Transcripts For GBN GB 20240703

Without you and your views. Let me know your thoughts on all of the stories well be discussing today by visiting gb news. Com forward slash york. Join the conversation with me there or message us on our socials. Were gbnews first up though, folks, heres the news with sofia. Darren. Thank you. Good afternoon. Its 1 01. Im sophia afternoon. Its1 01. Im sophia wenzler in the gb newsroom. Your wenzler in the gb newsroom. Your top story this hour. Chancellor jeremy hunt has vowed to compensate victims for the infected blood scandal with a £10 billion package. Hunt claimed it was part of a fulfilling a promise he made to a constituent who died after contracting hepatitis c. The scandal has been the subject of the biggest ever Public Inquiry in the uk, after tens and thousands of people were infected with contaminated blood and blood products. Infected with contaminated blood and blood products. Nhs infected with contaminated blood and blood products. Nhs staff and blood products. Nhs staff will be told to work evenings and weekends under labours plan to slash waiting lists. Hospitals will be asked to share staff and pool waiting lists as part of a £1. 1 billion drive to provide an extra 40,000 appointments a week. Shadow Health Secretary wes streeting also promised to protect whistleblowers and cut the nhss reliance on Migrant Workers , reliance on Migrant Workers, £1. 1 billion paid for by clamping down on tax avoidance, and also closing non dom loopholes as well. And that will enable us to put £1. 1 billion directly into the pockets of nhs staff to deliver those extra appointments. The evenings and weekends, using an approach thats been tried and tested at the london hospital. I can literally see out of my Office Window in westminster and therefore an approach we need to see available to patients right across the country, not just in london. And that does come with a cost. And thats why weve made this commitment as our first step on the journey to busting the tory backlog and cutting nhs waiting lists, the Prime Minister is set to warn the public about the risks of Artificial Intelligence , as Artificial Intelligence, as rishi sunak will tell a major tech summit in south korea that managing the risks of ai is one of the most profound responsibilities is faced by world leaders. The Prime Minister will be a virtual co host remotely from london, alongside south korean president yoon suk yeol. Other president yoon suk yeol. Other news a 14 year old boy has died and a 13 year old boy is in a Critical Condition after getting into difficulty in the river tyne at ovingham. Northumbria police were called on saturday after concerns for the welfare of two teenage boys who were in the river. The younger boy was rescued by Emergency Services and taken to hospital, but the body of the 14 year old was later found in the water. Following a search, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. An pronounced dead at the scene. An israeli war cabinet minister has threatened to resign if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doesnt adopt a new plan for gaza. Benny gantz has set an 8th of june deadline for a plan to achieve six strategic goals, including the end of hamas rule including the end of hamas rule in gaza. It comes after the in gaza. It comes after the Israeli Military says it recovered another body yesterday after the bodies of three israeli hostages were recovered from gaza on friday. Israel says it believes 100 hostages are still alive. Their defence secretary, grant shapps, told gb news hes pleased benny gantz has spoken out. It is vital, vital that for israel, of course, for palestinians that there is a route in which they end up with a government which is which is not a bunch of terrorists, which is what hamas are, but people who can properly represent them. And israel needs to set that out , because there could be if you put all of those pieces into place and combine it with normalisation of relations with saudi arabia, for example, a Better Future for that region, including for israel. So yes, i do think its time to set that out. And we have been urging this step to take place and history was made in saudi arabia last night as Oleksandr Usyk became boxings undisputed world heavyweight champion after defeating tyson fury, the ukrainian won a split decision following the fight in riyadh. Fury was nearly knocked out in the ninth round but disputed the loss afterwards , seeming to the loss afterwards, seeming to suggest usyk only won a sympathy vote because of the war in ukraine. In response, usyk said he was ready for a rematch. Speaking after the fight, tyson fury said it was very close. It was a close fight. You know, i believed, i thought i did enough, but you know, im not a judge. I cant judge a fight while im boxing it. You know, if they would have said to me in the last round or whatever, youre down, go out and try and finish him. I would have done that. But we believe everyone in the corner believed we were up. You know, all to i had do was just keep boxing and doing what i was doing. And, you know, i thought he was getting it. But it was what it was. Im not going to cry about spilled milk. Ive had plenty of victories and ive gave god the glory. Ive had this one loss and a close, close fight, you know, with a good, good man like sukh. And for the latest story, sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen. Or go to gb news. Com slash alerts. Now its back to gb news. Sunday thank you very much, sofia. Lets get stuck into todays topics. Labour has revealed plans to tell nhs staff to work weekends as they pledge to deliver an extra 40,000 appointments a week. Shadow Health Secretary wes streeting also promised to protect whistleblowers and cut the nhs reliance on Migrant Workers , as reliance on Migrant Workers, as mr streeting said he shares treasury cynicism about how the nhs spent money, adding that levels of productivity must improve. Well, joining me to improve. Well, joining me to discuss is gb news Political Correspondent , olivia utley. Correspondent, olivia utley. Olivia, there very much is a narrative thats taken hold that suggests that the conservatives could never be the ones to reform the nhs, and that it absolutely can only lie with laboun absolutely can only lie with labour. Just how serious do you think wes streeting is about grabbing the nhs with both hands . I hands . I think, as you say, darren, that analysis really has taken hold in westminster circles and its easy to see why. As soon as the tories even begin to talk about reforming the nhs, eyebrows were raised and there were murmurs and whisperings that actually what the conservatives ultimately want to do is privatise the nhs. Thats do is privatise the nhs. Thats a slogan that started in the corbyn era and really it hasnt let go since. Its had a vise like grip on the conservative party, which means that the labour party sort of , labour party sort of, paradoxically, is actually in the position to shake up the nhs and possibly bring in some quite right wing reforms. Pretty much everything weve heard from wes streeting over the past year or so as regards the nhs , could so as regards the nhs, could have been said by a minister in thatchers government , have been said by a minister in thatchers government, including what hes saying today. Hes saying that nhs workers will have to work evenings and weekends to plug a gap of 40,000 appointments per week in the nhs diary. That plan is going to cost £1. 1 billion, and thats assuming that doctors and nurses etc. Agree to it. The big question, of course , you ask how question, of course, you ask how serious wes streeting is, is where is that money coming from . Well, streeting says that its going to come from cutting down on tax evasion. Well, yes. Easier said than done. Of course, every government of every colour wants to cut down on tax evasion. It isnt always as easy as it sounds. And the other thing that hes going to raise money from is cutting that non dom tax loop. Well, the non dom tax loop. Well, the conservatives have slightly taken the wind out of the sails with that one. Jeremy hunt announced in his budget just a few months ago that the conservatives would do exactly the same thing, which means that the same thing, which means that the labour arent going to come into some sort of windfall by the time they get into government, and its not quite clear as if their plans for calculating how much money that will raise are absolutely correct. If you sort of look very carefully into the figures, it seems they havent quite accounted for as many non doms leaving the country as might actually be the case. There is also the question of how many times has this non dom levy been spent . Pretty much every labour policy ive heard for the past eight months or so has been paid for using either the non dom levy or the vat on private schools. These could both be quite money making schemes, but will they be enough to cover so many projects in so many sectors of the government over labours presumably at least five year term in government . So it sounds like wes streeting is serious. Like wes streeting is serious. This message is something which is completely in the in the same vein, the same thread of thought as everything that he said about the nhs in the past few months. But does he really have the money to put where his mouth is . Yeah and of course he was cancer. Cancen he battled cancer through the nhs as well. So, you know, his heart is very much in the mission. But well see olivia. We shall see. Thank you very much for that analysis. Thats gb news Political Correspondent olivia utley. Lets see what my panel make of this today. Im joined by former Labour Party Spokesman James Matthewson and the core deputy leader of reform uk, ben habib. Ben, i didnt actually know you were a coal deputy leader. What did you think i was . I thought you were just the deputy leader. Just the deputy leader. Well, david bull is my colleague. Excellent. David bull, i see the things you learn now, james, ive got to start with you. Wes streeting this morning was saying , look, i think the saying, look, i think the archbishop of canterbury is absolutely right to come out and say we need to scrap the two child limit on benefits. Do you think a political intervention by an unelected member of the house of lords is ever worthwhile . I mean, youre a traditional lefty, right . You dont like the house of lords . Yeah, yeah. No, i dont like yeah, yeah. No, i dont like the house of lords. And the reason i dont like the house of lords is because it is unelected. However, i do believe there is merit in a Second Chamber of experts, whether the archbishop of canterbury is an expert in anything, is a big concern. I would say the archbishop of canterbury has experience from his business experience, from experience of running businesses and being a business executive. However, i dont know how that gels with his current position. As you know, the leader of a church and what kind of role that plays in our society, which is meant to be secular as well. Of course, the problem is with with the labour position at the moment and kind of almost getting into bed with these characters and these people is that we are likely to see a Labour Government more and more likely, and there is a problem that it will come to the fore. Same with this nhs issue , that they will this nhs issue, that they will be held to account by the various coalitions that currently hold the labour party to account, to say that he himself, they themselves would scrap that two child limit. Exactly. Yeah, yeah. Ben, is it ever okay for a political intervention like that by the archbishop . Well, i mean, this archbishop has formed, hasnt he . He had has formed, hasnt he . He had vast views on brexit, which he was against. He has views on, immigration at the moment. He seems to want to allow migrants to cross the channel illegally and come to the United Kingdom and we should have an open borders policy, he stands up for dei to the point that we had the deacon of Trinity College of about a year ago , college of about a year ago, suggesting that jesus christ may be transgender. I mean, the church is actually. Did you hear that . Yeah. Did you hear that . Yeah. Jesus christ may be transgender. I mean, its bizarre, isnt it . So. And youve. And by the way, the other big thing, you know, which this archbishop in my view, is guilty of is the false notion that were all descended from slave traders and that the church has put £1 billion aside for reparations for a whole host of people who are dead. But what i mean is, you know, people are hearing these things from wes streeting. In his interview round and on the nhs. Right. Theyre hearing very robust remarks. But have you got confidence and faith that they will actually grab the nhs and shakeit will actually grab the nhs and shake it down and do what needs to be done . No, i mean, i dont i dont think any of either of the two Political Parties really have the right solutions. I mean, the right solutions. I mean, without wishing to oversimplify the problems with the nhs , there the problems