gb news. >> morning. 930 on wednesday, the 29th of may. this is britain's newsroom. when? gb news with andrew pierce and bev turner for good morning. >> so, diane abbott, the first black female mp, says that she's been banned from standing for the labour party as a candidate in this upcoming general election. it could end, of course , her 37 year stint in parliament. >> and i'm sorry about this. another british institution bites the dust. we highlighted this on this programme a few weeks ago. the royal mail has agreed to a £35 billion takeover offer from a czech billionaire . billionaire. >> and mickey mouse degrees to

be axed. well, rishi sunak has promised to create 100,000 new apprenticeships and will ban rip off university degrees , an nhs backlog. >> sir keir starmer says he will fix the waiting list in five years. he says labour have done it before and they'll do it again. we'll ask how. >> and zombie knives for sale. our reporter has purchased a twin set of 20 inch blades without any id checks online or dunng without any id checks online or during courier delivery. we'll bnng during courier delivery. we'll bring you that exclusive report very . very. soon. and it's day seven of the election campaign, so riveted by it all. >> aren't you only 36 to go? >> aren't you only 36 to go? >> we're going to see how the parties are representing themselves all around the country this morning as well . country this morning as well. get in touch with your thoughts. gbnews.com/yoursay first though, the very latest news with

tatiana sanchez. >> beth. thank you. the top stories from the gb newsroom . stories from the gb newsroom. diane abbott says she's been banned from standing as a labour candidate in the general election. the veteran mp had the whip withdrawn in april last year after she suggested jewish, irish and traveller people experienced prejudice but not racism. she later apologised and withdrew the remarks and an investigation concluded in december. but the labour leader says the party's internal process took longer to resolve. miss abbott was a close ally of former leader jeremy corbyn and served as his shadow home secretary it's unclear whether she'll contest her seat in hackney north and stoke newington. the owners of royal mail have agreed to a £35 billion takeover bid by czech billionaire daniel kretinsky . billionaire daniel kretinsky. the deal will see universal service obligations continue , service obligations continue, including one price goes

anywhere and first class post six days a week. the company's branding will also remain, as will its uk headquarters. the sale has attracted heavy scrutiny from senior politicians and unions. business secretary kemi badenoch has underlined the need to protect postal services in remote areas , while labour in remote areas, while labour says royal mail's place in pubuc says royal mail's place in public life must be protected . public life must be protected. the prime minister is promising to create 100,000 more apprenticeships every year by shutting down what he calls rip off degrees. rishi sunak was aboard an overnight sleeper train from london paddington last night en route to cornwall. he's outlining plans to clamp down on the worst performing university degrees and replace them with high skilled apprenticeships. labour says apprenticeships. labour says apprenticeship achievements among those under the age of 19 have dropped by 50% since 2016, but education minister damian hinds says the plan will have a positive impact for young people i >> -- >> we're not going to say to any

young person you cannot go to university, we're going to make sure that when that young person does go to university, they're not going on to a course which has perhaps been a bit oversold. they they're only going to go onto a course that's got good quality earnings potential is only part of that actually a really, really important measure of quality is about completion rates. so, you know, if you've got lots of people dropping out of a course, that's no good for anybody. >> 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 andrew and . bev. now back to andrew and. bev. >> all right. good morning. 934 welcome to britain's newsroom on gb news with me, bev turner and andrew pierce. >> well, of course, the labour party want to be talking about nhs waiting lists, but they've got themselves they've dug a bit of a hole, in my view, over diane abbott, who is an historic

figure. whether you like her or loathe her, she's the first black woman mp in our history and she has was had the whip removed, which meant she was effectively removed from the parliamentary party. they've restored it but now told her she can't stand as an mp in the election. >> that's right. so if you remember the former shadow home secretary, she was suspended last year. she said that jewish, irish and traveller people do not face racism or their lives. and she compared the racism that they suffered to people with red hair, for instance, that got her into a lot of trouble. did an anti—semitism awareness course. she she took the punishment and she made a very public apology. but now she's been told she can't stand as an mp. >> and labour have had a year long investigation into this, which is absurd because she wrote it in an in a letter in the observer newspaper. so what's there to investigate? absolutely my old chum kevin maguire, associate editor of daily mirror, is plugged in to labour better'n anyone? kevin. they've made a mess of this. >> they have keir starmer was former director of public prosecutions. he said he wants to speed up justice when he

becomes prime minister if he becomes prime minister if he becomes prime minister if he becomes prime minister, well, he needs to speed it up in the labour party. but i can't, won't see why it wasn't sorted within months . and then. yeah. and then months. and then. yeah. and then two. that's it. and two, if she is, she has the whip restored . is, she has the whip restored. why it can't be up to her local party in hackney north and stoke newington, whether they want her as their candidate or not. plus herself. now she is 70. she is in poor health. she has been worn down by this . she's had worn down by this. she's had problems with her son, which some people will actually remember. there's a big row, i think a justified row over him, over her educating him privately . but the way this is all handled, private education. yes. i mean that that was it. she people don't forget that. and i think eamonn holmes got it when he said, well, she's unpopular in the country. she is. yes. some of that is racism. some of it is legitimate, some don't like her manner, but, but, but but i think she should be allowed to stand again for labour if she wants to in a

local party. want her to. >> she was blindsided because she'd agreed with the party. she gets the whip restored, so she's a labour mp until tomorrow. and then she finds that the times has written on its front page labour's barred her from standing as its candidate, and she now goes on tv this morning and says yeah, i've been banned. >> yeah. before any panel meets and i suppose the panel is supposed to be independent and fair. the mind has been made up. it's a breach of the rules. no, it's terrible control freakery at the top of the labour party and keir starmer can't wash his hands of it because he is the he is the leader. if he let that panel know and this happens, i know it happens because i've come across cases when it happens, you let them know that, look, i'm i, you know, i want her to be a candidate or i think she should be allowed to stand if she wants that panel hears and they allow that to happen . and they allow that to happen. >> in 2019, she had a majority of 33,000 people in that constituency. >> she's a hard working local mp i >> -- >> yeah, it's a it's a labour. it's a labour majority . it looks it's a labour majority. it looks hard. some some people don't like her manner. she can be very

acerbic and off hand at at time. in a local labour party. i know there are some people who'll be glad to see the back of her, but that got to put all that aside. the local labour party should be able to decide who its candidate is, and then the people of that area decide who they want as their mp. it's as simple as that. >> you've got even people like john mcternan, kevin, who's a blairite, he was tony blair's political secretary, saying they've deliberately humiliated her. they have. and it's shameful and i think they've damaged themselves. >> i think now in the great, the great scheme of things will affect the outcome of the election. no, because people will be thinking of the economy and health, public services, crime, all the other issues. but i don't think i don't think it's good for labour. she was a trailblazer as well. you've got to remember, she has a prominent position. the first black woman mp with bernie grant and 1990 1987. she suffers more abuse than any other mp. some of it's vile. there are some people who have abused. i'll be crying crocodile tears now saying oh,

labour should let her stand, but they hate her. but nevertheless you just come back. the fundamental democratic principle in any party you should allow the members. unless somebody is a bank robber or a murderer or whatever, you know, somebody you know, he's unhinged and it's because we should allow it to stand. >> it's because she's corbynite. yes. because she's jeremy corbyn's mate. well, many years ago, decades ago, they were more than mates. yeah, but it's because she's a corbynite and starmer is trying to as the hammer of the heart. >> well, they're using against a now that she liked on x formerly twitter a tweet by jeremy corbyn and tweet by jeremy corbyn's wife saying he was standing as an independent and she liked it. well, now it is possible if they freeze, if they freeze her out and they do block her and it looks like they're going to, she might go and campaign for corbyn in islington north. >> well, why doesn't she stand as an independent in her constituency? >> she could, but she probably wouldn't get elected right in, in truth. right, right. >> but but but but but corbyn is a real threat because he's been

the mp there for 40 odd years. yeah. >> and you know, one of the things about corbyn as well, it's a it's a very isn't it. nonh it's a it's a very isn't it. north is a possibly the smallest constituency a geographically. so the people are very concentrated . he's been there concentrated. he's been there for so long, so long they don't know anything else . he almost know anything else. he almost knows everybody. and he'll have helped so many families. >> her political history sort of should be greater than this idea that she represents the corbynite side of the party. yeah, yeah. and what i mean is, if keir starmer wants to demonstrate loyalty and also the fact that she has blazed this trail regardless of whether you agree with her opinions or not on things, it would have been a mark of the man. actually, i think to say i would like her to be part of our party because she's part of our heritage, a big tent. >> yeah. look, she was also it's got to be said about diane abbott. she she wasn't blinkered and just a straight ideological corbynite. she's on the left , corbynite. she's on the left, you know, politically very close to corbyn. in fact, they used to be boyfriend and girlfriend back in the day. but a lot of other

mps who would be on the right call them blairite, call them whatever you like in the labour party, had perfectly good political and personal relations with her. i mean, it's interesting, though. >> it's made a lot of people who wouldn't normally have a time of day for diane abbott feel incredibly sorry for her. yes. >> yeah. >> yeah. >> well you can i mean, i think this is a terrible injustice. >> yeah. >> yeah. >> you can disagree with somebody politically . yeah. you somebody politically. yeah. you may not particularly like them as a person, but you might just have this sense of decency and. yeah. >> work treatment into politics. yes >> yeah. >> yeah. >> but of course, some of your many years of saying privately it shows he's tough. >> well that's right, that will be the that will be the signal that i say, yeah, should we talk about education? it's playing a bigger part in this election campaign than we might have anticipated. i guess with labour's, ambitions to put 20% vat on. >> sorry, employs 6500 extra teachers in the schools used by 93. >> well, they might need more than that, because the private schools were closed down. and you're going to need state

schools. you're not going to get them very quickly. >> i think you'll find, if you're going for that survey by a private school finance company that over two years, ask people, well, if it goes up, might you consider taking over? >> that's a rubbish one. >> that's a rubbish one. >> private school announced it's closing down tomorrow. kevin, we've got a teacher coming . head we've got a teacher coming. head teacher from a private school read a very good letter in the telegraph. he's got 600 kids in his school. rural area . they his school. rural area. they might have to close. >> can i just say some private schools are not very good and are poor value for money. i know at least four that transferred. they were failing and they'd have gone under until they transferred into the state sector as academies. there might be more now, but i know ford did that. i'm sorry, i'm not going to get the smelling salts out now and say, if you if you want to pay for private education, absolutely. fine. that's your choice. you've got the money, you do it you don't agree with, but i don't. but i don't i wouldn't ban them. i don't see why you should expect a tax perk on it and get an exemption from vat because it's not a charity. private education is what you do for yourself. charity is something you do for other

people. and it's why i'm more concerned about the 93% of kids in state schools average eight grand a year spent on their education, eight grand double that 16 grand in a day school. now i want extra teachers to raise education for the majority. well, that's rather than rather than getting me hanky out and weeping for a very small minority, that is. let's be let's be frank about it. privileged. >> you don't care about those children? >> no , i care about them. >> no, i care about them. >> no, i care about them. >> but you don't care about the i care, i care, i care about those i care about, i care. >> well, you care about the most. i don't know what you do with your kids, but you seem to care more. not about me, but you seem to care about them more than the other 93. >> absolutely not. as a state educated person, what i really, really care about is that all children get a really great education. >> yeah, that's why the 6500 extra teachers and 2500 extra teachers, you're not going to have schools to employ them in. >> where are you going to build these schools overnight with schools you're going to need more states for the 6500

teachers you need. >> you need them for the pupils coming out. i'm the teacher. how many? there isn't a lack of how many? there isn't a lack of how many are coming out at the moment. >> how many are coming out? well, what are the institute of fiscal studies say? which is a very authoritative thing. 2003 seven 3 to 7. they thought 3 to 7, 3 to 7 40,000. >> well disagree with you. >> well disagree with you. >> they said 40,000. yeah. >> they said 40,000. yeah. >> but 7% to 7. >> that's 40,000. 40,000 is where are they going to go to school kevin. yeah. where are they going? >> they will, they will. there are, there are, there are, there are, there are, there are, there are spare capacity in state schools because the birth rate is falling. and you can see the projection, the numbers are coming down. >> a lot of those state schools, 80% very good. >> 8,080% of state schools are good or outstanding. excellent. but you're taking away the parental choice. >> i'm not leaving the choice. >> i'm not leaving the choice. >> it's why this is what i don't understand. >> why do you expect 20? why do you expect a tax perk? >> this is what i don't understand about the left. what you are leaving is going to be. you're going to be leaving private schools for the super rich. hang for on the super rich

because it won't make a dent. >> that's what you think. >> that's what you think. >> that's what you think you understand about the left. what i understand about the right is it defends privileges for itself under the cloak of selflessness. >> and lawyers and teachers, two income families, sometimes having the grandparents help them. a lot of children on bursaries, a lot of children, higher income families, higher income families. it's jealousy. kevin. >> no, it's not jealousy . >> no, it's not jealousy. >> no, it's not jealousy. >> well, no, i love the state system, but i also want people to only choice. >> it only smacks of jealousy. if you don't care about the other 93, and you just focus on the 7% and you and you ignore almost all middle class families as well as working class families, because most working middle class families, the overwhelming majority of middle class families, use the real pubuc class families, use the real public schools , the state public schools, the state schools like working class families. >> what they but what those parents are doing is taking pressure off the state. >> well, they can continue paying. >> that's all right. i'm happy for them to pay private. i'm happy. >> happy and 6000 children at

private school. not all of those are the children. >> you can be billionaires. you can. >> most of them are the children of hardworking. >> you can. >> you can. >> you can pay as you want, right? if you want to pay, you can pay. but it's all weather. it's all weather you should expect. do you think this is a tax code policy, or do you think this is slowly backfiring because so many aspirational parents. >> so i want to put my kids in this little private school, but they can't afford the 20. >> i think. i think the 93% on most of the 93% whose state schools, including the vast majority of middle class, are aspirational, too. right. and they want their better schools. and that is where if you if you just keep focusing it on why you're putting this vat on these private schools and you ignore what they will fund, i can see how you can distort the policy. i can see how you get it , how you can distort the policy. i can see how you get it, but you keep missing out. the 6500 new teachers you punishing. >> we got to go. >> we got to go. >> i think you'll find you're benefiting the all the kids will get the 6500 teachers talk to you about your hero , angela raynen >> it's not my hero. kevin's hero. because she's been cleared. or has she? stay with

us. up next, we'll also be talking about. oh, we've talked about nhs waiting times. yeah. kevin maguire, me, andrew pierce. oh mickey mouse degrees. did you do mickey mouse degree. >> no i did a degree. right. i did a marxist mouse degree. you would call it. you'd call it. i'm joking. >> horrible old leftie lecturer. which is why you are where you are. >> don't go anywhere.

gb news. >> kevin maguire is still here. round two with bev turner and round three with me. i want to talk to you about your great friend angela rayner. kevin, the deputy leader of the labour party. the police have. surprise, surprise. they are taking no further action about it. this was after the book written by michael ashcroft. you're going to mention in 30s is a billionaire. but he didn't mention anything to do with their tax affairs. he said when she was married, before she was an mp, he said in the book that she she had a house which she

bought under a right to buy. her husband had a house up the road. they lived together and the house was rented out. well she registered correctly on the electoral register. the police have now decided they're not proceeding. proceeding any further. but you don't think the police should have involved in the first place? no. >> it was a political hit job. i think all the questions or some of the questions are quite valid. you can raise it, you can have discussions about it, but it's political parties running off to the police to say, right, you've got to get involved. you've you've got to get involved. >> look, not face a police. >> look, not face a police. >> you can you can see now the fact they're not say there's no criminal charges case, case over that it was a put up job. if they'd had come up with charges, you could say it was a justified, inquiry. >> how would they know whether it was a case unless they looked into it? >> because they had no evidence. they had no evidence of a problem. they have no evidence of a problem. and i come across lots of conservative mps who people whisper and say, oh, they're up to something. and you say, nah, that's i don't i don't believe it. you are.

