in for sir jacob rees—mogg on state of the nation. tonight. the tory party faced an electoral wipe—out over the weekend, with the party losing hundreds of seats across the country. but the outgoing conservative mayor of the west midlands, andy street , has midlands, andy street, has warned against the party's drift to the right . warned against the party's drift to the right. but warned against the party's drift to the right . but is he warned against the party's drift to the right. but is he right.7 next, more protests have unfolded in ireland, with hundreds of people protesting against the increase in migrants declaring ireland is full. but will the irish government heed the concerns of their citizens, and are we seeing the rise of sectarian politics in britain? and is this what you typically expect from a victorious green party councillor? >> we will not be silent. we will raise the voice of gaza. we will raise the voice of gaza. we will raise the voice of gaza. we will raise the voice of palestine. >> hello. hello >> hello. hello >> i love my greens. plus an african king who negotiated the loan of vie artefacts has said he wants them permanently. but the british acquisition of these treasures wasn't quite what

you'd expect . a state of the you'd expect. a state of the nafion you'd expect. a state of the nation starts now. and they'll also be joined by an exuberant panel this evening. the industrial action studies degree holding former labour mp stephen pound and the conservative peer and former adviser to boris johnson, lord moylan, now remember , i want to moylan, now remember, i want to hear from you. and the email remains the same despite the person being different. mailmogg@gbnews.com. but first, it's mailmogg@gbnews.com. but first, wsfime mailmogg@gbnews.com. but first, it's time for your latest news headunes it's time for your latest news headlines and it's ray addison. >> thanks very much, martin. our top stories this evening. israel has rejected a ceasefire deal which hamas claims to have agreed with egyptian mediators, but says they're exhausting every possibility regarding negotiations. an israeli official described the proposed

deal as softened and said it was a ruse intended to make israel look bad . it comes after israel look bad. it comes after israel ordered the evacuation of parts of rafah ahead of a large scale military offensive. hamas claims it meets several demands, including the return of displaced people and a prisoner swap. there's been no successful agreement on a ceasefire in gaza since a week long pause in november . well, students at november. well, students at oxford and cambridge have set up gaza protest camps on their university campuses . created in university campuses. created in the early hours of this morning, the early hours of this morning, the protesters are urging their universities to cut financial ties with israel over the country's offensive in gaza. similar camps have also been set up at manchester, sheffield, newcastle and london universities. oxford issued a statement saying we respect our students and staff members right to freedom of expression in the form of peaceful protests. rishi sunak says he's determined to

fight and the general election is not a foregone conclusion. the prime minister is calling for unity among tory mps, after saying that he believes britain could be heading for a hung parliament. the conservatives lost hundreds of council seats and the west midlands mayoralty results rishi sunak described as bitterly disappointing but he's saying that he won't give up what the independent analysis shows that whilst, of course this was a disappointing weekend for us, that the result of the next general election isn't a foregone conclusion, and indeed actually is closer than the situation is closer than many people are saying. >> or indeed some of the opinion polls are predicting. and that's why i'm absolutely determined to fight incredibly hard for what i believe and for the future country that i want to build. and that's what i'm going to do . and that's what i'm going to do. >> well, rishi is going to be busy tomorrow. liberal democrat leader sir ed davey says he'll be tabling a motion of no confidence in the government in an effort to pressure the prime minister to call a june general

election. sir ed claims the disastrous local election results show the country has, in his words , had enough of rishi his words, had enough of rishi sunak and his out—of—touch government . the motion will be government. the motion will be tabled when parliament returns tomorrow . new tabled when parliament returns tomorrow. new snp leader john tomorrow. new snp leaderjohn swinney says he'll seek to build a coalition of the willing to focus on scotland's problems, but he won't resurrect the power sharing deal with the scottish greens. in his acceptance speech, mr swinney called for unity and he said that the polarisation of politics does not serve the country. mr swinney's appointment was unopposed. he's expected to be voted in as scotland's first minister later on this week . minister later on this week. well, for the latest stories, you can sign up for gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen or go to gb news. com slash alerts back to . martin. >> thank you ray. now welcome back to the state of the nation.

it's been a rough weekend for the conservative party. it lost nearly 500 seats on local councils with now even fewer seats and the lib dems. labour won all three of the newly created regional mayors and the east midlands , north east and east midlands, north east and york and north yorkshire. and there's no doubt this poses existential questions for the party. but the now former mayor of the west midlands, andy street, amidst the backdrop of his electoral loss, rather interestingly warned against the party's drift to the right. but is mr street right? is the problem that the conservatives are too right wing? well, let's break this issue down. issue by issue. the numbers of channel crossings so far this year are at an all time high for this point in the year, which would suggest we could be on track for another record total this year . another record total this year. and this is all in spite of the prime minister repeatedly saying the first time since the small boats crisis emerged. >> numbers are down. i just want to say that again, numbers are

down. they're down because of all the things we're doing. the new deal i signed with albania, we've returned almost 3000 illegal migrants to albania. and, you know what? they've stopped coming. i'm pleased that we've made progress last year, the numbers were down by a third. it never happened before . third. it never happened before. shows that the plans are working, but the numbers are down and the plan is working well. >> i think it's safe to say our policy on illegal migration, which has included housing migrants in four star hotels , is migrants in four star hotels, is anything but right wing. in fact, we're putting them in the best wing of the hotel. now, what about legal migration? well, the funny thing is, we are constantly told that suella braverman is some sort of extremist. similar things were said about priti patel, of course, but if you look at the numbers, these were the two most left wing home secretaries. we've ever had. net migration continues to break all records we could have ever imagined. with net numbers to june 2023 at 675,000, this is all in the face

