tv Good Afternoon Britain GB News May 14, 2024 12:00pm-3:01pm BST
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gb news. >> good afternoon. britain it's 12:00 on tuesday, the 14th of may. >> a man who stabbed three people to death in nottingham will not be sent to jail. valdo calocane will spend his life in a high security hospital , a a high security hospital, a sentence a judge ruled today as not unduly lenient. we'll hear from the victims of other families of the victims , and a families of the victims, and a golden era of british shipbuilding has been promised by the government. >> with 28 new ships and submarines built for the royal navy here in the uk. but a former navy chief has told gb news they might not be fit for purpose. >> and mps arrested for sex offences now face a parliamentary ban. even before they're charged. could this lead to false allegations as.
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>> and coming up this afternoon , >> and coming up this afternoon, a massive showdown between sir keir starmer and trade union chiefs all over new. what they describe as workers rights policies. but what some people might describe as impositions on business. yes. >> this is very interesting indeedit >> this is very interesting indeed it seems. well, it appears as though there are very much two camps in the labour party. you've got rachel reeves, who's out and about talking to businesses, and then you've got the union chiefs and the left wing of the party who want as many workers rights in law as possible. this could get quite messy today. it's called the southwark showdown because keir starmer is meeting in southwark in london with these trade union bosses. what will they have to say? bosses. what will they have to say.7 will they be pleased with what some are calling a watered down workers rights schedule that they've got planned? if they win the next general election? even pretty grubby, evenin election? even pretty grubby, even in this watered down
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version, they call it workers rights. >> i'm not sure it is workers rights because what it is doing is stripping out the democracy that has been placed in the call for, for example, strike action. david cameron introduced a rule whereby more than half of union members would have to vote, vote for a strike, for a strike to happen.the for a strike, for a strike to happen. the plan both the watered down version and the original version of this workers rights plan strips out that democracy. so it's not workers rights , it's union bosses rights rights, it's union bosses rights that seems to be being promoted by the labour party. >> and all of this stuff about potentially a four day working week, about being able to demand flexible working in your workplace, demanding no emails , workplace, demanding no emails, getting rid of 5:00 in the afternoon. yeah, getting rid of all gig economy jobs. so things like deliveroo, things like uber or the likes of these sort of type jobs where you're not on a fixed contract, all of these things, they did have strong words about, particularly angela raynen words about, particularly angela rayner, but it seems like these things are being watered down. what will the trade union bosses say today and will keir starmer
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appease them? let us know your thoughts gbnews.com/yoursay on everything we're discussing this afternoon, but let's get your headunes. headlines. >> tom. emily, thanks very much and good afternoon to you. it's 1203 and we'll take a look at the story we've been following all morning that the court of appeal has refused to change the sentence of a man who killed three people in nottingham last year. three people in nottingham last year . valdo calocane was year. valdo calocane was convicted of killing barnaby webber , grace o'malley kumar and webber, grace o'malley kumar and ian coates and for the attempted murder of three others. lawyers had argued that calocane indefinite hospital order, as a result of his paranoid schizophrenia was, they said, unduly lenient. but delivering the decision in the last two hours or so. baroness carr said there was no error made when that original sentence was delivered . in other news, the delivered. in other news, the rate of unemployment is at its highest level for nearly a year, while wage growth is unchanged
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at 6. there were 26,000 fewer job vacancies in the three months to april, while job vacancies in the three months to april , while the months to april, while the number of people in work dropped by 85,000. the chancellor, jeremy hunt, struck an optimistic tone earlier, saying that wages are outstripping inflation. but it could be an unhelpful sign for those hoping for a cut in interest rates. work and pensions secretary mel stride says britain's jobs, though, remain resilient. >> unemployment is 40% down on the level it was in 2010. economic inactivity overall is below the average of the oecd, the g7 and the european union and below the level in france, italy and the united states. and of course, what we've also seen is real wages growing for the 10th consecutive month, real wage growth, which is really important, i think, in terms of giving people security and more money in their pockets. and overall, of course, the economy is now growing at its fastest rate in the last two years. >> there are warnings that britain's upcoming fleet of
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ships and submarines might be outdated before they even hit the water. former royal navy commander rear admiral chris parry says there's an urgent need to swiftly adapt to evolving warfare technology . evolving warfare technology. vie. that warning comes as the defence secretary prepares to address the first annual first sea lords conference, heralding what he calls a golden era of shipbuilding for the navy . grant shipbuilding for the navy. grant shapps told us this morning that the government's making that critical investment because britain, he says, will need to fight and win future battles. >> we are living in more dangerous times. clearly we've got a war in europe with ukraine being illegally invaded. we've got conflict in the middle east and we've got the rise of china , and we've got the rise of china, who really do present a big we've described it as epoch defining change to the world and britain and the united kingdom and our allies must be ready for that. >> grant shapps they're speaking earlier this morning. well a watchdog is warning that dangerous criminals are being
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freed from jail too early as the government tries to address overcrowding . chief inspector of overcrowding. chief inspector of pfisons overcrowding. chief inspector of prisons charlie taylor has raised what he says are serious concerns about the policy, citing that high risk inmates selected for early release include a domestic abuser who may have posed a risk to children , and a man with children, and a man with a serious drug problem, and a history of self—harm . some history of self—harm. some health news and researchers are hailing new findings, which suggest that weight loss injections could have benefits beyond just shedding the pounds more than 17,000 participants from over 40 countries took part in the largest study of semaglutide so far. while the drug, which is sold under the brand names ozempic and wegovy, showed significant weight loss , showed significant weight loss, it also reduced the risk of heart attack, stroke and heart failure by 20. and that was even if the patients lost no weight. doctors say those findings will challenge health authorities, which currently limit treatment of the jabs, to just two years. a rival to chatgpt, called
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claude, is now available across europe. the ai assistant has been developed by amazon backed start—up anthropic. the company says a special method of training called constitutional i means the technology is bound by a set of values to avoid doing any harm, and a dedicated team , any harm, and a dedicated team, they say, will track and address any risks to the system, like misinformation, bias or even election interference . a woman election interference. a woman who saved her twin sister from a crocodile attack in mexico is to receive a bravery honour after she was included on the king's first civilian gallantry list. georgie laurie, from sandhurst, punched the reptile in the face dunng punched the reptile in the face during the attack in june 2021. both women were seriously hurt but did recover after having treatment. georgia will be given the king's gallantry medal, which acknowledges exemplary acts of bravery . and how would acts of bravery. and how would you feel about having a bowl of bugs for lunch? well, if it's
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enough to make your stomach turn, a new study has suggested that some ideas could make it more palatable. insects are rich in protein, they're easier to farm, and they have less of an impact on the environment than livestock. and apparently, when they're incorporated into your food, they could even help to tackle obesity . vie. but surveys tackle obesity. vie. but surveys suggest most of us are, of course, reluctant to eat them. researchers, though, say that flour made from ground crickets or freeze dried mealworms could be one effective way of introducing them to the mainstream. that's the latest from the newsroom for now. for more, you can sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen, or go to gb news dot common alerts. >> good afternoon britain. it's 12:08 now. the man who killed three people in nottingham last june has had his sentence upheld
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by the court of appeal. >> yes. valdo calocane . carney >> yes. valdo calocane. carney was previously handed an indefinite hospital order for the manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility . grace diminished responsibility. grace o'malley kumar, barnaby webber andian o'malley kumar, barnaby webber and ian coates were killed. now, today, a judge ruled that valdo calocane sentence was not unduly lenient, which means he will not be sent to prison. >> let's cross to our reporter , >> let's cross to our reporter, ray addison, who's outside the royal courts of justice for us now . because, ray, the families now. because, ray, the families involved here are not happy with the verdict today . but they did the verdict today. but they did expect it . expect it. >> yeah, absolutely. the appeal court judge is three appeal court judge is three appeal court judges reviewing the sentence of triple killer valdo calocane have ruled that there was no error in the original sentencing, and it was not unduly lenient. they say that follows the a bid by the attorney general, victoria prentice, herself. barrister, to change what she called calocane
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unduly lenient sentence. of course, in january , the 32 year course, in january, the 32 year old was handed an indefinite hospital order under sections 37 and 41 of the mental health act. that was for the manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility of students barnaby webber and grace o'malley kumar , both 19 years o'malley kumar, both 19 years old. they were walking home after a night out in nottingham and also 65 year old school caretaker ian coates, who was on his way to work. that all took place in the early hours of june the 13th last year. calocane then stole ian coates's van and attempted to murder three pedestrians by driving into them. now the attorney general had wanted calocane to be given what is being called a hybrid life sentence instead. now, first he would be treated for his schizophrenia and then serve the remainder of his jail term
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in prison. lawyers for the attorney general had argued at an early hearing hearing on wednesday that caloocan's extreme crimes warranted a sentence with an element of punishment. they said . now punishment. they said. now baroness carr was speaking in court explaining the decision on this is what she had to say. >> there was no error in the approach adopted by the judge. the sentences imposed were not arguably unduly lenient. leave to refer the sentences is refused . it is impossible to refused. it is impossible to read of the circumstances of this offending without doubt, the greatest possible sympathy for the victims of these terrible attacks and their families and their friends. >> well, as you were saying, the families of the victims are not happy with this ruling . doctor
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happy with this ruling. doctor sanjoy kumar, the father of grace o'malley kumar, spoke after the ruling. this is what he had to say . he had to say. >> the nottingham attacks were entirely preventable. the nottinghamshire police failed to execute a warrant for many months . a flawed investigation , months. a flawed investigation, no toxicology overreliance on psychiatric report leicestershire police failed to arrest valdo calocane. this is a failure of two police forces , a failure of two police forces, a failure of two police forces, a failure of two police forces, a failure of the mental health trust along with nottinghamshire council, as well . council, as well. >> as well the families, they're clearly saying they're going to pursue whatever measures they can with the police forces , the can with the police forces, the local council and the mental health services as well . health services as well. calocane did attend the ruling via video link from ashworth
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hosphal via video link from ashworth hospital. that's a high security psychiatric hospital in liverpool, but he remained silent throughout. he didn't even speak to confirm his name much. >> indeed, ray addison there for us.thank >> indeed, ray addison there for us. thank you very much. very interesting. what? tom? what emma webber, the mother of the victim, barnaby webber , said. it victim, barnaby webber, said. it seems to me that one of the reasons why they wanted him to go to prison rather than have this hospital order is because, as she says, the fact remains, despite the words of the judge, almost 90% of people serving hospital orders are out within ten years, in 98% within 20 years. so it could be that valdo calocane despite murdering well, sorry, despite killing three people, including 219 year old not allowed to say murdering, isn't it? we're not allowed to say murder because it is not murder , despite despite that, murder, despite despite that, despite the horrors and despite what the families are having to go through , it could be. it
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go through, it could be. it could be that he is out in the future. >> and the families are describing this as if they've now received the life sentence. they'll always have to check that this guy is still, in a secure, hospital. that sort of their sort of constant need to make sure that he's not out there amongst society, ready to kill in cold blood again, that that's something that will weigh on their consciences. it's like they're being punished. >> yeah. she cited fred west and ian brady , in that respect, have ian brady, in that respect, have to keep an eye on whether he will ever be released, but let us know your thoughts on that. gbnews.com/yoursay. there was a hope among some of you. i know that perhaps this sentence would have been deemed unduly lenient, and that it would have been changed into a murder sentence. but, no, that decision has not been made. >> well, let's cross now to the channel where there's worrying. oh, i'm sorry, there's worrying news from the criminal justice world. after a watchdog revealed dangerous criminals have been released from jail early as part of a government bid to cut overcrowding. >> yes. so this was a temporary
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scheme that was originally designed to allow only low level offenders out of prison up to 18 days early under strict supervision. but as pressure on the prison system has continued to build, the government is reportedly planning to extend the scheme to allow certain criminals to be freed up to 70 days before their official release date. >> well, joining us now is former prison governor vanessa frake and vanessa. this is a pretty shocking piece of news for many, many people to digest. >> yes, good afternoon to you both. yes it is. and it's an unfortunate, but clearly unsustainable way, that our prison services is going at the moment, the fact that, you know , moment, the fact that, you know, this, this scheme has been extended only goes to show that there actually running out of low level prison orders to release. so in actual fact, they're actually just going to have to keep going up and up. you know, when jack straw bought this, this scheme in, in two
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thousand and seven, it lasted for three years to try and get the population down, and the government is kind of in between a rock and a hard place at the moment. they've got a lot of very difficult choices to make. and not only does it do a disservice to the victims of crime, most importantly, but it also does a disservice to prisoners because they're being released far too early. they're not ready to be released. it puts a huge amount of pressure on a very overstretched probation service, as is, and i think the public should be concerned. you know, alex chalk assured us all this wouldn't happen. and yet again, you know, they've gone full u—turn on it. >> yeah. i mean, reading the report from the watchdog, some 1000 prisoners believed to have been freed early since the release scheme was introduced just last october. you've got dangerous offenders being released early despite objections by jail staff. and that's very interesting to me.