>> it's a smear to cry wolf. if it's a tory. no, send in the police. send in. >> no no no no no no no no no no ho. 110. >> no. >> the difference the difference was party gay in downing street because at the time lockdown was being imposed on everybody, there was no evidence that she'd committed any wrongdoing. and i just think it was a waste of police time. was it a dozen detectives at the time? you think they could have been catching muggers, burglars, thieves, rapists , murderers thieves, rapists, murderers instead, don't you? greater manchester police bowed to political pressure from a tory deputy chair , james daly, who's deputy chair, james daly, who's going to lose his seat anyway because he got tiny majority in bury north. >> isn't it right, though, that that mps probably have to be held to a higher standard? >> i think there is. and there's a parliamentary system, as you know, with internal scrutiny and the media always, you know , gb the media always, you know, gb news mirror male, everybody else. i think that's all fair enough. else. i think that's all fair enough . it's this running off to enough. it's this running off to the police and saying, you must investigate this mean we'll see more of it in the in the campaign now, because you might see it. >> all we've seen is, is, is starmer that dalek talking dalek

, what's her name? rachel reeves. and we've seen a little bit of a bad tempered wes streeting. we haven't seen the deputy leader of labour party at all. >> no, i think she has been around and done a few appearances. but i think you're right, because it was a cloud over her. but that was the whole point of the political attack, because the conservative party knows she appeals to a section of the electorate they can't reach, because she is the working class woman who left school at 16, no qualifications but a baby on the way, got a job as a carer. don't keep banging on it. no, no, no. but this is it. this, this is important. >> this is important of that footage of a begging for the vote in ashton—under—lyne in the room of muslim men yesterday that couldn't even look her in the eye. that was a bit embarrassing, i think. >> i think whenever you get a group that is, if they're sexist and you can get people in the white population with the same, sometimes other religions to unrwa fortunately, in that room, i think, no, i feel very uncomfortable about that. bev, i'm with you, beverly found something in the bin. >> oh, well, if you want to see more of these two men shouting

at each other, they're going to be on stage. >> look at that leicester square theatre, june the 10th. she found this in a bin. this is really worrying. and you know why they threw it in the bin ? why they threw it in the bin? it's when they saw your face on it. kevin. >> no. people like me. gb views gb news viewers. i bet if we had a poll of them time, they they would agree with me rather than you. i doubt that i think they would. >> the weather bev would. >> the weather bev would. >> do you agree. >> do you agree. >> no she doesn't. yes she does. >> no she doesn't. yes she does. >> a brighter outlook with boxt solar sponsors of weather on gb news . news. news. news. >> good morning. welcome to your latest gb news. weather update from the met office. it's going to be a brighter day today. there's still some very heavy and thundery showers around though, and a weather warning for thunderstorms across much of scotland. that's where the showers are going to be. most persistent and quite slow moving later on today they wrapped around this area of low pressure, so they'll be pushing in from the north and east

through the day. so most persistent across eastern areas. but in the west there's still a risk of some showers. so i think sunny spells and showers for many western areas . however it many western areas. however it should be a bit of a dry day across the south and in the dner across the south and in the drier weather. with the dry weather, temperatures will climb a little higher , so it's going a little higher, so it's going to be a warmer day. highs of around 2021 degrees across southern areas. now through this evening, the showers will really continue across scotland in particular where we have that warning in force. it's here where they turn, where they will be quite slow moving so we could see quite a lot of rain falling in a short space of time, bringing some localised flooding issues. there's also some heavy showers to come through this evening across parts of northern ireland. further south and west it will turn a bit drier this evening, actually across devon and cornwall, much of the south coast . it should be a fairly coast. it should be a fairly fine end to the day and it will likely stay clear across many southern and central areas throughout the night. tonight across the east, though, some heavy showers will continue , heavy showers will continue, particularly the north and east where we're closer to that low pressure, the more unsettled weather where we're going to

continue to see some outbreaks of quite heavy rain. it's quite a brisk breeze as well. it's a northerly wind developing through tonight and into tomorrow morning, so temperatures will be held up because of the strength of the wind. so temperatures not dipping much below double digits across the uk. quite a breezy day to come on thursday. a lot of cloud around with showers continuing, particularly across eastern areas. we could see some more persistent rain spreading into the southeast later on in the afternoon. on thursday , but the afternoon. on thursday, but from the west it will start to turn drier as the afternoon goes on. so some late sunshine to come for many western areas, but with that northerly wind is going to be a much fresher day. see you later. bye bye . see you later. bye bye. >> that warm feeling inside from boxt boilers , sponsors of boxt boilers, sponsors of weather on

gb news. >> it's 10:00 gb news. >> it's10:00 on

gb news. >> it's 10:00 on wednesday, the >> it's10:00 on wednesday, the 29th of may. this is britain's newsroom on gb news with me, bev turner and andrew pierce. >> she's the first black female mp in history. and she says she's been banned from standing as a labour candidate. diane abbott in the general election. but she's tweeted she'll still be campaigning for a labour victory. >> what have they promised her? another british institution bites the dust . royal mail bites the dust. royal mail owners agree to a £35 billion takeover from czech billionaire daniel kretinsky . daniel kretinsky. >> and no police action. labour leader, deputy labours deputy leader, deputy labours deputy leader angela rayner, has been cleared of any criminal wrongdoing over her over the council house row. but is she completely in the clear? >> and rishi sunak said he's going to axe mickey mouse degrees and replace them with 100,000 apprenticeships. he's going to ban what he calls these rip off courses. we're going to be looking at what he means. >> boris to the rescue. the prime minister says he's been speaking to boris well, at least once, about the threat from

labour to the tories need him to win the election. well, i'll make a prediction. will hardly see him. well he's going to spend a lot of time abroad. he's also going to be on holiday. that's a convention for former prime ministers. thatcher was always on holiday during the election. she'd do a campaign for maybe one day. i think perhaps we'll see him one day on the campaign trail. >> i'm not sure he's going to bnng >> i'm not sure he's going to bring any benefits to the conservative party, is he? i know people go on about the fact that, oh, he's this wonderful, charismatic raconteur, but after lockdowns, no matter which side of that fence you sat on, you feel he let you down. so maybe i'm wrong. gbnews.com/yoursay we'd love to hear your thoughts this morning. first, though, tatiana sanchez with the . news. tatiana sanchez with the. news. >> bev, thank you very much. the top stories at 10:02, diane

abbott says she's dismayed that numerous reports suggest she's been barred from running as a labour candidate in the general election . the veteran mp had the election. the veteran mp had the whip withdrawn in april last year after she suggested jewish, irish and traveller people experienced prejudice but not racism. she later apologised and withdrew the remarks and an investigation concluded in december. but the labour leader says the parties internal process took longer to resolve. miss abbott was a close ally of former leader jeremy corbyn and served as his shadow home secretary. it's unclear whether she'll contest her seat in hackney north and stoke newington, but she says she will be campaigning for a labour victory . the owners of royal victory. the owners of royal mail have agreed to a £35 billion takeover bid by czech billionaire daniel kretinsky . billionaire daniel kretinsky. the deal will see universal service obligations continue , service obligations continue, including one price goes anywhere and first class post six days a week. the company's branding will also remain, as

will its uk headquarters. the sale has attracted heavy scrutiny from senior politicians and unions . scrutiny from senior politicians and unions. business secretary kemi badenoch has underlined the need to protect postal services in remote areas, while labour says royal mail's place in pubuc says royal mail's place in public life must be protected . public life must be protected. the prime minister has promised to create 100,000 more apprenticeships every year by shutting down what he calls rip off degrees. rishi sunak was aboard an overnight sleeper train from london paddington last night en route to cornwall. he's outlining plans to clamp down on the worst performing university degrees and replace them with high skilled apprenticeships . labour says apprenticeships. labour says apprenticeships. labour says apprenticeship achievements among those under the age of 19 have dropped by 50% since 2016, but education minister damian hinds says the plan will have a positive impact for young people. >> i'm not going to say to any young person you cannot go to university, we're going to make sure that when that young person does go to university , they're

does go to university, they're not going on to a course which has perhaps been a bit oversold , has perhaps been a bit oversold, and they they're only going to go onto a course that's got good quality earnings potential is only part of that actually a really, really important measure of quality is about completion rates. so, you know, if you've got lots of people dropping out of a course, that's no for good anybody . anybody. >> nhs waiting list targets would be met within five years of a labour government. that's according to a pledge by sir keir starmer. waits of more than 18 weeks would be eradicated, with an additional 40,000 appointments, scans and operations in england each week dunng operations in england each week during evenings and weekends. the tories called it more copy and paste politics and pointed to its planned plan to invest in nhs technology. but shadow health secretary wes streeting says the backlog, which currently stands at 7.54 million, could rise to 10 million, could rise to 10 million if the tories are returned to government . returned to government. >> £1.6 billion package for nhs

waiting times is funded by clamping down on tax avoidance, closing the non—dom loopholes that, surprise, surprise, the tories have left in there for their mates. leopards don't change their spots. bear that in mind on july the 4th, and that means we'll be able to fund this capacity in the nhs linked to reform and that's what people can expect from the nhs. rishi sunak says . on one hand, we're sunak says. on one hand, we're spending huge amounts of money on the nhs , but on the other on the nhs, but on the other hand we're seeing the worst crisis in its history and that's what happens when you have a government that only does investment but doesn't do reform i >> meanwhile, the liberal democrats will pledge an extra £1 billion to champion british farming. sir david is expected to outline a plan to undo what he calls a legacy of failure by the conservative government. it's understood he's promising to renegotiate overseas trade deals and address a chronic shortage of workers , mp for shortage of workers, mp for nonh shortage of workers, mp for north shropshire helen morgan

told gb news the government has botched its support for farmers since the conservatives changed the way that they would subsidise farming. >> they moved from a basic farm payment system to a system that rewards farmers for, environmental and sustainable practices, which is which is all very well and were broadly supportive of that. but it's been a really botched transition where the basic payment has been phased out too soon. and the new system isn't really ready to go or clearly understood , coupled or clearly understood, coupled with a really, really difficult, environment for farming at the moment, we're seeing a lot of farmers go bust, and obviously we need them to produce our food for the future. so it's really important that we get this right and that we get enough money into farming. >> and british drivers are paying >> and british drivers are paying more for diesel than anyone else in europe. the average cost for a litre of diesel is 150 £0.05, which is £0.05 more expensive than the second highest average in the rest of the continent . but the rest of the continent. but the rac says there's no good reason

for the high diesel costs, or for the high diesel costs, or for retailers across the uk not to cut prices at the pumps. for the latest stories, sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen, or go to gbnews.com slash alerts. now back to andrew and . bev. back to andrew and. bev. >> welcome back. 1007 lots of you getting in touch this morning . that debate with kevin morning. that debate with kevin maguire archie says this libor or libor lee libor guy only cares about labour getting in. not anything else. once again, the usual whataboutery jibber jabbering them and us divisive rhetoric. that's all they know. let's drag everyone down to the lowest level, taking away people's ambition to do better for themselves and their families. what's the point of working hard if labour will just say, how dare you get back in your box? hard worker with dreams of doing better. get down here with the rest of us or else. >> kevin also made a completely bogus point about the birth rates falling. if a private school closes in the next six

months because it's going to be brought in straight away and you're 14, i don't brought in straight away and you're14, i don't think the birth rate made matters one. >> fig correct. >> fig correct. >> the birth rate is falling , >> the birth rate is falling, but that is not going to make any difference. if you're currently in year eight, about to do the remainder of your high school time and your parents have to move you to the state school, the disruption for individual children is what people don't understand. people are saying to me, oh, bev, you just like sticking up for the rich. i'm not. i'm talking about the fact that these children are the fact that these children are the ones who will be punished for this. here's a classic example. alison has got in touch. morning, alison. we're trying to move my granddaughter to another school because of bullying. there is not one year nine school place available in our city. she's now having to do onune our city. she's now having to do online home schooling. so where are these extra kids going to go? >> and even if maguire doesn't accept the report the other day, which said 210,000, i think it's accepted there will be a minimum of 40,000 kids will be displaced from the private sector. >> one of the best assessments i've seen was from a wealth fund analysis organisation that basically talks to people who've got kids in private school and

