i'm tom harwood and i'm 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 .7 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 day of news today and we're very keen for your views on all of these stories, perhaps most particularly the breaking news in the last few minutes that there'll be a strike in the week leading up to the general election. how very convenient. >> it is rather convenient. and this all comes on the day that the labour party are pushing the narrative that they are the ones to save the nhs. so go figure. is this about politics rather than the benefit of junior doctors necessarily? what do you think ? think? >> and yet they'll be hoping that some people think that well, if, if, if the unions hate the tories and they're the funders of the labour party, they're in with labour, well, maybe there'll be fewer strikes under labour. >> i guess the question is, do you think it's right that the bma announce a strike action right before the general election, and also on the day that a political party is presenting its plans for the nhs? it does look like it's

about politics. but perhaps you disagree and you think this is their only choice to put the pressure on in time for the general election. >> but it raises questions about what is legitimate pressure to be using during democratic events. some countries , of events. some countries, of course, ban, for example, opinion polls during an election penod opinion polls during an election period , others we have too many. period, others we have too many. others have different restrictions, but it does. it does beg the question. of course, we're very limited about what we can say on television dunng what we can say on television during an election period, but why on earth, then, are some some arguably political actors doing thing, other political things that might you you might expect , be more restricted expect, be more restricted dunng expect, be more restricted during an election period, although the union does say that it will continue strike action regardless who's in number 10 after the general election. >> but make of it what you will get your views in gbnews.com/yoursay. let's get your headlines with tatiana . your headlines with tatiana. >> emily, thank you very much.

and good afternoon. the top stories from the gb newsroom. 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 racism. she later apologised and withdrew those remarks and an investigation concluded in december. but the labour leader says the party's internal process took longer to resolve. scotland's first minister, john swinney, says her treatment by the labour party has been unfair. 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 . junior doctors in victory. junior doctors in england will strike for five days next month, starting on the 27th of june, as part of their ongoing dispute over pay . the

ongoing 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, while the health secretary, victoria atkins, says that announcing this during an election and on labour's health day shows this was only ever political and not about patients or staff . meanwhile, the head of or staff. meanwhile, the head of the royal college of nursing is stepping down to launch a bid to become an mp in the general election. pat cullen led nurses into unprecedented strike action and says standing down is the hardest decision to make. it's understood she'll run for a seat with the sinn fein party. the owners of royal mail have agreed to a £35 billion takeover bid by czech billionaire daniel kretinsky . the deal will see kretinsky. the deal will see universal service obligations continue , including one price

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. remain, as will its uk headquarters . the sale 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 remote areas, while labour says royal mail's place in public life must be protected . rishi 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 the 4th of june, the prime minister was aboard 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 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 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 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, 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 sir keir starmer says labour's plan will help health workers get on with the job. >> first things that we do and not the only thing that we do for the nhs, but just the first thing, which is to have 40,000 extra appointments and operations every week. so that means using operating theatres in the evenings and the weekends . so in the evenings and the weekends . so 40,000 in the evenings and the weekends . so 40,000 will pay for that by getting rid of the non—dom status completely. that's the special tax status for the super rich. that means they don't pay their tax in this country. i think if you live here, you should be paying your tax here, so we'll get rid of that. we also want to get in the money that isn't being paid in tax by those that are avoiding it. >> and the liberal democrats are pledging an extra £1 billion to champion british farming. sir ed davey has outlined a plan to undo what he calls a legacy of

failure by the conservative government. he's promising to renegotiate overseas trade deals and address a chronic shortage of workers . but the latest of workers. but the latest stories sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen , or go to on your screen, or go to gbnews.com/win. now back to tom and . emily. and. emily. >> good afternoon britain. it's 12:08 now. where are we today ? 12:08 now. where are we today? well, labour is claiming that almost 150,000 people died last year on nhs waiting lists. but the party faces harsh questions overits the party faces harsh questions over its treatment of veteran mp diane abbott. >> yes, and this as ex—leader jeremy corbyn prepares to launch his campaign as an independent tonight and the liberal democrats are back on their battle bus, this time launching what they describe as a rescue plan for farmers in wales. what they describe as a rescue plan for farmers in wales . and plan for farmers in wales. and as for the reform party, they're

preparing to legally challenge what they call labour's discriminatory tax raid on private schools. but first, rishi sunak, he's in cornwall pushing his party's plan to create 100,000 more apprenticeships by shutting down so—called mickey mouse degrees. >> this law would give england's universities watchdog new powers to shut down courses that it deemed as underperforming. >> yes, shadow education secretary bridget phillipson says it's laughable that the tories, who have presided over a halving of apprenticeships for young people, are now announcing this. >> meanwhile, the liberal democrats say the plans won't work as apprenticeship pay will remain low. >> so gb news political editor christopher hope is on the campaign trail with rishi sunak today in cornwall . this campaign trail with rishi sunak today in cornwall. this is a bold pledge. i know the government have been working on this for a little while. what exactly are they saying about which courses might be shut down? >> emily, what a great question.

and hi, tom. yeah, we're flying through the windy roads of cornwall on the way to a broadband provider. the big focus here for the prime minister and his team is apprentices trying to encourage more people to jump off these, what they call mickey mouse degrees. mickey mouse courses and move into apprenticeships. and the government says that they can get 1 in 8 university places. can be closed by new powers to be given to the office for students , and that would for students, and that would free up 100,000 new apprentices, costing ships costing £900 million. as you ask which ones though, and that is the question that no one appears to want to ask . the pm that no one appears to want to ask. the pm was asked here in penzance earlier name of course you want to shut down prime minister. he wouldn't name one. that's a that's a job for the office for students to look through , the quality of the through, the quality of the course, drop out rates and what kind of jobs people get from them. so and indeed labour will be asking after 14 years, this surely is a problem of the

government's own making. why have they allowed this to happen ? why are they not prioritising apprenticeships earlier than now? >> of course, all in the context of soaring numbers of people attending university. there was that, big target introduced by tony blair of half the country going to university. it seems that the government has sort of been walking away from that a little bit in recent years . little bit in recent years. >> that's right. the boom was definitely under tony blair. they felt that the university was the answer. the problem is since then we of course, have seen spiralling student debt. so you have many, many young people on courses which don't deliver the income they need to pay off that debt properly, and the government is trying to do something about it. they want to be more kind of proactive about getting actual apprenticeships , getting actual apprenticeships, which can lead to a proper job, which can lead to a properjob, almost vocational, the government know that number 10 and the team here are keen to talk about doctors strikes. we heard in the news bulletins just there and how they'll be, doctors strike in the junior doctors strike in the junior doctors in the long running

dispute over pay in the run up to polling day on july the 4th. that's given opportunity for the tory party the tory government, to attack the unions here. we've got a statement here from victoria atkins, who's the health secretary she says that she's in politics to help patients , not trade unions. and patients, not trade unions. and they say it's for labour party to condemn these strikes. announcing this during an election campaign, they say. and on labour's health day shows there's only ever a political issue and not one of patients and staff. and there is a point there that we have got. wes streeting keir starmer, the shadow health secretary of the labour leader, out and about saying how they would bring down labour waiting times in the nhs and the timing does look as though that allows the tories to say there's a degree of , of, of say there's a degree of, of, of support for both. >> yes, and i'm sure the labour party will say that this is a symptom of a tory rule or tory mismanagement of the nhs. but christopher, around seems to be

brewing within the labour party over the treatment of the veteran mp diane abbott . veteran mp diane abbott. >> yes, that's right, of course she's been, allowed to be an mp for two days only because of course, all mps stopped being mps tomorrow with the dissolution of parliament. but she is not allowed to stand in the in the general election . the in the general election. she's not she's not a candidate and she won't be allowed to stand. and that is upset her, she's she's put out a statement on her twitter page on ex. she's delighted to have the labour whip restored. she's back as a member of the labour party, and she will be campaigning for a labour victory . so not with her labour victory. so not with her friend jeremy corbyn, of course. an independent candidate in islington north. but she's very dismayed. she says, that numerous reports suggest she's been barred as a candidate , i been barred as a candidate, i think, you know, labour would say that this makes them look strong dealing with the labour left. but it may store up problems in the future. this could become a cause celebre. the treatment of diane abbott

and the first black mp for 80 years, when elected in the late 80s, she is totemic for many in labour movement and some would say this is quite harsh treatment of her quite harsh treatment of her quite harsh treatment of her quite harsh treatment of her, no doubt, although others will of course point out that she has been on the rather, more radical end of labour politics. >> but christopher hope, thank you very much for joining us live from the battle bus. >> well, and her letter was thoroughly offensive to a lot of jewish people. but is rishi sunak right to be cracking down on these, rip off degrees, professor james tully is the vice chancellor of the university of buckingham. thank you very much indeed, professor, for joining us. i was just forjoining us. i was just looking at some of these degrees that, the telegraph actually has been calling mickey mouse degrees . and what i found is degrees. and what i found is that some of them have absolutely shocking potential salaries, potential earnings , salaries, potential earnings, sort of five years after doing your degree, you'll still be on a sort of £24,000 salary as an

average. i mean, are these the sorts of degrees that the prime minister should be going after? >> yeah, he talks about mickey mouse degrees, doesn't he? >> and i don't know why everyone's so down on poor mickey mouse. mickey mouse is 52 billion sales, so chances are great that we could do mickey mouse degrees. but the serious point is there isn't. and you're right. so the telegraph came out with degrees like english literature, for example. that was one of the degrees that people were only only earning 25, £26,000 after five years. and i sympathise with what the government is trying to do, but it's doing the wrong method here. yes, we want to ensure that when students go to university, they're going to with open eyes to do something that will lead to what they want. but money isn't everything. there are non—pecuniary benefits of education. there are. there's the love of learning for its own sake. some of those people doing engush sake. some of those people doing english literature may be very fulfilled doing that , forgetting fulfilled doing that, forgetting the earnings that are not as high as if you're doing

computing or business or medicine. so that's the first point. don't don't say that. we've got to decide. don't say the office for students has got to decide. don't say the government has got to decide backing winners in terms of degrees that the people do it, let students do it. and let's have the myriad of market decisions leading to the right courses. you know, it's happening already. i mean, in many universities, they're looking at courses which don't which are not attracting students, and they're saying, okay, get rid of those. those courses i do every day in my role as vice chancellor. so i think the government is , is on think the government is, is on to the right idea here, using the wrong methods isn't the problem here that we spend quite a lot of time subsidising courses and we don't sort of match these courses to what real world outcomes would look like. >> to some extent, you could make a case that that mickey mouse degree courses help subsidise these stem subjects, and nuclear research and all the rest of it. it's very cheap to learn about mickey mouse. it's quite more expensive to do to do

a lot of experiments in the lab. so everyone paying for these courses perhaps are subsidising the other guys. >> yeah. i mean, there's something to be said for that. absolutely, the key thing here is the government keeps throwing money at universities , not the money at universities, not the university of buckingham. incidentally, we astute government funding , but it keeps government funding, but it keeps throwing money and there's mixed messages coming on. so you can do a mickey mouse degree and you can get you get your, your loan, youn can get you get your, your loan, your, your living support, the same as anyone else. and the university gets money to help you do that, that that shouldn't be the way that it happens. you should have the students deciding the student loan system working so the government is not subsidising, i mean , when you subsidising, i mean, when you and i get a mortgage or a bank loan, we don't assume that the government is going to subsidise us. this should be a proper loan system which leads to proper results. and incidentally , i am results. and incidentally, i am very much in favour of the apprenticeships where we're expanding our apprenticeships here. but of course, the danger there, of course, is the employers claim back from their

employers claim back from their employer that their apprenticeship levy. and so on, and you could end up getting mickey mouse apprenticeships . mickey mouse apprenticeships. >> well, yes, that is that is an issue too. and also i think this issue too. and also i think this is shouldn't be just about subsidising other students. i mean, it should be about students making the right decisions for them and getting all the information that actually, if they do this engush actually, if they do this english literature course at x—universe 80, they won't be earning very much money, probably. and i think that's very important . it's about the very important. it's about the students themselves not being sold a lie. thank you very much, professorjames sold a lie. thank you very much, professor james tully, vice chancellor of the university of buckingham. >> now some breaking news and hold on to your seats for this one.the hold on to your seats for this one. the veteran labour member of parliament, diane abbott, has not been barred from standing in the general election. that's according to keir starmer. he was speaking in worcester earlier today and said to journalists assembled there that no decision has been made on diane abbott's standing or otherwise. so we've gone from a case where she was suspended, then given back the whip , then

then given back the whip, then told that she wasn't allowed to stand, and now we're being told that she's not been told, that she's not allowed to stand, but that no decision has been made. are you keeping up? >> what an utter communications mess . yes. political editor at mess. yes. political editor at the huffpost uk, kevin schofield, joins us now to make sense of this. kevin, sorry to get you just when the breaking news has landed, but your reaction to that, that keir starmer has now said no, she hasn't been banned from standing i >> -- >> yeah. >> yeah. >> well i'll try my best to try and clear up. i mean it is all very confusing. you're right. i mean, so last night the times broke the story, around about 7 pm. that diane abbott would not be allowed to stand. >> now, i went to a senior party source, about this. now, they said to me that , she'd had the said to me that, she'd had the whip restored, but no decision , whip restored, but no decision, as, keir starmer has just said. but no decision has been taken on whether or not she can stand. now, i went to a separate , very now, i went to a separate, very reliable source and i said, look, is it true that she's not

been allowed to stand? and that person said, yes , that is the person said, yes, that is the case. so, i followed up the story , wrote that she would not story, wrote that she would not be standing. and, you know , be standing. and, you know, you'll know yourselves if a story is wrong. the parties are normally very quickly on the blower to let you know that you got the wrong end of the stick. but no phone call was forthcoming . nothing has been forthcoming. nothing has been denied. the times story last night was not denied either, so labour have at the very least allowed this story to run for the last 12 to 18 hours. and now we're in this strange position because diane abbott was even saying this morning that it was her understanding that she'd been barred from standing as well . and now keir starmer seems well. and now keir starmer seems to be u—turning on that. so it is all a bit confusing. the final decision, i think , will final decision, i think, will ultimately be taken by labour's ruling national executive council . it ruling national executive council. it may well be ruling national executive council . it may well be that council. it may well be that such is the backlash against the decision, the apparent decision not to let us stand that, labour are having a rethink and she may well end up being the candidate

after all, which we a remarkable turn of events, given that, you know, a couple of days ago she wasn't even a member of the, labour parliamentary party. >> it would be a remarkable turn of events, although perhaps they're just hoping that it all goes away and that the deadlines pass and that nothing happens. that seems to what has been going on for the last 5 or 6 months. because, kevin, the context of this, of course , is context of this, of course, is that this, investigation into diane abbott, which was started more than a year ago, seems to have ended about half a year ago with her taking some sort of onune with her taking some sort of online course in how not to be an anti—semite , but it's very an anti—semite, but it's very curious, therefore, that keir starmer just curious, therefore, that keir starmerjust last curious, therefore, that keir starmer just last friday curious, therefore, that keir starmerjust last friday said starmer just last friday said that the process was still ongoing . ongoing. >> so you're right, it is very, a very odd situation indeed. yet you're right again, labour didn't deny the report that this investigation was concluded. i think around about christmas time, now i think some sort of arrangement was, proposed in the background that, diane abbott