of repeated electoral mandates for the precise opposite . so is for the precise opposite. so is ignonng for the precise opposite. so is ignoring the british people and opening our borders. right wing, i think not. next. what about taxes? well, surely we can rely on even the wettest of tories to keep our taxes low. i'm afraid not. the uk's tax burden is on track to reach the highest it's been since the second world war. but when you zoom in on some of the details, there are countless anomalies in which some people are paying astronomical marginal rates as high. in fact , as 70. rates as high. in fact, as 70. it's hard to describe this as right wing either. so what about welfare ? surely we can rely on welfare? surely we can rely on the tories to cut back on benefits . i'm afraid it's wrong benefits. i'm afraid it's wrong again. record numbers of working age people are on out of work benefits. about 5.5 million people now , and since the tories people now, and since the tories took power, the size of the state has grown exponentially . state has grown exponentially. since 2016, the civil service has increased its workforce by a whopping 100,000, with the wage

bill increasing by 60% over that same period. speaking of the civil service, week in and week out, we hear what's really going on in the heart of whitehall, in part thanks to gb news us steve. steve edgington, who has tirelessly covered the issue of woke whitehall waste. it's been estimated by conservative way forward that woke spending is as much as £7 billion. and don't forget that's your money. steve has also revealed the extent to which woke ideology has infected our armed forces with 111 diversity champions and advocates , and the ministry of advocates, and the ministry of defence having 93 diversity networks on the nanny state. it was a conservative government that issued a generational ban on smoking straight out of the health fanatics. new labour playbook. when jeremy corbyn lost his election to boris johnson in 2019, he rather bizarrely said we won the argument, at which point most

people looked at him like it was time to send him off to the old people's home to the knackers yard. but in hindsight, he was right . the electorate's may have right. the electorate's may have backed conservative policies in 2019, but they got socialist ones instead . and in fact, if ones instead. and in fact, if the tories were any further to the tories were any further to the left as mr street and others have suggested, it would be wise , they would in fact be corbynistas . now, as ever, let corbynistas. now, as ever, let me know your thoughts on that mail mog @gbnews .com . i'm now mail mog @gbnews .com. i'm now joined by former lib dem mp and chairman mark oaten. mark, welcome to the show. you may have heard my monologue there, so no doubt you think despite all of the evidence laid out, the tories are indeed to far right wing. >> but i'm not sure whether it's something that i think , but i something that i think, but i think it's probably what the electorate think. i think what's really difficult for the conservative party at the moment is even if they were to lurch more to the right or to the left, the brand has become so toxic that it almost doesn't

matter what the policy is that they're putting forward. and the route to going further, further to the right seems to me full of dangers, because lib dem leaning voters would actually benefit from that. and if you were to change stance and move the conservative party more to the left, then you leave a huge space for the reform party. so it's a nightmare for tory central office to know which direction to go. but from my perspective , what i see is a perspective, what i see is a party which frankly, as they used to say in dad's army is doomed. whatever they do, whether it's right or left, isn't the actual problem. >> mark. not that the party needs to go further to the right, but the conservative party just needs to be conservative again, conservative on border control, conservative on border control, conservative on taxation, conservative on being low state interference. isn't that the issue ? not. isn't that the issue? not. they've gone too far to the right. they've just forgotten how to be conservatives . how to be conservatives. >> i think there's another c word and that's actually competence , if you are trying to competence, if you are trying to go to the right, for example , by

go to the right, for example, by tackling what you see to be a problem with the boats coming through or tackling issues to do with tax, then at least do it competently. and what has been happening, frankly, is that whatever announcement they make on illegal immigration, they haven't done it competently. it's failed. and even when it came to the tax cuts, they didn't get that right either. you know what they should have doneif you know what they should have done if they wanted to actually done if they wanted to actually do something right wing around taxes was to make a big, big impact on income tax. instead, they messed around with national insurance, which most people don't understand . it didn't have don't understand. it didn't have the impact that they'd hoped for. so even if they do try and move to the right, they're not actually even doing that in a competent way. >> do you think the problem is that really the parties are all the same now? i mean, when people look at controlling borders, we effectively have de facto open borders by any real definition, legal migration is off the charts. stopping the boat seems a forlorn dream , and

boat seems a forlorn dream, and the labour party will probably do the same . do the same. >> i think there is a sense in which all of the parties are facing the same problems, and they haven't got many new solutions . now look, to be fair solutions. now look, to be fair to liz truss, and that's not a phrase i use a great deal. what she tried to do was say, look, there's a different way. let's do something dynamic. let's have a an ideological approach to some of these problems rather than a, a whole based approach to it. but that went disastrously long as well. and i think that's a real message that maybe we've got ourselves into a situation with politics where everybody has to be so cautious that big ideas are too dangerous to introduce. and as a result of that, we're all all of the parties hovering around the same kind of solutions. the only thing that's different is an attempt to change the rhetoric attempt to change the rhetoric at times. >> okay. thank you very much , >> okay. thank you very much, mark. and i'm joined now in the studio by my panel. the former labour mp stephen pound and conservative peer and former adviser to boris johnson, lord morton, let's start with you, lord morton . so many people lord morton. so many people today saying different things as

