gb news. way. >> good afternoon to you. i hope you're having a fantastic bank houday you're having a fantastic bank holiday monday. >> it's 3 pm. and welcome to the martin daubney show on gb news. we're broadcasting live from the heart of westminster, all across the uk. on today's show, sir keir starmer kicked off day one of labour's general election campaign today, saying you can trust us on the economy but with a tax rate on private schools, our only method of raising funds to date , how would raising funds to date, how would labour be able to afford to rebuild britain .7 next up, rishi rebuild britain? next up, rishi sunak's new national service plan has been ridiculed by sir keir starmer as a teenage dads army. >> even his own ministers say it was sprung upon them. but i'll speak to a former army officer who thinks that rishi sunak's idea could be a canny manoeuvre after all. next up, the tories are pledging to give teachers given legal protection from blasphemy claims , saying no blasphemy claims, saying no religion is immune from

criticism . it sounds great, but criticism. it sounds great, but why on earth did it take them? two long years of silence on the batley grammar school incident before they finally made a stand? >> and you'd have to be crackers to chase a 70 mile an hour cheese down a steep hill. >> but that didn't stop daredevils from all over the world rolling to cooper's hill in gloucestershire today for the epic cheese rolling race. >> our man jack carson took a tumble fetter the devil you know. that's all coming up between now and 6:00. are you having a cracking bank holiday? >> i was at that area there at the at the cheese rollers pub this morning. >> i had to come back to do the show. i would have taken part in that cheese rolling contest. i think if i'd been able to get to the bar in time. but anyway, we've got full details from there. our man jack carson has grabbed an interview with the winner. got some bad news though. he's german, it's

nothing sacred . anyway, get in nothing sacred. anyway, get in touch. today was day one of the national general election campaign, kicking off the labour party, laying out their pledges. have you been convinced? because i'll tell you this, i've been through every word of sir keir starmer's opening speech , and starmer's opening speech, and i've yet to find hardly any detail. i'll be putting that to katherine forster. she's on the campaign trail with the labour party for her take. get in touch all the usual ways. gbnews.com forward slash your save. but before we kick off, it's your headunes before we kick off, it's your headlines and it's tamsin roberts . roberts. >> martin, thanks very much and good afternoon. from the gb newsroom. it'sjust good afternoon. from the gb newsroom. it's just after 3:00. the prime minister has defended his plan to make all 18 year olds carry out national service, describing it as modern and bold. rishi sunak says the proposals will mean young people will get the skills and opportunities they need, which will serve them well in life. he says it will make society more cohesive . meanwhile, the labour

cohesive. meanwhile, the labour leader has described the conservatives plan to reintroduce national service as desperate, answering questions after his first keynote speech of the campaign , sir keir of the campaign, sir keir starmer dismissed the prime minister's proposals to accept the proposition that we need , the proposition that we need, strong defences and that has to be the first duty of any government. >> but i think this plan is desperate. i think they are rummaging around in the toy box to try and find any plan that they can throw on the table. i don't think it'll work . you've don't think it'll work. you've seen what military experts, those with experience, have said about it. you see what the government said about it just a few days ago when they were asked. that would take away from the resources of the military . the resources of the military. >> meanwhile, the liberal democrats have launched their general election campaign in scotland. speaking in fife, lib dem leader sir ed davey said it was time for change. >> the people of scotland have been doubly let down, let down

by an out of touch conservative government in westminster and taken for granted by an out—of—touch snp government in holyrood . holyrood. >> they both have to go . >> they both have to go. >> they both have to go. >> scotland's first minister says the snp can kick the conservatives out of every seat in scotland as he campaigns ahead of the general election. john swinney has been in dumfries , which is part of dumfries, which is part of scottish secretary alister jack, dumfries and galloway seat. he says his priority is to bring the country together to tackle a range of issues . range of issues. >> i want to bring people in scotland together, i want to unite people in scotland on an agenda to make scotland a better country , and that's about country, and that's about tackling some of the issues that are really significant and damaging for scotland that we have had in recent years . the have had in recent years. the impact of austerity, the impact of brexit, the impact of the cost of living crisis. i want to address those issues and address them through the election . them through the election. >> in other news, israeli forces

are investigating reports of an exchange of fire between israeli and egyptian soldiers close to the rafah border crossing . the the rafah border crossing. the idf says a shooting incident occurred on the egyptian border. it's understood the incident is under review and discussions are being held with the egyptians . a being held with the egyptians. a man and a woman in their 40s have been arrested in connection with the fatal explosion at a service station in county donegal. ten people aged between 5 and 59 died in the blast in october 2022. in the irish village of chrysler. melanoma skin cancer cases in the uk are at an all time high, with nearly 21,000 expected to be diagnosed this year. cancer research uk says rates of melanoma have increased by almost a third over a decade. it's understood there's been an upward trend in cases in all ages , but the cases in all ages, but the biggest rise has occurred in adults over 80 or those are the

top stories. and for all the latest, do sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen or go to gb news. com slash alerts. now it's back to . martin. to. martin. >> thank you tamsin. now we start with sir keir starmer's first major speech of the general election campaign. and the labour leader says that voters can trust his party on the economy. sir keir said economic stability will be one of the bedrocks of his party's manifesto. well, sir keir made his speech in worthing , in west his speech in worthing, in west sussex, and our political correspondents katherine forster joins us live and direct from there now. catherine, welcome to there now. catherine, welcome to the show. so you can trust me on the show. so you can trust me on the economy. i will fight for you. working people will be the onesi you. working people will be the ones i protect from the whirlwind of chaos brought by the tories. but catherine, i've

been through this script. i can't find any detail whatsoever. help me out , welcome whatsoever. help me out, welcome to worthing , martin. this is a to worthing, martin. this is a seat which has been conserved . seat which has been conserved. tim loughton has held it for since 1997. but labour are hopeful of picking it up. tim loughton is no longer standing . loughton is no longer standing. so, yes, sir keir starmer, in his first big campaign speech here, he grew up in this area. he told people how his parents had to make decisions about which bills to pay because they couldn't afford to pay all of them. he wants to us understand that he really gets the cost of living crisis that he's been there and he understands it. talking a lot about security, as you mentioned, economic security , one of three strands. let's have a little look at what he had to say. >> very foundation of any good government is economic security ,

government is economic security, border security, national security . and make no mistake, security. and make no mistake, if the british people give us the opportunity to serve , then the opportunity to serve, then this is their core test. it's always their core test. the definition of service. can you protect this country ? and i protect this country? and i haven't worked for four years on this just to stop now. this is the foundation , the bedrock that the foundation, the bedrock that our manifesto , our first steps our manifesto, our first steps will be built on. and then on that foundation, with an end to the tory chaos , we can start to the tory chaos, we can start to rebuild our country. step one economic stability . the very economic stability. the very foundation of growth with tough spending rules that mean we can keep inflation, taxes and mortgages low . mortgages low. >> well, that was sir keir starmer on the economy. catherine he also had a bit of a p0p catherine he also had a bit of a pop at rishi sunak on defence.

of course, the big topic of debate being rishi sunak's national service campaign . what national service campaign. what did sir keir say on that ? did sir keir say on that? >> yes. well, rishi sunak made a huge deal of the fact that they've pledged , didn't they, they've pledged, didn't they, a few weeks ago, to up defence spending to 2.5% by 2030. but at the moment all the talk is dominated by this . coming out of dominated by this. coming out of the blue announcement on national service service yesterday. now keir starmer was having none of it. i'm not going to try to paraphrase it. let's see what he said. >> this spinning round and round . it's symbolic of the chaos and the instability . vie you've seen the instability. vie you've seen that again over the past few days, that the desperation of this national service policy, a sort of teenage dad's army. >> teenage dad's army. it's a nice little throwaway line . it nice little throwaway line. it made me snigger. but the fact of the matter is, catherine, there

wasn't a great deal of alternative plans being put forward. how impressed with you were you today with sir keir starmer? richard holden, the tory chairman, has been saying he had no policy, no substance and no plan. it was a wearisome and no plan. it was a wearisome and rambling speech , short on and rambling speech, short on detail. but do you think that's the point? catherine keir starmer doesn't have to offer any detail. he can spend the next six weeks merely not making mistakes, and that's how he might win . might win. >> well, yes, because they're so far ahead. but they are going to have to give more detail, aren't they, as we get closer to polling day. but this speech today was really introducing himself, saying, today was really introducing himself, saying , look at me, today was really introducing himself, saying, look at me, i'm an ordinary guy. i feel what it's like for you. i will fight for you. and also that you can trust me as you say, many of the details were not fleshed out. i asked him specifically about rwanda , given the fact that last rwanda, given the fact that last week, 15 other european

countries have said they're looking to third safe countries for offshore processing . and he for offshore processing. and he just batted that away. he basically said, we've got a plan to crack down on the gangs and rishi sunak rwanda plan was never going to work, and that's why he's called the election now, well , he says there's lots now, well, he says there's lots of gaps in what the government are already doing on that. the government say they're already trying to crack down on the gangs, but what we don't really know is the specifics, apart from the fact that he's going to involve m15. so, you know, still lots and lots of questions. but labourin lots and lots of questions. but labour in some ways want to give as little information as they can because they want to make themselves a smaller target as they can. the more information they can. the more information they give out, the more they're likely to get attacked. but at the same time, they do want people to be making a positive choice for them rather than just voting for them because they're very, very cross with the

conservatives >> well, well, katherine forster you've got the plum location there on the wonderful worthing beach behind you. go and get yourself an ice cream and i'll speak to you in an hour's time. thank you very much for joining us on the show. so can we trust labour on the economy? well, i'm joined now by the economist and the co—founder of regionally, justin urquhart stewart, the patron saint of red braces. have you got your red braces on? yes i have, yeah. yes you have. it wouldn't be the same without them. right. let's get down to them. right. let's get down to the belts and braces of sir keir starmer's economic plan. it seemed to me, justin, to be short on detail, high on rhetoric, high on attack. but when it came to specific policies, how are we going to fund this? the only one i could see was doubling down on something we already knew. this vat raid on private schools. was there anything there that might show us his direction of economic travel? yeah, there's no detail at all. but bear in mind, these these boys and girls are playing political poker. therefore, what you don't do is

show your hand. show your hand too soon, and then other people will find holes in it and come back and attack you. so let the other side come out with it. the other side come out with it. the other side come out with it. the other side doesn't do anything ehhen >> this is going to be a silence of politics. >> no, really. >> no, really. >> what he should be doing at the moment is giving confidence into people in the economy to really try and take back the trouble we had with liz truss, which caused us real embarrassment internationally. >> people looking at britain and saying , do i want to invest in saying, do i want to invest in this country? it's led like this. so really he's all about getting that sort of confidence. and then in terms of actual expenditure, probably keep quiet for the moment. but what he could do is bring forward various incentives . we've got various incentives. we've got things like the enterprise investment scheme that will actually help domestic investment, but you could also apply that internationally . more apply that internationally. more people investing into britain and giving more consumer confidence as well. >> because remember, over 60% of our of our economy is based on you and i. >> well, not just you and i, but consumers going out and spending the entire time. and if people

are worried and upset, they stop doing it. it's not difficult. >> but the other thing they could do is actually , as the ecb could do is actually, as the ecb have been making noises today about seeing interest rate cuts sooner rather than later. >> technically down to the bank of england, but realistically, actually with pressure from the government and the treasury, they could reduce rates by a quarter percent . and that would quarter percent. and that would directly impact on people. certainly with, with mortgages coming up, we've got over 500,000 people probably going through that in the next year or so, and that will be very painful. so a little reduction there would go a long way. and yet just in the stark reality is the biscuit tin is empty with e2] the biscuit tin is empty with £2.7 trillion in debt. liam byrne famously left that letter saying there's no money left. we were a mere 900 billion in debt then, three times the national debt of the biscuit tin. so we're really, really haven't got any money now , how can a party any money now, how can a party come in and promise radical change when there simply isn't the funds there without peril ,

the funds there without peril, the funds there without peril, the peril of raising taxes. and yet taxes are already at the highest since world war two. it's the magic of an economy, isn't it? you actually go back a few years ago and if you look at an economics textbook about 20 years ago, quantitative easing had never been heard of . and of had never been heard of. and of course, suddenly we produce this monetary which could produce instant money for us. but you can't even go keep on going back to it. in fact, after the first time we used it, the bank of england even said we can't repeat that again. two years later, we did exactly the same. we can't do that again. what they can do, though, is make sure that people see both domestically and internationally , that we're not taking big risks. it's slow and steady. there is no miracle cure. >> you might end up with a kindergarten army, but nonetheless, what you want to be able to do is have more people employed actually earning money and paying tax. >> if you start doing that over a period of time, you'll get more confidence. but there is no magic money tree. there is no magic money tree. there is no magic spell. you can actually just recover the economy, but you can do is say actually just

start bringing in confidence. no big risks, no magic pills, just slow and steady. dull. well, actually, when it comes to the economy, dull can be quite good. in fact, justin, i think you've hit the nail on the head there. i think this is going to be about showing competence s showing trust, showing there won't be any more pain. steady as she goes. and for that reason, we can probably expect not a great deal of detail over the next few weeks . no, if i was the next few weeks. no, if i was a politician, thank heaven i'm not. and thank heaven the rest of the country. i'm not, but actually don't actually give away your cards. >> don't let the other people start actually sniping at you and putting putting holes in yourin and putting putting holes in your in your plans. >> the best thing to do is go out and see her the first week. what have we got wrong? what could we add in? what are the other side doing? and above all, how is it going down with the electorate to actually say, wonderful. >> but i think we're beginning to trust them a little bit more. >> remember, they've come a long way. labour from the corbyn days, but have they done enough

yet? well we've got five and a half weeks to find out. well just in august. they were always a pleasure. and who's your dog there? what's your dog's name? no no, this is this is betty, well known for her economic views, particularly on cat food. there you go. i can't tell the difference between a cat and a dog. it's going to be one of those shows just in an absolute delight as ever, to have your expertise. thank you very much. so we've just looked at what sir keir starmer had to say about labour's plans for the economy. well, in the next hour we'll get reaction to his comments about defence, which has of course traditionally been a weak point for the labour party . and for the labour party. and there's plenty of coverage on our website, gb news. com you've helped to make it the fastest growing national news website in the country , so thank you very the country, so thank you very much. now £20,000 has to be won in our great british giveaway and you need to act fast as lie—ins are going to close this friday. and here's all the details that you need for your chance to win the cash. >> it's the final week to see how you can win a whopping £20,000 cash. and because it's

totally tax free, every single penny will be in your bank account to do whatever you like. with £20,000 in tax free cash really could be yours this summer. hurry as lines close on friday, you've got to be in it to win it for another chance to win £20,000 in tax free cash text win to 63232. text cost £2 plus one standard network rate message or post your name and number two gb05, po box 8690. derby de19, double t, uk only entrants must be 18 or over. lines close at 5 pm. on friday. full terms and privacy notice @gbnews .com forward slash win. please check the closing time if listening or watching on demand. good luck . good luck. >> now the row over the tories plans to introduce national service is now in its third day.