would be allowed to have the whip back, but then would announce that she was retiring as an mp. therefore, you know, to avoid the, unpleasantness of being dumped as a labour candidate . whatever has candidate. whatever has happened, though, that that arrangement, for whatever reason, has broken down. and now it's a it's a case of whether she will be allowed to stand or not. so, so yeah , keir starmer not. so, so yeah, keir starmer definitely has questions to answer because you're right, up until very recently , he was until very recently, he was still saying that the investigation was ongoing and that he couldn't comment on it, whereas now it would appear that the investigation ended some months ago. so yeah, lots of unanswered questions. and this is something that's going to dog keir starmer and the labour party officials , for a while party officials, for a while now, i think until it is cleared up and it's completely overshadowing what is meant to be labour's, day for stating what they would do, on the nhs were they to. yeah. >> and let's not, let's not let's not forget kevin, how this all kicked off. i mean, essentially she wrote this

letter to the observer and many saw it as her saying that essentially racism against jewish people does not exist, and it was found to be thoroughly offensive . and people thoroughly offensive. and people from across society , all were from across society, all were absolutely outraged by her comments , is keir starmer doing comments, is keir starmer doing the right thing here? he wants to set out very strongly that the labour party is not for anyone who downplays anti—semitism . anti—semitism. >> well, that's exactly why this has dragged for on as long as it has. i mean, even diane abbott herself admitted very quickly that she'd got it wrong, that it was an offensive letter that she wrote to the observer, effectively comparing , effectively comparing, discrimination against jewish people with discrimination against people with red hair. so clearly that was extremely offensive to jewish people. she apologised for it , and but apologised for it, and but kevin, people i think this is where people sort of struggle to follow because of course, diane

abbott did apologise in her initial apology. she said, oh, we sent an early draft instead of i don't know quite how it was an early draft, because the whole point of it was saying that you can't be racist against jews because they're not black. i mean, that was basically the, the, the whole ethos of the letter. how do you send an early draft that's quite so different? but that feeds into what is perhaps a deeper problem here. and this gets to the nub of perhaps how the next government might work or otherwise . the might work or otherwise. the constant mistruth communication in spin and sleaze and this almost harks back to a bit of the early days of tony blair. we just keep getting told things that later turn out not to be true. this investigation was oven true. this investigation was over. it wasn't. diane abbott has been barred from standing . has been barred from standing. oh, no decision has been making. but she might not stand. but she was going to retire with dignity. but we were kicking her out. which is it in all of these issues we're seeing, perhaps what is an almighty mess at the core of the labour operation or

back to those dark old days of spin ? spin? >> well, the thing is, you know, labour knew, i think, that at some point in the campaign things would get a little bit sticky for them. obviously the conservatives haven't had a great start to the campaign. it's been okay for labour thus far. they haven't really committed any major gaffes, but this is a real crunch point for them. how they deal with this, how they clear up these , very how they clear up these, very justifiable questions will tell us a lot. i think, about how the rest of the campaign will go and indeed how they will govern were they to win the general election. so yeah, this has been handled extremely badly. there's absolutely no two ways about it. and it's not going to go away. certainly not based on what keir starmer has had to say, just a few moments ago. you know, i think that just throws up even more questions. think that just throws up even more questions . and until we get more questions. and until we get clear answers to those questions, then it's going to overshadow, every other message that that labour are trying to convey as the campaign continues. >> yes, indeed. thank you so

much for joining >> yes, indeed. thank you so much forjoining us with >> yes, indeed. thank you so much for joining us with that breaking news. kevin schofield, political editor at the huffpost uk, will be coming back to this because there's a lot of questions to answer. huge communications, shambles , one communications, shambles, one might say. but in other news, three police officers were injured and 40 people were arrested during a pro—palestinian demonstration in westminster last night. >> yes. the protest, organised by the palestine solidarity campaign amid other groups, beganin campaign amid other groups, began in whitehall at 6:00. it was due to end two hours later. but as often happens at these events , some protesters ignored events, some protesters ignored the dispersal order and things degenerated. indeed, 40 people were later arrested by police officers . come . officers. come. on. >> well, joining us now is norman brennan , former london norman brennan, former london police officer and director of law and order foundation .

law and order foundation. norman, thank you very much, what do you take from what happened last night? >> well, i'll tell you, i'll start off from the beginning. enough's enough, what i take from it is that, there are about 10,000 demonstrators on the streets of london on a tuesday evening, hundreds and hundreds of police officers had their leave cancelled, they were drawn in from all over london. and although, the 10,000 were relatively noisy, a bit disorderly, they weren't really many attacks on the police. however, when most went home, there was a hard core group of about 500, 40 of whom were arrested and three police officers were injured. one was seriously injured. a young female had a bottle thrown at her, hit her in the face and she was hospitalised. i've seen the photographs of her. they're not very nice at all. they're not pleasant. and the dental treatment alone will cost two

and a half to £3,000 to repair. and these police officers were standing there without their pubuc standing there without their public order gear. they didn't provoke or antagonise, these groups . but provoke or antagonise, these groups. but sadly, there's a hard core that have got nothing but contempt for anyone and everyone. their violence has become out of order, and it's always the police that are the brunt of this. so enough is enough.the brunt of this. so enough is enough. the time has come for the met police, the mayor, the home secretary to ban these marches and allow thousands of police officers that are taken away from already depleted areas to go back to their divisions and police the streets rather than having their leave cancelled. and every weekend is the same. and i think the police, the public, everyone has had enough of it. enough's enough. >> and yet it must be said that for the first two hours of this protest, it was peaceful. there were the majority of people there going to exercise a democratic right to express their strong held view , although their strong held view, although within that group there is a significant chunk of people who

clearly turned up to cause trouble , to ignore dispersal trouble, to ignore dispersal orders, to ignore the lawful way of doing protest. how do we separate those two issues? because there are plenty of people who are very , upstanding, people who are very, upstanding, law abiding members of society who just want to attend a lawful march, and how do we separate that from those that turn up to antagonise and cause trouble? >> it's very difficult, really , tom? >> i mean, let's be honest about it. these demonstrators , if it. these demonstrators, if we've got a concern, we're absolutely right. you can take to the streets to voice your concerns , but let's actually concerns, but let's actually look at the transfer side. what about the law abiding public? >> what about victims of crime throughout the whole of london? already there are already so few police officers there to protect them, reassure them and investigate in their crimes. >> and every week , coach loads >> and every week, coach loads of police officers are being taken from these already depleted divisions and put on

the streets of london. and what can you do ? well, what you can can you do? well, what you can do is say, you've said your piece , the violence is piece, the violence is unacceptable. the time has come for you now to go home, stay at home. what you're doing now, some of you , is you're some of you, is you're committing gratuitous violence. you're damaging property, you're abusing and assaulting police officers. that is absolutely unacceptable. you've gone beyond the mark. that's acceptable. we're banned in these marches now for all of those reasons. and the public and the victims of crime rightly have a right to see police officers on their streets and be reassured and have their crimes investigated. and sadly, every weekend they're not. >> and now this is yeah, i guess one of the problems, norman, one of the problems with that is that, as we've seen a number of civil liberties groups try to take the home office to court and sometimes they win over clampdowns on on protests. but norman, your, you mentioned at

the top that a female police officer has, serious facial injuries as a result. can you just tell us, do you know anything about her condition? is she going to be okay? >> well, she was in hospital when i last heard i had a photograph from one of her colleagues sent to me this morning, and it's horrible . morning, and it's horrible. she's a young female. she's. she's a young female. she's. she's a young female. she's. she's a lovely looking young girl that just put on a uniform . girl that just put on a uniform. went on duty to keep the peace, to stand between good and bad and right and wrong. and a bottle hit her in the face, her teeth are damaged now. now none of us like our teeth or our faces being disfigured . police faces being disfigured. police officers don't go to work to be abused, assaulted , insulted, and abused, assaulted, insulted, and gratuitously grievous bodily harm by cowards in a crowd that think it's okay to throw a bottle at police officers who didn't have public order gear on, they weren't there to

antagonise this group. so yes, i think she well, she's going to be okay, but it's a huge bill, almost £3,000 to pay for her dental repair alone . her lips dental repair alone. her lips are cut, her face is bruised, and she's feeling very low today. and i can understand that police officers are not paid for this. it's not part of their job. and i think that should be taken into consideration by the commissioner and the mayor of london on future demonstrations. police officers are not there to be abused, abused. they're there to keep the peace . to keep the peace. >> well, we wish we wish her well, thank you very much indeed . norman brennan, former london police officer and the director of the law and order foundation. i do wonder if some of this is why so many police officers only do a few years, if that, before they give up on the as a career. >> yeah. no, do get in touch if this resonates with you, i think we'd like to send all of our best wishes to that . that young best wishes to that. that young police officer from all of us here @gbnews but coming up, the lib dems are launching their

general election campaign in wales, launching what they're calling a rescue plan for farmers. but but farming in wales is a devolved issue. the responsibility of the welsh labour government. >> but also get some more on that shock. news about diane abbott not barred from standing for election. >> not yet anyway . >> not yet anyway. >> not yet anyway. >> that's your headline. >> that's your headline. >> headlines . >> headlines. >> headlines. >> tom. emily, thank you very much. the top stories this hour. as you've just been hearing, labour has not taken any decision to bar diane abbott from standing for the labour party at the general election. the mp reportedly told media that she'd been blocked from running with the party, but sir keir starmer said just moments ago the reports were not true . ago the reports were not true. she had the whip withdrawn in april last year following comments she made about racism. she later apologised and an investigation concluded in december. 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 . the health secretary newington. the health secretary is calling on the labour party to condemn strikes by junior doctors. it's after the bma confirmed another five day walkout starting on the 27th of june. victoria atkins says that announcing the strike during an election proves that it's a political move and not about patients or staff, but the union says its demand for a 35% increase is only to make up for what it says is 15 years of below inflation. pay the owners of royal mail have agreed to a £35 billion takeover by czech £3.5 billion takeover by czech billionaire daniel kretinsky. the deal will see universal service obligations continuing, 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. some breaking news just in welsh , first minister just in welsh, first minister vaughan gething will face a motion of no confidence tabled by the welsh conservatives on the 5th of june, that just in more on this developing, breaking story as we get it. and for the latest stories, sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen or go to gb news. common alerts .

>> good afternoon. britain. it's 38 minutes past midday. now. the liberal democrats , they're also liberal democrats, they're also in this election. they've launched their campaign in wales today, promising that they're going to reverse what they're

calling the conservatives legacy of failure. there's ed davey riding a bicycle in a rather haphazard way. you know, there's such a lovely time, doesn't he, on the election trail, their election stunt ? yes. election stunt? yes. >> i mean, it was rishi sunak getting on a sleeper train to penzance this morning, and i've been on that sleeper train and it is. i didn't get a bed because they were all sold out. so an upright seat for what, 11 hours? oh, i think , goodness me. hours? oh, i think, goodness me. anyway, although i was going all the way to aberdeen. pardon >> couldn't just bunk with someone. >> no, no. anyway, so ed davey has set out a rescue plan for farmers, including £1 billion in extra funding for the agriculture budget, renegotiating botched overseas trade deals, he says, and addressing worker shortages in the sector. >> let's get the very latest from the lib dem campaign battlebus. it's called yellowhammer one and olivia utley, our political correspondent is there on it for us. olivia, another big day in the campaign and more stunts from the liberal democrats . a from the liberal democrats. a significant amount . oh, we're

significant amount. oh, we're really good. we're struggling getting some signal with you, olivia. we're going to try and persevere and we might not be able to do this. i think she's crossing re—establish. >> i can hear you now . oh, yes. >> i can hear you now. oh, yes. >> oh, you've got us. take it away, olivia. whatever you want to say. got you. >> okay, well , i am to say. got you. >> okay, well, i am on to say. got you. >> okay, well , i am on the to say. got you. >> okay, well, i am on the lib dem battle bus, as you said, i'm in about wuster at the moment. i think coming going over from wales where we were this morning, to somerset in the west country, one of those lib dem former heartlands which were lost in the 2015 general election. now in the wales campaign this morning, the liberal democrats are desperately trying to win back at least one seat. they used to hold a seat in wales, brecon and radnorshire, where i was this morning. they held it in 2019. they got it in a by—election and then they lost it three months later in the general election. they're hoping to win that. but back in part with a plan for investment in welsh farmers now that's a bit of a tricky issue for a uk politician to be

talking about, because of course, agriculture is a devolved issue in wales. the lib dems are also promising big to rural communities both in england and in wales. there's a lot of focus on pollution in lakes and rivers . that's why we lakes and rivers. that's why we were in windermere yesterday with those very memorable shots of ed davey falling off a paddleboard, and there is also a lot of talk, something which we've heard from ed davey in parliament over the last four years about the dentist drought, an issue which particularly concerns rural communities both in england and in wales. the campaign generally , the lib dem campaign generally, the lib dem campaign generally, the lib dem campaign generally, the lib dem campaign generally is very much focused on winning specific seats, mainly from the conservatives and also from the snp. in scotland, there is no plan this time for the liberal democrats to sort of win the general election . that's what in general election. that's what in 2019, jo swinson, the former leader of the party, said that she would be the next prime minister. ed davey is very much not saying that this time round they just plan to get 40, maybe 50 seats from conservative mps,

perhaps even some cabinet ministers in the south of england. ed davey is very careful not to criticise keir starmer. he is hoping that at some point the polls in this election will narrow to the point where we could be looking at a hung parliament and potentially the lib dems becoming kingmakers. he is very happy, though , to throw all happy, though, to throw all sorts of mud at the conservatives. we were talking to him earlier today and here's what he had to say. no we're really clear that taxes are not going to go up for people . going to go up for people. >> the conservatives have put them up so much to record levels in a cost of living crisis. the conservatives are now the high tax party in the uk and that's a scandal when we publish our costs manifesto , we'll show costs manifesto, we'll show where the money will come from for policies like our £1 billion a year extra for farmers who've been betrayed by the conservatives and, for example , conservatives and, for example, we've been making it clear that the cuts in taxes to the big

banks really need to reverse. and the conservatives have favoured the big banks by £4 billion a year in tax cuts. that's not right when people are struggling with conservative higher taxes. >> well, a lot of talk there , as >> well, a lot of talk there, as you heard about tory failures, tories letting down welsh farmers. ed davey seems to have learnt from his predecessor, nick clegg, and ruled out a coalition with the conservatives. he hasn't, though, ruled out a coalition with labour. and perhaps that's something we should be keeping an eye on if we do end up in a situation where the polls narrow to the point of a talk about a hung parliament, well, thank you very much indeed, and enjoy the rest of your trip on the lib dem battle bus. >> what did you call it? the yellowhammer. >> yellowhammer one. >> yellowhammer one. >> it's yellowhammer one, thank you very much. olivia utley. there are gb news political correspondent, but there's some other news. breaking news from wales, isn't there? there is the first minister. he's going to suffer a vote of no confidence very soon. >> yes. next week. vaughan gething . he's only been first