even today saying different things as ever. suella braverman. we must change direction. presumably she wants to go to the right andy street. we must remain in the centre. miriam cates , we are centre. miriam cates, we are broad been a broad. church is now a weakness . broad been a broad. church is now a weakness. dame andrea jenkyns. it would be rubbish to go to the centre of politics. how are tory voters meant to know how to react when tory grandees have no clue where the party should be going themselves ? >> 7- >> yeah, 7_ >> yeah, it's 7— >> yeah, it's a ? >> yeah, it's a difficulty. i can see that, the let's start with andy street. i mean, he's a great guy. and it's very sad that he lost the election, on thursday, he got elected in the west midlands, on the basis really of his competence. i mean, he came in as, he resigned as chief executive of john lewis in order to be the candidate when he first became mayor. and he's built his reputation on that of competence and that sort of managerialism which, which can appeal in, in politics, but which i think doesn't meet the mood of the nation as it stands. nonetheless, he's right in this

sense. and so is mark oaten, that you have to have the right policies , but you also have to policies, but you also have to be competent in the delivery of them. so to that extent, i agree with with what andy street appears to be saying. but i do think that it's very confusing for the electorate don't think things are working and it isn't just on the big right left issues that you're identifying . issues that you're identifying. you know, i came off the m1 the other day and drove the satnav , other day and drove the satnav, said, go down the edgware road. well, it was like going through, you know, i mean, the potholes were such that, i mean, i almost got seasick coming down the edgware road, the top part of it, which is labour, the bottom part of edgware road, was, you know, used to be conservative and now they're labour now, but they haven't rotted the, the roads haven't rotted yet. but we'll, we'll have to now, now that you've flagged it, they will go downhill. the party politics of potholes just things , things like that. people nofice , things like that. people notice things like that. bread and butter things. and we all know about complaints people have about getting an appointment with gp's and things like that. so that competence needs to be seen across the

board and i don't think people feel the government is delivering across those things . okay. >> stephen wright, stephen pound, what do you think is the way out of this? it's extraordinary. andy street was heanng extraordinary. andy street was hearing time and time again that hearing time and time again that he didn't lose that election because of himself. but when he was knocking on doors, people were saying, i can't vote for a conservative party that's headed by rishi sunak. >> i'm disinclined to give good advice to the conservative party, to be perfectly honest. but but mark oaten and i were panellists on the same university challenge team once and i thought in his his answers there missed out one really important factor the conservative party are the ultimate shapeshifters. they are singly the most successful political party in the last 100 years in europe. and the reason they've done that is because, oddly enough, they've not been conservative, they've not conserved a damn thing. they've changed. they've shifted. you know, harold macmillan was much more left wing than the labour alternative, and mrs. thatcher was more right wing. they shift and they change. so first of all, you have to say what's left wing and what's right wing. but i think where i do agree with mark and i think most sensible people would agree, is that what

they want is a calm period of competent government. and i think happening it is simply not happening. and it's all very well to say we don't want managerialism. and you know, keir starmer has managed, you know, one of the biggest legal departments in the country. he is a good manager. but, you know, he may not be exciting, but you know i think maybe we've actually need a little less excitement, a little more competence sentence. >> okay. thank you very much, stephen and lord moreland. and thanks to my panel. after the break, we'll be diving into the news from across the irish sea today, after dublin saw thousands of protesters marching through its streets, boldly declaring ireland is full. but will irish leaders listen to its people

? welcome 7 welcome back to the state of the nafion welcome back to the state of the nation . i'm martin daubney, nation. i'm martin daubney, filling in for sir jacob rees—mogg. now been discussing the tories chances at the next general election. you've been getting in touch with your mail, mogg's. couple of them here. david says this andy street is

not correct. the reason that conservative voters have abandoned the party and are liking what reform say is because the parliamentary lot are no longer conservative, they are no longer conservative, they are now a con socialist party, a word straight out of richard tice copybook, peter adds this the conservatives are centre left in action, says in talk and completely lost in competence . completely lost in competence. now moving on, an estimated 10,000 protesters took to the streets of dublin today in a national protest against government policy on asylum seekers . hell yeah. government policy on asylum seekers. hell yeah. hell yeah. >> hell , let seekers. hell yeah. hell yeah. >> hell, let them seekers. hell yeah. hell yeah. >> hell , let them get seekers. hell yeah. hell yeah. >> hell, let them get their seekers. hell yeah. hell yeah. >> hell , let them get their get >> hell, let them get their get their health care . their health care. >> and now, in contrast to a previous march in dublin, which saw a burst set fire to and despite a heavy police presence on the streets today, there was no trouble at the protest. today and on my show earlier this afternoon, what struck me was that the crowds were made up of normal islanders, mothers, fathers , grandmothers and fathers, grandmothers and

children. here's what some of them had to say to our reporter dougie beattie. >> i'm here because the government won't listen to the irish people. we're second class citizens in our own country and they need to be out. >> why am i here? because i don't want to see this country go like england. i mean, we've got young children, so we have, you know what i mean? >> and at the end of the day, irish people are on the streets. if we haven't got enough houses to house our own. how we meant to house our own. how we meant to help all of this. >> i have a clear message for taoiseach harris and the rest of our government. this is ireland, our government. this is ireland, our ireland, and we will fight like hell to save her. >> that's the spirit. and now joining me from the liberal, an independent news outlet in ireland is robert long. robert, welcome to the show. so you were at the pro test today. you were filming it on the front line. we also covered it on gb news. we spoke to lots and lots of people there, ordinary ireland islanders who simply had enough . islanders who simply had enough. >> that's right, i mean, you've

