Gb news. Morning. 930 on wednesday, the 24th of april. Britains newsroom on gb news with Andrew Pierce and bev turner. Good morning. Thank you for good morning. Thank you for joining us. So defence spending boost. Prime minister rishi sunak pledges an extra £75 billion in defence spending by 2030. Will it go far enough though . Were going to be speaking to former Armed Forces Minister james speaking to former Armed Forces Ministerjames heappey later in the show and the miranda aftermath , the Prime Minister aftermath, the Prime Minister faces Big Questions over whether those flights will act as a deterrent after 250 migrants attempted to cross the channel yesterday. And of course, we saw those five deaths and a prestigious award for former detective turned whistleblower Maggie Oliver has received the award for her courageous efforts to expose the rochdale grooming gangs. Maggie will join us with her extraordinary story. And yes, what was it like . Andrew back in your day . I dont think i can remember there was a horse and trap, right . It was before electricity i vie. Vie. We say this because apparently now, according to an employment tribunal, its. Youre in breach of the law to say that to somebody. Its offensive. It could offend me. It could be ageist, though. It could be. It could be in this situation. Its a nurse, a senior nurse who was said to this was was told this by a younger nurse. Well, back in your day and i think it could be a bit flippant and critical. Do you why would you go to laura beddow for it . Just shrug your shoulders and say, oh, its an employment tribunal. An employment tribunal. Let us know your thoughts this morning. Its lovely to be back with you after my week off. Gb views at no. Gbnews. Com yoursay isnt it . Of course. Weve got our new message board first though. The very latest nude news with sophia wenzler. Bev. Thank you. Good morning. Its 933. Im sophia wenzler in the gb newsroom. Your headlines. The gb newsroom. Your headlines. The defence secretary has told gb news that rising conflicts around the world have made bolstering britains defences more urgent. Its after Prime Minister rishi sunak announced that spending would increase to 2. 5 of gdp by 2030, in what he called the biggest strengthening in a generation. Grant shapps says a fall in inflation has helped make the new investment possible, and its important britain leads the way conditions are right now, but not only that, you know the situation in the world. Youve seen whats been happening in ukraine with putin continuing to prosecute his illegal war. Youve seen whats happening in the middle east with iran firing , going on on with iran firing, going on on israel. I think its very important for britain to play its leadership part. The Prime Minister has stepped up and has done that in a very significant way. And i think this is very, very good news for the United Kingdom, our security and also for our leadership in the rest of the world. Meanwhile, in the us, the senate voted overwhelmingly to pass a long awaited aid package for ukraine, israel and taiwan. Its expected to be quickly signed by president biden, ending months of uncertainty over whether the United States would continue supporting kyiv. It comes after the bill passed the house of representatives on saturday in a show of bipartisan support , despite considerable support, despite considerable resistance among some republicans. Ukraines president republicans. Ukraines president zelenskyy says the aid approval to ukraine reinforces the us role as a beacon of democracy. Role as a beacon of democracy. And the mother of one of the nottingham attack victims has written an open letter to police after graphic messages were shared in a Whatsapp Group. Barnaby weber, who was 19, was stabbed and killed along with two others by 32 year old valdo calocane. Barnabys mother, emma calocane. Barnabys mother, emma has written an open letter to officers who were members of a Whatsapp Group in which graphic details about the attack were shared. Mrs. Weber says her son was described as properly butchered among other phrases, and has urged police to show the respect that was not given to her son. And for the latest stories , sign up to gb news stories, sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen or go to gb news. Common alerts. Now its back to common alerts. Now its back to andrew and. Bev. Andrew and. Bev. Good morning. 935 is it monday . No, no, shes been away. I thought shes been in the sun. Shes gone to her head. Oh, it was so nice to be away. But it is so nice to be back. This is britains newsroom on gb news. Me, bev turner and Andrew Pierce. So we he took us all by surprise. Actually, we need the Prime Minister was on his way to poland. He wanted to talk about the fact that, in his view, putin will not necessarily stop at polands border. And he announced the biggest increase in defence spending in years. And years, saying hes going to take us up to 2. 5 of gdp by 2030. And if you go back to the budget last month, it was well increase defence spending when the economic circumstances allow. Nothings changed in a month except the tory poll rating. He says that its going to put the uk arms industry on a war footing, which i find a little bit concerning. He was also at pains to say this doesnt mean were going to war, but the rhetoric is very much changed around this, hasnt it . And well well labour back this. Well joining us now is Kevin Schofield, Political Editor at the huffpost uk regular on the show. Good morning kevin. Good to see you in some ways it feels a little performative that rishi sunak is promising this money at this time because of course , he may time because of course, he may not be Prime Minister come 2030. Call me psychic. Call me psychic. I dont think hed be Prime Minister come 2025. So. But will labour back . So. But will labour back . This plan . Is he has he backed them into a corner that they have no choice. Have no choice. Yeah. Well keir starmer said last week didnt that, labour would also go to 2. 5 of gdp on defence spending once economic circumstance allow. Now theyre very nervous obviously at making unfunded spending commitments. So i guess the pressure now is on keir starmer to say whether they will match, but , rishi they will match, but, rishi sunak said yesterday or not now i think andrew hit the nail on the head there when he said the only thing thats changed since the budget, in which there was no new money announced for defence spending, that was only about six weeks ago. Remember is that the opinion poll ratings, if anything, have actually got worse for the conservatives. So were seeing a lot of activity from rishi sunak this week ahead of the local elections on may the second, which are expected to be a bloodbath for the conservatives, after which, you know, a lot of conservative mps might be thinking, do we do we go with this guy . Do we change him before the election . So i think hes basically setting his stall out now as a message to conservative mps as much as anything. Please stick by me to lead us into the general election in june. Kevin, because i was at a reception in westminster last night, a lot of mps there from both sides and i talked to quite a few tory mps and they all said the same look, they welcome it, but they know its a response to the polls and they didnt think actually it will shift the dial. Yeah, i think youre probably right, andrew. You know, i think the, the pubuc you know, i think the, the public have already made up their minds. Theyve public have already made up their minds. Theyve had a good look at rishi sunak over the last year and a half, or the opinion polls or the focus groups tell us theyre not that impressed. And its not to say impressed. And its not to say theyre massively impressed by keir starmer either. But i think after 14 years of the conservatives, theres a mood abroad that, its time for change. And yeah, announcements like yesterday might help shore up his support in certain areas. It might help, as i say, save his job after the local elections. But i dont think its going to change the Bigger Picture about the general election result, actually, as the language also changed for labour on rwanda. Kevin, because sometimes i would talk to labour mps, say its just minor stuff, you know, its just minor stuff, you know, its just minor stuff, you know, its just its just a 30,000 is nothing. When you consider three quarters of a Million People came here legally through legal migration. But when you see five migration. But when you see five people died yesterday, 14 have died this year. I dont think labour can use that argument anymore, can they . And, i think theyre going to have to engage with the government differently on rwanda now. On rwanda now. Yeah, certainly. Awful news yesterday , those deaths in the yesterday, those deaths in the channel and the timing obviously just after the rwanda bill passing in parliament, a couple of nights ago. So, so yeah, labour are still sticking to their message that they would ditch the rwanda plan, even if its successful, even if its working , should they win the working, should they win the next election . But i think, you know, as we get closer to election, i think theres going be a lot more pressure on labour to say precisely what they would do in practical terms , to stop do in practical terms, to stop the boats, because at the moment, you know, theyre talking in generalities, really, about going after smuggling gangsin about going after smuggling gangs in that type of thing. And but, you know, if the rwanda plan is has actually shown to be working, then i think that will put more, more pressure on on keir starmer. I heard the lib dem leader, sir ed davey, this morning saying, oh, all you got to do, youve got to tackle the criminal gangs. Whats he talking about . Theyve been trying to do that for flipping years and its not working because theyre cleverer than the French Police and clearly cleverer than than interpol and mi5. M15. Mi5. Well, they always seem to be one step ahead, dont they . And the numbers and the numbers are , the numbers and the numbers are, you know, going up. We saw figures from the home office earlier in the week that showed that the numbers crossing in the first three months of the year, actually 24 higher than last yeah actually 24 higher than last year. So the current, approach isnt working, obviously rishi sunak dearly hopes that the rwanda plan , once flights get rwanda plan, once flights get off the ground, will act as a deterrent. But well have to wait and see whether that actually happens. It is election year, of course, kevin, probably. So there is a sort of strange political mood in the air, isnt there . And i think this viewer, alastair, whos got in touch on the website, sums it up very well , he says with a general well, he says with a general election in the office, were beginning to see a pattern emerging. Labour will announce a policy without any detail as to timings or cost. Shortly thereafter, the government will make a similar announcement, but with timings and cost. Labour will then claim the conservatives are stealing their policies. Do you think that Civil Servants are tipping off labour as to the policies in the government pipeline, any truth to that, do you think . I wouldnt have thought so. I dont i dont agree with that. I mean, i think the person is right that clearly, labour are this is not the first time theyre making a policy announcement and then lo and behold, the government, are making the same announcement a couple of weeks later. I think the slight difference is that labour pressure is on them, as the opposition, to say exactly how they would fund it, whereas the benefit of being in government is you can just say its going to happen and you dont face the same level of scrutiny. But in the election campaign, all these things will be in election manifestos, im sure, in which case guys like me will have the opportunity hopefully to scrutinise and ask questions of the politicians. So well just have to wait and see whos whose numbers add up. And of course, theyre saying that theyll pay for the defence boost by cutting back Civil Servants. Kevin talking, getting servants. Kevin talking, getting rid of 75,000 Civil Servants. Why not . Because to be honest, not many of them are bothering to turn up for work anyway. Are they . Because theyre all still working from home and output seems to be lower now than it was before the pandemic . I think the talking is at 70,000. I think theyre talking about, reduction in headcount. I mean, again, weve been hearing this now for the last couple of years, and nothing much seems to be getting done about it. Although what i will say, i think thats going to save. They reckon £2. 9 billion. They say that the spending increase for defence will be 75 billion. So thatis defence will be 75 billion. So that is a small change in comparison to the overall number. And itll be interesting to see where the rest of the money comes from, especially at a time when the government is talking about cutting taxes. So i guess it can only mean spending cuts and other whitehall areas. Okay. All right. Thank you kevin , Kevin Schofield joining kevin, Kevin Schofield joining us this morning on those big stories , and hes done this at a stories, and hes done this at a time when they were poll by Lord Ashcroft last week showing unbelievably that labour are now ahead of the tories on who you trusted most on defence. Extraordinary. Well but where will this money be spent . Is it on extra soldiers . Do we need extra soldiers . Do we need more people to operate drones and cyber warfare isnt that where its all at now . And its research and development. Grant shapps was saying this morning, i dont know, i dont feel very reassured by research and development, just kind of really like a lot more bombs, please. Or somebody to stop them, drop some way of them being dropped on us, andy has said, i dont think the conservatives can do anything to save themselves. Now. I dont think anyone i dont actually think anyone thinks labour will be any better, but people just want change. And to be honest, and again, at that reception last night, thats what people were saying. Well, we know that labour wont be much better, but were just sick to death of the tories. Thats right, keep your messages coming in. Gbnews. Com forward slash. Your say is the website. And weve got a really interesting interview coming up because were talking to Maggie Oliver, the former detective turned whistleblower whos had an award incredible efforts to expose that rochdale grooming scandal. Scandal. Yeah. And well ask her about this story today about the Police Exchange ing totally inappropriate whatsapp messages over the nottingham stabbing shocking with britains newsroom on. Gb news. Greg. Good morning. Now, former detective turned whistleblower Maggie Oliver was presented with a prestigious icon award at the annual shining stars ball on friday. This was to mark her fantastic efforts to expose the rochdale grooming scandal against all the odds back in 2012, as well as her continued efforts to support women from all walks of life. About time all walks of life. About time too. Maggie was also commended for providing emotional support and legacy advocacy for over 4000 adult survivors of sexual abuse and rape through her charity, the Maggie Oliver foundation. Well, she joins us now, former detective constable, of course, maggie from Greater Manchester police and rochdale. Maggie, congratulations. When i saw that the awards yesterday, your name leapt out from the page and i thought, my god, long overdue. Well done. Do you feel its recognition . Long overdue. Its recognition . Long overdue. Hi, andrew. Hi, bev. Nice to be here, it makes a change, actually, for me to be here smiling. Usually banging that drum onto, it. You know, im really proud to have got it because it was. Its not just me. Its all the work that were doing at the Maggie Oliver foundation. You know, the legal advocacy, the emotional support. And its nice to be, you know, the nicest thing is that people know about the work that we are doing. And, you know, you always doing. And, you know, you always im always introduced as, you know, somebody who resigned over the rochdale grooming scandal. But the work now at the foundation whilst, grooming gangs and abuse of those girls is still a big part of our work. You know, we help, survivors of any , sexual abuse. So, you know, any, sexual abuse. So, you know, one rape or, somebody whos abusing the family or by a teacher, but we tend to pick up the, thats, you know, our own events, our our fundraising events, our our fundraising event , ourselves. And to get event, ourselves. And to get this from girls out loud , you this from girls out loud, you know, they kind of, they start this, journey with, with young women, with girls. Before we become involved, we tend to pick up the pieces when the education where the information and children being protected falls