>> good afternoon britain . it is >> good afternoon britain. it is 12:00 on friday. the 29th of december. blair, five years previously classified government documents show that former prime minister tony blair drew up a plan to house migrants in a camp on the isle of mull as part of a nuclear option for tackling the mounting asylum issue. does this put the government's rwanda plan into some perspective? trump disqualified democrat leaning maine removes donald trump from its presidential primary ballot. this comes as the former president is accused of inciting the us capitol riot . sheffield the us capitol riot. sheffield murder inquiry a good samaritan, christian marriott, has been killed whilst coming to the aid of a stranger as a car hit a group of people in sheffield will be live on the scene.

and if you thought your local police force was failing you, you might be right. half of police forces are not investigating crime properly. that's according to the official watchdog. they face an investigation by his majesty's inspectorate of constabulary next year . it shows that forces next year. it shows that forces are missing leads that could solve basic crimes. are missing leads that could solve basic crimes . they're solve basic crimes. they're failing to arrive promptly at crime scenes, failing to deal with emergency calls in a timely manner. what is going on there ? manner. what is going on there? we'll be speaking to people in the know later on in the show. i'll also be putting it to a conservative mp. why are our police forces rating at inadequate or requiring improvement? what is going on? gb views at gbnews.com. let me know. but first, your headlines with . aaron with. aaron >> very good afternoon to you.

it's a minute past 12. i'm aaron armstrong in the gb newsroom . we armstrong in the gb newsroom. we start with some breaking news. an avalanche in the french alps has killed two people. now there are reports the victims were a british mother and son who were part of a group skiing on mont blanc . french authorities have blanc. french authorities have confirmed there were two deaths, adding that another person escaped with minor injuries. five others were unhurt. so we'll have more on this developing story as soon as we get it here on gb news. meanwhile, police say they are determined to secure justice for a good samaritan who was killed in wednesday. chris in sheffield on wednesday. chris marriott when a hit marriott died when a car hit a crowd of people the crowd of people in the burngreave the city. the burngreave area of the city. the 46 year old was walking with his wife and two young sons when he went aid of a woman lying went to the aid of a woman lying unconscious street . unconscious in the street. police believe she'd been involved with involved in an altercation with a group of people. men are a group of people. two men are in custody after being arrested on suspicion murder and on suspicion of murder and attempted murder . forecasters attempted murder. forecasters are warning that winds of up to 75 miles an hour may hit parts of england and wales just days

after storm garrett caused widespread damage. around 100 homes in greater manchester are still dealing with the aftermath of a suspected tornado. three men died when their 4x4 got stuck in the river esk near glaisdale in north yorkshire in scotland at some 1500 homes were without electricity for a second night, but power companies have said they're confident they'll be able to restore the network later today. now a yellow warning is in place from tomorrow until 3 am. on new year's eve , and weather year's eve, and weather journalist nathan rao says the challenging conditions are set to continue now. >> the uk met office has said that the irish met office . met that the irish met office. met office met eireann might name this storm on saturday as tom henke because it's coming in a deep, low pressure system from the west across ireland first, which will take the brunt of the winds and then into the united kingdom where they'll be rain and hill snow and some significant hill snow in scotland. because that in scotland. because as that storm comes and bumps up storm comes in and bumps up against air, going

against cold air, that is going to bring hill snow. so up to bring some hill snow. so up there where they've had heavy snow storm garage snow from, from storm garage already, watch i >> -- >> tony blair's government considered sending migrants to a scottish island. newly released documents have revealed. a proposal was part of a nuclear opfion proposal was part of a nuclear option being examined to tackle the asylum issue in 2003. it would have seen the creation of a camp on the isle of mull, with illegal migrants being sent there with little or no right of appeal. the scheme also suggested deporting people to regional safe havens in countries like turkey , kenya and countries like turkey, kenya and south africa . a burglar targeted south africa. a burglar targeted the home of the england midfielderjack the home of the england midfielder jack grealish on wednesday while his family was there £1 million worth of jewellery and watches are understood to have been stolen. it happened while he was playing for manchester city against everton in premier league . everton in the premier league. the footballer's family and fiancee reportedly watching fiancee were reportedly watching the tv when they heard the match on tv when they heard a disturbance. a helicopter, police and a number of police dogs and a number of officers attended the scene . no officers attended the scene. no arrests have been made . the

arrests have been made. the number of religious hate crimes has jumped sharply following the outbreak of the israeli hamas war. the uk's large police forces have reported an increase in both anti—semitic and islamophobic offences. in october and november. in greater manchester, police recorded 74 anti—semitic hate crimes in the month following hamas's attack on israel. that's compared to 15 for the same period last year. ukraine says it's been hit by the biggest russian air attack since the start of the war. at least 12 people have been killed and dozens more injured as 158 drones and missiles were launched across the country, targeting critical infrastructure and military facilities. ukraine says its air defences intercepted 27 drones and 87 cruise missiles . maine and 87 cruise missiles. maine has become the second us state to block donald trump from running as a candidate in next year's presidential election. officials say the moves because of mr trump's involvement in inciting riots when his

supporters stormed the us capitol in january 2021, the state of colorado reached a similar conclusion nine days ago. although california has recently announced he will remain on its ballot. donald trump's team has described the decision as atrocious and has vowed to appeal . and households vowed to appeal. and households are facing what unions are calling a debt time bomb next year. calling a debt time bomb next year . the trade calling a debt time bomb next year. the trade unions calling a debt time bomb next year . the trade unions congress, year. the trade unions congress, which includes gmb, unite and unison , have predicted unsecured unison, have predicted unsecured debts are surging by £1,400 per household in 2024. unsecured debt includes borrowing on loans , credit cards and purchase agreements . the tuc research agreements. the tuc research suggests the average worker would now be £41,800 better off if pay had kept up with real wage growth trends since the financial crisis . of 2008, house financial crisis. of 2008, house pnces financial crisis. of 2008, house prices across the uk fell 1.8% in 2023 as mortgage rates went

up, the latest data from nationwide shows. the typical home now costs around £257,000. meanwhile the final house price index of the year from halifax identified wide huddersfield as the top performer in 2023, with average prices rising by 8.7. well, this is gb news. we're on tv on your digital radio and on your smart . speaker two that's your smart. speaker two that's it for the moment. now it's over to . emily. to. emily. >> yes. so the isle of mull on the west coast of scotland is known for its wildlife, its culture, its scenery and outdoor activities . but if tony blair's activities. but if tony blair's labour government had had its way, it may have been a holding camp for thousands of asylum seekers. that's according to newly released official papers . newly released official papers. it was part of a plan which would seen illegal migrants would have seen illegal migrants put back plane put straight back on the plane they little or they arrived on, with little or no appeal. well joining no right of appeal. well joining us now to discuss this is gb

news political correspondent, olivia utley. olivia, thank you very much for joining olivia utley. olivia, thank you very much forjoining me. these are quite radical measures that were being considered . were being considered. >> well, absolutely. these are very radical measures by modern standards . these are the sort of standards. these are the sort of ideas that are thrown around by fringe backbench right . wing fringe backbench right. wing conservatives. it's not what we expect to see from a labour government and the senior aides around a labour prime minister. there are a few different ideas for how to deal with the illegal migration system thrown out there. and i should say at the outset that none of these ideas are explicitly endorsed by tony blair in any of these documents. but we can see from the documents that tony blair was increasingly exasperated with the asylum system and did ask repeatedly for his advisers and aides to come up with ideas for radical change. one of the ideas that was thrown around as you mentioned, was sending migrants off to the isle of mull and that lord powell, now lord powell,

who was the chief of staff at downing street at the time , got downing street at the time, got the idea from the australian system where australia had detained migrants in one particular area, which seemed to work well. so lord powell said he thought of doing something similar. in the end , the idea similar. in the end, the idea never came to fruition, but that wasn't for lack of trying. a feasibility study was done and essentially it it it accepted that the residents of the isle of mull, the 2700 people who live on the isle of mull, would not accept, uh, perhaps tens of thousands of migrants arrive in mull, another idea which has actually been proposed almost in the exact same form by conservatives recently , is to conservatives recently, is to send migrants off to the falkland islands again , nothing falkland islands again, nothing came of that, and the most radical, uh, idea , if you like, radical, uh, idea, if you like, proposed by, uh, lord powell again was a suggestion that perhaps britain shouldn't have an asylum system at all. he argued that given that britain is an island , anyone who has

is an island, anyone who has come to britain by sea has by definition come through a safe country . therefore, again, by country. therefore, again, by definition an could you argue that their claim to asylum is automatically invalid ? and now automatically invalid? and now lord powell accepts in these documents that a system like that wouldn't wouldn't hold up, wouldn't be compatible with european laws. but he suggested that perhaps circumnavigating european laws was necessary. well, you'll recognise that, i'm sure, from the conversations that the conservatives have been having about rwanda , i think having about rwanda, i think what this shows is just how far the sort of overton window has shifted in the last 20 years. ideas which were deemed acceptable for a labour government to be discussing in the late 90s and early 2000, are now considered very fringe ideas, which are the preserve of the most right wing conservative mps in parliament. >> yes, i can't imagine an aide

to the prime minister now asking whether we need an asylum system at all. that is very radical indeed.i at all. that is very radical indeed. i also saw that, uh uh, lord hayward, i believe it was said labour's press operation lost all credibility under alastair campbell because of the relentless, politically dominated spin machine . dominated spin machine. >> exactly . i mean, it was >> exactly. i mean, it was a very, very damaging memo that we saw there from lord hayward saying that even , uh, saying that even, uh, respectable journalists from from important outlets took what number what the number 10 press office said with a huge pinch of salt because of the spin coming from lord campbell. and actually, lord hayward went as far as to say that alastair campbell's influence on the number 10 press office could end up for tony up being disastrous for tony blair's own office. well thank you very much indeed for your time, olivia utley gb news, political correspondent with us from westminster. >> very, very interesting. let's speak now to paul richards, former labour special adviser.

paul you should know about the inner workings of the blair government. thank you for joining. joining me on this. are you surprised that aides to tony blair were looking at such radical measures, using the isle of mull and scotland as some kind of detention centre ? kind of detention centre? >> i'm not surprised at all, because the blair government was a very radical government and tony blair was a free thinker. um, somebody who invited all kinds of different points of view before he made his mind up. i mean, he was very good at taking advice from a plurality of sources and then coming to his own settled view. and so local , uh, his own settled view. and so local, uh, uh, his own settled view. and so local , uh, uh, officials were local, uh, uh, officials were ianed local, uh, uh, officials were invited to come up with wacky ideas and they were put through this kind of brainstorming process that we see from the papers that have been released this week . this week. >> um, but i suppose the crucial difference is that he then ruled out the idea of using an offshore island. even the isle offshore island. even the isle of mull, to this , um, and of mull, to do this, um, and introduced measures which introduced other measures which did reduce illegal um claims and

also , you know, got the asylum also, you know, got the asylum claims right down to a low by 2010, actually . but, um, yeah, 2010, actually. but, um, yeah, you know, these are kind of ideas that percolate through the centre. >> do you find it? do you find it? do you find it interesting that, of course, the conservative government are getting so much flak and criticism over the rwanda plan, yet it was under tony blair that aides were asking the question whether we need an asylum system at all. well the crucial difference is that the wacky ideas that were being discussed inside government did not then become the centrepiece of a governing strategy, as it has with rishi sunak. >> he has gone with the wacky idea and he has put his entire reputation and the rotation of his government, um, on this, this rwanda plan on um, which is why he's coming under such criticism. so i think the difference is you know, on the one hand, you have a really big free ranging discussion. no idea is a bad idea. that's the nature

of a brainstorm. but then come up with sensible solutions. and he's decided not to have a sensible solution, but have the rounder instead . um, and rounder plan instead. um, and he's been hoist own he's now been hoist by his own petard. >> now, you know a lot about press keir press relations. so should keir starmer , uh, ignore this or starmer, uh, ignore this or should he respond in one way or another ? another? >> well, this is a historical document. i mean, this is going back 20 odd years. i think he, you know, starmer learns the lessons of previous governments , lessons of previous governments, uh, whether it's from right or left , but uh, whether it's from right or left, but he's his own man, and he'll just move forward with what's what's going to work now and i think, you what's what's going to work now and the i think, you what's what's going to work now and the history i think, you what's what's going to work now and the history isthink, you what's what's going to work now and the history is always ou know, the history is always interesting, but you can't aim to it. you can't to repeat it. and you can't necessarily it and necessarily just copy it and hope the same result . so hope for the same result. so i think, he'll be own think, yeah, he'll be his own man on this one. >> well, it's quite timely though. these, though. the release of these, uh, dog documents at a time when this is so salient, it uh, dog documents at a time when this is so salient , it is uh, dog documents at a time when this is so salient, it is. this issue is so salient, it is. >> i mean, this is obviously a part of a number of papers that are released , uh, after 20 are released, uh, after 20 years. and there's all kinds of other much duller stuff being released well. these are released as well. but these are

the are light on. the the things we are light on. the idea basically, ballymore idea of. basically, ballymore isn't a asylum isn't it being used as a asylum centre? um, it's very eye catching . you can see why, in catching. you can see why, in this dull between this dull period between christmas year, people christmas and new year, people are on it with are lighting on it with interest. you let's interest. but, you know, let's not got off the not forget, it never got off the ground. wasn't ground. it wasn't actually a serious that got serious proposal that got anywhere. it was just a series of memos after brainstorming of memos. after a brainstorming meeting , um, of memos. after a brainstorming meeting, um, which blair then said, yes , we need do said, yes, we need to do something radical, but is something radical, but this is not it. >> and would you agree that, uh, labour's press operation lost all credibility because of alastair campbell's spin ? alastair campbell's spin? >> no, i have the exact opposite view. i think alastair campbell introduced a professionalism into government communications, taking into account the changes in media that were taking place in media that were taking place in that period . um, and tried to in that period. um, and tried to make it a far more proactive and getting ahead of the game. you know, before that, it was incredibly reactive, you know, banging out a press release once a week that most people i mean, i think a lot of people remember alastair campbell. >> still this day for >> and still to this day for his, uh, for his spin. that is

certainly true . why do you think certainly true. why do you think lord hayward said this if it's not true? >> well, i think it was the clash between the political and the civil service. the civil service uh, service doesn't like, uh, particularly great change or the kind of approach to kind of radical approach to government steady government it likes. steady as she know that from she goes. we know that from history . um, she goes. we know that from history. um, and i think there was that was the classic thatcher. alastair campbell actually instigated sacking actually instigated the sacking of heads of of quite a few heads of communications government communications across government departments as departments while i was there as well. the civil service did well. um, the civil service did not like alastair campbell, but that's trying to that's because he was trying to do different in do something different in radical, professionalise radical, um, and professionalise the way, the communications in a way, which is good thing. which actually is a good thing. >> well, he was certainly a force to be reckoned with. thank you for your you very much indeed for your time. paul richards, former labour special adviser. well, what make to that? let me what do you make to that? let me know. at gb news.com . know. gb views at gb news.com. is it slightly hypocritical to be so negative about the rwanda plan? if you know, a former labour government was looking at very radical measures indeed, let me know what you think. now moving on. uh, christian marriott died after a car

collided with a group of people in sheffield yesterday . a car in sheffield yesterday. a car ploughed into the father of two as he was trying to assist a stranger lying unconscious in the street. a 23 year old has been arrested on suspicion of murder. chris marriott's family are calling the circumstances of his death tragic and unfair. let's cross live now to sheffield to get more on this and join our yorkshire and humber report . anna riley anna, humber report. anna riley anna, thank you very much. ken. what can you tell us? >> well , can you tell us? >> well, emily, it's can you tell us? >> well , emily, it's such >> well, emily, it's such a tragic case, isn't it? >> chris marriott has been named as a good samaritan by south yorkshire police for his actions in trying to help a woman who was lying unconscious here on college. close. it's in the burngreave area of sheffield, about a mile and a half out of the city centre. and it's a quiet cul de sac. but violence broke out on wednesday afternoon

at around 2:00. chris, whilst he was helping this woman who was unconscious here, was hit by a car . he died. unconscious here, was hit by a car. he died. the 46 year old father of two died at the scene. the woman still remains in a serious condition in hospital who he was helping , and six who he was helping, and six others were also injured, including an off duty midwife who came to help . now tributes who came to help. now tributes have been paid to chris, both here at the scene where this tragic incident happened. we can see that floral displays have been laid in tribute to chris, but also online as well. his brother in law said on facebook that chris was a kind man who loved his family and truly lived to help others and our hearts are broken. he said. please pray for my sister and their boys and the family and friends who are grieving such an incalculable loss now . chris leaves behind loss now. chris leaves behind

his wife and two young sons, aged just six and eight years old, and whilst he was helping this woman and died as a result, he was actually out on a post—christmas walk with his wife and his two boys. he also devoted his time to a series of charities and voluntary causes. he was an experienced finance operations and project manager, and he used his talents to help the community. he held long time roles as part of a monetary advice charity, and also volunteered at a food bank in sheffield , and was a member of sheffield, and was a member of the local church. the church group christ central also paid tribute to chris in a statement , tribute to chris in a statement, they said chris died doing what so many will remember him for helping others. our thoughts and prayers are with his wife and their two young sons. this is an unbelievably awful situation and we are heartbroken for the family and anna. >> a murder investigation, of

course continues. what are the police's next steps ? police's next steps? >> it does , yes. >> it does, yes. >> following the incident , a 23 >> following the incident, a 23 year old man was arrested on suspicion of murder. a 55 year old man arrested on suspicion of attempted murder . they both attempted murder. they both remain in police custody and police are still continuing their investigation . nations their investigation. nations today, they've been going door today, they've been going door to door, speaking to residents , to door, speaking to residents, getting witness statements. they've also been asking for evidence. if anybody has cctv footage, doorbell footage or footage, doorbell footage or footage from their cars. dash cam footage of what happened to bnng cam footage of what happened to bring that forward . they also bring that forward. they also paid tribute to chris in a statement as well . senior statement as well. senior investigating officer dci andrew knowles said this is an utterly heartbreaking case in which a good samaritan who had stepped in to help the help a stranger in to help the help a stranger in their time of need , has lost in their time of need, has lost his life. chris leaves behind a loving family, including his

devastated wife and two young sons. we are absolutely determined to secure justice for chris and his loved ones. following this horrific tragedy and as part of that, police are saying that they still believe there are vital witness statements from residents in the area that they need to bring justice for. chris and his family. and they're asking these people if they don't want to come forward to the police on 101 contact crime stoppers 101 to contact crime stoppers with information . with that information. >> thank you very much. anna riley , our yorkshire and humber riley, our yorkshire and humber reporter . riley, our yorkshire and humber reporter. thank you very much. now to donald trump is disqualified from maine's presidential as it presidential ballot as it stands. what does this mean for the us elections? we'll get analysis from an expert in international politics. stay