with the nhs, there are three fundamental issues. The first is theres too much demand as immigration to this country and the population has risen, theres too much demand for its services, theres not enough supply of its services. Enough supply of its services. One out of two doctors that join the nhs between 2022 and 2023 left. Thats 15 to 20,000 frontline doctors left the nhs in that in that one year, youve got average wages for a new doctor in this country , half of doctor in this country, half of what they are in canada or australia or the us. And of course, if you have a british qualification, if youre able to Practice Medicine in the uk, youve got a global marketplace to which you can go. Weve overtaxed, not just the nhs but the working and middle classes generally. So with low wages in the uk with, with an overburdened tax system, what were seeing actually with the nhs is a brain drain. Were seeing people leaving. And so seeing people leaving. And so theres less supply of doctors, more demand for the services, and of course, the services that theyre meant to provide are becoming increasingly more expensive as as medicine improves. And, its not the nhs improves. And, its not the nhs that was set up, you know, in 1948, in 1948, you know, they werent providing trans operations and all these other things. Absolutely yeah. James, do you think actually so wes streeting says hes wants to cut down on Migrant Labour within the nhs itself. How do i actually stop itself. How do i actually stop people being trained here in britain and then taken their jobs elsewhere . Jobs elsewhere . I dont know if we can stop that. I think the and i dont think theres any shame in Migrant Labour, you know, it needs to be well paid. It needs to be well compensated for what they do. But people migrating around the world have always played a role inside just the same as british doctors. Going to australia or going to canada play to australia or going to canada play a role in those systems. And its down to that, not to this level. And of course playing a very different role in this level. But some of the people that ive seen through the nhs, through treatment of my own family, you know, Brain Surgeons who are italian and, you know, people who have that expertise who come in, we need them, we still need them, and they still play a crucial role. The problem with this is as well with with the labour strategy, you know, if the line and the rhetoric isnt right and if it doesnt sound different to the conservatives they will end up with a crisis with the unions in the nhs , theyll end up with a the nhs, theyll end up with a situation with the likes of unison, who already hold accountability of quite a few of the top of the frontbench. At the top of the frontbench. At the moment, people like angela raynen the moment, people like angela rayner, shes a union, she was a unison rep, shes come up through unison, she has their backing. There will be a big crisis with the unions strike action on the cards. Well, not just strike action, but, you know, a withdrawal of funds leading up to an election. Were talking about this Labour Government as if its in power right now. Its not. It needs to win an election. How does it do that . It pays to win elections. That . It pays to win elections. Everybody does. Everyone has to. The money from the labour party doesnt come from its membership anymore. It comes from its trade Union Relationships and its donors. And is that not the point, ben, that actually the nhs cant be reformed under labour because theyre just going to cut out of their union mates . Of course theyll say whatever they need to say to get elected and theyll do what typically governments do, which is kowtow to where the money comes from to keep them funded, which is what the conservative government has done. But i think what were seeing, what weve seen over the last 25 and particularly in the last few years in the british economy, and it applies to the nhs as much as it applies to every other aspect of our our economy is that were overtaxed, were underpaid, and there is too far too much unskilled, low educated immigration, you know, undercutting our Labour Market. And were seeing a brain drain. Im now getting i dont know whether anyone else whos watching has experienced this, but im now getting texts from agencies in the United Arab Emirates saying, are you sick of paying emirates saying, are you sick of paying british taxes . Come and settle in the uae. You know, people have cottoned on to the fact that this country is in a spiral downwards and you cant tax your way out of the problem. Wes streeting talks about raising another billion pounds from non doms, which, by the way, £1 billion is a drop in the ocean, when it comes to spent £8 billion, you know, many, several times over. But as olivia said, the non doms they they are fleet of foot. They will leave the country. You wont get that money. Its gone. And their presence here and their investments and whatever else they might have brought with them, including their intellectual contribution, will also go and this spiral, this wealth redistribution, this spending , this taxation, this, spending, this taxation, this, you know, attacking the private sector sector , attacking people sector sector, attacking people who have aspiration, attacking people who want to work and make money in order to fund a effectively a dependency orientated state isnt going to work. Work. Ive got to let you come back. I was going to say, i mean, the fascinating thing is obviously, ben, youve got your own motives for doing this because of course, the two major parties, you know, arent doing it and they wont fix it and all the rest of it. But this is 14 years of tory government. No, im with you. Im with you, james. Im with you. But obviously, your position would be that labour wouldnt be much different or they wont change much or their position wont change much. This change and labouri change much. This change and labour i fundamentally believe im been in the party has the opportunity through its its experience of its opposition and that experience in opposition. It needs to look to that and really say, what have we learned . What lessons have we learned, how do we do this differently . Because change is an approach. Its not all about money, of course. A huge part of politics is about money raising it and spending it. But another is just about the change in approach and attitude you can have. And the risk here with the language wes streeting is making, it sounds more like the tories. It sounds more like the tories. It sounds more like the tories the last 14 years. All right, well discuss more of that after the break. Thank you very much to my panel there. Former Labour Party Spokesman James Matthewson and the core deputy leader of reform uk, ben habib. Now, folks, for all the best analysis and opinion on that story and more, our website always online, always good gb news. Com and also folks, the Great British giveaway. This is your chance to win £20,000 cash in time for summer. What would you spend it on . A dream holiday . Get the garden done. Perhaps treat the family well. You have treat the family well. You have to hurry because time is ticking on your chance to make it yours. Heres how. Its the biggest cash prize weve given away to date. An incredible £20,000 that you could use however you like. And could use however you like. And because its totally tax free, every single penny will be in your bank account to do whatever your bank account to do whatever you like with £20,000 in tax free cash, really could be yours this summer. Hurry, youve got to be in it to win it 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 gbos, p0 post your name and number two gb05, po box 8690 derby rd 192. Uk only entrants must be 18 or oven uk only entrants 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 luck i watching on demand. Good luck youre with me Darren Grimes on gb news sunday. Lots more coming up on the show. Thousands of brits in devon have been told that their tap water is now safe to drink. That follows to drink. That follows a parasite outbreak, but the number of people infected is likely to increase for up to two weeks. Im asking whos to blame for all this, all of that and more to come. Youre with gb news, where britains news channel. Were gb news, and we come from a proud tradition of british journalism. Thats why im so excited to be here. Its something so new. Its something so new. The first news channel to be launched in britain in over 30 years. Launched to represent the views of the british people. To go where other broadcasters refuse to go. How do you find out about the story in the first place . Launched with one aim to be the fearless champion of britain, theres an absolutely fantastic atmosphere here. This is gb news lviv ofsted gb news. Britains news channel. Britains news channel. Britains news channel. A very warm welcome back to gb news sunday with me, Darren Grimes, on your tv, online and on digital radio. Now thousands in brixham , devon, have been in brixham, devon, have been told that their tap water is now safe following a parasite outbreak week. The number affected by the outbreak is thought to be close to 50, with many staying cautious despite the official warning notice being lifted. While gb news being lifted. While gb news south west of england reporter jeff moody joins me now. Geoff jeff moody joins me now. Geoff just has this put the fear of god into people, you know, are they avoiding water like its they avoiding water like its the plague . It certainly did do. Yes, it certainly did do over the last 3 or 4 days. But i think theres a sense today that things are getting back to normal. Holidaymakers are sort of out in force. Of course, the weather helps and there is a sense that the crisis has passed, most of the crisis has passed, most of the houses here now have their water supply back on. There are still around 2500 houses that dont have their water. Theyre still told to boil their water before being used and of course people still are falling sick. But there is a sense that the crisis has passed. And talking to people on the street here, there is also a sense that south west water has actually acted very responsibly and very quickly. Theyre saying, well, quickly. Theyre saying, well, you know, theyve given out 480,000 free bottles of water very, very quickly after the incident first began, they set up three different water distribution zones, too. So theyve responded very, very quickly. They found the source quickly. They found the source of the problem very quickly, too. It was an air valve that was on private land. It was on farmland. And somebody said to farmland. And somebody said to me, look, these any Water Company inspect these valves only once every six months. Anyway they cant go on a daily or a weekly basis and inspect every valve. So theres no sense every valve. So theres no sense of negligence that this has happenedin of negligence that this has happened in the first place. People are saying to me, you know, its one of those things. And people saying, well, actually, south west water have been very good. Theyve been knocking on peoples doors to make sure that people have got the supply that they need, that theyve got enough bottled water to, but some people have been staying away. A lot of the restaurants and cafes and hotels are saying that they have missed out on bookings. Apparently a Popular French Radio Station said this morning, whatever you do, dont come to devon because you cant drink the water. And people here are saying, look, that really isnt very helpful because all of the restaurants and the cafes are doing everything they can to stay open to make sure that the supply is clean and its healthy. Theyre using bottled water as much as they can. Earlier on, i spoke to a cafe owner and her message was simple if youre booked to come down here, please still come. Down here, please still come. I would say we are sticking to precautions means at the moment sticking to bottled water. Bottled water. Bring your own with you , yeah. Just come own with you, yeah. Just come down and enjoy. And dont worry, were all here for everyone. Were all here for everyone. Well, south west water has increased the compensation payouts to those people who are still affected. Theyve increased that to £215. And theyre saying to any business thats suffering at the moment, get in touch and they will work with each individual business on a case by case basis to make sure they are suitably compensated, because, of course , compensated, because, of course, weve got half term coming up and the Bank Holiday Weekend to jeff moody. Theyre in a very sunny brixham, it has to be said. Thank you very much. Were going to see what my panel makes of this now. Still joined by our very own ben habib, of course. And James Matthewson. Now, ben, ill start with you. Is this and James Matthewson. Now, ben, ill start with you. Is this is this a sign that actually privatisation has been a complete failure . Should we be like james and rely more on the state . Yeah, well , state . Yeah, well, im glad that you brought