gb news. >> hey. very good evening to you. it is 7 pm. on friday. the 24th of may. and this is a gb news election special. over the next hour, i have got conservative mp anna firth, former advisor to tony blair and john prescott. darren murphy and former lib dem mp mark oaten. here in the studio, i've got the spectator's top political hack james heale, former labour mp stephen pound and commentator extraordinaire emma woolf. we are 48 hours or so now into this seismic general election campaign. there's been gaffes,

there's been resignations and finally there have been some policy announcements as well. we do a lot of it. after your. news. >> good evening. i'm ray addison in the gb newsroom , rishi sunak in the gb newsroom, rishi sunak has been greeted by a group of pro—palestine protesters as he visited a college in the west midlands this afternoon. the situation was described as tense as the prime minister arrived at south staffordshire college in cannock. that's the last stop on his uk tour . police officers his uk tour. police officers formed a guard for mr sunak as his entry to the college was delayed and he was quickly ushered into the building as the crowd surged around him. whilst inside , activists with banners inside, activists with banners and flags chanted free palestine ! and flags chanted free palestine ilabour and flags chanted free palestine i labour has ruled out any deals with the snp after the election, evenin with the snp after the election, even in the event of a hung parliament. sir keir starmer has been campaigning in the east of glasgow today, which is one of the seats that he's hoping to

take from john swinney's party. sir keir said the snp's only ambition is to break up the uk and there would be absolutely no deal with the scottish nationalists. hello sir keir starmer says jeremy corbyn's days of influence in the labour party are over. it comes after mr corbyn confirmed that he'll stand as an independent candidate in the general election, being expelled from the party as a result. he was suspended in 2020 after claiming that complaints of antisemitism had been dramatically overstated .labour had been dramatically overstated . labour leader the labour leader said he's not worried about corbyn's popularity in islington north, which he's represented since 1983. gb news can reveal that more than 10,000 channel migrants have crossed illegally to the united kingdom so far this year. the milestone figure was reached today after another 154 arrived in dover , another 154 arrived in dover, having crossed in three small boats this morning. it's being seen as a blow to rishi sunak on his second full day of election

campaigning. of course, he'd promised that his government would stop the boats. the former boss of the post office has been accused of living in la la land over her role in the horizon scandal, paula vennells again becoming emotional on her third day. giving evidence, she admitted making mistakes and accepted that there was no one else to blame. but she claimed that she didn't know why important information hadn't reached her. sam stein kc described that as absolute rubbish, and he suggested that mrs. vennells had failed to ask the right questions . and the right questions. and finally, the documentary filmmaker morgan spurlock has died at the age of 53. he came to prominence with his oscar nominated film super size me in 2004, which tracked his health while he ate nothing but mcdonald's for a whole month. the film was credited with prompting a broad conversation about how fast food and rising obesity was impacting society. mr spurlock passed away in new york due to complications from cancer.

york due to complications from cancer . well, if you want all cancer. well, if you want all the latest headlines, you can sign up for gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen or go to gbb news.com. slash alerts. back now to . patrick. >> good evening and welcome to the gb news general election special. we are 48 hours on from this earlier today i spoke with his majesty the king to request the dissolution of parliament. >> the king has granted this request . and we will have request. and we will have a general election on the 4th of july. >> already a heck of a lot has happened. key battle lines have been drawn. immigration the environment. we've already seen a bit of calamity. sunak's advisers telling him it was a goodidea advisers telling him it was a good idea to campaign at a place with the word titanic in it. >> prime minister, we are just yards away from where the titanic was built and designed. are you confident a sinking ship going into this election .7 going into this election? >> storm has started to get grilled on his u—turns? you've also dropped pledges to abolish

university tuition fees, increase income tax for the top 5% of earners, bring into public ownership the utilities, so are people right to worry that any promises you make now will be junked once you're in number 10? >> sir ed davey of the lib dems has given his campaign a kick start . mango. start. mango. >> i recommend it and reform have lost their biggest asset. >> what i could not do in the space of six weeks. and yes , all space of six weeks. and yes, all right, he's wrongfooted me. but in the space of six weeks was to find a constituency from scratch and go around the country. >> well, here are the latest polls . yougov have the polls. yougov have the conservatives on 21, while labour are on 46. reform uk are at 12% and the lib dems are on nine. the greens on seven. what a panel i've got for you tonight, writer and broadcaster emma woolf former labour mp stephen pound and the political correspondent at the spectator,

james hill, now i have some breaking news for you that has literally just come in in the last few seconds. it's a big one. james >> three minutes to go. michael gove announced he is standing down from parliament after almost 20 years in the hot seat, and he's going to be quitting the cabinet and leaving at the general election. >> so just to reiterate, michael gove is standing down at this election. >> yes. big news, i think in a majority of around 18,000. and of course, he's been a key tory powerbroker for the past 20 years. and, you know, the fact that he's now going, i think really shows kind of one of the mainstay figures, one of the few people left in the original cameron cabinet of 2010 has now decided to quit. hugely influential, of course. in 2016, vote leave and 2019 with boris johnson's government as well. and of course, at the end of his government bringing down boris johnson in 2022, he wasn't. >> it wasn't just a powerbroker, though. he was one of the one of the few really great original thinkers on the front bench. his work in education. and i say i'm laboun work in education. and i say i'm labour, you know, and he's tory, but i have to say, i respected what he did in education and he, to be honest, he should have

carried it through. he's an original thinker and it's very, very unusual in modern politics. and it makes you wonder what's he going to do? and more to the point, what are we going to do without him? because there's not that many original thinkers. >> i'm just going to read out what he's put out as his statement, and then i'll come to you on this, emma, he said. after nearly 20 years serving the wonderful people of surrey heath and over a decade in cabinet across five government departments, i have today taken the decision to step down as a member of parliament. this is his letter. i think it's probably worth me just reading this in full. it is big news. thank you for your kindliness earlier. this is to stuart black, the chairman of his local conservatives. i believe he says, as we discussed, i have decided today not to seek to represent surrey heath at the forthcoming general election. this election comes almost 20 years after i was first adopted by this fantastic association as your candidate. he goes on to praise his local constituency. he says i'm grateful to them all. this is all the leaders he served under david cameron, who gave me the chance to pursue the education reforms in which i passionately believe theresa may who asked me to support her in challenging times. boris johnson