summed it up yourself today. what we saw today was a swathe of mostly middle class and working class people who simply feel like they've been relegated to second or even third class citizens in their own country . citizens in their own country. >> and the numbers are astonishing. robert over a million immigrants have gone into ireland , and there's only into ireland, and there's only a population, what, 5 or 6 million? an astonishing thing i read today. 50% of the irish pubuc read today. 50% of the irish public now back some form of border checks . border checks. >> well, i know i mean, history is very ironic. the fact that border controls are now being demanded for by, people in the repubuc demanded for by, people in the republic of ireland shows how incompetent our government actually are. and we've put ourselves in a situation now where our government allowed us to be used and our border to be used as a stick to beat england over the head with to punish them for brexit. and now we're reaping the consequences of it . reaping the consequences of it. >> now, of course, robert, the irish politician would say they

are doing the dutiful thing. they are offering a safe refuge particularly they've they've overreached and been very, very good when it comes to example for supporting ukrainian refugees. but people such as yourself and on the streets today, they just feel it's a case of the numbers being too great. >> well, we've taken in 110,000 ukrainians and we now know for a fact that many ukrainians coming to ireland were coming from other safe countries, from the likes of belgium, poland, the uk. we even had examples of ukrainians coming from canada because the social welfare and housing system in ireland has been so overly generous , since been so overly generous, since we cut our welfare, we've seen a dramatic fall in the number of ukrainians coming in. but the government are still pushing ahead with plans to build modular housing projects solely for ukrainian refugees. in the midst of an unprecedented housing crisis and homelessness crisis. >> okay, robert long, thanks for joining us. that's from the liberal and independent news outlet in ireland doing great work today. thanks for joining us. and joining me now to talk through today's events is the telegraph journalist michael murphy. michael, welcome to state of the nation. so what we

saw today was an extraordinary calm civil protest, ordinary working and middle class dubliners, these aren't far right extremists. they're not the frothing racists that they're made out to be by the media, by the political class. just ordinary people saying enoughis just ordinary people saying enough is enough. yes i think so, martin, thanks for having me, i've seen the footage, as i'm sure you have of mothers , i'm sure you have of mothers, daughters, children, i think your last guest said that there was a wide variety of people from different classes and different walks of life , i think different walks of life, i think it's become untenable now for the government to pretend that they don't have a problem with, mass immigration in ireland. and and i think that the people have woken up to what, a massive con it is on the irish public. >> and i wonder, michael, we are, of course, about to see elections in june , european elections in june, european union elections, and we're

expecting the political parties who are advocating for tighter control of borders, who are pushing back against the eu's open borders policy. we're expecting them to make great gains, that might be the case across europe, i don't know about ireland . i think it's, about ireland. i think it's, it's probably too for soon any of the populist parties in ireland to really make any inroads. i think what's more likely to happen is that, certain independents who have been speaking out since the start about immigration may, may, may see some gains, but, it would be very interesting to see where this populist energy that we're seeing on the streets of dublin, goes if it does indeed find a vessel like in other european countries. >> michael, it's been astonishing to see, remember , astonishing to see, remember, there was a strict resistance to any form of border control dunng any form of border control during brexit. the good friday agreement would bring it all tumbling down. and yet now a poll out today saying almost

half of those in the republic want there to be stricter border controls to try and control asylum. astonishing >> well, it's quite absurd. i don't know, you're probably old enough to remember, martin, how often we were warned about the threat of violence at that border. if, if it was to be policed. and now, because the irish government has been fooling around promiscuously with mass migration, people are willing to erect a border there . willing to erect a border there. l, willing to erect a border there. i, it doesn't really compute. i don't understand . and where the don't understand. and where the fear and the, the foreboding has gone, just just because it's to do with immigration and not britain leaving the european union. >> okay. thank you very much, michael murphy. let's quickly p0p michael murphy. let's quickly pop back to the studio with stephen and lord moylan. stephen, what's your reaction to this incredible state of affairs that people seem to want some form of border control on the island of ireland, something which was which was the absolute antithesis? well like most people who know, the irish border is about 304 miles, but

nobody actually knows what it is. >> you know, there's great parts that have never been defined. we think that the last thing anybody would sign up for now would be a return to an armed or a uniformed presence on the border. but look, a couple of things about this. there was a particularly horrific murder about 2 or 3 years ago in offaly, where a young girl was killed by an immigrant to the country. that actually sparked a huge number of riots and protests. since then, there have been anti—polish ones in dublin , been anti—polish ones in dublin, so this is not actually anything new. what is unusual is that ireland is the only country in europe which has never, ever had a fascist party. we've had one in this country every other country in europe has had. ireland has never, ever had one. this is a complete change from the irish psyche. it's something completely new to me and rather worrying. and i think as we come closer to the election in june, then i think we will actually see some very, very worrying, worrying aspects. >> but why is it worrying? if ordinary citizens want to control it worries? >> i'll tell you what worries me, martin. it worries me when a government is out of touch with its constituents. well, they are, because people are worrying. >> it worries me and they won't . >> it worries me and they won't. >> it worries me and they won't. >> because don't forget, one of the reasons why these people are coming to ireland is because there isn't a border with the