gething. he's only been first minister of wales for three months. he'll be facing a vote of no confidence. and that's after , of course, the coalition after, of course, the coalition deal between, or at least the confidence and supply deal. no, i think it was a coalition between the welsh labour and pued between the welsh labour and plied kumri collapsed. now they do have a majority of just one vote in the senate in the welsh parliament, but of course vaughan gething has sacked one of his cabinet ministers in recent weeks . could that recent weeks. could that particular member of the senate be his undoing? it's going to be a knife edge vote. it could come down to just one vote. whether or not no confidence is voted in. vaughan gething as first minister of wales and that has huge echoes of what happened to humza yousaf up in scotland just last month. >> a lot to do with the donations for his leadership campaign from someone who committed environmental offences. absolutely, that's the accusation. lots of money to his leadership campaign, hundreds of thousands of pounds to a

leadership campaign, there's all sorts of , speculation about sorts of, speculation about past, association. this person received a big a big loan from the welsh investment bank, which vaughan gething used to preside oven vaughan gething used to preside over, but then, more than that, there's a big application for planning permission from this particular convicted criminal, that the welsh government can grant now , this individual then grant now, this individual then gave a lot of money to the first minister of wales in his election campaign. now i'm not saying it's anything at all to do with the request for planning permission , but some people have permission, but some people have onune permission, but some people have online and in print newspapers raised that link. >> yes. the accusation is that he's a corruptible. so there you go. we'll bring you any more on that. but we've got some views coming in thick and fast. gbnews.com/yoursay is the way to get in touch? yes >> kim has written in on mickey mouse degrees. kim says , i've mouse degrees. kim says, i've worked with employers and apprentices, both young and old. i've recruited graduates into companies for management schemes . i would take apprenticeships

every single time . going to every single time. going to university doesn't make a person more intelligent or capable . in more intelligent or capable. in fact, one of the biggest problems we had with graduates was a lack of common sense and real world experience . if you real world experience. if you handed them a plank sideways to take through an open door , take through an open door, they'd be bashing the door frame. >> it's quite funny , kim, >> it's quite funny, kim, stephen says, my daughter did did a degree, racked up thousands in debts, has never worked a day in that qualification . as for myself, qualification. as for myself, i joined the army, learnt a trade, got my hgv and travelled the world. well there you go. i'm sure you have a row or two around the dinner table about your different choices on the diane abbott stuff though, lizzie says i don't think a lot of people care about diane abbott. the labour party are just playing their stupid games and bg says she shouldn't be allowed to come back . the fact allowed to come back. the fact she supports the likes of corbyn is enough to put off any sane person. so there you go. >> and that's the risk for the labour party. i can see an electoral strategy in saying, look, we've turned a page on jeremy corbyn. diane abbott will not be standing as a candidate with a changed labour party.

we're a new labour party and i can see an argument in saying, diane abbott was the first black female elected mp. she's a part of labour history. of course she should stand. i can't see an argument for standing in the middle of the road getting hit by traffic from both sides on this issue. >> no, it does look a bit weak, a little bit flip floppy. anyway, rishi sunak is in cornwall today. he's pushing his party's plan to create 100,000 more apprenticeships by shutting down the so—called mickey mouse degrees. well, the law would aim to give england's universities watchdog new powers to shut down courses deemed as underperforming. well, we can now speak with the minister of state for countering illegal migration, michael tomlinson, michael, thank you very much indeed for joining michael, thank you very much indeed forjoining us. i guess the first question has to be what courses would be shut down if the conservatives are re—elected, emily, good afternoon and thank you so much for having me on. the straightforward answer is those courses where graduates end up not getting value for money. and as we all know, students paying thousands more than that, tens

of thousands of pounds to go to university and some of them ending up on wages, for example, of less than £20,000. that's not value for money. that's not for good the students and that's not good the students and that's not good for the economy and good for our country. so we're investing in in apprentices. you're seeing pictures of the prime minister in cornwall announcing this scheme, 100,000 more apprentices each year dunng more apprentices each year during the course of the next parliament. and it's builds on the bold and ambitious announcements that we had so far on national service, on the, the triple lock plus for the pensions and now today on the apprenticeships as well . apprenticeships as well. >> i can see the argument for saying that you shouldn't be subsidising so—called underperforming mickey mouse courses through the government backed student loans programme, many of which are not paid back . many of which are not paid back. i can't quite see the logic, however, in in in not allowing universities to offer them at all. what if someone wants to pay all. what if someone wants to pay to do one of these entirely out of their own pocket? what if a foreign student wants to come and study? mickey mouse and pour tens of thousands of pounds into the british economy by doing so ?

the british economy by doing so? >> well, tom, if it's not value for money, if in fact, you're not getting back a return on that, then it's simply not right and not appropriate. and we should be investing that money instead in, in apprenticeships, instead in, in apprenticeships, in giving people the skills . in giving people the skills. >> i completely accept your argument that it's not right and appropriate for the british taxpayer to be funding that. but what i was saying is what if this is a foreign student coming in bringing their own to money pay in bringing their own to money pay for one of these courses, or indeed someone paying up front indeed someone paying up front in britain without using any state subsidy? >> that's not going to happen, is it? >> why would why would you ban thatis >> why would why would you ban that is the proposal. >> well, so i understand that argument. i understand your point. but instead of pouring tens of thousands of pounds into a course, that's not value for money, they should pay, put that money, they should pay, put that money into a course that is value for money. and there are plenty of courses out there that are value for money, where graduates where you graduate and you get on to a graduate wage. but this, i think, is a bold offer 100,000 new apprenticeships, giving people for example, in my constituency of mid dorset and north poole,

even more opportunities to continue to study and to earn on an apprenticeship. and i think thatis an apprenticeship. and i think that is right. and it's another bold offer from the conservatives. i was there, tom, a week ago when the campaign launched. a week ago when the campaign launched . start started on the launched. start started on the wednesday evening at the excel, and it was an energised prime minister that we saw then and we're seeing more energy today and there's more to come. >> this isn't a new pledge, though, is it? we've heard quite a lot about the government wanting to crack down on these so—called mickey mouse degrees, why should we trust that it's going to happen this time ? going to happen this time? >> well, i think it's a pretty clear pledge this time. we're putting into we will put into statute that the office for students will have the power to look at this and look in detail and in fact, emily, answering your very first question, it will be the office for students who will be looking at the detail of this, looking at which courses are, in fact those courses are, in fact those courses that are not value for money. i've heard the disney character phrase used. that's not one that i would use myself, but just simply value for money, or rip off courses, frankly, where you're paying tens of thousands of pounds and you're

simply not getting value for money, you're you're ending up, as i say, on on a wage of less than £20,000. that's not good for the student, that's not good for the student, that's not good for young people, and it's not good for our economy either. >> do you think some of these universities should simply be shut down, i'm looking at a telegraph table here, of some of these courses. so, for example, photography , the average salary photography, the average salary five years after graduation , five years after graduation, £24,000, i mean, that's a lot of student debt to get into for such a low salary. after five years in a job after graduation, i imagine it very much depends on what university you're going to. of course, some are higher calibre than others. i think that's right. >> it's the university. it's the specific course as well. and that's exactly the sort of detail that the office for students will be looking at. it's putting into legislation and enabling the office for students to look at exactly that point . and there will be some point. and there will be some courses that are perfectly proper and perfectly appropriate. and tom, back to

your point, where it's perfectly reasonable for people to pay tens of thousands of pounds to come over here and to study because there will be good quality jobs at the end of it. but for those where there simply isn't the value for money, that's not appropriate, that's not investing in our young people. and we're determined to change that. with the prime minister's announcement today. >> now, michael tomlinson, we've spoken about universities. the government has made announcements on pensions, on on national service, on, inflation, even back down to normal. one thing that we haven't heard a great deal about so far in this general election campaign from the prime minister, is your department illegal migration? it's up by a third this year. granted down by a third last yeah granted down by a third last year. but things are trending in the wrong direction again, tom. that's right. we you're right to say it was down by a third last yeah say it was down by a third last year. and in fact, year on year, it's down by around 30. but too many people are coming across still the prime minister's pledge to stop the boats depends on the rwanda scheme. it depends on the rwanda scheme. it depends on getting the deterrent up and running. we saw a beginnings of

the deterrent from people who were saying they don't want to come over to the united kingdom anymore because they're anxious about being sent to the to rwanda. that's not where they want to end up. but in order for the deterrent effect fully to kick in, we need those flights to take thousand off people have already crossed so far this yeah >> more than 10,000. that's higher than by this point the year before . and if there isn't year before. and if there isn't a deterrent effect to rwanda, and i think there is a strong argument to make that there would be were it to be operational. well, you're clearly not seeing it yet, tom. >> that's right. flights have not yet taken off. don't forget labour are determined to scrap this scheme. they want to stop the flights . we want to stop the the flights. we want to stop the boats. but the full deterrent effect . i think hinting behind effect. i think hinting behind your question. the full deterrent effect will only be seen when those flights actually take off. and it's not just one flight, but a steady rhythm of regular flights , such as the regular flights, such as the prime minister has pledged. that's why we spent all that time getting this legislation through. that's why we need to press on and vote conservative on july the 4th, to ensure that

the rwanda scheme is up and running. as as with the deterrent effect. >> now, one man who doesn't think the rwanda scheme is going to work is, nigel farage. he's a challenge. rishi sunak to a debate on immigration. would you like to see that? >> well, respectfully, nigel isn't the leader of the party. it's. there will be debates and, rishi sunak, the prime minister has challenged keir starmer to a debate every week, and keir has slightly, shrugged his shoulders at that. he's dodging the debates, but but actually, that's where it that's where the debate should happen, because it's going to be a clear choice . it's going to be a clear choice. it's going to be a clear choice. >> there's a debate actually, on itv next tuesday. so he's not dodging that one. >> well, he's he's dodged the offer, the suggestion, the challenge of a debate every single week. he certainly dodged that. you're right. single week. he certainly dodged that. you're right . there will that. you're right. there will be 1 or 2 debates, but not as many as the prime minister had wanted, because we haven't heard those. any ideas from the labour party? in contrast to the big bold ideas and announcements that we've heard from rishi sunak, the prime minister. so i would much rather have seen a debate every week so that we can

flesh out what on earth are we going to get if keir starmer gets into downing street, if he's given the keys to downing street, which flip flop are we going to get this week? we just don't know. and that's why the prime minister challenged him to those debates, so that we could hear more of the ideas from labouh hear more of the ideas from labour, which have simply been lacking. >> just on the point of nigel farage. very finally, does it show that the prime minister doesn't want to debate migration , doesn't want to debate illegal migration? he's talking about the economy , about universities, the economy, about universities, inflation, national service, just about everything other than this. >> so i don't think that's right for example, i'm talking to you now. that's it is my job, that for countering illegal migration. it's in my job title. that's part of what i do. and you heard actually on the first interview that the prime minister gave on the campaign trail, him being asked about the rwanda scheme, i'm sure immigration and rwanda are going to be front and centre, and i'm certainly doing my bit to tour the to tour the studios and talk about it, as well as campaign in my own constituency of mid dorset and north poole and across the country, of course.

>> okay. well thank you very much indeed for your time. michael tomlinson, minister of state for countering illegal migration. thank you very much for your time. >> well , a lot for your time. >> well, a lot was for your time. >> well , a lot was covered >> well, a lot was covered there, but so much more to come on the show. in fact, we're going to get more on that breaking news that diane abbott has not, at least not yet been barred from standing as a labour candidate. this is a very, very intricate story that has a lot of twists and turns, and it seems that new lines are breaking on it just about every single moment. much more to come with that in the next hour of good afternoon, britain, here on gb news, britain's election

channel. >> good afternoon. britain. it's 1:00 on wednesday, the 29th of may. >> i'm emily carver, and i'm tom harwood. >> now, confusion reigns over the political future of veteran labour mp diane abbott. this morning, she told journalists

that she was being barred from standing in the upcoming election. but in the past hour, the labour leader has denied that claim. what is going on? >> meanwhile, the prime minister has vowed to shut down so—called mickey mouse courses on in universities if he's re—elected. he says the move will help fund more apprenticeships instead. but his university even worth it. we'll be debating that question shortly and we'll sort out the crisis in the nhs, a claim from labour, they say 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 . apple. >> well, diane abbott is a story that i think is more than just about diane abbott . it's a story about diane abbott. it's a story about diane abbott. it's a story about how the labour party is going to run britain, how their

communications work and whether there is any plan at the top of there is any plan at the top of the party at all. >> yeah. how should keir starmer, sir keir starmer play this one. he allowed this story to get out into the open. diane abbott claiming publicly that she's been barred from standing for election this has all been going on for many, many months now, and, and now he comes out and says, actually, no, we haven't barred her. so what? what is the answer here? will she stand as a candidate in the election? >> it's very, very odd because they could have made a clear answer. one way or the other, saying, diane abbott is a great member of the labour party, a huge part of labour history. the first elected black woman mp. they could really have leant in behind her or they could have said, actually what she said was disgraceful. this is someone who represents the worst of the jeremy corbyn era of the labour party . we're going to have a party. we're going to have a clean break from that. but they haven't done either. they've issued contradictory statement after contradictory statement and seem to be spinning around and seem to be spinning around and almost trying to create a

sense of confusion. >> he might be playing both sides, don't you, tom? >> keir starmer playing both sides, surely playing both sides. >> let us know what you think. gbnews.com/yoursay is the way to get in touch, but it's your headunes get in touch, but it's your headlines with tatiana. >> emily, thank you very much. 1:02, the top stories from the gb news room. labour has not taken any decision to bar diane abbott from standing for the labour party at the general election, the mp reportedly told media that she'd been blocked from running with the party. but sir keir starmer said this afternoon those reports were not true. she had the whip withdrawn in april last year following comments she made about racism. she later apologised and an investigation concluded in december. 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 . the health secretary

newington. the health secretary is calling on the labour party to condemn fresh strikes by junior doctors . it's after the junior doctors. it's after the british medical association confirmed another five day walkout starting on the 27th of june. victor gao atkins says that announcing strike action dunng that announcing strike action during an election proves it's a political move and not about patients or staff . but the union patients or staff. but the union says its demand for a 35% increase is only to make up for what it says is 15 years of below inflation. pay meanwhile, the head of the royal college of nursing is stepping down to launch a bid to become an mp in the general election. pat cullen led nurses into unprecedented strike action and says standing down is the hardest decision to make. it's understood she'll run for a seat with the sinn fein party. the welsh first minister is facing a vote of no confidence after less than three months in office. the welsh conservatives tabled the motion against labour's vaughan gething, following months of

controversy around donations dunng controversy around donations during his election campaign . during his election campaign. the vote is due to take place next week on the 5th of june. sir keir starmer has given gething his backing , saying he's gething his backing, saying he's looking forward to being with him in this campaign. looking forward to being with him in this campaign . the owners him in this campaign. the owners of royal mail have agreed a £35 billion takeover bid by czech billionaire daniel kretinsky. the deal will see universal service obligations continuing, 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, but the sale has attracted heavy scrutiny from senior politicians and unions amid concerns over the future of royal mail service . rishi sunak and sir keir starmer will go head to head in the first televised debate of the first televised debate of the election campaign next tuesday . the prime minister was tuesday. the prime minister was aboard an overnight sleeper train to cornwall last night, unveiling a plan to create 100,000 new apprenticeships.