, who delivered brexit and set out the levelling up vision . out the levelling up vision. rishi sunak not much mention of liz truss there, to be fair, but rishi sunak, who asked me to return to government. you miss it? yeah, yeah, he asked me to return to government when i believe my ministerial career had ended. he says that i also know the toll that office can take, as do those closest to me. no one in politics is a conscript. we are volunteers . he conscript. we are volunteers. he says he's proud to watch the reforms that he introduced. bear fruit. he goes on to here, say, that he was privileged to help introduce homes for ukraine scheme, and i'll just read you the final, the final segment of this. now why not? he says , i've this. now why not? he says, i've been privileged to work with my brilliant ministerial colleagues. i shared with you a few weeks ago a conservative home article, which i outlined why we have a record in government that we can be truly proud of with every good wish. michael gove emma, this is big. >> this is big news and i think it's a real blow for sunak. i think we've seen so many tory

mps deserting. but as you say, these are big beasts. these are original thinkers. michael gove, like him or loathe him, has been part of this, of this whole, you know, this whole kind of project for the last, what, 15 years. and so this is going to be a massive blow for sunak. and a real kind of it shows the lack of confidence, i think, in this government that they have any hope of anything, on july the 4th. >> and of course, this comes on the day that he revealed that 77 tory mps are standing down. this is the largest amount since the second world war, overtaking that 997 region. and i think it really shows now that any tory mp with a majority of around 15,000 to 20,000 less than that, is now fearing for their political safety. and so it's exactly what rishi sunak didn't need on the third day of his election campaign. >> yeah, i mean, to be honest, this campaign so far has been quite disastrous and i've been shocked at the international press. >> the reaction overnight of the international press, they've all and you know, they don't need to be that interested in uk politics. and we were all laughing at, you know sunak outside in the deluge. you know after me the deluge. all while a

deluge standing in the rain being absolutely drenched. but the international press, the spanish, french, american saying humiliated prime minister, you know, this pathetic , this know, this pathetic, this pathetic image of the british prime minister standing in the rain. you know, we are a national joke. and then today he pitches up at the titanic shipyard, having having insulted the welsh nation the day before. >> well, well, yeah, exactly that. and also being pictured with an exit sign at the back of him. stephen, how big a blow to rishi sunak is michael gove standing down? >> i think it's massive . there's >> i think it's massive. there's one thing about michael gove people seem to forget he was a times leader writer before he came to parliament in 2001, and as a times leader writer, he really, really did make the weather. he was incredibly important. i mean, i believe you, me as a labour mp, we neven you, me as a labour mp, we never, ever misreading that. and we used to discuss it in the whips office because it was very, very important what he was saying. but i think the important thing emma said earlier on about his originality there just aren't that many people with that degree of

intellectual rigidity and strength about them. it's a huge blow because, you know, as everybody said at this platform, if he's leaving and he had a majority, i think it's about 18,000 in surrey. heath, if he's leaving, who are the hell staying and the experience, i think just having people who've been around the around the national memories. >> yeah, exactly. knowing where this happened before this happened under theresa may. this happened under theresa may. this happened when you have people who don't have that experience, you know, you're really you really are a big beast, isn't he? >> is unquestionably a big beast. >> and he looked like he wanted to actually play a part in that kind of what came next, the kind of rehabilitation, the kind of talk about, you know, different. which way is the tory party going to go? is it going to be the right, the left? what kind of future looks like? i will say on the times point as well, i've already had one person from news uk text me and say within 12 months michael gove will be editor of the times, so we wanted to keep an eye on given how influential journalist he had a proper journalistic career had a properjournalistic career before politics, i should think that's even money. >> i think i would. that's even money. >> so you think michael gove will quit and he'll be editor of the times shortly? i'm sorry to

whoever the current editor of the times is. by the way, apologies. just to reiterate the breaking news that landed literally as i sat in this chair. actually, michael gove is standing down, he says. after nearly 20 years serving the wonderful people of surrey heath and over a decade in cabinet across five government departments, i have today taken the decision to step down as a member of parliament. he is the secretary of state for levelling up.andi secretary of state for levelling up. and i do wonder, james, what does that say is the conservatives are struggling to cling on to the red wall and all of this, the areas where they were supposed to level up. i mean, he's got his bags packed and he's on his way. >> well, i think this was, you know, the dissolution of parliament today. we saw the renters reform, being dropped. and i think that that kind of was the end of it was his last great crusade in government. and i do think the levelling up, the kind of phrase levelling up is going to die a death with the end of this government, which is that labour don't like to use it. i think that the tories spent a lot of money on trying to make it work, but as one mp, one minister actually in mr sunaks government said to me that speech i heard the other day said it was about pump priming. you know, the local economy actually it wasn't delivering lasting institutional change to kind of sort the uk's long term economic woes out in the regions. >> i think it's leasehold reform

