Transcripts For GBN Martin 20240703

Is a result of 14 years of tory misery. But is that the is a result of 14 years of tory misery. But is that the case, or are they being abused by people who dont really need them . Well, thats all coming up in your next hour. And as well your next hour. And as well as all that, weve got two astonishing political stories. The first one is this 50 mps and peers have written to James Cleverly demanding that britain takes in refugees from palestine. What could possibly go wrong . Well, look to denmark, go wrong . Well, look to denmark, where they tried this in the 1990s, and 64 of those taken in went on to get criminal records, and i can dramatically announce that after last night on the Jacob Rees Mogg show , when jacob Jacob Rees Mogg show, when jacob would say that richard tice nigel farage and ben habib of the reform party, of course, should be welcomed into the tory Party Tonight , the dons of the Party Tonight, the dons of the rise, the godfathers of the riots, Jacob Rees Mogg and nigel farage, will dramatically meet in this studio. Could this be the breakthrough the political right has been waiting for to dons two godfathers coming together . Or has the plan got no legs . Will it end up sleeping with the fishes . Thats all coming up on this show. Get in touch. The usual ways. Gbnews. Com forward slash your say. But first is your headlines andifs say. But first is your headlines and its Aaron Armstrong. And its Aaron Armstrong. Very good afternoon to you. Its 3 02 im Aaron Armstrong in the gb newsroom. Well as youve just been hearing slovakias Prime Minister robert fico has been shot following a government meeting in handlova , a town meeting in handlova, a town outside the capital bratislava. This is the moment the Prime Minister was bundled into the car after being shot. Witnesses in the area said they heard several shots before a man was detained by police. The slovakian president has condemned what hes described as a brutal attack and has wished robert fico a speedy recovery. This is, of course, a developing story. More as we get it here gbnews sir keir starmer used all six questions at todays pmqs to grill rishi sunak about overcrowded prisons, as emergency measures were triggered to deal with the problem in england. It means defendants in Police Custody remain there and wont be transferred to courts for bail hearings. Now the labour leader referenced a recent report which says high risk prisoners are being released up to 70 days early at short notice without sufficient planning. On monday, the Prime Minister suggested labour cant be trusted with national security. National security. The Early Release of stalkers, domestic abusers and those considered a risk to children sound like the work of someone who is making the country more secure. Here mr speaker, as ive said, as ive said, no one should be put on this scheme if they are a threat to the public. And let me be crystal clear, it does not apply. It absolutely does not apply. It absolutely does not apply. It absolutely does not apply to anyone serving a life sentence. Anyone convicted of a serious violent offence, anyone convicted of terrorism, anyone convicted of terrorism, anyone convicted of terrorism, anyone convicted of a sex offence and crucially, in contrast to the system that labour had put in place, mr speaker , governors and place, mr speaker, governors and the Prison Service have an absolute lock so that no one is put on the scheme who shouldnt be. The governments also suggested police could make more use of existing stop and search powers as part of new measures to tackle knife crime. The searches were curbed a decade ago by then home secretary theresa may, after it was found minorities were being disproportionately targeted. Disproportionately targeted. £3. 5 million will be invested into developing new technology , into developing new technology, which could help police detect suspects carrying knives by scanning them from a distance. Scanning them from a distance. New proposals could see schools in england banned from teaching students about gender identity. The governments review would also see all Sex Education halted for children under the age of nine. The Prime Minister ordered a review into relationships, sex and Health Education last year over concerns some kids are being exposed to inappropriate content. The report suggests parents will be provided samples of Sex Education before lessons can take place. A red notice can take place. A red notice search warrant has been issued for an escaped french prisoner. Interpol have sent it out. 30 year old Mohamed Amara, also known as the fly, escaped from a prison van in northern france yesterday , sparking a major yesterday, sparking a major manhunt. He was broken free by gunmen in an ambush that killed two prison guards. More food two prison guards. More food parcels were handed out over the past year than ever before. The Trussell Trust says it donated more than 3 million emergency packages in the year to the end of march, as the cost of living puts more households under strain. More than a million of strain. More than a million of those were for children, and the overall totals doubled in just five years. The trust is calling on the government to tackle long term deficiencies in the welfare system. The mother of barnaby system. The mother of barnaby webber, who was stabbed and killed in nottingham last year, has told gb news she feels the killers sentence was the result of a flawed and weak Police Investigation. Barnaby webber, investigation. Barnaby webber, Grace Omalley Kumar and ian coates were killed last june by valdo calocane. The 32 year old, who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia , was given an schizophrenia, was given an indefinite hospital order. Emma webber says the cases revealed weaknesses in the legal system. Weaknesses in the legal system. We were not expecting anything other than the outcome yesterday. I think weve hopefully made it very clear that all three families united, do not accept, the plea of diminished responsibility. So therefore manslaughter alongside therefore manslaughter alongside the attempted murder charges. And we feel its the result of a very , very flawed and failed very, very flawed and failed Police Investigation. And a weak, cps prosecution from the east midlands and an utter overreliance upon doctors reports gb news can reveal the number of people crossing the channel has increased by 40 this year after an apparent switch in people smuggling tactics, sources say criminal gangs are now pushing out fewer boats at any one time, but more often in a bid to avoid french beach patrols. Its resulted in almost a fortnight of continued migrant activity when boats were launched from the french coast every day over the past 12 days. Or for the latest on our stories, you can sign up to gb news alerts the qr code on your screen. The details are also on the website. Now its back to. Martin. Thank you aaron. Now to some breaking news. The slovakian Prime Minister, robert fico , has Prime Minister, robert fico, has been shot and wounded. Mr fico was shot in front of a Cultural Community centre in a town named handlova, where a government meeting had just been held. Meeting had just been held. Several shots were heard and the slovak leader has been taken to hospital and his alleged assailant has been detained by the police. Well, joining us now for a full update as gb news home and security editor, mark white. Mark, a dramatic dramatic scene. Whats the latest . What do we know about robert ficos politics . Do we know anything at all about his would be assailant, not at this stage. But as we tell you about the events that unfolded , we can events that unfolded, we can show you some video. The dramatic moments just after he was shot in the abdomen. You can see him being bundled into one of the security vehicles there by his Close Protection detail. And taken off to hospital. We know that he was treated initially at the hospital in this town of handlova , where he this town of handlova, where he was stabilised. According to medics. He is in a serious condition but theyve managed to stabilise him. Hes now, were told, being transferred to a Major Trauma Centre by helicopter, where its believed helicopter, where its believed he will be operated on an arrival. That major trauma arrival. That Major Trauma Centre, no details on who the assailant was, but reports locally suggesting that someone had shouted rob or come here, i would imagine in the local language, to the Prime Minister who was in the process of meeting and greeting members of the public after this governmental meeting at a Community Centre in handlova when the shooting happened. And when the shooting happened. And as i say, the reports are that he was shot in the abdomen and in the hand as well. He collapsed to the ground. He was collapsed to the ground. He was quickly scooped up by his close security detail and put into the back of that vehicle , driven back of that vehicle, driven initially to the local hospital and then airlifted , as i say to and then airlifted, as i say to this Major Trauma Centre , weve this Major Trauma Centre, weve had reaction from politicians around the globe, as you would imagine, the latest from Prime Minister rishi sunak here in the uk, saying that he is shocked by the awful news coming out of slovakia and his thoughts are with Prime Minister fico and his family. At this time. Were family. At this time. Were looking at images as well, family. At this time. Were looking at images as well , taken looking at images as well, taken immediately in the aftermath of the shooting. That show the suspect on the ground, hands bound behind his back. As the police deal with this man. And as i say, the fact that he is alive and well in terms of the suspect means that they will at least be able to speak to him, provide hes cooperative and get an idea, an indication of what the motivation martin was for this. What the government say was an attempted assassination, an incredible images there. Mark white of the Prime Minister literally being bundled into the back of an official vehicle by his detail, as you say, and being taken to hospital. I mean, incredible pictures , do we know anything pictures, do we know anything about his political background and what how that may have influenced this event today is rumoured to be a pro russian , a rumoured to be a pro russian, a populist. And weve seen, of course, in tbilisi yesterday , course, in tbilisi yesterday, rumours of the kremlin involved there, some distrust action in states out there. Mark, do we think theres anything connected to that potentially. And the ukraine situation . Well, its certainly possible. He is not without controversy, as you alluded to. There he is actually slovakias longest serving Prime Minister in terms of the fact that hed served three terms previously before , becoming not winning before, becoming not winning outright but becoming the Biggest Party in the elections in slovakia in september of last yeah in slovakia in september of last year. The president asked him to form a Coalition Government, which he did, but really, within months of that, Coalition Government coming to power, he ceased the funding that slovakia was giving, the aid that that country was giving to ukraine. And youre right, he has, you know, hes seen as an ally of putin, also an ally and friend of viktor orban in hungary, whos been reacting this afternoon saying that he is deeply shocked and outraged by this, assassination attempt on his friend and ally in slovakia. So as i say, not a man without controversy at all. In fact , the controversy at all. In fact, the latest, controversial, government policy of his is to dismantle their state broadcaster, their equivalent of the bbc, the government in the process of trying to do that. So process of trying to do that. So a lot of controversy swirling around this man and his government at the moment. But we dont know, martin, what the motivation for this attempted assassination was just that the Prime Minister at this hour is in hospital , likely Prime Minister at this hour is in hospital, likely in the operating theatres as we speak. Operating theatres as we speak. Astonishing pictures, a knife edge situation and a comprehensive ran out there. Mark white, thank you very much. And of course, well cross back to you throughout the show as and when more details emerge. On the attempted assassination of robert fico, the slovakian Prime Minister. Thank you. Mark white. Now moving on, because earlier today, the two main Political Parties clashed over their records on crime. Keir starmer challenged the Prime Minister at pmqs on the Early Release of criminals under a scheme that was aimed at easing overcrowding in jails. In jails. I am disappointed to see that version 7. 0 of his time in office does not extend as far as answering questions or giving any information on those prisoners he is releasing early, based sukh details like how many where are they . What crimes have they committed . So will he at least guarantee that none of the criminals he is instructing prisoners to release early are considered high risk . Considered high risk . There are strict Eligibility Criteria in place , with criteria in place, with exclusions based on Public Safety and no one will be put on the scheme if they were deemed a threat to Public Safety. Threat to Public Safety. High drama earlier this comes, of course, as the government is telling the police that they must use their stop and search powers to tackle knife crime rather than to do what they say is to appease Campaign Groups who claim that the method is discriminatory. While policing minister chris philp says that stop and search is a vital tool in helping remove knives off the streets, but is concerned that it is not being used often enough by police well to pick over all of this, im joined in the studio by gb news Political Editor chris hope. Chris, welcome to the studio. Of course, you covered pmqs today. It was a dramatic exchange. The tory Party Started off on a front foot, getting tough on stop and search, promising to stamp out knife crime. But then it was sir knife crime. But then it was sir keir starmer who in a sense went for the kill at pmqs and he was often referred to historically as forensic. Got to be said today. He was very forensic. He went for him. Yeah, i think its a one all score draw. I think now you had chris philp, the policing minister, on gb news earlier, saying how he wants stop and search, be increased numbers have fallen from 1. 2 million in 20 1011 to 200 to just 279,000 stop and search incidents in england and wales in those eight years. The first eight years of the last decade. Thats because hed be concerned, because black people have been five times more likely to be stopped and searched than white people. That has raised concerns about community tensions. The tories want the police to be more on the front foot on stop and search. If someone is suspicious, stop them, search them is what it means. Youve heard that from chris philp. Even mark rowley , the new met even mark rowley, the new met police chief, hes quite keen on it. Labour are divided, though. We hear from Yvette Cooper saying they want it. Can be done in an effective way and is an extremely important tool. Sadiq extremely important tool. Sadiq khan, in charge of the met police and the biggest force in the country by some margin. Hes very sceptical, saying that hell do all in his power to further cut out its use. So further cut out its use. So a debate there which the tories might have won. But on Early Release the tories are in some trouble. The jails are 99 full, we are seeing numbers being released in volume of early from the from these numbers of criminals. The question that the keir starmer asks is a former prosecutor six times who are you releasing . Are they committing crimes and only towards the end did we hear a response from sir keir starmer. He said that the no prisoners to be released. We will post any risk to the public bookmark that line, martin, bookmark that line, martin, bookmark it. Because if anyone to haunt him, if anyone who is Early Release now goes on to offend in a bad way or a serious way, or the wrong person who is released as can happen, it will be on on rishi sunak and what he said in the house of commons and labour will say come back and apologise to this house. Its difficult, i should say. Also theres a thing called the sensing bill. The government wants to stop jailing anybody for less than a year. You know how difficult that is. Ive asked the pm directly when he talks about other measures to cut down. Youre not going to jail them. So why are you saying i want to jail them for six months . Hes not going to jail them at all. So i think this is space of Early Release is a weakness for the pm. Last week it was defence. This week its law and order. But we have a more dramatic situation ourselves here tonight because of course last night Jacob Rees Mogg was locking horns with ben habib, of course, deputy leader of the reform party, and he said he would welcome ben habib, he would welcome ben habib, he would welcome richard tice, he would welcome richard tice, he would welcome nigel farage into the reform party. In fact, he said, i recommend this to the Prime Minister. Rishi sunak well, tonight in this precise studio , tonight in this precise studio, the two godfathers will meet. Do you think there could be what a lot of people would like to see happen, a dramatic coming together of the two families, the godfathers being Jacob Rees Mogg and nigel farage. Correct. Meeting in the studio. Right. Are the viewers ready for that . They should be, because jacob is rolling out the red carpet. It seems like he wants this to happen now. Nigel might, might say this plan can go and swim with the fishes. He will. And