monday to thursdays from six till 930. >> welcome back. it's 1225 now. maine has become the second us state to disqualify donald trump from next year's presidential election. colorado was the first state to block trump , the state to block trump, the republican frontrunner from running over his role in the capitol riots on january the 6th, 2021. it makes him the first candidate in us history to be deemed ineligible or ineligible for presidency for engaging in insurrection . engaging in insurrection. trump's team has vowed to appeal , calling the decision atrocious . but can trump still run for presidency ? let's get some more presidency? let's get some more details on this. scott lucas, professor of international

politics, joins me now. scott, thank you very much indeed. for those who don't keep an eye, a close eye on american politics, on us politics. can you break down exactly what has happened ? down exactly what has happened? i understand that the republicans are appealing this, and that actually , trump is now and that actually, trump is now back on the ballot in colorado. in colorado . in colorado. >> well, here's the big picture . >> well, here's the big picture. uh, in the united states, there's not just one election for president . there's 50 for president. there's 50 different state elections to get onto the republican , you know, onto the republican, you know, to become the republican candidate. and then for the general election. so what you have is, is that some states have is, is that some states have started. trump can remain on the ballot. they include california, minnesota and michigan. noted , the michigan. but as you noted, the colorado supreme court has said he cannot be on the ballot because of his support of insurrection and the maine secretary of state said that yesterday . now, maine yesterday. now, both in maine and colorado . so those and in colorado. so those decisions to keep trump off the ballot will not take effect until we go through an appeals

process . right. so, in other process. right. so, in other words, if trump's lawyers successfully next words, if trump's lawyers suc(days|lly next words, if trump's lawyers suc(days ,ly next words, if trump's lawyers suc(days , he'll next words, if trump's lawyers suc(days , he'll be next words, if trump's lawyers suc(days , he'll be back next words, if trump's lawyers suc(days , he'll be back on|ext words, if trump's lawyers suc(days , he'll be back on the few days, he'll be back on the ballot the primaries. in ballot for the primaries. in those which both take those states which both take place in the first week of march. but of course, if his appealis march. but of course, if his appeal is unsuccessful, no, he will removed from at least will be removed from at least those two state ballots and possibly few by the time possibly a few more by the time we to the heart of the we get to the heart of the republican primary season. >> suspect the >> do you suspect that the appeal be successful ? appeal will be successful? >> i would never try to prejudge what justice would say in this. you know, there at the end, they've got to make the legal determination. what we're looking at is, is that in some cases, we're getting as in colorado, justices saying yes under the 14th amendment of the us constitution , even if you us constitution, even if you engagein us constitution, even if you engage in insurrection , you can engage in insurrection, you can be removed in the ballot in other states like michigan and minnesota. they said, no, these are grounds to remove are not grounds to remove someone who's running for president. there's president. so there's not a defined legal opinion, right now that cover all 50 states that would cover all 50 states and what do the other republican candidates for president have to say about all this ? well, they

say about all this? well, they all are going to come in and say it's terrible that the courts are doing this because they want trump's voters and as we've seen with the republican party since 2016, they're almost co—dependent with trump, even when they don't support his behaviour, even when they know what he did was so serious before attack before the capitol attack to come out and to criticise trump directly would risk alienating a significant block of republican voters . i wouldn't say voters. i wouldn't say a majority, but a significant block support trump , and block that support trump, and they want them not only to become the republican nominee, but if they succeed to defeat joe biden next november, and how a democrat voters reacting to this, are they supportive of these court's decisions ? you these court's decisions? you know, i think democrat voters, by and large , are saying two by and large, are saying two things. one is, look , let the things. one is, look, let the legal process run . but what's legal process run. but what's serious here is, is the significant evidence that trump did engage in insurrection. but secondly, i think not just democratic voters, but a lot of other voters say light. at the

end of the day, we've got really important america. you important issues in america. you know, education, care , know, education, health care, immigration, economy, immigration, the economy, foreign policy. donald trump is sucking, sucking all the oxygen out the room where those out of the room where those issues and indeed other candidates like nikki haley aren't discussed because aren't being discussed because the trump circus is the one where he's the ringmaster and here's the second front runner behind trump on the republican side at this point is nikki haley. now there are others like ron desantis, the florida governor still running, chris christie, vivek ramaswamy. but in the polls for the first primary, which is in new hampshire, significantly next to maine on january 23rd, haley has surged wrote coming from about 10% in the polls to up to 30% in one poll, she's still behind trump, but if she runs a strong second in new hampshire , the second in new hampshire, the next it's in south carolina. >> where what is she doing right? what is nikki haley doing right? what is nikki haley doing right ? that's big increase in right? that's a big increase in support . support. >> haley is a very firm >> nikki haley is a very firm conservative. it's not like she's from the centre of the republican party , but she's republican party, but she's trying her position in

trying to define her position in two ways. one is she's taking certain on issues that certain stances on issues that are significant. she's not coming down for a hard line ban on abortion from the federal government. republican government. and some republican voters sympathise with voters tend to sympathise with that. secondly, she's that. but secondly, she's presenting the idea that she's the stable and competent person and not the person who happens to under indictment in to be well under indictment in four cases facing 91 four criminal cases facing 91 felony charges and ron desantis, many people had high hopes for him. >> is he falling behind ? >> is he falling behind? >> is he falling behind? >> yes, he is falling behind in the polls. uh, first of all, in what is called the caucus , the what is called the caucus, the town hall meetings in iowa, which are on january 15th, where he had hoped to be in the lead and then he's falling behind in new hampshire. he's having problems in terms of his campaign a lot of campaign staff. a lot of them had there's problems over had left. there's problems over campaign finance. but the big thing here is , is that desantis thing here is, is that desantis has not been able to out—trump thing here is, is that desantis has nothe's1 able to out—trump thing here is, is that desantis has nothe's triede to out—trump thing here is, is that desantis has nothe's tried to» out—trump thing here is, is that desantis has nothe's tried to be |t—trump thing here is, is that desantis has nothe's tried to be even mp trump. he's tried to be even more hardline than trump on certain issues. at the end certain issues. but at the end of the day, there's only one donald trump. well there you go.

>> we'll end it there. thank you very much. scott lucas, professor of international politics, running us through what's happening states what's happening in the states with regards trump , with regards to donald trump, maine has ruled that donald trump cannot run for president next year in the election. but we'll see what happens. they will no doubt appeal. now let's have a look at what's in the gb views inbox. can email us at views inbox. you can email us at any time. vaiews@gbnews.com. now george has written in, he says, an almost unbelievably stupid suggestion even by blair's standards. i think that's with regards to the isle of man being used as some kind of man being used as some kind of detention centre. graham says blair's influence is of great concern. yes, lots of people talking about how keir starmer may well be influenced quite a bit by tony blair behind the scenes, and tony has written in not blair, i suppose if we can use converted shipping containers as houses for british citizens , why can't we use citizens, why can't we use converted shipping containers for migrants on a remote scottish island? well uh, good question there. perhaps now,

coming up as the israel—hamas conflict continues, we'll be analysing what could happen next. but first, it's your news headunes next. but first, it's your news headlines with aaron armstrong . headlines with aaron armstrong. >> it'sjust headlines with aaron armstrong. >> it's just after 12:30. aaron armstrong here in the gb newsroom. an avalanche in the french alps has killed two people. the french media's reporting the victims as a british mother and son who were part of a group skiing on mont blanc . authorities have blanc. authorities have confirmed there were two deaths, adding one person with adding one person escaped with minor injuries. adding one person escaped with minor injuries . five were minor injuries. five others were unhurt , but the family of chris unhurt, but the family of chris marriott, who was hit by a car while trying to save a stranger, say the circumstances of his death showed the sort of man he was. the 46 year old was trying to help a woman who was lying unconscious street when a unconscious on the street when a car a crowd of car ploughed into a crowd of people in sheffield on wednesday . in custody . two men remain in custody after arrested on after being arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder . forecasters attempted murder. forecasters are warning that winds of up to 75mph could hit parts of

southern england and wales tomorrow, as the uk tries to recover from storm gareth. around 100 homes in greater manchester are still dealing with the aftermath of a suspected tornado. yellow suspected tornado. a yellow alerts been issued from 11 alerts have been issued from 11 am. tomorrow until 3 am. on a.m. tomorrow until 3 am. on new year's eve , and burglars new year's eve, and burglars targeted jack grealish's home while he was playing for manchester city on wednesday, reportedly stealing a million pounds of watches and pounds worth of watches and jewellery . it's understood jewellery. it's understood the england family and england midfielder's family and fiancee were in the house the fiancee were in the house at the time , watching the match on tv time, watching the match on tv when disturbance. when they heard a disturbance. no have been made yet no arrests have been made yet and we have more on all of those stories on our website. i'll be back with a news bulletin at 1:00. >> the un says an estimated 150,000 palestinians are being forced to flee areas of central gaza as israeli forces expand

their ground offensive. as some world leaders continue to put pressure on israel to pause its war on hamas, our reporter charlie peters reflects on the conflict and looks at what could happen

sunday mornings from 930 on gb news . news. welcome back. news. news. welcome back. >> it's 1237 now, the uk's largest police forces have reported a sharp rise in religious hate crimes following the outbreak of the israel—hamas

conflict in october. now in greater manchester alone, police recorded 74 anti—semitic hate crimes in the month following hamas's attack on israel, compared to 15 for the same penod compared to 15 for the same period last year. we'll be heanng period last year. we'll be hearing from our national reporter at golders green. but first, as the israel—hamas conflict continues , we bring you conflict continues, we bring you this special report under the cover of thousands of rockets, hamas terrorists launched their bloodiest attack in decades . bloodiest attack in decades. >> over 1200 people were killed on the october seven attacks, dubbed black saturday in israel . dubbed black saturday in israel. the stories of the brutal ality of the terror gradually reached the world. innocents burned and beheaded, widespread sex crimes, families murdered in their homes, hundreds taken hostage in retaliation, the israeli military launched an unprecedented bombing campaign, followed by a ground invasion into the gaza strip . the idf's

into the gaza strip. the idf's mission is to destroy hamas's leadership and military infrastructure and recover its hostages . at first, the west and hostages. at first, the west and much of the world rallied with israel following the horror of the attacks , but some of that the attacks, but some of that support has shifted to concern amid the humanitarian catastrophe enveloping the coastal enclave . the un says coastal enclave. the un says that over half a million people are enduring a catastrophic hunger crisis over 21,000 palestinians have been killed since the war erupted, according to the hamas run health ministry, with over 70% of them women and children . hamas women and children. hamas figures do not distinguish between male civilians and terrorists . the violence has terrorists. the violence has sparked protest and marches in britain with controversial pro—palestine demonstrations and a major rally against anti—semitism taking place on london's streets . but amid the london's streets. but amid the

debate over the destruction, british politicians have continued to visit israel to support and advise. soon after the attacks, rishi sunak arrived to express solidarity . foreign to express solidarity. foreign secretary james cleverly and bofis secretary james cleverly and boris johnson arrived soon after with the former prime minister telling gb news that the west needed to be patient after october's horrors. the give israel a time and the space to conduct the operation to track down the people who did this and to make sure they can never do it again. >> lord cameron joined world leaders to warn israel that its civilian casualties were too high. >> some analysts have criticised the use of heavy munitions on targets in urban refugee camps , targets in urban refugee camps, and despite a seven day ceasefire with some hostages released, there is little hope of peace and security returned to gaza soon. israel's army chief said that the conflict

will rage on for many months as his forces push into central gaza. his forces push into central gaza . soon they will target the gaza. soon they will target the south, where almost over a million people have gathered after being displaced , after being displaced, desperately fleeing the violence . but that violence is now spilling across the region. the president of the palestinian authority has warned that the west bank could explode at any time. drone and missile attacks on international shipping by iran backed groups contain few in the red sea , rocket exchanges in the red sea, rocket exchanges are escalating on the lebanese border. us forces are coming under regular attack in iraq and syria , and european security syria, and european security agencies claim to have smothered agencies claim to have smothered a hamas attack in germany with no end in sight. there are growing fears that the israeli invasion of the small coastal strip could soon become a global catastrophe. oil prices could rocket inflationary concerns are growing and security agencies are on high alert. charlie

peters, gb news. >> well, thank you very much to charlie peters for that report. now joining us live from golders green in north london is gb news national reporter theo theo chikomba. theo, i understand you've been speaking to people in golders green. it's a an area of north london that has a large jewish community. have they been experiencing more in terms of anti—semitism . anti—semitism. >> yes. well, a very good afternoon to you. so as you say, we are in the heart of a jewish community here in golders green and just a couple of months ago, and just a couple of months ago, a after the israel um , a few days after the israel um, the hamas conflict began , just the hamas conflict began, just over my left shoulder, there's a kosher restaurant which is there , and a bridge just overlooking it as well. um, there was an incident there where something was thrown through the glass and it was reported that a cash register was taken and on the bndge register was taken and on the bridge just just above it, there was some spray paint which was

on there, written free palestine. and when we were here in that area, people were feeling, um, a bit scared at the time and they were hoping that the police can come and have a bit more presence. and they did. we did then see the then home secretary in this area, suella braverman at time, but braverman at the time, but a couple of months on, we spent the day speaking to people who live this area and we did live in this area and we did speak to the councillor in this area, dean cohen, and he was saying had to change his saying he's had to change his appearance . he's his children saying he's had to change his appe.had:e . he's his children saying he's had to change his appe.had to he's his children saying he's had to change his appe.had to change s children saying he's had to change his appe.had to change the ildren saying he's had to change his appe.had to change the way n saying he's had to change his appe.had to change the way they have had to change the way they behave. when go to behave. and when they go to places london, they've places across london, they've had adapt to that. they feel had to adapt to that. they feel safer because they simply feel unsafe and a little bit less safe than they did prior to the conflict. and we've been speaking to some of the local residents here, and this is what they had to say. >> um, i live here more than ten years. um, yes , i feel safe. um years. um, yes, i feel safe. um but recently , um, there's many but recently, um, there's many issues going on in the world.

>> and of course , um, but as >> and of course, um, but as i still feel safe , i am safe. still feel safe, i am safe. >> yes . i have still feel safe, i am safe. >> yes. i have no problem still feel safe, i am safe. >> yes . i have no problem with >> yes. i have no problem with the burglary or, um , unsocial the burglary or, um, unsocial behaviour . behaviour. >> no. >> no. >> generally, i do feel safe . >> generally, i do feel safe. sometimes it is a bit kind of intimidating seeing police kind of walking up and down, but i understand that it's for the good of everyone, so it would make safer. make me feel safer. >> yeah, it scares people to have police everywhere, right? and anyway, it's their job. we and anyway, it's theirjob. we can't stop them . can't stop them. >> well, of course, that's what the residents here are saying. we've also heard from the metropolitan police today who say london epitome, epitome of what a truly international city should be, an abuse against any individual or group has no place individual or group has no place in our city and more importantly, we also heard from the national police chiefs council spokesperson who's saying anti—semitic , um, racial saying anti—semitic, um, racial and faith based discrimination

will not be tolerated in any form. policing, uh, takes all reports of hate crime seriously because we know that they have a devastating impact on individual victims and targeted communities . now, people here have been seeing an increase police presence and of course, those figures we've heard today show there's been a sharp rise in in anti—semitism and particularly religious hate crime. and charities have said this is shocking. and those who campaign against muslim hate as well have also said these figures simply are not right and we shouldn't be seeing this kind of these kind of incidents in our society i >> -- >> yes. -_ >> yes. and theo, the local mp there currently a police investigation undergoing , uh, investigation undergoing, uh, underway because his office, of course, was targeted by an arson attack. now, i don't know if we know if that was related to the current conflict in the middle east, but he's spoken out about how he now wears a stab vest

sometimes in public. yes >> well, we did see the local mp last time we were here as well. and of course, that is an ongoing investigation. but what we do know is that the community here are welcoming more of police presence in this area so that they do feel safe should anything happen. but as we say, those figures that we have seen released today do show that there has been an issue that the police here are attempting to tackle in proactively . tackle in proactively. >> well, thank you very much for your time . theo chikomba there. your time. theo chikomba there. our national reporter live from golders green in north london. now in other news, the trade union congress is hitting back. it vows to rally behind any worker sacked under what the tuc general secretary, paul nowak, is calling the under erratic and toxic strike act. now this comes as nowak urges labour leader sir keir starmer to create a wealth tax , saying a national tax, saying a national conversation on tax has become

urgent. how much weight does he carry? joining me now is jasmine birtles, economist and founder of money magpie.com. thank you very much indeed forjoining me. jasmine. lots to get through here. the trade union congress , here. the trade union congress, of course they often call for things like wealth taxes. and of course they're going to stand behind public sector workers when it comes to labour market regulation. that may prevent them from striking as easily as they can. but do you think that they can. but do you think that the tuc will have the ear of a potential labour government that we could actually see further down the road a wealth tax implemented ? implemented? >> it's possible. >> it's possible. >> it's possible. >> i mean, there talking about it in scotland , i personally it in scotland, i personally i think that a wealth tax is an extremely bad idea. purely for practical reasons. it's never worked in the past. in fact, it does the opposite. >> it harms an economy. when you bnngin >> it harms an economy. when you bring in a wealth tax, essentially, because all the rich people leave and the rich

people are often the people who create the work in the first place. >> so , um, yes, in answer to >> so, um, yes, in answer to your question , i think it's your question, i think it's quite possible that they will have the ear of a future. uh, well , potentially, um, have the ear of a future. uh, well, potentially, um, labour government , but it would make government, but it would make sense. i mean, frankly , it would sense. i mean, frankly, it would be silly if it weren't if they didn't listen. >> but i would hope that they would argue against it. >> simply looking at at what has happenedin >> simply looking at at what has happened in the past, i mean, a wealth tax sounds great on papen >> if you don't look into the real consequences of them, which we can see france implemented them. other european countries have implemented wealth taxes and they've often rowed back on them because they haven't actually earned that much money to the treasury. because, as you say, people change their behaviour. people can behaviour. rich people can change behaviour quite change their behaviour quite easily. least by moving change their behaviour quite easily. but.east by moving change their behaviour quite easily. but also by moving change their behaviour quite easily. but also moving ng change their behaviour quite easily. but also moving around abroad, but also moving around their money and assets in ways so that the tax man can't, uh, seize them. essentially so it sounds good on paper, though, because we do have public services in need of investment.

