Skip to main content

tv   Good Afternoon Britain  GB News  May 7, 2024 12:00pm-3:01pm BST

12:00 pm
where are office. question is, where are they? >> meanwhile , the eu is now >> meanwhile, the eu is now looking to copy britain by signing rwanda style deals with other african countries . other african countries. >> the agreements with third countries, for example tunisia or egypt, is investing in their economy . economy. >> and as the bombs rained down on rafah , there's growing on rafah, there's growing tensions here in britain as protesters stage campus , sit ins protesters stage campus, sit ins and tent cities spring up across universities . universities. >> and the mother of martyn hett , who was killed in the manchester arena terror attack, is marching to downing street from manchester for a new law in his name. we'll be hearing from . her. now, this weekend, it's the eurovision song contest . eurovision song contest. >> oh, i think i missed that on
12:01 pm
my calendar. did you actually. >> oh, i suppose all the semi—finals are all this week, but it's come into the attention of many people that are, candidate, i suppose , are act candidate, i suppose, are act this year has perhaps not been the most positive about britain in the past. >> no . >> no. >> no. >> and you would have thought if you were representing your country at such an event that are lots of people enjoy, lots of people enjoy that you would be, patriotic, but perhaps not olly alexander . he says he has olly alexander. he says he has an ambivalent relationship with the union flag, as it can be divisive and nationalistic now, he says. now, he says, i think this sounds a tad arrogant, he says. now, he says, i think this sounds a tad arrogant , that this sounds a tad arrogant, that he is going to reclaim the flag when , of course, he will be when, of course, he will be draped in it, because that's the done thing at eurovision . so he done thing at eurovision. so he thinks that he can reclaim it. and what make it a nice thing as opposed to an evil fascist thing? clearly, clearly . thing? clearly, clearly. >> do you remember it was two thousand and seven when the brits had flying the flag as our song, all dressed as air stewards and air stewardesses? >> oh, the good old days. >> oh, the good old days. >> i think it got nil point, but. but but but clearly,
12:02 pm
clearly olly alexander thinks that that particular rendition where we were flying the flag was, was nasty and xenophobic. well, anyway , we marched down well, anyway, we marched down with their little trolleys and puns about what you get on an aeroplane. >> yeah. so two questions. firstly, are you going to watch eurovision? and secondly , do you eurovision? and secondly, do you think this chap should be representing us on the international stage if he has a ambivalent relationship with the union flag? let us know what you think. >> yeah, i think the act last year said that once she hated britain. so at least ambivalence is a step up from hatred. perhaps we're going in the right direction. >> he probably thought he'd learned the lesson. he probably thought he'd learned her lesson anyway. gbnews.com forward slash. your say is the way to get in touch with us. please do. we'll be reading out some of your comments a little later on in the show, but let's get the headunes. headlines. >> good afternoon. it's 12:02. i'm sophia wenzler in the gb newsroom . i'm the shadow newsroom. i'm the shadow chancellor, says britain's economy is in a worse state than
12:03 pm
many people think. in a speech in london a short time ago, rachel reeves said the conservative government isn't being honest with voters . being honest with voters. >> the conservatives are gaslighting the british public. they say . we've turned a corner they say. we've turned a corner and they ask people to stick with the conservative party, but it is those very conservatives who are set to leave the average household £870 worse off through stealth, taxes and increases in council tax . the prime minister council tax. the prime minister claims that he is delivering for the country, but the british people did not order what this prime minister is delivering . prime minister is delivering. >> talks are resuming in cairo after israel rejected a ceasefire proposal that was accepted by the hamas terror group. israel's prime minister says the terms of the agreement are far from meeting its core
12:04 pm
demands. but benjamin netanyahu said a delegation will be in eqypt said a delegation will be in egypt today to continue the talks . it comes after a egypt today to continue the talks. it comes after a night of airstrikes with the israeli military now in control of the rafah border crossing between gaza and egypt. former chairman of the defence select committee , of the defence select committee, tobias ellwood, told gb news that blocking the flow of aid would have devastating consequences . consequences. >> the idea that prime minister netanyahu and i specifically named him because i don't believe many people, as many people in israel, are supportive of this now wants to close down the rafah crossing , along with the rafah crossing, along with the rafah crossing, along with the erez crossing in the north, and then sharon , karim shalom as and then sharon, karim shalom as well. it means that more and more people will face famine. the humanitarian aid is not getting in. so this is compounding the matters. charging into rafah with those tanksis charging into rafah with those tanks is as bad as charging into gaza in the first place. there's an absence of strategy as to where present prime minister netanyahu wants to go with this. and we saw things escalate very quickly with iran , and that quickly with iran, and that
12:05 pm
could easily happen again . could easily happen again. >> in other news, children in scotland who question their gender are being referred to identity clinics because doctors are fearful of what's been described as a toxic debate. doctor hilary cass was speaking at the scottish parliament's health committee this morning after her study into gender services in england. she said there was fearfulness among doctors who don't know how to treat the gender issues that some children are facing. doctor cass told the committee that the toxic nature of the gender debate means medical professionals are afraid of doing or saying the wrong thing, leaving many young people with inadequate care . china is inadequate care. china is suspected of carrying out a massive hacking attack on britain's ministry of defence. defence secretary grant shapps is updating mps on the cyber attack today , in which an armed attack today, in which an armed force database was targeted . it force database was targeted. it means bank details and some addresses of serving personnel and veterans may have been compromised . cabinet minister
12:06 pm
compromised. cabinet minister mel stride says the government took immediate action after discovering the breach. this is a third party data set that appears to have been compromised, that has been shut down immediately by the ministry of defence in terms of external access to it, it may be that grant shapps has more to say later on this. >> whether this is china or another state actor as well. so we do take this very seriously. but at the end of the day, also, they are a very important economic partner and we have global challenges like climate change that we need to engage with china in order to address . with china in order to address. >> a man who was arrested in preston on sunday, has been charged with organising small boat crossings in the channel iranian national aman hassan sardar, who's 34, is expected to appear before preston magistrate later today. he was questioned by the national crime agency and charged with two counts of facilitating illegal
12:07 pm
immigration. it's in relation to two crossings made from france to the uk in november and december last year. to the uk in november and december last year . and things december last year. and things are getting musical in malmo today as the 68th edition of eurovision gets underway , eurovision gets underway, britain's olly alexander will be among those vying for the top prize. but he admits victory could be a long shot, with odds favouring croatia, switzerland and ukraine. as many as 100,000 visitors are set to descend on the city in sweden's southwest for the world's largest live music contest . and for the music contest. and for the latest stories, sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen or go to gb news .com/ alerts. now it's back to tom and . to tom and. emily. >> good afternoon britain. it's 12:08 now. more than 21,000
12:08 pm
asylum seekers have gone missing in britain in the last five years. >> yeah, it's quite extraordinary. figures obtained from the home office suggest the majority of those who have disappeared have no right to remain in the uk because their claims have either been refused or withdrawn. >> curious? well, according to the daily mail, the true figure will be far higher as the data only covers the five years up to september 2023. this all comes a week after the government began detaining migrants set to be deported to rwanda . deported to rwanda. >> well, immigration lawyer ivan sampson joins us now to try and get a handling on these these figures. i this seems to come up time and time again, doesn't it, ivan, that the home office doesn't actually know where people are . pardon? sorry. what people are. pardon? sorry. what was that indeed . was that indeed. >> it keeps coming home office in a great light. >> yeah. and ivan 21,000. and the suggestion here that it could be a far higher number. the question we're asking really is where are all of these people? >> well, evading or evading
12:09 pm
detection, i'd imagine, because they're afraid of being either removed to their home country or rwanda. but that's just the tip of the iceberg. there's also people who overstay their visas who enter the uk illegally, but simply don't go back. and that figure is close to a million. so, you know, i'd like to know what the what the home office is doing to detect those people. i mean, the asylum seekers is the tip of the iceberg of those in our country unaccounted for. >> it's really curious that perhaps over a million people would be unaccounted for because anyone who's tried to rent a home or get a payrolled job, you have to show documentation , you have to show documentation, you have to show documentation, you have to show passports, you have to prove who you are. these are people, presumably , if they are people, presumably, if they are still in the country who are living completely off grid, not working in the regular economy and not renting or purchasing regular accommodation .
12:10 pm
regular accommodation. >> indeed. and also being exploited . and so you'll find exploited. and so you'll find people living many to a room, in cramped situations. maybe one person renting a room, but there's lots of, people living there's lots of, people living there who haven't got legal status and then have been exploited in terms of, being given low paid jobs with no protection at all. so i'm afraid the winners are the people that are exploiting these people. >> yes. i'm sure you're right, particularly in the gig economy. i know that some of those companies have been questioned about this recently over whether they are inadvertently, perhaps hiring people who don't have a right to be in this country, don't have a visa, perhaps a failed asylum seekers and whatnot . so that's a huge issue. whatnot. so that's a huge issue. but is this is this can't just be britain . this must be going be britain. this must be going on across the world that you have hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people living in countries where the government and its institutions have absolutely no idea that they
12:11 pm
are. and what kind of risk does that pose potentially , indeed. that pose potentially, indeed. >> i mean, it is a massive risk. look, we cannot have people, illegally entering the country for economic reasons. it's unacceptable . it is not safe for unacceptable. it is not safe for our citizens. it's not a safe control of our borders. and also the whole system of visa entry needs to be looked at. and it's not just small employers . look, not just small employers. look, i advise a very large one of the major construction companies in this country, house builders , this country, house builders, who had 40 illegal workers on one of their sites. so it's not just, small companies or individuals employing these illegal, migrants, or in fact, many of my visitors just overstayed, it's also larger companies get get foiled . companies get get foiled. >> but this was something that they were trying to crack down on. isn't it? this is something that the government has talked about how they're going to crack down on landlords, landlords, rogue landlords, that are
12:12 pm
renting out their properties to illegal migrants and also companies that are doing. but i guess this is a slow process , guess this is a slow process, andifs guess this is a slow process, and it's difficult for the home office or whoever to get a grip office or whoever to get a grip of . of. >> we need a reset. i really do believe that we may need an amnesty. you know, you may. many people will be arguing against that, but people have been. >> that's going to anger a lot of people. the talk of an amnesty. >> let me hear you. i'm here. people who've been there say, 20 years who are almost at 20 years can apply under the rules anyway. so i think we may look, we had an amnesty before. it was very successful back in 2004. but, what we could do is have a census. maybe it's time for a census. maybe it's time for a census to really get a count of who's in our country. >> and we've had a census in 2021 that was relatively recent . 2021 that was relatively recent. i want to put to you, though, that the great free market economist milton friedman once said , the best form of migration said, the best form of migration is illegal migration. and he was wrong because, in his view, if you are a legal migrant, well, you are a legal migrant, well,
12:13 pm
you can claim all sorts of welfare, minimum wage legislation applies to you all of the sort of trappings of the welfare state that were built up are placed on people like that. whereas if people come illegally to a country, they can work below the minimum wage. they don't take a single penny of taxpayers money. and it gets around all of these sort of stuttering regulations we've placed on our economy. >> yes, in theory perhaps. well look, i'm going to dubai tomorrow, and i work about one week in dubai every month , and week in dubai every month, and it's a very successful economy built on migration. >> 90% of people living in dubai are migrant. only 10% are locals. and the way it works is you can come, you can work, but you can come, you can work, but you won't get an emirati passport. so where there's shortage of workers, they allow them to come. and i've argued for some sort of a similar system. why should every migrant be entitled to a british passport? we give away our passports way too easily. in
12:14 pm
fact, you only have to live here for five years. and you're entitled to a british passport. >> well, i agree with you on that. >> i agree with you on that. not so much on the amnesty. i think that would be problematic. and it would be, what's the word? it would be, enticing. it would be enticing, yes, but it would be rewarding bad behaviour in my book. but i've been really great to speak to you. ivan samson, immigration lawyer. always good to get your view on that. words, words come back to me, i think. >> i think , milton friedman was >> i think, milton friedman was clearly being a bit tongue in cheek when he was talking about that, but but there is something to it in that would our economy work so well? would would politicians have been able to get away with ever higher wage floors , minimum wages, huge sort floors, minimum wages, huge sort of handouts, free accommodation, all sorts of benefits. if there wasn't a sizeable chunk of people who simply couldn't take them and, well, you tried to sell illegal immigration is the best type of immigration to the
12:15 pm
british public, i don't think. >> good luck with that manifesto. i think i would, i think i think what it is doing is short circuiting a lot of the, a lot of the regulations that we that we have, it'd be cheapen that we that we have, it'd be cheaper. yes. it would be cheaper. yes. it would be cheaperin cheaper. yes. it would be cheaper in some ways, should we move on? because the president of the european commission, ursula von der elianne, has explained how the eu is seeking third country investment and migration deals with african countries like tunisia and egypt. yes >> the commission president added that these deals mean europeans are the ones who decide who comes to the european union and under what circumstances. >> yes, and this all comes as tensions brew across the european union, including ireland, of course, over the growing number of migrants and essentially what to do about it . essentially what to do about it. >> well, the eu journalist jack parrack joins us now . and, jack, parrack joins us now. and, jack, ursula von der leyen is explaining that she's si king these deals suddenly. could it be that that's because there's an election coming up? >> well , an election coming up? >> well, certainly this has been over the past year or so, the sort of growing, bubbling decision by the european union
12:16 pm
and the commission president, ursula von der leyen, to go out there and try and sign up these deals. but let's make no bones about this. it's not been a huge success. so far. the tunisians, back in the autumn, they agreed a deal which was to support their ailing economy with the european union to the tune of about ,127 million. when the eu did send some of that money, about 60 million, the tunisian president sent it back, saying it was derisory and insulting and that they didn't want eu charity. and part of that was because they had agreed that they would have tunisians return to them from the european union, who were found to be illegally there. but that they wouldn't accept sub—saharan africans who'd been registered as passing through their country on the way into the european union. i think your discussion that you were having in the run up about british migration and the divisions that we see in opinions are very much reflected here in the eu as well . it's here in the eu as well. it's such a perennial difficult issue for the eu to resolve . but in for the eu to resolve. but in april they did manage to get a
12:17 pm
new overhaul of the eu's migration system put into place that was voted through the european parliament. but it won't come into force until 2026. so eu voters heading to the polls in june, although this has now been signed off, they won't see any changes for a couple of years yet. so whether it actually swings the votes, we'll have to wait and see. >> i mean, is ursula getting much pushback on all this because it does seem like her the narrative is shifting. i mean , you did have monsieur mean, you did have monsieur macron, president of france, saying too not long ago that such schemes like the rwanda scheme , essentially sending scheme, essentially sending people to african countries are a betrayal of european values. so he said that you've also got the euro commissioner for home affairs saying that this is absolutely not part of the eu's new migration plan at all. so is ursula on her own here, or does she have a lot of support? >> well, so this is where this pact has a bit of grey area. so it's sort of open to
12:18 pm
interpretation in some areas. and it will rely on how it's implemented over the next couple of years and how the eu's member states decide to implement it, whether that happens now, figures on the left are very keen to say that what this does is allow essentially a rwanda style opening that would allow eu countries to send to decide safe countries, which is part of the pact, and to send people through to them. that would essentially amount to an equivalent of the rwanda deal. now, the people like von der leyen say that's not the case. we're simply sending people back to where they meant to come, where they where they've come from, where they've been registered through. this is all in the context of the fact that eu asylum applications have gone up to 1.14 million people last yean up to 1.14 million people last year, the highest rate since what was called the migration crisis of 2015 2016. so people like the commission president know she needs to act. how as i say, how this actually works out, whether we start to see safe countries implemented that
12:19 pm
will then allow eu countries to send people back to them in in a rwanda style deal . that will all rwanda style deal. that will all be done in the implementation. and at the moment it's hard to see how that's going to work. >> and we know how hard these things are to implement from britain's experience. anyway, thank you very much indeed , thank you very much indeed, jacques perec, great to speak to you. you're an eu journalist. good stuff . yes, very good stuff. yes, very complicated, very complicated. >> and i wonder how much of this is to do with all of these polls suggesting that parties not just of the centre right, but of the far right in many cases are surging in the european elections ? yeah, she's sort of elections? yeah, she's sort of trying to put off that flank, but at 1.14 million asylum applicants just last year to the european union, i mean, that's clearly not sustainable . clearly not sustainable. >> well, that's clearly not sustainable. but shall we move on? because the defence secretary, grant shapps, is going to update mps a little later on today . and this is all later on today. and this is all on a cyber attack on a database containing details of armed forces personnel. and this comes amid reports china was behind the hack. >> well, a third party payroll system was hacked, potentially
12:20 pm
compromising the bank details of all serving personnel and some veterans as well as a small number of addresses which may have also been accessed . have also been accessed. >> now, a spokesman for the chinese embassy in the uk says the so—called cyber attacks by china against the uk are completely fabricated and malicious slanders. we strongly oppose such accusations. china has always firmly fought all forms of cyber attacks according to the law. so yes, that is what the chinese embassy has to say. slapping down what our government is saying. >> of course, china has never, ever cyber attacked anyone , ever cyber attacked anyone, never hacked a thing. >> no, never never, never. >> no, never never, never. >> let's cross over to the ministry of defence and speak with gb news political correspondent, olivia utley. olivia, i suppose china is denying this. what's the government saying ? government saying? >> the chinese are denying this. the government seems pretty clear that china is responsible for this hack , as far as the for this hack, as far as the severity of the incident goes, it looks as though it seems
12:21 pm
pretty clear that that sensitive information , sort of state information, sort of state secrets, etc. on ministry of defence, actual network hasn't been accessed. what's been accessed is third party data about military personnel, including, in some cases, their bank details and home addresses. now, that is in itself a pretty serious security breach, and it raises all sorts of questions. one question which we hope to hear more from, from grant shapps this afternoon is how will other countries in europe and the us, for example, feel about sharing information with the uk when it's clear that our security systems can be breached? so apparently easily ? breached? so apparently easily? another question for specifically rishi sunak is how does he deal with china from this point onwards? so far , the this point onwards? so far, the prime minister has been pretty dovish about china in the 2022 leadership race with liz truss, truss said time and again that she would designate china as a threat to the uk. rishi sunak has always said that he won't designate china as a threat. he
12:22 pm
calls china a challenge rather euphemistically, but he says that it's very important to work with china both for the sake of the uk economy and for issues such as climate change. will that position change today? we're not really expecting it to. we expect grant shapps to fudge a little bit this afternoon in the house of commons. but how will that go down with the hawkish china mps , down with the hawkish china mps, people like iain duncan smith? it'll be really interesting to find out because as we know, rishi sunak's position is pretty precarious at the moment. he can't afford to be angering his backbenchers . backbenchers. >> well, yes, and the likes of iain duncan smith have been warning about this type of thing for, for years, having experienced similar themselves on a personal, personal basis. thanks so much. we'll have to leave it there. olivia utley. gb news. political correspondent there outside the ministry of defence. >> well, coming up, we'll be heanng >> well, coming up, we'll be hearing from the mother of the victim of a manchester arena attack. she's marching to downing street to demand a new law in his name. 200 miles a long way. this is good afternoon, britain on .