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 . the only option. >> 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 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 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. the plan would see an additional 40,000 appointments in england each week during evenings and weekends, bringing wait times within the 18 week target. the tories called it more copy and paste politics and pointed to its plan to invest in nhs technology. but sir keir starmer says it will help health workers get on with the job, not the only thing that we do for the nhs, but just the first thing, which is to have 40,000 extra appointments and operations every week. >> so that means using operating theatres in the evenings and the weekends. so 40,000 will pay for that by getting rid of the non—dom status completely. that's the special tax status for the super rich. that means they don't pay their tax in this country . i think if you live country. i think if you live here, you should be paying your tax here. so we'll get rid of that. we also want to get in the money that isn't being paid in tax by those that are avoiding it . it. >> and the liberal democrats are pledging an extra £1 billion to champion british farming. sir ed

davey has outlined a plan to undo what he calls a legacy of failure by the conservative government. he's promising to renegotiate overseas trade deals and address a chronic shortage of workers . for the latest of workers. 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 tom and . emily. back to tom and. emily. >> good afternoon britain. it's 1:07 and we're on the sofas. we'll tell you. we'll tell you why. >> like the good old days. >> like the good old days. >> exactly. but let's start this hour with what appears to be total confusion over the future of one of labour's longest standing members of parliament. >> yes . this standing members of parliament. >> yes. this morning, the hackney mp diane abbott revealed that she was dismayed by reports that she was dismayed by reports that she was dismayed by reports that she could be barred from standing in the forthcoming election. it followed her suspension for writing an article which suggested that jewish people faced prejudice but not racism.

>> but in the past hour, the labour leader, speaking in the west midlands, said that there was no such ban in place and indeed no decision had been taken about whether britain's first black female mp could stand for re—election? >> well, gb news political editor christopher hope joins us now. christopher is sir keir starmer telling the truth here? >> well, maybe he's not quite clear on the status of diane abbott, as you say there she was suspended. she was investigated . suspended. she was investigated. that concluded last year. she then did some some training in recognising anti—semitism, semitic comments and views on. she denied any wrongdoing and apologised. the matter was put to bed then, but that the protest carried on and on, and now we hear, don't we, that she will. she's been restored as an mp for two days before parliament is dissolved. finally tomorrow and she becomes plain

old diane abbott again. but bigger issue is whether she can campaign and be a member of the labour party and even stand in the election now, she said on twitter two hours ago. i'll be campaigning for labour victory , campaigning for labour victory, but i am very dismayed that numerous reports suggest i have been barred as a candidate over to sir keir starmer, who's with reporters today on his election tour of the uk. he said no, that's not true . no decision has that's not true. no decision has been taken to bar diane abbott, the process that we were going through ended with the restoration of the whip. that was yesterday or today . no, the was yesterday or today. no, the decision has been made in terms of barring her and that's where we stand this lunchtime. it's a headache. we stand this lunchtime. it's a headache . it may be that sir headache. it may be that sir keir starmer can't bring himself to say that he is going to bar her from standing. diane abbott is a totemic labour politician . is a totemic labour politician. of course, she's the first black mp for 80 years who, when elected in 87, someone who is who was set the bar for so many

mps to follow her despite what she said. and the question is, what will sir keir starmer do next? >> chris, a thought has just popped >> chris, a thought has just popped into my head. this instance about this constructive ambiguity we're hearing at the top of the labour party and that's this jeremy corbyn, a long standing friend, a very close friend of diane abbott, will be launching his independent candidacy for islington north tonight. i wonder if diane abbott had been barred from standing for labour. perhaps she would appear beside him. she'd have nothing to lose. but if it's ambiguous , if this but if it's ambiguous, if this sort of trinket of a seat is being dangled before her, she won't be appearing alongside jeremy corbyn tonight because that would expel her from the labour party. could it be about trying to weaken jeremy corbyn? is part of this five dimensional chess game ? chess game? >> that's almost really that is. yeah, yeah. you are reading heavily into this and you could well be right, there's no

question that she can't stand on the same stage as jeremy corbyn tonight, but she has said in terms she wants to campaign for a labour victory, not for jeremy corbyn to win as an independent mp, in in north north islington. so whether that's the case, i think there's lots of wheels turning but there's lots of drama for all the parties at the moment in, in trying to select mps before the deadline next week. >> yes. >> yes. >> and what i want to know is was there anyone else lined up for diane abbott's seat? i guess that would. >> oh, there'll be hundreds of people who'd love it . people who'd love it. >> so someone who has been told, perhaps by the party, that they're a shoo in, i don't know, but christopher, wales . wales, but christopher, wales. wales, the first minister there, he's in a bit of a hot water. >> that's right. vaughan gething has been the labour, the first minister in wales for three months and also already facing a vote of no confidence next week. this story first broken by gb

news. by my colleague hannah in the newsroom. i mean, it's a big story here. if another devolved first minister should fall on their sword, it's a row over some controversial donations to his leadership campaign , and his leadership campaign, and it's going to be very, very tight vote next week. so further difficulties possibly here, going into the election, of course , we have announced a few course, we have announced a few an hour or so ago this junior doctors strike in the week before polling day. so it's building up a head of steam, i should say. i'm here in cornwall, by the way, with the prime minister he's doing he's with some apprentices here and some veterans. whether he's been, you'll see a yellow box behind me . been, you'll see a yellow box behind me. he's been wiring been, you'll see a yellow box behind me . he's been wiring that behind me. he's been wiring that up and he was so successful at it that the telecoms engineer said, if you want a new job, you should try telecoms. that might be the case afterjuly should try telecoms. that might be the case after july the should try telecoms. that might be the case afterjuly the 5th. be the case after july the 5th. >> very good. well, christopher hope, thank you very much. we'll speak to you a little bit later in the programme. of course. but joining us now on the sofas, this is why we're on the sofas after all. that's not us. no. here we are, is gloria de piero,

of course, a former the good old days mp. now gb news presenter as well. but, gloria, let's dive into wales first because i've been looking at the numbers . and been looking at the numbers. and the first rule of politics is to learn to count the labour party in the senate, have 30 seats. all opposition parties put together have 30 seats. the convention is the speaker will break in favour of the government. so there's one vote in it. >> yes, but look, this is a general election campaign going on. >> how do you seize the initiative if you are the opponents to the labour party in wales, then you put this vote of no confidence down, which is going to dominate the news agenda on that particular day. >> we're talking about it today. you're not going to win, but it stops the labour party talking about whatever they want to be talking about, a bit like actually the tories are doing quite successful at the moment in, in, in the uk, whether that be about, national service or apprenticeships today . but apprenticeships today. but today's labour story of diane

abbott is probably, well, it is absolutely self—inflicted . it. absolutely self—inflicted. it. >> well how is it self—inflicted. well so a decision has to be made on whether diane abbott is allowed to stand in her constituency. >> my suspicion. i don't know this for sure. my suspicion is that the labour party probably did intend to let her in before the election, which they thought was in november. and so if you do that, you know, if you think we can do that in may or june or we can do that in may orjune or july, you know, it's not a as long as it and then people have forgotten about it by the time now, of course, we're in the middle of a general election campaign. diane abbott is a very, controversial figure. some people , particularly, you know, people, particularly, you know, some young graduates who might be tempted to vote green. they will love diane abbott. many of those people, some people in the red wall, people who rejected jeremy corbyn at the last election, they will be far more sceptical about diane abbott. so either way, it's not easy. this this was not in the grid and yet we're talking about diane

abbott. >> and yet and yet much of the reporting around this seems to suggest that there might have been some sort of backroom deal done about diane abbott being able to go out with grace, saying that she was retiring rather than being forced out. sir keir starmer. putting out a video about her service and everyone being happy. labour families. what? what? clearly happened at some point this week was someone within the labour party did not like that plan, and leaked the fact that she was being blocked to the times, because the times ran this story and labour didn't deny it. >> look, i think we can sort of get into the weeds of this. the weeds are important fact is, the fact is that we are on the day that the labour party , a party that the labour party, a party which, you know, everyone knows i support, have have a big announcement on cutting, waiting lists, 40,000 a week in the nhs , lists, 40,000 a week in the nhs, within the first year of a labour government. that's what today's story is supposed to be about. instead, we are talking about. instead, we are talking about diane abbott. and i just give one word of advice to, my

party, if i may. next tuesday is when the national executive committee meets to determine , committee meets to determine, because you've got a lot of retiring labour mps to determine who will be the candidates in those seats, we cannot be talking. diane abbott will be the story until next tuesday. a word of advice from my party. make a decision now. do not let you guys be talking about what do you think the right decision is ? is? >> because let's cast our minds back to how this all kicked off. and she wrote a thoroughly offensive letter in the observer where she was suspended, appeared to compare the prejudice faced by jewish people to those faced with my colour hair. i mean, that is an outrageous statement, thoroughly offensive. why didn't keir starmer just offensive. why didn't keir starmerjust boot offensive. why didn't keir starmer just boot her out offensive. why didn't keir starmerjust boot her out at offensive. why didn't keir starmer just boot her out at the time? >> well, he suspended her. we have processes. it's gone on far too long. it's now erupted dunng too long. it's now erupted during a general election campaign when the labour party want to be talking about the nhs. >> this is the this is the perennial criticism of the starmer machine, sort of how it's so shrouded in mystery. and of course, what he said when he was running to be labour leader and many people supported him on

this. i think it was a sensible thing. let's take the disciplinary processes out of the politicians. we'll give it to an arm's length body. and so people can't can't meddle in these processes. but this arm's length body seems to be pretty political in and of itself. it treats some politicians differently to the way it treats other ones. it lets in. natalie elphicke and abolishes diane abbott. this is in going back to those bad old days of spin under tony blair, of hiding things and of and of undemocratic process. >> so there's a national i mean, i can't believe i mean, if our viewers are interested, there is a national executive committee and keir starmer has the majority on that committee, and that will oversee that will determine solely that panel, because we're in the middle of a general election campaign, that committee will determine who will replace. i think it's like 15, 15 vacancies. there will be no local members, and there are more vacancies coming up all the time. >> and there have been some reporting that some members of the nec might have been pretty friendly with some of those standing down. >> this is a bit nitty

themselves, but it's your point that keir starmer , you don't that keir starmer, you don't particularly care what decision is made . go on, tell us what do is made. go on, tell us what do you think should happen to diane abbott? well, you see my mind is in the place of the seat that i used to represent. >> so i think reluctantly i would say she cannot stand because i can just see, fairly or unfairly, diane abbott and jerry hardin that wing of the labour party. they are toxic , labour party. they are toxic, those parts of the country. but, you know, if i represented, i don't know , some trendy bristol, don't know, some trendy bristol, islington north, i would be saying , oh my gosh, she's got to saying, oh my gosh, she's got to become a kinks. i will, you know, they'll all vote green if i'm sure. >> we all remember in 2017 when diane abbott was shadow home secretary and the last week of the campaign, she was seemingly not shadow home secretary. do you remember this when she was sort of when it was briefed out to the papers and journalists that diane abbott had taken a leave of absence in the last few days? she was poorly of the campaign, but but but wasn't. doesn't this that was the position. and the position isn't

always the truth. no no. but but it does get to the point that perhaps even jeremy corbyn and seamus milne and the people at the top of that machine perhaps saw her as a liability in 2017, just when they were surging in the polls. >> you could you could perfectly prosecute that case. we don't we won't know because we're not jeremy corbyn or, seamus milne. >> well, there you go . >> well, there you go. >> well, there you go. >> we'll find out what happens. as it stands, keir starmer says no decision has been made on diane abbott, despite lots of reports to the contrary and the press. but thank you so much, gloria de piero a pleasure to be on your show. thank you very much indeed. >> yeah, well, we'll have to get gloria back very, very soon. still to come. rishi sunak. vowed to crack down on the poorest performing degrees and create thousands of new apprenticeships. we're asking , apprenticeships. we're asking, is it even worth going to university? this is good afternoon, britain on

gb news. good afternoon. britain. it's 1:23. now. rishi sunak has pledged to crack down on the worst performing degrees in the country . what? sometimes a country. what? sometimes a derogatory known as mickey mouse degrees . i'm derogatory known as mickey mouse degrees. i'm not sure anyone's actually asked mickey mouse if he minds being compared to terrible degrees. >> someone was telling me in the in the break that there is a module in one of these courses thatis module in one of these courses that is about mickey mouse, so there you go. it is a real thing, a mickey mouse module. i think you can also study harry potter these days. you can a little bit of underwater basket weaving that's the classic, isn't it? that's the classic. david beckham studies is another i >> -- >> well, all these courses still exist. all of these courses , if exist. all of these courses, if they do exist, still are going to be facing the chop under rishi sunak. and all the saved money is going to fund an extra 100,000 high skilled apprenticeships. that's what the tories have announced today. >> sounds grand. but he says this will stop universities ripping off students for degrees that leave them no better off. so we're asking we're asking the broader question is university

still worth it or is it frankly a rip off? >> and i think this is a big, big question for many people, because you do get the sense that there is just the necessity, the necessity to go to university for so many jobs. now so many jobs now require degrees that didn't require degrees that didn't require degrees in the past. and perhaps we need to go a bit further upstream of this conversation, because and so many people end up in non graduate jobs. >> anyway, i read the statistic that 1 in 3 graduates actually end up in a non graduate job. so what exactly are they getting? also see people with upwards of £60,000 of debt, because that interest on those loans is so horrendous. i was lucky i was on the £3,000 a year. on lucky fees. they went up to nine. >> yeah they did. yeah so they 90, >> yeah they did. yeah so they go, well joining us is policy manager at the higher education policy institute, josh freeman, who thinks that taking money from higher education is wrong. well, josh , thanks for joining well, josh, thanks for joining us. i suppose the first big question is why on earth should

the taxpayer subsidise degrees that frankly don't lead to people making any money whatsoever ? whatsoever? >> thanks. >> thanks. >> yeah, i've been on here before and you know that i'm not a radical on this. i don't think that we should be subsidising everyone to go to university on on courses that aren't good value. and frankly, if there are mickey mouse degrees, then i think that the government shouldn't be funding them, shouldn't be funding them, and we should be maintaining high quality. but i will stand up and say, there is a real value to higher education. the education that you get, the quality of those soft skills that you get, the teamwork, the critical thinking. bear in mind that most graduates will be changing jobs every year or two in the years after they graduate. it's there's no point training people for a very specific profession when they're going to be changing jobs very quickly. and what higher education gives you is that that range of skills that you can apply to whatever it is you go on and do practice. >> but a lot of people study a photography degree because they want to be a photographer and

they want a career in that. and they're sold this course as being fantastic, and they'll be the next famous photographer out in milan. or they'll be photographing, photographing , photographing, photographing, sorry, photographing the royal family. and then they find that actually, on average, five years after graduation , they only earn after graduation, they only earn £24,000. i sometimes think that teachers, parents, the universities themselves are selling a bit of a lie here. >> well, i think there's two important parts to what you say. >> i mean, if you want to be a photographer, that's fantastic. and you go and you give it a go. but i think you'll probably use those skills over your whole life if you want to be a better photographer, you'll get something out of being able to have that as an artistic pursuit, as as something that you can do as a hobby, even if it isn't what you end up doing, but but , but i it isn't what you end up doing, but but, but i think there's something more to that than what you're saying, which is that young people deserve real choice. they shouldn't feel they have to go to university because it's the only option available to them. and so what i really like about the pm's proposal is