down, you know, girls out loud. Down, you know, girls out loud. They provide big sisters for little sisters. So they go into little sisters. So they go into schools and they educate young girls , to try to prevent them girls, to try to prevent them falling through the gaps and becoming abuse victims. You becoming abuse victims. You know, my work is about picking up the pieces when its far too late to prevent it. So to get this award from them, and to go to the event, which was really lovely and, you know, the, the award, youve just shown it, coincidentally , my dress matched coincidentally, my dress matched the star as well. I didnt know matt. Always stylish. Always stylish. Its part of the problem. Still. Its part of the problem. Still. Its part of the problem. Still the police are still very male dominated, very blokeish. Male dominated, very blokeish. Is that part of the problem . Yeah, i still think there is a lot of misogyny around for me, a lot of misogyny around for me, a big part of the problem is some still not acknowledging the failures and the, you know, the public. No, the criminal Justice System is broken. And, you know, i often say now everybody watched the alan bates against the post office and it exposed how these organisations will go to any lengths to cover up their wrongdoing. And thats what ive experienced in my journey over the past 12 years through the criminal Justice System, you know , the complaints procedure know, the complaints procedure is completely, unworkable. Its not independent. It doesnt work. Theres no accountability. And unless we see accountability, i dont think we will get the changes that we need. And children will continue to be abused. Children will continue to be abused. And actually young abused. And actually young women, its not just children. It is any victim of sexual abuse that we see every day doesnt receive , the service that they receive, the service that they are entitled to. And its very much a Postcode Lottery as to what kind of service they get. There are some really, really good Police Officers. You know, good Police Officers. You know, i was a good police officer, but there are theres a lack of training, theres a lack of investment, there are not enough Police Officers there. The courts are overwhelmed. The prisons are full, the legal system is on its knees and we need an acknowledgement of that. And, an award like this helps to keep it in the spotlight. It helps to raise awareness. It keeps the conversations going. And girls out loud are doing phenomenal work in schools, i hope quite often they show the drama three girls i worked on because that opens up the conversation. It prepares them for the dangers that lie out there. And the best form of protection is for them to know what the dangers are. We pick up the pieces when those kids , the pieces when those kids, unfortunately fall between the gaps and become , you know, gaps and become, you know, victims themselves. Maggie, do you do you ever get contacted by politicians or those in power mps to say to you, come and see me, lets have a coffee. Tell me what i need to do. I have had those meetings and actually, beth, its really interesting that you ask that question today because at 1 00 ive got my first 1 to 1 meeting with the chief constable of Greater Manchester police, and thats, you know, ive been calling for this. We do have, we have regular meetings now with gmp, and i have to say that we are making some progress. Weve met, you know, we have got contacts with some really good Senior Officers who seem to be on our page. And i know that if they do work with us, we can change things. But its again, very hit and miss. You know, anybody who saw the channel four documentary to capture copper , documentary to capture copper, would have been shocked. I mean, im not shocked , but it was im not shocked, but it was horrifying to see what can go on, behind closed doors. And its often hidden. Maggie, if they offered you a seat in the house of lords, would you take it . No. Why not . No. Why not . No. Why not . We need women like you. We need strong women making decisions on behalf of others. Because i think i can use my voice far more effectively by, telling the truth to the public. Because i do think it is public, power. Its people power that will change things. And raising awareness, being able to say exactly what the truth is without it being, political. In some ways. In some ways. In some ways. Yeah, its im not political, you know, if ill call out the conservatives the labour, i want victims to get the, you know , to victims to get the, you know, to be dealt with with, compassion, with, empathy. I want communication. Its not about a conviction. It is not about. Conviction. It is not about. Its about how theyre treated through that journey. And when you know the less than 2 in 100 reported rapes ever reaches court 98, and every one of those victims needs to be, well, listened to. Weve run out of time, maggie. The clock is against us. Congratulations on your award. Good luck at your meeting. This this lunchtime. Keep banging those heads together, right. Those heads together, right. What a great woman. What a great woman. Quick weather break. This is gb news. This is alex. A brighter outlook with boxt solar , sponsors of weather on. Solar, sponsors of weather on. Gb news. Morning. Heres your gb news weather from the met office. Its a bit chilly out there at the moment , its a bit chilly out there at the moment, but for many of us, its going to be a dry day with some decent sunny spells. Watch out for a touch of frost in some rural spots , and there are rural spots, and there are already a few showers in parts of the southwest and towards nonh of the southwest and towards north sea coastal parts. And here some of them will continue as we go through the afternoon as we go through the afternoon as well. Otherwise a decent amount of sunshine, especially across western parts of england and wales and across much of scotland and Northern Ireland. Two despite the sunny skies, though, it is going to feel a little bit chilly. Temperatures below average for the time of year generally most places into double figures, but just about for some, particularly towards the north east. As we go through tonight and most of the showers will die out. And so it is going to be dry for many of us. There will be a bit more cloud, perhaps towards eastern parts and a little bit more blustery here, but elsewhere calmer and clear skies means temperatures will take a bit of a drop, a bit more frost around first thing tomorrow morning. Then this morning , a chilly start for many morning, a chilly start for many of us again as we go through tomorrow. A few showers to watch out for across parts of Central England into wales. There may be a few dotted here also towards the north east, across eastern parts of scotland, some fairly frequent showers and perhaps a little bit breezier here, but otherwise again generally fine and dry for many of us. Perhaps just a bit more cloud around compared to today. Nonetheless, many of us will see some sunny spells, temperatures still a little bit on the low side, most places just about getting into double figures. Double figures. That warm feeling inside from boxt boilers sponsors of weather on gb news. Way. 10 am. On wednesday. The 24th of april. This is britains newsroom on gb news with me. Bev turner and Andrew Pierce. Huge spending increase on defence. The Prime Minister says hes going to put an extra £75 billion there by 2030. If youre still Prime Minister by then, of course. But will it go far enough . Were going to be speaking to the former. Were going to be talking to the former Armed Forces Minister, james heappey, and a former labour defence minister. Labour. Later in the show and the rwanda aftermath, the pm faces Big Questions over whether rwanda flights will act as a deterrent after 250 migrants attempted to cross the channel yesterday. And of course, we saw those five deaths. Also a former labour defence minister is going to join us to discuss that. To join us to discuss that. Covid has scarred pupils. Covid has scarred pupils. Its official children who started school during the pandemic will have worse gcse results up until 2030. School closures have brought on prolonged damage for our pupils. How can it ever be recovered . I mean, that can be filed under the flippin obvious , under the flippin obvious, really, couldnt it . Hindsight is a very easy thing , but we shouldnt have thing, but we shouldnt have closed the schools. What i find amazing as a parent is that we arent apparently doing anything to plug apparently doing anything to plug this gap. Now, this research is fantastic because it does confirm what many parents have suspected. But as a parent, it doesnt seem like the schools have any plan. And the government announced a big fund, billions of extra Education Recovery Fund. But i dont think the money ever came forward. No. And that depended on finding tutors to do extra work. Maybe there arent enough tutors. Whats your experience of this . Whether youve got kids or grandchildren as well, let us know. Do you see these gaps in their knowledge which were lost over those couple of years . Gbnews. Com forward slash. Your say is the Comment Section to let us know your thoughts. This morning. First though, the very latest news with sophia wenzler. Bev thank you. Good morning. Its 10 01. Im bev thank you. Good morning. Its10 01. Im sophia wenzler in the gb newsroom. Your top story this hour. The in the gb newsroom. Your top story this hour. The defence story this hour. The defence secretary has told gb news that rising conflicts around the world have made bolstering britains defences more urgent. Its after Prime Minister rishi sunak announced that spending would increase to 2. 5 of gdp by 2030, in what he called the biggest strengthening of our National Defence in a generation , grant shapps says that a fall in inflation has helped make the new investment possible, but that its important. Britain leads the way conditions are right now. But not only that, you know the situation in the world. Youve seen whats been happening in ukraine with putin continuing to prosecute his illegal war. Youve seen whats happening in the middle east with iran firing , on on israel. With iran firing, on on israel. I think its very important for britain to play its leadership part. The Prime Minister has stepped up and has done that in a very significant way, and i think this is very , very good think this is very, very good news for, for the United Kingdom, our security , and also kingdom, our security, and also for our leadership in the rest of the world. Meanwhile, shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry says labour wants to see details on how it will be funded. How it will be funded. Keir said several weeks ago that we wanted to move towards spending 2. 5 on defence and indeed when we were in power last, that was about the amount of money that we were spending, but we will do it as as circumstances allow. We will be looking with some interest at whether or not the government produces any details in relation to this. Because, you know, the Prime Minister yesterday essentially committed to spending another £75 billion on defence by 2030. So they produced this 22 page document and not a single line of it was on where the money was coming from. From. Meanwhile, in the us, the senate voted overwhelmingly to pass a long awaited aid package for ukraine, israel and taiwan. Its expected to be quickly signed by president biden, ending months of uncertainty over whether the United States would continue supporting kyiv. Would continue supporting kyiv. It comes after the bill passed the house of representatives on saturday in a show of bipartisan support. Despite considerable resistance among some republicans, ukraines president zelenskyy says the aid approval to ukraine reinforced his the us role as a beacon of democracy. Role as a beacon of democracy. The mother of one of the nottingham attack victims has written an open letter to police after graphic messages were shared in a whatsapp messaging group. Barnaby weber , who was group. Barnaby weber, who was 19, was stabbed and killed along with two others by 32 year old valdo calocane. Barnabys valdo calocane. Barnabys mother, emma has written an open letter to the officers, who were members of a Whatsapp Group, in which graphic details about the attack were shared. Mrs. Weber says her son was described as properly butchered among other phrases, and has urged police to show the respect that was not given to her son. She says she chose to publish the letter in the Times Newspaper after requests to address the officers directly were denied. The former directly were denied. The former leader of the democratic unionist party, sir Jeffrey Donaldson, has arrived at Newry Magistrates Court, Northern Irelands longest serving mp was suspended from the dup following his arrest last month for whats been described as historical sex charges. In his resignation letter, he said he would strenuously be contesting the allegations. Labour says it will allegations. Labour says it will fund an extra 13,000 neighbourhood Police Officers if it wins the next election. The party says it would guarantee regular patrols in town centres, with neighbourhood drug squads tasked with clamping down on local gangs. Labour cited local gangs. Labour cited Research Showing that 50 of the pubuc Research Showing that 50 of the public say they never see an officer on the beat , public say they never see an officer on the beat, up from 27 when they were last in office. The government has previously announced plans to spend £230 million on new technology, designed to free up more time for police and former labour minister and crossbench peer frank field has died at the age of 81. Lord field spent 40 years as mp for birkenhead and served as mp for birkenhead and served as minister for welfare reform in tony blairs government. He joined the house of lords in 2020. His family says hell be mourned by admirers across politics, but above all, he will be greatly missed by those lucky enough to have enjoyed his laughter and friendship. Laughter and friendship. Heres to decide, right member. And for the latest stories, sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen or go to gb news. Common alerts. Now its back to andrew and. Bev. And. Bev. 1006 with britains newsroom on gb news with Andrew Pierce and bev turner. So the Prime Minister, rishi sunak, promises to increase uk defence spending to 2. 5 of gdp by 2030, saying this will put the uk arms industry on a war footing. The defence secretary, grant shapps. He spoke to gb news a little earlier. Little earlier. The world as weve been saying, as i was saying back in my speech in january, is looking more dangerous. I think its very important for britain to play very important for britain to play its leadership part. The Prime Minister has stood up and has done that in a very significant way and i think this is very, very good news for the United Kingdom , our security and United Kingdom, our security and also for our leadership in the rest of the world. Well, lets cross over now to westminster to join gb news Political Editor, Christopher Hope. Good morning chris. Good morning. So a big announcement today from the conservatives are inbox of viewers obviously saying, well is this really does it really matter because rishi sunak wont be Prime Minister by 2030 . Well, it does matter. It shows a direction of travel. This money is paid for. Its covered by the cost by cutting some 10,000 Civil Service posts, some 10,000 Civil Service posts, some of those in the ministry of defence, it shows a political to will ensure this country is put on a war footing, it goes beyond where labour is. Labour is saying they want to get to 2. 5 of gdp. Thats the government target two, but wont say how theyll get there or whether theyll get there or whether they can get there just yet. Theyre having a Spending Review if they win power in the november general election. So it november general election. So it does two things. It gives the tory party a dividing line on defence, with the Labour Party Going into the long election campaign. It also, i think, secures to some degree mr sunaks position with his own backbenchers. Ive been talking to a Senior Defence backbencher , to a Senior Defence backbencher, mp with defence interests on the backbench of the tory party he says. You know its priced in. The tories will do not so well in next weeks local elections and maybe even the mayoral elections. But and maybe even the mayoral elections. But this spending on defence is, is exactly what the right of the party wanted to see happen and has now happened. So in a sense, mr sunak, politically, he wouldnt want to admit this is getting ahead of what could be a difficult weekend in eight days time and the following days after that, when summer forecast yet another challenge to his authority from the backbenches. So it is quite good politics. Its also very good politics. Its also very good for this country. If you do believe the concerns that the government has about the so called this axis , opposing so called this axis, opposing the uk, russia, china and iran , the uk, russia, china and iran, then what is announced here is getting ahead of that and leading the way to other nato countries to match 2. 