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so what's happening is jail staff , the people who actually staff, the people who actually oversee these criminals within our justice oversee these criminals within ourjustice system, oversee these criminals within our justice system, within the prisons are saying, hang on, this guy or this woman should not be released yet. for one reason or another, they're not ready. they've not been rehabilitated, rehabilitated. they're going to be out on the street and they're probably going to reoffend. but no, a decision gets made above their head that actually this person should be up for early release. i mean, is this putting us at danger? >> well, i think i think the public's got a right to be concerned. absolutely. i think , concerned. absolutely. i think, you know, many that have been released already have reoffended and ended up in, back in prison because they're not ready to be released. you know, their, their circumstances haven't been addressed, whether that be addiction, whether that be homelessness, whether that be employment or support systems to monitor them. so i think the pubuc monitor them. so i think the public has a has an absolute right to be concerned with regard in this. yes. >> and yet we can see why this is happening. there aren't
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enough prison spaces. the government's prison building programme has hit roadblocks after roadblock, community after community simply don't want expanded prisons or new prisons near them and it's creating a less safe country for everyone . less safe country for everyone. i mean, something's got to give here. >> well, i think we need to look at our criminal justice system on the whole, i think we need to decide who we want to lock up , decide who we want to lock up, how long we want to lock them up for, and what we want to do with these prisoners once we've locked them up. i focus on reducing their reoffending behaviour. we lock up the most prisoners in western europe. the forecast is something like 125 126,000. in the next sort of 3 to 5 years, and we have the worst reoffending rates in western europe. so as it goes, prison doesn't work. and all all our prisons are doing are clogged up with prisoners who are detention orders or deportees or prisoners with mental health issues that
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shouldn't be in prison. you know , these are things that the justice system needs to look at. >> well, thank you very much indeed, vanessa frake, former prison governor. really great to get your perspective on this story. a pretty, pretty shocking, really. i mean, you've got charlie taylor, the chief inspector of prisons, saying that a stalker with a history of domestic abuse, a risk to children, as well as a high risk class a drug user was freed early despite , you know, prison early despite, you know, prison staff saying, hang on a minute. we've got concerns . we've got concerns. >> yeah, no, i think we should build more prisons, but also perhaps have fewer short term prison stays. but still to come, how mps arrested for sex offender offences now face a parliamentary ban before they're even charged. could this lead to false allegations for political purposes? this is good afternoon britain on
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gb news. good afternoon. britain. it's 12:22 now. mps arrested for serious sexual or violent offences could be banned from attending parliament under new plans approved yesterday. yes. >> now this comes despite the government putting forward a motion that recommended mps are only barred if they're charged. >> well, some mps have called the proposals unconstitutional, saying it would deny constituents the right to representation in parliament on the basis of the decision of a committee and before any formal charges abroad. >> very interesting , very >> very interesting, very interesting. we're going to be debating this later in the hour. but joining us now is gb news political correspondent, katherine forster. catherine explain to us how this all came about , and explain to us how this all came about, and what are some of the arguments for and against? >> yes. quite something. this vote last night, this amendment that was put forward by wendy
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chamberlain was to make it that an mp would potentially be barred from parliament at the point that they were arrested for either a sexual or violent offence . the government had offence. the government had wanted the bar to be rather higher , that they would only be higher, that they would only be excluded if they were actually charged, which is a rather different scenario , so this different scenario, so this amendment by wendy chamberlain, amendment by wendy chamberlain, a one 170 votes to 169 by just one vote. so very, very close conservative mps who voted for that amendment include people like former prime minister theresa may theresa villiers, caroline nokes, etc. interestingly, natalie elphicke, who until last week of course was a conservative mp but spectacular , only crossed the spectacular, only crossed the floor to labour her husband, of course, charlie elphicke, went to jail for sexual offences. she
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voted for this amendment for this tougher , rule to be brought this tougher, rule to be brought into parliament. so that will have potentially earnt her quite a few brownie points with, labour mps who are not very happy about having her in the party. but it really divides opinion this. and i think that's partly why it was a free vote. some people concerned that it, you know, you could have vexatious complaints and that what happened to innocent until proven guilty, but the overriding feeling was that, people need to be protected and need to feel safe in the workplace. so, jess phillips, who until last autumn was the shadow safeguarding minister, had this to say. let's have a look today. >> just today, just on this one day, i've spoken to two women who were raped by members of this parliament, two just today.
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>> that's a fairly standard day for me. and i noticed that these are not the people who've so far been mentioned much today. and some of them told me what they wanted me to say today, and so i will just read out, actually, some of , what they sent to me. some of, what they sent to me. so the to the exclusion at the point of charge sends a clear message to victims that not only will we not investigate unless a victim goes to the police , but victim goes to the police, but we will not act unless their charge, which happens in less than 1% of cases . so what's the than 1% of cases. so what's the point with this ? point with this? >> yes. so jess phillips and many others feeling that this is a step forward for people. and of course, there's many thousands who work on the parliamentary estate feeling safer because of course, westminster is a very strange
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workplace . there's a lot of workplace. there's a lot of power, a lot of mps with a lot of power and a lot of people working with not much power at all, who often feel that they can't come forward, that they won't be listened to and they won't be listened to and they won't be listened to and they won't be kept safe. so plenty of people celebrating about this , people celebrating about this, though others have concerns just worth mentioning . i think the worth mentioning. i think the case of conservative mp andrew rosindell and he had very serious accusations made. he agreed to stay off the parliamentary estate for a couple of years, by mutual agreement. but he ended up being cleared. so you can see why this is a difficult matter, very interesting indeed. >> thank you. katherine forster. gb news political correspondent. and we're going to be having a debate about this later on in the show, because these things always aren't as, simple as they seem, are they? there is the worry about vexatious claims and vexatious allegations, the right to anonymity , does it undermine to anonymity, does it undermine the whole criminal justice
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system? if even before your charged, you can be kicked out of your workplace . of your workplace. >> interesting. but moving on. let's get to a groundbreaking study that's found weight loss drugs like a zenpix can reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes by a fifth. >> yes, cardiologists have said that these weight loss jabs are the most significant development in heart disease since 1990. doesit in heart disease since 1990. does it come without risks ? does it come without risks? >> well, we're joined now by health writer and commentator roy lilly . and roy. this does roy lilly. and roy. this does seem like a wonder drug . i mean, seem like a wonder drug. i mean, it is remarkable how, society has finally stumbled upon something that makes people less fat . that reduces your risks for fat. that reduces your risks for heart attacks. that sort of does all of these things. and according to a lot of studies , according to a lot of studies, it seems to do it fairly safely. >> it does , doesn't it? >> it does, doesn't it? >> it does, doesn't it? >> it's interesting. i mean, we're in the kind of foothills of this. these are the developments of new drugs called agonists. and they work in a different way to the normal
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conventional pharmaceutical products. i mean , most products. i mean, most pharmaceutical products mask symptoms. so if you have a headache and you take an aspirin, it gets rid of the symptoms. if you have a infection, you take, an antibiotic, and that and that suppresses and gets rid of the symptoms. these, agonist drugs, they change the biological makeup inside us, and it changes the way we work. now, if you put that with dna and gene therapy, there are really some very exciting , developments likely to exciting, developments likely to come, particularly in the realm of cancer. and, you know, if you think about the implications of this for the nhs, i was just i've just had a quick look at the numbers, something like 100,000 people had a heart attack last year that cost us 7.4 billion strokes, cost us 3 billion. and i think something like 68,000 people died from a
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heart attack. and there are a quarter of a million admissions to hospital every year with just that, that cardiovascular section alone. so it does have the potential to be hugely beneficial . the difficulty is beneficial. the difficulty is the cost of the drugs . and the the cost of the drugs. and the problem there is the pharmaceutical companies can register, patent their discoveries from the day they first discover it, and that gives them 20 years to do all of the clinical trials, get through all of the hoops and hurdles and make a profit after that, with some exceptions, they become genetic and they're far less valuable . it seems to me you can valuable. it seems to me you can patent a pharmaceutical drug for 20 years, but the copyright on a popular song is for 50 years. and it just strikes me that if we could do pharmaceutical patents for as long as the copyright on a song, they'd have longer to amortise their costs and the cost of the drugs would
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come down. so it could become, it could become quite cheap, it could become quite cheap . could become quite cheap. >> but. right. any, any concerns at all because there are some people talking about potential side effects and that this doesn't last for a particularly long time. you'd have to keep having it for the rest of your life if you potentially wanted to keep your weight down. also, i'm reading today about this new godzilla slimming jab, which is apparently more powerful than ozempic can cut your body weight by a quarter, according to research. is there a worry that some of these jabs might become a little bit too powerful? >> well, look , i mean, all drugs >> well, look, i mean, all drugs have a side effect profile, so, you know, you have to just kind of think about that. obesity is a really huge issue. it's a lifestyle issue. it's quite interesting that in 2013, the american medical association recognised obesity as a disease. now that allowed the insurance companies then to provide cover for people who have obesity related problems. so that could be cardiovascular disease . it
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be cardiovascular disease. it might be, diabetes, it could be heart problems . so the world heart problems. so the world kind of changed then in 2013, the world health organisation went to on recognise it, as a global disease, as well. so there is no question about it. i mean, obesity is lifestyle related, but it's and i think something like a third of us, 25% of us, i think are obese . 25% of us, i think are obese. >> and about some people find it harder than others to get to eat less and to, to move more. roy lilly, thank you so much for joining us and talking through what is a remarkable advancement in science. there let's hope it can save us all some money and help the nhs . yes. help the nhs. yes. >> well, still to come, the government's announced a huge investment in defence, building at least 25 warships in the uk . at least 25 warships in the uk. are they up to standard? we'll have more on that after your headlines. >> very good afternoon from the gb newsroom. 1232 a recap of the headunes gb newsroom. 1232 a recap of the headlines this hour. the prime
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minister is calling on shoppers to back british produce as he hosts the second farm to fork summit at 10 downing street. speaking earlier, rishi sunak told members of the food industry that britain must reduce its reliance on fruit and vegetables from overseas and announced the first uk food security index. labour though, have said the conservatives have dnven have said the conservatives have driven farmers to breaking point and they've pledged a new deal that they say will put money back in farmers pockets . the back in farmers pockets. the court of appeal has refused to change the sentence of a man who killed three people in nottingham last year. killed three people in nottingham last year . valdo nottingham last year. valdo calocane was convicted of killing barnaby webber , grace killing barnaby webber, grace o'malley kumar and ian coates and for the attempted murder of three others. lawyers argued that the indefinite hospital order he was given due to paranoid schizophrenia was unduly lenient, but delivering the decision earlier this morning, baroness carr said there was no error made when the original sentence was delivered .
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original sentence was delivered. the prime minister has thanked police after three men were charged for allegedly assisting hong kong's intelligence service. his official spokesperson said their offences under the national security act are deeply concerning . it are deeply concerning. it follows the foreign secretary summoning the chinese ambassador, with the foreign office saying that recent patterns of behaviour by china against britain are not acceptable . china, though, has acceptable. china, though, has already said the allegations are groundless and slanderous, and the rate of unemployment is at its highest level for nearly a yean its highest level for nearly a year, while wage growth is unchanged at 6. there were 26,000 fewer job vacancies in the three months to april , while the three months to april, while the three months to april, while the number of people in work dropped by 85,000. the chancellor, jeremy hunt, struck an optimistic tone this morning, saying that wages are outstripping inflation. but it could be an unhelpful sign for those hoping for a cut in interest rates. that's the excuse me, that is the latest from the gb newsroom for now.
