Transcripts For GBN Good 20240702

Ex leader announces hell stand as an independent candidate. But after 40 years representing islington north, could he win without the red rosette and locals rally outside a north london cinema after it was vandalised by suspected pro palestine activists. The cinema was due to screen a documentary about the horrors of october the 7th. Well speak to one man who stood up to the anti israel mob and killing our spirits as pubs gear up for the fa cup final tomorrow. Drinkers are being urged to demand top ups at the bar to avoid being short. Changed. And get this im not sure if youve seen the news. Its breaking in the last few moments that, the Boris Johnson ally, david frost , that, the Boris Johnson ally, david frost, has been banned from standing as a tory candidate at the general election. Whats all this about . Well, he was Boris Johnsons main brexit adviser. First worked for boris in the foreign office, was brought in to number 10 when boris became Prime Minister. He did all the work of trying to unpick what theresa may had negotiated and get something that looked a bit more like a full fat brexit. Through the line. He then was, through the line. He then was, ennobled, became a member of the house of lords, but has been very critical of the direction of the government under rishi sunak. And theres been a lot of speculation that some of the polls that we saw that the telegraph reported that had comment alongside from lord frost might well have been part of an operation to get rishi out. So it seems that this might be payback from rishi saying that david frost cant stand as an mp in this election because theres much, much speculation that david frost was working, even though hes he said hes not doing that anymore, but was working to get rishi sunak out of number 10. I mean, he does stick the bootin i mean, he does stick the boot in quite often, doesnt he . He writes, many columns for the telegraph newspaper. Well, hes slamming government policy and the like so but i think perhaps what, what the house of commons needsis what, what the house of commons needs is more independent minded, principled people not not going to stick to the party line at every single opportunity i youre going to say what they think, well , youre going to say what they think, well, do you youre going to say what they think, well , do you know what think, well, do you know what i mean, when blair was in power and corbyn was on the backbenches of the labour party occasionally, you know, hitting out at the that wasnt that wasnt such a bad thing. Well, there you go. What do you make of that . Boris johnson, key ally banned from standing by rishi sunak. Well gbnews. Com yoursay get in touch on everything were talking about. But lets get the headunes about. But lets get the headlines with arron. Its 12 03. Headlines with arron. Its12 03. Good headlines with arron. Its 12 03. Good afternoon to you. Im Aaron Armstrong. The Prime Minister says the lowering of the price cap shows his plan is working as both parties look to make Energy Policy an electoral dividing line. Speaking in belfast as part of his whistlestop tour of the uk, rishi sunak says the economy has turned a corner and hell be telling voters over the next few weeks how the conservatives plan to secure britains future. To secure britains future. Inflation has fallen back to normal levels. The economy grew faster than all our competitors at the beginning of this year. Today weve had the news that energy bills are falling again and wages have been rising faster than prices for almost a year now, and thats why its the right time to turn to the future. And the world is sadly, a more uncertain place than its beenin a more uncertain place than its been in decades. And thats why been in decades. And thats why what the country needs is leadership that can provide bold action. And that has a clear plan, because thats how we will deliver a secure future for everyone in our country. Well, sir keir starmer says only labour can stop the chaos and turn the page as he outlined plans to cut bills and boost energy security. The Labour Energy security. The labour leaders campaigning in scotland today, where hes pledged to bnng today, where hes pledged to bring down costs with a new publicly owned green power company, labour, which has just two mps in scotland, is hoping to make electoral gains. There after years of dominance by the snp. Sir keir says now is the time for change and whether youre a family thats been struggling with the cost of living for grinding month after month after month , whether month after month, whether youre a business thats been struggling against the odds for a very, very long time now, or serving your communities, this is for you. Because this is an election about change and scotlands voice is vital. Voice is vital. Jeremy corbyn has confirmed hell stand as an independent candidate in the general election against the party he once led. As a result, hes automatically been expelled as a member of labour, which suspended him in 2020 over claims complaints of anti semitism in the party had been, in his words, dramatically overstated for political reasons. The former labour leader says hell run as a voice for equality, democracy and peace in islington, north, which hes represented since 1983. I believe in democracy. I want our Political Parties to be democratic, but members of islington north labour have been denied the right to choose their own candidate. And alongside that, the community as a whole has been disempowered because of that. So we have to stand up, we have to stand up and say, were not taking this anymore. We will assert our rights. The number of people sleeping rough has doubled since 2010, despite the conservative partys promise to solve the crisis, the government published a strategy to tackle the growing problem two years ago, which was a restating its manifesto commitments from the last general election. But figures show there were nearly 4000 people sleeping rough across england on a single night in february last year. Thats more than twice the recorded figure from 2010, when the conservatives came to power. Conservatives came to power. Housing organisation shelter says homelessness is a Political Choice and called on mps to do more to tackle it. The former more to tackle it. The former boss of the post office has admitted she made mistakes in her handling of the horizon scandal , and her handling of the horizon scandal, and says her handling of the horizon scandal , and says theres no her handling of the horizon scandal, and says theres no one else to blame, giving evidence for a third day at the post Office Inquiry in london, Paula Vennells became emotional as she admitted she hadnt recognised the imbalance of power between the imbalance of power between the institution and the individual. She said she had to rely on colleagues who were experts and had no reason not to take their advice, but miss vennells denied accusations. She let the post office through deception. Four people have been deception. Four people have been killed and at least 17 injured after a building collapsed on the Spanish Island of majorca. A the Spanish Island of majorca. A two storey restaurant collapsed on the beach in palma de mallorca, a popular tourism hotspot in the balearic islands. They were taken to a number of hospitals across the island. Emergency crews say their finalising search and rescue operations and are securing the area , and more than two thirds area, and more than two thirds of beer and wine served in british pubs and bars are being short measured. A new survey from the trading standards found 77 bars and pubs were serving around 70 less than the prescribed quantity required for the average beer drinker, it equates to the loss of £1. 70 every week, and the average wine drinker is £2. 20 worse off each week. The survey comes as drinker is £2. 20 worse off each week. The survey comes as a drinker is £2. 20 worse off each week. The survey comes as a cost week. The survey comes as a cost of a pint and other drinks hits all time highs. Well, for the latest on all of our stories , latest on all of our stories, you can get gb news alerts. Scan the qr code on your screen. The the qr code on your screen. The details are also on our website gbnews. Com. Slash alerts. Now back to tom and. Emily. Back to tom and. Emily. Right. Well, its 1208. Youre watching good afternoon britain. Now as the general Election Campaign really kicks off, the tories have slammed sir keir starmer, accusing him of being spineless over his apparent decision to decline weekly head to head, head to head televised debates with the Prime Minister in the weeks leading up to the poll. Yeah, the labour leader responded by saying his priority is to be out on the road, heanng is to be out on the road, hearing from voters committed to two tv debates, he committed to pnor two tv debates, he committed to prior to election date on july the 4th. Why these Television Debates couldnt be on the road, im not quite sure, but should we better, when theyre on the road even . Yes. Yes. I mean, anyway, lets speak to our Political Correspondent, olivia utley. I suppose it makes olivia utley. I suppose it makes sense. Always is the case in elections , as the guy whos out elections, as the guy whos out in, out ahead doesnt want the debates, the person whos behind does want the debates. Twas ever thus. Well, exactly. We saw the same thing in 2019, when Boris Johnson was so far ahead in the polls , and he did not want to polls, and he did not want to join in with these election debates. Keir starmer has said debates. Keir starmer has said that he will do two tv debates, which is pretty standard. But rishi sunak has upped the ante, saying hed like to do six tv debates now. Its quite an interesting move from rishi sunak here. His personal popularity ratings are quite low, actually very low indeed , low, actually very low indeed, lower than Boris Johnson when he left office, or Margaret Thatcher when she left office. But he seems to be turning this into quite a president ial debate. He wants to make it less about the conservative vote versus labour and more about rishi sunak versus keir starmer. Now, with low popularity ratings, that might seem a little bit odd, but it is true to say that actually, Keir Starmers personal ratings are lower than the labour partys. So perhaps its a sensible strategy. As for what rishi strategy. As for what rishi sunak wants to make these tv debates about, it seems to be the economy and immigration. Well, on the economy, its a pretty mixed bag in terms of sunaks record. Hes managed to halve inflation. Hes actually done a lot more than that. Its now down at 2. 3. But whether thats down to him is a matter for economists to debate. But for economists to debate. But gdp per capita is not very impressive at all. Which means that hes failed really in his pledge to get growth going. And i think thats something that keir starmer will pick him up on. As for immigration, well, he definitely hasnt managed to stop the boats. The rwanda plan isnt even off the ground yet. Isnt even off the ground yet. But that said, it sounds from our gb news poll today as though people dont really trust either party on immigration. So perhaps this is sunaks chance to get a get ahead a little bit. This is sunaks chance to get a get ahead a little bit. Hes probably not going to get his six debates. Keir starmer did an interview this morning on a Radio Programme and didnt do particularly well. He failed. He sort of floundered on answers, on questions where he should have had set answers, like Natalie Elphicke joining the party. Rishi sunak probably thinks that he has the edge when it comes to media debates, but hes got a long, long way to go if he wants to make a dent in that 20 point majority. And i dont think even six debates would do it. Well, of course, the invitation is very much open for sir keir starmer to take part in a gb news Peoples Forum. Thats certainly the case. So thats a little invitation again, from a good afternoon, britain. But lets be frank, this is going to be britains most boring political tv debate series. If political tv debate series. If there is six and keir starmer and rishi sunak , they dont set and rishi sunak, they dont set the world alight necessarily when it comes to that debate and that charisma. That charisma. I think that is a fair enough assessment. Emily. Im not even sure i would want to watch six election debates between rishi sunak. Are there enough channels, olivia . And its very much my job. Well, thats a very good question , yeah. I wonder good question, yeah. I wonder how far rishi sunak is going to push starmer on this. I mean, i remember looking back to the, leadership contest of 2022 between rishi sunak and liz truss. Sunak wanted to do lots of debates. Truss. Sunak wanted to do lots of debates. Hes truss. Sunak wanted to do lots of debates. Hes always very of debates. Hes always very prepared for these things. He has all his documents in front of him, everything is colour coded and ready to go. Hes always apparently the first into the office, the last out in the evenings. He knows what hes doing, but actually he didnt come across too well in those debates. He sort of people thought he was being a bit patronising to liz truss, sort of laughing at her, talking her down. And lots of people say thats why he ended up losing thats why he ended up losing that leadership election. So he has a lot of confidence in these tv debates. Weve started to hear rishi sunak Say Something that perhaps would pull well if he had said this from the start of his premiership, which is that dunng premiership, which is that during those tv debates with liz truss, he said liz , if you go as truss, he said liz, if you go as fast and as far as youre saying youre going to do , if you cut youre going to do, if you cut taxes at a time of high inflation, this is what will happen. One, two, three, i mean , happen. One, two, three, i mean, yeah, he seemed patronising and he seemed smarmy , but i suppose he seemed smarmy, but i suppose he seemed smarmy, but i suppose he was right to anyone watching. They might think, hang on, maybe he had a point. Well, i think there is a very good argument that rishi sunak has probably been vindicated by history since 2022, but unfortunately for him, elections, you dont know whats going to happen in the future. Going to happen in the future. Optics is so, so important and that his tone in those debates just seemed to strike the wrong note for so many people. I wonder what its going to be like against keir starmer at the despatch box. I would say that probably theyre quite similar performers. I would say starmer performers. I would say starmer probably just about has the edge, but that might not translate into a tv debate. Well have to wait and see. Now we want to talk to you a little bit later about Jeremy Corbyn being , expelled from the corbyn being, expelled from the labour party, standing as an independent candidate. But thank you for now, olivia. Well speak to you in a little bit, im sure. But we can go live now to doven sure. But we can go live now to dover, because a boat approaching there. Yeah. These are live pictures. Live pictures of a boat approaching that could, be taking , the 10,000th illegal taking, the 10,000th Illegal Migrants out across the channel. This is a big moment. Migrants out across the channel. This is a big moment. We think this is a big moment. We think today, if there are enough migrants on board this boat, its going to pass that 10,000 mark for migrants across the channel this year. Yes. And as you can see, its quite a sunny, relatively calm day there in the channel 10,000. Were going to be speaking to mark white in a little bit because hes there monitoring this all for us. But 10,000 this is not the news that rishi sunak will want. On the second day of his Election Campaign ,10,000. His Election Campaign, 10,000. This could be the boat carrying that 10,000 migrant, not the news. And frankly, not the image ehhen and frankly, not the image either. After all, what a stark reminder that this is the Ferry Service laid on by the british taxpayer to pick people up halfway across the channel and not turn them around and bring them back to france, because the french dont let us do that, because we dont have a returns agreement with france, despite the tens of millions of pounds that we send france every single year to try and stop the boats getting in the water. But once the boats get in the water, well, then we cant take them back to france. Despite the amount of money that we pay the french. This is a Ferry Service and it does just smack of incredibly bad optics. We can incredibly bad optics. We can see a couple of people wearing life jackets just on the front of that boat. No doubt therell be some more, inside as well. But we think. We think this is the boat carrying the 10,000th migrants, Illegal Migrants across the channel. Stark contrast to the Prime Ministers pledge, of course, to stop the boats. This may well stop the boats. This may well hold this boat. The 10,000th migrant of the year. So there you go. Well bring you updates you go. Well bring you updates as we get them. In other news, nigel farage has raised eyebrows this week after revealing he will not be standing in the general election, implying hed rather focus on the upcoming us president ial election. Yes, he caused a further stir yesterday by saying that although he wont stand for reform, he will campaign for them , as well as claiming that them, as well as claiming that he was mere days away from launching an election bid. Its all interesting, however , the all interesting, however, the deputy leader of reform uk, ben habib, seemed unaware of such plan. Is there a bit of a split in reform uk . Lets take a listen. It has decided not to stand as a candidate, but telling tom harwood on his show last night that he was actually planning to launch a campaign to become an mp next week. Im deputy leader of reform uk, as you mentioned, and i was entirely unaware of his plans to launch a Campaign Next week. Launch a Campaign Next week. Ooh, contradicting , i would ooh, contradicting, i would say, so what exactly is going on in the reform party . And what does Nigel Farages decision mean for their chances across the country . Well, lets speak to an activist for the party. Indeed, their candidate in scarborough and whitby, david bowes. David, thank you for joining and whitby, david bowes. David, thank you forjoining us. There thank you for joining us. There seems to be trouble in paradise. Ben habib this morning digging at nigel farage. Is there a bit of discontent within the reform party . A bit of disappointment, party . A bit of disappointment, perhaps, that nigel decided not to stand. I mean, i can only speak personally. Theres no theres been no expectation from, from the ppc that im