rest of the european union, because they can actually come straight in. there are some people apparently coming in from the north now when they say that the north now when they say that the benefits in the republic of ireland are better than they are in the uk, no they're not. the benefits in the uk are much, much better, which is one of the reasons why there's a problem with unification. so i think at the moment one sliver of good news about this is that that thing which we saw today, i think it's in ballsbridge and various other parts of dublin, was actually very peaceful. and it's not often that you can get thousands of people protesting on the streets of a european city, and you don't actually see violence. so let's get this sorted out and discuss. it rationally. but at the moment, i think, as everybody is saying, there isn't an obvious party, even though in the iraq test you have about 11 or 12 independents at the present time, so that could be a sign for the future. >> lord moylan, what's your take on this today? >> well, first of all, i think it's ridiculous to move from a demonstration which everyone has described as being full of ordinary working class and middle class people. and stephen starts talking about fascism. i mean, that's the fascist party. >> i said, it isn't a fascist.

>> no, no, you said they've never had a fascist. no they haven't. you don't have to have a fascist party to be concerned about immigration indicative. so it's not indicative. yeah. the fact is that these these are ordinary people. the truth is that the irish elite, including the it's not just the government that's not listening, it's the opposition. sinn fein isn't listening either. they're all party to this idea, i'm afraid. >> i have to interject because we have some breaking news, and ray addison is going to bring it to . us. to. us. >> thanks, martin. yes, we start with some breaking news. now, the idf says forces have begun a targeted attack against hamas in rafah after israel's war cabinet decided to continue the operation . an israel's military operation. an israel's military says it's currently conducting strikes in eastern rafah. it comes after israel rejected a ceasefire deal, which hamas claimed to have agreed with egyptian mediators. now, an israeli official described the proposed deal as softened and said it was a ruse intended to make israel look bad. israel had ordered the evacuation of parts

of rafah ahead of a large scale military offensive . now there's military offensive. now there's been no successful agreement on a ceasefire in gaza since a week long pause in november. we understand that military offensive has now begun. we'll bnng offensive has now begun. we'll bring you more on that story as we get it. >> thank you. ray. now, coming up next, i was telling you which party this man belongs to. >> we will not be silent. we will raise the voice of gaza. we will raise the voice of gaza. we will raise the voice of gaza. we will raise the voice of palestine. hello. >> hello , charming. >> hello, charming. >> hello, charming. >> but in the meantime, can you guess

? and 7 and welcome ? and welcome back 7 and welcome back to the state of the nation . i'm and welcome back to the state of the nation. i'm martin and welcome back to the state of the nation . i'm martin daubney the nation. i'm martin daubney filling in for sir jacob rees—mogg. now, we've been

discussing the migrant protests in ireland, and you've been getting in touch with your mail. mmogs. and here's a couple here. one is from kirsty. she says this incredible scenes from ireland. i do wonder if this will make any difference. and john adds this the irish leaders can listen all they want. they're people. they can be sympathetic and even wants to deliver for them. however the puppet masters of the european union will decide what happens in ireland, regardless of who is leading the country. thanks for yourinput leading the country. thanks for your input and please keep them coming . now, george orwell once coming. now, george orwell once said, one sometimes gets the impression that the mere word socialism and communism draw towards them with magnetic force . every fruit juice drinker, nudist, sandal wearer , sex nudist, sandal wearer, sex maniac, quaker nature cure , maniac, quaker nature cure, quack, pacifist and feminist in england . what he didn't know at england. what he didn't know at the time is that this would ultimately serve as an apt description for any of the modern day green party , and that modern day green party, and that is until now. >> we will not be silent . we

>> we will not be silent. we will raise the voice of gaza. we will raise the voice of gaza. we will raise the voice of gaza. we will raise the voice of palestine. hello, hello . palestine. hello, hello. >> yes, the green party, once famous for its sandal wearers and fruit juice drinkers, now seems to be home to sectarian politics, in which victorious councillors shout allah akbar and seem to base their campaign around foreign wars thousands of miles away and just to top it all off, these were the scenes off the streets of burnley just the other day, a councillor on a horseback . well, i'm joined now horseback. well, i'm joined now by my panel, the industrial action studies degree holding former labour mp stephen pound and conservative peer and former adviser to boris johnson, lord moylan. stephen, let's start with you. a charming individual there, moeen ali, a green councillor in leeds shouting allahu akbar . he also councillor in leeds shouting allahu akbar. he also said palestinians have the right to fight back. this is the modern face of this in part of the green party. are these people being driven, though, from the

labour party, your former party? and now they're finding a new landing pad with the greens? >> well, they're finding a dustbin, to be perfectly honest . dustbin, to be perfectly honest. and don't get ali was a labour candidate, a labour member before. but look, i think before we even go into this, i think the news that you've just broken on gb news about the armed assault on rafah is something that we should all pause and think about for a moment, because the consequences of that are just horrendous. and i think that there will be reverberations with people like this man there who probably thinks that the green is actually the colour of islam, not the colour of the greens, but i actually feel almost sorry because this is, you know, the corbynistas and the galloway ites and you know , the complete ites and you know, the complete extremists are washing up on the shores of the green party, they've got a real problem because this is some of the most profound, unpleasant anti—semitic comments i've heard for years, which has actually been said now by people from a legitimate political party. and i may disagree with the greens. you know, they only ever run one council and they ran it into the ground. but, you know, i respect their right to exist and to make their right to exist and to make the point for their particular policies. but now they're going to be associated and tarred with the feather of those extremists.