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i >> -- >> well, it's 1238 in the afternoon, and it's another busy day for the prime minister. as the government faces more questions over the future of their rwanda policy . let's cross their rwanda policy. let's cross live to our political editor, christopher hope, who is on downing street. and you've been speaking to the government spokesperson , the prime spokesperson, the prime minister's spokesperson. what's he had to say about this whole issue with northern ireland and the rwanda deal ? the rwanda deal? >> that's right. hello, both. that's right. we heard here from the prime minister's official spokesman playing down concerns that this ruling in northern ireland, which says that the
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rwanda plan would be against echr rules , will torpedo the echr rules, will torpedo the plan to try and send migrants to rwanda. they number 10 is very clear this morning that within 7 to 9 weeks those flights will take off, the pm's official spokesman saying there were 1000 migrants already identified who can be put on planes to get it going there, saying that the ruling yesterday , the shock ruling yesterday, the shock ruling yesterday, the shock ruling in northern ireland relates to the illegal migration act, which which has been kept in limbo because of the echr ruling last year. of course, the rwanda act, the safety of rwanda act, is meant to give certainty and comfort to courts to ensure that the legal migration act can work. so they are making very clear this will not stop the government ensuring that flights take off to rwanda within 7 to 9 weeks. they are very clear on that. >> the illegal migration minister, tom pursglove, is currently up in parliament, making the case that the government is sticking to believes that it is, in line with international obligations as well. chris, i can't help but
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nofice as well. chris, i can't help but notice there's a giant tractor behind you on downing street. what's all that about ? what's all that about? >> yes, well, in other news, tom and the farmers are now collecting some of their goods. so there's been bacon butties and sausage sandwiches for members of the cabinet after the cabinet meeting to mark farm to fork day. now the pm is getting concerned, and rightly so. some would say, about food security. we do only eat 17% of fruit grown in this country on our tables , 55% of vegetables. they tables, 55% of vegetables. they want to see that to increase. they're going to publish a new food security index to ensure that in future we don't rely so much on foreign imported food because we've had 18 months of record, wettest period . it was record, wettest period. it was raining when i appeared in number 10 around 9 am. this morning. it's not raining now, but it's been so wet. farmers have been complaining about lost crops that the government is finally stepping in to say it's important that we do more to support our farmers. i did ask just for you, tom and emily,
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whether it meant that people shouldn't be buying avocados and put them on toast, but number 10 wouldn't go there. they wouldn't go towards telling people what to buy in shops, but they are trying to encourage farmers and those to try and produce more crops and ensure that we that we do see more of it in our supermarkets. the big concern from farmers, of course, is that they they are stuck with supermarkets not allowed to charge more for what they're offering. and that's a problem for farmers. >> they wouldn't answer an innocent question on on avocados. outrageous. christopher, what else can we ask you about the civil service guidelines around these land yards, whether, people working in the civil service are allowed to wear, you know, political arne slot yards like the rainbow, lgbtq+ ones. what's the deal ? deal? >> yes. i mean, it might seem to many gb news viewers a completely ridiculous story. lanyards are these laces that you wear around your your neck in big companies or in parliament or whitehall, and some people choose to make a statement by having a rainbow,
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symbol here. rainbow lanyard to indicate support for lgbtq issues, esther mcvey, a former colleague on gb news, now a cabinet office minister, made clear that these will be banned in future. they want no more political statements from civil servants and will have guidance later on from the cabinet office. it's a big issue, i think, for people who work in the westminster village , maybe the westminster village, maybe less so outside of parliament. >> it's a curious policy there because the government itself issues lanyards that support government policy. it issued count down to brexit lanyards for civil servants in the days leading up to our exit from the european union, which some chose to wear. many, many chose not to. but of course, it's government policy to fly lgbt flags in our embassies , in flags in our embassies, in countries that have, pretty restrictive attitudes towards, lgbt rights , on days of pride. lgbt rights, on days of pride. that's that was what boris johnson institute introduced to our embassies when he was foreign secretary does is the government saying that that's
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not government policy ? now it not government policy? now it seems like there's a bit of mismatch. >> no . >> no. >> no. >> yeah. i think mish a mish mash is the right way to describe it. tom. that's right. i mean there is policy to support lgbtqi issues in other countries. it'sjust i support lgbtqi issues in other countries. it's just i think the idea of civil servants making political statements made by wearing symbols, badges or the like , and it'll be much wider like, and it'll be much wider than just laces around your neck when we're seeing the guidance later on. there's been concern from the right of the tory party about people being employed in in the civil service to do, you know, what they call woke, woke ideas push woke policies, and the like. and i think it's a push back against that. it's one of these culture wars issues. i think, a hot button issue. i think, a hot button issue. i think for the tory party the tory ministers going to an election campaign lanyard. >> it's not that difficult, is it? just wear a black yak one, just a normal one. that's just a normal lanyard. it's not, it's not, it's not the biggest, thing , is it? >> i've. i've still got my vote
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leave lanyard that that i used to have. sort of. do you like me? >> like to make a political statement with your lanyard? >> i think it's a bit of individuality, isn't it? oh, there you go. >> personality isn't enough. merely a lanyard. must speak for your personality, christopher. hope thank you very much. our political editor there outside downing street in front of a very large tractor. >> it's quite fun walking around the labour party conference wearing a vote leave lanyard because it's red. so sort of people come up to you thinking it's a labour lanyard and then they realise , no, it just says they realise, no, it just says vote leave. >> yes. and then they walk away very disgruntled. and not always. they want to be friends with you anymore. >> everyone wants to be friends, of course. of course, friends with everyone. this is. it's a. yeah well, still to come, yes. we'll be heading to birmingham live, where hundreds of school staff are on strike in a dispute over equal pay. >> it's a bit of a rally going on. there's a bit of a rally going on, we'll be there live with our reporter
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gb news. >> good afternoon. britain. it's 12:47. now, you may remember, earlier this week, a judge in northern ireland disapplied part of the illegal migration act in northern ireland. that's the act that allows the government to send illegal migrants to rwanda. well, the government is going to appeal this decision and there's been an urgent question about it all in parliament in the next, in the last few minutes. here is what, migration minister tom pursglove had to say. >> thank you , mr speaker. and >> thank you, mr speaker. and let me start by expressing the government's disappointment at this judgement. we continue to believe that our policy is lawful, that our approach is compatible with international law, and specifically that the illegal migration act proposals are compatible with article two of the windsor framework. the government will take all steps to defend its position,
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including through an appeal. we have consistently made clear that the rights commitments in the belfast good friday agreement should be interpreted as they were always intended and not expanded to cover issues like illegal migration. this judgement changes nothing about our operational plans to send illegal migrants to rwanda this july , or the lawfulness of our july, or the lawfulness of our safety of rwanda act. we continue to work to get regular flights to off rwanda in the coming weeks, and nothing will distract us from that or deliver into the timetable that i have set out. we must start the flights to stop the boats. the government is consistently appued government is consistently applied immigration law on a uk wide basis. it is important to remember that those who have been served a notice for removal to rwanda are being considered under the nationality and borders act and the safety of rwanda act . borders act and the safety of rwanda act. this judgement. >> well, there you go, tom pursglove, they're insisting that the government will fight
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this, and it's just a distraction that they won't allow to distract them from their mission to get those rwanda flights off. >> yes. interesting. in july , he >> yes. interesting. in july, he said. so there's a date for our diary for those first rwanda flights. but, this is all about the windsor framework. the judge in belfast, belfast high court, said that the illegal migration act did not, fit the obligations of the windsor framework, but the government insists that it does. so this will be one to follow. the government is going to fight this and see if they can overturn that judgement. >> so yes, this is a challenge, no doubt, for the government. they did say we will, we will. we accept that we can ignore rulings, we'll fight the courts. we'll fight the courts to get these planes off the ground. but we shall see. we shall see. but in other news, up to 1500 birmingham school staff across 35 schools are staging walkouts today in a row over equal pay. so this includes teaching assistants , catering staff, assistants, catering staff, grounds maintenance staff in
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birmingham well taking place dunng birmingham well taking place during sats exam week. >> the exam week, of course, for primary school children this comes as members of the gmb union voted in favour of strike action, accusing birmingham city council of delaying the settlement of equal pay claims made by women workers . made by women workers. >> well, joining us now from birmingham is gb news west midlands reporterjack birmingham is gb news west midlands reporter jack carson. so how many people have been out there rallying, striking . there rallying, striking. >> yeah. well the demonstration just coming to an end here. but we have seen probably about 500 people here outside the council house here in victoria square in birmingham city centre , birmingham city centre, chanting, demanding equal pay. there have been boos as some of the council cabinet members have walked into the walked into the building behind me because there are a lot of angry people. of course, she mentioned 1500 school support staff across 35 schools in the city today. out on strike, many of them going on strike for the first time ever in their lives. strike for the first time ever in their lives . these are not in their lives. these are not people which usually take
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industrial action. their teaching assistants, their cleaners, their catering staff, their their grounds keepers as well. and they are simply asking for those historic claims of equal pay, which they say the birmingham city council still haven't settled and are showing no sign of settling any time soon. they want that system to be fair. now the council say they are in the process of trying to agree a new job and grading system and a new job evaluation scheme, which will pave, they say, the way for a settlement being agreed. but this all links not only to, of course, the council's bankruptcy that was declared last year because it was, of course, it was a 700 plus million pound equal pay liability . that meant equal pay liability. that meant the council couldn't say it could effectively balance its books , meaning, of course, it books, meaning, of course, it had to issue that notice of effective bankruptcy for all the cuts that have then come from that. but of course, it dates all the way back to 2012 and a supreme court ruling that female workers at this council had taken. and they agreed, of course , the supreme court, that course, the supreme court, that birmingham city council had paid them unfairly and since then the council has already paid out
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over £1 billion in equal pay claims. but it's just by the looks of it, not kept up to date with those claims and more. and more have come forward. earlier on, i spoke to ray wilson from the gmb. she's the head of industrial relations . industrial relations. >> women in birmingham city council have been fighting for equal pay for decades, and they are owed thousands , thousands, are owed thousands, thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of pounds of stolen wages . and pounds of stolen wages. and they're out because they've had enough. it's time for the council to take this seriously and pay back those stolen wages. some of these workers lodged their last wave of equal pay claims back in 2021. so this is not overnight. this campaign has been building for now years . and been building for now years. and it's not just the campaign that's been building, it's the liabilities that the council owes that's been building. and that's why the figures are now in excess of £100 million that are owed. and so it's a big step for any worker to go out on strike. but ultimately this is about pay justice. and the women know the value of their work. and they're willing to fight for it . it. >> well, of course, the city council have given a right of
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reply. they've said that they've been engaging the gmb on these matters of equal pay back since 2021. they say they are committing to resolving this, and they say they'd encourage the union here to explore solutions working together. but certainly the gmb union and their members certainly making a noise here in birmingham city centre today. >> well, jack carson, thank you very much for bringing us those voices. there are 100 million owed to the gmb, so they claim, and then billions in debt overall . overall. >> yes. i mean, how is the birmingham city council we were reporting not very long ago that it went completely bankrupt out of money. how's it going to pay for these equal pay claims? >> but the i loathe the description of this as equal pay between men and women, because this is about comparing refuse collectors and street cleaners to cooks and care workers. now what some of those groups had a higher proportion of women, but it's not comparing male and female jobs. it's comparing different jobs and saying they're paid at different rates. well, well, it's bonkers that they can't be paid. >> they got themselves into
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quite the mess here. but yes, you're probably right. it's got something to do with the law, coming up, a golden era of british shipbuilding has been promised by the government. but will those boats be fit for purpose? >> a brighter outlook with boxt solar , the sponsors of weather solar, the sponsors of weather on . gb news. on. gb news. >> hello. it's a very different day today across some eastern and northern parts of the country. outbreaks of rain. >> although the rain does tend to ease. >> it turns to showers as the day and the week goes on and we've got low pressure bringing further downpours into tuesday, wednesday and thursday. >> but that low anchor towards the southwest is also bringing quite a keen breeze into southwestern areas , the showers southwestern areas, the showers fading away as we go into the evening and overnight. >> the rain in the east tending to fragment with some drier spells developing but a lot of cloud around. >> and with that cloud temperatures in most places will
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stay at 11 to 13 celsius, but with some lengthier clear spells and lighter winds. >> for northern ireland, temperatures will dip into the single figures here. so a fresh start for northern ireland. for western scotland. but bright skies here, plenty of sunshine and actually it's a mostly fine day for northern ireland with just 1 or 2 showers. scotland seeing the finest weather with plenty of warm sunshine once again . cloudier further south again. cloudier further south and into northern and eastern england. we'll see further showers. some longer spells of rain for east anglia. 1 or 2 showers for the southwest, but actually plenty of fine weather here as well. and highs of 20 to 21 celsius. thursday starts off with a fair amount of sunshine. actually southern parts of the uk keep that sunshine going into the afternoon , but there will be the afternoon, but there will be some showers developing in places away from the showers. feeling pleasant enough with lighter winds and we keep the sunny spells of showers late. >> that warm feeling inside and from boxt boilers. sponsors of weather on
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gb news. >> good afternoon. britain. it's 1:00 on tuesday, the 14th of may. >> fresh agony for the families of the victims of the nottingham triple killer. a judge was upheld the sentence of valdo calocane, which means that he won't go to jail, but will spend a life in high security hospital instead. >> mps arrested for sex offences now face a parliamentary ban before they're even charged. but could this change lead to false allegations? we'll be hosting that debate and i gets a boost with the launch of chat gpt four. >> oh, it's faster and smarter, but do we trust it enough to use its potential benefits?
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>> well, you certainly trust this chat. gpt four. you've been singing its praises. he's very excited. tom is very excited about this chat bot. >> and i think go on, sell it. the capabilities that have just been announced overnight are going to be transformational for blind people particularly. that's that's that's the biggest use case that i can see that is actually actually going to completely change the way that people live. they've released a video of a of a blind man walking around london with his phone out , walking around london with his phone out, and it just tells him what he can see. he's able to see if, even minute detail things like if a cab has its light on so he can hail a cab, or just light on so he can hail a cab, orjust sort light on so he can hail a cab, or just sort of light on so he can hail a cab, orjust sort of how light on so he can hail a cab, or just sort of how to light on so he can hail a cab, orjust sort of how to get about or just sort of how to get about all all around the place. he gets that immediate feedback. that's amazing . but gets that immediate feedback. that's amazing. but i think gets that immediate feedback. that's amazing . but i think what that's amazing. but i think what most people will realise as this rolls out in the next couple of weeks, because it's not yet,
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officially launched in all of its capacities. it's just launched the text version, but the video and audio version, it's like having a conversation with a human being. >> oh, great. i don't really want to have a conversation with a human being via a chatbot . tom a human being via a chatbot. tom one it doesn't sound fun to normal human beings. >> one of the amazing capabilities that was announced was how how it can change. change the way that it speaks. it can start singing to you. it sounds like a oh, so you don't need a mansion, you don't need a friend. your voice. >> you don't need a colleague anymore. you can just be sung to. >> we're living in the future, emily. >> we're living in the future. am i ready for it? am i ready for it? >> well, we're going to have a little look at some of the capabilities a little bit later this hour. but much more to come as well, including some developing news in france of a prison escape. we'll get to it all and more after your headunes all and more after your headlines with sam. >> very good afternoon to you
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from the newsroom. it's just coming up to 1:03. a look at the headlines. this lunchtime. families of the victims of nottingham killer valdo calocane say the court of appeal's decision today to uphold his sentence is disappointing. but they say not unexpected. 36 year old calocane was convicted of killing barnaby webber. grace o'malley kumar and ian coates and for the attempted murder of three others. lawyers had argued his indefinite hospital order as a result of his paranoid schizophrenia was unduly lenient, but delivering the decision this morning, baroness carr said there was no error made when that original sentence was delivered and, as tom mentioned there just before the start of the headlines, some breaking news coming to us from france this afternoon, where we understand two prison officers have been killed and an inmate is reportedly now on the run after a prison convoy was ambushed. vehicles that we understand were rammed at toll
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booths on a motorway at anchorvale, in the north—west of france, and the orchestrated attack there comes amid rising drug linked violence across europe . we will, of course, keep europe. we will, of course, keep across that news coming to us from france throughout this afternoon with any more details here in the uk, though, the rate of unemployment is at its highest level for nearly a year, while wage growth is unchanged at 6, there were 26,000 fewer job vacancies in the three months to april, while the number of people in work dropped by 85,000. the chancellor, jeremy hunt, struck an optimistic tone this morning, saying that wages are outstripping inflation. but it could be an unhelpful sign for those hoping for a cut in interest rates. well, the work and pensions secretary, mel stride, says that britain's jobs market remains resilient. >> unemployment is 40% down on the level it was in 2010. economic inactivity overall is below the average of the oecd, the g7 and the european union, and below the level in france,
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italy and the united states. and of course , what we've also seen of course, what we've also seen is real wages growing for the 10th consecutive month, real wage growth, which is really important , i wage growth, which is really important, i think, in terms of giving people security and more money in their pockets. and overall, of course, the economy is now growing at its fastest rate in the last two years. >> mel stride there speaking earlier this morning. well, in other news, there are warnings today that britain's upcoming fleet of ships and submarines might be outdated before they even hit the waves . a former even hit the waves. a former royal navy commander, rear admiral chris parry, says there's an urgent need to swiftly adapt to evolving warfare technology. that warning comes after the defence secretary addressed the annual first sea lords conference, heralding what he calls a golden era of shipbuilding for the royal navy . grant shapps told us royal navy. grant shapps told us that the government is making that the government is making that critical investment because britain will need to fight and win future battles. >> we are living in more dangerous times. clearly we've got a war in europe with ukraine
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being illegally invaded. we've got conflict in the middle east and we've got the rise of china, who really do present a big we've described it as epoch defining change to the world and britain and the united kingdom and our allies must be ready for that. >> some health news and anti—obesity injections made popular by some celebrities could reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes. a new five year study found. ozempic and wegovy jabs lowered the risk of cardiovascular diseases by 20, and that was even if a patient's weight stayed the same. it's been hailed as the biggest medical breakthrough since the introduction of statins in the 19805. introduction of statins in the 1980s. doctors now say the findings will challenge health authorities, which currently limit treatments on those injections, to just two years. and as we heard from our very own tom harwood, openai have launched their new model of the artificial intelligence platform chatgpt , this time one that can