in touch with, i mean, its obviously a personal decision from nigel, nigel is an extraordinary campaigner. You know, hes still , my know, hes still, my understanding is hes still going to, you know, campaign for reform and be involved in events around the country , lets lets around the country, lets lets see what happens. I mean, david, nigel is saying hes hes claiming that, rishi sunak made this decision to call this snap election because hed caught wind of nigel planning to stand in a, in a week or so. That was the plan, is that what you heard too . Do you, do you think thats why rishi sunak decided to call this election , i ive got no insight election, i ive got no insight into that at all. I mean, its the first i heard of. It was on was on gb news. This morning with with ben, like i said, theres no expectation from from us regarding nigel. And theres been no communication whatsoever within the party, were united that the message from the party is , pretty straightforward. Its is, pretty straightforward. Its immigration. Weve had 685,000, i think was the figure for the last up to the end of last year, and we are determined as a party to, to look at policies to address that because, you know, every other policy pales into insignificance once unless unless that tidal wave of humanity is, is addressed, of course, the changes that came in in january, at least according to the head of the migration advisory committee, suggest that that that could bring numbers down to 150 or 200,000. I mean, that would be the most extraordinary. They want net zero immigration. Yeah. I mean , the you know, yeah. I mean, the you know, if you look at, you know, look at any issue if you look at health, if you look at education, all, all the pressures on every, every single issue, every policy , thats issue, every policy, thats announced by every party is impacted by the sheer number of people. I mean, in this area, which is whitby and scarborough, were a little bit like cornwall, you know, the, the, you know, the big issue is housing. How how do we how do we accommodate and how do, how do pubuc accommodate and how do, how do Public Services cope with the sheer number of people that that are arriving in the country . And unless we address that , all the unless we address that, all the other questions on every other issue, you know, are academic essentially. David, do you think it rather undermines your points and your policy pronouncements and Everything Else when various people at the top of the party prefer to talk about each other than they do the policy . I mean, it wasnt a particularly good look for ben habib to sort of be laying into nigel this morning. Yeah, like i said, its the first time i heard it. And i think, as far as im aware from, from, you know, a local candidate point of view, the hierarchy within the party is, is completely united and, ive got ive got no insight whatsoever into any communication or, you know, from , from, from nigel to other people within the party, if anything , people within the party, if anything, you people within the party, if anything , you know, nigels anything, you know, nigels announcement clarifies , richard announcement clarifies, richard and solidifies richard tice position within the party because there wont be any media speculation around that Going Forward. Forward. I mean, david, there has been some, analysis done in the telegraph today that are suggests, reform poses a major threat to conservatives in 28 seats across the north and the midlands in in england. How much of the vote are you were planning to get . Are you hoping to get in your in your area . Thats you know, emily, as much as much as i possibly can. I mean, we can, campaigning very, very hard. Ive got a great team , in whitby and great team, in whitby and scarborough. We meet monthly in either town, we see, a real opportunity. The red wall is prime hunting ground, if you like, for reform uk. And i think all the issues that reform stand for resonate extremely well with with voters on the doorstep when im out campaigning, and ive had nothing but goodwill and best wishes from from anybody ive come into contact with in the constituency. Im not a traditional politician. You traditional politician. You know, the reason i stood for election was for the same reason , you know, gb news exists, and thatis , you know, gb news exists, and that is essentially to provide a voice and a and a receptacle for people who are , you know, fed up people who are, you know, fed up with tweedledum and tweedledee politics, and address the Major Concerns that is on everybodys lips. Well, david bowes, thank you so much forjoining us, reform parliamentary candidate for scarborough and whitby. Scarborough and whitby. Appreciate your thoughts and your time now. Much more to come on the on the show after the break, were going to hear from sir keir starmer and sir ed davey, both of the knighted party leaders. What have they party leaders. What have they been up to that. Next . Good afternoon. Britain. Its 12 25. Now, some good news. The average household could be more than £120 better off each year from july. Yes. From july. Yes. Thats, quite good news. Thats, quite good news. Yeah , its nothing to be yeah, its nothing to be sniffed at. Ofgem is lowering the price cap the Energy Price Cap by 7, and this comes as Energy Becomes the first battleground on the Election Campaign, with rishi sunak and keir starmer pledging cheaper gas and electricity bills for voters. I guess the question is, which party do you trust to lower your energy bills, and is there a catch to any of this news . Well, to find out is gb News Business and economics editor, Liam Halligan joining us now with on the money liam. Undoubtedly good news, but some reports of storms on the horizon. I think thats right. Lets just go through the basics first. Tom and emily, the ofgem Energy Price Cap. Thats this, a cap set by ofgem, the energy regulator, on the cost of each unit of gas or electricity. And unit of gas or electricity. And if you look at the average household, with the average usage , you get the average cap. Usage, you get the average cap. If you know what i mean. So even if you know, if you use more gas and electricity, youre going to pay and electricity, youre going to pay more for it. But the unit cost is capped. And lets have cost is capped. And lets have a look at those unit costs. So here we go. The average gas and electricity bill. Average family usage will be £1,568 a year from july. I think ive got a graphic. If it can be shown, thats down 7, on present levels, and thats a saving of £122 a year for the average household. The catch is that this cap is likely to rise again in october. Why because wholesale gas and electricity pnces wholesale gas and electricity prices will rise around the world, certainly in western europe, as we go back into the winter. And also because theres danger of geopolitical squalls in the middle east, russia , in the middle east, russia, ukraine, which will push up those wholesale oil and gas prices, pushing up wholesale Energy Prices. And its worth Energy Prices. And its worth saying that even though the caps just come down to around £1,500 a year, lets keep this in perspective , because the month perspective, because the month before the war in ukraine, the standard uk combined annual utility bill was £1,084. So around £500 less. Here we go. Yeah, we got the graphic. Thank god for that. So there you go. The average gas electricity bill, just over £1,500 from july down 7 on current levels, £122, saving for the average household per year. The cap is likely to go per year. The cap is likely to 9 up per year. The cap is likely to go up again in october in my view, and were still way above, even though this cap has just come down where we were before the war in ukraine, the average combined gas and energy bill for the average uk household, 50 higher now than it was before the war in ukraine back in early 2022. Yeah, its good to get that perspective so much cheaper. Before the invasion of ukraine. I want to ask you about labours big idea for a state owned, presumably partially state run, Great British Energy Company. Keir starmer seems to be claiming that not only will this save us money, but it may even make us money. Well, you know, id like to say ive got a well thought through view on labours energy plans. Emily, as youd expect from me, ive looked at the data and ive weighed it up objectively and brought my analytical prowess to bear. But ihave analytical prowess to bear. But i have no idea about labours energy plan , because apart from energy plan, because apart from the slogan Great British energy, were going to nationalise it, which im sure will appeal to a lot of the labour left. We have no detail whatsoever on this plan. What is absolutely clear is that electricity prices, Energy Prices in general, are part of the battleground for this general election. The tories, claire coutinho, the energy secretary, she was out and about this morning they are now saying because the election is in the offing, what some of us have been saying for years, that its unfair for, that the subsidies for Renewable Energy companies to build their Wind Turbines and to build their solar panel farms are put on energy bills. They should come out of general taxation. If you put them on energy bills. The put them on energy bills. The poor disproportionately pay for the shift to net zero because they disproportionately spend more on energy than better off households. So the tories are households. So the tories are now saying on the front of the newspapers theyre briefing, oh, were going to scrap these green subsidies on Peoples Energy bills. Labour, meanwhile, are bills. Labour, meanwhile, are talking in slogans rather than details. And this is a really core part of the cost of living crisis, because when energy bills are high, as i say, the poor get disproportionately hammered. And those High Energy Bills and, you know , take it bills and, you know, take it from me, were paying more for our electricity in this country than pretty much any west european economy. Our Companies Pay huge amounts of money for electricity that feeds into inflation, that feeds into productivity. Thats a big reason why the uk has been growing at such a sluggish pace in recent years, because energy is so expensive in this country. As with so many issues in the United Kingdom when it comes to the particulars of policy, whether its ai the particulars of policy, whether its al or biotech or fintech, we get it so right. But when it comes to the very, very bafic when it comes to the very, very basic things like the price of energy or the availability of buildings, we get it very wrong. Buildings, we get it very wrong. Well, im not im not sure i buy into this idea of this patriotic, state run Energy Company and i imagine it will end up costing much more. Than the labour party, say, if they set that out. I dont think they actually have told us how much it is, although i think theyve said theyre going to fund it with more windfall taxes. So we shall see. Thank you. Liam. Sorry. Were going to have to leave it there to get to the bulletins, but Liam Halligan are economics and business editor. Well, coming up, a legendary london cinema is vandalised after showing an israeli film. Were going to speak to a man who joined a counter protest, a large counter protest yesterday. Thats after your headlines with. Aaron. Its 1232. Aaron. Its1232. Im. Aaron. Its 1232. Im Aaron Armstrong. The Prime Minister armstrong. The Prime Minister says the lowering of the price cap shows his plan is working as both parties look to make Energy Policy an electoral dividing line. Speaking in belfast as part of his Whistle Stop Campaign tour of the uk, rishi sunak says the economys turned a corner and hell be telling voters over the next few weeks how the conservatives plan to secure britains future. Secure britains future. Inflation has fallen back to normal levels. The economy grew faster than all our competitors at the beginning of this year. Today weve had the news that energy bills are falling again and wages have been rising faster than prices for almost a year now, and thats why its the right time to turn to the future and the world is sadly, a more uncertain place than its beenin more uncertain place than its been in decades. And thats why what the country needs is leadership that can provide bold action. And that has a clear plan, because thats how we will deliver a secure future for everyone in our country. So rishi sunaks been in belfast. The labour leader is campaigning in scotland today, where he is pledging to bring down costs with a new publicly owned green power company. Sir keir starmer says now is the time for change. And whether youre a family thats been struggling with the cost of living for grindals month after month after month, whether youre a business thats been struggling against the odds for a very, very long time now, or serving your communities , or serving your communities, this is for you because this is an election about change, and scotlands voice is vital. Scotlands voice is vital. The number of people sleeping rough has doubled since 2010, despite the conservative partys promise to tackle the crisis, the government published a strategy to tackle the growing problem. Two years ago, reiterating its manifesto commitment from the last election. But figures show there were nearly 4000 people sleeping rough across england on a single night in february last year, more than twice the recorded figure from 2010, when the tories came to power. Housing organisation shelter says homelessness is a Political Choice and has called on mps to do more to tackle the problem. Do more to tackle the problem. And some breaking news just coming into us from dover. At more than 10,000 channel migrants have now crossed illegally into the uk. This yean illegally into the uk. This year, gb news can exclusively reveal. The milestone figure was reached today after another 154 people arrived in dover, having crossed in three small boats this morning. The latest arrivals will come as a blow to rishi sunak on his second full day of campaigning, after he promised his government would stop the boats. You can sign up stop the boats. You can sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen, or you can go to our website gb news. Com slash alerts. News. Com slash alerts. Cheers britannia wine club proudly sponsors the gb news finance report. Finance report. Heres a quick snapshot of the markets. Then the pound buys you 1. 2719 and ,1. 1733. Gold will cost 1840 pence and £0. 88 per ounce. The 5100 is at 8306 points. Cheers britannia wine club proudly sponsors the gb news finance report good afternoon. Britain. Its 39 minutes past midday , and we 39 minutes past midday, and we can now confirm that the total number of migrants whove entered the channel. Alright. Entered the country, arrived by channel this year, has reached 10,000 us gb news home and security editor mark white is in dover on the scene for us. Mark, an astounding figure. Mark, an astounding figure. Mark, an astounding figure. Yeah. Its important. Its a milestone eamonn figure. And weve reached 10,000, 10,036 to be precise , for a whole month be precise, for a whole month earlier than we did at this point last year. At this point last year, we were just at 7600 odd. So last year, we were just at 7600 odd. So we are 35 up on last years figures. And that really years figures. And that really indicates the difficulty that the government was probably going to be faced with in the months ahead. As we get into flat, calm conditions and many more small boats come across the engush more small boats come across the English Channel with on the really calm days, up to a thousand coming across on a single day. Well this week we had three days of bad weather. It cleared up overnight and, that allowed for these small boats to push off from the shores of france to make that illegal journey across to the uk. And so far today, three small boats have made it across, carrying 154 people. The first boat was picked up by the dover lifeboat at first light this morning, and brought into the harbour here in dover, with 43 people on board. Then the Border Force Vessel defender brought in another 45 people. A couple of hours later. And then just just now, the Border Force Vessel volunteer arrived here at the main Migrant Processing Centre in dover with 66 migrants on board. So that takes it to 10,036 for the year so far. On the second full day of campaigning for rishi sunak, it wont be welcomed, theres no doubt, because he made it a key pledge of him and his government to stop the boats. But already this year, now more than 10,000 small boat migrants have crossed the channel mark. Looking behind you, it looks like a picturesque scene. Flat water, sunshine. I suppose it feeds into this idea that actually, no matter what the government says , no matter what government says, no matter what the government does, no matter what hue the government is , is what hue the government is, is made up of ultimately forces of nature here seem to have greater control over these numbers than any policy from any party. They absolutely do. Its a very good point. What ill do, actually, is just step out of the way just now and allow our cameraman, steve, to get a shot. As you queued it up, tom, out into the channel. And youre right, it looks absolutely beautiful out there. It was beautiful out there. It was choppy, for a few hours overnight , though, because wed overnight, though, because wed had three days of bad weather. So it takes a while for the conditions in the channel to calm down. But theyve got to calm down. But theyve got to calm down. But theyve got to calm down over the weekend. Sunday in particular, were told, will be pretty much flat calm. So were expecting significant numbers to come across on sunday. And as we move into the summer months proper, it is only going to get better in terms of the weather conditions over longer periods of time. And when that happens, of time. And when that happens, you get very significant numbers coming across. Now, the government was able to say last year that they had managed , they year that they had managed, they said, through their own endeavours to resolve it in a 36 decrease in the number of small boat migrants crossing the engush small boat migrants crossing the English Channel. However, this year that has been completely wiped out by the surge in migrants crossing the channel and as we, as i say, get into the better weather, the chances are that that number is only going to be going up very significantly. So by the prime significantly. So by the Prime Minister going to the country on the 4th of july, it does then avoid that very difficult process , potentially, of that process, potentially, of that migrant surge that we would expect in the summer months. And mark, yesterday