>> and lloyd morton, of course, things were tense as it is. and now with the rafah attacks beginning this existing sectarianism, do you feel it could become even more divisive? >> well, of course it's not going to get any better as a result of the attack on rafah. and it could become more divisive and more violent, and we might see more demonstrations andindeed we might see more demonstrations and indeed more anti—semitism . and indeed more anti—semitism. and that strain of anti—semitism on the left, which starmer is so proud of, having cleared out, as he says , maybe not totally, but he says, maybe not totally, but he's cleared out a lot of it, inevitably a lot of these people were going to move to the green party because the green party is a radical party of the left , party because the green party is a radical party of the left, and the only one now on offer, a mainstream party now on offer. so inevitably they weren't they were going to move there. and the green party leadership has to be very careful, because unless they take dramatic action now, they are going to become an anti—semitic party. and i don't know if that's where they intended to end up. when they started with the sandal wearing and the and the and the sort of

roadkill, eating and all that . roadkill, eating and all that. but that's where they're going to be. >> how did we get to a position, steven, where, you know, very socially conservative people clearly like moeen ali, who once hounded a jewish chaplain from a campus and then called him a creep and some kind of animal, ended up as bedfellows with people who agree with lgbtq pronoun stuff . net zero. i mean, pronoun stuff. net zero. i mean, i mean, how do these two, these two very unlikely worlds collide? >> well, i was in the house with caroline lucas, and i can't imagine caroline lucas for a minute giving this particular person any, any space at all. and it actually worries me, because if you look at the greens at the present time, okay, they messed up in brighton, but they're now the biggest party in bristol, and they actually have the possibility of winning1 they actually have the possibility of winning 1 or 2 seats. i don't know, but they will not win them if they are seen as a repository for every person who spouts this sort of a racist islamic filth. and that's a real problem they've got for you can't it's very difficult. i mean, in my part of the world, sometimes people used to try to

join the labour party and we knew that there were absolute shockers. we used to say, well, i'm ever so sorry, but we're full. but there is a waiting list. i just wish the greens had been a bit more sensible and not welcome these people in. let's give them the benefit of the doubt. >> i mean, they seem to have a common anti—establishment rhetoric , certainly an rhetoric, certainly an anti—conservative rhetoric, but i'm still struggling. lord balfe to understand how somebody like moeen ali would sit alongside, you know, the sandal wearers, the muesli munchers , the karen the muesli munchers, the karen losers. how did it happen? yeah i can't explain that. >> i simply i share your difficulty and i can't explain how it actually came about . this how it actually came about. this person got selected as a green party candidate. is it hatred of the west election? but i think yeah, i think there is a lot of that. i think that, hatred of our modern way of life, i think is really important , there's is really important, there's also a degree of opportunism here. of course, people who want to make progress for their views sometimes join parties and get elected as a vehicle for getting elected. and if you think the

greens are going to do well, you might well try and join the greens. i don't know what his views are on climate change. for example . i mean, does he have example. i mean, does he have views on climate change? >> i think he's probably more concerned with battles thousands of miles away. >> he's more where does he stand on giving up his motor car? maybe he's going to have a horse as well. there's nothing wrong with a councillor on a horse, by the way. there are lots of county councillors out in the countryside who who ride horses. i don't know why you had to have. >> i think the countryside is one thing that the streets of burnley are another in all honesty, i. >> i think that's very unfair. there should be more horse horses ridden in towns, i think. but is there a serious horse? >> is there a serious conversation to be had here about the vetting process, the vetting standards of the green party, presumably that would get you booted out of the labour party or would it? but it would definitely get you kicked out of most mainstream acceptable political parties . is the green political parties. is the green party if it's not careful going to become a sort of repository for people with these extreme views ? views? >> well, i think that's almost inevitable. but what i think is equally inevitable is that the green party will now actually

introduce some sort of a filter mechanism . they've got no mechanism. they've got no choice. they cannot allow the brand to be tarnished by they kick him out. absolutely. of course they should. because if this person sole argument politically is to do with palestine, then you know that is not what you elect local councillors for. that's what you elect mps for, who actually sit on the foreign affairs select committee will become secretary of state. it's not something that you actually sort out, it's local. politics is about drains and bin collections , not about and bin collections, not about what's happening. horrific and horrendous though it is. what's happening in palestine. >> well, councils used to be about potholes. now seems they're about palestine. thanks to my panel. now for the break. we'll be discussing whether it's time britain gave its artefacts back to ghana after an african king has asked for a van loan to be made

i you. welcome back to the state of the nation. i'm martin daubney, standing in forjacob rees—mogg , now a ghanian king