5 of gdp on defence spending, not just 2. All right, chris. Thanks, chris. Hope, who is our Political Editor in west news. Were going to talk now to kevin jones whos the labour mp for nonh jones whos the labour mp for north durham. And of course was a defence minister in Gordon Browns government. Kevin, morning to you. Good morning, as a man whos got his finger on the pulse on defence issues, is this good news . No, its what weve come to expect from grant shapps. Most shapps more spin and bull. Frankly, the defendant, you know, they say theyre putting the, nation on a war footing. Defence expenditure next year goes down. If you take out the 500 million that is dedicated for ukraine. And that was confirmed by the finance director, who sat next to the secretary of state at the Defence Select Committee a few weeks ago. So the i mean, theyre talking arent they, kevin . I mean about massive increase in armaments and ammunition to replace the stuff thats being sent to ukraine, but but it on papen sent to ukraine, but but it on paper, its a huge increase. Andrew. Its for the birds. This i mean the if backbencher tory mps have swallowed this one, theyre very gullible , one, theyre very gullible, because it is just spin. If you look, for example , next year, it look, for example, next year, it is a fact, you know, the defence budget declines. If were on a war footing, why are you cutting the defence budget next year . And thats the 75 billion, its absolute nonsense. Its not a 75 billion. Itsjust absolute nonsense. Its not a 75 billion. Its just spin. Absolute nonsense. Its not a 75 billion. Itsjust spin. If absolute nonsense. Its not a 75 billion. Its just spin. If you look at the, ifs figures this morning, you only get to 75 billion if you actually freeze the defence budget over the next six years, so theres no extra money. And i think the other thing you need to look at is that the defence budget is still 7, lower than it would than it was in 2010. But thats because the tories took 14 out of the defence budget until 2016, you know, sacked people, made people compulsorily redundant, and, you know, the point is, is that, this is just complete spin and its for political purposes, internal management of the tory party, rather than helping our armed forces. Who are we on a war footing with, by the way . Because thats what he says. This will put us on a war footing. What war can we fight with the army at its lowest level since the napoleonic conflicts . Well, we cant, and this is the nonsense that the portraying is, is, you know, you dont go on a war footing if youre going to cut the defence and the idea that youre going to go, that youre going to balance the budget by cutting 10,000 Civil Servants, what people got to remember, these arent pen pushers in whitehall. These are the technicians, these, scientists and others that actually develop , and support, actually develop, and support, defence equipment. So good luck with that. If you actually want to get procurement sorted out. So would you keep the Civil Servants . Do you think kevin will labour keep such a bloated blob running the country . Running the country . Vie its well, its all right to make bloated blob, but look at what they do. Civil servants in the mod are armed specialists. They are scientists who . They are the people that do, for example, Nuclear Engineers on the replacing the nuclear deterrent. Now, if you want to deterrent. Now, if you want to get rid of some of them, fine. But thats all youll do is actually gum up the procurement system. Im all for efficiency wherever you can make it, but this is just complete nonsense that you can actually, balance the defence budget by cutting Civil Servants. But dont we need to boot out some of those involved in defence procurement, kevin, because, you know, when you were a defence minister, there was a problem with procurement. Its continuing now under this government , the big defence government, the big defence budgets are always massively overspent , always behind overspent, always behind schedule. Weve got weve got aircraft carriers which dont seem to be able to work. Sir andrew, i dont like i told you so, but the reason why our defence procurement is such a mess is something called the, levine review and changes in the early two, 2012, which actually devolved the budgets to the mainline forces, took the eye off the ball in terms of control over this and made sure that decisions werent taken at a strategic level. Thats whats strategic level. Thats whats actually happened to. And thats on the conservative partys watch. Im sorry. This on the conservative partys watch. Im sorry. This is on the conservative partys watch. Im sorry. This is just watch. Im sorry. This is just spin. And i think people just look at the figures and actually, you know, face down sunak and shapps and just say to them, well, come on, where are you going to get this money from . It does feel a little like rishi sunak is just throwing everything hes got at this now in this sort of final run up to an election to see what sticks. Our inbox shows that most people out there , the viewers are a lot out there, the viewers are a lot smarter than that, and they can see through some of the electioneering. What could make any difference for him, kevin . And when do you think that election might be . Well, its not for me to say the Prime Minister i think hes a big enough hole as it is. But if i was him, i wouldnt keep digging in, and bringing a jcb in and trying to, you know, think that the public are stupid. And, you know, some of us who are committed to defence and actually want to see our armed forces properly funded, are not going to be conned by this. This announcement. And, you know, people just look at this conservative partys record on defence, theyve cut defence over the last 14 years. Theyre cutting it next year , even if cutting it next year, even if were on a war footing, thats not what you do. Not what you do. When do you want the election . Sorry when do you want the election . I want it as soon as possible. Because, frankly, you know, if this was a horse, youd put it out of his misery that this government. This government. Can we just ask you, kevin, can we trust your law on defence . Yeah, i think you can. I mean, you know, the situation is, andrew, youve known me a long time on defence and, even in the bad years of corbyn, i was Still Holding the flag there for defence. Weve got keir starmer, whos committed to defence, and john healey, who i think is someone else who is committed to making sure that we make the right decisions for this country, not the cheap spin and playing politics with whats happenedin and playing politics with whats happened in the last few days. Can we just ask you about these scenes yesterday on Saint Georges day in in london, with the police being very heavy handed , jumping out of vans, handed, jumping out of vans, ready to riot, did it look like this two tier policing that that they metta being accused of because we have pro palestinian , because we have pro palestinian, pro peace, you might say, rallies every weekend and there is never that sort of muscular risk , boss. Risk, boss. No, listen, listen. Well, the great things about our country is democracy. We have freedom of speech to demonstrate and actually ensure that we can, you know, have our rights safe. That needs protecting. Thats something precious. Thats what we fight. We fight for in this country. And democracy , the country. And democracy, the police have a difficult job in terms of ensuring that. And if demonstrations take place that turn violent, then the police have to make the appropriate response. If you see some of the individuals who are behind yesterdays. So Saint Georges day, you know , were they looking day, you know, were they looking for trouble . Possibly they were, but, you know , demonstrations but, you know, demonstrations should be something we should actually cherish and think its part of our freedom. Democracy should always be done peacefully, and we should all support the police in terms of the difficult job theyve got. Okay all right, kevin, great to talk to you again. Thats kevin jones. Hes the labour mp for nonh jones. Hes the labour mp for north durham and a former defence minister. Great to talk to you. I like him a great man great i like him. Hes very straightforward man. He is hes hes a hes from your part of the world and hes blunt northerner. You can see it cant you. In the blood right. Still to come, the blood right. Still to come, the last surviving veteran of a World War Two special forces regiment shares his story. Kids should know more about the sacrifice that their forefathers made. Not me. Im no forefathers made. Not me. Im no hero, but they like they were the raf boys who died. And people like that. They dont realise that. They dont know much about it. They dont even know who hitler was. Half of them are. Hes about your age, isnt he . Hes amazing. We should ask him. Would it offend you if you say in your day, in your day, back in your day. But hes 102. Day, in your day, back in your day. But hes102. He could be. He could be 80. He could be 80, couldnt he . Amazing. Thats amazing. Right . Dont go anywhere. This is britains newsroom on. Gb news. Right. Good morning. Its 1020. Right. Good morning. Its1020. We are joined in the studio now by broadcaster mike parry and trade unionist and political commentator andy mcdonald. Andy, is this your first time on . It is on britains newsroom. It is on britains newsroom. Very good. Well, youre very welcome. Thank you. Welcome. Great to be here. Yeah. Welcome to the best show on the channel. If we do say so, it is ourselves very much. And if you havent said that, you cant come again. I do like everything here, right. Shall we talk about this gap in the Knowledge Base of children who were locked down for two years, and they. Our for two years, and they. Our inbox has lit up with people expressing their frustrations. I have it as well as a parent, that we just neglected to do anything about this problem. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, i yeah, absolutely. I mean, i think there was a strong focus on the year groups that were taking exams during covid, and obviously that was incredibly important to ensure that their futures were as unaffected as they could be by the coronavirus pandemic. They could be by the coronavirus pandemic. But it they could be by the coronavirus pandemic. But it was they could be by the coronavirus pandemic. But it was kind of an afterthought. The people who were in the developmental stages, people that were in, you know, the year five to year eight kind of category where it really was a key moment in their learning journey. And i think there does need to be some serious, serious provision offered to these students. Now offered to these students. Now theyre getting to their gcse, their a level years to kind of compensate for that. And some catch up work as well. There was a fund set up. It was an Education Recovery Fund and i just think the money disappeared. It just didnt happen. I think they announced it with a blaze of publicity , it with a blaze of publicity, but then nothing really came of it. £5 billion. £5 billion. It was it was billion. It was it was billion. So much money. So much money. Id just like to ask andy because hes a trade unionist. What role did the teaching unions have in this whole horrible saga and how much can they be responsible . I mean, this report to me is a statement of the blinken obvious. Oh, look, children obvious. Oh, look, children couldnt go to school. They werent being taught properly. Werent being taught properly. Theyre going to slip behind. Theyve had the worst possible start in life. But did the teaching unions have a role in this . Well, in what, the coronavirus pandemic . I dont think so. But you know, i didnt want they didnt want their members to go to school. It was because they said theyd be exposed to they said theyd be exposed to the pandemic. Well, they would be exposed to coronavirus. They would usually transmit it to other people. They were and of course, teachers. The children of key workers were taught exactly by teachers. Teachers. Exactly. Exactly. Sure. I mean, you know, the eu and the nhs , ut they took the eu and the nhs, ut they took the guidance at the time and they saw what they thought was the correct process. So i think there have been a few apologies made since, but generally i think they did what was in the interest of their members. Hindsights a very easy thing, andy, but should the school should never have been closed. I, i, i dont know view. I, i think probably there should have been a short closing the schools but not to the extent that there was, and particularly not that second lockdown at the beginning of 2021. And they came back for two days at one point, didnt they. Yeah, two days. And then closed them again. Them again. And also, i think what this study has found and what we may be underestimating is like the psychological effect of that of changing the goalposts for kids. Kids need consistency. And when you say you can go back to school, oh no you cant. Youre going to go back to, were going to send you home. Were dealing with that, and were dealing with that, and were dealing with it in so many different ways in terms, its not just the teaching, its the interactivity with children receive from going to school, even walking to school , you know, or going on school, you know, or going on their bike or meeting all their mates or after school activities, and thats all been rubbed away. And theyve had a very, very difficult start in life and theyve got to adjust now to some human skills which you take for granted, which theyre going to have to learn. Its serious. To have to learn. Its serious. And there are studies which show that there are months and months of education. Theyve lost. It cant come back. Of course they have. Theyll never get them back. I mean, you know what its like on a curriculum if a child sadly has a long term illness is in hospital. They never catch up on their education. And this this stretch is now over. Millions of children who are in that position, they will never get it back. Theyre the generation whove been betrayed by adults, in my view. Absolutely. And karens got in touch and said, my sons leaving school. And to be honest, hes not ready. Hes missed five, almost two years. Yeah through covid and then teacher strikes, not to mention all the holidays and five weeks. I honestly believe our schools are struggling. And its the children who are suffering. My children who are suffering. My child now has a lazy attitude of who cares about school . That karen is absolutely on the money for me, where school used to be, the place that you wanted to be a part of, its a recognition. Youve got a badge on your blazer and all that. Thats all gone, i think. I think children lost respect for the institution of being a member of a school. You know, i think it was easy for the unions to go on strike because closing a school down, even during the three day week, we went to school every day, we went to school every day. But it just made it easier to close schools down with strikes because they were shut during the pandemic. Oh, possibly. I mean, there were quite a few teacher strikes before the pandemic. Im sure im sure you would report on those actually closing. I think in the same way, i think some of them were a lot of classes got sent home. I do recall, you know, even when i was at school, that happening, you know, my class was at any class and we, we got sent home. But andy, what i didnt see was teachers fighting hard to keep the schools open. They were either seen indifferent to it, shrugged their shoulders, or were in fact supporting the idea of keeping schools closed for longer. And teachers main longer. And teachers main priority is to teach children fight to keep the schools open. But theyve also got to take into account what they had guidance at the time that they thought their personal safety was at risk. They were still providing in most cases, they were still providing educational provision for those students, but they were following their school guidance. You know, you cant go after the if you had an ipad, sure. Youre lucky enough you cant go after, you know, some teacher whos on 25 grand a yeah some teacher whos on 25 grand a year. Yeah. You know, its not her responsibility. Its the Senior Leadership team in the department of education to offer the correct guidance. But teachers, by their very nature, should have inquiring minds and should think, is there a better way of doing