we were talking about labours position on all this. We know what the on all this. We know what the government says. They want this rwanda plan to work as a deterrent. They say that will lead to the boats stop working, but labours position is a little more confused. Little more confused. Well, i have to say , having, well, i have to say, having, you know, followed labours position over the months and years, i havent heard anything that i think as someone that follows this whole issue and has done for many years, i havent heard anything that i think is the kind of the Silver Bullet that really is going to make a huge difference in terms of actually cutting down the numbers. Yes, theyre going to numbers. Yes, theyre going to give more money to the National Crime agency to employ hundreds of more officers , was bringing of more officers, was bringing together the likes of m15 , and together the likes of m15, and thats undoubtedly, im sure, will make a difference. But its will make a difference. But its such a multi Million Pound industry for the people smuggling gangs that even if you take a gang out, just like with the International Drugs trade, that spot will be filled in fairly short order by more criminals who want to tap into this very lucrative revenue stream. And apart from the likes stream. And apart from the likes of the money to the National Crime agency, the Border Security command, theyre talking about speeding up the processing of those who are in the asylum system. Well, its fine speeding up the processing. Fine speeding up the processing. But then if youve reached a conclusion on whether someone can stay or go, if you want to get rid of them, how do you get rid of them . If they come from countries and there arent many out there that are regarded as dangerous and dysfunctional that you cant send these people back to, they havent come up with anything that actually answers that direct question to be fair to rishi sunak, he has, in the form of rwanda , if it ever form of rwanda, if it ever properly gets off the ground and other countries now in europe are looking at that very same potential third country issue as one way of getting over their particular migrant problems as well, very interesting indeed. Well, very interesting indeed. Thank you so much, mark, for that update from dover there, now we can bring you some more for breaking news. Its confirmed that the bionic mp Craig Mckinlay will not fight the general election. Hes made the general election. Hes made the decision that he is not ready. He is, the decision that he is not ready. He is, of the decision that he is not ready. He is, of course, the the decision that he is not ready. He is, of course, the mp Craig Mckinlay, who had a quadruple amputee amputation , quadruple amputee amputation, after contracting sepsis , and after contracting sepsis, and hes had a long recovery and it looks like hes not quite yet ready to fight another election. Ready to fight another election. Hes put out a statement and he said, that the suddenness of the Election Campaign means it will be difficult to withstand the rigours of an all out Election Campaign, a campaign that id always wished to lead from the front, he says. My heart tells front, he says. My heart tells me to stand again, being so much Unfinished Business across local regeneration and national issues, which were important to me, my head knows this to be impossible yes, he said, after 36 ho of intense soul search, this was difficult. Withstand those difficult. Withstand those rigours. Hes still recovering. Rigours. Hes still recovering. And what a remarkable moment it was when he stood up in Parliament Just two days ago. It feels like a world ago. But just on wednesday , when he returned on wednesday, when he returned to parliament, received that standing ovation, met with the speaker , cracked some jokes, speaker, cracked some jokes, even about, about breaking conventions, not wearing a jacket because they wouldnt fit over his new bionic arm and all the rest of it, this is a sad moment that he spoke to Christopher Hope, our Political Editor , in in the marvellous gb editor, in in the marvellous gb news documentary that aired on tuesday , where he said for years tuesday, where he said for years to come, i want children to come and visit parliament, who come to the Education Centre in parliament to say, i hope we see the bionic mp today. I hope we see the bionic mp. I mean, that standing ovation, it brought a tear to the eye. It genuinely did very moving. And that very same day, that very evening the election was announced. So there you go. A lot can happen in a day in the house of commons. So Craig Mckinley will not stand at the next election. He was planning to he said that he would, but his recovery has to take priority. So there you go. Well, lets hope that whatever craig does next, hell still be a vibrant part of conversation here in britain because his voice is very, very needed. Because his voice is very, very needed. But coming up, because his voice is very, very needed. But coming up, a pub is killing our spirits. Needed. But coming up, a pub is killing our spirits. Ahead of killing our spirits. Ahead of the fa cup final this weekend, find out why, after this break. Its 1251 break. Its1251 and a pops killing our spirits. Punters are our spirits. Punters are reportedly being overcharged around £114 a year by pubs because theyre short measuring beer and wine. Outrageous me . Well, according to research by the chartered trading standards institute, seven out of ten drinks in the uk are poured short, with beer the most likely drink to be under poured. Whats all this about . Is there a solution or are we just expected to grin and bear it . Yeah. Very good, very good. Well, lets get the thoughts now of publican and broadcaster adam brooks, whose pubs are in the three out of ten that do poor proper full pints. Im sure adam, i mean weve got some data now that suggests that a lot of people are getting short changed. Are you surprised by this . Look, i got sent this article this morning and its quite depressing to be fair. You know, headlines like , you know, headlines like, beer mugged and then, you know, sneaky tactic. Sneaky tactic. Its not a sneaky tactic that anyone one really does in any in pubs. It anyone one really does in any in pubs. It might be the odd 1 or anyone one really does in any in pubs. It might be the odd 1 oh bar or the odd pub that are cutting corners so much that they think that this is going to help them. But lets be honest, that were a public house, were the front room of the local community. We are not going to start short changing customers at such a hard time as well. You know, ive been doing this nearly 20 years. I grew up living above pubs. When i was a child as well, so pubs are in my blood. Im in no child as well, so pubs are in my blood. Im in no way child as well, so pubs are in my blood. Im in no way going to blood. Im in no way going to start telling my staff to under poun start telling my staff to under pour. You know, you may have inexperienced staff that that might get it wrong every now and then, but we are talking fractions 4. They think , that is fractions 4. They think, that is literally a millimetre or two in a pint glass , to the naked eye, a pint glass, to the naked eye, you know, some customers have a different preference with the type of head that they want on their beer. You know, some people like a slightly bigger head. Some people dont. So we are talking millimetres here and i think its a bit naughty from the sun to say that this is a tactic from pubs to do this, because its the watchdog. Its the watchdog , but the, its the watchdog, but the, the, i think this happens quite a lot with wine and im not sure how should a punter approach this if they feel like perhaps theyve ordered a large glass of pinot grigio, but they suspect its not actually a large glass . Well, look, theres a line of on a wine glass that you you know, that that tells you the measure where you have to go to. Now, if anything, ive had to tell staff off for going above the line many times, you know, and especially like with beer as well and an inexperience or a bad beer pourer can cost a pub thousands and thousands of, pounds a year. So its not something that, again, its not something that, again, its not something that, again, its not something that a pub owner like myself is going to say to their staff, dont go above that. Staff, dont go above that. Dont go beneath that line. Yeah, i dont, i cant, i cant imagine that pub owners would be saying that sort of stuff. But i can imagine on that its quite hard to get staff who are fully trained. A lot of people do it as sort of temporary work. The Labour Market is incredibly tight right now. It could be that in the last couple of years weve had less experienced people pouring pints. I know that the brief time i worked behind a bar, i found it very, very hard to be able to get a pint that had like the head that was sort of less than half of the less than half of the pint glass. Its a tricky thing, tom. The accepted liquid to foam ratio is 95 to 5. This may differ , you know, very slightly differ, you know, very slightly in different pubs, but people know what they want if they feel like theyve got too big a head on their beer, theyre going to say, please top that up. You know, its just a really am worried that at such a tough time for the pub industry that were getting articles like this that are really sort of inferring that were trying to rip off our customers. If im honest, you know, ive only got one pub now. Its about surviving and, you know, creating a good atmosphere. So people want to come back. The last thing that im going to want to do is short change my customers. You know, were paying customers. You know, were paying more for our beer than we ever have. Were paying more for our electric, more for our staff. Were paying more for everything. Rents are going up. Everything. Rents are going up. You know, its becoming such a tough industry , and theres just tough industry, and theres just no way that publicans are going to start wanting to annoy their customers and short change them. We want to make pubs great again, you know, and its successive governments have really sort of harmed pubs with their policies and their alcohol tax and all their regulations and whatever. We really do need to be careful that we could lose pubsin to be careful that we could lose pubs in many towns. And i think youre absolutely right. It is a it is right. Itisaitisa right. It is a it is a fight for survival. Every day it seems theres another pub closing its doors. Thank you so much, adam. Really great to speak to you. Adam brooks there, publican and a broadcaster. Well, coming up were going to be speaking to the defence secretary, grant shapps. Hes here after this break. Dont go anywhere. Well. Good afternoon. Britain. Its 1 00 well. Good afternoon. Britain. Its1 oo on friday. The 24th of may. Im emily carver. You are . And im tom harwood. And im tom harwood. The gloves are off. Rishi sunak challenges keir starmer to six Television Debates. Yes, six. Claiming the labour leader does not have the courage to face him. But do pre rehearsed tv debates still serve a purpose . Well have that debate. Purpose . Well have that debate. Jeremy corbyn is expelled from the labour party today. Took them long enough. Well, thats as the ex leader announces he will stand as an independent candidate. But after independent candidate. But after 40 years representing islington north, could he win without the red rosette . Red rosette . And locals rally outside a north london cinema after it was vandalised by suspected pro palestine activists. Its pro palestine activists. Its the cinema was due to screen a documentary about the horrors of october the 7th. Well speak to one man who stood up to the anti israel mob. Yes, and as we said , were yes, and as we said, were going to be speaking to the defence secretary. Grant shapps. Defence secretary. Grant shapps. Very soon. This grant shapps. Very soon. This is a bit of a dividing line between the parties, labour and the conservatives in particular the conservatives in particular the conservatives. They are very much committed to this 2. 5 in defence spending. Labour have said when resources allow, the tories did a bit of a hokey cokey to get to 2. 5. Boris johnson announced it, liz truss kept it. Then it was put on the back burner. But then it was recommitted to. And they say that its fully fund ed, and youre totally right to bring up the labour partys position on this because its a little its a little bit curious. Its sort of ambition rather than a pledge ambition. Ambition. Yes. We all have ambitions, dont we . But they dont all come to light and yet they dont say. They say that labour says well get up to 2. 5 when resources allow. But were not resources allow. But were not going to include this in any of our spending documents. But then our spending documents. But then when the tories say, oh, wed like to cut national insurance, when the resources allow the labour party, say the tories have got a massive black hole in their spending plans, i mean, that doesnt make sense, does it . Well, you know, grant shapps secretary of state for defence, lots of people telling him that 2. 5 is not enough, considering how dangerous the world is. Remember, rishi sunak told us all how were heading towards five years of danger with geopolitics and war and the like. So were going to speak to the defence secretary, grant shapps, very soon. So get your questions in, let us know what you want to know. I also want to ask him about what he thinks about that 10,000th migrant crossing the channel, that would be good to get him on, but let us know what you think, after the news bulletins. The news bulletins. Good afternoon to you. Its 1 02. Im Aaron Armstrong, the Prime Minister says a fall in the price cap is further evidence. His plan is working. As both parties put energy at the centre of their electoral campaigns. Rishi sunak completed his tour of the nation in Northern Ireland earlier, and claimed the economy has turned a corner , and hell be telling corner, and hell be telling voters over the next few weeks how the conservatives plan to secure britains future. Inflation has fallen back to normal levels. The economy grew faster than all our competitors at the beginning of this year. Today weve had the news that energy bills are falling again and wages have been rising faster than prices for almost a year now, and thats why its the right time to turn to the future. And the world is sadly, a more uncertain place than its beenin a more uncertain place than its been in decades. And thats why what the country needs is leadership that can provide bold action. And that has a clear plan, because thats how we will deliver a secure future for everyone in our country. Well, labours confirmed it would pass the smoking ban if the party enters office, with the party enters office, with the conservatives having run out of time to get it through parliament. The labour leader has been campaigning in scotland today. Hes pledged to bring down costs with a new publicly owned green Energy Company. Now owned green Energy Company. Now labouris owned green Energy Company. Now labour is hoping to win dozens of seats in scotland after years of seats in scotland after years of dominance by the snp. Sir keir starmer says only labour can stop the chaos and turn the page as he outlined plans to cut bills and boost energy security. Bills and boost energy security. And whether youre a family thats been struggling with the cost of living for grind less money after month after month, whether youre a business thats been struggling against the odds for a very, very long time now, or serving your communities , or serving your communities, this is for you. Because this is an election about change, and scotlands voice is vital. Jeremy corbyn has confirmed hell stand as an independent candidate in the general election against the party he once led. As a result, hes automatically been expelled as a member of labour, which suspended him back in 2020 over claims complaints of anti semitic schism in the party had been, in his words, dramatically overstated for political reasons. The former labour leader says hell run as a voice for equality, democracy and peace in islington north, which hes represented since 1983. We believe in democracy. I want our Political Parties to be democratic. But members of islington north, labour have been denied the right to choose their own candidate. And their own candidate. And alongside that, the community as alongside that, the community as a whole has been disempowered because of that. So we have to stand up, we have to stand up and say were not taking this anymore. We will assert our rights. Rights. Well, gb news can exclusively reveal more than 10,000 channel migrants have crossed illegally to the uk so far this year. The milestone figure was reached today after another 154 people arrived in dover , having crossed arrived in dover, having crossed in three small boats this morning. The latest arrivals will be a blow to rishi sunak on his second full day of Election Campaigning. He has promised his government would stop the boats. Government would stop the boats. The former boss of the post office has admitted she made mistakes in her handling of the honzon mistakes in her handling of the horizon scandal, and says theres no one else to blame. Giving evidence for a third day at the post Office Inquiry in london, Paula Vennells became emotional once again as she admitted she hadnt recognised the imbalance of power between the imbalance of power between the institution and the individual. The institution and the individual. She said she had to rely on colleagues who were experts, and she had no reason not to take their advice. But ms vennells denied accusations that she led the post office through deception. The number of people deception. The number of people sleeping rough has doubled since 2010, despite the conservative partys promise to solve the crisis, the government published a strategy to tackle the growing problem two years ago, reiterating its manifesto commitment from the last election. But figures show they there were nearly 4000 people sleeping rough across england on a single night in february last yeah a single night in february last year. Thats more than twice the recorded figure from 2010, when conservatives came to power. Housing organisation shelter says homelessness is a Political Choice and has called on mps to do more to tackle the problem. Do more to tackle the problem. And are we all being ripped off in pubs . It turns out more than two thirds of beer and wine being served are short, measured out of 77 pubs and bars visited by trading standards, around 70 of the drinks they were served were less than the prescribed quantity that came to Something Like 96 short measures out of 137 orders. So for the average beer drinker that equates to a loss of £1. 