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chatgpt, this time one that can teach maths, sing and engage in conversations. the gpt four zero is free for all users and will be rolled out over the next few weeks. meanwhile, though, a rival to chatgpt called claude is already available across europe. it's being developed by amazon backed start up anthropic , and the company says a special method of training means their technology is bound by a set of values to avoid doing any harm, like spreading misinformation, bias or even election interference . and a woman who interference. and a woman who saved her twin sister from a crocodile attack in mexico will receive a bravery honour after she was included on the king's first civilian gallantry list. georgie laurie, from sandhurst, punched the reptile in the face dunng punched the reptile in the face during that attack in june 2021. both women were seriously hurt but did recover after receiving treatment. georgia will be given the king's gallantry medal, which acknowledges exemplary acts of bravery . that's the
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acts of bravery. that's the latest from the newsroom. another update in the next half houn another update in the next half hour. until then, you can sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen, or go to gb news. com slash alerts . go to gb news. com slash alerts. >> good afternoon britain. it's 1:08 now. there's fresh agony for the families of the victims of the nottingham stabbing attack last june. >> us valdo calocane was previously handed an indefinite hospital order for the manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility of grace o'malley kumar barnaby webber and ian coats. >> well, today a judge ruled that valdo calocane sentence was not unduly lenient, which means he won't be sent to jail . he won't be sent to jail. >> there was no error in the approach adopted by the judge. the sentences imposed were not arguably undue lenient leave to
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refer the sentences is refused . refer the sentences is refused. it is impossible to read of the circumstances of this offending without the greatest possible sympathy for the victims of these terrible attacks , and these terrible attacks, and their families and their friends i >> -- >> well, emma >> well, let's get the reaction of barrister sam fowles, sam, thank you very much for joining us, very controversial. this decision not to change the sentence. the families are clearly very aggrieved by this decision. is there a bias in the justice system for judges to keep the initial ruling in any way, or will this have been very much thought through? and was there a real possibility that it could have been changed? >> there's not certainly not a bias in the justice system, but there is a very high bar for
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overturning a ruling like this, because the bar is that it must be, the judge must have fallen into essentially a grievous error, which makes it a rather strange. >> and i think poor decision on the part of the attorney general to try and challenge this, this decision, because there was no suggestion that it was wrong on a point of law . and the it was a point of law. and the it was it very clearly followed the sentencing guidelines, it's almost as if this shouldn't have been taken to the courts. there's probably an argument that the law could be changed in cases like this, because i find it very, very hard to look at what has happened in nottingham. three people killed in cold blood and more who were seriously injured as well . and seriously injured as well. and we're not allowed to say that they were murdered because that's not what has been judged to have happened. this was an issue of manslaughter. it all it
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sort of sticks in the back of your throat when you describe it like that. yeah, absolutely. >> and certainly speaking from a personal perspective, i feel exactly the same. i think anyone that reads this will feel just a huge swathe of anger and, and arguably want, want revenge and that's why these decisions are made objectively by courts and not by by politicians . and i not by by politicians. and i think to be honest, it was the it was a very political move by the, the attorney general to, to refer this, because it was never a case that really had a chance of success. but the attorney general was looking to sort of score political points and create controversy. and i don't think that's a particularly good use of taxpayers money or particularly good way to be to be using the law. and i think it's worth just making being very clear about what the court decided here. the effect of the court's decision is that valdo calocane can be, detained and most likely will be detained for
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the rest of his life. and if there is any suggestion of releasing him that must first be approved by the secretary of state. what the secretary, what the attorney general actually argued for was a, a less controlled sentence . so the controlled sentence. so the secretary of state wanted a hybnd secretary of state wanted a hybrid sentence where he if he recovered, he would be sent to sent to prison . but recovered, he would be sent to sent to prison. but in recovered, he would be sent to sent to prison . but in that sent to prison. but in that scenario, there is no secretary of state permission needed for him to be released. it's down to the parole board, which will do it on, on normal, normal grounds. >> so what the court decided was what the attorney general asked for was less effective in save providing for the safety of the pubuc providing for the safety of the public than it is to detain him indefinitely in a hospital. >> it's very interesting because the victims families are very concerned that he could be released. emma webber, barnaby webber's mother, one of the mothers of victims. the mother
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of one of the victims said, you know, the fact remains, despite the words of the judge, almost 90% of people serving these hospital orders are out within ten years, 98% within 20 years. but you're saying that is still very highly unlikely in this case that he will ever be released in this case, yes. >> because the court had very clear and unchallenged medical evidence that he has treatment resistant schizophrenia, i.e, he is unlikely ever to ever to recover and to get to a point or recover and to get to a point or recover to a point where the pubuc recover to a point where the public will be be safe from him. >> so not only is it very unlikely that a doctor will ever on the facts, on the evidence, it's very unlikely the that a doctor will ever refer this to the secretary of for state release. >> it is even more unlikely that a that a reasonable secretary of state will be able to grant that release . release. >> now, that makes sense on a on a point of law and a point of practicality, but frankly, on a point of morality , on a on a
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point of morality, on a on a point of morality, on a on a point of morality, on a on a point of that, that that visceral desire for justice and ultimately the justice system is about that desire for justice as well. the fact that we can't call someone who what most people would see as murdered three people and attempted to murder more, we're not allowed to say that he murdered them. we're not allowed to say that. and surely there is a case for schizophrenics to also be called murderers . not just, people who, murderers. not just, people who, incidentally, killed someone . incidentally, killed someone. >> well, perhaps there is a case, and it certainly in in america, they use murder in the first degree and murder in the second degree, which is not quite the same as, as murder and manslaughter. >> but there's a sort of broad equivalence there, however, the purpose of the, of the criminal justice system is to cut down on crime. and you don't do that by performance . performance. >> you do that by following the evidence and following the law. >> so , yes, calling him
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>> so, yes, calling him a murderer might, might make better , sort of headlines or better, sort of headlines or something like that, but actually , what needs, needs to actually, what needs, needs to happen with schizophrenic people who are a danger to the public is they need to be detained and they need to be treated. >> and that's exactly what's been achieved here. >> sure. but i think that that language is very important for the victims families and for their sense of justice. and surely that is a huge part of our criminal justice system, that that feeling of justice. but thank you so much, sam fowles. really interesting to get your perspective on all this. you're, of course, a barrister . barrister. >> yeah. no good to know the proper law behind this. and it did. it does seem performative from the attorney general that we went through all these motions that ultimately ended in disappointment. >> waste of time, perhaps. >> waste of time, perhaps. >> but sometimes performance is part of reality as well. if you see what i mean. yeah. >> something's needed. i mean, the victims families, they wanted this to be reviewed. yeah, so there you go. but in other news, king charles will continue his return to royal dufies continue his return to royal duties by holding his first
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investiture. investiture >> investiture? well, his majesty has been increasing his workload in recent weeks. yesterday, he appeared alongside his eldest son, prince william, to hand over one of his most prestigious military roles. to hand over one of his most prestigious military roles . and prestigious military roles. and this afternoon he'll greet 52 guests, including the archbishop of canterbury, jilly cooper, and a sister who saved her twin's life in a crocodile attack. >> well, joining us now is royal commentator jennie >> well, joining us now is royal commentatorjennie bond. jenny, commentator jennie bond. jenny, thank you very much indeed for speaking to us on the show today. so what exactly is going today. so what exactly is going to happen then ? to happen then? >> it's already happened. the investiture is taking place about 50 people at windsor castle, including, as you say, the archbishop of canterbury, who was honoured for his service dunng who was honoured for his service during the coronation, and also jilly cooper, a favourite of the king, a personal friend of the king. i thought that was rather a touching moment. and she's 87 now, and she came up with a walking stick and a kind of trilby, almost racing hat, looking as if she was just off
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to, to ascot or cheltenham , but to, to ascot or cheltenham, but a very warm greeting for her. and the king was all smiles , i and the king was all smiles, i think. very glad to be back doing what he does , and let's doing what he does, and let's face it, i think most people who are honoured really feel particularly special if it is the king who gives them their medal and this does seem to be a ramping up of work for the king. >> we had the buckingham palace garden party, we had the handing over of those military titles, and now we've had this investiture two is this a sign from the palace that the king's on the mend ? on the mend? >> well, they said, you know, he'd be carrying out 2 or 3 engagements every week. it's at least that now . most of them least that now. most of them don't last too long, and so probably not too tiring. there he was yesterday , with his his he was yesterday, with his his son at the ceremony. the handing over and the garden party, as you say, so yes , he's being seen you say, so yes, he's being seen in public as much as he possibly can, but they are. there are slight amendments , you know,
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slight amendments, you know, today there were about 50 people at the investiture. normally there'd be 60 or 70. so perhaps it was sort of ten, 15 minutes, maybe half an hour, shorter than usual. so i mean, the doctors i think are monitoring it closely and whispering in his ear, don't get too exhausted. and we know that camilla is trying to hold him back a little bit, but we're told he's a bit like a caged lion. he wants to get out there. he really enjoys it. i mean, he really, thoroughly seemed to be enjoying the investiture and jenny. >> elsewhere, the archewell foundation, which is the charity of the duke and duchess of sussex, meghan and harry, they've been making headlines. there's been warnings that they could be subject to fines or suspended from the charity register . suspended from the charity register. can you tell us anything about that? >> rather curious story, actually, that the archewell foundation created, as you say , foundation created, as you say, by harry and meghan, is in a little bit. i think , little bit. i think, administrative trouble really overin administrative trouble really over in the states, it's been it's been declared delinquent, which is an unusual term . i've
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which is an unusual term. i've never heard it before, a delinquent foundation . it's all delinquent foundation. it's all to do with filing tax returns and what have you, all the administration. and they are saying the foundation have been quoted as saying that the check is in the post. the last one got lost , but the check is in the lost, but the check is in the post now. makes you laugh a little bit actually, to hear that expression, but i'm sure that's probably true. and i expect it will all be sorted out, but unwelcome headlines, unwelcome headline after what was decreed to be quite a successful, royal. >> well, not a royal tour, of course. not at all. a royal toun course. not at all. a royal tour, a private visit from private citizens. that was not at all in any way shape or form, even slightly like a royal tour in nigeria . in nigeria. >> actually, it was more private than a normal royal tour. most of the events were for people who were invited in, rather than general public. and if you read reports today, it didn't make huge news in the nigerian press
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over there, who have a lot more to think about. like, like how they actually get the next. most people think how you're going to get the next meal on the table. but it was a success. let's not take it away from them. they were very popular and they were feted. and this little, administrative problem with the foundation, we shouldn't let that overshadow what what was a very successful tour. >> well, thank you very much indeed. jennie bond royal commentator. always great to speak to you, see you later. now. still to come , a new plan now. still to come, a new plan for mps who are arrested for sex offences to be banned from parliament has been approved . parliament has been approved. could this change lead to false allegations , there's quite a lot allegations, there's quite a lot of, potential unintended consequences we're going to dig into. we'll be debating this in just a few minutes. stay tuned.
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it's 123. watching and listening it's123. watching and listening to good afternoon, britain. now mps are arrested for serious sexual or violent offences. could be banned from attending parliament under new plans. approved just yesterday. >> well, this comes despite the government put forward a motion that recommended mps are only barred if they're charged . this barred if they're charged. this was amended to be that if they were arrested before they're charged, the same process begins. >> so today we're asking, is this the right move? whether banning mps from parliament after arrest and before being charged is an example of being guilty until proven innocent. >> well, joining us now to debate this is the author and broadcaster rebecca reid, who welcomes the new proposals and political commentator russell quirk, who thinks it's the wrong move . well, russell, why why is move. well, russell, why why is this the wrong move? we've seen some proper wrong'uns in parliament. surely this is a way to keep politics clean , tom,
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to keep politics clean, tom, i know you have to ask that question, but i can't believe you're even asking the question. >> i say that tongue in cheek, on the basis that in britain, if you remember, we have certain standards. >> we live by a certain code. the likes of freedom of speech, freedom of congregation, freedom of expression, the right to trial and the enshrined right to be judged as innocent until proven guilty . the word there proven guilty. the word there being proven now , i'm afraid being proven now, i'm afraid history is littered with the carcases of celebrities, mps, well known people that have been falsely and wrongly accused of things either through spite and bitterness, or indeed, where politicians are concerned because of, you know, political capital attempted to be made , capital attempted to be made, you know, we only have to think back a little while to , the days back a little while to, the days of carl beech. carl beech having taken in lots and lots of broadcasters, present company excepted. who rather thought that the people that he accused of sexual impropriety the likes
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of sexual impropriety the likes of harvey proctor, ted heath and so on, everyone just assumed ummed on those other channels that these people were guilty and it ruined careers the same as it nearly did for the likes of kevin spacey, cliff richard, and so on, andrew rosindell is also a very, very apt example of someone that spent two years on police bail, having been accused of sexual in proprietary, only to have the charges dropped. now, if we end up in a position where mps or indeed anybody in society is ostracised and told that they can no longer work and represent their constituents in the case of mps, just because somebody decides to make an allegation, we have, then i'm afraid, truly lost our minds and gone to hell in a handcart, haven't we? >> well, rebecca, do you take that point that this could lead to vexatious allegations and potentially undermine the way our criminal justice system works ? works? >> whenever you try and talk about how to move forward with rape and sexual abuse cases, the first thing that somebody usually a man, will say is, what
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about false allegations? >> false allegations, false allegations are rare. >> they have always been rare. they're over reported. so sometimes it doesn't feel like they're rare. they are. now my concern is the bulk of the allegations, which are either true or reasonably there is cause for doubt. malicious allegations are vanishingly rare. >> in this specific example, all that's being done is they're bringing westminster in line with other employers . if i were with other employers. if i were arrested for a serious sexual crime, i would expect to be suspended from gb news, who is my employer. that would be correct , because particularly if correct, because particularly if the allegation was by somebody who also worked there, because you cannot expect somebody who is accusing somebody of a sexual crime to go to work every day and see the person they work with. now we know that westminster has a real problem with with toxic sexual behaviour, both sexual harassment and sexual abuse. jess phillips says that she regularly speaks to people who've been raped by or sexually assaulted by mps. that's not acceptable . if you know people acceptable. if you know people who work in westminster, which we all do, we will all have heard these horror stories and i think we all agree that
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something has to change because it is more endemic in westminster than in most other workplaces. and that is horrific because these are people who are working close to policy making. so i think we all know that something has to change. i hope the debate is just whether it's appropriate for somebody to be suspended after arrest or after being tried, but i would say the police don't arrest people on completely spurious claims. if i go to the police and i say that, taylorswift punched me in the face, they're not going to go and arrest taylorswift. there needs to be some sense of it being realistic. and at that point, the only thing i object to is that i believe, for instance, rosindell should have been suspended. it just shouldn't have taken four years. in these cases, the main problem is that it takes way too long to get through the process , and if get through the process, and if they streamline the process and they streamline the process and they treat it better, people will not be falsely accused even if even though that is very unlikely. but if they are falsely accused, that will be quickly dealt with and they can return to their work. russell what do you make of that? >> the idea that there can still be spurious allegations that do not result in suspensions under
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this system, there actually has to be an arrest. that is, that's a higher bar than just an accusation. >> well, look, i've just rehearsed a number of names. you know, carl beech, i'll say again, accused 18 different people, including members of parliament, falsely, and actually ended up in prison as a consequence . so i think, consequence. so i think, firstly, to say that, you know, there aren't that many false allegations, i think is actually not true, particularly in a political scenario, because of course , we all know that course, we all know that political opponents, you know, the, the kind of the whole , the the, the kind of the whole, the political scene for all sorts of reasons, is, is littered with people that do crazy things for their own personal gain. but but even aside from what i've just said, do we not think? and the reason that people are innocent till proven guilty is that if just one person is falsely accused and suspended and therefore by accusation by inference, trial by media, if that person then has their
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career, their family life, their relationship ruined, isn't that one person, one too many? i mean, the slippery slope? no, no, hang on the slippery slope that you're advancing here is a really dangerous and scary one. if i get off this call now and make an allegation against you and you're arrested as a consequence, no, no, no . let's consequence, no, no, no. let's say we meet in the westminster arms accidentally , i go to the arms accidentally, i go to the toilet at the same time as you and i come out and i make an allegation against you and you're arrested. do you think that's right? if you then lose yourjob as a consequence, do you? >> well, i wouldn't be arrested because that's completely serious. and the evidence wouldn't stack up. no, no, no, i wouldn't stack up. no, no, no, i wouldn't be suspended under various element only comes to pass when there's a trial. >> you don't know it's spurious until trial. >> well , there is, because >> well, there is, because there's an assessment before an arrest is made. i cannot. >> it has to be just cause only has to be just cause. >> secondarily, i think we perhaps have different priorities because you are concerned about somebody being suspended unfairly on a false
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allegation . i am concerned about allegation. i am concerned about allegation. i am concerned about a woman having or a man having to work in a workplace with somebody who they have accused. so 1 in 4 women, i don't know the stats. 1 in 4 women experience a sexual assault or rape in her lifetime, the cps put false allegations at between 3 and 7, which means between 93 and 97% of assaults or allegations are not false. so what i'm dealing in the big numbers , which is people who are numbers, which is people who are telling the truth and you're deaung telling the truth and you're dealing in the small high profile numbers, which are horrific cases where people absolutely are mistreated and the people make malicious, malicious allegations that should be dealt with very, very harshly. but the majority of the time, it is not malicious and people will not report sex crimes if they're going to have to work with the person they are reporting. it'sjust to work with the person they are reporting. it's just not possible. and it prevents people from being reported. and it means people keep getting away with sex crimes. >> russell, have you got your priorities wrong? >> no. my priorities are what this country stood for thousands of years, which is the rules of natural justice. what's being advocated here is to change that and to effectively become china.