this . Is this really benefiting the children . And i didnt see enough of that. Well, maybe if they paid them better, if you paid, if you paid them better, you know, they might be a bit more inquisitive to do a betterjob. But thats a different argument. You know, teaching is two things, one, a job and two vocation. We can all agree, though. The kids were really badly let down. Yeah, no doubt about it. Yeah. Itll be interesting to see what keir starmer offers if he becomes Prime Minister well, he becomes Prime Minister well, he knows what. He will close the schools down even longer. He wanted more money down even longer would have. Yeah, do you want to talk about prince louis being on the front page of the paper, mike, well, i do, but i want a birthday picture. Yeah, i want to ask andrew a question as a former royal correspondent. Yeah. Isnt it a day too late this time . It is. I mean, we normally get the night is released the night before the birthday. Exactly. Normally we wake up on the day of the birthday on the on the pictures on the front. Yeah and i thought that hasnt happened, but i think the royals must have had a big rethink yesterday. They did, thinking that we must put this picture out. But its a day late. We know catherine is sick and shes having treatment for. Yeah over the cancer scare. But the decision had been taken. Were not going to put the photograph out all the rows over the picture, the edited photograph or manipulated photograph of her with the kids on mothers day. Prince william made that decision, didnt he . Yeah, but then, yes, yesterday they changed their mind. Yes. It was as simple as that. And i think they just thought, and im glad they changed their mind because its a glorious photograph. It is. Yeah. Yeah. Hes a lovely belting little boy. Yeah. And theyve made it absolutely clear the photograph has not been photoshopped or edhed has not been photoshopped or edited in any way. That to me illustrates the. Do you not believe that, andy, the bullying has had on on catherine, you know what i mean . The fact that thats made it absolutely clear. Look, this picture has been edited. Its like theyre living in fear. Now, if anybody accused them of doing andy doesnt believe it wasnt edited. Well, every single photograph in a newspaper is edited in some way. Whether its whether its the saturation thats changed, it will have been edited realistically. I mean, you know, the backgrounds, the backgrounds, fuzzy, you know, one of his ears is more in focus than the other. She has made it clear, or the palace has made it clear that there was no editing of that photograph. The palace can lie. I know the police cant lie, but they are capable of lying. But look, i think youre confusing editing with, you know, managing the picture. You can crop a picture because you want to get it into a certain space and still edit pose, but thatis space and still edit pose, but that is still editing. Its not editing. Editing means altering the content of the picture. So you dont think theyve changed any of the lighting, any of the saturation on that photograph . Do you think the grass was really that green in march . Its. Well, Arthur Edwards thinks it was. And arthurs, you know, the greatest fleet street photographer ever. That was taken yesterday , so that was taken yesterday, so it would be much rain weve had. The grass is very green. Yeah. The grass is very green. Yeah. Its been edited like, even if its just even if its just saturation, its taken. It will have been edited. Youre misleading our millions of viewers. She has obviously the millions of viewers at home. Im sure you know theyll agree. It will have been edited. Shes obviously taken it on portrait mode, i would suggest on her phone, because the back is a little bit blurry, but you dont. Thats not manipulating. Shes not taking it on her phone. That would have been a photographer that will have taken that. Yeah. No she took it. Its the royal family. Yeah, she took her own camera. She does her own photos. Thats the point. No royal family photographers that do the birthday photos. Its all there would be. There would be a by line picture on there if a photographer taken. Theres no. Its. That is her photograph. She has got very professional photographic equipment. She has nick read cameras and shes got a podium and all of that. Shes just got and the king has just put her in that very special order of merit or something, because shes a good snappen yeah, but can we just reflect on how weird it is that were so obsessed with whether the picture is genuine or not . What andy is . I didnt bring up the topic. Up the topic. Im just discussing it. Im just discussing it. Im just discussing it. I thought the youre suggesting the prince of wales is not telling it straight. Yes, i probably not her. Yes, i probably not her. Its some press officer making allegations. I believe her. Yeah. I believe her. Yeah. I believe her. Yeah. I think theyre really good. Do you think theyre in good shape . Obviously. Physically we know theyre not. But in terms of the public feeling, feeling towards the royal family, andy, are they in a strong place at the moment. Do you think . I think, you know, most people dont really care. You know, id say most people i think most people are just kind of like andy. No not really. I dont really have an opinion on the royals. I think its probably much more effort to get rid of them than it is, you know, to keep them. I think it sounds fine to me. I dont really care. I believe in a meritocracy, and i think royalty is contradictory to a meritocracy , but i dont really meritocracy, but i dont really care. Ive got unfortunately, ive got bigger issues to think about. How old are you . Do you mind me asking . 23. So you see, i think i think youre actually is absolutely typical of those people in their 20s. And, you know, i think that sort of ambivalence is how most people in their 20s do feel about the royal family remember, people in their 20s grow up to get a gas bill and have more respect for the royal family i do i do have a mortgage. Well, i do have a gas bill and also the other thing i do pay and also the other thing i do pay bills, but and the other thing is what would you replace it with . I dont know, thats why i said i its probably more effort to think about president blair. Why would it be president blair . Well, blair has not been a member of parliament for 14 years. Hed love to be. Hed love to be. Of course, he would love to be. Im sure he would be. Im sure he would be. Im sure youd love to be a president. No, it would not. Would you not, president pierce . That would be fantastic, wouldnt it . No. Bit of alliteration. No. Bit of alliteration. No. Bit of alliteration. No im not. We all agree that would be a terrible idea. Yeah. What about president parry . Yeah. President. Alliteration, maybe, i dont know, one of these days. No, not for me. Im staying a million miles away from politics because i can do a better job outside of politics. But also, i think the royal family are doing a pretty good job, and theyre under a lot of pressure at the moment. So. And im wishing her well. I think she was terribly bullied. Catherine on the original photograph dont know about you, bev, but i mean, the way that she had to put out that step forward, put out statements and at the time, she was, being treated for cancer. And i think now that really has rattled. And it was the royal family and, and their ability to communicate with the public. And it was the agencys use of the word manipulated. Yes, exactly. It was a pretty emotive word, horribly handled. They got, you know, they got upset a lot of these agencies because they of course, used to take the pictures themselves and they had control over them. Exactly. And they didnt like the idea that somebody else was having control over royal pictures. There was an element of that, too, for sure. Right. Right. Mike parry, anna macdonald, thank you very much for now. Dont go anywhere, your news now with sofia. Bev. Thank you. Its 1030. Bev. Thank you. Its1030. Im sophia wenzler in the gb newsroom. Your headlines. The defence secretary has told gb news that rising conflicts around the world have made bolstering britains defences more urgent. Its after prime more urgent. Its after Prime Minister rishi sunak announced that spending would increase to 2. 5 of gdp by 2030, in what he called the biggest strengthening in a generation. Grant shapps says hell tell a nato summit in july that 2. 5 should be the benchmark for all members of the alliance. Meanwhile, in the us, alliance. Meanwhile, in the us, the senate voted overwhelmingly to pass a long awaited aid package for ukraine, israel and taiwan. Its expected to be quickly signed by president biden, ending months of uncertainty over whether the United States would continue supporting kyiv. It comes after the bill passed the house of representative on saturday in a show of bipartisan support , show of bipartisan support, despite considerable resistance among some republicans. Ukraines president zelenskyy says it reinforces the us as a beacon of democracy. The mother beacon of democracy. The mother of one of the nottingham attack victims has written an open letter to police after graphic, graphic messages were shared in a Whatsapp Group. Barnaby weber, who was 19, was stabbed and killed along with two others by 32 year old valdo calocane. In 32 year old valdo calocane. In an open letter, barnabys mother emma says her son was described as properly butchered. Among other phrases and has urged police to show the respect that was not given to her son. And two horses, which appeared to be on the loose in Central London this morning, have now been contained. Video posted to contained. Video posted to social media appeared to show one of the animals covered in blood. City of London Police says the horse will now be transported for care. And for transported for care. And for the latest stories , sign up to the latest stories, sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen or go to gb news. Common alerts. Gb news. Common alerts. Cheers britannia wine club proudly sponsors the gb news Financial Report , and heres Financial Report, and heres a quick snapshot of todays markets. The pound will buy you 12428 the pound will buy you 1. 2428 and the pound will buy you 151. 2428 and ,1. 1631. The the pound will buy you 1. 2428 and ,1. 1631. The price of gold is £1,864. 84 per ounce, and the ftse 100 is at 8079 points. Cheers, britannia wine club proudly sponsors the gb news Financial Report. Financial report. Still to come this morning. The mother of nottingham attack victim Barnaby Webber has written an open letter to police after graphic whatsapp messages. Well be speaking to Counter Terrorism specialist for that, chris phillips. This is britains newsroom on. Gb news. Good morning. Its 1038. Gb news. Good morning. Its1038. So the mother of nottingham attack victim Barnaby Webber has asked police to show the respect that was not given to her son. To other victims. So emma webber wrote an open letter to members of her police Whatsapp Group. After several graphic messages were sent about the killings of her student son, she said that her request to privately and anonymously address the social media group were denied, so she felt forced to write an open letter in the Times Newspaper. As the only way to reach the staff that were involved. And its because the chief constable, who, by the way, has refused to meet her, refused to pass the letter on to the Whatsapp Group. Her son, the chief constable son, was part of that Whatsapp Group but was not involved in the offensive message, in the offensive messaging. And were not going to give you all the details of the whatsapp messages because they were quite graphic. But one of the words they use is that some teenagers had been butchered, with some of the language that they used, and somehow these messages got released first, i believe, to other friends on the group or the family, and made their way to the mother of Barnaby Webber, who it sounds like has tried to handle it and to be heard in a very diplomatic , a very sensitive way. And the police have not allowed her to do that. And so she then wrote an open letter to the Times Newspaper. The police have formed for this. We had the police at channg this. We had the police at Charing Cross station, all those offensive whatsapp messages. Remember the images that were shared of the two sisters who were murdered by Police Officers . Yeah i think they went to prison. Yeah they did. And actually, it just feels like these lessons are not being learnt, does it, in relation to these. But then Maggie Oliver was saying at the top of the show that she feels there is a training issue with Police Officers. Theres a funding issue and maybe they just arent being taught enough about how to communicate on whatsapp. Should you have to be taught that kind of thing . The Common Thread in all of these whatsapp messages, they were all male Police Officers. Yeah. Yeah. Gbnews. Com yoursay to let us know your thoughts. But now the last surviving member of a special forces regiment during world war ii has fulfilled his dream to dine at the ritz hotel in london. He was celebrating his 102nd birthday in style this week gbnews. Royal correspondent Cameron Walker went to meet him. Cameron walker went to meet him. War is not glamorous. Cameron walker went to meet him. War is not glamorous. We war is not glamorous. We thought it was actually when youre young. Youre young. John morris is the last surviving member of his sas regiment from the second world war. Before joining the special forces, his Service Began in kent, shooting down german bombers targeting london. The only thing i shot down, actually was a chimney kitchen chimney. Accidentally by mistake. Nobody had any breakfast that morning. I wasnt very popular. John was one of the last people to receive a 100th birthday card from Queen Elizabeth ii. Elizabeth ii. All birthday cards from the children from Christ Church school celebrating his 102nd birthday this week. Birthday this week. Local School Children made him cards thanking him for his bravery. I think kids should know more about the sacrifice their forefathers made. Not me. Im no forefathers made. Not me. Im no hero, but they like they were. The r. A. F. Boys had died and people like that. They dont people like that. They dont realise that they dont know much about it. They dont even know who hitler was. Half of them. John, whos now a chelsea pensioner, kindly agreed to share his wartime memories. In 1943 he was sent to north africa with the Royal Artillery and past special forces selection on taking part in the allied invasion of italy , 75,000 invasion of italy, 75,000 british and colonial troops were killed in italy. The germans fought back very well. Well. Ultimately the allies were successful, but a much more powerful natural threat was not far away. Mount vesuvius, famous for destroying the roman town of pompeii in ad 79, erupted. Pompeii in ad 79, erupted. Ad i woke up in the morning, i heard this rumble, looked outside and this wall of lava coming down. So never go on a volcanic island where i am, because its very dangerous. Because its very dangerous. That year, allied forces landed on the beaches of normandy, known as d day. Landed on the beaches of normandy, known as d day. The normandy, known as d day. The operation led to the liberation of western europe and was one of the most famous and widely praised successes of the war. Far away in italy , john and his far away in italy, john and his comrades were branded with a less than flattering nickname turned into a popular wartime song. Weve done three days. We did the north african landing , we the north african landing, we did the battle of britain , and did the battle of britain, and we did the italian landing. We did the yugoslav savoia, albania, and they called us d day dodgers. Moeen ali de dodgers out at harley i john celebrated his 102nd in style. First, a party with the Chelsea Pensioners followed by a champagne lunch organised by friend and irish guards ambassador frederick crum. The reds always had a wonderful relationship with the Chelsea Pensioners. We celebrate in style and hes never been to the ritz, so that will be worthy of the 102nd birthday, right, john . Thats right. Cameron walker gb news. Cameron walker gb news. What a lovely, charming story. What a lovely man. What a lovely man. You take me to the ritz for lunch . No, charming. Lunch . No, charming. Its very nice. Ive been to it. I used to take mrs. Thatcher to lunch at the ritz. No, you didnt , i did, and no, you didnt, i did, and every time we left, this was in her fading years, i would say. Right as we left, the pianist would Start Playing a nightingale on berkeley square. And id be holding on to her arm. Shed say, do you know, dean arm. Shed say, do you know, dear, that was mine and denniss favourite and of course, the pianist knew that. Wow. Every time id say most times when we left the or, the whole restaurant would stand up and give her a standing ovation. Amazing. Very moving. What was she like . What was she like . I loved her, i have a life that ive cut out of mrs. Thatcher in my study, next to a life size cut out of dame joan collins. Well have one of me one day. Well have one of me one day. For dart ball practice. Right. Listen, this awful story thats been breaking in london this morning, were going to try and bring you some footage of it after this quick break. But there were five people have been injured. There was two horses escaped. Here we go. Weve got some images of it here. Two horses escaped from the household cavalry this morning. They went on a six mile rampage through london. They smashed into cars. They cracked the windscreen of a bus. One of the horses obviously is injured. Theyre covered in blood. Oh, theyre covered in blood. Oh, bless it, and they are. I mean, that is like if you connect with a horse in the on run, thats like being connected with a tank. Yeah. Well one of the soldiers was thrown off as well. Were trying to get a few more details of it, but just awful, extraordinary story. Dont go anywhere. Well try and gb news. Good morning. 