after his recent claim setback after his recent claim that britain's economy had turned a corner. the tories pointed to figures that show there was growth in the months before april. but the lib dems say rishi sunak has utterly failed to deliver on his promises . failed to deliver on his promises. keir failed to deliver on his promises . keir starmer says promises. keir starmer says labour's new plan will renew the country . for now, a record country. for now, a record number of people have lost faith in british politics, according to an electoral expert. sirjohn curtice says the analysis found trust and confidence in politics and the overall election system has never been lower. 45% of respondents almost never believe that governments of any party are fully focused on the challenges facing the country, and a record 58% said they almost never trust politicians of any party to tell the truth. a 19 point increase from 2020. scotland's first minister says there should be another referendum on scottish independence within the next

five years, joining snp candidate joanna cherry on the election trail in edinburgh today, john swinney denied suggestions he'd been downplaying the question in his campaign. he said the issue of independence relates to the main concerns of scottish voters, including the cost of living . including the cost of living. msps, meanwhile, have backed scottish government plans to release prisoners early to ease pressures on the system. over 500 prisoners will be released in four waves starting at the end of this month. only inmates serving short sentences under four years who have 180 days or fewer to serve will be considered for release. the justice secretary , angela justice secretary, angela constance, announced the move last month following a spike in inmate numbers and concerns about the capacity of prisons. miss constance was also clear that the emergency release is one part of a plan that requires long term thinking . a man has long term thinking. a man has been arrested as part of the

national crime agency investigation into ppe medpro, the company, led by doug bowerman, husband of baroness michelle mone. the nca opened the investigation into the company in 2021 into suspected criminal offences committed in the procurement of personal protective equipment , or ppe. protective equipment, or ppe. the company was awarded the government contracts worth more than £200 million, after baroness mone recommended the firm to ministers during the covid pandemic. baroness mone and mr bowerman denied any wrongdoing . that's the news. for wrongdoing. that's the news. for the latest stories, sign up to gb news alerts. scan the qr code on your screen or go to gb news. com slash alerts . com slash alerts. >> thanks, polly. well, it's been another fun packed day on the campaign trail for the prime minister. he's given an interview to paul brand on itv. and don't forget, this was the

interview that he left normandy early to come back for an pre—record last thursday. and paul brands asked him some interesting questions about his fairly privileged background . fairly privileged background. and let's have a listen. >> you are wealthier than the king. what do you do day to day to make sure you're still in touch with the kind of struggles ordinary people face? have you ever gone without something? yeah. >> i mean, i grew up, my family, emigrated here with very little, and that's how i was raised. i was raised with the values of hard work. what did you go without as a child? went out without as a child? went out with lots of things. right, because my parents wanted to put everything into our education and that was a priority. >> so what sort of things had to be sacrificed? >> lots of things. right? i mean, give me an example. all sorts of things, like lots of people. there'll be all sorts of things that i would have wanted as a kid that i couldn't have. right? famously, sky tv. so that was something that we never had growing up, actually. and but it was lots of things. but again, that's that's my experience is obviously going to be what my

experience was. what is more important in my values and how i was raised. and i was raised in a household where hard work was really important. you had to work very hard at and family was important. service to your community was important. >> it's hard to know what to say, isn't it? i mean, it's a great question and you can see him stalling there thinking, oh my goodness, what was i deprived of? and of course, inevitably now there are lots of memes going around social media. i think oliver has been depicted with a bowl saying, please , sir, with a bowl saying, please, sir, can i have some more sky tv? anyway, look , it is difficult, anyway, look, it is difficult, difficult for the prime minister because of course, i think the sunday times rich list revealed that he's actually wealthier than the king these days. so tonight the simple question i'm asking you is , is rishi sunak asking you is, is rishi sunak out of touch? i mean, you might think, actually, there's no being privileged. there's no bar to being prime minister. we like people to be leading the country who are well educated and well brought up. but on the other hand, you might think that the whole i missed out on sky tv as

a child may suggest a bit of a disconnect with the general public. to get in touch, please leave a comment for me at gbnews.com/yoursay or say with your views this evening on that question. and we will of course revisit that a little later. now something else is exciting is happening for the prime minister, because he's going to be doing another tv debate, a head to head against keir starmer. let's cross live now to gb news political correspondent katherine forster, who's in grimsby, grimsby ahead of tonight's televised extravaganza, catherine. >> good evening, camilla, and welcome to the spin room here in grimsby town hall . all this live grimsby town hall. all this live leaders events going to start in just about 25 minutes at 1 to 1 interview, first with sir keir starmer and then with the prime minister, then a 25 minute audience question and answer session. i think it's worth reflecting on why we're here in grimsby particularly. this is a key battle ground seat. there's

been some constituency changes, but it's a red wall seat where voters lent their votes to the conservative party back in 2019 on the promise of levelling up and getting brexit done. and it's heavily leave voting seat, so that's grimsby . let's talk so that's grimsby. let's talk now to shadow paymaster general jonathan jonathan ashworth . jonathan jonathan ashworth. jonathan, thanks for talking to us on gb news this evening. jonathan, thanks for talking to us on gb news this evening . and us on gb news this evening. and another big moment for these two, one of whom is going to be prime minister. and what do you want to see from sir keir starmer tonight? because some thought that he was a bit flat footed in that debate last week. >> well, i think what you'll see tonight is the clear choice in this general election. keir will talk about how he has changed the labour party and how he now wants to change the country with his steps to rebuild this country. his steps to deliver 40,000 more appointments a week in our national health service,