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i'm not a fan. >> i'm not suspending somebody is not saying they're guilty. suspending somebody is saying there is a question mark. >> the question, what about the question of this commons panel? because the idea, as i understand it, is that a commons panel would meet and decide whether the mp that's been arrested should be banned from the parliamentary estate. what do you make of that, rebecca? because that makes it more political, doesn't it? it does. >> and also, i think there is a real problem with westminster operating unlike a other unlike other workplaces, mps are just humans. that it's just a job. they shouldn't be treated specially or differently. this should be in they should work the same way that it would in any other public sector role. if you are accused of a crime, particularly towards somebody with whom you work, you are suspended in any otherjob, as is correct . what we should is correct. what we should change is the perception that suspension means guilt. absolutely suspension is a question mark and we should facilitate. >> it won't change society's perception of that. and i'm afraid if you do get your own way and all of a sudden all mps
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get suspended on the basis of just an accusation, watch those false accusations increase. i mean, again, that's a complete that's complete guesswork. >> and my okay. so what would you do if not this, what would you do if not this, what would you do if not this, what would you do to deal with the endemic issue of sexual abuse and harassment in westminster? >> i would wait for the criminal justice system, poor as i'm afraid it is, to do its job. >> well, on that note, i'm afraid we have run out of time. but rebecca read and russell quirk, thank you very much for joining us. it's been a very spirited conversation with some really profound points made on either side. thank you for your time. interesting that's got me thinking. yeah, that's got me thinking. yeah, that's got me thinking. get your views in gbnews.com forward slash your say what do you make it of. make of it all. >> well coming up the labour leader sir keir starmer is in a showdown. talks with union leaders over workers rights. there's a big big row over this that's coming up next. you're watching. good afternoon britain on . gb news.
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on. gb news. >> very good afternoon i'm sam francis. it's 133. >> very good afternoon i'm sam francis. it's133. the >> very good afternoon i'm sam francis. it's 133. the headlines this afternoon. the killer of three people in nottingham last summer will remain in hospital after his sentence was upheld. the court of appeals deemed valdo calocane indefinite hospital order was not unduly lenient . after a review was lenient. after a review was ordered by the attorney general, he was convicted of the deaths of barnaby webber, grace o'malley kumar and ian coates and the attempted murder of three others. the victim's families say today's decision is disappointing but not unexpected . in france, two prison officers have been killed and an inmate is reportedly on the run after a prison convoy was ambushed. vehicles were rammed at toll booths on a motorway at ankerville in the north—west of the country . the orchestrated the country. the orchestrated attack comes amid rising drug unked attack comes amid rising drug linked violence across europe . linked violence across europe. there are warnings that britain's upcoming fleet of ships and submarines might be outdated before they even hit the waves . a former royal navy
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the waves. a former royal navy commander, rear admiral chris parry, says there's an urgent need to swiftly adapt to evolving warfare technology. that warning comes after the defence secretary addressed the annual first sea lords conference, heralding what he calls a golden era of shipbuilding for the royal navy . shipbuilding for the royal navy. grant shapps says the government is making the critical investment because britain will need to fight and to win future battles . and how do you feel battles. and how do you feel about a bowl of insects for lunch? well, researchers say that insects are rich in protein , they're easier to farm and they have less of an impact on they have less of an impact on the environment than livestock. but most of us are reluctant to eat them. so now experts are recommending that flour made from ground crickets or freeze dned from ground crickets or freeze dried mealworms could be an effective way to introduce them into mainstream foods. that's the latest from the newsroom for now. another update at 2:00. until then, you can sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen, or go to
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our website, gb news. common alerts . alerts. >> cheers! britannia wine club proudly sponsors the gb news financial report, and here's a look at the markets this afternoon for you. >> the pound will buy you $1.2559 and ,1.163. the price of gold is £1,868.29 per ounce, and the ftse 100 this afternoon is at 8429 points. >> cheers. britannia wine club proudly sponsors the gb news financial report. it
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leaders and labour leader sir keir starmer are gathering for what's being described as a showdown meeting. all of this is over fears that key elements of the party's workers rights policy package may be being overhauled. >> yes, or indeed watered down. the unite general secretary, sharon graham, says a new draft shared with unions was unrecognisable and turned a real new deal for workers into a charter for bad bosses . quite charter for bad bosses. quite the accusation. >> well, let's make sense of it now with business and economics editor of gb news liam halligan here with on the money reporter . here with on the money reporter. liam. quite the showdown, but all in the context of some new economic figures, new employment figures for the country. >> yeah. let's quickly, before we get to on the politics of labour and the trade unions are sort of relationship that's obviously long standing, but it is inevitably becoming fraught. let's just have a look at some of the wage data that came out
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this morning from the for office national statistics between january and march , average wages january and march, average wages were up 6% on the same period in the previous year. that's the highest uk wage growth in over two years. you can ignore that. graphics >> it's the wrong one. >> it's the wrong one. >> so wages are going up by their fastest pace in two years. tom and emily, as of this morning. and that's from january and march. but compared to january and march 2023. so after inflation, what we call real wages, if actual wages went up 6% on average after inflation, take home pay in what we call real terms, went up 2.1. that's the fastest rise since september 2021. and all of this , i'm 2021. and all of this, i'm afraid, makes it a bit less likely that the bank of england is going to lower interest rates when the monetary policy committee meets next month. >> i'm not saying that they won't , but this wage data, won't, but this wage data, because it's still quite toppy as we say, still a lot of evidence that wages could push
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up inflation by pushing up firms costs , pushing up prices and so costs, pushing up prices and so on, so on balance, that makes it less likely that the mpc is going to. >> the monetary policy committee of the bank of england is going to lower rates next month. not impossible, but now slightly less likely . less likely. >> very interesting news. so on the face of it, good news for workers, but it could have a negative impact if you're hoping for those interest rates to come down. liam, with this showdown , down. liam, with this showdown, with this showdown between keir starmer and the unions , the starmer and the unions, the unions accusing the labour party of essentially watering down their workers rights pledge, what's the truth here? >> well, look, trade union leaders tuc , unite and so on. leaders tuc, unite and so on. big trade unions, of course , big trade unions, of course, they pay money to the labour party regularly . a lot of labour party regularly. a lot of labour mps to this day are still sponsored by trade unions. they're having a big powwow at labour's national headquarters in south london this lunchtime. as we speak, you've got keir
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starmer there, you've got anneliese dodds there, who is the party chair. what they're talking about is, is a new set of legislation that labour and the trade unions are cooking up, that labour are pledging or will pledge to introduce as and when they form a government. but the labour high command, if you like. now it's faced with the reality of power is slightly pushing back. the trade unions wish list includes things like workers being eligible for more, to file unfair dismissal claims from day one when they start their job, from day one when they start theirjob, increased, access to maternity and paternity leave, other aspects like banning so—called zero hour contracts. that's what the trade unions want. the labour leadership is pushing back , arguing rightly, pushing back, arguing rightly, in my view. actually that sometimes zero contract, zero hour contracts are useful, particularly for students,
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younger workers and people who want to partake in what, you know, people your age would call the gig economy, where you sort of bop from job to job. so look, as labour becomes closer to the general election, as speculation that keir starmer and co are going to form our next government, their relationship with the trade unions, their closest relationship with the trade unions, is going to be more scrutinised by everybody else, but it's also going to become scratchier because there's no way that labour are going to pledge to deliver in government everything that the trade union leaders wants . and trade union leaders wants. and here's a bit of political analysis for you to finish just very, very briefly, in some senses , if you want a labour senses, if you want a labour party that's less radical in office, they kind of need a big majority, because if they have a small majority in the house of commons, they'll be really beholden to sort of 30 or 40 or 50, what we call campaign group mps, on the sort of hard left, if you like, of the labour party, the more traditional
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socialist wing. and i saw this with when tony blair came in in 1979 with 179 seat majority, absolutely massive majority. any question of collaborating with the lib dems in some kind of progressive alliance? any idea that the hard left of the labour party then was going to have any influence at all, completely went out the window because tony blair didn't need those mps because he had so much power from a massive parliamentary majority. what's going on at labour party headquarters will worry a lot of employees, employers who think that uk labour law is already quite clunky, discourages them from taking on workers. on the other hand, there'll be many people at the lower end of the wage spectrum , if you like, who will spectrum, if you like, who will be cheering the trade unions on looking for more protections at work. >> very interesting point you made there, liam, about, the size of the majority , how that size of the majority, how that might impact the policy agenda. very interesting. thanks, liam liam halligan, our business and economics editor, yes . economics editor, yes. >> i had a zero hours job at
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university. was really, really useful. i could take on shifts when i wanted and when i didn't want to take on shifts, i didn't have to take on any shifts. gave me a bit of pocket money to go out. i mean, it's for some people it really suits them. >> i don't know why anyone wants to ban them when it's your only source of income and you're trying to raise a young family, for example, choose a different contract. i know, but sometimes, you know, it's the easiest work to get. >> there are a million job vacancies in this country. don't take away options. >> some of those will be in the gig economy, some of them anyway. still to come, artificial intelligence has seen artificial intelligence has seen a boost with the launch of chatgpt 400. it's faster and smarter, but do we trust it enough to use
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chat gpt model. these are these artificial intelligence , apps artificial intelligence, apps really, that can do all sorts of amazing things for us. well, the latest update is shocking . the latest update is shocking. the world with new abilities, which range from the impressive to the scary. >> the program can now be used as a live voice translator , a as a live voice translator, a mathematics teacher, and even a tour guide . as has been shown in tour guide. as has been shown in this incredible demo. >> is the king in residence at the moment? >> yes, it looks like the king is in residence right now. >> the royal standard flag is flying above buckingham palace, which is the signal that the monarch is present. how exciting to be there while the king is home. >> try and tell me exactly what they're doing right now, please. right now the ducks are gently gliding across the water. they're moving in a fairly relaxed manner, not in a hurry occasion . only one of them will occasion. only one of them will dip its head under the water, probably looking for food, and
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then pop back up . then pop back up. >> i even know when a taxi is coming with its orange light on. i think i'll hail it to get home. >> yes, i spotted one just now. it's heading away on the left side of the road. get ready to wave it down. great job hailing that taxi. it looks like you're all set to go. that's a good dog right there. leading. >> oh, i don't like this at all. >> oh, i don't like this at all. >> it'sjust >> oh, i don't like this at all. >> it's just incredible, though. it's like magic. no, i don't like it. >> oh, it's. »- >> oh, it's. >> well, okay. you're living everything through your screen. >> and also, someone just wrote in to gbnews.com/yoursay, saying , you just get your phone nicked. i can parading it around like this, i can see that case. >> but, if you're blind. yes. and you don't know how to navigate the world or it takes you a very long time to navigate the world, i can't imagine how you'd hail a cab if you're if you're blind, being able to do
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that now, having. it's almost like artificial eyes in front of you. that's incredible . that's magic. >> well, if this works for blind people and it really improves their quality of life, then of course i'm for all that. but just looking at that, it's something out of a black mirror, that dystopian series on, on netflix , sort of living our netflix, sort of living our lives entirely through our through our screens, like your best friend, your teacher, your your husband even. >> here's another point about it being where people are dating chat bots instead of real men. but you say teacher, and that's a really interesting demonstration that they gave as well, showing, the, the, the, the, the app sort of asking it just the question in normal human language, you know , can human language, you know, can you teach me about how to determine the right angle of a triangle and, and it's and the, the child in this demonstration sort of highlights the thing and the app goes, no, that's not the hypotenuse or show you which one the hypotenuse is. >> do you not think it's making human interaction redundant,