is not the sexiest subject in the world, but it's incredibly important and it affects millions of people in this country. michael gove had a really good plan to reform the leasehold situation we've had in this country, which has pertained for over a thousand years, and this was his child, this is his brainwave, and he today he's realised it's not going to carry it through. that must, i imagine he'd be furious with that because this would have been real legacy. every politician looks for legacy. i mean, you know, i look for people to forget me if possible. but, you know, most amnesia is what i would want. but, you know, people want real politicians want legacy. and that would have been his. not just his education reform, but the leasehold reform. >> let's run through what this what this bill would have been. so this is the bill that michael gove was hoping to get through. it is the leaseholders, the bill for leaseholders. the bill increase the standards of lease for homes and flats to 990 years, removes the marriage value towards the end of the lease. makes buying or selling a leasehold property quicker and eafien leasehold property quicker and easier. requires transparency over service charges . over service charges. administration. okay, so like you said stephen, it is not particularly sexy politics. >> well, i've just been through the process of extending my lease on a flat in london, and i can tell you all of those things matter . can tell you all of those things matter. things like marriage value and things like it all

being 999 years rather than these and service charges . don't these and service charges. don't forget service service charges where you're paying thousands of pounds a year to a management company who do absolutely. based in dubai , depher. and frankly, in dubai, depher. and frankly, you say it's not the sexiest subject, but actually, stephen, these are the things that people care about. these are the things that real people actually care about. like the money in their pockets, like paying their lease, paying their rent. >> that was the point i was trying to make, actually. >> yeah, i know, but on on this as well. so michael gove big brexiteer. all right. now you have a look as well at today that news james that lord frost is apparently being blocked from standing as a as a candidate. there were concerns and i'm doing a bit on this on my show later tonight 9 to 11 pm. cheeky little plug that does just delve into this. whether or not the conservative party in amongst what is expected to possibly. well we'll see. we will see how they do at the general election, their rebrand could actually be something a bit wishy washy and centrist. and michael gove going maybe that emphasises it. >> i think that, you know, michael gove was expected to be a big player in all the kind of what happened after the election. him going definitely impacts that and changes the

sort of balance of power slightly. i do also think with theresa may standing down, a lot of the brexit generation are now going, you know, one form or another. ben wall is bowing out as well. so i think what we're going to see is the sort of the crisis years of the past, sort of 5 to 10 years or so post pandemic, etc. all that's kind of going through. and while we wait to see what the kind of conservative party is going to look like for the next 2020, the 20305, look like for the next 2020, the 2030s, etc, but it's going to be people without those kind of experience and heft that we've seen over the past ten years. under the coalition and the conservative government since. >> yeah, i'm just having a look through his letter, he says. i'm proud to have led the vote leave campaign along boris johnson and gisela stuart, which secured the largest mandate in modern british history for vote to leave the european union, take back control of our political destiny. fundamentally, our country is stronger with politicians in westminster able to control our laws, borders and money. since 2016, we've also increased nhs funding. i'll just finish with his with his final line here. all right. well no second final line. throughout my time in politics, although i have undoubtedly made mistakes, ihave have undoubtedly made mistakes, i have always tried to be a voice for those who have been overlooked and undervalued . i've

overlooked and undervalued. i've had to fight for greater social justice. and he's trying to set out his legacy. isn't he here really ? and do you think this really? and do you think this gives another shot in the arm for keir starmer ? for keir starmer? >> well i yeah i was thinking as you guys were talking i think we just it's not in the bag for labouris just it's not in the bag for labour is it. i mean they're in a bit of a mess now about jeremy corbyn. they've got this bizarre situation where natalie elphicke far right. natalie elphicke is a labour mp and jeremy corbyn is no longer a labour mp. he's been chucked out. so i just think and laura kuenssberg was pointing out that for labour to get over the line, they have to have a sort of historic swing. so i think that, you know, things could just get a heck of a lot more complicated before they get straight again . straight again. >> yeah, i think it's a good sign for labour, the fact that someone like michael gove doesn't want to hang around and thinks, look, i've got better things to do with my life is a sign that i think. >> how many resignations have we had now? roughly 77 or exactly 77. >> yeah. and that's only thus far. i mean, they've still got six weeks to go. >> yeah, that. >> yeah, that. >> stephen look, you know that thatis >> stephen look, you know that that is that is an absolute gift for the labour party, for the

lib dems, for, you know, whoever else. because they can legitimately point at tories jumping ship. and there have been serious question marks. there have been serious question marks about whether jeremy there have been serious question marks about whetherjeremy hunt marks about whether jeremy hunt would have quit. and now he's not he's chancellor. and there are serious question marks over the timing of this election . the timing of this election. there's that kind of rumour mill going into overdrive that rishi sunak had just had a bit of enough, really. wonder wanted to go and get his girls were coming to the age of going to high school. >> i think he probably wanted him to go to high school in california. >> he would deny this, no doubt. >> he would deny this, no doubt. >> but it plays all year. >> but it plays all year. >> it plays into this narrative, doesn't it? >> but i mean, jeremy hunt could well lose his seat and penny morden could well lose her seat. i mean, you know, these are significant. just the final thing on michael gove when we have the debate on iraq in 2016, which, you know, i don't like talking about, but it happened, the two people who made the biggest difference to those of us who had to make up our mind, ann clwyd and michael gove. michael gove was the he made the strongest intellectual case. i remember the speech he made. he said, are you going to walk by on the other side of the road and do nothing? are you going to let saddam hussein murder another million people? are you going to let him gas more people