say, what are you doing with your money? and when this idea was mooted of 20% on vat, the figure that they're looking at that quite confidently will take their children out of private school is 155,000. you have to give a term's notice. so if starmer is in in september, those parents are going to have to take a hit on it from september to christmas, and then they're going to have to move their children in january. we could have 155,000 children in january looking for places in the state school. and brent says, and there we have it. kevin, with the green chip on his shoulder, will make sure anyone with aspirations to get stamped on and told to learn their place. he fails to take into account the amount it costs to keep a child in state school, which is free against the pittance of tax relief. you're right, 1.3 billion. it's going to learn. that's nothing in terms of tax, right. moving on. yeah. >> labour's deputy leader angela rayner will face no police action over a two homes. but is she totally in the clear? >> the ashton—under—lyne mp faces claims, of course, of faced claims that she broke electoral law, dodged capital gains tax and council tax by declaring the wrong home. >> greater manchester police are dropping the investigation, but

hmrc are under pressure to confirm whether it was sanctioned. they will never tell us, of course, whether they're investigating or not. so what is the capital gains tax issue and what has she been accused of dodging? let's talk now to chief economic adviser at the centre for economic and business, vicky price, who's no stranger to this programme. vicky morning to you. can you explain? she's got through the police investigation an we don't know if hmrc are looking into her affairs but if they are, what exactly would they are, what exactly would they be investigating ? they be investigating? >> they'd be looking at whether the sale of her original house that she had, which he had bought, which was, had been a council flat, if you remember, a council flat, if you remember, a council house, the capital gains that she made should be taxed or not, or should have been taxed or not because she was using her husband's home as a place to stay. mostly so the question is, was this a second home? and therefore does it become eligible for capital gains tax, which was 28% and has now been reduced as of april 6th, 2024 to just vicky? >> we're just going to have to jump >> we're just going to have to jump in if we've got an audio

issue here. so we're going to come back to you shortly. >> i can hear my voice. >> oh, well, that's that exchange we can barely hear you. right. we'll come back to you very shortly. as soon as we get that fixed. we've got the barrister. sam falls here. sam, we're going to get vicky to talk about the capital gains issue. but what about, kevin maguire was on earlier saying outrageous. the police were involved in the first place. why is it outrageous? >> i think it is a problem. i think it's we're seeing a trend. we saw it in beergate. we're seeing it now of government putting pressure on police to investigate. it's its opponents. and that's that's not a good thing in a democracy. that's always worrying in a democracy over beergate you had keir starmer cleared by police and then , mps, members of the then, mps, members of the government and their allies in the press putting pressure on durham police to reopen the investigation . and it was investigation. and it was cleared again here again, you've actually got the greater manchester police themselves saying look, we open we open this investigation because of the pressure we were under from from the press and that was the government's allies in the

press. >> well, what did why do you say it was because of pressure from the press. there was a complaint made to the police at one at least we know about by a tory mp . if it's the a person who's a deputy to the labour party, a very senior figure in public life, isn't there a duty for the police to be seen to be doing theirjob, irrespective police to be seen to be doing their job, irrespective of police to be seen to be doing theirjob, irrespective of how their job, irrespective of how powerful or not they are? well, isn't that the real point? >> yes . if the allegation isn't that the real point? >> yes. if the allegation is credible and what we've we've got the greater manchester police themselves saying, look, we did a public interest test on on this. and the reason we decided it was in the public interest was because of the volume of coverage and not solely, but in large part because of the volume of coverage we were getting in the press. now, that coverage was all coming from government allies. and i think it's a real problem when you reported it, the bbc reported it. >> bbc, a government ally, bbc reported it. >> well, i disagree on that, but that's a whole other a whole other segment. bbc reported. but the majority of it was coming

from sam. >> you can't have it both ways. it was reported by channel 4, the bbc, itv, it was reported generally the deputy leader of the labour party, under pressure over whether she lied about her home arrangements . home arrangements. >> well, i did a little bit of research into this and just looked at the coverage in the, in the, in the different publications. and sure, you get a news report in the bbc. i think there's a news report in the guardian actually, but there's we're comparing one with, i mean, tens, possibly 20 every sort of every week in, in things like the daily mail, the daily telegraph, that was urging police to, to investigate this and i think when you can when you can do that, it's for a political purpose. and it did it turned out there wasn't anything behind these these allegations. i think even and i'm reading from the telegraph now , the from the telegraph now, the telegraph is reporting that even hmrc has said that there's nothing further they're looking into. so there's nothing at the bottom of this. but the

conservative party, the government have got a good two months, maybe three months of political good political coverage attacking the deputy leader of the labour party out of it . and they're using public of it. and they're using public resources and police to score those political points, which is really worrying. >> i think you're wrong about the telegraph. actually. what the telegraph says is hmrc is under pressure to confirm whether it will sanction angela rayner after priesthood take no further action. hmrc never tell us, sam, whether they're investigating anybody. what if, for instance, we didn't know hmrc was investigating nadhim zahawi? the treasurer, the former tory chancellor but we did find out when they sanctioned him and he had to pay £3 million. yeah this is so i'm just i'm just looking at the, the article online and it's from a so they quote a labour spokesman that says hmrc looked into this matter at angela's request. >> i wouldn't say confirm there was no capital gains tax liability. >> not sure i believe everything that's said. i think i'd rather hearit that's said. i think i'd rather hear it from hmrc. >> i think that's that's fair, but again if we if there's nothing there, we're not going to hear anything more from hmrc.

i think you're right to bring up nadine zahawi, because i think we do also need to look at the sort of staggering hypocrisy going, going on here, this first, these allegations first came from lord ashcroft, who again has been accused of angela rayner's maximum tax evasion . i rayner's maximum tax evasion. i think she was accused was 3500 van—tam. >> he did not mention her tax affairs anywhere in his book. he did not. >> he mentioned he he mentioned the electoral issue directly. >> that's what he said. >> that's what he said. >> so let's just let's talk . >> so let's just let's talk. he's a tory donor. he's a not for not for 15 years. and was a was a deputy, a deputy chair of the party written this book accused of using tax havens. currently current tory tory donor the bamfords accused of avoiding 500 million. and these are just accusations 500 million robert jenrick admit fitted to a parliamentary committee that while in government, he helped a tory donor avoid 45 million worth of tax. now the fact that the government has sort of come down so hard and made so much

hay over angela rayner , while at hay over angela rayner, while at the same time not just taking money from tax people accused of avoiding tax, but actually facilitating avoiding tax itself is, i just think, stunning hypocrisy. >> okay, we've got vicky pryce back, who is the chief economic adviser at the where vicky pryce is its centre for economic and business. vicky, we've got you back. can you explain to us again so we don't know whether hmrc is investigating or not, if they are, can you explain what they are, can you explain what the issue is? thanks. >> okay. with the difference would be whether you don't pay any capital gains tax at all because it is your main residence, which is what you know most people do when they move home. they don't pay any capital gains, that's all. whether you have to pay, it was 28. it's now 24% capital gains tax because it is your second home. when you're selling that, you have to pay back that a wall. you have to pay that tax to the government, there has been a lot of tightening up of rules on second homes, second homes, when you're buying a second home, you have to pay or

your own a second home, which you're leaving sort of unused and, and, and you're not letting it out where you can turn it into a business, if you are so inclined, you pay higher council tax, 3% higher council tax. there's now the possibility from next year to pay even 100% more council tax than you otherwise would. there is the, the, councils have that ability to do it through a new act, which is called the levelling up and regeneration act of 2023. and of course, if you're buying a home that you're not going to use as your main residence, you also pay, your main residence, you also pay, you know, a higher sort of stamp duty more generally . so stamp duty more generally. so more council tax, more stamp duty and that, of course, is a big issue for for, anyone who wants to own a second home. now, if you can have a second home and you sell it without having to pay any of these extra things, then obviously there is a eyebrows sort of, will be raised and you wonder, you know , raised and you wonder, you know, whether all those things that exist for everybody else, have

not applied in this case. and i think that was what was being looked at. okay vicky, thank you so much. >> vicky pryce there. i'm glad we got you back to explain that. can i just ask a quick question of you, sam, before we go degrees being swapped for apprenticeships. you're not long out of university. you did law. >> it did history and then law. >> it did history and then law. >> you did history and then law. is this the right move by rishi sunak? are there loads of degrees out there, and are students being short changed by degrees that are just not worth the money? >> i think, yes, i actually think rishi sunak is right on this. i think there's a lot of degrees that aren't the quality that they should. they should be. what i would prefer to see, though, is us investing in higher education in order to make degrees good, because i think certainly for me, i learn much more from my experience of higher education, just the experience of spending time at university than i did. i mean, you know, i can i can recite you some dates about french history if you want, but i think the real, the real value was, was that experience. i don't want to see students lose that. so i'd like to see proper investment in higher education rather than

just sort of giving up the goat. yeah. >> okay. sam, i really wanted your take on that. no. absolutely right. thank you so much. still to come this morning. how did a bulgarian gang manage to defraud £50 million from the government? a simple bit of editing. find out how

next. >> 1022. with britain's news on gb news. with andrew pearson. bev turner. the panel are here. oh, but first ed davey the lib dem leader doing his pre—election shenanigans with his paddle boarding incident a big splash. >> he made a very big splash. stephen pound. just wait. we're not quite coming to you yet. i hope he didn't swallow anything. stop it, it got us thinking about the gaffes that usually come along with campaigning, but hanging from a zip line or falling into water. politicians do make a fool of themselves, don't they? on the campaign trail. let's have a look at some of the best ones. okay are by far my physio are enjoying this. >> honestly .

>> honestly. so . crazy so. crazy. a chance to get . some. >> because, of course, he's better at cricket. >> yeah. why do they bother? we've got labour mp stephen pound here and broadcaster mike parry. >> did i just call you on labour mp? yeah. >> so early days, early days. >> so early days, early days. >> you always seem more powerful

to me, stephen, than you actually are. >> in many years since a woman said that. >> mike, when you look at those clips, you just think even particularly the ed davey one yesterday, these politicians don't learn anything about the fact that they're just ridicule themselves. >> they do ridicule themselves. i mean, the ed davey one to me, he was so utterly pathetic. what it reminds me of in my business is that whenever a couple break up, they always go away on a make up honeymoon, holiday and ooh, surprising, there's a photographer in the bushes who takes a picture of them cuddling. but you can always tell that they know the photographers there because they always look at the camera. you know, you can always, you know, is he taking the picture? ed davey staged that to make himself look as stupid as possible. i mean, what he tried to do was he tried to imitate somebody who was pretending to do something and who then fell. but because the first one was so obvious, he had to do it four more times. and in fact, in the by the last one, he was diving forwards off his board, utterly embarrassing . and i think you embarrassing. and i think you can only do that if you know it doesn't matter what the outcome of the election is, you're not

going to have any power in the country. so it doesn't make a difference as to how stupid you look. as long as you get in the papen >> he's just so disappointed because he's they're talking about a really serious issue about a really serious issue about clean water, i know, which so many people feel really strongly about. >> you don't have to resort to those sorts of i couldn't agree more, but i mean, the liberals are pretty much written the book on this, you know, with all the but i mean, i they asked me to dress up as a chicken once. what? because, you know, the labour party had this ridiculous idea in those days when tom watson was actually doing our elections. first of all, in one of the by elections, i seem to remember we had somebody walking around with a top hat and an old etonian costume. yes, they were trying to say the tory mp was a toff from the who's edward timpson, who were cobblers. >> he was one. that was what they did as was the whole plot. >> but, you know, but, you know, symptoms are thoroughly decent. >> guy up in crewe. >> guy up in crewe. >> yeah, indeed. it was, gwyneth dunwoody and the tories won. yeah they did, but you know, we tried these stupid i mean, the idea about dressing up as chickens, i think we were looking. i can't remember who it

was. oliver letwin or something had gone missing. yeah ridiculous. ridiculous. but on the other hand, sometimes it works. let me cast your mind back to john prescott lamping some geezer with a in north wales. i mean, prescott's ratings went up, but that wasn't it, was it? >> that wasn't a setup that was just natural. that's because people respond to them being real and being themselves. >> and the bloke smashed an egg on his head or something, threw an egg at him, threw an egg at him and prescott took him out with his because he did. >> yeah. and somebody threw an 999 >> yeah. and somebody threw an egg at harold wilson, a harold wilson. it just shows you that people are so well off under labour they can afford to throw eggs away. yeah. >> let's talk about this story then, guys. >> it's in the paper today. and rishi sunak, we're getting these policies every day aren't we now. yeah. thrown at us universities, mike. and swapping university degrees that rishi sunak deems to be mickey mouse. you probably may not consider them mouse if you're on them. to change to swap them for 100,000 apprenticeships instead. yeah, i think on the on the surface that's probably a pretty good idea. >> it's a good idea to stop sending children to university to waste three years of their life. i think we've got a huge money at our money. >> yeah, money for student loans are ever paid, i totally agree. >> and the £9,000 becomes just a distant memory by the time they're 25 and probably hope that, you know, we'll never pay

it. but the university industry in this country, this is a much bigger story is a complete and utter racket. okay. now i did a live show down in portsmouth last year, and i was amazed to find that half the audience were chinese. and the reason was, is that there's a huge number of chinese students at the university of portsmouth , which university of portsmouth, which nobody in china had ever heard of three years ago cambridge, oxford, london, fine . but we oxford, london, fine. but we started turning good establishments like technical colleges and polytechnics into universities , and then we sold universities, and then we sold them around the world. and that's where universities make huge amounts of money. they pay their vice chancellors between 3 and £400,000 a year to run these ridiculous courses. nobody needs to do them to get a decent job in this country. and i think it's a huge fiddle. >> if you go to university misirkov, which is in preston, you can do a degree . stephen you can do a degree. stephen poundin you can do a degree. stephen pound in floristry and floral design. you can do that , but you design. you can do that, but you go down the road, isn't it? at your local florist shop ? yeah.