we do have constant demands on the public purse , don't we, the public purse, don't we, jasmine, what do you make to the current conversation going on in the conservative government about tax? we have tory backbenchers left, right and centre saying what tax they'd like to cut . like to cut. >> yes, absolutely. i do find it extraordinary that the so—called conservative government has taxed us until the pip squeak really , it's quite a shocking really, it's quite a shocking thing that the, the, the party that should be against tax and pro—growth pro pro—business seems to have just been wanting to tax us on everything . and, to tax us on everything. and, you know, we're talking about rich people , but also you're rich people, but also you're talking also about middle middle earners because i've been heanng earners because i've been hearing from people who , you hearing from people who, you know, earn a decent amount . know, earn a decent amount. they're working in in london, maybe they're on, you know , a maybe they're on, you know, a six figure salary, but but they're seeing so much money coming out of their, their pay packets already because

particularly because of rishi sunak. >> and then jeremy hunt freezing the income tax threshold that i've heard of people saying , i've heard of people saying, well, i'm just not going to bother working. >> they're going to take early retirement, going to do retirement, they're going to do something else and this is what a tory government has brought in a tory government has brought in a tory government that should have cutting taxes , not have been cutting taxes, not increasing them . increasing them. >> and i really don't feel that particularly income tax, but also vat are sensible taxes to have at the moment. >> the sort of the height that they're at. it isn't sensible for the economy. it isn't good for the economy. it isn't good for workers . yes. for workers. yes. >> and we have these all of these quirks in our tax system. well, firstly, our tax code is absolutely enormous , long and absolutely enormous, long and lots of loopholes , lots of lots of loopholes, lots of complexities, which can be just as difficult as the amount that we're forced to pay. of course, just the length and the complexity of it. what do you say to this? uh debate over strike legislation, over this

labour market regulation, minimum service levels? of course, the tuc , the head of the course, the tuc, the head of the tuc isn't happy with this. he wants to support any worker who wants to support any worker who wants to support any worker who wants to strike. do you see this battle ongoing? >> yes. it is a difficult one. >> yes. it is a difficult one. >> i personally believe that people have the right to strike. i'm very much behind the amazon workers. for example , who for a workers. for example, who for a long time have not been allowed to strike something , that to strike something, that there's been a continuous fight for a few years between , um, for a few years between, um, jeff bezos, amazon and the people who work there , um, not people who work there, um, not being allowed to set up a union, etc. >> this, i think, is against the fundamental human rights, and i think it is the right of workers to withdraw their their labour under duress. to withdraw their their labour under duress . however, it is under duress. however, it is very difficult when it's doctors and nurses when it's, it's, you know , firefighters, essential know, firefighters, essential workers . there's it's workers. there's it's a difficult thing . um, so i do difficult thing. um, so i do agree with, with the trades union that that we need to

support everybody's right to strike. but there needs to be some sort of balance with the essential workers, i would say. and i personally, every time now , to be honest, that i see the tuc or any union, um, apart from the english workers union , say the english workers union, say anything about their workers . anything about their workers. frankly, i don't believe it because during lockdown towns, the tuc and nearly all of the unions were not supporting their workers. they were particularly not supporting care workers and nurses who did not want to take the vaccine and were thrown out of their their jobs because of it. now they've been brought back, but they should have been supported by their unions. the unions were completely silent dunng unions were completely silent during this time. so anything they say now i get oh yeah, well, maybe . but you know, you well, maybe. but you know, you didn't stand up when it was really necessary . really necessary. >> three yes. it could be that there's more interest in politics than actual, you know, the rights of, of the workers . the rights of, of the workers. >> honestly. yes. that that is

the way it sounds to me that you know, suddenly they've got something to get their teeth into and it's all good, you know, here we can have a fight with the government. we can fight government fight with the government on this, want this, but they didn't want to when mattered with when it really mattered with with small people who have don't have very much of a voice. um, if you like , you know, the small if you like, you know, the small number who were on number of people who were on very pay, number of people who were on very pay, uh, as carers and very low pay, uh, as carers and also, you know, as nurses and also, you know, as nurses and also doctors, um, and a number of people who were thrown out of their jobs. they've of people who were thrown out of theirjobs. they've been brought back again. now um, and maybe some compensation , some of them have compensation, but should have been but they should have been supported the so supported at the time. so i don't honestly, um, believe much now that comes out of the tuc , i now that comes out of the tuc, i kind of see them as equal really to government. and as you say, saying things and doing things for political reasons, not because they genuinely care . because they genuinely care. >> very interesting indeed. what a what a crazy time in our history . hey, thank you very history. hey, thank you very much. jasmine birtles , economist much. jasmine birtles, economist and founder of money magpie

.com. let me know what you make of that wealth tax. maybe you think it's a good idea. maybe you think it's a brilliant idea and we need tax the rich more and we need to tax the rich more coming up the next hour we'll coming up in the next hour we'll look into why the police are not investigating crimes properly . investigating crimes properly. >> looks things are heating >> looks like things are heating up. boxt boilers sponsors of weather on gb news . hello up. boxt boilers sponsors of weather on gb news. hello again. >> i'm alex burkill here with your latest gb news weather forecast. it's going to stay pretty unsettled as we go through year with through the end of the year with some rain and strong winds some heavy rain and strong winds to come through the last few days of 2023. that's because low pressure far away. pressure is never too far away. there is a deep area of low pressure currently out in the atlantic, which heading atlantic, which is heading towards at the moment towards us, but at the moment we're the influence an we're under the influence of an area pressure towards the area of low pressure towards the north—east which north—east of the uk, which has brought blustery today brought the blustery winds today and continue to bring and will continue to bring strong winds and some heavy outbreaks rain parts outbreaks of rain across parts of northeast scotland through the we will the night. elsewhere, we will see of showers dying see many of the showers dying out, clear skies for

out, so some clear skies for a time before some heavy rain pushes way from west , pushes its way from the west, where we have the clear skies through temperatures through tonight, temperatures are to could fall are going to drop. could fall several freezing several degrees below freezing across parts scotland, across parts of scotland, so a harsh frost likely here elsewhere go through elsewhere as we go through saturday, a spell of heavy rain pushing its way and north pushing its way east and north eastwards across the country. this is going to bring some strong winds and also some significant snow across parts of scotland. as it makes its way across, we could see more than ten centimetres perhaps, so could some disruption. could cause some disruption. even it is going to even in the north it is going to be cold further south, be a cold day further south, mild the time of year, but mild for the time of year, but not necessarily feeling it in the windy weather into the wet and windy weather into new year's eve. and it is going to a blustery, showery day. to be a blustery, showery day. some those showers some of those showers will be heavy and strong some of those showers will be heavy particularlyd strong some of those showers will be heavy particularly in;trong some of those showers will be heavy particularly in the|g winds, particularly in the south, gales possibly even south, with gales possibly even severe gales. for some of us, it does something does look like something a little drier , maybe on the little bit drier, maybe on the cards we into new year's cards as we go into new year's day staying day and temperatures staying a little bit above average by by that warm feeling inside from boxt boilers sponsors of weather

on . gb news. on. gb news. >> there's only three people you can trust in life your doctor, your lawyer , and your nana. ha your lawyer, and your nana. ha ha . ha. >> i'm not sure to join me. >> nana akua at 3 pm. every saturday and sunday, where we discuss the biggest topics of the weekend . be ready for the weekend. be ready for battle! could you be quiet? what is this? you it's my new teeth. your new teeth? i don't bite well, not without a good reason. always honest, always fun. every weekend at 3 pm. on gb news the people's channel, britain's news channel

i >> -- >> good afternoon. britain. it is 1:00 on friday. the 29th of december. bobby is under fire. half of police forces in england and wales aren't investigating crimes properly. that's according to official watchdog reports. is it time for police reform? we'll be breaking this down with a former met police chief. blair files previously classified government documents show that former prime minister tony blair drew up a plan to house migrants in a camp on the isle of mull as part of a nuclear option for tackling the mounting asylum issue. does this put the government's rwanda plan into some perspective? and sheffield murder inquiry good samaritan christian marriott has been killed whilst coming to the aid of a stranger as a car hit. a group of people in sheffield

and we'll be live on the scene over the afternoon. and of course, i'll be breaking down some of today's top stories with my expert panel. he'll be joining me later on in the show, including one story that caught my eye. top bbc jobs are still filled by people who went to private school . poshos private school. poshos apparently is that is that a bad thing , or should there be fewer thing, or should there be fewer private schoolers working at the bbc? could it have something to do with some of the biases that we see the broadcaster ? let we see at the broadcaster? let me know what you think. vaiews@gbnews.com. but first, it's your headlines with . aaron. it's your headlines with. aaron. >> good afternoon . it's a minute >> good afternoon. it's a minute past one i'm aaron armstrong . an past one i'm aaron armstrong. an avalanche in the french alps has killed two people. french media's reporting the victims as a british mother and son. part

of a group skiing on mont blanc. authorities have confirmed there were two deaths, adding another person escaped with minor injuries and five others were unhurt . meanwhile, the family of unhurt. meanwhile, the family of a man who was killed trying to save stranger in sheffield save a stranger in sheffield says the tragic circumstance show the sort person he was . show the sort of person he was. chris marriott went to the aid of an unconscious woman when he was by a car which had was hit by a car which had ploughed into a crowd of people on wednesday. the 46 old's on wednesday. the 46 year old's family says he his life family says he devoted his life to helping others . the woman he to helping others. the woman he was is in a life was helping is in a life threatening condition in hospital . a 23 year old man hospital. a 23 year old man arrested suspicion murder arrested on suspicion of murder and murder remains in and attempted murder remains in custody, while a 55 year old has been released on bail . been released on bail. forecasters are warning winds of up to 75 miles an hour could hit parts of southern england and wales tomorrow, as the uk recovers from storm, garrett . recovers from storm, garrett. around 100 homes in greater manchester are still dealing with the aftermath of a suspected tornado. yellow suspected tornado. a yellow alerts have been issued from 11 am. tomorrow until new year's

a.m. tomorrow until new year's eve. weatherjournalist nathan eve. weather journalist nathan rao says there will be little improvement in conditions heading into the new year. now the uk met office has said that the uk met office has said that the irish met office. >> met office met eireann might name this storm on saturday as tom henke because it's coming in a low pressure system from a deep, low pressure system from the across ireland first, the west across ireland first, which will take the brunt of the winds and then into the united kingdom rain kingdom where there'll be rain and significant hill snow and some significant hill snow in scotland. because as that storm comes in and bumps up against cold air, that is going to bring some hill snow. up to bring some hill snow. so up there, had heavy to bring some hill snow. so up there,from, had heavy to bring some hill snow. so up there,from, from had heavy to bring some hill snow. so up there,from, from storm d heavy to bring some hill snow. so up there,from, from storm garage' snow from, from storm garage already, something watch i >> -- >>aman >> a man who tried to save three people trapped vehicle says people trapped in a vehicle says they swept away as they they were swept away as they attempted a river. the attempted to cross a river. the men died after they drove their 4x4 into the river esk near glaisdale on the north york moors on thursday. police say the tragic incident was caused by hazardous weather conditions that had badly affected the roads in the surrounding area . roads in the surrounding area. tony blair's government considered sending migrants to a scottish island , newly released

scottish island, newly released documents have revealed. the proposal was part of a nuclear opfion proposal was part of a nuclear option being examined to tackle the asylum issue in 2003. it would have seen the creation of a camp on the isle of mull with illegal migrants being sent there with little or no right of appeal. scheme also suggests appeal. the scheme also suggests that people to that deporting people to regional havens in turkey, regional safe havens in turkey, kenya south africa , burglars kenya and south africa, burglars targeted the home of the england midfielder jack grealish on wednesday while his family was in the house. £1 million worth of jewellery and watches are said to have been stolen, while grealish was playing for manchester city against everton . manchester city against everton. the footballer's family and fiancee were reportedly watching the when they heard the match on tv when they heard a disturbance. no arrests have been made . the number of been made. the number of religious hate crimes has jumped sharply. it follows the outbreak of the israel—hamas war. the uk's largest police forces have reported an increase in both anti—semitic and islamophobic offences in october and november . in greater manchester, police recorded 74 anti—semitic hate

crimes in the month following hamas's attack on israel. that's compared to 15 for the same penod compared to 15 for the same period last year. rishi sunak has condemned president putin after russia launched a massive air attack against ukraine overnight. the prime minister says the latest bombardment shows putin will stop at nothing to eradicate freedom and democracy . at least 12 people democracy. at least 12 people have been killed and dozens more injured as 158 drones and missiles were launched across the country , targeting critical the country, targeting critical infrastructure and military facilities. ukraine says its air defences intercepted 27 drones and 87 cruise missiles in what they say was the biggest series of attacks since the war began. maines become the second us state to block donald trump from running as a candidate in next year's presidential election. officials moves because officials say the moves because of mr trump's involvement in inciting riots when his supporters stormed the us capitol in january 2021. a colorado reached a similar conclusion nine days ago,

although california's announced that donald trump will remain on its ballot , that donald trump will remain on its ballot, his team has described the decision as atrocious, and they vowed to appeal it . and we are live appeal it. and we are live across the uk on tv, on digital radio and if you want us on your smart speaker, just say play gb news. now it's back to . emily news. now it's back to. emily >> well, an official watchdog has found more than half of police forces are not investigating crime properly , investigating crime properly, causing the proportion of crimes solved to plummet to record lows 22 forces out of 43 in england and wales were judged by inspectors to be inadequate or requiring improvement, with failings including missing leads arriving late at crime scenes to recover evidence or catch suspects. the forces face an investigation next year. suspects. the forces face an investigation next year . so investigation next year. so what's going wrong ? parm sandhu what's going wrong? parm sandhu is a former metropolitan police superintendent and we can cross

to her now. good morning. pam thank you very much for joining me on the show. so what's going on? half of police force is not investigating crimes properly. who's to blame here? well good afternoon, emily. >> i think what's happened is this is really shocking . there this is really shocking. there are over 2 million crimes that could have been investigated . could have been investigated. could that have been abandoned ? could that have been abandoned? and that's something like, um , and that's something like, um, 6000, 6300 a day. so that's members of the public who are reporting burglaries, robberies and even violent and sexual offences who are being let down. now, the reasons behind it, i wouldn't be able to explain the reasons behind it, but i can explain the statistics. but that includes over 6000 rapes that have been abandoned . now that is have been abandoned. now that is a truly shocking statistic because it takes a lot of courage for anyone to come forward to report any type of crime, but especially when it involves violence and sexual offences. so there is a huge, um, question in there, and

there's a huge issue about why are these crimes not being investigated now, some may say that it's because crime police numbers actually decreased over the last ten years, but they are back up to where they should be. but that does mean that there are very, very large numbers of inexperienced police officers who are with these complex cases i >> -- >> so it could be that there are police officers who simply don't know what course of action to take. so they allow crimes to be, well, alleged crimes to just go away. essentially they don't bother investigating because they're not sure what the course of action is. >> i wouldn't actually say that they are. they can't be bothered . i think that in some cases, police officers need more training. need more training. they need more experience. also what are we experience. and also what are we actually asking our police forces to do? because fraud is on the increase. so you've got police officers who are not trained to deal with complex fraud cases. you've also got an increase in cyber enabled crime,

which is not just the frauds, but also child abuse. and grooming type offences. again then you've got police officers who ten years ago or 20 years ago wouldn't have even known about these sort of sorts of crimes . so there is a training crimes. so there is a training issue , and that's one of the issue, and that's one of the reasons why why the public are being let down, because officers are not trained adequately. they haven't got the right resources. they haven't even got the most high tech computers to be investigating these crimes with. and the criminals are always one step ahead. we all know from , step ahead. we all know from, um, fraud that happens through our computer , through phishing, our computer, through phishing, you know, through people getting pin numbers and all sorts . you pin numbers and all sorts. you know, the criminals are always one step ahead and the police are always playing catch in are always playing catch up in those of cases . those sorts of cases. >> um, now, paul, one of our viewers wrote to me, just a viewers wrote in to me, just a little saying his little earlier saying his relative works in the police is considering quitting because cause they have to spend so much of their time filling in what some might view as pointless

paperwork is paperwork dominating police officer's jobs i >>i -- >> i would actually agree with the writer who's written in that letter, because police officers are more than more, more often than not doing the paperwork thatis than not doing the paperwork that is associated with these crimes . and for example, when i crimes. and for example, when i mentioned the cyber enabled crimes or the fraud investigations, you don't need a police officer to do that. you need somebody who is trained in that sort of area to do that. so police officers are sitting there doing the paperwork when they out the they should be out in the streets. should be catching streets. they should be catching those violent offenders. they should going the should be going to the burglaries. they're not burglaries. and they're not they're with the red they're tied up with the red tape addition to that, we tape and in addition to that, we have a number of police have got a number of police officers used to officers who are being used to manage protests and demonstrations. we've had huge increases in demonstrations . so increases in demonstrations. so what are we actually asking our police officers to do ? and is it police officers to do? and is it within their reach to be able to do that and solve the crimes that we want them to solve? >> i just worry that fewer people will come forward to the

police when they're victim of a crime, because they'll think, you chances you know, why bother? chances are the police won't follow are that the police won't follow the of inquiry. won't the line of inquiry. they won't follow various leads, and they won't find the perpetrator. but it was only back in september, actually , i'm sure you you actually, i'm sure you you remember this when forces agreed with the home office that they would follow every single line of inquiry for all crimes, without exception . and it sounds without exception. and it sounds like that might be an impossibility . impossibility. >> you're absolutely right. they did make that agreement, but it didn't mean that there were extra resources or extra people to follow those leads . and when to follow those leads. and when we talk about people actually picking up the phone, my advice is if you're in danger, if something's happened, whether it's a violent offence, whether it's a violent offence, whether it's a violent offence, whether it's a sexual offence or you've been burgled, you absolutely should report it. even if you doubt whether or not that's going to be followed up. because if there is a trend, if there is a particular area that is being hit by burglars or, you know, by offenders , then police resources

offenders, then police resources will be allocated there, but you must report it to even stand a chance of getting that investigation started and completed. so my advice is always, always pick up the phone , always dial 999. if it's if it's an emergency and if it's not an emergency, dial the non—emergency numbers. >> thank you very much for your time. parm sandhu. former metropolitan police superintendent. thank you for your time. now let's speak to conservative mp for shipley , conservative mp for shipley, philip davies. philip, thank you very much for joining philip davies. philip, thank you very much forjoining me on the very much for joining me on the show. so tell me what's going on with police forces. i mean, with our police forces. i mean, 22 out of 43 deemed inadequate or requiring requiring improvement when it comes to simply investigating crimes. >> yeah , i mean, it's completely >> yeah, i mean, it's completely unacceptable , emily. unacceptable, emily. >> there's no doubt about that. >> there's no doubt about that. >> um, the question is, why is it happening and what can we do about it? >> i think there's a number of reasons why it's happening. >> i think the police are we've got more officers than >> i think the police are we've got m�*ever officers than >> i think the police are we've got m�*ever had officers than >> i think the police are we've got m�*ever had before,s than >> i think the police are we've got m�*ever had before, butan