rees—mogg, now a ghanian king who negotiated a loan deal for gold artefacts with the v&a and the british museum is looking to keep them permanently. otto fumo osei tutu the second, the ruler of the asante people in ghana, worked with the museums to land a three year loan of ancestral gold treasures . however, the gold treasures. however, the king has now said that he hopes to keep the gold on ghanaian soil and has also pushed for a future government to change laws that currently stop museums from permanently repatriating artefacts abroad. well with the tories already ruling out this change, it looks as if the labour party will instead have to look at reforming this legislation. but this is more complicated than it seems . the complicated than it seems. the director of the v&a, tristram hunt, has said that he supports the proposed change to the law. well, it also turns out that mr hunt was previously a labour party mp. well, joining me now is historian and author martin whittock martin. welcome to the show . so this temporary loan

show. so this temporary loan backis show. so this temporary loan back is already being talked about a permanent, arrangement . about a permanent, arrangement. and the big question is with people like tristram hunt , people like tristram hunt, hoping that this is the case, a former labour mp and if we are looking at a change of government, could this be the way of the future? could sir keir starmer be looking at a great british giveaway of our artefacts is an interesting question, viewers may be interested to know just a brief bit about the background to how this came about in the first place, the british colony of the gold coast was formally established in 1867 and 1872, though britain expanded its territory when it purchased the dutch gold coast from the dutch , dutch gold coast from the dutch, which included a place called elmina, which was claimed by the asante. now the dutch had had quite a stable relationship with the asante for over 200 years. that changed when control moved to the british, who had a history of conflict with the asante and warfare broke out, and in 1874 the asante were defeated by the british. in the

third anglo—ashanti war and the kings ceremonially significant gold regalia and so we talk about things like a golden sword that's gone back on loan. now gold pendants worn by attendants who ritually purify the asante king were taken as part of a war indemnity , so this passed into indemnity, so this passed into the control of the british after the control of the british after the defeat of the asante people in the third asante war. that's the background to this. the question is what should happen now? and as you've quite rightly said, there is fierce debate in this country about this related to things also like the elgin marbles, for example, and the benin bronzes . what do we do benin bronzes. what do we do with these items that were taken in a colonial era? my personal feeling, is that they should be negotiated with joint ownership and that they should circulate between the nations, such as, for example , the asante and

for example, the asante and britain, perhaps on a three yean britain, perhaps on a three year, five year basis of there and here same things could happen with other items as well, because in that way you don't break up world class collections that have built up over the centuries. you don't unravel the whole museum system , but you do whole museum system, but you do recognise that many of these items have a very, very dubious past, and it could be taken as a way of building a bridge that says, look, these are why they're here. let's have them sometimes here, sometimes they're in their original homeland, and let's explain the relationship between us and our past . that means that they are past. that means that they are here. now, i know some people say that that's going too far, but but some people say it's not going far enough. but that's my argument. i would say, let's have let's have rotating ownership so that we have an emphasis on our shared relationship. but we also recognise the complexity of these objects without actually giving everything back from the british museum collections. >> that concerns martin martin. i just want to interject. it's worth pointing out that, it's normally portrayed as, oh, the

colonialists, the evil british empire in actual fact, the asantes made most of their fortune as slave owners, didn't they? >> this is a highly complicated part of africa as you, as you point out there, the west coast. so there are very, very complicated relationship between europeans, not just the british, and, and african states, including some who were themselves the suppliers of slaves to the europeans, a highly complicated situation. thatis highly complicated situation. that is why i would say , rather that is why i would say, rather than go for simple solutions such as they're not going back or everything's going back, is there should be some sort of shared ownership that recognises the real complexity throughout the real complexity throughout the region and throughout our history, and perhaps gives us a better, more nuanced understanding of our own past, but also our relationship with, in this case, ghana, in other cases, greece, that would be my position. shared ownership, rotating movement and talking about what can brings us together , what unites us, as together, what unites us, as well as what in the past has

violently divided us. >> okay, we'll have to leave it there. thank you very much. martin whitlock, historian and author. now let's go back to my panel author. now let's go back to my panel. lord moylan, the trouble, the trouble about doing these rotating arrangements, it relies on them being handed back. and you think that would be a trustworthy thing that may happen? they might keep them. >> i don't think anybody with half a brain thinks that if the elgin marbles were sent to greece, that they would ever, ever leave greece again or be allowed to leave, that is simply not going to happen. just don't believe it's going to happen , believe it's going to happen, and but the fact is, it really is interesting what the labour party will do, because it's obvious the museum elite, of which former labour mp and socialist tristan hunt, is a typical member. you know, at the moment he gets his hand on somebody else's property, he wants to give it away , it's wants to give it away, it's a rather noble emotion, isn't it? you know, somebody else's property. >> it'd be all right if he's giving his own property away. the museum elite have decided.

george osborne's in the same camp, that this is the right thing to do. to start giving stuff away and fancy loans, they call it, and so on. but it's opening the door to just returning a lot of stuff. and so there'll be a lot of pressure from, from that quarter on the labour party to amend legislation where necessary to allow this. i don't know if there is legislation that covers there is legislation that covers the bna. certainly the british museum is covered by legislation , and whatever they'd have to do in order to allow that to happen, i think there's a very high chance that could happen . yeah. >> i think the national heritage act 1983 does play a similar constraints on the v&a that the british museums actors, stephen, pam, what's your take on this? >> well, when we discuss this on the floor of the house, i remember years ago people were saying, are we going to have to send cleopatra's needle back to eqypt send cleopatra's needle back to egypt because, you know, the ptolemaic dynasty or something, who actually created the damn thing? look, i think we have to deal with each case has its own particular circumstances. i think about 10% of the possessions. and in the v&a are on display. 90. there's just too much of it. one of the things