like he did the kurds in halabja? and that was the speech that actually a lot of people, admittedly, i regret it till the day i die, but i voted for iraq partly because of michael gove's argument at the time. it was very, very people talk about tony blair, but believe you me, gove was impressive. >> well, yeah. again if you're just joining us and you can't read what's at the bottom of your screen there if you listen to us on radio. michael gove has just announced that he will stand down within the next six weeks just to around this up. before i go to conservative mp anna firth very shortly. so be fascinating to get her views on this. i'm going to go to a couple of your views here. colin's been on gove gone. the tories are doomed. vote reform now, says colin. however, the complete polar opposite of that is the country will be a lot better off with gove gone, says stephen, and there's a lot of this. it's a bit of a bit of a mixed bag, really? so yes , david mixed bag, really? so yes, david frost as well. there's a lot of people getting in touch to say, why on earth would the tories try to block somebody like david frost, a true brexiteer from standing? so yeah, look that news right now straight off the bat is that michael gove will not be standing at the next

general election, but still to come tonight, another fascinating twist in this general election. it's called independent jeremy corbyn now hurt the labour vote. and how is ed davey escaping blame for the post office scandal? but yes, next that huge breaking news. michael gove stepping down. we'll get the reaction of tory mp anna firth. don't go away. you're with me patrick christys. and this is gb news

welcome back to our election special. huge news. just broken. tory mp, tory. big beasts. tory minister michael gove is going to stand down as an mp at the general election. well, i'm very pleased to say i am joined now by the conservative mp for south and west, anna firth. look. good evening anna. thank you. we have got to start with this breaking news. michael gove standing down a big blow. >> well i mean it's really disappointing patrick when you know fantastic colleagues leave i mean you know it happens all

the time . of course people get the time. of course people get to that point in their career. i'm just finding this out the same same time as you are at. and, and, you know, i mean, i, i campaigned with michael for brexit. we were both part of the vote leave brexit team together. we did rallies together , he's we did rallies together, he's been a brilliant minister, i remember lobbying him on education reforms and, you know, under michael gove, of course, we've totally we've roared up those pisa tables , and we've now those pisa tables, and we've now got fantastic results. best readers in the western world. i'm just looking at trying to read his letter while you break. its typical michael. it's about three pages long, very dense. lots of stuff in there . but you lots of stuff in there. but you know, what does it say? >> i know, look, with respect, i mean, he is one of now 77 people, tories , who are standing people, tories, who are standing down at this general election . down at this general election. it would be easy for people to

say the tories aren't really up for the fight. it comes off the back of that news as well that apparently some conservative mps were actually looking to stop this election. i mean, it does look quite chaotic and dare i say it, like maybe rats leaving a sinking ship. not my words, of course. anna, i really don't think that is the case at all. >> patrick. i mean , the reason >> patrick. i mean, the reason that that, that it's a high proportion is because we're such a big party at the moment. so, you know, 17, 70 odd. i think leaving that means about 20% are leaving. that doesn't seem to me to be a huge amount of churn. we've had a succession of, of, you know, very short parliaments. so people have chosen to stay on for one parliament, for two parliament. but this is clearly an election where if you sign up to this election, you are signing up to the next five years. and that's always a moment where people start to think, well, i've done a lot in my career. you know, michael gove , he's been in michael gove, he's been in politics for 20 odd years, he's

beenin politics for 20 odd years, he's been in the cabinet for around a decade. he didn't expect to come back. he says that in his letter. he didn't expect to come back into the cabinet, under rishi. but he has done the levelling up. i think, you know, he's pretty much done his he's done his time, hasn't he, michael? oh, okay. >> well, that's, yeah, that is the breaking news anyway, that michael gove is off ski . but, michael gove is off ski. but, let's just ground ourselves back into where we are at the moment . into where we are at the moment. look, standing outside in the pounng look, standing outside in the pouring rain with things can only get better. we've had him pictured rishi sunak to next an exit sign on a plane. he went, bizarrely, to visit the titanic quarter today , which is not quarter today, which is not particularly good optics, is it? it's got off to a bad start for rishi before we've even spoken about welsh football. >> yeah, i don't think you can blame him for the rain. >> it was an absolute downpour that day and, you know, good on him. you know, he wanted to do it in the proper way outside number 10. and he kept going despite the heavens opening on him. i think that shows, you know, resilience and fortitude .

know, resilience and fortitude. and he he said in the commons, a little while ago that he planned to go, go to northern ireland and visit harland and wolff. you know, it's an incredible manufacturer for lots and lots of high skilled jobs there. you know, i, i think that's a bit of a cheap point, frankly , patrick. a cheap point, frankly, patrick. and you know that this is actually going to be all about the economy. the economy is now turning a corner. i mean, he promised to halve inflation. he's he's actually courted inflation. so he's halved it. and he's halved it again. we've now got growth back into the economy. we're now growing faster than germany than france and italy and japan. and the imf has now predicted that we will have the fastest growth of pretty much any european nation. so he's he's he's, he's he's saying to the country, look , you saying to the country, look, you can see what i'm about. you can see what i've already achieved. now is the time for you to make that choice. do you want to continue with this positive

progress? economic growth, or do you want to go turn that? go straight back. and no, we go back to square one. you know, we've we've found out today that labour's plans, the things that they're telling us about now when they want our vote, are going to cost us every household £2,000 at the moment moment. we get to july the 5th. i don't want that. >> and i, i have got the former adviser to tony blair and john prescott on after you actually. >> so i will be putting this stuff to them. i also do put it to you though, that, you know, rishi sunak's five pledges were not all about the economy, were they? can you name them . they? can you name them. >> well he said he was going to get growth back . he was going to get growth back. he was going to reduce debt at a tackle. inflation, reduce waiting lists . inflation, reduce waiting lists. and we all know stop the boats are there you go. >> well it's on that last one i'm going to get you on because look. hey come on. the boats