we've ever had before, but they're overstretched they're still overstretched and, and, know, they've often and, um, you know, they've often the service last resort when the service of last resort when everyone's tried everybody else, the service of last resort when everknow, tried everybody else, the service of last resort when everknow, whethererybody else, the service of last resort when everknow, whether it'sody else, the service of last resort when everknow, whether it's mentala, you know, whether it's mental health people or local authorities, get authorities, they can't get anywhere. the anywhere. they contact the police are police and the police are expected with things expected to deal with things that not anything that are not really anything really with the police, really to do with the police, but of their is taken but a lot of their time is taken up with that. i think the police priorities be wrong. priorities can be often wrong. you know, have these you know, we have these non—crime hate incident that police are logging. i mean, what on earth are the police doing logging anything? that's a non—crime, sake . non—crime, for goodness sake. they shouldn't they should say to that to people there's something that isn't anything to isn't a crime, isn't anything to do but they do with the police, but they come lots of political come under lots of political pressure all kind of pressure to log all this kind of politically correct rubbish that, go mob that, you know, they go mob handed to arrest somebody handed to, to arrest somebody for somebody . uh, for misgendering somebody. uh, but then we've heard, you but then as we've heard, you know, burglaries and robberies and things are not being investigated at all. so i think they need better prioritise. investigated at all. so i think they neeyou better prioritise. investigated at all. so i think they neeyou know,r prioritise. investigated at all. so i think they neeyou know, iprioritise. investigated at all. so i think they neeyou know, i thinkise. investigated at all. so i think they neeyou know, i think the but but you know, i think the other thing i've spent time out with the police, emily and there's a quite debilitating culture in the police that, you know, basically it's better not to make a bad decision than it

is to make a good decision. and so an awful lot of police officer's time spent , so an awful lot of police officer's time spent, in officer's time is spent, in effect, their backs in effect, covering their backs in case anything goes wrong , uh, case anything goes wrong, uh, because they feel they feel that they'll be left hanging out to dry if something go wrong. dry if something does go wrong. and they need change and i think they need to change that culture where are that culture where people are given the empowered to that given the empowered to feel that they can make decision and not get trouble if the decision get into trouble if the decision was not didn't turn out to be the one. because, you the right one. because, you know, you're in a job know, whenever you're in a job where take decisions, you where you take decisions, you make think make mistakes. and i think sometimes as a debilitating culture , isn't culture in the police, isn't it to a culture of to balance a culture of accountability, which we do need , also empowering , but also empowering police officers to make those quick , officers to make those quick, important decisions that we need them to make every day that they're out on the beat. >> of course, it must be very difficult if you feel like you've system you've got the whole system breathing your neck in case breathing down your neck in case you one mistake that you make one small mistake that could potentially end your career, can certainly see that career, i can certainly see that lots of people talking in the inbox about the amount of paperwork they do. as paperwork they have to do. as you say, those extra jobs paperwork they have to do. as you they're those extra jobs paperwork they have to do. as you they're not se extra jobs paperwork they have to do. as you they're not necessarily; that they're not necessarily trained, trained with,

trained, trained to deal with, but take so much time, mental but take up so much time, mental health issues, acting like social workers, etc. etc. although we do see this across the public sector too. let me ask about what's been ask you about what's been revealed tony blair and revealed about tony blair and his government. we've seen these, uh , wants to classified these, uh, wants to classified uh, files come out published lots about the asylum system, immigration, the isle of mull in scotland was considered for some kind of detention centre . kind of detention centre. >> yeah. it's amazing, isn't it? i mean, the face has changed, but often the issues that they're dealing with don't change a great deal, do they, emily? and it's quite extraordinary that actually, um, emily? and it's quite extrlastinary that actually, um, emily? and it's quite extrlast labour at actually, um, emily? and it's quite extrlast labour governmentjm, emily? and it's quite extrlast labour government were the last labour government were considering, effect, considering, in effect, a similar scheme to what we're, we're pursuing in, uh, in rwanda. uh, i'm not entirely sure what the labour party are going to of that , but, uh, going to make of that, but, uh, look, i think it comes to it comes down to the, the, the fact that when you're in government and you've actually got to deal with rather than with these things rather than just pontificating from the sidelines, actually sidelines, um, there is actually people come back time and time

again that this actually is the only, uh, long terme solution to deaung only, uh, long terme solution to dealing with this particular problem. and i'm not entirely sure didn't sure why tony blair didn't pursue it. sure that'll all pursue it. i'm sure that'll all come the fullness of come out in the fullness of time, too . um, but it's it time, too. um, but it's it doesn't surprise me that he was considering this kind of scheme because i think, uh, you know, people who have looked at it in detail have come to the conclusion that actually sending them somewhere them to a safe haven somewhere else, country, um , is else, a third country, um, is actually only the, the only actually the only the, the only way forward. and, uh, maybe we should have considered sending them to scotland like tony blair did. not entirely sure what did. i'm not entirely sure what the, voters in scotland the, uh, voters in scotland are going make of that, but, um, going to make of that, but, um, but yeah, maybe maybe we should have considered that too. but it is. it is , um, it's quite is. it is, um, it's quite striking that, uh, this rwanda style policy was one that tony blair thought of as well. i mean, my overriding feeling and i'm sure this is of our viewers and listeners , too. and listeners, too. >> it's also true that that okay, 20 years ago, still brainstorming ways of dealing

with this issue. 20 years on, still brainstorm charming ways to deal with this issue . two to deal with this issue. two nothing demonstrable has been done to fix it. rwanda plan still not off the tarmac . very, still not off the tarmac. very, very frustrating thing, is it? beyond the wit of our politicians to deal with this issue? >> well , hopefully not. >> well, hopefully not. hopefully . no offence taken . i hopefully. no offence taken. i would never take offence to anything you said. um, well look, i hope not. i think. i think the government has got the right policy. it's just getting it through the courts, basically. and i feel that, i mean, the uk courts , uh, and i mean, the uk courts, uh, and i think sunak's latest bill think rishi sunak's latest bill is basically doing everything possible make the courts possible to make sure the courts can't it any further. can't thwart it any further. so yeah, look i share the yeah, i agree. look i share the frustration as much as anybody . frustration as much as anybody. i'm sure you're that i'm sure you're right that the thing years on, we're thing that 20 years on, we're still in pretty much the still in this pretty much the same were is same position as we were then is infuriating all of us. but infuriating for all of us. but it makes it really important that this year coming up, 2024, we've got to get rwanda off the

ground because is the only ground because that is the only long terme solution. and of course, labour now have said that they'll scrap that policy even successful. um, even if it's successful. um, because basically have got because they basically have got no to deport people who no policy to deport people who come country illegally. come into the country illegally. they them they want to process them quicker, they don't want to quicker, but they don't want to be deport them when they be able to deport them when they reject application, which reject their application, which seems me. seems bizarre to me. >> philip. very >> and philip. just lastly, very quickly, reaction to what quickly, your reaction to what mike frear mp, your colleague , mike frear mp, your colleague, has had to say, mp golders green in north london, saying that he wears a stab vest in public for fear of attack. of course, there has been an arson too, on has been an arson attack too, on his office in north london. your reaction ? reaction? >> yeah. look, i've spoken to mike about this before and i knew that he wore a stab vest. i know that he has to go through terrible measures in terrible security measures in order to go his life order to go about his daily life . person who killed . and the person who killed david amess, uh, you david amess, actually, uh, you know , they actually, uh, know, they they actually, uh, went to mike freer first, and looked around his office, and he could have been the victim of that individual to. that particular individual to. mike's a terrible mike's gone through a terrible time . and to be perfectly

time. and to be perfectly honest, you know, and to be honest, you know, and to be honest, mike's probably had it worse than but these worse than anybody. but these type happens to lots of type of thing happens to lots of mps. whatever you think of mps. and whatever you think of politicians people politicians, and i know people don't very high opinion don't have a very high opinion of politicians, emily. and in many cases rightly so. but nobody to go through nobody deserves to go through what, what mike free has been going other mps on going through and other mps on both sides of the house. it's completely unacceptable. we can have disagreement , but for have our disagreement, but for goodness sake, let's have them peacefully put people peacefully. let's not put people under risk. and it's under under risk. and it's unacceptable what's happening to many of course, the many mps. and of course, the only conclusion is it's going to stop all good people stop all the good people wanting to politics the to get into politics in the first so first place. so it's counterproductive everybody. first place. so it's couabsolutely. ive everybody. first place. so it's couabsolutely. couldn'terybody. first place. so it's couabsolutely. couldn't agreer. >> absolutely. couldn't agree with you more. thank you very much philip much for your time. philip davies, for davies, conservative mp for shipley . of course. for shipley. of course. thanks for your it . uh, your time. appreciate it. uh, now, heard , philip davies now, as we heard, philip davies just tony blair's labour just now, tony blair's labour government planned to use the isle on the west coast isle of mull on the west coast of scotland as a holding camp for thousands of asylum seekers. that's according newly that's according to newly released official it was released official papers. it was part plan which would have part of a plan which would have seen illegal migrants put

straight back on the plane. they arrived no arrived on, with little or no right of appeal. rather curious, joining us now to discuss this is gb news political correspondent olivia utley. lots to get stuck into with these documents. we'll start with the asylum plans. it looks like they looked at, well, lots of different, quite radical proposals from ignoring the echr to using the isle of mull as some kind of detention camp for asylum seekers and what else? remind me ? remind me? >> well , absolutely. i remind me? >> well, absolutely. i think what will strike pretty much everyone on on seeing this story is the striking resemblances to the policies talked about by tony blair's top team in the late 90s and early 2000, and the policies being discussed now by rishi sunak . conservative rishi sunak. conservative government , as you say, there government, as you say, there were quite a few ideas thrown around in a in a conversation which and the notes is entitled useful brainstorming. there was anidea useful brainstorming. there was an idea to send migrants to the

isle of mull . an idea to send migrants to the isle of mull. uh, that was an idea that was taken from the australian playbook . australia australian playbook. australia at the time had successfully detained migrants all in one place, and it was working well for them. lord powell suggested doing something similar in the u.k. there was another idea to send migrants to the falkland islands, a british overseas territory that's something which has been discussed very recently here in the uk by rishi sunaks government, and perhaps most interestingly of all, there was a suggestion made by lord powell. then the chief of downing street , uh, staff, that downing street, uh, staff, that echr laws should be ignored altogether. he suggested , and altogether. he suggested, and obviously this didn't come to pass. obviously this didn't come to pass . he obviously this didn't come to pass. he wondered aloud as it were, whether britain needed an asylum system at all. he argued that as britain is an island and everyone who comes here oversees has necessarily travelled through france, uh, perhaps there is an argument to say that no one who comes to the uk has a legitimate asylum claim. and if the strasbourg court's , uh,

the strasbourg court's, uh, reject that notion , as they were reject that notion, as they were bound to do, then perhaps britain should ignore those echr rules altogether . and i'm sure rules altogether. and i'm sure you will see the striking parallels with conservative mps now discussing whether the moment has come for britain to leave the echr what's really interesting about this, of course, is that it is not fringe conservative mps having these discussions. it is the people closest to the labour prime minister, tony. >> turns out you may need radical measures to, uh, solve this issue , but thank you very this issue, but thank you very much. gb news political correspondent olivia utley appreciate . now as appreciate your time. now as calls for a ceasefire in gaza continue, be hearing from continue, we'll be hearing from a consul general who was a former consul general who was based in jerusalem . um, stay based in jerusalem. um, stay with .

sunday mornings from 930 on gb news is . well news is. well my email inbox is very full indeed with emails about the police. >> what you think are the problems facing the police ? some problems facing the police? some of you are very sympathetic to the workload, particularly that issue huge amounts of issue of huge amounts of paperwork . others of you less paperwork. others of you less sympathetic . let me know what sympathetic. let me know what you think. gb views at gb news. com i'll be reading out in com i'll be reading some out in just a little bit, but first the un says an estimated 150,000 palestinian are being forced to flee areas of central gaza . flee areas of central gaza. that's as israeli forces expand their ground offensive. now, some world leaders continue to put pressure on israel to pause

its war on hamas. our reporter charlie peters reflects on the conflict and looks at what could happen next. >> under the cover of thousands of rockets , hamas terrorists of rockets, hamas terrorists launched their bloodiest attack in decades as over 1200 people were killed on the october 7th attacks. dubbed black saturday in israel . stories of the in israel. stories of the brutality of the terror gradually reached the world. innocents burned and beheaded, widespread sex crimes, families murdered in their homes, hundreds taken hostage in retaliation, the israeli military launched an unprecedented bombing campaign, followed by a ground invasion into the gaza strip . the idf's into the gaza strip. the idf's mission is to destroy hamas's leadership and military infrastructure and recover its hostages . at first, the west and hostages. at first, the west and much of the world rallied with israel following the horror of the attacks , but some of that the attacks, but some of that

support has shifted to concern amid the humanitarian catastrophe enveloping the coastal enclave of the un. says that over half a million people are enduring a catastrophic hunger crisis . over 21,000 hunger crisis. over 21,000 palestinians have been killed since the war erupted, according to the hamas run health ministry, with over 70% of them women and children. hamas figures do not distinguish between male civilians and terrorists . the violence has terrorists. the violence has sparked protests and marches in britain, with controversy . britain, with controversy. pro—palestine demonstrations and a major rally against anti—semitism taking place on london's streets . but amid the london's streets. but amid the debate over the destruction, british politicians have continued to visit israel to support and advise . soon after support and advise. soon after the attacks , rishi sunak arrived the attacks, rishi sunak arrived to express solidarity. foreign secretary james cleverly and bofis secretary james cleverly and boris johnson arrived soon after

with the former prime minister telling gb news that the west needed to be patient after october's horrors give israel the time and the space to conduct the operation to track down the people who did this and to make sure they can never do it again. lord cameron joined world leaders to warn israel that its civilian casualties were too high. some analysts have criticised the use of heavy munitions on targets in urban refugee camps , and despite refugee camps, and despite a seven day ceasefire with some hostages released, there is little hope of peace and security returning to gaza soon. israel's army chief said that the conflict will rage for on many months as his forces push into central gaza . soon they into central gaza. soon they will target the south, where, almost over a million people have gathered after being displaced desperately fleeing the violence . but that violence the violence. but that violence is now spilling across the

region. the president of the palestinian authority has warned that the west bank could explode at any time. drone and missile attacks on international shipping by iran backed groups continue in the red sea. rocket exchanges are escalating on the lebanese border. us forces are coming under regular attack in iraq and syria, and european security agencies claim to have smothered a hamas attack in germany with no end in sight. there are growing fears that the israeli invasion of the small coastal strip could soon become a global catastrophe . oil prices a global catastrophe. oil prices could rocket . inflationary could rocket. inflationary concerns are growing and security agencies are on high alert. charlie peters, gb news. >> thank you. charlie peters there now former consul general in jerusalem and former ambassador to libya and iran, sir richard dalton joins us now. sir richard dalton joins us now. sir richard, thank you very much for joining me on the show. now, forjoining me on the show. now, as charlie was just saying in

that report, israel making clear that report, israel making clear that this war could be many months . months. >> yes, that's right. >> yes, that's right. >> they're not heeding the advice. they're not heeding the justified outrage at the way in which their campaign has gone way beyond self—defence and is inflicting a appalling collective punishment on the entire population of the gaza strip of 2.3 million, one point million, 1.8 million being displaced . displaced. >> so, richard, do you support , >> so, richard, do you support, do you support israel's aim, though, to destroy , boy, hamas ? though, to destroy, boy, hamas? >> i support a political resolution of the problems israel faces because i believe what they're doing is morally indefensible. and strategically unwise . i'm one of those many unwise. i'm one of those many analysts on both sides of the atlantic and in the region who

believe that they might gain themselves a short respite by using the kind of military means that they are pursuing , but that that they are pursuing, but that they won't win the war, or indeed that war to secure their security is one which the united states secretary of defence himself has warned they could lose. in other words, he said , a lose. in other words, he said, a tactical victory is within your grasp. but a strategic failure is also a possibility. and i think that is right. how new hamas leaders will emerge and the impulse to resist the grossly unjust occupation of their territory by palestinians will continue. so richard , how will continue. so richard, how can israel negotiate that peace with hamas, a terror organisation that wants to see them annihilate covid? we all negotiate with terror organisations. negotiate with terror organisations . the negotiate with terror organisations. the only negotiate with terror organisations . the only way we

organisations. the only way we got peace in northern ireland was to recognise that alongside totally unjustifiable technique of pursuing their , uh, of pursuing their, uh, objections to british involvement in northern ireland, the republicans had something to say about the need for a different kind of way of running politics. and when we recognise that we came to a peace solution and throughout the history of decolonisation , when we turned decolonisation, when we turned prospective, we turned enemies who had opposed our rule into prospective allies. and the same bafis prospective allies. and the same basis for peace between israel and palestine that was laid down in the oslo agreements and in negotiations subsequently that can and should be revived as a much better means of ensuring the security of israel . the security of israel. >> well, thank you very much for your time, sir richard dalton, former ambassador to libya and

iran . well, coming up from the iran. well, coming up from the bbc's top jobs being filled with privately educated people to a strategic appointment by the business secretary, i'll be deep diving into some of today's top stories with my expert panel . stories with my expert panel. >> hey, it's 134. good afternoon to you. i'm aaron armstrong in the gb newsroom . it's a breaking the gb newsroom. it's a breaking news to bring you. a person from scotland has died following an outbreak of e coli. the uk health security agency says it's currently investigating 30 cases across england and scotland , and across england and scotland, and possible links with possible links to a brand of cheese . it links to a brand of cheese. it follows a precautionary recall of four products from mrs. kirkham's lancashire cheese because of possible e coli contamination. more on that as soon as we get it. the family of chris marriott, who was hit by a car while trying to save a stranger, say the circumstances of his death showed the sort of man he was. the 46 year old was trying to help a woman lying

unconscious on street when a unconscious on the street when a car ploughed into a crowd of people in sheffield on wednesday . two men remain in custody after being arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder . an avalanche attempted murder. an avalanche in the french alps has killed two people. french media is reporting the victims as a british mother and a son, who were part of a group skiing on mont blanc, authorities confirmed there were two deaths, adding one person escaped with minor injuries. five others were unhurt . forecasters are warning unhurt. forecasters are warning winds of up to 75mph could hit parts of southern england and wales tomorrow, as the uk recovers from storm garrett . recovers from storm garrett. around 100 homes in greater manchester are still dealing with the aftermath a with the aftermath of a suspected tornado. yellow alerts have issued from 11 am. have been issued from 11 am. tomorrow until new year's eve . a tomorrow until new year's eve. a man who tried to save three people trapped in a vehicle says they were swept away as they tried to cross a river. the men died after they drove their 4x4 into the river esk near glaisdale on the north york moors on thursday. a police say

the tragic accident was caused by hazardous weather conditions that had badly affected the roads in the surrounding area . roads in the surrounding area. and you can get more on all of our stories on our website, gbnews.com . for a valuable legacy. >> your family can own. gold coins will always shine bright. rosalind gold proudly sponsors the gb news financial report . a the gb news financial report. a quick look at the markets the pound buys you $1.2714 ,1.1502. >> the price of gold, £1,623.46 per ounce. the ftse 100 is . at per ounce. the ftse 100 is. at 7733 points. rosalind gold proudly sponsors the gb news financial report . financial report. >> well, yes. coming up, i'm going to be speaking to my expert panel in just one moment. you won't want to miss it. we're going discussing lots ,

going to be discussing lots, including the bbc and also a few other stories, including one rather controversial comment from a conservative mp who said struggling children are products of crap parents, excuse my language

monday to thursday from six till nine. >> right, it's 140. nine. >> right, it's140. this is good afternoon britain with me, emily carver. now, before i introduce my panel, let's have a look at the inbox. what are you saying?