your local florist shop? yeah. do an apprenticeship. yeah. because that's what that's what sunak saying. do an apprenticeship. yeah. >> well, i mean, this is this old argument between vocational and academic. yeah. what? you know, i've got two children. my daughter went to university, is a teacher. my son went to technical college, and he's a sparky. excellent. he's only a bit more than she does. yeah. of course. yes, but look, i mean, the idea that you can actually do spice girls studies or beckham studies, that's the i think it's one of the motivations in plymouth . tony motivations in plymouth. tony blair said he wanted i'm all right with that. he wanted 50% of the people to go to university, which is a mistake . university, which is a mistake. well, a number of us said at the time and he said, even if you're doing a ridiculous degree, the process of learning, assimilating and regurgitating is a worthwhile process. no, i said cobblers, i, i totally agree. >> the other thing is, by the way, the construction industry has made billions out of this. every time i go to southampton or bournemouth or another university town, another tower blocks come up and these are to accommodate overseas students whose parents can afford for them to live in luxury. i'm talking about en suite rooms. i didn't have an en suite room when i was a student, you know what i mean? >> they are like five star

hotels, university accommodation. >> exactly. you die when you. exactly. >> cleaners that come in and clean their rooms. >> like there's a whole category in planning now called sps . a in planning now called sps. a purpose built student housing, right? it's actually a planning category . and if you go along category. and if you go along the a40 as you come into acton, have a look at some of these coui'ses. >> courses. >> yeah. >> yeah. >> there's one thing all my mates have got kids at university. they're back already done. yeah. >> september right. they came back in may. >> the course is complete. >> the course is complete. >> not a joke. >> not a joke. >> yeah. >> yeah. >> to some of these. so you can do a falmouth university, university of kent and university of kent and university of kent and university of salford. you can do comedy writing, stand up comedy. >> rubbish. no great. >> rubbish. no great. >> brilliant. that actually might lead to no, no no no. >> the only way you get to become a comedy writer is to go to comedy shows and watch the experts doing it, and mix with them, and no more college surface science. >> i'm all right with that . >> i'm all right with that. >> i'm all right with that. >> no. yes. >> no. yes. >> what's that about washing powders? yeah, yeah. >> three years, you know, you go and you work out, i suppose. i presume it's also not just about whether you can stand on a surfboard and talk to andrew ritchie. >> used to be it'll be about surfing. >> yes. yeah. >> yes. yeah. >> do that one. >> do that one. >> yeah. what about kingston

university? you can do hand embroidery. >> hand embroidery for three years, but for three years, i mean, you could make the bayeux tapestry, you know what i mean? why not? >> very good. >> very good. >> yeah, but you know, this one i quite. i wish i'd done this university of greenwich at viticulture and oenology, which is of course, grape wine and wine making. >> yeah, we're all up for that. we're all up for that. >> you see, this is the thing. some of these courses will lead to actual jobs in that area. if you're a fantastic hand embroiderer. you're a fantastic hand embroiderer . yeah, but sell your embroiderer. yeah, but sell your stuff on etsy. >> make a good living. >> make a good living. >> the principle is that some of the media operations i've worked at over the last 20 or 30 years, you're going through the front door and a girl sitting behind the desk says, oh, hello, mr parry. yeah, you're in studio so—and—so . that girl's got a so—and—so. that girl's got a degree, a bsc from leeds university, but can't get a job in the discipline that she was reading for three years because it's oversubscribed, say, to a person with a social work degree, you know, more chips with that, please. yes exactly. that's absolutely right. >> you do at university economics . >> you do at university economics. did you? oh, i love a bit of. >> yeah, but i was 30 when i went to university. and was it

worth it? oh, absolutely. >> i mean, i was a hospital porter before that and i'd been just working in physical jobs. >> but the office for students regulator, which there is says 1 in 3 graduates are in jobs that don't require a degree . that is don't require a degree. that is the point. >> absolutely, absolutely, absolutely. >> charlie mullins, our old friend from the plumbing world, should run should run higher education in this country. he gives children, apprentices and turns them into plumbers and carpenters and electricians . and carpenters and electricians. and that's far more use to society. >> you're never out of a job, never out of a job. >> you're absolutely right, never out of a job. when i tried to get my time, gentlemen. >> oh, yeah. job out of time. mike. stephen, you'll be back in the next hour. tatiana sanchez is waiting very patiently for us. we're late with the news stories . stories. >> bev, thank you very much. the top stories this hour. diane abbott says she's dismayed by reports suggesting that she's been barred from running as a labour candidate at the general election. the veteran mp had the whip withdrawn in april last year after she suggested jewish,

irish and traveller people experienced prejudice but not racism. she later apologised and withdrew the remarks and an investigation concluded in december . investigation concluded in december. but investigation concluded in december . but the investigation concluded in december. but the labour leader says the party's internal process took longer to resolve. the prime minister has said sir keir starmer should be transparent about miss abbott's position. she was a close ally of former leader jeremy corbyn and served as his shadow home secretary. it's unclear whether she'll contest her seat in hackney north and stoke newington, but she says she will be campaigning for a labour victory . the owners of royal victory. the owners of royal mail have agreed to a £35 billion takeover bid by czech billionaire daniel kretinsky . billionaire daniel kretinsky. the deal will see universal service obligations continue , service obligations continue, including one price goes anywhere and first class post six days a week. the company's branding will also remain , as branding will also remain, as will its uk headquarters. the sale has attracted heavy scrutiny from senior politicians and unions . scrutiny from senior politicians and unions. the prime minister was aboard an overnight sleeper

train to cornwall last night. as soon as unveiled a plan to create 100,000 more apprenticeships . create 100,000 more apprenticeships. rishi sunak says britain will benefit from more skilled workers, which will be achieved by clamping down on the worst performing university degrees. but labour says apprenticeship achievements among those under the age of 19 have dropped by 50% since 2016, and british drivers are paying more for diesel than anyone else in europe. the average cost for a litre of diesel is 150 £0.05, which is £0.05 more expensive than the second highest average in the rest of the continent. the rac says there's no good reason for the high diesel costs , or for retailers across the uk, not to cut prices at pumps. for the latest stories , sign up for the latest stories, sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen , or the qr code on your screen, or go to gb news. carmelites . go to gb news. carmelites.

>> cheers! britannia wine club proudly sponsors the gb news financial report . financial report. >> here's a quick snapshot of today's markets. the pound will buy you $1.2757 and ,1.1770. the price of gold is £1,836.63 per ounce, and the ftse 100 is at 8245 points. >> cheers, britannia wine club proudly sponsors the gb news financial report . financial report. >> do you know what a deep fake is? do you know andrew? >> is it something to do with a suntan ? suntan? >> no. or boobs? that is not what it's about. deep fakes are an ai generated image. and they are. they're going to influence the general election result. we'll explain it all in just a moment. this is britain's newsroom on

>> now, new research shows that bogus photos and videos generated by ai artificial intelligence could actually influence the outcome of the upcoming general election . upcoming general election. >> so these manipulated images, they're known as deep fakes . they're known as deep fakes. nothing to do with suntans could be used to attack politicians. character and apparently spread hate. >> and it's pretty scary just how easy it is to do, because in five minutes, our own crafty producers whipped up this deep fake. >> hello, my name is andrew pierce. i love the election coverage and can't get enough of live speeches on our show. i love my co—presenter bev turner and my talented producers eleanor and james. after the show, i'll be boogieing to my favourite band abba. bye for how. >> now. >> hello! i'm beth and i love

presenting britain's newsroom with my sidekick andrew pierce. what lovely hair you have. i hope you're enjoying the show. let me know what you think of my deepfake at gbnews.com/yoursay >> now, now, they're very funny and very obviously fake. but the fact is, good fakes, good fakes can be really, really damaging. and you know it's a fake because she doesn't love me and i don't love her. and what's wrong with my hair, by the way? >> that's a bit harsh , well, >> that's a bit harsh, well, like somebody said, we're the parents who stay together for the kids . well, look, to explain the kids. well, look, to explain how this works is i, filmmaker michael nana zahawi. michael, thank you for joining michael nana zahawi. michael, thank you forjoining us. i hope i got your name right there, are you there, michael? there you are. yes. okay. brilliant. good to see you. so obviously, our deepfakes were clearly fake deep fakes and quite easy to spot. but how easy is it to create videos like that? which wouldn't be noticeable to the naked eye? >> well, something like what you

just showed can be made very quickly . so 5 just showed can be made very quickly. so 5 to 10 minutes, and you can use a youtube tutorial to make what we just saw the more advanced deepfakes take time and software and some learning, but they're all done remotely. so you download like a software and you can just do on your computer, but they take like a week or two. >> and what kind of motive would people have then to create these sorts of images? >> well, it could be anything. i mean, a lot of people will say it's for fun and to make parodies and stuff like that, and that's true. but you also have another bunch of people making it, making deepfake porn and also making fake misinformation to impact elections. >> we should be worried about this because we know how russia is brilliant at cyber cyber espionage. and it could be here much closer to home. people could manipulate politically. for instance, just the other day, my twitter feed was hacked and i was apparently sending out messages saying, you're never going to believe it. i'm backing

labour at the next general election. well, nobody would believe that. not least keir starmer would be horrified to have my backing . but i mean, have my backing. but i mean, that's a small example, michael. but that could but this could be much more extensive. >> no. exactly. and i think , we >> no. exactly. and i think, we did a little film where we took a bunch of people and got them to deepfake their own voices and call their friends and family and ask for money. and all of them succeeded in convincing people that they were real. yeah. so done properly , you can yeah. so done properly, you can definitely see this impacting elections . elections. >> how how to how is how can we be aware of it? how what measures are what can we do to try to detect it and stop it ? try to detect it and stop it? >> well, i think the public just need to be aware that voice and video are both, easily manipulated right now, especially voice. i think a lot of people aren't aware that it only takes 30s of your voice to be able to clone it and use it for whatever purpose you want. basically on a software that's free right now, anyone can get a subscription to the software and

use it. so it's very accessible and easy to do and very good at what it is. >> and imposter able to stop. >> and imposter able to stop. >> yeah, you're playing whack a mo if you if you catch someone, especially when all of this software is remote, like you have on your own computer , it's have on your own computer, it's very hard to keep track of because i think the distributors of, like, online platforms that just let you do cloning stuff, like what we just saw are very simple and basic . the advanced simple and basic. the advanced stuff is, yeah, on people's computers, not online. >> very worrying though, because older people in particular were not even necessarily older people. yeah. are going to be susceptible to being conned. >> no. exactly. and i think it could be the grandson calling up saying transfer some money and it's not the grandson at all. well, that's exactly what we did . so we had someone call someone that was in their 20s to just say that they, needed some help to pay council tax fee or something to send across £250. and this person, who was not an old person in their 20s, was

fooled and did send the money. so you can see that it's not really age specific. anyone can be fooled, especially when they're not expecting to be, yeah. they're not expecting to be, yeah . to be fooled. yeah. to be fooled. >> michael, do you think we've been caught napping a little bit with this in terms of because i don't i don't want to live in a world where people are restricted in terms of what the creativity . and it's just, let's creativity. and it's just, let's say it's whack a mole. it's impossible. this cat is out of the bag now. it's never going to be put back in, but in the same way that maybe the internet was allowed to flourish unfettered for ten, 15, 20 years. we've done the same with al, haven't we? is the has the opportunity now been missed to somehow restrict or regulate what people can make ? can make? >> i think there's a lot of, there's a feeling like it's a pandora's box and we've opened it now everything's out and there's no way to fix it. >> well, i don't subscribe to that because i think we see advanced developments in al every other day. and i think that there can be just as many advanced developments and safety alongside the developments of

the ai alongside the developments of the a! can do. yeah. so i think that we have been a bit lax in keeping the safety going alongside the capabilities of ai itself , but i don't alongside the capabilities of ai itself, but i don't think it's impossible. however, right now, yes, we are behind for sure because every day it gets more advanced. yeah. and we're playing catch up right now. >> see, what worries me is when governments start getting involved in this stuff because it's so easily manipulated. and, you know, you could have the government of any country manipulating it to their own advantage. and you can then have them trying to clamp down on, on, on independent filmmakers like michael and saying, well, you can't make that because that comes under misinformation. it's terrifying times, actually. michael, thank you so much. that was really interesting. michael nahrawi there. filmmaker. >> what's worrying is gb news management. see that and rather prefer the fake the deep fakes to the real andrew and bev hope they don't. >> i was quite posh in that. >> i was quite posh in that. >> that wasn't i sounded like a robot. >> i sounded like rachel reeves brother. >> and are you going to say that she is a walking, talking candidate to be the next dalek in doctor who? that was a

surprise to us. by the way . we surprise to us. by the way. we hadnt surprise to us. by the way. we hadn't seen that james and eleanor hadn't allowed us to see that before we go on air. they're, like, humiliating us. >> and if we knew how to do it back, we would do it to them. but we don't know how to do it back because we're not clever. >> right? keep your thoughts coming this morning, gbnews.com forward slash your say. but up next how easy is it to purchase a so—called zombie knife? our reporter charlie peters is going to reveal all in just a moment. this is britain's newsroom on gb news with the real bev turner and andrew