and while rishi sunak has come in for plenty of criticism, i'm going to speak to a former army officer who says the idea is worth a shot. i martin daubney on gb news,

>> earlier on breakfast. >> earlier on breakfast. >> labour is committed now to not increasing income tax or vat on national insurance. have i understood that correctly? we won't be increasing national insurance or income tax for workers . and so that leaves vat, workers. and so that leaves vat, by the way. so vat might go up. >> we've no plans on that ehhen >> we've no plans on that either. so i'm very surprised by anyone who thinks that those values , defending those values, values, defending those values, ensuring our young people are resilient as individuals and as part of a community is something that they would think isn't a good thing. >> you're not making an effort, as i say , stay at home. as i say, stay at home. >> but if the tracksuit has been worn by taylor swift, i mean, for all i know, the tracksuit may cost more money than my

tailor made suit. >> but wasn't she asked to leave? >> certainly my generation. you're a little bit younger than myself. no, no, you know, we our parents are my. yeah. all right. >> i'm not, i listen, i'm the youngest and i'm old from six. >> it's breakfast on gb news. >> it's breakfast on gb news. >> welcome back. your time is 323. i'm martin daubney , and 323. i'm martin daubney, and this is gb news. now, later in the show, i'll discuss plans for lonely children to be prescribed activities, including fishing and gardening, to tackle rising rates of social isolation. i absolutely love that story. now to what is undoubtedly one of the most controversial stories of the general election campaign so far, and that's rishi sunak's plan to make 18 year olds do compulsory national service labour leader sir keir starmer has dismissed rishi sunak's national service plan as a teenage dad's army. let's get reaction to the prime minister's bold plan . i'm joined now by the

bold plan. i'm joined now by the former british army officer and defence analyst , lieutenant defence analyst, lieutenant colonel stuart crawford. welcome to the show, stuart . always to the show, stuart. always a delight. now it's fair to say this plan hasn't been shy of its critics . starmer called it critics. starmer called it desperate teenage dad's army stuff steve baker, a defence veteran defence minister, saying it was sprung upon them. a lot of questions to ask, is it mandatory? will they be prosecuted? where will they face fines? could they see their benefit stocks? putting all that to one side, do you think this plan has a silver lining ? plan has a silver lining? >> well yes. yes i do actually . >> well yes. yes i do actually. and i have to say that, the criticism of the plan, such as it is and, you know, the detail is limited at the moment, has elicited , the knee jerk elicited, the knee jerk response, response from, from the usual suspects, including two former chiefs of the defence staff and it seems to me that

they have reacted to the headune they have reacted to the headline without reading the article, if i can use that analogy, i think that, national service is probably an unfortunate term for it. and perhaps have been better calling it public service or something like that , but that national like that, but that national service conjures up images of pimplv service conjures up images of pimply youth in ill fitting uniforms in freezing nissen huts, being bellowed at by red faced sergeant majors. those days are long gone, and, also as the military aspect of it would be both voluntary and selective , be both voluntary and selective, it's hardly what we understand as national service. so i think that people have been taken by that people have been taken by that part of the story without looking at the more, potentially beneficial aspects, which i think are worthy of further exploration . exploration. >> it's interesting, colonel, because the problem we have at the moment is we can't conscript enough people to join the armed forces . at any rate, we've got

forces. at any rate, we've got the smallest army since the napoleonic times , the smallest napoleonic times, the smallest raf since its conception. at the end of world war one. so few navy sailors were having to decommission ships. meanwhile, they're more worried about pronouns , and all the rest of it pronouns, and all the rest of it is the answer to frogmarch people into this if they don't want to do it of their own volition, will they really be motivated enough? if we force them into it? >> well, as i come back to again say, no one's actually being forced into it, i think what is being offered is the facility for those who have a leaning towards the military, as i did as a young to, man, choose to do as a young to, man, choose to do a year's military service in either any of the three services, to see whether, you know, they fit. and i would call that not compulsory recruiting, but tentative recruiting dip your toe in the water, and if your toe in the water, and if you like it, perhaps you'll want to stay . and if you don't like to stay. and if you don't like it, well, you can say, well, i tried it and it's not for me. so i don't think there's any question of people being forced

into the military into uniform, unless of course, we face a national crisis like we did in the first world war and the second world war, when conscription, will be required because our forces, as you so rightly point out , are very, rightly point out, are very, very small indeed . very small indeed. >> one key question i've got is where will we where will we house 30,018 year olds working full time in the military. maybe they end up on the bibby stockholm . stockholm. >> well, i mean, who knows, i think that's it's a fair comment that the defence estate has shrunk quite considerably. but, you know, if we can find accommodation for people coming across the channel to house them while they're processed, i dare say we can find places to process, young people who want to have a go at the armed services. and of course , where services. and of course, where there's a will, there's a way. it can't be a cost, negative or cost , equal. it can't be a cost, negative or cost, equal. but the budget will have to be fine somehow, if

that's what the conservative government wishes to do. and of course, predicated on the fact if we will have a conservative government post july the 4th. >> now, stuart, there's been lots of reaction from sir keir starmer so far. he's drawing his bayonet, so to speak, on on national service, having a go at rishi sunak. but to use another military metaphor, it's time for him to show us his medals, isn't it? what do you want to see? it's okay. attacking other people's plans but not having not liking somebody else's plan isn't the same thing as having your own plan. what would you like to see from the labour party in terms of its pledges for defence? >> for from sir keir starmer? i'd like to see a clear commitment to reverse the decline in the armed forces, which would mean an increase of budget, everyone was talking about 2.5% of gdp. i think it needs to go up to 3% of gdp and a firm plan to provide the raf with sufficient aircraft and

support aircraft. the royal navy, with sufficient vessels and the army with sufficient armoured vehicles, tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and above all ground based air defence, all of which have been shown to be lacking , via the shown to be lacking, via the ukraine war, which is a great sort of, laboratory, if you like, for how we should be going about, rejigging. our armed forces . so i'd like to see that forces. so i'd like to see that from sir keir starmer and his colleagues , and i'd like to see colleagues, and i'd like to see it costed and how they're going to pay for it. >> supervisor, thanks for joining us as ever. that's lieutenant colonel stuart crawford, always a delight to have the show. thank you very much. now, i've got a couple of your sayings before we head to the news. graham says this on the news. graham says this on the topic of the general election. whatever your opinion of the conservatives and mine is pretty low in my opinion. a labour government is going to be an absolute abomination. well, we've got six weeks to find out what that looks like. graham. let's fasten seat belts and see andrew on the same, same point.

what does the labour economics stability message mean? what would the labour party do that is different? no detail as usual. well andrew, i said the same thing, but it is only day one. and gwyn, even less complimentary . listening to keir complimentary. listening to keir starmer is like listening to a dalek. well, that's not very nice and that's sort of opinion. he probably like to exterminate nails . a new way to get in touch nails. a new way to get in touch with us here @gbnews. send those views and post your comments to gbnews.com/yoursay as many as you can before the end of the show. i'll read them out loads more still to come between now and 4:00. and this is my favourite story of the day. we're going to bring you all the drama from the annual gloucestershire cheese rolling event. gloucestershire cheese rolling event . i was gloucestershire cheese rolling event. i was in gloucestershire cheese rolling event . i was in the area early event. i was in the area early but i had to come back for you. my but i had to come back for you. my beloved viewers. authorities told the public that it's so dangerous they shouldn't even take part as viewers can see lots of people completely ignored them and got rolling.

but first, it's your news headunes but first, it's your news headlines with tamsin roberts. >> martin, thanks very much. here are the headlines. at 331, the prime minister has defended his plan to make all 18 year olds carry out national service, describing it as modern and bold . rishi sunak says the proposals will mean young people will get the skills and opportunities they need to serve them well in life. he says it will make society more cohesive . society more cohesive. meanwhile, the labour leader has described the plans to reintroduce national service as desperate, answering questions after his first keynote speech of the campaign , sir keir of the campaign, sir keir starmer dismissed the prime minister's proposals to accept the proposition that we need , the proposition that we need, strong defences and that has to be the first duty of any government. >> but i think this plan is desperate. i think they are rummaging around in the toy box to try and find any plan that

they can throw on the table. i don't think it'll work . you've don't think it'll work. you've seen what military experts, those with experience, have said about it. you've seen what the government said about it just a few days ago when they were asked. that would take away from the resources of the military. >> scotland's first minister says the snp can kick the conservatives out of every seat in scotland as he campaigns ahead of the general election. john swinney has been in dumfries , which is part of dumfries, which is part of scottish secretary alister jack's dumfries and galloway seat. he says his priority is to bnng seat. he says his priority is to bring the country together to tackle a range of issues. >> i want to bring people in scotland together, i want to unite people in scotland on an agenda to make scotland a better country, and that's about tackling some of the issues that are really significant and damaging for scotland that we have had in recent years. the impact of austerity, the impact of brexit, the impact of the cost of living crisis. i want to address those issues and address them through the election .

them through the election. >> and to some news, just in a 17 year old boy arrested on suspicion of the murder of a woman on a beach in bournemouth has been released without charge . a 34 year old woman was pronounced dead on durley chine beach on friday night, whilst a 38 year old woman was taken to hospital with serious injuries. police investigating have released cctv images of a hooded suspect . dorset police are suspect. dorset police are urging anyone who recognises the person in the image to get in touch urgently, and have warned the public not to approach him . the public not to approach him. those are the top stories and for all the latest, sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen or go to gb news. common herts . gb news. common herts. >> thank you thames. and now this show is absolutely nothing without you, my wonderful viewers and listeners. and here's bev turner to explain how you can get in touch with me.

>> we are proud to be gb news the people's channel and as you know, we always love to hear your views. >> now there's a new way of getting in touch with us @gbnews .com forward. slash your say by commenting. you can be part of a live conversation and join our gb news community. you can even talk to me, bev turner or any of the members of the gb news family. simply go to gbnews.com/yoursay or say

>> welcome back. it's 337. i'm martin daubney on gb news. got some really funny yours. i'll read them out later in the show. and talking of which, later on the show, i get reaction to the big news that teachers could be given legal protection from blasphemy complaints from religious groups. i should have done that two years ago with the batley grammar school teacher . batley grammar school teacher. now sir ed davey has launched a liberal democrat scottish campaign by saying people in the country have been let down by

the governments in westminster and holyrood, and the lib dem leader made it crystal clear that they're targeting a number of snp seats at the next general election. thank you very much . election. thank you very much. >> thanks for coming. >> thanks for coming. >> this election is our chance for change across the uk, for the people of our great country who desperately want change. >> the people of scotland have been doubly let down, let down by an out of touch conservative government in westminster and taken for granted by an out—of—touch snp government in holyrood. >> they both have to go . >> they both have to go. >> they both have to go. >> woo hooi you know, people across scotland are working hard. they're raising their families. they're looking after loved ones. >> they're playing by the rules . >> they're playing by the rules. it shouldn't be so difficult for them to make ends meet . it them to make ends meet. it shouldn't be that they're having to wait so long to see a gp, or

struggling to find an nhs dentist . they shouldn't have to dentist. they shouldn't have to see their rivers and lakes and beaches seeing sewage flooded onto them . it really is time for onto them. it really is time for change and in so many parts of scotland it's a vote for the liberal democrats who can deliver that change and beat the snp, who ? and a vote for the snp, who? and a vote for the liberal democrats isn't just about a change of government. it's about transforming our politics, mending our broken political system . because if we political system. because if we do that, we can mend our health and care system. we can get our economy back on track. we can stop the sewage scandal, and we can strengthen our precious family of nations . but, you family of nations. but, you know, a liberal democrat vote also gets you a fair deal, a for

vote the liberal democrats is a vote the liberal democrats is a vote for a local champion like christine jardine here. yes christine jardine here. yes christine has been working every day for her constituents over the forth in edinburgh west and doing such a great job for them, christine. but we. we've got loads of local liberal democrat champions, whether it's from dunbartonshire to caithness, from fife to fort william, from skye to shetland, so many liberal democrat champions who will fight for a fair deal for their community and a fair deal is so needed for the people of scotland . a fair deal where scotland. a fair deal where everyone can get a decent home that's safe and clean, and a comfortable retirement. when the time comes for a fair deal for every child who can have a decent school and fulfil their potential . a fair deal where potential. a fair deal where everyone can access high quality

health care when they need it. where they need it. that's the fair deal that liberal democrats are fighting for. for the people of scotland , for the people of of scotland, for the people of our great country. so come and join us. this is the time to make it happen. thank you . make it happen. thank you. >> now, said dave, you there? the lib dem launch earlier on today. and for more on this story now let's speak to our political correspondent olivia utley. she's on the lib dems election battle bus, which, believe it or not, is called yellowhammer one libya. welcome to the show. so sir ed davey there and fighting spirit, what's the message from lib dem battle bus hq ? battle bus hq? >> well, yes, i'm on the lib dem battle bus. we're on the n1 somewhere in warwickshire. we're heading up to lake windermere, which is the liberal democrats only seat in the north of england . what the lib dems i'm england. what the lib dems i'm speaking to here are saying is that they don't want to be sort of complacent or hubristic. if you cast your minds back to 2019, we kept hearing that jo

swinson was going to be our next prime minister. that was their slogan. she was the leader of the lib dems at the time. the lib dems ended up only winning 11 seats, far below expectations and jo swinson herself lost her seat to the snp . so the seat to the snp. so the messaging this time is very, very different. you heard ed davey there talking about local champions. that's what we're going to be hearing a lot more of. the liberal democrat party is not trying to sort of stop labour winning this election. what they're trying to do is unseat various conservatives in the south of england and snp politicians in scotland . almost politicians in scotland. almost all of labour's target seats, bar one, are held by either the conservatives or the snp. they're hoping to pick up sort of protest votes from people who are fed up with their government, be it the conservative government in england or the snp government in scotland. they're really, really hoping in particular to pick up a lot of seats from the conservatives in the south of england and the sort of home counties. that's why this battle bus is being nicknamed

yellowhammer one. it's the yellow hammer. one is going to bash up the blue wall in the south. they have a real eye on jeremy hunts constituency in surrey, which he has held holding by a very , very small holding by a very, very small majority. they also are looking at michael gove's old seat. michael gove announced obviously over the weekend that he would be stepping down as a conservative prime minister. conservative mp so of course the conservatives will be losing their incumbent advantage there. the message from the lib dems is they are very optimistic, they're very excited. they're not getting hubristic at all. they're ed davey is not planning to be our next prime minister, but they are hoping to win a big, big handful of seats and potentially leave the conservatives without a number of cabinet ministers >> okay. thank you. olivia utley there from yellowhammer one yellowhammer. by the way, for those ornithologists out there , those ornithologists out there, is a small diminutive songbird that makes a lot of noise from the sidelines without ever being the sidelines without ever being the dominant species. some might say that's quite fitting. olivia utley, thank you very much for

