green ambulance plans could new green ambulance plans could mean slower response times. the nhs stands accused of putting green credentials above medical priorities and don't try it on. >> a british aircraft carrier leads a nato exercise in the baltic sea as defence secretary grant shapps warns vladimir putin do not try it on gb news has exclusive access. >> now mps there are 650 of them and their pay is shooting up to £91,400 a year. but are they doing less work for more money? >> yes. this is quite interesting . an analysis out interesting. an analysis out this morning has shown that actually our mps in this parliamentary session are clocking off earlier than before. even new labour. so in

about 25 years they're clocking off the shortest day they've had.so off the shortest day they've had. so essentially what they're doing is working less for more money with this 5.5% pay increase. yeah >> the house of commons is rising now at about 430 in the afternoon. now people can remember back to some of the midnight sittings that mps used to do. we're a long way away from that now. late votes seem to be a thing of the past, and mps can seemingly go back to their offices and put their feet up around 430. >> i wonder if under if there is a labour government, i wonder with all the stuff about flexible working and, you know, being able to bring your children to work, they won't need of these benches at need all of these benches at all. they'll probably be working from what from home. isn't that what yvette from home. isn't that what yve but question from home. isn't that what yvebut question is, is this >> but the question is, is this value for money from our mps? less time in the commons, less legislation going forward? we want to from you about what want to hear from you about what you think your mp is doing. are they working hard enough? vaiews@gbnews.com. but we'll be

getting through all of that and so much more after your news headunes. headlines. >> tom, thank you and good afternoon. the top stories from the gb newsroom. the prime minister has suffered a blow, with another tory mp announcing he won't run at the next general election. james heappey is also expected to resign as armed forces minister by the end of this month . gb news understands this month. gb news understands the decision is not over defence spending , citing personal spending, citing personal reasons. mr heappey says he's standing down to prioritise his family and to pursue a different career . more family and to pursue a different career. more than 60 tory mps have now announced they're leaving the commons, as speculation continues to mount over when the general election will be held. the prime minister has ruled out the 2nd of may. lib dems leader sir ed davey has accused him of running scared. >> i think people are really fed up at this conservative government and want to see the back of it and elections can't

come quick enough for the liberal democrats. and i think the people of our country, when those elections come, whenever rishi to go to the rishi sunak decides to go to the palace. liberal are palace. liberal democrats are ready. fantastic ready. we've got fantastic candidates are local candidates who are local champions their areas. we're champions in their areas. we're campaigning on things the campaigning on things like the nhs need to tackle the nhs and the need to tackle the crisis there, the cost of living and things like sewage. >> has accused the prime >> labour has accused the prime minister of being too chicken to call an election. as a result, a group of activists dressed as chickens clucked outside downing street demanding the prime minister name the date now, labour added rishi sunak needs to stop squatting in number 10. the prime minister is also under fresh pressure following reports his party has received a further £5 million from frank hester, the businessman has been accused of being racist after he allegedly said mp diane abbott made him want to hate all black women . rishi sunak is already women. rishi sunak is already facing calls to return a £10

million donation from mr hester, following reports of a second load of cash. the chancellor , load of cash. the chancellor, jeremy hunt, says the conservative party is absolutely transparent when it comes to funding. >> we absolutely are transparent . we follow all the rules, the regulations . we believe in that regulations. we believe in that transparency. many of the laws about it, we actually passed ourselves and the conservative party fully complies with all the requirements to be transparent about our donations. >> millions of pounds worth of drugs and eight xl bullies have been seized during county lines raids . we play . hundreds of raids. we play. hundreds of weapons were also found, including rambo knives and machetes . every police force machetes. every police force across the country took part in the raids last week, resulting in more than 1800 arrests. phone lines used to distribute drugs from cities to towns and villages were also shut down,

former detective chief inspector mike neville told gb news the crackdown still doesn't solve the wider problem. drugs trade is like the greek story of the hydra. >> you cut one head off and two more grow in its place . and more grow in its place. and what's really frightening with county lines is how they use children. and the reason they use children is because the police were very successful with undercover officers who are obviously adults. and so the drug dealers don't trust anybody. they don't know who's anybody. they don't know who's an adult , but anybody. they don't know who's an adult, but they well know that the police are not allowed to use children as some kind of undercover agent, to use children as some kind of undercover agent , the defence undercover agent, the defence secretary has warned. >> russia's president not to try it on while he was on a nato visit in eastern europe. mr gb news has been given exclusive access to a training exercise in poland, where british forces are working with their allies, preparing for any possible attack by russia. it's part of

steadfast defender, the largest military exercise since the cold war. grant shapps says nato allies are ready and willing to protect themselves from any threat , but protect themselves from any threat, but this exercise is designed to make sure that we can operate with other countries like poland and be interoperable i >> -- >> most importantly of all, sending a very clear signal to putin or any other despotic leader that we will stand up for ourselves and don't try it on. >> meanwhile, voting is underway in russia to elect the country's next president. ballots are being cast over three days, even though vladimir putin is all but certain to win. though vladimir putin is all but certain to win . he appealed to certain to win. he appealed to voters yesterday, including in annexed parts of ukraine, to be unhedin annexed parts of ukraine, to be united in determining his country's future . ukraine says country's future. ukraine says any russian vote in the donetsk , any russian vote in the donetsk, luhansk, zaporizhzhia and kherson regions will be void . kherson regions will be void. hamas is said to be moving towards a truce deal, but israel's prime minister says the terror group's list of demands are unrealistic . thousands of are unrealistic. thousands of people staged a demonstration in

tel aviv last night, demanding the immediate release of hostages from gaza . according to hostages from gaza. according to news agency reuters, hamas has presented a ceasefire proposal, which includes releasing some israeli women, children and the elderly in exchange for the freedom of palestinian prisoners. 100 of which are currently serving life sentences . the duke of sussex and prince of wales made separate addresses honoufing of wales made separate addresses honouring their mother at the diana diana legacy awards last night at the charity's 25th anniversary, the prince said his mother taught him that everyone has the potential to give something back. he told the audience that he and his wife, the princess of wales, have sought to focus on diana's legacy through their work . legacy through their work. prince william attended the event while the duke event in person, while the duke of sussex dialled in virtually from california. >> i am seriously impressed with the with the work that you do , the with the work that you do, especially at the young age that you're at and the future is yours, right, and you're helping to shape that future . that's why

to shape that future. that's why you've been chosen and that's why you've you've been given these so my mum would be these awards. so my mum would be incredibly all the work incredibly proud of all the work that i'm incredibly that you've done, i'm incredibly proud. for doing proud. and thank you for doing everything that you do . everything that you do. >> mcdonald's has been forced to apologise to its customers after it was hit by an it fault. restaurants were affected globally, but the issue has now been resolved in the uk and ireland . the company blamed the ireland. the company blamed the issue on a technology outage , issue on a technology outage, confirming there are no cybersecurity issues . for the cybersecurity issues. for the latest stories, you can sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen. or you can go to gb news. com slash alerts. now it's back to tom moore. >> right. well it's 1208 and pay >> right. well it's1208 and pay will rise to more than £90,000 for mps after the parliamentary watchdog raised their salaries by an inflation busting 5.5,

meaning their pay will increase by nearly £5,000 next year. >> this comes as it's been reported that the working day for an mp in the house of commons has averaged just seven hours and nine minutes in the last three months, a record low since labour came into power in 97. >> yes, and the labour party is saying that this is proof that rishi sunak has run out of steam and that the parliament has run out of steam and it's time for a change. but let's see what our political editor, christopher hope, makes this all. are our hope, makes of this all. are our politicians being paid more to do ? do less? >> hi, tom. hi, emily. yeah you could say that. they were there. they are now at a 25 year low in their working day in the house of commons, around eight, nearly eight hours a day. they're being paid for sitting days. of course, they're not for here around half the year. they have long summer holidays, easter breaks , whitsun breaks. so it breaks, whitsun breaks. so it goes on. they're not here often on fridays , but today, is on fridays, but today, today is a day, the. i can report

a sitting day, the. i can report to you that the pr prime minister will accept the 5.5% pay minister will accept the 5.5% pay rise, along with all other mps. that takes the mps pay to 91,346. but that's not the end of it. because if you're a minister, you get another £67,000 for the cabinet ministers, down to £22,000 a year from the most junior. the pm's pay goes up to £166,000. his top up is 75,000 extra. if you're keir starmer, you get nearly £50,000 extra on top of your mps pay select committee chairmen. they get an extra £17,000 a year and all this has a bearing on the pay offs given to mps like james heappey when they leave parliament at the election. they're getting , four election. they're getting, four months net pay, not two months net pay . and that means after net pay. and that means after today's increase, they'll get £20,000 just to stop being an mp . it's a lot of money that doesn't include the pension they

get , which is doesn't include the pension they get, which is of course, substantial and is guaranteed by the state forever, yeah. i mean, there's a debate to be had here. i think i can remember back to the day when mps voted on their pay the day when mps voted on their pay rises, after shortly around before after the mp expenses before and after the mp expenses scandal, at the telegraph and that brought in this new idea, this it was set independently. so in the lobby meeting just now with the prime minister's spokesman, he made very clear that the level is set by ipso. it's 5.5. it's more than cpi inflation at 4. it's nearly twice the rate last year, which is 2.9. but ipso do it independent of parliament and mps. so mps like even like in millionaire , like, rishi sunak, millionaire, like, rishi sunak, he is accepting that pay rise . he is accepting that pay rise. >> but christopher hope, do you correct me if i'm wrong? i believe the way that ipsa work this out is based on public sector pay awards. so it's because nurses are getting more and because doctors are getting more, and because policemen are getting more, and because all of

these public sector pay workers are getting more, on average, they're getting 5, 5.5% more. so that's what mps get, isn't that how it works ? how it works? >> that is how ipso did it. yeah, tom, that they normally they normally look at the inflation rate in september. i think it was quite from memory. it was a lot more than now. so they take a range, but they are trying to benchmark against other public sector pay deals. they want mps to be in the middle of that, try and take middle of that, to try and take the heat out of it. there was a time when david cameron, as leader of the tories in opposition, refused to accept the wouldn't vote for the pay rise, wouldn't vote for it, his mps to number the pay rise, wouldn't vote for it, hiit mps to number the pay rise, wouldn't vote for it, hiit very to number the pay rise, wouldn't vote for it, hiit very clear» number the pay rise, wouldn't vote for it, hiit very clear thatnber the pay rise, wouldn't vote for it, hiit very clear that the' 10, make it very clear that the ministerial up on mp ministerial top up on mp salaries been frozen for salaries has been frozen for many years now, but that in other ways, though, mps are getting richer, some getting getting richer, some would they're not would say, though, they're not being 91,000 isn't being paid enough, 91,000 isn't enough to get someone, is it enough to get someone, is it enough to get a decent calibre of person in who can vote on laws? well that's true christopher. >> lots of people getting in touch, a few people. let's say, getting they

touch, a few people. let's say, gettirthat, they touch, a few people. let's say, gettirthat, mps they touch, a few people. let's say, gettirthat, mps actuallythey touch, a few people. let's say, gettirthat, mps actually deserve think that, mps actually deserve more money. and perhaps they'd be less useless they were be less useless if they were paid that's their words, paid more. that's their words, not but christopher, a lot not mine. but christopher, a lot of tory mps. another one bites the dust. james heale heappey armed forces minister doesn't fancy again . fancy running again. >> yeah. james heappey, a very respected armed forces minister, former, servicemen himself. he's a 61st tory mp to stand down. 1 in 6 tory mps elected, 19 are now leaving , i think the now leaving, i think the comparison we should make is turning to the 2015 election. that was the last planned election. the previous two, in 17 and 19, were surprised elections. so mps can plan for this election. and that's why you see more people planning to leave. also, mp tory mps are way behind in the polls. that's part of it, he was selected for mendip hills, wells and mendip hills conservative association, that's a new seat. so his old seatis that's a new seat. so his old seat is being divided into four, roughly , i think a notional

roughly, i think a notional majority of 10,000. he's in his 40s. he wants a change, but he's a decent man. i think he'd be well missed. >> no, certainly. and to follow on from, from brandon lewis's resignation as well. it seems that there are lots and lots of people leaving, but christopher , people leaving, but christopher, you have some news yourself about a new podcast you're launching here on gb news. >> thanks, tom. that's right. it's called chopper's political podcast. my nickname is chopper goes back to an old email address i had when i was at the scotsman at the turn of the century, see, hope. but yeah, it's we're going to interview p0p it's we're going to interview pop stars and politicians , in pop stars and politicians, in a local pub in westminster, trying to get the inside track, the inside scoop for any viewers and listeners who want to tune in. it's on apple podcasts, spotify , it's on apple podcasts, spotify, our website gb news. com and youtube. it's a good listen. this week we started with a bang. holly holly valance. now she of course, was the pop star. the neighbours star, the kiss

kiss star. she stood in the starred in the taken films with liam neeson. she emerged, didn't she, as this kind of new person backing right wing policies at the pop con event last month , the pop con event last month, and so she's quite interesting. and she had given us her first interview for about a decade. and here's what she had to say about nigel farage last time i voted conservatives . voted conservatives. >> next time i'll be voting reform . really? yeah. reform. really? yeah. >> you are you're you're you're. well, i think the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome. >> and i'm sure as hell not going to labour. >> well, there you go. there's a little taste of what's to come. pop stars and politicians. good stuff. thank you very much. showing range as always. christopher hope, great to speak to political editor there. >> now i wonder if have there ever been any politicians who've turned into pop stars? there was the band mp4 back in the early 20105, the band mp4 back in the early 2010s, which was made up of four

mps, but i think they might have. some of them might have lost their seats in the intervening years. it might have gone by the wayside, and we should say just about the mps. of do. other work, of course they do. other work, not just in commons. so you not just in the commons. so you know, they do lots of work with their constituents other their constituents and other interests things are interests and lots of things are going as well. but it is going on as well. but it is quite telling that actually that time the commons making time in the commons making legislation at of legislation is at a bit of a record low. >> but in other news, and in a london council will remove palestinian from its palestinian flags from its infrastructure after receiving hundreds of complaints from residents , including jewish residents, including jewish people distressed by their presence. yes >> so tower hamlets in east london originally decided against removing the flags. they've been hung up on lampposts and in high streets so as not to destabilise community cohesion . but residents cohesion. but residents protested and the group, uk lawyers for israel, threatened legal action unless they removed them. >> well , the member of >> well, the member of parliament, paul scully, was last month accused of islamophobe here for claiming there no areas in parts there were no go areas in parts of london, particularly perhaps

in tower hamlets . he namechecked in tower hamlets. he namechecked that area specifically and joins us now . now, paul, you made us now. now, paul, you made these sort of claims. you you clarified those claims the next day. but i suppose instances like this where the, tower hamlets council has had to be on the receiving end of legal action over these flags, not on private property, but on public property to some extent. you must be feeling a bit vindicated. yeah i think it does vindicated. yeah i think it does vindicate the position, as i actually meant. >> so not that people can't go into the into any areas of the uk, including tower hamlets, but they feel really uncomfortable , they feel really uncomfortable, often because of some preset prejudices. >> that are because of a vast a tiny minority of people. i actually ran through our training for the london marathon, and i ran up through to, from westminster to the nonh to, from westminster to the north circular and back through whitechapel. i joked i was going through a go, go, go area because it was a, tearing

through, but i saw all the palestinian flags there and it you can imagine if you are a jewish person, how you might feel, intimidated with that if you were a gay person walking handin you were a gay person walking hand in hand with your partner , hand in hand with your partner, you may feel intimidated by by these things . so the wider point these things. so the wider point is actually getting to know why people feel daunted by that. and actually how you can tackle that. so getting rid of these i think is a good move, because it community cohesion is complex. you can't deal with it in a little sound bite on social media with a frenzy that follows. >> i mean, paul, it doesn't sound like the, the mayor of tower hamlets did this because he felt it was the right thing to do. it's because he was threatened with legal action for allowing these flags to be everywhere. yeah, i guess for most people, having any foreign flag all over your high street in britain as opposed to, i guess the union flag could be an irritant, at the very least to

most residents. i mean , or do most residents. i mean, or do you think the majority of people in tower hamlets were probably quite happy? do you imagine they'll be an uproar over they'll be quite an uproar over this ? this decision? >> well, there might be by some, community groups, know, community groups, you know, there are obviously a big, there is are obviously a big, muslim population of bangladeshi population, in particular in, tower hamlets who have expressed concern for, for people of gazans, the, the palestinians that are losing their lives. and that's absolutely to be commended. but it should not be at the expense of that wider community cohesion, because otherwise all you're doing is bringing that sort of, you're importing the tensions from. but the mayor, the mayor thought initially the mayor thought initially the mayor thought initially that removing the flags would destabilise community cohesion. >> so that shows perhaps how much of the community were quite happy for these flags to be, to be around the area. >> but we saw, didn't we, a few months ago, all the, the pictures of the hostages getting fipped pictures of the hostages getting ripped up and these kind of things. so people should have be

able to express their opinions, but they have to realise that the whole point about tower hamlets, the whole point about london, it is a melting pot of a mixture of people, live and let live. and we should, we should therefore respect other therefore respect each other rather than know, rather than, you know, a bottoming to sort of, bottoming down to that sort of, that single, thing with the palestinian flags , which makes palestinian flags, which makes some people feel very uncomfortable. >> well, paul scully, a member of parliament for now for sutton and cheam, i know you're one of the many conservatives standing down at the next election, but thank you very much for your time and your thoughts on this issue. >> thank well, you are, of >> thank you. well, you are, of course, watching listening course, watching and listening to coming up, to gb news, but coming up, concerns will be forced concerns patients will be forced to longer for ambulances to to wait longer for ambulances to arrive as the nhs is set to introduce more electric ambulances. this net zero ambulances. is this net zero madness and could it be putting green credentials over patient safety