70 a week or £88 a year for wine, £2. 20 short each week, £114 a year. And it comes as the price of drinks hits all time highs. Well, for the latest time highs. Well, for the latest stories you can sign up to our alerts. The qr codes on your screen and the details are on gbnews. Com. Now back to tom and. Emily. Well good afternoon britain. Its 1 08 now the conservative mp for south thanet, Craig Mckinley, has announced he will be. He is no longer seeking re election at the forthcoming general election. General election. Yes. Mr mckinley, who recently lost both his hands and his feet in a severe case of sepsis , spoke with our political sepsis, spoke with our political edhon sepsis, spoke with our Political Editor, Christopher Hope. Just earlier this week about his ordeal. Well, lets take a little listen to part of that extraordinary interview that took place earlier this week. And a warning for you, this clip does contain some sensitive images. Images. As everything was starting to shut down, it was quite serious and my wife was told that theyd very rarely see people of this amount of illness in the hospital and perhaps prepare for the worst. Maybe they could have saved a bit of a foot. But my saved a bit of a foot. But my surgeon said, you are better off having them off because you can have prosthetics and youll walk far better than having a partial foot. Im hoping people might give me the benefit and the doubt and say, that mans been a fighter for himself. Fighter for himself. Well, he was about to say that mans been a fighter himself. Perhaps hell be a fighter for me, a fighter for his constituents. He now says that the Elections Come too soon for him to have made a full recovery and get out there on the campaign trail. Yes. He the campaign trail. Yes. He said that after 36 hours of intense soul searching, hes decided not to rerun. He, of course, received that remarkable standing ovation on his return to the house of commons on wednesday. 0h oh oh. Well, lets go now to our Political Correspondent , olivia Political Correspondent, Olivia Hartley and olivia wednesday seems like a world away. Its pretty hard to imagine sort of sitting there watching Prime Ministers questions, as we all were on wednesday afternoon, that just two days later, Greg Mckinley , the bionic mp, would mckinley, the bionic mp, would no longer be standing. No longer be standing. Absolutely. And its a real shame. I was in the chamber for shame. I was in the chamber for pmqs on wednesday and witnessed that remarkable, really moving moment in the house of commons where, Craig Mckinley was giving a standing ovation by members of parliament on both sides of the house. And he had said just the night before in that documentary with chris hope, that he was planning to stand again for south thanet. Unfortunately for south thanet. Unfortunately for him, this election has just come too soon. He was planning to phase his return to the commons back in over the next few months. He only had that operation that removed his hands and his feet six months ago, so he was only planning to be in sporadically for the next couple of months. Obviously, the rigours of an Election Campaign is very, very different from a sporadic return to parliament. And mckinley also points to the fact that even after the election, if he were to be re elected , he would be working re elected, he would be working the kind of 70 80 hour weeks. He said that he was working before his illness, and he doesnt think that he would be able to do that again, really, really disappointing for him. And just disappointing for him. And just a, you know, a sign of how nobody knew that this election was coming. Just a few days ago, mckinley was all ready and willing to stand again. And there will be so many other mps now soul searching and trying to work out if they, too, want to take this opportunity to stand down. It would be very bad for the conservative party. If any more mps do stand down. 74 have now said they wont be standing at the next election in 1997, just before blairs landslide , just before blairs landslide, it was 75. Im sure that is not a statistic that rishi sunak would like to repeat. Yes, thats very interesting. Yes, thats very interesting. The figures there, running a campaign is a laborious task, really, isnt it . And if youre only very partially at the beginning of your recovery with Something Like this , it would be Something Like this, it would be near impossible, really, for him to do it , to do it properly. He to do it, to do it properly. He says in his statement that he faces in numerous future operations, and hes only just started the prosthetic journey. He has weekly physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy sessions to. He clearly just has has thought, or at least his statement suggests, that hes thought about it and thought, you know what . I actually cant do this in my condition. Do this in my condition. Well, exactly. Perhaps if the election had come six months later, as we were all assuming, then he would have been a bit further along that road to recovery. But at the moment everything is so unknown for Craig Mckinley. Hes only just had these prosthetics fitted. He doesnt know how hes going to get on with them. He just doesnt know, what sort of health hell be in. And he said himself that what he wants to do if hes running an Election Campaign is to be leading from the front. And at the moment, he just doesnt feel that he is able to do that. I think most politicians, i mean, from all sides of the house, will think that Craig Mckinley is a big loss to parliament. He was, lauded on all sides for being a fantastic public servant. And obviously hes shown remarkable dedication to his job back in parliament. Just six months on from this horrific illness, which claimed , both of all of which claimed, both of all of his limbs, it its a real shame that he wont be standing. I think most people agree with that. And i think particularly the brexiteers on the conservative benches will be very, very disappointed. He was a huge voice for vote leave. He a huge voice for vote leave. He helped set up the vote leave campaign, and i think hell be a loss to parliament generally. Yes. Well, thank you very much indeed. Olivia utley, our much indeed. Olivia utley, our Political Correspondent there in westminster. For now, please do westminster. For now, please do keep your questions coming in for the defence secretary. Grant shapps some of you are already asking , for example, marianne asking, for example, marianne saying, ask grant shapps grant shapps what he thinks would be the biggest threat to our defence under labour. Yes, rishi sunak and grant shapps have made it clear that they think , it clear that they think, security would be at risk under a labour government. What evidence do they have for that claim, i think i should also bnng claim, i think i should also bring the news that the banff and buchan member of parliament, conservative, scottish conservative david duguid , has, conservative david duguid, has, has announced that he will not be standing either. He has, hes currently in hospital , he has currently in hospital, he has beenin currently in hospital, he has been in hospital since the 11th of september. In a statement, he says hes been in the intensive care unit being treated for an illness affecting his spine. And dunng illness affecting his spine. And during that time, he acquired pneumonia. So it shows how cruel pneumonia. So it shows how cruel snap elections can be for mps with with illnesses, for mps recovering, from diseases , many recovering, from diseases, many choosing not to stand and how few people knew that this was coming. I mean, did the Prime Minister know for very long, but in other, more good news, the average household could be more than £120 better off each year from july. Thats because ofgem has lowered its price cap by 7. Well, it comes as Energy Becomes the first battleground on the Election Campaign. Rishi sunak and keir starmer are both pledging cheaper gas and electricity bills, but in slightly different ways. Slightly different ways. Well, joining us now is ben hopkinson, policy researcher at britain remade. Ben, thank you for joining us. Im very forjoining us. Im very interested to get your perspective on labours big policy. Big pledge on energy. Great British Energy sounds patriotic, but , do you know the patriotic, but, do you know the detail . Detail . Well, i think it is important when you consider large Power Projects that were hoping , the projects that were hoping, the winner of the next election will deliver whoever that may be, when you think about delivering Large Nuclear power plants, its important to have some involvement from from government, whether that be a Great British nuclear as the conservatives are planning or Great British energy, as labour has has announced , ben. Has has announced, ben. So, so Great British energy under labour might not actually be all that different from Great British nuclear, which the tories have already announced is it . Its sort of more of an Investment Vehicle than a than a sort of public facing Energy Company. Itsjust sort of public facing Energy Company. Its just a mechanism by which the government can subsidise Different Energy forms i yeah it is, 5mm ham yeah it is, it is a little bit more expanded than, than the conservatives plan, for example, theyre looking into investing into offshore Floating Wind , into offshore Floating Wind, which could be a very good, cheap renewable source to help further bring down peoples bills. But ben, obviously, why do we need the government to invest in this . If this is cheap energy, thats easy to do, surely private investment would be rushing to make money providing all of this cheap energy. Why doesit all of this cheap energy. Why does it require some sort of Government Investment . Government investment . Well, one thing that i really hope that the government does focus on would be cutting the regulations and the uncertainty that exists within the planning system, right now. So if a private company were to build an offshore wind farm, for example, it would take them up to 13 years to do that, even though building only takes four. So its the needless regulations and restrictions that exist that are holding back, a green transition. So Great British energy could be a great vehicle there to encourage , slashing there to encourage, slashing these regulations and getting, clean, renewable, cheap energy, rolled out a lot quicker. Well, some optimism there. Well, some optimism there. Thank you very much indeed. Ben hopkinson, policy researcher at britain remade. I must say, im not sold on the idea myself, but that extraordinary statistic. 13 years to get an offshore wind farm up and running, just four years to build it, nine years to fill in forms and comply with regulations. I mean, comply with regulations. I mean, what sort of state have we got ourselves into . I mean, tom, dont pretend youre surprised. I mean , we youre surprised. I mean, we cant build anything in this country. No, but anyway, in other news, the Phoenix Cinema in East Finchley, north london, has seen pro palestinian campaigners call to boycott the Film Festival and a private showing of a film documenting the hamas terror attack at the nova Music Festival on october the 7th. Well, the graffitiing of the venue saw a pro israeli counter protest after no to artwashing was scrawled on the legendary cinema. Well, josh howie was one of those who attended the counter protest, delighted to say that he joins us now. Josh, this was, i suppose , an uplifting moment of suppose, an uplifting moment of a Community Coming together. Suppose, an uplifting moment of a Community Coming together. But a Community Coming together. But in response to something pretty horrific. Horrific. Yeah, i know, i dont like automatically bringing up nazi germany, but that kind of graffiti was the kind of graffiti was the kind of graffiti that existed back then. And, so seeing it, i think, really stirred a lot of people. And i was at the counter protest, on saturday where it was about 100 jews with a, you know, about 100,000 sort of pro hamas , protesters walking pro hamas, protesters walking by. It was a horrific three hours of racism and, and hatred directed to us. So as i approached yesterday evening to the cinema, i was genuinely kind of shielding myself internally again to face this kind of onslaught of hate. And then when we got there , it was like, the we got there, it was like, the rest of the north London Jewish Community had had had sort of heard the call and came out and it was dancing and israeli flags and some british flags and, and just a dancing in the street and celebrating. And it was like the celebrating. And it was like the tables had, flipped and just and finally, just enough jews just coming together to go, enough is enough. Coming together to go, enough is enough. Weve had this hatred on enough. Weve had this hatred on our streets every weekend. And as you can see in this clip here, its sort of like escorting the, the, the sort of pro hamas protesters back to the tube station. It was it was an tube station. It was it was an amazing feeling. And then we just got to kind of dance in the street afterwards, basically booting them out of East Finchley and i know this area of london very well. London very well. You dont usually see this type of thing outside the tube station there on the high street with all the shops and everything going on. But i was watching this yesterday evening, watching this yesterday evening, watching all these clips coming out of this and thinking , how do out of this and thinking, how do these people who have taken it upon themselves to graffiti a cinema for showing a film about the hamas attacks , possibly see the hamas attacks, possibly see themselves as the good people , themselves as the good people, themselves as the good people, the virtuous people in this this is pure and simple. Anti semite ism and intimidation, isnt it really . Well, exactly. And theres there was another protest outside a hampstead, cinema, i think , about a week ago, and it think, about a week ago, and it was much less people turned out it was much. But but i think this graffiti really sort of was a real wake up call to people that the silent majority that has to sort of come out and you see from this just this little clip of me just turning the camera around like that, you know, every weekend we see a photo of a few, kind of as a jew cranks and a few and a bunch of fake jews, at these , like, say, fake jews, at these, like, say, these pro hamas protests and anti semites get to kind of use them as this kind of tokenism of like, look, not all jewish people support, you know, support israel and, and, and but this is the Jewish Community who came out. These are, this is the Jewish Community that im part of. Our synagogues, our , you of. Our synagogues, our, you know, schools. And, and it was just so. Well, josh, do you not accept that there are jewish people who are anti israel or on the pro palestinian side of this debate, i mean, a handful, and the idea that theyre representative in any way of the Jewish Community is absolutely ridiculous. And theres more people pretending to be jewish to embolden the anti semites to make them go, oh, no, look , make them go, oh, no, look, there are jewish people over there. So actually, no, were not anti semitic at all. And its just so you think there are people at these protests actually pretending to be jewish . Absolutely. You see, you see them. They have at best, a tenuous connection to like, oh, a great grandfather who might have been jewish or whatever. And they use that as some kind of show shield to protect the accusations of racism. But we saw it within the labour party. Weve seen it online. So many people like one of the biggest twitter accounts, pumping out hatred. Its called torah, judaism. And everybody goes, oh, look, these are religious jews. And this theyre anti israel. And it turns out its some guy in turkey. Its whatever the case, whatever the case with that and the make up of the pro palestine protest, this type of intimidation in a pretty jewish area of london, and as you say in other cinema, was targeted the other week just for showing some, some films , from israeli some, some films, from israeli films. I mean, it is just. Oh, oh, well, thank you for going out there. And, you know , out there. And, you know, supporting the cinema and supporting the cinema and supporting your community because it needs to be done. It because it needs to be done. It needs to be done. Josh howie, thank you very much indeed for joining us, well, coming up, sir keir starmer has been branded as the night afraid to fight by the tories. See what they did there. Sir keir starmer. They demanded that he commits to more than two tv debates. Of course, in 2010 we had three tv debates. Traditionally, the United States have three tv debates. Why is he only committed to two . Well be asking whether televised debates are necessary , or perhaps are necessary, or perhaps theyre all a big waste of time. That debate coming. Next. Well, 127 is the time. Well, 127 is the time. And is sir keir starmer the night . Afraid to fight . Night . Afraid to fight . Thats the accusation of the conservative party. After the labour leader rejected rishi sunaks challenge to hold a record six six televised election debates. Instead, he said hell do only two. But at a time when politicians do the majority of their communicating on social media, the question is in 2024, do we even still need these types of televised election debates . You know, surely theyre all pre rehearsed answers. How much do we actually learn . How much do we learn . Learn . How much do we learn . Well, to debate the question, were joined by former adviser to david cameron, phillip blonde, who thinks theyre still very important, and former labour aide stella santaguida, who thinks that theyre redundant in todays age. Well phillip blonde. Lets start with you, david cameron. Of course , you, david cameron. Of course, was part of that inaugural generation of tv debates. We had generation of tv debates. We had 3 in 2010, and they did change a lot. Well, they i think Party Political debates are important for the viewers, but i dont think theyre important politically , if i can put it politically, if i can put it like that. All the evidence shows and theres been studies across numerous countries , across numerous countries, germany, uk, america that actually political debates make no difference. And the single greatest predictor of what a, a voter will do after the political debates is their opinion before the political debates. But i do think that the concept of debate is important in a democracy. And the idea of leaders debating about ideas is, i