Because some of us are underneath clearing skies, others have that cloud and fog in places. Here is the run up to christmas. If you watched yesterday this hasnt changed. Its staying mild. This pattern also hasnt changed since yesterday. The blue is the cold air, mild weather gcioss blue is the cold air, mild weather across england as far north as scandinavia, all the way to lapland. Its mild in other parts of europe, not just us. Its mild in other parts of europe, notjust us. Tonight grey cloud, drizzle around as well. In the south overnight temperatures no lower than around ten, for example, in cardiff and plymouth. In scotland, particularly in the east, where we have some sunshine right now, the temperatures will dip away so may be a touch of frost here and there. But for most of us that will not be the case. Here is thursday. A dull sort of day for a number of areas. Some rain around fora of day for a number of areas. Some rain around for a time across northern ireland, maybe Northern England and parts of scotland too. In the far north of scotland some sunshine and around six for aberdeen. But in the south its still gloomy and mild and murky and thats not going to continue that will continue into friday. Copycat conditions on friday again. Some low grade cloud around coastal areas. So boring in the run up to christmas. Wish i could offer something more interesting. Ten for yorkshire on friday. But there is a change into the weekend. Low pressure moves to the weekend. Low pressure moves to the north of our neighbourhood there. Stronger winds and a weather front across scotland, so for a time gale force winds. Temperatures, ii there in the far north in shetland and ii there in the far north in shetland and 11 down in the channel islands. Relatively warm. Its sunday and again this south west bringing cloud and the mild air. 0n the big day itself, i showed you a forecast yesterday, its more or less the same. Notice the temperatures start to dip away, in the far north of scotland, thats a hint of things to come after christmas, maybe from boxing day onwards, looks as though things are going to cool a little bit, we are not predicting snow but i thought i would end with a nice festive picture anyway. Thank you. Our main story. An urgent investigation is ordered into dozens of sex offence cases after two rape trials collapse in the space of a week. Thats all from the bbc news. Its goodbye from me. On bbc one, the news teams where you are. Good afternoon. We begin with good news for birmingham. The city is set to be named as the host of the 2022 commonwealth games. Birmingham was the only city to bid before the original deadline. Ata at a cost of £750 million it will be the most expensive sports event in britain since london 2012. Russias hopes of sending a full team to next yea rs hopes of sending a full team to next years winter paralympics has been dealt a blow. The International Paralympic committee dealt a blow. The International Pa ralympic committee has dealt a blow. The International Paralympic committee has decided to maintain the suspension of russia imposed shortly before rio last year after revelations of widespread doping. An interim measure to allow russian athletes to compete as neutrals in some events will stand but the final decision on the team asa but the final decision on the team as a whole to be made next month. Pep guardiola has dismissed talk of winning the three domestic titles and the champions league. But theyre doing well in all four reaching the semifinals of the league cup last night. Theyre 11 points clear at the top of the premier league but he says he is not even counting on winning that and clinching four trophies is unrealistic. Manchester city and arsenal will be in the draw for the semifinals which will be made after tonights matches. Chelsea take on bournemouth and the holders Manchester United face bristol city. City manager lee johnson is in the mood for an upset after reminiscing about their last big cup win when they beat liverpool in the fa cup in big cup win when they beat liverpool in the fa cup 119911. Big cup win when they beat liverpool in the fa cup in 1994. Its a fantastic game. Manchester united come to town, i think it always brings that feeling of its a big tie. This club hasnt had it for a long time, probably back to certainly the footage i have seen. Its a goal, theyve done it bristol city score. The mrirs have to feel somebody could be a hero. Its a great test for us, also off the pitch, its the first sellout in the pitch, its the first sellout in the newly renovated stadium. The australian bowler who has done the most damage to england on the ashes tour could miss the fourth test. Mitchell starc has a bruised heel and will be reassessed before the traditional boxing day test in melbourne. He has taken 19 wickets so melbourne. He has taken 19 wickets so far in the series which has gone a long way to giving them an unbeatable 3 0 lead. A dismal ashes so far already, lost the series and lots of talk about ill discipline within the squad. Ben duckett was one of those in trouble. He poured a drink overjames andersons head in a bar in perth. He was given a suspension for that. Now he has been told he wont take pa rt now he has been told he Wont Take Part in the england lions tour to the west indies next year because of that incident. Two of the english players involved in the t20 big bash we re players involved in the t20 big bash were on the losing side today as melbourne stars were beaten by brisbane heat. Kevin pietersen was useful in the field. His hopes of having a decent innings were short lived. He was