? >> 7- >> good ? >> good afternoon. 7 >> good afternoon. britain. it's 12:24. and paramedics fear patients will be forced to wait longer for ambulances to arrive. yes. >> nhs is set to introduce electric ambulances, raising concerns that the drive for net zero may be putting patient safety at risk. a test group found the electric ambulances took up to four hours to charge and travelled only an average of 70 miles. >> well, joining us now is consultant oncologist and former director of the world health organisation cancer programme, professor karol sikora , now professor karol sikora, now professor this this seems to be a big drive, but, if you'll pardon the pun , but frankly, pardon the pun, but frankly, there are some concerns that the technology isn't quite where we'd want it to be in charge of in terms of charging hubs and, and, and range really of these , and, and range really of these, of these new ambulances, particularly perhaps for rural

areas . areas. >> i think it's perfectly predictable. that's the problem . predictable. that's the problem. you can work out the downtime of an electric vehicle compared to an electric vehicle compared to a petrol vehicle. so i don't see how this could happen. it means you have to have more vehicles. you have to have more staff and all the rest of it. if you're not prepared to do that. and i would suggest this is not the time to be doing it. because of huge problems nhs had is not huge problems the nhs had is not the net zero for the nhs is not about just, transport by car, it's about how hospitals run, how the very dated estate of the nhs is used to optimally. and it takes time , people's time away takes time, people's time away from what's really important. clearing the backlogs, you know, 7.8 million, whatever the figure , it's probably 10 million in reality are waiting for something . let's get that sorted something. let's get that sorted and then do the luxuries like this . this. >> well, you raise a very good point. i'm struck just firstly, i didn't know that the that nhs england had a greener nhs team.

apparently the compiled combined salary bill of this green team is £3 million a year, 48 roles have been made and essentially lots of decisions have to tick a green box if they're to be made. it seems there's huge, so much bureaucracy going on. it says no decision can be taken without a product. social values and contribution to emissions targets being considered. why on earth is the nhs worrying about its carbon footprint when, as we say, we've got record waiting lists? >> i know you give up in the end. every time you do anything, you have to make a business case for something. you have to say how green it is to show that you're actually observing. now, it can be tokenism, but if you're going to do it properly, you're going to do it properly, you're going to have to hire people to advise you. you're going to have hired people to judge proposals to judge the business proposals to see green now , this is great see how green now, this is great if we're really performing well as many european health services

are, they're performing very well . we're not. no one can say well. we're not. no one can say the nhs is performing well at the nhs is performing well at the current time. the people are great. there's nothing wrong with the clinical front line. they're fabulous, they're polite , they're empathic, they're competent and skilled. but the problem is the whole organisation is sick and just putting another 50% of money into it would do no good whatsoever, especially , i whatsoever, especially, i suppose, if that if that extra money is going to perhaps there have been tens of thousands more nurses , but if they're spending nurses, but if they're spending an ever larger proportion of their time filling out forms and ticking boxes and making the green case, the business case for various forms of medicine and treatment , then it doesn't and treatment, then it doesn't matter how many more nurses you have, because so much less of their time is with the patients getting the front line. just doing front line task so doing front line task is so important and that's been forgotten about. you know, if you're managing a supermarket, you're managing a supermarket, you would want to make sure that patients can access what they

want in an orderly way and get to the till and get out quickly. that's what supermarket managers do. we don't have that effect in the nhs . it'sjust do. we don't have that effect in the nhs . it's just so slow. the nhs. it's just so slow. >> professor sikora, is what you're saying here, that actually getting rid of all of these middle managers was a bad thing? we need a certain level of middle management to do the form filling so that the clinical staff can work on the wards. >> i know, and the trouble with middle management, you have middle management, you have middle managers filling the forms and middle management assessing the forms. >> you've just got a double >> so you've just got a double system and just burgeons just system and it just burgeons just grows and grows every year. and it's same with the it's the same with the diversity. exactly the diversity. it's exactly the same. you know, have all the same. you know, you have all the graduates paid 100,000 a year to come and develop a job and trouble people like me, you know, with forms to fill and looking at everything you do in a different light. sure, we've got to we've got to respect green and we've got to respect diversity. there's no problem with that. but we don't need an

army of bureaucrats. no other business organisation would do that. they just do it naturally. the managers are empowered to take action and do it well . take action and do it well. >> thank you very much indeed for talking to us. professor karol sikora, great to get your view on all of this. i mean, tom, from next month, every nhs suppuen tom, from next month, every nhs supplier. so any company or whatever that sells a product, a medicine, a machine will have to draw up a carbon reduction plan . draw up a carbon reduction plan. i mean, seriously, so this isn't just seriously ass dragging itself down and building its costs up because of its own regulation. >> this is now the nhs exporting its regulation to the private sector. if you want to do business with the nhs, you have to lumber your business with as much bureaucracy as they have. >> so if i want to sell a particular medicine to the nhs or an asthma inhaler or a particular type of pen to the nhs, because it could be down to the pens they use, i have to fill in a carbon reduction plan. >> and do you what that

>> and do you know what that means? it won't be the cheapest pens the value for money pens or the best value for money pens or the best value for money pens being sold and therefore saving the money and saving the nhs money and therefore saving taxpayer therefore saving the taxpayer money. be the asthma money. it'll be the asthma inhalers or whatever that come from the company that has the big compliance department. that probably adds an extra 50% onto the price of its product. then the price of its product. then the taxpayer has to lump out for this is cost upon cost upon cost. >> well, there's a question for you at home. should the nhs be spending £3 million on it on a green team ? i mean, i didn't green team? i mean, i didn't even know the nhs had a net zero team, but there you go. of course it does. what part of government doesn't it anyway? >> yes, meghan markle has been facing criticism once again as she's for launching she's slammed for launching a new lifestyle brand precisely at the same time as prince william was speaking at the diana legacy award. >> yes, hmm'hmm , let's get your >> yes, hmm'hmm, let's get your

headunes. headlines. >> emily. thank you. your top stories from the gb newsroom . stories from the gb newsroom. the prime minister has suffered a blow with another tory mp announcing he won't run at the next general election. james heapyis next general election. james heapy is also expected to resign as armed forces minister by the end of this month. gb news understands the decision is not over defence spending, citing personal reasons. mr heapy says he's standing down to prioritise his family and to pursue a different career. more than 60 tory mps have now announced they're leaving the commons at they're leaving the commons at the next election . the prime the next election. the prime minister is also under fresh pressure following reports his party has received a further £5 million from frank hester, the businessman has been accused of being racist after he allegedly said mp diane abbott made him want to hate all black women . want to hate all black women. rishi sunak is already facing calls to return a £10 million donation from mr hester on reports of a second sum of cash.

chancellor jeremy reports of a second sum of cash. chancellorjeremy hunt says the chancellor jeremy hunt says the conservative party is absolutely transparent when it comes to declaring funds . millions of declaring funds. millions of pounds worth of drugs and eight xl bullies have been seized dufing xl bullies have been seized during county lines raids . during county lines raids. hundreds of weapons were also found, including rambo knives and machetes. every police force across the country took part in the raids last week, resulting in more than 1800 arrests. the defence secretary is warning russia's president not to try it on while he was on a nato visit in eastern europe. gb news was given exclusive access to a training exercise in poland , training exercise in poland, where british forces are working with their allies, preparing for any possible attack by russia. it's part of steadfast defender, the largest military exercise since the cold war . grant the largest military exercise since the cold war. grant shapps says nato members are ready and willing to protect themselves from any threat . mcdonald's has from any threat. mcdonald's has been forced to apologise to customers after it was hit by an it fault. restaurants were

affected globally, but the issue has now been resolved in the uk and ireland. the company blamed the issue on a technology outage , confirming there are no cyber security issues . for the latest security issues. for the latest stories, sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen, or go to gbnews.com slash alerts

i >> -- >> good afternoon. britain. it's 36 minutes past midday. and earlier on, we brought you the story about tower hamlets council removing palestinian flags from infrastructure in their borough. well, look for rahman, the mayor of tower hamlets has said that these flags are symbols of solidarity and sympathy for those enduring extreme suffering in gaza. we must not forget that over 30,000 people have now been killed, 70%

of whom are women and children, although it must be said, those are figures from hamas rather than independently verified. the flags certainly had an impact and made residents views clear . and made residents views clear. that's what lutfur rahman had to say. >> yet they're taking them down. yeah. anyway, prince william and harry couldn't bring themselves to share the same stage at their mum's tribute awards last night. prince william went first. >> legacy award is particularly special as it marks the 25th anniversary year of the diana award. she taught me that everyone has the potential to give something back , that give something back, that everyone in need deserves a supporting hand in life. that legacy is something that both catherine and i sought to focus on through our work. >> then, separately, harry gave a message by video call, but only after his brother had already left the event. >> i'm seriously impressed with the with the work that you do, especially at the young age that

you're at and the future is yours. that's why you've been chosen and that's why you've you've been given these awards. so my mum would be incredibly proud all the work that proud of all the work that you've done, i'm incredibly proud. thank for doing proud. and thank you for doing everything that you do, well, just moments before the ceremony began, meghan markle launched her lifestyle brand on instagram i >>i -- >> i wish m >> i wish you bluebirds in the spfing >> i wish you bluebirds in the spring to give your heart a song to sing and then a kiss. >> but more than this, i wish you love. >> i do like that song. to be fair, the duchess of sussex has launched american riviera . launched american riviera. >> what's it called? american riviera, orchard. peculiar but is this coincidence? or is the timing of this launch a calculated move from meghan? well let's get the detail now with our royal correspondent

cameron walker, to take us through everything that happened last night. and cameron , first last night. and cameron, first of all, can you just set the scene, the context? what was this award? >> yes, this was the diana legacy award . the diana award legacy award. the diana award was set up in 20, 25 years ago to empowering the message that diana had , which was young diana had, which was young people have the power to change the world, and they've done an award ceremony every year since 2017. back in 2017, prince harry and william appeared on the stage together to give the awards to the 20 or so young people receiving them. but of course , this year totally course, this year totally different. okay, logistically, prince harry is the other side of the world, but the fact that he couldn't even appear on a video call or william or on the other hand, william was unwilling to appear on the stage. at the same time, his brother video call. brother was on a video call. i think speaks volumes here. clearly the rift is still there because it would have been perfectly possible for them both to virtually appear on the stage at the same time. but prince harry's, contribution did not happen until william had left

the building . so if that wasn't the building. so if that wasn't going to overshadow the whole event , bearing going to overshadow the whole event, bearing in mind this is to honour the legacy of their late mother, then perhaps what happens with meghan? and now, before certainly will. but prince william also made a joke about well revealed that his son, prince george's favourite song. i'm going to have to say this was thunderstruck by ac, dc. that's the song that prince william kind of marched onto the stage with, so appeared stage with, so he appeared to be having fact his having fun despite the fact his brother going to appear an brother was going to appear an hour later. hour or so later. >> interesting stuff. but perhaps the biggest story here, rather than unrwa rather than the unrwa synchronous nature of the event, was what meghan was doing all while this was taking place . while this was taking place. >> yes, when it drops on instagram last night, tom, i actually didn't think it was real and i contacted . i was real and i contacted. i was thinking, gosh, seriously? and i contacted meghan's office and they confirmed to me that it was legit. this is meghan's new lifestyle blog . to be fair to

lifestyle blog. to be fair to meghan, she has a track record in a very successful lifestyle blog, which was the tig before she got engaged to prince harry, which it kind of shut down in 2017 because she got engaged to prince harry, but it did make her a lot of money. and clearly she's got a new agent in hollywood, wme, and are hollywood, wme, and they are clearly to be trying clearly what appear to be trying to rebrand meghan opinion polls on both sides of the atlantic. not great at the minute, and this is something she could perhaps potentially capitalise on. very website, a on. a very glossy website, a very instagram page, very glossy instagram page, potential for lots of brand deals. but the timing is suspicious because if it was just prince william appearing at the diana awards, i would have put it down to kensington palace and archewell not communicating with each other, but they clearly knew that it was happening because prince harry was appearing at the awards. so therefore it would have been in therefore it would have been in the diary, and that i mean, the diary, and that is i mean, people can draw their own conclusions, it is a very, conclusions, but it is a very, suspicious, i suppose , timing of suspicious, i suppose, timing of the launch of this. >> it's also a bit jarring. i

mean, when i saw you post about this last night, i clicked straight onto it to see the instagram page. and she's very much branding herself her whole identity as being the duchess of sussex, which seems slightly jarring with the tag name american riviera. orchard and so it just says american riviera orchard by meghan the duchess of sussex established 2024. and i'm just wondering , could there just wondering, could there possibly be an issue here because she's using the duchess of sussex and this is very much a money making scheme, is it not this blog? i mean, presumably it's all about as you say, doing business with other companies, influencing people to buy certain products, that sort of thing. >> yeah, it's a grey area . the >> yeah, it's a grey area. the only official rules that were given at that so—called sandringham summit was that they couldn't capitalise on the word royal. harry and meghan left the royal family so they could pursue their own commercial endeavours, we're endeavours, which is what we're seeing now this blog . seeing now with this blog. meghan, of sussex, is a meghan, duchess of sussex, is a is there is her legal title? i

think her team would argue that she is perfectly entitled to use it. i think many people would see it that it's a bit unfair that she is using that title to make her own money, but of course there's no rule stopping her from doing that, and it probably will make the whole, blog more commercial commercially viable because it does have that subtle link back to her royal past, but nonetheless , i think people will nonetheless, i think people will be looking at meghan, duchess of sussex, on the top of the website and thinking, i thought you didn't want to be part of the royal family. >> i thought you weren't allowed to use your royal title for commercial gain. thought that commercial gain. i thought that was is that an was the issue. is that just an hrh? >> t- >> but she's not. >> but she's not. >> she's not capitalising on the royal capitalising royal titles. she's capitalising on riviera on the american riviera orchard. and meghan, duchess and her name is meghan, duchess of sussex. that's just simply is what it is. so that's what they would argue. >> okay, so cameron walker , >> okay, so cameron walker, thank you so much for joining >> okay, so cameron walker, thank you so much forjoining us and talking through what is and talking us through what is just bafflingly petty timing just a bafflingly petty timing

of a launch. i can't understand how these these people sort of find the timing to do things in order to annoy each other. it's so childish. also, it's not coincidence. >> they'll have calendars, they'll have, you know, red flags, amber flags for when dates clash and things like this . so they don't launch things without knowing what else is happening. that day. they'll have very much have people very much micromanaging from the micromanaging this from the start. they will have known for months that this the day she months that this was the day she was launching this. they will have known for months that this was award day was diana's legacy award day two. so these aren't coincidences. i don't think they're games. they're playing their games. >> rich people >> and that's what rich people do . but, gb news. reporter ray do. but, gb news. reporter ray addison, other news, was addison, in other news, was given exclusive access a nato given exclusive access to a nato training exercise in poland, and his plane was targeted by russia . more on that

soon. >> earlier on breakfast, you might have thought this is the time to sort of get ready for a

