a prison convoy. ambush on a prison convoy. vehicles were rammed at toll booths on a motorway at anchorvale, in northwest of the country . images on social media country. images on social media showed at least two men in balaclavas carrying rifles near an suv that was in flames. balaclavas carrying rifles near an suv that was in flames . the an suv that was in flames. the car appeared to have been rammed into the front of the prison van. local media is naming the suspect as mohammed amara , who's suspect as mohammed amara, who's 30 and reportedly has ties to powerful gangs in the city of marseille in georgia. huge numbers of riot police have broken up crowds of protesters who believe their nation is on a path to dictatorship. demonstrators broke through the barriers outside the parliament building, where a controversial law has been passed . the foreign law has been passed. the foreign agents bill puts limits on on media and non—governmental organisations, which receive at least a fifth of their funding from abroad. these are the scenes live from tbilisi, where crowds are still gathered outside after clashes with officers. critics are calling it the russian law and think it

will damage aspirations to join the eu. however, georgia's government insists it's needed to promote transparency . a home to promote transparency. a home office minister says 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 legal 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 . and the prime its rwanda plan. and the prime minister is calling on shoppers to back british produce as he hosts the second farm to fork summit at downing street. labour says the conservatives have dnven says the conservatives have driven farmers to breaking point and have pledged a new deal they say will put money back into their pockets. but rishi sunak told members of the food industries that britain must reduce its reliance on fruit and vegetables from overseas. >> 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 our british farmers. i do want to say this we are with you . to say this we are with you. >> for all of the latest stories, you can sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen. or you can go to gb news .com/ alerts. now back to . nigel. back to. nigel. >> good evening. now this is my last pitch to you because the tric awards this year and i'm on the long list to be news presenter of the year voting closes at 5:00 on friday, so . so closes at 5:00 on friday, so. so you can go to pole hyphen tr , you can go to pole hyphen tr, escort uk or throughout this program on the bottom right hand side of the screen there'll be the qr code. you can use your phoneif the qr code. you can use your phone if you want to vote for me. but remember last year you did vote for me in big numbers

and me winning really upset the established television industry. it was simply the most enormous fun. now, should we slash foreign graduate numbers? is our debate today and this follows a report from the migration advisory committee and they're saying to the government, and they've conducted a long review into this that they find no evidence of widespread abuse. okay, i'll come to that in a moment. but they do say if there was a big reduction of numbers, some of our universities might just collapse . let me just run just collapse. let me just run through with you some of the numbers , they are staggering. in numbers, they are staggering. in 2023, there were 460,000 sponsored study visas, 460,000 students came to us in that yeah students came to us in that year. what is even more staggering is that we allowed 144,000 dependents to come. students come with dependents. yes, i know it seems absolutely bassi, but that's what we allow to do. and that is something

like the number of student visas, 70% higher than in 2019, 70% higher under this government . they argue that it's a good thing. they argue that it's good for the economy. and where are they coming from? china. india and nigeria, chiefly . but here's and nigeria, chiefly. but here's the bit that really, really is annoying. i think the proportion of students granted leave to remain, which means they can then stay for the rest of their lives if they want to , tripled lives if they want to, tripled between 2019 and 2023, from 18% to 56, you begin to understand why with this and other areas legal. forget the boats for a minute. legal net migration in this country has simply exploded. now now they have changed the rules. they have said that for this year, no foreign students are allowed to bnng foreign students are allowed to bring dependents with them. and they think because of that , we they think because of that, we will get a much, much smaller

net migration figure . but even net migration figure. but even if we do, why the hell were they allowing this in the first place? seems to me that many of our not all, but many of our universities have become absolutely drunk on foreign money, be it grants from china or foreign students. and i wonder whether this is all to the benefit of british students going on to further education. so i think we should slash the numbers. also, we should be careful about who we allow in. and just coming as a student should not give you automatic leave to remain. that's my political position on all of it. so let me know what you know, what you think. should we slash student numbers? foreign student numbers? farage at gb news.com. i'm joined by alex proudfoot, chief executive of the independent higher education sector . alex, the numbers of sector. alex, the numbers of foreign students coming to britain has just exploded over the last few years. i guess for many of the university , as they many of the university, as they see this is a big business opportunity. >> well , as

opportunity. >> well, as far as we see it, education is a great british export. i mean, it's one of the few things we do really fantastically vie, these days. and it's a growth market around the world. we're brilliant at, you know, finance , professional you know, finance, professional services, the creative industries , but education is industries, but education is actually probably our best export because not only does it bnng export because not only does it bring revenue into the exchequer and into institutions and communities , it also boosts our communities, it also boosts our soft power in ways that we can only kind of imagine in, the hepi, the higher education policy institute published a regular soft power ranking, which looks at how many world leaders were educated in the uk and not just, leaders of governments, but also business leaders , they go back and they leaders, they go back and they have a favourable view of the uk . and it's really it's one of one of the secret sources of our trade. >> you made the argument for it. and you're right. you know, we do have universities that rank very highly on the global scale of that. there is no doubt . but of that. there is no doubt. but i mean, you know, my point is