privatisation up in the context of the water companies. And i think unbridled capitalism, isnt a good thing. You know, you do need some controls and constraints. And one of the constraints i think i would have had on the entire Privatisation Programme was not privatising industries which cant inherently be internally competitive , like the rail competitive, like the rail companies, for example, which, you know, the first sign of trouble and the government does effectively have to nationalise them, which they effectively did during, you know, lockdowns. And during, you know, lockdowns. And were seeing this with water companies. Theres no mechanism for thames water or south west water to have any competition. As a client of the company, you cant say , well, the quality of cant say, well, the quality of your water and the speed with which its delivered isnt good enough for me. Im moving to a new supplier. Youve got your youre hooked into them. And so what it becomes is and then, of course, what the government has to do is set up a regulatory bodyin to do is set up a regulatory body in order to ensure that theyre delivering. And then it becomes a whack a mole. It becomes a whack a mole. It becomes a whack a mole. It becomes a whack a mole. It becomes a regulatory body chasing highly motivated , chasing highly motivated, intelligent, capable executives who are more interested in lining their pockets and those of their backers and shareholders and so on. Then they are necessarily delivering they are necessarily delivering the service which just becomes an incidental requirement in for order them to make money. And because theyve got a monopoly , because theyve got a monopoly, they can allow the service to deteriorate quite considerably and try and get away with what theyre doing from a capitalist perspective. And, and the regulator is never going to catch up with them because starting to sound like a pink or ben. No, but i think i think no, privatisation is great when you can have competition, but youve got to make sure that theres a an essential, essential services and services which dont lend themselves to competition are not suited for privatisation. All right. I mean, james, where are you at on this. Do you blame do you blame privatisation for this sort of thing happening, not entirely. I dont think the private sector plays a role and it plays a role in society. I think thats important, but when it comes to Services Like this, i mean, this is water. Were talking about. This is like the fundamental requirement for life. And its something that we need to be able to have full control of. And i think, call me old fashioned. The only way to control something fully is for the government to control it. The people we elect to control it because it is about democracy playing a role in our public services. Well, i mean, weve said that about health care, and theyve made a real hash of that. Well, no, but thats thats because of the direction of it. Its always going to be that the interesting thing with democracy is you can change that. You know, you can actually say, well, i dont like the way youve run it. Were going to change that. Were not going to vote for you again with private companies. You cant do that. And of course, the motivation at the end of the day, whatever you think it is, whatever their values or their ethics as a company, it is profit. It is the bottom line. Yeah. And just going back to the nhs, i mean, inherently you could from a capitalist perspective, you could create internal competition by within various elements of the Health Service to, you know, effectively privatise them. And there is privatise them. And there is a very large private sector in the health for health, which labour says it will utilise. Yeah. And one of the things i think labour should be doing, every government should be doing, because its common sense, is to provide tax relief for people who private medical insurance, because that takes the burden off the state. You dont go to the state if you if youve got your private insurance. I mean, do you agree with that . James or do you think actually people are people, heroes that use private medical insurance . I think were going a bit far when were suggesting that, to be honest. I think at the end of the day, its important and that choice is important for people to be able to select that and for people to be able to choose. But its exactly the same as private education as well. That has to be a fully funded and well funded basic service that everybody else can access. Before we start worrying about the people who are accessing the private add ons and getting the additional benefits. Yeah, but i would i would also give people who send their children to private schools tax relief on those fees. Well labour are definitely arent going to do that. The opposite right folks. The opposite right folks. Well leave that there. Thank you James Matheson and ben habib there as well. Now folks, youre with me, Darren Grimes on gb news sunday. Thank you very much for doing so. Plenty more to come on todays show. First of all though, were going to get your News Headlines with sofia. Darren. Thank you. Its 132. Darren. Thank you. Its132. Im sophia wenzler in the gb newsroom. Your headlines, chancellor jeremy newsroom. Your headlines, chancellorjeremy hunt has vowed chancellor jeremy hunt has vowed to compensate victims for the infected blood scandal with a £10 billion package. Hunt claimed it was part of fulfilling a promise he made to a constituent who died after contracting hepatitis c. The scandal has been the subject of the biggest ever Public Inquiry in the uk , after tens of in the uk, after tens of thousands of people were infected with contaminated blood and blood products. Infected with contaminated blood and blood products. Nhs infected with contaminated blood and blood products. Nhs staff and blood products. Nhs staff will be told to work evenings and weekends under labour plans to slash waiting lists. Hospitals will be asked to share staff and pool waiting lists as part of a £1. 1 billion drive to provide an extra 40,000 appointments a week. Shadow Health Secretary wes streeting also promised to protect whistleblowers and cut the nhss reliance on Migrant Workers. A reliance on Migrant Workers. A 14 year old boy has died and a 13 year old boy is in a Critical Condition. After getting into difficulty in the river tyne at ovingham, Northumbria Police were called on saturday after concerns for the welfare of two teenage boys who were in the river. The younger boy was rescued by Emergency Services and taken to hospital , but the and taken to hospital, but the body of the 14 year old was later found in the water following a search, and he was pronounced dead at the scene , pronounced dead at the scene, and history was made in saudi arabia last night as Oleksandr Usyk became boxings undisputed world heavyweight champion after defeating tyson fury , the defeating tyson fury, the ukrainian won on a split decision following the fight in riyadh, fury was nearly knocked out in the ninth round but disputed the loss afterwards, seeming to suggest usyk only won a sympathy vote because of the war in ukraine. In response, usyk said he was ready for a rematch. And for the latest rematch. And for the latest stories, sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen or go to gb news. Com slash alerts. Com slash alerts. Thank you sophia. Now remember you can let me know your thoughts on all of the stories weve been discussing today by visiting gbnews. Com yoursay join the conversation there or message me on our socials. Were gbnews on our socials. Were gbnews now. Lots more coming up on todays show. Who should foot the bill for obese brits . New Research Published by University College london found that a new weight drug, an injection thats the form it takes, could actually reduce the risk of heart attacks by 20. But the question is, folks, should it be free on the nhs . All of that and free on the nhs . All of that and more to come. Im Darren Grimes and youre with gb news, britains news channel. Welcome back to gb news sunday with me , back to gb news sunday with me, Darren Grimes. On your tv, onune Darren Grimes. On your tv, online and on digital radio. Now, its been reported that at least two of the tory partys leadership hopefuls are injecting themselves with ozempic in order to hit their fighting weight in time for the next tory contest. Research published by the University College london found that ozempic could reduce the risk of heart attacks by 20, so is it right for people to have to pay for ozempic, or should it be available on the nhs . Will the nhs be saving money if it makes this intervention . Well, lets see what my panel make of this. Former Labour Party Spokesman james mathewson, and core deputy leader of reform uk , ben habib. Leader of reform uk, ben habib. James, ill start with you. I mean , where are you at on this . Mean, where are you at on this . Some people are saying you got yourself into this mess. You know youll get yourself out of it. I dont see why my taxpayer cash should be paying for you to inject yourself. Just so you shut your gob. Are you directing that . Are you directing that . I was not directing that at you. I was speaking, speaking, generally speaking generally. I was hoping we were going to have some free samples and doughnuts. Doughnuts, doughnuts, sandwiches are good. Yeah. They did. They smell lovely. They did. They smell lovely. They did. They smell lovely. As somebody as somebody whos been on my own weight last year, and hes still on my own weight loss journey, i have huge sympathy for anyone who is going through it because it is immensely difficult, and its one of those things that was still i get comments in public. Ill get somebody come up to me on a night out and say, you know, christ, youve, you know, put on weight. And so its one of those things we still seem to have free reign on when it comes to, you know, talking about peoples bodies and, and the appearance of them. So i understand that. And of course, you know, people who lose weight and who go on that journey, whether it be celebrities, whether it be celebrities, whether it be politicians, people in the public, i and it always looks better for them and people like it and people like to see it. So i understand that desire to do so. But whether ozempic is the answer, we dont know. I think its just too early. The research ive looked at seems to suggest that, yes, its doing great things in various ways, but there have been many drugs over the years that have had that effect, had Great Results in certain areas , Great Results in certain areas, and then you suddenly find out, you know, theres no light without the dark, is there . Theres always an element of, of concern in some area of the health. So i dont know whether its safe to jump to just yet on, on an nhs wide basis. Okay. I mean, ben, where are you at on this . Do you ever think its, these kinds of interventions that would severely impact the public purse . Are necessary . I dont think that the nhs should be, indulging in Broad Spectrum prophylactic, prescriptions in the in the pursuit that no one should ever get fat in the first place. You know, if thats the question, when people are clinically obese , they have other conditions which the nhs has to treat , you which the nhs has to treat, you know, and i and im very against the continued intervention of the continued intervention of the state in our private lives and the infantilizing effectively of the electorate and telling us this is how things have to be done. Were going to talk, i think, arent we, about the apparent cost of alcoholism in the country and its very easy to hone in, particularly on alcohol. Its very easy to hone in, particularly on alcohol. Im slightly digressing, but hone in on that as a subject or any other indulgence and say, well, youre indulging and therefore youre indulging and therefore you should pay a price. And were going to, you know , name were going to, you know, name and shame you. And, so i think its much more to do with good education, understanding that theres got to be a very significant component of Self Determination and self responsibility, personal agency to get yourself up off the sofa, eat healthily, go for a go for a run cycle or whatever it is. Go for a long walk. You know these things are fantastic. Are we losing that . James are we losing that sense of personal responsibility . Are we expecting too much of the state . I dont think so. And i think because the state has a responsibility in peoples lives and to help them, and there is a huge range of factors as to why people can be overweight and obese. And once youre in that place, this is the thing thats tricky. Once you are in this position, you cant just reverse it, you know . And it comes from a position, this, this hard nosed attitude of, you know, you get up the sofa, you need to do the work yourself. All of that stuff is all right and well and goodin stuff is all right and well and good in theory, but actually people have got in that position a lot of the times i speak from personal experience here because