thats what i think. Richard tice to the reform leader has said so. Nigel farage is not a politician. Hes a presenter on gb news. He is honorary president of reform uk. Speculation about whether he might re emerge to fight maybe clacton in september or october ahead of the november election. Hes keeping his powder dry. Rees mogg has no real power nationally anymore in the party. He merely has supporters in the in the grassroots. But nothing in the grassroots. But nothing more than that. But hes saying what i think many tory mps are saying privately you need to work with reform uk, not against them, to ensure that right wing split isnt split and youve got a chance to beat the labour. You see why hes saying it, but im not sure its going to happen. Martin okay, well, the two godfathers of the right will meet in this studio. In fact, in these two chairs later on. Keep them warm. Lets see what happens. Kevin. Peel. Chris hope always a pleasure. Thank you very much. Now back to that conversation on stop and search. Because joining me now is the retired metropolitan Police Officer chris hobbs. Chris, welcome to the studio. Youre an excellent guest on this. You say it as you see it. Lets start with the basics. Stop and search work, doesnt it . You know youve done it. Tell us the figures. Well it does, and overall, i think its still i mean, its still going on. And on average the met take in london they say about between 300 and 400 weapons off the streets every month by virtue of stop and search. So it is a very useful power to theres Something Like 12,000, 13,000 knife crimes in london every year , over 3000, london every year, over 3000, almost 4000 hospital admissions nationally. Nationally. And thats not been patched up in a e thats being admitted as a result of knife crime. Theres a huge problem with gangsin theres a huge problem with gangs in certain parts of the country, especially birmingham and especially london. And of course, the other thing to bear in mind a lot of stop, sorry, a lot of knife crime, a lot of stabbings never appearin crime, a lot of stabbings never appear in Police Records if it doesnt require a hospital admission or if theres not an arrest , theres an awful lot of arrest, theres an awful lot of stabbings that go on that will never see the light of day. But you can find them on gang social media, on gang, wait for it. News channels, believe it or not, and en gang documentary. So its a huge problem as far as police are concerned. Yes, they have been stepping back because it was only a few years ago that theresa may and David Cameron were criticising police for carrying out stop and search. Now youve got a situation where a contentious stop and search for a Police Officer. If someone for a Police Officer. If someone kicks off in the street, theyre being stop and searched. A crowd gathers, a complaint is made. That officer then faces a career ending disciplinary process that could go on for months or even years. So its more a case, i of giving officers confidence and secondly, with the demands on police, huge as they are, is actually being able to get officers out there proactive , officers out there proactive, actively looking for these crimes, because at the moment theyre drowning under a sea of bureaucracy , are still doing bureaucracy, are still doing hospital guards, still doing scene guards. If they arrest scene guards. If they arrest someone, theyre basically finished for the rest of their shift because of the paperwork involved. So officers at the sharp end are facing a bit of a nightmare. Nightmare. Chris, chris philp, the police minister, today has urged police minister, today has urged police not to stop, to stop bowing to pressure groups. Of course, they claim stop and search is racist. A quick look at the data black man or six times more likely to be stopped by. But black men are four and a half times more likely to stab somebody to death. They are three and a half times more likely to be stabbed to death per population, per head of population. Its fair to say the population. Its fair to say the figures actually reflect the crime data. Stop and search isnt racist in that sense, is it . Its merely targeted policing. Whats your take on that . That . Well, for a start, i mean, Police Officers, when theyre called to a stabbing, Police Officers, when theyre called to a stabbing , they dont called to a stabbing, they dont know what theyre going to confront. They dont know whether theyre going to be facing a knife and they dont know. And activist groups will be remember this, whether theyll be performing life saving first aid on the victim, which, again, theyre often there before paramedics and they save lives, often young black lives. We do know, dont we, lives. We do know, dont we, that this sort of crime goes on in deprived, relatively deprived areas. And if you look at nice knife crime statistics, thats where they occur. Whose fault is where they occur. Whose fault is that . That isnt the polices fault. Thats general actions of politicians on both sides of the divide. The police are providing the sticking plaster and i really doing their best to stop people. And in parts of london, young black men from being stabbed and being killed. And sometimes its not just stabbings , its shootings. And stabbings, its shootings. And there is a tremendous gang problem in london. But of course, its a stick thats easy to beat. Police officers with. And if you get a complaint of racism on your record, even if it turns out theres no further action or its youre basically found not guilty by the process that stays on your record and if you get, say, three of them and its happening now , three its happening now, three complaints and people officers are getting three complaints, get a getting revetted. So get a getting revetted. So theyve got the worry about again, am i going to lose my job because of this stop and search. But you also xobs im afraid we have to leave it there. Weve simply run out of time. Youre a font of knowledge. Always a delight to talk to you. Thank you very much for coming on. Now, theres plenty more to come on the show, including all the very latest as illegal crossings surge by an astonishing 40 as people smugglers change their tactics. Well get all the details of how theyre doing that a little later in the show. Im Martin Daubney on gb news, britains news channel its 326. Lets get more. Now on the breaking news on the slovakian Prime Minister, robert fico, who has been shot and wounded. And im joined again by gb news home and security editor, mark white. Mark, do we have any more information on this dramatic attempt to assassinate ian . Yeah, we just heard from the government in slovakia with some worrying news suggesting that the Prime Minister is in a life threatening condition. Clearly there were, very serious concerns about the state of his medical condition, given that he had been shot a number of times in the abdomen. Wed been told that that he had gone to the local hospital in this town, which is about 100 miles from the slovakian capital, bratislava. He was stabilised at bratislava. He was stabilised at this hospital, but then the decision was taken to fly him to a Major Trauma Centre, where he is undergoing an operation for those abdominal wounds that he suffered in the shooting. But the official word from the government in slovakia is that their Prime Minister is in a life threatening condition. You can see there from the latest images that weve been getting in, the crowd around the main suspect who is on the ground in these images. Suspect who is on the ground in these images. Other suspect who is on the ground in these images. Other images showing the Prime Minister, of course, being a bundled away scooped up by his Security Team and taken into that armoured vehicle, for transportation to the hospital, we dont know as yet who the suspect is. That official word certainly has not come out from the authorities in slovakia as yet, but he is alive and apparently uninjured. From certainly the images that weve seen of him there on the ground in handcuffs as hes about to be taken away by the police and Security Services. So we dont know at this stage what the motivation for what the government say was an attempted assassination was. But this is a assassination was. But this is a Prime Minister who is not without controversy. He is someone who, within months of, taking power of the fourth time, actually, as Prime Minister, the longest serving Prime Minister, when his three previous terms in office have been added up more than a decade in power in that country. But within months of country. But within months of taking power, as part of a coalition, he announced an immediate suspension of all aid to ukraine. And just in recent days , he has set about moves to days, he has set about moves to start dismantling the state broadcaster in slovakia. Okay, mark, thank you for that update. And for those of that update. And for those of you just joining us, the news is robert fico , the slovakian prime robert fico, the slovakian Prime Minister, is in a life threatening situation after an earlier assassination attempt. The assailant is in custody. Thank you , mark white. Now, as thank you, mark white. Now, as the country prepares to mark the 80th anniversary of d day on the 6th of june, the commonwealth war graves commissions torch of commemoration has been in oxford today. Commemoration has been in oxford today. The ceremony is designed today. The ceremony is designed today. The ceremony is designed to engage younger people and inspire them to play their part inspire them to play their part in marking the sacrifices of the fallen. Well, joining me now is our reporter, Charlie Peters , our reporter, Charlie Peters, whos in oxford, where theyre holding a torch Lighting Ceremony ahead of the 80th anniversary of d day. Ceremony ahead of the 80th anniversary of d day. Charlie, anniversary of d day. Charlie, welcome to the show. The sun is shining down on you and a magnificent moment to be mocked. Magnificent moment to be mocked. Thats right, martin, and its part of the commonwealth war grave commissions lighting their legacy campaign. There are 14 torches on this procession, lasting three weeks until the 5th of june, which is the eve of d day, which will be the marks on june the 6th, representing 80 years since the largest amphibious invasion, which marked a turn in the second world war, where france was liberated and the allied victory over the western front followed soon after. And here in botley in oxfordshire, many of those 14 nationalities are represented in this cemetery. The only greek soldier to be buried in britain is here. There are also south africans, canadian ones, hundreds of britons and also those from the italian and german armies. But the reason why the commission is so keen on education as part of this process, this road show will be touring all over the united kingdom. All four corners over the next few weeks. Theyre so keen on education because in stunning new research, they found that 1 in 10 britons do not know what d day is. They also found that 1 in 5 younger britons aged 18 to 24, also dont know what d day is. They dont know what d day is. They also found that a third of people who do know dont also understand the significance of the event and its standing as a moment of a turning point in the war. Well, earlier today i went to ask some local people here in oxford, did they know what d day was . I think its really brave what they managed to do all those years ago. Its absolutely amazing and, im definitely think its worth celebrating , think its worth celebrating, because they did so much for us and at least we can do is have one day for them. D day at the end of world war two, isnt it, 1944. Thats right. And the world war two. I dont really know much about here. I used to know a bit, but not anymore, at the end of the war, thats v e day. I dont know them. Its, the 80th anniversary next month. It was when the allies landed at normandy. Okay. Allies landed at normandy. Okay. Do you know what d day is . No no i well, Charlie Peters, thanks for joining us. A magnificent forjoining us. A magnificent moment, but we could do with some better education around d day, couldnt we, dear . Oh, dean d day, couldnt we, dear . Oh, dear. And weve plenty more to bnng dear. And weve plenty more to bring you throughout the show, including all the latest from slovakia. But first, your latest News Headlines with tatiana sanchez. Martin, thank you and good afternoon. The top stories from afternoon. The top stories from the gb newsroom. Slovakias Prime Minister, robert fico, has been shot after a government meeting in handlova, outside the capital bratislava. This moment capital bratislava. This moment the Prime Minister was bundled into a car after being shot. Hes reportedly now in a life threatening condition. Witnesses threatening condition. Witnesses in the area say they heard several shots before a man was detained by police. Slovakias president condemned what he described as a brutal attack and wished robert fico a speedy recovery. Well bring you more recovery. Well bring you more on this story as we get it. The government has also suggested police could make more use of existing stop and search powers as part of new measures to tackle knife crime. The searches were curbed a decade ago by then home secretary theresa may, after it was found minorities were being disproportionately targeted. £3. 5 million will be invested into developing new technology , which could help technology, which could help police detect suspects carrying knives by scanning them from a distance. New proposals could distance. New proposals could see schools in england banned from teaching students about gender identity. The governments review would also see all Sex Education halted for children under the age of nine. The Prime Minister ordered a review into relationships, sex and Health Education last year over concerns some children were being exposed to inappro opiate content. A red notice search content. A red notice search warrant for an escaped french prisoner has been issued by interpol. A 30 year old mohamed interpol. A 30 year old mohamed amro, also known as the fly , amro, also known as the fly, escaped from a prison van in northern france yesterday , northern france yesterday, sparking a major manhunt. He was broken free by gunmen in an ambush that killed two prison guards. For ambush that killed two prison guards. For the ambush that killed two prison guards. For the latest stories, guards. For the latest stories, you can sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen or go to gb news. Commelina thats. Thank you tatyana. Theres plenty more to bring you throughout the show. But first, as a brand new way to get in touch with us here gbnews and heres bev turner with all of the details. We are proud to be gb news the peoples channel. And as you know, we always to love hear your views. Now theres a new way of getting in touch with us at gbnews. Com yoursay by commenting , at gbnews. Com yoursay by commenting, you can be part of a live conversation and join our gb news community. You can even talk to me bev turner or any of the members of the gb news family. Simply go to gbnews. Com forward slash your say i welcome back. Its 339. Im Martin Daubney on gb news. And throughout the show, well be continuing to bring you all the latest on the slovakian Prime Minister, robert fico , who was minister, robert fico, who was shot and wounded earlier today. And he is now in a life threatening condition. Now, new threatening condition. Now, new data reveals that 3. 