that if coming as a student allows you to bring it, it allows you to bring it, it allows you to bring it, it allows you to bring dependents. and then ultimately, if 60% now of those that come use it as a route, i mean, it's become a route, i mean, it's become a route to immigration and that's the bit that i find objectionable given the sheer numbers. but that's not your concern. the government have decided at last to stop student dependents coming. yeah but if we get a reduction in a significant reduction in the number of foreign graduates that come, and if that puts financial pressures on some of our universities, be they the ones we're used to or the independent ones that you are looking after and these universities have to contract, is that a bad thing ? contract, is that a bad thing? >> i would argue it's a very bad thing for the communities in which they're based. i think it's a bad thing for the economy nationally. i think it's a particularly bad thing with our members when it comes to particular industries. our members generally work hand in glove with employers , whether glove with employers, whether that's in the creative industries like film, music,

designer fashion, whether it's in engineering, whether that's in engineering, whether that's in business and law, you know, the employers really value the graduates that they're producing and the skills that they bring to workplace. so i think, you know, unfortunately, unfortunately, fortunately , we unfortunately, fortunately, we are where we are in terms of the world development of the world and the modern, the modern economy of the world, we need more, highly trained , highly more, highly trained, highly skilled, highly educated individuals. i won't just be for the university , but i don't the university, but i don't disagree with that point. >> but don't we need more highly trained, highly skilled technicians, doctors, engineers who are actually british? >> well, absolutely . and we >> well, absolutely. and we should be encouraging as many of them as possible to take those courses. and we should be funding them. >> so why don't we? i mean, here's an idea for the election. why why don't we say the stem subjects that, you know, science, technology, engineering, medicine, mathematics , which are needed? mathematics, which are needed? no question. we could say there are no tuition fees on those, couldn't we? >> how wonderful . who's paying >> how wonderful. who's paying for it?

>> well, all of this comes at a cost, but that would only be a fraction of the number of students going to university. i mean, the broader point, okay, we've discussed foreign students. you made the argument for i worry the numbers are too big, and i worry that it's a route to long term immigration. >> that's can i worry slightly on that . you mentioned earlier on that. you mentioned earlier in the earlier on a few minutes ago that, leave too many leave to remain. leave to remain is not permanent residency. that just means you're extending your visa. >> yeah, but it's the first step towards it. and once you've done that for a couple of years, it's almost automatic. >> definitely not almost automatic. if you're here on a study visa or on a graduate visa, that doesn't count at all to permanent residency. it's entirely separate track from the work route or from the family route . if you come here as route. if you come here as someone's partner, with those roots, you can spend five years and you can get five, but you've got the time then to get yourself a job and then you can stay. >> that's politics. i don't want discuss. if you're good enough, you can get job. >> yeah, yeah, yeah. >> yeah, yeah, yeah. >> i have to say, i think i

think the migration advisory committee are wrong. i think i think this is open to abuse. but i want to come back to british students if i can, because i've got you here and it's valuable. you know, i've been arguing for some time that we're sending far too many young people to university. we've can'd hundreds of thousands of young people since tony blair set the 50% target. the conservatives, of course, agreed with it, and we're pretty much there already. and my fear is alex, that a lot of young people are coming out of young people are coming out of university with quite big debt around their necks with degrees that do not further them in the workplace whatsoever , for in the workplace whatsoever, for who have probably been indoctrinated with some left wing ideology. and i just wonder whether setting arbitrary targets like 50% actually makes any sense . any sense. >> far be it from me to defend tony blair, but that target actually much misunderstood. the target was 50% of people going to level five, i think four or 5 or 75 and above actually includes technician programs as part of our target, because we got rid of fallen behind a bit,

you know, because we got rid of techs and called them universities. basically, we're kind of reversing the trend a little bit. now, there are things called institutes of technology. our members also, they aren't sort of they aren't they aren't sort of they aren't the kind of government sponsored institutes of technology, but they have the same kind of mix of programs. so whether that's, you know, the academy of live technology in wakefield or dyson institute of engineering, engineering technology, these are places who really put skills first. and oftentimes they won't necessarily require full bachelor's degree. i think what we're kind of quite keen as an organisation to do is encourage a rightsizing of people. when people just get the learning they need to get the career they want. so not necessarily everything. as a three year degree. although places like buckingham offer two year degrees, which is a really good idea. that's right. >> when buckingham started and well, why would people pay to go? and then tuition fees came in. and of course, if you if you're at buckingham paying two years tuition fees, it's no more expensive, is it, than going through the normal route. >> it isn't. and you save on accommodation costs, maintenance costs and you get into the workforce quicker. it's really popular amongst our members, particularly for older students

who can know what they want to do or they might be changing career and they have a sort of real target in mind of in terms of employability. and they go for it for two years and the independent sector is growing. it is growing. i mean, it's very hard to keep track of it really. we have 80 members now, but, just a number of providers who offer some kind of degree level provision is over 400 independent providers . and if independent providers. and if you go further with technical courses, with vocational courses , you're looking at over 1000. it's very diverse. i think that diversity is one of its strengths. >> well, i'll tell you what, i think the more people that do technical courses and get genuine trades and skills, whether we call it university or not, is a very good thing for our country. and i take your point that we've kind of recategorised a lot of things as being university, and maybe that's how we got to 50. i still think too many are going to doing social studies, but that is by the by, this is sort of a thought experiment you'd have if you're kind of local authority, local government representative or elected representative in, in, you know, say middlesbrough