they havent treated themselves properly. They havent treated themselves with kindness. And themselves with kindness. And actually, if we treat them even with even more hard nosed, kind of attitudes, then the risk is they dont end up resolving the issues. And often the issues can issues. And often the issues can be psychological, it can be stress based. Food is addictive stress based. Food is addictive and especially high sugar foods. And that is one of the things that we see, you know, on repeat, its cycles of addiction. And these are how people cope with the stressful world that we live in. Im not saying that you wouldnt prescribe Something Like ozempic to someone who is clinically obese, but youre not suggesting, james, that youd , suggesting, james, that youd, prescribe it generally for people who just wish to avoid. Oh, of course not. Of course not. And i think ozempic kind of this kind of discussion about ozempic kind of takes away from the wider issue, which is why we should be looking at every and health care in general, should be looking at every factor of peoples lives. Because, you know, if there is a reason why somebody is eating more and doing less and struggling with that relationship with food, then they should be given the support. I just want to read out a couple of comments from people on either argument. David says a fat jab shouldnt be given out on the nhs unless there is a true medical condition behind it until or and of course, the diabetes. David until all usual remedies have been tried and clinically found to have not worked otherwise, its just another added financial burden on the taxpayer. But sareen says Alcoholism Treatment given up, smoke and gambling. Theyre all treated by the nhs. So why shouldnt obesity . Junk food is cheaper than vegetables , as cheaper than vegetables, as there are many reasons why people are overweight. Medication illnesses, not all are self inflicted through eating doughnuts. Obesity is treated by the nhs. I mean obesity in itself isnt a clinical condition. Its all the other things that come with obesity that the nhs, nhs does treat. No ones being excluded because theyre overweight, you know , from overweight, you know, from treatment from the nhs. But i think the crucial factor here is , you know, how do we make people, how do we prevent people from getting into a clinically obese position . How do we and i think a lot of that we need to and im not saying being hard nosed. I mean, im not suggesting that im suggesting that people need to be educated and you need to be brought up at school. But surely thats state intervention. What . Well, intervention. What . Well, educating people on how to making people aware of the choices, then its up to them to , you know, making sure theyve got the information. Its like brushing your teeth, mind you, i hate looking at calorie counts on menus. I think that puts people in a really, really, its a nasty thing, i think. But anyway, after the break, well get into more of that because i tell you what, my calories come from booze. What, my calories come from booze. I dont know about you. Booze. I dont know about you. Youre with me. Darren grimes on gb news sunday. Lots more coming up on the show. A new study has found that £27 billion a year is being spent in england on the health and social harms of drinking. I want to know , should drinking. I want to know, should more be done to tackle our british boozy binge . All of that and more to come. Youre with gb news, britains news channel. Welcome back to gb news sunday with me. Darren grimes. On your with me. Darren grimes. On your tv, online and on digital radio. Now, lots of you have been sending in your thoughts on those jabs. One viewer says weight loss jabs are nothing but another rip off. The only way to keep it off is to cut the carbs. Remember one thing if you can bear the first three days with no food, then youll lose your appetite and the rest is easy. Total cost zero hmmhmm. Laurie says why would you pay for a fitness instructor, the gym and take up exercise when youve got a fat jab . Cheaper, i guess, than a years membership or hours spent on a track . Well, theres some views there, folks. Now that study, i want to go back to that study. Theres a study done thats found that £27 billion a year is spent on england, in england, on the health and social harms of drink and alcohol. Official figures released showed that over 10,000 people died in 2022 from alcohol specific causes , the highest specific causes, the highest level since records began in 2001. Dare i say lockdown had something to do with that . Lets see what my panel think , though. See what my panel think, though. Im jumping the gun there. Former Labour Party Spokesman James Matthewson and called deputy leader of reform uk ben habib. Do you agree with me there ben, that people were drinking more in lockdown . Oh, absolutely. Some booze. I mean i put on weight and lockdown and gyms were closed. You couldnt go out there was, you know, you were constrained at home and youre going to sit back and, you know, you start looking at the clock thinking, whens my first gin and tonic . Exactly yeah. Its 5 00 somewhere. That was the that was the that was that your narrative . Because i certainly put on weight during lockdown. It wasnt, you know, i mean, strangely, out of all the things that could be indulging in. Ive been sober now for a good couple of years. Have you . Good for you. I took that decision because i quit smoking. And when i quit smoking, i found i couldnt drink. I just couldnt do one without the other. So it was easier to cut it out for me and go cold turkey. And i have. And to this day, i enjoy some of the many. And i will not mention brands, but some of the many fantastic non alcoholic beers that are out there. And theres more and more of them, which im finding, which are really good because many of my friends are making the transition. And certainly people who i know in london, people in edinburgh, people in manchester, lots of them are going on nights out and theyre not drinking as much or theyre not drinking as much or theyre not drinking as much or theyre not drinking. Are they theyre not drinking. Are they the same calories in a non alcoholic . Apparently so. And he has the same thing. Theyre the same price. Sometimes theyre more expensive. I do not understand. Yes. Because actually alcohol is taxed. And i actually alcohol is taxed. And i think theres a kind of you know theres a subtext here isnt there. Lets attack alcohol. Its taxed at 10 or thereabouts. And then theres another 20 vat. And the first thing that came out alongside these studies was a was a call for extra taxes on alcohol. And here we are, you know, attacking, something that is an easy win for the tory government or future Labour Government to make, to make more money and i find it slightly at odds as well with the take up of weed in this country. You know, if were really concerned about peoples health, i until recently i couldnt smell weed on the streets. Now i smell weed. Oh, its disgusting. Its oh, its disgusting. Its foul. Foul. Why arent they cracking down on weed . Oh, yeah. We basically decriminalised it. I mean, in that position where we are now with it and with the relation to alcohol. If you look at health, you know , you look at health, you know, and how it affects health, you might as well make marijuana fully decriminalised, decriminalise cannabis and tax it and let the state take money from that. I imagine youll get your wish because joe bidens doing that and keir starmer it will it will follow suit. And i think, as ben said, you smell it everywhere. Now with with a legalised system or at least a decriminalised system, you would be able to regulate it better and control that. Arthurs written in an arthur says, well, Nicola Sturgeon when she attempted some interventions on alcohol , she attempted some interventions on alcohol, she brought about minimum pricing for alcohol. But the evidence suggests that that hasnt worked. All its done is meant that actually youre paying meant that actually youre paying more for your booze. And the 10 pm. As well. I mean, obviously i live in edinburgh, in scotland, and at 10 pm, you know, its very funny because you know, your your 24 hour tescos and stuff. The aisles just get closed off, the alcohol, aisles get closed off with barriers. If youve got Nicola Sturgeon running you, the first thing you need is a drink. Well thats survived. Well i do see, i do see, thats true anyway. Well, get back to the panel shortly. Youre with me, Darren Grimes on gb news sunday. Weve got lots more coming up on todays show. Were going to get a quick look at the weather before me and my panel are back to chew. I was about to say chew the fat, which is very , topical right now, is very, topical right now, isnt it . Isnt it . A brighter outlook with boxt solar sponsors of weather on. Gb news. Hello welcome to your gb news weather update from the met office for the rest of today. Weve still got some warm sunshine on offer. The risk of the odd shower but feeling cooler in the east weve got a ridge of High Pressure extending out towards the west thats bringing in the settled conditions through much of today with light winds, as indicated by the isobars. Otherwise, plenty of late evening sunshine on offer today. Any showers across southwestern parts of scotland and cumbria fading away into the evening. Otherwise weve got a return of low cloud coming in from the north sea and pushing its way further towards the west. Clearer skies are further the west you go, but low cloud, mist and fog perhaps developing across Northern Ireland. Temperatures around 10 or 11 but feeling cooler underneath the clearer skies. So quite a murky start on monday morning , especially further east morning, especially further east that you go so across scotland, North Eastern coast as well, holding a lot of low cloud mist and fog. But further the west, bright skies to start the day. Northern ireland like i said, some low cloud mist and fog should lift and break and then low cloud really lingering across a part of the southeast. Across a part of the southeast. Brighter skies further to the west you go and dry to so through the rest of monday morning , low cloud, mist and fog morning, low cloud, mist and fog should start lifting, breaking and burning its way back to coastline might be a little bit slower than what weve seen on today for today, but otherwise plenty of sunny spells on offer. The risk of some heavy showers , the risk of some heavy showers, especially across western parts of Northern Ireland. Elsewhere feeling perhaps a little bit cooler than what we saw on the weekend, but otherwise still feeling warm in the sunshine as we go through the rest of monday evening , any cloud generally evening, any cloud generally breaking away. Still, with the risk of some heavy showers across western parts of Northern Ireland and perhaps developing across the south two otherwise. Tuesday, wednesday and thursday turning unsettled, showers or perhaps some longer spells of rain. Rain. Looks like things are heating up. Boxt boilers sponsors of up. Boxt boilers sponsors of weather on. Gb news. Weather on. Gb news. Thank you very much, kathryn. Lots more coming up on the show. Some schools in england are now sending police to the homes of children who are persistently absent , children who are persistently absent, warning that their parents may go to prison if their attendance doesnt approve. So what . See you at home if youre not forcing your child to get into school, should you end up potentially in the slammer . All of that and more to come. Im Darren Grimes and youre with gb news, where britains news channel. Hello and welcome to gb news sunday. Thank you very much for joining us this lunchtime. Im Darren Grimes, and for the next hour, ill be keeping you company on tv, online and on digital radio. Coming up this hour. Are more tory defections on the cards . Shadow Health Secretary wes streeting says hes talking to multiple mps who are considering crossing the floor, sliding into his dms, he said were the tories wrong to oust Boris Johnson . Nadhim zahawi seems to think so. Nadhim zahawi seems to think so. The former chancellor says it was a mistake kicking him out and called the former pm the most consequential leader since thatcher. Is he right . And some thatcher. Is he right . And some schools in england are now sending police to the homes of children who are persistently absent, warning their parents may go to prison if their attendance doesnt improve. I attendance doesnt improve. I mean, to the police now have anything else to do . They definitely do, dont they . This show is nothing without you and your views, so let me know your thoughts on all of the stories well be discussing today by visiting gbnews. Com. Forward slash yours and join the conversation there. Or message us on our socials where gbnews. First of all folks, were going to get your news with sofia. Darren. Thank you. Good afternoon. Its 2 01. Im sofia wenzler in the gb newsroom. Chancellor jeremy wenzler in the gb newsroom. Chancellorjeremy hunt has vowed chancellor jeremy hunt has vowed to compensate victims for the infected blood scandal with a £10 billion package. Hunt claimed it was part of fulfilling a promise he made to a constituent who died after contracting hepatitis c. The scandal has been the subject of the biggest ever Public Inquiry in the uk , after tens of in the uk, after tens of thousands of people were infected with contaminated blood and blood products. One of the victims of the infected blood scandal, joan eddington, discussed the effects. Its had on her. All have different and various physical, but its the mental, the anguish, of what were going through. And that in were going through. And that in itself is a support. If you have a, you know , the friends a, you know, the friends support, but also as mentioned that the red cross are there at the hearings and we can now go for counselling. And a lot of people i know, go for counselling, theyve just, its the uncertainty of your future, and what its done to you, and if its stability of your mind in a way nhs staff will be told to work evenings and weekends under labour plans to slash waiting lists. Hospitals will be asked to share staff and poor waiting lists as part of a £1. 