have not stopped. and we've had net migration figures, yes. all right. they're down 10. that was helped by the fact that the last lot of immigration figures were rounded up by the ons. so 680 odd thousand, i think it was last year. that is far too high. and it has happened under a conservative government, isn't it? do you think that's going to be a difficult one to square? people might think, hey, look, things can't get any worse under laboun >> we shapps what we absolutely know, patrick, is that labour will immediately reduce reverse the rwanda policy, a policy which is already having an effect. we've heard the eyewitness testimony of people saying that they wouldn't necessarily have come if they knew about rwanda. we've heard the irish say the same. this is a policy that's working before we've even started getting the flights off. the flights are booked, the airfields are booked . the only way we're going to get those flights off and get a handle on illegal immigration is if you return a conservative government you we will go straight back to square one. we saw what happened under labour

when they were last in power. absolute open borders. it will happen again. and that isn't what the british public want. anna. >> anna, thank you very much for your time this evening and thank your time this evening and thank you especially for reacting to that big breaking news about michael gove standing down. that's a first there. the conservative mp for southend west . i conservative mp for southend west. i must say you put the conservative case across quite a lot better than i've seen a lot of other conservative mps doing recently. she's saying it's all going to be about the economy this election. james, is that true ? true? >> yes, probably. i think and i think that that's partly why the tories are going to lose, because people feel they've had a lot of pain. it's the first parliament in living memory we had where living standards will be worse off than they were five years ago. yes, you might have turned a corner now, but i think for many people it's a few years too late. >> it's not got a point there, stephen, that the labour party are now coming out with stuff that's going to cost us all a heck of a lot of money. >> every single promise we've made, every single commitment has been costed down to the last penny. believe you me, we're not going to fall into that trap that jeremy corbyn fell into, of making all these promises about free broadband in every garden shed and all that other stuff. believe you me, it's been costed down to the last sausage.

>> all right , look, i've got >> all right, look, i've got a little clip today from today, i should say, of rishi sunak's trip to the titanic, which is a some would say, tragic, tragic metaphor. yeah. why indeed? i think we can actually just play you. he was at the titanic quarter in northern ireland, and this is some of the questions that were obviously always going to happen. >> prime minister, we are just yards away from where the titanic was built and designed. are you captaining a sinking ship going into this election ? ship going into this election? >> it's been a bad start. emma. >> it's been a bad start. emma. >> the thing is, boris would have had all these gaffes and more and has had all these gaffes and more. he would have fiddenit gaffes and more. he would have ridden it out, he would have carried it off. it would have somehow worked. you can just imagine them yesterday, the day before in downing street going, no, no, it's fine, prime minister. it's actually the rain slackening off. and then he gets out there and you realise within about five minutes this is really heavy and you're standing there and what can you do then. you can't then retreat into your £2 million media centre that you've built at such cost. you can't then ask for an umbrella or a canopy or any of the things he could have done. and you stand there and you've literally

got drips falling off your nose and your face, and it's theresa may conference all over again, isn't it? oh my god, when she got the frog, i think that was worse. woi'se. >> worse. >> now i must say, actually, i think that was that was more painful. it went on for so long. >> that went on for so what i can't understand, i mean, i know northern ireland very well. i know harland and wolff's extremely well. harland and wolff's are virtually bankrupt at the moment. they're actually teetering on the edge of insolvency at the moment. we're talking about building british warships in cadiz. you know. why on earth is he there when there are no conservative? because he has to damn well do his four regions. >> the contrast between last time , this time when how time, this time when how spontaneous boris was. you imagine if he was in the wet, you'd probably shag himself off like a shaggy dog. sort of. dulux advert yesterday . today we dulux advert yesterday. today we probably made a joke about harland wolff and titanic. you know, it was fine when he left belfast it would have been taoiseach happiness. >> yeah, exactly. there is plenty to go out. the labour party, by the way, on the liberal democrats, you know, we are and we are going to be doing that in the next section. but that's usually my job. but just yeah, just just before that i will say, look, ruth davidson who's a, you know, another, you know, former big hitter really in the conservative save the party vie save save the union. james james is saying here,

there's a tweet from her. a deluge launched drowned out by dream , a brewery visit with dream, a brewery visit with a teetotal prime minister. so no chance of a. i can't say what she said there, now a site visit to something famous for sinking the titanic. is there a double agentin the titanic. is there a double agent in cchq? i can just play you this clip of rishi sunak when he was talking to the welsh about a football tournament that they have not qualified for the european cup. >> you're looking forward to all the football. >> not so much. my bag, but well , people in get people in. >> no, but that's because you guys aren't in it. well people out, you know, there'll be people coming are. >> yeah. look james i mean, you know the quality of advice behind the scenes at the conservatives so far has been pool >> pooh >>i pooh >> i think that the problem is, is that currently looks as though it was keir starmer who called a snap election and not rishi sunak, doesn't it? i mean, some of this stuff should be fixable and the tories will hope it will be, but he really needs a perfect campaign and right now it's a very imperfect campaign, shall we say. >> all right guys, still loads

to get through here. if you are just joining us again, the breaking news we had at the top was that michael gove is standing down at this election after 20 years in politics, five governments. i think he said he'd served. so he's the latest one to go. but still to come. paula vennells is in tears for the liberal democrats . seems to the liberal democrats. seems to be getting off scot free. but next, jeremy corbyn is standing as an independent at the general election. we will ask a former tony blair advisor if that spells big trouble for the labour party. you're with me, patrick