think, quite important for the cohesion and the legitimation of the political system. And so in that sense, it looks genuinely democratic in the same way we like in the house of commons, the most popular moment is Prime Ministers question time. And so i think for, for, for the legitimacy of the democratic process itself, debates add to that. And thats why i think they matter. Yeah, stella, most people dont have the time or perhaps the inclination to look through the inclination to look through the manifestos in full to read up on. Absolutely every policy area and how the parties differ. I guess these debates make it easier for people to, choose who to vote for this. They certainly used to, but i think their only function right now is to be a fun distraction for political nerds, because the vast majority of people are not going to be watching these political debates, the main the main way that they will access , main way that they will access, these videos will be through tiktok or twitter. So all these tiktok or twitter. So all these debates really achieve is , is, debates really achieve is, is, they give some fun soundbites that people will then, share throughout social media and on the news, hoping that they will reach voters. Yes, i do think reach voters. Yes, i do think that it makes sense that that whoever is ahead in every election is wisely less, more hesitant to go on these debates because you dont want to mess a good thing. I think that rishi sunakin good thing. I think that rishi sunak in particular, the reason why he asked for six debates, which is which is a bit brave, is because exactly, he wants to look like hes very strong and because he knew that, of course, keir starmer has no reason to accept six debates. This is unheard of. And so hes hoping to look, to make him look weak in comparison. However, it wouldnt be as optimistic as he is because, the polls could yet widen still, after the debates, because he is not particularly telegenic, not least compared to keir starmer. So i do think there are dangers for both political leaders. What i would agree with the previous speaker with i would disagree rather with i would disagree rather with the previous speaker, sorry, is that i dont think that debates are important for, the voters. I think that they the voters. I think that they are something that the politicos are something that the politicos are watching a lot more. So for are watching a lot more. So for the actual parties, for example, the actual parties, for example, the members of parliament who will be voting for these leaders, if there is another leadership election or who will be choosing whether they should be choosing whether they should be supporting a specific leader or not, i think they are a lot more important for these people, for debates that are perhaps isolated and just politician versus politician in an empty room. Perhaps thats the case. However with a gb news Peoples Forum, where its ordinary voters asking questions of politicians , invitations have politicians, invitations have been extended both to sir keir starmer and rishi sunak, either to do so individually or together in the same Peoples Forum format. Phillip blonde do you think that that perhaps offers a bit more, jeopardy , but offers a bit more, jeopardy, but also light as well, when its ordinary folk asking the questions, real voters asking the questions rather than the same tired political straplines. Same tired political straplines. Yeah, i like that format , yeah, i like that format, that politics is about imagination, about the possibility of change. And i think that that the american president ial debates, for example, where you have there all through a central interlocutor doesnt work. Its dead. And i think theres a dynamism and a and a compelling element to ordinary people. Asking questions is why question time remains , both popular on time remains, both popular on the bbc and popular and the most popular part of our parliamentary kind of. Yeah, i think they work well. But when it goes into chaos, descends into chaos with people shouting out whatever theyre feeling that day, then it can get a little bit unruly. But, you know, thats what politicians have to deal with when theyre out campaigning. Were going to have to leave it there because weve run out of time. But thank you very much to you both. Phillip blonde and stella santykiu. Well, coming up, Jeremy Corbyn is going to stand. Hes going to fight against labour and consequently hes been expelled from the labour party. Were going to be getting the thoughts of a labour metro mayor. After your headlines with. Aaron. Its 133. Aaron. Its133. Good. Aaron. Its 133. Good afternoon to you. Im Aaron Armstrong. The Prime Minister says a fall in the price cap is further evidence. His plan is working as both parties put energy at the centre of their electoral campaigns. Rishi sunak completed his tour of the nation in Northern Ireland and claimed the economy has turned a corner. He says hell make a case to voters over the next few weeks. On how the conservatives plan to secure britains future. Meanwhile, britains future. Meanwhile, labour has confirmed it would pass the smoking ban if the party enters office, with the conservatives having run out of time to get it through parliament. The labour leader is campaigning in scotland today where hes pledged to bring down energy costs with a new publicly owned green power company. Gb owned green power company. Gb news can exclusively reveal more than 10,000 channel migrants have crossed illegally to the uk so far this year. Its a blow to rishi sunak on his second full day of campaigning, after he promised the government would stop the boats didnt know that information and the former boss of the post office has admitted she made mistakes in her handung she made mistakes in her handling of the horizon scandal, and says theres no one else to blame. Giving evidence for a third day at the post Office Inquiry in london, Paula Vennells became emotional as she admitted she hadnt recognised the imbalance of power between the imbalance of power between the institution and the individual. The institution and the individual. But she denied accusations that she led the post office through deception. Post office through deception. More on all of our stories in our later bulletins. Or you can get more right now by scanning the code on your screen for gb news alerts. Cheers britannia wine club proudly sponsors the gb news financial report. A quick look at the markets the pound buys you 1. 272o the pound buys you 1. 2720 ,1. 1733. The price of gold, £1,840. 42 per ounce, and the ftse 100 is at 8307 points. Cheers. Britannia wine club proudly sponsors the gb news financial its 138. Its 138. Youre watching and listening to good afternoon, britain. Now, to good afternoon, britain. Now, the ex post office boss, Paula Vennells, has denied the companys executive team, which she led, shielded the board from dirty laundry. Well thats a she also denied trying to close down also denied trying to close down a review into the software, which led to the wrongful convictions of hundreds of subpostmasters. It says her multi day appearance in front of the post Office Inquiry continues. Continues. And joining us now is christopher head, a subpostmaster and victim of the honzon subpostmaster and victim of the horizon it scandal. Subpostmaster and victim of the horizon it scandal. Christopher, horizon it scandal. Christopher, i think many victims of the of the post Office Scandal of the honzon the post Office Scandal of the horizon scandal will have thought that the calling of the general election on wednesday really lets Paula Vennells off the hook for her first day of questioning. I suppose its important to continue to shine a spotlight on this. Spotlight on this. Yeah, absolutely. I mean , yeah, absolutely. I mean, obviously when she first got out of the taxi on wednesday, you know, the media was was everywhere for her. And, you know, we thought by the end of the day when we, you know, heard the day when we, you know, heard the announcement of the general election that, you know , that election that, you know, that things would subside. And i think the next morning that, you know, there was less media and she was probably be quite pleased about that. But but obviously, across all the media outlets, its continued. So i mean, its good i mean, you know , she needs to have the scrutiny of about, you know, what she knew and what went on at the post office while she was at the top. I mean, christopher, shes being quite emotional today, hasnt she . Shes sobbed. Shes declared her love for the post office. She said, i loved the post office. I worked as hard as i possibly could to deliver the best post office for the uk, she goes on to say, i let these people down. Im very aware of that. I mean, do you buy that . She. She that. I mean, do you buy that . She. She loved the post office. Whats your reaction to that . Whats your reaction to that . Well, i think i think, you know, we can say that she maybe loved the post office, but obviously to the detriment of postmasters, that obviously she put the brand and the reputation and, you know, the profitability of the post office above all else, really, what has been the most shocking thing that you think weve seen so far . Think weve seen so far . Of course, weve seen texts thrown up. Weve seen people suggest that she knew more than she said she knew at various points. But what do you think points. But what do you think has been the thing that is the biggest takeaway from her appearance . Appearance . Well, i think, you know, were just seeing document after document, though, about what she was actually shown and what, you know, what she knew and actually when she knew it. And, you know, what we have to remember is that she could have put a stop to this very, very early on in, you know, 2013, 2014, but yet, you know, 2013, 2014, but yet, you know, she said that she wanted to minimise the compensation. You know, we saw that and then yet she denied that that was not the reason that she wrote that. But its there in black and white in an email. You know, she said the idea of the mediation scheme in 2013 is to either avoid or minimise paying compensation, which shows that they never had, or she and the organisation never had any intention of putting this right. And christopher, have you received any compensation . Received any compensation . Well, we had the original payout from the High Court Case in 2019, which is obviously the, you know, the interim payment. And then the government had a top up in 2022, we were then asked to prepare a fully quantified claim that the government themselves would pay for, you know, forensic accountants and your tax records and everything like that. And we submitted that last year, and they made me an offer on the 28th of december, which was 13 of what the professional claim was valued at, which obviously we rejected outright. And they made a further offer four months later on the 3rd of april, increased to 21. But, i mean, i said, these are not claims that ive put together. I havent come up with the figures. These are the experts that the government is pre approved and paid for. And yet now theyre denying to pay the amounts that the, you know, the experts have said are due that is interesting. Of course, in the last few hours, actually just yesterday and today, theres been a process in parliament known as as wash up, where lots of bills , as wash up, where lots of bills, well, some bills are ditched and other ones are rushed through parliament. One of the bills that was rushed through parliament was the exoneration bill for postmasters, which does include some compensation provisions as well. I suppose this has been a priority for the government to get that through before the deadline this evening, when parliament shuts down, are you pleased that theres been some political priority behind this . Priority behind this . Of course. I mean, look, i mean, ive been campaigning a long time on this about the bill, you know, speaking to the minister himself, kevin hollinrake, and, you know, the other mps in the house that have really, really pushed this legislation a lot. Lord arbuthnot and kevin jones. And, you know, it was important. I mean, i tweeted about it last night that, you know, that was its so welcome that obviously many, many hundreds of people that had a conviction will now be cleared. And obviously opened the door to the compensation that they deserve, you know, and it was important that we didnt get this lost in, in the political football, you know, so to speak, and that obviously these people get a chance to be able to walk without having a conviction over their head. Well, theres a huge support, a huge amount of support behind you. Thank a huge amount of support behind you. Thank you very much indeed. Christopher head, youre a subpostmaster and one of the victims of the horizon it scandal. Scandal. Well, coming up, were going to be speaking to a metropolitan mayor. Yes, dan norris, he used to be a labour mp. Now hes the mayor of the west of england, but he wants to unseat Jacob Rees Mogg in the upcoming election. Could mogg be facing a Michael Portillo moment . Were going to be joined by dan norris after this good afternoon. Britain. Its 1 47. Now. The general Election Campaign is well underway. Full day, day two, keir starmer, of course, launching his partys bid in scotland today following a public back and forth with rishi sunak over participation in tv debates. Yes, indeed. In tv debates. Yes, indeed. Well, Jeremy Corbyn has also confirmed he will be running in the general election, but as an independent, resulting in his expulsion, complete expulsion from the labour party after more than four decades. But heres another fly in the ointment. Could gb news presenter sir Jacob Rees Mogg ointment. Could gb news presenter sirJacob Rees Mogg be the next Michael Portillo . A big, important, famous member of parliament . Risk of losing his seat , to the very man that he seat, to the very man that he defeated in 2010. Well, lets speak to the man in question. Joining us now, dan norris. Dan, not only are you the candidate against Jacob Rees Mogg in this election , youre also the west election, youre also the west of england metro mayor recently re elected. And congratulations on that. Are you going to give up your mayoralty if you win your parliamentary seat . Well, look, im not going to get ahead of myself because thats a decision for the electors of North East Somerset and hannam to decide. And it will be their verdict. It will be the one that determines that. And obviously ill cross that bridge if and when i come to that. But look, im very proud to have been selected as the labour candidate in North East Somerset and hannam, a new constituency thats very similar to the boundanes thats very similar to the boundaries when i was the mp pnor boundaries when i was the mp prior to mr rees mogg. So i think its going to be very interesting and exciting contest for voters and the media, and im looking forward to it very much. Much. Do you get do you get on with the Jacob Rees Mogg . The Jacob Rees Mogg . Well, absolutely. Hes my constituent and im his constituent. And we obviously have dealings in my role as the mayor and his as a local mp. So yes, we do. So youre not going to get too vicious on the campaign trail. I do not anticipate that at all. This is of course, a fascinating seat, because its an area of the world where the lib dems are also incredibly strong. So youve got a strong and previously elected labour candidate in yourself, very well known conservative candidate, but also the lib dems vying for seats like this throughout the area. Are you going to do a deal area. Are you going to do a deal with the lib dems so that they fight less hard . Well, we dont do deals for one thing, but in any event, the lib dems are not strong in this constituency. Its never been a lib dem mp here. Its always been labour or conservative. So its a clear choice. But what in the local elections they were fairly strong. Yeah they were, but that happens. Thats certainly a modern trait now that in local elections you get different local councillors to the party of the mp. But thats but theyve never had strength at an mp level in my area where im standing now, Jacob Rees Mogg is quite the character. Hes extremely well known. I hes extremely well known. I imagine hes probably in, i dont know, the top 20 best known mps. I mean, im just guessing that itd be quite remarkable for him to be to be out of the house of commons. Lots of people would miss him. Lots of people would miss him. Yeah, i no doubt there would be some people who would miss him. He is a hes a marmite person, he charms many people and they are impressed by him. But on the other hand, there are many people who have exactly the opposite views to that, but i think thats not really what this contest is about. Its about the choice for britain ahead. Now, mr rees mogg has defended and very well the tory record, but i think hes been defending the indefensible. And i think thats what the public of the North East Somerset and hannam think, and the wider country at large. But it will be country at large. But it will be their choice. They will be looking who is going to provide the best for them and their family, whos going to help them deal with the cost of living crisis . Whos going to get the nhs back working again . A whole range of other issues are going to be important to them, and thats the verdict theyll be making a verdict that depends, you know, determines their futures, not mine or mr rees moggs. And youre only a couple of weeks into your second term as being the metro mayor for the west of england. Im sure youve got lots and lots of plans of what you want to do in your role, in your executive role, in the west of england. Why arent you being more clear about whether or not its this particular seat of North Somerset and hannam that gets your full attention , or the your full attention, or the whole region that gets your full attention . It seems like there attention . It seems like there could be a bit of split loyalty here that perhaps your potential constituents and your current constituents and your current constituents deserve to know. Constituents deserve to know. Well, look, i wasnt up for election this year, actually , so election this year, actually, so my term comes to an end next yeah my term comes to an end next year. So there could potentially be an overlap. But look, im not going to cross that bridge until the electorate have decided, frankly, its you know, i wouldnt disrespect them to assume anything. They will weigh that up and think if thats important to them, theyll cast their vote accordingly. But what im absolutely clear about is the choice that the people of britain have at the moment, and that is, do they want more of the same under the conservatives