his plan to cut energy bills for good, his plan to crack down on crime and bring order to our borders. and in contrast, i think you'll see yet another desperate performance from rishi sunak yesterday . today he sunak yesterday. today he delivered this long, desperate wish list the most expensive panic in political history. wish list the most expensive panic in political history . a panic in political history. a whole load of promises he cannot fund from savings. he cannot find. the money is not there and in the end, with rishi sunak, you'll get five more years of chaos and people will be paying more on their mortgages, £4,800 more on their mortgages, £4,800 more on their mortgage. as a result of rishi sunak's chaos. >> i should say that figure is heavily, heavily disputed. you're making all sorts of assumptions about £71 billion of extra spending , assumptions about £71 billion of extra spending, and you assumptions about £71 billion of extra spending , and you gave the extra spending, and you gave the conservatives a very hard time over the £2,000 tax claim last week. but you're spinning these figures to suit yourself, too, aren't you? >> well, let me be clear first on tax. labour will not increase

income tax , not increase vat, income tax, not increase vat, will not increase national insurance and not increase corporation tax. in contrast, rishi sunak has given us a splurged out in this scattergun way. all these commitments after commitments that he cannot fund because the money is not there and we totted it up. we went through his manifesto yesterday, billions of pounds worth of commitments. he can only fund that by going on another liz truss style borrowing bonanza that will push up mortgages by £4,800. rishi sunak lied about labour's position in last debate because he said it had been put together by impartial civil servants that was blown to smithereens the next day, when those same civil servants came out and said he cannot characterise it in that way. so tonight you'll see the big choice between labour's plan for the future and more desperation and chaos with rishi sunak, sir keir starmer yesterday compared the conservatives plans to the jeremy corbyn style manifesto, but sir keir starmer campaigned twice for jeremy corbyn to become prime minister.

>> he supported that manifesto . >> he supported that manifesto. and there's a problem with trust, isn't there with starmer? >> well, no, because that manifesto was roundly rejected by the british public. we got our worst defeat since the mid 19305. our worst defeat since the mid 1930s. we we've learned from that. we listened to the british public. keir starmer changed the labour party. he showed strong leadership. he changed the labour party and now he'll change the country. and its rishi sunak is making commitment after commitment after commitment with no idea how he'll pay for it. i mean, so much has come out from rishi sunaks manifesto. i'm half expecting it to be a cuddly toy next, like the generation game. the reality is, though , if rishi the reality is, though, if rishi sunak gets back in, it'll be more chaos and £4,800 more on your mortgage. >> jonathan ashworth, thank you very much for speaking to us here on gb news. well, a little bit earlier i spoke to treasury minister gareth davies. he took a rather different view of events. let's have a look at what he had to say. treasury

minister gareth davies , thanks minister gareth davies, thanks so much for talking to us on gb news this evening . you've got news this evening. you've got a massive mountain to climb in this general election. you're halfway through. the polls are not shifting . what do you want not shifting. what do you want to see and hear from the prime minister this evening? >> well, the first thing to say is that tonight is an opportunity for the prime minister to continue to reiterate. the british public have a clear choice on the 4th of july, which is polling day, the only poll that matters, by the only poll that matters, by the way, and that is a prime minister. rishi sunak, leader of a party that will cut your taxes , will cut national insurance contributions, will cut and aboush contributions, will cut and abolish some taxes. he will bnng abolish some taxes. he will bring down the cost of living by keeping bearing down on inflation and continuing to grow our economy, or a leader of the labour party, who clearly will have to put up taxes by a significant amount because he has so many unfunded commitments. and so the clear

strategy tonight is to emphasise the difference between rishi sunak and claire starmer. and i'm pretty sure and confident that over the next few weeks, the british public will be asking what on earth would keir starmer and labour do in power ? starmer and labour do in power? if you don't know what they're going to do, don't vote for it. >> but the problem is you've beenin >> but the problem is you've been in power for 14 years. taxes are at 70 year high. even though you're cutting national insurance, the tax burden in the next five years still projected to go up. so labour, you say, are going to put up taxes , but are going to put up taxes, but you're doing that yourself still. >> so the tax burden has had to rise because we've been through a once in a century pandemic that cost us £400 billion. and then we went straight out of covid into a war in ukraine, where we effectively had to step in and pay 50% of people's energy bills , which cost us 100 energy bills, which cost us 100 billion. so we've got very high levels of debt, and we believe as conservatives in paying down our debt. so we have had to make some very difficult decisions. but we're now in a position where the economy is turning a corner. inflation is down from