or huddersfield , you know, or an or huddersfield, you know, or an area which hasn't got a university at the moment, say if you offered them a university, they'll bite your hand off because they know how much, you know how much investment it attracts in how many skilled jobsit attracts in how many skilled jobs it creates, how much it can drive innovation in the local sort of employers as well. >> in local industry. vie i think, you know, there's no not every area needs a large university. sometimes. sometimes they could be smaller and specialists, but higher. some form of post 18 education, i think is, is a way to go in most, most parts of country. >> alex proudfoot, you've made a very positive case there, and if that was the case for everybody , that was the case for everybody, if foreign students were coming here and paying their money and not using it as a backdoor route to long term stay, and if many more of those that went to university aged 18 or 19 came out with trades and skills, i would be happier than i am in a moment. a farming summit in the garden of number 10 downing street, where rishi sunak looks farmers in the eye and says we are on your side . farmers in the eye and says we are on your side. is it just

electioneering? and do they have much of a record to be proud of when it comes to uk food production

? i asked you, should we slash foreign graduate numbers? loads of responses coming in. steve says too many second rate university is offering third rate. irrelevant degrees. reduce foreign students, cull the number of universities and concentrate on quality. i think i'm with you there, steve. jackie says we would not only. we should not only stop foreign students, but we should close down all universities as students are being indoctrinated and brainwashed. i know jackie, many of them are madrassas of marxism . i do understand that. marxism. i do understand that. i think maybe closing them all down is a little bit radical, and alan says provided they pay up front for everything and leave at the end of the course on foreign students. and yeah, the fact that it's being used as

a back door to long term immigration and they've been allowed they've been allowed up until this point to bring dependents with them. i think the whole thing has been completely outrageous. now downing street this morning, a gathering , apparently, of all gathering, apparently, of all the great and good from british farming and rishi sunak, they're giving a speech talking about food production . but let's just food production. but let's just remind ourselves, let's just remind ourselves, let's just remind ourselves, let's just remind ourselves of what this government since 2019 has done to british farming. here was bofis to british farming. here was boris johnson of the conservative party conference just over three years ago. >> we are going to rewild parts of the country and consecrate a total of 30% to nature. we're planting tens of millions of trees . otters are returning to trees. otters are returning to rivers from which they have been absent for decades. beavers that have not been seen on some rivers since tudor times massacred for their pelts. and now back. and if that isn't conservatism, my friends, i don't know what is. bill back beaven don't know what is. bill back beaver, i say. >> it'sjust

beaver, i say. >> it's just absolutely cringe making, isn't it, >> it's just absolutely cringe making, isn't it , to watch it. making, isn't it, to watch it. so boris wanted to take 30% of uk farmland out of food production. let's be clear, that's what his plan was. and also, of course, the mad rush to net zero has meant that much of our good farmland and some of our good farmland and some of our less good farmland has been turned over. of course, to solar farms. i can't think of any government in modern times that has done more to stop british food production . but hey, today food production. but hey, today apparently that's all changed. he was rishi sunak in the garden of number 10 and watch this clip and think to yourself, if you're giving a speech and right next to you, a military band is playing the national anthem, would you have carried on with the speech or would you have stopped and stood to attention? watch this. >> that's why today it's the second farm to fork summit. we said we would start this and oh, there we go. fantastic and i'm and i'm very keen to make sure that we do keep producing more of the nation's food because this issue matters to me personally. today we are doing

something that many of you have asked us to do rightly for years, and that's to publish our first ever draft uk wide food security index, which i think is a landmark moment in this conversation . we've committed to conversation. we've committed to publishing it annually. it will allow us to monitor and keep an eye on in—year shocks and make sure that we can maintain our commitments on food production as set out in our food strategy and ensure that we back you all the way. so the band are doing it better than me. let me just close with saying an enormous thank you and enjoy the morning . thank you and enjoy the morning. >> well, two points there. the first is, i'm told, many in the crowd did stand to attention because, you know, the band were playing the national anthem. sunak chose not to, although it was an odd choice, but what about the content of what he had to say? we're on your side. we're with you, and we're going to appoint a new commissioner for tenant farming. yes. what we're going to do is bureaucratised farming even more. and that's really, really going to help you, and we're going to help you, and we're

going to help you, and we're going to launch a new food security index to measure how much of the fruit and veg that we consume is produced in this country. well, it is just pure electioneering. and as i say, it runs completely contrary to everything that we tried to do in boris johnson's time. everything that we tried to do in boris johnson's time . but i in boris johnson's time. but i guess that's politics. well, i said all the great and the good of british farming were invited. one person who wasn't invited is liz webster from save british farming, and liz has been in the studio before with us. liz, of course, very much behind the recent farming protests. so they didn't want you there? no we didn't want you there? no we didn't get an invitation. >> why , i don't know. you would >> why, i don't know. you would have thought we'd be invited, but also farmers weekly weren't invited, you know that is the one magazine that really, really is about farming. you know, even jeremy clarkson is talks about farmers weekly. but rishi left them out , so that really shows them out, so that really shows he wasn't serious about farming . he wasn't serious about farming. >> yeah. >> yeah. >> and you saw the point i made about government policy was