1 million emergency food parcels were provided to people facing hardship between april 2023 and march 2024. More than ever seen before. The labour party say this is a result of 14 years of tory misery. But is that the case, or are food banks being abused by some people who dont really need them . Well, joining me now from a food bank in stoke is gb News Reporterjack me now from a food bank in stoke is gb News Reporter jack carson. Jack, welcome to the show. So whats the situation on the ground in stoke . Tell us more. Well of course these figures from the Trussell Trust this morning martin really shocking of course as you were mentioning, more than 3 million emergency food parcels delivered in the year to march. Thats a 94 increase over the past five years. And just to get the perspective really, of what its like on the front line here with, with jane from the newcastle staffs food bank here. I mean, just kind of tell us your reaction to those figures this morning and kind of what youre seeing here at the food bank. Its really sad to see another rise in the figures, nobody should have to depend on a charity for to put food on the table. So were sadly in that situation where the numbers have gone up yet again, here in newcastle, staffs, weve given out over 9600 parcels in the last year. Were at 9 increase on the Previous Year and 113 increase in the last five years. So why do you think youre kind of seeing that increase and what kind of people are you seeing come to the food bank. Is it people with young families . Is it older people . What are you seeing . About two thirds of the people are with young families, but were also seeing an increase in the number of pensioners needing our support. Anyone and everyone can be finding themselves in need of support from the food bank. Theres not a particular group of people that were seeing more often than others. It can be a whole range of people. And of course, part of the data is that more than a million parcels were delivered to children. I mean , you know, children. I mean, you know, labour have got this plan of free Breakfast Clubs in every school if they were to get into government at the next election. I mean, hearing that kind of policy, is that something you think would help . Do you think it solves the problem . What more actually do you need to see . Do you feel like, as someone that works on the front line to actually try and solve this problem . Because i guess the ultimate aim really is to render yourselves useless to kind of not exist. If its a perfect world. Exactly. In a perfect world, id love to be out of a job. A Breakfast Club will help, but there are three meals in a day, so we dont feel that that goes far enough. And people come to the food bank because they havent got enough money to buy food. So anything that can be a long Term Solution to raising that income for them. The that income for them. The Trussell Trust are calling for an essentials guarantee at the moment, the Social Security system does not cover the essentials. We only give out essentials. We only give out bafic essentials. We only give out basic food parcels. Theres nothing extravagant people cant afford the basics. So anything were calling all political leaders to come up with a plan. They cant ignore this problem how. Now. I mean, what can we talk about . Essentials. What kind of are we talking about . Because weve got all kinds of things around us here. Weve got obviously tins of beans, weve got pasta. Weve also got things like nappies as well. Yeah. I mean we try and put three meals a day for three days into a food parcel for however many people are in the household. But we also supply toiletries. So shampoo, shower gel, nappies for those with babies and baby wipes, things like that. People cant afford things. Thank jane, thank you so much for joining us on the show this afternoon. I mean, thatsjust afternoon. I mean, thats just a picture really on the front line. Martin with these latest Trussell Trust figures okay. Thank you very much. Jack carson and great work there jane baker in stoke. Please pass on our great regards for the fantastic work that jane is doing. Now dont go anywhere. Doing. Now dont go anywhere. Well be bringing you all the latest on the slovakian Prime Minister. Of course, robert fico, who was shot and wounded and is presently in a life threatening condition. Our home and security editor, mark white, will bring us all of the latest on this breaking story. Im Martin Daubney on gb news, britains news channel welcome back. Your time is 346. And lets get more. Now, on the breaking news on the slovakian Prime Minister, robert fujitsu, who is in a life threatening condition after being shot earlier on. Now, joining us now is gb news home and security edhon is gb news home and security editor, mark white. Mark, when you last joined us, you broke that news that the situation appears to be more grave for Robert Fitzhugh. Do we know anything else . Well, reports that he is in a Critical Condition , having been Critical Condition, having been treated at a local hospital in this town about 100 miles from bratislava. There you can see the images of the Prime Minister being bundled into that security car before being taken to the local hospital. He has now been airlifted to a Major Trauma Centre in a nearby town, where he is undergoing surgery. But according to local officials , he according to local officials, he is described as being in a life threatening condition. Weve got some more new video , as you can some more new video, as you can imagine, bits and pieces coming in all the time on this story. Martin, weve got some more video that shows, the arrest of the main suspect, and that as the main suspect, and that as the camera sort of rushes towards that, wall and over the wall, you can see that man having been wrestled to the ground by police and Security Services before being handcuffed and taken away. We dont know at this stage, martin, what the motivation for the shooting of Robert Fitzhugh was, only that apparently this man had shouted towards the Prime Minister, shouting , robert, come over shouting, robert, come over here which the Prime Minister probably obliged, because what was apparently happening, was a meet and greet as politicians will often do, you can see the barriers in those images that were set up for crowd control. So clearly in this town, they were expected ing their Prime Minister and members of the government to attend this meeting at a local cultural centre. And afterwards the Prime Minister was involved. We understand, in a meet and greet with members of the public, always the most difficult and, worrying of times for anyone involved in Close Protection dufies. Involved in Close Protection duties. Martin, because its at duties. Martin, because its at that point where youre face to face with members of the public and while indoors at an event, you can at least put some level of security in to try to get a handle on whos coming in to these premises and perhaps search them and put them through metal detectors and alike. Its much more difficult to do that in a public street. Much more difficult to do that in a public street. As i say, in a public street. As i say, there were crowd control barriers, and members of the police and Security Services there. But if someone has a gun hidden about their person, its just a matter of a second or so before theyve got that weapon out and opening fire. And really, you have to be right on top of someone to be able to react in enough time , to stop react in enough time, to stop them doing any serious harm. And we know that this Prime Minister feet. So, now has , suffered feet. So, now has, suffered serious harm because to according his own officials, he is in a life threatening condition at this hour. And, mark, we clearly have footage there of the would be assassin being apprehended. No doubt he will go through some thorough questioning without speculating. Do we know anything speculating. Do we know anything about mr fitzhughs politics or background that may give us a clue as to the kind of enemies he may have made. Hes a pro russian right. Hes a populist, former communist party member. Do you know anything else about him . In a more recent manner, which may give us some indication as to possible motives . Well, hes certainly a divisive figure , theres no divisive figure, theres no doubt about that. And he is someone with a long political history in this country. And as such, any politician who served in office, even though it was on and off over probably ten years, over a number of times , heading over a number of times, heading that country, you have political baggage. You have those who are opposed, even vehemently opposed to you and your policies. And we know that this Prime Minister in particular, was seen as someone who was, quite close and sympathetic to the kremlin, someone who in opposition when he was, stand at the last set of elections, said one of the first things he would do when he got in power would be to immediately stop aid to ukraine. And true to his word, within months of gaining power, a coalition because he didnt win outright. Outright power, but in that Coalition Government, he put through legislation that stopped aid , to ukraine. Hes also aid, to ukraine. Hes also currently in the process of trying to dismantle the state broadcaster there, i mean, hes a man. As i say, hes not been without controversy in 2018, he was forced to resign because of the assassination, the murder of an investigative journalist in slovakia , the controversy slovakia, the controversy surrounding him and accusations made against him at the time that forced him effectively out of office. But as i say, hes a long standing politician who has beenin long standing politician who has been in and out of office and now, of course, since october of last year he has been back in office. However unpopular he might be with some sections of the country. He might be with some sections of the country. He is the Prime Minister, the legitimate Prime Minister, the legitimate Prime Minister and understandably, politicians right around the world are, expressing their shock and support for this Prime Minister and his family. Shock and support for this Prime Minister and his family. Rishi minister and his family. Rishi sunak, is one of the latest , to sunak, is one of the latest, to express his shock at the awful news, coming out of slovakia and saying that his thoughts are with the Prime Minister and with his family and mark white. The very fact that Robert Fitzhugh had to be airlifted to a major trauma unit, it seems very concerning. Yes, he was taken initially, to the local area hospital in this town, about 100 miles from bratislava. The doctors there had discussed sending him by helicopter to bratislava. Of course , where they will have the course, where they will have the biggest and best equipped Trauma Centres. But apparently the decision was made that that journey would too be long given the Critical Condition the precarious nature of the wounds that hed suffered and the condition he was in and so instead he was taken to an another Major Trauma Centre in a town that is just a bit closer town that is just a bit closer to where this incident took place. So thats where he is at the moment, undergoing emergency surgery and we await the outcome of the that surgery. And an update on his condition. Okay. Well, we have to leave it there. But of course, were it there. But of course, were coming back to you for more on that story. The slovakian Prime Minister is in a life threatening situation. Heres your weather. First. A brighter outlook with boxt solar sponsors of weather on. Gb news. Afternoon. Welcome to your latest weather update from the met office here on gb news. Some sunny spells around tomorrow, but a greater chance of some heavy downpours across the south again. Northern scotland may well see the highest temperatures. Low pressure is dominating down to the southwest. This weather front providing a band of thicker cloud and some rain and drizzle over Northern England. Southern scotland thatil peter out, as will the heavy showers weve got scattered across parts of the midlands through the early evening, so many of us will have a dry night quite murky and misty on the east coast and in the south. Some thicker fog patches could form through the early hours as well, as temperatures dropped to 11 to 12 celsius. A little cooler in northern scotland, with some clearer skies here onto thursday. It is a bit of a messy one, murky again on some eastern coasts, much of the south starting dry, but the likelihood of some showery rain pushing into parts of eastern england. Into parts of eastern england. Early doors any Early Morning mist and fog in the south should be clearing away by rush hour. Generally dry and bright for wales and northern ireland. Some fine weather again across much of scotland , although southern of scotland, although southern scotland may well start a little dull and damp. We will again have this breeze coming in from the east. Thats going to make for some misty conditions again. At times on some of those eastern coast could be a little bit of heart around, but again, for northwest scotland we should see plenty of sunny spells elsewhere. Quite a lot of cloud for Northern England and some showery rain. Working once more, initially into lincolnshire and east anglia, but then spreading across parts of the midlands and later towards wales. Some heavy showers, likely across south wales and southern england, come the afternoon. In the brighter spells here 20 degrees 2122 in western scotland, maybe a little higher along the moray firth, but cooler again on those north sea coasts, and cooler where weve got this rainier zone staying pretty wet across northwest england and north wales into the evening. The outlook is for more sunshine and showers, but the showers fading through the weekend, many of us looking dry and fine for gb news. Hey, frank. Good afternoon to you. Its 4 pm. And welcome to the Martin Daubney show on gb news. Broadcasting live from the heart of westminster all across the uk. On todays show, the the uk. On todays show, the slovakian Prime Minister, Robert Fitzhugh, is in a life threatening condition after being shot and wounded, mr fitzhugh was attacked in front of a Cultural Community centre in the town where a government meeting was being held. Well have all the latest on this attempted assassination , and the attempted assassination, and the policing minister has demanded that police must increase their use of stop and search to tackle the scourge of knife crime and stop bowing to Campaign Groups who slam it as racist. Ill speak to a mother and a grandmother who lost loved ones to knife crime. Later in the show, and food bank users are at an all time high, with a 94 increase in five years. Now, the labour party say this is the result of 14 years of tory misery. But is that the result of 14 years of tory misery. But is that the case or are they being abused by some people who dont actually need them . Thats all coming up in your next hour. Welcome to the show. Thanks for your company. Always a delight. Weve got a huge breaking story, of course, Robert Fitzhugh, the slovakian Prime Minister and attempted assassination. Hes critically injured, critically ill, been airlifted to a hospital for life saving treatment. Well have a full update on that. Plus, later in the show, be asking you about food banks. Theres been a huge increase in their use. Earlier on in the show, i asked you, do you know anybody out there who abuses food banks . Or are they all worthy causes . Well, ive got hundreds of your essays in on this topic already, and its fair to say theres some pretty spicy content. Ill read some of that out later in the show. You get your comments in this way. Gbnews. Com yoursay but before all of that, its time for your latest News Headlines with tatiana sanchez. Tatiana sanchez. Martin, thank you very much. And good afternoon. The top stories as youve been hearing this breaking news that slovakias Prime Minister, robert fico, is in a Critical Condition after he was shot following a government meeting in handlova outside the capital bratislava. This is the moment the Prime Minister was bundled into a car after he was shot. He was then airlifted to hospital, where his condition is now life threatening. Witnesses in the threatening. Witnesses in the area said they heard several shots before a man was detained by police. Slovakias president condemned the assassination attempt, describing it as a brutal attack. Mr feet. So won power for a fourth time last october and has implemented more pro russian policies. Hes pledged to stop military support for ukraine and threatened to veto the countrys membership in nato. Well bring you more on this developing story as we get it. In other news, the keir it. In other news, the keir starmer used all six questions at todays Prime Ministers questions to grill rishi sunak about overcrowded prisons as emergency measures were triggered to deal with the problem in england. It means problem in england. It means defendants in Police Custody remain there and wont be transferred to courts for bail heanngs. Transferred to courts for bail hearings. The labour leader referenced a recent report which says high risk prisoners are being released up to 70 days early at short notice, without sufficient planning on monday, the Prime Minister suggested labour cant be trusted with national security. The Early Release of stalkers, domestic abusers and those considered a risk to children sound like the work of someone who is making the country more secure. Here mr speaken country more secure. Here mr speaker, as ive said , as ive speaker, as ive said, as ive said, no one should be put on this scheme if they are a threat to the public. And let me be crystal clear, it does not apply to me. Absolutely. It does not apply to anyone serving a life sentence. Anyone convicted of a serious violent offence, anyone convicted of terrorism , anyone convicted of terrorism, anyone convicted of terrorism, anyone convicted of terrorism, anyone convicted of a sex offence and crucially , in contrast to the crucially, in contrast to the system that labour had put in place , mr speaker, governors and place, mr speaker, governors and the Prison Service have an absolute lock so that no one is put on the scheme who shouldnt be. The government has suggested police could make more use of existing stop and search powers as part of new measures to tackle knife crime. The searches were curbed a decade ago by then home secretary theresa may after it was found minorities were being disproportionately targeted. £3. 5 million will be targeted. £3. 