11 to 2. that's enabling us to start to cut taxes. we've started with people in work, so we started by cutting twice national insurance contribution saving £900 in the average earners pay packet. we want to continue that in government and we want to abolish national insurance contributions for the self—employed. some 4 million people in the next parliament. so we accept that we've had to make difficult decisions on tax, but we are turning a corner and we're going to reduce our tax burden and we're going to reduce our tax burden specifically on those in work, because work should always pay. and we want to really incentivise people to stay in employment, to go into employment, because that's ultimately what will grow our economy. >> you've already cut £0.04 off national insurance. you've made a lot of announcements in the manifesto, a lot of pledges is why are the polls not shifting ? why are the polls not shifting? have people just stopped listening to what the conservatives are saying ? conservatives are saying? >> no, i think people are increasingly aware of the stark choice that they will have in

front of them. on the 4th of july. a prime minister, as i say, who has a plan, who you know what he's going to do. you may disagree with his cutting national insurance contributions, but at least you know what he's going to do. you know, we've got a prime minister who's going to stand by our military by increasing our defence spending up to 2.5. that's a commitment that he's made that's not matched by laboun made that's not matched by labour. you know that you've got a prime minister and a leader of the conservative party who has the conservative party who has the values to take our country forward for the future. and i just feel like that will become very apparent tonight. but in the next few weeks, and just finally, the messaging seems to have shifted a bit because you're now talking about the warnings of a labour super majority . majority. >> and isn't this an admission that, you know, you're not going to win this election? >> we are in this to win and we are fighting for every single vote. there's still a long way to go, but what i will say is, i don't think we should be writing keir starmer a blank check. what we're saying is if you don't

know what you're voting for, if you don't know what labour are going to do, don't vote for it. don't hand keir starmer and the labour party a blank check to do whatever they want with your money. that will end up costing your family. it costs your business. it will just be a nightmare. we don't want five years of hard labour and that's what we're setting out. >> garth davis, thanks very much for talking to us on gb news. >> all right. let's delve into some of the latest data now with pollster professor matt goodwin. nice to see you tonight , matt. nice to see you tonight, matt. thanks for coming in. where are we at then? what does your latest polling say? >> well, bad news for rishi sunak and the conservatives. labour on 39. the conservatives on 19. the reform party, just two points behind 17% within the margin of error. so what we're seeing , i margin of error. so what we're seeing, i think here is real evidence that that inflection point , potentially that point at point, potentially that point at which reform begin to draw level or even potentially replace the conservatives is very much on the horizon. >> i mean, if we look at that trajectory, we and we have that crossover point. that's what

it's being called by political scientists and other wonks. could that happen as soon as next week? >> well, i think it could. and i think if it does happen, all bets are off. i think that will encourage conservatives to defect. it will encourage donors to move behind nigel farage. it will give him new momentum. don't forget there are about 10 to 13% of voters today in the country who say they don't know who they're going to vote for, how's that going to influence their vote choice? so there's a lot of known unknowns here. but the key point is a 20 point lead for the labour party. that is more than what they need for a majority. the conservatives this week , across all polls, camilla week, across all polls, camilla averaged 21% 21. >> my goodness, this is historic territory. >> this is extinction level, event type territory , somebody event type territory, somebody was describing the d—day debacle to me today as a sort of event honzon to me today as a sort of event horizon from which the prime minister will not be able to recover. is that overstating? it? does your polling reflect a change in attitude since that happened ? happened?

>> well, d—day, the anniversary and how rishi sunak handled that. unquestionably a complete disaster for rishi sunak. so already we knew that two thirds of voters, two thirds of conservatives, said they thought rishi sunak leaving d—day the anniversary early, was quote unquote unacceptable. in our polling, we find that about 1 in 5 voters are saying that has made them think more negatively about the prime minister. now, obviously, a large number of those people are already saying they already thought negatively about rishi sunak. and i think, you know, this is an open goal for nigel farage. it's an open goal for the reform party because what they're going to say is, does this guy actually believe in britain? does he believe in britain? does he believe in britain? does he believe in our history? does he believe in our history? does he believe in our culture? does he believe in our culture? does he believe in our culture? does he believe in who we are? and so, you know, i'm puzzled as to what on earth is going on around rishi sunak. >> it's concern, by the way, because obviously his entire shtick has been i work hard and i'm across the detail. and then it just looked bungling and

that's put people off. i think that's put people off. i think that's partly maybe that. >> but also if you're going up against nigel farage and you're trying to win back those 2019 conservatives who are more patriotic, why on earth would you put yourself in that position? >> there's been another bungle tonight as well. i'm not sure if you've seen this map, but craig williams, who's a conservative candidate, has admitted to putting on a £100 bet on a july election just three days before it was announced . now, that it was announced. now, that wouldn't be controversial, but previously , this man was an aide previously, this man was an aide to the prime minister, and so will have been party to the inner thinking of number 10. >> well, i mean, it's not a good look for number 10 and the operation around number 10, it it's not a great thing at all. but more generally, you know, step back. i mean, rishi sunak leadership ratings this week, according to redfield and wilton, a reputable pollster, have crashed to —27, to put that in context, that's the lowest , in context, that's the lowest, rating he has ever had. as prime minister or chancellor. >> how does that relate to boris

johnson and liz truss, it makes rishi sunak more unpopular than than both of those predecessors. it also leaves him not far off what i would call prince andrew territory . what prince andrew territory. what prince andrew being —50 rishi sunak being close to —30. but here's a here's the issue right ? close to —30. but here's a here's the issue right? i mean, look, rishi sunak's lost the country , right. he's not in the country, right. he's not in the conversation anymore. let's be honest. the conservative party, they're not even competitive . they're not even competitive. the question now is can they minimise losses. and who is going to replace rishi sunak after the election. yes, those are the questions that are going to bubble to the surface for nigel farage and the reform party. big opportunity. they are winning over somewhere between 35 and 45% of 2019 conservatives. now, if that continues and if that continues to inch upwards , reform will to inch upwards, reform will overtake the conservatives in the polling . the polling. >> but top out somewhere. i