joining us live and direct. now stand by for the moment. you've all been waiting for. yes. in a few minutes i'll cross live to gloucestershire for all the thrills and spills of the annual cheese rolling event. the event, the venue there is so dangerous that even our reporter has injured himself. he took a little roll down that hill himself. i'm martin daubney on gb news, britain's news channel

welcome back. it's 347. i'm martin daubney on gb news. now let's bring you now a brand new interview with rishi sunak. the prime minister. he's been talking about a number of topics, including, of course , topics, including, of course, his controversial plan to bring back national service for 18 year olds. well, when i called this election, i said i wanted to deliver a secure future for everyone and our country and our plan to introduce a modern form of national service is an example of the bold action that

i'm prepared to take to deliver that secure future. >> it's going to give young people skills and opportunities for life. it's going to foster a culture of service that will make our society more cohesive , make our society more cohesive, andifs make our society more cohesive, and it's going to strengthen our country's resilience and security . so i think it's security. so i think it's absolutely the right policy at the right time. is it a conservative policy, though? >> i mean, i don't know about you, but i thought the conservative party was about small state, about interfering in people's lives less yet this is essentially telling adults what to do with the weekend. >> so i've been thinking about this long and hard for a long time now , and talking to people time now, and talking to people across europe where there are various different forms of this. and i believe this is the right thing to do, because this is i will deliver a secure future for everyone and our country . we're everyone and our country. we're not going to do that without taking bold action, and that's a type of leadership that i offer. and this modern form of national service will mean that young people get the skills and the opportunities they need, which is going to serve them very well in life. it's going to foster a culture of service, which is going to be incredibly powerful for making our society more cohesive and in a more uncertain

and dangerous world. it's going to strengthen our country's security and resilience. so for all these reasons, i think this is absolutely the right thing to do. yes, it is bold, but that's the type of leadership that i offer. it's a clear plan, bold action. that's how we'll deliver action. that's how we'll deliver a secure future for our country. >> your team have been briefing out today about sleepy sir keir starmer. >> i mean, have we got to the point? we're doing kind of trumpian esque electioneering. do you think his age is an issue? >> look, i'm interested in getting out about across the country. we're a few days into this. i've already been in the east midlands, the west midlands, northern ireland, scotland, wales, here in the south east today, talking to people, parents about the future and the substance is what matters at this election. it's a choice about the future and my pitch to the country and to the people i've been talking to here today is that i'm the one that's got a clear plan. i'm prepared to take bold action. as you can see with our initiative on national service . and that's how national service. and that's how we're going to deliver a secure future for everyone. and our country. and that's the choice at this election. and when it comes to keir starmer, that's the choice that's on offer. no ideas, no plan. and you don't

deliver a better future. you don't deliver any change without those things , i think that was those things, i think that was maybe an old age, but just very , maybe an old age, but just very, very firmly on the campaign itself. >> i mean, there's no battlebus i haven't seen the cabinet yet. you haven't got candidates and dozens and dozens of constituencies. it's not exactly the ideal start to this campaign for you, is it? >> frankly, i've been out and about across the entire united kingdom, northern ireland, scotland, wales, been in east midlands, the west midlands, here in the south east. and there's a clear choice at this election. i want to deliver a secure future for everyone in our country, particularly in the uncertain time that we live in. and as i've demonstrated with our policy on national service, our policy on national service, our policies to increase our investment in defence reform, welfare, get to net zero in a more sensible way, control our immigration and secure our borders. i'm the one that's going to take bold action to deliver that secure future. and there's a clear contrast in choice at this election. it's another day we've had another speech from keir starmer, who you've just asked me about another half hour speech. not a single new idea . he's taking the single new idea. he's taking the british public for granted. i

don't think this election is a foregone conclusion. we're going to have a debate over the next few weeks, and i'm the one that's putting bold ideas on the table . i'm the one that's got table. i'm the one that's got a plan, and that's how we're going to deliver a secure future for everyone. and as i said, his approach is to take people for granted. he's got nothing to say, no plan, no ideas . say, no plan, no ideas. >> okay, that was rishi sunak earlier, but now let's move on to the moment we've all been waiting for. yes, it's action from one of the most dangerous sports in the entire world. cheese rolling. people ignored warnings from the local safety advisory group. not to attend the annual gloucestershire cheese rolling festival. this afternoon. and our intrepid reporter, the big cheese jack carson , was at the event, and he carson, was at the event, and he joins me live now. jack, what happened? did you get rolling ? happened? did you get rolling? >> well, i got rolling actually trying to make it up to the hill in the first place. >> martin i took the scenic route. >> i was chased by cows. it was it was eventful. and that was just at 9:00 this morning. but when we got to the hill, i mean, it seriously is steep. it's 180m

it seriously is steep. it's180m high. and of course you've got to chase a three kilogram double gloucester cheese down at thousands attended. there was loads of different races, downhill races , uphill races. we downhill races, uphill races. we caught up with a few of the winners earlier on, slightly surprised, but i said i was going to win it, so, i managed to do it. i wasn't quite sure that if i had or not, i knew there were a lot of people coming in pretty fast. so, yeah, i put in the effort when could. >> i just remember rolling down in my face, getting beat up again, and flying down. >> and i was just thinking to myself, like, there's only going to be a few seconds. i'm going to be a few seconds. i'm going to get to the bottom at some point, and then it'll be over. i found out about it years ago on the internet. rabbit holes on youtube leads you to weird places, but i wanted to defend my title again. two years i did it. i was in the right place at the right time. so i travelled to here to do it. and this year i wanted to do it again to defend my title. so this is the thing, you know, you've got

people there from all over the world, from australia, from america, you know, coming to this race, one of the other winners as well was germ. an interesting to see some of their techniques. some of them just go straight flat on their backside a bit like i did trying to make it up to the hill in the first place. martin, and other people try to jump and run and it's it really is quite a spectacle. it's hilarious. it's dangerous. and it really is the best of british. >> yeah. jack goss and i was at that roundabout where you were there yesterday getting my sunday lunch. that's where my in—laws live. the cheese rollers pub serves anaesthetic in the form of scrumpy . they don't know form of scrumpy. they don't know how strong it is. it was 8, apparently. that's how they prepare for the event. that is the best of british jack. i'm very concerned. all the contestants you're speaking to, they're german, australian, new zealand. where's the brits ? zealand. where's the brits? >> well, i'll have you know, martin, the third men's downhill winner, who ran off right as we tried to interview him, was from gloucestershire. he said to us, just quickly before he ran off that he had to do it. he was the third one last group down. he had to, of course , win that race

had to, of course, win that race for gloucestershire and for britain. >> okay. thank you very much, jack carson. make sure you get home carefully . now, i've home carefully. now, i've already heard sir keir starmer's response that a labour government would bring economic stability. well, in a few minutes time we'll examine his plans on national security. defence, of course, is traditionally a weak point for the labour party. but has sir keir starmer managed to turn it around? i'll speak to johnny mercer , who's the veterans mercer, who's the veterans minister, for his take. i martin daubney on gb news, britain's new channel. that's time for your weather with ellie glaisyer i >> -- >>a >> a brighter outlook with boxt solar , the sponsors of weather solar, the sponsors of weather on . gb news. on. gb news. >> good afternoon. welcome to your latest gb news, weather from the met office, where there will be plenty more heavy showers on the way. for many of us today, these turning heavy and thundery at times , all and thundery at times, all thanks to this area of low pressure. situated across the uk , various occlusion features pushing their way eastwards will

bnng pushing their way eastwards will bring a focus for those showers through this afternoon, and it's eastern parts of scotland, maybe into north eastern parts of england, that were likely to see those heavier showers this afternoon. again, with some hail and thunder mixed in too, for england and wales. not quite as heavy. those showers compared to what we've seen over the past couple of days. but there will still be a few around and it'll be feeling a little cooler too. with those temperatures only around 17 or 18 degrees around about average for the time of yeah about average for the time of year. so those heavier showers across eastern parts of scotland will continue as we head through the rest of this afternoon . the rest of this afternoon. again, some hail and thunder mixed in into this evening and they could be quite slow moving, but slowly pushing their way eastwards as we head into the latter part of the day, some showers across northern ireland and northern parts of england too. and again, these pushing their way eastwards into monday evening. the showers across england and wales will gradually start to ease as we head into the latter part of the day, but there is some rain arriving out towards the southwest and that will slowly push its way north and eastwards as we head through monday evening and into the

start of tuesday . the showers start of tuesday. the showers elsewhere do gradually start to ease overnight, so there will be some clear spells around and under those clear spells we could be turning a little chilly with temperatures dropping into the single figures, but under all that cloud and rain likely to stay that little bit milder temperatures here around 12 or 13 degrees to start on tuesday . 13 degrees to start on tuesday. so that does mean it's a bit of a damp start for northern ireland. wales and southern parts of england, and that rain does push its way north and eastwards as we head through tuesday daytime. some early brightness across parts of scotland and northeastern parts of england, but that rain does eventually arrive through the afternoon. plenty of heavy showers as well across parts of northern england, wales and southwest parts of england, and temperatures again around about average for the time of year. >> that warm feeling inside from boxt boilers sponsors of weather on

gb news. >> very good afternoon to you. hope you're having a fantastic bank holiday. monday. it's 4 pm. and welcome to the martin daubney show on gb news. we're broadcasting, as ever, live from the heart of westminster. all across the uk. now, after failing to match the tories pledge of 2.5% of gdp for defence, sir keir starmer faces an uphill battle to win voters trust on defence. but today he showed us his medals. all did he . and later in the hour we'll speak to veterans minister johnny mercer for his reaction. can labour be trusted on defence next? the tories are pledging to give teachers legal protection from blasphemy claims, saying no religion is immune from criticism. now that sounds great, but why on earth did it take them two years of silence? on the batley grammar school incident before they took a stand? and that's all coming up in your next hour. welcome to

the show. here we are in a great bank holiday. i'm also covering a story which i absolutely love andifs a story which i absolutely love and it's about loneliness amongst young people. some 20% ofinner amongst young people. some 20% of inner city kids apparently experienced loneliness and a pioneering new nhs scheme is set to prescribe kids not drugs , but to prescribe kids not drugs, but gardening, needlework and even fishing lessons. its leaders claim that young lives can be turned around and even saved simply through the power of friendship. i think it's a wonderful story . bring kids wonderful story. bring kids together. a lot of them never recovered. the loneliness experienced during pandemic. they became isolated and now we should bring them back together. i love this story. i know, i know a lot of people who work in the charitable sector and they just say we're human animals. we are herd animals, we need friendship and we need to be together, particularly young people. it's an inspiring story. get in touch all the usual ways. and there's a new way, of course .send and there's a new way, of course . send your views and post your

comments by going to gbnews.com/yoursay or say. but before all of that, as your headunes before all of that, as your headlines theo chikomba . headlines theo chikomba. >> good afternoon. it's 4:02 on theo chikomba in the gb newsroom , the prime minister has defended his plan to make all 18 year olds carry out national service, describing it as modern and bold. >> rishi sunak says the proposals will mean young people will get the skills they need and the opportunities which will serve them well in life . serve them well in life. >> he says it will make society more cohesive . more cohesive. >> i believe this is the right thing to do because this is how we'll deliver a secure future for everyone and our country. we're not going to do that without taking bold action, and that's a type of leadership that i offer. and this modern form of national service will mean that young people get the skills and the opportunities they need, which is going to serve them very well in life. it's going to foster a culture of service, which is going to be incredibly powerful for making our society more cohesive and in a more

uncertain and dangerous world. it's going to strengthen our country's security and resilience. so for all these reasons , i think this is reasons, i think this is absolutely the right thing to do i >> meanwhile, the labour leader has described the conservatives plan to reintroduce national service as a desperate answering questions after his first keynote speech of the campaign. sir keir starmer dismissed the prime minister's proposals to accept the proposition that we need, strong defences and that has to be the first duty of any government . government. >> but but i think this plan is desperate. i think they are rummaging around in the toy box to try and find any plan that they can throw on the table. i don't think it'll work. you've seen what military experts, those with experience, have said about it. you see what the government said about it just a few days ago when they were asked. that would take away from the resources of the military . the resources of the military. >> meanwhile, the liberal democrats have launched their general election campaign in

scotland. speaking in fife, lib dem leader sir ed davey said it was time for change and the people of scotland have been doubly let down, let down by an out of touch conservative government in westminster and taken for granted by an out—of—touch snp government in holyrood. >> they both have to go . >> they both have to go. >> they both have to go. >> scotland's first minister says the snp can kick the conservatives out of every seat in scotland , as he campaigns in scotland, as he campaigns ahead of the general election. john swinney has been in dumfries, which is part of scottish secretary alister jack dumfries and galloway seat . he dumfries and galloway seat. he says his priority is to bring the country together to tackle a range of issues. >> i want to bring people in scotland together, i want to unite people in scotland on an agenda to make scotland a better country, and that's about tackling some of the issues that are really significant and damaging for scotland that we

have had in recent years. the impact of austerity , the impact impact of austerity, the impact of brexit, the impact of the cost of living crisis. i want to address those issues and address them through the election. >> a 17 year old boy has been arrested on suspicion of the murder of a woman on a beach in bournemouth, has been a released without charge. a 34 year old woman was pronounced dead on dali chine beach on friday night, whilst a 38 year old woman was taken to hospital with serious injuries. police investigating have released cctv images of a hooded suspect . images of a hooded suspect. dorset police are urging anyone who recognises the person in the cctv picture to get in touch urgently , and have warned the urgently, and have warned the pubuc urgently, and have warned the public not to approach him . a public not to approach him. a number of egypt's security forces have been killed in a shooting incident near the rafah border crossing between egypt and the gaza strip, according to and the gaza strip, according to an egyptian military spokesperson. earlier, israeli

forces said they were investigating reports of an exchange of fire between israeli and egyptian soldiers close to the crossing . the idf said the crossing. the idf said a shooting incident occurred on the egyptian border. it's understood that the incident is understood that the incident is under review and discussions are being held with the egyptians . a being held with the egyptians. a man and a woman in their 40s have been arrested in connection with the fatal explosion at a service station in county donegal . ten people aged between donegal. ten people aged between 5 and 59 died in the blast in october 2022, in the irish village of creeslough . police village of creeslough. police investigating the explosion say a woman and a man, both in their 40s, have been arrested for the latest stories , sign up to the latest stories, sign up to the gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen or go to gbnews.com/alerts . now back to .