dismissed for ten. Luke wright was bowled for 19 as the stars were beaten by 15 runs. Thats all the sport. More on these stories on the bbc website. I will have more in the next hour. Lets get more now on the metropolitan police launching a review of all current sex offence investigations, after the collapse of a second rape case in a week. The prosecutions were halted because of the late disclosure of evidence. Scotland yard confirmed the same officer was involved in both investigations. The met police have confirmed around 30 cases that are about to go to trial will be reviewed with the crown prosecution service. I think its important to draw a to say tinges distension between the two reviews. The case of liam allen last week clearly went wrong. We are very keen to find out why. So we instigated an immediate high level review in partnership with the cps, thats a joint review started immediately and that is continuing 110w immediately and that is continuing now to learn exactly what happened in that case and see what we can learn from it. The other review which you maengsed is the review of mentioned, is a review of all our current investigations where we have an individual charged and we are progressing towards a trial. We are reviewing all of those with the cps to ensure that we have complied with the disclosure process in all of those cases. That should have happened. Its an ongoing process of review in any case. In the to say closure process. Review in any case. In the to say closure process. But we want the confidence that those cases taken to court have been compliant with the disclosure regime. 0bviously our priority will be those around 30 cases that are about to go to trial. Its really a pragmatic step to ensure that we can go to trial safely on those. You say about 30 cases are about to go to trial, can you putney figure at all on how many other wider cases that you are looking at that are still live . Not yet, i will have those numbers later today but i am expect willing it to be scores of cases. What about cases already through the courts, do you have any concerns there at all . dont have a reason for concern around those. We have one of the best Legal Systems in the world with checks and balances at every stage and appeal processes. In fact, the disclosure process that we have had for the last 20 years is a cornerstone of that process and ensures that all parties, defence, prosecution and the investigators, are constantly reviewing the material in the case for relevancy, to ensure that all of the material that should be with the defence is there. You differentiate between the two cases. In one case the reexamination of material was prompted by the defence case statement, is that right . Yes, thats right. That is how the disclosure process should work. As i said, its an ongoing responsibility. We dont conduct a review just once to responsibility. We dont conduct a reviewjust once to decide releva ncy. Reviewjust once to decide relevancy. We have a responsibility to continually review as circumstances change and where we find material that becomes relevant we should disclose it. In that case the officer in the case received the defence case statement on 15th december. That triggered, rightly, triggered a review of the material he had available to him. He found material that he felt had become releva nt material that he felt had become relevant and should be given to the defence. The cps agreed. As a result, the case was withdrawn. I think its really important to know if this robust disclosure process is working properly, we would expect from time to time to withdraw cases asa from time to time to withdraw cases as a result. Its almost an indicator that robust process is working. The cps seemed to suggest last night they already asked questions about this material that proved that he was innocent of the charges levelled against him. Shouldnt the officer involved have been looking earlier rather than prompted by the defence case statement . I am interested in looking at that case to see if we could have done this earlier. As it stands, it does appear that we have coppeded the disclosure process as i would expect. Conducted the disclosure process. I will be speaking to colleagues in the cps to understand what they meant by that statement and whether or not there was an earlier opportunity but on the face of it, it doesnt appear that anything has gone wrong in that particular case, based on what i know now. In a moment a summary of the Business News this hour but first the headlines on bbc news. The metropolitan Police Confirms it is reviewing scores of current sex offence investigations after the collapse of a second rape case in a week. The International Monetary fund downgrades its prediction for uk Economic Growth to 1. 6 for this year. The eus chief brexit negotiator says the transition period after the uk leaves the eu should finish at the end of december 2020. In the Business News. The us senate has approved big reforms to the us tax system slashing business taxes from 35 to 21 . They say the cuts will boost businesses and Economic Growth. Democrats, who all voted against it, say it is designed to benefit the ultra rich at the expense of the national deficit. The European Court ofjustice has ruled that uber is officially a transport company and not a digital service. The ride hailing app had argued that it simply put passengers in touch with drivers and should not fall under transport regulation. Uber says the ruling will not affect the way it works. Homes and businesses will have a legal right to high Speed Broadband by 2020. 