spfing time to sort of get ready for a spring election . but it is not spring election. but it is not going to happen, is it? >> i think rishi sunak is running scared, isn't he? and i think it's a real shame because people around the country are sick and tired of this conservative government who deserve have that choice. deserve to have that choice. >> have have the, you >> they have they have the, you know, deserve to be able to know, they deserve to be able to vote the change that they want. >> just do not see in the sussex world how that wouldn't have come with a bit of an amber flag. >> alex, are you as an says, a lazy snowflake from six? >> it's breakfast on gb news. good afternoon britain. it's coming up to 10 to 1 and the royal air force launches a major mission to find russian cyber hackers who jammed a plane carrying not only the defence secretary, but also, more importantly, our reporter, ray addison. >> oh, very own ray addison. now lasting 30 minutes. the attack took out one of the primary navigation systems as the raf

jet flew close to the russian enclave exclave of kaliningrad in the baltic sea. >> this took place just after gb news reporter ray addison was given exclusive access to a nato training exercise in poland . training exercise in poland. >> they move from room to room , >> they move from room to room, breaching , clearing . these nato breaching, clearing. these nato soldiers may not speak the same language, but they are fluent in the art of urban warfare , the art of urban warfare, working together to neutralise the enemy . and as the tip of the the enemy. and as the tip of the spear, the enemy. and as the tip of the spear , they're ready to roll spear, they're ready to roll against russia in a matter of hours. lieutenant colonel ben hawes is in command. >> my major observation is soldiers are soldiers , and no soldiers are soldiers, and no matter what language they speak, we all understand . and the nato we all understand. and the nato drills that we have to go through, and we've been able to,

after a very short period of practice, execute some very complex operations. >> this is just the latest exercise involving british troops . defence secretary grant troops. defence secretary grant shappsis troops. defence secretary grant shapps is here to show his support. >> i would say back home most people are unaware of this enormous nato exercise , not just enormous nato exercise, not just large, the biggest since the cold war . cold war. >> 20,000 are taking part in operation steadfast defender, with another 70,000 from all 32 nato allies . it's designed to nato allies. it's designed to send a very clear message to the russian president don't push us too far. putin's end game is to carry on expanding russia. >> you don't have to take my word for it. it's what he's said himself many times. nato isn't trying to expand into other people's territory . we are people's territory. we are simply here to defend our values of freedom and sovereignty and democracy . we should be proud of democracy. we should be proud of what these guys have been doing here, making sure we can

exercise together. most importantly of all, sending a very clear signal to putin or any other despotic leader that we will stand up for ourselves and don't try it on. >> with russia's war in ukraine now in its third year, the defence secretary is urging western allies not to get fatigued but to treat putin's ongoing invasion as a wake up call, a message that we must have the resolve to spend what is required on defence. if not, it will only embolden those who may wish to test our resolve. meanwhile, these nato forces stand ready to deploy within 48 hours, though no nato country wants war, putin's illegal invasion of ukraine has reminded the west that it can never show weakness. and there is certainly strength in numbers. ray addison gb news a scary shot there. >> defence secretary with a gun pointing right at me. what have i done, grant? >> i was going to say it was a

fantastic shot, but yeah, i take your point a little bit intimidating perhaps, but good stuff. a fantastic report stuff. what a fantastic report from ray there. yeah, lucky from ray there. yeah, very lucky to get access. very to get that access. very interesting indeed. >> in the >> absolutely. and in the context of those signals being jammed , some really jammed from russia, some really concerning there. jammed from russia, some really conabsolutely. there. jammed from russia, some really conabsolutely. i there. jammed from russia, some really conabsolutely. i want. jammed from russia, some really conabsolutely. i want to to >> absolutely. i want to get to some of your because some of your views because you've in them you've been sending in them thick what should we thick and fast. what should we start well maureen has start with? well maureen has written pay. written in on mps pay. >> she says it's not mps salary that i think is too much, but the amounts are to the amounts that are paid to those in house of lords, those in the house of lords, they can claim up to £300 a day, plus half of them are nodding off and half are sitting in a daze. off and half are sitting in a daze . if you ever watch them and daze. if you ever watch them and they can block new laws. they weren't even voted for. i call that undemocratic. so maureen, more worried about the peers in the house of lords than the mps on the green benches. >> i think that's a good point. to be fair, stephen says all mps should not get paid. they should be an because they want to be an mp because they want to help their area, their bank help their area, not their bank balance. think balance. well, i think that would tricky. i think would be a bit tricky. i think they to have some kind of

compensation. >> used to be the case though. yeah, up up until the yeah, up until up until the 19405, i think it was mps did not get paid at all. and it was actually one of the things that margaret thatcher said that margaret thatcher said is that she have become an mp she couldn't have become an mp until mps started getting paid. she clear about she she was very clear about this. from her this. people from her background, you know, should we should we just have you should we just have the you know, all mp5 being rich poshos so can, they afford to so they can, they can afford to do the job without getting paid. >> guess all about social >> i guess it's all about social mobility and making sure we have diversity mps . on the diversity in our mps. on the issue of the nhs and its net zero drive, tom says hi , i was a zero drive, tom says hi, i was a paramedic in the nhs for 20 years and can categorically say that electric ambulances will be inappropriate , purely due to the inappropriate, purely due to the fact that ambulances today are such power intensive units. he goes on to say they all have electrical systems inside igs, datacom systems, suction unions, airlift ac systems. that airlift bags, ac systems. that is a very, very good point. it's not just the actual travel that zaps that electricity. it's everything that's inside , too everything that's inside, too that's needed to save lives.

>> they'll have to have the most enormous batteries known to man. but i do i do have to say, on the on the pro electric vehicle side of things, these things do 0 to 60 faster than just about o to 60 faster than just about anything else that humans drive. they are incredibly quick . yeah. they are incredibly quick. yeah. they are incredibly quick. yeah. the speed of acceleration on an electric vehicle compared to an internal combustion engine vehicle. i mean, if you've ever sure that's true, it's. no, it's completely true. >> i'm not sure that's true. >> i'm not sure that's true. >> so quick. they are so quick. i mean it's 0 to 60. do they drive electric on the f1. there is, there there's e1. i've is, there is, there's e1. i've seen e1 car. they're spectacular. >> well thank you for keeping your views coming in. gb views gb news. com is the address. of course. that's all we have time for this hour. but coming up in the next hour, we'll be debating whether nhs is prioritising whether the nhs is prioritising net zero patients. you'll net zero over patients. you'll stay that . stay tuned for that. >> a brighter outlook with boxt solar , the sponsors of weather solar, the sponsors of weather on gb news.

>> hello again. i'm here with your latest gb news weather update brought to you by the met office. >> today's showers are largely going to ease as we go through later today, taking us into a bit of a chilly night because the low pressure centre that has brought some blustery and showery today is showery weather today is clearing towards clearing away towards the northeast of a ridge northeast with a bit of a ridge of high pressure building from the yes, will still the west. yes, there will still be showers as we go through be some showers as we go through the end of the afternoon, particularly across eastern parts, and parts, but turning drier and clearer the west and with clearer from the west and with clearer from the west and with clear skies and bit of a clear skies and a bit of a northerly wind, we're likely to see temperatures dropping see our temperatures dropping tonight. will chillier tonight. it will be chillier than it been through some than it has been through some recent just recent nights could dip just a bit freezing across bit below freezing across northern parts , a touch frost northern parts, a touch of frost possible elsewhere. may be possible elsewhere. there may be a of mist and fog. a few pockets of mist and fog. otherwise, though, saturday gets off start for many off to a fine start for many areas and across the north and east, going to hold on to east, we're going to hold on to the blue sunny skies through much day, but the much of the day, but in the south west will turn south and west here it will turn increasingly cloudy and there'll be some wet weather at times too, with something a bit more

persistent wise persistent and heavy rain wise pushing ireland pushing into northern ireland later temperatures will be lifting as we go through the day, a chilly start we day, so after a chilly start we should see highs quite widely in the mid teens celsius. the low to mid teens celsius. wet pushes its way wet weather then pushes its way through through through as we go through saturday night into sunday, clearing away the east. clearing away towards the east. and sunday itself actually and so sunday itself actually looks dry for many looks largely dry for many places, a scattering places, albeit with a scattering of showers . and be some of showers. and there'll be some strong too. monday should strong winds too. monday should be dry, just a few be mostly dry, just a few showers to watch out for before some rain arrives on some more rain arrives on tuesday. that's it for me. i'll see you later. >> that feeling inside from >> that warm feeling inside from boxt boilers , sponsors of boxt boilers, sponsors of weather on

gb news. >> good afternoon. britain. it's 1:00 on friday, the 15th of march. in unison in unison. >> work shy and overpay . paid.

>> work shy and overpay. paid. it'5 >> work shy and overpay. paid. it's a bumper pay rise for mp5, as it's revealed they're clocking off earlier than ever. >> net zero. nhs paramedics fear for patients safety as they warn new green ambulance plans could mean slower response times. the nhs stands accused of putting green credentials above medical priorities and palestine flag row. >> tower hamlets council have been pressured to remove flags from their own infrastructure after receiving hundreds of complaints from residents. we'll speak to a local councillor for his thoughts. >> right. well, should the nhs be prioritising net zero climate change, their green credentials over what's best for patients ? over what's best for patients? that's the question really, isn't it? it's been revealed that the nhs is spending an awful lot on making it to net

zero, making sure everything that they do is , is, is, isn't that they do is, is, is, isn't carbon intensive. >> but not just everything that the nhs do. so swapping out the ambulances for electric ones and having all of these new jobs on on climate focussed responsibilities, but also making sure that their supply chains meet all of their criteria as well, meaning they're not going to be buying necessarily the most cost effective drugs. they're going to be buying the drugs that come from companies are the best on climate change. >> so if i want to sell a syringe or, you know, hundreds of thousands of syringes to the nhs, i will have to fill in probably countless forms about how i'm reducing my carbon to be able to make these green friendly syringes. and i do wonder whether that is a good use of time for suppliers, whether it's pushing up costs on the nhs and therefore the taxpayer, and whether things like electric ambulances

actually are the best product for people who are in desperate need of help. medical attention. >> since 2010, the amount of cash inflation adjusted , that is cash inflation adjusted, that is the amount of money going into the amount of money going into the nhs has increased by a third, but it doesn't feel like it has. and i wonder how many, how much of that cash is going on. initiatives like this form filling responsibilities, more expensive purchasing because of these sorts of initiatives . these sorts of initiatives. >> well, maybe you think at home that the nhs can do both. it can be green and it can also pay attention to medical priorities. let us know what you think. do you think the nhs is right to prioritise net zero? but there you go. let's get your headlines i >> -- >> emily, thank you very much and good afternoon . the top and good afternoon. the top stories from the gb newsroom. the prime minister has suffered a blow, with another tory mp announcing he won't run at the next general election, citing personal reasons . james hepi

personal reasons. james hepi says he's standing down to prioritise his family and to pursue a different career. downing street says he'll be greatly missed in parliament. he's also expected to resign as armed forces minister by the end of this month. more than 60 tory mps have now announced they're leaving the commons , as leaving the commons, as speculation mounts over when the general election will be held . general election will be held. the prime minister has ruled out the 2nd of may. lib dems leader sir ed davey has accused him of running scared . running scared. >> i think people are really fed up at conservative up at this conservative government see the government and want to see the back of it, and the elections can't come quick enough for the liberal democrats. and i think can't come quick enough for the libepeople1ocrats. and i think can't come quick enough for the libepeople of:rats. and i think can't come quick enough for the libepeople of our. and i think can't come quick enough for the libepeople of our country,�*|ink can't come quick enough for the libepeople of our country, when the people of our country, when those elections come, whenever rishi go the rishi sunak decides to go to the palace, liberal democrats are ready. we've got fantastic candidates who are local champions in their areas. we're campaigning on like the campaigning on things like the nhs the need to tackle the nhs and the need to tackle the crisis the cost of living crisis there. the cost of living and things like sewage . and things like sewage. >> labour has accused the prime minister of being too chicken to call an election . as a result,

call an election. as a result, a group of activists dressed as chickens clucked outside downing street demanding the prime minister name the date. now, laboun minister name the date. now, labour, added rishi sunak needs to stop squatting in number 10. the prime minister is also under fresh pressure following reports his party has received a further £5 million from frank hester, the businessman has been accused of being racist after he allegedly said mp diane abbott made him want to hate all black women . rishi sunak is already women. rishi sunak is already facing calls to return a £10 million donation from mr hester on reports of a second sum of money. the chancellor, jeremy hunt, says the conservative party follows due process when it comes to declaring funds. >> we absolutely are transparent. we follow all the rules, the regulations we believe in that transparency, many of the laws about it. we actually passed ourselves and the conservative party fully complies with all the requirements to be transparent about our donations.

>> the defence secretary has warned russia's president not to try it on while he was on a nato visit in eastern europe. gb news has been given exclusive access to a training exercise in poland, where british forces are working with their allies, preparing for any possible attack by russia. it's part of steadfast defender , the largest steadfast defender, the largest military exercise since the cold war. grant shapps says nato allies are ready and willing to protect themselves from any threat. >> this exercise is designed to make sure that we can operate with other countries like poland and be interoperable and most importantly of all, sending a very clear signal to putin or any other despotic leader that we will stand up for ourselves and don't try it on. >> meanwhile, voting is underway in russia to elect the country's next president. ballots are being cast over three days, even though vladimir putin is all but certain to win. though vladimir putin is all but certain to win . he appealed to certain to win. he appealed to voters yesterday, including in annexed parts of ukraine, to be

unhedin annexed parts of ukraine, to be united in determining his country's future . ukraine says country's future. ukraine says any russian vote in the donetsk , any russian vote in the donetsk, luhansk, zaporizhzhia and kherson regions will be void . kherson regions will be void. now, millions of pounds worth of drugs and eight xl bullies have been seized during county lines raids . play been seized during county lines raids. play hundreds of weapons were also found , including rambo were also found, including rambo knives and machetes. every police force across the country took part in the raids last week, resulting in more than 1800 arrests. phone lines used to distribute drugs from cities to distribute drugs from cities to towns and villages were also shut down. former detective chief inspector mike neville told gb news the crackdown still doesn't solve the wider problem. drugs trade is like the greek story of the hydra . story of the hydra. >> you cut one head off and two more grow in its place . and more grow in its place. and what's really frightening with county lines is how they use

children. and the reason they use children is because the police were very successful with undercover officers who were obviously adults. and so the drug dealers don't trust anybody. they don't know who's anybody. they don't know who's an adult, but they well know that the police are not allowed to use children as some kind of undercover agent . undercover agent. >> mcdonald's has been forced to apologise to customers after it was hit by an it fault. restaurants were affected globally, but the issue has now been resolved in the uk and ireland. the company blamed a technology outage , saying there technology outage, saying there are no cyber security issues . are no cyber security issues. for the latest stories, sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen or go to gb news. common alerts. now back to tom and . emily. back to tom and. emily. >> right, it's 108 back to tom and. emily. >> right, it's108 and mp5 pay will rise to more than £90,000

after the parliamentary watchdog raised their salaries by an inflation busting 5.5, meaning their pay will increase by £4,762 next year. >> its final £2 are obviously very quite a nice bump, isn't it? yeah, well this comes as it's been reported that the working day for an mp in the house of commons has averaged just seven hours and nine minutes in the last three months. that's the lowest since 1997. >> fi- 1997. >> our political editor, >> well, our political editor, christopher hope joins us now. christopher, i understand you actually have some news for us on the tory donor. frank hester and the race row there. what's going on? >> that's right. frank hester, is this millionaire businessman who has given £10 million to the tory party. he made some comments , a reported comments in comments, a reported comments in 2019 about diane abbott, saying that he makes makes , makes him that he makes makes, makes him hate black people and wants to shoot her. earlier this week, we heard how rishi sunak the prime minister thinks the remarks were

racist. after a period, while we wait to see what number 10 thought, the reports today that frank hester has given a further £5 million to the tory party, but we can disclose on gb news that hasn't happened yet. what's happenedis that hasn't happened yet. what's happened is the tories are in talks right now about the additional 5 million donation from frank hester , but the money from frank hester, but the money hasn't yet been handed over yet. so essentially the pm rishi sunak his team in central office have got a choice to make at some point. will they accept the offer of this extra money that makes it such a more exciting story? >> christopher, i hope your sleuthing has sent shockwaves and shivers up my spine, because what actually is going on here now is a much more difficult moral question for the conservative party. up until today, they've been able to say , today, they've been able to say, why would you think this guy is a racist? we're not going to give money to a racist or that it's all done. it's all happened. all in the past.