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which we don't know? the consequence of? paul says paul's made me laugh. he says, just let your phone go out and you stay in. it is a bit like that, but you can like that. >> you can imagine how much cost saving this is going to have. imagine every child in this country having their own private tutor . the revolution that will tutor. the revolution that will give to , to children from give to, to children from families that perhaps can't afford the sort of private tuition that people from their, various well—off families often get. this could be a massive leveller for so many people in this country being able to sort of converse with an expert right there in real time, in natural language , i just worry. language, i just worry. >> oh, well, paul's got in touch, he says. i for the blind, instead of holding up the phone, it could be incorporated into their glasses. yes, that's a very good point, because it does look a bit odd holding your phone out like that. and that was in central london. and we know how common, you know, muggings are. yeah particularly
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iphones at the moment. so that would be a bit dangerous sort of wandering around with your phone right by the company that owns facebook and instagram and whatsapp. >> they actually have glasses with they've got ai powered glasses. they're made by ray—bans . yeah. and they've got ray—bans. yeah. and they've got little cameras in them. i can imagine this sort of software being put in those glasses in the next year or two. i can i can very easily imagine that happening. >> do you have any worry about the fact that, you know, actual human relationships might, just become redundant ? we don't need become redundant? we don't need them anymore. you don't need them anymore. you don't need them anymore. you don't need them any more. you've got your chat bot to talk to. >> no, i think we'll learn to, as society sort of use this alongside human relationships. >> enough. i saw a two year old just glued to their screen the other day. >> yeah. no, i think we need to develop better social norms around all of this, but i think it is remarkable that sort of those science fiction, science fiction type robots where you can just talk like a normal coming reality. that's going to be how we interact with technology. >> let us know what you make of it. gbnews.com/yoursay. but coming up, a huge manhunt is
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underway in paris after two french prison guards were killed in an armed ambush. we'll be live there shortly. >> a brighter outlook with boxt solar sponsors of weather on . gb news. >> hello. it's a very different day today across some eastern and northern parts of the country. outbreaks of rain. although the rain does tend to ease it turns to showers as the day and the week goes on and we've got low pressure bringing further downpours into tuesday, wednesday and thursday. but that low anchor towards the southwest is also bringing quite a keen breeze into southwestern areas, the showers fading away as we go into the evening and overnight, the rain in the east tending to fragment with some drier spells developing, but a lot of cloud around and with that cloud,
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temperatures in most places will stay at 11 to 13 celsius, but with some lengthier clear spells and lighter winds. for northern ireland, temperatures will dip into the single figures here. so a fresh start for for northern ireland western scotland. but bright skies here. plenty of sunshine . and actually it's a sunshine. and actually it's a mostly fine day for northern ireland with just 1 or 2 showers. scotland seeing the finest weather with plenty of warm sunshine once again. cloudier further south and into northern and eastern england. we'll see further showers . some we'll see further showers. some longer spells of rain for east anglia. 1 or 2 showers for the south—west, but actually plenty of fine weather here as well. and highs of 20 to 21 celsius. thursday starts off with a fair amount of sunshine. actually southern parts of the uk keep that sunshine going into the afternoon, but there will be some showers developing in places away from the showers. feeling pleasant enough with lighter winds and we keep the sunny spells and showers late. >> that warm feeling inside from boxt boilers sponsors of weather
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gb news. away. >> good afternoon. britain. it's 2:00 on tuesday, the 14th of may. >> now, two french prison guards have been killed in an armed ambush in which an inmate has escaped. a huge manhunt is underway, and we'll have the very latest . very latest. >> a golden era of british shipbuilding has been promised by the government, with 28 new ships and submarines built for the royal navy here in the uk. but a former navy chief has told gb news they may not be fit for purpose . purpose. >> and the labour leader, sir keir starmer, is in showdown talks with union bosses over workers rights. is there a major split on the cards? we'll have an update.
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>> now will of course be getting to france very shortly where this manhunt is underway in in normandy, but in the south of normandy, but in the south of normandy, relatively close to paris. it seems like an incredibly concerning situation. the most dramatic sort of prison break. yeah. >> a two prison officers killed, three others injured by pump action rifle fire, an attack on their van carrying an inmate. the inmate is now on the run. the inmate is now on the run. the french justice minister is saying that this was a prison convoy that was attacked. and these very serious, very serious injuries as well as, two prison officers sadly dying , the officers sadly dying, the president macron, he's had a lot to say as well . so we're going to say as well. so we're going to say as well. so we're going to speak to a french journalist who is on top of the very latest for us. but this is pretty shocking scenes really in northern france. >> and you can see in these videos it looks like a car has rammed in head first into some
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of these convoy into one of those convoys of those cars. this looks like it could have been a prison break operation. in to order break out prisoners from what seems to be one of the most high security vie convoys with guns everywhere . and with guns everywhere. and indeed, it looks like there has been shooting between guards and prisoners. we're going to get much, much more on this as news breaks as it develops. but before all of that, let's get your news headlines . your news headlines. >> very good afternoon to you. it's just after 2:00. i'm sam francis. let's just get a roundup, then of that latest news coming to us out of france, where we're hearing that a major manhunt is now underway. that's after two prison officers were killed when a prison convoy was ambushed . the vehicles were ambushed. the vehicles were rammed at tollbooths on a motorway at ankerville in the north—west of the country. and in the last few minutes, images
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on social media have started to reveal that at least two men in balaclavas were seen carrying rifles near an suv that was in flames , as that car appeared to flames, as that car appeared to have been rammed into the front of a prison van. local media is also naming the suspect as mohammed a, who is believed to be 30 and reportedly has ties to powerful gangs in the city of marseille. and of course , we marseille. and of course, we will bring you more on that throughout the afternoon with tom and emily. do stay with us here on gb news for the latest coming out of france. meanwhile, a home office minister here in the uk says that the good friday agreement should not be read so creatively as to cover migration issues. it's after a judge at belfast's high court ruled that parts of the government's illegal migration act should not be applied in northern ireland. responding to an urgent question from the dup, tom pursglove said the government intends to appeal against the court's judgement and would not be deterred from its rwanda plan. the families of
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three nottingham attack victims say they are disappointed, but not surprised, that a judge has refused to change the sentence handed to their killer. delivering the decision at the court of appeal this morning, baroness carr said valdo calocane indefinite hospital order was not unduly lenient. the 36 year old was convicted of the deaths of barnaby webber, grace o'malley kumar and ian coates and the attempted murder of three others. the rate of unemployment is at its highest level for nearly a year , while level for nearly a year, while wage growth is unchanged at 6. there were 26,000 fewer job vacancies in the three months to april, while the number of people in work dropped by 85,000. the chancellor, jeremy hunt , struck an 85,000. the chancellor, jeremy hunt, struck an optimistic tone this morning, saying that wages are outstripping inflation. but it could be an unhelpful sign for those hoping for a cut in interest rates. well work and work and pensions secretary mel stride said britain's jobs market remains resilient. there
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are warnings today that britain's upcoming fleet of ships and submarines might be outdated before they even hit the water. former royal navy commander rear admiral chris parry says there's an urgent need to swiftly adapt to evolving warfare technology. that warning comes after the defence secretary addressed the annual first sea lords conference, heralding what he calls a golden era of shipbuilding for the royal navy. grant shapps told us that the government is making the critical investment because britain will need to fight and win future battles . some health win future battles. some health news we've heard today that the anti—obesity injections made made popular by celebrities could reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes. a five year study found that ozempic and wegovy jabs lowered the risks of cardiovasc disease by 20, even if a patient's weight stayed the same. it's been hailed as the
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biggest medical breakthrough since the introduction of statins in the 1980s, and doctors say those findings will now challenge health authorities, which currently limit treatment on the injections to just two years. the prime minister is calling on shoppers to back british produce as he hosts the second farm to fork summit at 10 downing street. labour says the conservatives have driven farmers to breaking point and they have pledged a new deal that they say will put money back in farmers pockets. but rishi sunak told members of the food industry that britain must reduce its reliance on fruit and vegetables from overseas as we are going to stick to our plan. >> supporting you to keep creating great jobs across the united kingdom and keep making the food that we know and love so dearly , and specifically to so dearly, and specifically to our british farmers. >> i do want to say this we are with you . with you. >> openai have launched a new model of their artificial intelligence platform, chatgpt. this time one that can
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apparently teach you maths, sing and engage in conversation. the chatgpt forum is free for all users and it's going to be rolled out over the next few weeks. meanwhile, though, a rival called claude is already available across europe that's being developed by amazon backed start—up anthropic. the company says its special method of training means the technology is bound by a set of values to avoid doing harm, like spreading misinformation, bias or election interference . and a woman who interference. and a woman who saved her twin sister from a crocodile attack in mexico will receive a bravery honour after she was included on the king's first civilian gallantry list. georgie laurie, from sandhurst, punched the reptile in the face dunng punched the reptile in the face during the attack in june 2021. both women were seriously hurt but did recover after receiving treatment. georgia will be given the king's gallantry medal, which acknowledges exemplary acts of bravery . for the latest
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acts of bravery. for the latest stories, you can sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen or go to gb news. com slash alerts . news. com slash alerts. >> good afternoon britain. it's 2:07 now. this prisoner is on the loose in the north of france after a police van was ambushed. now just to warn you, some viewers may find these images distressing . distressing. >> yes. so here we go. the images show gunman carrying heavy weapons. two officers were shot dead after their vehicles were rammed in an orchestrated attack. now, several hundred police officers are known to be involved in this manhunt. president emmanuel macron has said everything is being done to find the perpetrators , but this find the perpetrators, but this is very much ongoing. >> yes. well, joining us from paris is the daily telegraph journalist anne elisabeth moutet , and frankly, this is a shocking thing. video footage
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presumably taken by either guards or prisoners on board one of the vehicles in this convoy. and people running around on the road holding semi—automatic weapons . weapons. >> apparently the footage was taken by somebody who's travelling on a bus. the prison van was ambushed at a tollbooth on the motorway between rouen and evreux , which is the in and evreux, which is the in normandy in southern normandy in france. and it's somebody in the bus and it's just a passenger. and they were seeing this next to them. and the ambush was of course, there, because that every everybody slows down and it makes it difficult unless you're prepared to, to, to, to stop this , the there were stop this, the there were several criminals, i don't know the figure , but who came with the figure, but who came with kalashnikovs or ak 47 type, weapons automatic weapons. and they literally, shot at the heavy armoured prison van. they
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they managed. they killed three people, they were injured. other people. i do not know whether they also injured people , they also injured people, outside the van or just in the van, but there's , right now, van, but there's, right now, they they and they grabbed this man who's called mohammed amra. he's nicknamed the fly. he's 30 years old. he is. he was in jail for , a burglary, but he is for, a burglary, but he is suspected to be a narcotics boss, and that would be that might have been one of the reasons why he was being interrogated at at, evreux in normandy. and the i mean, the shock of the violence of this, but also the shock of the complete so that the daring of the, of the operation is something that's that's, you know, the country is looking at in bemusement and horror. >> this, this escaped inmate is, now being described as, the most wanted man in france by one of the broadcasters over there. this is a big operation. >> it's a huge operation. you've got 200 gendarme, the gendarmerie, as you know, is the
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sort of fulfils the role of the police force in france in, in, in the countryside and in small towns. but there are members of the military. they're not they're not members of the police. and they've got good training and there's a dragnet, you know, on, on the entire area, the, the perpetrators fled in two cars, which they had stolen and which they burnt, and then they took something else, another means of transportation . another means of transportation. so they the cars cannot be signalled, but the entire operation probably will give results. there's the expectation that they can't go very far , but that they can't go very far, but this is the sort of thing that you expected from terrorists . you expected from terrorists. and it's not terrorism. it is. it is just, you know, bandits. basically. it's criminals. >> bandits. it sounds like something out of a heist movie, but, tell us a bit about the geography of normandy. pretty rural, pretty dispersed . there's rural, pretty dispersed. there's going to be lots of places where these people can hide .