rewilding, the encouragement of solar farms. and now suddenly they want us to produce more of our own food. and i know that we're in post—brexit britain. and you and i disagreed on on that , but we and you and i disagreed on on that, but we are where we are. and i understand that after 47 years of accepting policy from elsewhere, we have to start thinking for ourselves. and i, you know, and i get that that's not always going to be an immediate or smooth transition, but i mean, what is the real i mean, this is just pure electioneering today. what is the real message to farming from government ? government? >> well, it is pure electioneering and it's trying to make out that if they're re—elected, i guess that they will start to listen. but quite frankly, it's very, very late in the day . anything he said today the day. anything he said today we know we're facing a labour government, even if we don't have enough farmers anyway. if they do decide to vote for the conservatives, which i don't think a lot of them will, and, you know, they're not going to they're not going to be they're not going to get these promises delivered , and it's also worth delivered, and it's also worth remembering that rishi sunak was

chancellor before he was prime minister. he had his hands on the till and we started protesting in that year, 2020, as the agriculture act was going through parliament and we said, where's the food plan? there was never a food plan, but now it was it was an environmental act. it's not an agriculture act. >> now he's launching a food security index, not a look they tore up. >> it was a major terror between our trade, especially for agriculture, with the european union. and then they changed all of the laws to look after agriculture and turned around and said, don't worry , farmers, and said, don't worry, farmers, put your cap on and go out and cut the hedges and plants and flowers and if you're lucky, put a solar park in if you if the grid can cope with it to get a bit of income. and largely that's what they've done to us. and yeah, i probably wasn't ianed and yeah, i probably wasn't invited because i, you know, had i if i had the opportunity to ask rishi something, i if i had the opportunity to ask rishi something , this is ask rishi something, this is exactly what i'd be saying, because we're now in a really

dangerous situation on food. we have since brexit happened, we've become more reliant on food from europe than ever before, which is bonkers because actually one of the points of brexit was it would be easier to import food from other and cheaper from other parts of the world. >> well, but , world. >> well, but, you world. >> well, but , you know, i world. >> well, but, you know, i mean, we always imported food from all around the world. >> nige. but anyway, that it should be easier now not know because we've got worse terms since brexit outside the cptpp we've lost, we've got worse deals now. now we're out of the european union. >> insane on, on on net zero. you mentioned solar farms a moment ago and the government the big drive to net zero. the same thing happening across the whole of europe, of course, and many regulations on nitrates, etc. big protests in france, big protests in the netherlands and elsewhere . protests here. do you elsewhere. protests here. do you think there's a sort of slow reversal coming on some of that net zero stuff? >> i really can't say . you know, >> i really can't say. you know, the we need to we need to drive

the we need to we need to drive the economy somehow. and the money is there in solar farms , i money is there in solar farms, i think to be fair, we ought to be doing more what they are doing on the continent and putting more solar panels on structures, you know, existing structures rather than fields. but farmers are now land farmers who own their farms are absolutely going to want a solar farm because they've lost their subsidies , they've lost their subsidies, and it means they've got income coming in. >> i certainly see them springing up all over kent and elsewhere at the moment, and we face a labour government. you know, john curtis, the doyen of political commentators, says it's 99% certain that that sir keir starmer will be in number 10. what are labour saying to farming, to fishing. >> labour are listening and they're asking us our opinion , they're asking us our opinion, which is really good. i think labour understand that we need a food plan, but because so much food plan, but because so much food , british food has been food, british food has been destroyed, you know, the we have to accept that we can't ramp up production. and this is the ridiculous thing about rishi sunak today saying, oh yes,

we're all going to be able to produce so much food. it takes ages to ramp up production. we've lost two massive salad growers in this country . they've growers in this country. they've done nothing to help that. they've actually didn't help the fertiliser plants to keep open. ten. they wanted a £10 million one wasn't it? yeah, a £10 million loan. so now we're reliant on imported fertiliser. they you know there is nothing that they've done which is good. but it means we're more reliant on food than ever. so i would say we need to reduce these dreadful trade barriers and these new checks that have come in, you know, are a disaster. >> i honestly don't understand why we're doing that. >> well, we need we need to make sure that we don't get a, you know, for bio for biosecurity. thatis know, for bio for biosecurity. that is one of the issues. >> but there are there is such a thing as trusted traders and we do know there are reputable people that regularly sell anything comes via that comes from anywhere in the world. >> via rotterdam gets shoved in here. yeah, it's very and that's the problem with leaving the european union so, so quickly. >> hang on a second. you know, the biosecurity problems there, whether your members of the

european union or not. >> it's a question because we were members of a central system, which meant it was filtered through. so we were sort of a member of like a liver almost. but we've filtered it through. >> we've still got to think about biosecurity. but the fact we the fact we're putting checks on at this moment in time seems nuts to me. >> the simplest thing to do now on food production is the key to this. >> and you're arguing that food production has reduced since they've been in government. do you think these words today will actually encourage more people to grow food? you don't do well. >> the only way they're going to encourage farmers to grow is by putting money in their pockets and giving them a policy and a food plan, what subsidy? they we need at the moment, we're being subsidised to do environmental things. we're not being encouraged. and there's so much risk involved in growing food. and we've got food on our shelves now, which is being labelled british, which isn't british undercutting us. and it's causing massive, massive problems farming politically is always very difficult. >> but i do think one of the things we've got here is a government that seesawed over

the course of the last five years and left much uncertain, we will come back to farming, fishing and many other complications in the weeks and months to come. in a moment we have not discussed ukraine on this program for a very, very long time. people were getting a bit bored talking about ukraine, but i don't know. i don't know. i think we perhaps need to start talking about ukraine and maybe about some of russia's activity outside of ukraine as well. all of that with robert