>> now, the prime minister has been speaking to reporters on the campaign trail in the south—west. let's have a listen to what he had to say. >> someone who believes that you have to go to university. >> and all the apprentices i've been talking to this morning are proof of that, describing it as a best decision they ever made. and what we do know is that there are university degrees that are letting young people down. independent studies say that around 1 in 5 people who are on degrees would have been

financially better off not doing them. about 1 financially better off not doing them. about1 in financially better off not doing them. about 1 in 3 graduates are on non—graduate jobs, so actually we are better off providing those young people with the opportunity of a high quality apprenticeship. the regulator will be given the powers to look at underperforming degrees, looking at the progression rates, the drop out rates, the earnings of people on those degrees, and instead we will use that money to fund 100,000 new apprenticeships . apprenticeships. >> let's bring in our political edhon >> let's bring in our political editor, christopher hope, who's travelling with the prime minister during the campaign trail. morning, christopher , trail. morning, christopher, another politician, another factory backdrop . how's the mood factory backdrop. how's the mood there on the on the pm's bus ? there on the on the pm's bus? >> well, the pm's train last night. bev and andrew because he came on the overnight sleeper down to penzance and he did actually get on the train. he boarded the train and got off the train. he didn't take the helicopter. that's been criticised for he liked the train. he filmed it for his kids and he was almost as enthusiastic as i was about it. i loved it too, but we're here in penzance. we're living in cornwall now. on the way to a

broadband provider, and here's the pm in almost going towards lib dem country. but he has been criticised, i think, for only going to save seats he has to hold in order to try and maintain a degree of respectability at the election. so we get to see him punching out of that of that comfort blanket. but we're on the way now to a broadband provider. again, he's here talking about apprentices. what they call mickey mouse degrees. the government thinks they can save £900 million by axing these mickey mouse courses and pushing more young people . oh, i think more young people. oh, i think we've lost off today with the prime minister. >> oh, no. he's there. okay. and what's the mood like, chris? so just to be clear, i think you've got very tinted windows in that bus because it looked like there's a time difference between here and penzance. it looks like it's the middle of the night where you are, but how is everybody feeling aboard the bus? do they feel like they've had a few wins in the last couple of days? >> i think they feel that they've got a degree of momentum because labour are saying nothing at all. and rachel reeves last night, as you heard,

was basically said, no increase in national insurance , income in national insurance, income tax, corporation tax, wealth taxes , nothing new in the taxes, nothing new in the manifesto, she said. and i think that the tory party feel they've got a lot of ideas at the moment . today's news about the apprentices national service, the weekend , the changes, the the weekend, the changes, the triple lock on pensions . the weekend, the changes, the triple lock on pensions. in a sense, the roles are reversed andrew and bev from from 17 and 19 when the he was accused of finding a magic money tree . well finding a magic money tree. well this time labour. labour are trying to sit tight on spending any money and it's the tories with the ideas. fascinating chris. >> it's also i wonder if whether starmer is making a mistake here, because this does remind me of theresa may in 2017. she had nothing interesting to say. it was all very stylised, all very controlled, and gradually her huge lead started being chipped away. it went from 23 points to four points. >> i think that's right. and i think many are seeing andrew. they're almost focusing their

energies on the 1992 recovery by john major when he overhauled that large labour lead, then i think that's probably a risk that labour are taking. but they know they can't offer any unfunded spending pledges. they'll be torn apart by the press. so they're holding on to this lead . they've got they've this lead. they've got they've got in the polls and really worried about damaging it at all. whereas the tories, they're miles behind. they think, let's go for it. let's have new ideas. despite being in charge for the past 14 years, it's a fascinating role reversal. labour's idea is change but really it's no change. yeah that's why they're not talking about what they're going to change apart from the government i >> -- >> do you know what i think has changed a little bit? >> that's right. >> that's right. >> sorry. go on. yeah i was just going to say what has changed a little bit yesterday. we've got the delay on the line here. this is a little bit chaotic. sorry christopher. let me just say what i think has changed a little bit is the threat from reform. it feels that i'm looking at our inbox coming in here as well . there was a time,

here as well. there was a time, i would say, a couple of months ago where it felt like reform was snapping at the heels of some of those conservative seats . do you feel the sense on the bus there is? that threat has abated somewhat ? abated somewhat? >> well, certainly the sense on the bus would be that i mean, i do think there was a nigel farage factor thing at 12, 14. i think people that were putting down support for reform, they hoped that farage would come back and push the support towards 20. i wonder whether that balloon might start deflating back to more like 8, 6% and the benefit beneficiary could be the tory party. this. finally, there's been a jll partners survey overnight saying that labour's lead has fallen to 12 points from 15 points. so that was helpful for them. >> okay. >> okay. >> it's interesting. and that was of course one of the reasons why sunak went early because he didn't think reform were ready. >> that's right. well in that in that regard then it might have it might have worked. christopher hope, thank you so much. on the bus going to fix the broadband in cornwall. and frankly, you need it, fix it on the bus from that, right. let us

know your thoughts this morning won't you? gbnews.com/yoursay andrew. now we'll have a look at them while we take this very quick break. oh, but still to come. >> yes. which 508 year old british institution around since the days of henry the eighth has been taken over by a foreign billionaire . and we ain't happy billionaire. and we ain't happy about it. this is britain's newsroom on . gb news. newsroom on. gb news. >> a brighter outlook with boxt solar , sponsors of weather on . solar, sponsors of weather on. gb news. >> good morning. welcome to your latest gb news weather update from the met office. it's going to be a brighter day today. there's still some very heavy and thundery showers around though, and a weather warning for thunderstorms across much of scotland . that's where the scotland. that's where the showers are going to be most persistent and quite slow moving later on today. they're wrapped around this area of low pressure, so they'll be pushing in from the north and east through the day . so most through the day. so most

persistent across eastern areas. but in the west there's still a risk of some showers. so i think sunny spells and showers for many western areas. however it should be a bit of a dry day across the south and in the dner across the south and in the drier weather. with the dry weather, temperatures will climb a little higher, so it's going to be a warmer day. highs of around 2021 degrees across southern areas. now through this evening, the showers will really continue across scotland in particular where we have that warning in force . it's here warning in force. it's here where they turn, where they will be quite slow moving. so we could see quite a lot of rain falling in a short space of time, bringing some localised flooding issues. there's also some heavy showers to come through this evening across parts of northern ireland. further south and west. it will turn a bit drier this evening actually across devon and cornwall, much of the south coast. it should be a fairly fine end to the day, and it will likely stay clear across many southern and central areas throughout the night. tonight, across the east, though, some heavy showers will continue, particularly the north and east where we're closer to that low pressure. the more unsettled weather where we're going to continue to see some outbreaks of quite heavy rain . it's quite

of quite heavy rain. it's quite a brisk breeze as well. it's a northerly wind developing through tonight and into tomorrow morning, so temperatures will be held up because of the strength of the wind. so temperatures not dipping much below double digits across the uk. quite a breezy day to come on thursday. a lot of cloud around with showers continuing, particularly across eastern areas. we could see some more persistent rain spreading into the southeast later on in the afternoon on thursday, but from the west it will start to turn drier as the afternoon goes on, so some late sunshine to come for many western areas, but with that northerly wind is going to be a much fresher day. see you later. bye bye . see you later. bye bye. >> that warm feeling inside from boxt boilers, sponsors of weather on

gb news. >> morning. it's 11 am. on wednesday, the 29th of may. this

is britain's news. and when gb news with andrew pierce and bev turner. >> so, diane abbott, the first black female mp , says that she black female mp, says that she is very dismayed at reports that she'll be banned from standing as a labour candidate in the general election and another british institution bites the dust. >> the royal mail owners have agreed to a £35 billion takeover offer from czech billionaire daniel kawczynski, the general secretary of the communications worker union joins us soon to discuss and zombie knives for sale are. >> reporter charlie peters has purchased a twin set of 20 inch blades without any id checks , blades without any id checks, onune blades without any id checks, online or during courier delivery. he's going to be to here tell us what this might mean . mean. >> election campaign. campaign day seven all political parties are touring britain in an attempt to steal your vote. we've got jack carson in worcester . worcester. >> yeah. labour's plan to clear the nhs backlog with an extra 40,000 appointments a week and a target to start seeing most nhs patients within 18 weeks within their first five years of government. i'll have the latest

here in worcester and if driving was not expensive enough, it's been revealed that britain has the most expensive diesel in europe. >> i've noticed . >> i've noticed. diesel is currently eye—watering. you don't have a car, do you? >> i don't know, living in london. >> you don't, you don't need a car. i drive all the time and i am literally aghast when i'm filling up the diesel tank of my fantastic kia sorento at the moment. >> i remember all those years ago when you were told to get diesel because it was better for the environment and cheaper , the environment and cheaper, other brands of car are of course, available. >> sam fowles was here earlier , >> sam fowles was here earlier, and he said he was looking through his bank statement and he thought his wife had booked a flight for somewhere. and then he realised it was a tank of petrol for the car . let us know petrol for the car. let us know your thoughts. gbnews.com/yoursay first though, the very latest news with tatiana sanchez .

tatiana sanchez. >> beth. thank you. the top stories this hour diane abbott says she's dismayed by reports suggesting that she's been barred from running as a labour candidate at the general election . the veteran mp had the election. the veteran mp had the whip withdrawn in april last year after she suggested jewish, irish and traveller people experienced prejudice but not racism. she later apologised and withdrew the remarks and an investigation concluded in december. but the labour leader says the party's internal process took longer to resolve. the prime minister has said sir keir starmer should be transparent about miss abbott's position when she was a close ally of former leader jeremy corbyn and served as his shadow home secretary. it's unclear whether she'll contest her seat in hackney north and stoke newington, but she says she will be campaigning for a labour victory. the owners of royal mail have agreed to a £35 billion takeover bid by czech billionaire daniel kretinsky. the deal will see universal

service obligations continue, including one price goes anywhere and first class post six days a week. the company's branding will also remain, as will its uk headquarters. the sale has attracted heavy scrutiny from senior politicians and unions, business secretary kemi badenoch has underlined the need to protect postal services in remote areas, while labour says royal mail's place in pubuc says royal mail's place in public life must be protected . public life must be protected. rishi sunak and sir keir starmer will go head to head in the first televised leaders debate of the general election campaign next week, on june the 4th, the prime minister was on board an overnight sleeper train to cornwall last night, unveiling a plan to create 100,000 new apprenticeships. mr sunak says britain will benefit from more skilled workers, which will be achieved by clamping down on the worst performing university degrees. labour says apprenticeship achievements among those under the age of 19 have dropped by 50% since 2016. but mr sunak says that while

university is good for some people, it's not the only option i >> someone who >> someone who believes that you have to go to university and all the apprentices i've been talking to this morning are proof of that. describing it as a best decision they ever made. and what we do know is that there are university degrees that are letting young people down. independent studies say that around 1 in 5 people who are on degrees would have been financially better off not doing them. about 1 financially better off not doing them. about1 in financially better off not doing them. about 1 in 3 graduates are on non—graduate jobs, so actually we are better off providing those young people with the opportunity of a high quality apprenticeship. the regulator will be given the powers to look at underperforming degrees, looking at the progression rates, the drop out rates, the earnings of people on those degrees, and instead we will use that money to fund 100,000 new apprenticeships . apprenticeships. >> the nhs waiting list targets would be met within five years of a labour government. that's according to a pledge by sir keir starmer. waits of more than 18 weeks would be eradicated , 18 weeks would be eradicated, with an additional 40,000 appointments, scans and operations in england each week. dufing

operations in england each week. during evenings and weekends, the tories called it more copy and paste politics and pointed to its plan to invest in nhs technology. but shadow health secretary wes streeting says the backlog, which currently stands at 7.54 million, could rise to 10 million if the conservatives are returned to government £1.6 billion package for nhs waiting times is funded by clamping down on tax avoidance, closing the non—dom loopholes that, surprise, surprise, the tories have left in their for their mates. >> leopards don't change their spots. bear that in mind on july the 4th, and that means we'll be able to fund this capacity in the nhs linked to reform and that's what people can expect from the nhs. rishi sunak says . from the nhs. rishi sunak says. on one hand, we're spending huge amounts of money on the nhs , but amounts of money on the nhs, but on the other hand, we're seeing the worst crisis in its history and that's what happens when you have a government that only does investment but doesn't do reform i >> meanwhile, the liberal democrats are pledging an extra

billion pounds to champion british farming. sir ed davey has outlined a plan to undo what he calls the legacy of failure by the conservative government. he's promising to renegotiate overseas trade deals and address a chronic shortage of workers . a chronic shortage of workers. and british drivers are paying more for diesel than anyone else in the whole of europe . the in the whole of europe. the average cost for a litre of diesel is 150 £0.05. that is £0.05 more expensive than the second highest average in the rest of the continent. the rac says there's no good reason for the high diesel shortage , or for the high diesel shortage, or for retailers across the uk, not to cut prices at the pumps. for the latest stories, sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen or go to gb news. comment alerts. now back to andrew and . to andrew and. bev. >> what is the time? 1107 with

britain's newsroom on gb news andrew pearson bev turner. >> let's have a look what you have been saying at home. thank you very much for getting in touch this morning. gbnews.com/yoursay olivia says beeris gbnews.com/yoursay olivia says beer is more expensive per gallon than petrol, and that's mainly water for odysseus, said the diesel prices vary from £152 to £165 per litre in my area . no to £165 per litre in my area. no oh no pounds. >> did you say pounds? i think we said pounds. >> do you know what he said? polito? i think he probably means well. he says 152.9 per litre. right. >> that's a lot isn't it. that's a yeah. >> that's that's not right. that's not right. maybe there's a decimal point in the wrong place there. how would cox will sort this out. he said if reform were in power, and talking about whether we should be doing apprenticeships or university education, phyllis said, kevin said 1 in 3 graduates are in non—graduate jobs by the heating engineer who repairs my boiler charges £60 an hour, never out

of work, never out of work. >> plumber, no royalty. >> plumber, no royalty. >> i need a plumber at the moment. >> sparky. >> sparky. >> royalty, right. >> royalty, right. >> we've got royalty . sadiq khan >> we've got royalty. sadiq khan has criticised the government's failure to ban zombie knives, labelling it a betrayal of safety. and he's calling on james cleverly to fast track legislation and bring forward a ban on the sale of weapons. >> and on that, i'm just looking at this. we've got charlie here. i've been looking since 2016, eight home secretaries have said they're going to ban these zombie knives. let's name and shame them. theresa may, amber rudd, sajid javid, priti patel, suella braverman grant shapps , suella braverman grant shapps, braverman again and james cleverly, they haven't done it , cleverly, they haven't done it, they haven't done it and they've made some 16 different announcements about it. >> so sadiq khan said that young people have been betrayed by the government in them, not pushing forward this plan to ban zombie knives. it was announced most recently. after all, those home secretaries , you've just listed secretaries, you've just listed andrew in january, but the ban is expected to come in in september. now it's not been included. these amendments to the criminal justice bill haven't been included in the wash up ahead of the election, so it's highly unlikely we're