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these people can hide. >> there's going to be lots of places, but it's . i mean, it's places, but it's. i mean, it's dispersed. it's not that dispersed. it's not that dispersed. it's not that dispersed. i mean, there are lots of places in france which are much emptier than normandy because as it is, you can practically commute to paris to jobs in sort of, you know, in the paris area from where this this happened, it's not terribly far. it's an hour and a half from paris , so, the, the, the, from paris, so, the, the, the, the, the countryside itself has changed a great deal, in, in the, in the last two, three decades, you've got lots of , decades, you've got lots of, sort of building. it's not the green belt really . so people green belt really. so people have built up on it, it's also changed in make up in that it always was a place with lots of factories. you've got, you know, historically , renault factories historically, renault factories and others. and it's changing that the, the, the ethnic makeup has changed too. i mean, it was it was completely sort of rural and now it's very much like, like the entire area of paris. and it's diverse and, and i imagine there's been some kind
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of crisis meeting, emergency meeting with the, the, the home minister and the president himself. >> do we know? >> do we know? >> we do because he was a prisoner and therefore he came under the ambit of the minister of justice . the minister of of justice. the minister of justice was a former well known barrister. eric dupond—moretti has been the one talking about this and saying that everything was, was done to, to get him , was, was done to, to get him, and president macron himself has said that the violence was something that shocked the entire country and that no effort will be spared to, to catch up with the, with the perpetrators and the killers as soon as possible. >> well, it's an absolutely fascinating one. anne—elisabeth moutet, thank you so much for talking us through the details , talking us through the details, let's hope that, some swift justice is brought on these escapees and horrifying. >> hopefully they find this, this fugitive, this escaped inmate, goodness me . yes. all inmate, goodness me. yes. all the, the french, very pious, of course, the president, the foreign minister, etc, etc. all have put out their, their statements, we'll keep you
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updated on that. if there are any developments from normandy, we certainly will. >> well, a little closer to home now, groundbreaking study has found that the weight loss drugs like ozempic . these so—called like ozempic. these so—called fat jabs can reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes by 20. yes. >> cardiologists have said that these weight loss jabs are the most significant development in heart disease since 1990. so doesit heart disease since 1990. so does it come without risks ? does it come without risks? >> well, let's pose that question to junior doctor and former miss england winner bhasha mukherjee, bushra, thank you so much forjoining us, this seems like a wonder drug. almost sort of a miracle cure for many people, for not just being overweight, but also heart disease and strokes. now to i mean, you're right. >> i mean, i've looked at the study and it does look very promising in many ways. however i think the clue is in the name. there is no such thing as a miracle cure or a miracle
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magical treatment that will just magically just happen without any risks whatsoever. and those rempe or semaglutide side and the whole family of those medications, they are much the same, just like any other medications. they don't just have side effects, but actually potentially very dangerous , life potentially very dangerous, life threatening side effects as well . a condition called diabetic ketoacidosis, which can literally result in death, and we've seen lots of other side effects as well, like muscle loss rather than fat loss. so i don't think this is just a cure all medication . all medication. >> you point out potential , side >> you point out potential, side effects. would you say then as a doctor yourself, that this should only be prescribed to people who are genuinely obese, genuinely overweight? because we have seen in, you know, the united states particularly, but also in this country, celebrities and others are getting this drug just to fit into, you know , their latest into, you know, their latest sparkly dress for the met gala
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or whatever . or whatever. >> i mean, it's really quite sad because when, drugs like this, and these studies like this are presented to the public, it can presented to the public, it can present to the public, like it's going to solve all their issues, but it really isn't as simple as that. this medication, it might be licensed for weight loss, but actually in many areas, including the area i'm working, working in, we can't prescribe this medication because of nationwide shortages for the very reason why you've just mentioned there are people who have the financial , capabilities have the financial, capabilities to access this medication to buy it privately , and therefore it privately, and therefore there is a shortage for people who actually need it with diabetes. and even with obesity issues . and not just this. issues. and not just this. i mean, this drug costs the nhs a lot of money. it costs between £70 to £170 for the nhs per injection. this is not a small amount and we should be redirecting these resources to actually prevention and preventative healthcare , and not
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preventative healthcare, and not just another drug. i do think that , you know, we should be that, you know, we should be pointing and supporting our our population with exercise, diet. i mean , one one month supply of i mean, one one month supply of a zepik is privately prescribed, is about 200 to £300. that's a whole year's supply of a gym membership . so yeah, i think membership. so yeah, i think there are potential problems with this. really. no. >> really, really interesting. clearly for some people , a clearly for some people, a massive, massive benefit. but for people that are only slightly overweight, perhaps not the route to go down. bhasha mukherjee. thank you so much for joining us and talking us through what is a pretty remarkable new drug. >> yes, possibly easier to get someone on prescription of ozempic than a gym. the gym every day. yeah, yes. >> one jab a week. probably a little. a little easier than going all the time to the gym. >> right. shall we go now to some live pictures outside parliament in the capital of georgia, activists have broken down barriers outside the building as tensions escalate. this is following a
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controversial law being passed which some say threatens civil rights. look at this. >> yes, we're in tbilisi , here, >> yes, we're in tbilisi, here, just outside the parliament, where, of course, this law is known as a foreign agent law. it very much mirrors a similar law that exists in russia that has been used to shut down independent media and arrest dissenters of the regime, because the regime can then just say this person's a foreign agent or this organisation is a foreign agent, and we must crack down on them . there's all sorts down on them. there's all sorts of criticism from these protesters. they're not calling it the foreign agent law as it's been described by the government of georgia. they're calling it the russia law. they think that this is only come into effect or or come about under heavy , heavy or come about under heavy, heavy russian pressure. >> yes. so for these protesters , >> yes. so for these protesters, this is all about freedom of speech, civil liberties, freedom of the press. what else? well,
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pushing back against, i guess, authority , nature of their authority, nature of their government. >> the really interesting thing here is that on monday, the prime minister of georgia said that if parliament backs down on passing this bill, georgia would lose sovereignty and easily share the fate of ukraine. those are his words , easily share the are his words, easily share the fate of ukraine. it seems that the government of georgia has been threatened here, that if they don't pass this pro—russia law, they might face invasion from russia. that seems to at least be the implication of that. quote. >> yes, very complex matter indeed. but as you can see, there are protesters, some of whom are wearing gas masks. you've got some police in the background there with their riot gear on. we'll continue to bring you updates from here, because these are quite extraordinary shots from the centre of georgia. >> some reports that they've actually breached to get inside the parliament, although it looks like a very, very heavy police presence there now, so we
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will keep abreast of that of coui'se. >> course. >> well, coming up, course. >> well, coming up , the showdown >> well, coming up, the showdown between keir starmer and the trade union chiefs. how's it going? what's happened, who's come out on top. are workers rights going to be watered down under a labour government? if indeed they are elected? we'll have more on that after the
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break. >> good afternoon. britain. it's 2:23 now . up to 1500. birmingham 2:23 now. up to 1500. birmingham school staff across 33 schools are staging walkouts today in this row over equal pay. yes. >> this row keeps rumbling on, doesn't it? this includes teaching assistants, catering staff and grounds maintenance. >> well, it's all taking place dunng >> well, it's all taking place during sats exam week. that primary school crucial exam week . and it comes as members of the gmb union voted in favour of
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strike action. >> yes, they're accusing birmingham city council of delaying the settlement of equal pay delaying the settlement of equal pay claims made by female workers. could it be because the council is a little bit bankrupt? let's find out more. joining us from birmingham is gb news west midlands reporter jack carson . there was quite a big carson. there was quite a big rally earlier, wasn't there? what are their demands then ? what are their demands then? >> well their their demands very very easy, really is that they say equal pay across across of course, the board for their jobs in comparison to the, more male dominated, council worker jobs, of course , that they say have of course, that they say have had an, an unfair advantage. and fair bonuses that they haven't received in their jobs. i mean, received in theirjobs. i mean, the people here at the rally, which was held earlier on today where there was around 500 people here, they were not people here, they were not people that usually take industrial action. they were people like teaching assistants , people like teaching assistants, like catering staff, like cleaners, like maintenance staff. that work in schools across this city. and 1500 of them, as you were mentioning,
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across the 35 schools, in the city have walked out today over this equal pay disparity. and the fact and the time that it's taking, they say birmingham city council to settle it. i mean, one lady was telling me today she's had a dispute since 2003. of course, this has gone for on, well over a decade. 2012 was the last supreme court ruling which found that birmingham city council had unfairly , not paid council had unfairly, not paid their female workers bonuses, that more male dominated jobs had got within the pay , schemes had got within the pay, schemes in the council. and they've already paid out £1 billion since then. but it seems that the council have not kept track of these claims, not settled these claims, as they've come in. and of course, it was last year when the a figure of more than £700 million was revealed. that meant the council had no choice but to issue that section 114 notice. and effective bankruptcy because of the equal pay bankruptcy because of the equal pay liabilities that they, they say, still aren't settled. now the council say they have got money aside in order to work with the unions to try and
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settle this. they'd agreed back in october, to work towards a plan to try and settle this. but the gmb took industrial action, today and this week, because of the time, it's taking, we spoke to some people that were on the picket line here today . picket line here today. >> i think they're just holding on to the interest, to be honest with you. the birmingham city council are really, really strapped for money, and i think they should just settle it and, and just get it over and done with and just let everyone get on with their jobs, quite angry, to be fair , we want to teach our to be fair, we want to teach our future generation that equality and everything needs to be equal >> yet it's not happening right now simply because we think we deserve equal pay. >> we do need it, and we do deserve it. we want our profession to be recognised as profession. >> we do jobs equal to teachers and we want to be recognised for that as well. >> and between men and women as well, we're all equal. we do the same, female . same, female. >> yeah. so obviously you can hear the views that were
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delivered there from the people that spoke to us at the protest here today. of course, they're disparity comes from the from the needing really for a new job evaluation scheme where jobs across the council are essentially matched up together and disparity within how many working, working hours and all kinds of different shift patterns mean. this is where these equal pay claims and liabilities are coming from. the council say that they are committed to resolving them, and a spokesperson said that they would encourage the gmb to explore the solutions of working together. it says it is committed to restoring those equal pay issues. >> thank you very much indeed. jack carson there at in in birmingham city centre. great to speak to you . speak to you. >> it's very, very odd that, refuse collectors and street cleaners getting bonuses means that cooks and care workers must get bonuses as well. >> very nice. >> very nice. >> you doesn't it really, really annoys you anyway, so keir starmer is holding a showdown meeting with union leaders over fears that key elements of the party's workers rights policy may be diluted or completely dropped. >> well, unite general secretary sharon graham has said that a
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new draft shared with unions was unrecognisable and turned a real new deal for workers into a charter for bad bosses. but is that such a bad thing? well, joining us now to discuss this is deputy political editor at the financial times, jim pickard. and jim, you've seen these two different documents. there are some pretty substantial changes . yes, absolutely. >> you need to go back here to 2021, to the original drafting of a green paper called labour new deal for working people, drawn up by angela rayner and a colleague called andy mcdonald. and it had 30, 40, 50 different policies, all boosting workers rights at the expense of employers. i guess as is inevitable, and not a lot of people took it hugely seriously. because if you remember, 2021 was kind of the nadir of keir starmer's leadership. labour was behind in the polls. boris johnson was enjoying a really big bounce and so people didn't take labour's policies as seriously as they do right now. on the brink of what we think is going to be a labour victory in the general election. so fast forward those three years and there's a lot more scrutiny of a
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new draft that's going to be published in the coming weeks, which is going to be put in front of these trade union leaders today . and since the leaders today. and since the original version three years ago, there have been quite a lot of changes. a lot of stuff has been watered down. but because a lot of this happened at something called the labour national policy forum last summer, which is a kind of shindig of labour shadow ministers, functionaries, union leaders. labour is trying to claim that nothing has changed, but obviously compared to three years ago, an awful lot has changed and even in the last few weeks there have been changes in language, the addition of a promise to consult about the fact that this is going to be in draft legislation. there was a there was an angela rayner promise that there'd be legislation within 100 days. now it's only going to be in draft form. so i think there's going to be a bit of anger behind closed doors today. the question is how much of that is performative anger and how much the trade union leaders are still grateful that they have a pretty substantial package of measures compared to what they would be getting if labour didn't win the general election. but the one thing to listen out for here is the language we've
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been hearing from keir starmer repeatedly, is he keeps saying he will not water down the new deal he will not water down the new deal. this is semantics. it has already been watered down. >> well, thank you so much for explaining that so succinctly for us. really, really interesting to see where this goes. and jim pickard, their deputy political editor at the financial times. tom, i wonder if it's okay to if it's fair to say that, perhaps angela rayner and andy mcdonnell didn't think it all through. >> well, i think they believe it. they really believe it. it's just that, that was at the time when keir starmer tried to sack angela rayner and ended up giving her six new jobs. so he was really, really rather weak then. but we must go back to tbilisi now. these are live pictures outside the parliament in the capital of georgia , where in the capital of georgia, where there have been all sorts of protests over this new law. the protesters are calling it the russia law. they're accusing huge russian influence, about this new sort of form of censorship, about shutting down media organisations , about
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media organisations, about arresting individuals with the wrong opinions . essentially what wrong opinions. essentially what we're seeing here in the rain with some gas masks and confrontations against the police. here is a big protest in favour of free speech and against sort of any autocratic encroachment on people's rights to say what they think. >> yes, lots of them with, these, gas masks around their necks or on their face, indeed, waving flags. they're huge gathering there in the capital of georgia, activists have been breaking down barriers outside the buildings . tension seems to the buildings. tension seems to be escalating following this controversy . law being passed, controversy. law being passed, it's clear they believe this threatens fundamental civil rights. freedom of the press, freedom of speech, freedom of association, even now, it's worth bearing in mind that two years ago, in 2022, russia itself passed a law known as the foreign agents law.
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>> this is the law in russia that has allowed vladimir putin to detain foreign journalists, being able to kick out foreign media and all the rest of it. well, now this similar sounding foreign agent law has been put to the georgian parliament. and here's a very interesting quote from the prime minister of georgia who says that if or if any deputies are going to vote against this bill at its third reading, if they're going to vote it down, then georgia would lose sovereignty. and these are his words easily. lose sovereignty. and these are his words easily . we share the his words easily. we share the same fate as ukraine that sounds like a man who's been threatened. >> so the prime minister is essentially claiming there that this bill makes people safer in his country. but others will see this as giving to in vladimir putin, very interesting to see so many people amassed there protesting this particular bill.