12:23 pm
12:24 pm
12:25 pm
12:26 pm
gb news. good afternoon. britain. it's 12:26 now. the mother of one of the manchester arena bombing victims will walk 200 miles to downing street today to demand a new law. >> yes. >> yes. >> martyn's law. it's named after 29 year old martyn hett, who was one of the 22 people who were killed in the attack in manchester in 2017. >> it would require venues and local authorities in the uk to have training requirements and preventative plans against terror attacks. >> well , our terror attacks. >> well, our northwest of england reporter sophie reaper is here and she brings us a story . story. >> on the 22nd of may, 2017, 22 people went to a concert at manchester arena but never
12:27 pm
returned home. one of those people was martyn hett, murdered by suicide bomber salman abedi. it's seven years nearly and i still can't go to bed before about 11 ish because i feel so ashamed and guilty as a mum because i was fast asleep in bed when he died and i can't reconcile that. >> i've got a martin shaped hole in my soul somewhere, and that'll always be there. >> after the attack, the manchester arena inquiry found serious failings in security on the night , serious failings in security on the night, which could have prevented it from happening as a result , for the past five years, result, for the past five years, fegan has worked tirelessly to try and improve security at uk venues. >> about 18 months after martin died, we went to a theatre in manchester and there was absolutely no security and that completely floored me. then i looked into it and realised there's no legislation for security at all, and i wanted to change that. i just want venues
12:28 pm
and places, public places to have a legal obligation to put security on and keep people safe i >> -- >> this morning, fegan will begin a walk from the spot where her son died all the way to downing street . they'll arrive downing street. they'll arrive on the seventh anniversary of the attack , and until then, she the attack, and until then, she wants as many people to get involved as possible. >> people can join us on the walk , at different stages and walk, at different stages and help us make the point. and i believe in people power because really, the government may stall the decision to get the legislation over the line, but the general public deserve to be safe and want to be kept safe. >> sophie reaper gb news. >> sophie reaper gb news. >> well, let's cross to manchester now. our north west of england reporter sophie reaperis of england reporter sophie reaper is there ? sophie, this is reaper is there? sophie, this is a mammoth walk to. >> it is indeed. tom, you joining me here in the glade of
12:29 pm
light memorial for the 22 victims of the manchester arena attack . if we just take a quick attack. if we just take a quick walk, you'll be able to see each of the 22 victims has their own individual spot, where their name is marked, where family members loved ones, members of the public even can come to remember them. now, the reason we're here today, as you say, is because figen murray, the mother of martyn hett, one of the 22, has begun. as you say, this mammoth walk. she began it this morning from the arena . we morning from the arena. we started on the spot where her son lost his life almost seven years ago. now and they walked here to the glade of light. they took a moment to reflect at each of the names has a bunch of flowers on to mark the day, and she then set off on a journey that will take 186 miles over the next 16 days. now they will be heading to downing street, and they'll arrive at downing
12:30 pm
street on the 22nd of may, which will mark the seven year anniversary since the attack . anniversary since the attack. and the reason they're doing all of this is, of course, of course , because of martyn's law, this piece of legislation that figen has been working tirelessly on for the past five years. we heard in that piece, then say that it was when she went to a venue 18 months after martin's death that and she realised that, in fact, there is no legislation around security in venues in the uk. and that is what she is doing . she wants to what she is doing. she wants to make sure that families all over the uk do not have to experience what she did. by making sure that security at these places is tightened , is made more severe tightened, is made more severe so that acts of terrorism , like so that acts of terrorism, like the one that took place almost seven years ago at manchester arena, cannot happen again . arena, cannot happen again. >> thank you very much indeed. sophie reaper. our north—west of england reporter. thank you so much for talking to us about all of that. yes, i know, i know, of course, absolutely terrible,
12:31 pm
unimaginable what happened to her son. but i know there have been concerns raised about this law about how it would be appued law about how it would be applied in practice, because of course, big stadia , big course, big stadia, big monuments , perhaps cathedrals monuments, perhaps cathedrals and such should have a high level of protection, and people should look into the safety and what they can do in the case of a terror attack. but smaller , a terror attack. but smaller, smaller venues, smaller businesses, they could be impacted quite negatively, quite tncky impacted quite negatively, quite tricky for them to do this sort of thing . of thing. >> yeah. there would be requirements for any, any venue that could hold up to one or more than 100 people. now, some pubs could hold more than 100 people. just about any church in the country could. i mean, how many venues are going to have to get get some consultant in to draw up some terror attack plan that let's be honest, will will anyone who works at that venue actually study it, learn it by rote? they'll have to register it with the local council . i it with the local council. i mean, is this genuinely going to help people or is it just
12:32 pm
another imposition on businesses and venues that actually, at the end of the day, is more paperwork that won't save any lives? i worry that it's that i think there's a caveat, lives? i worry that it's that i think there's a caveat , though. think there's a caveat, though. >> i think there is a caveat in the legislation that proposed measures would be proportional to the size of the venue. so no, if you're a if you're a pub, you won't be expected to have the same terror safety plan as, you know, a massive arena. why should a pub have a plan about a terror attack? although maybe we're in. >> maybe they do. maybe they do need to have their own way of going over it. why register that with your with the government ? with your with the government? why have to bring in external? this is going to cost money for hard strapped businesses. i think it's a bad idea. and i know it's, it's controversial to say that because it's a terribly sad situation. and 22 people lost their lives at manchester arena . and i just don't think arena. and i just don't think that this would have saved their lives. >> no, but it's important to debate these things. you don't just accept laws because of the horrific circumstances in which
12:33 pm
they've been written. let us know what you think . know what you think. gbnews.com/yoursay bert, coming up , are the student protests up, are the student protests over gaza a turning point or a waste of time? there is some quite shocking footage from some of our university campuses. one man with an israeli flag had it pred man with an israeli flag had it ripped out , man with an israeli flag had it ripped out, ripped out of his hands by pro—palestine protests . hands by pro—palestine protests. and i mean, we've seen what's going on in america. is it coming here? so good afternoon, britain. we're on gb news, britain's news channel . britain's news channel. >> it's 1233. britain's news channel. >> it's1233. i'm sophia wenzler in the gb newsroom. your headlines. the shadow chancellor says britain's economy is in a worse state than many people think . in a worse state than many people think. in a speech in london earlier, rachel reeves said the conservative government isn't being honest with voters . being honest with voters. >> the conservatives are gaslighting the british public. they say . we've turned a corner they say. we've turned a corner and they ask people to stick
12:34 pm
with the conservative party, but it is those very conservatives who are set to leave the average household £870 worse off through stealth, taxes and increases in council tax . the prime minister council tax. the prime minister claims that he is delivering for the country, but the british people did not order what this prime minister is delivering. >> house prices have largely plateaued for the first part of the year. that's according to a new report from halifax. the price of an average british home rose by 0.1% in april after falling by 0.9% in march, the lender says the data reflects a housing market finding its feet in an era of higher interest rates . children in scotland who rates. children in scotland who question their gender are being referred to identity clinics because doctors are fearful of what's being described as a toxic debate. doctor hilary cass
12:35 pm
was speaking at the scottish parliament's health committee this morning after her study into gender services in england . into gender services in england. she said medical professionals were often fearful of saying the wrong thing, which is leaving many young people with inadequate care . and talks are inadequate care. and talks are resuming in cairo after israel rejected a ceasefire proposal that was accepted by the hamas terror group. israel's prime minister says the terms of the agreement are far from meeting its core demands. but benjamin netanyahu said a delegation will be in egypt today to continue the talks. it comes after a night of airstrikes , with the night of airstrikes, with the israeli military now in control of the rafah border crossing between gaza and egypt . and for between gaza and egypt. and for the latest stories, sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen or go to gb news. com slash alerts
12:36 pm
12:37 pm
12:38 pm
12:39 pm
i >> -- >> well. welcome back. this is good afternoon. britain on gb news. lots of you have been getting in touch. about what we've been talking about. d on the european union copying potentially a rwanda style scheme with countries like tunisia and egypt instead. she says all of a sudden , britain says all of a sudden, britain must no longer be seen as racist. if the european union are copying. yes, lots of european leaders have been pretty damning about the rwanda style scheme. monsieur macron, of course, saying that it goes against european values , such schemes. >> but now i know the european union's doing exactly the same thing. you couldn't make it up. mark from sheffield has said that when we're talking about an obugafion that when we're talking about an obligation on venues, we're talking about stadiums, not small gatherings. well mark, the legislation being proposed says any venue that can seat 100 people or more, that's lots of pubsin
12:40 pm
people or more, that's lots of pubs in this country. well, it's lots of little churches . lots of little churches. >> that's that's a little wedding venue in the middle of the countryside . probably not the countryside. probably not a hotspot for terror, but i guess you never know. lynn says. your immigration lawyer earlier mentioned dubai in his statement how they respond to illegal workers. she says they call an amnesty every few years, illegals are given a date and they have to vacate the country at their cost or face jails. given that the jails are not very nice, they leave. there are no no benefits. yes. i mean, there are a lot of countries that take a much tougher stance, that's for sure , when it comes that's for sure, when it comes to this sort of thing. >> and caroline, wrote in about the wonderful glade of light memorial in manchester for the manchester arena victims. she says what a beautiful memorial . says what a beautiful memorial. i didn't know it even existed. and yes, i hadn't seen it before ehhen and yes, i hadn't seen it before either. it's a really i think it's really, really well done . it's really, really well done. >> yes. sophie did a lovely job of showing us, showing us around that memorial. keep your views coming in. we'll get to more in a little bit later. but let's talk about something else. >> yes, because the israeli defence forces say it has now
12:41 pm
operational control of the gaza side of the rafah crossing. it follows what the israeli army say were targeted strikes against hamas in the eastern side of rafah. >> yes. and, these heightened tensions come as concerns grow back home in the uk , where camps back home in the uk, where camps are now being set up at various colleges at cambridge and oxford universities. here we are. here's some footage. i believe that's oxford. >> that's i think that's cambridge. >> oh, that's cambridge, that's on king's parade just outside, that looks like it's king's college, cambridge . college, cambridge. >> i might be wrong, but as you can see, lots of lots of tents, a bit of a copycat from what's going on in the united states on their campuses. although without any of the violence accompanying so far. but they are demanding a ceasefire of the war in gaza . ceasefire of the war in gaza. >> yeah, well, let's speak with the cultural commentator now, richard fitzwilliams and richard, we were just looking at, at the lawn of king's college, cambridge . there it's college, cambridge. there it's a lawn that, has been, meticulously maintained for 800 years that people are not allowed to walk on. so that they
12:42 pm
don't spoil the grass. and now it's turned into a city of tents i >> -- >> well, all of this, of course, has as its background what has been happening, as you briefly mentioned , in the united states, mentioned, in the united states, there are over 2000 arrests in nationwide protests and absolutely no question, i think president biden put it very well. >> dissent is essential for democracy , but dissent must not democracy, but dissent must not lead to disorder. and gillian keegan in today's telegraph, saying racism and hate have no place in our universities , which place in our universities, which of course states the obvious. >> but this is a there's a problem here. >> on the one hand, so far the demonstrations in britain and the various and cabinets have been quietly peaceful in the united states. of course, that was not the case, and then there's the importance of the fear. i think that many jewish students must feel, which is
12:43 pm
that these movements, i mean, the intent was, was is disinvestment in companies with links to israel support for palestinian courts and so forth. and you've got, of course, after the atrocity of the 7th of october, you've got a right . october, you've got a right. >> richard, i'm terribly sorry, but your line is, it's not very good, hopefully we can try and get you back a little bit more clear, because i want to hear what you've got to say, and i'm not sure, everyone at home can actually hear what he was saying there. >> the audio is cutting in and out a little bit, but i think we got we got the gist, which is of course, this is a very unusual cultural import. of course, students have always protested. i mean, this goes back to time immemorial that students will protest for and against things all the time. it's the way in which they're doing it that seems pretty peculiar. the encampments. >> yes. well it actually may be genuinely, literally an import to this country. i'm reading here that one of the dozens of
12:44 pm
students who were taking part in these protests at oxford and cambridge is someone who's an activist who heckled nancy pelosi, and another student welfare officer who were liked social media posts celebrating hamas. and i've heard quite a lot of american students as well, taking in part in these types of demonstrations in oxbridge . now, i'm not saying oxbridge. now, i'm not saying all of them are. i'm sure there are lots of british students, and i'm sure there are other activists who have nothing to do with the university joining in to make their voice heard. but it's quite interesting that it actually may be literally an import from the united states. but yes. but reading also from some of the jewish groups, particularly one in oxford, saying that for a lot of the students, you know, fearful of walking around with the kippah on, on their head, that shows that they're demonstrably jewish and also just a feeling of intimidation and feeling tense at university, which certainly is not what you want. but what are the universities to do at
12:45 pm
the moment? they seem to be saying, you know, by and large, protest must go ahead. they have every right to protest. but i guess when it goes towards criminal damage and when jewish students are saying, hang on, we're feeling rather intimidated. where do you draw the line, tom? >> where do you draw the line? big question. but, coming up, are gen z socially inept? phone habhs are gen z socially inept? phone habits seem to, suggest so. but, let's let's dive into that after this. this is good afternoon, britain on .