1048. Now the mother of nottingham attack victim Barnaby Webber has asked police to show the respect that was not given to her son in whatsapps talk. Now to chris phillips, former head of the national Counter Terrorism security office. Chris, good morning to you. This is. Oh, i think weve this is. Oh, i think weve lost weve lost him, chris. Philip, well get well get him back. But this this is deeply distressing for, barnabys mum. It really is. It really is. Hes slain by a deranged knifeman. Calocane who isnt convicted of murder, even though he was convicted of attempted murder when he drove the van he was in. Yeah, some passers by vie. I dont understand the difference. And then she has to read these whatsapp messages. She wanted to communicate directly with the Police Officers and was told she couldnt by the chief constable. Thats right. I think weve got chris now. Yeah. Yeah. Chris, youre with us now, chris, this is a very distressing story for barnabys mum, for any victims of crime to. But to read this, i mean, these Police Officers are just talking amongst. Its what, the sort of conversation i think youd have probably heard in a Police Canteen 20 years ago. But now, because of social media, its put in print. And thats what makes it look so crude and insensitive. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. Andrew. Andrew. And, you know, whoever leaked this, this message should be absolutely ashamed of themselves because , yes, it was probably because, yes, it was probably very young officers who were traumatised themselves. I would think i would imagine i would have been if id gone to the scene, talking amongst themselves. And, theres some lessons here about social media that anything you put on can be and probably will be in this day and probably will be in this day and age, broadcast, and its unfortunate language, but, you know, its the sort of language you would hear between military guys, between anyone in the Blue Light Services talking to each other, having dealt with the most horrific incident. And is there, chris just playing devils advocate for a minute . Is there is there something, necessary about that in that in terms of the trauma that Police Officers have to deal with, the distress , the deal with, the distress, the worst of humanity, that they see that there is a sort of language which is often quite casual or sometimes crude, maybe. And thats part of the coping mechanism amongst friends. Yeah. Well, weve all heard of black humour and people used to deride, what went on in Police Canteens. It wasnt terrible what went on in canteen. It was people who were in the same boat effectively talking about the situations that they were in. And, and, you know , there is and, and, you know, there is a thing called black humour. And of course, you know, that is part of it. You know, if you deal with some i mean, some of the things that ive seen and deau the things that ive seen and dealt with over the years, if i if i hadnt have been able to talk to it, talk about it and, you know, almost laugh about the ridiculousness of it, then then goodness knows what would have happened to me. Its, its just part of human nature and unfortunate. Its a part that unfortunate. Its a part that you dont want broadcast to the rest of the world. And thats why i say the people that that put this out, i mean, i dont know what are they trying to achieve . I dont know, its barnaby. Barnabys mum wasnt trying to cause trouble for these Police Officers, either. She wanted to be able to communicate with them directly in a letter. But the chief constable said no. And the chief constable. By the way, chris has also refused to meet barnabys mum. I dont understand why wouldnt you meet a woman whos been through this terrible experience , this poor terrible experience, this poor lady, i mean, the families. That was the most horrific thing, you know, you just cant imagine how bad that was for their for the family, for everyone involved. Actually, the everyone involved. Actually, the Police Officers, the ambulance people that turned up. Goodness knows they need as much support as they can be given. And i think sometimes, you know, we are a bit the police. Im saying we im not in the police anymore. They are a bit defensive but but at the end of the day, you know, it does pay to be open and to talk to people and, and understand them. And theyve got, of course, family Liaison Officers and things that do that. But but with a case like this and this unfortunate incident that were thats playing out today, i just think, they they deserve everything they they deserve everything they get from the police force, including as much support as possible. Yeah. Possible. Yeah. Can we also ask you, chris, whilst weve got you as the former head of national Counter Terrorism, whether you saw the scenes yesterday in london from the Saint Georges , london from the Saint Georges, parade celebration, that horribly, predictably, became violent and aggressive. Now, some would say that that is because the Police Arrived and prepared for violence with their riot shields and the helmets , riot shields and the helmets, anticipating maybe that what they would call far right campaigners were going to kick off. It was very different style off. It was very different style of policing to what we see on the palestinian marches. The palestinian marches. Yeah, i think they worked on intelligence , and sometimes intelligence, and sometimes their intelligence is good, sometimes it isnt , it is a very sometimes it isnt, it is a very difficult situation. Ive talked about this a lot over the last few months. Listen, the police are there to try and keep the peace, and if people are not allowed to go to a certain area, then they need to be stopped , then they need to be stopped, and of course, i think thats what was happening yesterday. It just the optics are terrible. You know, i think the police have been far too soft on some of the demonstrations that have happened over the last few months. Theres absolutely no doubt about that. But you know, you have to bear with them as well, because theyre trying to keep the peace and a large proportion of society does support what the marchers have been saying. And, its the police are just caught in the middle. Whatever they do, if they go in hard, theyre wrong. If they go in soft, theyre wrong. Just briefly, im pressed for time. It does reinforce the view though, doesnt it, of two tier policing cracking down really hard on this. On Saint Georges day, festivities, but not cracking down on those marches. Who whove spewed out vile anti semitism remarks. Yeah, absolutely. And it just yeah, absolutely. And it just plays to that, that tune, doesnt it , unfortunately, doesnt it, unfortunately, i think the police do need to be harder with these , with with harder with these, with with whats been happening on the streets. Generally, and need to be supported to do that. Okay. All right. Thanks so okay. All right. Thanks so much. Great to see you. Chris phillips there, former head of the national Counter Terrorism security office. Weve got two tier policing. Suella braverman was right, weve got two tier policing. Suella braverman was right , the Suella Braverman was right, the former home secretary. Why why is that . Why why is that . I just think they theyre theyre theyre too fearful. They would never have done that to a woman in a hijab. Told her to a woman in a hijab. Told her to go away from march. Would to go away from march. Would they . There is a man whos overtly jewish. Outrageous right. Let us know your thoughts this morning. Gbnews. Com forward slash your say heres the weather. A brighter outlook with boxt solar sponsors of weather on. Gb news. Morning. Heres your gb news weather from the met office. Its a bit chilly out there at the moment, but for many of us its going to be a dry day with some decent sunny spells. Watch out for a touch of frost in some rural spots, and there are already a few showers in parts of the southwest and towards nonh of the southwest and towards north sea coastal parts. And here some of them will continue as we go through the afternoon as we go through the afternoon as well. Otherwise a decent amount of sunshine, especially across western parts of england and wales and across much of scotland and Northern Ireland. Two despite the sunny skies, though, it is going to feel a little bit chilly. Temperatures below average for the time of year generally most places into double figures, but just about for some, particularly towards the north east. As we go through tonight and most of the showers will die out. And so it is going to be dry for many of us. There will be a bit more cloud, perhaps towards eastern parts and a little bit more blustery here, but elsewhere calmer and clear skies means temperatures will take a bit of a drop, a bit more frost around first thing tomorrow morning. Then this morning , a chilly start for many morning, a chilly start for many of us again as we go through tomorrow. A few showers to watch out for across parts of Central England into wales. There may be a few dotted here also towards the northeast, across eastern parts of scotland, some fairly frequent showers and perhaps a little bit breezier here, but otherwise again , generally fine otherwise again, generally fine and dry for many of us, perhaps just a bit more cloud around compared to today. Nonetheless, many of us will see some sunny spells, temperatures still a little bit on the low side , spells, temperatures still a little bjust the low side , spells, temperatures still a little bjust about w side , spells, temperatures still a little bjust about getting, spells, temperatures still a little bjust about getting into places just about getting into double figures. Double figures. That warm feeling inside from boxt boilers sponsors of weather on gb news. 11 am. On wednesday, the 24th of april. This is britains news one gb news with Andrew Pierce and bev turner. So a defence spending boost. So a defence spending boost. Incoming Prime Minister rishi sunakisin incoming Prime Minister rishi sunak is in germany meeting with its chancellor, olaf scholz, to deepen defence and security. This comes as he pledges an extra £75 billion in defence spending by 2030. Not that it would be Prime Minister then the rwanda aftermath. Will those flights to rwanda act as a deterrent . 250 migrants attempted to cross the channel yesterday and of course, we had those five deaths and count down to the olympics. Were going to be chatting to taekwondo star Bradly Sinden as he ups his training ahead of the games in the hope of winning a british gold. British gold. And we still want to know whether you think the phrase back in your day would be offensive if said to you by a younger person. Im deeply offended, obviously mortified. You are. You are. You are. Whats wrong with the olden days . Luckily, were good old days. Were both quite impossible to offend generally, which is which is lucky, but if somebody said to you back in your day, that would never happen. Would it be offensive . No. No. Ridiculous. Grow up right. Ridiculous. Grow up right. Gbnews. Com forward slash. Your say is the website the comments page where you can get in touch with us first though the very latest news with sophia wenzler. Wenzler. Bev thank you. Good morning. Its 11 02. Im bev thank you. Good morning. Its11 02. Im sophia wenzler in the gb newsroom. Your top in the gb newsroom. Your top story this hour. The defence secretary has told gb news that rising conflicts around the world have made bolstering britains defences more urgent. Its after Prime Minister rishi sunak announced that spending would increase to 2. 5 of gdp by 2030, in what he called the biggest strengthening of our National Defence in a generation, grant shapps says that a fall in inflation has helped make the new investment possible , but that its possible, but that its important britain leads the way conditions are right now. But not only that, you know the situation in the world. Youve seen whats been happening in ukraine with putin continuing to prosecute his illegal war. Youve seen whats happening in the middle east with iran firing on on israel. I think its very important for britain to play its leadership part. The Prime Minister has stood up and has done that in a very significant way. And i very significant way. And i think this is very, very good news for the United Kingdom , our news for the United Kingdom, our security and also for our leadership in the rest of the world. Meanwhile, in the us, the senate voted overwhelmingly to pass a long awaited aid package for ukraine, israel and taiwan. Its expected to be quickly signed by president biden, ending months of uncertainty over whether the United States would continue supporting kyiv. It comes after the bill passed the house of representatives on saturday in a show of bipartisan support , despite considerable support, despite considerable resistance among some republicans. Ukraines president republicans. Ukraines president zelenskyy says it reinforces the us as a beacon of democracy. The us as a beacon of democracy. The mother of one of the nottingham attack victims has written an open letter to police after graphic messages were shared in a Whatsapp Group. Barnaby weber, who was 19, was stabbed and killed along with two others by 32 year old valdo calocane. In 32 year old valdo calocane. In an open letter, barnabys mother emma says her son was described as properly butchered among other phrases and has urged police to show the respect that was not given to her son. She says she chose to publish the letter in the Times Newspaper after requests to address the officers directly were denied. Two military horses, which appeared to be on the loose in Central London this morning, have now been contained. Video. Have now been contained. Video. Posted to social media appeared to show one of the animals covered in blood. At least four people were reportedly injured as the animals galloped their way through the busy city streets. Westminster police say theyll now be transported for care. The former leader of the democratic unionist party, sir Jeffrey Donaldson, has been released on bail. Northern irelands longest serving mp was suspended from the dup following his arrest last month for whats been described as historical sex charges, including one count of rape in his resignation letter, he said he would be strenuously contesting the allegations. A 58 year old woman has also been charged with aiding and abetting additional offences in relation to the same investigation. To the same investigation. Labour says it will fund an extra 13,000 neighbourhood Police Officers if it wins the next election. The party says it would guarantee regular patrols in town centres, with neighbourhood drug squads tasked with clamping down on local gangs. Labour cited Research Showing that 50 of the public say they never see any officer on the beat, up from 27 when they were last in office. The government has previously announced plans to spend £230 million on new technology, designed to free up more time for the police, and a 20 mile speed limit on residential roads across wales could be scrapped by the end of the year. A record breaking petition opposing the speed restrictions has received almost 500,000 signatures. The Welsh Government warns that reverting back to 30 mile per hour speed limits could cost up to £5 million. Ministers are now urging people to have their say on the policy, which could see councils given powers to return limits to where they were , and limits to where they were, and former labour minister and crossbench peer frank field has died at the age of 81. Lord field spent 40 years as mp for birkenhead and served as minister for welfare reform in tony blairs government. He joined the house of lords in 2020. His family says