going to see that ban implemented. in the meantime. it's still possible to purchase what the government are now calling zombie style knives . calling zombie style knives. this is what i got online. i purchased this without needing to offer my id, and without offering or showing any id when the courier arrived to deliver it. >> if you turn on the radio, let's just explain to you what this is. so a zombie knife, a zombie knife definition. >> it's got to be over eight inches. this blade is a 20 inch long knife. it has to have a sharp point, a cutting edge, and a serrated or spiked area as we have here. it also needs to potentially have a gap as we have in this blade. but here's the real problem that they have when they try to first ban this in 2016, they said that a zombie knife had to have threatening language or emblems on the blade . the most updated definition, which is a huge loophole that criminals have been able to evade for so long, and manufacturers have been able to sell them. they've updated it now to remove that section about threatening language. so all of the home secretaries who've tried to ban this have been completely failing because

they've been able to. why give that away? >> why did it have to have threatening language on it? that was you. just look at it. they are. why would anybody need ever to own one of those disgusting blades couriers i've spoken to in retailers i've spoken to say that it's for replica purposes. >> people who want to display swords in their home, and of course, no . but once you start course, no. but once you start banning blades being sold, you get in the way of potentially banning kitchen items or tools used for gardening and all the rest of it. >> so who has a kitchen knife? as long as that? >> well, that's a legitimate concern. people don't have it. come on. but but banning banning replica items would get in the way of some other problems. and actually police officers i've been speaking to since i revealed that i was able to buy these blades without any id checks, told me it's not really the supply of the weapons. that's causing the problem. it's a failure with prison sentences and stop and search and police officers not having the powers andindeed officers not having the powers and indeed the confidence and backing from government to get on with it and stop them. so that's why labour is calling for the ban on the supply. >> could you hide that zombie knife about your purse? >> i've seen several clips and i'm sure many of our viewers have as well, of people sliding zombie knives as they're called

down their tracksuit bottoms, keeping them in long bags, putting them out of jackets. they can be kept away. i mean, i've had them in the office in a secure area, and i was able to move them around and nobody knows how much would do they cost. so i bought these for £40, this twin set of blades. and here's another issue that the government has had with removing them and getting them off the streets. they're offering a compensation scheme, as they often do with knife bans. they did this four years ago, but the announcement and then the delay towards the actual compensation handin towards the actual compensation hand in process starting it's several months. so in many ways, critics have said that you're incentivised to keep a hold of the blade for longer because you know that some months down the line you can get paid £30 to handitin line you can get paid £30 to hand it in and get some more go and steal them off your mate . and steal them off your mate. i'm going to hand this in to the police later. i don't want it. i shouldn't have it. but if i hold on to it until august the 26th, which is when the compensation scheme kicks in this year i'll get £30 in my pocket. £30? i'd quite like. >> actually. you couldn't make this up. >> well, there you go. so it is madness. it is a particularly ludicrous situation and i despair. last night i spoke to a labour source who told me that

the party had been urging the tories for years to get a grip of this situation. they said on their watch knife crime has soared by a staggering 80% since 2015. they said it was another example of the tories chaotic failure to keep our country safe. >> but a lot of that is because because politically correct policing , they won't do stop and policing, they won't do stop and search. this is true. and part of the problem there is sadiq khan, of course, the london mayor, who's causing a lot of fuss about this, but he's he's the police and crime commissioner. he doesn't want to do stop and search and the conservative party. >> a spokesman in response said that they would take no lectures from sadiq khan on crime. and they said, let's face it, knife crime has risen by a shocking 20% in labour run london. >> the people are the problem, the knives are the problem. >> but we can sit here with these knives and we don't want to stab each other with them. >> i'd be careful with that bit. >> i'd be careful with that bit. >> the people who want to kill other people are the problem, and that's what needs to be sorted out. >> the wrong'uns, who routinely walk down the street with this in their jogging pants. those in theirjogging pants. those are the people i want banged up, arrested and sorted out. it's a crime and punishment issue. as

much as it is a buying something, and it's all part of gang culture. >> charlie, isn't it? >> charlie, isn't it? >> a lot of this, we've got a we've got to read this . we've got to read this. >> well, the government said that they banned zombie knives in 2016 and cyclone knives in 2019, and the sale of illegal knives online is a priority on the online safety act. they also said that the choice in this election is clear stick to the plan with rishi sunak and the conservatives, who have driven down crime by 54% since 2010, or go back to square one with circus starmers labour party, who have no plan to cut crime. so two very strong positions here. but it's clear from our investigation you can still buy these both retailers and couriers aren't checking id. children could buy these blades . children could buy these blades. that's very clear to me. >> you could have been absolutely 17. >> i was reporting overseas when these arrived. so there was no way i could have been checked whatsoever. it wasn't even that they didn't check my id , they they didn't check my id, they didn't check the id of the person who picked them up because they don't care. complete failure. what country did you buy them from? i bought them from britain. bought them from a british retailer. >> from a british retailer. you didn't have to buy them overseas. >> no. >> no. >> they can still be made in

this country despite. >> well, there's your starting point, right? then if it is a british retailer with a british factory in this country creating these knives, go and shut down these knives, go and shut down the factory again . the factory again. >> so many police officers saying the problem is not necessarily the supply, as you said moments ago, the problem is that they're not able to crack down on people who would use them for nefarious purposes. >> inconceivable. why anybody would want to own one of those knives. >> martial arts. there might be some martial arts that would use these sorts of things and maybe performances. i mean, it's silly. it's like obscure stuff like circuses or, you know, that people in the arts have an artificial one. yeah. charlie. thank you. it's fascinating . thank you. it's fascinating. thanks. good job. right. good job, charlie peters there. so nhs waiting list targets would be met within five years of a labour government , according to labour government, according to labour government, according to labour leader sir keir starmer. >> waits of more than 18 weeks will be eradicated, with an additional 40,000 appointments. labour's say they've fixed the nhs for and they'll do it again. >> so shadow health secretary wes streeting spoke to gb news in worcester this morning. here's what he said £1.6 billion package for nhs waiting times is funded by clamping down on tax

avoidance, closing the non—dom loopholes that surprise , loopholes that surprise, surprise, the tories have left in their for their mates. >> leopards don't change their spots. bear that in mind. on july the 4th, and that means we'll be able to fund this capacity in the nhs linked to reform. and that's what people can expect from the nhs. but rishi sunak says on one hand we're spending huge amounts of money on the nhs , but on the money on the nhs, but on the other hand we're seeing the worst crisis in its history and that's what happens when you have a government that only does investment but doesn't do reform i >> -- >> well, m >> well, that's wes streeting he's got in my view, that we can have the most difficult job in government and he'll become the most unpopular member of the cabinet very quickly, because they ain't going to be able to turn around nhs waiting lists any time. >> it's just the fact that they make it sound so easy. >> we're going to solve the waiting list. we're not going to be you're going to be, well, you're all going to be fine. how, how? tell us how. right. still to come. we're going to give our thoughts on england football manager gareth southgate, gareth southgate's more relaxed fashion style. you're not a fan are you,

andrew? >> if you're listening on the radio, gareth southgate looks a complete twit . complete twit. >> he's wearing beige, a beige cardigan , a beige shirt, t—shirt cardigan, a beige shirt, t—shirt and baggy beige trouser. what does he think he looks like? >> i think that's a little harsh, andrew. it's young people's fashion. i'm afraid that's what they dress like. they basically dress like a grandad. don't go anywhere. this is britain's newsroom on

gb news. >> it is 1119 with britain's newsroom. gb news. andrew bev turner. the panel is back. mike parry, the former labour mp stephen pen, stephen pound, haven't you got a front page you want to show? oh, yes. >> show us this newspaper. >> show us this newspaper. >> some of you have probably seen the best. the best selling book at the moment is your your book at the moment is your your book about finding your birth mother. >> finding margaret. >> finding margaret. >> yeah, yeah. >> yeah, yeah. >> so this happened to you how many years ago now? >> for 20 years. stephen. >> for 20 years. stephen. >> looking very handsome on the front page of the evening standard. >> well, he's on the front page , >> well, he's on the front page, let's put it that way.

>> there we go. yeah. >> there we go. yeah. >> so let me see if you can get a close and put stephen, tell us the story behind this. >> well, no, i got a letter when i was in parliament from from a young woman. she said, look, i don't want anything from you, but i think you're my dad. and it you know, we met and it was extraordinary because we started finishing each other's sentences. and, you know, we both wanted to eat the same food and everything. and it turned out that when we were both about 17, i sorry, i was 17. and her mother was 17, we'd had a relationship and i was at sea immediately afterwards. i didn't know that her mother was pregnant. i didn't know she'd had a baby, and i didn't know that the girl was put up for adoption the day after she was born. right. and what was delicate about it was that she didn't want her adopted father to know about me, because she would have felt that that was in some way denigrating that relationship. >> i understand that, and also, she had my birth mother also, andifs she had my birth mother also, and it's incredible. >> there is no template for that sort of relationship now in your case, and i have to say, your bookis case, and i have to say, your book is brilliant. it's absolutely extraordinary book. but, you know, the sadness about the way in which, you know, your birth mother didn't wish to know

. and the same thing with me and the young woman we're talking about there. we've had no contact since then because she's got three young daughters, or they're a bit older now. and it was just too painful. >> and. but what did your own children think about it? did they were they resentful? this woman came in. >> my sister was absolutely delighted. my daughter was delighted. my daughter was delighted. she suddenly had three sisters, right? they was quite excited about it. but you know, my son thought, well, crikey, dad will be a bit of a lad back in the day, weren't you?i lad back in the day, weren't you? i said, listen, it was the 60s. we were all at it. yeah. >> why didn't she tell you she was pregnant by you? the girl. >> she didn't know where i was because you were on scene. because you were on scene. >> because you were on scene. >> yeah, yeah. >> yeah, yeah. >> and i think, in all honesty, she probably didn't want, you know, i would have been. didn't see you as a marrying type. well, i was a complete waste of space, to be honest. in those days. and you were 17. >> yeah. >> yeah. >> and 18, i think i was at that stage. >> and you don't think there's any chance of reconciling the relationship with the daughter now? >> i don't know, a lot of water's gone under the bridge and she might be. >> andrew proves you know what? you can have water under the

bridge. >> i would love to see her again. and i'd love to actually see my granddaughter. so i've never met. >> yeah. >> yeah. >> maybe if you're watching , but >> maybe if you're watching, but it's, you know, andrew, it's a very, very delicate . very, very delicate. >> and it's also there's no rules. there's no nothing. you can apply to it. no, there's no textbook. >> exactly right. exactly right. >> exactly right. exactly right. >> moving on. steve, mike parry, let's talk about electric cars, shall we? >> yes, absolutely. >> yes, absolutely. >> they were going to be the great hope to save us all. it seems to be all going a little bit backwards. >> well, i mean, i've been predicting this for ten years, and i'm saying that i'm a genius or anything like that, but we think you are. well, it's very funny, but toyota has now announced that they, you know, they've had a policy for years now to start producing electric cars because as everybody in the world has been telling you, electric cars is the future. the fact that we haven't got enough electricity in this country to even keep the lights on in winter is an idiocy that half the cars have to be electric cars by 35. now the world is waking up to this. we haven't got any charging points in this

country. the rest of the world have found that electric cars are very expensive and they damage roads. so toyota are the first one to say we're going into reverse. and they've now started again to produce cars with petrol engines. right. they're going backwards now . i they're going backwards now. i think elon musk, the biggest producer of electric cars in the world, tesla was onto something 6 or 8 weeks ago when he went to china, then suddenly announced, you know , i'm going to put my you know, i'm going to put my focus now on driverless cars. okay and one wonders whether he's seen the way the political wind is shifting. >> do you think, mike, how many investment in batteries for electric cars? oh, unbelievable. country this huge. is this all going to be wasted? >> i think it is. going to be wasted? >> i think it is . you see, every >> i think it is. you see, every time i read about, oh, a super new deal signed for to produce electric car batteries in middlesbrough or something like that. i think this won't last because electric cars won't last in nottingham. they've had to restrict electric cars using multi—storey car parks because they're so heavy they will collapse the car park right

away. >> sorry, that's an interesting point about the supply . look, point about the supply. look, there's three big planning applications in my part of the world which have been refused because the national grid cannot cope with those new developments . we cannot actually build a lot of new properties in west london, because there simply isn't the electrical capacity at the present time . so that the present time. so that actually feeds into this. if everybody's driving electric cars. yeah. you know, the grid simply can't cope . simply can't cope. >> well, there's no charging points. there are more charging points. there are more charging points. believe it or not, because politicians look after themselves. there are more more charging points in camden and islington, two boroughs of north london, than there are in nottingham. coventry and wolverhampton put together. >> the thing is this does worry me a little bit. >> you've got in grimsby, for instance, there's a massive factory called my energy that is building individual, building them by hand. they're not being donein them by hand. they're not being done in china, they're being made by people in grimsby. but battery charging points , battery charging points, zappey's which you can have in your houses and stuff. and i visited this factory to see what was going on in that area actually, and it's phenomenal what it's done to that

particular local community. yes, very little else. industry there anymore. yes. so we've got to somehow maintain these businesses , these british businesses, these british businesses, these british businesses, as well as giving the choice to if there's a demand, because, as usual, china also realised. >> and last i think it was last month, a container ship arrived here with 7000 electrical cars, which china are now dumping on the western world because demand for electric cars is not only going down, but the price of electric cars is going down and the resale value is very , very low. >> how is this going to ever mean we're ever going to hit these ridiculous net zero targets? steve. >> exactly . >> exactly. >> exactly. >> you're never going to hit them. we're never going to hit them. we're never going to hit them. and nor should we, because i don't believe in them anyway. >> i think the london borough of lambeth has announced that they will hit net zero ten years before the rest of the world, and they've been given it. >> did you see the investigation in the times yesterday about, funnily enough, i was just about leading on to that. yes, but spending more time worrying about cars or about kids. >> but i mean, mike said something earlier on when we were talking the whole of the of the base of an electric car is a