12:46 pm
12:47 pm
12:48 pm
gb news. well. >> teenagers always seem to be glued to their phone screens. but if you want them to put their phones down for a minute, maybe you should try calling. that's if they answer , yeah. so
12:49 pm
that's if they answer, yeah. so a new a new survey has found that a quarter of people aged 18 to 34 have never answered their phone, never answered their phone, never answered their phone for a phone call. but what's the reason? well, they simply ignore phone calls. >> what are they scared of? >> what are they scared of? >> it's a phenomenon amongst millennials , younger millennials millennials, younger millennials and gen z. >> i mean, what hope do they have in their workplace or just, life in general if they can't even pick up, pick up the phone? well, joining us now is psychologist and social commentator pam spurr. pam, thank you so much for joining us, this is pretty shocking, isn't it? why aren't, gen zers? gen zers , in tom's case, gen gen zers, in tom's case, gen z—ers, having such. why are they having such trouble picking up the phone? >> well, you say it's shocking , >> well, you say it's shocking, emily, but quite frankly, i'm not shocked at all because the foundations for human communication are set in infancy, and gen z is the first generation whose parents were immersed in online behaviour,
12:50 pm
communication, emails, websites, shopping, you know, messaging . shopping, you know, messaging. so this generation was born into parents who were just getting to gnps parents who were just getting to grips with how much they could do online. and so i do not fight you know, you learn from those foundations and little toddlers of the gen z generation would see their parents messaging. and so they continued it and evolved it and took it further and i think it's a real i think i feel really sad about it that 25% of youngsters won't pick up their phone unless it's their mum, so at least mum still has some power . but the fact that they power. but the fact that they cited in the study, they cited things like feeling pressure , things like feeling pressure, feeling stress when their phone goes. feeling stress when their phone goes . and i think that's really goes. and i think that's really sad because they are so used to communicating via being online or with their tech and their smartphones that isn't that rational to some extent.
12:51 pm
>> no. isn't that rational? if someone can be contacted in so many different ways , why many different ways, why wouldn't a text work with a text? you can see who's calling. you can see who's messaging you can see the content of that message. you can choose to reply immediately or wait a bit and reply a little bit later. if there's an unknown phone call, you don't know who's on the other end of this. you're going to talk to someone in a live situation. >> i can tell you younger than me, tom. >> you can see why that i do have sympathy is a worse situation for young people when they're so used to something that perhaps is so much more accessible . yeah, but pam. accessible. yeah, but pam. >> but, pam, i take that point, and i think there's a lot of truth to that. but i remember one of my first jobs out of university, vie was essentially a lot to do with making calls to people i'd never spoken to before, and that was scary . that before, and that was scary. that was scary. but the skills i learned doing that , you know, learned doing that, you know, helped me help me getting out of my comfort zone . my comfort zone. >> yeah, fantastic. because that is what builds your kind of self—reliance and unfortunately, this generation, tom, it is
12:52 pm
rational as you say, because that's what they've grown up with. but what i'm sad about is the fact that if you're scared to take a phone call and you go on and get a job where you must answer a phone, you've got to have a very quick learning curve. and it's like part of the strands of all the different ways of communication is, is, is , this one, this main strand is being lost because of people's fears to actually carry on a conversation . so i would i would conversation. so i would i would always say to any gen z, you know, a parent who has a gen z are at home still or whatever. try and encourage them just to practice having phone calls because they will need it. at some point. it will be a big wake up call when they have to start answering that phone at their first job or whatever . their first job or whatever. >> no it is, it is a it is a worthwhile thing to do . i wonder worthwhile thing to do. i wonder if there's a difference, though, between live phone calls and voicemails, because i don't know. so this is perhaps i'm now about to confess something i will never listen to a voicemail
12:53 pm
if you have. if you have a message to leave me, send me a text. don't leave. i'm not going to phone up a number to then listen through . i don't have the listen through. i don't have the time to listen through minutes of automated i mean , it just of automated i mean, it just seems like it's an anachronistic technology, but you talk to your phone, don't you? >> and then it writes the text, you dictate your texts . you dictate your texts. >> i do that, i dictate and talk about the errors. but no, tom, the thing is, 37% of your generation prefer a voice note because they can hear the tone and they know what the meaning is, because sometimes in messaging, of course, we lose the meaning. something might come across as angry when it's not. but if you actually listen to the voice note, you can get the tone of someone what they're communicating. >> oh, listen to a voice note, just not a voicemail. if you see the difference, there's your voicemails are more complicated to pick up off your mobile voice notes on something like whatsapp are so easy to listen to. >> yeah , thank you so much, pam. >> yeah, thank you so much, pam. really great to speak to you about this. pam spurr, a psychologist and social commentator. this is catastrophic for our society. i think if young people can't pick up the phone, make a phone call,
12:54 pm
receive a phone call without being too scared that it puts them in a stressful situation. how does that bode well for the future of our country ? future of our country? >> this is catastrophic. >> this is catastrophic. >> we have a generation who have been told, as they're growing up, don't talk to strangers. >> no, don't talk to strangers. >> no, don't talk to strangers. >> it's not that because i imagine they're too scared to pick up the phone to their grandma. >> isn't this the safety ism culture that we've devised? >> yeah. >> yeah. >> it's terrible. it's, if anything, it's a very privacy focused generation who've been told, don't talk. >> my parents made me. >> my parents made me. >> they made me pick up the phone. >> why talk to strangers on the phone but not strangers online? that's mixed messaging, isn't it? you can see how kids are confused. >> i don't know, i think parents should make their children pick up the phone, do those things that are a bit tricky, a bit scary, but you get it done with and then you're out of your comfort zone. >> coming up, is the uk under threat from china after the latest wave of hacking? what is actually going on here? this good afternoon britain. we're on . gb news. >> a brighter outlook with boxt solar sponsors of weather on . gb
12:55 pm
news. >> hello again. here's your latest gb news weather from the met office. whilst there will be a bit of rain, particularly across northwest and scotland this week, for many it's looking largely dry. that's because we have high pressure currently to the southwest of us, but this is going to build and dominate the weather across the uk as we go through this week. that being said, there are a few showers around at the moment. most of those will ease as we go through the end of the day, taking us into a pretty dry night. the end of the day, taking us into a pretty dry night . there into a pretty dry night. there will be some clear skies developing, allowing for a few mist and fog patches to develop both inland where we get the clear skies , and also around clear skies, and also around some more coastal parts too. but temperatures aren't going to drop a huge amount, most places staying in low double figures or perhaps high single figures in some areas as we go through wednesday itself. then a bit of rain, then pushing into parts of northwestern scotland, perhaps fringing the far northwest of northern ireland too, otherwise staying dry apart from 1 or 2
12:56 pm
showers around and we are going to see some decent bright sunny weather too. it may not be wall to wall blue skies, but most of us will see some sunshine at times. temperatures in the sunshine are going to rise quite nicely, many places getting into the high teens or even low 20 celsius. as we look ahead to thursday. and it's a similar day, perhaps a little bit more rain across more central northern parts of scotland, but elsewhere across england, wales and northern ireland, plenty of fine, bright weather to be had and still some warm sunshine. more warm sunshine to come as we go through friday and into the weekend. by saturday, temperatures likely to be in the low to mid 20s. see you later i low to mid 20s. see you later! >> that warm feeling inside from boxt boiler as sponsors of weather on
12:57 pm
12:58 pm
12:59 pm
gb news. >> well. good afternoon.
1:00 pm
britain. it's 1:00 >> well. good afternoon. britain. it's1:00 on tuesday, the 7th of may. >> now, a blistering attack from the labour party. the shadow chancellor accuses the government of gaslighting britain over the state of the economy. although does most of britain know what the word gaslighting means? it seems like a very weird word to choose . a very weird word to choose. well, we're expecting to hear from rishi sunak and his response in the next few minutes, yes. >> meanwhile, the government's accused china of hacking an armed forces payroll system. the defence secretary is due to warn mps later of the dangers of cyber espionage from hostile states. china denies all wrongdoing. >> eurovision fallout as britain's entry olly alexander says he's ambivalent about our flag. we're asking is he fit to represent our country abroad? >> lots of debate in the inbox about whether you pick up the phone. we were discussing gen zers, so that's the, what group is that? 1997 is the oldest.
1:01 pm
yes. 1970, 1997 and onwards. so young people , essentially who've young people, essentially who've grown up using phones, although some, some millennials as well, because i think the research was 18 to 34. >> yes. so anyone below the age of 34 is included in this group. so that goes well back to the yean so that goes well back to the year, 1990. >> yeah. >> yeah. >> so they're scared to pick up the phone and scared to make phone calls. and liz says, i don't pick up the phone either. and i'm not a teenager. just don't want scam calls . fed up don't want scam calls. fed up with them, keith says i'm a boomer and hate answering phone calls and definitely won't answer a video call. so there you go . it's not just, the young you go. it's not just, the young generation that can't be bothered . bothered. >> i think young people are more likely to answer video calls than phone calls because you can see who's calling. and i think that's a big part of it. but adrian says most calls are spam from london and birmingham. they get blocked and mark says privacy generation. >> they won't answer the phone, but when asked to send intimate pictures, that's fine . pictures, that's fine. something's not quite right there. yes, it is strange, isn't it? we often hear about how young people are very willing to
1:02 pm
share intimate pictures, but can't pick up the phone to grandma. so there you go. >> well, at least it's that way round and they're not sending intimate pictures to grandma. >> and paul says, i always expect tom and emily's back and forth to end with emily hitting tom over the head with her notebook. >> it hasn't happened yet. not yet. >> it hasn't happened yet. working on it though, working on it. >> squanchy, however, says with you there, tom, i don't do voicemails either. >> well, well, others are very much saying that young people are scaredy cats and should just learn how to communicate. but yes, lots of you saying you are inundated with scam calls so you just don't bother. which is very true to keep your views coming in gb news. com as we just said, we've got loads coming up this hour for you. gbnews.com/yoursay is the way to get in touch. it's your headlines. >> good afternoon. it's 1:02. i'm sophia wenzler in the gb newsroom . i'm the shadow newsroom. i'm the shadow chancellor. says britain's economy is in a worse state than
1:03 pm
many people think. in a speech in london a short time ago, rachel reeves said the conservative government isn't being honest with voters . being honest with voters. >> the conservatives are gaslighting the british public. they say . we've turned a corner they say. we've turned a corner and they ask people to stick with the conservative party, but it is those very conservatives who are set to leave the average household £870 worse off through stealth taxes and increases in council tax . the prime minister council tax. the prime minister claims that he is delivering for the country, but the british people did not order what this prime minister is delivering. >> house prices have largely plateaued for the first part of the year. that's according to a new report from halifax. the price of an average british home rose by 0.1% in april, after falling by 0.9% in march. the
1:04 pm
lender says the data reflects the housing market finding its feet in an era of higher interest rates . talks are interest rates. talks are resuming in cairo after israel rejected a ceasefire proposal that was accepted by the hamas terror group. israel's prime minister says the terms of the agreement are far from meeting its core demands. but benjamin netanyahu said a delegation will be in egypt today to continue the talks. it comes after a night of airstrikes , with the night of airstrikes, with the israeli military now in control of the rafah border crossing between gaza and egypt. former chairman of the defence select committee, tobias ellwood, told gb news that blocking the flow of aid would have devastating consequences . consequences. >> the idea that prime minister netanyahu and i specifically named him because i don't believe many people as many people in israel, are supportive of this now, wants to close down the rafah crossing, along with the rafah crossing, along with the erez crossing in the north and then kareem, kareem shalom as well. it means that more and more people will face famine. the humanitarian aid is not
1:05 pm
getting in. so this is compounding the matters. charging into rafah with those tanksis charging into rafah with those tanks is as bad as charging into gaza in the first place. there's an absence of strategy as to where present prime minister netanyahu wants to go with this, and we saw things escalate very quickly with iran, and that could easily happen again . could easily happen again. >> now, downing street has declined to attribute a reported cyber attack on the ministry of defence to a specific state or actor. that's despite earlier reports suggesting china was the prime suspect after a massive hacking attack compromised the bank. details and some addresses of serving defence personnel and veterans. cabinet minister mel stride says the government took immediate action after discovering the breach. >> this is a third party, data set that appears to have been compromised, that has been shut down immediately by the ministry of defence in terms of external access to it. it may be that
1:06 pm
grant shapps has more to say later on this , whether this is later on this, whether this is china, or another state actor as well. so we do take this very seriously. but at the end of the day, also, they are a very important economic partner. day, also, they are a very important economic partner . and important economic partner. and we have global challenges like climate change that we need to engage with china in order to address . address. >> in other news, children in scotland who question their gender are being referred to identity clinics because doctors are fearful of what's being described as a toxic debate. doctor hilary cass was speaking at the scottish parliament's health committee this morning after her study into gender services in england. she said there was fearfulness among doctors who don't know how to treat the gender issues that some children are facing . doctor some children are facing. doctor cass told the committee that the toxic nature of the gender debate means medical professionals are afraid of doing or saying the wrong thing, leaving many young people with inadequate care . ukraine inadequate care. ukraine security services say it's caught russian agents within the state guard service who were
1:07 pm
plotting the assassination of president zelenskyy. ukraine says russia's fsb had planned to eliminate the president of ukraine and other representatives at the top of the country's military and political leadership. it comes on the day the russian president was inaugurated for a fifth term following elections widely seen as illegitimate . and things are as illegitimate. and things are getting musical in malmo today as the 68th eurovision gets underway. britain's olly alexander will be among those vying for the top prize , but he vying for the top prize, but he admits victory could be a long shot, with odds favouring croatia, switzerland and ukraine. as many as 100,000 visitors are set to descend on the city in sweden's southwest for the world's largest live music contest . and for the music contest. and for the latest story, sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen, or go to gb news .com/ alerts. now it's back to tom and .