-- i won't remember boris johnson telling us ukraine will win the war. ukraine will win the war. i always used to wonder what winning actually looked like. did winning mean stopping the russians coming in? did winning mean getting crimea back? i never quite knew what the aims were, but i have to say , it does were, but i have to say, it does seem that russia have decided they're in this for the long haul they're in this for the long haul. they've recalibrated much of their economy towards the war effort . and ukraine, i think, is

effort. and ukraine, i think, is in a little bit of trouble . that in a little bit of trouble. that added to activity from putin. that does resemble much of varne dunng that does resemble much of varne during the cold war. i'm joined by robert fox, defence editor at the evening standard and a man who knows far more about this than i do. but first things first. much of the russian economy has now been turned towards military production, but also some personnel changes that you think are rather significant. >> they changed the defence minister, an old buddy of putin, shoygu, was shuffled aside. interestingly, he embraced him because he is still secretary—general of the security council, where one of his oldest buddies was the secretary—general and he's been appointed to something else. they've put in an economist, so—called. well, shoygu is no military man either. he was an engineer. they put this man beloussov in and he's there to clean it up. he's there to make the ministry more efficient. he's if it's possible he's there to make it more tack, because

the experience that he had before was in digital. apparently he knows about drones. no, it's really about cleaning it up. there is a bit of a cleaning of the stables going on at the top of the of the kremlin. why do i say that? because three have been fired from the defence ministry and one, a lieutenant general, has been banged up on a charge for corruption. we knew it was immensely corrupt, immensely inefficient, but huge amounts of money and huge amounts of equipment going through this is an absolutely tangible sign that we're in for a big war and on the battlefield . the battlefield. >> the second biggest city in ukraine now being challenged now being threatened, claim and counter—claim about what russia may or may not have won over the course of time and ukraine clearly in trouble because one of the arguments that is being put and regardless of how many shells we send them and regardless of how much american military aid gets there and when it gets there, they say they have no reserves left. and

that's of men . that's of men. >> they've reconstituted a new bngade >> they've reconstituted a new brigade that's very, very little. they need . what went little. they need. what went wrong was last year the in inverted commas summer offensive. and part of the problem in the brits and the americans. the brits sources have revealed this . they weren't have revealed this. they weren't really told what they were up to. that's why zaluzhnyi, the commander, was fired in the end because had the plan been revealed, the americans and the brits would have said no, because you've got no air power to cover the front line to speak of. and there are simple mistakes like that being made. there's a lot of hubris. they thought that they could do more because there had been a counter—attack. curiously, in kharkiv . but now it looks as if kharkiv. but now it looks as if this is what's called a shaping operation. and the big attack may not come in kharkiv. i've just before coming here, i've checked there are probes in five different points along the front. you've got to guess which ones. >> the serious one. yeah. is there a danger that ukraine

could seriously collapse militarily? yes. yeah. >> because of the thing that you've pointed to. it's actually the human factor and the economy , the economy in that kind of shape anyway cannot sustain this for another year. >> the way things are going, i've got that feeling as well . i've got that feeling as well. and final thought, but the big thought you know, i've always thought you know, i've always thought putin was rational and sensible . i see all the other sensible. i see all the other things that he's doing jamming techniques, cold war techniques . techniques, cold war techniques. i mean, he's not really planning to come further west, is he? no but he's planning to enhance something that's in his head , something that's in his head, the imperium of putin. >> and what is so interesting, if you really look at it, much of the effort is being made at sea and putin pride. he sees himself as peter the great. he really does. catherine the great. don't shut me out of the baltic. we are a great eurasian power. that's what the headline statement is. it's making a lot of russians miserable because

where does this end up? but, you know, tanks across the rhine, the old, cold war myths. forget about it. but it's something we're going to have to live with with a very, very long time, because he's picked some very, very odd friends, namely iran and north korea. >> yes. robert fox, as ever, great analysis. thank you for coming on the show. now danny kruger, member of parliament for wiltshire, devizes did put up a question today about the world health organisation and his concerns, which are very similar to mine. andrew stevenson, the minister of state for health, replied thus i want to start by making three promises. >> first, the government will only accept the accord and targeted amendments to the international health regulations if they are firmly in the united kingdom's national interest. and no text has yet been agreed. secondly, this government will only sign up to measures that respect our national sovereignty . and third, under no circumstances will we allow the w.h.o. to circumstances will we allow the who. to have the power to