martin. >> thank you very much, theo. now we start with sir keir starmer's first major speech of the general election campaign , the general election campaign, and he used it to try and paint labour as the party of defence and security. well, sir keir starmer made his speech in worthing in west sussex, and our political correspondents katherine forster joins political correspondents katherine forsterjoins us live katherine forster joins us live from there. now. catherine welcome to the show. glorious sunshine down there on the coast in worthing was the sun shining on sir keir starmer speech. he said i will fight for you. he had a good dig at the conservatives on defence, saying, national service was desperate. teenage dad's army, sir, but does he have a battle plan of his own ? well, sort of, yes. >> we're beginning to get a few details, aren't we? i mean, the government, rishi sunak has so far been saying about this

election. stick with us. we will keep you safe . don't take the keep you safe. don't take the chance of going to labour in this dangerous world now. sir keir starmer today still selling that message of change that he knows resonates so much with voters after 14 years of conservative government, but also saying we will keep you safe. you can trust a labour government to keep you safe, he says economically , in terms of says economically, in terms of the borders and in terms of defence, well, of course, rishi sunak a few weeks ago pledged to raise defence spending to 2.5% of gdp by 2030, but there's been this huge debate, hasn't there, since yesterday about the news that rishi sunak would like to bnngin that rishi sunak would like to bring in national service if he gets elected . let's have gets elected. let's have a listen to what sir keir starmer had to say about that. >> i do accept the proposition that we need, strong defences and that has to be the first

duty of any government. but i think this plan is desperate. i think this plan is desperate. i think they are rummaging around in the toy box to try and find any plan that they can throw on the table. i don't think it'll work . you've seen what military work. you've seen what military experts, those with experience, have said about it. you see what the government said about it just a few days ago when they were asked. that would take away from the resources of the military . military. >> catherine, a lot of people have been analysing everything that sir keir starmer said today and saying it's been very shy on detail, lots of rhetoric, lots of fighting, talk , lots of lots of fighting, talk, lots of lots of fighting, talk, lots of lots of attacking, rishi sunak and the conservative party. but we yet we yet to see anything concrete . can we expect to see concrete. can we expect to see that, do you think in the coming weeks or at the moment is this election sir keir starmer's to lose. so all they've got to do is just not make any mistakes and keep sterm ? and keep sterm? >> well, in some ways they want to give as little information as possible to make themselves a smaller target as possible. but i think they are going to have

to come out with a bit more as the weeks go by, and i was just getting a coffee. it's quite windy and quite chilly here. despite the sunshine, and i sat down next to turned out to be three gb news voters, so we had a bit of a chat and basically they are not impressed with any of them. they said of labour that they probably couldn't be any worse than the conservatives, but one of them said to me, you know, they all come in, they promise you all these things and then they deliver diddly squat. one of them wrote me a little note just as i was leaving, saying what he wants politicians to do, and he says it's very simple. tell the truth, say the problem and the reasons why. if it cannot be solved . and, that's a request solved. and, that's a request from some voters here. but you know, a lot of words, but many people up and down the country not convinced, not convinced by the conservatives, but not yet convinced by labour either. >> you know, that's exactly being echoed. the same sentiments being echoed by so

many people that have been getting in touch with us today. catherine four fs the people are bit bored of all this rhetoric now. they want some concrete ideas. now. they want some concrete ideas . the now. they want some concrete ideas. the big question is, will they get any of that? it's going to be a long six weeks, isn't it? catherine >> it certainly is. we're only just at the very beginning of it on a bank holiday monday. here we are at the seaside, yeah. a long way to go . long way to go. >> thank you very much. katherine forster down there. and the beautiful , sun kissed and the beautiful, sun kissed beach there at worthing. so the big question is, can we trust labour on defence and security ? labour on defence and security? well, let's get the thoughts now. the former minister of state for the armed forces, bill rammell. bill, welcome to the show. always a pleasure . hope show. always a pleasure. hope you're having a smashing bank holiday. sir keir starmer , i holiday. sir keir starmer, i will fight for you. quite happy to throw grenades , as it were, to throw grenades, as it were, at the conservative party. desperate teenage dad's army stuff on national service. but we're yet to find a battle plan from sir keir. when's he going

to show us his medals on defence? >> he's already given a lot of detail. i mean, look, the commitment to defence and security under keir starmer, under this labour party and sound events is absolutely strong, demonstrating how the party has changed since the aberration of jeremy corbyn, the rock solid commitment to nato and to the nuclear deterrent. >> making clear that we want to move towards 2.5% of gdp being spent on defence, which it was under the last labour government. but we're not going to set an unrealistic timescale to set an unrealistic timescale to achieve that because it's a lot of money, urging other nafionsin lot of money, urging other nations in our alliances to do the same . we're also talking the same. we're also talking about european defence and security cooperation, intelligence sharing, cooperation on logistics projects and cyber security and support for the uk, ukraine,

defence and cooperation partnerships. so there's a lot of substance on the bone, but more than anything, making it crystal clear that the labour party will be strong and sound on defence and what we won't be doing is coming up with gimmicky stunts like the tory commitment, to national service , which is to national service, which is just a pitch to their core vote. people over 65 are tempted to vote for reform , senior military vote for reform, senior military figures have rubbished , the figures have rubbished, the proposals. michael portillo, one of your, presenters, former defence secretary, said yesterday it's not thought through . there's no through. there's no consultation, and even last week the tory defence minister in the house of commons said there were no plans for national service in any form because it would do more harm than good. so strong, sound defence under labour are

not these kind of gimmicks. >> i wonder, bill, if people trust sir keir starmer though, because, i mean, it was only at the last general election that he was backing jeremy corbyn to be prime minister, a man who had more in common with moscow than the mo, the man who wanted to scrap trident, who would roll over and get in bed with a lot of our state's enemies, sir keir starmer backed him to be prime minister. what's changed so much in the interim period? we heard there from katherine forster vote ers are fed up of rhetoric. they want to see some detail as well. >> keir never supported that corbyn agenda on defence. but look you know it's a reality prime minister. yeah. and it's a reality of politics that that people support their parties and a general election. just as in the same way as rishi sunak supported boris johnson , you supported boris johnson, you know, who was demonstrated to be a liar and a charlatan , as prime a liar and a charlatan, as prime minister, what keir is absolutely clear about, that

under his leadership, under his changed labour party, labour will never be anything but sound on defence. that cast iron commitment to our partnerships to defend the country through nato, with european allies and recognising that there is a very dangerous world out there. i just saw a news feed, this afternoon that north korea has launched, trial ballistic missiles towards japan. you know, with countries like russia, china, north korea and iran . we need credible defence. iran. we need credible defence. and people will get that under the labour party. >> but don't think, bill, this this notion. oh we'll ramp up investment in in defence when we can afford it. that's hardly battening down the hatches and preparing for war. war can be unpredictable by its very nature . it can happen when you least expect it. if we don't start spending now, surely we leave ourselves wide open to attack . ourselves wide open to attack. >> but look, you know, it's this

government , this tory government government, this tory government that has wrecked defence. you know, we were spending 2.5% of gdp when labour was last in office. office something i say often is don't judge politicians by what they say , judge them by by what they say, judge them by what they do. we did let deliver that level of investment in defence and we will do it again . defence and we will do it again. but it's a big financial commitment and we need to get the economy growing to deliver the economy growing to deliver the resources to enable us to do that. and, you know, we're not going to mislead people about how quickly we can do that. >> okay, bill. so we've got the smallest army since the napoleonic era, the smallest air force since its conception in world war one. so few sailors were decommissioning ships. and you're clearly you're rubbishing national service. how would the labour party increase conscription rates, which is desperately needed ? desperately needed? >> well, one, we need to be rigorous in actually hitting the recruitment targets that are there to be funded at the moment, every year for the last

five years, the mod has missed those targets as we generate through the stability that the labour party, a labour government, a changed labour government, a changed labour government will bring, you will generate the economic growth to be able to restore, troop numbers . but be able to restore, troop numbers. but you be able to restore, troop numbers . but you know, the numbers. but you know, the tories, this tory government brought the defence capability crashing down it. we'd be less than honest if we didn't say it will take time to build up, but we're also going to take on other challenges as well. defence procurement, which the national audit audit office has, demonstrated, wastes a billions and billions of pounds that needs to be tackled so that we're getting value for money. and one of the things we talked aboutis and one of the things we talked about is the appointment of a national armaments director so that there is, cohesion and strategic thrust over defence procurement to get us for value money. so it's not just about the investment that we need that we will deliver. it's actually

getting value for money as well . getting value for money as well. >> okay. superb, sir. thanks for joining us on the show. bill rameau always a delight to have you. it's former minister of state for the armed forces, bill rameau. thank you very much. now we'll have loads more from sir keir starmer at 5:00 and there's plenty of coverage on our website gbnews.com. you've helped to make it the fastest growing national news website in the country. so thank you very much. now £20,000 has to be won in our great british giveaway. you need to be quick as lie—ins are going to close this friday. hazel. details that you need for your chance to bag the cash. >> it's the final week to see how you can win a whopping £20,000 cash. and because it's totally tax free, every single penny will be in your bank account to do whatever you like. with £20,000 in tax free cash really could be yours this summer . really could be yours this summer. hurry. as lines close on friday, you've got to be in it to win it for another chance to win £20,000 in tax free cash.

text darwin to 63232. text cost £2 plus one standard network rate message or post your name and number two gb05, po box 8690. derby de19, double t, uk only entrants must be 18 or oven only entrants must be 18 or over. lines close at 5 pm. on friday. full terms and privacy nofice friday. full terms and privacy notice @gbnews .com forward slash win. please check the closing time if listening or watching on demand. good luck . watching on demand. good luck. >> now coming up in just a moment, we'll get reaction to a huge story very close to my heart. and it's the teachers could finally be given legal protection from blasphemy complaints from religious groups. what took them so long? the batley grammar school teacher, two years on, is still in hiding. i'm martin daubney on gb news, britain's news channel

>> gb news is britain's election channel. >> and when the big stories

break, we're tackling them on britain's newsroom. when we disagree and we disagree a lot. >> even livelier than normal . >> even livelier than normal. >> even livelier than normal. >> we don't disagree that much. >> we don't disagree that much. >> we don't disagree that much. >> we do. >> we do. >> his comedy, though, is rich , >> his comedy, though, is rich, revolting. i knew her and like you, that, explains beverley turner's temperament. >> it's a bit frosty in here, isn't it? we'll have one of me one day, a dartboard practice. britain's newsroom on gb news, weekdays, 9:30 am. gb news. >> the people's channel, britain's news channel . britain's news channel. >> welcome back. your time is 423. i'm martin daubney and this is gb news now. later this hour i'll discuss plans for lonely children to be prescribed activities and not and not drugs, including fishing and gardening , to tackle rising gardening, to tackle rising rates of social isolation . just rates of social isolation. just love that story. now to a major development in the battle to protect to protect teachers in british schools. and it's being reported that they'll be given legal protection from blasphemy claims under plans being drawn up for the conservative party

manifesto. and this comes of course, more than three years after a teacher at the batley grammar school in west yorkshire was forced into hiding and received death threats after showing a class a picture of the prophet muhammad in an agreed archery class. now to discuss this, i'm joined by the social policy analyst and great friend of the show, doctor raqeeb ahsan . rakhi, welcome to the show. hope you're having a fabulous bank holiday. now, hope you're having a fabulous bank holiday . now, before we get bank holiday. now, before we get to the point of what took them so to long finally get around to it, can you talk me through what this policy means? >> so this was ultimately what's being proposed in mind is that there will be a legal protection which will be introduced for teachers. >> we've seen instances where we've had quite intimidating protests outside schools , you protests outside schools, you call this an anti—blasphemy radicalism rearing its ugly head outside schools, which , by the outside schools, which, by the way, many of these schools are ultimately state schools. >> they're not faith schools. >> they're not faith schools. >> i think that's an important

point to make. >> and this is ultimately what this would be doing, is providing a protection for teachers, which is based on freedom of expression. >> in the uk . and as you know, >> in the uk. and as you know, martin, in the uk, particularly in england, where the vast majority of muslim people in britain live, there are no blasphemy laws in place and nor should there be now my next question is what took them so long? >> two years ago , and when it >> two years ago, and when it was the batley and spen by—election, i went to batley market place and i, chaired a free speech rally. we invited every candidate in that by—election to simply stand up and say , i support the teacher. and say, i support the teacher. raqeeb not a single one of them would do that. the labour party, the conservative party i believe, shamefully stayed silent. you know, that by—election was decided by a few hundred votes. raqeeb there were more people than that in that marketplace that night . that marketplace that night. that election could have been won by the conservatives. then, if they stood up for this teacher back

then. now, my next question, why on earth has it taken them this long? >> if you're right, martin, it's taken them a very long time. this this sort of statutory guidance should have been introduced very quickly, after these kind of incidents took place. i'd be very clear here. we're a country of considerable religious freedoms. now, if there are muslim parents, they want their children to receive a traditional islamic religious instruction. there are islamic faith schools across the country because we have those religious freedoms in place. but batley batley grammar school doesn't fall into that category at all. and i think that it's very clear here and i'll make this point again, that this is not a faith school, this is not an islamic faith school. and ultimately this sort of these sorts of protections, they should have been introduced , much earlier in been introduced, much earlier in my view. and i think as to why it hasn't happened, i think that, to be honest, we have a problem when it comes to diversity management in the uk,

where you have the mainstream political parties, they simply don't know how to manage these kind of issues. and i think they themselves may be somewhat intimidated by certain forces in local communities. but ultimately, with the view that if you want to be an mp, you want to receive that lavish salary and you want the status that comes with it. sometimes you have to stick your head above the parapet, but it also comes down to something else. >> and that is votes. we know that people keep quiet . we know that people keep quiet. we know that people keep quiet. we know that teachers keep quiet, head teachers keep quiet , not just teachers keep quiet, not just through fear, because politicians locally just do not want to have these kinds of conversations, but what that has allowed is a situation we've seen in london recently schools being closed due to bomb threats , teachers being threatened over prayer room. we thought we've seen this coming to a head time and time and time again. seen this coming to a head time and time and time again . the and time and time again. the next question is will the head teachers? will the schools actually want to enforce this? it's okay for a politician in westminster or in whitehall to say, you must enforce this, but at ground level raqib this can

have very, very real consequences for the safety of everybody at the school. pupils teachers, parents, all of them. >> there's no two ways about that. that's why you need to involve in a particular area all local stakeholders and make it very clear this is the new guidance. these are the protections which are now in place for teachers and ultimately all those stakeholders, including parents, have to accept those terms now if they're unhappy with those terms or if they're unhappy with their head teacher enforcing and ensuring that those protections are in place. i make this point again, martin. parents have a great deal of choice when it comes to what type of school they'd like to send their children to if they're unhappy with one institution, there may be other institutions available to them in terms of sending their children there for an education that may be more to their liking. >> yeah, and that's exactly what katharine birbalsingh said at the michaela academy about the muslim prayer ban . and i wonder muslim prayer ban. and i wonder if the answer to this is if schools don't follow the letter of the law, we should just close