dan says, how can that people how can that people say, we have more police than before. before when? 1941. if we more police than before. before when?1941. if we had enough police, why is there a very low police, why is there a very low police profile walking the streets, keeping crime down? good point. virginia says physical crimes are not seen as important as online ones. they can sit behind a screen in the warm, jobs . and warm, doing their jobs. and richard says, i am a half blind, 80 old veteran and i was 80 year old veteran and i was recently scammed contractor recently scammed by a contractor . i reported this to the police and also to the national fraud people, but police have now told me nothing they can do. me there is nothing they can do. well, often happens . i well, that often happens. i mean, relative of mine had mean, a relative of mine had their car nicked and all they got one of those, uh, no got was one of those, uh, no offers for insurance, crime reference but anyway, offers for insurance, crime refereyour but anyway, offers for insurance, crime refereyour views but anyway, offers for insurance, crime refereyour views coming anyway, offers for insurance, crime refereyour views coming any'but keep your views coming in. but joining discuss some joining me now to discuss some of top is former of the top stories is former editor express, editor of the sunday express, martin townsend, and the co—founder media, co—founder of novara media, aaron bastani . thank you very aaron bastani. thank you very much for joining aaron bastani. thank you very much forjoining me. i hope you both had a lovely christmas. so i want start this, uh, i want to start with this, uh, cunous i want to start with this, uh, curious story. kemi badenoch appoints right wing peer to

appoints right wing tory peer to be the new chair of the low pay commission. now, this is baroness philippa stroud, a right wing tory peer, is how she's described . is this a good she's described. is this a good move from the conservatives to try fill these types of try and fill these types of positions have quite a lot positions that have quite a lot of influence people who are of influence with people who are on labour like to on their side? labour like to do that ? on their side? labour like to do tha well, entirely >> well, it's entirely explicable, predictable, and i think it's fair to say that, yes, labour would the exact yes, labour would do the exact same thing. >> my personal position is to scrap right. i think scrap this role. right. i think that of the one of the that one of the one of the things that the tories talk about a but never seem to about a lot, but never seem to do, attacking quangos. i do, is attacking quangos. and i think is something which think this is something which could the of could go beyond the sort of political partisan divide . political partisan divide. >> um, we have rpi so you can measure inflation, which includes housing costs. >> i personally don't understand what the minimum wage isn't simply indexed to rpi . um, and simply indexed to rpi. um, and you could potentially have , you you could potentially have, you know, minister has a purview know, a minister has a purview to intervene in exceptional circumstances, but that is the convention that seems a very simple way of doing things. but unfortunately, with our political class, they like to

create jobs for their mates. so we have lots quangos and we have lots of quangos and commissions , about 101 things, commissions, about 101 things, but that would be my personal view. but like you say, the fact the tories have done this isn't shocking. labour will do the exact same thing. >> a lot of >> yeah, i mean, a lot of conservatives would agree with what yet it's what aaron said there. yet it's just got far too many just said we've got far too many quangos. >> yeah. need, uh need quangos. >> ithe. need, uh need quangos. >> ithe bonfire ed, uh need quangos. >> ithe bonfire of uh need quangos. >> ithe bonfire of the need quangos. >> ithe bonfire of the quangos the, the bonfire of the quangos that we were promised a few years that's for sure. years ago, that's for sure. >> but i mean, this is an >> um, but i mean, this is an attempt conservatives got attempt the conservatives got rid of any quangos, made them. >> i think there's a lot >> yeah. i think there's a lot of yeah, a lot of creation of quangos going on. quangos that's been going on. i mean, on this particular story, i think you an i think it's, you know, an entirely predictable move. >> it depends . >> it depends. >> it depends. >> she's only chair. there's >> she's only the chair. there's a load of people a whole load of other people involved. much say she's involved. so how much say she's going to have i don't know. >> is an attempt to sort >> um, it is an attempt to sort of bring in some balance between the right to strike and, you know, public know, certain sort of public services being able to continue. >> and i think balance is >> and i think that balance is a is the right thing to try and do. >> um , uh, yeah.

do.— >> um , uh, yeah . so i mean, do. >> um , uh, yeah . so i mean, it's >> um, uh, yeah. so i mean, it's just sort of , >> um, uh, yeah. so i mean, it's just sort of, um, i don't know, i kind of have mixed feelings about it. >> i don't know how effective she's going to be in that role. >> yeah. i wonder, do we need a minimum wage? >> i support the minimum wage. i don't think. why? i don't think it it was it hurts. i think so when it was being proposed by labour before 1997, of 1997, there were a bunch of criticisms. look, that's criticisms. and look, that's that's because have to that's good because you have to you to sort of stop de—man you have to sort of stop de—man an idea, not straw man idea, an idea, not straw man an idea, you going be you know, if it's going to be a good idea, it should be robustly criticised. said criticised. and they said it would create unemployment, that, um, would create a bunch um, that it would create a bunch of, um , negative kind of of, um, negative kind of incentives in the system. that didn't happen. we've had really low unemployment ever since. so i don't buy that. i think it's i personally think the minimum wage is in a good place. i don't think it's too low. i don't think it's too low. i don't think it's too high. i think, you know, it's about i think 60% of the sort of median income if you 40 hours a week, that you work 40 hours a week, that seems about fair. um, and i, i think that basically trade unions are best placed to get

the best pay deals for their workers . but i the best pay deals for their workers. but i think it's reasonable to have a floor through which, you know , nobody through which, you know, nobody should fall. and i think the, the big the big injustice of the last 15 years really in this country has been the explosion in in—work poverty, not people who aren't working in poverty, in—work poverty , which when in—work poverty, which when i was a kid was incredibly rare. but now it is the norm. you're more likely to be in poverty now if you're in a household where somebody nobody somebody works and if nobody works and i think that's a major, major issue. so you know, getting rid of the minimum wage, i would be i think given that would be a but benefit system does but our benefit system does sometimes disincentivise people to take on extra hours because then they lose the benefits immediately. then they lose the benefits imrandately. then they lose the benefits imrand it'sy. then they lose the benefits imrand it's not actually >> and it's not actually worthwhile picking up those extra hours. yeah. and that has such complexities in our system. absolutely >> and that has an impact absolutely >> society. it has an impact absolutely >> society. it mean, an impact absolutely >> society. it mean, wean impact absolutely >> society. it mean, we wantpact on society. i mean, we want people to work. on society. i mean, we want peowe to work. want people to work. >> i think that think having a >> i think that i think having a minimum sets good, minimum wage sets a good, you know, knows. know, everybody knows. >> what the minimum wage >> then what the minimum wage is. it's it's a good sort is. and it's a it's a good sort of, um, kind of balance, a good

is. and it's a it's a good sort of, lof kind of balance, a good is. and it's a it's a good sort of, lof level of balance, a good is. and it's a it's a good sort of, lof level to balance, a good is. and it's a it's a good sort of, lof level to set.ince, a good is. and it's a it's a good sort of, umlevel to set.ince, a good is. and it's a it's a good sort of, um ,evel to set.ince, a good is. and it's a it's a good sort of, um , iel to set.ince, a good is. and it's a it's a good sort of, um , iel towondera, a good is. and it's a it's a good sort of, um , iel towonder aboutyod is. and it's a it's a good sort of, um , iel towonder about how >> um, i just wonder about how effective , um, you know, on this effective, um, you know, on this particular role , how effectively particular role, how effectively she's going to be in this role in, in bringing balance back. >> you say about unions >> i mean, you say about unions are in the best position to get to deals. to get pay deals. >> the way the unions >> i mean, the way the unions have the last year have behaved over the last year with these constant strikes to have behaved over the last year with strike constant strikes to have behaved over the last year with strike thattant strikes to have behaved over the last year with strike thattargoing es to train strike that is going on forever and ever and ever and even forever and ever and ever and ever, that constant health strikes. there no strikes. i mean, there is no balance just balance there. there's just a sort extremity. sort of extremity. >> it's only it's only going >> and it's only it's only going to worse labour. it's to get worse under labour. it's only worse under only going to get worse under laboun only going to get worse under labour. of labour. so to put a bit of insurance in, in, you know, in place with this, with this appointment bad idea. appointment is not a bad idea. >> have quite a lot of >> we do have quite a lot of union militancy, but i was going >> we do have quite a lot of unactually ancy, but i was going >> we do have quite a lot of unactually maybe, it i was going >> we do have quite a lot of un actually maybe, maybe going >> we do have quite a lot of un actually maybe, maybe we'll to actually maybe, maybe we'll come because i've come to this later because i've seen that double the number of young people are on long terms sickness now . so and there's sickness now. so and there's a debate there be had about debate there to be had about whether that's because we're more sick or whether there's something else going on. some snowflakey , as some might snowflakey, as some might suggest. why are people suggest. why are young people taking time off work ? is taking so much time off work? is it they don't see the it because they don't see the benefits of because

benefits of work? because everything so sky high in everything is so sky high in terms costs? but let's move terms of costs? but let's move on to the bbc, because this is perhaps unsurprising. but i'd like to get your thoughts on this. a fifth of top positions more than a fifth of top positions at the bbc, are held by individuals who attended private schools, to private schools, according to recent . now, the bbc talks recent data. now, the bbc talks a lot about the need for diversity. aaron doesn't it? it is this a bad thing necessarily ? is this a bad thing necessarily? >> i don't think it's a bad thing. i i've read this and i thought, shock, horror, you know, um, liberal middle class establishment institution has a significant number of people who went to private school. i don't think it's a shocking thing. i personally have zero problem with where somebody went to school. zero problem. i think, you know, need a conversation you know, we need a conversation as a society. how do you not disadvantage who didn't as a society. how do you not disto vantage who didn't as a society. how do you not disto vantage school? who didn't as a society. how do you not disto vantage school? and didn't go to private school? and there's important there's a really important conversation, never conversation, but i would never judge on the basis of judge somebody on the basis of their their background judge somebody on the basis of th

one of the diversity is that is rarely touched upon. and i think , look, i think gb news talks about this a lot. think it's about this a lot. i think it's something they broadly get right, that right, actually. is that somewhere like bbc there somewhere like the bbc there isn't diversity of isn't really a diversity of opinion. is really opinion. and that is really important. and opinion. and that is really irdon'tant. and opinion. and that is really irdon't mean and opinion. and that is really irdon't mean that and opinion. and that is really irdon't mean that as and opinion. and that is really irdon't mean that as like and opinion. and that is really irdon't mean that as like to and i don't mean that as like to knock the bbc, but you know, sometimes people with marginal voices who are in the minority, they're actually right . and it's they're actually right. and it's useful for those people to be inside the room with regards to editorial decisions, commissioning but commissioning decisions, but also people with right also sometimes people with right wing are also and wing views are also right and there be an there doesn't seem to be an awful of that at the bbc. awful lot of that at the bbc. >> mean, with you on education. >> i couldn't care less where people educated. it didn't people are educated. it didn't bother least that, you bother me in the least that, you know, someone went to oxford or and the bullingdon, and they're in the bullingdon, although there a although i do think there is a kind and oxford old boys kind of eton and oxford old boys network, be network, which needs to be broken. think that, but broken. i do think that, but i think generally i think generally speaking, i think generally speaking, i think and also all sorts of people kids people to send their kids privately often the privately because often the local schools just local schools are not just not they're enough they're they're not good enough or know, or they're not, you know, they're available. whatever. or they're not, you know, the s01 available. whatever. or they're not, you know, the so�* don'tailable. whatever. or they're not, you know, the so�* don't have e. whatever. or they're not, you know, the so�* don't have a whatever. or they're not, you know, the so�* don't have a problem r. >> so i don't have a problem

with go school. with where people go to school. what i do have a problem with is this automatic where this automatic thing where people and people go into the bbc and immediately become immediately they become incredibly wing we've immediately they become increyit,ly wing we've immediately they become increyit, we've wing we've immediately they become increyit, we've seen we've immediately they become increyit, we've seen it we've immediately they become increyit, we've seen it overz've seen it, we've seen it over christmas with this woke agatha christie. we all had to sit through nonsense through absolute nonsense from start through absolute nonsense from sta|you know, it started off >> you know, it started off really well and then you get a whole lesson on colonialism in the middle of it all. >> and this is christmas on >> and this is at christmas on telly and is the bbc in telly and this is the bbc in action. they do it every time they touch a period they cannot touch now a period drama delivering lessons drama without delivering lessons . that's got nothing to do with the of the people . that's got nothing to do with the it's of the people . that's got nothing to do with the it's got of the people . that's got nothing to do with the it's got to the people . that's got nothing to do with the it's got to doe people . that's got nothing to do with the it's got to do withple . that's got nothing to do with the it's got to do with the there. it's got to do with the fact all have, as you fact that they all have, as you say, same political say, exactly the same political opinion is left wing. say, exactly the same political opiia)n is left wing. say, exactly the same political opiia report is left wing. say, exactly the same political opiia report outy left wing. say, exactly the same political opiia report out yesterday. say, exactly the same political opiia report out yesterday that >> a report out yesterday that was citing some of the was highly citing some of the biases at the in their biases at the bbc in their reporting. but they used as an example how the bbc news website has at least one story on the slave trade news every week. breaking news 200 years ago. i know which is which is a bit mad , isn't it? yeah, well, sometimes it's reporting actual stories like a country in the west indies is asking for

reparations and which is illegitimate. you have to report a news story, of course, but thatis a news story, of course, but that is rather strange. >> it would say is coming >> what it would say is coming back i don't back to this. look, i don't think bbc is left think the bbc is left wing. i think the bbc is left wing. i think what we're describing is you're kidding. we're you're kidding. no. we're describing. say describing. how can you say that? wing. and i agree that? i'm left wing. and i agree with saying with all the stuff you're saying about christie, so about agatha christie, so i don't left wing. don't think that's left wing. we're liberalism. we're talking about liberalism. yeah, we're talking about liberalism. about liberalism. we're talking about identity liberalism. we're talking about ideithat's we're talking >> that's what we're talking about. it's about. blairite. that's no, it's left are those labour. >> those are those labour. >> those are those labour. >> it's new labour. >> those are those labour. >> i'm new labour. >> those are those labour. >> i'm sorry. abour. >> those are those labour. >> i'm sorry. thejr. >> those are those labour. >> i'm sorry. the bbc new >> i'm sorry. the bbc is a new labour organisation believe labour organisation and believe me, many lefties hate me, just as many lefties hate new conservatives do, new labour as conservatives do, don't goodness, don't buy that. oh my goodness, really buy it. i do really, i don't buy it. i do not buy it. execs at the bbc, channel 4, but people channel 4, itv. but people watching, all watching, they're all new laboun watching, they're all new labour, are all new labour. labour, they are all new labour. they're reminiscent of still they're all reminiscent of still left it doesn't matter how left wing. it doesn't matter how you cut off, call it, i call it. >> i'm sure some it.— >> i'm sure some of it. >> i'm sure some of the younger employees are probably a bit more in their politics. >> maybe . but look, you look at >> maybe. but look, you look at the last general election, who was doing the interviews. they never interviewed the tory contender. they only interviewed corbyn, it? andrew neil? corbyn, who was it? andrew neil? i mean, went to come here. i mean, he went on to come here. you look at davie, who's you look at tim davie, who's the, dog. he's

the, you know, the top dog. he's a conservative a former conservative councillor. look councillor. um, you look at nick robinson, conservative robinson, former conservative at, at oxford university. so look my view is it's socially liberal. it's economically liberal. it's economically liberal. and so when the left attacks the bbc and the right attacks the bbc and the right attacks the bbc and the right attacks the bbc, they're both kind of right. >> i'm not sure if it's economically liberal. um, because is often stories are presented as the only cure is more public spending and tax is always is always presented as a, you know , a good i would say so you know, a good i would say so i'm not sure. i just i just wish they would get a free trade. perhaps yeah. i'm not sure with tax and i just wish they'd get on with the business of being an unbiased broadcaster. >> i even website >> i mean, even the bbc website makes >> i mean, even the bbc website ma why is the bbc even got website? >> why? why is this a bbc? have thousands of people working on its website? >> it spending that >> why isn't it spending that it's tv company? >> that's what it's supposed to do. it's forgotten what it's all about. mean, tim davie, when about. i mean, tim davie, when he was supposed to the kind about. i mean, tim davie, when he you supposed to the kind about. i mean, tim davie, when he you know, sed to the kind about. i mean, tim davie, when he you know, the to the kind about. i mean, tim davie, when he you know, the answer,e kind about. i mean, tim davie, when he you know, the answer, heind about. i mean, tim davie, when he you know, the answer, he was of, you know, the answer, he was going and going to bring balance and everything done everything else. he's done

nothing they're nothing of the sort. they're still these terrible still turning out these terrible woke one wants woke dramas that no one wants that know , and we're being that you know, and we're being served up lessons in, in wokery every single time they come back to that, though. >> go on then, go on. >>— >> go on then, go on. >> then i was going to move on to another but i'll be to another story, but i'll be very quick. >> this a problem across the >> this is a problem across the industry, right? because see >> this is a problem across the indlsameright? because see >> this is a problem across the indlsame thing because see >> this is a problem across the indlsame thing with use see >> this is a problem across the indlsame thing with regards see >> this is a problem across the indlsame thing with regards to e the same thing with regards to bob disney. so there is bob iger and disney. so there is something with regards something going on with regards to and people to broadcast and the people it draws call draws upon you, you call it wokery like wokery or some people like that, some don't. don't think some people don't. i don't think that's just an issue for the bbc in terms navigating these. that's just an issue for the bbc in tthey navigating these. that's just an issue for the bbc in tthey navigthey] these. that's just an issue for the bbc in tthey navigthey are ase. that's just an issue for the bbc in tthey navigthey are the, >> they are the they are the, you we all licence fee. >> very true. >> very true. >> it sounds like we're not too bothered about there being too many poshos at the but they bothered about there being too many beenios at the but they bothered about there being too many been criticised but they bothered about there being too many been criticised for but they have been criticised for stereotyping working class. there's only one fifth, so presumably the other 4/5. >> mean, honest, if >> and i mean, to be honest, if you look at lots of industries, the can true at the same thing can be true at the same thing can be true at the um, so there the top. anyway. um, so there you have time for this you go. do we have time for this last very, quickly last question very, very quickly now, james now, one tory mp, james daly, has under as they has come under fire as they often do, for saying that struggling children are products of parents um, do you of crap. parents um, do you think that's controversial ?