mean, we can say that their poll rating might begin with a two rather than a one, but how high could it get? >> we don't know. in order to win a cluster of seats, it needs to go above 1,819% for nigel farage to win clacton and maybe 5 million votes and 152nd places. maybe they walk away with 1,516. if reforms start going into 2021, 22. i mean, all bets are off. i mean, you know, they could really start causing some serious damage, we don't really know what is clear, though, is on the current numbers today across all polls , numbers today across all polls, you're looking at a labour majority of somewhere between 350 to 400 seats. and you're looking at the conservatives reduced to somewhere around 100, maybe even less than 100. >> 100. too generous. i was going to ask because it's now looking. i see that betfair are saying that the chances of the conservatives losing, more than 200 seats is now 83. so is 100. is the conservatives being left

with three figures in seats now looking a bit optimistic because you were talking about near extinction level events here? >> well, there's a few things to keep in mind, right. we've got 13% of voters who are undecided. they're not sure how to vote. we've got that reform vote. maybe when conservatives go into the polling booth, maybe they're saying, actually, on balance, i don't want keir starmer to have a big majority, whatever. maybe there's going to be, you know, a few last minute, you know, things in the campaign. we haven't taken account account for. but what is clear is that the conservatives ideologically , the conservatives ideologically, philosophically, electorally are as weak as they have ever been in modern history. and i'm not entirely sure who who has the answer to that problem. no. >> and what's interesting is there's now talk of a supermajority, not, by the way, among labour supporters, but grant shapps, the defence secretary, has been mentioning today , we seem to have moved today, we seem to have moved from we could win to we could result in a hung parliament to

there could be a supermajority. please be warned . and yet it please be warned. and yet it doesn't seem as if keir starmer has done much to merit this supermajority. it's just all a result of abject anger with the conservatives. >> it's interesting , isn't it? a >> it's interesting, isn't it? a lot of conservative friends of mine have said to me in recent days, well, they've they've just given up. there's nobody there. i'm hearing rumours that cchq conservative headquarters is half empty. i'm hearing rumours of conservative party is run out of conservative party is run out of money. yes. there's a kind of a sense of the morale is collapsing around the conservative party look, if the conservatives don't get this thing back on track, we're looking at a defeat worse than 1997. we're looking at the biggest defeat for the conservative party in the history of general elections. and on if that were to happen. you know , all bets are off. you know, all bets are off. i mean, reform could easily end up maybe replacing the conservatives next week. and if they do , how's that going to they do, how's that going to change the dynamics of the, a

general election? and after the general election? and after the general election, you know , general election, you know, whoever ends up inheriting this mess from rishi sunak, how are they going to fend off rishi sunak and reform and reconnect with those 2019 boris johnson voters ? i mean, it's a nightmare voters? i mean, it's a nightmare for the conservatives. >> you know, one thing that's certain in all this, i mean, among lots of unknowns, is that we will need you back in the studio to be analysing, happy to be here. if there's a crossover moment, you'll be here. >> i will be here all right. >> i will be here all right. >> matt goodwin, thank you very much indeed, talking about bets and placing bets. so craig williams is the man i just mentioned who put the £100 on the early july election, having been an adviser to the prime minister. he's standing for the conservative party and he's standing in montgomeryshire. i just need to read out the other candidates for due fairness. jeremy brignell is standing for the greens. oliver lewis is reform's candidate . glyn preston reform's candidate. glyn preston is standing for the lib dems. elwyn vaughan is standing for plaid cymru. craig williams is the conservative candidate, as i've said, and steve witherden is there for the labour party.

well, in just a moment, we're going to speak about the elderly and whether they need to be properly triaged in a&e and whether that will bring waiting lists. be speaking to an nhs expert

welcome back to vote 2024 with me. camilla tominey, i asked you before the break whether you thought rishi sunak was out of touch. julie says i'm no particular sunak fan, but i think it's getting ridiculous. he could very well have been protecting his parents feelings here and if that's the case, fair play to him. well, in reaction to him talking about not being able to afford sky, stuart says rishi is comment about not having a sky dish when he was young and growing up is quite valid these days. it seems that even those with limited budgets still seem to see sky as a minimum requirement above many other actual necessities. and william says journalists are so shallow trying to embarrass rishi sunak because he's rich. i was raised on a council estate. i couldn't care less about his

wealth. his values are what matter and he is a good man who has worked hard on behalf of the country. that is what matters, maureen says. we were lucky to have got a meal. we often couldn't afford a tv. rishi is so out of touch. i think they're summarising the mixed feelings that people have about the prime minister. let's talk about this idea of having mots for the over 65. so to just rattle through what's been suggested, it's the idea of at the front door of an a&e department speaking to elderly people taking their blood pressure , checking their blood pressure, checking their heart health, their mobility, malnutrition and reviewing their kind of respiratory history in order to make sure that they get the help sooner. and so they don't end up in a hospital taking up a bed when they don't have to, when indeed they could be treated at home. so it's kind of a suggestion, a better form of a suggestion, a better form of triage. let's speak to an expert about it. doctor iseult roche, lovely cornish name. there isn't, is a director at health care at the think 2020 health care at the think 2020 health and a medical doctor in the nhs. what do you think about this? because triage in general