them . them. >> well, i think that there definitely needs to be a discussion on enforcement. i think to be honest more. and i think to be honest more. and i think there needs to be a discussion about our law and order institutions to what to what extent have our police forces in those areas where those incidents took place, how robust were they when it came to enforcing the existing laws which were in place , and how which were in place, and how effective will they be when it comes to ensuring these protections for teachers, if, unfortunately, these kind of forces rear their ugly head outside schools? >> okay, we'll have to leave it there. thanks for joining >> okay, we'll have to leave it there. thanks forjoining us. as even there. thanks forjoining us. as ever, doctor. raqib hasan, always a pleasure to have your company and your opinion. and i think this if the conservative government actually said we stand with the batley grammar school teacher, we want to support them and give that family our utmost protection and we will not stand for this ever again . that would be a vote again. that would be a vote winner. forget national service, that will be a huge vote winner. now there's loads more still to come between now and 5:00 and a few moments time i'll be joined by the veterans minister, johnny mercer. i can't wait to ask him what he thinks of rishi sunak's plan for 18 year olds to do

national service. i also want to ask him, can sir keir starmer be trusted on defence? but first it's trusted on defence? but first wsfime trusted on defence? but first it's time for your latest news headunes it's time for your latest news headlines and it's theo chikomba i >> -- >> it's just gone 4:30 on theo chikomba in the gb newsroom , the chikomba in the gb newsroom, the prime minister has defended his plan to make all 18 year olds carry out national service, describing it as a modern and bold. rishi sunak says the proposals will mean young people will get the skills and the opportunities they need, which will serve them well in life. he says it will make society more cohesive. >> i believe this is the right thing to do because this is how we'll deliver a secure future for everyone and our country. we're not going to do that without taking bold action, and that's a type of leadership that i offer. and this modern form of national service will mean that young people get the skills and the opportunities they need, which is going to serve them very well in life . it's going to very well in life. it's going to foster a culture of service, which is going to be incredibly

powerful for making our society more cohesive and in a more uncertain and dangerous world. it's going to strengthen our country's security and resilience. so for all these reasons, i think this is absolutely the right thing to do. >> meanwhile, the labour leader has described the conservatives plan to introduce to reintroduce national service as desperate answering questions after his first keynote speech of the campaign , sir keir starmer campaign, sir keir starmer dismissed the prime minister's proposals to accept the proposition that we need , strong proposition that we need, strong defences and that has to be the first duty of any government. >> but i think this plan is desperate. i think they are rummaging around in the toy box to try and find any plan that they can throw on the table. i don't think it'll work . you've don't think it'll work. you've seen what military experts, those with experience, have said about it. you've seen what the government said about it just a few days ago when they were asked. that would take away from the resources of the military . the resources of the military. >> a 17 year old boy arrested on

suspicion of the murder of a woman on a beach in bournemouth has been released without charge. a 34 year old woman, named locally as amy grey was pronounced dead on durley chine beach on friday night, whilst a 38 year old woman was taken to hospital with serious injuries . hospital with serious injuries. police investigating have released cctv images of a hooded suspect. dorset police are urging anyone who recognises the person in the cctv picture to get in touch, and have warned the public not to approach him . the public not to approach him. for the latest stories, sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen, or go to gb news. slash alerts . go to gb news. slash alerts. >> thank you theo. now, in a few moments time, i'll be joined by veterans minister johnny mercer, but first as a new way to get in touch with us here @gbnews. and here's bev turner with all of the details . the details. >> we are proud to be gb news

the people's channel. >> and as you know, we always love to hear your views. >> now there's a new way of getting in touch with us at gbnews.com/win yourself by commenting, you can be part of a live conversation and join our gb news community. you can even talk to me , bev turner, or any talk to me, bev turner, or any of the members of the gb news family simply go to gbnews.com/yoursay

>> welcome back. your time is 436. i'm martin daubney on gb news. now. let's get more. now. head of the general election. we've heard so much over the last few days about rishi sunak's plan to introduce national service for 18 year olds. i'm delighted to say i'm now joined by the veterans minister and former british army officer, johnny mercer. johnny, welcome to the show. i hope you're having a smashing bank holiday. so storm has been on the offensive today, as you'd imagine, calling the plan desperate teenage dad's army stuff , andrew murrison, of

stuff, andrew murrison, of course, who is a defence minister, has told a tory mp before the day after the election was called, he didn't support it in any form. steve baker today saying it was sprung upon candidates . can you give us upon candidates. can you give us an impassioned defence of rishi sunak plans for national service ? >> 7- >> look, i, 7_ >> look, i, i'm ? >> look, i, i'm not i'm not in this to defend other people. right. i'm here to tell you exactly what i think and what i think is that, you know, anything that unites communities with a sense of service and awareness of what the other organisations do is actually great. >> it gives pride and purpose and challenge to those who often feel most left behind. >> so, look, i understand , >> so, look, i understand, whatever the conservatives say at the moment, whatever rishi sunak says, people are going to come out against it. >> i think the reaction is fairly predictable, but i think, you know, it's not what andrew mercer said. >> and i've actually said previously, i don't agree with national service. >> these things are not mutually exclusive because this is not

national service in those terms. right. and it's quite dishonest to , to present it as such, which to, to present it as such, which is what keir starmer has done. you know, you know, you wouldn't expect anything else really. he's always sort of sneered at my type who joined the military and served their country , and served their country, because we felt it was the right thing to do, i think it's a fantastic opportunity for, young people, the military service part is a really small part of it. and, you know, if that's what you want to do, you can go and do it, but no one's going to be forced to do it. no one's going to be forced to go off to war. so actually, i think, i think it's a real, opportunity. >> i think, it could be wonderful for the country, the royal commission needs to work through the details, but, i'm looking forward to, working with them, working through them to. and finding out what opportunities this can present. >> and having those. johnny, we could do with a shot in the arm in terms of recruitment at the moment, we have the smallest army since napoleonic time, the smallest raf since its inception, and so few sailors were having to decommission ships. and that brings me on to sir keir starmer's plan. such as it is, it's okay in politics or

defence or anything to attack somebody else, but you need to have your own plan. do you think, sir keir starmer has one? it's okay to throw mud pies at the conservatives, but when he's asked to show some detail on the labour party's defence plans, that seems to be scammed . that seems to be scammed. >> look, just just a couple of things there, martin. >> i mean, the first thing i'd say about the state of the military, the military strength and military power and how much money you spend on it, is not defined by how many people you've got in the military, right? >> north korea has a military 2.1 million soldiers, right? it's also got, a defence budget of about, £1 million. >> right. so they spend about £400 each on them. it's nothing to do with that, our ability to project power at reach now across the globe is like, it's never been before, but i know, look, it's an ongoing discussion around the military and what we can do. but yeah, of course keir starmer is going to come out against it. >> i mean, what do you expect? >> i mean, what do you expect? >> right. >> right.

>> this guy is trying to ghost his way into number 10. he's trying to get in there without saying anything. having no plan, no bold ideas, no strategy, just basically not believing in anything. >> and i got to be honest, that's why i got involved in politics, because i was fed up with politics. >> politicians who just come into it, who think it's like a platform to be on a stage, to be pranced around without actually doing anything for the country, this on the other side of the coin, you got ideas like this coming out of, rishi sunak. >> yeah. it's not perfect, right? >> it's going to go to a royal commission to find out what all the details are. and you've got to work through really difficult questions like what are you going to do with people who, refuse to sign up? >> that doesn't mean you throw the whole thing out, right? >> there are huge advantages to this. >> with extra funding into defence of £2.5 billion. so look, i think people are going to go on a journey with this. >> they're going to look at it and think, oh no, this is crazy. but actually if they look in the detail and they actually spend some time thinking beyond the kind of really tedious and inaccurate headlines, i think people can see this for the opportunity. it is particularly for young people in left behind areas like mine in plymouth and johnny, if you look beyond the rhetoric, if you look beyond the

veneer of what politicians say, let's get down to the issue of trust and dependability and credibility with the armed forces, with the personnel, with the veterans. >> and that brings me on to a point that sir keir starmer was very happy to make. today. we've changed the labour party of old jeremy corbyn's party. that's in the past. it's history on the doorstep. johnny in 2019, if you were a labour party activist and you knocked on a veteran's door and you got more than short shrift , do you think that the shrift, do you think that the party has moved on in that respect, or are those old ghosts of trust still there with the labour party ? labour party? >> a couple of things about that. >> martin leopard never changed his spot. >> and you're dealing with keir starmer, someone who tried to get jeremy to corbyn be prime minister not once, but twice. right so if he actually believed in something like i, i believe that prosecuting northern ireland veterans was wrong. so i left the government right. he never left the labour party. he stayed stayed there propping up

jeremy corbyn because he believes in nothing at all. i did an event with, with, keir starmer last armistice day. he put on the poppy when he was talking to a group of military folk, and he took it off for his next appointment. this guy does not believe in anything at all. and i'm afraid you know that. he's already said that he will reverse all the work we've done on northern ireland veterans. he's not going to keep a veterans minister in his cabinet because he just doesn't really believe in the thing. you know, he he kind of sneers at people like me who believe in military service. so, look , i think service. so, look, i think people do have a choice at the election. >> they can be wrong because service is not everything, right? >> so it's pretty tough on the doors at the moment. but i think we've got to be honest with people around what the opportunity, you know, what the, opposition is like and what, may come down the track if we don't get this election right. and i personally think it's a, it's bad for the country, i'm a patriot above anything else, and i believe in what we're doing, i think if you try and apply that to the other side, you're going to the other side, you're going to be sorely disappointed . to be sorely disappointed. >> well, johnny sir keir starmer says he does believe in the country . he does call himself

country. he does call himself a patriot. he says the party has changed. of course, he expelled jeremy corbyn from the party. finally the other day because he's standing against him. so he would disagree with what you're saying. one thing. it's striking me now, johnny , is that are we me now, johnny, is that are we in a situation where the conservatives have almost gifted power to sir keir starmer? here's a guy who doesn't really need to say anything in terms of detail or or anything that can be analysed, because at the moment there's a feeling he just needs to say nothing and stay quiet and not make mistakes for the next six weeks because the conservatives have squandered an 80 seat majority . 80 seat majority. >> look, i share your frustration at some of what has gone on. i think everybody knows that all i would say is that government's really difficult. right. and when you're dealing with really difficult issues, you know, brexit was never going to be easy. and then you've had covid and then you've got the war in ukraine. and what that's done to energy prices is, you know, political parties are a broad church and they have to be in order to get anywhere in order to get into power and, and

force change. but, look, i think, i think it's been difficult, but i think, you know, labour would find it difficult to say, came into government as well. and obviously government has made mistakes. and, you know, the prime minister has been very upfront about that. and, you know, no government can pretend to get everything right. but i think you've got to be honest with the british people about what is on the table here. right? you have on the one side someone who believes in something and service and patriotism and all this stuff we're doing. and then you have this guy keir starmer, you say that, you know, he says he, he, he's a patriot and all this stuff. he also said he's going to spend £28 billion on green, green policies. and he's gone back on that . he also said, you back on that. he also said, you know, he believed in wiping off student debt. he believed in getting rid of the house of lords. he's gone back on all of this stuff. right. and that's the thing, when you don't believe in anything, you can pretty much say anything because you'll go back on it anyway. so look, i think there's a really clear choice that people have got here in the next election. it's my job and the job of my colleagues to go out there and really advocate for conservative government and try and bring as many people with us as we can.

so johnny, you're a fighter by nature with a proven track record . record. >> are we at the stage now of the zulus simply facing into a huge challenge, a seemingly insurmountable challenge? and with all of your experience, johnny, how do you draw upon that to face this final massive battle? >> oh, look, it's a huge challenge. i don't dispute that the conservatives been in power 14 years, never won. i think it'll be the fifth time in a row or the sixth time in a row, never happened before. right. but that is never a reason not to try . and, we're going to have to try. and, we're going to have this fight. i'm going to go out and i will go out making sure that every single person i speak to in plymouth knows my record, and that i put them first and also knows what it means to have labour representation and a labour representation and a labour government under which they are always worse off, have less jobs, less employment opportunities, less opportunities, less opportunities in general, and have historically done nothing for veterans. but we live in a democracy , right? and that is democracy, right? and that is people's right. and, but all i

can do is fight hard and make sure people know the choice. >> okay, johnny mercer, veterans minister, thank you very much for joining us and giving us forjoining us and giving us your time on this wonderful bank houday your time on this wonderful bank holiday monday. thank you very much. always a pleasure. now a pilot scheme will see children prescribed activities , including prescribed activities, including fishing and gardening, in a bid to combat rising rates of loneliness. and i've said it before, i adore this story. i think it's wonderful. i'm martin daubney

welcome back. it's 449. i'm martin daubney on gb news at 5:00. we'll have lots more from sir keir starmer and we'll also look at the problems facing the tories , because facing the tories, because they're scrambling to find 150 candidates after rishi sunak called a snap election. who'd be a tory these days? now sir keir starmer has promised to introduce vat on independent school fees if labour win the election, claiming it would generate £1.7 billion to put towards state schools. well,

alton school, a private school in hampshire , has announced it in hampshire, has announced it will shut its doors for the first time this summer, with parents describing the likelihood of a storm of victory being the final nail in the coffin. labour have doubled down upon their plans to introduce a 20% tax on fees straight away if they win on the fourth of july. but will this actually ruin the state school system rather than help it? well, let's now speak with maths teacher and author and broadcaster and friend of the show, bobby seagull. bobby, welcome to the show hope you're having a great bank holiday. so the vat, vat raid on private schools causing huge division . schools causing huge division. those say it's a tax on aspiration. those on the labour side saying it's a tough choice we have to make. what's your take? >> so the way i think about is what is the underlying purpose of the vat rise, as you said martin, is it just an attack on the middle classes or is it a genuine sort of underlying reason where we're thinking we can transfer the funds to improve state schools? and

again, that you can already question the minds of the people setting up the policy. but the way i think about is what's the impact of this going to be? i think the short term definitely will see an impact on hard working middle class families, because those that are sort of, you know, scrimping and saving, albeit to save 15 to £18,000 a yean albeit to save 15 to £18,000 a year, that is still a large sum, unaffordable to the majority of the country. but those families on the border , on the margins, on the border, on the margins, they may have to reconsider sending their schools, some private schools to state schools. and again , the question schools. and again, the question is, can state schools absorb that additional impact of parents moving? and again, as a teacher, i know that parents that move, you know, they move their children around from bar to bar. these parents are probably sort of quite well versed in education. they probably move them to the best areas with the best state schools. so in a weird way, in the short term you might get an impact where these middle class parents might squeeze out other working class children from very good schools. again we said that, but i think long term i can see why we could redress the