that horrified me, i think, when i sort of looked, you know, behind the screens in the v&a was, you know, we got a lot of things like the skulls of native americans, the bones of people from the maoris. we got some pretty horrific stuff. i think there's some things which without a doubt we should give back. and there's other things which in all honesty, the ownership is just too damn complicated, as we've just heard from you and from your guests . from you and from your guests. >> in this case, you know, the spoils of the asante kingdom was largely gained from slavery at a time when the british had outlawed it. it's not as simple as good guy, bad guy. >> no, no. if you've got the british in china, for example, when they actually sacked the palace in peking and they brought an incredible amount and that was a straight a military operation, a naval brigade came ashore, seized everything they could and brought it back, that they were spoils of war, i don't think spoils of war are a legitimate, legitimate basis for actually building up our own national museums. >> quick 30s lord moreland, to cap off well, most of the things in the louvre are the spoils of war. >> and from napoleon's excursions, they'd have to. they'd all have to be dispersed across europe as well. i think the whole thing is completely bonkers, really. i think things

should be allowed to stay where they've landed up , i understand they've landed up, i understand there's lots at the v&a that isn't displayed , but but that's isn't displayed, but but that's like saying, let's use this as as a rubbish dump, you like saying, let's use this as as a rubbish dump , you know, get as a rubbish dump, you know, get rid of all the rubbish. i mean, you know, that's not what people are talking about. they're talking about some of the prized and most important possessions, like the elgin marbles, which have an entire chamber to themselves in the british museum, where literally millions of people can see them. the british museum has more visitors every year than belgium . every year than belgium. >> there we go, lord morden, stephen pound excellent stuff . stephen pound excellent stuff. thank you very much for joining me on the show tonight. now, thank you to my panel. up next is patrick christys. patrick. what's coming up on your menu? >> well it's all go tonight. i've got an exclusive with penny mordaunt who some people are tipping to be the next leader of the conservative party. i had a big sit down with her talking all things coronation. i'm also going to be, picking the bones out of these protests on campus as well , that we're seeing as well, that we're seeing oxford and cambridge and other universities. we have islamic politics now in britain. martin

as well. nigel farage is reacting to suella bravermans comments about the conservative party. new footage of a bomb threat on a ba flight and israel that big breaking news has begun its rafah offensive . so i'll be its rafah offensive. so i'll be talking about all of that as well. >> so it's a great patrick christys 9 to 11 straight after this. but first, quickly back to the panel . a sharp intake of the panel. a sharp intake of breath from you there, lord moreland, when penny morton's name was mentioned. you're happy about that? >> well, i think penny mordaunt had played a fantastic role at the coronation and all that effort she put into exercising her arm muscles. but she kept the sword straight , paid off. the sword straight, paid off. and she was very dignified and did the job brilliantly . did the job brilliantly. >> i'm afraid we have to leave it there. >> i'm going to rush home and watch this. >> okay, gentlemen. thank you very much, jacob. we'll be back tomorrow at 8:00, and i'll be back at 3 pm, as usual, till six. i'm martin daubney, and this has been state of the nation. but now it's time for your weather. >> a brighter outlook with boxt solar sponsors of weather on . gb

news. >> hello there. welcome to your latest weather for gb news. it's becoming drier over the next 24 hours, but with light winds we could see some fog patches tonight developing. and that's thanks to an area of high pressure moving in, which then stays with us for much of the week. temperatures rising, particularly by the end of the week into the weekend. highs of 24 or 25. in the best of the sunshine in this evening time. still some heavy thundery showers easing away. the rain across south—east england also moves out of the way. most places dry overnight, but that allows some mist and fog patches to form in places under the cloudier skies. temperatures holding up though around 10 or 11 celsius. so tuesday morning a great start in places. still the risk of some light rain and drizzle across central and northern parts of england into southern scotland . but it does southern scotland. but it does brighten up quite quickly for most parts of the uk . best of most parts of the uk. best of the sunshine across southern parts of england and wales. perhaps 1 or 2 heavy showers developing here later on in the

afternoon, temperatures rising to around 20 or 21 degrees a little cooler further north under the cloud , particularly under the cloud, particularly northern ireland, southern scotland. here, around about 13 or 14 celsius, a murky start once more on wednesday, but fog patches lifting and then dry for most. plenty of sunny spells, perhaps some low clouds just lingering around some coastal areas but feeling warm in that sunshine as temperatures start to lift further and more sunshine on the way to end the week, as well as temperatures rise towards the mid 20s, looks like things are heating up. >> boxt boilers sponsors of weather on

gb news. >> it's 9 pm. i'm patrick christys tonight . sperm. shouts

christys tonight. sperm. shouts of allahu akbar at the local elections . and this . that is elections. and this. that is burnley, not baghdad. and we are coming for you in the general election. >> any zionism ? >> any zionism? >> any zionism? >> any zionism? >> a list of sharia based demands to labour. what is going on in british politics? also tonight , on in british politics? also tonight, when i was doing drill practice on whale island with my reserve unit in the pouring rain every tuesday night was why am i doing this now i know why it was so i could hold that sword at the coronation, an exclusive live with penny mordaunt on the anniversary of the king's coronation plus down now people. >> people decided 100 university lecturers and staff take part in a pro—palestine protest and breaking tonight. >> yes, those are live shots. as

israel