for the last 14 years, which is frankly been disastrous, and they can see nothing seems to work anymore . Or do they want work anymore . Or do they want hope and positivity for the future . Do they feel that we could get to a better place and bnng could get to a better place and bring back britains future . Can i get your reaction to the news that Jeremy Corbyn, the ex leader of your party, has been expelled and hell be standing as an independent candidate . What do you make of candidate . What do you make of that . A long time coming. Well , look, look, what well, look, look, what i simply say is as a, you know, a person whos been in the Labour Party Many years and been a labour mp and had that great privilege, i cannot comprehend anybody whos been in that position standing against the labour party and jeremy has decided to do that. And so hes expelled himself. And im sad expelled himself. And im sad that hes done that because he was given this great honour by the Labour Party Members years ago to become leader. And i just cannot conceive of anybody whos been given that honour, disrespecting the labour party by standing as an independent. But thats a choice for him. But what id simply say is, i suspect what it reflects is the fact that the labour party has moved on from Jeremy Corbyn, Jeremy Corbyn is not capable of being able to change and embrace the modern world and the challenges of the future , and challenges of the future, and because of that, he has ended up in this place. Its kind of sad at one level, but frankly, you know, im concerned about what happens for the public in the future and whats best for my country. And therefore jeremy country. And therefore Jeremy Corbyn is not relevant to that. And yet it took to today, i mean, several days into a general Election Campaign to actually expel him as a labour party member. I mean, i think a lot of people would be asking, why didnt sir keir starmer and the new leadership of the labour party expel him as a member much, much earlier . I genuinely dont know the details. The thing about these things is they have to be done properly and well, and so therefore these things do take time and clearly, you know, its a complicated thing. I wouldnt know all the details, im afraid. Thank you very much indeed. Dan norris , the man looking to dan norris, the man looking to unseat Jacob Rees Mogg. Thank you very much indeed. Were going to be speaking to the defence secretary after the break. Grant shapps secretary of state for defence, get your questions in. Yeah, we really want to put them to him. So stick with us and well be getting two grant shapps the defence secretary, our questions as well as yours after this short. Break. After this short. Break. A brighter outlook with boxt solar , the sponsors of weather solar, the sponsors of weather on. Gb news. On. Gb news. Good afternoon. Welcome to your latest gb news weather update. There will be some sunshine across southern areas to end the day, but for most of us it will stay rather cloudy andifs us it will stay rather cloudy and its going to be quite a cold night tonight as well, particularly compared to recent nights. Drizzly rain is going to continue across Northern Areas. Thats because low pressure is still nearby and a weather front. But through this evening that low pressure will gradually shift north and westwards, taking with it that cloudier and slightly wetter weather and introducing a much clearer weather. The clearer skies from the south this afternoon will spread northwards, and that will allow for temperatures to dip down into single figures, possibly low. Single figures across southern counties. There could also be some mist and fog around as well first thing, but also quite a good deal of sunshine as well. Saturday is looking like the driest day of the weekend and the warmest one as well, so fairly bright start across the far north of scotland. Still some lingering rain across the northwest and the southwest probably, but for most of us it should be dry, if not a bit. Cloudy across Northern Areas across northern england, much of wales and england, much of wales and england, it should be a bright start. Temperatures will pick up quite quickly as the sun comes up, so youll be into double digits at least by around 8 00, and therell be plenty of sunshine through the morning. Sunshine through the morning. That mist and fog should clear quite quickly. Thats a potential for a few showers to develop, particularly across Northern Areas of england. Parts Northern Areas of england. Parts of scotland as well could see some heavier showers on saturday, but most of us should stay dry and theres just a chance of some rain clipping the far southeast later on in the day. But in the sunshine, highs of around 22 degrees in the south into the high teens across the north. But there is a bit of a change on the way for sunday, as this area of rain from the southwest will push north eastwards through the night, bringing a spell of wet weather. And once it does clear through we will see plenty of showers breaking out across the country through sunday and monday. These could be quite heavy, possibly thundery, so its going to turn much more unsettled and a little bit cooler for the rest of the weekend. That warm feeling inside from boxt boilers, sponsors of weather on gb news. Good afternoon. Britain. Its just gone. 2 00. My name is tom harwood and im emily carver now. Joining us for the top of this hour is the defence secretary. Grant shapps. It must secretary. Grant shapps. It must be said that defence is becoming a bigger and bigger issue in this general election. It was this general election. It was the end of last month that the Prime Minister pledged to raise defence spending to 2. 5 of gdp, and mr shapps, ive got to ask on the first point continually, your government says that this is a fully funded pledge to raise to 2. 5 of gdp. You say youll do it through Cutting Civil Service jobs, but you dont say which jobs will be cut. Yeah. So afternoon therell be, 72,000, Civil Service jobs actually includes 10,000 at the ministry of defence headquarters. I want to see money going into the frontline instead , and that the frontline instead, and that will take the Civil Service back to the size that it was before covid. So this is not some draconian cut. It is a way to release money, to do something that we think the defence of the realm is absolutely essential for. How will you achieve this cut . Will you have quotas for each department or will some be further hit than others . Further hit than others . So the departments have all agreed with the chancellor, the reductions that will be required to do this. I did that even as the secretary of state for defence, even though were primarily benefiting from this 2. 5, which is the equivalent to a massive £75 billion. Oh, hang on, the defence secretary is not 75. Its only 75 billion extra. If you assume that you werent, you were going to freeze defence spending , but to freeze defence spending, but you werent going to freeze defence spending on on flat cash i yeah, thats absolutely right, but it is a commitment nonetheless to that money. And i can tell you it makes a real significant difference if youre sitting in the defence secretaries chair, as i do. And secretaries chair, as i do. And you know, that moneys coming. And since every programme in procurement and defence is multi year, it makes a very, very significant difference. Now to your planning. So it is important. And remember, labour are not committing to this. They say they want to go to 2. 5. They wont cut those jobs in the Civil Service because the Union Friends will because the Union Friends will be upset and so they havent said when or how they do it. And it makes their view on security, indefensible. In my view. It makes it, it makes a much less secure future. And thats one of the differences between us. We have clear plans, bold plans and security at the heart of them, labour are not offering any of those things. Those things. I mean, the Prime Minister went as far as to say that if theres a labour government, Vladimir Putin would be emboldened and essentially that our National Security would be at risk, what evidence do you have to back up that claim . Thats thats quite a big claim to make. To make. Yeah. So i think the problem is its one thing to wish that you had 2. 5. That is the labours position. Its another thing to take the difficult decisions to get there. We talk about the size of the Civil Service to pay for it. Thats the conservative position. So we have funded this thing and will therefore do it. Labour says they and you know, no reason to doubt that theyve been solid in their support of ukraine. You cant carry on as weve said we will do enduring. Weve said we will do enduring. They have £3 billion a year for as long as this takes. If youre not prepared to take the difficult decisions in order to fund money. And so, as i say, i think in every way security of this country, which starts with defence of the realm , is risk by defence of the realm, is risk by a party coming into place into power, which does not. It is not prepared to say how it would pay for increasing defence budget, which must lead you to assume they may not. And she, given that keir starmer stood on the most left wing socialist platforms to become leader given that nearly 50 labour mps voted against our Nuclear Trident last time came up for a vote, even hes got four members of his shadow cabinet who are against the Nuclear Deterrent when it was voted for. There are lots of reasons to doubt that theyll be secure for this country, mr shapps, some of our viewers were slightly alarmed the other day to see that a new website has popped up to see that a new website has popped up. Popped up. I think it was the deputy Prime Minister, oliver dowden, who shared it. And this was a website where were all being told to essentially hoard about three days worth of tinned food and water in the case of an emergency. I mean, is there a possibility that theres going to be some kind of apocalypse . Whats this . Whats this for . Whats this . Whats this for . Whats this . Whats this for . What are we preparing for . I look, i think the job of any government is to make sure that we are ready for all eventualities. And as weve seen in the last few years with with covid, with the war in europe, actually with the conflict in the middle east, now things can change sensibly. Any government, therefore, does planning and what the deputy Prime Minister has done is brought together all the different departments that would have a stake in that ministry of defence as one, of course, but also the security services, the Cabinet Office and many others , and thought about many others, and thought about what wed need to do under some more extreme circumstances. And thats not because we think thats not because we think thats about to happen. Its just sensible planning from any government. I dont think anyone should be alarmed. I think people should be actually feel reassured and more secure that weve got a government that actually bothers to take the time to do those things. So we should we should all head to the supermarket and stock up on, tinned soup and the like. But also, may i ask you, today , may our Homeland Security today, may our Homeland Security editor marked the 10,000th migrant crossing the channel, thats a remarkable milestone , thats a remarkable milestone, john, your reaction really . Over 10,000 people have crossed just this year. The Prime Minister says he wants to stop the boats. Yeah. Look, it shows how difficult this problem is and how determined you have to be. Last year, we got it down by over a third, from the year before. But youve got to carry on, making sure that you bust the criminal gangs that bring the criminal gangs that bring the defence secretary this year. Its up by more than a third. Its up by more than a third. Youve got to carry. It has come to the point i was going to make is these criminal gangs will exploit every possible loophole that they can, and what this governments been prepared to do is, frankly, have the guts to do is, frankly, have the guts to pass legislation that they actually, if you come to this country in an illegal manner, then you will not get asylum and then you will not get asylum and then back that up by saying what will happen is youll go to a third country. Of course, in this case, rwanda , and we want this case, rwanda, and we want to see those planes leave for rwanda. Labour. Starmer has rwanda. Labour. Starmer has fought tooth and nail to prevent it. Were trying to stop the boats. He aint trying to stop the planes. It doesnt. It doesnt suggest that you have a great deal of confidence in your rwanda plan that youre saying, of course, these planes will go off, but not until we all vote you back in. I mean, surely, surely you can see that a cynical voter might think that thats a bit of a ploy. Thats a bit of a ploy. I dont think anyone should be cynical about it. I was actually there at the press conference the day after we finally against tooth and nail opposition from labour passed the rwanda bill, just just a month or so ago. If you remember, the Prime Minister called a press conference and he said there and then the first flight, because you had to arrange it, make sure its legal, all the rest will be july. So, theres no theres no change to that. And actually, if were voted back in, thats when theyll theyll take off. Unfortunately, again, weve a clear plan , sometimes bold plan clear plan, sometimes bold plan like rwanda, which look after our security. But what labours saying, starmer is saying he doesnt want use the rwanda plan even if it works. Even if it even if it works. Even if it works, he wouldnt use it. Instead, hes going off to europe and negotiating for 100,000 more Asylum Seekers to come here. Labour deny that . Labour deny that . That is crazy , and, mr that is crazy, and, mr shapps, why has, david frost, lord frost been banned from standing at the next election . At the election as a tory candidate . Candidate . So, look, im not close to the detail of any of this, but what i can tell you is that to stand, you have to find a seat. Stand, you have to find a seat. Been there myself in the past. You go around lots of different constituencies and you have to be selected by. Hes claiming hes been banned, and hes hes awfully popular among the tory membership. Well, as i say , im membership. Well, as i say, im not aware of any details on that. I do know that you have to actually get selected and, sometimes having been i think i went to about 19 different selections. So it can be a very selections. So it can be a very long winded process, im afraid. Yes. It can long winded process, im afraid. Yes. It can be a normal time, of course, in a snap election, very often its the Central Party that then takes control. Shortlists less member involvement and a lot of rumours about a lot of number 10 special advisers being found. Plum advisers being found. Plum seats. I suppose we should be on the lookout for that. Would you be particularly surprised if various names that are cosy with various names that are cosy with various journalists and in with mr sunak get plum seats . Well, look, im not as i say, im not Party Chairman. I dont know, i once was Party Chairman when i was, i made very clear that we shouldnt have a large cohort of special advisers. I want people who come through, who have great experience of the world behind them, and are able to bring things to parliament. Special advisers can do that to an extent. But, i think you want an extent. But, i think you want a mix of people coming into politics from all different walks of lives and backgrounds. So certainly wasnt my approach. Im not super close to the process. Im afraid i cant shed much light on your question itself. Okay, well, thank you very much indeed for your time. Grant shapps mp defence secretary, of course. Thank you very much indeed. Thank you. Well, lets go now to our Political Correspondent, olivia utley, whos listening to that interview with the defence secretary. And olivia, how big an issue do you think defence will be over the course of the next six weeks . I think it actually will be a pretty big issue. The conservatives are determined to make it a big issue. Conservatives are determined to make it a big issue. They see it make it a big issue. They see it as an issue where there is clear blue water between themselves and labour. As grant shapps spelled out there, the conservatives have committed to a 2. 5 increase gdp increase in defence spending, whereas labour have said that they would like to do it when Economic Conditions allow, which obviously doesnt mean very much at all. It is also an issue which is increasingly coming up at the very top of polls, of what the people in the country care most about. Everyone is very aware that we are living in an increasingly less stable Global Environment with whats happening both in the middle east and in eastern europe, and lots and lots of people are putting security and safety and defence right at the top of their priority list. It is also an issue which can tend to favour the incumbent people, like the idea of, you know, the person who is in charge already has the advantage of being seen as a statesman almost by definition, and so on. Issues of defence. These people , the defence. These people, the incumbent who has relationships on the international stage, can often be a little bit of an advantage. So the conservatives advantage. So the conservatives will certainly try and put defence at the forefront of their Election Campaign. That said , there are plenty of said, there are plenty of conservative backbenchers who are grumbling that actually 2. 5 is not enough. Ben wallace, when he was defence secretary, hes leaving, but he does have a big, big following within the conservative party wanted to raise defence spending to 3 of gdp and the conservatives have fallen short of doing that. And i think there are quite a lot of conservative members who agree with ben wallace. So the conservatives will try and make it front and centre of their Election Campaign. But theres a chance that that might backfire among their own backbenchers. Yes and i wonder if the, if theres a clear enough dividing line when it comes to the defence spending pledges because, yes, the conservatives say they are committed and theyve outlined a way that they wish to pay for it. But labour are still saying its an ambition. Is there bigger, is there a big enough difference between those two positions for people to really, you know, get a hold of this as an issue that theyd vote on . Well, i think the conservatives will have to do some sort of pr work, if you like to prove that there is a difference. But i mean, there is a difference. The conservatives have laid out how they will play pay have laid out how they will play pay for this to 2. 