the chancellor, rishi sunak, has held talks with business leaders about the impact of omicron, after cutting short a trip to the united states. many businesses are calling for urgent help from the government. retail sales have been hit, and hotels and restaurants are reporting cancellations at what is normally one of the busiest times of the year. danny savage reports from leeds. all: merry christmas! at the myrtle tavern in leeds tonight, the ventilated marquee outside is credited with saving this business throughout covid. they understand people might be wary about going out but they are being firm about cancellations. we sent an e mail on tuesday to everyone who has booked in december and it basically told them you will be charged if you don t let us know. please let us know in any of the circumstances and we had probably 150 cancel but we ve got about 6,000 bookings, so 150 is not really that bad. pub landlords call this mad friday , such is the expectation of trade l
to have vaccinated about 5000 people at site alone. the glitter ball trophy is up for grabs in tonight s strictly final. but a] and kai won t be on the dance floor. they miss out because of injury. england are fighting back in the second ashes test, as darvid malan gets a half century and along with his captain stands up to the australian bowlers in adelaide. good morning. they largely dry but fairly cloudy weekend ahead. it is going to be feeling a bit colder thanit going to be feeling a bit colder than it has been lately. i ll bring you all the details coming up shortly. it s saturday, 18th december. our top story. the uk s top civil servant has stepped back from leading an inquiry into downing street lockdown parties, after it emerged an event was held in his own office last year. simon case s investigation was supposed to clear up whether rules had been broken, but instead, it s another misstep after a bruising couple of weeks for the prime minister. 0ur political corresp