hell be mourned by admirers across politics, but above all, he will be greatly missed by those lucky enough to have enjoyed his laughter and friendship. And for laughter and friendship. And for the latest stories, sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen or go to gb news. Comments. Now its back to andrew and. Bev. To andrew and. Bev. 1106 with britains newsroom on gb news with Andrew Pierce and bev turner. So former dup leader sir Jeffrey Donaldson has been released on continuing bail after he appeared at Newry Magistrates Court to face a number of historical sex charges. Well, lets talk to our Northern Ireland reporter, Dougie Beattie dougie. This is hes a huge figure in Northern Ireland politics, isnt he . Jeffrey donaldson, the longest serving , and i think we longest serving, and i think we could credit him for getting the Northern Ireland assembly back in business. Completely correct. I mean, he is quite the figure in Northern Ireland. His his policies have gone since 1983, when he helped , the ulster when he helped, the Ulster Unionist Party and that of enoch powell regained his seat in south down. I mean, thats how far this goes back. And thats the sort of political, strategy that he had. And he has been very much at the forefront of the dup. Those talks on the the dup. Those talks on the protocol, the framework document andindeed protocol, the framework document and indeed restoring the stormont executive. So you can imagine this morning when he and his co accused, they did arrive separately , that of his wife, separately, that of his wife, lady eleanor donaldson. They lady eleanor donaldson. They arrived here separately. Sir jeffrey arrived with john mcburney, his solicitor, into a Massive Media scrum. And it must Massive Media scrum. And it must be said that he did look quite frightened going in the door of the court. The two of them appeared side by side in the box in the courtroom, flanked by two officers. I mean, from the heights of politics to that was was basically shocking for someone like me watching that. And they had to answer charges. Going from 1985 to 2006 that that include gross indecency and rape and that of aiding and abetting. They have been released on their own bail. And this will come back to court on the 22nd of may. You told me that you go politically. Hes been suspended from the dpp, but does he continue to serve as an Assembly Member . Member . No, hes an mp. So he he continues to hold his seat in lagan valley because he says that he is innocent and he is going to contest what is going on here. But you could imagine that would be a very hard job for him to do. Thats why hes looked for the bail conditions to be moved, that he can come back home and stay in his home in the lagan valley constituency that he represents. That he represents. All right. Thats Dougie Beattie Sue Holderness story. Such a big figure in Northern Ireland. Thanks for joining such a big figure in Northern Ireland. Thanks forjoining us. Keep your messages coming in this morning. Why dont you gbnews. Com yoursay we are heanng gbnews. Com yoursay we are hearing from you about these horses that were spooked in london. This morning. Were going to be talking to somebody about this in just a moment, linares said. Ive just read about the horse, the spooked household cavalry horses. What has spooked the animals. My heart goes out to the poor lad, thrown off and injured and those poor horses. It must have been absolutely terrifying for people witnessing it. And pauline saying, oh no, bev turner is back. Saying, oh no, bev turner is back. Oh look, hes got to go back. Oh look, hes got to go out. Oh look, you cant please everybody. Not everybody likes me, apparently. Anyway, pauline gb news will still be here when you get back from wherever youre going, right . The Prime Minister, rishi sunak, is in germany meeting with chancellor olaf scholz to announce deepening defence and security ties in berlin. And it comes after that big promise yesterday in that speech in poland, which spends more money in europe than any other country on defence to increase uk defence spending to 2. 5 of gdp by 2030. All right, lets cross over to westminster to join gb news Political Editor Christopher Hope. Good morning chris. So the Prime Minister will be hoping that this gets all the positive headunes that this gets all the positive headlines and makes the people of this country feel that we are very safe in his hands. Thats right. Morning, bev. Morning, andrew. Thats right. Yeah, he certainly hopes that. And he didnt hold back, did he, in his speech yesterday talking about an axis of autocratic states opposing the uks interests russia, china, iran. Interests russia, china, iran. The pm said were not on the bnnk the pm said were not on the brink of war, nor do we seek it, which is some relief, im sure, to all of us. But he did say that we are going to put the uk Defence Industry on a war footing. I think this is indication, i think, that the peace dividend weve all enjoyed since the end of the cold war in 1991 is rapidly coming to an end. 2. 5 of gdp is now is now paid for, priced in by the by the tory government. It was announced, first of all by Boris Johnson in 2022, but no one knew how it would be funded. We now know it will be funded from cuts to Civil Servants bringing back the Civil Service to pre pandemic levels. Its created a problem for the labour party. They have said they wont support it yet until a defence review expected in the first yeah review expected in the first year. If the if that party forms the next government. So wait and see if that will happen. They want to get their to 2. 5, but theyre not sure if they can. The challenge i think the tories are saying politically to labouh are saying politically to labour, will you cut Civil Service jobs to fund defence . Thats a question which labour will have to answer and will they answer it to ensure that people feel safe by voting . Labour backbenchers are happy. I was with a senior tory mp , with was with a senior tory mp, with defence interests earlier or experience earlier forming serving officer. He said this is great. Its perfectly exactly what the backbenches want to heah what the backbenches want to hear. It helps sunak going maybe into the difficult period post local elections. The polls suggest it wont go so well for the tory party and the mayoralty votes in some of the big cities may also not go well, so that helps him. So all round its pretty good politics, let alone trying to keep us safe. And i think thats the response were getting from his allies here. And maybe some of his critics, too , in parliament. Yeah. Too, in parliament. Yeah. All right chris thanks. Thats gp gb news Political Editor Christopher Hope. Well, weve got james heappey, who is the former Armed Forces Minister, joining us now, james, morning to you. Is it fair to say that you effectively quit as a minister and youre standing down at parliament because you were pretty fed up that the government, the tory government, wasnt spending more on defence . No. No. I decided to stand down from parliament because i didnt want to be an mp for the next five years, and having made that decision, i made a decision that i should probably also step back as a minister to give myself time to a have six more months. Being a backbench mp, but b to start having a think about what i would do next. But having left government, i have used the freedom that you get once youre no longer bound by collective responsibility to make the case for more defence spending. And im delighted that the Prime Minister has has answered the call as emphatically as he has yesterday i well, well, we talked to kevin jones, labour, of course. No surprise he said. This is all spin and hot air because next yeahin spin and hot air because next year, in fact , james, you would year, in fact, james, you would know better than anybody. Defence spending will actually fall next year. Well, i just. Yeah. Interesting, but is he right . 70 well, i mean, what was announced today is £75 billion more on top of what is already the largest amount of money the uk has ever spent on defence, and that will be transformative if we are getting to the point where that sort of announcement, the key principle of which is 2. 5 of our gdp from the end of the decade, will be spent on defence. And between now and then we will move incrementally towards that target. But, and towards that target. But, and the answer, instead of matching it, which would be what putin would take notice of what our allies would take notice of and what would cue Defence Industry to start scaling up, because they would have the confidence that irrespective of the general election result, there was consensus . S labour instead are consensus . S labour instead are trying to sort of squabble over a footnote in the budget, that doesnt seem to me that they understand the strategic importance of the moment. How important is it that we have more funding to support the action in ukraine . James vital, and i think its really important that people see those two things as clearly connected, because they both contribute profoundly to euro atlantic security, but they are fundamentally different. So we must resource the ukrainians in order to keep them in the fight, because any outcome other than a uk, a ukrainian victory , would be ukrainian victory, would be grotesquely expensive for europe over the next 30 or 40 years, either a stalemate or a ukraine defeat, but separately. And every bit as important is our investment in our own armed forces and the deterrence that they provide to our adversaries by demonstrating to our adversaries that we have forces that are lethal and sustainable, and that we will stay in the fight for as long as it takes to take to beat anybody thats stupid enough to take us on. Can i just ask you, what does a ukrainian victory look like . Well, i mean, i think that the line that weve used in government from the very beginning is terms, set by president zelenskyy that effectively, respects the sovereignty of ukraine. And if he were to choose to make a compromise, then thats fine. But but i think that what it definitely doesnt look like is russia breaking through the current lines and taking more ukrainian territory. Current lines and taking more ukrainian territory. I also dont think it looks like a stalemate on the current line. I think ukraine has to recover, some, some or even all of the lost territory , zelenskyy lost territory, zelenskyy himself has said that that includes crimea, and i think that the Donor Community has to be willing to stick with the ukrainians until that sort of outcome is achieved , because if outcome is achieved, because if it werent, you would end up with a line across ukraine, eastern ukraine, with the russians on one side and a ukraine with a nato security guarantee on the other. That would mean nato would be in ukraine as part of that security guarantee. Or if russia was to guarantee. Or if russia was to break through, you would end up with the russians on the nato border in hungary, slovakia , border in hungary, slovakia, romania, poland, which again would mean a reinforced nato presence on that border in both scenarios, very similar to east west germany in the cold war. So, with all of the expense that that would bring with it over the next 30 or 40 years. So it is definitely the case that it is definitely the case that it is cheaper to stay with the ukrainians for as long as it takes and do whats needed to get them the win, because the other two outcomes over the course of the century will cost us far more and could be incredibly dangerous. Incredibly dangerous. Just briefly, james, he talked the Prime Minister about putting us on a war footing. Yeah. Who are we going to war with . Who does he fear . We might have to go to war with . No, no, i think that misses the point, andrew. So it is. I think it pays in the current geostrategy environment to believe that a war is possible. And if you believe a war is possible, then the best way to maintain the peace is to prepare for war, because that brings with it a deterrent effect. And one of the key things that underpins our war fighting capability is our industrial capacity, our ability to sustain ourselves. Thats the thing weve been looking at of the russians over the last six months or a year. Thats exactly what our adversaries would look at of us. And so thats what i think the Prime Minister was getting after yesterday, and rightly so. Okay. Thank you. James. James heappey there, former Armed Forces Minister, the Donor Community. Interesting thinking means taxpayers. Well around, around around the world and the world. Yeah, of course we are committing £12 billion to ukraine. And good luck with, zelenskyy setting the terms of that. Somehow a peace resolution there and getting back all of their land, including crimea. But buckle up for the long haul because thats not going to be easy still to come for. People have been taken to hospital after they were hurt when military horses to do with the household cavalry bolted through Central London on a six mile rampage. Well keep you updated. 1121. We got there in the end. You had britains news on gb news. Andrew bev turner. The panelis news. Andrew bev turner. The panel is back. Mike parry and trade unionist and political commentator andy macdonald. Right , commentator andy macdonald. Right, gentlemen, commentator andy macdonald. Right , gentlemen, lets talk right, gentlemen, lets talk about this welsh speed limit story, mike. Yeah, absolutely, you know , inevitable it was you know, inevitable it was going to happen in the end. Wales has become like a laboratory for every crazy political venture that you want to try out on. The United Kingdom tried in wales first. Labour government. Yeah, exactly. So the nhs sort of collapses in wales or certainly doesnt do very well. And the 20 miles an houhi very well. And the 20 miles an hour, i mean, who was the retiring welsh minister who got so angry in the senate by drakeford , mark drakeford, who drakeford, mark drakeford, who got stung saying, you know, i want to save more lives and if somebodys got to go ten miles an hour slower, i get very angry about it. It was nothing to do with that. It was once again war against the motorists. It was 20 mile an hour speed limit at 430 in the morning on country lanes in the morning on country lanes in wales. Oh yeah, thats really going to help the population survive. Terrible injury isnt it. Yeah. Drakeford is gone and theyre now theyre now theyre denying its a u turn but theyre withdrawing it. And quite a lot of roads. Of roads. Look weve all agreed outside schools outside hospitals in built up areas 20 miles an hour. But you know , i come to some tv but you know, i come to some tv studios in london sometimes at 4 30 am. In a powerful car. Car that has got to do 20 miles an hour on deserted streets with no pedestrians and no other roads. Its just trying to control the motorists and also they get money out of you because woe betide you go over the limit. A camera will get you. A camera will get you. They its run into millions now. Literally millions. A friend of mine got done twice on the embankment in london in two days for doing 21 and 23 miles an hour before hed even realised 20 mile an hour couldnt do that at 3 00 in the afternoon because its nose to bumper. You know, this was Early Morning going to work, and its really serious. A e i was chatting to a woman that i met on holiday this week who was a taxi driver. She started driving taxis to just make some money and earn a living, and she got three tickets within a couple of weeks and like you say, 4 00 in the morning, going 34 in a 30 are small misdemeanours. And because she got clocked on camera, she lost a license. And thats lost her livelihood. Im bev remember that friend of yours also. Sorry joana of yours also. Sorry joana jaflue of yours also. Sorry joana jarjue up there will be losing money because she only gets paid a set fare for the journey. But if the journey takes a third longer because youve got to go a third slower, youre losing money every day. I think you know 30mph that thats not a 20 mile per hour zone, 30 miles an hour. You could kill someone going at 30 mile an hour. There is a but there is a difference, though. Yeah, there is a difference between that. I think, you know, in wales they did get it wrong. I think in densely Populated Areas there should probably be a safety limit. You know, thats thats agree. But i think they did take it too far on some of those longer country lanes. I think thats silly. And i think the new first minister, you know, new administration, new, you know, transport minister in wales, they admit its a u turn. Its probably just a game of spin, really, isnt it . He doesnt want to get bogged down in semantics, refining the policy. Hes a u turn. Hes just policy. Hes a u turn. Hes just his press officer has gone out. And you know hes not accepting its a u turn. Probably because he doesnt want to play too much into kind of car lingo there. But people respect politicians more when they admit weve got it wrong, got it wrong, got it wrong, and were changing. And by the way, ive read that the initial planning for it and all the new signs cost £34 million in wales. Theres a lot of things you can do with £34 million in wales. Instead of putting in 20 mile an hour road signs, i cant, i cant bear it, right. Shall we move to on booming economy, the booming economy . Mike, who knew the ftse 100 stock index of the uks biggest pubuc stock index of the uks biggest Public Listed Companies , has Public Listed Companies, has reached a record high, apparently this country is doing well. Were doing extremely well, but its not just the, its not just the booming ftse. Weve got a report from independent analysts saying that britains output now is overtaking our european nations. I mean, were european nations. I mean, were already doing better than germany in our economy. Germany germany in our economy. Germany supped germany in our economy. Germany slipped into recession before we did. But what i, what i most despair about is that when we get these Great Stories about how well our economy is doing doesnt really seem to get , you doesnt really seem to get, you know, that wide an audience. Why arent government ministers jumping up and down . I dont know, were doing very well. Yesterday we had a government minister on the minister for exports. Lord offered anybody here heard of lord offered . No, no, absolutely. No, no, absolutely. About how weve overtaken. Were now in the top four for exporting nations. Thats right in france. And why isnt the chancellor saying it or the Prime Minister . I totally agree. I mean, in the uk, right. The figures are households are now splashing out, so home centres are selling more goods and all that. But our services sector, which has always been strong bars , always been strong bars, restaurants, law and accountancy and Financial Services are booming and helping to stimulate fairness. I do have a separate set of headunes i do have a separate set of headlines here. You know, six days ago in the ft. Uk, rental costs rise at a record 9. 