we're taking that other choice seriously . we're providing seriously. we're providing meaningful other opportunities for young people and i do think that's essential. >> now, i can't really think many times in my job that i've used some things that i learned at university. doing regression analysis is something that i've never had to do in my day to day job, for example, is it is it perhaps the case that you universities just offer a signalling mechanism to employers? it's not about actually what you learn at university , just as not none of university, just as not none of us actually need to use pythagoras theorem in day to day life. speak for yourself. but isn't this just potentially a big racket just to show you what could be shown far faster , far could be shown far faster, far more easily without three years of going through all of this? in fact, isn't it quite interesting that some of the most successful people in the world, yes, got into top institutions , but never into top institutions, but never finished their courses? people like mark zuckerberg, who dropped out after a year or two. some of the biggest billionaires

in the world dropped out of university is it actually the entrance exam that matters most , entrance exam that matters most, i had this argument made a few times . by the way, you can i had this argument made a few times. by the way, you can make a lot of money doing regression analysis, so i wouldn't rule that out as a, as a, as a future . as a future choice. but, no , . as a future choice. but, no, absolutely. i mean, i've heard this argument before . i think, this argument before. i think, people like when you talk about people like when you talk about people like when you talk about people like mark zuckerberg, for example. no, he didn't have to go. he didn't have to graduate , go. he didn't have to graduate, to be extremely successful. and you'd always be able to pick up on cases where this is happening. but mark zuckerberg still went and did the first couple of years of university, and it was with someone he met at university that he then went and founded facebook with and went on to be extremely successful. so there's something there, in those networks. look, goldman sachs pwc they hire history graduates and they hire philosophy graduates, which is surprising. you'd think they'd go for, you know, your sort of stem graduates and your maths graduates, but what they want is

those critical thinking skills, that ability to think clearly, to express yourself . there is to express yourself. there is some ongoing value in that, even if many of those skills. >> let's be frank, though, it really depends what university you went to. >> i mean, there are higher calibre universities and there are lower cabinet universities. if you're doing a degree course and you've got three e's at a level, it's unlikely that you're going to be reaching the same standard as someone who's leading the labour party , who's leading the labour party, who's the three years, who's who's, who's an oxbridge , studying the who's an oxbridge, studying the same subject, is there an issue here that actually far too many people are going to university? and as a result, some of these courses are actually quite dumbed down. you might not get much further than a—level level, yeah. >> so the announcement today is to cut, i think, an eighth about 130,000 university places is for, for students. now we have a regulator that's supposed to do that in england, the office for students. it started doing that hasn't really got very far. probably because it's not

powerful enough to get that. so i think that's it's strengthening that, is already reasonable. but but on what bafis reasonable. but but on what basis are we cutting degrees? is it salary? are we saying some degrees don't earn enough? in which case that's going to prioritise. you know, going to university in london and there'll be lots of courses in london where you just move in and you can earn loads after regardless of what you've done, or can we include some of those other benefits? do you can you measure somehow, you know, things like dropout rates or the value that you get? it's very tncky value that you get? it's very tricky to just go in there and say, we're going to cut 130,000 courses without thinking about how it's going to be done. >> so do you think, do you think too many people are going to university city? >> i think we need to make sure that every every person who's going to university , wants to be going to university, wants to be there and is there because they actually want to be in university rather than because they feel it's the only option to them. okay. >> fair enough. thank you very much indeed . josh freeman, who much indeed. josh freeman, who is a policy manager at the higher education policy institute. >> i think what he said there

about the network effects of university are actually really, really important . i think that really important. i think that perhaps depends which university. yes, yes , but but university. yes, yes, but but this is this is the actual value of university. it's not about what you study. and yes, you can have an amazing tutor and you can have some great seminars and you can and you can write a fantastic thesis and all the rest of it. but but ultimately, that's not going to matter as much as what you do while you're there, while you're there, who you meet , what, perhaps there, while you're there, who you meet, what, perhaps things that you run that are outside of the classroom. yeah. >> okay. i think some, you know, high calibre institutions you may make connections that serve you for, you know, years and years . but i you for, you know, years and years. but i do think there are a hell of a lot of students who regret going to university, because what have they got to show for it, a non—graduate job and huge amounts of student debt. and i think it's actually immoral to tell young people that they're going to benefit so greatly from a university. >> people are 18 years old. they can make their own decisions. >> no, i'm sorry, but when

you're 18, when you're 17, 18, which is when you're applying, you don't always know what's best. and if you're told that something is the best option for you, you're going to follow it probably . well, i don't know. probably. well, i don't know. >> i don't know if you always will. there are lots of people who kick back and do things that they're told not to do. and perhaps, perhaps that's perhaps the answer here isn't necessarily saying this is good, this is bad, but it's to encourage people to question and to ask back to and dare i even say it, talk back . say it, talk back. >> well, i mean, if more and more people, if more and more people have a degree, then the value of that degree goes down. but still to come, we reveal how zombie knives can be bought online, still without facing id or even safety checks. it's a shocking story. we'll have the details after your headlines with tatiana . with tatiana. >> emily. thank you. the top stories from the gb newsroom . stories from the gb newsroom. labour has not taken any decision to bar diane abbott from standing for the labour

party at the general election . party at the general election. the mp reportedly told media that she'd been blocked from running with the party. but sir keir starmer said this afternoon those reports were not true. she had the whip withdrawn in april last year following comments she made about racism. she later apologised and an investigation concluded in december. 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 . the health stoke newington. the health secretary is calling on the labour party to condemn strikes by junior doctors after another five day walkout was confirmed starting on the 27th of june. victoria atkins says that announcing the strike during an election proves that it's a political move and not about patients or staff, but the union says its demand for a 35% increase is only to make up for what it says is 15 years of below inflation. pay meanwhile, the head of the royal college of nursing is stepping down to launch a bid to become an mp in

the general election. pat cullen led nurses into unprecedented strike action and says standing down is the hardest decision to make. it's understood she'll run for a seat with the sinn fein party. sir keir starmer has thrown his support behind the welsh first minister, who's facing a vote of no confidence after less than three months in office. the welsh conservatives tabled the motion against labour's vaughan gething. following months of controversy around donations during his election campaign , the vote is election campaign, the vote is due to take place next week on the 5th of june. 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. >> 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 $1.2751 and ,1.1745. the price of gold is £1,836.23 per ounce, and the ftse 100 is at 8219 points. >> cheers britannia wine club proudly sponsors the gb news financial report

>> good afternoon. britain. it's 1:38, and we're going to get to some of your views in just a moment. but first, sadiq khan has criticised the government's failure to ban so—called zombie knives, labelling it a betrayal of safety. he's calling on james cleverly to fast track legislation to bring forward a ban on the sale of these kinds of knives. >> well, gb news reporter charlie peters has has gone ahead and purchased some of these so—called zombie knives,

and he didn't have to submit id or pass any safety checks as per onune or pass any safety checks as per online requirements for retailers, which is slightly worrying . worrying. >> yes. well, charlie joins us in the studio now and charlie, you've brought along two pretty enormous pretty vicious looking knife. terrifying. >> yes. that's right. these are these are so—called zombie style knives that i've got here. so a zombie knife is anything over eight inches with a pointed end , eight inches with a pointed end, a cutting edge and also a serrated section . and it can serrated section. and it can also have, as we do have here, these gaps in the middle of the knife. now, the reason why this is not called a zombie knife is because the original definition , because the original definition, when it was first facing a ban in 2016, required the knife to have violent language or emblems on the blade. now, this left this left a loophole in the law for the best part of eight years. it's only in january that james cleverly announced that zombie style knives would come in as a new definition to stop them. six home secretaries have

made 16 announcements since 2016. the home office minister there being sarah newton calling to ban these items . and this has to ban these items. and this has meant that retailers have allowed to sell them online. i got them because there is still this loophole open where as long as the blade has no violent language on them, you can pick them up and no emblem. >> charlie, just show it up for us again a little bit so we can see hi for the camera, because this is a knife that is clearly designed to do a lot of damage to the smooth blade at the top and then the serrated bit from what i understand that. so that if you stick it in someone it then doesn't easily and cleanly come out. it causes damage as it's being pulled out. >> may i just say, for those of you at home that it is actually quite uncomfortable sitting even this close to a knife like that. there is absolutely no way in my mind that that anyone should be able to get their hands on that. but is it almost a futile , but is it almost a futile, futile exercise trying to get these things off the market? >> well, two years ago, the government brought in

restrictions saying that you had to pass an id check online and in person, and my investigation found that many retailers perhaps were not following in that duty. i was able to purchase these without an online check and also in person. they were delivered to an address where there was no check on my id. in fact, i wasn't even the person picking it up, so they delivered it to somebody who wasn't me. so a total failure by the courier and the retailer in that situation. now, sadiq khan has said the government has failed to put forward this ban in time. of course, with the with parliament being dissolved tomorrow, it's not been included in the wash up ahead of the general election. so this ban is meant to come in september. these knives are still legal for me to have until i take them out in public. that would be crime. >> and charlie, how prevalent are these kinds of knives? because i'm just trying to imagine someone walking down the street in any large city in the country . i mean, these are country. i mean, these are pretty hard to hide. normally, what we see when we see stabbings is sort of flip blades and switch blades. >> we put them down the trouser leg. >> but, but how common are

these? >> well, emily's right, there have been cases where even in very popular public spaces, people have been seen revealing these so—called zombie knives from their trousers, from within their tracksuit bottoms. in west yorkshire, that police force revealed through a freedom of information request that they had seen a significant spike in zombie knife related incidents last year. there are about 50,000 knife related crimes , of 50,000 knife related crimes, of which about 23% were from the metropolitan police facing the bulk of those incidents. but there aren't any dedicated stats on these particular blades. but it's clear that their purpose is nothing good. i mean, a 15 year old girl was killed by a zombie knife on a bus in croydon in september, and that's when a renewed focus on the blades came into effect. but as we've demonstrated soon after, it's very easy to purchase them. you don't necessarily need to face onune don't necessarily need to face online checks, and the government is still failing to get a grip of banning them. >> we're clearly not going to get into a situation where we're going to ban every kind of knife that exists. surely what happened the last time is we banned so—called zombie knives,

and then these knives mutated, they changed and we got now zombie style knives. if these get banned and i don't know the precise definition, you said the clean and then serrated blade surely a different design will come about and then the politicians will have to ban that, and then a new design will come out and the politicians will have to ban that. i mean, ultimately, are we looking at the symptom here, whereas actually the cause might be something deeper in society. and instead of banning things, we should get to the root cause here. >> that is a perspective i've heard from a lot of police officers i've been speaking to in the last couple of days, building this story, telling me that the problem here isn't necessarily the availability of blades. it's not a supply side issue of weapons, but rather a lack of effective and confident policing. police officers wanting to do more stop and search, wanting to challenge more people who might be carrying knives but not feeling as though they have the political backing to achieve that. political backing to achieve that . rory political backing to achieve that. rory gogan is the founder of the public safety foundation and a former police officer. he told me that really police

officers don't care a jot about the banning of knives because all too often they'll just find all too often they'll just find a new purpose to get it, and it's always going to be legal to purchase a kitchen knife. >> i mean, having these blades here on the table brings the horror of these knife crimes into sharp focus. sharp. just. well, yes . no, pardon the pun, well, yes. no, pardon the pun, but it really does these things are vicious looking. they are. they are horrible. i take your point that banning these something else pops up, but it is quite incredible that you everything like this should surely be banned from retail. there's no reason you need these kind of weapons. >> well, i just, i just find it very hard to imagine how we're going to get to a state where the country is going to ban every single different formulation of anything can be a weapon, i guess. >> yes , in response to sadiq >> yes, in response to sadiq khan's criticism , a conservative khan's criticism, a conservative party spokesperson did tell me that they would take no lectures from sadiq khan on crime, and they added that knife crime has risen by a shocking 20. last yearin risen by a shocking 20. last year in labour run london. they went on to say that also khan

was the only police and crime commissioner to miss police recruitment targets , failing to recruitment targets, failing to recruitment targets, failing to recruit 1000 extra officers , recruit 1000 extra officers, even with the money from the conservative government available for recruitment . they available for recruitment. they also pointed out that they had banned zombie knives in 2016. but as i'm showing you right now, clearly they necessarily haven't fully forced through that ban and we learnt, didn't we, that knife crime elsewhere in the country has actually gone down, down by 5. >> london, it's gone up everywhere else. it's gone down. not a huge amount but it's significant amount, so that's interesting. yes. sadiq khan clearly trying to put the pressure on the government rather than his own, that can you actually put at the feet of sadiq khan i mean crime, knife crime up in london, down in the rest of the country. >> it's a very strong line. the home secretary, james cleverly, has said it repeatedly in interviews during this election campaign. but ultimately, how much control does sadiq khan actually have of crime and policing in london? >> yeah, well, he has particular offices and he's the pcc. of course, that's the a part of his remit . but course, that's the a part of his remit. but labour's and crime commission. yeah. but a labour

source told me i mean there's all these battles over stats. they said that knife crime has soared by 80% since 2015, when the conservatives first came into the administration at the moment. so there is this battle, of course, over who's to blame for the knife crime, who's to blame for these varying statistics and all these shocking, appalling stories that we keep hearing about these blades? but one thing's one thing is for certain at the moment, this conservative ban hasn't worked. but at the same time , a lot of critics saying time, a lot of critics saying that it doesn't really matter what you ban , what you need to what you ban, what you need to get to the bottom of is why people feel the need to stab others. >> well, thank you very much indeed, charlie, for doing that investigation for us. shocking to see those weapons here. so, so close, but, let's move on, because lots of you have been getting in touch about what we've been talking about regarding the old mickey mouse degrees. you can get your views in gbnews.com/yoursay. >> yes. david says the number of people i know who say their degree was of no use and enjoyed three years drinking is considerable. hang on. are you

trying to say that three years drinking is of no use, right? we're not going to get to any other views because keir starmer is talking. let's have a listen. >> thank you so much for that. welcome wuster. it's absolutely fantastic to be here. thank you, stephen, for sharing your story because i think it's very important in this campaign that the country hears from the people who are being impacted by 14 years of failure . rishi sunak 14 years of failure. rishi sunak goes around in a helicopter. he doesn't see and understand what is happening and the impact of what his government has done to so many people's lives. so, stephen, thank you for sharing that and we share your pain on waiting and waiting and waiting for an operation that you deserve to have. and there are so many others who are in that same boat that we have in our mind's eye when we make our decisions. but it is so good to be here in worcester. it is so good to be here with all of you, because at last we have a

general election . and since general election. and since that, it's been called, we have been campaigning positively for the change that we want to see across the country because we've been waiting for a general election. the country has been waiting for a general election, and it is desperately , and it is desperately, desperately needed. and so if you are a family that has been struggling with the cost of living, if you're a business that's been really up against it these past few years, whether you've served your country, then this is for you . because what this is for you. because what happensin this is for you. because what happens in a general election is the power goes to our voters. the power to determine the future of their own lives, their communities lives, and of our country. the power to change our country. the power to change our country for the better. and to draw a line and say, no more of this chaos and division. a

chance to turn the page , to chance to turn the page, to change and to rebuild our country with labour. that is what this election is about. thatis what this election is about. that is the choice on the ballot and when i say draw a line on 14 years of chaos and division, it has been 14 long years of chaos and division and a failure. too many prime ministers too many chancellors chopping and changing, impacting on people's lives. and that has a cost. a human cost. you heard from stephen about the cost to him. there's cost all over the country. i went to alder hey hosphal country. i went to alder hey hospital. this is a brilliant children's hospital up in, up in liverpool. it is the very, very best of our nhs staff. i went to the ward where they do operations lie—ins on 0 to 2 year old babies. this is extraordinary. go in that ward and you can't be anything under other than completely humbled by

the bravery, actually, of the children that are being operated on and the incredible skill of the team of surgeons that are doing very difficult heart surgery in on tiny, tiny little human beings. and that is really uplifting. it's very humbling. but when i left alder hey, i was really angry because i found out that more children aged 6 to 10 are being admitted to alder hey to have their rotten teeth taken out than they are for any other operation. that is the price they are paying for the failure of this government . they're of this government. they're literally having their teeth taken out and that should anger anybody who cares about our children. the next generation in this country, and of course, those brilliant staff having to spend their time using their skills to operate on something which was completely preventable . another example is in stafford. i was there on saturday, actually in the kitchen with a couple of paramedic actually, and her wife who worked in a jewellery shop.