0penreach, owned by bt and responsible for the infrastructure, had been offering voluntary improvements but the government says the firm needs to deliver speeds of at least 10 megabits per second by 2020. Are you ready for another set of figures on the uk economy . Well, if youre feeling like youve heard it all before thats because in the first two weeks of this month alone 22 independent surveys on the future of the uk economy, were published. Economy were published. They came from International Bodies like the imf, and Major Players like banks including credit suisse, and ba rclays international. But with so many pages of figures and predictions to get through, where should you start . Well, helpfully, this morning the uk government published a comparison of all of these forecasts. Lets find out more. Joining us now is laith khalaf, senior analyst, at hargreaves la nsdown. Thank you very much forjoining us this morning. 0verall, what do all these surveys say about the uk economy . Well, i mean if you look at the overall picture we are expecting growth in the economy next year, 1. 4x, growth in the economy next year, 1. 4 , not particularly spectacular, but its chugging along largely in line with what we have this year where expectations are 1. 6 so lower than that. Probably the big change thats really expected next year is inflation coming back down. We have seen it rise up this year because of the falling pound. Thats actually expected to come back down next year so around 2. 4 at the end of the year. At the same time, wage growth is expected to pick up as well. Thats going from 2 wheres it now, thats expected to rise to 2. 7 . Perhaps next year less of a consumer squeeze that we have seen this year but wages still not rising significantly above inflation. Now sticking with the theme, imf report out this morning, reducing growth predictions for the uk for 2017, slightly from 1. 7 to 1. 6 . Anything else in that survey that will get the treasury worried . dont think so. 1. 7 to 1. 6 is, you know, its not a paradime shift in terms of expectations for the uk. You know, the imf itself has been pretty gloomy about brexit, if you look back to its predictions about what would happen in light of brexit it was expecting 1. 1 growth for the uk this year. Actually, things have turned out a lot better than expected. So, i dont see that actually sets any hares racing. This comparison from the treasury this morning is pulling together 22 different independent surveys about the uks economy, all these predictions. A lot of the time they arejust predictions. A lot of the time they are just that, predictions. A lot of the time they arejust that, predictions predictions. A lot of the time they are just that, predictions and often theyre wrong. Is there any value to these surveys . I think there is some value to them. There is an old industry joke value to them. There is an old industryjoke which is that if you ask ten economists the same question, you will get 11 different a nswe rs. Question, you will get 11 different answers. There is an element of truth to that. If you look at today, we have seen forecasters saying next year on average theyre expecting 1. 496 year on average theyre expecting 1. 4 growth. Actually, the estimates range from 0. 3 growth, pessimistic, up to 2. 2 , so very optimistic. Yeah, we do need estimates to form the basis of budgets and forward looking planning but you have to also take them with a pinch of salt. 0k, thank you very much. Uber is a transport company not an app and should be regulated as such. Thats the ruling of the European Court ofjustice. Uber had claimed it was a simply a Service Provider connecting consumers with drivers. It comes after local taxi drivers and officials complained uber was flouting local regulations and dodging costly regulations such as training and licensing requirements for drivers and vehicles. So what could it mean . Earlier, we spoke to anna mccaffrey, an employment lawyer at taylor wessing. Ata at a basic level the court was asked to decide if uber is a Digital Company and if it was then there are certain eu rules about not imposing undue restrictions on online companies. Whereas if its a transport company, eu law has less influence and its its up to each country to decide how they regulate services. Uber operates in so many countries, if they have to comply with different sets of regulations which are not the same country to country, that has a potential impact on their business model. We do come back up against this question of, are legal rules fit for a developing new type of company in that economy . Supermarket giant tesco can take over food wholesaler booker the deal was under scrutiny from britains competition regulator over fears it could stifle competition in the grocery market. Critics had expected the regulator to make tesco sell off some stores but the deal has been given the green light. Youtube has signed a Second Global deal with a major music label, as it expands its subscription businesses. After signing a deal with warner music in may, the Online Platform has now added Universal Music Group which represents artists including taylor swift and jay z in a deal it says would provide artists with more flexibility and pay. The automaker subaru is investigating whether its inspectors may have faked data on Vehicle Mileage readings during inspections conducted on cars sold injapan. The Japanese Firm says uncertified staff were carrying out tests on new cars sold on the domestic market for decades. The news prompted shares in the firm to fall 8. 