happened. it's all in the past. whereas now a live whereas now this is a live question . question. >> yeah. well, i mean, that's right, tom, senior tories tell me this lunchtime in their view, he's not a racist, they point out his wife is from from malaysia, for example, and they say that, they hope he'll give the money like some of my friends are black. >> that's that's the typical line. oh, no. his wife's from malaysia, so it's all okay, this is what they're saying. and they, they think that they can still take the money and they want to. and they think that what's happened here is reports have gone back over what you said five years ago. he regrets saying it, but it shouldn't mean he can't give money now to the party. that's what's happening. and i wonder whether this view of senior tories might explain why the centre was so reluctant to say the remarks were racist when he first emerged a few days ago. we haven't yet seen the actual tape and audio of what

was said, or reportedly said by mr hester, but he has apologised for any offence caused and i imagine this is quite difficult for the conservative party >> they've lost quite a few donors, haven't they, over recent months and years. they may well need the money or see. they may well think they need the money at least. >> well, emily, people oh, go on, go on. chris. >> well, forgive me, forgive me. i mean, this isn't any old donon i mean, this isn't any old donor. this is £10 million, which is a quarter of the party's annual income. i mean , party's annual income. i mean, rising million more. that rising to 5 million more. that that a significant hole in that is a significant hole in their pocket. if so, the point now is they want to land the extra million. they think extra 5 million. they they think he's apologised . the guy said he's apologised. the guy said things. he's apologised for being rude about diane abbott, we know that. but will the party or can the party accept a further 5 million? given what mr sunak has said about about the individual? >> oof, the thing that i think about this is that rishi sunak is worth a lot of money. is his job worth to him, that money

that he has because he and his wife together are sitting on a huge, huge pile of cash. why doesn't rishi sunak just self—fund the campaign? he could give 100 million. yes. >> he ? he'll fund put >> could he? he'll fund it, put his hand his own pocket and his hand in his own pocket and well well, well, well, yes. >> that very issue we've >> on that very issue we've heard from downing street today that he will accept the 5.5% pay rise. tom and emily singing of what you're worried about, what the millionaire prime minister is paid as an mp. he pays his pay- is paid as an mp. he pays his pay. will go up now to £166,000. in fact, number 10 said very clearly that all mp5 can accept this, the money is recommended. the 5.5% increase for mp5 is recommended by ipso this independent body. and of course other mp5 get other money too. 17,000 for a select committee chairman, £50,000 for the leader of the opposition , sir keir of the opposition, sir keir starmer. it also means that the severance pay for mp5 leaving

parliament at the election, like james hepi, announced today, the armed forces minister will now rise to £20,000 because they get four months pay, not just two months pay as have been previously. so all the boats are rising in parliament with the announcement today by ipso to increase their salaries as mp5 by 5.5. >> and there's also been a bit of a stunt just outside downing street. let's have a look . street. let's have a look. >> some poultry spotted . oh, >> some poultry spotted. oh, thatis >> some poultry spotted. oh, that is glorious. of course, what we believe to be labour party staffers here making chicken noises. and i mean, thank goodness they're wearing rishi sunak masks over their faces because i it must be a very embarrassing thing to have to do. these people really must be in for perhaps some safe seats in the future. well, let's say harassing themselves like this. >> for those listening on on the radio, there are about maybe about 15, people wearing yellow

chicken costumes with the phrase name the date. now they're calling for an election, calling for rishi sunak to name a date . for rishi sunak to name a date. >> and the talk had been in parliament, as we discussed yesterday in your programme , of yesterday in your programme, of fevered speculation amongst senior tory mps that there might be an election now announced next week , maybe wednesday or next week, maybe wednesday or thursday for may the 2nd. that was ruled out last night by the by the pm on a visit to the west country . it will not happen on country. it will not happen on may the 2nd, but only not on may the 2nd. it may happen on a different date in may, june or july, briefing us july, but they are briefing us now probably going to now that it's probably going to be the end of the year. be in the back end of the year. what everyone says to me is the first or 3 weeks of november first 2 or 3 weeks of november is the landing zone, but i think i should say to viewers and listeners that the idea of a chicken history in chicken has a long history in our famously, lee our politics, famously, lee cain, a former spokesman or key adviser to boris johnson, was once the mirror chicken and his job was to follow around david cameron when cameron wouldn't

agree tv debates in agree to doing tv debates in towards the end of the 20 1415 period, so often the idea of a chicken following politicians around is part of our culture. in the uk, it means that the person being targeted is refusing to take part in something. in this case, this labour chickens saying the government is refusing to the pm is refusing to go to the country and face the electorate. >> well, christopher hope, thank you very much for all of those stories and really, really interesting the on interesting there on the on frank the tories have you frank hester the tories have you ever chicken suit? emily. ever worn a chicken suit? emily. >> no. tom. have you? yes. >>— >> no. tom. have you? yes. >> it's really hot under the under the rubber chicken hat. you get incredibly sweaty. >> it's a very sweaty under there. i hope you've cleaned it. if you if you wear it a lot. >> anyway, if i wear it a lot, i don't know what you do at the weekend, tom. >> i don't know what you do at the weekend. >> i don't know my previous job. >> i don't know my previous job. >> right. former labour >> right. anyway, former labour defence very serious defence minister in very serious matters. to speak matters. you're about to speak to former defence minister.

to the former defence minister. labour rammell, who labour party bill rammell, who joins now, bill, let's start joins us now, bill, let's start you a chicken mask. >> thank you for taking it off. i know that in your spare time, you're often dressed up as chicken, as all serious people are to hound rishi sunak out of number 10, but, bill mps pay rise 5.5, up to 90,000 or so pounds a year. it's also been reported in the ft that, mps are clocking off early in parliament, what's your take on this all? do they deserve this pay this all? do they deserve this pay rise? are they a bit work shy ? shy? >> you know, there are many criticisms you can make of mps , criticisms you can make of mps, but being in it for the money is really not one of them. and i say that of mps really not one of them. and i say that of mp5 of all parties. you know, this is an independent process through ipso . it's process through ipso. it's actually less as a percentage increase than they normally would have got, because they normally link it, to the average pubuc normally link it, to the average public sector pay rise, because there's been a lot of those pay deals with one off catch up payments. they didn't do that. they linked it this year to the

percentage increase of senior civil servants. and if you look at public sector pay rises in the last year, they've been above this level. so you know, in decades gone by when mps used to set their own pay, i think that was wrong. there's an independent process and it should be abided by. also, the point about mps clocking off early, i mean, look, when i was an mp and a minister, i used to work 70 plus hours per week. i think that's the norm for the vast majority of mps. think that's the norm for the vast majority of mp5. the reason parliament is sitting less frequently at the moment is because we've got a government thatis because we've got a government that is extraordinarily weak and frankly can't table enough legislation because it risks splits and votes against it from its own party supporters . and its own party supporters. and that's why, parliament is, you know, you look at it every week. there's, you know, 1 or 2 days of one line whips where mps don't have to be in the house, andifs don't have to be in the house, and it's because of the government's lack of authority. but that doesn't mean that mps

are just going home early. they're working in their constituency. >> yeah. no, i think that is an important point to make. but it is remarkable how a government elected with majority of 80, elected with a majority of 80, that is now just 46 in that majority is now just 46 in the house of commons, which is not a big one. they're not bothering. >> they're not bothering with as much legislation . have they run much legislation. have they run out of steam? that's what the labour would say, of coui'se. >> course. >> but bill, there's another big question to get to, and question we want to get to, and thatis question we want to get to, and that is what's going on in tower hamlets. lutfur hamlets. the mayor, lutfur rahman who's who's an rahman, who's a who's an independent, represents lot of independent, represents a lot of the there, the bangladeshi community there, has been forced to has seemingly been forced to take down palestinian flags that have been all over council property for months . property for months. >> well, i'm always suspicious of something lutfur rahman does because frankly, the guy is an extremist. however, i actually welcome this decision. people should be able to protest peacefully. they should be able to put whatever flag they want, as long as it's not inciting violence within their own home. but you shouldn't have flags ,

but you shouldn't have flags, political symbols on public buildings, whether it's lampposts, whether it's council offices . you know, we're shortly offices. you know, we're shortly going to be going into a general election campaign. we wouldn't expect party banners to be on council public buildings. and so actually, on this occasion , i actually, on this occasion, i welcome the decision that's been taken. >> bill, what evidence do you have to suggest, this mayor is an extremist . an extremist. >> you look at his track record of the statements he's made, the way that he has sought to, a bit like george galloway , the way like george galloway, the way that he has sought to provoke division within predominantly muslim communities as, you know, a very strong track record , of a very strong track record, of extremism. he's certainly not something that not somebody that i would want representing me. >> and it's clear he wasn't too pleased about having to take down these flags. >> no, no, no, i think he was

dragged kicking and screaming to do it. and he's now trying to ask for understanding, for having taken the decision. but you know , i think most you know, i think most reasonable people would say that whatever the cause, you know, in council offices, in a public building, that there should be independence and you shouldn't be able to put up posters or flags, union flag or nothing. >> i say, thank you very much indeed. bill rammell, former labour defence minister, run out of time there. >> no, but it is fair to say that bill is absolutely right. i mean, look rahman is a guy mean, look for rahman is a guy who was actually out of who was actually forced out of office the election court office after the election court officially reported be officially reported him to be personally guilty of corrupt or illegal practices. electoral fraud. he was barred for office for six years. but of course, as soon as he was, as soon as that bar from office expired, he got elected again. >> yes , i think there are lots >> yes, i think there are lots of stories like this from across the country. anyway. lufta rahman, is mayor of rahman, who is the mayor of tower hamlets, has said in response, flags are symbols response, the flags are symbols of solidarity sympathy for of solidarity and sympathy for those suffering

those enduring extreme suffering in not forget that in gaza. we must not forget that over 30,000 people now been over 30,000 people have now been killed, whom are women killed, 70% of whom are women and children. the certainly and children. the flag certainly had and made residents had an impact and made residents views clear. well there we go. >> nice to have his words, but, the nhs is set to introduce new electric but what electric ambulances. but what will for plans? and will this mean for plans? and could it mean slower response times? well, the nhs stands accused of putting green credentials above medical priorities. we'll get into the details after this

good afternoon. britain. 1:24. and paramedics fear patients will be forced to wait for longer for ambulances to arrive. >> yes , because the nhs is set >> yes, because the nhs is set to introduce electric ambulances racing concerns that the drive for net zero is being put above patient safety reports say electric ambulances will take up to four hours to charge and

travel an average of only 70 miles. surely this is impractical ? impractical? >> well, is the nhs prioritising net zero over patients? let's debate it. joining us is senior meteorologist at the british weather services, jim dale , who weather services, jim dale, who thinks the nhs is not prioritising patients over net zero, and deputy director of net zero watch, andrew montford, who thinks that the nhs are. well, andrew, i suppose you've got the, the case to make here. are the, the case to make here. are the nhs putting net zero above patients . patients. >> well clearly if and an electric ambulance can only do 70 miles at a time, then it is a real problem. >> the nhs doesn't have loads of money, so if you're going to have battery powered ambulances that can only do that sort of distance, you're going to need a lot more of them and it's going to spend it's going to cost a whole lot more money, which means less money to means you'll have less money to spend things, like like spend on other things, like like actually delivering medical services. this is this. it is. you it's rational to you can say it's rational to have a climate policy, but it

needs a rational climate needs to be a rational climate policy. clearly isn't policy. and this clearly isn't rational. you actually look at the nhs decarbonisation plan and it's bonkers. >> okay, jim, let's let's pause. sorry andrew. let's pause there and throw this over to jim, this is irrational. not at all. it's, why should the nhs be be lagging behind the rest of industry , behind the rest of industry, even even those that, are mostly against or are totally against net zero people like richard tice barnaby , they drive tice barnaby, they drive electric cars now. they're not in the public sector. that's their own private car. granted. but this is the direction of travel, and i think the nhs is moving in the right direction, albeit it and it will be by jim. >> jim, according to reports, paramedics are raising concerns that electric ambulances just aren't quite fit enough for purpose i.e. they could

potentially fail to reach people in time. the amount of electricity that needs to be used will drain the battery very quickly , and they may not be quickly, and they may not be able to save lives at the same rate. surely that's not worth it. >> i hear what you're saying, emily, but you've got to be very careful in terms of where these reports come from. the emanate from the daily telegraph. i do a lot of lot of behind the scenes work and then put on their work and then put it on their their inside pages in terms of their inside pages in terms of the fear factor, in terms of these kind of evolutionary moves, in terms of the green industry, as i to you, this industry, as i said to you, this is evolution, not is an evolution, not a revolution. it used to be back in 1980s. revolution. it used to be back in 19805. we used to have in the 19805. we used to have those phones. remember those big phones. you remember those? and used to those? and everybody used to say, brick phones if you say, oh, the brick phones if you like. and no, that would never catch you know, don't catch on. you know, you don't want they're want one of them. they're too expensive, and expensive, etc, etc. and then then the about cancer and then the scare about cancer and now look, everybody's got one and everybody works with it. it will exactly the same with will be exactly the same with the electrification of vehicles, whether be in the nhs or elsewhere. >> well, let's throw that back

to andrew now, andrew, these things are becoming more and more common. not every ambulance in the nhs is going to immediately be electric, but looking at some these fancy looking at some of these fancy electric cars now on the roads, these things go like the clappers. they're fast at accelerating, they're cool and futuristic. to love? futuristic. what's not to love? >> well, i'm sure this is why people like richard tice have one, because i'm told. i mean, i don't have one, but i'm told there are a lot of fun to drive, and they accelerate really quickly. that's really quickly. that's not really relevant ambulance, relevant for an ambulance, but what you want for an ambulance is, is, is, you know, reasonable speeds for long distances so that you can do lots of work and get lots of lots of sick people to hospital. if you can only do 70 miles. well, i mean, from where live , you know, it's where i live, you know, it's something like 40 miles to the nearest hospital . so you're nearest hospital. so you're going to be able get from the going to be able to get from the ambulance to here, you might get back again, you know, maybe back again, but, you know, maybe not. i mean, this is this is absolutely ridiculous at the moment. so maybe 50 years moment. so maybe in 50 years time when battery technology has

improved, if battery technology improves, then maybe it will be possible . but to say we're just possible. but to say we're just going to do it, this is this is very, very foolish. >> well, jim, this is about so much more than electric ambulances, next month, according to reports , the nhs according to reports, the nhs will essentially be demanding a carbon reduction plan from its suppliers. so i come to the nhs saying i want to sell you 10,000 pens and they say, oh, wait, you have to fill in all these, all these sheets of paper about what your carbon reduction plans are and what your carbon footprint are. this is going to raise costs, is it not? >> well, i'll tell you what, emily. if we don't do these little steps and these are little steps and these are little steps and these are little steps that you're talking about, everybody contributes , about, if everybody contributes, actually it's actually a big step because behind all of this and what we're actually talking about, elephant in the about, the elephant in the room is climate change and the impacts that. i need to impacts of that. and i need to mention that as the world continues to warm up as we speak in various countries around the

world, we go through one of world, as we go through one of the wettest winters, if not the wettest for some people wettest winter for some people on record in the all of this on record in the uk, all of this comes back to that. those are the underlying underlying reasons this . and it isn't reasons for this. and it isn't just a wish thing to say. oh yeah, we want faster cars, slower cars. there's one slower cars. but there's one other element that is the other element and that is the nhs struggling as it is okay. nhs is struggling as it is okay. and biggest problem is not and the biggest problem is not going to electric cars. it's going to be electric cars. it's electric vehicles. it's going to be what we have at this moment in time in of ambulances be what we have at this moment in time iup, of ambulances be what we have at this moment in time iup, because mbulances be what we have at this moment in time iup, because thereinces be what we have at this moment in time iup, because there isn't queuing up, because there isn't enough into the nhs enough money going into the nhs and there isn't enough staff. and that's why where we get the money isn't the point that there's been a third extra funding real terms, one third extra budget for the nhs and it doesn't feel like it. >> why things are getting more expensive. why things like these green policies. >> not things like these >> it's not things like these green policies because these green policies because these green policies because these green policies in the nhs have hardly started, it's not that look at the history, the recent history, tom and everybody, everybody will realise that the

nhs is on its knees because of this. the lousy , the lousy, this. the lousy, the lousy, handung this. the lousy, the lousy, handling by this of the, of the uk government. it's as simple as that. it's not rocket science. this one. >> andrew. just lastly , an nhs >> andrew. just lastly, an nhs green team. surely this is the way forward . £3 million on way forward. £3 million on salaries for making the nhs green and beautiful. >> yeah that's right. i mean this is the way the state runs things isn't it. you know they, they, they appoint some more bureaucrats and the bureaucrats are well paid and they probably have electric cars and all this sort of thing. and the money just disappears away where just disappears away from where it's be spent onto , it's meant to be spent onto, onto. yeah. pen pushers. >> well , thank you very much. >> well, thank you very much. >> well, thank you very much. >> a great head to head there. andrew mumford and jim dale, great to speak to you both. good stuff. >> well up next we'll be discussing the palestine flag row as tower hamlets council have to remove row as tower hamlets council have from to remove row as tower hamlets council have from their to remove row as tower hamlets council have from their infrastructure,e flags from their infrastructure, lampposts and their buildings, hundreds of complaints sent hundreds of complaints were sent in from residents. well, we'll

speak to a local councillor who's been active in this area for his thoughts. just after your news headlines with tatiana i >> -- >> tom. m >> tom. thank you. the top stories from the gb newsroom . stories from the gb newsroom. the prime minister has suffered a blow with another tory mp announcing he won't run at the next general election. james heappey is also expected to resign as armed forces minister by the end of this month. gb news understands the decision is not over defence spending, citing personal reasons. mr heappey says he's standing down to prioritise his family and to pursue a different career. more than 60 tory mps have now announced they're leaving the commons at the next election . a commons at the next election. a £5 million donation from frank hester has not yet been given to the conservatives, with senior party sources telling gb news talks about the funds are still being held. the businessman, who's already given the party