is a problem in the nhs. people ending up at the doctors who don't need to be there. they could have been at the pharmacist and then people ending up at urgent care who could be at the doctors, and then people ending up at a&e who could be in urgent care. >> well, i think you're absolutely right when it comes to people knowing where to go to access health information, it can sometimes not always be the right solution for everyone. but certainly i think where the mots for over 65 come in, i think in a way potentially protects people who are of an age and a disposition, who might not think to put themselves first and might not think to always go out and actually seek that early help and early intervention. so in some ways it could really be a blessing. i've worked in various hospitals and in some hospitals. they have been running similar schemes in regards to assessing frailty and supporting, you know, best care in the community. and we have seen things really benefit patients for the majority of people who are older within hospitals , obviously some people hospitals, obviously some people need to be in hospital for very

significant reasons, but for the majority of people, if they can have good care at home, community care and potentially in their own home is ideal for them for many, many reasons. >> there's a bit of a contradiction at play here, i think, because on one hand, we're used to having the elderly in hospitals and struggling to get out of hospitals because they haven't got a social care plan. on the other hand, i would associate the kind of people who say, i don't want to go to a&e, i don't want to be a burden on the over 65. older people are really traditional. they see accident and emergency as exactly that , and i think, frown exactly that, and i think, frown upon people who turn up there for minor ailments. and yet it's those elderly people that may be overlooking their own very serious health concerns. >> absolutely . and i think this >> absolutely. and i think this is one reason why it could potentially work . if you think potentially work. if you think about it, if somebody was was to go in for a reason, say, for example, they were to have a car that became infected or something like that if they were just treated and then allowed to

go home, or as they would want to go home, then that might be sufficient for the vast majority of people. but there are some cases where frailty remember, frailty is quite a broad term. yes. so frailty is can be something that people actually mask within their social environments . so they might be environments. so they might be struggling at home, but they won't tell their friends or family. they might not be eating properly, they might be losing weight, but they'll keep it to themselves because there's that sense of dignity and pride and wanting to make sure you retain your own identity . and your own identity. and unfortunately for some people, there is a fear that frailty means loss of self control and loss of identity. and i think it's really important that we work with communities and media and organisations in order to people to who are reaching an older age. let's face it, we have a hugely ageing society and it's really important that people know that they can be well for long term . and well for long term. and actually, if they are starting to get frail, the important thing is to seek help, at an earlier time so that can actually be restored and

potentially turned around . so potentially turned around. so i think it's quite interesting. i mean, if you look at some of the statistics. so if you think about, for example, i think something that's been reported is over over a million people of 75 years or above , admitted to 75 years or above, admitted to hospital each year, and about 20% of those are very frail. but imagine if those people who, when they were in their 60s, potentially had had an opportunity to have a frailty assessment and then potentially advice or further screening or further channelling into appropriate services to actually improve their health and most importantly , to keep them well importantly, to keep them well and in their own environment, perhaps subsequently , perhaps in perhaps subsequently, perhaps in 20 years time, we won't be looking at over a million people, over 75 with with back to basics this doctor, isn't it? >> in terms of prevention rather than cure and making people, making sure people don't need to end up in a&e in the first place. doctor roche, thank you very much indeed forjoining us this evening. thank you. coming up, i'm excited about this. somebody who encounters a great many potholes around my local area . we're going to be joined

area. we're going to be joined next by mister pothole himself. who's going to give his verdict on labour's plans flatten out our bumpy roads? don't go

next. welcome back. let's talk about potholes. because there's nothing more important to talk about during this election campaign. now don't worry, because labour, if they do form the next government, have pledged to fix a million potholes a year in england. the party has said it will give multi—year funding settlements to local leaders to fix broken roads. si king to end what it called a sticking plaster approach to repairs. the conservative party, predictably, said it would take no lectures on backing drivers, adding that labour had declared war on motorists across britain in reference to the party's support of ulez and ltns and all the rest of it. well, let's speak to an expert on potholes and we couldn't find a better expert than mr pothole himself. the pothole campaigner mark morrell,

who has told me before the show that he's a huge fan of gb news and everything. it stands for. mark, what's the problem here? what's gone wrong with britain's roads? because i know anyone listening to this and watching it like me, will be familiar with the fact that our roads seem to be crumbling and the stuff they use to repair potholes these days. it doesn't work. it comes out really easily. they're not properly filled in, are they ? filled in, are they? >> no. you're right. and, yeah, there's a multi—billion world six point, £16.3 billion backlog in road maintenance in england and wales. that's a bit between kerb to kerb. there's a £6 billion backlog in bridge maintenance. then you've got footpaths. i estimate there's a total road maintenance bakhmut of about £30 billion, to be honest , as i tweeted of about £30 billion, to be honest, as i tweeted earlier, i think the two main parties is a joke and an insult to road users . what they're suggesting, if you look at the size of the actual task, it's actually costing. according to an economic survey , a study that