w.h.o. to have the power to mandate lockdowns. this would be unthinkable and has never been proposed. the myth that the negotiations are being led by the w.h.o, negotiations are being led by the who, they are not being led by the who. they are entirely led by member states. second, the idea that we would give away a fifth of our vaccines in the next pandemic, this is simply not true . this is simply not true. >> what you are, it reminds me of the old days of us signing european treaties. it's okay guys, don't worry your poor little heads. everything's going to be just fine . we would never to be just fine. we would never surrender our national sovereignty that we did exactly that. sovereignty that we did exactly that . that. well, sovereignty that we did exactly that. that. well, i'm pleased that. that. well, i'm pleased that danny kruger put that forward. other mps to have asked questions today. i hope there's going to be a proper big debate on this. there'll be a petition that i'm going to launch at some point in the next few days, and just to sort of brush us off like that with the ministerial statement simply isn't good enough, given what we know now. jonathan yeo, who is a portrait artist and son of a famous conservative politician in

former times, has done the first official portrait of his majesty the king and he's wearing the uniform of the welsh guards . but uniform of the welsh guards. but it is a remarkable picture because the uniform almost fades into the background. and what you see from the portrait is the face, the head of the king it is unusual, to say the least . but i unusual, to say the least. but i have to tell you, i really rather like it. it's different, and it does capture king charles, i think, in a quite remarkable way. okay, that ends my career as an art critic. i'm sure, as the complaints will start to flood in with people saying they think it looks absolutely ghastly, now ozempic is very much in the news, but overnight, a report suggesting that it could be a wonder drug but doesn't just help you to reduce weight, but might stop you having heart disease. all of that in just

now, professor john deanfield is now, professorjohn deanfield is my cardiologist. i go and see him once a year, and he checks my blood pressure and says to me. really? given my lifestyle, i'm doing remarkably well . well, i'm doing remarkably well. well, there he was, all over the front pages today saying that anti—obesity jabs, the ozempic drug, could reduce the risk of heart attacks, strokes, heart failure in obese people regardless of the amount of weight they lose. while on the drug. and he was suggesting as much as a 20% reduction. now, forgive me, but i am one of those big pharma sceptics. forgive me, i'm someone that thinks perhaps it might be better just to lose weight rather than rely on his mp. but maybe, maybe it is a wonder drug. and joining me to discuss this, i've got doctor francesco le monaco and i've got sally baken le monaco and i've got sally baker, therapist and author. now, francesco, you're a private cardiologist . deanfield you know cardiologist. deanfield you know who i go to every year and got a very big reputation for what he does, what do you make of this

analysis? that his mp could be potentially very helpful , even potentially very helpful, even if you don't lose weight on it? >> yes. basically, ozempic inhibits the sense of hunger. semaglutide, which is the active principle, inhibits the sense of hungen principle, inhibits the sense of hunger. so the patient feels full sooner, so he loses weight. and this study was conducted in about more than 17,000 patients, for which half were in placebo, half were taking ozempic. now they show that about 6.5% of the patients only who were not in peak had this cardiac arrest or cardiovascular disorders, while 8% of the patients were on placebo . all had the disease. so placebo. all had the disease. so this means that in theory , there this means that in theory, there is a protective effect of a peak of about 20, which is actually quite important. and also which is a big number. absolutely. a very big number. just only really only a few studies have shown such an extent of study.

and so is very , very reassuring. and so is very, very reassuring. and so is very, very reassuring. and also depending the respect from the weight loss. so it doesn't it's not that if you lose more weight then you have more protection. so completely irrespective of that, definitely these are very good news from for us especially cardiologists. however however, every study of course has to be also, there are different factors that we need to consider. first of all, we cardiologists, we are not going to prescribe immediately. cardiologists, we are not going to prescribe immediately . we to prescribe immediately. we need to abide to certain guidelines that are written also by our international association, like american heart association. european society of cardiology actually is upcoming . cardiology actually is upcoming. now, the european society of cardiology meeting, in which 40,000 cardiologists are coming to london. so only after careful assessment of all the data , assessment of all the data, after many committees. >> so it's early days, it's early days, it's early days. but isn't it? i mean, isn't it true, francesco, that basically anybody over 45 who goes to see

anybody over 45 who goes to see a cardiologist, you just put them all on statins, don't you? >> well , no, that's not true, of coui'se. >> course. >> well, it is, it is dodi. well, no, no. yeah, i believe that. not of course, in a hybrid approach. also in my clinic in harley street where you have many patients, when there are many patients, when there are many patients, when there are many patients who are borderline , for example, borderline high cholesterol, borderline high blood pressure or hypertension, i don't immediately start demonstrating antihypertensive. i always also try to find what is a sort of a synergistic approach and hybrid approach. so ihave approach and hybrid approach. so i have also a team of dietitian nutritionist and functional medicine specialists who are able also to dig deeper into the root cause of the problem, because sometimes just changing, of course, all the lifestyle, understanding the mechanism behind we can also achieve big, big results. however, there are patients who have a very high blood pressure, high cholesterol. i you know, i wish more people took that approach because i think virtually