5 million will be invested into developing new technology, which could help police detect suspects carrying knives by scanning them from a distance. New proposals could distance. New proposals could see schools in england banned from teaching students about gender identity. The gender identity. The governments review would also seal Sex Education, halted for children under the age of nine. The Prime Minister ordered a review into relationships, sex and health, education last year over concerns some children were being exposed to inappropriate content. Reports suggest parents will be provided samples of Sex Education content before lessons take place. A red notice search take place. A red notice search warrant for an escaped french prisoner has been issued by interpol. Third three year old mohamed amro, also known as the fly , escaped from a prison van fly, escaped from a prison van in northern france yesterday , in northern france yesterday, sparking a major manhunt. He was broken free by gunmen in an ambush that killed two prison guards. More food parcels were handed out over the past year than ever before. The Trussell Trust says it donated more than 3 million emergency packages in the year to the end of march, as the year to the end of march, as the cost of living puts more households under strain. More households under strain. More than a million of those were for children, and the overall total has almost doubled in just five years. The trust is calling on the government to tackle long term deficiency in the welfare system. The mother of barnaby system. The mother of barnaby webber, who was stabbed and killed in nottingham last year, has told gb news she feels the killers sentence was the result of a flawed and weak Police Investigation. Barnaby webber, Grace Omalley Kumar and ian coates were killed last june by valdo calocane. The 32 year old, who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia , was given an schizophrenia, was given an indefinite hospital order. Emma webber says the case has revealed weaknesses in the legal system. System. We were not expecting anything other than the outcome yesterday. I think weve hopefully made it very clear that all three families united, do not accept, the plea of diminished responsibility. So therefore manslaughter alongside therefore manslaughter alongside the attempted murder charges. And we feel its the result of a very, very flawed and failed Police Investigation and a weak, cps prosecution from the east midlands and an utter overreliance upon doctors reports. Reports. For the latest stories, you can sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen. Or you can go to gb news. Com alerts. Now its back to. Martin. Thank you tatiana. Now lets get more on that breaking news story on the slovakian Prime Minister, Robert Fitzhugh , who minister, Robert Fitzhugh, who is in a life threatening condition after being shot. And joining us now is gb news Homeland Security editor, mark white. Mark. Mark, bring us up to speed. Clearly an attempted assassination, a life threatening condition. Whats threatening condition. Whats the latest . Well, we still await an update on what the Prime Ministers condition is. The ministers condition is. The last update, we had about 45 minutes ago put that condition is critical. And a life threatening condition treated initially in the local hospital. In this town, about 100 miles from the capital bratislava. Then he was flown by air ambulance to another Trauma Centre, a larger Trauma Centre better equipped. There were plans to transfer him to the caphal plans to transfer him to the capital, but it was thought that, given the precarious nature of his medical condition, that it was just too far a journey. Even for a helicopter to make. I should say at this hour were getting some news through now, which is being reported widely in slovakia from television and radio stations and newspapers in slovakia, saying that the alleged attacker was a well known slovak writer , was a well known slovak writer, juraj chinchilla. Chinchilla juraj chinchilla. Chinchilla juraj chinchilla, who, according to local media. They say he was a well known activist of the liberal party, progressive slovak. Here and again, slovak. Here and again, according to these media reports, being widely transmitted on radio, television and across newspapers in slovakia, he had a registered weapon. Weve not been able to weapon. Weve not been able to independently confirm that, but we are just reporting on what the media in slovakia is now widely reporting. This is just one outlet. Its right across this country. Television and radio stations naming the suspected attacker as juraj chinchilla. They say he was chinchilla. They say he was a well known slovak writer and an activist for the liberal Party Progressive slovakia. He is now in custody. The images theyre showing him on the ground, with police and Security Services surrounding adding this man taking him into custody , it will taking him into custody, it will be very quickly apparent that thatis be very quickly apparent that that is the main suspect. Im sure when we get an official, News Conference from the officials in slovakia. But as yet, of course, theyre most concerned with the condition of their Prime Minister, who is in a life threatening condition after having sustained, were told, gunshot wounds to the abdomen, to an arm and to a leg as well. The images there of him being scooped up and bungled, bundled into the, that armoured, limousine and taken off to the local hospital in this town handoven local hospital in this town handover, handover, which is just 100 miles from bratislava before now being transferred by an air ambulance to a larger Trauma Centre not far from this town. And that is a Significant Development you just mentioned there, mark white, if the local media reports are true, we were we were speculating earlier this this is the Prime Minister has a significant political heritage as being very pro russian. Close links to the kremlin. And you mentioned stopping aid to ukraine, dismantling the state broadcaster. These are highly inflammatory things to people of a certain political persuasion. A certain political persuasion. And a well known writer, clearly with very different political leanings. Mark white, this is the dramatic development. Yes, it is. I mean, as i say, he yes, it is. I mean, as i say, he is a man, not without controversy. The fact that he controversy. The fact that he served now, this is his fourth term in office. Theres a lot of political baggage there. But he has viewpoints that, you know, many people in that country agree with. But of course, many others dont. And when you have Divisive Political figures, they can be a target and always of worry to anyone charged with protecting a vip like a leading politician in is the walkabouts when they can come face to face with members of the public and those officers who will have been on his close security detail were on hand very quickly to wrestle this suspect to the ground. But really, you need lightning quick reaction. You need to be right next to someone when theyre pulling out a weapon. Really, to be in any way effective in stopping them, causing serious harm. It is all over within a second or two. And thats certainly what the eyewitnesses reported. They said that this man shouted to the Prime Minister, robbo, come over here. And of course, the Prime Minister probably duly obliged as he was meeting members of the public, and then just within a second or two for gunshot s, according to eyewitnesses, rang out as the Prime Minister was shot in the abdomen in the leg and in the arm. According to these reports and huge details , these reports and huge details, when you look into if it is true, progressive slovakia , a true, progressive slovakia, a liberal and social liberal Political Party in slovakia established in 2017, the party is led by michael schumacher, a former Vice President of the European Parliament. Its a member of the renew europe group, so clearly theres a political angle here. If this is true, mark white, it would appear that, a potential flashpoint here is the very different political leanings between the Prime Minister pro russia, pro kremlin, and this would be assassin. If this this would be assassin. If this is true, if this is true, amazing stuff. Well, indeed. Well, i mean, we are seeing, of course, in in slovakia, youve got, you know, scenes of unrest in georgia , scenes of unrest in georgia, georgia, youve got unrest in hungary with viktor orban again , hungary with viktor orban again, someone whos seen as very divisive leader in that country. And youve got a clear dividing lines, of course, with many of these leaders. And it can, you these leaders. And it can, you know, it can be seen along the lines of those who are pro kremlin, those who are leaning much more towards the European Union and to ukraine. And that makes for, you know, a great deal of potential for those that are opposed to whatever the politician and power might, direction they might be taking their country for in them, potentially to lead to violence, you know, Political Violence , is not unknown. Its violence, is not unknown. Its happened on multiple occasions throughout the years , and thats throughout the years, and thats why, of course, these politicians are very closely guarded with their close security details. And we are security details. And we are theyve had their election penod theyve had their election period there. But were going into european elections in this country. Were going very probably into an election later in the year. And politicians always while they want to be accessible to the public, to the electorate, they take risks when they do that. In this country, two politicians have come to harm. We should say that robert fico has now been transported to this larger Trauma Centre. Martin its the ed. Roosevelt faculty hospital in banska bystrica, which is not too far from this town, where he was shot and critically injured. Shot and critically injured. Fantastic update there, mark white, a dramatic situation. Thank you for that full update. Of course well cut back to you throughout the show as more details emerge. And im joined details emerge. And im joined now in the studio by gb news Political Editor chris hope. Chris, what a situation it has all the inklings of a politically motivated attack. Whats the reaction been in the world of politics . Yeah, its coming in rapidly. We hear from the pm, rishi sunak. He says hes shocked to hear this awful news. All our thoughts are with the Prime Minister, fisu and his family. Were hearing from the irish premier Michelle Micheal martin. Hes deeply shocked and appalled by the attack. A vile and reckless shooting is a direct attack on democracy. Democracy itself. The estonian Prime Minister khasakhala saying that its an assault on the very idea of democracy. And that is what this is, is it is an assault on an elected leader of a european country. Youve heard there from the slovakian president elect, peter pellegrini. He goes a peter pellegrini. He goes a threat to democracy. And in an Election Year around the world, as elections across the world, america, we know about the uk election coming up probably in the autumn. A lot all, Security Services across the world. Were watching this. How did this happen . It will may cool down walkabouts. Mark white talk there about the risk. Also always always on the election trail when you go there. If this man was called over by somebody in the crowd, then youre going to have politicians going up there shaking hands, greeting voters, trying to win a tight election. You can see it happening in the uk and the threat to people will be alarming. People who care about security and are protecting our politicians here in the uk, and were still waiting for verification. Mark white there reporting that local media claiming the would be assassin, a well known writer and activist with the political Party Progressive slovakia, which is a pro eu party, he urug gin tula appears to be the name weve yet to verify that in the west , but verify that in the west, but thatis verify that in the west, but that is being reported locally. Chris hope, thank you for that update. And joining me now is the director of communication and policy at the Henry Jackson society, megan ghettos , welcome, society, megan ghettos, welcome, megan, to the show. A hugely dramatic situation here. An attempted assassination of the premier in slovakia. Whats your take on this , it seems i had the take on this, it seems i had the news, of course, was hugely shocked, Political Violence is increasing across the western world and europe, everywhere really , and as in this year, really, and as in this year, particularly as the world almost goes to the polls, we should be quite concerned at this development, my initial thoughts were kind of similar to the reports that were hearing just now. And was this due to the Prime Ministers pro russian stance, politics in slovakia is incredibly tense right now due to this. Weve had to remember that pro russian stance. Doesnt necessarily mean its based on a moral argument on the ukraine war, which is sometimes played out as it usually comes down to gas and a rejection of sanctions. And with that becomes heavy censorship on behalf of the kremlin. Were talking about sanctioning journalists, things like that. So politics in like that. So politics in slovakia are incredibly tense right now as a result of the heavy u turn of slovakia. You heavy u turn of slovakia. You have to remember this is about five year u turn. It used to be very pro ukraine, so there is Historical Context here as well. Historical context here as well. And megan, when we look back at some of the policies and recent political moves of Robert Fitzhugh , he stopped aid to fitzhugh, he stopped aid to ukraine in some recent legislation he planned to dismantle this state broadcaster in slovakia and also pledged to take slovakia out of nato. Clearly, not in alignment with slovakia as a member of the European Union. These are all the opposite policy moves. And if the rumours, the speculation in local media are true, that the would be assassin as a well known political activist with very, very different political outtakes. Yeah, urug jin tula, the name is being put forward locally from the progressive slovakia party, a party with liberal and social liberal political backgrounds. Theyre very, very pro European Union. In fact, progressive slovakia is a member of the renew europe group. Clearly we have very, very different politics here, coming to the bear. Yeah. Of course, a very different politics, politics in this region can often be defined, its not just slovakia. Defined, its not just slovakia. It can often be defined as pro eu and pro russia. Those are the two sides you have it in. Serbia, georgia, as we see and being pro eu in these regions doesnt necessarily its not pro eu like it would be in the uk. Its not a belief that its this amazing institution. Often its amazing institution. Often its more the lesser of two evils. Its about not being so pro russia in a lot of circumstances and id say thats why its so tense in slovakia. But of course , if reports are but of course, if reports are true and its, due to the, an alignment with a particular party, i cant imagine that things are going to be any better on that front, probably will be more tense, more hostile , he is the pm is, of course, a minority leader, so he doesnt. He has a Coalition Government, there is a diverse opinions in slovakia, but of course, what were seeing with georgia at the moment, being pro russia doesnt often mean, just being anti eu. Often mean, just being anti eu. It comes with a lot of censorship, and you are often at the hands of the kremlin with policies , and there is immense policies, and there is immense fear that that may continue in slovakia. Here, of course, we slovakia. Here, of course, we have to wait for these reports to be confirmed , but theres to be confirmed, but theres protests all across the balkans and Eastern Europe when it comes to the pro russian sentiment. To the pro russian sentiment. And weve seen it increasing since the ukraine war. As a more of a fear that they might be, next on putins radar. And indeed, we saw yesterday in tbilisi, the georgian capital protests. Thats about similar protests. Thats about similar moves to clamp down on media again with links to the kremlin. But looking ahead, megan, of course, in three weeks time we have European Union elections in slovakia, of course, slovakia, a member of the eu, was one of those countries admitted in 2004. And this has a huge beanng 2004. And this has a huge bearing on that. I mean, different parties will be standing on very different tickets in relation to the European Union. I mean, with those elections only three weeks ahead could they could those elections be in jeopardy . Should elections be in jeopardy . Should they be allowed to go ahead with an attempted assassination on the cards , i think thats the cards, i think thats a really good question. Should they be allowed to go ahead, im not sure that not. Theyre not going ahead, in my personal opinion. Im not sure them not opinion. Im not sure them not going ahead would do a whole lot of good in the way the feeling would be in slovakia right now. However for, the campaign may take a pause and they may decide to delay it. And, im not sure either of those decisions is wrong or right, but the impact this may have, if i think it will definitely get people out of their houses to vote. Turnout for the eu elections is not just poonin for the eu elections is not just poor, in the uk, its often poor across europe, and member states. So i think this would definitely get people out of their houses no matter when it was held. Whether you were pro or anti the eu, it certainly make you want to get your voice heard. What of course an echo or World Leaders right now this is a horrific event and no matter where you stand we its we all have a lot at stake if we dont condemn Political Violence of this nature , regardless of where this nature, regardless of where you stand, Political Violence is a form of censorship, so it should be a reminder to everyone at whats at stake. Should this kind of trend continue . Kind of trend continue . Okay. We have to leave it there. Thank you for joining okay. We have to leave it there. Thank you forjoining us. There. Thank you for joining us. Megan gittoes, whos the director of communication and policy at the Henry Jackson society. And, of course , well society. And, of course, well keep you up to date on that attempted assassination on the slovakian Prime Minister throughout the show. Were back throughout the show. Were back after this. Break. Welcome back. Your time is 428. Im Martin Daubney , and this is im Martin Daubney, and this is gb news. Now, throughout the show, of course, well be bringing you all the latest. As the slovakian Prime Minister, Robert Fitzhugh, is now in Critical Condition following an assassination attempt. All the latest on this in just a moment. But moving on now, this comes as the government is telling the police in britain that they must use their stop and search powers to stamp out knife crime, rather than to what they say is to appease Campaign Groups who claim