economic survey, a study that £14.4 billion a year through badly maintained roads , we need badly maintained roads, we need to invest the two main parties, just paying games, smoke and mirrors. i mean, if you look at, rush's one of 8.3 billion over ten years, enough to resurface 5000 miles of road, that's only enough to do essex . 20% of our enough to do essex. 20% of our roads need resurfacing. now. we need to do things differently. radically, i mean, and labour. i was expecting better things from labour because i did some work with gillian, and lilian greenwood when she was the chair of transport select committee, who had a really good insight to things , and i'm afraid it's things, and i'm afraid it's a very poor response , a pathetic very poor response, a pathetic pothole, pledge from labour. >> i'm afraid i'm loving that alliteration, mark. i mean, labouris alliteration, mark. i mean, labour is saying they'll fill a million a year. do you know how many potholes there are in england at the moment? i have no idea. admittedly >> right, i've been doing some work with a company that's come

up with an app called stan. yep. you can download the public, do it for free. it can put it in your car and monitor the state of the roads. it produces a real accurate map. and it's, data harvesting from the public. it doesn't report direct to councils as of yet, but i think it frightens the life out of the councils based upon what they're showing, and i can't say too much because they're working with a national newspaper on a story. at the moment, there are far there are millions, far more than anybody would like to admit because councils are changed or their intervention criteria to try and fit their money well. in fact, there's far it's a far worse situation. and you'll know that as a road user, you know. yeah >> but sometimes they fix half of the potholes on one road but not the other half. and then we nofice not the other half. and then we notice that the work gets done before the year end because there's some pot of money left, presumably. but to be fair, i mean, we can be flippant about it, but unfilled potholes cost lives. i mean, they cost my tires on my mini cooper. but more importantly , they're an more importantly, they're an

absolute i mean, they're a death trap for cyclists , aren't they? trap for cyclists, aren't they? >> yeah, one cyclist a week is killed or seriously injured as a result of potholes. over 70 motorcyclists are killed or seriously injured as a result of badly maintained roads. there's a human cost. there's the economic cost. and i cannot understand why government will not work out a proper economic model that says by investing more change the way we do things, have a proper road tax , things, have a proper road tax, andifs things, have a proper road tax, and it's used like other countries just purely for that , countries just purely for that, osborne tried that a while ago and, and to go to what, these national highways now and because the treasury treasury quietly, kicked it into the long grass, that's never happened. and i also think we should charge a levy to the, the petrol and oil companies at the pump so that they actually fund our roads because it's in their interest to us to use their commodity. i think there is some really good ways i keep hearing about it's costed. it's costed. i mean , there is some ideas that i mean, there is some ideas that i mean, there is some ideas that i could do that come up with that would cost it. and actually would take the pain away and

save money. i've been working on a paper called pothole, curing pothole britain that gives a real insight to it, but guess what? the authorities don't want to know about it. >> no. mark morrow, you need to stand for office, mate. mr pothole, we'll all be voting for you. but on a serious note, thank you. on behalf of all motorists and all cyclists and all bus drivers and any other vehicles, because your campaigning is much appreciated. thank you very much indeed for joining us this evening. >> you're welcome. i can't stand for office. i want to get things done. it doesn't work like that. >> very good point. people say to me, why don't you stand for office? i say, i think the country suffered enough to be perfectly honest. and now on to the next story. can you believe it? we love this. can you believe it? moment. and tonight i think we've decided to select andrea jenkins, the former minister and conservative mp. can you believe it? she's produced her election literature, the leaflets that she wants to put through the doon she wants to put through the door. if you're watching this on telly, you might notice there's an omission. and if you're listening on the radio, let me tell you what the omission is on this leaflet. there is no

mention of the following words rishi sunak the conservatives in fact, the only photograph that she's put on of her and a politician is andrea jenkins with, you guessed it, nigel farage. so i think that says quite a lot about the conservative candidate for leeds south west and morley, because i've mentioned that constituency of course, i have to mention the other candidates in the interests of balance. so for the greens, we've got chris bell, we've got howard graham for the liberal democrats, i believe, and oh no, michael fox for the sorry. let's get through this again. the greens chris bell the yorkshire party is howard graham and the liberal democrats have got michael fox reforms got james kendall. the sdp's got nigel perry and labour's got mark sewards. and you can find all of them on the website gb news. com the other thing i'm going to say is can you believe it? i've been shortlisted for an award. some of you will already

know about this. this is a trick award and i was initially nominated for my interview with the broadcasting legend that is alastair stewart, who revealed to me his heartbreaking diagnosis that he had dementia . diagnosis that he had dementia. i sat with him and spoke about that at length, and i spoke to his wife, sal, at their home. anyway, to cut a long story short, i was first of all nominated and then the public, including your very good selves, voted. and it's now the case that i've been shortlisted down to four, so i hope to win on june the 25th. but it's not just me @gbnews who's celebrating because nigel farage and eamonn holmes have also been nominated , holmes have also been nominated, and best news program may well go to gb news breakfast because they're also in that category. so we've all done very well and we're patting ourselves on the back. can you believe it? coming up next, we're going to be talking about whether workplaces should ban socialising at the pub because it might alienate muslim colleagues. can you believe it ? we could use that believe it? we could use that phrase for this story too, but stay tuned because i'll be speaking to both a muslim and