5. Well, the increase to 2. 5 of gdp. Whereas saying something is an ambition is political nonsense. Really i mean, when the Economic Conditions allow that, that means its not really a priority for labour. So you know, if you just read it in a headline, then perhaps you might not understand the complexity. The, the difference as a, as a just ordinary punter voting at the next election. But i think if the conservatives continue to sort of big up that point, as we just saw grant shapps do, there , just saw grant shapps do, there, it will sort of filter through as a as a dividing line between the two parties. Well, thank you very much indeed. Olivia utley. Our Political Correspondent there in westminster, lets cross over to eastbourne to listen to the liberal democrat leader, sir ed davey. Liberal democrats certainly wont push pep up the conservatives. They need to leave government. Theyre out of ideas, out of excuses, out of time. And they need to be out of office. Theyve undermined our country. But liberal democrats have a set of really positive ideas. We call it our fair deal for people. People whove been working hard, paying their taxes, playing by the rules, looking after loved ones who just had a really tough time under the conservatives. And i want to put the liberal democrat ideas there because i think our ideas there because i think our ideas are fresh. I think they would transform our country and actually transform our politics. Were very different from any other party. Notice you dont want to talk about a coalition with labour. Im talking about this Election Campaign when im knocking on doors, what people say to me and say to other liberal democrat canvassers, what are you going to do about the Health Service in our local area . What are you going to do about the problem of the Water Company pumping their filthy sewage onto our beaches, into our rivers . What are you going to do about the cost of living . And we are going to focus on that. I make no apology for that. I make no apology for that. Its an Election Campaign and i want to tell people what liberal democrats stand for. Okay, quick question about what youre announcing. Stay on gps. Youre promising 8000 new gps within the next five years, 4000 of those. Youre going to entice to stay within the nhs, as well as 4000 extra ones being recruited. Its something the tories have promised to do since 2019. They didnt get very far with their target. They didnt get very far with theirtarget. How they didnt get very far with their target. How do you think youre going to do things differently . What sort of sort of temptations are you going to offer gps who want to leave to actually come back into this system . Well, the democrats want many, many gps. Youre right, because people are waiting far too long for gp appointments and the gps are working really hard. Theyre just overstretched, not enough gps. So our program is really ambitious. Enough gps. So our program is really ambitious. Weve worked really ambitious. Weve worked it through with health experts. Its going to cost a billion pounds a year for the next four years. And we think over the next parliament we could deliver 8000 more gps so people can can get an appointment really quickly. Were going to quickly. Were going to legislate once weve done this and weve got more gps so that people have a right to see a gp within seven days or 24 hours. If its an emergency. And our package of training more people , package of training more people, retaining more people, encouraging people back with this commitment of £4 billion over the next parliament, i think is a serious one. Its way more effective and thought through than anything the conservatives have done. The conservatives promised it and failed to deliver. Okay, quick question on the Energy Price Cap, which is obviously come down today. Youre promising to get Peoples Energy bills down further. How . Well, two ways. First of all, we want a proper windfall tax on the huge profits of the oil and gas companies. It was liberal democrats who came up with that idea in the first place. Im afraid rishi sunak conservatives didnt do it properly. And so they didnt get the money to be able to give real help to people. And thats what we want to do. And in addition to that, we want to make sure that insulating peoples homes is done far more quickly and far more effectively, because then they dont have to use so much energy and the bills come down and we want to invest in renewables. The cheapest, most popular form of energy. And liberal democrats have the best record of any Political Party for that. So we have a whole package to reduce energy bills. And im afraid the government have failed drastically on energy bills. Everybody knows that. Quick question from some of my colleagues. What is your reaction to Jeremy Corbyn standing as an independent candidate in islington against the labour party . Do you think thats destabilising for labour at this point . Well, i think its for labour to comment on that. Its clearly an internal labour argument. All i know is liberal democrats have a great candidate in islington north, vikas agarwal. Ive worked with him. He would be a brilliant mp. Brilliant mp. Okay. Just finally, well that was the liberal democrat leader, ed davey, being pressed on some of his pledges in sunny, sunny eastbourne on the beach. Its a lovely day out there today. I think the last time he was in eastbourne, or at least one of the earlier times that he was in eastbourne back in september, he ended up falling into the sea when trying to do a stunt on a boat with a local candidate and, and there he and there he was, completely sodden. But not today. Do you know who the liberal democrat candidate for islington nonh democrat candidate for islington north is . Come on, tom, youre usually a statue. I dont who is . I dont who is . Well, i dont know. I was asking you. Well , maybe we should have well, maybe we should have prepared that before we started doing it on live television. If anyone at home knows. I mean, we can always google it, i guess. Well, ill do that right now. Away. Tap, tap. Away. Tap, tap. Tapp|ng. Away. Tap, tap. Tapping. Hell find out. Hell tap, tap. Tapping. Hell find out. Hell find out for us. Yes, but apparently, according to ed davey, theyve got a fantastic candidate to go up against. Jeremy corbyn and the labour candidate. Vickers could get seat. Vickers. Aggarwal. Vickers. Aggarwal. Well, there you go. Soon. A household name, im sure, but in other news, gb news can confirm that earlier this afternoon , the that earlier this afternoon, the number of migrants arriving in the uk illegally via small boat from france has now reached and surpassed 10,000 people. Well, lets go to our home and security editor mark white, whos in dover for us, gone from one part of the south coast to another part of the south coast and mark the sea, is just as beautiful behind you as it was behind sir ed davey. Yeah, i can confirm. Its just as lovely here in dover as it is down in eastbourne. And it is down in eastbourne. And thats brought, of course, the inevitable surge in channel migrant crossings again today. Another three boats bringing 154 people across to uk waters and here to the border force Processing Centre at dover harbour. Now that takes the total who have arrived so far this year to 10,036. And that, of course, is that landmark figure of 10,000 reached earlier in the year than it was last yean in the year than it was last year, a full month earlier than it was last year. In fact, we are 35 ahead on the figures last year. In terms of those arriving. And last year they made, 36 gains in the number of small boats and migrants they were stopping. So effective , a were stopping. So effective, a full reversal of the situation last year. That gives you an indication, perhaps, of one of the key positive, advantage for rishi sunak in bringing that election forward in coming on the 4th of july, rather than waiting until the back end of the year, when we have the likelihood of a real summer surge. Its being predicted by Border Force Officials that we will have many thousands of migrants arriving as we get to the flat, calm conditions out in the flat, calm conditions out in the English Channel, where you can get , on occasion, 2000 or can get, on occasion, 2000 or more arriving on a single day. And i think going to the country after a summer surge like that could be a very difficult message to sell. Message to sell. A flight might take off before the election. Im sure rishi sunak would love that. Well, i mean, its possible he might pull a rabbit out of the hat and you might get 1 or 2 rwanda flights going off, but he used his first round of interviews yesterday since that, shock election announcement to indicate, really, that there wouldnt be any flights taking off that he was preparing the groundwork that if a conservative government is returned by the electorate, then immediately after that, those flights would take off one advantage again, of course, of going early is even if they get 1 or 2 flights off, they dont then have to or wouldnt have then have to or wouldnt have the time to demonstrate that it has proved to be the deterrent that the Prime Minister has been telling us for many months. He knows it will be, one of the disadvantages, obviously, in leaving it until, disadvantages, obviously, in leaving it until , say, leaving it until, say, a november election is if those flights did get off the ground and many flights got off the ground and yet we still had a bumper year of arrivals, then that would be pretty disastrous for the governments stop the boats campaign. Boats campaign. It is, i suppose, a real conundrum. Therefore, perhaps it leads to the assumption that rishi sunak doesnt , after all, rishi sunak doesnt, after all, believe in the rwanda policy. Thats the line from labour that sunak has never believed in the policy. Do you think that there policy. Do you think that there is something to that , or could is something to that, or could it be that the reason rishi sunak wants this election and wants a new mandate with rwanda, this time in the manifesto , this time in the manifesto, though, is that manifesto commitments can ride through the house of lords in the way that commitments that werent in manifestos cant. Manifestos cant. Well, thats certainly one advantage youre absolutely right there. I do think that the Prime Minister believes in the rwanda plan, and one of the key reasons that i think that this government is committed to the rwanda plan is not just necessarily hooked to small boats. It offers a potential boats. It offers a potential solution to what you do with those migrants who have no right to remain here in the uk. And it doesnt mean its migrants who have come across on small boats. They could have arrived by other means. It could be student visa overstayers or Foreign National offenders who cant be returned to their home country because its too dangerous to do that. Rwanda is that, according to the government , a safe third country government, a safe third country that allows the option of where to send these individuals to. And thats why now you have 15 other countries who have signed up to exploring that very issue of safe third countries as a potential way around it. And its, as i was saying yesterday, its, as i was saying yesterday, it is a clear dividing line between the conservatives and labour Going Forward in this election, and one that im sure rishi sunak and the tories are up for in terms of the fight , up for in terms of the fight, because i think they do believe that they have a stronger message to the electorate on migration than the labour party. Have yes, its just a difficulty for them that so few , well, not for them that so few, well, not very many, people trust that this plan is going to work, but if they can turn that around, it could be a vote winner. Thank you very much indeed. Mark white, our Home Security editor. There in dover. Now coming up, this is an interesting one, a lot different, the first millennial otherwise known as gods influencer is set to become the first millennial to become the first millennial to be made a saint on earth. Is this about. And, how do we getin . Is this about. And, how do we get in . Well that after this. Good afternoon. Britain. 2 27. Some breaking news now on the chs ruling on Israels Rafah offensive. Well, this International Court has ordered israel to halt its offensive. Israel to halt its offensive. And, yes, now the icj is the top un court, isnt it . And they can make these, technically , can make these, technically, legally binding rulings only if youre a party to the court. Only if youre a party to the court, but yes, it has little in the way of enforcement powers, but theyve made this statement that they have ordered israel to halt its offensive in rafah. So there you go. Thats the breaking news from the International Court of justice. International court of justice. This is all relating to south africas request to order a halt on this particular offensive in gaza. They ordered it as an emergency measure. Well, they asked the icj to order it as an emergency measure. Theyre saying theyre claiming that israels actions amount to genocide in gaza. And so the icj has now ruled that the offensive should be halted. Now its important to make clear the icj is a separate institution from the icc. So the International Court of justice is about states taking on states and arbitration mechanism there, whereas the International Criminal court, which issued arrest warrants for the leaders of hamas as well as the leaders of hamas as well as the israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu just last week, that is a separate institution that goes after individuals. This is an institution that talks about states. Well, well bring you more as we get it. But that is the breaking news there now. And i think the chances that israel will listen to the icj are pretty much zero and limited, if any enforcement powers. But there you go. Thats the ruling. Now, a london born teenagerin ruling. Now, a london born teenager in very different news is set to become the first millennial to be made a saint. After a second miracle was attributed to him by pope francis. How convenient. During his short life, carlo acutis was known as gods influencer. As he used his computer skills to spread the catholic faith before tragically dying of leukaemia in 2005 when aged just 15. Yes , well, lets discuss this yes, well, lets discuss this further with associate editor of the catholic herald, doctor Gavin Ashenden. Gavin, how does one become a saint . Well, i heard tom say , how well, i heard tom say, how convenient with with a degree of scepticism. And so i think toms scepticism. And so i think toms scepticism is perfectly justified. Catholic church is very cautious about being taken for a ride , and we have a long for a ride, and we have a long history of this at lourdes, where there are extraordinary miracles, a very serious medical Commission Set up to examine every miracle. But what happens every miracle. But what happens is, from time to time, we cant. Were bowled over because the miracles appear to happen. They get tested and so catholics believe in praying to for , for believe in praying to for, for help with people who have lived holy lives. And two people asked holy lives. And two people asked the prayers of carlo acutis this this saint in sneakers who led the most extraordinary life until he died when he was 15. And the two of them are a brazilian boy who had breathing difficulties and vomited all the time, and a costa rican girl, age 11, who had a very serious brain haemorrhage. They both found themselves in life threatening positions, and when prayers were addressed to carlo, they miraculously got better. So they miraculously got better. So the doctor said this is not normally, this is not medical science. When these things are tested, we then catholics say, well, hooray, someones got some leverage here. So its all part of the attempt to change human nature, to save the world and to bnng nature, to save the world and to bring people to jesus. Oh, fred, i was brought up a bit too protestant for all of this. Im not sure. I mean, is there i mean, i mean, there was item, so was i, so i understand where youre coming from because i know because youre a convert to catholicism. Yeah what was it that made you that made you switch . Switch . So you see, it was the thing that carlo acutis got excited about , he that carlo acutis got excited about, he made a whole list as a computer geek of all the eucharistic miracles. So what catholics say and what i thought was baloney for years, was that a change actually happens in the mass. And i thought, this is mass. And i thought, this is complete nonsense, for goodness sake. Its a 20th century. But there have been two miracles, 1 in 1994, where they took the host that bled to a to a laboratory in new york, and they said to the guy, what is this stuff . And he said, its human white blood cells. And so science , which has assumed science, which has assumed transubstantiation. Yeah, i am im saying the hosts bleed when theyre some of the hosts bleed and when theyre tested by, by by scientific laboratories, they turn out to have white living blood cells. And so id be very interested to 1994 verified it. But this is independent verification. Thats the whole point. These are these are this was the jewish scientist in new york who tested this in 1994, was a jewish atheist. He became a catholic on the. Has anyone been able to replicate that . Yes , of course, lots of yes, of course, lots of times. 5 or 6 times since it happenedin times. 