educational imbalance because imagine having really well as a well to do middle class parents in working class areas in schools. these parents will uplift schools in the long term. but i think in the short to medium term, i can definitely see this causing massive issues. >> yeah, because of course there are very many hard working parents who put everything into their kids education and go without . they'll be priced out without. they'll be priced out of the system and it won't affect rich chinese students coming from overseas who simply pay coming from overseas who simply pay it and be damned. bobby can i quickly ask you about another story that caught my eye today? and that's this cure for loneliness. something that's been put out an nhs course for prescribing kids as young as ten who are suffering from loneliness after the pandemic , loneliness after the pandemic, sending them fishing, gardening, get them together. bobby i think it's a wonderful idea. what about you? >> oh, personally , i think it's >> oh, personally, i think it's incredible because we've had chats, i think, in the last few days about how young people are hooked onto their phones so they think they're connected to their friends scrolling, but they're not. they're just talking to digital versions of themselves. so i think anything that gets young people out there in the real world, i think will help

boost their sort of mental health and also make them realise that we're humans. we need a human connection. so i fully back that idea and bobby just to echo your previous point, this has been proven that 20% of inner city 10 to 15 year olds say they're so lonely, they're losing their skills of making friendships, particularly hit those in the working class as oftentimes sat at home isolated, don't have a garden . isolated, don't have a garden. >> can't get out. lonely at the pandemic? bobby, i just think we just need a lot more of this, a lot more common sense and getting kids together to build real friendships. >> yeah , i completely agree with >> yeah, i completely agree with that because from my experience of being a teacher now for a decade, why i've noticed that the students that do well beyond school are not the ones that have good academic grades, but they're the ones that can communicate form friendships. we know that in the real world, it's not just the cv that makes a difference, it's actually someone that can form a connection. and that only happens if you develop that skill at school. so anything that can help that i think will give us a better country. okay bobby seagull have to leave it there. >> it's always a pleasure to delight, to talk to you. thanks for joining us on this wonderful

bank holiday. now, sir keir starmer has been talked to gb news today about whether voters can trust labour, his plan to end the small boats crisis and whether 16 year olds should get the vote. stand by for that. we'll have it all coming up by martin daubney on gb news. britain's news channel will also have some amazing footage of rishi sunak attempting to play football . is it the worst football. is it the worst football. is it the worst football gaffe since diana ross at the world cup? you know what i mean? if you're a football fan. but before all of that, it's fan. but before all of that, wsfime fan. but before all of that, it's time for your weather with ellie glaisyer. >> a brighter outlook with boxt solar . sponsors of weather on . solar. sponsors of weather on. gb news. >> good afternoon. welcome to your latest gb news weather from the met office, where there will be plenty more heavy showers on the way. for many of us today, these turning heavy and thundery at times, all thanks to this area of low pressure . situated area of low pressure. situated across the uk. various occlusion features pushing their way

eastwards will bring a focus for those showers through this afternoon. and it's eastern parts of scotland, maybe into northeastern parts of england, that will likely to see those heavier showers this afternoon again with some hail and thunder mixed too , in for england and mixed too, in for england and wales not quite as heavy. those showers compared to what we've seen over the past couple of days, but it will still be a few around and it'll be feeling a little cooler too, with those temperatures only around 17 or 18 degrees, around about average for the time of year. so those heavier showers across eastern parts of scotland will continue as we head through the rest of this afternoon. again some hail and thunder mixed in into this evening, and they could be quite slow moving, but slowly pushing their way eastwards as we head into the latter part of the day. some showers across northern ireland and northern parts of england too, and again these pushing their way eastwards into monday evening. the showers across england and wales will gradually start to ease as we head into the latter part of the day, but there is some rain arriving out towards the southwest and that will slowly push its way north and eastwards as we head through monday evening and into the start of

tuesday, the showers elsewhere do gradually start to ease overnight, so there will be some clear spells around and under those clear spells we could be turning a little chilly with temperatures dropping into the single figures, but under all that cloud and rain likely to stay that little bit milder. temperatures here around 12 or 13 degrees to start on tuesday . 13 degrees to start on tuesday. so that does mean it's a bit of a damp start for northern ireland. wales and southern parts of england, and that rain does push its way north and eastwards as we head through tuesday daytime. some early brightness across parts of scotland and north eastern parts of england. but that rain does eventually arrive through the afternoon. plenty of heavy showers as well across parts of northern england, wales and southwest parts of england, and temperatures again around about average for the time of year. >> looks like things are heating up. boxt boilers sponsors of weather on

gb news. >> a very good afternoon to you. hope you're having a smashing bank holiday monday. it's 5 pm. and welcome to the martin daubney show on gb news. we're broadcasting live from the heart of westminster. all across the uk. on today's show, sir keir starmer has told gb news that ending the small boats crisis would be a priority of a labour government. but does his plan stand up to scrutiny next? a day after rishi sunak's beloved southampton were promoted to the premier league, the prime minister showed his dubious footballing skills aren't up to scratch. look at that. he's got two left feet all over the shop there, the prime minister. oh, and i'll tell you why the problems are mounting for mr sunak. problems are mounting for mr sunak . and don't worry, we'll be sunak. and don't worry, we'll be showing lots more of this clip throughout many times in this hour. throughout many times in this hour . and the state throughout many times in this hour. and the state pension could become unaffordable as soon as 2035 if both major parties were to pledge to protect the triple lock in their

election manifestos, is time running out for the state pension? that's all coming up in your next hour. what was the show? hope you having a great bank holiday. so rishi sunak, there, attempting to show some silky skills. the saints fan well, the problems came marching in for him when he got all tied up there. two left feet. do these things matter to you? when politicians try and show their human side, they get it wrong. it can haunt them. do you remember tony blair hit his head tennis in 1995 with kevin keegan, kept the ball up for a couple of minutes. boris johnson, you remember shoulder charge that child in hong kong dunng charge that child in hong kong during the rugby sevens. a lot of people like it when politicians get involved with sports or does not really matter. is it all froth ? send us matter. is it all froth? send us any examples of your favourites if you want gbnews.com forward slash your save. but before we move on to the story and we'll

give it a good old boot, it's time for your headlines with theo chikomba. >> good afternoon. it's 5:02. i'm theo chikomba in the gb newsroom . the prime minister has newsroom. the prime minister has defended his plan to make all 18 year olds carry out national service. describing it as modern and bold. rishi sunak says the proposals will mean a young people will get the skills and the opportunities they need, which will serve . in which will serve. in life. he says. it will make society more cohesive and our country , we're not going to do country, we're not going to do that without taking bold action, and that's a type of leadership that i offer. >> and this modern form of national service will mean that young people get the skills and the opportunities they need , the opportunities they need, which is going to serve them very well in life. it's going to foster a culture of service, which is going to be incredibly powerful for making our society more cohesive and in a more uncertain and dangerous world.

it's going to strengthen our country's security and resilience. so for all these reasons, i think this is absolutely the right thing to do. >> meanwhile, the labour leader has described the conservatives plan to reintroduce national service as desperate, answering questions after his first keynote speech of the campaign, sir keir starmer dismissed the prime minister's proposals to accept the proposition that we need , strong defences and that need, strong defences and that has to be the first duty of any government . government. >> but i think this plan is desperate. i think they are rummaging around in the toy box to try and find any plan that they can throw on the table. i don't think it'll work . you've don't think it'll work. you've seen what military experts, those with experience have said about it. you've seen what the government said about it. just a few days ago when they were asked. that would take away from the resources of the military . the resources of the military. >> meanwhile, the liberal democrats have launched their general election campaign in scotland. speaking in fife, lib dem leader sir ed davey said it

was time for change. >> the people of scotland have been doubly let down, let down by an out of touch conservative government in westminster and taken for granted by an out—of—touch snp government in holyrood . they both have to go . holyrood. they both have to go. >> scotland's first minister says the snp can kick the conservatives out of every seat in scotland , as he campaigns in scotland, as he campaigns ahead of the general election . ahead of the general election. john swinney has been in dumfries, which is part of scottish secretary alister jack. dumfries and galloway seat. he says his priority is to bring together the country to tackle a range of issues. i want to bring people in scotland together, i want to unite people in scotland on an agenda to make scotland a better country and that's about tackling some of the issues that are really significant and damaging for scotland that we have had in recent years. >> the impact of austerity, the

impact of brexit, the impact of the cost of living crisis. i want to address those issues and address them through the election . election. >> the battle of britain memorial flight has been grounded by the royal air force following the death of a pilot . following the death of a pilot. squadron leader mark long died after his spitfire crashed into an raf field near raf coningsby in lincolnshire. the raf said it had decided to temporarily ground all the aircraft group while investigations take place. officials have also posted on facebook to add that the bbmf visitor centre would remain closed until further notice . a closed until further notice. a 17 year old boy arrested on suspicion of the murder of a woman on a beach in bournemouth has been released without charge. a 34 year old woman, named locally as amy grey was pronounced dead on dali chine beach on friday night, while a 38 year old woman was taken to hospital with serious injuries. police investigating have

released sea cctv images of a hooded suspect. dorset police are urging anyone who recognises the person in the cctv picture to get in touch urgently , and to get in touch urgently, and have warned the public not to approach him . a member of approach him. a member of egypt's security forces has been killed in a shooting incident near the rafah border crossing between egypt and the gaza strip , according to an egyptian military spokesperson. earlier israeli forces said they were investigating reports of an exchange of fire between israeli and egyptian soldiers close to the crossing. the idf said a shooting incident occurred on the egyptian border . it's the egyptian border. it's understood the incident is under review and discussions are being held with the egyptians . a man held with the egyptians. a man and a woman in their 40s have been arrested in connection with the fatal explosion at a service station in county donegal. ten people aged between 5 and 59

died in the blast in october 2022, in the irish village of creeslough . police investigating creeslough. police investigating the explosion. the explosion say a woman and a man, both in their 40s, have been arrested . and for 40s, have been arrested. and for the latest stories, sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen or go to gb news. com slash alerts now back to . martin. back to. martin. >> thank you theo. now, before we get to our big interview with sir keir starmer, we have some breaking news for you. now political news. and it's this tory mp, lucy allan has been suspended by the conservative party for backing reform uk's candidate in the telford seat that she is vacating. allan is one of more than 70 conservative mps who will not be standing at the next general election on jul, on the fourth. breaking news just now, she is supporting allan adams, who is the

candidate for the reform party in that seat. an astonishing defection. surely she'll be booted out of the party for that just to quickly repeat, if you're joining us, lucy allan, conservative mp, is supporting telford's next mp , as she calls telford's next mp, as she calls him, and for reform. allan adams. yet more bad news for rishi sunak. we'll have more on that throughout the show, of course. now to our big interview with sir keir starmer, the labour leader has told gb news that tackling the small boat crisis would be a priority if they win the next general election . sir keir also told our election. sir keir also told our political correspondents katherine forster, the voters can trust the labour party . can trust the labour party. >> sir keir starmer in 2019, labour had their worst result since 1935. you've taken them now to a 20 point lead. you may well be prime minister in six weeks, but you did campaign for

jeremy corbyn to be prime minister twice. you did support a second referendum. so what do you say to people who maybe voted for brexit, who were scared of jeremy corbyn being prime minister now to convince them that they can trust you? >> we have changed this labour party. the labour party now is unrecognisable jul from the party of 2019 and i did that for a reason because i thought that when we got rejected as badly as we did in 2019, you don't look to the voters and say , what on to the voters and say, what on earth were you doing? you look to yourself, you look to your party, and we've changed this party. fundamental vie, and now we are absolutely country first, party second, with a plan for the future of britain to take us forward. we are a changed labour party and that is absolutely fundamental to everything i've done over the last four and a half years since i've been leader of this party, talking about the boats, something that

gb news viewers are very exercised about, rwanda obviously not happening, before the next election, probably not happening at all, you've talked about what labour will do, but 15 european countries are now looking at third safe country for processing , not permanent for processing, not permanent deportation. is that something that you would potentially look at? because this isn't going to go away, is it? there's millions of people coming to europe. would love to live in the uk. it's not going to be enough. simply what you've announced so far. >> is it? >> is it? >> we absolutely have to stop the boats. there's no question about that. we shouldn't have anybody making that dangerous journey across the channel, and the government has lost control of the borders. record numbers have come already this year under sunak's leadership. so we've got to get to grips with that. no country can lose control of its borders and that will be a priority. 1 think that the first thing we need to do is

to smash the gangs that are running the vile trade and putting people in boats in the first place, and i was chief prosecutor for five years. i worked on operation owens to take down terrorist gangs. 1 will never, ever accept that. the only gangs we can't take down apparently , are the vile down apparently, are the vile gangs that are running this trade, putting people in boats across the water. >> but the government say they're doing that already. what would you be doing? >> well, if you read any report into the work that's being done to smash the gangs, you'll see there's gaps everywhere. what i want to do is bring together , want to do is bring together, all of the national crime agency, the prosecute was the police and m15 to do the work together to analyse this with other countries and put in place an effective operation that isn't happening at the moment. you could see it isn't happening by the numbers that are arriving. so that's where the priority ought to be now. safaris you know, whether people could be processed further upstream. i think there are examples where that would work , examples where that would work, so we supported, what happened

in afghanistan . it's not working in afghanistan. it's not working well there, same in ukraine. it's not that is far different. thatis it's not that is far different. that is fundamentally different to the governments gimmick of sending people deporting people to rwanda. i don't think the prime minister ever thought that would work. that's what he thought at the first place. he caved in to his part. he spent £600 million, and now he's called an election before it can be tested. 1 think that's very, very telling of the prime minister and whether he really ever believed in this. if i was a taxpayer, to know that the prime minister spent £600 million on a scheme he didn't ever believe in, i'd be pretty furious. >> you've talked about the national service plan that was announced yesterday as a teenage dad's army, and you've said that labour would like to bring in votes for 16 and 17 year olds. if they're paying tax, they should be able to vote. but, i mean, most 16 year olds are sitting their gcses, they're living at home. there's not many of them going to be paying tax.

is it really justifiable? i mean, obviously it's going to bnng mean, obviously it's going to bring you more voters. isn't that what this is about? >> no, i think that if you're 16 and 17, you can start a family, you can work. you have to pay your tax if you work. and i think you're entitled to have a say on who the government of the day is and who leads your country. but contrast that with the desperate idea that the tories are fleeing on the table of some sort of national service, which isn't thought through. all the military leaders who've got experience are saying it won't work. it'll take resource away from , our take resource away from, our military, our defence. that's the last thing we need. the government's already hollowed out. the army is smaller than since napoleonic times. so you know, in the end. and they're taking money from the lifting up fund to do it. i mean, i think it's absolutely important in this election to focus on what is uppermost in people's minds, which is the cost of living crisis. and the nhs . crisis. and the nhs. >> and just finally, it's may

bank holiday, lots of people's houday bank holiday, lots of people's holiday plans are in the bin, and your family are going to be putting up with an awful lot. will you take them away somewhere in the summer when this is all over? >> well, hopefully yes. and they do. i mean , my family do have to do. i mean, my family do have to put up with a lot. i think lots of families for politicians of all political parties have to put up with a lot. and we should always acknowledge that that isn't a party political point. there are plenty of, mps, candidates from all parties who will be having the same impact on their family. we owe them a huge amount. >> sir keir starmer thank you for talking to us on gb news today. thank you. thank you . today. thank you. thank you. >> and that was the keir starmer speaking exclusively to katherine forster, gb news political correspondent, another great interview from catherine. now we're joined now by political commentator nathaniel ogunniyi. thank you forjoining ogunniyi. thank you for joining us, nathaniel, you were listening in to that interview there with sir keir starmer, something that really leapt out as this this proposition of votes for 16 year olds. i wonder what your take is on that. we don't trust 16 year olds to

drive. we don't trust them to drink. they can't smoke. and yet suddenly they can be trusted to vote. why do you think sir keir starmer is doing this ? starmer is doing this? >> well, it's a great grab from keir starmer. it's nothing more than that, when you look at the biggest issues facing this country , i'm not sure votes at country, i'm not sure votes at 16 is, you know, top of the list and then contrast that with sort of what the conservative announcements have been over the last few days, national service, which i think if depending on how you do it, 70% of people sort of back, and friday talking about energy, the energy price has come down by just over £100, which is really important to people . people. >> but the votes for 16 year olds will leap out that hasn't ever been done in britain before. a lot of people just think this is the way of getting the system to favour those. at the system to favour those. at the liberal end of the spectrum, you know, the liberal politics of teenagers is more likely to benefit the labour party. is this , in a sense, balancing or this, in a sense, balancing or even rigging the electorate to directly favour the party that bnngs directly favour the party that brings the new rule in it is. >> it is.