5 , making them the most heavily traded stock on the tokyo stock exchange. Before we go a quick look at the markets. The ftse holding steady. Tesco shares up on the news that deal was approved. Bt group shares down. The pound and dollar, the pound doing well today. Thats it from me. More business throughout the afternoon. Back to westminster. The last Prime Ministers questions this year has just taken place. Our assistant Political Editor norman smith is there. Thank you very much. Final pmqs, a rough and tumble over the nhs. The moment i thought could have most interesting at the end of the set to with mrsmay and Jeremy Corbyn and the Prime Minister turned to Jeremy Corbyn and said i am still here, you are still there, you are still opposition leader. If you think back a few months its no many achievement from mrsmay. Shes still Prime Minister, after all the difficulties she has had and shes got her divorce agreement and probably tonight will get the eu withdrawal bill through the main commons stages. The main set to was over the nhs. Jeremy corbyn saying he believed the nhs was entering the winter in crisis. Sir Simon Stevens did say the nhs needs £4 billion next yearjust to stand still and the reality is the government has given the nhs less than half of what he asked for the Prime Minister talks about the money that the nhs needs. 50,000 people we re that the nhs needs. 50,000 people were left waiting on trolleys in hospital corridors last month. Last week, more ambulances were diverted to other hospitals because of a e pressures. To other hospitals because of a e pressures. 12,000 patients were kept waiting in the back of an ambulance because there was no room at the a e. I ask the Prime Minister again, has the nhs got the resources it needs for this winter to deal with this crisis . It turned into a bit of a statistical rough and tumble. Mrsmay said that cancer survival rates were now at record levels. She also pointed to the extra cash given in the budget to the nhs. 0n the news front, the only bit of news i spotted was following a question from a tory euro gentic. Eurosceptic. There are plans to set a timetable to give flexibility if things are getting nip and tuck. Mrbarren, a eurosceptic, wanted assurance if mps decided to delay our departure it would only be for a few weeks or a maximum of two months. I suspect he didnt get the sort of clear answer he wanted from the Prime Minister. Cani he wanted from the Prime Minister. Can i start by saying as i did to my honourable friend the member for new forest that actually we are going to leave on 29th march 2019. That is what we are working to. We do want to ensure that we have the same legal position as the European Union and that is why amendment 400 tabled by the member for west dorset has been accepted. I can assure my honourable friend that we are talking, if it were the case, that this would be used, it would only be in extremely exceptional circumstances and it would be for the shortest possible time. Lets mull over all of that with the snps ki rsty mull over all of that with the snps kirsty blackman, the torys grant shapps and labours stephen kinnock. Let me start with the nhs. Is it wise to continually cry wolf over the nhs . I have forgotten the number of winters a labour leader has said its in crisis, yes it is under pressure but not in crisis. its in crisis, yes it is under pressure but not in crisis. I think its under tremendous pressure and its under tremendous pressure and it matters hugely to the british people. I think its right that we call these things out in Prime Ministers questions. Unfortunately, we get the usual lies from the tories about the welsh nhs. Spending in wales is actually 1 higher on the nhs than it is in england and many of the results we are getting are better so its unfortunate we keep getting that scratched record from the tories on wales. Apart from that i thought it was a Good Exchange which demonstrated the massive pressure that the nhs is under. Its often said that theresa may has a tin ear when it comes to the nhs. I wonder if things are actually getting considerably worse now. We saw the head of kings nhs trust resigning because he said he couldnt cope with the resignations, we saw the boss of the nhs saying i need £4 billion now. In all honesty we seem to be reaching a fundamental tipping point. The kings boss being sir bob kirslake helping labour with their own material and reviews etc, not sure thats entirely neutral. I think he was going to be shoved, theyre making a deficit. I thought theresa may was good on the nhs. She did point out what was going on in wales, i dont accept it doesnt matter in wales they havent met their targets for waiting times since 2008. And pointed out that new money going in. Its undeniable the nhs is under pressure. I dont want to make light of that. Its also true that it treats a lot more people, cures more people, including in the really big killers like cancer as well these days. Perhaps the real part of the health system, if you like, in crisis, is not the nhs, its if you like, in crisis, is not the nhs, its social care. If you like, in crisis, is not the nhs, its social care. Ithink social care is a major issue given the demographic changes we have seen. 0ne the demographic changes we have seen. One of the things the Prime Minister is going to find difficult to square, it was written there was going to be £350 million extra for the nhs and its not something theyre delivering. Given theyre continuing with austerity and cutting funding to public services, we have a real problem brewing in the nhs, particularly in social care. I mentioned that exchange where theresa may said i am still here, probably mainly