somebody who runs a pub. stay tuned

welcome back to vote 2024 with me. camilla tominey. let's get stuck into this quite extraordinary story. city law firms have been urged to stop hosting work socials at the pub over fears they exclude muslim staff. a report by rare, a uk graduate recruitment company specialising in diversity, has said the legal profession's big drinking culture is unfair to those who abstain from alcohol . those who abstain from alcohol. it suggested that law firms introduce more cooking, painting and pottery classes to boost team bonding rather than hosting events centred on booze. one muslim interviewee said she had been put under huge pressure to drink, and others said it was religiously dishonourable to be seen in a pub. let's bring hugh osmond into the conversation. he's the founder of punch taverns. what do you think of

this, hugh? i mean, pubs have had a hard time since covid. i don't know if you need another reason for people not to socialise in them. >> no, i think that that's exactly the point. i mean, pubs , exactly the point. i mean, pubs, you know, pubs are pretty fundamental to british culture, british heritage, british history, you know , even if you history, you know, even if you look in guides like lonely planet, you know, they say the thing to do, visit the pub and, they are, you know, they've been the, the hub of most communities where people socialise for hundreds of years and fundamentally people, you know, want to come and live here, which, you know, they have and they, they always have. they then they have to accept that pubs are a major part of lives, andifs pubs are a major part of lives, and it's the place where people to go out and socialise and all the rest of it. it's not as narrow and it shouldn't be as narrow and it shouldn't be as narrow as drinking alcohol. i mean, i would say in defence that if there are, if there are

still pubs in 2024 that don't cater for people that do not just want to drink pints of beer or alcohol, then yes, they shouldn't be in business either. you know, it's not a question of forcing everyone to drink. pubs do cater for non—drinkers now there's really good ranges of soft drinks and non—alcoholic beers and all kinds of other things. now pubs are for socialising . socialising. >> it's not just about, i mean, hugh, i'm a teetotal jul, so i'm quite happy to go to the pub and have an appletiser or whatever and or a non—alcoholic beer and it's fine . i mean, also the it's fine. i mean, also the other thing is pubs are pretty diverse places, aren't they ? i diverse places, aren't they? i mean, i don't think you check people's religion at the door , people's religion at the door, let's be honest. but i mean, aren't they accommodating of people of all creeds, colours, religions and all the rest of it ? >> 7- >> yes. i 7_ >> yes. i don't 7 >> yes. i don't think you get much more diverse than pubs because they cater for every different type of community. i think not every pub i've ever been into has been very diverse, but, pubs as a whole are

incredibly diverse. you know, they cater, say they, you know, there are pubs in every community around the country. you know, every village has at least one pub, every town has 100 pubs. you know, you can pick the, the pub that you want to go to, but i think, you know, the, the important point is surely that it, you know, people will you know who, who come to this country because they want to live in work here. and you can understand that because fundamentally, this is a good country with good values . they country with good values. they do need to. it doesn't mean we shouldn't cater or be tolerant of their views , but they let me of their views, but they let me embrace, you know, i'll stop you there . there. >> i'm going to stop you there, hugh. just because we're running out of time and i've got has ahmed in the studio who's a political commentator and a muslim, and i wouldn't normally categorise you like that. i'm a political commentator and a catholic. lapsed has . but catholic. lapsed has. but basically i want to ask you this. i mean, is a pub a no go

zone for a muslim? >> we've had these no go zones about muslim areas and pubs. come on. i mean, let's, let's the idea that muslims don't i mean, i'm literally coming back from work drinks. i don't drink myself. i just had lemon and lime and literally told my friends at work social leaving dnnks friends at work social leaving drinks that i'm, you know, coming over here and that's totally fine. they're not really a no go area for muslim. i just think this, notion that portrays the muslims don't go to pubs. i just think there's a lot of sort of, you know, a lot of non—muslims who don't go to pubs as well for reasons that are for health reasons, for personal reasons. lots of the time, people who are recovering from alcohol tend not to go because it sort of gives them ptsd or something like that. >> so but what about this? i mean, one muslim interviewee said she had been put under huge pressure to drink. do you get that? i mean, i understand that from a teetotal, come on, have a drink, have a drink. and i'm like, no, i don't. and i can have a perfectly decent night just on lemonade. do you have that sometimes or not? >> i literally when i read the

article because i interned at a law firm not long ago. and yes, there is this element of there's a drinking culture, but i do believe that we in modern britain today have become very accepting of the fact that others don't drink. and we are, you know, tolerant. and if they don't want to drink, that's totally fine, so i do sort of question the, the narrative or the article because it really portrays muslims as sort of people who don't drink. it's not just muslims. there's lots of people who don't drink. >> but how about this idea? another interviewee, who was a muslim, said he felt it was religiously dishonourable to be seen in a pub. is that right? that's muslims don't socialise. >> i literally just said to you, i'm coming back from a social event where it was a leavers dnnks event where it was a leavers drinks and i'm coming back from a friend's, you know, drink. so l, a friend's, you know, drink. so i, i don't know this individual, i, i don't know this individual, i don't know what the comments are going, but i think it's absolutely unfair to say the muslims don't go to these places to socialise and stuff. as you said earlier, pubs can be a great place to socialise. they can be a great place to watch euros for example. i look forward to going there coming up soon also, you know, i don't quite understand why muslims have been singled out. >> you could say, oh, we can't