that the method is discriminatory. The policing minister , chris philp, says it minister, chris philp, says it is a vital tool in helping remove knives off the streets, but is concerned that it is not being used often enough by police forces. Well, joining me police forces. Well, joining me now is reformed gang member and youth rehabilitator sicoris mcgraw. Welcome to the show. Delighted to have you on. So when you hear about the police increasing, stop and search. Whats your take on that . Is it a necessary tool or is it, as campaigners say, divisive . Campaigners say, divisive . Yeah, in my view, its definitely a necessary tool. Definitely a necessary tool. And in order to reduce knife crime then its one of the measures that need to be applied sooner rather than later. And i mean, what what experience did you have . Have you been stopped and searched yourself and how was the experience . But despite all of that, do you think its still a necessary and good tool . Yeah. Yeah. Well, the experience when i was in that lifestyle was an absolute nightmare. Some days id be getting stopped up to 4 or 5 times a day, i did not like it whatsoever. It was very intrusive. It was very, disrupting. But at the same time, it prevented me carrying weapons as often as i may have liked. Weapons as often as i may have uked. So weapons as often as i may have liked. So theres no doubt in my mind that it definitely reduced the number of victims, and it definitely saved lives. So do you think that those people who campaign against stop and search, be they politicians or activist groups, are not helping . In fact, theyre exacerbating the issue and theyre helping people carrying knives to evade prosecution and detection. Detection. Yeah, theres no doubt in my mind that these campaigners who were campaigning against stop and search, i go to meetings with many of them. And when i dissect what they say and challenge them, then they have no come back because they dont really understand it. Theyve never been on the receiving end, and the people theyre speaking to are given , a manipulating to are given, a manipulating the, manipulating the situation and playing the victim. When and playing the victim. When most of these kids who were saying they dont like, stop and search are actually perpetrators of knife crime. Of knife crime. And its worth bearing in mind that often we hear in places like london and birmingham that stop and search disproportionately targets black people six times more likely to be stopped and searched. Yet the data shows us that in london, black people are four and a half times more likely to stab somebody to death. Theyre three and a half times more likely to be stabbed to death themselves. Be stabbed to death themselves. And when we saw Violence Reduction units in places like liverpool, in places like glasgow, they were targeting White Working Class lads on known estates in known areas. Nobody complained about there being any racism. Then it was simply targeted policing in areas with a known knife problem. Yeah, it depends on the demographics and the make up of each area, the area where i was, it was predominantly white people that was being stopped and searched, i was amongst those and i believe i was stopped and searched more than the vast majority of people in the vast majority of people in the country, most people i engage with in my criminal career were black and asian , and career were black and asian, and they also had a fear of stop and search. They didnt want to carry weapons when they come to liverpool, so it is hugely effective and i dont think its discriminatory because it depends on the demographics and the makeup of the area where the issues are occurring. You know, some perpetrators are black, some perpetrators are black, some are white, some are asian. Its not. Its not a black problem. Its not a white problem. Its not a white problem. You know, its a problem. You know, its a problem within our young people irrespective of their colour ratio or culture or religion. Ratio or culture or religion. Very succinctly. And thank you very much for your input. So sorry mcgrath. I hope i got your name right there. Reform gang member and youth rehabilitator, thank you very much for joining for your time today and joining us. Thank you. Now, dont go anywhere because the slovakian Prime Minister, robert fico , is now in a robert fico, is now in a Critical Condition following an assassination attempt. All the latest on this in just a moment. But first, its your latest news headunes but first, its your latest News Headlines with tatiana sanchez. Headlines with tatiana sanchez. Martin, thank you and good afternoon. The top stories as weve been hearing, slovakias Prime Minister robert fico is in a Critical Condition after he was shot following a government meeting in handlova outside the capital bratislava. Officials capital bratislava. Officials could be seen bundling the Prime Minister into a car. Shortly after, several shots were heard hitting mr fitzhugh in the abdomen. He was then airlifted to hospital, where his condition is now life threatening. A man has now been detained by police. Hes been named by local media as gerard centola, a well known slovak writer and political activist, were not yet able to confirm those reports, which are appearing in slovakian media. The countrys president condemned the assassination attempt, describing it as a brutal attack. Rishi sunak says his thoughts are with the Prime Minister and his family. In other news, police could make more use of existing stop and search powers as part of new measures to tackle knife crime. The searches were curbed by a decade ago by then home secretary theresa may, after it was found minorities were being disproportionately targeted. The government will invest £3. 5 million into developing new technology, which could help police detect suspects carrying knives by scanning them from a distance. The new proposals distance. The new proposals could see schools in england banned from teaching students about gender identity. The about gender identity. The governments review would also see all Sex Education halted for children under the age of nine. The Prime Minister ordered a review into relationships, sex and health, education last year over concerns some children were being exposed to inappropriate content. A red notice search content. A red notice search warrant for an escaped french prisoner has been issued by interpol. 30 year old Mohamed Amara, also known as the fly, escaped from a prison van in northern france yesterday, sparking a major manhunt. He was broken free by gunmen in an ambush that killed two prison guards. For ambush that killed two prison guards. For the ambush that killed two prison guards. For the latest stories, guards. For the latest stories, you can sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen or go to gb news. Common alerts. Common alerts. Thank you tatiana. Now its time for the Great British giveaway and your chance to enjoy a spectacular summer with an extra £20,000 in your bank account. All tax free. Its our biggest prize of the year so far , and heres how it could all be yours. You really could be our next big winner with an incredible £20,000 in tax free cash to play with this summer. What £20,000 in tax free cash to play with this summer. What would you with this summer. What would you spend that on . Well, whilst youre thinking about it, listen to some of our previous winners getting that winning phone call from us. Im charles, im on £18,000 cash. It was just amazing. And as soon as it goes into your bank account, it just changes the life changing thing. Just go for it. Its the life changing thing. Just go for it. Its an the life changing thing. Just go for it. Its an absolute the life changing thing. Just go for it. Its an absolute must. You must try and go for it. The next winning call could be answered by you for another chance to win £20,000 in tax free cash text win to 63232. Text cost £2 plus one Standard Network rate message or post your name and number two gb05 p. O your name and number two gb05 po box 8690 derby dh1 nine double t uk only entrance must be 18 or over. Lines closed at 5 pm. On the 31st of may. Full terms and Privacy Notice at gbnews. Com win. Please check the closing time if listening or watching on demand. Good welcome back. Your time is 439. Im Martin Daubney on gb news now. New data reveals that 3. 1 million emergency food parcels were provided to people facing hardship between april 2023 and march 2024. Thats more than ever seen before. Now, the labour party say this is a result of 14 years of tory misery, but is that really the case, or are some people abusing food banks when they dont really need them . Well, im joined in the studio now by the founder of dads house, a food bank which has provided over 240,000 meals to over 57,000 people. The legend Billy Mcgranaghan bidgee billy, always a delight to have you in. So first lets talk about the numbers. The government numbers. Numbers. The government numbers. Theyre eye watering. Is that reflective of what youre seeing at dads house . Absolutely. And i think thats only the tip of the iceberg, martin, because theres roughly 12 to 1300 independent food banks in the uk and youve got the salvation army, youve got schools, youve got social services, youve got so many different organisations that are helping families on a daily basis, because people think the cost of living is over, but its not, you know, whats special about your particular food bank, dads house. You dont address the regular clientele. Tell us about the kind of people that come and see you. Oh, we weve got mums, dads, families, middle class, you know, theyve got Young Students who are on zero hour contracts. Weve got people who are working who are absolutely struggling, especially in london with high rents and low wages. And when youve got young, young men and women on zero hour contracts, you know what . They work 3 or 4 days a week. And the hospitality industry, and theyre losing so much money because people are not spending it. People havent got that disposable income that they once had, you know . So things are tough for everyone. And one thing thats particularly special about dads house course is you cater for dads, you know, a demographic that often theres a lot of shame, a lot of stigma in reaching out for help. So how does that work . And how do man, in particular overcome that stigma and get help from you . Im glad you asked that, because we are so lucky that although were a single dads charity, a food bank is only one of our projects. Of our projects. Weve got guitar lessons, weve got dads yoga, weve got dads, football, Breakfast Clubs, lunch clubs , Family Law Clinics. Lunch clubs, Family Law Clinics. Theres so much going on. So when a dad comes into dads house, no one knows what that persons coming in for. It could be anything. And when a dads really broke, hell find out. Hell see the food and hell say, oh, god, youre a food bank. And a lot of dads dont realise that. They just want to come and have a chat, have a cup of coffee, you know, and express exactly whats going on, especially since covid and lockdown. You know, a lot of families are are breaking up. Were seeing so much family breakdown just now like never before. And a lot of Mental Health issues. Health issues. And its a vitally important service. You can offer them a range of support, not only food, but also getting them Legal Support and all the rest of it. I want to put a point to you, though, that weve been raising throughout the show, but that is a lot of people have been emailing in today on your says gbnews. Com yoursay saying they they know people themselves who abuse food banks, who take the mickey in a sense. Heres one from anne. She says this i dont believe for one second that all the people using food banks actually need to. What would you say to that, billy . Well , no, because everybodys well, no, because everybodys got different circumstances and you dont know what these those circumstances are. Especially in again, in london and what we have done is built up a brilliant relationship with other clients. We know them all. Well get between 250 and 350 clients a week just for the food bank alone. And we felt, as i said, you came up with the figures, over 70,000 families in the last four years, do you know . So weve got to know so many different nationalities , many different nationalities, dads, mums, you know, grandparents are what we do is unbelievable. And we have lunch clubs as well, you unbelievable. And we have lunch clubs as well , you know, so its clubs as well, you know, so its a whole Community Event and we couldnt have done that without the partnerships that that we have , you know. So anne is she have, you know. So anne is she might know 1 or 2 people, but youre going to get 1 or 2 people doing something everywhere, all the time. You know, i wouldnt worry about that. Okay. And billy, youre dressed to the nines. I believe thats because youve just won an award. I got a Lifetime Achievement award, last week. And we also won the Family Law Clinic award with simon bruce berry and xl bully simon miller , berry and xl bully simon miller, william hodge, jacqueline fitzgerald, and our brilliant law students. You know, so for me, that was a dream come true because i sit in my office and my little table and pick up the phone. Martin. But these guys do all the work, you know, and what we have is gold dust, you know, were were saving families. You know, were bringing dads back from the brink of isolation, desperation, suicide. You know desperation, suicide. You know what we do in our office . Were were a tiny office, but we help dads all over the uk. Billy, im a huge fan of your work. Im a huge fan of you. I think youre a star. Thank you so much forjoining us in the studio. Richly deserved award. Thats Billy Mcgranaghan from dads house. Welcome to come back any time now. Dont go anywhere because in just a few moments, well be bringing you all of the latest as the slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fitzhugh, is now in a Critical Condition following an assassination attempt earlier today. All the latest on this breaking news story. In just a moment i gb gb news 5mm gb news is the home of free speech. We were created to champion it. And we deliver it. And we deliver it. Day in, day out. Day in, day out. Free speech allows us all to explore and debate openly the issues most important to us, our families and of course, the british people having challenging conversations to enlighten each other. Which is why we hear all sides of the argument. We are the peoples channel. We are the peoples channel. We are the peoples channel. We will always stand by the freedom to express yourself on tv , radio and online. Tv, radio and online. This is gb news, britains news channel. News channel. Welcome back. Its approaching 449. Im Martin Daubney and this is gb news. And lets get more now on the breaking news that the slovakian Prime Minister, Robert Fitzhugh , Prime Minister, Robert Fitzhugh, who is in a life threatening condition after being shot earlier today, and joining us now is gb news home and security edhon now is gb news home and security editor, mark white. Mark, youve been bringing us this story as its been developing the latest we heard the Prime Minister is in a Critical Condition. Do we have any more information . Well, as you can imagine, weve been getting reports and video images related to this story coming in all the time. The latest images we can bring, you actually show that Prime Minister Robert Fitzhughs helicopter thats just arrived in the town of banska bystrica, which is just east of the town handlova , where the shooting handlova, where the shooting occurred. And you can see medics doing their best to hold blankets up to protect the Prime Minister from the lens of the media, as that stretcher is wheeled in to this local Trauma Centre, its a Major Trauma Centre, its a Major Trauma Centre, better equipped than the hospital in handlova, where he was initially stabilised and then taken to this Major Trauma Centre. They had martin discussed flying him all the way to bratislava, where, of course they have bigger and even better equipped hospital, all units there. But the decision was taken because of the precarious nature of his medical condition. He is critically injured, described as being a life threatening condition. They decided that a long flight of 110 miles, even in a helicopter, was not advisable. So theyve taken them to here this, well equipped local Trauma Centre to operate on the Prime Minister, on robert ipso, to try to save his life. But no updates on his condition. Really . About an hour and a half ago , we were told and a half ago, we were told that he was in a Critical Condition , but nothing further condition, but nothing further since then. Clearly, if hes in surgery, that could be a protracted process as they deal with whatever impact those bullets had for bullets were told, rang out for shots, rang out as this suspect, apparently according to local reports, shouted robert hur, which is a robert fitzroys nickname. He robert fitzroys nickname. He shouted robert, that the Prime Minister was very close by this shooter when those shots rang out. And of course, you can see in the other very dramatic images there of the Prime Minister being scooped up and taken into that vehicle for transport to hospital. While here, the security and Police Personnel wrestle this suspect to the ground. I should say weve been getting mixed reports about the identity of the alleged attacker. So while we still await some clarity on that, well just urge a bit of caution and probably not go there for the time being. It was widely reported, a name that was out there related to this individual, but there are now other reports circulating suggesting this person may have been a retired