£10 million, is accused of being racist after he allegedly said mp diane abbott made him want to hate all black women. the prime minister is under pressure to return the donation . millions of return the donation. millions of pounds worth of drugs and eight xl bullies have been seized dufing xl bullies have been seized during county lines raids. hundreds of weapons were also found, including rambo knives and machetes. every police force across the country took part in the raids last week, resulting in more than 1800 arrests. the defence secretary is warning russia's president not to try it on while he was on a nato visit in eastern europe , gb news was in eastern europe, gb news was given exclusive access to a training exercise in poland, where british forces are working with their allies, preparing for any possible attack by russia. it'5 any possible attack by russia. it's part of steadfast defender, the largest military exercise since the cold war . grant the largest military exercise since the cold war. grant shapps says nato members are ready and willing to protect themselves from any threat . for the latest from any threat. for the latest stories, sign up to gb news

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i >> earlier on breakfast, you might have thought. >> this is the time to sort of get ready for a spring election. but it is not going to happen, is it? >> well, i think rishi sunak is

running scared, isn't he? and i think it's a real shame because people around the country are sick and tired of this conservative government who deserve to that choice. deserve to have that choice. >> have. have you >> they have. they have the you know, be able to know, they deserve to be able to vote the change that they want. >> just do not see in the sussex world how that wouldn't have come with bit of an amber flag. >> alex, are you as an says, a lazy snowflake from six? >> it's breakfast on gb news. good afternoon britain . it is good afternoon britain. it is 1:38 and our inbox is chock a block with all of your messages about one of the lead stories. today, our mps getting paid more to do less. >> chockablock chock a block like the roads will be later on. because of that m25 closure in the south—east. >> don't get me started. >> don't get me started. >> the amount of chock a block there is going to be on on the roads in the south—east anyway.

if that's where you are at home, it's going to be a bit of a nightmare. if you're in south east england, don't travel this weekend, travel, but anyway. >> views. stephen has >> views. yes, stephen has written say all mp5 should written in to say all mp5 should not get paid. they should be an mp help mp because they want to help their their bank balance. >> and sean says i listened to the above. our mp wendy morton deserves every penny. she works tirelessly on behalf of her constituents here in aldridge and brownhills, west midlands. she's great job and she's doing such a great job and earns every penny. so there you go. congratulations to wendy morden. sean didn't morden. you pleased sean didn't didn't wendy morton resign and then on resign when she was briefly chief whip. well, that doesn't matter to sean . sean is doesn't matter to sean. sean is very happy with her performance and he says some mps deserve a pay and he says some mps deserve a pay rise. my mp, mr tomlinson's office really helped me with an anti—social behaviour problem. so without their help i would still be fighting the housing association for a resolution. yes, mps do really sometimes help a lot and their offices do really help with these sort of getting in touch with the

housing association on your behalf. >> f- w- f- f— behalf. >> role of an mp. this >> be the role of an mp. this always to role always used to be a role of a local council rather than mps , local council rather than mps, were sort of meant to do the big national stuff. >> they passed on to the >> they passed it on to the council, but it just adds carries weight. >> is sort of >> the job of an mp is sort of merging being lots of merging into being lots of things never used to be things that it never used to be a social worker trying to find time up their time. yes, time to fill up their time. yes, well, i should say i did work for at point, quite for an mp at one point, quite a few years ago now, and i did help quite a lot of constituents finally get answer from their finally get an answer from their local council. so there you go. tap on the back. >> speaking of councils, emily and lovely segue. and in >> speaking of councils, emily a|london lovely segue. and in >> speaking of councils, emily a|london councily segue. and in >> speaking of councils, emily a|london councily siloje. and in >> speaking of councils, emily a|london councily syto startid in a london council is to start removing flags from removing palestinian flags from its infrastructure after receiving hundreds complaints receiving hundreds of complaints from , including jewish from residents, including jewish people distressed by their presence. >> presence. >> now tower hamlets in east london, originally decided against removing the flags which have been hung up on lampposts and in high streets because they didn't to destabilise didn't want to destabilise community but community cohesion. but residents protested and the group uk lawyers for israel threatened legal action unless the council removed them .

the council removed them. >> well, the member of parliament, paul scully, last month was accused of islamophobe here for claiming there were no go areas in the borough of tower hamlets. we spoke to him a little bit earlier, now little bit earlier, but now we're to speak to someone we're going to speak to someone local the area. the local to the area. the conservative councillor for tower hamlets, peter golds, peter , thank you so much for peter, thank you so much for joining us. i suppose there's been a difference here with tower hamlets compared to lots of other councils. when flags have been put up on public property, been taken property, they've been taken down in other areas. but for months tower hamlets they months in tower hamlets they stayed up. >> absolutely. >> absolutely. >> and there are two issues here. >> firstly, when the flags were put up on the main roads, which are the tfl roads or big highways, they were taken down instantly with no kickback . many instantly with no kickback. many members of the public, but when they were put on the streets that tower hamlets are responsible for, they stayed now we're not talking about flags in people's homes. if somebody wishes to put a flag in their home or their window, that's up to them. >> we believe in free speech and

we cannot intervene on that. but flags particularly flags on lampposts, particularly when lamppost in a when it's on every lamppost in a street, is a completely different matter . different matter. >> and the mayor essentially had to be forced , didn't he, to, to to be forced, didn't he, to, to take down these flags , he didn't take down these flags, he didn't really want to. he said they were a sign of solidarity with the residents of gaza. he spoke of the tens of thousands of people, he said, who have died in the conflict in gaza . and so in the conflict in gaza. and so he really did not want to do this, did he ? this, did he? >> no, i think he he was very, very slow on the uptake. but let's be absolutely fair. we have an executive mayor and he has absolute, overall control of all decision making . and the all decision making. and the chief executive commissioned a report from the lawyer , a report from the lawyer, a lawyer. and the lawyer said legally , that the flags were not legally, that the flags were not lawful. and they've been sitting on that report for weeks. so it took action from other groups of people to say, you know, the flags aren't lawful. and if you're not careful, we will take

action. >> that's an extraordinary thing to learn here. that that they were told they were not lawful, but they didn't act and it had to be external lawyers getting in touch to make sure this happens, can you just let us know if there have been people getting into contact with you as a councillor about how a local councillor about how they about every lamppost, they feel about every lamppost, which is supposed to be public neutral territory being covered in these flags, has it made some of your constituents nervous to walk the streets? >> it's made. it's made, it's made not just my constituents, not the people i represent on the isle of dogs, but people have been getting in touch with me from across the whole borough, and it's a complete range of people, including people who are from the bangladeshi muslim community, who support, who support the endeavours of what's of gaza, of what is going on in a hostile to the actions of the israeli government, but feel that they shouldn't have these flags on streets . if you walk down some streets. if you walk down some of the streets, it doesn't look like a london borough. it looks

almost like what you would imagine in ceausescu's romania, with on every street. with flags on every street. >> well, peter, can you >> well, well, peter, can you let know, what it's like in let us know, what it's like in the council their activity the council and their activity in tower hamlets? how much time, for has been spent for example, has been spent discussing issues relating to what's in the middle what's happening in the middle east? has it dominated quite a lot of time? >> let's be absolutely fair to the mayor and the administration. >> there's a heck of a lot to do in this council. we have extremes of deprivation and of course, wealth because of the canary wharf and city fringe, we have huge problems on the council. and to be fair, the council. and to be fair, the council spends its time doing council spends its time doing council matters. and they said initially, fact , absolutely initially, in fact, absolutely carefully at council meetings, we interfere with foreign we can't interfere with foreign policy. but we got a lot to do on national policy and local policy. let's concentrate on that. and that is what the council itself has tried to do . council itself has tried to do. but of course, what took place in the streets is a completely different matter. it's not what takes place in the town hall and at council meetings.

>> hasn't been too much >> so there hasn't been too much pressure see from pressure that you can see from from people living in the borough for the council to take a stance on what's happening in, in middle east, to take in the middle east, to take a pubuc in the middle east, to take a public stance. i mean, besides allowing these everywhere, allowing these flags everywhere, i they're most i suppose. oh, they're most certainly been. certainly has been. >> of the council >> and members of the council and administration have, and the administration have, have, put their support. but if they go out in the street and go on a march, it's, as i've said, we're talking of free speech. they're entitled to do that. but it's what happens where the council is responding to. absolutely everybody, all 320,000 people who live in our borough. >> well, peter golds , you raise >> well, peter golds, you raise a really, really important issue here. and thank you for joining us and telling us a bit what it's like in the borough of tower hamlets. some people would might call it the people's repubuc might call it the people's republic tower hamlets. republic of tower hamlets. thank you peter you very much indeed, peter golds conservative golds there, conservative councillor for tower hamlets. >> ai generator >> now the ai image generator for adobe firefly, has faced a backlash for rewriting history with its version of the founding fathers of the usa. this is

quite extraordinary. yes we'll be discussing that after

i >> -- >> good afternoon. britain. it's coming up to ten minutes to two. and here's an interesting one for you. the ai image generator. adobe firefly. now, adobe are the same company that make photoshop. so this is a big deal photoshop. so this is a big deal. that's the royal family. enjoy. firefly they certainly do. their product, firefly, do. their new product, firefly, is the latest tool to face a pubuc is the latest tool to face a public backlash . now, if you public backlash. now, if you don't know how these image generators work, you give the tool a prompt, a little sentence, and it will generate an image. but in this case, the new york post asked to create a photo of, for example, the founding fathers of the united states of america. these are just some of the images that were created. these are the founding fathers of the united states of america. these were ,

states of america. these were, german soldiers. a request . and german soldiers. a request. and this was a request for some of those founding fathers to i mean, it's a it's an interesting , roster of images that seems to be promoting . well, people that be promoting. well, people that might not look like , well, hang, might not look like, well, hang, hang on, hang on, hang on, hang on. 1930s, hang on, hang on, hang on, hang on. 19305, 19405 german soldiers that we're asking to depict here, or the founding fathers that were being asked to depict here. >> are you telling me that this is historically inaccurate? i think it might be. surely not. >> it might be a smidge historically inaccurate. and here's the really important thing. this is exactly the same, blunder that ran into blunder that google ran into with gemini product, which with their gemini product, which was about generating images , but was about generating images, but it couldn't generate images of white people. it would only create diverse images. so so when reporters asked it to generate an image of the pope, they got a picture of a black woman. well, this by adobe is doing exactly the same thing.

this is a big problem in artificial intelligence. >> yes, because it's simply not accurate for those listening on the radio. essentially what you've got is you've got an image of the founding fathers of the united states, and it is two black men. and then got a picture women and, i don't know who this is supposed to be. >> i think this is supposed to be a german soldier. there was some asked to create images of german soldiers from the 1930s and 19405. basically, nazis . and and 19405. basically, nazis. and what we can see in the next picture here it is. the nazis are, according to, adobe firefly, very racially diverse, very racially diverse . and very racially diverse. and clearly what's happened here is that the people who have created this tool have said, whatever you do, whatever anyone asks of you do, whatever anyone asks of you , make sure it's diverse and you, make sure it's diverse and inclusive. but the problem with a command that all ai must always produce something diverse and inclusive is that very often that means they'll produce

something that's wrong. >> i love how much this winds you up, but it is ridiculous. it is ridiculous because this is stuff that's going to at the moment. >> these are just little tools that are everywhere. but this technology is going to be put in photoshop and in google's technology is going be put in technology is going to be put in search. all this search. i mean, all of this stuff be in every stuff is going to be in every piece technology that we use . piece of technology that we use. this early stuff, and this is the early stuff, and we're finding all these we're finding all of these problems also. >> is it going to go >> further, is it going to go school children, for example, will up and will look something up and they'll a completely warped they'll get a completely warped perspective they'll get a completely warped persj get ve they'll get a completely warped persjget ve of your views on let's get some of your views on other matters . we've been other matters. we've been talking we've been talking about. we've been talking about. we've been talking electric talking about electric ambulances net ambulances and the drive for net zero the nhs, and, and, zero in the nhs, and, and, patricia says imagine the ephaph patricia says imagine the epitaph he didn't die of climate change. he died waiting for the ambulance designed to save him from climate change. crazy. >> well , roberts from climate change. crazy. >> well, roberts has got in touch to say with the power already to go in a battery, an electric car can accelerate as fast as the motors are designed to allow. that means that

several offer astonishing 0 to 60mph times that trounce even the most potent internal combustion cars. so robert hur is saying that these electric cars can be so much faster. >> yes, well, they're pretty useless in traffic , useless if you're in traffic, kathleen says. while i fully support effort to reduce our support any effort to reduce our carbon footprint it shouldn't support any effort to reduce our caratn footprint it shouldn't support any effort to reduce our carat our)tprint it shouldn't support any effort to reduce our carat our the nt it shouldn't support any effort to reduce our carat our the patients ouldn't support any effort to reduce our carat our the patients expense. be at our the patients expense. following following surgery in 2022 for cancer. five months ago, i had further biopsies and ct scans. i wasn't given the results until yesterday evening. you waited five months for results . that is not good enough. >> is it really really bad? and sunder surinder has got in touch to say the nhs has been captured by the woke lobby. i spent 40 hours in an ambulance and then in an a&e chair waiting for a bed. i'm 87. no other european country has these issues. and sufinden country has these issues. and surinder, i think you're absolutely right here. the way that some european countries run their health care system , with their health care system, with a lot less top down, a lot less sort of state bureaucracy, seems to be a lot more efficient .