gb news. welcome back to gb news election special . has there ever been a special. has there ever been a situation where the former leader of a major party has actively campaigned against him? well, there is now. >> we believe in democracy. i want our political parties to be democratic. but members of islington north labour have been denied the right to choose their

own candidate. and alongside that, the community as a whole has been disempowered because of that. so we have to stand up. >> well, jeremy corbyn, who led labour for nearly five years but has now been officially expelled from the party, will stand as an independent in islington north, which he's held for more than 40 years, apparently. gosh, well, keir starmer claims he's unbothered. >> jeremy corbyn will make his own decisions . i think he's own decisions. i think he's standing as an independent. that's his choice . we will have that's his choice. we will have an excellent labour candidate in islington north, as we've got excellent labour candidates across the country . across the country. >> but could a rogue former leader cause labour more trouble than expected? there are now i mean naturally as well, rumours about diane abbott being expelled. so we'll have to cross that bridge when we come to it. but we're joined now by former labour special adviser to tony blair. and john prescott is darren murphy. darren, look, thank you very, very much. great to have you on the show here. corbyn issues campaigning potentially for pro—palestine independence. far left independent candidates not just

independent candidates not just in islington north obviously where he's standing, but quite possibly around other seats as well. it's a bit of a nightmare, this, isn't it, for labour, not really . really. >> i think what it does is it shows how much labour has changed since the jeremy corbyn days, not only is he no longer leader, he's no longer a member of the labour party , and that's of the labour party, and that's for people like me. i think that's an improved labour party, because i think people with the sort of views that jeremy corbyn has expressed in the past, really don't deserve or belong in the labour party at all. >> okay. fair enough. but there is a list of labour mps whose seats could be at risk from this quote . sun quotes, muslim vote. quote. sun quotes, muslim vote. and i also just want to emphasise what i mean by that. there is a actual movement called the muslim vote .co.uk. these include wes streeting in ilford north. we've got shabana mahmood there in birmingham, ladywood , jonathan ashworth in ladywood, jonathan ashworth in leicester south, rushanara ali in bethnal green and stepney. now at least 2 or 3 of those

people who are running against them. jeremy corbyn is described as being close personal friends of. so if he tips up in those seats and campaigns against labouh seats and campaigns against labour, which i reckon he will, thatis labour, which i reckon he will, that is a problem, isn't it? >> well, i think fundamentally there's no way that that group could ever form a government. and so the challenge for voters in this election really is do you want change or do you want more of the same? and the only way that there can be a change of government in this country is for a labour government to be elected. so everything else really is a bit of theatre and a little bit of , pantomime theatre little bit of, pantomime theatre in that particular case. so i think fundamentally the choice that people have to make is not whether or not the labour party is the most perfect political party that they've and stands for everything they want to see. the question is whether they want change. if you want change, you have to vote for it. and the only way to do that is to bring change about is to vote labour.

>> well another. >> well another. >> yeah. look, another one to watch darren is that we've got a chap called andrew feinstein , i chap called andrew feinstein, i believe, who's been chosen by the group who is supporting jeremy corbyn to run against sir keir starmer, so we could end up quite well. i mean, i think it's quite well. i mean, i think it's quite likely we're going to end up at some point with jeremy corbyn in keir starmers seat campaigning against him, aren't we? the optics of that aren't great, or maybe they aren't for you. i suppose, change labour party. >> well, i think it does make that point about the labour party having changed. but i'd also say is you can judge some of these people by who their friends are, you know, the people who are endorsing, the, the likes of jeremy corbyn and the likes of jeremy corbyn and the chap you mentioned in keir starmers seat are the morning star. you know where they come stah you know where they come from. you know where they stand. yeah i do, i do put it to you, darren though that what we're seeing now is voters will vote for that. >> i do i do put it to you now though that what we are seeing though that what we are seeing though is actually labour trying to come around to appease some of those people. i mean, david lammy talking about how he would bat the icc if there was an

arrest warrant for benjamin netanyahu, israel being our key ally in the middle east and it is now legitimate , i possibly is now legitimate, i possibly for the conservatives to say if you vote for labour, that is a vote to make an enemy of israel. and that's massive as well. >> i think what it is to say, do you accept international law and the rule of law if you don't accept the rule of law, you can say, i don't like that court. it's a foreign court. i don't like that judgement. it's a difficult judgement. but i think if in the end, if you think that the way that politicians behave should be within the law, then they have to respect the law. and i think that's where we're talking about in regard to both the judgement of the icc and other judgements . other judgements. >> it's a massive move, though, is it not, though? darren, to be fair, you must have to concede this, that if the leader of israel under a labour government ever set foot in britain, david lammy would essentially drag him to the hague kicking and screaming? >> well, i don't think, i don't think that's likely to happen, do you? i think what's more

likely to happen is that we won't have , a resolution of the won't have, a resolution of the problem in the middle east without there being a solution that creates a two state outcome in that, in that conflict. >> all right. i'm just going to put it to you now, because now naturally , keir starmer is going naturally, keir starmer is going to come under a bit more scrutiny possibly than he's had before the u—turn stuff is rearing its head. he was grilled on that a bit earlier today. well, i think it was sorry. i think i think we might have a clip of it actually. sorry >> you've also dropped pledges to abolish university tuition fees, increase income tax for the top 5% of earners, bring into public ownership the utilities, so are people right to worry that any promises you make now will be junked once you're in number 10? >> all right, look, you know, there has been a long list of screeching u—turns. can anyone trust keir starmer? >> i think the most important point that keir starmer made in that interview and other interviews today was that he said, i can't promise you