1:08 pm
tom and. emily. >> good afternoon britain. it's 1:08 now. the prime minister's been speaking in the last few minutes. let's listen in and hear what he had to say. >> the malign actor has compromised the armed forces payment network. >> but i do want to reassure people that ministry of defence has already taken action. >> and removing the network for offline, taking it offline and making sure that people affected are supported in the right way. now there's a limit to what i can say about this now, but the defence secretary will be making a full statement to parliament later today. >> can you just explain why you're not naming china there? >> so the defence secretary will be making a full statement to parliament later today. and more generally, if you look back to our integrated review, i set out a very robust policy towards china , which means that we need china, which means that we need to take the powers which we have done to protect ourselves against the risk that china and other countries pose to us. they are a country with fundamentally different values to ours.
1:09 pm
they're acting in a way that is more authoritarian at home, assertive abroad. that's why, for example, we blocked chinese investment into a sensitive semiconductor semiconductor company last year. again, that's just one of the numerous actions that we've taken to protect this country. and recently, i announced a historic increase in our defence spending to 2.5% of gdp. and i made the point that we are facing facing an axis of authoritarian states, including russia, iran, north korea and china , which pose a risk to our china, which pose a risk to our values, our interests, and indeed our country. and because of that, i've made a decision to increase our defence spending. that's the right thing to do for our country. and that's the type of leadership that you can expect from me. >> but the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu , minister, benjamin netanyahu, said he's not. he says the terms of the ceasefire that hamas have agreed to are unacceptable. are you calling on him to take that deal? >> well, i've urged all parties to continue to talking, negotiating, getting around the table, which they are doing , and table, which they are doing, and we need to give them the space to conclude these negotiations. we've been consistent in saying that we want to see an immediate
1:10 pm
humanitarian pause in this conflict so that we can crucially release the hostages, get them back to their families and get more aid in to gaza. people desperately need it and then use that pause to build a more lasting and sustainable ceasefire you know, that's been the efforts of all our diplomatic engagement. i've made those points to prime minister netanyahu in the past, and we'll continue to do so . continue to do so. >> but are you condemning the bombing of eastern rafah overnight when it comes to the question of rafah? >> again, i've been clear that we are deeply concerned about a full military incursion of rafah, given the humanitarian consequences of that , i've made consequences of that, i've made that point specifically to prime minister netanyahu. whenever i've spoken to him. and for our part, in the uk. i hope people are proud of the fact that we are proud of the fact that we are getting a huge amount of aid into the region. obviously, lots more needs to get in and that's been a focus of my conversations. but the uk is playing a leading role, getting aid in by land, sea and air. currently working with the us and other allies to build a port in gaza to get aid in across the sea, as well as having done air
1:11 pm
drops previously , but pushing drops previously, but pushing all parties to get more land aid in as well . in as well. >> finally, on the local elections, are you concerned about the there's been talk about the there's been talk about growing sectarianism in politics and we've seen a number of candidates standing on a pro gaza ticket, specifically , are gaza ticket, specifically, are you concerned about sectarianism in british politics? >> yeah, i've spoken a lot about this in the past, including from the steps of downing street. and, you know, i do worry that there are forces that are trying to divide our society. and that is something that we all need to be alive to and robust in standing up to. as well. we have a shared set of british values that are really important to me, to the government, to who we are as a people. and when a minority of people are trying to undermine those values, we shouldn't be shy about calling that out and acting robustly to defend ourselves against it. i think actually, this is an incredible country with an enormous amount to be proud of. there's so much that unites us and we have to face down people who want to divide us. at times like this . like this. >> prime minister, thank you for your time. very much. appreciate it. great. okay. >> sunak , he was asked about the
1:12 pm
>> sunak, he was asked about the china hacking and what's going on in gaza and our position and all of that , and the local all of that, and the local elections, the sectarianism , the elections, the sectarianism, the journalist there asked him about one thing he wasn't asked however, about was, the economy, because earlier the prime minister was accused of gas lighting britain over the economy. >> well, shadow chancellor rachel reeves made the claim to business leaders earlier, saying that the government is deluded over the success of its economic plans. >> well, gb news business and economics editor liam halligan put a question to reeves at the keynote speech today . keynote speech today. >> do you think that's a fair characterisation of the mpc, the former governor saying that that lack of cognitive diversity had added to instability led to higher inflation than would otherwise be the case, and also , otherwise be the case, and also, so do you think the obr should be stronger or weaker than it currently is? specifically should elected politicians take more notice or less notice of
1:13 pm
obr forecasts , which have often obr forecasts, which have often been rather, to be fair, inaccurate ? inaccurate? >> well, i think that we should respect independent economic institutions and one of the reasons why we are in the mess that we are in today is because of the decisions of the conservatives. when liz truss was prime minister and kwasi kwarteng was chancellor, it wasn't just the unfunded tax cuts that they promised, but it was also the undermining of the economic institutions that had previously made britain a safe and secure place to invest . so and secure place to invest. so sacking the respected permanent secretary of the treasury , tom secretary of the treasury, tom scholar, refusing to let the obr do a forecast even though they said they were able to, or spending the leadership campaign undermining the bank of england. all of those contributed to the financial and economic crisis that we faced just 18 months ago. and i think the lessons from that is that we should respect more and listen more to
1:14 pm
those independent economic institutions, rather than seek to further undermine them. and that would certainly be my approach as chancellor of the exchequer . exchequer. >> well, there we go. that was what rachel reeves had to say. but liam joins us now with on the money . interesting. liam, the money. interesting. liam, how she sort of studiously avoided the first part of your question, the idea that the monetary policy committee of the bank of england needs greater diversity . diversity. >> indeed, i put to her the words of somebody called mervyn king, who used to run the bank of england, who said in the house of lords last week that he thought the monetary policy committee of the bank of england, because it was slow to raise interest rates when inflation was coming down the track back in 2021, 2020 into 2022, because it was slow . 2022, because it was slow. interest rates have thus had to go interest rates have thus had to 9° up interest rates have thus had to go up further than they otherwise would have, and inflation has gone up further than it otherwise would have a cause. inflation hit 11% plus
1:15 pm
last autumn and interest rates went all the way from almost 0 to 5.25. look, what today was about was pure politics. there was no economic announcement here at all. there was very little economic analysis. and indeed, my question as viewers and listeners would expect from gb news got the press conference really back onto the economics, because many of the other journalists were asking about pure politics and personalities . pure politics and personalities. and we know that gb news viewers and listeners want to know what's going on with the economy, don't we? the pound in their pockets , what rachel their pockets, what rachel reeves was saying, because there's going to be a growth statistic, a gdp number coming out this friday, which is likely to show britain has escaped recession. and because the day before, the monetary policy committee is going to keep rates where they are, but they're likely to say inflation is going to hit its target very soon, 2% or lower. she's trying to get out there ahead of that good economic news by saying that the tories are basically fooling the us if we think that the economy
1:16 pm
is getting better any idea of a feel good factor which the government have been talking up ? government have been talking up? that's why they're delaying election with lower interest rates , with lower inflation, the rates, with lower inflation, the cost of living crisis, easing . cost of living crisis, easing. any mention of that, says rachel reeves, shows that the government is out of touch with ordinary working people and ordinary working people and ordinary firms across the country. so even this term, gaslighting my mum doesn't know what gaslighting means. i suggest most people over 40 don't know what gaslighting means. let me tell you , as means. let me tell you, as a dad, it's the kind of thing that your kids scream at. you stop gaslighting me. and you're like, what does that mean? well, of course labour want us to have this conversation. they want us to talk about this non—press conference with this non—news on the economy in it by saying, as we are now, what does gaslighting mean? the term actually comes from a 1930s film where a husband was trying to fool his wife, a scurrilous scoundrel, as they were back in the day. so that's where this term gaslighting comes from. but
1:17 pm
this was basically a press conference that showed just how confident labour are. rachel reeves was introduced by a former conservative minister, somebody few people would have heard of called nick boles. he is now not a signed up labour member, but i guess he wants to be quite soon. maybe in the house of lords, because he's going around the city of london introducing the shadow chancellor as a former conservative minister, and at the same time, labour knew they could get the press, get the economics editors, get the political editors to show up to the city of london to an obscure building where they hadn't been before, just because they were giving a press conference. but they didn't actually have anything to say except for when you hear on friday that the economy is getting better. don't believe it. >> don't believe it. i mean , >> don't believe it. i mean, rachel reeves a labour's rachel reeves, she seems to me she's just trying to pitch herself as the absolute opposite of liz truss and kwasi kwarteng. she's
1:18 pm
going to be listening to the experts, she's going to be putting her trust in the organisations like the obr, as you say, and the bank of england. and that's what she's going to be. mrs. sensible . going to be. mrs. sensible. >> well, i think that's right. it's the old adage about the way you get to downing street is you follow the gorilla on the trapeze, carrying the ming vase strategy. you go slowly , strategy. you go slowly, steadily as possible, and you try not to drop anything that may cause a mess. you try and say nothing at all that could offend anyone. but actually, when i put that question to rachel reeves , i was actually rachel reeves, i was actually quoting mervyn king, the former governor of the bank of england, who she then indirectly accused of undermining the bank of england just by questioning the fact, as many people now are, as the economic affairs committee of the house of lords is cross party committee, as many investors , they are now investors, they are now questioning whether or not the bank of england is fit for purpose, not should it be independent or not. but are the group of men and women who make interest rate decisions almost all appointed by the treasury?
1:19 pm
are. is there actually enough diversity of opinion among them to come up with the right decisions, or is it groupthink? i would say as a professional analyst, it's groupthink . analyst, it's groupthink. >> and you'd think robust challenge to an institution like the bank of england would make it stronger, not weaker, if it was truly if it truly believed in what it was doing, it would welcome criticism and challenge. instead of saying, oh no, you can't possibly say anything against the bank of england. >> same, same with the office for budget responsibility, which is, of course, a whitehall based economic forecasting house. but its forecasts are often woefully wrong. and yet those forecasts box in ministers as in terms of what they can spend, what they they can even talk about spending in the future. yeah. look, don't get me wrong, this is a sure footed performance from a person who's probably going to be the first female chancellor of this country. and i'm not saying necessarily that she'll do a bad job. all i'm saying is that labour are now so confident for all their talk of
1:20 pm
not being complacent, they know they can call a press conference and basically say nothing, nothing except get a free pubuchy nothing except get a free publicity hit for a bit of political spin using the word gaslighting. >> well , there you go. thank you >> well, there you go. thank you very much. liam halligan, her business and economics editor. good to speak to you. we're going to cross straight over to the ministry of defence and speak with our gb news political correspondent, olivia utley, to bnng correspondent, olivia utley, to bring us the latest on this ministry of defence hacked. what's the latest ? what's the latest? >> well, the prime minister is refusing to say, as you could see in that question and answer there, the prime minister will not say specifically that it was china. and that's beginning to look a little bit strange. it's pretty clear to almost everyone that china is responsible for this hack, but the level of evidence that ministers need to be able to officially designate a foreign country, the instigator of a hack like this, it's very, very high. and it could take weeks or months to obtain. that post is a tricky question for grant shapps this afternoon. he is going to have to stand up in the comments at
1:21 pm
about 415 with a statement on this hack, and obviously conservative backbenchers will want to know how the government is going to respond to this in terms of how will china face any consequences. but for grant shapps , he's not going to be shapps, he's not going to be able to talk about that at all, because the government is now in a position where it can't even say that it believes that china was responsible. so what we're expecting from grant shapps this afternoon is quite a simple statement explaining how personnel may be affected, reassuring personnel and probably repeating the facts that we already know that no one's salaries are going to be impacted, this month. so i think conservative backbenchers are going to get a little bit frustrated this afternoon and possibly in the coming days and weeks , because it's going to be weeks, because it's going to be a long time until the government will be able to say, who exactly did this. >> olivia utley, thank you for bringing us the very latest there from a lovely and sunny ministry of defence. >> yes, very lovely outside, isn't it, coming up, we're going to have our debate of the day. is olly alexander fit to
1:22 pm
represent the uk at eurovision? we're asking because he's a ambivalent towards our flag and he claims he needs to reclaim it for us, make it nice again. >> well, this is good afternoon britain on .