a question for you, but i will ask you too. Are you surprised that mrsmay is still Prime Minister given the sort of election result and the bruising time shes had . I dont think shes still Prime Minister because of her level of competence. It feels like she is Prime Minister because the tories cant find anybody better and theyve not managed to get rid of her yet. I dont think its down to the fact shes been a brilliant Prime Minister. Its down to the fa ct Prime Minister. Its down to the fact that theyve few alternatives really. Obviously, you are someone who wants her to go. The longer she stays in place surely the more likely shes going to keep on going, who knows maybe even to the next election. No one can accuse me of not being clear about my own views on the issue. However, i have to say theres no point, people know my views, no point hammering on about that every day, she is perhaps actually learning on the job, Getting Better at being Prime Minister. Its not something anyone can have practise doing in advance. Because brexit is such a fraught process , because brexit is such a fraught process, isnt the reality no one wa nts process, isnt the reality no one wants change now because you might getJeremy Corbyn government, you might derail brexit and people are clinging on to her because of the sheerfear clinging on to her because of the sheer fear of what else might be around there if shes gone. Obviously its true, but at the same time also i think shes probably doing the job better, learning on the job and has had a couple of successes. Might as well say it when its there. People wouldnt have expected the brexit bill to have gone through so smoothly, the budget was a smooth one, tonight i think we will see a vote which probably sees us will see a vote which probably sees us finish off for christmas and she will feel like shes making progress. Have we maybe now past basement may and peak corbyn . No, i think basement may is still to come because whats happened on the brexit negotiations, its been a series of fudges and capitulations. The actual moment of truth will come as we go into trade negotiations and the cabinet is going to really show how divided it is. Shes living on borrowed time. Shes got this far by fudging things and what we also have seen i thought she was really close to the end when she was basically told what to do by arlene foster, that incredibly embarrassing humiliating, its really difficult to imaginea humiliating, its really difficult to imagine a less Competent Group of people than the tories to be running brexit negotiations because they are shes having her strings pulled from belfast and there is no goodwill whatsoever between david davis and michel barnier. We have to leave it there. As you can see we are indoors, obviously i have not the faintest idea what the weather is going to be like. However, i do know a man who can tell us what the weather is going to be like. Kirsty has his name. Its tomasz schafernaker. Thank you very much for that marvellous introduction to the forecast iam in the forecast iamina the forecast i am in a studio as well, so i have no idea whats happening only kidding we have fog and sunshine. A mixed picture out there. The cloud isnt uniform across the uk. Others have some sunshine. Overall, it clearly is a cloudy day. In the run up to christmas, if you were waving yesterday no change to that. It is ina waving yesterday no change to that. It is in a word looking mild. Beyond that maybe some changes. We still have this mild air stretching from the atlantic across western europe to scandinavia. That translates to a lot of cloud and hill fog, drizzle in places as well. Where the clouds arent there, there are places like that, for example, eastern scotland, the north east of england, temperatures will drop when there is no cloud cover, no blanket, it turns chilly. Underneath the cloud in the sky in the south it will be closer to ten. Tomorrow more or less the same. Still that mild air over us and temperatures will be around about 12 in london, six still there in scotland. How about friday . Little change. Some damp weather around too. No two days are going to be exactly the same. Overall, its looking cloudy. On friday the temperatures will be the same both in actually about eight there. 12 across the south. Lets look at saturday. As we close in for christmas, low pressure to the north of the country, that means stronger winds coming through. Gale force winds. On saturday, we have similar temperatures across the uk, 11 there in the far north and we have 11 in the far south of the uk as well. Beyond that, its rain in the north and south westerly winds in the south. That means its a mild Christmas Day on the way. Temperatures will begin to double figures, around ten or len in the south. Six in the north. There is an indication things could turn colder as we head towards boxing day. Thats it from me. Hello, youre watching afternoon live. Today at 2. More than 30 sex offence cases are under urgent review after two rape trials collapsed because of late disclosure of evidence by the metropolitan police. Obviously our priority will be those around 30 cases which are about to go to trial and it is really a pragmatic step to insure we can go to trial safely on those. The eus chief brexit negotiator says the uks post brexit transition period should end no later than the end of 2020 less time than the Prime Minister wants. Im ben brown live in westminster where mps are debating the eu withdrawal bill. The International Monetary fund downgrades its forecast for britains Economic Growth this year, blaming brexit uncertainty