2. Thats because we have mortgages, mortgage, mortgage costs rise, you know, mortgage rises confirm higher rates. You know, that was in the bbc yesterday. Retail sales shoppers shunned Department Stores as pnces shunned Department Stores as prices rise four days ago in the bbc for normal people in the uk , bbc for normal people in the uk, theyre not seeing the benefit of this. Obviously, prices are still rising , but a booming still rising, but a booming stock market is good for your pension. Of course it is. Okay, great for pensioners, but if you think about everybody else in the country, theyre clearly struggling. People are about to retire. People are about to retire. Thats good news because thats going to be reflected in their pension. Yeah, i mean fantastic. I mean, you know theyll need a rise in their pension. You know, considering the rise in prices. Thats going on, you know, in the headlines. Well those those rising pnces well those those rising prices are actually coming down now. Inflation is coming down. No its not coming down. The rise of inflation is coming down. Thats what i mean. But its coming down. The pnces but its coming down. The prices are still going up. And we all know that inflation was caused by factors outside anybodys control. The government have done a good job. It will soon be down to 2 this yeah prices are still going up. No, no no no technically the rise of prices is going down. Its good news, isnt it . If the rate of inflation is coming down, the prices arent. The prices arent going to be cut, are they . You have to concede some things are going rather well. Cant you concede that for normal people theyre not seeing the benefit . Well, i think they are. Well, i think they are. I think they are. If the, if the bar sector is booming, restaurants, youre obviously not normal. No, im im not normal. I do hate it when some of our national broadcasters, you know, rush to lead the 6 00 news with britain goes into recession, you know, 0. 2. And two months later, when weve come out of that, they ignore it. Completely ignored, youre not normal, mike, are you . Because youre what might be called a middle aged babe magnet is what you described. Well, im sorry, thats, you know, thats a moniker attached to me. It wasnt my invention. Youve got to tell us about this story, which suggests about reheating old friendships. What does this story tell us . What does this story tell us . Well, what it says is never go back to old friendships because they dont work. Now. They dont specifically say old boyfriend girlfriend. They say old acquaintances. Now, funnily enough , quite recently i had enough, quite recently i had a lunch in fleet street with an old journalistic colleague i probably hadnt seen for 20 years. But for some reason our paths crossed and we went to it very well. Yeah, legendary. It was shocking. We had nothing to talk about. Nothing this male or female . Male, male, an old colleague who i used to work with on the road and suddenly found that our lives had so diverse really. But my worst one is when i got into radio and, you know, had a public voice, an old girlfriend from 28 years ago contacted me and wanted to get back together, and she came to london to see me and it was disastrous because, you know, phones werent as good in those days. I phones werent as good in those days. I didnt know what she even looked like. And im afraid the reunion in which she was, you know, very hopeful and adventurous about what might happen to you , she did want to happen to you, she did want to ravish me. I will admit that, because, you know something i cant deny. But im afraid you didnt want a robert hur. I didnt want a robert hur. I didnt want a robert hur. I didnt want a robert hur. And didnt want a robert hur. And im afraid that it all ended in broken heartedness. Oh, dear, not on my side, but on the poor lady side. And i apologise for. Because i love women, and i wouldnt be watching, you know, maybe. But then again , she might maybe. But then again, she might not know who im talking about. Weve run out of time. That story, mike parry, andy mcdonald. I do hope you come back because as youve seen, it gets a bit surreal here. Fantastic discussions, fantastic discussions, middle age babe magnet, middle age baby. I can only aspire. I can only aspire. Good money to hear somebody like mike parry chatting like that. Right. Thank you both , gentlemen. Achingly frank is our mike. Are time for your news in the gb newsroom. Heres sophia wenzler. Yeah. Yeah. Thanks, bev. Im sophia wenzler in the gb newsroom. Your headlines. The defence secretary has told gb news that rising conflicts around the world have made bolstering britains defences more urgent. Its after Prime Minister rishi sunak announced that spending would increase to 2. 5 of gdp by 2030, increase to 2. 5 of gdp by 2030, in what he called the biggest strengthening in our generation. Grant shapps says hell tell a nato summit in july that 2. 5 should be the benchmark for all members of the alliance. The members of the alliance. The mother of one of the nottingham attack victims has written an open letter to police after graphic messages were shared in a Whatsapp Group. Barnaby weber, who was 19, was stabbed and killed along with two others by 32 year old waldo calocane in an open letter, barnabys mother emma says police described her son as properly butchered, among other phrases and has urged officers to show the respect that was not given to her son. The former leader of the democratic unionist party, sir Jeffrey Donaldson, has been released on bail. Northern released on bail. Northern irelands longest serving mp was suspended from the dup following his arrest last month for whats been described as historical sex charges, including one count of rape. His wife has also been charged with aiding and abetting in relation to the same investigation. In his investigation. In his resignation letter, sir jeffrey said he would be strenuously contesting the allegations. And contesting the allegations. And up to seven military horses on the loose in Central London this morning have now been contained. Video posted social media appeared to show one of the animals covered in blood. At least four people were taken to hospital after being injured as the animals galloped their way through the busy city streets. Through the busy city streets. Westminster police says theyll now be transported by the army for care. And for the latest for care. And for the latest story, sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen, or go to gb news. Common alerts. Alerts. Cheers britannia wine club proudly sponsors the gb news Financial Report , and heres Financial Report, and heres a quick snapshot of todays markets. The pound will buy you 1. 2429 and ,1. 1630. The price of gold is £1,864. 31 per ounce, and the ftse 100 are 8090 points. Cheers britannia wine club proudly sponsors the gb news Financial Report i rafe. Good morning. This is britains newsroom on gb news. So the defence secretary has told gb news that rising conflicts around the world have made bolstering defences necessary, we will be maybe bringing you some footage of rishi sunak in germany , this rishi sunak in germany, this morning, meeting the german chancellor. Hes on this grand tour of europe. You know, Prime Ministers often do that when theyre reaching the end of their inaya. Where was mrs. Thatcher when her premiership came to an end . Looking around the world, she was at the opera in paris. Oh, and having dinner with you, by the sounds of it, also was one of her other options. Now more than 400 migrants crossed the channel illegally yesterday, the day five other migrants, of course, drowned in french waters, according to latest home office figures. Well, our home and security editor mark white joins us now. Mark, i saw that footage, by the way, of the French Police just looking the other way. They didnt give a hoot when that boat was loaded into the water and i think that was actually the one that lost the five. Yeah, it was. Yeah, it was. And actually weve got some weve got some exclusive pictures of that very same boat thatis pictures of that very same boat that is out in the channel after the tragedy. The tragedy. Remarkably, incredibly, those on board, the majority of them wanted to continue their journey to the uk. Hopefully we can bnng to the uk. Hopefully we can bring you those exclusive pictures just now, but they show that boat out in the middle of the channel, trying to make its way there. You can see that french patrol vessel just escorting it, because 58 of those remained on the boat, despite the fact that five had drowned, refusing to get off the boat, and they made their way to uk waters , where the dover uk waters, where the dover lifeboat picked them up and took them to dover harbour. Now whats also shocking, come to light about the incident on the beach we revealed this yesterday afternoon is that a group of african migrants, a large group of african migrants, stormed this boat as other migrants were pushing it into the to water go on this journey to the uk, they effectively hijacked it, forced their way on board. So instead of 5060 people on board, we had 112. And never before have we seen 112 on this small boat. This is when there is 58 on the boat heading to the uk. It looks boat heading to the uk. It looks absolutely packed now double that number is what was on that board. So those students who stormed the boat caused directly or indirectly, the five drownings . Well thats exactly what the french authorities are now investigating. Investigating. Yes, it looks like the dangerously overcrowded boat just couldnt cope with that. They were falling off and had to be rescued. Police on the beach and werent they attacked by some of the migrants and they just backed off. Well, the migrants were actually fighting amongst themselves because it was this group of african migrants armed with sticks, fighting the other migrants just to force their way on the boat. The police were trying to intervene. They were getting fought back, you know, fought off as well by the guns. Theyve got guns in france. Theyve got guns in france. Whats the matter with them . Yes. Im not suggesting they shoot them, but they could have pulled the guns, might have quelled the riot. I think the migrants obviously realise that the French Police probably arent going to shoot them. But it is very dangerous. French police are being injured in these clashes. But getting back to the figures, i think from yesterday, its incredible that on this day that five people died, 402 migrants crossed the channel in seven small boats, close to what is a record for this year so far. It takes a total who have crossed this year so far to 6667. Is are there any leaving . Are there any crossing the channel today that were aware of . No. The weather conditions have closed in again today. Its quite choppy out there. Good. And so that will be them now until the weekend, friday i think were looking at flat calm conditions so we can expect another significant surge if the police know about the weather, because they can check in about why arent they ready for them to stop them . The French Police. The French Police. Well, if youre dealing with on that beach 112 and more, because the people smugglers gangmasters were there as well. You had half a dozen Police Officers or so to have that many Police Officers , the same number Police Officers, the same number to be able to deal with the migrants along a 7000 mile stretch of beach , they just even stretch of beach, they just even with all the millions of pounds that were giving the french authorities, they just couldnt afford, they cant afford that many people. Okay. Thank you. Mark, we want to bring you this story a little closer to home this morning. Some astonishing footage to show you four people have been taken to hospital after they were hurt when military horses bolted through Central London just a little while ago. Joining us now is gb news royal correspondent, Cameron Walker. Cameron, just explain to us what who who were these horses . What is their role . What were they . What are they doing in london in the morning . Sure. Well, its been widely reported that five of the household cavalry horses bolted the words, which the Army Spokesperson has told me this morning is became loose. So make of that what you will. They are used for ceremonial processions dunng used for ceremonial processions during royal events in Central London and other ceremonial events as well. So trooping the colour, theyll be involved with things like that. But just before 9 00 this morning, the army were exercising five horses on Horse Guards Parade in whitehall. And that is the moment just before 9 00 that they apparently bolted. They apparently bolted. Something reportedly spooked those horses. Now so unusual. Theyre so well trained. Theyre very well trained. Theyre very well trained. Theyre used to loud noises with the bangs of the cannons, etc. But of course they are fight or flight animals. So if theyre spooked, theyre going to run. Three of the horses ran towards Buckingham Palace through saint jamess park. They went down lower belgrave street, which is the south side of Buckingham Palace. One of the riders of the palace. One of the riders of the horses who was still on at that point was thrown off the horse and he was injured, as according to witnesses speaking to newspapers, that household cavalry soldier was screaming in pain. He was treated by paramedics on Buckingham Palace road. One of the horses ran into a double decker bus, reportedly and smashed the windscreen and smashed the windscreen. We can see social media footage of the white horse covered in blood, and another one reportedly crashed into a black van and, sorry, a black cab and a mercedes van. So three of the horses ended up down there. The other two raced in the other direction towards the city of london, so they ran through aldwych. Thats where the other aldwych. Thats where the other one hit the white, the black cab. Those same two horses are pictured near tower bridge and then they are eventually captured at limehouse, so east london. So a very, very long way. They ran an Army Spokesperson told me in the last few minutes that a number of military working horses became loose during routine exercise this morning. Loose during routine exercise this morning. All of the horses this morning. All of the horses have now been recovered and returned to the camp. A number returned to the camp. A number of personnel and horses have been injured and are receiving appropriate medical attention. The city of London Police say they were called at around 840 this morning after horses became loose. Our officers contained two of the horses on the highway near limehouse and were waiting army horse boxes to collect them, which clearly has