everybody in my age is on statins. >> i'm not i'm not, i'm not i'm not on statins. >> i'm sure that many people need starting people who have had high blood pressure . had high blood pressure. >> but i did lose weight. i did start doing more exercise. and i now don't need it. >> and this is my approach. >> and this is my approach. >> things we can do. sally you know, as a therapist. yeah, obesity , excess weight, massive obesity, excess weight, massive problem in society , anger and problem in society, anger and growing and growing. how useful do you think ozempic has been? >> has been really useful to my client base. they've been buying it on private prescriptions via onune it on private prescriptions via online pharmacies for a while now . it was very online pharmacies for a while now. it was very tough early days when the supply was irregular . days when the supply was irregular. so they days when the supply was irregular . so they get days when the supply was irregular. so they get their body would get used to 2.5 micrograms shots once a week. and then the suppliers would say, oh, look, we can only supply you with nought point 5. and but, you know, it's a lot of money. it's around £200 a month privately. >> is it is it. yes so there is a lot of money, but my clients are coming out the other side

now. >> what happens if people come and see me are emotional eaters who feel that their eating is out of control, beyond their control? olympic and wegovy very effectively cuts down immediately. the white noise of overthinking about food. but when they're no longer overthinking about food, all the other thoughts that they've been suppressing with food swallowing down with food come to the fore. so they find themselves ruminating into the late at night, depressed, catastrophic thinking . it's because the root thinking. it's because the root cause of their overeating, their dysfunctional eating, their, so snp doesn't cure that, does it? no. >> that's why snp rather like we're talking about. >> the clue is in the idea that as epic said, this is for life. you stay on it forevermore. the day you come off it, you'll start to gain weight again because the drivers that initiate your disordered eating will be there and there are often trauma based, childhood trauma based. and my work is to go in and resolve and release the trauma so that people can eat for nourishment instead of

self punishing, because clinically obese people know that they've got a massive risk of heart attack, heart disease , of heart attack, heart disease, they know they're reducing their life expectancy by ten, 15 years or whatever it is. >> yet they go on abstract. >> yet they go on abstract. >> it's an abstract. it's a bit like smoking when we all used to smoke, where we all used to smoke. >> still 1 or 2 of us. that said, i'm afraid on that front, even though we know to abstract, they understand it as a logical thing. >> but in the moment, on the day, as a coping strategy, quite often eating a biscuit, eating bread, it's carb based foods that people come for, eat with, that's what gets them through. so these are old patterns of behaviour that need to be. so what do you recommend? >> you know you're there as a therapist. you've got somebody coming in who has been on his epic for some time. they have lost a fair bit of weight. sure, they are better off as a result of it. yeah, they far less risk of it. yeah, they far less risk of having to pop to see francesco every month. yes do you tell them to stay on it or what? i mean, what do you do as a therapist? a bit like a window of opportunity while they're on

the drug and it's lifted them. >> they've lost some weight. they feel so much better and more positive about themselves. that's the time to go in and do the therapeutic work to find out what the drivers were initially and release and resolve those so that they can go forward. but without the meds, without the meds, it's the ideal. >> yeah. in terms of cardiology, francesco, we keep being told that and i know you're in the private sector and it's a very important sector. but of course the public sector is vast and we're told that in terms of cardiology, we're told that in terms of dealing with strokes, we're told outside your field, perhaps in terms of dealing with cancen perhaps in terms of dealing with cancer, that the french spend about the same amount of their gross domestic product on health and yet get consistently better returns. what are we doing wrong? >> well, definitely what we need to do is to insist, since a young age, to try to educate, educate of course, more the population. >> this is what is missing because nowadays many people want the easy fix. there is a problem. you just go there and fix it. but actually we need to try to establish a sense of

being part of that fix. >> in a sense, yes, of course . >> in a sense, yes, of course. >> now we will have to see. we will have to wait for the recommendations of our associations regarding the using it or not, because the data seems reassuring, seem reassuring, but we need to dig deeper and understand. but definitely we need to try to have a more holistic view because of course, medications is not always the fix to any problems because also like in the united states, they create almost the disease with all and then they can sell their medication . medication. >> jack carson are very, very important. >> of course, when there are diseases that otherwise without any other option , they couldn't any other option, they couldn't be treated. so of course they're extremely important . i am extremely important. i am a doctor. i prescribe them, but only as a last option. i try other things first. >> well, i'm pleased to hear that because i think so many, particularly gps, just want to get rid of the patient and they've just put on something and off they go . lee anderson and off they go. lee anderson can quite, quite a controversial member of parliament. and there was a health debate going on

about obesity. and he got up and said, well, the problem is that people don't know how to cook anymore. well, it was stopped in school. but he's right, isn't he? i mean, when you see, when you see young people, young obese people, you know, have they been taught anything at school about nutrition? no. have they been taught anything about how to cook? >> and we live in a obesogenic, areas, environments where you can't you can't buy fresh fruit and vegetables. they're all at a premium price , whereas chicken premium price, whereas chicken in a box is really cheap. so you know, everything works against people living a healthy, holistic lifestyle. >> cooking at home can be cheap. >> cooking at home can be cheap. >> cooking at home can be cheap. >> cooking at home by selectively . selectively. >> if you know what you're doing, you can. >> no one is taught anymore. no one's taught. yes. and if you're not lucky in how you were raised and taught by your mom and your dad, then you don't learn. >> so it's home economics, thought to be a sort of terrible biggest thing. and oh, dear, we can't do that anymore. and we just don't do it. >> do it. we don't do it. they design pizza boxes now and they

