaccine. earlier today we had from the gp here, known as doctor mo by his patients, he spoke about his pride of being one of the first surgeries in england but also about the effort, the team effort of the amount of people who were involved in making this happen. he was really clear that he invited people to wait for the nhs to send them a letter, to tell them when they can come in, to receive their vaccination. it is all beginning with those who are most vulnerable, so with those who are most vulnerable, so at this surgery it's those who are 80 and over, care workers, health care workers. this is part of a mass vaccination programme which began last week in hospital hubs last week. we saw emotional pictures, staff said they understood people might feel worried. they are really keen to open it up to the community and really proud to be there today to be able to do this. thank you so much for that, interesting to see what will be happening later on this morning. 100 gp surgeries in england, care homes in scotland, and we will continue to follow this over the next few days. ca re follow this over the next few days. care homes in scotland getting vaccinations today, we had the deputy chief medical officer for scotla nd deputy chief medical officer for scotland on the programme earlier talking about how they were managing to do that, this particular vaccine requires very careful storage and transportation. they're managing to do that in its cotton starting to date which is great. there are two main stories today. one is the vaccination roll—out and the other is the negotiations are continuing between the eu and the uk. both sides agreed to go the extra mile to secure a post—brexit deal. london and brussels have said enough progress has been made for the talks to carry on, although the prime minister maintained that the most likely outcome is still no—deal. 0ur political correspondentjessica parker is this morning. has there been any progress? sometimes we hear a rumour about what might be going on, what the sticking points might be, or is it radio silence? there is a level of radio silence? there is a level of radio silence, and it is worth reiterating, the talks that are going on and have been going on between michel barnier for the european union and david frost for the uk, they are talks that go on behind closed doors. you do get a flavour of what is going on there, partly through what is being said in public and michel barnier arrived to brief eu ambassadors earlier this morning. as he did so, he spoke to the cameras where he said a deal was possible but two conditions had not been met. it is these two familiar sticking points we have been talking about for a little while, one of them is fisheries, what extent eu boats will have access to uk fishing waters in the future, and also if and when the uk in the eu diverged on common rules and standards, workers' rights, environmental protections as well, what will be the mechanism to arbitrate that going forward. those are still the two sticking points that negotiators will be getting into today and earlier on on bbc breakfast alok sharma gave his assessment of where things were. there are a number of areas where we need to make significant progress, but as the prime minister said, we need to make sure we go the extra mile. it's what businesses and people in our country wa nt businesses and people in our country want and that is what we're doing. we won't be walking away from these talks. if we're going to get a deal with the eu, it has to be on the basis that the eu understands that the uk is a sovereign nation, and independent nation. deer now, of course, the uk did leave the eu in january but has been following the rules and regulations since then to give the negotiators time to hammer out that trade deal. the period ends on the 31st of december so not long to go. negotiators do not have a lot of time to try and reach some kind of time to try and reach some kind of conclusion. government sources saying to me today, they cannot negotiate right up to the 31st of december, because there still needs to be time to ratify a deal on both sides. thank you very much, jess park in downing street. we are going to speak to damejenni murray, who is taking part in the real full monty on ice,. work that one out! we will find out exactly how she decided to take it up and what she is willing to show on television. you're watching bbc breakfast. this is bbc news, i'm reeta chakrabarti, the headlines at nine: coronavirus vaccinations begin today in some gp surgeries in england, and in care homes in scotland. growing calls for schools in london to close because of surging levels of covid—19. we'll have all the latest developments on the virus here in the uk — and you can get in touch by tweeting me @reetacbbc or using the hashtag bbc your questions.@vicderbyshire eu chief negotiation michel barnier briefs eu ambassadors on post—brexit trade talks, as the uk and eu agree to continue discussions in an attempt to break the deadlock — but differences still remain. if we are going to get a deal with the eu, it has to be

Related Keywords

Norway , Australia , Japan , Glasgow , Glasgow City , United Kingdom , United States , Dubai , Dubayy , United Arab Emirates , Dover , Kent , Brixham , Devon , China , Greenwich , Togo , Russia , Canada , Northern Ireland , Craigavon , Bonn , Nordrhein Westfalen , Germany , Brussels , Bruxelles Capitale , Belgium , West Midlands , United Kingdom General , London , City Of , Netherlands , Italy , Leicester , Houston , Texas , Ireland , France , Spain , Switzerland , Exeter , Berlin , North Sea , Oceans General , Oceans , Dutchman , Englishman , Canadian , Russian , Scotland , Australians , Britain , French , Spanish , British , Italians , Dutch , American , Keith Doyle , Harry Kane , Margaret Keenan , Lewis Hamilton , Dan Walker , Abu Dhabi , David Cornwell , Sadiq Khan , Gavin Sutherland , Neil Lennon Manchester , Matt Fitzpatrick , Nicola Adams , Ashley Barnes , Jenny Reid , Danny Thorpe , Michel Barnier , Mohamed Salah , Ian Rankin , December Carol , Jamie Reid , Brendan Rodger , Jonny Geller , Heidi Thomas , Brighton James Maddison , Boris Johnson , Matt Hancock , King Hale , Sally Nugent , Alok Sharma , Richard Burton , Hayley Ladd , John Le Carre , Lee Westwood , Peter Davison ,