1 billion drive to provide an extra 40,000 appointments a week. Shadow Health Secretary wes streeting also promised to protect whistleblowers and cut the nhss reliance on Migrant Workers £1. 1 billion paid for by clamping down on tax avoidance, and also closing non dom loopholes as well. And that will enable us to put £1. 1 billion directly into the pockets of nhs staff to deliver those extra appointments the evenings and weekends, using an approach thats been tried and tested at the london hospital. I can literally see out of my Office Window in westminster and therefore an approach we need to see available to patients right across the country, not just in london. And that does come with a cost. And thats why weve made this commitment as our first step on the journey to busting the tory backlog and cutting nhs waiting lists. Cutting nhs waiting lists. In other news, a 14 year old boy has died and a 13 year old boy has died and a 13 year old boy is in a Critical Condition after getting into difficulty in the river tyne in ovingham, nonh the river tyne in ovingham, north cumbria. Police were called on saturday after concerns for the welfare of two teenage boys who were in the river. The younger boy was rescued by Emergency Services and taken to hospital, but the body of the 14 year old was later found in the water following a search, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. An pronounced dead at the scene. An israeli war cabinet minister has threatened to resign if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doesnt adopt a new plan for gaza. Benny gantz has set an 8th of june deadline for a plan to achieve six strategic goals , achieve six strategic goals, including the end of hamas rule including the end of hamas rule in gaza. It comes after the Israeli Military says its recovered another body yesterday after the bodies of three israeli hostages were recovered from gaza on friday. Israel says it believes 100 hostages are still alive. Their defence secretary, grant shapps, told gb news hes pleased benny gantz has spoken out. It is vital, vital that for israel, of course, for palestinians that there is a route in which they end up with a government which is which are not a bunch of terrorists, which is what hamas are, but people who can properly represent them. And israel needs to set that out , because there could be if you put all of those pieces into place and combine it with normalisation of relations with saudi arabia, for example , a saudi arabia, for example, a Better Future for that region, including for israel. So yes, i do think its time to set that out. And we have been urging this step to take place. This step to take place. And history was made in saudi arabia last night as Oleksandr Usyk became boxings undisputed world heavyweight champion after defeating tyson fury, the ukrainian won a split decision following the fight in riyadh. Following the fight in riyadh. Fury was nearly knocked out in the ninth round but disputed the loss afterwards, seeming to suggest usyk only won a sympathy vote because of the war in ukraine. In response, usyk said he was ready for a rematch. And he was ready for a rematch. And for the latest story, sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen or go to gb news. Com slash alerts. Now its back to gb news. Sunday thank you very much, sofia. Thank you very much, sofia. Lets get stuck into todays topics. Its been reported that several one nation tories are in talks with labour about defecting shadow Health Secretary wes streeting. Hospitals to hospitals says hes talking to multiple mps. From the more moderate is the word used section of the conservative party who are wrestling with their conscience over whether to cross the floor. Well, joining me to discuss this is gb news Political Correspondent olivia utley. Correspondent olivia utley. Olivia wes streeting says people are sliding into his dms. Whos sliding into your dms to say, look, i think so. And so is going to be off . Well, there are all sorts of rumours that all sorts of conservative mps are thinking of defecting to the labour party, that a precedent has very much been set over the last few months with first dan poulter and then, Natalie Elphicke , and then, Natalie Elphicke, hugely, hugely unexpected. Shes widely considered to be on the right of the conservative party, and the whispers are in westminster. Well, if Natalie Elphicke then who else . The elphicke then who else . The problem is that all of these rumours are pretty unsubstantial. And of course, its in labours interest to talk up the idea of conservative mps defecting to the labour party. The conservative mps ive spoken to, perhaps unsurprisingly , have to, perhaps unsurprisingly, have roundly denied that they are in talks. One one. One former minister, possibly still a junior minister, will quince, had all sorts of messages from conservative colleagues saying no, you mustnt defect, you mustnt defect, etc. He was really quite upset by it. He felt that hes always been very loyal to the conservative party and had no plans to defect at all. So i think part of this is mischief making. But there certainly are names doing the rounds. There are rumours that john major is about to announce his defection to the labour party. I dont think that will come as a huge surprise. He was a conservative Prime Minister, but in every single intervention that hes made since, he has been definitively unhelpful to the conservative party and seems to be much more interested in labour and labours prospects. There were also rumours that theresa may was going to defect. I think that is extremely unlikely. And then all sorts of unlikely. And then all sorts of other names of far more junior mps doing the rounds. It would be a huge, huge to blow rishi sunak if another mp were to defect and also , we havent yet defect and also, we havent yet reached an mp who is not only defecting but also planning to stand in the next election. I think that will be even more damaging to rishi sunak. Both dan poulter and Natalie Elphicke are saying that theyre going to stand aside at the next election anyway. What what what rishi sunak really, really does not want are mps who look like theyre about to lose their seats under the conservatives, going over to labour in order to win those seats over, because some of those mps have quite a following, a loyal following in their constituency sources. And if that following moves from the conservatives to labour, that would be very, very bad news for the tories indeed. I mean, chris heaton harris, the Northern Ireland secretary, announcing he wouldnt stand again. You know, every time someone announces theyre not standing , olivia, theres an standing, olivia, theres an intake of breath fearing that theyre about to say theyre crossing the floor. But anyway , crossing the floor. But anyway, gb news Political Correspondent olivia utley there. Thank you very much for that analysis. Lets have a listen to what our panel make of this. Im joined by former Labour Party Spokesman James Matthewson and the core deputy leader of reform uk , ben deputy leader of reform uk, ben habib. Ben, what happened to all this talk about them coming over to you . Theyre all going to laboun to you . Theyre all going to labour. Well, the conservative party celebrates the fact, as it describes itself, to be a broad church. And ive said for many years now, theyre not a broad church so much as they are a divided church. And the division effectively is between the one nafion effectively is between the one nation lot and the Parliamentary Party, who also, in my opinion, largely control cchq. Theyre, you know, theyre their party executive. And then youve got like the five families on the so called right hand side of the conservative party. And i can never remember the names of the five families, but one of them is the erg and its very confusing for the electorate to figure out all this sort of machinations within the conservative party. But theyre not theyre not a coherent force, the conservative party. And one of the problems that they have is that in order to win elections, theyve increasingly moved from small c conservative centre right , low conservative centre right, low taxation, low stated intervention, more to a kind of higher taxation, greater state intervention , very pro eu, very intervention, very pro eu, very pro the whole transgender thing, the promotion of ethnic minorities and religious minorities and religious minorities over and above, if necessary, to the detriment of the majority. What i call woke and all of thats been in an attempt to crowd labour out from what they define as the Centre Ground and the one nation lot have been instrumental in that. And i would welcome the conservative party not that i care much really about the future of the conservative party as its currently constructed, but i would welcome, for the sake of the nation, the one nafion sake of the nation, the one nation lot to leave because they should either be in the labour party or the liberal democrats. They shouldnt be in a conservative party. Ben raises a valid concern. Does he not, because the conservative party is deemed to a very wide tent, but the labour party is too. Do you think actually the only reason that these people are in the same Political Party is because we dont have Electoral Reform and proportional representation at the ballot box . Yeah, entirely. Yeah. I think its based. And ive become more and more when i was active in the labour party and through the labour party, you couldnt talk about pr as a as an alternative prospect. You just couldnt have that conversation. The more and that conversation. The more and more people i know now, even within the labour party, who have in the conversation about it being the right thing politically because as youre right, youve got two big tents and two broad churches , but that and two broad churches, but that encompasses everyone. What you end up with is america. You end up with democrats and republicans, and they can be everything and anything on the political spectrum. And even neil kinnock said in i think it was in the telegraph this week, he said that, you know, even broad churches have walls and gates. When it was referring to Natalie Elphicke. Natalie elphicke. I mean, how did you feel about natalie al fayed coming over . Were you forming . Yeah, yeah. I dont think she should be in the labour party. She doesnt share my values. What is the point of a Political Party if it does not have core values that it represents . I couldnt agree more. Are there is there a sort of whole host of people from the conservative party that you would frown upon coming over . I mean, what do you think about sir john major coming over . John major is an interesting one. I dont think john major would come over. I dont think he would do that. I think what john major would be more likely to do is what Alastair Campbell did when he said he was voting lib dem. You know, he would say, im having to hold my nose and vote labour this time. In the hope that he tries to send a message to the conservatives. I dont think he would defect though, but that would be seismic, ben, wouldnt it . A former Prime Minister that won a majority for the conservatives in 1992, saying hes voting labour and a very pro eu Prime Minister. And this is the thing about the labour party as well. We talked about the conservatives occupying the so called Centre Ground, but in the pursuit of power, as youve said, james, the labour party has done the same thing. And starmer and a lot of his senior team are pro eu, as is john major. Lot of his senior team are pro eu, as is john major. John pro eu, as is john major. John major couldnt possibly join the labour party if it wasnt inherently pro eu. You know, he wouldnt be able to do it if it was, if it was overtly a brexit orientated party, which, by the way, i think labour should be. I cant see how a labour party which wants power embedded in parliament in order to have the interventionist policies that labour typically wish to have, could want to be part of the eu. Theyre a complete odds with each other. And one of the reasons i think youre not seeing an increase in people coming out to vote for labour is because theyre not pro british in the way that small c conservative labour voters are. You know, the red wall is comprises a lot of labour voters , but who are small c conservative. They believe in the uk and starmer clearly doesnt. If major joins the labour party, itll be the icing on the cake. Thats why coalitions your small well, youre not small c conservative. I was going to say youre from the red wall. Thank you. Pardon . Youre from the red wall. Do you, do you reject that assertion from from ben habib there about you. Are you a patriotic person, would you say . Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it depends how we define patriotism. Its been mixed with nationalism for so long. And i believe the tory party is the driving force of that, because theyve pandered to people on the right, because theyve been scared of them and people like ben. And its. People like ben. And its. Youre scared, are you, ben . Politically . Its your credit politically, ben, you know, and the likes of nigel farage and all the rest of it who have managed to turn the tories to them and to say we need to set them and to say we need to set the narrative. However, for somebody like myself who will never agree with you in a million years, i need to have my own Political Party that represents me. But that coalition is vast and it still is. But can i ask you a question , james . Do you not think that at its heart, at its fundamental ideological heart, the labour party has to stand for british citizens in the working and middle classes . It has to stand for everybody. Does it have to for everybody. Does it have to stand for british, emphasis on british citizens in the working and middle classes or is it standing for some Greater Global Community . Its not a great a global community. What does the labour party, well never agree on this because its a fundamental difference about how the world works. But i believe that the labour party represents british people and British Values and it will stand to be a British Government and it will be in power. The thing the labour party has done is reform itself in recent years. Reform in that sense, you know, and are you going to be making overtures to reform now . The tory party needs to do the same. And some time in opposition will serve it well. Do you think so . Do you think so . I think so, i think hell serve it well. The risk is they go over to the optimistic than many conservatives. I think sadly, the labour party, the labour party of yesteryear is a party i could almost support. In many respects. Im afraid that Current Labour Party is a wishy washy , centrist, pro eu, washy, centrist, pro eu, globalist , high taxation, high globalist, high taxation, high state intervention, dependency , state intervention, dependency, wealth redistribution. No. At the beauty of democracy , its the beauty of democracy, its not for you, its for me. And its for people who believe in those values. I dont think well be saying blairite benn any time soon. No right, folks, lets talk about this story. English courts are in talks to abandon compulsory wigs for barristers. Youll youll know which wigs i mean, amid claims that theyre culturally insensitive. Its understood that the judiciary is poised. Weve got them up there on screen now. Theyre poised to update their court dress code, following complaints by some barristers that those traditional headpieces didnt eliminate against those with afro caribbean hair. Lets see what my panel make of that. Ben. What my panel make of that. Ben. Im sick of all of this right . Im sick of all of this right . Im sick of being told that things are culturally insensitive when theyve been there for such a long time. They werent brought about in the name of being racist or any of that nonsense. How much has to that nonsense. How much has to be overturned and scrapped in the name of tackling cultural insensitivity . Yeah, so lets just redefine that for a second. Were now experiencing the emergence of a term called global majority. Have you heard . Yes. And the National Trust said that the National Trust. So the global majority is a mechanism by which they can give legitimacy to the promotion of minorities over and above the majority in this country. So they say, well, they may not be they say, well, they may not be the majority in this country, but theyre the global majority, which comes back to where laboun which comes back to where labour, i think has gone so wrong. I dont want to come back to that immediately, but, you know, so it seems and this is woke this is the promotion of minority interests, whether they be ethnic, religious, sexual preferences , gender ideology, preferences, gender ideology, whatever it is, any kind of minority interest over and above and to the detriment of the majority. And here we have, majority. And here we have, i think, i think the story came about because theres a black barrister who had an afro joined the, joined the, joined the joined, you know, joined the Legal Profession and wanted the wig taken away because his hair was an integral part of his identity. I mean, get over yourself. I know you know. Well, i thought that am i wrong . Yeah. Yeah yeah. Yeah. Yeah yeah. I couldnt disagree more. Im afraid its just about making the world more accessible and more comfortable for everyone. More comfortable for everyone. And i dont see what is wrong with that. I dont subscribe to this view that were somehow curtailing other peoples rights or freedoms by getting rid of wigs that nobody cares about. Do you care when youre in court that youre whatever youre in court for . Darren im not got any court coming up, but if youre in court and youre being represented by a barrister, do you care what hes wearing . Absolutely. I want to know that he respects tradition and culture. Well, you could choose a barrister. Im sure he would. On absolutely i will. However, the wig and the headpiece that theyve got on it represents a different age, a different era. And of course , conservatives are and of course, conservatives are in love with this notion of that heritage and tradition. For the heritage and tradition. For the rest of us, we couldnt care less. But james, thats an entire different and integral and critical component of being british. Where do you draw the line . But where do you draw the line . But where do you draw the line because you want rid of pubuc line because you want rid of public executions were tradition . No. Do we want to go back to suggesting that we have pubuc back to suggesting that we have public executions . But i think public executions . But i think weve got to be very, very careful about issuing every part of our Cultural Heritage in the pursuit of this levelling of the Playing Field, which, by the way, is not the levelling of the Playing Field, pandering to minority interests is tipping the Playing Field against the majority and it is. And the reason its happening, and its dnven reason its happening, and its driven by immigration is because weve got multiculturalism, which is not settled in the United Kingdom. And so to make to try and have a swing at settling multiculturalism , a settling multiculturalism, a broken society, what were doing is celebrating and promoting minority interests to the detriment of the settled majority. Its not driven by immigration because youve just referenced their sexual preference, and that is not something that comes into the uk from elsewhere. They get on the from elsewhere. They get on the bandwagon. Its part of the same bandwagon. Its part of the same bandwagon. Its part of the same bandwagon. Its like decolonising the english language. Its like claiming its like the idea of cultural marxism. Youre kind of grouping everything together sexual preference, immigration, skin colour all into the same basket and calling it woke and saying, i dont want to change any of my ways, and i want to change the ways, and i want to change the way i do things to make anything more comfortable for somebody. The wake is racist. The wake is racist. No, of course i wouldnt say its racist. Id just say if there is somebody with a different hair type to you and i saying that it is incompatible with their hair type, then maybe well listen to them because he wants to have his own personal, his own way. Oh, do you know that he wants to be the star of the show . We dont know. But there are so many extra things with afro canbbean so many extra things with afro caribbean hair and afro canbbean caribbean hair and afro caribbean hair and afro caribbean hair that arent catered to in britain. Thank you very much for that. James matthewson and ben habib there before him. Now folks, for all the best analysis and opinion on that story and more, you can go to our website gbnews. Com. Now folks, its the Great British giveaway today we are giving away a lovely little white wig. No im joking, its your chance folks, to win £20,000 cash in time for summer. What would you spend it on a dream holiday . Get the garden done or perhaps treat the family well . You have to hurry because time is ticking on your chance to make it yours. Heres how. Its the biggest cash prize weve given away to date. An incredible £20,000 that you could use however you like. And could use however you like. And because its totally tax free, every single penny will be in your bank account to do whatever your bank account to do whatever you like. With £20,000 in tax free cash really could be yours this summer. Hurry, youve got to be in it to win it for another chance to win £20,000 in tax free cash. Text win to tax free cash. Text win to 63232. Text cost £2 plus one Standard Network rate message or post your name and number to gbos , p0 post your name and number to gb05 , po box 8690 derby rd one gb05, po box 8690 derby rd one nine, double t, uk. Only nine, double t, uk. Only entrants must be 18 or over. Lines closed at 5 00 pm on the sist lines closed at 5 00 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 luck demand. Good luck youre with me Darren Grimes on gb news sunday. Lots more coming up on todays show. Were the tories wrong to oust boris Nadhim Zahawi . Seems to think so. He was the former chancellor and he says that the conservatives were wrong to kick out johnson when they did , and out johnson when they did, and called the former pm the most consequential leader since thatcher. I want to know , is he thatcher. I want to know, is he right . All of that and more to come. Youre with gb news, where britains news channel. Welcome back to gb news sunday with me, Darren Grimes. On your tv, Darren Grimes. On your tv, onune Darren Grimes. On your tv, online and on digital radio. Now, the question im asking now is, were the tories wrong to oust boris Nadhim Zahawi . Seems to think so. The former to think so. The former chancellor says the conservatives were wrong to kick out johnson when they did, and called the former Prime Minister the most consequential leader since thatcher. Lets see what my panel make of this. Since thatcher. Lets see what my panel make of this. James, my panel make of this. James, youn my panel make of this. James, your, your man. Right. You were bojo for pm. Oh, yeah. Absolutely. I had the t shirt and everything. The man was an absolute moron. But i mean the welcome to him. I mean, if theyve kept him, you know, i think it would have been even worse position if that was electorally. The thing is, they seem to think the conservative party has been this way, for a while now, people like lee anderson, people who come in, you know, who are Strong Enough in their character and Strong Enoughin in their character and Strong Enough in their convictions that they can say, ive got answers, ive got solutions. Boris johnson had an appeal and he had a platform and he had a brand simple marketing. He had a well known brand and he was able to reach parts of the country that other people couldnt. Simple. After lockdown and after everything that happened with covid, that brand was toxic. So i think if theyd stuck with him, there would have been even even more catastrophic situation than they are now. Do you not think labour in power would have found themselves in the same position . Thats a really interesting question. And thats where my mind had gone. Its almost academic, in my opinion, whos beenin academic, in my opinion, whos been in power since 2016. The minute the people voted for brexit, we had a parliament. We still have a parliament that largely stands against brexit. The conservative party were against it. They still are against it. They still are against it. The majority of them, the one nation not who control the Parliamentary Party are against it. And the labour party, absolutely. Whatever starmer says, well, not whatever starmer says, well, not whatever starmer says. He actually said were going to align. He said yes. He was caught on tape in montreal saying, were going to augn montreal saying, were going to align very closely