should bring it back. we need kitchens back in schools and we need to teach kids how to cook. yeah >> the isn't it interesting that in america, the richest country in america, the richest country in the world and comparatively getting richer than all of us with every year that goes by, that for the first time, life expectancy is now going down. i think it's the same in the uk, and i think we've certainly topped yeah, we have topped uk and obesity is the modern disaster, and yeah education. absolutely. at the root of it. thank you both for coming in. it's a fascinating conversation . it's a fascinating conversation. and one person doesn't need a zembic because he's never i never got an ounce of fat on him . of course he's the rees—mogg. there's never any doubt you've never i've never been fat. >> but i do take statins. you take statins. yeah. do you? i have high cholesterol, but with statins i have absolutely perfect cholesterol. it means i can carry on supporting the somerset dairy industry without having . which is terribly having. which is terribly important to you. there's a good constituency. >> yeah . yeah. well, i thought >> yeah. yeah. well, i thought the wines are amazing. i thought the wines are amazing. i thought the wines are amazing. i thought the wine would sort out the cholesterol. >> no, i mean, drink as much as you do to compete , so i'm not

you do to compete, so i'm not quite there yet. >> now, jacob, what's you have a slightly eccentric, flavour to your show? >> we're talking about you. i know i know, defeating great segment about. we need to get serious in the conservative party. we need to reunite the conservative family. and that means bringing back people in your position who hold conservative views . and i think conservative views. and i think you should hold high office. >> well, i don't know whether you. i mean, you can put this to your panel. >> yeah, yeah, and it'd be very interesting to get their reaction. i, i'm not sure mr sunak would be terribly keen. >> i would rather make a big, open and comprehensive offer to you and your friends in reform. yeah. than to the lib dems as a general rule. >> well, jacob there, which jacob not mincing his words. i have a feeling the next hour is going to be really very interesting, if perhaps unrealistic. but who knows. let's have a look. what's the weather going to do over to aidan mcgivern?

>> looks like things are heating up. boxt boilers sponsors of weather on . gb news. weather on. gb news. >> hi there. welcome to the latest forecast from the met office for gb news. low pressure remains close to the uk for the next 24 hours and beyond that means further showers at times , means further showers at times, but it's not going to be a complete washout. there will be some drier and sunnier interludes. some places will avoid the showers for long penods avoid the showers for long periods of time. that low pressure is sitting to the southwest. that's where we'll continue to see showers feeding into cornwall and devon overnight, but otherwise drying up nicely across northern ireland, wales into the midlands, southern england staying largely dry in the far northeast of scotland in between areas of cloud . some outbreaks areas of cloud. some outbreaks of rain but some drier interludes as well. many places under the cloud, staying at 12 to 13 celsius but cooler there as we begin the day for northern ireland. for southwest and west scotland , and some decent sunny scotland, and some decent sunny spells first thing and actually for many places it's a bright

day. but there will be this zone of cloud and outbreaks of rain from east anglia into the east midlands, northern england, the far south of scotland keeping temperatures suppressed and some low cloud hugging. the north sea coast of scotland and northern england. elsewhere, sunny spells and a few showers and it's a similar theme as we begin thursday. this zone of cloud edges north into parts of northern england, southern scotland and then eventually northern ireland. either side of that, showers will develop the far north of scotland . the far far north of scotland. the far south of england stays dry and sunny on thursday. friday. further sunny. spells and showers. highs of 21 or 22. >> a brighter outlook with boxt solar for sponsors of weather on

gb news. >> hello. good evening. it's me ,

>> hello. good evening. it's me, jacob rees—mogg on state of the nation. tonight, as a new poll for the sun suggests, the conservative party could be facing extinction if nigel farage were to re—enter politics tonight, i'll be calling on the prime minister to unite the right and bring nigel into government and restore boris johnson to high office. this is the only way to turn the tide at the only way to turn the tide at the next election, despite nearly half a million student visas being issued last year , visas being issued last year, the migration watchdog has advised against kerbing the numbers as it could lead to a collapse of our universities vast oil reserves have been discovered in the antarctic, which means the falklands may have become the most valuable real estate on earth. so surely it's real estate on earth. so surely wsfime real estate on earth. so surely it's time to get the drills out . it's time to get the drills out. plus, the question of rainbow lanyards has seemingly split the cabinet in two after my former gb news colleague esther mcvey introduced her latest common sense measures to scrap civil service, wokery state of the nafion service, wokery state of the nation starts now.

i'll also be joined by a pugnacious panel this evening. the former editor of the sun, kelvin mackenzie, and the pr consultant and former labour aide stella santykiu. as always , aide stella santykiu. as always, as you know, i want to hear from you. it's a crucial part of the programme. email me mailmogg@gbnews.com. but now it's what you've all been waiting for. the news bulletin with tatiana sanchez . with tatiana sanchez. >> jacob. thank you. the top stories from the gb news room. a major manhunt is underway in france after two prison guards were shot dead and three others seriously injured during an ambush on a prison convoy. vehicles were rammed at tollbooths on a motorway at anchorvale in the northwest of the country . anchorvale in the northwest of the country. images on social media showed at least two men in balaclavas carrying rifles near an suv that was in flames ,