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>> it's easy to forget that, actually, in 2008, georgia was invaded by russia, not in a full scale invasion , but they they scale invasion, but they they nabbed a fair bit of the country. and i suppose the prime minister of georgia is thinking, my goodness me, georgia is a small country, not a huge population , it's easy to see how population, it's easy to see how if they don't do what potentially the russians have told them to do, they could share that same fate of ukraine facing a large invasion. that seems to be the big risk over all of this. but here people are exercising their democratic rights that currently exist in georgia, saying that's not worth the risk. don't take our democratic rights away. what's the point in living in a peaceful country if that country is not free? it's quite interesting, isn't it? >> the specifics of this bill that, ngos and independent media that, ngos and independent media that receive more than 20% of their funding from foreign donors, they'd have to register as organisations bearing the
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interests of a foreign power, and they'd been monitored and subject to monitoring by the justice ministry , and, could justice ministry, and, could potentially be forced to share , potentially be forced to share, sensitive information. so these people out here extremely worried by the looks of things that this is , a threat to their that this is, a threat to their bafic that this is, a threat to their basic civil rights, effectively , basic civil rights, effectively, state control of media that's trying to , sort of expose what's trying to, sort of expose what's going on. we live in a globalised world, you know, so many media companies is, have investments from different countries. and so on, especially with a small country like georgia , most media potentially, georgia, most media potentially, or at least a huge, huge part of it will be, having having a proportion of its funding coming from other countries. >> only 3.7 million people live in georgia. that's about a third, a third the size of london. so this is clearly a massive encroachment on on the
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freedom of the press, but also of individuals too. and a big stand off really , between stand off really, between georgia and russia. all in the context of the war in ukraine. >> and this here, what we're looking at looks like a standoff, does it not? to the right of the screen. i believe thatis right of the screen. i believe that is where the riot police are . you've got the protesters are. you've got the protesters facing them head on. at the moment, there is no, the tensions haven't escalated into violence that we're seeing at the moment. it very much does look like a standoff and not just a standoff outside parliament. >> also, a fight broke out between politicians as elected politicians within the georgian parliament, which is just an extraordinary sight . but the way extraordinary sight. but the way that this is all working now is that this is all working now is that in order for a bill to become law in georgia, just like in the united kingdom, it has to be signed by the head of state. in our case, that's royal assent from the king in their case, it's, it's got to be signed by
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the president to become law. so the president to become law. so the president to become law. so the president has two weeks after the passing of a bill to sign that bill into law. and what these protesters are all getting out there onto the streets to do is to say president salome zurabishvili, zurab archewell, please don't sign this bill into law. >> very interesting indeed. we'll keep an eye on what's going on in wc in georgia for you, but we're going to, go . not you, but we're going to, go. not quite yet. it's worth introduce. >> it's worth saying that the georgian president has said that she will veto this bill. but if a two thirds majority in, the parliament vote to override that veto, they can do so, and they do have the votes to do so. so it's a complicated process here, but it does look like the there is undeniably some fear here about russian aggression and intimidation. >> right. well, we're going to step away from tbilisi in georgia because martin daubney
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is up next at 3:00 and he's going to tell us, give us a taste of what's to come . taste of what's to come. >> well, as well as all the latest on those georgia protests and also the ongoing manhunt in france for mohammed amara, who's been described locally as a narco boss, the most wanted man in france, the gendarme on the highest alert nationwide, throwing all of its resources into finding this individual, will have the latest on that. plus, after yesterday's shock decision to disapply the rwanda bill in northern ireland. we're in county down and we've asked locals what they make of it. and let me tell you this, they do not mince their words. they're not mince their words. they're not remotely happy with what these out of touch judges are putting upon them . and a new putting upon them. and a new poll saying if nigel, nigel farage vie portland rafe returned to the reform party, it could be an extinction level event for the conservatives nigel says they're toast anyway. will he come back? and of
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course, the valdo calocane latest, a case from my home city of nottingham, very much moved me an outrage of justice. the parents of the deceased want reform. we think that should be done. and student visas today the migration advisory service has said they will not change plans to tighten up on student visas, despite the fact the government has promised to cut down on record levels of immigration. all of that coming on the show, 3 to 6. >> it's coming up, indeed, and a very nice new tie, i see. very nice indeed, martin. we'll be bill smith . we'll be staying bill smith. we'll be staying tuned for that. all the time. makers are available. >> very good. well, coming up we've got much, much more to coven we've got much, much more to cover, so do not go anywhere. not least, what on earth is going on with british shipbuilding? some questions over that to come
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i >> -- >> well, we've got two major international stories at the same time. this afternoon, a manhunt for an escaped inmate in france. and also, we're going to go straight back to tbilisi in georgia, because we've got live pictures outside parliament. >> we're going to bring you first, though, some pictures that we've just got in of the police charging at some of these protesters. and of course, this is to all do with a new law that's going through parliament at the moment. it could that's going through parliament at the moment . it could well be at the moment. it could well be vetoed by the president, but then overturned . it's called the then overturned. it's called the foreign agent law. it mirrors a law that was passed in russia that has been used to clamp down on civil society, clamp down on journalists and the accusation of protesters here. they're calling it the russia law. they're saying that this is all at the behest of vladimir putin. could this be the escalation in the ukraine conflict that everyone has been warning about? >> yes. they're absolutely furious. >> these are pictures now inside parliament, parliament, inside
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parliament, parliament, inside parliament, elected legislator as upon the passing of this law. just watch what happens here. physical altercations , physical physical altercations, physical altercations about a country and altercations about a country and a slide into authoritarianism, all allegedly at the behest of russia. this has been causing huge consternation in georgia, a country of 3.7 million people in the caucasus just south of russia. there's huge, huge concern and has been huge concern and has been huge concern in georgia ever since that full scale invasion of ukraine. could they be next and there's huge disagreement between different political parties in georgia about how best to avoid a war. clearly the prime minister believes the way to avoid a war is to do the behest of vladimir putin. >> absolutely. so we've got a brawl inside the parliament between representatives there. you've got the police charging at groups of protesters, and here are the protesters now live
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in the capital, tbilisi. a mass protest , lots of people there protest, lots of people there with gas masks on. we've seen the riot police to the right of this scene that you're watching right now. things are very much heating up . these mass heating up. these mass protesters, these protesters, these activists here furious. they argue that the government is about to undermine their bafic is about to undermine their basic civil rights, perhaps giving in to the threat of russia instead of putting the rights of freedom of press, freedom of speech, freedom of association. even above that, extraordinary scenes really extraordinary. >> now it's worth saying that this bar, this, this bill passed today on tuesday , 84 votes to 30 today on tuesday, 84 votes to 30 in the parliament. so a huge overwhelming majority, a veto proof majority, but clearly a majority that has been borne out under a sense of threat. it's worth going back to those words of the georgian prime minister who said that if these this bill
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isn't passed , if this bill if isn't passed, if this bill if mps back down on this bill, georgia itself would lose sovereignty and easily share the fate of ukraine. those are, his words, easily share the fate of ukraine. >> and interesting to think about how vladimir putin will be viewing these events here in georgia. >> it seems that this is you can, you can almost see why the government is doing what it's doing. but, but it raises that question sort of if you, if you lose sovereignty simply by doing the bidding of a foreign power , the bidding of a foreign power, you might as well have been invaded, quite frankly. >> well there you go. there are the live shots from georgia for you, but in other news, in france , a prisoner is on the france, a prisoner is on the loose in the north. this is after a police van was ambushed. now, i want to give you a little warning, because some of you may find these images a tad
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distressing, we're going to have a little look here. the images show gunmen carrying heavy weapons, two officers have been shot dead after their vehicle was rammed in. what appears to be. and what is an orchestrated attack? >> yes. several hundred police officers are now involved in this manhunt throughout normandy and some of the surrounding areas. it's only an hour and a half away from paris. well, emmanuel macron is saying that everything is being done to find the perpetrators. >> well, we're now joined by our security editor, mark white, mark, thank you very much indeed for joining us. what's the latest on this, manhunt? >> well, that manhunt is still ongoing . hundreds of gendarme ongoing. hundreds of gendarme and other law enforcement agencies involved now in trying to hunt down this gang. and, of course, the prisoner himself , course, the prisoner himself, mohammed amara, described as the leader of a narcotics network in france . he'd been jailed for
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france. he'd been jailed for aggravated theft and burglary offences. so effectively theft and burglary with menaces with violence and coercion. also, he had been indicted in relation to the homicide and attempted homicide of two other individuals linked to the drugs trade, so described as a very nasty , violent individual. he nasty, violent individual. he had tried. according to authorities, to escape from his own prison cell. a couple of days ago. tried, according to french authorities , to saw the french authorities, to saw the bars open at that time . so he bars open at that time. so he had been placed under a higher level of security. he was being transferred from one state institution to another. that should have been a very closely guarded secret. the route that that vehicle was to have taken, that vehicle was to have taken, that convoy was to have taken. but on the a154, which is in southern normandy, at about
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11:00 this morning, local time, in that area, that convoy was hijacked by this gang in two vehicles, one vehicle smashing into the front of that convoy. as the images that were provided on social media by someone who was on one of the buses, a tour bus that was passing through that tollbooth, at the time , that tollbooth, at the time, really giving an indication of the violence that ensued there. you can see on the images a couple of the four people who were involved, apparently, in breaking this prisoner free. they were clearly armed, as you can see, with collapse panikovsky ak 47 semi—automatic automatic weapons . and automatic weapons. and apparently, according to authorities, they opened fire without mercy on those prison officers , six of them were officers, six of them were struck, we're told that at least
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2 or 3 have died , from the 2 or 3 have died, from the injuries that they suffered, three others, we believe, suffered serious injuries as a result of this ambush. so a very violent episode that unfolded in the southern part of normandy , the southern part of normandy, that prisoner mohammed amara and those who managed to free that prisoner on the run, but being hunted by hundreds of law enforcement officers from the french police . french police. >> this seems to be a real, almost like a real life sort of movie situation. this this prison break on a road, at a checkpoint, at a, at a toll point , on a checkpoint, at a, at a toll point, on a french checkpoint, at a, at a toll point , on a french motorway, point, on a french motorway, this seems just incredibly dramatic. and again, to not do with terrorism, but to do with
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organised crime. >> yes. and as you say, it does sound like the script from a movie, but the consequences are real world and very graphic indeed. with those prison officers shot by those ak 47 seconds were told that of the two officers that are confirmed to have died , one was in his to have died, one was in his 50s, leaves a wife and children , 50s, leaves a wife and children, the other in his 30s, leaves a wife, who is pregnant and, as i say, reports that one other prison officer may have been killed, but that has not yet been confirmed. but, yeah, i mean, just absolutely horrific. and linked not to terrorism, but unked and linked not to terrorism, but linked to the sort of the gang violence that plagues many cities in france, particularly in the south in marseille, where we're told that mohamed amara had links to with this narcotics network that he headed a very
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violent network responsible , violent network responsible, according to french authorities, for a great deal of harm in that community, including the homicide and attempted homicide of gang rivals. >> the french prime minister has just come out to say that the french republic has come under attack, he says. our entire justice system is under attack and of course , he goes on to and of course, he goes on to say, i would like to pay tribute to the victims. the whole of france will be will be watching . france will be will be watching. >> yes, indeed. so what you've got in terms of the response, of course , those officers from the course, those officers from the gendarme, the gendarmerie , who gendarme, the gendarmerie, who are effectively paramilitary police officers responding for policing rural areas of france , policing rural areas of france, but they are being assisted by other law enforcement agencies who have been brought in to that area . and of course, what they area. and of course, what they will always do in the first instance is work out an area where they believe this
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particular gang could have got to in the time it's taken them to in the time it's taken them to respond, respond. they throw up roadblocks around that area to make sure that all the main roads around an area are sealed off, and that if the gang has not left that area, they certainly cannot leave that area . and then it's a more methodical, slow time search of area of the area concerned, which will of course involve looking in some rural areas, factory buildings in the area , factory buildings in the area, but judging by the way in which this operation was conducted, with one car ramming, this prison varne convoy, another car used as a getaway, and we're told that that car was found burnt out, a short distance away from this scene. it clearly was highly organised, and they would have factored in, i'm sure, a means of escape. >> yes, mark. it's a game of cat
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and mouse. these roadblocks versus these multiple vehicles burnt out or otherwise. and almost sort of in this relay like situation , i wonder, mark, like situation, i wonder, mark, what is your assessment on the likelihood of a swift end to this operation on the professionalism and likelihood of success of the french police ? of success of the french police? >> i don't know how swift it will be, but there will be, i'm sure, a conclusion to this because, you know, you're talking about law enforcement officials in the form of prison officers from the justice department shot here. there will be an almighty response as you're hearing from the french president down through the justice minister, minister, the interior minister and all of the colleagues who are out looking for these individuals and the one thing they will have on their side is mohammed amara is a known individual. they know who they are dealing with. he is the head, according to authorities of a narcotics
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network. they will have a lot of intelligence because these people never work. but could he, in isolation or on a journey to get to where they are? >> could he move around the european union quite easily though he could move around, potentially come to you know, make his way to the united kingdom, even . kingdom, even. >> well, coming to the united kingdom is more difficult. unless of course, he wants to get on a boat across the english channel. they would have to come through a port and an airport. but yes, you're right, you've got open borders across europe . got open borders across europe. if they get to a border, they can get across that border relatively easy. we don't have really much in the way of manned border checks, although they do spnng border checks, although they do spring up when you have serious incidents like this. so as i say, a lot, a lot of, effort now being put into place and trying to find these individuals as well. >> mark white, thank you very much for bringing us the very latest there from this manhunt in northern france . so much
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in northern france. so much going on this afternoon. but don't worry . up next, it's don't worry. up next, it's martin daubney who will have much more continued coverage of all these stories you've been watching. good afternoon britain . see you tomorrow . . see you tomorrow. >> a brighter outlook with boxt solar sponsors of weather on . gb news. >> hello. it's a very different day today across some eastern and northern parts of the country. outbreaks of rain. although the rain does tend to ease.it although the rain does tend to ease. it turns to showers as the day and the week goes on and we've got low pressure bringing further downpours into tuesday, wednesday and thursday. but that low anchor towards the southwest is also bringing quite a keen breeze into southwestern areas , breeze into southwestern areas, the showers fading away as we go into the evening and overnight. the rain in the east tending to fragment with some drier spells developing but a lot of cloud
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around. and with that cloud temperatures in most places will stay at 11 to 13 celsius, but with some lengthier clear spells and lighter winds. for northern ireland, temperatures will dip into the single figures here. so a fresh start for northern ireland. for western scotland. but bright skies here, plenty of sunshine and actually it's a mostly fine day for northern ireland with just 1 or 2 showers. scotland seeing the finest weather with plenty of warm sunshine once again . warm sunshine once again. cloudier further south and into northern and eastern england. we'll see further showers. some longer spells of rain for east anglia. 1 or 2 showers for the southwest, but actually plenty of fine weather here as well. and highs of 20 to 21 celsius. thursday starts off with a fair amount of sunshine. actually southern parts of the uk keep that sunshine going into the afternoon , but there will be afternoon, but there will be some showers developing in places away from the showers. feeling pleasant enough with lighter winds and we keep the sunny spells and showers late. >> that warm feeling inside from boxt boilers. sponsors of
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gb news. >> a very good afternoon to you. it's 3 pm. and welcome to the martin daubney show on gb news. we're broadcasting live from the heart of westminster. and, of course, all across the uk. coming up after yesterday's shock decision by a top judge to disapply the rwanda plan to northern ireland, meaning more asylum seekers could pour into the country. we've been speaking to locals in county down for their furious reaction. next up, a shock new poll shows a nigel farage comeback could be an extinction level event for the tory party and to rev it up further, nigel himself said this regardless of what i decide to do next, the conservatives are toast . anyway, we'll have a full toast. anyway, we'll have a full update on that and presently there are huge protests in the georgian capital of tbilisi as
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