think that's controversial? >> i think it's pretty. look, let's deconstruct this question for a moment. struggling kids are a product of crap parents. okay? so if you think that, what are going to do about it? are we going to do about it? because out because there is a view out there look, there there that, well, look, there will parents, right? so will be crap parents, right? so for kids, they to for those kids, are they to blame should they have the blame? should they have the negative consequences for their entire be entire lives? should they be disadvantaged of their disadvantaged because of their parents? partly parents? i think it's partly true, but i think also the state has a role to look after people and give everybody a fair crack of the whip. just because your parents weren't good parents weren't very good doesn't should pay doesn't mean that you should pay the that for rest the costs of that for the rest of your so i think it's a of your life. so i think it's a very two dimensional analysis . very two dimensional analysis. um, yeah, but hang on a minute. it doesn't. >> mr it doesn't cost >> mr daly. it doesn't cost money be a good parent. money to be a good parent. >> it really doesn't. because i grew up. >> i can tell you, in a very working class, um, family, we didn't anything. working class, um, family, we did we anything. working class, um, family, we did we had anything. working class, um, family, we did we had veryhing. working class, um, family, we did we had very little. dad >> we had very little. my dad was always ill. >> my mum three jobs. she >> my mum had three jobs. she did. cetera. cetera. >> et cetera. et cetera. >>— >> et cetera. et cetera. >> i'm not doing the three yorkshiremen sketch here, the way. >> but. but the point is that you to a parent you don't. to be a good parent is is about communicating

is about. is about communicating with talking with your children, talking to your children. they're little sponges between the ages of 1 to 5. see in street 5. and what i see in the street is see on their mobile is i see people on their mobile phones with kids in pushchairs in they don't talk to in front. they don't talk to their too busy in front. they don't talk to thetheir too busy in front. they don't talk to thetheir looking) busy in front. they don't talk to thetheir looking atusy on their phones, looking at their phones, mobile phones are a problem. i don't a big, big problem. um, i don't like the way this, which like this the way in this, which this criticism has been made. i don't like words that they don't like the words that they use, broadly speaking , use, but broadly speaking, they're because everything they're right because everything we is created how we're we are is created by how we're how we're brought up by our parents. >> it doesn't matter how wealthy you are, it makes no difference. parents well, look, look how many wealthy many many wealthy look how many wealthy martin wealthy kids go up the martin bashir aaron bashir townsend and aaron bastani very much for bastani thank you very much for your we'll be in your time. we'll be back in just one stay with us. one moment. stay with us. >> like things are heating >> looks like things are heating up. boxt boilers sponsors of whether on . gb news. whether on. gb news. >> hello again . whether on. gb news. >> hello again. i'm alex whether on. gb news. >> hello again . i'm alex burkill >> hello again. i'm alex burkill here with your latest gb news weather forecast. it's going to stay pretty unsettled as we go through the end of the year with some heavy rain and strong winds to through the last few

to come through the last few days 2023. that's because low days of 2023. that's because low pressure too far away . pressure is never too far away. there is a deep area of low pressure currently out the pressure currently out in the atlantic, which is heading towards but at the moment towards us, but at the moment we're of an we're under the influence of an area low pressure towards the area of low pressure towards the north—east the which north—east of the uk, which has brought winds today brought the blustery winds today and to bring and will continue to bring strong and some strong winds and some heavy outbreaks across parts outbreaks of rain across parts of northeast scotland through the elsewhere, will the night. elsewhere, we will see showers dying see many of the showers dying out, some clear skies for out, so some clear skies for a time before some heavy rain pushes its way from west, pushes its way from the west, where have the clear skies where we have the clear skies through temperatures through tonight. temperatures are to drop, could fall are going to drop, could fall several degrees below freezing across so across parts of scotland, so a harsh likely here. harsh frost likely here. elsewhere as we go through saturday, a spell heavy rain saturday, a spell of heavy rain pushing way east and north pushing its way east and north eastwards country . eastwards across the country. this is going to bring some strong winds and some strong winds and also some significant snow across parts of scotland. as it makes its way across, we could see more than ten centimetres, perhaps , so ten centimetres, perhaps, so could some disruption in could cause some disruption in the it is going to be a the north. it is going to be a cold south, mild for cold day further south, mild for the of year, but not the time of year, but not necessarily feeling it in the

wet and windy weather into new year's eve. and it is going to be a blustery, showery day. some of those showers will be heavy at times and strong winds, particularly south, with particularly in the south, with gales, possibly even severe gales, possibly even severe gales of us it does gales for some of us it does look little bit look like something a little bit dnen look like something a little bit drier, on the cards as we drier, maybe on the cards as we go into new year's day and temperatures little go into new year's day and ten above |res little go into new year's day and ten above average little go into new year's day and ten above average lthat bit above average by by that warm feeling inside from boxt boilers sponsor of weather on gb news .

>> thank you for good afternoon britain. >> it is 2:00 on friday. the 29th of december. hate crimes are up anti—semitic and islamophobe phobic crimes are on the rise as the israel—hamas conflict continues . we'll bring conflict continues. we'll bring you the report from a largely jewish populated golders green in london. blair files previously classified government documents show that former prime minister tony blair drew up a plan to house migrants in a camp on the isle of mull as part of a nuclear option for tackling the mounting asylum issue. does this put the government's rwanda plan into a bit of perspective and snowflake six young adults off work due to long terms, sick leave sores to over 200,000. labouris leave sores to over 200,000. labour is blaming the tories , labour is blaming the tories, saying they're writing off hundreds of thousands of workers by neglecting a healthy economy. are they right , or by neglecting a healthy economy. are they right, or is there something else to blame?

i'm very interested to hear what you think about that last story there. the number of young adults on long terme sickness has doubled since 2010, which seems quite incredible. is that down to the nhs waiting lists or is that down to the pandemic? is that down to, uh, young people not feeling ready to go to work ? not feeling ready to go to work? what's going on? is there an element of snowflake worry about this. i'm going to speak to ben habib. i wonder what he's got to say. let me because say. but let me know because thatis say. but let me know because that is startling. why are that is quite startling. why are so young people off work on so many young people off work on sickness? leave gbviews@gbnews.com. i'll be breaking that down and other stories an expert panel in stories with an expert panel in just later on in the show , just later on in the show, actually. but first, it's your headunes actually. but first, it's your headlines armstrong .

headlines with aaron armstrong. >> good afternoon. it's a minute past two. i'm aaron armstrong . a past two. i'm aaron armstrong. a person's died in scotland following an outbreak of e coli. it's after the uk health security agency confirmed it's currently investigating 30 cases across england and scotland to identify any potential links to a brand of cheese. the food standards agency has announced a precautionary recall of four products from mrs. kirkham's, lancashire cheese because of possible e coli contamination. the family of a man who was killed while trying to save a stranger in sheffield, say the tragic circumstances show the sort of man he was. chris marriott went to the aid of an unconscious woman when he was hit by a car which had ploughed into a crowd of people on wednesday. the 46 year old's family he devoted his life family says he devoted his life to others. woman to helping others. the woman he helped in a life threatening helped is in a life threatening condition in hospital . a 23 year condition in hospital. a 23 year old man arrested on suspicion of murder attempted murder murder and attempted murder remains custody, while a 55 remains in custody, while a 55 year old has been released on bail as a witness. tariq naili described the scene .

described the scene. >> they found a lot of people gathering around and screaming, and a car crashed into the sign next door and a lot of, uh , next door and a lot of, uh, fighting over there . i think 6 fighting over there. i think 6 or 7 people fighting each other, uh, opposite side . and there is uh, opposite side. and there is one guy, uh, in his 20s, uh, his face is full of blood and one woman lying down. uh beside two people have been killed following an avalanche in the french alps. >> local media is reporting the victims as a british mother and a son who were part of a group skiing on mont blanc , skiing on mont blanc, authorities say another person escaped with minor injuries while five others were unhurt . while five others were unhurt. forecasters are warning of winds of up to 75mph that could hit parts of southern england and wales tomorrow, as the uk tries to recover from storm, gareth. around 100 homes in greater manchester are still dealing with the aftermath of a suspected tornado. yellow alerts

have been issued from 11 am. tomorrow new year's eve. tomorrow until new year's eve. weather journalist nathan rouse weatherjournalist nathan rouse says there will be little improvement in the challenging conditions over the next few days. now the uk met office has said that the irish met office. >> met office met eireann might name this storm on saturday as storm henk because it's coming in a deep, low pressure system from the west across ireland first, which will take the brunt of the winds and then into the united kingdom where there'll be rain some significant hill rain and some significant hill snow in scotland. because as that comes in and bumps up that storm comes in and bumps up against cold air, that is going to bring hill snow. to bring some hill snow. so up there had there where they've had heavy snow storm garage snow from, from storm garage already watch i >> -- >>aman >> a man who tried to save three people trapped in a vehicle says they were swept away as they tried a river. the men tried to cross a river. the men died after drove their 4x4 died after they drove their 4x4 across ford on the river esk, across a ford on the river esk, near glaisdale . it was on the near glaisdale. it was on the nonh near glaisdale. it was on the north york moors on thursday. police say the tragic incident was caused by hazardous weather conditions that had badly affected the roads in the

surrounding area. tony blair's government considered sending migrants to a scottish island newly released documents have revealed. a proposal was part of a nuclear option being examined to tackle the asylum issue in 2003. it would have seen the creation of a camp on the isle of mull, with illegal migrants being sent there with little or no right of appeal . the scheme no right of appeal. the scheme also that deporting also suggests that deporting people to regional safe havens in turkey, kenya and south africa . burglars targeted the africa. burglars targeted the home of the england midfielder jack grealish on wednesday while his family was in the house. £1 million worth of jewellery and watches are said to have been stolen, while grealish was playing for manchester city against , the against everton, the footballer's family and fiancee were reportedly watching the match on when they heard a match on tv when they heard a disturbance , no arrests disturbance, but no arrests have been made . rishi sunak condemned been made. rishi sunak condemned president putin after russia launched a massive air attack against ukraine overnight. the prime minister says the latest bombardment shows putin will stop at nothing to eradicate

freedom and democracy . 18 freedom and democracy. 18 civilians have been killed and at least 130 injured following a series of missile and drone attacks on critical infrastructure and military facilities across the country. ukraine says its air defences intercepted 27 drones and 87 cruise missiles in what they say was the biggest series of attacks since the war began. we're live across the uk on tv, on digital radio and if you want us on your smart speaker, say play us on your smart speaker, say play gb news. now back to . emily play gb news. now back to. emily >> right. well the isle of mull on the west coast of scotland is usually known for its wildlife. it's culture, scenery, outdoor activities. but if tony blair's labour government had had its way, perhaps it would have been a holding camp for thousands of asylum seekers. that's according to newly released official papers. it was part of a plan which would have seen illegal migrants put straight back on the they arrived on, with

the plane. they arrived on, with little or no right of appeal. cufious little or no right of appeal. curious stuff, joining us now to discuss this is gb news political correspondent, olivia utley. olivia, remind us of what conversations were being had at the top of government under tony blair about asylum . seems some blair about asylum. seems some what one might consider extreme measures were being considered . measures were being considered. >> well , absolutely. by measures were being considered. >> well, absolutely. by modern standards, pretty much all of the measures proposed by the labour government , by some of labour government, by some of tony blair's closest aides back in 2003 are pretty radical. one of the suggestions, which you mentioned in your introduction in there proposed by now lord powell, the chief of staff powell, then the chief of staff in downing street, was is that the migrants would be sent to the migrants would be sent to the isle of mull. now that suggestion was taken from the australian playbook that australian playbook that australia had at the time successfully detained migrants all in one place, and it was proving to be a deterrent effect on migrants coming to australia . on migrants coming to australia. another suggestion raised by

this group of senior aides around tony blair was sending migrants to the falkland islands . now that is a suggestion which has reared its head again under rishi sunak and his conservative government but a third suggestion i'm not sure it can quite be called a suggestion, but a discussion that was at least had among this group was anidea least had among this group was an idea that perhaps britain shouldn't have an asylum system at all. the theory was that given britain is an island, anyone who travelled to this country by sea had by definition gone through france, which is a safe country. therefore there is an argument that by definition , an argument that by definition, no one who takes that route is has a legitimate claim to asylum . now, lord powell, in these documents makes it very clear that he understood that any of these policies would face severe restrictions in the strasbourg courts and the european court of human rights. but he suggested, and fellow aides did, too, that perhaps a circumventing european

court of human rights legislation might be worth doing . it might give the government a chance to show that it was serious about immigration. now, i'm sure you will see the resemblance is to the sort of conversations that are being had, being had now about the rwanda scheme. it should, of course, be said that, of course, none of these policies actually came to fruition under the labour government. and nor is it clear in the documents that that tony blair himself actually endorsed any of these policies. but it is clear that he was from created by the immigration system as it was, which he called completely mad and he wanted to propose more radical solutions. what fascinates me about this whole discussion is just how far the conversation has shifted in the 20 years since 2003. then these sorts of conversations about radical immigration policies, about sending migrants to third countries or detaining them on the isle of mull, these sort of conversations were being had by

a centre left government , by the a centre left government, by the aide's closest to tony blair. these days, these sorts of conversations seem to be the preserve of conservative mps, and at that, those on the right of the party. >> yes, i'm not sure sir keir starmer will be resurrecting these policies while he's preparing his manifesto for the next election. but who knows? madder things have happened. thank you very olivia thank you very much, olivia utley political utley gb news, political correspondent now sick note britain . we certainly live in britain. we certainly live in a sick note. country at the moment. it appears the number of 16 to 24 year olds not working due to long time sickness has doubled just since 2010. now new figures show 235,000 are out of work. that's the highest since before the pandemic . so what before the pandemic. so what could be to blame ? are they could be to blame? are they truly unwell? have we bred a generation of snowflakes? sickies is long nhs waiting lists to blame bad mental health provision. let's ask ben habib, deputy leader of reform uk. ben,

what needs to happen here if you were in government and you saw these figures in front of you young people who should be able to work actually languishing on sick pay instead, what's going on? >> well , i on? >> well, i wouldn't rush to condemn them as snowflake sickies . i condemn them as snowflake sickies. i mean, that may be the case, but i wouldn't rush to condemn them on that front. what we're seeing with that age group is actually symptomatic of what's happening right across the labour force . so even though the labour force. so even though i think you mentioned a quarter of a million people that age of a million people in that age group who aren't who are mentally , uh, ill by their own mentally, uh, ill by their own declaration and aren't looking for work so they don't come up in the unemployment figures. they simply aren't looking for work that's mirrored right across all the age groups. so we now have 6 million people on universal credit, 3 million before lockdowns doubled. in other words . and we've got other words. and we've got 2 million people in the country , million people in the country, uh, claiming mental health

issues and not looking for work. and the bill for the exchequer is vast, universal credit costs. the country about £75 billion a yeah the country about £75 billion a year. that's a quarter of the total income tax take. and there are many economic ills about which you and i have discussed in the past. this is perhaps the most serious economic ill, because you have 6 million people, 20% of the workforce, not not in proper gainful , not not in proper gainful, self—sustaining employment . and self—sustaining employment. and we've got to get these people back into work. and the key thing here that the government seems to have completely lost the plot on is the need to cut taxes on the working and middle class. now, i would argue that the principal reason people aren't working is because the gap between what you can get on benefits and what you get in net wages , even on median wages and wages, even on median wages and a lot of these people would obviously be below the median

wage mark. but what you get on median wages, the gap between benefits and median wages isn't significant enough to give people the incentive to go back to work. so it's critical, in my view, that we reduce the tax on working class is, um, reduce the bafic working class is, um, reduce the basic rate of tax, increase the threshold at which people pay tax and then i think you will see that group of people right across the board . in fact, all across the board. in fact, all the 6 million people on universal credit going back into going back into work, and that will have two immediate effects. emily won't it? it will have an immediate reduction on the burden of the state picking up that £75 billion a year. uh tab for people who aren't working . for people who aren't working. and it would also boost income taxes. and this is what rishi sunak and jeremy hunt seem to have completely failed to recognise, that if you get britain working again , it's britain working again, it's a double benefit . you boost the double benefit. you boost the exchequer's revenue and you cut the demands made of the exchequer.