>> it is. >> and of course, keir starmer can see that 16 year olds are more likely to back him, perhaps, than they are to vote conservative, although actually a lot of 16 year olds will probably know that keir starmer has become leader. lots of the pledges that he made , back in pledges that he made, back in back in 2021, have since been drunk. he talked about free tuition fees, which i'm sure a lot of 16 year olds would be interested. but he's now junked that policy, along with lots of others, and so i think perhaps the 16 year olds, will be able to see that keir starmer is, for all he's talked up to be. >> and, also in that interview there with katherine forster , there with katherine forster, sir keir starmer saying that the labour party pledges to take the small boats crisis seriously. do you think the voters can take that seriously? after all, it wasn't that long ago . we saw, we wasn't that long ago. we saw, we saw one of their ministers , saw one of their ministers, yvette cooper, holding up a sign that said refugees welcome . can that said refugees welcome. can the labour party be trusted to control our borders? >> no, no, you're right, control our borders? >> no, no, you're right , that >> no, no, you're right, that was bought with that, labour can't be trusted with our borders , labour can't be trusted

borders, labour can't be trusted with our security more broadly. starmer made a big speech earlier today, talking about security, but it was thin on content, whereas you look at the conservative party recently, there's moves for defence spending to 55 billion, which is the highest level it's ever been. you have johnny mercer, who's the veterans minister, pledging 70 million for veterans, whether that's on mental health or on skills or on helping them get into good jobs. so you see lots of concrete pledges from the conservative party when it comes to security. and when it comes to defence, i'm sure the prime minister is a bit disappointed that he may not get his fights off before the election, but the conservative party, you see, they're making lots of pledges on defence, you know, starmer , big speech, but know, starmer, big speech, but there wasn't very much content in it. okay. >> we have to leave it there. thanks for joining >> we have to leave it there. thanks forjoining us. political commentator nathaniel ogoni, thank you very much for joining us on the show. and have a cracking bank holiday . now cracking bank holiday. now £20,000 has to be won in our great british giveaway. you need to be quick as lie—ins are going to be quick as lie—ins are going to close this friday. and here's

all the details that you need for your chance to win all of that tax free cash. >> it's the final week to see how you can win a whopping £20,000 cash. and because it's totally tax free, every single penny will be in your bank account to do whatever you like. with £20,000 in tax free cash really could be yours this summer. hurry as lie—ins close on friday, you've got to be in it to win it for another chance to win £20,000 in tax free cash text win to 63232. text cost £2 plus one standard network rate message or post your name and number two gb05 po box 8690. derby dh1 nine, double t, uk. only entrants must be 18 or oven only entrants must be 18 or over. lines close at 5 pm. on friday. full terms and privacy nofice friday. full terms and privacy notice @gbnews .com. forward slash win. please check the closing time if listening or watching on demand. good luck .

watching on demand. good luck. >> well don't go anywhere because up next we'll be discussing whether we could be on for a state pension crisis. the think tank warn it could be unaffordable as soon as the year 2035. i'm martin daubney on gb news, britain's

welcome back to time is 522. i'm martin daubney, and this is gb news. now, the state pension could become unaffordable by as soon as 2035. if the labour party and the tories pledged to protect the triple lock in their election manifestos. because, according to analysis for telegraph money by the adam smith institute , the cost of smith institute, the cost of paying smith institute, the cost of paying the benefit could soon outweigh national insurance contributions, as the ratio of workers to pensioners simply reduces. well james price is the ex—treasury special adviser and he joins me now. james, welcome

to the show. they'll be very, very many concerned pensioners watching this, thinking they expect the pension to be squeezed in the future. but 2035, that's very, very soon. explain to us why the pension is going to become unaffordable by that year. >> yeah, well, thank you for having me on. i mean, the problem is that all sorts of things are going to become more affordable if you don't have growth, inside the economy , it growth, inside the economy, it means less money to go around as costs keep rising in other areas . and we don't have the kinds of financial discipline and constraints that perhaps we need to have. this is a broader point than just pensions. >> unfortunately, the united kingdom just isn't really a very rich country anymore, and that's been a set of policy choices that have constrained our ability to have productivity increases, to have growth . increases, to have growth. >> you know, we choose things like net zero and which is very expensive , and we choose very, expensive, and we choose very, very generous benefits for all sorts of people. >> we let lots of people into this country and give them all kinds of very generous things.

>> and we have a very generous pension system as well . and so pension system as well. and so you said that pensioners will be concerned about this and that's right. but so too will all of the people who are left being taxed for it. so by something like 20, 35, we could see there being over 23 or so million people in the uk taking the state pension , with only state pension, with only something like 16 or 17 million people paying into national insurance and other taxes to pay for it. >> and that kind of top heavy imbalance is going to be a real problem for the country going forward. >> and, you know, we don't hear any of the politicians talking about it on the general election campaign trail just yet. >> that's probably because james, the numbers, the inevitability of this is terrifying. overall spending will be £23 billion higher in 2027, 28, as it was at the start of the 2020s. pension spending has risen from 2% of gdp in the 19505 has risen from 2% of gdp in the 1950s to more than 7% today. and of course , james, more and more of course, james, more and more of course, james, more and more of us are going to be older that means the pension, budget will

skyrocket. what do we do about this? it's completely unfair for those who've paid their stamp, paid in all the way to get penalised. so what do we do about it? >> that's the that's 1 was gonna say the million dollar question. it's more like the £12 trillion question with these numbers are just so enormous that it's very difficult to get our heads around them. you know, you ask people what a lot of money sounds like, you know, a couple of thousand pounds is a huge amount of money for almost anybody, for almost anything. well, the numbers we're talking about here are hard, as i said, to get our heads around. so you have something like the what's called the public sector net debt. so that's all the money that we owe banks institution and foreign governments. this is money that government borrows. that's at something like £2.8 trillion right now. but then the real national debt, which is all the money that we owe for the very generous public sector pensions and the state pension as well, takes to us something over £12 trillion because we haven't worked out how we're going to pay for it. as you say, these are just terrifying numbers. and i think the problem is that the triple lock, which

has only been around for since what, 2015, something like that, it's a pretty unsustainable thing to just give it out. blanket where 1 in 4 pensioners these days are millionaires. plenty aren't and plenty will need this. and of course we can't do anything to change it. when people are, say, in their 50s who are preparing for their retirement in the next sort of 15, 20 years, and they factored it in and we can't obviously mess around with that. we've seen all the problems that have happened with the campaign around waspi women and things like that, but i think that the kind of things we can do, one is to get the economy really, really going gangbusters, and that's a load of opportunities that's a load of opportunities that we could get that we've been choosing not to. i say things like net zero, all those sorts of problems. another one is just again, tightening our belts and all the other areas where we waste an awful lot of money. and i do think we're going to have to start means testing a lot of these things and unspooling some of the very generous public sector pensions normally, normally you put our pensions into a private fund and then that money gets invested away into something. building infrastructure for investing in companies, investing in all these sorts of things. the

pubuc these sorts of things. the public sector pension, it doesn't. it just goes in and out with a kind of government iou in daily spending. and the government kind of says, oh, i reckon that this would have raised x amount of money and in a rate that the market almost never actually gets to, and then it goes out and is absurdly generous. and i think that's got to end as well. but the fact is, the one take home people should have is that these numbers are eye—watering there are going to be no easy decisions, and it's one of those few things like net zero, like the scale of immigration, like the scary geopolitics that are just too big for our politicians to want to talk about. and so those are the things we need to talk to them about. >> grace of james bryce and means testing that that would means testing that that would mean that those who could afford to pay for their whole life would probably get stung, and those who hadn't paid a penny in would still get a handout worth of justice in that. james bryce, always a delight to talk to you. thank you very much for joining us. now, it's fair to say it's been a grim year or so for the scottish national party, but the first minister, john swinney, has come out swinging today. he's been talking to gb news of scotland reporter tony maguire

down today and alister jack's constituency. >> well, douglas ross no less, is up in michael matheson's . is up in michael matheson's. when you took this job, you said that you were going to do your bit to kind of detoxify and remove the tribalism . is the remove the tribalism. is the election put paid to those plans yet ? yet? >> no, i think it's obviously the elections are competitive contest. and what i set out last thursday is that while all that kind of competition goes on, i want to bring people in scotland together. i want to unite people in scotland on an agenda to make scotland a better country. and that's about tackling some of the issues that are really significant and damaging for scotland that we have had in recent years. the impact of austerity , the impact of brexit, austerity, the impact of brexit, the impact of the cost of living crisis . i the impact of the cost of living crisis. i want to address the impact of the cost of living crisis . i want to address those crisis. i want to address those issues and address them through the election of a strong team of snp mps to westminster. 1 want to bring the country together in a united agenda to tackle these issues, and we've heard a lot over the last 24 hours about

rishi sunak, construction, construction plans, i'm assuming that and i've heard already today you're not a fan. so but as an advocate of fighting child poverty in scotland, what is your plan to give a purpose to the children in scotland? and the children in scotland? and the young people shall we say that? don't have one? >> i think it's really important that everyone has purpose in their life, and one of the good things about where we are today in scotland is that when young people leave school, the we are at record levels of young people moving into what are called positive destinations, into work, into training , or into work, into training, or into further and higher education that sits at over 95. so, you know, the overwhelming majority of young people are leaving school and going into a purposeful career or a purposeful career or a purposeful educational opportunity, and that's the way it should be, because we all need to have purpose in life. i think the national service plan is just a complete red herring. i think it's just i think it's just designed to be an idea

thrown into election campaign to turn people's heads. it's got no substance to it, and it will take resources away from the essential investment that's required in our society. but crucially, what we are achieving in scotland today is good outcomes for young people as they leave education. and that's exactly what it should be. >> and just lastly, keith brown, not that long ago, he wanted to withdraw from westminster and here we are in an election to try and put all of the tories out of all of the seats across scotland . so, you know, we are scotland. so, you know, we are a uk wide channel, you know what, give us an idea of what benefit there is to having the pews full in westminster halls with snp mps instead of scottish labour mps instead of scottish labour mps or scottish conservatives . mps or scottish conservatives. >> what snp mps do is that they go to westminster and they have one clear purpose and that is to protect scotland and to advance scotland's interests . that is scotland's interests. that is what they do. and on the big issues that are affecting people

in society today austerity, brexit, the cost of living crisis, all of these factors austerity affects the funding for our public services. brexit affects our businesses. cost of living crisis affects every household in the country, and snp mps can be relied upon to protect scotland from these policies and to make sure that scotland's interests are being put first in the house of commons. that is what you get when you vote snp. if you vote snp, you're voting for scotland 110w. now. >> there's loads more still to come. between now and 6:00. i'll discuss the shock news that the tories are still searching for more than 150 candidates to fight the election on july the 4th, who'd be a conservative and stand by to see rishi sunak showing off his silky football skills? it's fair to say it didn't go down too well in fact, it's another own goal. you won't want to miss that. but first, it's your headlines and it's theo chikomba .