battery. the whole of the chassis. you know, from stem to stem is a i mean, that is incredible. the danger of that. >> well, you're getting fires now on vehicles which are unexplained. and it's not just in cars, it's electric scooters. it's a technology that is not yet perfected. other cars, other major car companies like , volvo, major car companies like, volvo, like renault, have all looked at the prospect of scaling back on production of electric cars. >> they've seen the future . >> they've seen the future. >> they've seen the future. >> right. i want to do two more stories. bulgarian freud, freud . stories. bulgarian freud, freud. >> freud was a freudian slip. >> freud was a freudian slip. >> yes. bulgarian gang using burner phones. >> what have they done , steven? >> what have they done, steven? they've ripped people off. >> i tell you, what's brilliant about this is that a bulgarian police officer, predescu or i don't know who he was. you know, he suddenly spotted all around these these great baronial towers are being built up. and he went into the british embassy and he said, i don't know how to tell you this, but there's a lot of people here living like barons, and they're just going around saying, hey, we're getting it from the english taxpayer, you know, thanks a lot. and so he then reported it

to the embassy. the embassy reported to the fraud squad. and next thing we know that these people are setting up thousands of false identities . the worst of false identities. the worst particular case up in haringey, where they raided the house and they found boxes and boxes of false ideas. you can actually download an idea. so they were just making applications for non—existent children, claiming loads and loads of benefit, sending the money back. it is unbelievable. >> this is a case, £1 million. well, let me tell you , this is a well, let me tell you, this is a case at wood green crown court. we can talk about it because the case is over and this is now a sentencing hearing. okay. they plead three guys have pleaded guilty from bulgaria. but you say 50 million. that was in the charge. according to the policeman , that stephen's policeman, that stephen's talking about amounts of up to £200 million are involved of british taxpayers money and this one eagle eyed policeman wondered why everybody in this little town of bulgaria was suddenly driving around in a 4x4, 4x4, and restaurants and restaurants were opening up all over the place. >> people drinking champagne and

caviar. bulgaria. >> are we getting the money back? >>i back? >> idoubt back? >> i doubt it, i doubt it, yeah, right. >> one last story, gentlemen. gareth southgate's car again. now gareth southgate, england manager, is being hailed as a fashion icon for this outfit . fashion icon for this outfit. >> no. >> no. >> yeah. you're listening on the radio. he's bathed from top to toe. cardi a cardi it's a cardi . toe. cardi a cardi it's a cardi. >> yeah. >> yeah. >> v—neck cardigan. >> v—neck cardigan. >> horrible baggy trousers. yeah but tell everybody how much the cardi costs. >> oh, i don't know. >> oh, i don't know. >> cardi £3,325. so. and he says he says the reason he's thinking about fashion is to, you know, get down with the kids, you know, recognise with the kids what what kid can afford a £3,000 cardi the minute he wears that cardigan ? that cardigan? >> it's like rishi sunak and his puma trainers. yeah they'll immediately become incredibly uncool. yes, i have to say, i thought he was a fashion icon. the trousers are . wear waistcoats. >> yeah, £620, i think they are like curtains. >> he started going to football without even a jacket because he was just wearing his waistcoat. and it's a real fashion statement.

>> well, marks and spencer said they had a 35% increase in demand for waistcoats , which was demand for waistcoats, which was the southgate's. they did. >> but he's wearing this outfit because he's got younger players and they want he wants to look more down with the kids. >> he looks like an idiot. >> he looks like an idiot. >> he looks like an idiot. >> he does. it all starts in it all started in 2018 at the world cup and they were sponsored by marks and spencer's. now marks and spencer's suits aren't that expensive and they're good quality. but on a hot day at the first game, he took his jacket off, so he just had the waistcoat on. all of a sudden, everybody said, oh, he's a fashion icon. so he didn't bother taking the jacket at the next game. he just had the waistcoat and the waistcoat became, you know, the, the trend of it. but but, you know, as i say , a waistcoat, £65. can you say, a waistcoat, £65. can you see the £3,325 can i, osaka, wearing that . wearing that. >> no. >> no. >> yeah. >> yeah. >> i agree the arsenal striker. >> i agree the arsenal striker. >> yes. >> yes. >> that went over our heads. >> that went over our heads. >> but let me tell you this, he's a very cool young lad. >> this fashion didn't think and sometimes catch people out. >> pep guardiola probably the coolest man in the world takes over manchester city, gets all his boys wearing t shirts and tight jeans. except they had a

coach called brian kidd, who was nearly 70, who had played for manchester united, who was, you know, grossly overweight , trying know, grossly overweight, trying to get into a t shirt. and they and the you know, the trousers and the you know, the trousers and looked ridiculous, you know, like southgate does here. >> he looked a bit like a bit like ed davey in a wetsuit. >> yes. that's right, southgate says. >> when we were growing up we were bullied and it's given me a real toughness that's helped him my life. so he won't be offended by what you've just said about him. and i'll say it again, he looks like an idiot. >> oh well, well, he says whenever you put something on, you're making some sort of statement. >> you've just served up the statement here. >> stephen powell, mike parry, thank you very much. >> thank you for sharing that story, stephen. >> yeah, it was a terrific story i >>i -- >> i hope you get to meet her again. >> thank you very much indeed for the book you've written, because that is an important book. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> the wonderful tatiana sanchez is waiting for us. here she is with you. news . with you. news. >> beth. thank you. the top stories is our veteran mp, diane abbott says she's dismayed by reports suggesting that she's

been barred from running as a labour candidate at the general election. she had the whip withdrawn in april last year after she suggested jewish, irish and traveller people experienced prejudice but not racism. she later apologised and withdrew the remarks and an investigation, and concluded in december. but the labour leader says the party's internal process took longer to resolve. scotland's first ministerjohn scotland's first minister john swinney, says she's been treated unfairly , while the prime unfairly, while the prime minister called on labour to be transparent about her position. she was a close ally of former leader jeremy corbyn and she was a close ally of former leaderjeremy corbyn and served as his shadow home secretary. it's unclear whether she'll contest her seat in hackney nonh contest her seat in hackney north and stoke newington . north and stoke newington. junior doctors in england will strike for five days next month, starting on the 27th of june. thatis starting on the 27th of june. that is part of their ongoing ing dispute over pay. the british medical association says they've made a clear case to the

government that further strikes would take place unless a credible pay offer was received. the union has asked for a 35% increase to make up for what it says is 15 years of below inflation, pay . the owners of inflation, pay. the owners of royal mail have agreed to a £35 billion takeover bid by czech billionaire daniel kretinsky. the deal will see universal service obligations continue, including one price goes anywhere and first class post six days a week. the company's branding will also remain , as branding will also remain, as will its uk headquarters. the sale has attracted heavy scrutiny from senior politicians and unions . scrutiny from senior politicians and unions. for the latest stories, sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen or go to gb news. comments . comments. >> cheers! britannia wine club proudly sponsors the gb news financial report .

financial report. >> here's a quick snapshot of today's markets . the pound will today's markets. the pound will buy you $1.2759 and ,1.1759. the price of gold is £1,839.15 per ounce, and the ftse 100 is at 8222 points. >> cheers, britannia wine club proudly sponsors the gb news financial report. >> oh hello . >> oh hello. >> oh hello. >> right, sorry, we're just chatting to tom and emily here who are going to tell us what's on. good afternoon. >> well, there's so much to chat about because, my goodness, as we've just been hearing in the last few minutes, the bma has decided to do strike week on election week. >> what a remarkable, remarkable turn of events. and it's all been announced on the same day that the labour party is doing their big health push. funny, cunous. curious. >> curious. curious. >> curious. curious. >> because they'll say, oh, the bma is not affiliated to labour party. >> it's stuffed full of lefties, of course, and i think one could argue it's blatant politicking. i don't think it's clever,

actually . no, no, i don't think actually. no, no, i don't think it will go down with the british pubuc it will go down with the british public too. well, but there is quite a lot of support for the junior doctors. so perhaps, you know, some quarters, almost an echo of what was happening in 1974 here, when ted heath was being ground to the floor with the unions striking and grinding the unions striking and grinding the country to a halt . the country to a halt. >> and he then said, well, you know what? i'm fed up with this. i'm calling election. and the country will decide who governs britain , the elected government britain, the elected government or the unions. and he asked, who governs britain? and he lost the answer. the answer of the country was not you . country was not you. >> well, this is a thing. picture it. people aren't able to see a doctor . yeah. on the to see a doctor. yeah. on the day that they're considering who to for . vote what? to for. vote what? >> what else have you got on the show this afternoon then, guys. >> oh a huge amount. >> oh a huge amount. >> yeah. >> yeah. >> we're going to be talking about diane abbott. lots of harsh questions about her suspension . suspension. >> and then barring a year to investigate an article, a letter she wrote in a newspaper. why doesit she wrote in a newspaper. why does it investigate five minutes. well they apparently they wrapped this all up 5 or 6

months ago. >> and then there was this whole big process about what would actually be done in terms of announcing it. would she be able to bow out in a dignified way? there are rumours that they were going to be all sorts of articles, videos and tweets from senior labour figures thanking diane for her service and she could go out quietly . however, could go out quietly. however, it seems that maybe someone inside labour head office blew this process up, didn't want all of the sort of gushing thanks to happen , because of course she happen, because of course she did say some pretty outrageous things about jewish people . things about jewish people. yeah, and it seems that that whole process was then blown up. but the worst thing about it is that on friday, less than a week ago, keir starmer was saying, well, there's an ongoing process . i can't say anything about this. we now know that process was likely wrapped up 5 or 6 months ago. >> so who knew what when, who knew what when? >> but if anybody deserves a seat in the house of lords, it's got to be diane abbott. >> sorry. >> sorry. >> did you read the letter she wrote to the observer? shocking shocking, yes. essentially comparing prejudice that jewish

people feel to what i would feel as a redhead. absolutely outrageous. so she's forgotten about the holocaust? >> well, she said, jewish people, >> well, she said, jewish pebble, gypsy >> well, she said, jewish people, gypsy travelling people. and another group, she was it was a clumsy we've got to move, i'm afraid, because, well, it divides opinion. >> yeah. >> yeah. >> we're going to go live to sir keir starmer, who is in worcester with his shadow health secretary, and they're talking about waiting lists. we're going to go to him right now. here he is . is. >> doing it, we there is a version of this going on in some hospitals already. so in saint thomas's , one of our london thomas's, one of our london hospitals, the hospital itself has set it up because they just want to get through their backlog. leeds hospital that wes and i went to doing the same thing. so it'd be working with the nhs to get those waiting lists down. and what i would also say is this the last labour government said it would get waiting lists down and did it. we got the waiting list down to the lowest level, and the satisfaction in the nhs to the highest level ever, the fact that satisfaction in the nhs is

at the lowest level ever. now is shocking. it's soul destroying and you must feel this , that the and you must feel this, that the government has put the nhs in a position where the people that you will be serving and caring for have less faith and confidence now than they've ever had. we've got to turn that around. so we've done it before. we'll do it again. whereas you'll be, leading on this. >> yeah . and what's amazing >> yeah. and what's amazing about what they did at guy's and st thomas's is they managed in a single day to do the same number of procedures they would normally be doing across a week. so we know this works. and one of the great things , you know, of the great things, you know, in my experience of going around a whole range of hospitals around the country, including with care, is often you meet people who are really burnt out, stressed out and really feeling that moral injury because of the state of care for patients and feeling powerless to do anything about it. and yet, what i saw at the hospital , i can literally the hospital, i can literally see from my office window in westminster what we saw in leeds was real professional pride, because these were services

designed and led by clinicians, which is what gives us the confidence to know it can be done. and alongside doubling the number of ct and mri scanners are not just more scanners , but are not just more scanners, but ai are not just more scanners, but a! enabled scanners. we can also ai enabled scanners. we can also get right into the 1.6 million people who are waiting with anxiety for diagnostic tests and scans, and that gives us the confidence to be able to say to you and to the country that by the end of the first term of a labour government, we can restore nhs waiting time standards to 18 weeks. so no one is having to wait to the extent they are today . they are today. >> so if you've explained that saint thomas hospital has done their week in one, their working week in one day, don't you think that would lead to staff burnout and overworking of staff? >> yeah. so the crucial thing is that no one is going to be forced to do these shifts because we recognise the pressure on people's workloads. and also i think one of the things the nhs needs to improve on as an employer is recognise what's going on with people

outside work as well, particularly in terms of caring responsibilities , flexible responsibilities, flexible working. so we're going to do a whole load of stuff in that area as well. but what i've been bowled over by is that people have come forward to do these ships, not just because they appreciate the extra overtime pay, appreciate the extra overtime pay, which they will get and are getting , but also because they getting, but also because they can see the results for their patients. and this isn't locums . patients. and this isn't locums. these aren't agency workers. these aren't agency workers. these aren't agency workers. these are core staff who are opting to do it so people are able to do it and want to do it will deliver it. and to be able to work in an improving nhs , i to work in an improving nhs, i think will do so much for staff morale and retention. so the teams in saint thomas, in leeds, we met the team there, they were organising themselves. >> so they'd done it and they'd volunteered to come and do the extra time because they could see the effect it was having on their patients and that was driving them. so what we'll do is we'll take the hospitals that are doing it and use those teams from there as sort of almost crack teams to go around to other areas, say, this is how we did it, so this is the sort of

most effective way of doing it, but thank you for that. where should we go next for a question? yes, i would universal credit and being a student, i'm a mum of four, but i've only got two living with me. >> and it's clear universal credit does not work with the student loan at all, i'm struggling . i'm barely making struggling. i'm barely making ends meet. can't work because of my out on placement, what would your team or, you know, the labour party do to actually help that? because there isn't any actual help there at the moment . yeah. >> i think one of the problems is that universal credit , when is that universal credit, when it was rolled out, wasn't rolled out in a particularly good way, and therefore there's been lots of problems along the way in terms of how it works, but also how it interacts with other benefits and support. we may need to make sure so that one doesn't sort of work against the other. so we will be looking at universal credit to try and make it work better for you. what do you think would make the most