to be a lot more efficient. >> so i just think it's crazy that if you want to sell something to the nhs, you have to fill in a carbon reduction plan or present one, or you will do from next month. >> you want to sell a to >> you want to sell a biro to the nhs, you have to give reams of forms. they can't. they're not buy from not allowed to buy it from you until they've all of until they've checked all of your until you've your supplies, until you've ticked and complied ticked every box and complied with climate diktat. with every climate diktat. >> shouldn't be funny, >> oh, it shouldn't be funny, but i guess got to laugh but i guess you've got to laugh anyway. to anyway. up next, we're going to be mps are be debating whether mps are overpaid work shy. we've got overpaid and work shy. we've got both debate. one both sides of this debate. one person thinks no, they should be paid more, the other thinks absolutely not. you won't want to miss it. stay with us. this is good afternoon, britain on gb news is overpaid and worked . news is overpaid and worked. >> a brighter outlook with boxt solar sponsors of weather on . gb news. >> hello again. >> hello again. >> i'm here with your latest gb

news weather update brought to you by the met office. today's showers are largely going to ease as we go through later today, taking us into a bit of a chilly night because the low pressure centre that has brought some today is clearing away weather today is clearing away towards the northeast with a bit of a ridge of high pressure building from the west. yes, there still be showers there will still be some showers as through the end of the as we go through the end of the afternoon, particularly across eastern but drier eastern parts, but turning drier and the and and clearer from the west and with clear skies and a bit of a northerly wind, we're likely to see our temperatures dropping tonight. it will be chillier than it has been through some recent a recent nights could dip just a bit freezing across bit below freezing across northern touch of northern parts of touch of frost. possible elsewhere. there may a pockets mist and may be a few pockets of mist and fog. otherwise, though, saturday gets fine start for gets off to a fine start for many areas and across the north and we're going hold to and east, we're going to hold to on the blue sunny skies through much day. but in the much of the day. but in the south and west. here it will turn increasingly cloudy and there'll some wet weather at there'll be some wet weather at times with something a bit times too, with something a bit more heavy rain more persistent and heavy rain wise northern wise pushing into northern

ireland temperatures will ireland later temperatures will be lifting as we go through the day, after a chilly start we day, so after a chilly start we should quite in should see highs quite widely in the teens celsius . the low to mid teens celsius. wet weather then pushes its way through as go through through as we go through saturday night sunday, saturday night into sunday, clearing towards the east. clearing away towards the east. and itself actually and so sunday itself actually looks largely dry for many places, scattering places, albeit with a scattering of showers . there'll be some of showers. and there'll be some strong too. monday should strong winds too. monday should be dry, just a few be mostly dry, just a few showers to out for before showers to watch out for before some rain arrives on some more rain arrives on tuesday. that's it for me. i'll see you later. that warm feeling inside boxt boilers inside from boxt boilers sponsors of weather on

gb news. >> good afternoon. britain it's 2:00 on friday, the 15th of march. >> work shy and overpaid. it's a bumper pay rise for mp5, but it's revealed they're clocking off earlier than ever. >> meghan markle business

backlash. meghan markle faces claims and criticism once again after she's slammed for launching her new lifestyle brand . at the same time that brand. at the same time that prince william attended the diana legacy award and liz truss and her gender bill, ministers could back a law banning biological men from women only spaces. >> as former prime minister liz truss pushes her gender bill through the commons. lots of you are still getting in touch about mps wages. we're going to be debating this . going to be debating this. whether they are, we'll find out once and for all whether they are overpaid and whether they are overpaid and whether they are work shy. i think that's a bit harsh. i think it depends who you're representative is. >> but here's the thing. this always going always gets people going because there good on there are such good arguments on either side. on one hand, either side. on the one hand, 91,500 pounds, it's a huge amount money. it's so much amount of money. it's so much more the average wage in

more than the average wage in this country. and people feel that a of economic that in a time of economic instability that that's just not justifiable. but on the other hand, very rightly, people say that actually these are the supposed to be the 650 people who are legislators, who are making the laws very important people. they should be the most talented people in the country. and if they were at the top of their game as a lawyer or as a financial trader or as a businessman, they would be making much more. >> yeah. you say that, and i take that point and there will be a lot of mps who could be commanding much higher salaries elsewhere in industry, in the city, and whatever city, in legal work and whatever else. are also else. but there are also probably some mps else. but there are also probably some mp5 for which this will their highest will be their highest salary ever , and that they certainly ever, and that they certainly would able to command would not be able to command such a salary. such a high salary. >> the argument. >> but emily, the argument. >> but emily, the argument. >> it's a mixed bag. >> so it's a mixed bag. >> so it's a mixed bag. >> the argument, is that >> the argument, though, is that yes, have lots of mps who yes, we have lots of mps who really probably couldn't command that of the that wage outside of the commons, the reason why commons, but is the reason why we low grade people in our we have low grade people in our house of commons, because the

people who are titans of industry and city lawyers and all the people who are earning squillions far more than i could ever dream of earning none of them want to become mps. >> well, you could earn lots. you have to become an entrepreneur, set up your own business, go global. what would i say? see it the tom harwood what i sell. >> it's got to be alliterative. quick, tom harwood to tupperware. >> there you go. tupperware. tupperware. it is not toys. let's go to the . news. let's go to the. news. >> emily, thank you. and good afternoon. 2:02. your top stories from the gb newsroom. the prime minister has suffered a blow with another tory mp announcing he won't run at the next general election. ian citing personal reasons. james heappey says he's standing down to prioritise his family and to pursue a different career. downing street says he'll be greatly missed in parliament. he's also expected to resign as armed forces minister by the end

of this month. more than 60 tory mps have now announced they're leaving the commons , as leaving the commons, as speculation mounts over when the general election will be held . general election will be held. the prime minister has ruled out the 2nd of may. lib dems leader sir ed davey has accused him of running scared . running scared. >> i think people are really fed up at this conservative government and want to see the back of it, and the elections can't come quick enough for the liberal and i think liberal democrats. and i think the of our country, when liberal democrats. and i think the elections ur country, when liberal democrats. and i think the elections come,�*|try, when liberal democrats. and i think the elections come, whenever those elections come, whenever rishi to go the rishi sunak decides to go to the palace. liberal democrats are ready. we've got fantastic candidates who are local champions in their areas. we're campaigning things like the campaigning on things like the nhs need to tackle the nhs and the need to tackle the crisis there. cost of living crisis there. the cost of living and things like sewage . and things like sewage. >> labour has accused the prime minister of being too chicken to call an election . as a result, call an election. as a result, a group of activists dressed as chickens clucked outside downing street, demanding the prime minister name the date now,

labour added rishi sunak needs to stop squatting in number 10, a £5 million donation from frank hester has not yet been given to the conservatives, with senior party sources telling gb news talks about the funds are still underway . the businessman, who's underway. the businessman, who's already given the party £10 million, is accused of being racist after he allegedly said mp diane abbott made him want to hate all black women. the prime minister, who's in sunderland with the chancellor today, is under pressure to return the donation. jeremy hunt says the conservative party follows due process when it comes to declaring funds. >> we absolutely are transparent . we follow all the rules, the regulations we believe in that transparency, many of the laws about it, we actually passed ourselves and the conservative party fully complies with all the requirements to be transparent about our donations. >> the defence secretary has warned russia's president not to try it on while he was on a nato

visit in eastern europe. gb news has been given exclusive access to a training exercise in poland, where british forces are working with their allies, preparing for any possible attack by russia. it's part of steadfast defender , the largest steadfast defender, the largest military exercise since the cold war. grant shapps says nato allies are ready and willing to protect themselves from any threat. >> this exercise is designed to make sure that we can operate with other countries, like poland, and be interoperable. most importantly of all, sending a very clear signal to putin or any other despotic leader that we will stand up for ourselves and don't try it on. >> meanwhile, voting is underway in russia to elect the country's next president. ballots are being cast over three days, even though vladimir putin is all but certain to win. though vladimir putin is all but certain to win . he appealed to certain to win. he appealed to voters yesterday, including in annexed parts of ukraine, to be unhedin annexed parts of ukraine, to be united in determining his country's future . ukraine says country's future. ukraine says any russian vote in the donetsk , any russian vote in the donetsk, luhansk, zaporizhzhia and kherson regions will be void .

kherson regions will be void. millions of pounds worth of drugs and eight xl bully dogs have been seized during county lines raids . we play . hundreds lines raids. we play. hundreds of weapons were also found , of weapons were also found, including rambo knives and machetes. every police force across the country took part in the raids last week, resulting in more than 1800 arrests. phone lines used to distribute drugs from cities to towns and villages were also shut down. former detective chief inspector mike neville told gb news the crackdown still doesn't solve the wider problem . the wider problem. >> the drugs trade is like the greek story of the hydra. you cut one head off and two more grow in its place. and what's really frightening with county lines is how they use children and the reason they use children is because the police were very successful with undercover officers who were obviously adults . and so the drug dealers

adults. and so the drug dealers don't trust anybody. they don't know who's an adult, but they well know that the police are not allowed to use children as some kind of undercover agent . some kind of undercover agent. >> mcdonald's has been forced to apologise to customers after it was hit by an it fault. restaurants were affected globally, but the issue has now been resolved in the uk and ireland. the company blamed a technology outage , saying there technology outage, saying there are no cyber security issues for the latest stories. sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen, or go to gb news. com slash alerts. now it's back to tom and . emily. it's back to tom and. emily. >> it's 207 in the afternoon. you're watching and listening to good afternoon britain with tom harwood and me emily carver now. mps pay will rise to more than £90,000. the parliamentary watchdog has raised their salaries by an inflation busting 5.5. >> well, this comes as it's been

reported that the working day for an mp in the house of commons has averaged just seven hours and nine minutes over the last three months. that's the lowest average since 1997. >> why could that be all? while the conservatives are still in talks about additional £5 million in donations from the race row donor, frank hester, my goodness, so much to go on here. >> who better to go through it with than our political editor, christopher hope, who joins us live from westminster. christopher, let's firstly start out this whole idea of the out with this whole idea of the house of commons for house of commons sitting for less time in the last quarter compared to what it sat for before it, sometimes known as a zombie parliament. >> that's because. hi, tommy. hi, emily. that's right. because they sometimes knock off what i would say is quite early at 4.30in the afternoon. on some days with all the government business done, they've never really going because of the really got going because of the covid pandemic. there's so much they haven't done in their manifesto and some, some things

which, be touched. which, which won't be touched. i wonder if this party does enter opposition , as the poll suggests opposition, as the poll suggests in november, the likely election they might regret how they haven't really used their time in parliament to push through what some would see as actual tory policy , as there's been tory policy, as there's been some research done published in the ft today that the, the, the amount of time they're sitting is to 25 day low. they're is to down 25 day low. they're still still are doing nearly eight hours day. but the point eight hours a day. but the point is they're barely because is they're barely there because of mps are meant to of the way that mps are meant to be home on fridays they have be at home on fridays they have one line whips on thursdays, not required to be around there. basically, they're half basically, they're maybe half the that is frustrating the year and that is frustrating for people who that the for people who think that the role should be in on the role of mps should be in on the green benches, debating, discussing issues of the discussing the issues of the day. it comes as embarrassingly or perhaps unfortunately, the ipso, the body, which is the independent body that sets mps pay, independent body that sets mps pay, has given them all a 5.5% pay pay, has given them all a 5.5% pay rise. more than more than cpi inflation at 4. that's

raised. some people have said, why are you doing that? they're all getting all the mp5, even the millionaires like rishi sunak. what's being held and frozen is the ministerial salary. other mp5 get other bumps on the side and they're also probably going to go up to that's the select committee chairman gets 17,000 a year, for example, and the leader of the opposition, sir keir starmer, 50. and all this has a bearing on the cost the taxpayer because when they when the 60 or so tory mps plus others leave parliament at the end of the at the end of this parliament, they'll get four months net pay to help them unwind their offices rather than two months. so essentially the tied , the tide rising or tied, the tide is rising or coming in and all the boats are floating, if that makes sense. >> yes, it does make sense. and, rishi sunak. the prime minister has has a decision on his hands, a very active decision this £5 million, this extra donation from frank hester , who has from frank hester, who has proven rather controversial, to say the least . they haven't yet say the least. they haven't yet decided whether they're going to

accept another £5 million. >> that's right, that's right . >> that's right, that's right. emily. so we're revealing at this lunchtime on your programme at gb news that this individual, frank hester on your screen now, he's a millionaire. he gave £10 million to the tory party last yeah million to the tory party last year. now, it was reported today he gave a further 5 million and that hadn't yet been reported by the electoral commission. that is not the case. what is the case is the tories are in talks about the extra £5 million. and that might explain the delay we saw earlier this week when those reported remarks came out from frankfurt. frank hester about diane abbott and about her race. the remarks were not condemned as as racist until after kemi badenoch stepped in. and i wonder, and don't know this, but i wonder, but it will fuel speculation that the delay was caused because the party is in talks about this other sum coming towards them . they didn't coming towards them. they didn't want to risk offending a major donor by that point. of course,

frank hester had denied his racist and apologised for being rude about diane abbott . rude about diane abbott. >> no, it's a really, really fascinating story there. and as you say, this being a live decision takes the conversation to very different place. it to a very different place. it was yesterday. it's very hard for a party that might have already millions of pounds already spent millions of pounds to magic it back and to somehow magic it back and give it back, and whether that's a moral thing to do and all the rest of it, but not having taken an extra 5 million yet, suddenly changes the terms of that very question. but, christopher, you've an announcement to you've got an announcement to yourself rather than just reporting the news from others , reporting the news from others, is a new podcast for gb news. >> that's right, that's right, tom and emily, it's a new political podcast called chopper's political podcast. just so you're quite clear what it's about and who i am, my nickname is chopper in these parts, and it's trying to get a get out there to new, a new audience for gb news on spotify, apple itunes , youtube, and of apple itunes, youtube, and of course, gb news. com the best

website in the country, of course. and today we've interviewed, holly valance, and she's a former pop star, neighbours star, film star, she's been quite quiet for ten years. hasn't spoken out at all until she appeared at this popcorn event, popular conservative event, and spoke rather amusingly about the journey from left to right that many people do go through in this country in terms of political support. we've got a clip now of what she had to say to us. >> last time i voted conservatives. next time i'll be voting reform. really? >> yeah. >> yeah. >> you're you're you're you're well, i think the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome. >> and i'm sure as hell not going to labour. >> well, that looks like it's going to be quite interesting indeed.i going to be quite interesting indeed. i mean, conservative pop stars, that is something to come out, isn't it? takes a lot to come out as a conservative. >> pop stars say they liked margaret thatcher. am i making

that i'm fairly sure that that up? i'm fairly sure that once upon time, one of the once upon a time, one of the spice girls called their hero margaret . margaret. >> they admit that, now >> they wouldn't admit that, now would , well, i think they would they, well, i think they were saying that she exhibited what's known as girl power, which emily knows all about . what's known as girl power, which emily knows all about. i think that's that was the idea with the spice girls , but you with the spice girls, but you are right. there aren't many celebrities on the to the right of centre. she makes the point in the podcast that many celebrities hollywood and celebrities in hollywood and elsewhere afraid to elsewhere are too afraid to speak out. it's far easier to genuflect towards woke issues than actually say what you think. and i think her clarity of thought is helped. she's a mother of two, married to a billionaire, nick candy, a tory donon billionaire, nick candy, a tory donor. and by the way, nick candy is going to keep voting to voting tory, not labour, as reported she tells reported elsewhere, she tells us. think she feels she us. but i think she feels she can talk and i asked her, do you mind? do you worry you're going to holly, after to be cancelled? holly, after talking to me, she said, i couldn't it's what couldn't care less. it's what i think. it's a refreshing listen. >> that is very refreshing, thank you very indeed, thank you very much indeed, christopher. i'll be

christopher. hope i'll be listening podcast listening to the full podcast later on. >> people that say what >> we like people that say what they think. no barred, no. they think. no holds barred, no. >> just a state of our >> it's just a state of our society, isn't it, that people feel like they can't actually say what they think, or they might lose a job, they might lose some friends. they might lose some friends. they might lose their space on the dinner party circuit. and it's got worse. party circuit. and it's got worcould imagine a group >> could you imagine a group equivalent the spice girls equivalent to the spice girls today saying that they think margaret is girl power ? margaret thatcher is girl power? it's almost. was okay to it's almost. that was okay to say the early 2000 or the say in the early 2000 or the 90s, whenever they said it, 90s, or whenever they said it, but it's okay to say now. it but it's not okay to say now. it feels like we've got worse as a society on these sorts of issues and these sort of cross ideological friendships. must say. >> i've met holly and she is very indeed. now, in very charming indeed. now, in other king the other news, the king of the netherlands has teased the princess of wales, kate, following edited following her edited mother's day photo. shall we have a little all along . here? little look all along. here? >> for me? yeah you can photoshop . photoshop. >> goodness me. well it's a

global scandal. the king of the netherlands . goodness me. netherlands. goodness me. >> oh, yes, he said at least i didn't photoshop it. >> yeah, those are the words from the dutch king. well, kate's not the only one in the spotlight, of course. just before the princess diana tribute began last night at a memorial dinner, meghan markle launched her lifestyle brand on instagram. the very same time. well, was it a coincidence ? well, was it a coincidence? >> joining us now is royal commentator jennie >> joining us now is royal commentatorjennie bond , jennie, commentator jennie bond, jennie, i must say i was gobsmacked when i must say i was gobsmacked when i saw this instagram launch on the same day as the diana legacy award , do you think this was award, do you think this was deliberate timing for maximum coverage or just a coincidence ? coverage or just a coincidence? >> well, i don't see it would be for maximum coverage because there was already one big royal story running, which was the diana legacy awards, i personally don't think it was deliberate on meghan's part. you