1:23 pm
1:24 pm
1:25 pm
gb news. >> well, a very good afternoon to you. it's 125. and the >> well, a very good afternoon to you. it's125. and the uk's to you. it's 125. and the uk's eurovision entrant , olly eurovision entrant, olly alexander, has come out and said he has an ambivalent relationship with what he called the divisive union flag . the divisive union flag. >> well, alexander is set to perform the track dizzee for the uk on saturday evening in the big final and has said that the flag can be nationalistic and that he hopes to reclaim it in a positive way when he waves it at the parade. >> oh, i'm so glad he's there for us to reclaim the flag, to
1:26 pm
reclaim the divisive flag. but should someone who's made these types of comments really be there, representing our country at eurovision? >> well, joining us to debate this now is the political commentator matthew stadlen, who thinks if he's ambivalent about it, why on earth does that matter ? and broadcaster matter? and broadcaster christine hamilton, who thinks he has no right to represent our country? >> well, chris good stuff. christine. >> let's start with you. why on earth can't he represent the country ? you're going to be hard country? you're going to be hard pressed to find a musician in today's day and age that that doesn't hasn't said something like this about the flag . like this about the flag. >> probably. >> probably. >> well, honestly, i mean, look, i may be. i may be old, but the ones! i may be. i may be old, but the ones i remember are cliff richard , lulu, sandie shaw, all richard, lulu, sandie shaw, all these wonderful entrants and people who went on to win. and we had last year, we had the fabulous sam ryder, who obviously would have won had it not been for the ukraine situation. but frankly, i mean , situation. but frankly, i mean, he says that the flag is divisive . he's he's got there divisive. he's he's got there because he takes all the diversity boxes. let's be honest, i cannot believe that he's the best at this country
1:27 pm
can offer. he is there representing the uk if he finds the flag divisive , if he's the flag divisive, if he's ambivalent about the flag, apparently he is going to wave it.then apparently he is going to wave it. then he really shouldn't be stepping up and doing it. we want somebody who's going to represent wholeheartedly what this country stands for, and if she can't do that, he really shouldn't be there in my view. >> well, there you go. strong stuff from christine, matthew, getting sick and tired really, of hearing celebrities pipe up about how the flag is divisive and how, i mean , the fact he and how, i mean, the fact he says he wants to reclaim it as if it needs reclaiming. by olly alexander i mean a bit narcissistic , isn't it? matthew. narcissistic, isn't it? matthew. >> emily. this makes fantastic content for gb news, doesn't it? thank you. christine much as i enjoy bumping into christine in the gb news green room and we have a very good relationship, she's talking absolute nonsense here. clearly the union jack has certainly in the past been
1:28 pm
highly divisive. i remember going to football games back in the 90s, when it was still a symbol of the bnp and of nationalism, and the un saw it as a symbol of the bnp. >> i mean, of course they used the flag , but the vast majority the flag, but the vast majority of people looking at the union flag never thought, oh, british national party did they? >> come on, matthew, of course, you're much younger than me. >> you wouldn't have been going to football games in the mid 1990s as i was. listen, i'm profound , i am. let me let me profound, i am. let me let me make my point. i am profoundly patriotic. i'm not a nationalist. and there's an important difference . it's not important difference. it's not that i think that we are somehow supreme, but i love my country. i'm deeply proud of it. i would wager a bet, emily, that i've been to more england internationals, football , internationals, football, cricket, rugby than the entire gb news presenting team put together. >> i've been to loads actually, matthew, but but does that mean that i didn't have an issue with the way that the flag used to be portrayed? >> no it doesn't. and by the way
1:29 pm
, all he's saying he's saying he's going to he's going to wave this flag. all he's saying he's going to try to be part of this process of reclaiming it. and by the way, keir starmer, most relevantly and the labour party are likely to form the next government of this country . they government of this country. they are also attempting to reclaim this flag, showing that the labour party is patriotic, but also that the union jack can stand for the whole of britain, whereas it was hijacked for a dark period in the 1980s and 1990s. >> okay, let's throw that back to christine hamilton . is this to christine hamilton. is this actually what the country needs? a new wave of cool britannia, as we saw in 1997, the spice girls, with their union flag dresses making it cool again. is this what alex norris olly alexander is going to do for us? >> no certainly not. that's what he should be doing for us. he should be out there waving the flag for britain. the number of football matches that matthew has been to in the past could not be less relevant to this. this is our national boasting is representing the uk. the thing thatis representing the uk. the thing that is divisive about the flag
1:30 pm
is that it divides us from other countries, and any true brit should be absolutely , incredibly should be absolutely, incredibly proud to be out there flying the flag representing this country. and he wants to reclaim it. what a flaming cheek. who on earth is he to reclaim the flag? we have claimed the flag. it's our flag. it's one of the best flags in the country. and it is a fantastic symbol of everything that's good about this country. and to try and say it represents a far right that is rubbish and he's not going to get he's not going to get anywhere. let's be honest, the song is rubbish, we need somebody who can really, really, wholeheartedly represent this country with every fibre of their being, not this half hearted geek. >> christine, did you think that scooch in two thousand and seven with their with their song that was literally titled flying the flag ? i think they got nil points. >> if you think i even know what you're talking about. i have no
1:31 pm
idea. i said at the beginning. my idea. i said at the beginning. my memories of cliff richard, sandie shaw, they did go to sam ryder last year. we had fabulous people who were really proud to represent this country, and they didn't use it as a platform for their own views. this is not to do with that. this is about trying to win for britain. although honestly, the eurovision is a laughing stock. why is australia in there? >> so you just don't like eurovision. but matthew , eurovision. but matthew, matthew, one of our contestants, was it last year or the year before said they hated britain? >> it's all a bit bizarre, isn't it? it's a sort of cool to say something edgy about not being quite proud of britain, even going so far as to say i hate britain. olly alexander has not said that i must say, but it's a bit of a bit of a trend, isn't it, matthew? >> oh, ali olly alexander has said, is that the flag can be or has been divisive and nationalistic, and to pretend that it hasn't to use that that word that you guys were discussing in the context of the
1:32 pm
rachel reeves press conference just now, to pretend that it hasn't, would be to be gaslighting the viewership, because bringing labour politics into this discussion, of course , into this discussion, of course, the union jack used to be a divisive signal symbol because precisely because it was hijacked by bad people. >> i am all in favour of reclaiming the flag. and this chap olly alexander, by the way, until today, i'd never heard of. >> he is saying heard of ali olly alexander tom? >> no one has. you hadn't heard of it ? all he's saying is that of it? all he's saying is that he will be flying this flag and when he flies it, it will be to represent all the good things about this country. >> and there are many, many great things about our country. and that's why i'm so patriotic, not least, by the way , as i said not least, by the way, as i said on social media, flags a bit dodgy sometimes i think it is just the flag. we have the most beautiful country in europe. >> oh well, there you go. that's a lovely end , christine. we're a lovely end, christine. we're going to have to leave it there because we've come to the end. we'll have to pick this up another day because it was fantastic having you both on
1:33 pm
great fun. christine hamilton, matthew stadlen always great to speak to you. good stuff. excellent. well, there you go. >> yes, it was me, muller, who represented the uk last year, said she hated us with her song. i wrote a song, it was terrible. it was really , really bad. she it was really, really bad. she had the stage presence of a gnat i >>i -- >> i must lam >> i must say, eurovision is isn't really my thing, but i do get why people enjoy it. >> i do have to say i have actually seen olly alexander perform on stage and he's fantastic as he he has stage. i mean, compared to marie muller who just butchered the song, i think he will actually do quite well. he's got stage presence, he's got that sort of pizzazz that perhaps he clearly, he clearly loves the flag he was wearing a union flag bikini top, i think sometimes people just sort of have to say this sort of stuff to placate their twitter followers. >> well, yes, we know he had trouble with the pro—palestine , trouble with the pro—palestine, with some pro—palestinian activists. they were accused, they said he should boycott because israel are taking part in the eurovision. so he got his knickers in a twist over that one. >> one. >> but he's getting rained from both sides. >> he's getting rained from everywhere, coming up , pro gaza
1:34 pm
everywhere, coming up, pro gaza candidates see big gains in the local elections. is this a new force in british politics? we're going to get stuck into that. after your headlines. >> it's 134. after your headlines. >> it's134. i'm sophia wenzler in the gb newsroom. your headlines. downing street has declined to blame a specific state or actor for a cyber attack on the ministry of defence. that's despite earlier reports suggesting china was the prime suspect. it's after a massive hacking attack, compromised bank details and some addresses of serving defence personnel and veterans . defence personnel and veterans. as prime minister rishi sunak says swift action has been taken. >> there are indications that a malign actor has compromised the armed forces payment network, but i do want to reassure people that ministry of defence has already taken action and removing the network offline, taking it offline and making sure that people affected are supported in the right way. now there's a limit to what i can say about this now, but the
1:35 pm
defence secretary will be making a full statement to parliament later today . later today. >> israeli officials will travel to cairo in the coming hours to consider whether the hamas terror group can be persuaded to shift on its latest ceasefire offer. it's after benjamin netanyahu said the terms of the latest offer were far from meeting israel's core demands. latest offer were far from meeting israel's core demands . a meeting israel's core demands. a spokesperson for the us state department insists the deal is still absolutely achievable , and still absolutely achievable, and ukraine's security service says it's caught russian agents within the state guard service who were plotting the assassination of president zelenskyy ukraine says russia's fsb had planned to eliminate the president of ukraine and other top military and political leaders as it comes. on the day the russian president was inaugurated for a fifth term following elections widely seen as illegitimate . and for the as illegitimate. and for the latest story, sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen or go to gb news.
1:36 pm
common alerts . common alerts. >> cheers! britannia wine club proudly sponsors the gb news financial report , and here's financial report, and here's a quick snapshot of today's markets . markets. >> the pound will buy you $1.2547 and ,1.1653. the price of gold is £1,843.25 per ounce, and the ftse 100 is at 8299 points. >> cheers, britannia wine club proudly sponsors the gb news financial report
1:37 pm
1:38 pm
1:39 pm
good afternoon. britain. it's 20 to 2 now. the idf, the israel defence force says that it has now operational control of the
1:40 pm
gaza side of the rafah crossing. it follows what the israeli army say were targeted strikes against hamas in eastern rafah . against hamas in eastern rafah. >> and the ongoing war continues to be a significant issue back home here in the uk, of course, including for the labour leader, sir keir starmer, whose party experienced an almost 18% drop in the party's vote in areas of england where more than a fifth are muslim. a senior labour official has, however, insisted the party wants better lives for palestinian people as it prepares to win back these votes for the general election . for the general election. >> well, let's talk now to former labour party spokesman on james matthewson because, james, it's clear that the labour party is doing very well across the country on the whole. but in certain areas there is definite, a sense that the labour party is going backwards and is losing to independent candidates. green candidates george galloway backed candidates in these specific local areas . this is specific local areas. this is going to be a problem going into
1:41 pm
the future . it is. yeah, undoubtedly. >> and it's something that the party needs to be able to tackle and deal with, i've had messages from friends in recent days asking what the labour party is doing and when it came to the local elections , why they should local elections, why they should still support the labour party when they don't feel that they've been outspoken enough on they've been outspoken enough on the issue of palestinian deaths and the actions of israel in gaza. now, of course, the flip side of this is true because in 2019, when the party was led by jeremy corbyn and, you know, into the local election periods between those 2017, 2019 general elections as well, you know, we saw parliamentary seats falling because of the fact the party was, not supporting the jewish voices in our movement and some of those voices being zionist voices . so, of course, the other voices. so, of course, the other side of this is true, and it's just an example of the party having this coalition of voters that it needs to try and hold
1:42 pm
together and, you know, whether we think north south divides the biggest issue of that or whether it's going to be, you know, along religious lines or around foreign policy lines, it's going to be a challenge for them to hold that coalition together . undoubtedly. >> i mean, how seriously do you think keir starmer is going to be taking this, pressure group called the muslim vote , it's called the muslim vote, it's been all over the press that they've got these 18 demands, for the labour leader . now, they for the labour leader. now, they include things like recognising a palestinian state, cutting off all military ties to israel and so on. but they also include sort of demands for sharia compliant pensions in every workplace and for getting scrapping the extremism definition brought in by michael gove and other things that impact british people more directly . i mean, how seriously directly. i mean, how seriously is he taking this? is he just saying, oh, it's just a pressure group. i don't need to bother about that or, you know , could about that or, you know, could policy change because of this, cohort of voters ? cohort of voters? >> i don't think they'll change policies because of, because of
1:43 pm
that pressure group. if they change policies based on every single pressure group in the country, then they'll be in very difficult situations. same with groups like the green new deal. you know, they've supported independent candidates who are standing against labour and the party's taken a stand against that, not bowed to their pressure on their own thing and still beat those independent candidates at the local election . so i don't think they'll be too concerned. however, there is the question here that the labour party needs to look and sound different to the tories, and there is a moral quandary here because i find it difficult to sit here and say, okay, yes, please support the labour party. i think they're the best vehicle in town, which i do for change in town, which i do for change in britain. however it is very difficult when you see a situation in gaza where 30 over 13,000 children have now been killed and we've got a situation in rafah where israel, you know, has now taken control of those rafah crossings. and we're seeing aid now restricted. and the un speaking out about that . the un speaking out about that. and the you know, the presumably
1:44 pm
keir starmer understands that presumably keir starmer understands that it's incredibly important to have an ally in israel for historical reasons , israel for historical reasons, lie—ins and for current realpolitik . realpolitik. >> it's very important for him to show support for the israeli state. >> there is. you're right. but it's my opinion and the i think the opinion of many people in this country now that allies are not just allowed to get away with anything, you know , friends with anything, you know, friends should be the ones who criticise the actions of friends when they're incorrect. and these are beyond incorrect . what we've beyond incorrect. what we've seen israel do in the past few months is absolutely despicable, and people are angry about it. and to misjudge that, you know, any politician does that at their peril . their peril. >> in my opinion, although, james, we are looking at a country that is very diverse geographically in terms of different areas backing different areas backing different things, keir starmer, knows that lots of labour seats have high jewish populations, but lots of labour seats also have high muslim populations. it's a difficult balancing act,
1:45 pm
and it might be a difficult time for him, given that there are now lots of labour metro mayors across the country that sort of have their own personal mandates, don't have to take the keir starmer line on everything . keir starmer line on everything. it's of note that richard parker, the new, west midlands directly elected mayor who replaced andy street over the weekend, his very first policy tweet was not about bins, not about roads, not about transport, but it was about rafa. it was about the need for a ceasefire in gaza. is that is that , a bit of a ceasefire in gaza. is that is that, a bit of a strange first policy tweet from the mayor of the west midlands? >> i think rather than it being representative of being strange on his his opinions and what he's decided to do, i think it's telling that there's clearly a situation his the, the population that he represents in the west midlands who are really , really concerned about the situation in gaza and about rafa especially. and that shows in
1:46 pm
the policy decisions he's making now, the party will be able to be a bit more hands off with those metro mayors and say, okay, well, they're representative of these areas. that's kind of the beauty of devolution, really , is that they devolution, really, is that they can represent different unique bodies of people around the country. however, there will come a point where there has to be a line and when labour is in government, which it looks like it's heading to be so, it will become even more difficult for them to try and maintain those boundaries. >> yeah. and james, there's quite a lot of accusations, just very quickly, there are accusations that the green party is harbouring sort of jeremy corbyn momentum types. >> of course we've all seen the one of the councillors elected to the lead city councillor, you know, shouting allahu akbar, saying this is for gaza. et cetera. et cetera. do you think that's true? do you think a lot of the sort of momentum types have gone over to the green party ? party? >> i think they've gone all over the place. i mean, i remember we had the northern independence party formed, ironically in brighton , you know, which was brighton, you know, which was which was hilarious, you've got these people kind of splitting off all over the place, starting their own movements . this
1:47 pm
off all over the place, starting their own movements. this is the left. this is what the left does. and for people like myself who believe in left wing politics, but from a pragmatic position, it's very, very difficult. and it's always been an issue of heartbreak for us to be able to say our views aren't represented because people split off all over the place. i think the greens will have some of them. the lib dems will take some of them and they'll go all over the shop. they really will. >> well, and the people's front of judea and the judean people's front, well , james matthewson, front, well, james matthewson, former labour party spokesman, really appreciate your time . really appreciate your time. >> thank you. yes. >> thank you. yes. >> so coming up, an m&s burglar has become the first person to be jailed under a private prosecution . varne. what does prosecution. varne. what does this mean? and what does it say about, the police? this is good afternoon, britain. we're on .
1:48 pm
1:49 pm
1:50 pm
gb news.