difference from your own point of view? obviously you've got two children at home with you. >> yeah , me personally, when i >> yeah, me personally, when i first started doing it years ago , it was bursaries and there was no student loans. so it didn't affect anything, in fact, nurses were student nurses were a lot better off when it was first read. now we're getting into debt to do a forjob read. now we're getting into debt to do a for job the country. >> yeah, yeah, yeah. i mean, i feel so strongly about this is one of the first debates i led in parliament as a brand new mp in parliament as a brand new mp in 2015, when we were first elected. >> and my frustration about things like scrapping the nhs bursary is it's so much easier to scrap things than it is to replace them. and i want to do more for people like you and particularly those nursing, midwifery , allied health midwifery, allied health professionals, especially where we're recruiting people in as mature students later in life. i think that's really important on that. i'm just bear with us because one of the things we're working so hard to do, as well as to make sure we can rebuild our country, it's to rebuild trust in politics and

politicians. so we're not making any promises at this election unless we can be 100% sure that the promises we make are promises we can keep and the country can afford, we will, of course, try and over deliver. but i'd rather under—promise and overdeliver than do the opposite and make promises now and then. come back in 4 or 5 years time and say, i'm really sorry. can you just give your example just to my team? >> so we'll definitely particular details of yours. i'll come to this side and then i'll come to this side and then i'll come to that side. yes, so you mentioned burnout earlier. so, thank you for paramedics. now it's heading towards like three years, which is what our training is , so i just wondered training is, so i just wondered how you plan on, like, retaining health professionals in the nhs, and what kind of things you have in process for, like, keeping us working in the nhs? >> i think the burnout thing is really important in the nhs because what's happened , because what's happened, certainly where my wife works is that there was a huge amount of pressure during covid on the nhs , as you know, and as soon as,

the staff came out of covid, they went into a terrible situation with a backlog . now situation with a backlog. now that backlog was there for a long time. i think the 18 week waiting list, time thing has not been hit since 2016, and so we need to lift the workforce up. there are things you can do straight away, like respect and dignity of the workforce . and i dignity of the workforce. and i don't know what you feel, but if i were you, and certainly working in the nhs and i had the prime minister simply blaming the nhs for the problems rather than taking responsibility as a prime minister, it would go a long way , because you can't sort long way, because you can't sort of clap our carers and our, you know, key workers during the pandemic and then turn around when you're challenged, as the prime minister does on the nhs and say, it's not my fault, it's the nhs staff that is really disrespectful. so that needs to be in place. we need to take the pressure down, which is where the waiting list comes down because it's very difficult to

feel uplifted in your job. if feel uplifted in yourjob. if you know there's a waiting list that's getting bigger and bigger because it's worrying, it takes all the time and energy so that will help as well. and then working on staff retention so that we can have those staff retained. i think there's one more thing and bring in on this. we haven't had the next generation of staff coming in to the nhs quickly enough, so we need that . there are plans now need that. there are plans now in place for the next generation of staff to come through. i mean, you'll be part of that. but one of the problems we've had with the nhs is, of course, it takes time to train people. so politicians say , well, we so politicians say, well, we won't do that. we won't put enough emphasis there. we'll just do other sticking plaster, fixes. they don't work . you've fixes. they don't work. you've got to do the hard yards of training the next generation to come through . but i want, you come through. but i want, you know, to put you in a position if we are privileged to form a government, where you not only feel really proud of what you are doing as you will, but where we drive up those satisfaction

levels , because, you know, the levels, because, you know, the pubuc levels, because, you know, the public are so appreciative of the nhs for the government to have taken it to this place where the satisfaction levels are so low is really, really shocking . whereas did you want shocking. whereas did you want to say anything on that? yeah. >> i mean, i think particularly for, for, for you guys, who are paramedics? i think making sure that you're not spending an entire shift sat in the back of an ambulance with the same patients waiting for a handover. there are things that can be done to reform the handover process at the at the back door of the hospital. that requires easing a bit of pressure in a&e, and our plans to train up thousands more gps to cut through the red tape that ties up gp appointments mean that people will be able to get a gp appointment better for them because you can see a gp when you need one. also better for you need one. also better for you because a&e isn't full, also better for the taxpayer because a gp appointment costs about £40 for the nhs to provide because they're not available. someone ends up in a&e, which costs £400. so that's the worst of all worlds, where patients get a bad service. you have a miserable

experience at the start and we're not spending the money that goes into the nhs as well as we might be able to , and as we might be able to, and that's why we're trying to get that's why we're trying to get that balance right between the investment that's the nhs needs, but also the reform and making sure the money that goes in is well driven. and the final appeal i'd make to all of you, even as students, we recently launched an initiative based on something to do in singapore called get rid of stupid stuff. and this is where frontline staff working in the nhs can tell us things that you encounter in your everyday working lives where you think this is not making my life easier as a member of staff, this is not going to help my patients. why are we doing this? you tell us. we'll do our best to solve it because we're going to solve it because we're going to have to work with and learn from you on the front line to make sure that you're working as happily and effectively as possible, and patients are getting the best possible care. but we can only do that by having these conversations and learning from you, because you're the ones who are seeing it on the front line. >> just two fun things about paramedics. >> it's the labour lead. that's the labour leader keir starmer, and his. yeah, but health secretary at a hospital in worcester, we've just heard the breaking news that pat cullen, who's the general secretary of

the royal college of nursing, is stepping down. of course, she was the face of the nurses dunng was the face of the nurses during that big strike earlier this year. now the royal mail, i'm sorry to say, is going to be taken over by a czech billionaire after the owners accepted a £35 billion takeover. >> it's the first time the royal mail has fallen into foreign hands since henry the eighth set it up over 500 years ago. >> well, joining us now is the general secretary of the communication workers union, dave ward. dave, morning is the is this it now, can anything be done to stop this ? done to stop this? >> no, it's not here. the government can still step in and they can make the demands that they can make the demands that they should be making about the future of royal mail. >> the labour party have a role in it as well, because the current election , so it's not current election, so it's not oven current election, so it's not over. and can i say what's really worrying about the developments to date is that we're in a situation now where it appears that a board that has completely mismanaged royal mail are having an internal debate

with a prospective, new owner. they're all going to make probably £1 million out of it. some of them, we think the chairman , the current chairman, chairman, the current chairman, will make £1 million out of this. they've run the company into the ground . and surely this into the ground. and surely this should be a debate of national interest . so, you know, we're interest. so, you know, we're not seeing it over and done with. we do have to protect the interests of our members, and we will be in there talking to the prospective buyer. but i just think the whole thing is a sham, really, in terms of how we've got to this point. the failure of privatised asian, and the only people who really care about the future of postal services are the workforce. so we've got to do everything we can to ensure that, you know , uk can to ensure that, you know, uk services continue. and that the workforce get a decent deal out of this . and, dave, where we're of this. and, dave, where we're going to be talking to the owners , and we're also going to owners, and we're also going to be talking to the government and the labour party.

>> what are your concerns about daniel kretinsky? and is there anything he could say to you to allay your fears ? allay your fears? >> well, it's not about having concerns about daniel kretinsky. it's a legitimate point that the whole of the country should be concerned that royal mail is about to be sold in its entirety , to an equity investor from a broad that we don't really understand what their plans are . understand what their plans are. now, you know, i've said to you before on your show that when it comes to what the current board have done , they failed their own have done, they failed their own customers. they failed the workforce . so we're certainly workforce. so we're certainly not supporting their position. but we want to see a new model of ownership. we want to see a stake in the future for employees and that's the type of discussion that we need to have with mr kretinsky . and they have with mr kretinsky. and they have agreed to meet us next week. >> does he know anything at all about running a national mail service? dave

>> well, they've had a 27% stake in the company, and, i'm not really aware of what other knowledge he's got , so let's knowledge he's got, so let's wait and see what what's said next week. but i think the important point is that this isn't a done deal. the government, if they've got major concerns, they can intervene , concerns, they can intervene, it'd be good if they actually answered the correspondence we've sent them where we're asking to sit down with them and talk about our concerns , what talk about our concerns, what they should be concerned about, similar with the labour party, because where where this is so wrong , andrew, i will keep wrong, andrew, i will keep repeating this point. how can you have people who are going to make a load of money out of selling royal mail discussing a deal with a czech billionaire and the government ain't saying anything about it. it's a company of national interests, and we should be having a wider discussion about their future

plans. are they going to invest in the workforce ? are they going in the workforce? are they going to invest in services, or are they going to asset strip? so it's a huge moment for all of us, dave. >> we're going to have a labour, almost certainly have a labour government in five weeks time, can what are you hearing from laboun can what are you hearing from labour. are they going. can they stop and intervene or will they. i haven't heard much from them. it has to be said , i think. it has to be said, i think. >> i think it's a it's an issue of whether or not the national security act gets enforced. and our view is unless there's absolute guarantees that stick not guarantees for a couple of years, and then a businessman can do what he wants with a company, then no, they shouldn't be standing on the side. they should be ready to intervene as well, but that will be a matter for whether or not, who wins the election . i don't think this is election. i don't think this is going to take place, this side of the general election. so it's important we start talking about it as an issue. i will say to

you, andrew, that people who are going to the ballot box should really think about, you know, how do we get to this position with royal mail? and the truth is, it's failed privatisation where it's an extractive model that takes money out of the company , doesn't invest in company, doesn't invest in workers, doesn't invest in services and ends up with where we are today. so there's a lot at stake here, and we're going to be really pushing the government, pushing the labour party to do the right thing . and party to do the right thing. and we want to meet mr kretinsky as soon as possible . soon as possible. >> okay. all right. >> okay. all right. >> thank you so much. good luck with it, dave . with it, dave. >> that's dave ward. he's the general secretary of the communications workers union. i think if the tories have got any sense there was intervene and say no in this, we don't want it owned by a foreign company, a foreign these are institutions should some institutions should remain british. it's called the royal mail. the stamps have the bloomin king's head on remain british or be nationalised , do british or be nationalised, do you think? >> because obviously there's a huge difference . huge difference. >> well, it hasn't worked, but

partly that would be because management has been useless . management has been useless. >> the union, the management would say the unions have been restrictive and opposed reform in working practices. i mean, it's a it's going to be a storm andifs it's a it's going to be a storm and it's a this is going to be such a massive issue on keir starmers desk. >> is it is which of these industries and utility providers i'm thinking also of the water industry . which of them does he industry. which of them does he nationalise at great expense to the taxpayer? which of them does he leave in private hands, even if they're foreign owners? >> and of course. >> and of course. >> or which of them can he do? >> or which of them can he do? >> a combination of both and he's going to set up something called great british energy cost, reputed to be anywhere between 8 to 80 billion. >> yeah. >> yeah. >> well, interesting times ahead.thank >> well, interesting times ahead. thank you forjoining us ahead. thank you for joining us again this morning, andrew and i will be back tomorrow morning at 930, but that is it from britain's newsroom for now here at emily and tom. >> what's going on in our health system? not only will there be a strike in the days running up to the general election that coincides with the labour party's health day, curious also

the general secretary of the nursing union, she's now standing as an mp. she'll be standing as an mp. she'll be standing for sinn fein in northern ireland. murkier and murkier. >> yeah, it's quite incredible. and, is it worth going to university anymore ? rishi sunak university anymore? rishi sunak has announced a crackdown on mickey mouse degrees . if he's mickey mouse degrees. if he's re—elected in favour of apprenticeships, we'll have that debate a little later on. but after your weather. >> looks like things are heating up. boxt boiler is sponsors of weather on . gb news. weather on. gb news. >> good morning. welcome to your latest gb news weather update from the met office. it's going to be a brighter day today. there's still some very heavy and thundery showers around though, and a weather warning for thunderstorms across much of scotland. that's where the showers are going to be most persistent and quite slow moving later on today they wrapped around this area of low pressure, so they'll be pushing in from the north and east through the day. so most

persistent across eastern areas. but in the west there's still a risk of some showers. so i think sunny spells and showers for many western areas . however it many western areas. however it should be a bit of a dry day across the south and in the dner across the south and in the drier weather. with the dry weather, temperatures will climb a little higher, so it's going to be a warmer day. highs of around 2021 degrees across southern areas. now through this evening, the showers will really continue across scotland in particular where we have that warning in force. it's here where they turn, where they will be quite slow moving so we could see quite a lot of rain falling in a short space of time, bringing some localised flooding issues. there's also some heavy showers to come through this evening across parts of northern ireland. further south and west it will turn a bit drier this evening, actually across devon and cornwall, much of the south coast. it should be a fairly fine end to the day and it will likely stay clear across many southern and central areas throughout the night. tonight across the east, though, some heavy showers will continue, particularly the north and east where we're closer to that low pressure, the more unsettled weather where we're going to continue to see some outbreaks

of quite heavy rain. it's quite a brisk breeze as well. it's a northerly wind developing through tonight and into tomorrow morning, so temperatures will be held up because of the strength of the wind. so temperatures not dipping much below double digits across the uk. quite a breezy day to come on thursday. a lot of cloud around with showers continuing, particularly across eastern areas. we could see some more persistent rain spreading into the southeast later on in the afternoon on thursday, but from the west it will start to turn drier as the afternoon goes on, so some late sunshine to come for many western areas, but with that northerly wind is going to be a much fresher day. see you later. bye bye . see you later. bye bye. >> that warm feeling inside from boxt boilers, sponsors of weather on

gb news. >> good afternoon. britain. it's 12:00 on wednesday, the 29th of

may. i'm tom harwood and i'm emily carver. the prime minister vows to shut down mickey mouse degrees if he's re—elected. he says he'll move. all the move will help fund more apprenticeships . will help fund more apprenticeships. but will help fund more apprenticeships . but should the apprenticeships. but should the government be deciding what students study ? students study? >> we'll sort out the crisis in the nhs . a claim from labour the nhs. a claim from labour which says that nearly 150,000 people died last year on waiting lists. this comes on the day junior doctors declare a fresh five day strike, just in time for the election . for the election. >> but the labour leader faces harsh questions over the party's underhand treatment of veteran mp diane abbott. underhand treatment of veteran mp diane abbott . she was mp diane abbott. she was suspended over allegations of anti—semitism and there were violent clashes between pro—palestinian demonstrators and police on whitehall last night. >> dozens were arrested and three officers injured .

three officers injured. >> now it's a huge