theo chikomba. >> it's 5:31. theo chikomba . in >> it's 5:31. theo chikomba. in the gp newsroom, a tory mp has been suspended by the conservative party for backing reform uk's candidate in the telford seat. she is vacating lucy allan, who is standing down at the general election , said on at the general election, said on social media she'd be supporting allan adams to be the next mp in the town. a spokesperson for the conservative party said miss allan had been suspended from the party with immediate effect . the party with immediate effect. the prime minister has defended his plan to make all 18 year olds carry out national service , olds carry out national service, describing it as modern and bold. rishi sunak says the proposals will mean young people get the skills and the opportunities they need, which will serve them well in life. he says it will make society more cohesive . cohesive. >> i believe this is the right thing to do because this is how we'll deliver a secure future for everyone and our country. we're not going to do that

without taking bold action, and that's a type of leadership that i offer. and this modern form of national service will mean that young people get the skills and the opportunities they need, which is going to serve them very well in life. it's going to foster a culture of service which is going to be incredibly powerful for making our society more cohesive and in a more uncertain and dangerous world. it's going to strengthen our country's security and resilience. so for all these reasons, i think this is absolutely the right thing to do i >> meanwhile, the labour leader has described the conservative plans to reintroduce national service as desperate answering questions after his first keynote speech of the campaign , keynote speech of the campaign, sir keir starmer dismissed the prime minister's proposals to accept the proposition that we need , strong defences and that need, strong defences and that has to be the first duty of any government. >> but i think this plan is desperate. i think they are rummaging around in the toy box to try and find any plan that they can throw on the table. i don't think it'll work. you've seen what military experts,

those with experience, have said about it. you see what the government said about it just a few days ago when they were asked. that would take away from the resources of the military . the resources of the military. >> for the latest stories, sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen, or go to gb news. slash alerts. >> thank you theo. now there's a new way to get in touch with us and some really funny emails. i'll read them out in a bit, but here's bev turner with all of the details. >> we are proud to be gb news the people's channel. >> and as you know, we always love to hear your views. now there's a new way of getting in touch with us at gbnews.com/yoursay by commenting, you can be part of a live conversation and join our gb news community. you can even talk to me bev turner or any of the members of the gb news

family. simply go to gbnews.com/yoursay

>> we'll be back. time is 538. i'm martin daubney on gb news now by popular demand , i'm going now by popular demand, i'm going to bring you the best picture of the day. yes it's rishi sunak's latest gaffe on the campaign trail. because the day after the prime minister's beloved southampton were promoted to the premier league, here he is showing his football skills. they're not quite up to scratch. he's bumbling, he's stumbling. it was taking part in a session at chesham united football club in buckinghamshire while on the campaign trail. a lot of people will be looking at that and again, the tories, they think it's all over. it is now that's a disaster, when you when you try and be good. oh, look at it. when you try and be good at football, you've got to be able to nail it. otherwise i'm afraid the two left feet isn't a good look. it doesn't win over the

voters on the terrace. at least bofis voters on the terrace. at least boris johnson, he just shouldered that child while playing rugby and got the job done. as brutal as it was, it was kind of funny. it was effective. tony blair, don't forget, played head tennis with kevin keegan in 1995, kept the ball up about 20 times. sunak well, he shoots, he misses , he well, he shoots, he misses, he stumbles. i'm moving on. but that's the least of mr sunak's problems today because the conservative party is facing a candidate crisis . this, a source candidate crisis. this, a source within the party, has admitted it still needs to find candidates in roughly 150 constituencies across the country, a task that has been all the made, all the harder by the fact a record number of sitting mps have announced they will not be standing in the upcoming election. let's discuss this further now with the former conservative party mep david campbell bannerman. david, welcome to the show. always a delight, david. before we start talking about the candidates, can i ask you about this hour's

breaking news? and it's this that tory mp lucy allan has been suspended by the conservative party for backing reform uk's candidate in the telford seat that she is vacating. astonishing news and yet another headache for the prime minister >> well, i mean, you obviously you can't in an election particularly, you know, vote for the opposition or encourage voting and funding for the opposition , as she appears to opposition, as she appears to have done. >> and no, i mean, it's not very helpful. >> it's not helpful to her successor. she's stepping down. i know, or to anyone else that she's standing. >> i think, you know, sorry. >> i think, you know, sorry. >> it is the election. >> it is the election. >> you have to choose which side you're on, and i don't think it helps for her to be supporting reform there. >> well, it doesn't help rishi sunak, but she's obviously made a decision. she's chosen that, and she's gone with it. and so that brings me on to the next question, the topic of our interview here, david. and that's this missed mia 150 candidates simply cannot be

found. is it now a case, david, that standing as a tory party candidate is a poisoned chalice ? candidate is a poisoned chalice? nobody wants to do it. >> well, there's a limited list of causes. i think there's about a thousand, but the trouble is, what they've done is turn away a lot of candidates, including myself. >> actually, i'm deferred , i >> actually, i'm deferred, i have a comprehensive past. >> i can apply anywhere . >> i can apply anywhere. >> i can apply anywhere. >> except i can't apply anywhere because i'm deferred. well, i hope they see reason, especially in these. this amazing scenario . in these. this amazing scenario. so, and i know a lot of very good people, they've turned away for all sorts of reasons or given them sort of restrictions and all of that. and that doesn't help, especially when there's a panic on as as there is now . is now. >> and david, you you hint on an interesting topic. there is that because people like yourself and in fact, we saw lord frost on friday, rumours broke out early on that he was being blocked from standing gb news put that directly to the prime minister, rishi sunak. he then did a bit

of a volte face and said no, no, that's not the case. but david, is there something in this nofion is there something in this notion that you're the wrong sort of conservative as you were? bring back boris. you are to the right . were? bring back boris. you are to the right. is were? bring back boris. you are to the right . is there were? bring back boris. you are to the right. is there an inkung to the right. is there an inkling here that you're not welcome in the party that wants to stay more close to its one nafion? to stay more close to its one nation? if you like wet tory roots, yes , i'm afraid so. roots, yes, i'm afraid so. >> i mean, the reason i was given was extraordinary that my social media wasn't nice enough about rishi sunak. and so i'm subjected to the kind of committee meeting every three months and deciding whether i should remain barred or not. well, it's had the opposite effect, i'm afraid . i've been effect, i'm afraid. i've been more critical because i've had a deferral . i just want a deferral. i just want a reasonable solution. i want the opportunity to stand. there's some very serious seats, frankly, a lot of experience going out of parliament on the conservative benches, particular vie. and we're going to need that experience. you know, i do remember thatcher go back that far, i hope i have a lot to offer. >> i'm a loyal conservative. i

want to stand. i hope we can come to a reasonable view. but if we don't, i'm afraid i have consulted barristers , and there consulted barristers, and there may be a legal challenge. i don't want to go down that route, but that is in in the offing . offing. >> wow. you're thinking about legally challenging the conservatives from boring you as a candidate simply because what you feel discriminated against. >> if you're a member of the party, you have rights, contractual rights to stand as a candidate. there has to be good reasons to block you. and these are not good reasons , you know, are not good reasons, you know, to helping number 10. and there's allegations that a certain dougie smith that's mentioned by nadine dorries is involved. he's on the candidate committee . committee. >> allegedly. >> allegedly. >> and david, i'm afraid to number 10, and if this is being done then that is a disgrace. >> okay, david, can i very quickly ask you, if this legal case doesn't go ahead, are you the kind of conservative that will be coming back after a what seems like an inevitable loss

and trying to get the conservative party back to its conservative roots after the general election. >> we'll have to rebuild what, you know, whatever happens this election and hopefully we can we can pull something off. but if it goes the wrong way, we're going to have to rebuild. and it's really important to go in the right direction and not try and sort of ape, the left wing parties like labour or others , parties like labour or others, that's not the way to go. it didn't work in scotland very well . it won't work didn't work in scotland very well. it won't work in didn't work in scotland very well . it won't work in the didn't work in scotland very well. it won't work in the uk. so yeah, you know , we've got to so yeah, you know, we've got to rebuild the party and we're going to make it the party that represents our members and the and the public at large , who are and the public at large, who are being sort of overlooked in all of this. >> well, thanks for sharing that news with us. david campbell—bannerman considering legal action against conservative party because he feels he'd been discriminated against from standing. thank you very much for joining against from standing. thank you very much forjoining us. now moving on, stand by for my favourite story of the day. we're going to bring you all the drama from the annual gloucestershire cheese rolling events. authorities told the

pubuc events. authorities told the public that it's simply too dangerous and they shouldn't take part. but all the big cheeses they took no notice. i'm martin daubney on gb news, britain's news channel

welcome back. it's 548. we're on the final. final furlong. i'm martin daubney on gb news now. an innocent shopper was wrongly accused of stealing and frogmarched out of a store after a technical issue with facial recognition, which is used by various high street chains. now, the woman said an employee at home bargains accused her of shoplift ing when she was wrongly flagged by a system known as face watch, and was left in tears as a result. i can now speak with futurist and lawyer andrew eborn, who joins me in great studio. see you as always, martin. a case of mistaken identity. you may say,

but as you say, we've covered this before. in fact, the last story we did on this, a man in america was wrongly jailed as a result of whodunit, wasn't him. now it's happening in britain and it will happen more and more. so it's completely scandalous that people get wrongly treated and puts it into context . 1.8 billion 1.8 billion context. 1.8 billion 1.8 billion is lost by retailers to shoplifting. yeah. what the ai software can do is identify people who may be likely to shoplift. and it's not just about previous criminal records, but they can tell patterns of behaviour. they can tell not just by your face, but also by how you walk, how you how you move. it's brilliant. and if you go. so i looked at this wonderful software, for example, in casinos they can tell if somebody's going a bit grumpy because they've lost bets, because they've lost bets, because they've lost bets, because they get agitated, and it sort of goes into the database and said, this is a pattern of behaviour. the question is, what do you do with that information? and what happened to this unfortunate lady? and it's widely reported, is she wanted to have a bar of chocolate , went into the store. chocolate, went into the store. >> she went there, said, hey, you're a thief and you can't

come here and you can't go into any other stores at all. >> that is defamatory. and because it's defamation, they should have a right sort of action. what they need to do is to utilise the software in a way which will prevent theft and so on and so forth. so you're basically alert people to the suspicions and then watch them get closer rather than go in directly with the accusation. now the metropolitan police use this technology routinely, not just supermarkets, budgens, sports direct, southern co—ops and costcutters, but the metropolitan police say they use this tech to remove violent and predatory offenders from london's streets. and that has included seven arrests for sex offenders. sexual harm prevention orders , terrorism and prevention orders, terrorism and even breaching non—molestation orders. so it does have its use, but when it goes wrong, it can blight lives. and actually the vast majority of times it's incredibly useful and they turn around. it's a very small percentage and it's still wrong for that percentage of people who've used it incorrectly. my advice would be work out, say highlight. this is a risk and as a result, just identify . watch a result, just identify. watch that person carefully. but a number of countries around the

world have say we shouldn't have this because it's a breach of all sorts of rules and regulations and gdpr and that sort of stuff. so we have to be very, very careful. it's incredibly powerful to deal with that massive loss and shoplifting as a result, which should be very, very careful. but we have to make sure that it's preserved for those who are innocent. superb. andrew eborn technology was meant to help us, as we often discuss with you , it as we often discuss with you, it can hinder us. thanks for joining us, as ever a delight to have you on this bank holiday monday. now moving on. who wants some cheese while in gloucestershire? there's more than enough to go around as the annual cheese rolling festival took place today. competitors have been racing down cooper's hill . as you can see on your hill. as you can see on your screens, they're chasing a double gloucester cheese wheel. the cheese was pasteurised. it goes past your eyes at 70 miles an hour. now. there were thrills and spills and competitors all warned of the risks of injury before taking part. now, winners included competitors from germany, america and australia, with the fourth and final men's race won by brit and local hero

josh shepherd. well, earlier today , gb news reporterjack today, gb news reporterjack carson caught up with a couple of those big cheese winners. >> slightly surprised, but i said i was going to win it. so, i managed to do it. i wasn't i managed to do it. iwasn't quite sure that if i had or not, i knew there were a lot of people coming in pretty fast. so, yeah, i put in the effort when i could. >> i just remember rolling down in my face, getting beat up again. and flying down. and i was just thinking to myself, like, there's only going to be a few seconds. i'm going to get to the bottom at some point, and then it'll be over. i found out about it years ago on the internet. rabbit holes on youtube leads you to weird places, but i wanted to defend my title again. two years i did it. i was in the right place at the right time. so i travelled to here to do it. and this year i wanted to do it again to defend my title . defend my title. >> superb stuff and, i was only a mile away from that site yesterday and the cheese runners pub, they serve scrumpy there.

they don't know how strong it is, how strong is that? well, it was 8, they say, and that's their local idea of painkiller. now, i want to end with a very, very funny email. i've been waiting to get through all the show. vince says this on sir keir starmer's launch day, one of the labour party campaign today. of the labour party campaign today . of course, he says this today. of course, he says this i'm waiting for sir keir starmer to say this. you can trust me on defence because i've been sitting on defence for years. vince and reborn likes that. i can see what he did there. vince have a bank holiday biscuit bonus. very, very funny . and bonus. very, very funny. and indeed on that last point there, keith, on cheese and politics says this. our big cheeses in politics, well they need rolling down a hill. well a great way to end it. now that's all from me for now. but of course i'm back covering for nigel farage at 7 pm. but up next is dewbs & co p.m. but up next is dewbs& co and that's with dawn neesom, who's standing in for michelle dewberry. and don't forget to join us from 6 am. tomorrow. it's breakfast of course,

followed by britain's newsroom at 930 with andrew and bev, and then tom and emily with good afternoon britain from midday. then it's my ugly mish back at three. i'm martin daubney and this has been gb news, but albeit i'll be back at 7:00 with nigel farage in the studio, i'll be asking him about that sensational interview with trevor phillips yesterday and that surprise news of lucy allan backing the reform party candidate in telford. more bad news for the prime minister. but before all of that, it's your weather with ellie glaisyer. well done . well done. >> a brighter outlook with boxt solar sponsors of weather on . gb news. >> good afternoon. welcome to your latest gb news weather from the met office. where there will be plenty more heavy showers on the way. for many of us today, these turning heavy and thundery at times, all thanks to this area of low pressure. situated across the uk. various occlusion

features pushing their way eastwards will bring a focus for those showers through this afternoon. and it's eastern parts of scotland, maybe into northeastern parts of england, that will likely to see those heavier showers. this afternoon again with some hail and thunder mixed too , in for england and mixed too, in for england and wales not quite as heavy. those showers compared to what we've seen over the past couple of days, but it will still be a few around and it'll be feeling a little cooler too, with those temperatures only around 17 or 18 degrees, around about average for the time of year. so those heavier showers across eastern parts of scotland will continue as we head through the rest of this afternoon. again some hail and thunder mixed in into this evening, and they could be quite slow moving, but slowly pushing their way eastwards as we head into the latter part of the day. some showers across northern ireland and northern parts of england too. and again these pushing their way eastwards into monday evening. the showers across england and wales will gradually start to ease as we head into the latter part of the day, but there is some rain arriving out towards the southwest and that will slowly push its way north and eastwards as we head through monday

evening and into the start of tuesday, the showers elsewhere do gradually start to ease overnight, so there will be some clear spells around and under those clear spells we could be turning a little chilly with temperatures dropping into the single figures, but under all that cloud and rain likely to stay that little bit milder temperatures here around 12 or 13 degrees to start on tuesday, so that does mean it's a bit of a damp start for northern ireland, wales and southern parts of england, and that rain does push its way north and eastwards as we head through tuesday daytime. some early brightness across parts of scotland and northeastern parts of england. but that rain does eventually arrive arrive through the afternoon. plenty of heavy showers as well , across parts of showers as well, across parts of northern england, wales and southwest parts of england and temperatures again around about average for the time of year. >> that warm feeling inside from boxt boilers sponsors of weather on

for a rundown on today's politics. the election section, if you like. remember, just goes back in the day. what we used to call that. and we have got some great topics and fiery debate with a great panel. should we really bring back national service? that's the debate of the day, isn't it? and nigel farage is in hot water again over comments he made about the muslim community and people up and down the country are kicking off over tourists ruining their beautiful villages and towns over bank holiday weekend. are we a nation of whingers though , we a nation of whingers though, or are we just disrespectful tourists ? but that's all to come tourists? but that's all to come in the next hour . it's packed. in the next hour. it's packed. but first, here's the latest news headlines with the lovely

theo.