with the eu so that in all but name were going to be, you know, along the same. And that for me, is the fundamental problem that our parliamentary democracy has struggled with ever since 2016. One of the reasons we have such economic difficulties, cultural problems , and basically getting problems, and basically getting to a point where Civil Society is breaking down is because they didnt give effect to the referendum result. And the consequences are vast. I do think, however, that having elected Boris Johnson, democratically and having got the 80 seat majority, i dont think it was within their right to replace him, not just once, but twice. Where the second Prime Minister, rishi sunak, the incumbent, doesnt even have the support of the conservative party. And that is a fundamental, fundamental breakdown in democracy. And its an unsustainable position. What rishi should have done was call an election immediately on being appointed Prime Minister to legitimise his, legitimise his his position. He didnt do it, boris, i shared jamess point, though. Boris, im afraid, is wonderful a character as he may be. His ability to communicate. He is hopeless at any kind of ideological direction and then having a plan and the ability to deliver that ideology. And i dont think hes a brexiteer enhen dont think hes a brexiteer ehheni dont think hes a brexiteer either. I think it comes back to a fundamental question, which is in our political system, we have this strange duality going on where to get elected and to be somebody whos good at getting elected, you have to be one kind of character, and itd be good at running a country. Youve got at running a country. Youve got a different kind. You got to be a different kind. You got to be a different kind of character. How do you do both, you know . So bons how do you do both, you know . So Boris Johnson, the showman, the performer, of course, he was good at winning elections. Thats no surprise. But running a country, i mean, we saw what happened. But can you imagine boris going up against sir keir starmer. That would i would like to watch that make mincemeat of keir starmer. I mean keir starmer hasnt got a position has he. Keir starmers basic approach to policy making is well you know, we wont change anything too much. Well benny has got a position but hes taken more positions than the kamasutra. Dare i say thats true, you know. Well, he flip flops, but you know, hes trying to curry favour with every constituency in the country in order to get elected. You know, hes dolling himself now and thatcherite. Yes. Talking about how great she was. Great. Great. Yes. And james agrees of course. You see union jacks everywhere and were never going back into the eu and taxation wont go up. But of course we know all of thats nonsense. We know all of thats nonsense. We know taxation will go up under the Labour Government. We know that he doesnt believe in margaret thatcher. We know that we will get strikes with the nhs. Well have even greater got strikes. Weve got strikes and got strikes. Exactly. Got strikes. Exactly. I remember sadiq khan saying under my mayoralty there will be no strikes. The unions will, you know, step into line with me. Theyll be my friend. Of course, there have been strikes. Yeah, several of them throughout his time in office. Are we not going to see the same thing with labour . They talk a good game, but actually , you know, he would but actually, you know, he would say that the reason for that is because of a conservative government overall. Of course, whether you believe that or not is a different question. However, with the labour party, with the relationship with the unions, its always very interesting because people always say, oh, its exactly the same as the tories and theyre doing and they just do what they tell them to do, and all the rest of it. The trade unions are democratic. Theyre a Democratic Force and theyre a force for good. In britain. We talk about them like this. The 1970s, and weve got trade union barons running everything. Still, its not the case. We have a Democratic Trade Union system that represents people, are they not . Well, of course they are. But thats the reason why the labour party was created by the trade unions to represent trade unionists in parliament, keir hardie being its first mp. You know, and now weve got keir starmer, the second keir lead in the party, who doesnt represent the union. Well you must you must appreciate. Wait and see. Lets wait and see what he does in office shall we. Yeah. All right. Thank you very much to james and ben habib there. Now, folks, youre with me. Darren grimes and gb news sunday. Plenty more coming up on the show. First of all, though, were going to get your news with sophia. Darren. Thank you. Its 231. Im sophia wenzler in the gb newsroom. First is some breaking newsroom. First is some breaking news coming to us from iran this afternoon. Where state tv are reporting the iranian president has been involved in an accident while travelling in a helicopter. There are limited details at this stage, but one media outlet suggests the aircraft made whats being described as a hard landing. Described as a hard landing. President Ibrahim Raeisi was a passenger in one helicopter, which was travelling in a group of three. And well bring you more on that as we get it here in the uk. The chancellor has vowed to compensate victims for the infected blood scandal with a £10 billion package. Jeremy hunt claimed it was part of fulfilling a promise he made to a constituent who died after contracting hepatitis c, the scandal has been the subject of the biggest ever Public Inquiry in the uk, after tens of thousands of people were infected with contaminated blood and blood products. Infected with contaminated blood and blood products. Nhs infected with contaminated blood and blood products. Nhs staff and blood products. Nhs staff will be told to work evenings and weekends under labour plans to slash waiting lists. Hospitals will be asked to share staff and pool waiting lists as part of a £1. 1 billion drive to provide an extra 40,000 appointments a week. Shadow Health Secretary wes streeting also promised to protect whistleblowers and cut the nhss reliance on Migrant Workers. A reliance on Migrant Workers. A 14 year old boy has died and a 13 year old boy is in a Critical Condition after getting into difficulty in the river tyne at ovingham, Northumbria Police were called on saturday after concerns for the welfare of two teenage boys who were in the river. The younger boy was rescued by Emergency Services and taken to hospital , but the and taken to hospital, but the body of the 14 year old was later found in the water following a search, and he was pronounced dead at the scene , pronounced dead at the scene, and history was made in saudi arabia last night as Oleksandr Usyk became boxings undisputed world heavyweight champion after defeating tyson fury, the ukrainian won a split decision following the fight in riyadh. Fury was nearly knocked out in the ninth round but disputed the loss afterwards, seeming to suggest usyk only won a sympathy vote because of the war in ukraine. In response, usyk said he was ready for a rematch. And he was ready for a rematch. And for the latest stories, sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen or go to gb news. Com alerts. Thank you very much, sophia. Now, folks, theres plenty more coming up on todays show. But before i tell you what, weve lined up for you, nana akua show is on later at 3 00, and she joins us now. Gnaana. Whats coming up on your show later on . Well, ive got adam brooks and also nigel nelson. Theyre and also nigel nelson. Theyre going to be going head to head in the clash, but i have a mystery guest. I can give you one big clue as to who she is, she was the mayoral conservative candidate for london, say no more. Oh. Shes on. Shes on. Well be to talking her about everything, including that tweet from wes streeting, because wes is talking about the nhs and were asking whether you think that labour are actually good and are going to save the nhs. Are they the government that can look after and save the nhs . Theyve been saying some good things, but then its easy to speak in opposition, isnt it, when you dont actually have to do anything. But, yeah. So were going to have a robust debate and lots of things to talk about today. It is indeed nana. And of course, emily carver took wes streeting to task on that tweet earlier this morning. So what well look forward to that one. Thank you very much to nana. Now remember , folks, you can let me remember, folks, you can let me know your thoughts on all of the stories weve been discussing today by visiting gbnews. Com yoursay join the conversation there or message me on our socials. Were gbnews now. Coming up on todays show. Some schools in england are now sending police to the homes of children who are persistently absent , children who are persistently absent, warning their parents that they may go to prison if their childs attendance doesnt improve. All of that and more to come. Youre with me. Darren grimes on gb news is britains news channel. Welcome back to gb news. Sunday with me. Darren grimes. On your tv, online and on digital radio. Now, some schools in england are now sending Police Officers to the homes of children who are persistently absent or warning them that their parents may go to prison if their attendance doesnt improve. Now headteachers say theyre now under intense pressure from the government to turn around the crisis in attendance. With crisis in attendance. With a record 150,000 children at state schools classed as severely absent in 2022 to 23, lets see what my panel make of this. Im still joined by, of course, ben habib and James Matthewson james. How much of an impact do you think lockdown had on that . Because there are some kids that have just never come back to school. Yeah, exactly. School. Yeah, exactly. And theyve seen those differences and any challenges theyve had with school or issues theyve had with it have been exacerbated by that distance now. And a lot of them have realised that , you know, have realised that, you know, with the technology weve got, Distance Learning can be achieved. Of course, the thing achieved. Of course, the thing they do miss out on is the socialisation aspect of school. But if schools relied on solely for that, then you know it lacks in many other areas. In many other areas. Ben stevens written in and stevens says how can they send parents of children to prison when theyre so overcrowded that they have to let the current criminals out early . Yeah, i know , i mean, the whole thing is know, i mean, the whole thing is a nonsense. And of course, if you imprison parents, then the children definitely wont be going to school and therell be another burden on the state. Theyll have to go into some sort of orphanage or state care of some description or foster home. I mean, none of that can be good or sensible. I mean, what weve got is a breakdown in society again, and were seeing this not just with schooling. Were seeing it right across the board with police criminality. I mean, for goodness sake, why are the police going to parents when we got knife crime up 30 in the last three years . You know, wed as we were saying, you know, everywhere across across the, across our streets, a barber shop every few yards, which by the way, is just a front for Money Laundering and criminality. And the police should not be doing this, they should not be doing this, they should not be policing our thoughts, etc. But what we need is a belief in the schooling system by parents so that they understand the need for johnny and sarah and whatever to go to school because through school comes betterment. Thats the connection that people need to have. And i think lockdowns were detrimental because they basically said not only do you not need to come to school, its actually wrong to come to school. You should be at home and we can manage this at home. And it breaks that connection. And it breaks that connection. And were seeing that with the workplace. You know, work from home is damaging our economy. It is not good for the economy , is not good for the economy, work from home im sure is part of one of the reasons people are not coming into coming back into the Labour Market in the way that they were before , you know, that they were before, you know, because the whole dependency culture, the whole culture of not having to take your personal agency into to, you know, to, to, to better yourself. And that seems a theme that weve speaking about throughout this show is the theme of personal responsibility. Absolutely. Are we actually becoming a nation of bed wetting liberals . Oh goodness , i hope not. I oh goodness, i hope not. I hope not really. And dont expose my secrets like that. But the thing is, when we look at schools and this whole issue with schools and whether the police come into it or not, thats a separate issue for me about what the police are asked to do and waste their time on. But the School System doesnt work for so many. But the School System doesnt work for so many. And with work for so