they got two children. they bought their house five years ago. i went there to have a cup of tea with them. their mortgage has just run out. they had a fixed term. they had a fixed rate mortgage for five years. when they bought their house, they could afford that. it's now run out. they've spent a long time researching the best possible deal that they can get now, and it's hundreds of pounds more a month, hundreds of pounds more. they don't know what to do. they can't afford it. they're going to have to move. thatis they're going to have to move. that is the price that they are paying that is the price that they are paying for the damage that the tories have done to our economy , tories have done to our economy, the real life impact. these are small examples. the real life impact. these are small examples . there are so small examples. there are so many other examples across the country of people paying a real price. and i'll tell you what, when rishi sunak says we've turned a corner, it's all fine. you're all better off. he should go into that kitchen with the two people i was with on saturday morning and say to them that they're better off, because they will give him a pretty blunt answer about the state of the country under him. and i grew up working class . i know

grew up working class. i know what it's like not to be able to pay what it's like not to be able to pay your bills. my dad worked in a factory. my mum was a nurse, and we couldn't always make ends meet. and what you do in those circumstances, you choose which utility you will lose. so we lost the phone. we decided we'd have the phone cut off because we couldn't afford the bill. thatis we couldn't afford the bill. that is the sort of decision that so many families across the country are having to take. so we have to have a labour government to stop this chaos and division. we cannot have another five years of this. but here's the good news. you don't have to put up with it. you don't have to put up with it. you can vote for change. and that's a good time to do . this that's a good time to do. this is the chance. this is the change. election this is the election where we and there is keir starmer making a stump speech in front of some of his activists in the west midlands. >> of course, the labour party won the west midlands mayoralty

by a hair's breadth in the local elections. if one vote in each polling booth around the electoral area had gone from labour to tory. instead, it would have been andy street who held on to that, but instead it went labour. >> well, he's rallying the troops there. he's trying to rally the troops. the sleeves rolled up to his , elbows, rolled up to his, elbows, talking about the cost of living , talking about the nhs, talking about how his dad was a worked in a factory. >> this is his his sort of look for the entire general election campaign. it's the sleeves rolled up. let's get down to business. look. but it was interesting that he mentioned a story from his own childhood about his parents cutting off the phone line because they couldn't pay the phone bill. that's something that we haven't really heard from keir starmer. he's injecting some more of his personality. if he if his personality, his personal circumstances into his speeches where he's learning a little bit more about who keir starmer is. >> yes. and i'm sure we'll see many more of these, these meets ,

many more of these, these meets, these speeches in front of activists, rallying , rallying activists, rallying, rallying the troops with everything that's going on with the with diane abbott and everything. he wants the narrative to be very much on change. >> well, it is a busy, busy news day, not least. do we have those mickey mouse degrees, diane abbott, and we haven't even covered enough about those new nhs strikes in the days leading up to the election. it's all coming in the next hour. >> a brighter outlook with boxt solar sponsors of weather on . gb news. >> good afternoon. welcome to your latest gb news weather update. sunshine and showers will continue this afternoon . will continue this afternoon. they could turn quite heavy, particularly in the east with a risk of thunderstorms . arms in risk of thunderstorms. arms in the west though, it is turning a little bit drier. that's as high pressure is slowly starting to build in from the west. but in the east, that's where low pressure is in charge and where we're close to that area of low pressure up to the eastern areas of scotland. that's where the showers will be quite slow

moving into this evening. so further impacts from the rain are possible overnight. and that rain is going to push southwards through the night, bringing a risk of some heavy showers into parts of wales and northern england by tomorrow morning . england by tomorrow morning. further south, though, it should stay fairly dry overnight and it will be another mild start to the day and fairly dry across the day and fairly dry across the south first thing, so some early sunshine is possible here. we've got a northerly wind developing on thursday and so it will be a bit of a cooler day for most of us, and where we're more sheltered from that northerly wind across the central belt, southern areas of scotland , there's a chance of scotland, there's a chance of some brightness first thing, especially across southeastern areas of northern ireland as well. but many areas will see a bit of a cloudy start to the day, with some outbreaks of heavy rain, possibly into parts of wales central areas of england across the south coast as well. there could be some heavy showers breaking out first thing, so a mix of sunshine and showers once again on thursday, but the showers will become much more focused across eastern areas where we're still close to this area of low pressure ,

this area of low pressure, bringing that more unsettled and cooler weather. but into the west we start to see that drier and finer weather developing and so it should be a fairly bright and dry afternoon for many western areas of the uk. tomorrow. temperatures a little lower than today, tomorrow just into the mid to possibly high teens. but in the sunshine it will still feel pleasant enough . will still feel pleasant enough. now through thursday evening. rain will likely continue across eastern areas into the west, though that dry and fine weather is developing and that is the theme as we head towards the end of the week and the weekend, with more in the way of sunshine developing and temperatures rising towards the low 20s, that warm feeling inside from boxt boilers sponsors of weather on

gb news. >> afternoon, britain. it's 2:00 on wednesday, the 29th of may.

i'm tom harwood time. >> emily carver. >> emily carver. >> we said we'd do it. high energy , didn't we? well, there's energy, didn't we? well, there's confusion over the political future of veteran labour mp diane abbott this morning, she told journalists that she was being barred from standing in the upcoming election. but the labour leader has now denied that claim. who's telling the truth and is there any one single truth? is there chaos at the top of the labour party ? the top of the labour party? >> meanwhile, the prime minister has vowed to shut down so—called mickey mouse degrees if he's re—elected. he says the move will help fund more apprenticeships, but is university even worth it ? university even worth it? >> and we'll sort out the crisis in the nhs , a claim from labour. in the nhs, a claim from labour. they say 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 general election .

general election. >> now, lots of you have been getting in touch about the so—called mickey mouse degrees. catherine says unis are running as businesses and will offer anything to bring in a buck. i think there's a lot of truth to that. >> yeah, yeah, although bums on seats. >> isn't it bums on seats? >> isn't it bums on seats? >> isn't it bums on seats? >> is it a bad thing that universities are run as a business? maybe more things should be run as a business. maybe if they were run more like a business, they'd stop being subsidised. yeah. but that that's the that's the legitimate issue , but brendan says if you issue, but brendan says if you want to be a photographer, join your local photographic club, £20 a year, that'll save you nine grand. >> is that what you do, bren ? >> is that what you do, bren? are you part of a part of a club. yes. it was quite funny when that chap we were talking to said, oh, it doesn't matter if you don't get a job in photography after you know all of that debt, it'll be a hobby for life, a hobby for life. jenny says uni is a great choice. if you study proper subjects that will be useful. combine university with an apprenticeship and you're on to apprenticeship and you're on to

a winner. anyone can take a photo and get paid, so why go to university? i think you're right. working. i think the best thing is actually university courses where you work a bit at the same time. >> although . so the chap from >> although. so the chap from the higher education policy institute said that actually the number of philosophy graduates that are hired by goldman sachs, it's not about if you go to russell group university. >> yeah, but you can you can study something that seems irrelevant and makes you more fun at dinner parties and then end up doing something completely or more of a bore. >> very good point, laura beddow. >> what was it you mentioned earlier? >> regression study ? regression analysis. >> oh, that's very interesting, isn't it? at dinner? >> yeah . well, you wouldn't be >> yeah. well, you wouldn't be getting your graph paper out at dinner, but you might do it, you know, after dinner, it was a fun, fun pictionary activity. >> you can become an absolute bore by studying it. anyway, it is your headlines with tatiana .

is your headlines with tatiana. >> emily. thank you. the top stories from the gb news room. labour has not taken any decision to bar diane abbott from standing for the labour party . the mp reportedly told party. the mp reportedly told media that she'd been blocked from running with the party. but sir keir starmer said this afternoon those reports were not true. she had the whip withdrawn in april last year following comments she made about racism . comments she made about racism. she later apologised and an investigation concluded in december. she was a close ally of former leader jeremy corbyn and served as his shadow home secretary it is unclear whether she'll contest her seat in hackney, north and stoke newington . the health secretary newington. the health secretary is calling on the labour party to condemn fresh strikes by junior doctors. it's after the british medical association confirmed another five day walkout starting on the 27th of june.the walkout starting on the 27th of june. the union says its demand for a 35% increase is only to make up for what it says is 15 years of below inflation. pay

victoria atkins says that announcing strike action during announcing strike action during an election proves it's a political move and not about patients or staff. >> junior doctors had a 10.3% pay >> junior doctors had a 10.3% pay rise last year. >> they walked out of negotiations towards the end of the year when i wanted to give them more. i've tried to keep them more. i've tried to keep the channels of communication open. >> i have gone over and above the junior doctors committee headsin the junior doctors committee heads in order to produce a programme of work with nhs england to improve working conditions for junior doctors, because i understand they have genuine concerns and i want to help them and now i've entered mediation with them in good faith to try to find solutions to this. but they walk away yet again . again. >> sir keir starmer has thrown his support behind the welsh first minister, who is facing a vote of no confidence after less than three months in office. the welsh conservatives tabled the motion against labour's vaughan gething following months of controversy around donations dunng controversy around donations during his election campaign . during his election campaign. the vote is due to take place

next week on the 5th of june. now an investigation into severe turbulence that hit a singapore airlines flight last week has found that a rapid change in gravitational force caused the plane to suddenly drop. the flight was forced to divert to bangkok when passengers and crew were suddenly thrown into the air, with some hitting the ceiling and walls. a 73 year old british man died of a suspected heart attack , while dozens of heart attack, while dozens of others were injured. the investigation is preliminary. findings suggest that turbulence caused a sudden vertical acceleration, which saw passengers become airborne before hitting the floor within just four seconds. rishi sunak and sir keir starmer will go head to head in the first televised debate of the election campaign next tuesday . the prime campaign next tuesday. the prime minister was aboard an overnight sleeper train to cornwall last night, unveiling a plan to create 100,000 new

apprenticeships. university leaders have warned the policy could run down and undermine the higher education sector and deter people from studying for degrees . labour says degrees. labour says apprenticeship achievements among those under the age of 19 have dropped by 50% since 2016, but education secretary gillian keegan says they're good for business. >> businesses know what skills they need. that's why we've worked with 5000 businesses to make sure we developed and designed this high quality apprenticeship system for from the last 12 years, so we have done everything to work with businesses to make sure that young people can be assured when they go on these apprenticeships, they will have apprenticeships, they will have a high quality experience and it will be something that businesses need and we need the same in all of our university degrees. >> now, our universities are top class four out of the top ten universities in the world, and all of them will want that brand image to be preserved. and this goes a step to making sure that we do that . we do that. >> nhs waiting list targets would be met within five years

of a labour government. that's according to a pledge by sir keir starmer. the plan would see an additional 40,000 appointments in england each week during evenings and weekends, bringing wait times within the 18 week target. the tories called it more copy and paste politics, and pointed to its plan to invest in nhs technology. but sir keir starmer says it will help health workers get on with the job. >> not the only thing that we do for the nhs, but just the first thing, which is to have 40,000 extra appointments and operations every week. so that means using operating theatres in the evenings and the weekends. so 40,000 will pay for that by getting rid of the non—dom status completely. that's the special tax status for the super rich. that means they don't pay their tax in this country. i think if you live here, you should be paying your tax here. so we'll get rid of that. we also want to get in the money that isn't being paid in tax by those that are avoiding it .

it. >> for the latest story , sign up >> for the latest story, sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen or go to gb news. carmelites now back to gb news. carmelites now back to tom and . emily. >> good afternoon britain. it's 2:08 now. gb news political editor christopher hope is on the campaign trail with rishi sunak today in the west country. chris, let's start with the news from the labour party that the labour mp, diane abbott, well, she's not been barred from standing in the general election, at least not yet. a great deal of confusion over this . are they not? this. are they not? >> hi, tom. hi, emily. a huge confusion about the status of diane abbott. we know . of diane abbott. we know. of course, she was suspended as an mp for that letter that she wrote to the observer, likening or comparing racism to that black. black people have experienced against against jewish people saying it's not as serious for other people who

aren't black. that really damaged her. she had to apologise. she did some training. she said sorry. investigation closed at the end of last year. she has had the whip restored in the past two days before parliament is dissolved tomorrow. but her status as a as a labour member is not at all clear now. she has said. diane abbott said about three hours ago now she's delighted to have the labour whip restored and to be a member of the parliamentary labour party . she'll be of the parliamentary labour party. she'll be campaigning for a labour victory, she says, but she's very dismayed that numerous reports suggest she's been barred as a candidate. that prompted sir keir starmer to say about an hour ago or so on his campaigning rounds today no, that's not true. no decision has been taken to bar diane abbott. the protests that we were going through ended up with the restoration of the whip. no decision has been made in terms of barring her. now. the tories have leapt on this. jonathan gullis, the deputy chairman of the party, saying that starmer is flip flopping. he's saying one thing one minute and one

thing the next. and what kind of leader does this country want after july the 4th? if labour win the election, he's prime minister and lord woolley, a crossbench peer. he's been saying this lunchtime that labour could pay a high political price if they treat diane abbott with utter disrespect. they've got 48 hours, he says, to get it right , hours, he says, to get it right, christopher, the clock is running, time is running out. christopher, the clock is running, time is running out . he running, time is running out. he does seem that way, and it's not really clear about diane abbott status. and she is so important to the labour movement. the first black mp for i think it was 60 years when elected in 1980, totemic for so many on the labour movement. and now the problem that sir keir starmer starmer has got, he's trying to be firm with the left show the rest of the country that the labouris rest of the country that the labour is a changed party. but you can't disrespect someone of the stature of diane abbott . the stature of diane abbott. there's a view that she served

her time being suspended. she's done her penance with the training. it's time to let her back in. and if he's if he's seen to show her disrespect , he seen to show her disrespect, he is storing up problems for himself in the future. now chris, we can tell from the cool blue glow behind you on your battlebus that you're following the conservatives and the prime minister. >> where on earth are you off to next? you're somewhere in cornwall . cornwall. >> that's right. we've been to penzance so far, tom. on the overnight sleeper train with the prime minister. he did get the sleeper train . he didn't get the sleeper train. he didn't get the choppeh sleeper train. he didn't get the chopper. he was. he boarded the train. he was a few cabins down, down from the gb news cabin overnight. and then he did buy a bacon butties on arrival in penzance, since then, he's been the big theme here for the tory party is apprentices. they want to scrap 1 in 8 university places. get rid of these , these places. get rid of these, these courses, which are questionable, cost lots of money and don't really result in high in well—paid jobs. the pay off, young people's student loans. so