things. i can't deliver the economy isn't strong enough, the pubuc economy isn't strong enough, the public finances are not strong enough to deliver everything you might want to deliver in government . what you need to do government. what you need to do is to restore the stability that the country has. economy and politics, frankly needs. and the only way to do that is to change the government. >> all right, darren, thank you very much. great to have you on the show. that's darren murphy, who's a former special adviser to tony blair and john prescott. emily hand whizzing you straight over to you because well, jeremy corbyn is in your patch isn't he? >> yes. islington north, look , i >> yes. islington north, look, i don't know how much the corbyn cult has actually survived. i think he's yesterday's man. i don't think this is a huge, huge issue for the labour party anymore. i think that i think they'll be okay. yes he has. he still has his i mean, my area used to ring to the chants of whoa, jeremy corbyn! it doesn't anymore. so i think, you know, i think things have moved on. i think things have moved on. i think the labour party is in a very, very different position now. it's quite something, isn't it, to hear darren murphy saying

there jeremy corbyn is no longer, you know , jeremy corbyn longer, you know, jeremy corbyn is no longer a member of the labour party. he's just been associate with labour for so many decades. >> yeah, well 100. yeah, absolutely. >> but it's a semi—independent i mean but in many ways the labour party is probably actually quite pleased with diane abbott. >> next. >> next. >> diane abbott i don't know. i mean, let's wait and see on that one. but the thing with jeremy corbyn, don't forget, he's going to be fishing in the same pond as george galloway is. and so that's going do you remember in this very seat on this very table, monty panesar whole political career was utterly destroyed. and so that's going to happen to a lot of the people who are standing for the workers party. so if jeremy corbyn is actually going to get into bed with george galloway, if you pardon the expression, that would be a problem. but he's not, it would be a problem. >> yeah. all right. okay. well look, the optics would be terrible. we've got to roll on, i'm afraid, because there still to come the lib dems think that they are going to do well at this election. but where do they actually stand on issues like immigration, like the eu? and paula vennells is reaching for the hankies. but as ed davey dodged a bullet over the post office scandal here with me

patrick christys

next. welcome back. it's the gb news election special liberal democrat leader ed davey has been out on the campaign trail this week, and he's talking a relatively good game. >> but across kent and sussex and surrey and hampshire and, frankly, all over the south—east and south—west it's the liberal democrats who are the challengers to the conservatives >> meanwhile, at the post office inquiry , i fully accept now that inquiry, i fully accept now that the post office excuse me . yeah. the post office excuse me. yeah. well, right. okay but tears flow over at the post office scandal. much of what happened though , much of what happened though, was on a davies watch when he was on a davies watch when he was the postal affairs minister in the coalition government. so could that torpedo his apparent lib dem revival? i'm very pleased to be joined now by the former lib dem mp, mark oaten.

mark, thank you very, very much. on that. i will say, you know, ed davey responsible for partly anyway, one of the biggest scandals in modern british history. he's not fit to run a political party, is he ? political party, is he? >> i think it will be a slight concern for the lib dems, because one of the things that really matters to them during a general election campaign is that their leader hits the headunes. that their leader hits the headlines . they have a really headlines. they have a really popular leader. remember charles kennedy, paddy ashdown , and then kennedy, paddy ashdown, and then remember nick clegg. everybody saying, i agree with nick, so they'll hope and want that ed davey has a good campaign and a high profile campaign and becomes easily recognisable , so becomes easily recognisable, so they'll want to shut down very fast. any connection to the post office scandal. he said he regrets what happens . he said he regrets what happens. he said he was misled and he hoped that by saying that he shut this issue down. >> all right. yep. and look now , >> all right. yep. and look now, the thing that the lib dems have really announced so far is they want 8000 new gps. have we got any idea? are they going to pay for that? >> well, what they've said is that it will be over a five year period, it will cost around 4

billion. what they hope is that they can persuade existing gps to stay in the service longer , to stay in the service longer, about half of that 8000 from that number. and then the other 4000 by recruiting. now, the difficulty for them , i think, difficulty for them, i think, is, first of all, explaining how you can do that in a five year period. it takes a long time to train them. and secondly, what they've said is they'll fund it by reversing some tax cuts that were made available to the banks. they'll be scrutiny to see whether that adds up, but they're certainly on the right message, because the public are sick to death of having to wait to see a gp. >> yeah, well, look, they are i mean, already it kind of becomes it's actually 4000 old gps and 4000 new ones potentially. but you know, there is that side of things , on immigration. so the things, on immigration. so the latest net migration figures were about 680,000. the lib dems care about that. >> well, they're not going to want to raise it all the time. they know that it's a difficult issue for them to talk about. they would want to talk about the compassionate side of

immigration, the positive side of immigration. i think what you'll hear them saying if they're asked about this is, look, if it hadn't been for brexit, if we were still part of the eu, we could have found an eu solution to this. and they'll want to talk about the waste of money around rwanda, but it's not going to be something they're going to lead on. they're much safer. ground will be around the nhs and public services . be around the nhs and public services. immigration for them is what we would have described. when you're running a campaign as a shield issue rather than a sword issue. >> all right. look, mark, thank you very much. and i do hope to talk to you again quite a lot actually over the next six weeks. so thank you very much. mark oaten is a former liberal democrat mp. i'm just going to go to you, james, on this now because you were saying that you actually think the lib dems might do quite well, i do. >> i think it's a comparable to, say, the 1990s when 1992, they won loads of votes but not many seats. then five years later they won not many votes, but they won not many votes, but they won not many votes, but they won loads of seats. and i think that's what's going to happen now. they're not doing great in the polls. about 10 or 11% overtaken at some point by reform. but i think they're going to get about 3030 seats or so in parliament in places like the south east and south—west. >> you mentioned reform there.