know, she probably get criticised whenever she launched it because there's a lot of other royal events going on all over the place, and you know, there's suggestions that it was to upstage william. well harry was very much involved in these awards as well, and i'm sure she didn't want to upstage her own husband. so i think it was just she had to choose a time she chose that day. and good for her for launching this, this new venture. it's exactly what she should doing, think. should be doing, i think. >> jennie, very fact >> but jennie, the very fact that her husband, harry, duke of sussex, was involved in this event knew that she knew precisely that this event was going on, that there was already a of news the fact a lot of news around the fact that prince william and prince harry would not be speaking at the same time that prince william leaving the william would be leaving the venue prince harry, venue before prince harry, phoned with his satellite phoned in with his satellite message to the to the to the gathered people there . i it's gathered people there. i it's just it's a it's a stunningly tone deaf day to launch a new venture. surely we know what

harm has been done. >> there's been publicity for her venture. there's been plenty of publicity for the legacy award. i don't see what this great conspiracy theory is all about or all this criticism. good for her. for launching something that is very genuinely her, she says. i think it is her forte, her previous venture, the taoiseach, her website there, her instagram account, was a huge success and i think this will be a huge success. she is a very artistic, clever woman , she very artistic, clever woman, she wants to make her own money. and this is a very legitimate way of doing it. what's the problem, jenny? >> do you have any problem with the use of the duchess of sussex? that's how she is advertising this. so you go on to the instagram page and it says american riviera orchard by meghan. the duchess of sussex. now, of course, she has a right to use that title, but isn't it a little bit jarring that perhaps she's launching something america focussed with? the duke of , duchess of sussex

the duke of, duchess of sussex right there? no, nothing . right there? no, nothing. >> i mean, we can pick holes in in it if we want to, but, i mean, she is the duchess of sussex and she has every right as you say, to use that title. i do have an opinion . yes. that if do have an opinion. yes. that if they, dislike, most of the most of what the monarchy is about and royalty, not the monarchy , and royalty, not the monarchy, but royalty is about the royal family, perhaps it would be advisable not to use that title, but it is her right. and obviously it's going to be commercially valuable obviously it's going to be commerciallyvaluable her. commercially valuable to her. so, know , it was always so, you know, it was always going to be think, i think going to be i think, i think it's actually just always criticising meghan, whatever she does. >> no, i take that , i take that, >> no, i take that, i take that, i just find a little >> no, i take that, i take that, ijust find a little bit. i just find it a little bit. it's kind of taking advantage of, of your links to the royal family that you chose to leave and you badmouthed, it just seems, you know, for commercial gain, know, go alone. if gain, you know, go it alone. if you if you're a celebrity in your own right from. >> yeah, i know where you're coming from, but honestly, there is much criticism of meghan. is so much criticism of meghan. whatever she does and whenever

she mouth . and i think she opens her mouth. and i think we should be aware of that. you know, we've, we've tried we're trying we should lay trying to say that we should lay off catherine. we should be kind towards catherine after a small mistake. well, we can't have dual standards and be so critical of everything. meghan does and then demand kindness for catherine. >> well, that's a nice message to start the weekend. thank you very much indeed. jennie bond, royal commentator. there you go. be kind. >> yeah. no, i think it's a fair point, actually. i'm just interested about how the two princes wouldn't appear together on stage, virtually or otherwise . and then it was launched at the same time. it just seems like there is this feud, and i do think they would have had it in the diary, because these launches don't just come overnight, they? launches don't just come oveyou ht, they? launches don't just come oveyou have they? launches don't just come oveyou have ithey? launches don't just come oveyou have it planned for months. >> award. it's the diana. >> award. it's the diana. >> well, you know, maybe we've been told. be nasty. don't been told. don't be nasty. don't pick where there aren't pick holes where there aren't any. >> well, in other news, mp pay rises could top the mp rises could top well the mp salary top £91,400. that's

salary could top £91,400. that's what ipsa, the parliamentary watchdog that delivers the money, has decreed they will get. but do they deserve it? and are they overpaid and work shy? we'll be debating that fiery topic after this

i >> right. well, mixed reviews on what jennie bond had to say there about meghan. you know, are we picking on her by mentioning that this could be deliberate timing to launch her lifestyle brand? yet at the same time as the diana legacy award to say it's got you talking, our inboxis to say it's got you talking, our inbox is bubbling up with many, many, many, many, many , questions. >> actually, margaret asks, is jenny okay? what a lot of rubbish she spoke today. >> that's not very posh, but eliza says, well, said jennie bond, she's absolutely right.

meghan gets criticised whatever she says or does. it's so hypocritical give princess hypocritical to give princess catherine slack. yet to continually meghan. continually criticise meghan. anyone would think she's committed a heinous crime. it's so disproportionate, eliza, i completely your point. she completely take your point. she does bullied lot, but does get bullied a lot, but let's remember did down let's remember she did bow down to royal family quite a bit . to the royal family quite a bit. and britain and britain too. >> says there are 364 other >> lisa says there are 364 other days this year. this website could have been launched. oh, sorry, this tacky website could have been launched .jennie bond have been launched. jennie bond is just being obtuse, says lisa. oof, but, but there are there are some people who are saying that, diana says she's, she's it's a shame that meghan could have been a bit kinder to. >> and whose fault is it that she's criticised? you reap what you sow. >> and linda says something that i tempted to agree i might be tempted to agree with. stop giving meghan meghan markle airtime . all you're markle airtime. all you're interested in doing is promoting her, which precisely what she her, which is precisely what she wants and why she does what she does. >> yeah, you raise a good point. keep your views coming in gb views at gb news. com jim says i

often find meghan markle offensive. any grouse offensive. do i have any grouse ends? you go. ends? so there you go. >> paula is coming in with >> and paula is coming in with the of linda saying who the theme of linda saying who really cares? with so much going on and this garbage on in the uk and this garbage takes the top so why don't takes the top spot, so why don't we return to something a bit more substantial? go on that is the of mps pay, because the issue of mps pay, because mps going to be given a pay mps are going to be given a pay rise this year of 5.5, john has written in to say so. most of the country's council tax is going up by 5, and mp5 get a pay rise of 5. unbelievable yeah, we'll cover the council. >> well it will, it will cover the council tax rise for the mp5 i guess. >> well let's get the views of two very different opinions because we're going to be debating this issue of mps pay our mps work shy and overpaid. joining us now is the investigations manager at the taxpayers alliance, elliot keck, and emma revell , the external and emma revell, the external affairs director at the centre for policy studies . now,

affairs director at the centre for policy studies. now, emma, you think mps are not paid enough ? enough? >> well, i think that we shouldn't be as outraged as some people are by the idea of them getting a 5% pay rise. >> i think it's never going to be a popular opinion. when you talk about, you know, what a hard job being an mp is. >> but at the end of the day, it is a hard job. they have incredibly long hours. >> they have to be on top of a phenomenal breadth of local, national, international issues. they have to you know, two they have to have, you know, two offices of which they obviously have expenses, but they're spending a lot of time away from their families. and that's before you mention the, the before you even mention the, the abuse that mps before you even mention the, the abuse that mp5 get, especially female mps and the very real physical threats that many mps are that , you know, are enduring that, you know, we've talking about in we've been talking about in recent i don't think recent weeks. so i don't think it's unreasonable to have a salary match the demands salary to match the demands of the much you the job. emma how much would you pay the job. emma how much would you pay them ? well, personally, i pay them? well, personally, i think you there is an argument to say we could pay them quite a

lot, lot, a lot more, substantially, more and significantly scale back the expenses that we give them and say, look, here is the salary, thatis say, look, here is the salary, that is the total that you get. and apart from, i would say personally, travel expenses and staff salaries, everything else you have to pay for out of the salary, i think as well, if you have concerns mps taking have concerns about mps taking on second jobs, well, many of them say that they do that. you know, extra income, if you know, for extra income, if you pay know, for extra income, if you pay them a more, you could pay them a bit more, you could potentially consider, know, potentially consider, you know, more even a ban more restrictions or even a ban on taking on additional work. >> well, there you go, eliot keck. we can solve the extra work issue with more pay for mp5. i think emma presents some interesting solutions to the current . current predicament. >> it is difficult every single year that you have an independent proposing pay independent body proposing pay rises aren't rises for mp5 that aren't decided by mps themselves , but decided by mps themselves, but when we talk about pay rises, generally view generally in society, we view pay generally in society, we view pay rises as being linked to performance, at least performance, or at least they should be linked to performance. and emma very eloquently and emma writes very eloquently on her social media and in articles about the absolute disgrace of the housing crisis

and about sluggish growth in and about the sluggish growth in millions of people out of work. the, surging inflation and the record tax burden. and i think this set of mps has, quite frankly, failed the public. i think we have an absolutely terrible economy and terrible social public services. and i don't think that this pay rise is deserved. i don't think this pay is deserved. i don't think this pay rise is justified. and i think mps should be turning it down. emma. >> they should be by >> they should be paid by performance . performance. >> well, i think that would be incredibly tricky because you're always going to have the opposition say, well, we've done you know, the government's done a job. the opposition say, a great job. the opposition say, well, know, well, no, we haven't. you know, it which who's winning. it depends which who's winning. you can't say before pay rises only the government pay only for the government pay rises only for the opposition, depending on how the economy is going jobs are going. i'm going or how jobs are going. i'm personally quite, in favour of linking it to housing. i think that would be a good idea, but how you'd measure it would be, would quite tricky. would be quite tricky. >> well , how would we do would be quite tricky. >> well, how would we do this, elliott? you say performance related we can't

related pay? presumably we can't pay a related pay? presumably we can't pay a different pay the government a different level we pay opposition level that we pay the opposition or supporting mps. or government supporting mp5. the different level that we pay opposition mps. how would you fix the mp pay situation? >> well, i would argue that good government comes not just from the governing but it the governing party, but it comes effective opposition. comes from effective opposition. so course all mp5 be so of course all mp5 should be subject similar pay rises, subject to similar pay rises, although are interesting although there are interesting proposals whether proposals about whether or not there be bonuses for there should be bonuses for serving committees. serving on committees. tabling questions. simple questions. for me, the simple way would gdp per capita. way would be gdp per capita. we've an absolute failure we've seen an absolute failure for the last 1015 years to improve the status of the economy and improve people's lives. actually, know, pay lives. actually, you know, pay in is about the same as in the uk is about the same as what it was 15 years ago. when you take into account in inflation. think gdp per inflation. so i think gdp per capha inflation. so i think gdp per capita an excellent way capita would be an excellent way of the performance of of measuring the performance of our well, there go. our mps. well, there you go. >> we either pay them for >> we could either pay them for the amount of houses they build or capita. are or gdp per capita. those are good. two ideas, emma. good. two good ideas, emma. >> let's take that idea and run with it. let's say mps will get paid based on how much the economy grows . i suppose on the

economy grows. i suppose on the one hand, great, we might get growth, but on the other hand we might get some pretty bad short termism. >> we've already got pretty bad short termism in a number of ways. and i think, you know, the impact that an individual mp of any party can have on the gdp of the nation is very is very minimal. so i don't necessarily think that's the way to go. >> no. okay well what would you suggest then that just there needs to be this higher wage for mp5 because we get low grade mps because we get low grade people because the right people aren't applying to become mps , aren't applying to become mps, aren't applying to become mps, aren't for election in aren't standing for election in the first place. >> well, i think part of it is a recognition, as i say, about the level of work involved in the job, the level of level of difficulty and the level of personal risk, as i say, involved, in the job. we also , i involved, in the job. we also, i think everyone agrees we want a democracy that is healthy , and democracy that is healthy, and that means that people from all walks of life are included. it means that you pay people enough that they can give up other jobs, want people from lower

jobs, you want people from lower income backgrounds who can. you know, we've had many labour mps, especially in the past, talk about how the salary that they have as mp5 is more than anyone in their family has ever earned. and good thing because and that's a good thing because we want people from those backgrounds be in backgrounds to be able to be in parliament. started paying backgrounds to be able to be in parli backt. started paying backgrounds to be able to be in parli back at started paying backgrounds to be able to be in parli back at the ;tarted paying backgrounds to be able to be in parli back at the turn d paying backgrounds to be able to be in parli back at the turn d [the 1g backgrounds to be able to be in parli back at the turn d [the last mps back at the turn of the last century because we didn't want parliamentarians who were only the independently wealthy, who could afford to give up high salaries, or they had other income to support them while they were an mp. i don't think we want to return to a point where you have to be wealthy to stand to be mp. it's stand to be an mp. yes, it's hard to imagine hard to it's hard to imagine what would have been like, what that would have been like, emma, . we're what that would have been like, emma, .we're have emma, sorry. we're going to have to it up there. elliott. to wrap it up there. elliott. thank you very much. thank you, emma revell, to good debate there. >> absolutely. well bringing to you more just a moment, you much more in just a moment, with what believe to be with what i believe to be a fairly exclusive little interview with none other than a former prime minister yes, liz truss will be here on the program, but that's after your news headlines .

news headlines. >> it's 233. the top stories from the gb newsroom. the prime minister has suffered a blow, with another tory mp announcing he won't run at the next general election, citing personal reasons. james heappey says he's standing down to prioritise his family and to pursue a different career. downing street says he'll be greatly missed in parliament. he's also expected to resign as armed forces minister by the end of this month. more than 60 tory mps have now announced they're leaving the commons as speculation mounts over when the general election will be held. the prime minister has ruled out the 2nd of may, a £5 million donation from frank hester has not yet been given to the conservatives, with senior party sources telling gb news talks about the funds are still being held. the businessman, who's already given the party £10 million, is accused of being racist after he allegedly said

mp diane abbott made him want to hate all black women. the prime minister is under pressure to return the donation . millions of return the donation. millions of pounds worth of drugs and eight xl bullies have been seized dufing xl bullies have been seized during county lines raids . during county lines raids. hundreds of weapons were also found, including rambo knives and machetes. police force across the country took part in the raids last week, resulting in more than 1800 arrests. the defence secretary is warning russia's president not to try it on while he was on a nato visit in eastern europe, gb news was given exclusive access to a training exercise in poland, where british forces are working with their allies , preparing for with their allies, preparing for any possible attack by russia. it'5 any possible attack by russia. it's part of steadfast defender, the largest military exercise since the cold war . grant the largest military exercise since the cold war. grant shapps says nato members are ready and willing to protect themselves from any threat . for the latest from any threat. for the latest stories, sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen or go to gb news.