5 or 6 times since it happened in 94. Hang on, hang on. If this is because the Scientific Method is. Yes, you dont believe something until you can prove it right, whereas the religious faith is about having faith in something, not necessarily needing proof. But you seem to be making a scientific argument here, not a religious one. Tom, i am. Thank you for being so alert. Thats exactly what im doing. So my faith has been a working hypothesis. After all, who would become a christian unnecessarily . Who would believe in miracles unnecessarily and be taken for a dork . You know, its a working hypothesis. Try it out, test it, try it out, test it. Its the same hypothesis for religion as for science. And here a so what carlo got so excited about was that these eucharistic miracles that these eucharistic miracles that have been tested independently by scientific laboratories, saying transubstantiation happens. Its all out there. But nobody talks about it. So this wonderful computer geek made a whole list and said, lets talk about it. Im so glad we are. This is what he he wanted. Well, thank you so much for talking to us with that. With such passion as well. Doctor Gavin Ashenden , associate editor Gavin Ashenden, associate editor of the catholic herald. Tom, you shouldnt be so sure about these things. No, you know what . No, you know what . Youre scepticism. You know , youre scepticism. You know, you dont know everything. I dont i dont know everything. I dont know everything. I dont know everything. Which is why im so sceptical to believe certain things that are told to me to be a sceptic. But i but i do really a sceptic. But i but i do really appreciate doctor ashenden talking. Talking through that, because i know to a lot of people it does mean a lot, but but just just not really to me. Well, coming up, were live at a d day torch lighting ceremony. Were going to be heanng ceremony. Were going to be hearing from a d day veteran. Thats after your headlines. So stick with. Us. Stick with. Us. Its 233. Im Aaron Armstrong in the gb newsroom. The Prime Minister says the lowering of the price cap shows his plan is working as both parties look to make Energy Policy an electoral dividing line. Rishi sunak completed his tour of the nation in Northern Ireland earlier and claimed the economy has turned a corner. He criticised the cost of labours net zero pledges and said hell be telling voters over the next few weeks how the conservatives plan to secure britains future. Inflation has fallen back to normal levels. The economy grew normal levels. The economy grew faster than all our competitors at the beginning of this year. Today weve had the news that energy bills are falling again and wages have been rising faster than prices for almost a year now , and thats why its year now, and thats why its the right time to turn to the future and the world is sadly, a more uncertain place than its beenin more uncertain place than its been in decades. And thats why what the country needs is leadership that can provide bold action. And that has a clear plan, because thats how we will deliver a secure future for everyone in our country. Well, labours confirmed it would pass the smoking ban if the party enters office, with the party enters office, with the conservatives having run out of time to get it through parliament. The labour leader is campaigning in scotland today , campaigning in scotland today, where hes pledged to bring down energy costs with a new publicly owned green power company. Hes told an event in glasgow only labour can stop the chaos. His party is hoping to win dozens of seats in scotland after years of snp dominance , gb news can snp dominance, gb news can exclusively reveal. More than 10,000 channel migrants have crossed illegally to the uk this yeah crossed illegally to the uk this year. Its a blow to rishi sunak on his second full day of Election Campaigning, after he promised his government would stop the boats. The number of stop the boats. The number of people sleeping rough has doubled since 2010, despite the conservative partys promise to solve the crisis , the government solve the crisis, the government published a strategy to tackle the growing problem two years ago, reiterating its manifesto commitment from the last election. Housing organisation, organisation shelter, though, says homelessness is a Political Choice and has called on mps to do more to tackle it. We can get do more to tackle it. We can get more on our stories by scanning the qr code on your screen for gb news arts details. Also on the website. 239. Youre watching and listening to good afternoon, britain. And it is Martin Daubney. Up next at 3 00. He daubney. Up next at 3 00. He joins us now, as always , martin, joins us now, as always, martin, whats coming up on your show for us today . For us today . Well, fantastic show as ever from you guys. Its bedlam on the general election trail, 75 stand downs amongst the tory ranks. Now equalling that grim 19 1997 total. Does that signify a blair style wipe out plus . Earlier on, we reported lord frost had been frozen out. Mr brexit put away and not allowed to stand in 93 vacant tory seats. The Prime Minister, rishi sunak, has just revealed to gb news thats not true. Well have the full inside story on that. Plus, corbyn chaos in islington north as the labour party tears itself apart. And talking of which, is the party over for reform uk, their talismanic leader nigel farage is going to america. Ill have is going to america. Ill have the party leader, richard tice, in the studio and ill put it to him. Is the party over for reform uk . Thats coming up 3 to 6. Oh, very interesting. Oh, very interesting. Oh, very interesting. Looking forward to that, i know that, that the Prime Minister has in the last couple of minutes , as you have just of minutes, as you have just said, been contradicting the accounts that was told to Christopher Hope over david frost. It seems like this is a row that is just starting in the last couple of minutes and could really be a blazing row , well really be a blazing row, well look forward to hearing all of that in full from you, from three. Oh, theres martin. Oh, theres martin. Hes, you know , taking his, hes, you know, taking his, thing out, getting on his way. Well, hes got a show to prepare. Hes got a show to prepare. Hes got a show to prepare. His news thats happening. Never stops now. Never stops. Well, were going to see if we can get Christopher Hope up very, very soon to talk through precisely whats going on. Have there been, conservative candidates blocked from taking on some of those seats . And is, lord frost, david seats . And is, lord frost, david frost, the former brexit negotiator among them, or is it a whole hoo ha over nothing. Well find out. We will find out. But of course, were approaching. Were approaching voting no. Were approaching the 80th anniversary of the d day. Its been a long week. Its been a long week. Please forgive us. Yeah, well, that was, of course, the beginning of the end of the Second World War in 1944, as allied troops retook at first france and then all of europe from the grip of nazi germany. Yes. To mark the occasion, various events have been taking place across the uk, including one lighting their legacy torch eventin one lighting their legacy torch event in harrogate today. Well, our reporter anna riley was there. She joins us now. And was there. She joins us now. And anna, whats this event all about . About . Good afternoon to you both. Well, this event is put on by the commonwealth war graves commission. The lighting their commission. The lighting their legacy event is all about passing down the stories of world war two, the veterans stories and what they went through to the younger generation. So were here at stonefall cemetery in harrogate. Its one of the largest commonwealth war graves in the north of england , with over 900 north of england, with over 900 commonwealth war graves from people mainly from canada and america. So this morning there was the lighting of the light thats been passed across the uk. Next week its going to be in manchester and in edinburgh, andifs in manchester and in edinburgh, and its been in the south of england so far. And the event was led by the commonwealth war grave commission. But a special grave commission. But a special guest of honour that was here was ken cook, a 98 year old veteran that was there for the d day landings. And this is what he had to say, what was it like now . The lords of explanations of what what it was like for some it was terrible. For some it was an adventure. For me, it was that kind of adventure. Like a boy scouts adventure. Like a boy scouts adventure. Ive never been on adventure. Ive never been on a beach before. Beach before. Never seen a ship before. Never seen a ship before. Never seen a ship before. Because i was born in a mining village in nottingham , mining village in nottingham, nowhere near the coast where i could go to go on a beach or whatever. Whatever. And id never seen a ship or a boat, even a rowing boat. I never seen. So all this was brand new to me. It was , you know, exciting in it was, you know, exciting in a way. A way. But, otherwise , you know, but, otherwise, you know, its just something that happened. I was there and in my mind, it was an adventure to. Ken was just 18 years old when he was conscripted to join the army. He did his training in richmond , nearby here in north richmond, nearby here in north yorkshire. And he just described to School Children from a local Primary School here in harrogate about what he saw during those d day landings and his time in the Army Fighting in world war two. For that ending of the war in 1945. So, yeah , this event, in 1945. So, yeah, this event, as i mentioned, is going to be continuing on to next week. And ken will be going over to normandy with other veterans on the 6th of june, and they will be taking the light that theyve been lighting all around the uk, across on the ferry to normandy as the final stop for that d day 80 memorial, a fitting memorial following that journey that was made by so many brave brits, canadians, americans and so many that retook and reclaimed the freedom of this continent. Really appreciate your time. Thanks anna riley, for bringing us that. Yes, thank you very much indeed. Now, coming up, our pubs are killing our spirits ahead of the fa cup final this weekend. Find out why after this short break. Well. Good afternoon. Britain. Its 248 in the afternoon. And our pubs killing our spirits. Punters. Theyre reportedly being overcharged. Around £114 a yeah being overcharged. Around £114 a year. Tom. Thats at least two pints. That was an inflation joke , that was an inflation joke, but yes. No. Punters are being overcharged around £114 a year because pubs are short measuring their beer and wine. Apparently so now, according to research by the chartered trading standards institute. Trading standards institute. Thats the watchdog, really. A thats the watchdog, really. A seven out of ten drinks in uk pubs are poured short. This is an outrage. Beer is the most likely drink to be under poured, although i think ive been served a glass of wine or two thats been under poured. So is there a solution, or are we just expected to grin and bearit . Are we just expected to grin and bear it . Or do we need to be less british about it and actually drop the stiff upper lip and just ask for a little top up . Well, lets speak to our gb news West Midlands reporter jack carlson, whos at the queens head pub in birmingham. Jack, youre behind the bar. Take it away. Take it away. Well, if this is this is proper Investigative Journalism , proper Investigative Journalism, tom and emily. Really, there might be an election going on, but this is the story thats on everyones lips today. Of course, that trading standards report to say that people are being short changed at the bar, not getting a full pint when they come to the pub. So to find out really all about that and what really should be a proper good pints and a proper good pour, were here with harry higgs, whos the brand and compliance manager for davenports brewery. Harry, just give a bit of reaction really to that report today. Yes, its quite shocking. Yes, its quite shocking. Obviously we at davenports are really, really emphasise that customers have value for money. So we make sure things like that, that we do a proper pint pour every single time , so pint pour every single time, so im quite shocked that its actually happening across the industry. Industry. Well, youre going to show us exactly how to pour a pint. Weve got some of your gold ale on on tap here. Why dont you take it away and just kind of tell us as youre doing it then, you know, when youre pounng then, you know, when youre pouring a pint, what should it look like . How should it be served . Okay, so the first part is that you need to make sure that your glassware is actually what we call beer clean. So theres no nothing wrong with the glass. It will not affect the taste or flavour of the beer and ensure that perfect pouh the beer and ensure that perfect pour. Then the first initial pour. Then the first initial pour that you do with a cask ale is, one speedy, steady hand pouh is, one speedy, steady hand pour, and then you just keep pounng pour, and then you just keep pouring it up with the nozzle at the bottom, ensuring that the aeration throughout the beer is full and keeps the flow of the beeh full and keeps the flow of the beer, throughout the head. Then you leave it to settle for 90s, that allows it to cascade down and, all that little magic of molten hops is going on right there. Once youre happy with that, make sure that you top it back up to what we and the brewers. Association recommend, which is a 95 liquid, i. E. Brewers. Association recommend, which is a 95 liquid, he the beer and the, 5 head retention. Now, thats a recommendation of, its a minimum. So if a customer wants it topped up, you should top it up all the time. And youll actually find that down south where they like it , with south where they like it, with very, very little head, i like the northeast that, like a lot of head, but its customers always right. Right. So we pour it to how we believe. And the brewers believe that its the perfect pint, but if a customer wants it to their taste , we wants it to their taste, we should do it that way. Well, why dont we do the big reveal, then of the pint you have poured . Absolutely magnificently, there we go. Take a look at that. And while i have a investigative taste test, why dont you tell us . Its so. Its very much about the technique then. So this kind of report that people are being short changed because theyre not getting a full pint is because really about the technique of how its poured. Yeah. I dont think theres anything more, easy. I dont think theres anything dishonest about it, i think its just, through lack of training and skill, knowledge and everything like that, within hospitality, everything is, taught from your elders, if you like. So the way that you you pour a pint and everything like that is done from the very first person that trained you, and that kind of sticks with you. So if we havent got those fundamentals of training and ensuring that, that its delivered right to the first time that you come into the industry, youre always going to pour that wrong, thats why in devonport we really do invest time on like the perfect beer pour and beer knowledge and everything like that to ensure that we pour the perfect pint every single time. Every single time. Well, there we go. Well, that is the, the ultimate opinion, then, of the man that has to do it every day. And thats a pretty good poured, pint. Maybe if i didnt spill some money, it would be, it would be a full one, but. Bottoms up. Tom and emily. Oh marvellous stuff. Jack, thank you so much for bringing us that. It takes me back to my days behind a bar. Do i ever mention that. But i should note it. I should, i should say, makes you more man of the people, tom. No, not at all. Lord, lord sharp, who certainly is a man of the people. Hes Just Announced this new law that allows pubs to stay open late , allows pubs to stay open late, if england or scotland get through to the semis in the euros and what he said in the house of lords just now is get properly on the lash. So you have it there from lord sharp. Get properly on the lash. They often that, politicians tell us to drink more, but there you go. Hes not trying to ban booze. Hes not trying to economy more taxes on it. So there you go. Yes, i do hope everyone has a lovely time this weekend. And if it involves a pint for the fa cup final then, you know, enjoy it. Theres always non alcoholic versions. Two. Thats very true. Very true. Well thank you so much for your company. Of course. Up next is Martin Daubney and our coverage continues next week. A brighter outlook with boxt solar sponsors of weather on gb news. News. News. News. Good afternoon. Welcome to your latest gb news weather update. There will be some update. There will be some sunshine across southern areas to end the day, but for most of us it will stay rather cloudy andifs us it will stay rather cloudy and its going to be quite a cold night tonight as well, particularly compared to recent nights. Drizzly rain is going to continue across Northern Areas. Thats because low pressure is still nearby and a weather front, but through this evening, that low pressure will gradually shift north and westwards, taking with it that cloudier and slightly wetter weather and introducing a much clearer weather. The clearer skies from the south this afternoon will spread northwards and that will allow for temperatures to dip down into single figures , down into single figures, possibly low single figures across southern counties. There could also be some mist and fog around as well first thing, but also quite a good deal of sunshine as well. Saturday is looking like the driest day of the weekend and the warmest one as well, so fairly bright. Start across the far north of scotland. Still some lingering rain across the north west and the southwest probably, but for most of us it should be dry , if most of us it should be dry, if not a bit. Cloudy across Northern Areas, across northern england, much of wales and england, much of wales and england it should be a bright start. Temperatures will pick up quite quickly as the sun comes up, so youll be into double digits at least by around 8 00, and therell be plenty of sunshine through the morning. That mist and fog should clear quite quickly. Thats quite quickly. Thats a potential for a few showers to develop, particularly across Northern Areas of england. Parts of scotland as well could see some heavier showers on saturday, but most of us should stay dry and theres just a chance of some rain clipping the far southeast later on in the day. But in the sunshine, highs of around 22 degrees in the south into the high teens across the north. But there is a bit of a change on the way for sunday, as this area of rain from the southwest will push northeast through the night, bringing a spell of wet weather. And once it does clear through, we will see plenty of showers breaking out across the country through sunday and monday. These could be quite heavy, possibly thundery, so its going to turn much more unsettled and a little bit cooler for the rest of the weekend. Weekend. That warm feeling inside from boxt boilers , sponsors of boxt boilers, sponsors of weather on gb news. A very good afternoon to you. And a very happy friday. Its 3 pm. P. M. And welcome to the Martin Daubney show on gb news. Were broadcasting live from the heart of westminster all across the uk. On todays show across the uk. On todays show with sir john redwood across the uk. On todays show with sirjohn redwood and bionic mp Craig Mckinley. The latest tories to bow out of the election. The conservative exodus is now 75, equalling the grim record of 1997. Does this signify a blair style wipe out for rishi sunaks conservatives . For rishi sunaks conservatives . And next story . We broke the news this morning that lord frost, Boris Johnsons mr brexit had been sensationally barred from