he wants them to do apprenticeships. that's the big drive. £900 million investment in that saved by closing down, underperforming courses by the office for students . that's office for students. that's a big idea. and that's why we've just been. he's just been wiring up a broadband connector, in fact, he was so good at it . the fact, he was so good at it. the engineer said, why not become a telecoms engineer ? maybe he telecoms engineer? maybe he might do if he loses his job on july the 4th. >> did the prime minister have a bacon butty as well? did he join you ? you? >> he did. he he gave. he gave me the first bacon butty, he had he had them out. he handed them out, but he said he'd eat his elsewhere. he's learned the lesson from ed miliband in 2015 not to be photographed eating a bacon butty. >> what is it with politicians and food? theresa may, i think, was trying to eat fish and chips and looked really a bit squiffy, as did, what was it? tony blair, tony blair and his ice cream with, with gordon brown was

another one. you've just got to be holding two ice creams, looking a bit like a wally. >> you've got to eat like no one's watching. thank you very much indeed, christopher. hope our political editor on board the conservative battle bus . the conservative battle bus. >> well, let's get some more on this idea about education, what it does for us, and perhaps what it does for us, and perhaps what it doesn't. david harkin is the ceo of edtech company 8 billion ideas that helps provide students with future skills. thanks for joining students with future skills. thanks forjoining us. i suppose the big question is there is this huge perception that some university courses simply aren't up to scratch , simply don't up to scratch, simply don't provide the skills that are necessary. what's your take. good afternoon. >> thank you very much for having me, look, i'll begin by saying every student i've ever met across here in the uk and around the world has an amazing imagination . imagination. >> but every student is on a journey with a different set of skills and beliefs that they might need in the future. >> so i like the move of more apprenticeship programs being on offer for young people. that's more options , for a young more options, for a young person, which is critical, but i do believe, the university space

over the last decade has missed a trick. and you talked about at the beginning of the show about the beginning of the show about the opportunity to start businesses, micro business, be a little bit more entrepreneurial . little bit more entrepreneurial. and i do feel the value of the degree and the university, is experience does need to be challenged a little bit . so for challenged a little bit. so for me, it's not just about the degree when a child or a student goes to university, it's about how can that student build up the skills that they're going to really need. and that's creativity and problem solving evidence after decade after decade, after decade shows that they're the two key skills that we can rely on in the future. so how can we build a culture of curiosity and creativity at university? but i do feel we're missing a slight trick by not considering what we're actually doing in the secondary school space and the primary school space and the primary school space with curriculum reform, because fundamentally, schools are there to help a child get ready for their future. and we're talking about apprenticeship programs today. we're talking about degree . but we're talking about degree. but we also need to make sure that the conversations, talking about curriculum reform, which hasn't happenedin curriculum reform, which hasn't happened in a decade here in the uk, and a lot has changed,

particularly with the pandemic in the last few years, the world of work could be frightening for a young person . we've got a a young person. we've got a different lens on it at 8 billion ideas that it's actually could be incredibly exciting, that you're no longer limited by postcode to opportunity. so we need to make sure that we're not just talking about the top end of education. we're talking about what's happening in our secondary schools, primary schools and early years and try and have a sync up strategy when it comes to future skills. >> i mean, that's a that's an excellent point, david. it's all well and good talking about higher education. but if you're not learning the right things in primary school, in your early years in secondary school, then you're not going to go as far, are you really? but do you back the prime minister's point that there are some courses that just aren't offering value for money and that they actually should, get scrapped ? get scrapped? >> i think it's about more opfions >> i think it's about more options and the right options and picking them. i do believe there's degrees out there which which are dubious. which are they? a value for money. when

most university students are leaving in £45,000 worth of debt and setting them up for the future? so i think a review of what's out there is sensible , what's out there is sensible, but i actually think the conversation needs to go on. the product of the university experience. it's not just about the degree, it's what of our universities doing to really help young people pick up more skills than the knowledge the degree might provide, and be challenged in that to ? space challenged in that to? space >> well, thank you very much indeed for your time, david harkin, you're the ceo of edtech company 8 billion ideas. thank you very much indeed. >> fantastic stuff . love edtech >> fantastic stuff. love edtech i love you can put tech after anything, couldn't you ? stuff anything, couldn't you? stuff edtech? fintech, biotech, anyway i >> -- >> any others? >> any others? >> well, you're sure? i'm sure there are more. >> i'm sure there are. but it's true. you know, if you come out of school not being able to read and write. so then it's not much use. you're going to university. >> well, this is why the crazy thing that happened in scotland, with the abolition of student fees, but not just abolition of student fees, there was money raided from early years to pay

for that. actually, what happened ? fewer disadvantaged happened? fewer disadvantaged people ended up going to university because they didn't get the early stuff. it's the early stuff that matters. >> yeah, exactly . and some >> yeah, exactly. and some schools are sadly letting us down, but the confusion continues over the future of one of labour's longest standing mps, doesn't it? yes. >> this morning the hackney mp diane abbott revealed she was dismayed by reports that she could be barred from standing in the forthcoming election. this all followed her suspension after writing an article which suggested that jewish people didn't face racism, but only prejudice. >> yes , and the labour leader, >> yes, and the labour leader, sir keir starmer, now says no such plan is in place and no decision has yet been taken about whether britain's first black female mp can stand for re—election. now this is interesting because the time is running out, isn't it really, political commentator matthew stadlen joins us now. matthew, lots of people are accusing sir keir starmer of hiding the truth here, being a tad duplicity ,

here, being a tad duplicity, duplicitous, even lying . duplicitous, even lying. >> let's deal, if we can, with the diane abbott case itself very briefly first. so i thought her original comments that were published in the guardian were appalling, basically creating a hierarchy of racism, saying that jews and gypsies and travellers and irish don't experience the same sort of races , as black same sort of races, as black people. and she compared the experience of jews and gypsies and so forth to those with red hair. now i'm both jewish and red haired , and i can tell you red haired, and i can tell you that, yes, i've experienced a hell of a lot of discrimination for being ginger, but that is nothing in terms of the pain it causes and the appalling ness of anti—semitism. so i thought, what she said was outrageous. however, she apologised very, very quickly and there is no doubt that not only has she herself been the victim of appalling racism, but she has done a huge amount to fly the flag to trailblaze for people of

colour. >> hang on matthew, her apology. i want to dig into this because, her apology at least initially said that she she apologised for what she wrote and in error , an what she wrote and in error, an early draft was sent. yeah. now i've read through this letter more times than i care to, and i don't understand how it could be an early draft. the whole point of the letter was that black people face racism and jews don't. i mean, how could that be an early draft that was going on to mean something, and that was different in any way? it seems that her apology was itself mired in miscommunication . mired in miscommunication. >> my understanding from reading the report on this is that bbc newsnight understand that diane abbott accepts there was only ever one draft, and therefore you're right to point out that there seems to be some sort of inconsistency. however, there's no doubt that she did apologise. and she said regardless of the numbers of drafts, there was no excuse. so she acknowledged that

she messed up and messed up big time. but really, this in a sense, this has now become a bigger story. even than diane abbott. and as i say, she is a big figure. she's a national figure . she's done a huge amount figure. she's done a huge amount for minorities in this country, but this has become a bigger story because there are now questions over the ways in which it has been handled by labour and by keir starmer. now he insists that the process itself is independent, but this has been rumbling on now for a year and he is the leader of the party, so he's got to take a degree of responsibility. in my view, this should have been sorted out a long time ago and this is a key point. sorted out a long time ago and this is a key point . i think if this is a key point. i think if she is considered to be okay, to have the whip restored, and that's clearly what labour do consider because they have they have restored the whip , then have restored the whip, then surely she should then be allowed to stand as a candidate in the election a few weeks away. you cannot, as the labour party, have it both ways. you can't say you're now a labour mp, you've done your penance, you've done your anti—semitism.

course you're back now. but by the way , you can't stand in the election. >> if you do think, do you think personally she should be allowed to stand because you you seem to suggest that because she has fought racism and experienced racism herself , then we should racism herself, then we should forgive her for essentially downplaying anti—semitism, comparing it to prejudice against redheads . against redheads. >> as as i said, i think those original comments were appalling. i do believe that . i appalling. i do believe that. i think she did apologise fully, even if there was a miscommunication in the apology. >> so she should be allowed to stand. >> well, i think it's a really difficult one, but this isn't really about what i think about whether she should stand. what i do think is that if she is has had the whip restored, which she has, you can't have it on the one hand, on the other hand and say , okay, you're a labour mp. say, okay, you're a labour mp. >> i'm just interested to know your personal opinion because your personal opinion because you are a jewish labour voter,

and i'm interested to know how you feel about it. >> i'd forgive her. >> i'd forgive her. >> okay, okay. well, there you go. >> it does show it does show the difficulty that the labour party have had with this, because it does seem that they are in this sort of stuck in the middle position, not really knowing what to do, sort of in this halfway stasis . halfway stasis. >> the politically, politically, this is important, as i say, because what the tories want to do is cast starmer as a figure of chaos and a ruthless person, as he says. he said , didn't he as he says. he said, didn't he in a recent interview that he he sort of enjoys being ruthless . sort of enjoys being ruthless. they want to cast him as a flip flopper and they've tried to do that. they've called him a flip flop. and there's a suggestion that he may be flip flopping here, so he needs to get a grip on this very, very quickly. the other political issue is that diane abbott, even though this was an appalling thing, she said, and i've said that very openly, i was i was really offended myself personally when she said it. the fact nonetheless , is she's done a nonetheless, is she's done a huge amount against racism in this country . she was the first this country. she was the first female black mp. yeah. and that politically is dangerous for

starmer within the labour ranks because there's a lot of respect. it is. >> but he's got to think about everyone else, doesn't he as well. he wants to appeal to, you know, the entirety of the electorate. thank you very much indeed. matthew stalin , always indeed. matthew stalin, always great to speak to you. shall we go live to the south—west iceland ? iceland? >> yes. the south—west of iceland is important here because a volcano is erupting again. this is the fifth outbreak since december. these are pictures that we can see now live from southwest iceland. and it just shows that the majesty of nature here. i mean, my goodness me, there are of course knock on effects from volcanic eruptions. they do contribute in a major way to co2 in the atmosphere . this could have atmosphere. this could have weather pattern implications . weather pattern implications. also. do you remember back? was it 2010 2011 when that icelandic volcano practically prevented all air flights for about a week around around, october half term. >> and we were on this show

talking about, volcano erupting and people having to be moved away from their homes. the emergency services were working overtime to try and deal with it, because these things happen so suddenly in iceland. there's a lot of activity, isn't there ? a lot of activity, isn't there? under the ground there. yeah. so there you go. amazing shots. we thought we'd bring them to you because they're quite incredible i >> -- >> the lava there know really, really well. it's a powerful, powerful eruption. more on that as we get it. of course , but as we get it. of course, but stay with us. much more to come. the party leaders are, of course, on that campaign trail. and is there a bit of politicking going on within the british medical association that

next? >> it's 227 228 228. yes. thank

you for the correction, tom. >> well, it just turned while i was talking. is it? >> party leaders are back on the campaign trail today. rishi sunak met broadband apprentices in cornwall. the tories are announcing a plan to crack down on so—called mickey mouse degrees . degrees. >> meanwhile, sir keir starmer and wes streeting, the shadow health secretary, are in the west midlands promising to reduce nhs waiting lists to 18 weeks but only within five years. yes this comes as doctors announce they will go on strike again just days before the general election. >> health secretary victoria atkins says doctors are putting strikes above patient safety . strikes above patient safety. >> junior doctors committee have walked out of mediation . varne walked out of mediation. varne let me just give a history. we last year , junior doctors last year, junior doctors received up to a 10.3% pay rise. i wanted to give them more . they i wanted to give them more. they walked out of those discussions in november . walked out of those discussions in november. december time. they called more strikes. i kept talks going on quietly in the background to keep the channels of communication open. i finally entered mediation with them in

the last couple of weeks, and they've now walked out of that mediation process, knowing full well that in the middle of a general election campaign, i do not have the freedom that i would otherwise have as a secretary of state. >> well, the health secretary there, speaking from alexandra palace , she was off to watch the palace, she was off to watch the darts or something. no ice skating . skating. >> no one will know where alexandra palace is outside london. >> everyone knows the darts is at alexandra palace. >> no. well, anyway . gb news >> no. well, anyway. gb news presenter tv news presenter gloria de piero is with us now, gloria, the timing of this strike action and the announcement , what do you strike action and the announcement, what do you make of it? >> i don't think it's helpful for either of the parties, actually. but wes streeting the person who wants to be a health secretary has been really clear. if you think a 35% pay claim is going is a realistic pay claim, then forget it. it's not going to happen. of course, no government could honour a pay claim like that, although maybe

we should have a go here. what do you reckon ? 5. do you reckon? 5. >> sounds like a good plan. maybe we could all get to it. no, that's a bad idea, but. but, gloria, isn't this the point, there's going to be a strike days before a general election. when strikes happen, people tend to blame the government. that's how it works. it's likely to perhaps change the minds of some people who are voting. that's that's clearly why. why they've decided to do it at this time. and as the health secretary said, she can't respond because we're in an election period. >> you know what i think is the most significant health announcement of today? it's not about the strike. it's about wes streeting and keir starmer , streeting and keir starmer, holding, that campaign event today and saying that 40,000 more appointments will be in our nhs every week within that first year of a labour government. and if i can just take you back to what happened to the nhs under that last labour government, it had record approval rating 70% of people. this was, you know, british social attitudes survey

independent. they liked their nhs. now it's down to 21. >> it also had a lot more money and one thing the labour party isn't saying they'll do is a lot more money. they're saying it will go up by about 1 more money. they're saying it will go up by about1 billion. will go up by about 1 billion. well, it's gone up by 50 billion in the last ten years. >> and what that shows is that this government are not capable of running our nhs and wes streeting has been really, really clear. it's not just about money. and he said today that in order to get those health, waiting lists down, he's very happy to use the private sector, expand the use of the private sector. no, no ideology from the labour party. just a determination to sounds so it sounds so compelling. >> we've done it before. you've done it. you've done it before with tens of billions of pounds. the nhs this year is running at a £3 billion deficit. what wes streeting is saying is that there'll be a minor tax rise to put in, to put in a not tiny amount of money. >> you might not think 40,000 extra nhs appointments a week is going to make a difference. i do, i think it will make a massive difference to those people who are waiting in pain

to get their glory. >> i take i take your point, but wes streeting he's going to face exactly the same problems as the conservative government the bma. they're not his fans. no he's said himself that they can be hostile towards him. he's going to be asking them to work overtime at weekends . to be asking them to work overtime at weekends. he's going to be, you know, should. but he's going to face the same backlash potentially from the unions. i mean, the labour party may be closer to these unions, but the unions are saying they are going to continue to strike whoever is in government. and if he's not offering up that money and it is their it is their right to strike. >> now, would i have a conversation with them, absolutely . can you perhaps if absolutely. can you perhaps if you have a fall out, you know , you have a fall out, you know, if me and you had had a fall out, we'd sit down and talk and try to find some sort of compromise, to get things back on, on track. but where's this going to be? no pushover. a labour government will be no pushoveh >> well, but isn't that the problem? we've seen waiting lists come down when there aren't strikes and go up when there are strikes. and if wes is not going to give them 35, there