1:51 pm
>> good afternoon. britain. it's just gone . 10 to 2. now. here's just gone. 10 to 2. now. here's one for you. a burglar who broke into an m&s shop and stole £500 worth of steaks, as well as 20 bottles of prosecco. >> standard night in. >> standard night in. >> i don't know how he all fit it out. anyway, he's become the first shoplifter to be jailed in a private prosecution . a private prosecution. >> yes. >> yes. >> david hanson, he had 105 previous convictions as nice guy, including 33 burglaries, was caught in the act and arrested by two detectives from arrested by two detectives from a private policing company. the ons say shoplifting is at its highest level since records began , so what do you say to began, so what do you say to this, tom? a private prosecutor was needed in order to investigate shoplifting. >> and this guy, 105 previous convictions, 33 burglaries that we know of , that he's been found we know of, that he's been found to do. i mean, surely this guy is a menace. should be behind bars. you'd think that that would be something that the
1:52 pm
police would be interested in doing. but no , it was a private doing. but no, it was a private firm, called the tm! operation. this private investigating firm . this private investigating firm. well, david mckelvey, who helps run the firm, he told the telegraph that the lesson here, the lesson is that every burglary deserves an investigation because there's always an opportunity to solve the case. if you take the time to do the basics. >> so presumably a little bit of cctv watching you identify the culprit, the suspect, and then you have a little look through the records, the police records, and you find, oh, hang on a minute. he's got 105 previous convictions, including 33 burglaries by joe. i think we've got him. >> yes. and here's the thing. it's the basics. it's not doing anything more than what they did. they recognised him on cctv and they saw that he usually went to the same places he went to the same haunts as they told the telegraph. and then they arrested him. i mean, this is not beyond the wit of man. it's
1:53 pm
the very basic level of policing. and yet the police couldn't do it. in this case, it took a private prosecution . they didn't. >> the met police come out, what, a few months ago and say we will investigate every single crime , no no no no no. crime, no no no no no. >>— crime, no no no no no. >> they said we will attend every single. >> no i said they said we'll follow up on leads for every single crime , we'll have to fact single crime, we'll have to fact check that because i don't want to tell you wrong phrase that they used was attend, because then sometimes i think it was more than that. investigate every single crime, but quite extraordinary. also, the absolute cheek to nick 500 steaks and 20 bottles of prosecco, it's obviously to sort of to, to sell them on, but it's such a, it's such an odd thing. >> and what you think he just wasn't planning to, you know fry the moppet. >> yeah. >> yeah. >> all of the steaks himself. but but but this is, this is the fundamental point with crime in this country. it is a small proportion of people who do the vast majority of crime. and just rounding up the wrong ones would do a lot to solve. there was
1:54 pm
there was one police force in a london borough who found one bicycle thieving team and managed to lock them away and something like 80% of bicycle thefts fell away. it was a miraculous few wrong'uns. it's just a small number of people doing a huge amount of the crime. you get, you doing a huge amount of the crime. you get , you get those crime. you get, you get those wrong'uns out. >> i should say tom should say that actually this tmi, this private company has already successfully prosecuted 280 shoplifters. >> but this case is the first time they've successfully mounted a prosecution against a burglar. so they're getting more, they're getting better at their their job. >> clearly. definitely. >> clearly. definitely. >> well, i mean, clearly, the answer here is more private investigations. maybe we just need a private , police force. need a private, police force. privatise it. >> well, privatise the police . >> well, privatise the police. yay or nay? >> coming up. is sunak finally sunk? that's a rather big question to end the hour on, but we'll be back in a very short time . time. >> a brighter outlook with boxt
1:55 pm
solar, sponsors of weather on . solar, sponsors of weather on. gb news. >> hello again. here's your latest gb news weather from the met office. whilst there will be a bit of rain, particularly across northwest and scotland this week, for many it's looking largely dry. that's because we have high pressure currently to the southwest of us, but this is going to build and dominate the weather across the uk as we go through this week. that being said, there are a few showers around at the moment. most of those will ease as we go through the end of the day, taking us into a pretty dry night. there will be some clear skies developing, allowing for a few mist and fog patches to develop both inland where we get the clear skies , and also around clear skies, and also around some more coastal parts too. but temperatures aren't going to drop a huge amount, most places staying in low double figures or perhaps high single figures in some areas as we go through wednesday itself. then a bit of rain, then pushing into parts of northwest and scotland, perhaps fringing the far northwest of northern ireland too, otherwise staying dry apart from 1 or 2
1:56 pm
showers around and we are going to see some decent bright sunny weather too. it may not be wall to wall blue skies, but most of us will see some sunshine at times. temperatures in the sunshine are going to rise quite nicely, many places getting into the high teens or even low 20 celsius. as we look ahead to thursday. and it's a similar day, perhaps a little bit more rain across, more central northern parts of scotland, but elsewhere across england , wales elsewhere across england, wales and northern ireland, plenty of fine, bright weather to be had and still some warm sunshine. more warm sunshine to come as we go through friday and into the weekend. by saturday, temperatures likely to be in the low to mid 20s. see you later ! low to mid 20s. see you later! >> that warm feeling inside from boxt boiler . >> that warm feeling inside from boxt boiler. sponsors of weather on
1:57 pm
1:58 pm
1:59 pm
gb news. >> good afternoon. britain. it's 2:00 on tuesday, the 7th of may. >> now, after china's accused of
2:00 pm
cyber attack on the ministry of defence data, the prime minister says he's taking robust action to ensure britain's security isn't jeopardised. the defence secretary is up to give an update later, so stay tuned. >> more than 21,000 asylum seekers have gone missing in britain over the last five years. that's according to official figures obtained from the home office. we're asking where on earth are they ? where on earth are they? >> and meanwhile, the european union is looking to copy britain by signing rwanda style deals with other african countries . with other african countries. we'll have the details and ensuring that scenes like this aren't repeated during euro 2024. >> senior officers reveal how they'll prevent football hoougans they'll prevent football hooligans travelling to germany for this year's tournament. >> i mean, the euros can be absolute carnage . oh, it can be. absolute carnage. oh, it can be. i mean, the absolute hooliganism that you saw on the streets last
2:01 pm
time. i think when we lost, was. yes, more than bad behaviour. >> yes. i mean, i sort of do see how people are all swept up in the revelling. they're all drinking . drinking. >> they're all like a bit of a bit of hooliganism. >> no, ijust bit of hooliganism. >> no, i just think i just think the occasional person standing on a bus stop or climbing a lamppost , it's not. it's not the lamppost, it's not. it's not the end of the world. the problem is when it becomes , violent. and when it becomes, violent. and i think in some small, isolated cases it did, which is obviously unacceptable. >> yeah. >> yeah. >> so mark white, our home security editor, has been listening to what, these senior officers are going to say about how they're going to prevent football hooligans , from football hooligans, from travelling to germany for this year's tournament official foreign office advice for brits going to germany, which was which was, yes . which was, yes. >> don't, don't don't think the beeris >> don't, don't don't think the beer is the same percentage it is in the uk. be be wary of the beer because it's more alcoholic. i don't know how that was supposed to put people off. perhaps that was doing precisely the opposite. >> maybe these senior officials will shed a bit more light on
2:02 pm
actual things that are going to change the behaviour of some of our football fans, but there you go. gbnews.com/yoursay on any of the topics that we're talking about this hour, but let's get the headlines. >> good afternoon. it's 2:02. i'm sophia wenzler in the gb newsroom . i'm the shadow newsroom. i'm the shadow chancellor, says britain's economy is in a worse state than many people think. in a speech in london earlier, rachel reeves said the conservative government isn't being honest with voters . isn't being honest with voters. >> the conservatives are gaslighting the british public. they say. we've turned a corner and they ask people to stick with the conservative party. but it is those very conservative who are set to leave the average household. £870 worse off through stealth taxes and increases in council tax . the
2:03 pm
increases in council tax. the prime minister claims that he is delivering for the country , but delivering for the country, but the british people did not order what this prime minister is delivering now. >> downing street has declined to blame a specific state or actor for a cyber attack on the ministry of defence . that's ministry of defence. that's despite earlier reports suggesting china was the prime suspect. it's after a massive hacking attack compromise bank details and some addresses of serving defence personnel and veterans. prime minister rishi sunak says swift action has been taken . taken. >> there are indications that a malign actor has compromised the armed forces payment network, but i do want to reassure people that ministry of defence has already taken action and removing the network offline, taking it offline and making sure that people affected are supported in the right way. now there's a limit to what i can say about this now, but the defence secretary will be making a full statement to parliament later today . later today. >> in other news, israeli
2:04 pm
officials will travel to cairo soon to consider whether the hamas terror group can be persuaded to shift on its latest ceasefire offer. it's after benjamin netanyahu said the terms of the latest offer were far from meeting israel's core demands. the talks are reported to have stumbled over hamas's refusal to free more hostages without a compromise of a permanent end to the conflict. a spokesperson for the us state department insists the deal is still absolutely achievable . still absolutely achievable. police have issued more than 2000 banning orders for england football fans ahead of the euros in germany, authorities believe more than 300,000 england supporters could to travel germany. fans who are banned will have to surrender their passports from june until the end of the tournament in mid—july. it comes against a backdrop of increasing football related disorder in england and wales, with arrests at nine year high house prices . have largely
2:05 pm
high house prices. have largely plateaued for the first part of the year. that's according to a new report from halifax. the price of the average british home rose by 0.1% in april, after falling by 0.9% in march, the lender says. the data reflects a housing market finding its feet in an era of higher interest rates. children in scotland who question their gender are being referred to identity clinics because doctors are fearful of what's being described as a toxic debate. doctor hilary cass was speaking at the scottish parliament's health committee this morning after her study into gender services in england. she said there was fearfulness among doctors who don't know how to treat the gender issues that some children are facing. doctor cass told the committee that the toxic nature of the gender debate means medical professions are afraid of doing or saying the wrong thing, leaving many young people with inadequate care . a man who was arrested in care. a man who was arrested in preston on sunday has been charged with organising small boat crossings in the channel iranian national amaan hassan
2:06 pm
zada, who's 34, is expected to appear before preston magistrates later today. he was questioned by the national crime agency and charged with two counts of facilitating illegal immigration. it's in relation to two crossings made from france to the uk in november and december of last year. ukraine's security service says it's caught russian agents within the state guard service who were plotting the assassination of president zelenskyy. ukraine says russia's fsb had planned to eliminate the president of ukraine and other top military and political leaders. it comes on the day the russian president was inaugurated for a fifth term following elections widely seen as illegitimate . and things are as illegitimate. and things are getting musical in malmo today as the 68th eurovision gets underway, britain's olly alexander will be among those vying for the top prize . but he vying for the top prize. but he admits victory could be a long shot, with odds favouring
2:07 pm
croatia, switzerland and ukraine as many as 100,000 visitors are set to descend on the city in sweden's southwest for the world's largest live music contest . and for the latest contest. and for the latest stories, sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen or go to gb news. com slash alerts. now it's back to tom and . to tom and. emily. >> good afternoon britain. it's 2:07 now. the prime minister has spoken in the last hour about the alleged cyber attack on the ministry of defence . that data ministry of defence. that data breach by china rishi sunak says that he's taking the matter seriously and is acting to ensure britain's security isn't at risk from hostile states. >> well, there are indications that a malign actor has compromised the armed forces payment network, but i do want to reassure people that ministry
2:08 pm
of defence has already taken action and removing the network offline, taking it offline and making sure that people affected are supported in the right way. now there's a limit to what i can say about this now, but the defence secretary will be making a full statement to parliament later today. >> i'm sure they're feeling reassured and reassured. >> reassured? >> reassured? >> reassured. well, the defence secretary, grant shapps, is going to update mps a little later on on that hacking of the database containing those details of armed forces personnel. now, china has been accused of being behind this. indeed, prime minister rishi sunak said china has fundamentally different values to ours. >> well, the third party payroll system that was hacked potentially compromised the bank details of those serving personnel and some veterans. but the spokesperson for the chinese embassy in the uk said that this so—called cyber attack against the uk completely fabricated and malicious slanders against china. >> yes, they're having none of it. they're having none of it, no, and, you'll be able to watch the statement from grant shapps
2:09 pm
live on gb news a little bit later, but let's cross over to the ministry of defence because gb's political correspondent olivia utley is there for us. so we're being told to feel reassured by the government. are we going to get bit, get a bit more detail from grant shapps ? more detail from grant shapps? >> well, it's all a bit awkward for grant shapps and rishi sunak . as you said there, china has flatly denied the allegation and although almost everyone believes that china was behind this security breach, the level of evidence that a minister would have to get before he or she is able to stand up and say yes, this was definitively the fault of china is very high indeed, and it could take months or even potentially years to obtain. so grant shapps hands are sort of tied . this afternoon are sort of tied. this afternoon we're expecting to hear a statement where he tries to reassure those military personnel and reassure the british public that all that was breached were these names and addresses and in some cases, bank details not, for example, sort of sensitive information on ministry of defence computers,
2:10 pm
but obviously it does raise difficult questions for rishi sunak, in the future. he has always been quite dovish on china, he said. it's important to maintain economic ties with china. it's important to work with china on issues such as climate change. he's called china a challenge, but he won't go as far as to call it a threat . over the next few weeks, i expect we'll see lots of conservative backbenchers put a lot of pressure on the prime minister to go that step further and to designate china as a threat will he or won't he? my instinct is that he will probably hold off. but of course, as we know only too well, the prime minister is in a very, very precarious position politically at the moment , very, very precarious position politically at the moment, and he really, really can't afford to anger his backbenchers . to anger his backbenchers. >> and there's a considerable number, a significant number of his backbenchers and also senior conservatives, who have essentially been begging him to upped defence spending and asking him, asking him to take this threat far more seriously than the government has so far. quite a lot of pressure , a huge
2:11 pm
quite a lot of pressure, a huge amount of pressure. >> the government has now pledged to raise defence spending by a little bit, but not as much as most conservative backbenchers would like to see. it will be really interesting to see how labour responds to this as well, because there's a lot of pressure on labour to raise defence spending to that 3% and that all important 3% number. so far, labour haven't gone as far as to do that, but it could be that this is what pushes them forwards. we know that labour are very much trying to steal the conservative clothes on defence, which is an issue which traditionally people trust the conservatives. more on might it be that now this breach has taken place? labour feels that it could gain some ground by promising to up that defence spending to 3? >> well, thank you very much indeed. >> well, thank you very much indeed . olivia utley gb news, indeed. olivia utley gb news, political correspondent there in central london, outside the ministry of defence. we'll be bringing you that statement from the defence secretary, grant shapps. will he, change policy in any way towards china? >> lots of lots of calls for all
2:12 pm
sorts of sanctions. but could, could our economy take it? yeah. let's go back to that story. we brought you a little bit earlier. however, this burglar who broke into an m&s shop stealing £500 worth of steaks and 20 bottles of prosecco , and 20 bottles of prosecco, well, he's become the first shoplifter burglar to be jailed in a private prosecution. >> yes , he had 105 previous >> yes, he had 105 previous convictions . >> yes, he had 105 previous convictions. he's just a few. and that included 33 burglaries. and that included 33 burglaries. and he was caught in the act and arrested by two detectives from arrested by two detectives from a private police in company . a private police in company. >> well, the ons say shoplifting is now it's its highest level since records began. so do we need more private prosecutions like this, or should the police just be doing their job well, joining us now is retired scotland yard detective inspector hamish brown . hamish, inspector hamish brown. hamish, i'm staggered reading the quotes from the private prosecutors behind here. all they did was look at the cctv, saw this
2:13 pm