security guard. So until we can actually get that confirmed, well just hold off on that. But a very serious situation , which has got situation, which has got politicians around the globe understandably very concerned, seeing a fellow politician in slovakia gunned down like this. Slovakia gunned down like this. And of course, Robert Fitzhugh, well known for policies such as stopping aid to ukraine, dismantling the state broadcaster in slovakia and even plans to take slovakia out of nato. Mark, thats a person with fairly strong views and likely to attract criticism for them. And a man with a very long political history in slovakia, the longest serving Prime Minister. Over a number of penodsin minister. Over a number of periods in office. I think this is his fourth period in office now in 2018, actually , he was now in 2018, actually, he was forced to resign following the controversy surrounding the shooting. The murder of an Investigative Reporter in slovakia and accusations swirling around him at the time. Okay. And the very fact hes been taken to a major trauma unit like that. Mark, it looks as this is a very, very serious situation. They were unable to tend to what it is needs at a smaller hospital. Mark. It looks smaller hospital. Mark. It looks it looks bleak. Well , it looks bleak. Well, certainly the reports have put his condition as life threatening. So we await a formal update from the authorities in slovakia. Okay. Mark white, thank you very much for all of that latest. And of course, well bnng latest. And of course, well bring you the latest on that breaking story as it happens throughout the rest of the show. Just to repeat, if youre joining us, the slovakian Prime Minister was shot and left in a life threatening condition. Im life threatening condition. Im Martin Daubney on gb news. But now heres your. Martin daubney on gb news. But now heres your. Weather. Now heres your. Weather. With a brighter outlook. With boxt solar sponsors of weather on. Gb news. On. Gb news. Afternoon. Welcome to your latest weather update from the met office here on gb news. Some sunny spells around tomorrow, but a greater chance of some heavy downpours across the south again. Northern scotland may well see the highest temperatures. Low pressure is temperatures. Low pressure is dominating down to the southwest. This weather front providing a band of thicker cloud and some rain and drizzle over Northern England. Southern scotland thatil peter out, as will the heavy showers weve got scattered across parts of the midlands through the early evening, so many of us will have a dry night, quite murky and misty on the east coast and in the south, some thicker fog patches could form through the early hours as well as temperatures dropped to 11 to 12 celsius. A little cooler in northern scotland with some clearer skies here. Onto thursday, it is a bit of a messy one, murky again on some eastern coasts , much of the south coasts, much of the south starting dry, but the likelihood of some showery rain pushing into parts of eastern england. Early doors any Early Morning mist and fog in the south should be clearing away by rush hour. Generally dry and bright for wales and northern ireland. Some fine weather again across much of scotland, although southern scotland may well start a little dull and damp. We will again have this breeze coming in from the east thats going to make for some misty conditions again. At times on some of those eastern coast could be a little bit of heart around, but again, for northwest scotland we should see plenty of sunny spells elsewhere. Quite a lot of cloud for Northern England and some showery rain. Working once more, initially into lincolnshire and east anglia, but then spreading across parts of the midlands and later towards wales. Some heavy showers, likely across south wales and southern england, come the afternoon. In the brighter spells here 20 degrees 2122 in western scotland, maybe a little higher along the moray firth, but cooler again on those north sea coasts, and cooler where weve got this rainier zone staying pretty wet across northwest england and north wales into the evening. The outlook is for more sunshine and showers, but the showers fading through the weekend, many of us looking dry and fine for sunday. Looks like things are heating up. Boxt boilers sponsors of up. Boxt boilers sponsors of weather on gb news. A very good afternoon to you. Its 5 pm. And welcome to the Martin Daubney show on gb news. Broadcasting live from the heart of westminster. All across the uk. On todays show, an assassination attempt has left the slovakian Prime Minister, robert fico, in a life threatening condition after he was shot and wounded. Earlier was shot and wounded. Earlier on, mr fico was attacked in front of a Cultural Community centre in the town where a government meeting was being held. Well have all the latest on this breaking story and the policing minister has demanded that police must increase their use of stop and search to tackle knife crime and stop bowing to Campaign Groups who slam it as racist. And ill speak to a grandmother who lost her grandson to knife crime and Sex Education in englands schools is set to be banned for under nine year olds, and a total ban on teaching children they can change their gender well. Critics say these restrictions could put children at risk. But is it the right move for british children . Thats all coming up in your next hour. Children . Thats all coming up in your next hour. Welcome to in your next hour. Welcome to the show. Always a delight to have your company. Of course, well have all the latest on that assassination attempt of the slovakian Prime Minister. Plus, ill be talking about knife crime. Stop and search. I speak to so many Police Officers , former Police Officers, who tell me its a great tool and effective, targeted tool to try and stamp out what we clearly have. A spiralling knife crime epidemic. But time and time again, activists say its racist or divisive. But the facts are the facts and surely we should be trying to save lives now. Talk to a grandmother shortly who lost her grandson to a knife attack to see what she has to say. Get in touch all the usual ways. And of course it is ways. And of course it is gbnews. Com yoursay hundreds of comments to get through before the end of the show, but before all of that is your news headunes all of that is your News Headlines with tatiana sanchez. Martin. Thank you. The top stories this hour. Slovakias Prime Minister robert fico , is Prime Minister robert fico, is in a Critical Condition after he was shot following a government meeting in handlova, outside the capital bratislava. Officials could be seen bundling the Prime Minister into a car. Shortly after several shots were heard hitting mr fico in the abdomen, he was then airlifted to hospital, where his condition is now life threatening. One man has now been detained by authorities. The countrys president condemned the assassination attempt, describing it as a brutal attack. Mr fico won power for a fourth time last october and has implemented more pro russian policies. Hes pledged to stop military support for ukraine and threatened to veto the countrys membership in nato. In other news, the keir starmer used all six questions at todays Prime Ministers questions to grill rishi sunak about overcrowded prisons as emergency measures were triggered to deal with the problem in england. It means problem in england. It means defendants in Police Custody remain there and wont be transferred to courts for bail hearings. Transferred to courts for bail heanngs. The transferred to courts for bail hearings. The labour leader referenced a recent report which says high risk prisoners are being released up to 70 days early at short notice, without sufficient planning. On monday , sufficient planning. On monday, the Prime Minister suggested labour cannot be trusted with national security, just the Early Release of stalkers, domestic abusers and those considered a risk to children sound like the work of someone who is making the country more secure. Mr speaker, as ive said , as mr speaker, as ive said, as ive said, no one should be put on this scheme if they are a threat to the public. And let me be crystal clear, it does not apply. It absolutely does not apply to anyone serving a life sentence. Anyone convicted of a serious violent offence, anyone convicted of terrorism , anyone convicted of a terrorism, anyone convicted of a sex offence and crucially , in sex offence and crucially, in contrast to the system that labour had put in place , mr labour had put in place, mr speaken labour had put in place, mr speaker, governors and the pfison speaker, governors and the Prison Service have an absolute lock so that no one is put on the scheme who shouldnt be. Police could make more use of existing stop and search powers as part of new measures to tackle knife crime. The searches were curbed by a decade ago by then home secretary theresa may, after it was found minorities were being disproportionately targeted. £3. 5 million will be targeted. £3. 5 million will be invested into developing new technology, which could help police detect suspects carrying knives by scanning them from a distance. New proposals could distance. New proposals could see schools in england banned from teaching students about gender identity. The gender identity. The governments review would also see all Sex Education halted for children under the age of nine. The Prime Minister ordered a review into relationships, sex and health, education last year over concerns some children were being exposed to inappropriate content. Reports suggest parents will be provided samples of Sex Education content before lessons take place. A red notice search warrant for an escaped french prisoner has been issued by interpol. 30 year old Mohamed Amara also known as the fly, escaped from a prison van in northern france yesterday, sparking a major manhunt. He was broken free by gunmen in an ambush that killed two prison guards. His more food parcels were handed out over the past year than ever before. The Trussell Trust says it donated more than 3 million emergency packages in the year to the end of march, as the cost of living puts more households under strain. More than a million of those were for children and the overall total has almost doubled in just five years. The trust is calling on the government to tackle long term deficiencies in the welfare system. The mother the welfare system. The mother of barnaby webber, who was stabbed and killed in nottingham last year, has told gb news she feels the killers sentence was the result of a flawed and weak Police Investigation. Barnaby webber, Grace Omalley Kumar and ian coates were killed last june by valdo calocane. The 32 year old, who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia , was given an schizophrenia, was given an indefinite hospital order. Emma webber says the case has revealed weaknesses in the legal system. System. We were not expecting anything other than the outcome yesterday. I think weve hopefully made it very clear that all three families united, do not accept, the plea of diminished responsibility. So therefore manslaughter alongside therefore manslaughter alongside the attempted murder charges. And we feel its the result of a very, very flawed and failed Police Investigation and a weak , Police Investigation and a weak, cps prosecution from the east midlands and an utter overreliance upon doctors reports. Reports. For the latest stories, you can sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen or go to gb news. Common alerts now back to. Martin. Alerts now back to. Martin. Thank you tatiana. Now lets get more on the breaking news story on the slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fitzhugh, who is in a life threatening condition after being shot earlier on today in an assassination attempt. Joining us now is gb news home and security editor, mark white. Mark, youve been bringing us the latest details on the story as theyve been emerging. What do we know so far for those just joining us and whats the latest . Well, we can bring, you whats the latest . Well, we can bring , you know, well, we can bring, you know, some dramatic new video just obtained by gb news that show the moment of this assassination attempt. You can see that the security detail and the Prime Minister up at that barrier on what is a meet and greet, meeting members of the public and then clearly shots ring out, the Prime Minister falls to the floor at that point as members of the Security Services, his close security detail grapple with the person on the other side of the barrier who has that handgun whos just opened fire. Very dramatic images that are just from, local media in slovakia, just obtained by gb news. And we also brought you just a 15 minutes ago or so, other new images that showed, the Prime Minister, robert fico , the Prime Minister, robert fico, arriving at a hospital, an area Trauma Centre, just not too far from where the shooting happened in the town of handlowa. Well, in the town of handlowa. Well, this Area Medical Centre is in banska bystrica, which is just east of that town of handlova. East of that town of handlova. It has a bigger Trauma Centre. They were martin on weighing up whether, given the very serious nature of the injuries to fly the Prime Minister to a bigger medical centre in the capital, bratislava. But they decided because of the precarious medical condition that he was in, that it would be too long a journey to take him 110 miles to bratislava. Even by helicopter. So they decided to take him the shorter journey to this Area Medical Centre with which is still well equipped. He is undergoing surgery at the moment, but we havent had any other update on the Prime Ministers condition worth, i think playing if we can. The images again just obtained by gb news of the moment when the Prime Minister was shot at, hed gone up to the security barriers there to speak to members of the pubuc there to speak to members of the public as politicians the world over do as they try to connect , over do as they try to connect, of course, with the electorate. Shots rang out, members of the security detail quickly trying to grab this individual. The attacker who fired those shots as the Prime Minister himself fell to the ground. And other fell to the ground. And other images that we have showed, the moments just after this where the security detail scooped up the security detail scooped up the Prime Minister and took him to a waiting armoured limousine for that journey to the local hospital in handlova , where he hospital in handlova, where he was initially treated by the medics at handlova hospital. But of course a smaller hospital there. They just didnt have the capacity and capability there to be able to deal with the very serious nature of Prime Minister fatsos injuries. So thats why he was flown to this hospital in banska banska bystrica, where he is undergoing those, medical procedures , surgery that is procedures, surgery that is being, carried out at the moment with a view to trying to save this mans life. And all the while, of course , as these while, of course, as these images are being played out now around the world, political leaders around the world are expressing their utter horror of what has happened here because politicians, by their very nature, they want to get close to the electorate, to speak to the public. And it carries risks , though, as weve seen here and in other incidents around the world where politicians have come to harm this just the latest, but a very Shocking Development in this town of handlova, about 100 miles from the slovakian capital, bratislava , to where their prime bratislava, to where their Prime Minister, robert fico , was shot minister, robert fico, was shot multiple times and critically injured. Injured. Okay, mark white, thank you for that update. And as you say, dramatic footage, of course , now dramatic footage, of course, now so many people with their mobile phones at any events like this, we have the shooting captured there as you can see, this is there as you can see, this is the attempted assassination earlier on of the slovakian Prime Minister, robert fico , and Prime Minister, robert fico, and then footage of the aftermath, then footage of the aftermath, the immediate aftermath of the Prime Minister being scooped into a parliamentary car, as mark white said, to try and get him treatment , and also footage him treatment, and also footage of the would be assailant being arrested and detained. Mark white thanks that update , of white thanks that update, of course. Well come back to you for more when it breaks through. Lets cut now back to our studio and talk to chris hope, our Political Editor. Chris, what strikes me about that is how chilling that could be for any politician anywhere on an ordinary walkabout. I mean, extremely worrying stuff. That film, obtained by mark white for tv news, will send shockwaves, chills through whitehall , whatever and worries whitehall, whatever and worries about you ask anyone in security is the walkabout. You have to do is the walkabout. You have to do walkabouts to meet the voters. Look like youre one of the people. You cant be always flying past them in a in a Police Escorted motorcade. Youve got to be with people on the ground shaking hands to voters, and then that can happen. That gun coming out, we think is a gun in the individuals hands. Him being pounced on really, really alarming. And you are seeing a lot of reaction across, politics, International Politics of other World Leaders thinking, gosh, you know, there there go any of us really this idea of a lone threat in a crowd. Robbo, lone threat in a crowd. Robbo, come over here. Whatever was said to the two, to Robert Fitzhugh, were seeing reaction already from the irish premier, micheal