will be strikes . will be strikes. >> our nhs waiting times are what they are because of strikes is for the birds. >> no, they shot up because of covid. the idea, the idea is do they marginally come down or marginally go up? and whenever there are strikes, they tick back up. when they need to come down to the cove. >> you can point to the covid record. i will point to the last labour government's record and i'm, you know, the whole labour party is incredibly proud of that record. nobody vie, you know, waiting longer than i think it was like 95% or something, but hardly anybody waiting more than 18 weeks. >> you diagnosis you did, of course, gold plates, the contracts of gp's, many of whom then retired early, stopped working so many days you poured so much money. >> hang on. >> hang on. >> and also in the meantime, the population has grown substantially. >> you can have me back on to have a go at me if nhs is not better under labour. okay, well deal. deal >> that sounds like a fantastic deal. we'd love you on before then if possible as well. my goodness. yes, please. >> gloria de piero. gb news. presenter. thank you very much

indeed. >> well, coming up, the lib dems are launching what they're calling a rescue plan for farmers as they campaign in wales. but farming in wales is a devolved issue . how do you work devolved issue. how do you work that one out, let's get your headunes that one out, let's get your headlines before all of that . headlines before all of that. >> good afternoon. the top stories at 234. labour has not taken any decision to bar diane abbott from standing for the labour party . the mp reportedly labour party. the mp reportedly told media that she'd been blocked from running with the party. but sir keir starmer said this afternoon those reports -—— not true. she 7 not true. she had: the whip were not true. she had the whip withdrawn in april last year following comments she made about racism. she later apologised and an investigation concluded in december . she was a concluded in december. 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 . the health stoke newington. the health secretary is calling on the labour party to condemn strikes

by junior doctors after another five day walkout was confirmed starting on the 27th of june. victoria atkins says that announcing the strike during an election proves that is a political move and not about patients or staff, but the union says its demand for a 35% increase is only to make up for what it says is 15 years of below inflation. pay sir keir starmer has thrown his support behind the welsh first minister, who's facing a vote of no confidence after less than three months in office. the welsh conservatives tabled the motion against labour's vaughan gething following months of controversy around donations during his election campaign. the vote is due to take place next week on the 5th of june, and a volcano in iceland is erupting once again, the fifth time since december . again, the fifth time since december. and if you're watching us on television, you'll see it spewing lava and smoke. the outburst happened on the reykjanes peninsula, home to around 30,000 people just south

of the capital reykjavik. previous incidents had forced evacuations, closed key roads and even raised several houses in the grindavik fishing town . in the grindavik fishing town. for the latest stories, you can sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen. or you can go to gb news. carmelites .

>> all right. well. good afternoon. britain and martin daubney is up next at 3:00. he's joining us now. martin what have you got in store? how are you ? you got in store? how are you? >> well, following on from your excellent show, will, of course , excellent show, will, of course, be focusing on the diane abbott debacle. first, she was out, now she's back in. it was meant to

be about the nhs. today once again, the hard left have hijacked starmer's campaign trail. and with that, diane abbott yet again, something doesn't quite add up. we'll also have the prime minister at 4:25. he'll be speaking live from the campaign trail and we'll cross to raf scampton. of course, a story very close to the hearts of gb news viewers. 2000 asylum seekers meant to be put onto that site. we'll have a crucial update from a councillor. there's been a breakthrough on that case and i'm obsessed with his general election gaffes. yesterday, ed davey took a tumble in lake windermere looking for floating voters. today david cameron proved he's all froth and no substance , all froth and no substance, pounng all froth and no substance, pouring the worst pint in britain and ed davey he's at it again. he's on his bike. did he take a tumble? tune in and find out. >> marvellous stuff. martin. well, that's coming up at 3 pm. will be watching. >> he's getting better at his puns.isnt >> he's getting better at his puns. isn't he looking >> he's getting better at his puns . isn't he looking better puns. isn't he looking better every day. >> stand up . >> stand up. >> stand up. >> what doesn't add up about the diane abbott scandal? oh, no.

goodness >> searching for floating voters. i liked that one, anyway , the liberal democrats, as just mentioned, have launched their general election campaign in wales today, promising to reverse what they're calling the conservatives legacy of failure in the target seat of brecon and radnorshire. >> that will have sounded very odd to anyone listening on the radio. yes, he was on a wheelie. we saw ed davey just on a bike. but let's now get the very latest with the gb news political correspondent olivia utley joining us live from the campaign trail in bath with the lib dem battle bus behind her. what's up in bath? olivia >> well, this is a used to be the lib dem heartlands. bath is still held by a liberal democrat mp, vera hobhouse, who is here today, but there are other seats around bath and going into devon and cornwall, which the lib dems held up until 2015 but ended up losing . they fell like dominoes losing. they fell like dominoes in the 2015 election after that disastrous coalition, disastrous for the lib dems. i mean,

between david cameron and nick clegg, the lib dems are really , clegg, the lib dems are really, really hoping that they can pick up a lot of those seats again. and they're doing that by prioritising sort of relatively niche issues, which people on the ground actually care a lot about. they've been talking about. they've been talking about the dentistry drought. this is an issue which concerns millions of people, particularly in rural areas in the southwest and in wales. and they've been talking about pollution in rivers. that's why ed davey was paddleboarding in windermere yesterday. he wants to get sewage and pollution out of the rivers. the other thing which he's been focusing on today , he's been focusing on today, particularly when he launched his wales campaign this morning, is agriculture . he's promised is agriculture. he's promised this £1 billion of investment in agriculture. now, if you actually look into the detail there, of course , agriculture is there, of course, agriculture is a devolved issue in wales. so this £1 billion is really for england. but he was pretty evasive about that when he was speaking in wales today. he has promised that this £1 billion

would not be paid for by raising people's working people's taxes. but it isn't 100% clear how it would be paid for. >> well , thank you very much >> well, thank you very much indeed. olivia utley there gb news a political correspondent outside the yellowhammer. one. >> yellowhammer one. you know, the thing about yellowhammer is it's not just the yellowhammer that the lib dems see themselves. the sort of colour yellow as a hammer in the blue wall. it's also the code name that the treasury used for no deal brexit planning, which i'm sure is a fact that has not escaped the eyes of the lib dem planners who decided to have perhaps a subtle nod to brexit. >> and am i being very thick? i thought the liberal democrat colour was orange. >> orangey, yellowy sort of. yeah, i think they get away with it. >> okay, well, in other news, this is something that struck me this is something that struck me this morning, feeding young children peanuts in the form of a smooth spread. so i guess a peanut butter for safety could provide lasting protection from peanut allergies. >> well, that's according to a new study conducted by a team at king's college london. the study

found that feeding large amounts of peanut butter to infants from weaning until the age of five could provide a lifelong allergy defence. >> now, it's a discovery that might come as a shock to some parents, and it's been widely understood to avoid peanuts completely in the early years due to the fear of allergies. but but could actually avoiding peanuts for your children actually cause them to have the intolerance later on in their lives? so joining us now is consultant in allergy and immunology professor gideon lack .thank immunology professor gideon lack . thank you very much, professor, for joining . thank you very much, professor, forjoining us. now this is something that i always thought i thought that if you don't introduce things like peanuts to a child very early on, they then go on to have difficulties with these foods. have you proven that ? have you proven that? >> yes, for many years we were advising parents not to feed their babies peanuts and other foods that cause allergies for a penod foods that cause allergies for a period of time . in fact, at one period of time. in fact, at one point it was official guidelines

, to avoid peanuts for the first year of life in high risk babies. but, we've changed our thinking. primarily on the basis of the original leap study, which we carried out and published in 2015. >> just a note of clarification. we didn't give peanut butter to babies. we gave peanut butter or peanut puffs mixed with water or milk or pureed fruits so that there wouldn't be a risk of choking, of course. so one wouldn't give pure peanut butter to babies . but, we were we were to babies. but, we were we were really agnostic as to what the outcome would be. and we enrolled 640 babies, into this study at as early as four months of age . they had severe eczema. of age. they had severe eczema. half were given peanut products, half avoided peanuts till the age of five. and we found at that point there was about there was over an 80% reduction in peanut allergy. so almost

complete prevention of peanut allergy at age five years. the question remained, would these children have to keep eating peanuts for life to remain protected, or could they ad lib? could they eat peanuts where and when they like? how how much, how little ? so we followed these how little? so we followed these children for further seven years, actually, from the age of six to the age of 13, varne as young adolescents . and we again young adolescents. and we again evaluated, the vast majority of the cohorts, the, the families, parents, children were incredibly dedicated, remained incredibly dedicated, remained in this study, and we were able to evaluate this protective effect at 13 years of age. and, the really dramatic news was that the protection persisted. in other words, this early intervention applied very early on, in decreased peanut allergy by more than 70. and, professor gideon lack, that is an extraordinary discovery and

very, very good news that we're learning so much more about what is such a difficulty for so many families. >> thank you so much for coming on and explaining all of that really remarkable stuff . really remarkable stuff. >> yes. thank you very much. professor gideon holac there. i mean , yeah, a lot of parents try mean, yeah, a lot of parents try to avoid anything to do with peanuts, and it looks like that's exactly the wrong thing to do . but coming up, our to do. but coming up, our election gaffes, a pr blunder , election gaffes, a pr blunder, we'll be taking a look back at some of the best and the worst from

by. right. it's 250. we're coming up to the end of the show and, ed davey. he's been kicking off the pre—election shenanigans with his paddle boarding incident yesterday, and it's got us thinking about all the gaffes that usually come with campaigning . campaigning. >> yes. whether it's hanging from a zip line or falling gracefully into water, the politicians make a fool of themselves on the campaign

trail, deliberately. >> deliberately, yes. let's take a look at some of the best ones from campaigns gone by. oh, by far, michael kill are enjoying this. >> honestly . >> honestly. so . crazy so. crazy. nobody .

>> are politicians in the wild? >> are politicians in the wild? >> and if you were listening on the radio. i hope you enjoyed the radio. i hope you enjoyed the music. but i have to say, that, that there are some very, very funny ones. and there are some less funny ones, of course, in the 2001 general election, john prescott punched a voter. and that was, for, for for, half of a day. you had a lot of people sort of worrying and wondering what on earth is the response going to be from the labour machine ? yeah. and tony labour machine? yeah. and tony blair had this, i guess, apposite response at the end of it when he was asked at a press conference, john, is john. >> and, we all remember gordon gordon brown and his bigoted woman comment. that was a hot mic, wasn't it? >> it was who put me up for that? >> oh, that was bad. that was bad. that was very bad . bad. that was very bad. >> yes, of course, a hot mic moment where he's left the microphone on his lapel and i think it was, sky news, it was their microphone. and they managed to manage to grab it. and, i think the liberal

democrats are the best for the fun and harmless , but very much fun and harmless, but very much deliberate, gaffes. >> i would say this, this man were watching who dropped his trousers next to nick clegg. that's quite the scandal. >> quite the scandal. like neil kinnock on a beach in brighton, i think 1987 for that conference, and, yeah, he fell oveh conference, and, yeah, he fell over. but but, but ultimately do these actually matter in terms of how people see politicians? i bet a mh whippy was still £0.99 back then. goodness me. people don't often think of politicians as normal people. we almost expect them to not be able to pour pints and to fall over and to fall into the water and just be a bit awkward. do you think it actually affects our perception, i think it can. >> i think it can. if someone is so horrendously awkward in the public, it does bring about that sort of out of touch, narrative, doesn't it? i mean, the sandwich ed miliband and the bacon sandwich that felt rather robotic way of communication, i

suppose you do see it again and again and then you get the politicians who are seen as perhaps being more normal. to be fair, the worst thing we could find about tony blair there was holding an ice cream, which perhaps says quite a bit. >> there's a safety, though, isn't there, in holding back your personality, but sometimes a little bit of personality can go a long way anyway , that's it go a long way anyway, that's it for today. we'll be back tomorrow with good afternoon britain at midday. >> a brighter outlook with boxt solar , sponsors of weather on . solar, sponsors of weather on. gb news. >> good afternoon. welcome to your latest gb news weather update. sunshine and showers will continue this afternoon . will continue this afternoon. they could turn quite heavy, particularly in the east with a risk of thunderstorm in the west, though it is turning a little bit drier. that's as high pressure is slowly starting to build in from the west, but in the east, that's where low pressure is in charge and where we're close to that area of low pressure up to the eastern areas of scotland. that's where the showers will be quite slow

moving into this evening. so further impacts from the rain are possible overnight and that rain is going to push southwards through the night, bringing a risk of some heavy showers into parts of wales and northern england by tomorrow morning . england by tomorrow morning. further south, though, it should stay fairly dry overnight and it will be another mild start to the day and fairly dry across the day and fairly dry across the south first thing, so some early sunshine is possible here. we've got a northerly wind developing on thursday and so it will be a bit of a cooler day for most of us, and where we're more sheltered from that northerly wind across the central belt, southern areas of scotland , there's a chance of scotland, there's a chance of some brightness first thing, especially across southeastern areas of northern ireland as well. but many areas will see a bit of a cloudy start to the day, with some outbreaks of heavy rain, possibly into parts of wales central areas of england across the south coast as well. there could be some heavy showers breaking out first thing, so a mix of sunshine and showers once again on thursday, but the showers will become much more focused across eastern areas where we're still close to this area of low pressure , this area of low pressure,

bringing that more unsettled and cooler weather. but into the west we start to see that drier and finer weather developing and so it should be a fairly bright and dry afternoon for many western areas of the uk. tomorrow. temperatures a little lower than today, tomorrow just into the mid to possibly high teens. but in the sunshine it will still feel pleasant enough . will still feel pleasant enough. now through thursday evening. rain will likely continue across eastern areas into the west, though that dry and fine weather is developing and that is the theme as we head towards the end of the week and the weekend, with more in the way of sunshine developing and temperatures rising towards the low 20s, that warm feeling inside from boxt boilers sponsors of weather on

gb news. >> away . >> away. >> away. >> away. >> a very good afternoon to you. it's 3 pm. or welcome to the

martin daubney show on gb news. we're broadcasting live from the heart of westminster all across the uk . on today's show this the uk. on today's show this morning, diane abbott claimed she'd been barred from standing for the labour party. but later on, sir keir starmer said that's not true. after six unions had leaned on him once again with diane abbott, something doesn't quite add up . next. rishi sunak quite add up. next. rishi sunak has declared war on so—called mickey mouse degrees, which saddled students with debt and offered them little earning potential. he claims £910 million in savings would be better spent on apprenticeships, and we'll hear live and direct from rishi sunak himself at 4:25 pm. this afternoon and gb news has been out and about with lib dem leader ed davey again today. yesterday he was looking for floating voters in lake windermere. he took a tumble off a paddleboard . well, today sir a paddleboard. well, today sir ed got on his bike in wales. did he come a cropper once again? stay tuned to find out . and the stay tuned to find out. and the government claimed to have