now happened. Ive never heard of anything like this before, because those those horses, theyre out on parade every day. Yeah, theyre used to traffic, as you say. Theyre used to the sound of cannons. Ive never heard of this. Ive never heard of this. And this was middle of rush houh and this was middle of rush hour. 840. All of this kicked off. So there was a lot of cars about. I think its a miracle that none of the horses were quite so severely injured or indeed the personnel riding them. It looks like one. One of them. It looks like one. One of the soldiers clearly was screaming in pain , according to screaming in pain, according to witnesses. So it was being treated by paramedics. London ambulance spokesperson said that they did send resources to Buckingham Palace road and the paramedic was indeed treating that soldier and the horse. Of course, weve seen on social media covered in blood, but they are receiving, according to an Army Spokesperson, appropriate medical attention. But the question remains what spooks the horses . And we dont have the answer to that question. Sure, that cant happen again. Exactly. Fascinated to know how they managed to round them up in the end. Yeah. And to separate, you know, areas well galloping in full speed like thats like a the equivalent of a tank coming at you. Yeah. Yeah. Incredible animals. Theyre big strong. You cant rugby tackle a horse. So its you know its a lot to stop them if theyre spooked. Right. Thank you cameron its really interesting. Right. Less really interesting. Right. Less than 100 days until the 2024 olympics begin. So eyes are olympics begin. So eyes are turning towards paris and the athletes will be competing there. Right wing star, 25 year old tai kondo. Taekwondo, taekwondo. Taekwondo, taekwondo. Taekwondo, taekwondo. Forgive me. Champion Bradly Sinden has his sights set on gold after taking home silver at tokyo 2020 with a second world title under his belt. Will he finally come out on top . Finally come out on top . Oh, bradleys with us now. Oh, bradleys with us now. This now. Hello, bradley. This now. Hello, bradley. Sorry about that. There you are. Brilliant. Well, we just thought wed give you that little moment of pause to build up the tension there. Because no doubt, the tension is rising in your household. How are you feeling with 100 days to go. Im feeling with 100 days to go. Im feeling with 100 days to go. Im feeling good. Like, obviously i won my second world title last year , and the body armour has year, and the body armour has changed. The system changed. So i had to get used to that and managed to come out on top there and then i had a rough back end of the year with a few, injuries set me back. But ive got all that all behind me now and then. Its all looking good for the prep coming up to paris. Amazing did you see this story . Im sure you did in the papers. How the track and field athletes are going to get a £40,000, bonus for a gold medal. None of the other athletes are going to. We had sir Steve Redgrave on this channel, and he said, actually, do you know what track and field already make plenty of money. We need sports such as martial arts, the minority sports, to get that kind of boost. Hes right, isnt he . Yeah, hes definitely right. But it has to start somewhere. Someone has to step that forefront and go, all right, im gonna. The forefront and go, all right, im gonna. The athletes are the commodity. The olympics, the sponsorships, everything revolve around the athletes. Theyre the ones who put put the bodies through hell day in, day out to become obviously become an olympic champion has always been my goal. I knew going into it it wasnt or it wasnt about the money or id try and be a footballer. But i think what we do and if we can push more money, make sure the athletes are set after give them that extra incentive. Why not . And i think its great that world athletics is setting the precedent and hopefully other sports can find a way to get the funding and help athletes secure a livelihood further on in the life, rather than after they finish the sport. Its then they have to figure out whats next. But bradley Steve Redgrave told us when he came back from atlanta, where he won gold, he was in the red. He was broke. Is it tough . Is it tough for you to balance your books because i presume youre training for hours and hours every day, for me, ive done quite well with. So athletes get apa. Whats an athlete . Personal allowance. Whats that . Even though were not employed, its. Its an allowance to help us live. Its help us to get accommodation. Even though gb taekwondo , they even though gb taekwondo, they provide accommodation for us. Its help us for food, nutrition all of that. So its pretty much all of that. So its pretty much a wage and im on the top end of that from getting my world gold and ive been on that for quite and ive been on that for quite a few years now so i can live quite comfortably. But for other athletes who are coming up, it can be a challenge for them. So i think the money incentives can help people, come up and help help people, come up and help help them live, especially with the living crisis at the moment. The living crisis at the moment. Bradley, it feels to me now im going to show a little bit of knowledge about something here, but it really isnt very much. But martial arts, particularly with jiu jitsu with the mixed martial arts, fighting onune the mixed martial arts, fighting online and stuff, now it feels like youve never had so much attention and profile. Is it attention and profile. Is it like that within a martial arts sport at the moment, i think each martial arts is different. So obviously the ufc, youve got the pfl, theyre theyre really pushing the forefront. Taekwondo is it ultimate fighting ufc. Yeah. Or ufc or championship. Yeah. Or ufc or championship. So theyre pushing and weve got a good connection with them. Actually weve been to vegas with their Training Camp because one of our old sack coaches is a head coach there. Now but i think taekwondo is still a sport. Whats not well known. Tokyo did us very well. Tokyo if though were our sport, didnt get the results even though we didnt get the golds, we wanted the story and beginning it being the story and beginning it being the beginning of, tokyo helped us get the profile that our sport does deserve. But its hard because you see us at the olympics and then its another four years to see us again. Really yeah. Except the World Championships is trying to keep that profile and promote the sport more and more. How different is it from judo . So someone who doesnt know much about martial arts , know much about martial arts, completely different. Yeah. Its so judo. Judo is completely different. Yeah. Its so judo. Judo is i, i dont want so judo. Judo is i, i dont want to say its similar to wrestling because the Judo Community wont like that, but you could say its more , more, more grappling, its more, more, more grappling, more, doing takedowns , getting more, doing takedowns, getting each other to the floor. Taekwondo. Is it basically taekwondo stands for the way of the hand and the fist. So but mainly in taekwondo its mainly kicking. So you kick each other to the body, try and kick each other in the face and you can punch to the body. So its all on feet, no grappling, just trying to basically kick each other about. Theres a lot of money in ufc now, isnt there a lot of money . Is it the kind of thing you could transition to from taekwondo , so i think people taekwondo, so i think people have people do try, but jujitsu , have people do try, but jujitsu, jiu jitsu is a very key and wrestling as well, because you see, you can be amazing on feet, but as soon as someone takes you to the ground, then youre screwed. Pretty much. Its because thats taekwondo as a on board sport or upper body stand on feet. But the difference is weve got that fundamentals and ufc is a lot longer. You can keep going into your 40 into the 40s. Taekwondo is a younger sport so people do finish taekwondo and then spend years trying to masterjiu taekwondo and then spend years trying to master jiu jitsu. Taekwondo and then spend years trying to masterjiu jitsu. You trying to master jiu jitsu. You can spend five seven years working on that game and then take it into employment. But one take it into employment. But one of my mates, who used to be on the gb taekwondo team, has now gone into mixed martial arts and hes doing very well. Yeah hes learning the ground game, but on feet hes untouchable. People cant. Yeah, people cant deal cant. Yeah, people cant deal with the distance. Just briefly bradley, whos a big threat for the gold medal. Theres a few. So uzbekistan who beat me in the final last time and trying to get my revenge there. But theres a few guys now who are all in contention. So its about me trying to be the best i can on the day. Okay, well, bring your. Yeah, bnng okay, well, bring your. Yeah, bring your gold medal to see us, wont you . Weve got great confidence in you. We love seeing the gb tracksuit on this channel. Were so glad you joined us this morning from my hometown of manchester as well. Thank you so much. Bradly sinden. Their 25 year old world taekwondo champion and silver medal at the olympics in tokyo. Right were going to take a quick break. Are we now . And then when we come back, its pmqs. Its wednesday. Feels like a monday. See you in a minute. Looks like things are heating up. Boxt boilers sponsors of up. Boxt boilers sponsors of weather on gb news. Hi there and welcome to the latest update from the met office for gb news. A fine spring day for most of us today. Dry sunny spells the odd shower here and there, most likely across southern parts of the country. Weve got higher the country. Weve got higher pressure to the north west. Thats where the sunniest skies will be across much of scotland into Northern Ireland, northwest england, north wales as well. Elsewhere, cloud building and yeah, south wales, southwest england, east anglia could see the odd shower, but these will be few and far between for the vast majority is a dry afternoon and in the sunshine with light winds towards the northwest. Although temperatures arent going to be very exciting, its going to be very exciting, its going to be very exciting, its going to feel fairly pleasant still. This cool breeze down the still. This cool breeze down the nonh still. This cool breeze down the north sea coast 9 or 10 celsius on the cool side for the time of year into the evening, the cloud will tend to thin and break in places , but therell be further places, but therell be further showers coming into the north east for a time and then some Cloud Development and some showers into parts of wales, western england as well, with the cloud, temperatures will stay up at 4 or 5 celsius. But where we do see some clear spells, well, its going to be a frosty start on thursday, especially for parts of scotland, Northern Ireland as well. A chill in the air first thing, but plenty of sunshine here and actually it stays largely dry towards the northwest once again. Whilst northwest once again. Whilst i think a cloudier day is expected elsewhere, particularly into the afternoon where therell be some showers for the midlands, east anglia and the south east. Highs of 13 or 14 celsius. That warm feeling inside from boxt boilers sponsors of weather on gb news. Well, were going now to Gloria De Piero and Christopher Hope because its primed his questions. And theyre in our westminster studio. Yes. And, you know, we want yes. And, you know, we want to do for people at home listening or watching. We want to know what our viewers and listeners would be asking the deputy Prime Minister, Oliver Dowden, or indeed the deputy leader of the opposition, angela renee, because its the deputies today, the battle of the deputies. Yeah, thats right. Yeah, thats right. Please do send us your questions. Tell us who you are and as importantly, where youre from. Well put your questions to our panel email or go online to our panel email or go online to gbnews. Com yoursay i say pmqs live is all about you, not about us, but bev and andrew briefly, what will you be asking the deputy Prime Minister today . Id ask Oliver Dowden, by the way. I think its deeply unimpressive. I would ask him, does he think the French Police are doing enough to stop migrants getting into those small boats across the channel . Wow, beth, im probably on that similar theme. I would say that similar theme. I would say that similar theme. I would say that if the planes now take off for rwanda and if they prove not to be a deterrent, what is plan b . B . Plan b . Well, good. Very good question. Youre Getting Better. Things are Getting Better every week. Stronger. Stronger. But thats enough of bev and andrew. Its fast approaching midday. This is gb news. Britains election channel pmqs live starts right now. 57 on wednesday, the 24th of april. This is pmqs live on gb news with Christopher Hope and Gloria De Piero. In just one moment, the Prime Ministers Deputy Oliver dowden, and labours deputy leader, Angela Rayner will go head to head at Prime Ministers questions in the house of commons. Will our full coverage of every moment, every spit and cough and getting full reaction from Armed Forces Minister leo docherty and shadow minister of state at the cabinet office, baroness jenny chapman. Baroness jenny chapman. So lets go straight out to you. Jenny chapman as the labour spokesperson today, what would you be asking the deputy Prime Minister . What should Angela Rayner be going on . It is what you might call a target rich environment at the moment. So we could go on the length of time. Its taking people to get hospital treatment. We could go on crime and policing. You can only have one, but you can only have one. I would be tempted , have one. I would be tempted, given the news weve had this week, that Mortgage Rates are not coming down like people thought they would, and people are really struggling to make those Monthly Payments at the moment. I think something to do with the housing market, be that leasehold renters or mortgages, i think thats something that people are talking about. People want to hear the labour party take the government on over. So i wouldnt be surprised, given that thats something that Angela Rayner is responsible for in her department as well, in communities that might be something she might want to raise. Leo docherty thats a worrying question, isnt it, because its out of your control Interest Rates . Well, i think Interest Rates are a function of the Overall Economic picture, which has a positive trend thanks to our wise management of the economy. Weve seen inflation decreasing and in terms of people paying their mortgages, which i think is at the heart of jennys question, you know, theyre better off under a tory government because we will safely manage the economy. Who is saying that . I havent heard anyone say theyre feeling better off with their mortgage under this government ever. Before. We go to the house of commons before pmqs starts in about 35 seconds time. Angela rayneh about 35 seconds time. Angela rayner, your spokesperson today, she stands for in the labour leader when the Prime Minister is not taking questions because he is in germany. Shes been in the news a lot. So it could be quite difficult for her because there are many questions which have yet to be answered. I think its fair to say i mean, the tories are desperate to find something on this woman. Theyre going back in, you know, ten years ago where she might have lived, who she might have been living with, all of that desperate, desperate stuff. She desperate, desperate stuff. She is a fighter. Shes going to take that argument to the tories today on behalf of the labour party. You know, i think shes a really strong parliamentary performer and i would not want to be in Oliver Dowden shoes facing her, though. Its journalists, isnt it . At the times , the mail on at the times, the mail on sunday, the telegraph, other, the sun are all asking neighbours about andrew bain. Its not tories, its journalists. Its extraordinary. I mean, i saw her childs birth certificate printed in the newspaper and to be honest, thats where it lost me. This story. I thought, this is too much. Theyre hounding her, but the police are having a look. Shes going to give anybody any answers that they want from the police or the tax authorities. You know, well get to the bottom of it. Leo. Leo. Doctor, just quickly on you. Doctor, just quickly on you. Youve announced this. A huge amount of defence spending, but the armys tiny. Is the money going on weapons or soldiers . Itll go on. All of that. Itll go on. All of that. Itll go on. All of that. Itll go on. All of that. Itll what soldiers to itll. Itll what soldiers to itll. Itll what soldiers to itll. Itll more and more soldiers will go on a whole range of institutional investment. Its a massive strategic investment for resilience and increased
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