>> so ben , you're essentially >> so ben, you're essentially saying this isn't a case of lazy itis as one of our viewers has written in. but actually a lot of people are making quite a rational choice not to spend their lives working because actually the tax burden is so high that it acts as a demotivating force . demotivating force. >> absolutely . when you when you >> absolutely. when you when you we all know that taxes are a post—world war two high. so we all know that the pendulum on tax has to go the other way . and tax has to go the other way. and it's got to go there fast. and the class of people that get taxed the most is the working and middle classes. and they're also the people that are the engine of productivity in the united kingdom . the reason we united kingdom. the reason we have to rely so much on immigration is because we're not incentivising our own british citizens to get back into the workforce. it's basic . it's workforce. it's basic. it's bafic workforce. it's basic. it's basic economics and it's lost. on jeremy hunt and rishi sunak. >> ben, i wonder if there's also a cultural problem among younger people . well, a huge mental

people. well, a huge mental health crisis. many people not being able to get the help that they need. perhaps overdiagnosed, i don't know, but we know that lots of young people are struggling with their mental health and that can really impact whether you are able to get a job and keep that job down. >> look, i'm sure there are people out there who've got genuine mental health issues. the fact, however, that there are now 2 million people not even looking for work who are claiming to be, uh, you know, not entirely mentally well, does doesn't sit well with me. it doesn't sit well with me. it doesn't seem rationally, um , it doesn't seem rationally, um, it doesn't seem rationally, um, it doesn't pass the sort of basic scrutiny of introspection. if you know what i mean. it just seems too big a figure for mental health issues . and i mental health issues. and i think there is something going on in our society where, you know, we are prepared far too often to give to in people's excuses for not wanting to go to work. you know, 40 years ago when i 30 years ago, when i entered the workforce, the thing

used to be backache. no doctor could really tell you whether you someone who was you know someone who was claiming had backache, claiming to have had backache, genuinely had a bad back. but that was what used to that was what people used to claim want to go claim if they didn't want to go to the key is to make to work. the key is to make incentivise people to go to work so get out bed every so they get out of bed every morning and not morning and they're not thinking, such thinking, oh goodness, it's such a struggle but get a struggle to live. but they get out of bed morning out of bed every morning thinking, go thinking, yes, i'm going to go to going to make an to work. i'm going to make an honest wages, and i'm honest day's wages, and i'm going those wages in my going to keep those wages in my pocket. them the pocket. so i can spend them the way to spend them this way i wish to spend them this week, next week, a month later, save up myself and have a save up for myself and have a bright future. and you can bright future. and if you can get message of aspiration get that message of aspiration into workforce fix the into the workforce, you fix the workforce. if you fix the workforce. and if you fix the workforce, as i mentioned, you reduce burden the state reduce the burden on the state and economic organism begins and the economic organism begins to grow. and yes, i mean, ben callum's callum's just written in. >> he says , in.— >> he says , i'm a in. >> he says , i'm a young person >> he says, i'm a young person on sick leave for weeks after breaking bone . i've been breaking a bone. i've been itching to get back to work. but, he he does add, but, he adds, he does add, especially as a young person, it is harder to get a job over

older, more experienced applicants. but i guess all we can say is keep those applications going in and hopefully you'll find something absolutely , absolutely. absolutely, absolutely. >> and i mean other people at the other end of the age scale would also say it's difficult because they're older people because they're older and people want younger. know, i mean, want younger. you know, i mean, the without wishing to the idea without wishing to offend anyone who's obsessed with the equalities act, the ideal people in the ideal age for people in the workforce is 33 you've workforce is 33 to 45. you've got experience . you're young got experience. you're young enough, you're fit enough. you're, uh, you know , on the you're, uh, you know, on the make you get to my age. you know, you've kind of done it . know, you've kind of done it. and, um, i'm still hungry, but that's me. that's a personal, you know, personal thing. um, but the economic organism is. you indicated . emily, uh, emily you indicated. emily, uh, emily is rational. and if you don't give people an incentive to work, they won't work. if they can make nearly as much money sitting at home, they're not going to get up and do it. >> absolutely. if you are >> absolutely. and if you are languishing with aspiration, if you are languishing on nhs, you are languishing on an nhs, waiting which of waiting list, which millions of people , that's not going to

people are, that's not going to help either. but you very help either. but thank you very much. deputy leader much. ben habib, deputy leader of uk. always great to of reform uk. always great to speak appreciate speak to you. appreciate it. now, largest police now, the uk's largest police forces have reported a sharp rise in religious hate crimes following the outbreak of the israel—hamas conflict in greater manchester alone. police have recorded 74 anti—semitic hate crimes just in the month following hamas's attack on israel, compared to 15 for the same period last year. now, meanwhile, an official watchdog has found more than half of police forces in england and wales are not investigating crime properly. 22 forces out of 43 judged by inspectors to be inadequate or requiring improvement . joining us now live improvement. joining us now live from golders green, is gb news national reporter theo chikomba theo , i understand you've been theo, i understand you've been talking to residents , passers by talking to residents, passers by in golders green . quite a in golders green. quite a shocking rise in anti—semitic and also islamophobic offences . and also islamophobic offences. >> yes, you're absolutely right . >> yes, you're absolutely right. first thing to say is that the metropolitan police say london

is a truly international city, and any abuse against any group or individual should not take place . but as you say, those place. but as you say, those figures released today show that there has been a rise in religious hate crime. and in this area in particular, it's we're in the centre of the jewish community here in golders green. and just a few months ago, in october, over my left shoulder, there's a kosher restaurant, which a brick was thrown into, and it was reported that a cash register was also taken. and just beyond that, there's a bridge which may also be able to see on my left shoulder as well. and there was a graffiti sprayed on there written free palestine . and that written free palestine. and that led to investigations by the metropolitan police and the british transport police. but really , it's the people who live really, it's the people who live in this community. and how have they been feeling following the incidents that took place . and incidents that took place. and of course, across the country as well. we've seen a rise in anti—semitic incidents. and of course , incidents to those who

course, incidents to those who are from the muslim community. but today, though, we've spoken to dean cohen, who's a councillor in this area, and this is what he had to say about his experience since october, it's very it's, you know , i'm it's very it's, you know, i'm not surprised with the figures because you you see the you see or you hear about a number of different instances . different instances. >> so but it's clearly very shocking and very alarming . uh, shocking and very alarming. uh, those figures and i, i, i dread to think what the later figures. that's only just two weeks worth. well, i don't think the fear has had as has has escape out anyone. i mean, ultimately there are still instances happening every day and anti—semitic incidents. and as islamophobic instances are happening every single day, i see sight of some of those in terms of the actual reports, um , terms of the actual reports, um, and, you know , people are being and, you know, people are being

careful where they go, what they do, and, and even myself, you know, i go to town, i don't show my, uh, my skullcap anymore . i my, uh, my skullcap anymore. i wear a baseball cap and, um, just just out of, you know, it's part it's fear. and, uh, that , part it's fear. and, uh, that, that that's it. but, you know, you have to you have to carry on. >> well, dean is just one of many people who live in this community who felt some scared in many parts of their lives and having to change their appearance just so they aren't attacked or have any incidents happen to them. and of course, we've also heard from the mayor of london, who announced a £250,000 was invested in supporting communities. £250,000 was invested in supporting communities . and he supporting communities. and he said there's no place for hate crime in communities like this one. while some will argue that doesn't go far enough and they want the mayor to do more following those incidents in october, thank you very much indeed. >> theo chikomba. there are gb news national reporter live from

golders green in north london, very interesting to hear from that. jewish man there who says he doesn't wear his skullcap into central london anymore. i've heard anecdotally the same about star of david necklaces . about star of david necklaces. women as well don't want to draw attention to the fact they're jewish. that a pretty jewish. that is a pretty miserable and shocking state of affairs in this country. now moving on. lawyers representing victims of the horizon scandal say post office chiefs should face a criminal investigation for its cover up. we'll hear from a victim of the scandal in

isabel monday to thursdays from. six till 930. >> now you might remember the post office scandal between 1999 and 2015, where more than 700 postmasters were prosecuted after faulty accounting software made it look like money was missing . well, lawyers missing. well, lawyers representing the victims have told the inquiry. post office chiefs should face a criminal investigation for covering up the horizon scandal. joining me now is former sub—postmistress and victim of horizon scandal, janet skinner. janet, thank you very much indeed forjoining me. i understand you were handed a nine month sentence back in two thousand and seven, and that was over an alleged shortfall of £59,000 from your post office branch. tell me what that experience was like . experience was like. >> it's an apprentice experience. it's not what you

want anybody to wish to go through. um, you second you second guess everything. you second guess everything. you second guess everything. you second guess everybody. um but when there's no explanation for what's happened, um , to the what's happened, um, to the money, you just you automatically going to. i know it's not me stealing any money. so then you start looking at other people. so it's not good. >> you must have felt. i can't imagine i'm trying to put myself in your shoes , knowing that you in your shoes, knowing that you haven't committed this crime. you haven't done this wrong. doing and then looking at other people , thinking it. was it her? people, thinking it. was it her? was it him? who could it have been? it wasn't me . were you been? it wasn't me. were you doubting yourself ? even doubting yourself? even >> yeah. you. do you doubt? you doubt everything about it. um. but um, i mean, this has happened up and down the country. um and it's been an ongoing thing with everybody. and i think the problem you have is you believe you're led to believe that it's only happening to you and you, you're the only

one that's experiencing these issues. and i mean , computers issues. and i mean, computers back then was sort of like just coming to the forefront. so not a lot of people, unless you did a lot of people, unless you did a degree with them, actually knew the ins and outs of computers. so you just believed what was in front of you. and because of who the who the represented the post office, nobody believed that you'd done nothing wrong . nothing wrong. >> now i understand the stress of this all left you in quite a critical condition . yes critical condition. yes >> yeah. um, 2008. um i was admitted to hospital , um, with admitted to hospital, um, with a neurological condition that, um, literally , um, paralysed me from literally, um, paralysed me from the neck down. and i was told that i would never walk again . that i would never walk again. um, i was in a wheelchair for, like, just short of two years. um, so . so it's been a difficult um, so. so it's been a difficult time . time. >> and so your reaction now, um, that the inquiry into this whole

scandal says there is enough evidence for a police investigation into senior staff . investigation into senior staff. if >> well, i think we've always known that there's been more to the story than meets the eye. and i think the inquiry is of i mean, although we was part of the group litigation , um, back the group litigation, um, back in 2019 when we got that , um, in 2019 when we got that, um, judgement and they settled out of court . um, but then the of court. um, but then the inquiry has dragged out more information, more documentations being brought forward . and, um, being brought forward. and, um, i mean, even today, there's still issues with disclosure from the post office of documentation. so, i mean , documentation. so, i mean, there's probably a lot more and far worse to come out than there already has. >> well , thank you very much for >> well, thank you very much for your time. i really appreciate it. janet skinner, who is a former sub—postmistress and victim of the horizon scandal . victim of the horizon scandal. it is absolutely, quite incredible to imagine what that must have been like forjanet

there. it's difficult to in. we'll be following that story very closely. now moving on to sheffield christian marriott died after a car collided with a group of people in sheffield on wednesday. a car ploughed into the father of two as he was trying to assist a stranger lying unconscious in the street . lying unconscious in the street. a 23 year old has been arrested on suspicion of murder. chris marriott's family are calling the of his death the circumstances of his death tragic unfair. emma burnell tragic and unfair. emma burnell let's cross live to sheffield to get more on this. joining our yorkshire and humber reporter anna o'reilly. anna can you bnng anna o'reilly. anna can you bring us the latest on the ongoing investigation ? ongoing investigation? >> good afternoon emily. well, yes. tributes continue to be laid here on college close at the scene where chris sadly lost his life as a result of acting as what police have branded him as what police have branded him a good samaritan going to the aid of a woman lying unconscious on the floor. and as he did that , he was hit by a car at speed.

so was the woman that he was assisting, and six others, including an off duty midwife. now, i've been speaking to residents in the area. i spoke to tariq naili. he saw the incident that unfolded here on wednesday afternoon, and this is what he had to say going around and screaming . and screaming. >> and a car crashed into the sign next door and a lot of, uh, fighting over there . i think 6 fighting over there. i think 6 or 7 people fighting each other, uh, opposite side . and there is uh, opposite side. and there is one guy, uh, in his 20s, uh, his face is full of blood and one woman lying down, uh, beside i think she's injured and they say there is two, uh, people underneath the car stuck under the car. and there is another guy sitting beside and then the police came, uh , and, uh, they

police came, uh, and, uh, they lift the car up and they pull the two people underneath. then later we have heard the news that one of them is passed away . that one of them is passed away. it is a quiet, nice area. everybody cheering and saying hello whenever you walk around . hello whenever you walk around. so we never expected that to happen. >> well, thank you very much for that report . anna reilly, our that report. anna reilly, our yorkshire and humber reporter. water there. now coming up, i'll be joined, rejoined by today's expert panel. expect debate discussion on civil service waste. blears radical asylum plan documents . but first is plan documents. but first is your news with aaron armstrong . your news with aaron armstrong. >> it . is two 32 your news with aaron armstrong. >> it. is two 32 hour on armstrong here in the gb newsroom. a person has died in scotland following an outbreak of e coli. it's after the uk health security agency confirmed andifs health security agency confirmed and it's currently investigating 30 cases across england and scotland to identify any potential links to a brand of cheese. the food standards agency has announced a

precautionary recall of four products from mrs. kirkham's, lancashire cheese because of possible e coli contamination. an avalanche in the french alps has killed two people. french media is reporting the victims as a british mother and son, who were part of a group skiing on mont blanc. authorities have confirmed there were two deaths, adding one person escaped with minor injuries and five others were unhurt . the family of chris were unhurt. the family of chris marriott, who was hit by a car trying to save a stranger, says the circumstances of his death showed the sort of man he was. the 46 year old was trying to help a woman lying unconscious in the street when a car ploughed into a group of people in sheffield wednesday, a 23 in sheffield on wednesday, a 23 year old man arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted remains in attempted murder remains in custody, while a 55 year old has been released on bail . forecasts been released on bail. forecasts are forecast are warning that winds of up to 75mph could hit parts of southern england and wales tomorrow, as the uk recovers from storm garrett.

around 100 homes in greater manchester are still dealing with the aftermath of a suspected tornado. yellow alerts have been issued from 11 am. tomorrow until new year's eve . a tomorrow until new year's eve. a local man who tried to save three people trapped in a vehicle says they were swept away as they tried to cross a river. the man died on thursday after they drove their 4x4 into the river esk near glaisdale on nonh the river esk near glaisdale on north shore, north york moors police say the tragic incident was caused by hazardous weather conditions that had badly affected the roads in the surrounding area. well you can get more on all of our stories on our website gb news. com and i'll be back with a full bulletin at the top of the next hour.

sunday mornings from 930 on gb news . news. >> good afternoon britain. it is 238 in the afternoon and joining me now , as promised to discuss me now, as promised to discuss some of the top stories of the day, is the former editor of the sunday express, martin townsend, and co—founder novara and the co—founder of novara media, aaron bastani. now we were just talking in break were just talking in the break about whether what's been found in blair files and tony in these blair files and tony blair files is shocking. some of the, uh, the information we've learned about what was being considered about how to deal with asylum migration. does it surprise you that they were thinking potentially about ignonng thinking potentially about ignoring the echr it does really surprise me, because you look at

the wording and it's it could be pretty patel or it could be it could be a conservative home secretary over the last couple of years, word for word, you know this the european supreme court won't like it. >> we'll have to stand up to the echr. you know, blair saying the system so , so system is mad. his words so, so and this is jonathan powell saying that they'll have to stand up to the echr, you know, a senior advisor to blair, a very senior advisor to blair, not junior figure. not some junior junior figure. and that's what is surprising is the extent to which it resembles the extent to which it resembles the exact same conversations we're having 20 years later. yeah, . yeah, yeah. >> yes it does. and it also shows difficult problem shows how difficult this problem is and how successive governments have continued to fail it in one way or fail to handle it in one way or another. interesting, another. what's interesting, also, martin, jonathan powell is blair's of staff at the blair's chief of staff at the time, that asylum, time, saying that asylum, the nuclear . this was the nuclear option. this was the heading of the memo we started with the most fundamental question do need asylum question do we need an asylum system at all? he went to on say, well, as an island, anyone who makes it here has gone through safe countries . mhm. through safe countries. mhm. >> is a, there is

>> well there is a, there is a that's actually a very good question because as a couple of weeks ago remember , i think weeks ago i remember, i think keir changed mind weeks ago i remember, i think keir but changed mind weeks ago i remember, i think keir but rememberi mind weeks ago i remember, i think keir but rememberi saying since. but i remember him saying that to deal with the, that the way to deal with the, with the, with the problem of, of illegal migration, migration is to go after the people traffickers basically . um, and i traffickers basically. um, and i absolute support that. and i think it is the most practical method and i think some sort of big global agency is needed to go after those people. and actually stop the boats actually just to stop the boats coming in the first coming across in the first place. um, in terms of the, you know, the whole idea of sending people or anywhere else, people to mars or anywhere else, i also suggested i think they also suggested turkey, all places turkey, kenya, all these places to me that all of that just is totally impractical. i've never thought the rwanda scheme would work, and i don't think the isle of mull would work, and it certainly go down certainly wouldn't go down terribly well, would it? let's be of mull. be honest, the isle of mull. >> well, no, certainly not with the population, believe the population, which i believe is there you go. is 2700 people. so there you go. but it is one of the largest islands scotland, the second islands off scotland, the second largest, apparently now, before the i spoke to ben habib, the break, i spoke to ben habib,

reform party, write about this issue of young people being off work on long time sickness. and i just want to go to the inbox because lots of people have been writing in with their view on why this might be, phil says britain jobs, ones in britain needs jobs, real ones in real making real real industries, making real products. disagree with products. can't disagree with you there. andy says the main reason are engaging reason people are not engaging with as they used to, is with work as they used to, is that many don't feel they have a stake in society anymore. gps, hospitals, transport not fit for purpose . and of course the issue purpose. and of course the issue of housing. dave says languishing is the wrong terme . languishing is the wrong terme. lasing apt. there are lasing is more apt. there are a number who cannot, for genuine reasons, work to support themselves . however, benefits themselves. however, benefits are easily obtained and too are too easily obtained and too generous to a mixture of views. there in the inbox. some people saying perhaps it's a rational choice that people aren't spending so much time working . spending so much time working. or do you think that this issue, particularly with the younger people on long tum sickness , people on long tum sickness, reflects our nhs ? reflects the state of our nhs? is it the pandemic combination ? is it the pandemic combination? >> i think mental health is a very real thing and we've had a

we've had a surge in mental ill health over the last 15 years, really. some people blame mobile phones, social media, whatever really. some people blame mobile phones, �*thatl media, whatever really. some people blame mobile phones, �*that conversation, ever really. some people blame mobile phones, �*that conversation, but' we need that conversation, but it's there. what i would say as well, the big for it's there. what i would say as welis the big for it's there. what i would say as welis to the big for it's there. what i would say as wel is to often he big for it's there. what i would say as wel is to often workg for it's there. what i would say as wel is to often work simply for me is to often work simply doesn't pay. it simply doesn't pay- doesn't pay. it simply doesn't pay. if somebody thinks , well, pay. if somebody thinks, well, look, if i really graft 50 hours a week for a couple of years, i can get on the housing ladder, start family, look after the start a family, look after the people love. i'll do that. and people i love. i'll do that. and right many people in people i love. i'll do that. and right parts many people in people i love. i'll do that. and right parts ofmany people in people i love. i'll do that. and right parts of the y people in people i love. i'll do that. and right parts of the economy, n people i love. i'll do that. and right parts of the economy, that many parts of the economy, that simply isn't the case. particularly sound housing. particularly like sound housing. and i think why would you and so i think why would you graft if basically you're going to be the exact same situation in ten years time, that you are now? so i think that's a big part of problem, that part of the problem, that aspiration hard work sounds aspiration and hard work sounds good now. we have good right now. we don't have much of it. >> on the issue of >> martin, on the issue of mental obviously mental health, obviously it's a difficult one discuss . i difficult one to discuss. i don't sound don't want to sound unsympathetic , like, well, it unsympathetic, like, well, it shouldn't it shouldn't be a difficult one, but do you think that we talk so much that sometimes we talk so much about and it's about mental health and it's hard to differentiate if you've got a broken leg and, you know,