person was a repeat offender, and when he turned up again, arrest him . why is that so hard arrest him. why is that so hard for the police to do ? for the police to do? >> well, i think first of all, it's got to be said that anyone can take out a private prosecution. >> prosecution if they want. the cps can railroad it and take it oven over. >> oven >> that's their call. but this one clearly succeeds . and one clearly succeeds. and prolific offender. he went to prison for 12 months, quite a long time, really . and your long time, really. and your questions are very valid. one, you know, as the public are sitting back and saying, well, wait a minute. >> the man was caught. >> the man was caught. >> why is it a private prosecution which the store marks and spencer's, i believe will have to pay for? >> that can't be right. but the police, on the other hand, will say we've got so many commitments we can't keep on called out to shoplifters. but this was not a shoplifter. it was burglary. he entered property as a trespass. he broke in and stole and it was a luxury goods. >> it was was a prosecco and
2:14 pm
t—bone steaks. >> it was £500 worth. >> it was £500 worth. >> so that doesn't strike me as someone on the breadline. >> admittedly , he might have >> admittedly, he might have gonein >> admittedly, he might have gone in there to sell it. >> i don't know the person's background, but very often that there is a drug connection with it. >> but that having been said to expect the police to turn up and if someone's been caught to do something about it. so i urge them to read , consider their them to read, consider their stance on this, because it frankly , it looks utterly frankly, it looks utterly ridiculous. >> yeah. and it also causes an intimidatory atmosphere for just general , normal people trying to general, normal people trying to go for their shop. i mean, many of us will have experiences of essentially just watching people shoplift and nothing happening at all. but hamish , may i ask at all. but hamish, may i ask you just because i have no idea, and i'm sure some of our viewers and i'm sure some of our viewers and listeners don't either. private prosecutors, these private companies do. they work totally separately from the police, or do they work hand in
2:15 pm
hand sometimes? do the police mind these private prosecutors coming in and arresting people ? coming in and arresting people? >> well, there's always been private prosecutions. there's always been security people , always been security people, notably on the fraud side. certainly and i remember as a young pc going to court , the young pc going to court, the shoplifting cases were presented by private solicitors and barristers , and the police barristers, and the police officer was called to give any previous convictions the defendant might have. so this isn't new, but there's a cost to people and that has got to be wrong. and i echo your concern about feeling intimidated, frightened when this is happening around you in a shop because you don't know if you should intervene. >> i would say don't let leave it to the appropriate security people . people. >> and this also, this is why people might jump in a sense of unfairness. people work hard, pay unfairness. people work hard,
2:16 pm
pay their taxes and go to a supermarket and pay their money. that's how it works or should work. >> and this can't be right. >> and this can't be right. >> and this can't be right. >> and as i said earlier, very often, not in all cases, but very often the goods are stolen to sell on and there's a drug connection. so even more reason police should get involved, they should go to court. and if it's necessary to have community orders with drug rehabilitation requirements and all the other things, so be it. but no action is not acceptable. in my opinion i >> absolutely not, absolutely not. and we're seeing too much of that , which is probably why of that, which is probably why shoplifting is at record highs, or at least part of the problem. hamish, thank you very much for joining us. hamish brown , joining us. hamish brown, retired scotland yard detective inspector. yes. i never really thought about private prosecutions, but clearly it's , prosecutions, but clearly it's, it's quite a big thing that's going on behind the scenes and also quite important because as you say, there are so many examples. >> you can see videos of this even when sometimes there's a
2:17 pm
police officer on site or at least when there are security guards on site. people just take stuff from the shelves and walk out and nothing is done . or even out and nothing is done. or even these videos where people go and start smashing up shelves , start smashing up shelves, throwing wine off the shelves and making a tremendous mess and causing hundreds, if not thousands of pounds of damage . thousands of pounds of damage. and people just sort of stay away from them. >> i wonder what someone like this who's stealing, you know, high value products like steaks and prosecco. i wonder if they've got a deal. maybe with a restaurant or something sell it on, or whether they're just going one by one. >> they'll be selling. >> they'll be selling. >> selling one by one of a lorry. >> maybe it's the kind of roll up, roll up £5. i think when you talk to anyone who's dealt with prosecution of these kinds of people or has rested, shoplifters , it's a very shoplifters, it's a very different story to the sort of story you often hear in the media. oh, people are shoplifting because they're poon shoplifting because they're poor. they're desperate for food. they can't afford to feed themselves. no, they're not. they're taking 20 bottles of prosecco and £500 worth of
2:18 pm
steaks. they're not eating that. they're selling it on. and it's all to do with gangs. it's all to do with drugs. it's all career criminals. it's not people . it's not. it's not some people. it's not. it's not some street urchin in victorian london taking an apple because he can't. because he's hungry. that's not the shoplifting we're talking about. >> it's not a scene out of les miserables. or is it, no . miserables. or is it, no. >> i stole a loaf of bread. >> i stole a loaf of bread. >> i stole a loaf of bread. >> i stole a loaf of bread, no. yes. this is just a business strategy. an illegal business strategy. an illegal business strategy. anyway coming up, is the european union trying to steal the uk's rwanda policy ? steal the uk's rwanda policy? ursula von der elianne seems mighty keen on a very, very curiously similar scheme. good afternoon britain. we're on .
2:19 pm
2:20 pm
2:21 pm
gb news. well. good afternoon. britain. it is 222 in the afternoon, and we want to get to some of your views because we certainly do. >> we had a bit of a feisty
2:22 pm
debate earlier. >> a proper ding dong between a christine hamilton and matthew stadlen over this olly alexander. he's our eurovision candidate . what do you call him? candidate. what do you call him? you called him a candidate. >> he's a candidate. >> he's a candidate. >> i've politics on the brain. >> i've politics on the brain. >> representative contestant. contestant. >> there we go. contestant, contestant. and he said. he said he wants to reclaim , the union he wants to reclaim, the union flag. he wants to reclaim our flag. he wants to reclaim our flag because it's can be seen as divisive and nationalistic. we had a bit of a debate on that. sean says the flag doesn't need reclaiming . it's been used as an reclaiming. it's been used as an iconic symbol in fashion music culture in the uk and around the world. tell a british soldier that it's a symbol of division. there you go. strong stuff . there you go. strong stuff. >> no, it's certainly seems that a lot of people are on the side of christine hamilton. >> yes, claudet said. what flag is not nationalistic, i ask you , is not nationalistic, i ask you, but this is the thing, isn't it? >> and . pj, pj, nobby, is that >> and. pj, pj, nobby, is that your real name? you cannot huack your real name? you cannot hijack the national flag because it represents the nations of the uk. how can someone hijack the
2:23 pm
word scotland , for example? word scotland, for example? >> no, it is a national flag of course. it's to some extent nationalistic. i mean, my goodness , i suppose i just, i goodness, i suppose ijust, i thought when matthew said all but you know, the bnp used it. i mean, that doesn't mean that everyone looks at the flag and thinks of the british national party , is it? party, is it? >> no, i don't think. i don't think anyone looks at the union flag. i mean, i can i can actually i can understand why some people look at the england flag and has that connotation, although to me it doesn't have that connotation to me it seems that connotation to me it seems that sort of hooligans more often appropriate the england flag than the union flag. yeah. >> so that was utter tosh in my view. and catherine thinks the same. she says, what are tosh? our flag doesn't need to be reclaimed. so there you go. strong stuff from you at home. yes. good debate nonetheless. >> definitely a good debate. although it was interesting. we also spoke a little bit about the labour party's issues with these demands from, from from a muslim group, these 17 demands on keir starmer that he must recognise 18 demands. i must
2:24 pm
have forgotten one, that he must. >> i'm not gonna ask you to list them. >> palestine. that doesn't exist. but my favourite one was. was this , sharia, pension funds was this, sharia, pension funds demand. on go on. yes. that all companies should have sharia pension funds, which i actually think is a brilliant idea. >> go on then. >> go on then. >> okay. or at least it might not be in going into the future. because of course, past performance doesn't always mean , performance doesn't always mean, that it's going to continue that way. but my goodness, sharia pension funds in the last 15 years have done amazingly well compared to other pension funds, because they're not allowed to accrue any interest. so they don't have any bonds or anything or any savings that accrue interest . instead, they're all interest. instead, they're all interest. instead, they're all in equities, which have done very, very well and mixed funds have done less well. so it's a bit of a quirk of the low interest rate environment that we've had over the last 15 years or so that sharia funds have actually done stonkingly amazingly well. well, there you go. >> there's a policy that tom harwood getting behind and, very interesting. gbnews.com/yoursay
2:25 pm
perhaps these sharia pension funds aren't such a bad idea, although in a high interest rate environment, they would be a terrible idea. >> so, you know, it's. yeah >> so, you know, it's. yeah >> there you go. there you go. past performance does not always indicate future performance. there you go. >> you don't get you don't get better investment advice. we do not give investment advice anyway . absolutely not. shall we anyway. absolutely not. shall we get to some curious news from the continent now? because the president of the european commission, ursula von der lie—in, has explained how the eu is seeking third country investment and migration deals with african countries like tunisia and egypt . tunisia and egypt. >> does that sound familiar. ursula von der elianne added that these deals mean europeans are the ones who decide who comes to the european union, and under what circumstance . under what circumstance. >> his tough talk, it should said that it should be said that these are deals being sought, not yet in effect . but of not yet in effect. but of course, this all comes as the european elections near next month and tensions are brewing across the eu over growing numbers of migrants.
2:26 pm
>> yes, well, president of the french anti—european union group reprenant le controle, charles—henri gaulois joins us now. thank you very much for joining us. charles henry , joining us. charles henry, really great to speak to you. is this a change of tone from ursula von der elianne, and how do the french people view this ? do the french people view this? >> i think you split the right. i mean, the european election coming over. so they know that europeans and french people in particular are quite fed up about mass immigration. so they are trying to say tough elements and to say we are going like to do a round like , scheme. but if do a round like, scheme. but if you look at the at the reality as a european, they are just passed, the asylum and migration pact, which will allow the eu to , let's say, share and allocate migrants. between the different countries. and you have nothing to say . otherwise you will have to say. otherwise you will have to say. otherwise you will have to pay a 20,000, fine per
2:27 pm
migrant. you refuse . and if you migrant. you refuse. and if you listen to the commission members, mrjohnson, listen to the commission members, mr johnson, for example, you know that they are more or less 3 million, migrants per year, legal migration within the eu. and she said that in the coming years, due to, all the population , we shall lose 1 population, we shall lose 1 million more. so to have 4 million more. so to have 4 million people coming each year. so, i mean, the act and the reality are quite different from, what von der leyen is saying right now, just before the european elections. >> yes, there must be an election coming up close. often politicians do this when the elections come up close. but i suppose if it is true that they are seeking these sorts of deals, it is a quite a large smack of hypocrisy, really, because we've heard a lot of european leaders say that the british rwanda scheme is a is a dreadful anti—european thing
2:28 pm
that goes against the values of the continent and now, just before an election, they're sort of saying they'll do the same thing now, whether or not they deliver it is another question. but clearly it's saying one thing outside of election time and a different thing when they need to go to their own voters . need to go to their own voters. >> you're right. i think maybe they have seen the polls. i mean, there have been a poll in france, regarding a rwanda scheme , and there was something scheme, and there was something like 70% of french people that say, we agree with that kind of scheme. you know, it's not a not a big deal. and you had all the big mainstream media and all the euro fanatics such as macron parties say it's inhuman against human rights and so on. but i mean , the french people, they mean, the french people, they know what's good and what's not good.i know what's good and what's not good. i mean, there are two solutions. you can, as you did , solutions. you can, as you did, outsource this issue and the asylum process . yes. or i think asylum process. yes. or i think which is even better in just to, to expose each illegal migrants
2:29 pm
and to say, i mean, if you want to ask for asylum, you can only do it in your own country. to ask for asylum, you can only do it in your own country . and do it in your own country. and to do it, for example, in the french embassy of your country , french embassy of your country, so you don't have to outsource anything. but i'm in both solutions can work, and it's quite funny , as you said, to see quite funny, as you said, to see all the ones that were criticising this scheme. now they say maybe we should do it, but at the eu scheme it will be wonderful. when it was only a national scheme. it's awful. >> yes, it was , macron who said >> yes, it was, macron who said that it's against, european values . i can't remember what, values. i can't remember what, what platform he was on for that particular comment, but he said it, interesting. ursula von der leyen saying europeans are the ones who decide who comes to the european union and under what circumstances. i mean, do the french people believe believe that or. >> no, i think they don't believe any wall of peace, because as you as i said, there is a migration pact and, you know, the eu, whether it's
2:30 pm
within the schengen area or even it is a legal migration policy, with the family scheme to have more migrants. when you look at the fact it's quite different from, from what they say, i mean, maybe just it's because it's before an election, maybe as, the rwanda scheme for, for the conservative party because they see that now reform uk is going up. so and if you look at the reality of the figures, legal migration has increased in the uk over the past years. so i think it's maybe just a reaction before election. and it's thanks to reform uk here and it's thanks to, let's say eurosceptic parties in the eu that they are now moving to this, but i don't think they will really act just that, just waiting for the election. and we will see what what's next. >> well, thank you very much indeed for your time. charles—henri gallois, who is , charles—henri gallois, who is, president of the french anti—european union group europe rhiannon le control. >> yeah. it's really, really
2:31 pm
interesting that, looking at all of these polls , the european of these polls, the european union parliament is going to be, not not in a majority, but perhaps in the largest set of sort of parties of the right that has ever been elected to that has ever been elected to that parliament in this election . now, of course, the parliament doesn't really get to say doesn't really get to say doesn't have that much control. in fact, in the in the 2019 elections, it was none of the lead candidates of any political group that became the commission president. the council just imposed ursula von der lie—in. the parliament was able to vote yes or no and no other choices. >> the european union, the european commission is the is the beast with the power. but it'd be interesting if there are more and more eurosceptics within the european parliament. what does that look like for the future of the european union ? i future of the european union? i mean, how much longer can they continue as is if the parliament is packed with people who don't believe that the european union should exist ? right. but perhaps should exist? right. but perhaps that's getting ahead of ourselves. but coming up, pro—palestine activists are accused of disrupting a
2:32 pm
holocaust memorial march. does this show that some of these pro—palestine protests are spiralling out of control ? spiralling out of control? >> and the march was at auschwitz. this pretty horrendous stuff. >> incredible. your latest headunes. headlines. >> it's 232. i'm sophia wenzler in the gb news room. your headlines. the shadow chancellor says britain's economy is in a worse state than many people think . in a worse state than many people think. in a speech in london earlier, rachel reeves said the government isn't being honest with voters, citing the prime minister's claims that britain has turned a corner. she said voters need to ask themselves whether they feel better off after 14 years of the tories . after 14 years of the tories. downing street has declined to blame a specific state or actor for a cyber attack on the ministry of defence . that's ministry of defence. that's despite earlier reports suggesting china was the prime suspect. it's after a massive hacking attack compromised td
2:33 pm
bank details and some addresses of serving defence personnel and veterans. prime minister rishi sunak says swift action has been taken . taken. >> there are indications that a malign actor has compromised the armed forces payment network, but i do want to reassure people that ministry of defence has already taken action and removing the network for offline, taking it offline and making sure that people affected are supported in the right way. now there's a limit to what i can say about this now, but the defence secretary will be making a full statement to parliament later today . later today. >> house prices have largely plateaued for the first part of the year. that's according to a new report from halifax. the price of an average british home rose by 0.1% in april after falling by 0.9% in march, the lender says the data reflects a housing market finding its feet in an era of higher interest rates . and for the latest rates. and for the latest stories, sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code
2:34 pm
on your screen, or go to gb news. carmelites .