have too many gatherings at a pub because it might alienate pregnant people. we can't have too many gatherings in a pub because it might alienate people who are on antibiotics. exactly what's happening here. >> next thing it is, we're going to blame muslims for the number of pubs that are closing down. i also know religiously i also think that we have to look at what emily—may is doing to london, making london, you know, 11 pm. it shuts down. so where is the people that want to go and drink and go? i'm totally more for having more pubs, but i just think that it shouldn't be a singled out muslim issue. >> should we go for a drink after this? >> absolutely. okay great, a normal drink. >> thank you so much. tom harwood can't go for a drink because he's hosting state of the nation. yeah. 30s tom or less. >> i'll be going for a drink after state of the nation. but no big show today, of course, growth 0% in april. we've going to be diving into why that was. what could we do to get the economy growing faster? but also we're going to be speaking to a millionaire who wants to pay more tax. >> oh, i love these people who want to pay more tax. pay it already. you don't need to wait for a labour government first. here's the weather with alex deakin. >> looks like things are heating

up . boxt boilers sponsors of up. boxt boilers sponsors of weather on gb news. >> evening time for your latest weather from the met office here on gb news. for many of us it's been a fine day today. tomorrow a very different story. a cold start and then it'll turn wet. and particularly in the west, very windy . and particularly in the west, very windy. here's the reason why. a couple of sets of weather fronts coming in from the atlantic. ahead of that, we've had a ridge of high pressure which, as i said, has bought most of us a fine day. still 1 or 2 showers over northeast scotland and eastern england, but they are fading away and generally it's going to be a dry night with some lengthy clear spells. and that's why it's going to turn chilly. temperatures well down into single digits, even in towns and cities. and some rural spots even lower. so yes, another pretty fresh start tomorrow. generally a dry and a bright start , but not everywhere. here start, but not everywhere. here comes the rain trickling in towards northern ireland and west wales, along with southwest england, so rapidly clouding overin england, so rapidly clouding over in the southwest through the morning ,

over in the southwest through the morning, much of the midlands and eastern england will start dry, and so you know, with a bit of sunshine, temperatures will soon start to lift. but turning wet across northern ireland, it's going to be a soggy day here. increasingly windy to most of scotland will start dry again though. a cold start here and then steadily as we go through then steadily as we go through the day, the cloud and the rain across northern ireland will start to spread its way into southwest scotland, up towards the central belt, the rain drifting into wales and southwest england by lunchtime and then through the afternoon, some of that rain getting into northern england and the midlands. much of eastern england will stay dry through most of the day, along with northern scotland, but in the west, not only turning wet but also windy. unusually windy around these western coasts through the afternoon. again feeling pretty cool, particularly with the wet and the windy weather that's moved across northern scotland for friday, where it may well linger elsewhere on friday. it's a blustery, gusty day with, yes, some decent spells of sunshine, but a whole raft of showers so very changeable through friday. one minute it's dry, the next

minute you've got a downpour and that showery picture continuing into the weekend and staying on the cool side. >> a brighter outlook with boxt solar , sponsors of weather on

gb news. >> good evening. i'm tom harwood, deputy political editor of gb news, bringing you the state of the nation tonight. the gdp numbers are in, and it's a shocking reveal. no economic growth during the month of april . none. zilch. many might blame the weather. others might, perhaps blame brexit. but i'll be bringing you my very own theory that explains far, far deeper than either of those factors. and the green party has issued its manifesto, which includes a wealth tax on the wealthiest in society. but will it be long before jokes about

being green with envy begin ? being green with envy begin? we'll be getting into another gb news exclusive as steven edgington reveals more civil service wokery working against the conservative government plus, the brits have a drinking problem. the germans seemingly, seemingly seem to think so as it emerges authorities have halved the strength of beer in england's first game in the euros, halved that strength. well the state of the nation starts now . starts now. i'll also be joined by my panel, the historian and broadcaster tessa dunlop, and the writer, broadcaster and occasional gb news presenter emma webb. that's all coming up after your very latest headlines with polly middlehurst .

middlehurst. >> tom. thank you. good evening . >> tom. thank you. good evening. the top story from the newsroom tonight, the prime minister and the labour leader are facing questions tonight ahead of the release of labour's electoral manifesto tomorrow. during the q&a session , sir keir starmer q&a session, sir keir starmer said that his party's manifesto will focus on wealth creation, adding there'd be no tax rises for working people. >> nothing requires us to raise tax and i'll tell you, no, no, i do want to challenge me and i want to deal with this. i want to do things differently. i want to do things differently. i want to grow our economy. i accept that previous labour leaders have sort of pulled the tax lever every single time and dnven lever every single time and driven up spending. i want to grow our economy . the manifesto grow our economy. the manifesto tomorrow will be a manifesto, a plan for wealth creation. now, you may not hear a labour leader say that very often, but for me thatis say that very often, but for me that is the most important thing. and i want and therefore i'm not going to do what other labour leaders have done and be tempted to simply say every time we're going to pull the tax lever, we're not going to do that. >> sir keir starmer well, earlier on today, rishi sunak

insisted he hasn't given up hope of