martin, deeply shocked, appalled by the attack, vile and reckless shootings, a direct attack on democracy itself. The estonian Prime Minister kaja kallas, saying its an assault on the very idea of democracy. On the very idea of democracy. Our own Prime Minister. Im sure well hear more from him later, but the initial reaction from rishi sunak was he was shocked to hear this awful news. All our thoughts are with the Prime Minister, physio and his family. What theyre saying here is an attack on democracy. I think attack on democracy. I think thats why its important to gb news viewers to see it as an attack on our political system. And thats why any assassination attempt like this will be a really alarming to people who keep our politicians safe. Thank you chris. Hope for that. Update wow. Yeah, an astonishing moment. And joining me now is the defence editor at the evening standard, robert fox. Robert, welcome to the show. Its always a delight to have your company. Im afraid its in rather more concerning circumstances now as we look into this, robert, an attack on democracy itself. Its being labelled astonishing footage. There of the would be assassin just walking right up to Robert Fitzhugh, with a gun. We can see fitzhugh, with a gun. We can see footage of the arrest of mr fitzhugh being taken away, in a parliamentary car, and then other footage of him arriving at a Trauma Treatment Centre via helicopter. Were now in helicopter. Were now in a Critical Condition. Life threatening condition. And, robert fox, this just goes to show us how perilous it can be on the front line of politics. Yeah, this is Campaign Season in europe because the European Parliamentary elections are coming up. And of course, a slovakia is on the front line, very close to the front line with the ukrainian conflict. It borders, poland and, as we know and, fejzo himself is quite a controversial figure because he has at times opposed, eu funding , open ended funding for funding, open ended funding for ukraine and he has taken a strong stance on issues like lgbtq. And in fact, there was a demonstration, but from the left, planned for today, which has now been cancelled in view of this, this dreadful news, what worries me is that East Central Europe is now on the royal. There is trouble in many, many different places, both inside the eu and outside, georgia, moldova , the, the, georgia, moldova, the, the, Baltic States are very worried at this time. And just at one mustnt rush to judgement about this attempt. But but its this attempt. But but its a very strange one. Always they are strange. This is not the activity of a professional assassin. So what is really going on here . We can speculate, for very serious gunshots to the stomach. Thats not the work of a professional assassin , robert a professional assassin, robert fox, the political background of Robert Fitzhugh might give us some indication , as you said, some indication, as you said, their hardline stance on stopping aid to ukraine also wanted to dismantle all the state broadcaster in slovakia , state broadcaster in slovakia, its version of the bbc, and also take slovakia out of nato, mr fitzhugh is a pro russian populist believed to have very strong links to the kremlin. This all adds to the feeling that he is a substantial political target in that sense, holding views that many others will find pretty unsavoury. Yeah, and hes very, very close to viktor orban, next door in hungary. Youre absolutely right. A dissident voice, pro russian. And thats why pro russian. And thats why anything can happen. This could anything can happen. This could be. And i dont want to go too far here, but it mustnt be ruled out that this could be what is known as a false flag operation by by, russia. The trouble is that particularly with the instability at the top of the kremlin with, very important figures being removed and shuffled around, namely mr shoygu, but also his former depufies shoygu, but also his former deputies being charged. And theres a big movement around there. And whats going on in there. And whats going on in the caucasus in chechnya and to the caucasus in chechnya and to the north that these asymmetrical, asymmetric, non obvious activities are now very much the order of the day. And what i fear is that this could be the beginning of quite a lot of very unpredictable , a lot of very unpredictable, disturbance in this part of the world. And it cannot be detached from the very serious situation that we are in, in ukraine at the moment. And roberts adding to that. We were covering yesterday from tbilisi, from georgia protests on the streets there, a similar clampdown, in a way, on the state broadcaster. There again state broadcaster. There again with rumours, links to the kremlin , to Vladimir Putin kremlin, to Vladimir Putin throwing his influence and the geo politics of that. Robert. Fascinating. Because, of course, georgia has aspirations of becoming a European Union member. Brussels would like that. A lot of georgians would like that. And that may also have inklings towards its membership of nato, it seems. Robert, yesterday , georgia, robert, yesterday, georgia, today, slovakia, theres a lot of disturbance in this axis of nonh of disturbance in this axis of north macedonia, montenegro , north macedonia, montenegro, just to name but a few. Yes, a lot of activity. And in half of them you can see russian fingerprints. And do you think thats what this is starting to feel like . Again, we mustnt speculate. But two incidents very difficult to jump two incidents very difficult to jump to conclusion i dont think this this is so theatrical that, you know , behind the, behind the you know, behind the, behind the facade, there is something going on, particularly as you say, fitzel himself is such a very strong presence. He was out of politics for a bit. Hes very much a comeback kid and hes very Much Associated with the kremlin, and hes very Much Associated within the eu family as being a thorn in the backside of brussels. And that leads me on to my next question. Of course, in next question. Of course, in around about three weeks time, between june the 6th and the ninth, we are seeing eu elections. Of course, slovakia is a member state. It joined in 2004. Todays events are an attempted assassination of a Prime Minister must cast a huge shadow, a huge influence over those elections. And maybe that is why, robert, a lot of people are saying this is an attack on democracy itself. Yeah it raises a flag. Its very, very important. These elections , of course, these elections, of course, sceptics about the activity profile and performance of the European Parliament say, well, you know, it hasnt performed over much. Its supposed to control the budget, its supposed to put a brake on the Eu Commission and historically, even since, first we had direct elections from the 1970s to, to, to this parliament, it really hasnt quite come up to the top billing, but it is a very important opinion , weathervane important opinion, weathervane and an indication of beliefs and attitudes. And thats why this event of today in mid, slovakia is of the utmost importance. Look weve seen it already. You rightly gb news have been ringing , rightly gb news have been ringing, reading out rightly gb news have been ringing , reading out the ringing, reading out the reactions right across the piece on social media, on x, on telegram , and on instagram. It telegram, and on instagram. It is a major event, robert forks excellent analysis. As ever, the defence editor at the evening standard, thank you very much for your insight, robert fox. And of course, well bring you more on that assassination attempt of the slovakian Prime Minister throughout the rest of the show. But moving back to britain, well soon be speaking to the grandmother of a knife crime victim next about her thoughts on the concerns from the government that the police are not using stop and search tactics often enough welcome back. Its 325. Beau biden is 525. On Martin Daubney. On gb news now. Moving on. Because the government is telling the police that they must use their stop and search powers to tackle knife crime, rather than to what they say to appease Campaign Groups who claim that the method is discriminatory. Claim that the method is discriminatory. Well, policing discriminatory. Well, policing minister chris philp says that stop and search is a vital tool in helping remove knives off the streets, but is concerned that it is not being used often enough by police. Well, joining me now to discuss this is a grandmother who lost her grandson to knife crime, and thatis grandson to knife crime, and that is julie taylor. Thank you very much for coming on the show today. Julie, as difficult it is , could would you please mind sharing with us what happened . 31st of january, 2020. 31st of january, 2020. My grandson was in a village pub having a quiet drink on his with his mate, and he was murdered by knife crime. Murdered by knife crime. It should be his 24th birthday tomorrow. But we lost him at 19. So tomorrow its the fifth birthday weve lost. Been without him. He was murdered by no knife carriers. They had been in. Some had been in prison before for carrying knives. There should be zero tolerance whatsoever. And anyone that opposes it probably hasnt been affected by knife crime. And if they want to come and live in my family for a month, a week, even a day, theyll theyll feel the pain that we feel. That we feel. And, julie, im so sorry. Julie, im so sorry for the loss of your grandson. Liam. Nothing can bring him back. But you campaign on this issue now. You campaign on this issue now. You campaign on this because you dont want this to happen to anybody else. And when you hear about the politicians wanting more, stop and search. And yet we see this continue resistance to do so. How must that make you feel . Feel . I feel like were going around in circles because theyre the police are doing a wonderful job putting their life on the line. On the line. Theres politicians and mps that are doing fantastic jobs , that are doing fantastic jobs, but theres those few people that are dont do it. You know , its racial. Its you know, its racial. Its this and that. No its not. Were only affecting the people that are carrying the knives that are carrying the knives that dont want to be stopped. You know . So my opinion would be you know . So my opinion would be if youve every area in the uk has got gang members, has got no knife carriers. So keep knife carriers. So keep disrupting their life, keep stopping them, keep on and on. So eventually they might think were not going to bother today. Its not worth picking up that knife. You know, we know now weve got children as young as eight, ten years old picking up a knife. Probably do think its for their own protection. We need to educate those children. We need to stop the sales of the knives. Theres theres so many things. You know, we could be here all night discussing this, and we all say the same thing, and we all say the same thing, and we all just go round in circles. But its like, you know, weve got weve got to stop them carrying the knives in the first place. And stop and search is so needed. And judy, its just its astonishing to hear you say, that it was known knife carriers that it was known knife carriers that took liam. How do you mean . That took liam. How do you mean . They were. You knew this was happening, but the police know, and they did nothing. Well, when 1 or 2 of them have already been to court or beenin have already been to court or been in prison for stabbing somebody, then thats, you know, its on social media, isnt it . You know, i dont blame the police. I dont blame anybody. Police. I dont blame anybody. But its gone on too long, too much, and its just got to be stopped. Weve got to have zero tolerance now. Were just losing tolerance now. Were just losing kids every single day. And you know older people as well. Know older people as well. And, judy, were just seeing a picture now of your beautiful grandson there, liam, on the screen again. Grandson there, liam, on the screen again. Im so grandson there, liam, on the screen again. Im so sorry. The screen again. Im so sorry. The birthday tomorrow. Im getting emotional myself, what do you what do you what would you like to see done . You know, in honour of liams memory, in honour of his birthday. Stop and searches one thing. What would you really like to see done . We know number 10 watches this show. What would you like to say now . To the Prime Ministers office. Well, im actually in talks , well, im actually in talks, theres a brilliant mp in southend and hes putting things through parliament at the moment to stop the sale of zombie and bannau and machetes that goes through in september. But unfortunately , everything takes unfortunately, everything takes so long in government, you know, this has been going on for quite a while now. September is there. Its going to happen and it is going to happen. But unfortunately, once those knives are banned, theyre still going to be in the area. Theyre still going to be more knives brought in. So weve got to now say, you know what, zero tolerance now no knives on the streets. Lets you know, ive seen today that the government are going to put in £4 million for the, the new scanners and things like that. Excellent. You know, but again, were going around in circles because if we didnt have the knives, they wouldnt have to spend the money. But lets do as much as we possibly can to stop everything, you know, stop them being you can go online and buy a knife like this for £0. 99 so you can have your pocket money £10 a week, or you can have your paper round money, you can go and buy a 9. 99 machete with that, and you are going to carry it. If youre one of these people that are going to carry a knife, theyre just too easy to get hold of. Get hold of. Judy, youre absolutely right. You can buy these these knives on the internet. You can buy them on social media. That is a huge issue, is the answer. Judy as well as detection as well as scanning as well as increased technology as well as parliamentarians support sorting. This is the answer. To come down much harder is the answer. Judy, just to slam these people in prison straight away, what would you like to see done on that front . Yeah. So stop all sales. You know, weve got i know i cant mention things, but a Certain Companies that are online that sell clothes and sell 99 or 49 knives with free deliveries, you know, it doesnt matter if youve got a zombie knife, youve got a zombie knife, youve got a two inch knife. Its still going to kill somebody. So stop all these onune somebody. So stop all these online sales. Lets ban them literally, instantly. Okay . Literally, instantly. Okay . I think most people watching this will heartily agree. Judy taylor, thanks for joining us. And once again , so sorry for and once again, so sorry for your loss of your grandson, liam , 24 tomorrow. Good luck with that. Really wish you the very , that. Really wish you the very, very best. Thank you forjoining us. Us. Appreciate your time. Thank you, thank you. Now dont go anywhere because the slovakian Prime Minister, robert fico, is in a Critical Condition following an assassination attempt. All the latest on this in just a moment. And were expecting to be joined by the former Defence Select Committee chair, tobias ellwood. But first its your news headunes but first its your News Headlines with tatiana sanchez. Headlines with tatiana sanchez. Martin. Thank you. The top stories this hour. Slovakias Prime Minister robert fico is in a Critical Condition after he was shot following a government meeting in handlova outside the capital bratislava. Officials could be seen bundling the Prime Minister into a car shortly after, several shots were heard hitting mr fico in the abdomen. Hitting mr fico in the abdomen. He was then airlifted to hospital, where his condition is now life threatening. One man has now been detained by authorities. The countrys president condemned the assassination attempt, describing it as a brutal attack. Mr fico won power for a fourth time last october and has implemented more pro russian policies. Hes pledged to stop military support for ukraine and threatened to veto the countrys membership in nato. Police threatened to veto the countrys membership in nato. Police could membership in nato. Police could make more use of existing stop and search powers as part of new measures to tackle knife crime. The government will also invest £3. 5 million into developing new technology , which could help technology, which could help police detect suspects carrying knives by scanning them from a distance. New proposals could distance. New proposals could see schools in england banned from teaching students about gender identity. The governments review would also see all Sex Education halted for children under the age of nine. The Prime Minister ordered a review into relationships, sex and health, education last year over concerns some children were being exposed to inappropriate content in the United States. President biden will take part in a televised debate with donald trump, the current and former president s will go head to head on the 27th of june. In a video posted to social media, President Biden said that mr trump had lost two debates in 2020 and hasnt shown up for another one since. Mr trump says hes now ready and willing , and hes now ready and willing, and a red notice search warrant for an escaped french prisoner has been issued by interpol. 30 year old Mohamed Amara , also known as old Mohamed Amara, also known as the fly, escaped from a prison van in northern france yesterday, sparking a major manhunt. He was broken free by gunmen in an ambush that killed two prison guards. For the two prison guards. For the latest stories, you can sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen or go to gb news. Com slash alerts. To gb news. Com slash alerts. Cheers britannia wine club proudly sponsors the gb news financial report. Financial report. Heres a quick snapshot of todays markets. The pound will buy you 1. 