2:35 pm
2:36 pm
2:37 pm
>> good afternoon. britain. it's 2:37 now. an extraordinary story here. pro—palestinian protesters disrupted a remembrance march to honour the victims of nazi atrocities at the site of the auschwitz concentration camp. >> yes, demonstrators. they chanted slogans, displayed palestinian banners and flags reading stop genocide. some even wore yellow badges in the shape of stars, which appear to resemble those that the nazi authorities forced jews to wear. shortly after the german invasion of poland back in 1939. >> well, we can now speak with the israeli journalist yotam
2:38 pm
confino, because yotam , this is confino, because yotam, this is an annual march that happens at auschwitz. it honours the memory of the 6 million jews killed in in the worst atrocity of human history. and it's being protested . protested. >> yeah. i thought we reached rock bottom when jewish students were barred from entering certain areas on campuses in the united states. but apparently there is a new low and that is going to auschwitz to demonstrate against holocaust survivors with nothing to do with what's happening in in gaza, it also, we have to also , gaza, it also, we have to also, mention that some of those who participated in the march of living this year were survivors from the october 7th massacre and some, some of whom lost people on october the 7th. and i i'm yet to understand what the purpose of this, protest is,
2:39 pm
other than being extremely anti—semitic. it has nothing to do with palestinian lives with a two state solution, with anything . it's just blatant anything. it's just blatant anti—semitism and, it's not the only example. of course, this is as, as as disrespectful as it gets . but we see a lot of very, gets. but we see a lot of very, very atrocious, marches across the world, with, with blatant anti—semitism. london is, of course, one of those places . course, one of those places. >> and let's be frank, aside from this horrific display, protests are erupting across the entirety of the world. they have been for months. they have been in months since this all, kicked off, benjamin netanyahu , how how off, benjamin netanyahu, how how is he speaking to the public about all this? i mean, huge criticism from leaders across the world to their actions, what's he saying? >> so netanyahu has, as
2:40 pm
expected, condemned many of those, protests , especially at those, protests, especially at the us campuses, because the signs of anti—semitism have been so clear, they have had signs, free zones. they've called on hamas to bomb israel. they've called on hamas to assassinate israelis. they are chanting hamas slogans , it's so vile that hamas slogans, it's so vile that the state of israel has to react when jews are being threatened the way they are. and we've also seen mob like mentality in new york, for example, on the streets, not on campuses, but on the streets where people attack jews. we've seen the same in london, we've seen it in paris, we've seen it so many places , we've seen it so many places, even even in denmark, where i'm from, which is a relatively small country , with a very tiny small country, with a very tiny jewish community. but the anti—semitism there is just extreme. i've experienced it myself, but i know that the community is struggling a lot with this, including, during demonstrations on sunday, for
2:41 pm
example, demonstrators at a pro—palestinian march vandalised the jewish memorial from, from world war ii the jewish memorial from, from world war i! again has nothing to do with gaza. has you're not targeting the right people. you're targeting jews. and they should not be punished for what's happening in gaza. >> and it's such a difficult thing here because, of course , thing here because, of course, there is a huge amount of suffering in gaza, rafah, of course, was entered , in the last course, was entered, in the last 24 hours. what's the very latest with the peace negotiations? because there's been a lot of confusing headlines about whether a peace agreement had been reached or it hadn't been reached, who'd agreed to what? where are we? >> confusing headline is a very good way to frame this, it's sad to see how easily hamas manipulates the media every time hamas issues a statement. it is being repeated word for word, as if it's the truth. so yesterday hamas said we have agreed to a
2:42 pm
ceasefire proposal, and the whole world thought, whoa, there's a ceasefire now. and everyone was caught by surprise. now that's not what happened. hamas came with a new ceasefire proposal , hamas came with a new ceasefire proposal, which they hamas came with a new ceasefire proposal , which they knew was proposal, which they knew was unacceptable. basically, they just stuck to their core demands, which is full israeli withdrawal from gaza and a permanent ceasefire, something they have been sticking to for months. there was nothing new about what they said yesterday . about what they said yesterday. so not only did they mislead the media, they also managed to single handedly put the ball into netanyahu's court as if he's now supposed to turn down, a ceasefire, which technically he is. but there is nothing in this proposal that shows an iota of flexibility. so that's what happened yesterday. and then, of course , the operations in rafah course, the operations in rafah have have begun , israel has have have begun, israel has killed some 20 terrorists in the past 24 hours. we also hear about civilians being killed . we about civilians being killed. we knew that that was going to happen because there are so many civilians in this area. so it's just a disaster waiting to
2:43 pm
unfold, really. >> and what about the issue of aid? many people are rightly concerned that the people in gaza aren't receiving the aid that they desperately need , the that they desperately need, the idf is saying that the crossing is open. british charities are saying, well, one british charity at least is saying that actually no humanitarian humanitarian aid is getting in. >> so the whole issue about humanitarian aid is one of the most difficult to cover and to understand, because there's so much misinformation that's spreading. it's true that, of course, there are certain areas in gaza where humanitarian in needis in gaza where humanitarian in need is needed . it goes without need is needed. it goes without saying that there are areas where some people are experiencing starvation. but if you look at the amount of aid that comes in every day, hundreds of trucks between 3 to 400 trucks every day from several different border crossings. now, israel shut one of the crossings because hamas fired rockets two days ago at the border crossing, killing
2:44 pm
four soldiers. but under normal circumstances, hundreds of trucks get in every day. there is a pier being built specifically for aid, which is supposed to be done tomorrow. built by the united states. aid is being dropped from the air, but we know that hamas is taking some of this aid. the united states said it two days ago that some of the aid that entered one of the crossing was hijacked by hamas. and we've known this for months for some reason. and i'm also yet to understand that the ngos who had zero blame on hamas, none. they don't hold them responsible for hijacking any aid. but all blame goes to israel, which is maybe failing to do a good job. but at least they're trying to get some of they're trying to get some of the aid in. and this is one of the aid in. and this is one of the things that i think we'll look back at on this war as being one of the, the, the most unfair, coverages of, of the war really is the humanitarian aid aspect . aspect. >> yeah. it's so hard to, to know really what we're dealing with in all of this, where how do you how do you make the
2:45 pm
distinction between what who is a hamas terrorist and who is an ordinary gazan citizen? it's such a difficult area for so many people. but yotam confino, that's all we have time for. israeli journalist, of course. thank you very much for joining us. this an auschwitz remembrance march to remember those who were slaughtered by the nazis to then decide i'm going to go rock up there and protest and scream slogans , it's protest and scream slogans, it's just the mind boggles, doesn't it? really sick. anyway, coming up as britain ramps up for its preparations for the euros , how preparations for the euros, how are the police preparing for what could be what could be a wave of hooliganism , perpetrated wave of hooliganism, perpetrated by us? >> presumably it's always the brits , isn't it? well, this is brits, isn't it? well, this is good afternoon, britain on .
2:46 pm
2:47 pm
2:48 pm
2:49 pm
gb news. >> well. good afternoon. britain. it's 249 now. more than 2000 football banning orders have been issued to england fans ahead of the euros 2024. in germany next month , authorities germany next month, authorities say the tournament will be the most accessible international footballing competition for british fans since 2016, and they believe more than 300,000 england supporters could travel to germany. what does that mean? accessible >> accessible? >> accessible? >> joining us now is joining us now is our home and security editor mark white. mark, i understand you were listening to what officials had to say about all this. what did you hear? >> well, yes, of course. >> well, yes, of course. >> we're just five and a half weeks away , really, from that weeks away, really, from that tournament taking place. >> the first match is scotland against germany in, dortmund in, in munich , i should say. and of in munich, i should say. and of course, then followed two days later by england's game against serbia near dortmund , as far as
2:50 pm
serbia near dortmund, as far as scotland is concerned. well, police scotland earlier with their german authorities with a view to ensuring that their fans are kept as safe and peaceful as possible during this tournament. today, though, we heard about the preparations for england fans and as you mentioned, there 300,000 england fans at least are expected to travel to germany. the most accessible. to answer your question, emily, what they mean by accessible is the fact that the other international football tournaments of late have been in the likes of qatar or in russia, where it's not been as easy to get to. so of course, getting to germany is far easier and as a result, they're expecting very significant numbers to travel there. so ahead of that, of course, they are looking at the potential for trouble. the risk groups, the known troublemakers
2:51 pm
that might travel there. they've already issued some 2000 banning orders , 2000 troublemakers who orders, 2000 troublemakers who will not be going there . but will not be going there. but despite that, this comes against a backdrop of an increase in football related disorder across england and wales. in fact, we've had a nine year high in the number of arrests that have taken place last season . so taken place last season. so against that backdrop, of course, there is some concern . i course, there is some concern. i spoke a little earlier to mark roberts , chief constable, the roberts, chief constable, the national lead for football policing. this is what he said. >> look on the positive . >> look on the positive. >> look on the positive. >> you know england fans got a great record at recent tournaments. >> we know when any number of that people travel. >> there's always potential for issues. >> but i think the german authorities are really well prepared. and i think one of the positives, particularly thinking about our fans , germany's a beer about our fans, germany's a beer drinking culture. so the police are well aware of dealing with people in the night time economy. they deal with plenty
2:52 pm
of big festivals. so i think we're going to a place that is well suited to work with us, to keep everyone safe and make sure there's no issues . there's no issues. >> and of course, there's always a concern about the threat from international terrorism as well . international terrorism as well. so policing leaders here are liaising with the national crime agency, intelligence services in germany as well. in the lead up to this competition and as well as that , there is the concern as that, there is the concern back here in the uk , with pubs back here in the uk, with pubs likely to be open late into the night, the more this tournament continues . if england and indeed continues. if england and indeed scotland are still in the latter stages of this tournament, then the more there is the possibility of trouble here back in the uk. >> well, let's hope everyone can enjoy themselves but enjoy themselves responsibly. mark
2:53 pm
white, thank you very much for bringing us the very latest there from outside the foreign office. >> very interesting isn't it? 2000 football banning orders. but that'll be for all sorts of football related , offences, but, football related, offences, but, that's it from us today. but don't worry, because it's martin daubney who's up next. he joins us now. martin, tell us, what have you got in store ? have you got in store? >> well, we're asking lots of questions today. >> how can we simply lose track of 21,700 asylum seekers? >> simply vanished. hardly any of them have the right to be here. >> that's the first question. the second question. >> cries of allah akbar! >> cries of allah akbar! >> sex honeytraps lobbying scandals , anti—semitism. british scandals, anti—semitism. british politics is in the gutter . scandals, anti—semitism. british politics is in the gutter. is it time for an independent political ombudsman to kick the bad apples out? >> and also we'll be crossing live to the house of commons defence secretary grant shapps, addressing the fact that 270,000 british armed forces personnel have had their private details leaked. >> how on earth is this allowed to happen?
2:54 pm
>> plus, we'll speak to stan, a butcher from birmingham who claims low traffic neighbourhoods have cost him £30,000. he's got a major beef with them and he wants to give them the chop. two puns to end this hour on. i want three till six, the martin daubney show. >> but first, it's time for your latest weather forecast . latest weather forecast. >> a brighter outlook with boxt solar sponsors of weather on . gb news. >> hello again. here's your latest gb news weather from the met office. whilst there will be a bit of rain, particularly across northwestern scotland this week for many it's looking largely dry. that's because we have high pressure currently to the southwest of us, but this is going to build and dominate the weather across the uk as we go through this week. that being said, there are a few showers around at the moment. most of those will ease as we go through the end of the day, taking us into a pretty dry night. the end of the day, taking us into a pretty dry night . there into a pretty dry night. there will be some clear skies developing, allowing for a few mist and fog patches to develop
2:55 pm
both inland where we get the clear skies , and also around clear skies, and also around some more coastal parts too. but temperatures aren't going to drop a huge amount, most places staying in low double figures or perhaps high single figures in some areas as we go through wednesday itself. then a bit of rain, then pushing into parts of northwestern scotland, perhaps fringing the far north—west of northern ireland too, otherwise staying dry apart from 1 or 2 showers around and we are going to see some decent bright sunny weather too. it may not be wall to wall blue skies, but most of us will see some sunshine at times. temperatures in the sunshine are going to rise quite nicely, many places getting into the high teens or even low 20 celsius. as we look ahead to thursday. and it's a similar day, perhaps a little bit more rain across more central northern parts of scotland, but elsewhere across england, wales and northern ireland, plenty of fine, bright weather to be had and still some warm sunshine. more warm sunshine to come as we go through friday and into the weekend. by saturday, temperatures likely to be in the low to mid 20s. see you later. >> that warm feeling inside from
2:56 pm
boxt boiler showers. sponsors of weather on . gb news. weather on. gb news. >> i'm patrick christys every weeknight from nine i bring you two hours of unmissable , two hours of unmissable, explosive debate and headline grabbing interviews. >> what impact has that had? >> what impact has that had? >> we got death threats and the bomb threat and so on. >> our job is to do what's in >> ourjob is to do what's in the best interest of our country. you made my argument for me one at a time. >> my guests and i tackle the issues that really matter with a sharp take on every story i'm heanng sharp take on every story i'm hearing up and down the country. >> that was a beginning, not an end . end. >> patrick christys tonight from 9 pm. only on gb news, britain's news channel
2:57 pm
2:58 pm
2:59 pm
>>a >> a very good afternoon to you. it's 3 pm. and welcome to the martin daubney show on gb news. of course. broadcasting live from the heart of westminster. and we're all across the uk today. a freedom of information
3:00 pm
request has revealed that an astonishing 21,107 asylum seekers have simply vanished into thin air in the past five years. most of them have absolutely no right to be in britain. yet experts fear the true figure could even be much, much higher. how on earth did this disaster happened next to rishi sunak has said the economy has finally turned a corner. the labour well, they're having none of it. shadow chancellor rachel reeves has said the tories are gaslighting us all. we'll hear from her and i'll find out exactly what gaslighting means . exactly what gaslighting means. next up, former irish premier bertie ahern has claimed a unhed bertie ahern has claimed a united ireland is now the most desirable outcome, but with a shock poll yesterday showing 50% of islanders want stricter border controls with northern ireland due to spiralling immigration. is he backing the wrong horse and the british armed forces community is hacked off after the chinese were
3:01 pm
accused of

0 Views

info Stream Only

Uploaded by TV Archive on