many. And with Academy Chains across the country. Wait, what do you mean . Wait, what do you mean . Well, the School System, there are kids who just dont fit into it. And its a very i mean, you know, ellie costello, you know, presents on on gb news. She works with square peg, who are a charity who do fantastic work, which is, you know, in its name , you know, know, in its name, you know, square peg, you know, round hole. It doesnt fit. Some kids hole. It doesnt fit. Some kids just do not fit into that system. And if you dont , then system. And if you dont, then youre going to find it immensely difficult. Everybody learns in different ways , saying learns in different ways, saying that you have to learn environment with 30 other kids in a classroom, making noise isnt going to work for everyone. So of course there are a lot of reasons why people wont want to go to school, but it is a it is. You know, theres many factors as to why truancy happens, but to crack down on it with a stronger attitude, instead of saying, with a stronger attitude, instead of saying , lets see how instead of saying, lets see how you learn and lets see what you want to learn and why you want to learn. Nick, nicks got some harsh words. He says, put truant kids words. He says, put truant kids and parents on Community Service wearing bright pink boilersuits labelled with truant across them. Oh, wow. Yeah, lets bring back the dunce cap while were at it. As well, you know. But no, i mean, i think as with so many things in society, its not a matter of coming down with a massive jackboot or a sledgehammer to control things. Its about making sure people understand the benefits of behaving in a certain way so that they use their personal agency. So they their personal agency. So they their aspiration kicks in and they want to do it. Yeah, you know, im going to digress completely for a second, but people say ban the marches. Its not about banning the marches. Its about creating social cohesion in the United Kingdom. Its about ditching di, making everyone equal, making sure that british Cultural Values are felt across the nation. And one of the things i do at school, for example, is to be teaching our history with pride and our great empire and the great good that we brought to the country , as we brought to the country, as well as the world. I had to sit through one of bens history lessons. I think i wouldnt be going to school either. I can tell you one of the history lessons, all my history lessons when i was at school were taught to me with that through that prism that the United Kingdom was a was a hotbed of ingenuity, diversity of thought, origination, fantastic legal system. Its not realistic, is system. Its not realistic, is it . Because but it is true country in the world that is without issues and without history. That is dark , and history. That is dark, and issues that are from the dark penod issues that are from the dark period to be able to tell the truth and to be able to say, but actually, weve all committed crimes in the past. Theres been issues in every country, every nation, all go to school being told that we need to put reparations aside for the crimes of our forefathers. But thats not ben. They come out of school with their heads being held to school. They hold their heads. No but were talking a bigger subject, a very important subject. Right im going to im going to stop you there, because after the break, we will be talking about british traditions. So youve sort of segwayed quite neatly onto that there. So well see that after the break. Folks, youre with me, Darren Grimes on gb news sunday as its coming up on the show, the balmoral show ended yesterday after drawing thousands of visitors from across the uk and ireland. But are these sorts of celebrations dying out across the country . Im asking should british celebrate and British Culture actually happen more often than it does . All of that and more to come. Youre with gb news, britains news channel welcome back to gb news sunday with me, Darren Grimes. On your tv, Darren Grimes. On your tv, onune Darren Grimes. On your tv, online and on digital radio. Now. The largest agriculture food event in Northern Ireland. Returned this week. The balmoral show ended yesterday after drawn thousands of visitors from across the uk and ireland. We sent our Northern Ireland reporter , Dougie Beattie, along reporter, Dougie Beattie, along to find out how the Agricultural Sector is getting. On. Sector is getting. On. When the country comes to town, everyone must look their best and neighbouring farms joined together for this yearly event. We help each other out whatever machinery is needed. Its shared. It helps. Needed it shared it at the end of a phone. Do you ever take advice from him . Of course. Never live longer. See, the most. See, the most. Agricultural shows such as this arent just about having a good day out. It gives us a real good day out. It gives us a real chance to take the temperature of the agri food sector. We have farmers, which is the raw material. We have Food Producers , food suppliers and manufacturers to the industry. Manufacturers to the industry. Michele shirlow heads up food and i and has noticed a growing interest in Northern Ireland produce food. And i put together the food and drink pavilion at balmoral show. And its all about promoting local food and drink from Northern Ireland. This year we see a buoyancy that we havent noticed for several years, real interest from , years, real interest from, retail buyers and hospitality buyers wanting to come to balmoral to source new products and a really great interest in the public as well. Heavy machinery is a big part of farming, and local manufacturers have had to adapt to new regulations as well as rising input costs. John pearce of made in britain points out the importance of a Strong Manufacturing base. Manufacturing base. British manufacturing is vital to the british economy. And the sector has been through some tough times and weve all been through some tough times. The economy has really been had some some dramatic ups and downs, but manufacturing as a sector is vital to the economy because making things locally and buying things that are made locally is good for the environment, its good for society, its good for the economy, its good for everyone. After such a wet winter. President of the Ulster Farmers Union , william irvine, is union, william irvine, is concerned about the damage to the winter crops and what it will mean for the incoming year. Its been an absolutely horrendous winter, a last autumn, the winter sales couldnt get planted. The autumn started too early for the livestock producers as spring was even worse . The ground that was even worse . The ground that wasnt planted last autumn. People had hoped to put it in spnng people had hoped to put it in spring cereals that couldnt happen until far too late. A Livestock Farmers were in the position of empty silos and falls , a manure tanks, slurry falls, a manure tanks, slurry tanks. So and ten months of wet weather. It it it has an effect on morale as well as all the stresses of managing the farm. The shoe doors have a lighter side and it gives a chance for both young and old to get up close to Northern Irelands largest industry. Largest industry. And ive been coming for six years. Whats your favourite animals, the sheep. Because just the way the sheep shearing contest goes, i just think its really, really good. Come every year to the balmoral show, which is fantastic show and its local and they have herefords on show as well. Today Dougie Beattie gb news at the balmoral show. Balmoral show. Now James Matthewson and ben habib are still with me in the studio. James, do we be doing more to celebrate British Culture . I think we do. I think we have a wonderful culture. Where i come from. We have the glendale show, the alwinton show up in edinburgh, we have the highland show as well. So these these shows arent going anywhere anytime soon. And i think theyre celebrating the turnout with them, shows who they are. Ben habib i dont think were doing enough. I think were doing enough. I think were doing enough. I think we should do a lot more for British Culture, and i think we need to export British Culture, frankly. You know, its a wonderful thing we as i was saying earlier, we had one of the greatest empires on, on earth, and that was in part as a result of our culture. And we should be proud of it. Oh, well, thats the same one. Yeah. Fisticuffs. Fisticuffs. After fisticuffs. After the fisticuffs. After the show, there is a is a problem, isnt there . With with the left viewing the country as bad and then therefore there is there is a problem on the left of that because people can fall into that attitude of being like, everythings wrong if somethings wrong. But we still have to be critical about the parts that we should be critical about. All right. James matthewson there. And ben habib, thank you very much to the two of them for being with me today. Now, youve also been with me, Darren Grimes on gb news sunday. I thank you very much for doing so. Dont go anywhere though, because theres plenty more coming up on gb news today. In just a moment, its fiery debate with nana akua, and at 6 pm, its the one and only neil oliver with free speech nafion neil oliver with free speech nation at seven and mark dolan tonight at 9 pm. Thank you so much for joining tonight at 9 pm. Thank you so much forjoining me this much for joining me this afternoon. Dont go anywhere. As afternoon. Dont go anywhere. As i say, nana is up next. First of all, heres your weather with catherine. Looks like things are heating up. Boxt boilers sponsors of weather on gb news. Hello. Welcome to your gb news weather update from the met office for the rest of today. Office for the rest of today. Weve still got some warm sunshine on offer. The risk of the odd shower but feeling cooler in the east. Weve got a ridge of High Pressure extending out towards the west thats bringing in the settled conditions through much of today with light winds as indicated by the isobars. Otherwise plenty of late evening sunshine on offer today. Any showers across southwestern parts of scotland and cumbria fading away into the evening. Otherwise weve got a return of low cloud coming in from the north sea and pushing its way further towards the west. Clearer skies are further the west you go, but low cloud, mist and fog perhaps developing across Northern Ireland. Temperatures around 10 or 11 but feeling cooler underneath the clearer skies. So quite a murky start on monday morning, especially further east that you go so across scotland , go so across scotland, northeastern coast as well, holding a lot of low cloud, mist and fog. But further to the west bright skies to start the day. Northern ireland like i said, some low cloud , mist and fog some low cloud, mist and fog should lift and break and then low cloud really lingering across a parts of the southeast. Across a parts of the southeast. Brighter skies further to the west. You go and dry to so through the rest of monday morning, low cloud, mist and fog should start lifting, breaking and burning its way back to coastline might be a little bit slower than what weve seen on tuesday for today, but otherwise plenty of sunny spells on offer. The risk of some heavy showers, especially across western parts of Northern Ireland. Elsewhere feeling perhaps a little bit cooler than what we saw on on the weekend, but otherwise still feeling warm in the sunshine on as we go through the rest of monday evening. Any cloud generally breaking away. Still, with the risk of some heavy showers across western parts of Northern Ireland and perhaps developing across the south two otherwise tuesday, wednesday and thursday turning unsettled, showers or perhaps some longer spells of rain. Spells of rain. That warm feeling inside from boxt boilers sponsors of weather on gb news. Good afternoon. Its 3 00. This is gb news on tv, online and on digital radio. Im nana akua. And for the next few hours, me and my panel will be taking on some of the big topics hitting the headlines right now. This show is all about opinion is mine. Its yours. And of course its theirs. Well be course its theirs. Well be debating, discussing and at times we will disagree. But no one will be cancelled. Right. So joining me in the next hour is broadcaster and journalist danny kelly and also gb news commentator nigel nelson. But going head to head in the clashed a few moments time. Adam clashed a few moments time. Adam brooks and also nigel nelson as well. Stay tuned. Were live on tv, online and on digital radio. Dont forget you can also download the gb news app, where you can get all of the stuff. Here we have here on the channel for free. Right. Coming up nana nigel on this student donna abu kumar, who had her student visa revoked. Revoked. Im dan abu kumar, a palestinian law student at the university of manchester. And the home office decided to cancel my student visa. After i spoke up at a pro palestine protest. I came here to the uk to receive an education and as a resident it i thought that i would receive equal rights here in the