2659 and ,1. 1655. The price of gold is £1,881. 82 per ounce, and the ftse 100 is closed at 8445 points. Cheers britannia wine club proudly sponsors the gb news financial report. Financial report. Thank you tatiana. Now theres still plenty of time to win our biggest cash prize of the year so far. A whopping £20,000 tax free. Now imagine having all that money in your bank account this summer. Well, imagine no more because you could win the lot. And heres how you could do it. How you could do it. Dont miss your chance to win our biggest cash prize so far, a totally terrific £20,000 in tax free cash to make your summer spectacular. You could use that cash to splash out on a holiday, make the garden glam by new car, orjust save it for make the garden glam by new car, or just save it for a make the garden glam by new car, orjust save it for a rainy day. Or just save it for a rainy day. Whatever youd spend £20,000 on, make sure you dont miss the chance to make it yours for another chance to win. £20,000 in tax free cash. Text win to in tax free cash. Text win to 63232. Text cost £2 plus one Standard Network rate message or post your name and number two gb05, p0 post your name and number two gb05, po box 8690 derby rd one nine double tee, uk. Only nine double tee, uk. Only entrants must be 18 or over. Lines closed at 5 pm. On the 3ist lines closed at 5 pm. On the 31st of may. Full terms and Privacy Notice at gbnews. Com win. Please check the closing time if listening or watching on demand. Good i i welcome welcome back. I welcome back. Its welcome back. Its 5. 39. Im Martin Daubney, and this is gb news. Now, more on that assassination attempt now on the slovakian Prime Minister robert fico, whos in a life threatening condition after being shot earlier this afternoon. And joining me now is the conservative mp, former Defence Select Committee chair and officer of the all Party Parliamentary group for slovakia , tobias ellwood. Tobias, thank you for joining , tobias ellwood. Tobias, thank you forjoining us on the show. You for joining us on the show. Earlier, Prime Minister rishi sunak has commented on this. He posted on social media saying shocked to hear this awful news, our thoughts are with the Prime Minister, fitzhugh and his family. What would you like to add . Yeah, i absolutely support what Prime Minister sunak has said. I actually grew up not far from slovakia, which is why im involved, with the appg. Involved, with the appg. As you mentioned, i grew up in vienna in austria, which is only a, you know, a few dozen miles away from bratislava , the miles away from bratislava, the capital of slovakia. This is a relative safe country. Its highly developed country. Its highly developed economy. Its part of the eu now its on the danube. Its this, this. Its this, this. Its this, this. Itsjust its this, this. Its just not used to these events as such as this. And it sent shockwaves across the country. Now it has shone light on the Prime Minister, Robert Fitzhugh himself , who he is, the fitzhugh himself, who he is, the country is going through a state of flux at the moment, polarised like so many other countries are in Eastern Europe, unsure whether to look more towards the east, towards moscow, towards putin, or indeed embrace greater, i think , collaboration greater, i think, collaboration with the west. But so is a with the west. But so is a controversial figure, no doubt about it. Been in power before, came back into office 2023 and, clearly at odds with his own president and wanting to prevent ukraine from joining nato and indeed from allowing any military aid going to ukraine as well. So lots of questions to be asked about what happens, from a political perspective, were waiting for more information. I suppose the concern , the i suppose the concern, the biggest concern i have is the worry that this might be used in some way to fast track draconian laws to bolster the governments position to advance its control over the state, given, of course , what we saw in georgia only a few days ago, a very similar circumstance there where the Prime Minister is wanting to push through a controversial pro kremlin laws against the advice and the will of the president. And indeed many of the people in the country as well. So a lot of questions and, focus on whats happening in Eastern Europe at the time, as is, of course, russia. And putin is getting ever more confident given whats happening in ukraine. And tobias added to those views also, mr fitzhugh wanted to dismantle the state broadcaster in slovakia, again, with echoes of what weve been seeing in georgia. As you seeing in georgia. As you mentioned, were in tbilisi yesterday covering the protests there against that. And once again, with rumours of kremlin control, he also wanted to take slovakia out of nato. So we have a very politically precarious situation. Do you think that may , be part of the backdrop of this, this destabilise ization of slovakia with eastern putin, kremlin led control . Kremlin led control . Oh, absolutely. Oh, absolutely. I mean, this is we saw this with ukraine as well back in 2014, choosing to look east rather than west. That triggered, the whole of the problems with, the donbas and indeed the crimea , the, perhaps indeed the crimea, the, perhaps the state of confidence that were seeing from president putin is growing by the week. And if we see the kharkiv, the second city in, ukraine fall to the russians, im afraid its probably going to be all over for any prospect of ukraine to reunite the country as one sovereign state. It shows that it isnt just ukraine. Whats happening here . There are tectonic plates moving across Eastern Europe with huge ramifications, ramifications for the geopolitics of europe, impact for european economy , and indeed for european economy, and indeed European Security as well. European security as well. And tobias, we just spoke with chris hope , our political with chris hope, our political edhon with chris hope, our Political Editor, and he said that westminster, whitehall will be will be very shocked at this, not just about whats happened in slovakia, but with implications, of course, for Political Security on british soil. We talk a lot, dont we, about the increased Security Threat to british politicians in those walkabout moments where youre very up close and personal with the public. Thats a necessary part of politics. And of course, weve seen before with david amess, conservative mp who was killed in 2021. In october, does this have a beanng october, does this have a bearing now of a security issue for all parliamentarians across the world, including in britain . Yeah. You touch on two important, subjects there. First is the exposure, the, ability for any member of the public to engage with parliamentarians. Its something that we absolutely embrace and try to encourage. Thats exactly what we want. We want the british pubuc we want. We want the British Public to have access to, parliamentarians. Thats part and parcel of the work that we do. But ultimately, the world is getting more dangerous, as we can see, and its now resonated again in another country. But you touched on Something Else as well, which is what is happening in slovakia. What is happening in slovakia. What is happening in Eastern Europe. If we are going to see another state, look at exiting nato, for example. At exiting nato, for example. There are some bigger questions about European Security. Weve got donald trump potentially winning the United States , winning the United States, elections there. What impact will that have as well . Im sure that therell be a lot of back channel conversations behind the scenes discussions between Capital Cities in europe at the moment. Lots of to consider at the next g7, the next nato meeting, and indeed for the eu as well. Okay. Tobias ellwood, thank you very much for joining us okay. Tobias ellwood, thank you very much forjoining us on you very much for joining us on gb news and sharing your thoughts on the attempted assassination of Robert Fitzhugh , slovakian Prime Minister. Thank you very much for your time. Now stay with us, because im getting a reaction to that government plan to ban Sex Education in englands schools for under nine year olds, including a total ban on teaching children that they can change their gender. You would not want to miss this conversation. Im Martin Daubney on gb news. Britains news channel welcome back. Coming up to 549. Now schools in england will be banned from teaching Sex Education to children under nine. In new government guidance expected to be published tomorrow. Well, the education secretary, gillian keegan, will also announce that once Sex Education starts , pupils must be education starts, pupils must be taught about the reality of biological sex. Well, joining us now in the studio is the broadcast lucy berrisford lucy, welcome to the show. So there are two schools of thought on this. On the one hand, its common sense. Its protecting children. Why should we expose children. Why should we expose nine year olds to Sex Education, particularly ideas about lgbt. Q and trans of, on the other hand, is it mollycoddling them to the point of endangering them . Is it to victorian . Yeah. So my worry is that were missing the perfect opportunity to keep our children safe. Safe. Now, the controversial thing that im about to say is that children are sexual creatures. Theyre not sexually ized, but they are sexual. They have genhaua. They are sexual. They have genitalia. Theyre very curious genitalia. Theyre very curious about their own genitalia, and theyre very curious about the genhaua theyre very curious about the genitalia of other people. And they want to know where babies come from. And they want to talk about these things at age nine. Long know from 3 or 4, you will know from having children yourself that children start asking questions very, very early. They dont realise that early. They dont realise that the questions theyre asking are to do with sex. And it isnt about teaching them about sex, its about answering their questions. But very specifically , its also about making sure that theyre safe. And my worry is that if these if this educational material is watered down too much, and i think its very fair that there is some content that is inappropriate at the moment. But if we water it down too much, were missing out on the opportunity to keep our children safe so that they learn about the fact that their body is an autonomous space and that issues around consent and abuse need to be carefully managed so that they can keep themselves safe. Thats all thats all fair and well, im a parent. Ive done a lot of talks in schools about sexual education and keeping children safe. And youve also made a programme about porn. So, you know, but that it is actually a topic that needs to be addressed very early on, but not with nine year olds, but specifically because nine year olds have grown up the nine year olds have have have siblings that are older than them. They have older than them. They have access to the internet. They in some cases have access to smartphones, although thats a whole other story. They have access didnt, but they have access to parents. So they have access to parents. So the conversation is yeah, but is it the schools job to be acting as that, particularly if theyre planting, if theyre planting ideologies, particularly around the lgbtq. So if the trans of into young minds now thats where i would agree with you. I think that there are certain information that didnt need to be given to children, and certainly didnt need to be spoken about in such stark terms. There arent 127 genders, for. There arent127 genders, for example, but the idea that we cant talk to our children about sex because were going to make sure that the parents do, unfortunately , talking to your unfortunately, talking to your child about sex makes parents very squeamish. They just dont want to do it. And therefore we need to make sure that these conversations are happening at some point in a childs in a childs childhood, before they become sexually active , before become sexually active, before they reach puberty, for example, because they need to know about this stuff in advance. But if we dont tell them , theyre going dont tell them, theyre going to find out about it from the internet and the information might not be accurate. Yeah, but its a valid point to say i spoke to hundreds and hundreds of parents who are concerned that schools are becoming activists. Theyre planting ideas in young minds that simply confuse children. Well, the interesting thing is that quite a lot of the information that teachers were told they could tell their children was given to them by the government. Lets say, ten years ago. And i think what happened during the pandemic, for example, was that a lot of parents having to home school their children suddenly discovered the information that they were having to convey. And they were having to convey. And thats when a lot of parents became very worried. But unfortunately, im also very aware that a lot of parents just dont want to talk about this subject. And so weve got to make sure that teachers step up. And as i say, from a very early age, from four and five and six, when children start asking these questions, you talk to them in age appropriate language. Otherwise you raise a whole generation of people who are not safe sexually. And they dont think that safe, that safe sex is accessible to them. Okay. Thank you. We have to leave it there. Lucy beresford, thanks for your input. Now thats it for your input. Now thats it for me. Dewbs co of course, is for me. Dewbs co of course, is up next. Dont forget to join us from 6 am. Tomorrow. Its breakfast with stephen and ali. And of course, thats then followed by britains newsroom at 9 30 am. With andrew and bev and then, of course, its tom and then, of course, its tom and emily with good afternoon britain from midday. Then its my ugly mish. Ill be back at 3 pm, three till six. And of p. M, three till six. And of course after that is dewbs co. Course after that is dewbs co. Now dewbs co is up next. Later on theres an astonishing meeting of two godfathers of the political right. Nigel farage will appear on the Jacob Rees Mogg show. Jacob would like him to be a tory mp. Lets see what hes got to say about that. Im Martin Daubney and this is gb news. Thanks for your company. Its been superb. Thanks. Its been a delight. Now next is your weather and heres alex deakin. Weather and heres alex deakin. A brighter outlook with boxt solar , the sponsors of weather solar, the sponsors of weather on gb news. Afternoon. Welcome to your latest weather update from the met office here on gb news. Some sunny spells around tomorrow, but a greater chance of some heavy downpours across the south again. Northern scotland may well see the highest temperatures. Low pressure is dominating down to the southwest , but this weather front providing a band of thicker cloud and some rain and drizzle over Northern England, southern scotland thatil peter out , as scotland thatil peter out, as will the heavy showers weve got scattered across parts of the midlands through the early evening, so many of us will have a dry night , evening, so many of us will have a dry night, quite murky and misty on the east coast and in the south. Some thicker fog patches could form through the early hours, as well as temperatures dropped to 11 to 12 celsius. A little cooler in northern scotland with some clearer skies here. Onto thursday. It clearer skies here. Onto thursday. It is a bit of a messy one, murky again on some eastern coasts and much of the south starting dry, but the likelihood of some showery rain pushing into parts of eastern england. Early doors any Early Morning mist and fog in the south should be clearing away by rush hour. Generally dry and bright for wales and northern ireland. Some fine weather again across much of scotland, although southern scotland may well start a little dull and damp. We will again have this breeze coming in from the east. Thats going to make for some misty conditions again. At times on some of those eastern coast could be a little bit of heart around, but again, for northwest scotland we should see plenty of sunny spells elsewhere. Quite a lot of cloud for Northern England and some showery rain. Working once more, initially into lincolnshire and east anglia, but then spreading across parts of the midlands and later towards wales. Some heavy showers, likely across south wales and southern england, come the afternoon. In the brighter spells here, 20 degrees 2122 in western scotland, maybe a little higher along the moray firth, but cooler again on those north sea coasts, and cooler where weve got this rainy zone staying pretty wet across northwest england and north wales into the evening. The outlook is for more sunshine and showers, but the showers fading through the weekend, many of us looking dry and fine for sunday. That warm feeling inside from boxt boilers, sponsors of weather on Prime Minister. Lets face it, the world seems more divided now than ever. So how do you keep pubuc than ever. So how do you keep Public Officials safe whilst maintaining their contacts with said public . And get this right, nearly 40 of global debt in money is apparently laundered in london and uk crown dependencies. What do you reckon to this then . How much of an issue is it, and what on earth can and should be done about it . And emergency measures have been triggered to deal with prison overcrowding in england. What on earth took them so long and lets talk elections, shall we . Should the reform party and the tories do some kind of pact