commonly it's . commonly it's. >> right. it is. 235 now you're watching and listening to good afternoon britain. now liz truss , the former prime minister, is pushing with a private pushing forward with a private member's bill. it's aimed at safeguarding women's only spaces for biological females. >> well, the bill seeks to define sex in law as biological, and the government could add back these proposals from liz truss that would bar what she describes as biological males from female only spaces. but there's been some jiggery pokery today in the house of commons, and accusations of a filibuster. >> well, filibuster. well, there you go . you go. >> but joining us now from westminster is our political edhon westminster is our political editor, christopher hope, who's with the former prime minister, liz truss. take it away , tom. >> emily, i'm here in westminster hall, and liz truss, the former prime minister, has just left the house of commons

chamber to talk to us right now. liz truss, what is your bill meant to do? >> well, what my bill is all about protecting about is about protecting children . children. >> we know that children are taking puberty blockers, which could damage development. could damage their development. >> them having >> it could stop them having their own families in the future, and they're doing it because they're being pushed by gender ideology. >> my bill is about is, >> so what my bill is about is, first of all, being clear that sex means biological sex. it's the sex you are born as. that is how children should be treated until they're 18 and they're old enough to make their own decisions . and what it will mean decisions. and what it will mean is it will protect single sex facilities like toilets, single sex sports like girls sports. and i have had a huge number of parents writing to me saying how important this is for them and how worried they are about their children at the moment. so would your bill force, say, a gym to have an old fashioned ladies and gents rather than having mixed sex change rooms and mixed sex toilets? >> well, first of all, what i

want to tell you, chris, is my bill has been stopped today from being debated by the labour party, and i'm absolutely furious that . furious about that. >> they don't even want to talk about the importance of recognising biological sex. they don't want to talk about how we stop children being able to access puberty blockers that would actually stop their development. so they have spent today filibustering my bill and stopping it being talked about, even though over the last few weeks i've had a huge amount of pubuc weeks i've had a huge amount of public support from concerned parents, concerned teachers , parents, concerned teachers, from young people themselves who want these bills measures put into law. >> what kind of things have they been discussing today ? by by been discussing today? by by avoiding talking about your issue? >> well, they've just been making some very long speeches about tangential issues. >> they've been told off by the chair for several time from for straying off the subject they were meant to be talking about in the first place. and they are clearly running a concerted campaign to stop us talking about this issue in parliament,

even though i know it's of huge concern to the public. we have a situation now where teenagers are taking drugs that could impact their future, irreversible decisions about their own bodies. and of course, i welcome the decision this week by the national health service. that's positive. but but what about privately available puberty blockers? what if children are getting hold of those ? and these are the things those? and these are the things that my bill dealt with and would have given the full force of the law, because what children are facing at the moment is motivated ideologues who are they're peddling the idea that you can change your sex. the fact is, you can't change your sex. we all know that's true. but those children are being peddled a lie. and the fact is, the labour party are in hock to those extremists rather than caring about the protection of children. i think that's appalling . appalling. >> if they were here now, they would certainly deny that. they

may think the government is doing measures already to deal with the issue of keeping children in mixed children safe in, in, in mixed sex rooms and toilets. sex change rooms and toilets. >> that simply not the >> well, that is simply not the case that the labour party think that they've been very, very fuzzy about what they believe because they are in hock to these ideologues. so what my bill does is absolutely clear in law that sex means biological sex at the moment. that is being misinterpreted , is being misinterpreted, is being misinterpreted, is being misinterpreted in our schools, is being misinterpreted , edited is being misinterpreted, edited in our universities. and that is why we need the clarity that my bill provides. and labour aren't even willing to talk about it. they're so scared of the issue . they're so scared of the issue. they're so scared of the issue. they're so scared of the issue. they're so scared of upsetting the extremists in their own party. they're not prepared to do what it takes to actually address the issue. and the reason i brought this bill forward is i heard from mums in my own constituency that their daughters were being forced to share facilities with boys, and those boys were doing things like taking photos of the girls

on their mobile phones, and that is a real issue for vulnerable teenage girls. so i believe we have to do something about it. we have to take on the stone walls of this world who are peddung walls of this world who are peddling this ideology. and we have to be clear , biological sex have to be clear, biological sex means biological sex. >> what's your next step then? of course, you're part of the governing party. your former prime minister will kemi badenoch, who is the equality secretary. on what secretary. look kindly on what you're well, i've you're doing. well, i've had some positive discussions some very positive discussions with kemi. >> hopeful that we can >> i'm very hopeful that we can make progress. certainly make progress. i am certainly urging the public to write to their mp to say that they support my bill. i've had a huge response already, but we really need to put pressure on members of parliament that this is not some esoteric issue. this is something that is affecting teenagers and young people across the country. so i'm hopeful the government will also make progress. but i want the to pubuc make progress. but i want the to public really express their opinion and tell the labour party what they think of the

fact that they spent today filibustering . so we couldn't filibustering. so we couldn't even talk about this issue. >> well , even talk about this issue. >> well, while we while we've been on air, kemi badenoch has tweeted support for your bill support what you tried to do and attack labour for blocking it. >> well, i'm very, very pleased to hear this. i really hope the government will take the measures in my bill forward, but the labour party should really hang their heads in shame today for what they've done in stopping a bill that would have actually helped children , helped actually helped children, helped young people and helped women. >> why do you think the labour party done this in your party has done this in your view? they're parents like view? they're all parents like like you are like many of us are. why are they willing not to take the action you're taking? they must be hearing the same thing their email from constituents. >> well, i've had discussions with labour who privately with labour mps who privately tell agree with me , but tell me they agree with me, but they've been told not to support they've been told not to support the bill because of their party whips. they've been they're concerned about the pressure from left wing activists and thatis

from left wing activists and that is the problem with the labour party. is that over their shoulder , they're looking at the shoulder, they're looking at the extremist activists, whether it's on gender ideology, whether it's on gender ideology, whether it's on gender ideology, whether it's on support for hamas, and they're afraid to say what they really think, and they're afraid to stand up for the rights of children . and that is very, very children. and that is very, very concerning. well liz truss, thank you for joining concerning. well liz truss, thank you forjoining us on gb thank you for joining us on gb news today. >> i've got to ask you one question. the question of the week. you were prime minister once. going to be a once. there's not going to be a second election. are you relieved? >> look, it's a decision for the prime minister for when there is an election. >> but what think we have seen >> but what i think we have seen today the labour party is not today is the labour party is not fit govern. they are far more fit to govern. they are far more concerned about pursuing and appeasing the far left than they are about protecting the country's children. >> thank you. let's just thank you and you. you heard tom and ellie liz truss there. the former prime minister, furious with the labour party for blocking, as she sees it , blocking, as she sees it, attempts by her by her to control and look after these safe spaces girls. safe spaces for young girls.

thanks, christopher. >> interesting to >> very interesting indeed to hear truss there. yes, hear from liz truss there. yes, very much. taking it to the labour party. >> and i think it must be said what precisely this filibuster as it's known, this this mechanism which you talk out mechanism by which you talk out other issues in the house of commons so there isn't time to get to the next issue in the get on to the next issue in the house commons. the labour house of commons. the labour party were using the parliamentary that could parliamentary time that could have gone to this bill to talk about ferret name. yes. >> that's what kemi badenoch just tweeted, which christopher referred to there. kemi badenoch very much on the side of liz truss on this to read out what kemi said just now. >> labour mps prevented debate on a new law to protect children and single—sex spaces. instead, they used parliamentary time to discuss ferret name choices. >> yes, i wonder why they were talking about that . talking about that. >> well, joining us now to digest what has happened in the house of commons in the last half an hour or so, is gb news presenter benjamin butterworth, benjamin , it doesn't really

benjamin, it doesn't really matter where you stand on the side of these questions of single—sex spaces and all the rest of it. this was game playing and trickery by the labour party in the house of commons today, with their filibuster. >> well, i disagree, i think that the real game playing that has been going on here is from the government and the tory party, because actually there is very little legislation being put forward to parliament at the moment. it's practically ground to a halt . to a halt. >> and so i think the reason why they are trying to emphasise this, this trans question and these issues which divide tory mps, let alone tory and labour mps, let alone tory and labour mp5, is because they want to play mp5, is because they want to play a culture war game. >> they think this is an issue which they can use as a wedge between the voters and the labour party, and that's why they're putting it forward at they're putting it forward at the last minute of the last hour of their time in government. >> well, hang on, this is an issue that a lot of our politicians care deeply about. they're about single—sex

they're worried about single—sex spaces. they're worried about gender ideology , whether it's in gender ideology, whether it's in schools or in the nhs or in our legislation . they're worried legislation. they're worried genuinely about this issue, and it reflects a lot of women's worries in the country. surely >> well, first of all, polling often finds that most women do not have a problem with transgender people and transgender people and transgender people and transgender people using their bathrooms, let alone the population at large. and then if it's the case that it is such a priority and such a truly burning concern of members of the tory party in parliament, well, i suggest that, you know, after 14 years, they've had a long time to address this, you know, the law that allowed people effectively to access these places, the two laws, the gender recognition act, was 2004 and then the equality act, the latest version being in 2010. >> so the kind of things that are affecting what who can access these places and transgender people's lives have been in, in law for the whole time that the tories. >> she's right though, benjamin. she's right though, when she says that, some members of the

labour party may be too scared to speak out on this issue if theyif to speak out on this issue if they if they feel strongly about it. labour mps it. you have had labour mps being trans activists being bullied by trans activists over this very issue. you've had female mps being bullied . female mps being bullied. >> i mean, there's certainly been some nasty stuff, said against labour mps been some nasty stuff, said against labour mp5 of that view and also very much against people that support these versions transgenderpeople's versions of transgender people's rights and right to live their lives. i think it's become a very unedifying debate, and i'm not convinced that liz truss or kemi badenoch are interested in improving the quality debate. improving the quality of debate. for example , there was a request for example, there was a request recently a freedom of information request that found that kemi badenoch, the equalities had failed equalities minister, had failed to meet with any groups representing transgender people while pushing this forward. >> now, i think if it were an honest and open debate, then you'd be meeting with people of different views. >> well, if it were an honest and open debate, they'd and open debate, perhaps they'd be to debate it on be having time to debate it on the floor of the house of commons rather than the labour party about ferrets

party talking about ferrets for too time. benjamin too much time. but benjamin bosworth, for putting bosworth, thank you for putting your really your case across. really appreciate . appreciate it. >> be right back. >> yes, we'll be right back. we're going to discussing the we're going to be discussing the russian presidential election next. promises be a tight

right. it's 250. you're watching. listening to. good afternoon , britain. and voting afternoon, britain. and voting is underway in russia to choose the next president . ballots are the next president. ballots are being filled out over three days. even though vladimir putin is expected to win easily. >> i don't know about that. there are there are at least two other candidates, emily. but he appealed voters yesterday, appealed to voters yesterday, including annexed of including in annexed parts of ukraine, to be united in determining his country's future. well joining us now is keir giles, senior consulting fellow for the russia and eurasia program at chatham house, keir, frankly, it's all a sham, isn't it? i mean, there's nothing democratic about this process . process. >> process. >> that's right. one of the most

amusing things over the last few days has been watching media describing this, not just in this country, but worldwide , this country, but worldwide, finding of saying that finding a way of saying that putin definitely going to putin isn't definitely going to win. you words like almost win. you hear words like almost certain virtually certain or certain or virtually certain or barring some unforeseen development, it's hard development, although it's hard to what that could be short to see what that could be short of a meteorite obliterating russia. yes putin is going to be anointed again as the president. it'5 anointed again as the president. it's a mistake, really, to call these because that these elections, because that implies that there is some kind of and it's just one of of choice, and it's just one of the ways that russia is more and more resembling the old soviet union. elections there, union. they had elections there, too, though there was only too, even though there was only one choice the ballot paper. one choice on the ballot paper. >> here we've got, nikolai >> but here we've got, nikolai kharitonov, leonid slutsky and vladislav ivankov. >> there you go, leonid slutsky. what a wonderful choice. >> leonid slutsky. wonderful character from the what's been known for a long time as the liberal democratic party of russia. although everything they for stand is the exact opposite of any of those words. the interesting thing about these people, from the point of view

of, you assume that there's of, if you assume that there's some kind democratic some kind of democratic competition, they all competition, is that they all endorse putin. now, nikolai kharitonov, the communist kharitonov, for the communist party candidate, so—called was actually buttonholed by steve rosenberg, the bbc correspondent in moscow, and said, well, why would you be a better choice than putin? and he wouldn't say he actually say why he wouldn't actually say why he's different. and said he's any different. and he said he's any different. and he said he will continue to he hopes putin will continue to lead country. it is, as you lead the country. it is, as you said, sham. it's just lead the country. it is, as you said, sham. it'sjust a said, a sham. it's just a performance, a piece of performance, a piece of performance that some russia performance art that some russia analysts think putin needs in order to give himself some kind of validation and to show that he's supported, though he's supported, even though people really don't have a choice, think which i should choice, i think which i should should just explain. >> we're looking siberian >> we're looking at siberian dancers polling station , dancers at a polling station, it's quite curious. imagery there fun, but there make voting fun, but you're saying that these other candidates on the ballot have effectively all endorsed putin. what's the what's happened to the candidates that were going to be on the ballot that refused to endorse putin? >> well, boris nadezhdin was a candidate who actually opposes one of putin's policies, which is practically unheard he he

is practically unheard of. he he stands against the war on ukraine, he started ukraine, and he started gathering the signatures that you need as part of the process of becoming a presidential candidate. as soon as it became clear actually, there were clear that actually, there were quite in russia who quite a few people in russia who support that idea, he ruled support that idea, he was ruled out and signatures were out and the signatures were declared so no, nobody declared invalid. so no, nobody who actually going to mount who is actually going to mount a challenge to what putin wants is going to allowed to stand in going to be allowed to stand in this election. >> it is very quickly, how >> and it is very quickly, how will putin celebrate? does he have party planned? have a victory party planned? what of thing he do? what sort of thing does he do? >> he's it all very >> i'm sure he's got it all very well out, but we well planned out, but we probably be invited. probably won't be invited. >> not. thank you very >> probably not. thank you very much your time. really great much for your time. really great to to you. keir giles to speak to you. keir giles there, senior consulting fellow for and eurasia for the russia and eurasia program. us, for the russia and eurasia progis.1. us, that is. >> but martin daubney will have a on his show, not least on a lot on his show, not least on the unfolding events in parliament. sensational parliament. that sensational news broke with news that we broke with liz truss on program. martin, truss on this program. martin, what got coming up ? what have you got coming up? >> well, very much enjoying your siberian dancers there. it's a bit sort of gangland style that got me going, but i've got an

exclusive interview with an oldham councillor whose attempts to table a motion , an to table a motion, an investigation into the grooming ring scandal in oldham was denied by a council meeting, filibustered by two things. first, a half hour break for ramadan snacks and secondly, by a half hour motion to call for a ceasefire in gaza . this is odd. ceasefire in gaza. this is odd. oldham council will speak exclusively to him. also latest on that liz truss scandal sticking up for girls in toilets. labour denying her that. we'll also talk about politics. it's time for celebrities like holly valance to rack off or get stuck in all of that. coming up on the martin daubney show three till 6 pm. but first time for your latest weather forecast . weather forecast. >> a brighter outlook with boxt solar sponsors of weather on . gb news. >> hello again! i'm here with

your latest gb news weather update brought to you by the met office. today's showers are largely going to ease as we go through later today, taking us into a bit of a chilly night because the low pressure centre that brought blustery that has brought some blustery and is and showery weather today is clearing towards the clearing away towards the northeast, with a bit a ridge northeast, with a bit of a ridge of high pressure building from the yes, there still the west. yes, there will still be showers as we go through be some showers as we go through the end of afternoon, the end of the afternoon, particularly across eastern parts, and parts, but turning drier and clearer the and with clearer from the west and with clearer from the west and with clear skies and a bit of a northerly wind, we're likely to see our temperatures dropping tonight. it will be chillier than been through some than it has been through some recent dip a recent nights could dip just a bit freezing across bit below freezing across northern touch of northern parts of touch of frost. possible elsewhere. there may few pockets mist and may be a few pockets of mist and fog. otherwise, though, saturday gets fine for gets off to a fine start for many areas and across the north and east, we're going hold to and east, we're going to hold to on blue sunny skies through on the blue sunny skies through much day. but in the much of the day. but in the south and west. here it will turn increasingly cloudy and there'll some wet weather at there'll be some wet weather at times with something a bit times too, with something a bit more rain more persistent and heavy rain wise northern wise pushing into northern ireland temperatures will

ireland later temperatures will be lifting as we go through the day, after a chilly start we day, so after a chilly start we should see highs quite widely in the mid teens celsius. the low to mid teens celsius. wet pushes its way wet weather then pushes its way through through through as we go through saturday night into sunday, clearing the east. clearing away towards the east. and sunday itself actually and so sunday itself actually looks dry for many looks largely dry for many places, with scattering places, albeit with a scattering of showers . and there'll be some of showers. and there'll be some strong too. monday should strong winds too. monday should be dry, just few be mostly dry, just a few showers to watch out for before some arrives on some more rain arrives on tuesday. it for me. i'll tuesday. that's it for me. i'll see you later. >> that warm feeling inside from boxt boilers sponsors of weather on

gb news. >> a very good afternoon to you. and a happy friday. it's 3 pm. and a happy friday. it's 3 pm. and welcome to the martin daubney show on gb news. broadcasting live from the heart of westminster. all across the uk. today, there's news of yet another setback for rishi sunak.

as armed forces minister james heappey becomes the latest high profile to conservative say that he'll quit at the next election. and there's a fresh development in the tory donor race row, too. next we'll cross live to east london, where palestine flags are being removed by the council after hundreds of complaints and the threat of legal . action. and the threat of legal. action. and there's an exclusive report from poland, where british and polish forces are working together to plan for any possible attack by russia. and in a gb news exclusive , find out what's exclusive, find out what's happened when australian pop star holly valance met nigel farage and donald trump. and that's all coming up in your next action packed hour . welcome next action packed hour. welcome to the show. it's always an absolute pleasure to have your