we can't have you working in the factory , for example, mental factory, for example, mental health more difficult to health far more difficult to a diagnose and also to know when some people are taking advantage, perhaps of taking time off work. we know that pubuc time off work. we know that public sector workers take off more time for mental health issues private sector issues than private sector workers. example, i think workers. for example, i think i would go right back to the words that your your speaker said that your that your speaker said earlier about demotivation. >> i think a lot of a lot of young people are demotivated, are motivated to work. are just not motivated to work. they're boring jobs, they're in boring jobs, repetitive jobs, whatever they might be. i'm not sure how many do that equation of. would i be better off on welfare ? i'm sure better off on welfare? i'm sure some i think most young some do, but i think most young people do actually want work, some do, but i think most young peo theyo actually want work, some do, but i think most young peo they also ually want work, some do, but i think most young peo they also want want work, some do, but i think most young peo they also want to nt work, some do, but i think most young peo they also want to feel work, some do, but i think most young peo they also want to feel that k, but they also want to feel that they have in society, they have a stake in society, that have a connection with that they have a connection with society, that they have, you know, their know, a connection with their local community, all of that sort that the things sort of thing that the things that doing that they're doing make a difference, are actually difference, that are actually doing work. difference, that are actually doini work. difference, that are actually doini think work. difference, that are actually doini think too work. difference, that are actually doini think too often work. difference, that are actually doini think too often there work. difference, that are actually doini think too often there are rk. and i think too often there are great out there really great employers out there really good employers. um who will you know who make jobs worthwhile? they'll do on, on the job

training, all that kind of thing. and actually get a good spirit and we need more spirit going. and we need more of those great companies. do you think people too high think some people have too high expectations, think some people have too high expectationsgraduates, because particularly graduates, because we so many people going to we have so many people going to university , aaron now and the university, aaron now and the expectation is you've got a degree , you'll be able to get degree, you'll be able to get a fantastic job. >> and that simply isn't the case. we have lots of graduates going non graduate roles going into non graduate roles and have so many demands for and we have so many demands for qualifications for jobs that would have used to have been done day by people done back in the day by people without degrees. without university degrees. >> we get much wrong >> i think we get so much wrong on for instance, if you on this. so for instance, if you look at university fees, look at university tuition fees, student i'm not a fan of student debt, i'm not a fan of tuition fees. i know some people think, well, it's going to cost a rid of them. a lot to get rid of them. i would start simply scrapping would start simply by scrapping tuition doctors tuition fees for nurses, doctors , care , people working in health care on condition that they work on the condition that they work in the nhs for ten years. they don't go abroad. >> we'd massively reduce don't go abroad. >> number massively reduce don't go abroad. >> number people.ively reduce don't go abroad. >> number people going educe the number of people going to university, i think university, so i don't think that thing, actually. >> here's the thing we need more nurses. need doctors, we nurses. we need more doctors, we need midwives. we probably nurses. we need more doctors, we need need midwives. we probably nurses. we need more doctors, we need need so dwives. we probably nurses. we need more doctors, we need need so many;. we probably nurses. we need more doctors, we need need so many people obably don't need so many people studying political science,

studying like political science, the i did. right? the phd, like i did. right? so. and that's you can self—fund that. we probably we probably don't need so many people to that. so you it's an that. so you know, it's an interesting one we need. and i'm saying left. saying this from the left. right. to bash right. this is not to bash people that want to go to university. we have x number of people in this country. have people in this country. we have certain social needs, whether that's whether that's house building or whether that's building infrastructure, elderly care, health care. we need people the need the right people and the right that that shouldn't right jobs that that shouldn't again, that shouldn't be a left right that's about right issue. that's about sensible in the public sensible planning in the public interest. yeah interest. mhm. yeah >> yes. well shall we move on martin. sorry. unless you had something no i mean something burning. no, no i mean one the things was going to one of the things i was going to say i do think that we, say is that i do think that we, i think too many people go to university. >> and the reason think that >> and the reason i think that is think careers is because i think careers advice and careers guidance in schools is woeful. it's either non—existent schools is woeful. it's either non—existhat's something that actually, that's something that i a future government you i think a future government you know, maybe labour will look at that they come in. i mean, that when they come in. i mean, i remember a it's not a i remember having a it's not a golden ticket anymore. >> not. it just isn't. >> it's not. it just isn't. >>— >> it's not. it just isn't. >> you have to look >> but i think you have to look at what the career choices at like, what the career choices are. isn't

are. and maybe it isn't university. to maybe are. and maybe it isn't uni�*an;ity. to maybe are. and maybe it isn't uni�*an apprenticeshipto maybe are. and maybe it isn't uni�*an apprenticeship ,) maybe are. and maybe it isn't uni�*an apprenticeship, maybez it's an apprenticeship, maybe you you know, training. you do some, you know, training. we look on we shouldn't look down on apprenticeships. you know that that history for lots that should be history for lots of people. do apprenticeships at tv kind tv companies and that kind of thing. kids thing. it's not. it's not kids in overalls anymore . so i think in overalls anymore. so i think we need offer people a much we need to offer people a much wider of they wider choice of where they can go work in go and work and work in meaningful , go and work and work in meaningful, do do meaningful jobs. >> if i run a run a business, i'm not sure if i would have a degree, um, demand a degree, go to, you know, school leavers, why not? why not? you can train people up and they can. i say very quickly about attitude very quickly as somebody who at novara media now we have about 25 members of staff, the most important thing on the cv, you know far better than i will know this far better than i will experience, experience and character. >> you might get a degree. it shows that somebody passes a certain threshold. but any certain threshold. but for any young watching, really , young people watching, really, young people watching, really, you do quite a lot of diversity. >> tick boxing. >> tick boxing. >> you know? >> don't you know? i never looked i never looked at looked at i never looked at people's qualifications when i was on the news. was employing them on the news. on news. totally. was employing them on the news. on allws. totally. was employing them on the news. on allws. tooxbridge >> so all those oxbridge graduates for nothing.

>> we had oxbridge graduates. >> we had oxbridge graduates. >> i didn't even i didn't ask people. seriously and >> i didn't even i didn't ask peo most seriously and >> i didn't even i didn't ask peo most important and >> i didn't even i didn't ask peo most important an me the most important thing for me was that they can talk to people. they're curious, they have can pick up have energy, they can pick up the phone, pick up the the phone, they can pick up the phone and actually talk to strangers. actually, these strangers. and actually, these are things. are really important things. >> and also that tick boxing that so that would be illegal. emily. so we would we never do that. we would we would never do that. we positive we would never positive discrimination we would never positive discrimi balanced candidate is equally balanced candidate is illegal. would do illegal. so we would never do that. >> all right. let's move on to trade paul nowak , the trade unions. paul nowak, the general secretary of the tuc , general secretary of the tuc, he's been uh, well, he's been giving some press interviews and talking about strike talking about the strike legislation . so he obviously legislation. so he obviously thinks he's saying that he'll back any worker sacked but under strike act, he's also been talking about the potential need for wealth taxes and national conversation about how we tax. what do you think the relationship is going to be like if we do have a labour government between keir starmer, rachel reeves and the trade unions ? unions? >> um, i don't look i don't think keir starmer is going to change very much. um, i so look that works both ways. i don't

think he's going to solve any major way, i'd major problems. by the way, i'd love to be surprised. i love to be surprised. and i think ways it's probably think in some ways it's probably more c conservative than more small c conservative than many the conservative many people in the conservative party wouldn't worried party so i wouldn't be worried if i was on the right at the same time, my view is we need to tax wealth more than we presently need tax presently do, and we need to tax incomes less . would vat incomes less. i would have vat down to the high streets down to 15, the high streets being killed. i would tax middle income earners less. how are you going to pay for that certain wealth taxes. and i think right now when you've got capital gains lower than incomes , what gains lower than incomes, what that you're allowing that means is you're allowing the very wealthiest to basically live off a different tax . live off a different tax. >> but martin, infrastructure to property to middle britain, bafic property to middle britain, basic property rights, i mean wealth taxes, forget it . wealth taxes, forget it. >> that's that's just destroying the top level. who are going to be doing the investing and putting the money. >> we already have them. we already already already have cgt. we already have tax. the have capital gains tax. the question should it be? yeah >> but not we don't need more wealth we don't need wealth taxes. we don't need mansion and of those mansion taxes and all of those things with things we've associated with labour the past. we don't

things we've associated with labotany the past. we don't things we've associated with labotany th> that's what it's all. that's what about. what it's all about. >> those incentives >> damage. those incentives too much. a of much. but i'm sure a lot of people will with you that people will agree with you that working are being taxed working people are being taxed far too much. should we talk

about office about the home office in particular? the money that's being and being spent on pizza hut and nando's vouchers? and they phrase this newspaper article phrase it this newspaper article phrases it despite chaos at the border , and these home office border, and these home office staff are being given all of these freebies. £14 million in pizza hut and nando's . is this pizza hut and nando's. is this martin a clear example of civil service waste? government wasting taxpayer money? or is this just a nice thing? >> i don't see it as what i would see that as actually is an incentive that they're not incentivising that, because i would only give that to people who actually come into the office. looked up the last office. and i looked up the last set figures on the home set of figures on the home office, and only 31% are actually. um, in the actually. yeah um, back in the office, i think it's 31% are back in the office. so you know, i think government i think whilst government departments are working from home, them these home, i wouldn't give them these vouchers. know i know vouchers. frankly, i know i know what they're trying to do there. this pay so this is in lieu of pay rises. so they're giving vouchers they're giving out vouchers instead. i old enough to instead. and i old enough to remember the days of getting lunch and vouchers and things from lieu of a pay rise, from work in lieu of a pay rise, which actually wasn't such a bad thing. big problem

thing. but i think a big problem in departments thing. but i think a big problem in people departments thing. but i think a big problem in people ybacktments thing. but i think a big problem in people back into |ts is people not coming back into the don't see our the office. i don't see our government can uh uh, you know, civil home office staff can operate from home. i really don't see in a lot don't i can't see that in a lot of these organisations. so i think i would i would link it to that. you can have the vouchers, but you've got to come back in. that. you can have the vouchers, but ythere got to come back in. that. you can have the vouchers, but ythere you to come back in. that. you can have the vouchers, but ythere you go. ome back in. that. you can have the vouchers, butbutere you go. ome back in. that. you can have the vouchers, butbut why'ou go. ome back in. that. you can have the vouchers, butbut why are go. ome back in. that. you can have the vouchers, butbut why are these e back in. that. you can have the vouchers, but but why are these e back office >> but why are these home office staff regardless of these vouchers which can be redeemed in pizza hut, nando's, waitrose and selfridges and they say they're for good they're a perk for good performance. um, why do you think aaron, that there are so many staff , not just think aaron, that there are so many staff, not just in the home office, but across the civil service, so reluctant to come back the office? what's it back into the office? what's it about? >> i w- w i don't know about? >> i i don't know the >> i mean, i don't know the exact data on that. i think it's important to have. >> i think right. it's >> i think martin's right. it's about a third. >> think it's also >> yeah. i think it's also a little bit higher in the public service in the public sector rather sector. rather than the private sector. but think going into an but look, i think going into an office is hugely important. i love into the office. love going into the office. i think need to find i think we need to find and i think we need to find and i think i think these are teething issues most part. issues for the most part. as a society covid, we're trying society post covid, we're trying to what's the best

to work out what's the best approach. personally approach. i personally think having a week not in the having a day a week not in the office for me is great, because sometimes have sometimes you need to have tunnel vision, deep and i tunnel vision, deep work, and i understand that's just the laptop but laptop class or whatever, but it's valuable if you're it's very valuable if you're a new a week at new parent one day a week at home, it's great. so i think going into the office just like before, 5, i don't think before, 9 to 5, i don't think that necessarily makes sense. i think, feeling think, look, we're just feeling our i, think, look, we're just feeling our l, l, | our way through this. i, i, i look, i'll be optimistic for once. think going to once. i think we're going to find sort of landing find a nice sort of landing ground on this probably in a few years. and it'll be a common sense somewhere between years. and it'll be a common sen two somewhere between years. and it'll be a common sen two extremes.newhere between the two extremes. >> it's not i mean, that is not the norm. one day in the office, you know, i can have a certain sympathy that. it's not sympathy with that. but it's not that places. it's that way in most places. it's it's kind of two days in the office you know, it's the office and, you know, it's the other way round . um, and i, and other way round. um, and i, and i one of those things i think it's one of those things that's off the back of that's come off the back of covid. and i think it's think covid. and i think it's i think actually home actually working from home has had impact on a lot. had an impact on a lot. i wouldn't at all surprised wouldn't be at all surprised if it impact on the it hasn't had an impact on the last subject we were talking about, is people taking about, which is people taking sick, going off sick as well, because know, because i think, you know, there's not kind of if you're

there's not a kind of if you're expected to come in. i think people now, oh, really people now, oh, i'm really expected there's expected to come in. there's more reluctance to back more of a reluctance to go back in. lot of jobs you more of a reluctance to go back in. to lot of jobs you more of a reluctance to go back in. to go lot of jobs you more of a reluctance to go back in. to go in.t of jobs you more of a reluctance to go back in. to go in. if)f jobs you more of a reluctance to go back in. to go in. if you're you more of a reluctance to go back in. to go in. if you're working have to go in. if you're working in a supermarket, you have to go in. for younger employees, in. also for younger employees, it's you come it's so important if you come out university, you're out of university, you're missing out of university, you're mislf�*ng out of university, you're misif you're into an >> if you're not going into an office, you're not making the social you're not social connections, you're not learning. important learning. it's hugely important and it's a big part of learning is right. is being around people, right. so they care, so do you think they care, though all of these staff at the home office, are they. >> of, i don't know, >> so sort of, i don't know, demoralised perhaps. >> think of them care. i >> i think many of them care. i think many of them care. i don't know, eat. think many of them care. i don't knowell, eat. think many of them care. i don't knowell, we've eat. think many of them care. i don't knowell, we've heard:. so >> well, we've heard about so much disapproval of much of the disapproval of certain for example, certain policies. for example, not necessarily backing the home secretary on various more controversial policies, not least rwanda. could there be a demoralised class of people working there, possibly . working there, possibly. >> but i think this look, first of all, this isn't a huge amount of all, this isn't a huge amount of money. if we're talking about government waste, this is very low down on the wheel. >> adds though, doesn't it? >> adds up though, doesn't it? >> adds up though, doesn't it? >> look, were talking >> adds up though, doesn't it? >> this ook, were talking >> adds up though, doesn't it? >> this actuallynere talking >> adds up though, doesn't it? >> this actually inre talking about this actually in agreement. does all add up. i

agreement. it does all add up. i would rid of, you know, would get rid of, you know, police commissioners. police and crime commissioners. you're know, you're talking you know, i think hundreds pounds hundreds of millions of pounds this million. so or this is only 14 million. so or quangos, the of quangos, you know, the amount of money spend on meaningless money we spend on meaningless rubbish i can't get my rubbish stuff. i can't get my head this is very low rubbish stuff. i can't get my head on this is very low rubbish stuff. i can't get my head on the this is very low rubbish stuff. i can't get my head on the sort is very low rubbish stuff. i can't get my head on the sort of very low rubbish stuff. i can't get my head on the sort of list, low rubbish stuff. i can't get my head on the sort of list, but down on the sort of list, but also if it is in view of also also, if it is in view of a pay also also, if it is in view of a pay rise, well then it's going to cheaper than that. >> probably is. >> probably is. >> probably. yeah. >> probably. absolutely. yeah. >> probably. absolutely. yeah. >> you go. thank you >> well there you go. thank you very for joining >> well there you go. thank you very forjoining me, martin very much forjoining me, martin townsend. course, aaron townsend. and of course, aaron bastani it's bastani from novara media. it's been a panel, great been a great panel, great insight. you very much. insight. thank you very much. that's we have time that's all we have time for today. because today. but don't go away because up next we have martin daubney. i'm going to have i'm sure he's going to have a very busy show you indeed very busy show for you indeed today. be back on monday . today. i'll be back on monday. >> a brighter outlook with boxt solar sponsors of weather on . gb news. >> hello again . news. >> hello again. i'm alex news. >> hello again . i'm alex burkill >> hello again. i'm alex burkill here with your latest gb news weather forecast. it's going to stay pretty unsettled as we go through the end of the year with some heavy rain and strong winds

to the last to come through the last few days that's because low days of 2023. that's because low pressure is never too far away . pressure is never too far away. there is deep area of low there is a deep area of low pressure currently in the pressure currently out in the atlantic, which heading atlantic, which is heading towards us, but the moment towards us, but at the moment we're influence of we're under the influence of an area low pressure towards the area of low pressure towards the north—east , has north—east of the uk, which has brought today brought the blustery winds today and will continue bring and will continue to bring strong and some heavy strong winds and some heavy outbreaks across parts outbreaks of rain across parts of scotland through of northeast scotland through the . elsewhere, we will the night. elsewhere, we will see showers dying see many of the showers dying out, skies for out, so some clear skies for a time before some heavy rain pushes its way from the west, where have the clear skies where we have the clear skies through tonight. temperatures are going to could fall are going to drop, could fall several freezing several degrees below freezing across so across parts of scotland, so a harsh likely here. harsh frost likely here. elsewhere as we go through saturday, spell of heavy rain saturday, a spell of heavy rain pushing way east and north pushing its way east and north eastwards across country . eastwards across the country. this is going to bring some strong also strong winds and also some significant snow across parts of scotland. as it makes its way across, we could see more than ten centimetres, perhaps, so could some disruption in could cause some disruption in the north. it is going to be a cold day further south, mild for the of year, but not the time of year, but not necessarily feeling it in the

wet windy weather into new wet and windy weather into new year's going to year's eve. and it is going to be a blustery, showery day. some of showers heavy of those showers will be heavy at times strong winds, at times and strong winds, particularly in the south, with gales possibly severe gales, possibly even severe gales, possibly even severe gales some of us it does gales for some of us it does look like something a little bit dnen look like something a little bit drier, on cards as we drier, maybe on the cards as we go into new year's day and temperatures staying little temperatures staying a little bit by. looks bit above average by by. looks like things are heating up . like things are heating up. >> boxt boilers sponsors of weather on .

gb news. >> good afternoon . it's 3:00. >> good afternoon. it's 3:00. i'm martin daubney. welcome to gb news. got a cracking show ? go gb news. got a cracking show? go ahead. i'm keeping you company for the next three hours. our top story today. the father of two murdered tragically in sheffield has been named as christian marriott 46 year old and called a good samaritan by his family. wrong place at the wrong time. we'll have all of the latest from sheffield at the scene now. next story the blair files have been released showing that the controversial labour figure contemplated offshore containment on the isle of mull and even in turkey and africa . and even in turkey and africa. so does this make tony blair far right? or more to the point, why were the best ideas left on the shelf and will sir keir starmer resurrect them when he's prime minister? if he wins at the next

election ? now, bit of