now why are they going to get. because they could conceivably get roughly the same number of votes as reform, but a load more seats. >> it's because about in the first past the post system representation concentrations representation. basically, if you can kind of channel those votes into ones key area, then you'll gain lots and lots of seats. >> and ukip had 4 million votes and no mps and nothing, you know, 12.5% in 2015 got nothing. >> the lib dem activist by the way, are absolute fanatics. they're out there door knocking every single day. so they'll be pounding the streets. and of course, remember, a lot of these places have a history of voting lib dem. up until about 2015 2016, lib dems never really recovered from the coalition and brexit, and now they're going to be coming back. >> i just wonder if they're going for there's a lot of the same target seats as labour party are, and if they could end up pinching votes off each other in the south east, well, let's just remember lib dems are on 9% and reform are on 12. >> at the moment. i don't think ed davey is actually really been held to account for the whole post office. i think people are going to remember that. we see paula vennells there with her crocodile tears. what about the tears of the people who actually lost their lives, lost their livelihoods, lost their businesses, their marriages, their homes throughout the whole post office reputation that their reputation, that their mental, you know, they're

they're a former he's standing against him in kingston and that's going to be very, very interesting. >> she is a very she's actually already been elected onto the council. >> she doesn't care. no. i think it says something about bothered. >> it says something how unpopular the tories are that even the post office scandal, they're still voting for the liberal democrats. >> and i think lib dem voters will go out and vote. i agree with you 100. but when you say they are motivated , what about they are motivated, what about they are motivated, what about the greens in the south west, the greens in the south west, the greens in thangam debbonaire seat in bristol? >> every single councillor is now a green councillor, so a lot of that is going to be what i said earlier on about jeremy corbyn and george galloway fishing in the same pond. so i don't think there's going to be a wipe—out for the liberals. i think they're going to pick up some seats, obviously in a place like cheltenham. why i think the tory alex chalk has got a majority of 188. why on earth did ed davey go there? >> all right. well look, can i just say an absolutely massive thank you to my wonderful panel this evening and a whole host of top guests. if you are just joining us. yes. just remember, remember, bear in mind that michael gove was the breaking news at the top of the show. he has resigned or is resigning. he's not going to be seeking re—election. so that's the big

news. mark dolan is on next for another fabulous hour on friday night live. mark what's happening? >> well, picking up the baton at eight patrick a simple question. has nigel farage missed out on the political opportunity of a lifetime ? was the decision by lifetime? was the decision by sunak to call call a snap summer election a political masterstroke or electoral suicide and reaction to that story? as you said, michael gove stands down from the world of politics. two decades in politics. two decades in politics will bring full reaction. >> yeah , lovely stuff mark. make >> yeah, lovely stuff mark. make sure that you keep it gb news tonight because you've got mark dolan next. and he got me back for patrick christys tonight nine till 11 pm, yes. all right. i will see you in about an hour's time, but make sure you stay tuned for mark dolan. see you in a bit. >> that warm feeling inside died from boxt boilers. sponsors of weather on gb news. >> good evening. welcome to your latest gb news weather update this weekend. it's going to be a

bit of a mixed bank holiday. the driest weather expected on for saturday most of us. we'll turn a bit more unsettled as the weekend goes on, but through this evening the pressure pattern really settles down and that will set us up for a much dner that will set us up for a much drier and colder night to come. tonight there are areas of cloud and rain we've seen across. northern areas will slowly drift northwards through the next few hours, and these clearer skies across the south will become more widespread, pushing into parts of southern scotland by the morning. there's a chance of some mist and fog across some southern counties , and it's southern counties, and it's going to be a fresh start. as i say, temperatures could be down as low as three, 3 or 4 degrees across parts of wales southern areas of england as well, but it will warm up fairly quickly as the sun will shine. first thing we could see some sunshine first thing across the north—east of scotland, where we're sheltered from that more southerly wind, thicker cloud though further south and west still some drizzly rain. but i think things will improve through the day here. elsewhere across much of england and wales it will be a dry and bright start, but some

mist and fog may allowed some drizzly rain. notice though, we do have this area of quite persistent rain moving into the south and east that's moving in from parts of europe, and that could bring some very heavy rain to eastern areas potentially. so a bit of a wet day is on the cards for eastern areas of england. just some areas actually. most of us should stay dry through the day on saturday andifs dry through the day on saturday and it's going to feel much warmer than it has done today. highs of around 22 degrees in the south, closer to 19 degrees across the north. but under the cloud it's going to be a bit of a disappointing day. things turn much more unsettled on sunday. bands of showery rain will push north and eastwards through the day. some more persistent rain for northern areas, heavy, possibly thundery downpours across many central and southern areas and that could bring some localised disruption, perhaps some flooding and spray on the roads, and it will likely stay unsettled into the half term week. >> it looks like things are heating up. boxt boilers sponsors of weather on

gb news. >> from the world headquarters of gb news. this is friday night live with me, mark dolan. the weekend starts here, so bring your own drinks. the admission is free on tonight's election special. was the decision to call a snap summer poll a political masterstroke or electoral suicide? has nigel farage missed out on the political opportunity of a lifetime? our tv debate is good for democracy. plus, in a huge political bombshell, michael gove is to stand down at the election, ending a two decade long career in politics. is this a fatal blow for rishi sunak? reaction to this massive story is on the way .