gb news. >> good evening and welcome to vote 2024. the people decide with me. camilla tominey coming up on tonight's show, we're going to be covering nigel farage. his criticism of a vetting company it says hasn't done his job on reform candidates because it's in bed with the tories. we're also going to be discussing whether bofis going to be discussing whether boris johnson should return to the campaign trail, a help or a hindrance to rishi sunak. and we've got an exclusive gb news documentary about left wing extremism . extremism. we'll also debate whether the dnnk we'll also debate whether the drink drive limit is right. do you think it should come down.7 don't forget to get in touch by

visiting gbnews.com/yoursay. first, though , here's the news first, though, here's the news headunes first, though, here's the news headlines with polly middlehurst i >> camila, thank you and good evening to you. well, the top story from the gb newsroom tonight is that the prime minister faced questions from farmers today on a visit to devon rishi sunak . farmers today on a visit to devon rishi sunak. he argued that nigel farage wouldn't be able to deliver on any of reform's promises because, he said a vote for reform would only help labour. he said though it had been a privilege to understand the contribution farmers made to society before going to on warn that 40,000 jobs could be lost as a result of labour's manifesto. >> now, the contrast at this election is crystal clear because whilst we're going to do all those things for you, as david said in the labour manifesto, there were just 87 words about farming, no commitment to food production and food security , no commitment

and food security, no commitment at all about the farming budget in the next parliament. forget about increasing it like we're going to do. they won't even say that they're going to protect it, right.7 like that is the choice for you at this election, which is why it's so important that you come out and vote and you talk to your colleagues . you talk to your colleagues. >> rishi sunak vie while an election debate over immigration is underway tonight with seven representatives from the main political parties taking part on channel 4 television, it comes as more than 41,000 migrants have now crossed the english channelin have now crossed the english channel in small boats. since rishi sunak promised to end the crisis in january last year. year gb news can reveal. that figure was passed today after more than 600 migrants made the crossing earlier on this morning amid improved weather conditions. the prime minister says it's further evidence as to why the rwanda policy is needed. the labour leader, though sir keir starmer highlighted his party's plan to take swift action on the issue . meanwhile, action on the issue. meanwhile, nigel farage says he'd abolish

the licence fee which funds the bbc. the reform uk leader was speaking during a town hall style event this afternoon , and style event this afternoon, and it comes as the bbc said it would allow reform to take part in an extra question time leaders special. after mr farage's team complained about being left out . labour says being left out. labour says it'll bring face to face banking back to the high streets, with 350 new hubs in towns and villages, it would see staff from several banks sharing the same space, helping fill gaps left by branch closures. consumer group, which says more than 6000 branches have closed since 2015, and also electioneering today, the lib dems have been promising to spend £10 million a year to tackle the practice of sewage dumping by water companies. new quality inspectors would work as part of a newly created clean water authority. ed davey says it's crucial that britain's

water is cleaned up . and lastly, water is cleaned up. and lastly, the russian president has arrived in north korea this evening. that's according to russian media reports, his first state visit there for 24 years. vladimir putin holding a meeting with kim jong un, who he's praised for firmly supporting the invasion of ukraine before continuing on to vietnam later in the week. those are your latest news stories. sign up for gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on the screen right now, or go to gbnews.com slash alerts i >> -- >> thanks, polly. in a moment, i'm going to speak to chris hope about these two stories that have been making the headlines this afternoon on the campaign trail. so we've got nigel farage hitting out at a vetting company, which he says reform of paid nearly 150 grand to vet their candidates and that that company hasn't fulfilled its

obligations, saying that he's threatening legal action and suggesting that the owner of the company, colin bloom, might not have done this, might not have done this job because he's in hock with the conservatives, who he worked for under boris johnson and then, speaking of the former blonde political bombshell , should he return to bombshell, should he return to the fray.7 this is now being suggested by tories mp, clearly in desperation because of the latest polling once again putting a huge amount of distance between labour and the conservatives should boris come back to the campaign trail.7 and would you welcome it.7 so that's what i'm asking you tonight. would you welcome boris johnson coming back onto the campaign trail, do you think he would be a help or hindrance? maybe you think it would be a good thing because the tories are in a desperate state. however, i know a lot of you will be blaming bofis a lot of you will be blaming boris for squandering his 80 seat majority and putting the tories in this situation in the first place. do get in touch. leave a comment for me @gbnews .com forward slash your say with your views on that question this this afternoon, and then i will come back to that a little later in the show. so be as robust as

you like in your responses. but let's have a chat with these about these two stories and anything else that's happened on the campaign trail today with gb news political editor christopher hope. chris, back on the bus. goodness me. are you all right, let's talk about bofis. all right, let's talk about boris . first of all, sunak has boris. first of all, sunak has actually admitted to you that he wouldn't mind boris johnson coming back and helping out. is that right? yeah. where has she gone? >> that's right. good evening. camilla. great to be with you. yeah. on the motorway, more miles being eaten up by the conservative party. battlebus. yeah. earlier we were with, the prime minister, rishi sunak. he had two stops today in north devon. the first one he met with some, some fishermen. he caught some, some fishermen. he caught some lobsters, waved them around a bit, and we, we had a, had a chat with reporters while there, and we asked him, was your view on boris johnson? is he being helpful or a hindrance? do you want him back or not? we do know he's been fit, posting twitter messages about tory candidates

writing letters. and here's what the pm had to say. >> well, it's great that boris is supporting the conservative party. i very much welcome that he's endorsing many candidates in videos and letters which have been coordinated by the campaign. i know that will make a difference. and of course, every week he's making the case in his column and making sure that everyone understands that what a labour government would do to this country and why it's important that everyone votes conservative. and i'm glad he's doing that. >> and you heard there from the from the prime minister saying that, that the message on social media, the letters were being coordinated by conservative party central office. so that's rishi sunak trying to own a bit of boris johnson's involvement, but it's very low level. and i think looking at the polls tonight, there's an mrp poll tonight, there's an mrp poll tonight out from ipsos mori that said that 117 seats are now too close to call, 56 marginally held by the tories, 48 marginal by labour. so there's as many as

more than 1 in 6 seats in the election are too close to call. those could be seats which boris johnson could win. many people, as we know, voted tory for the first time back in 2019 because they were excited by boris johnson's , manner. the way he johnson's, manner. the way he spoke, they made him they cheered him up, spoke, they made him they cheered him up , frankly, and cheered him up, frankly, and that kind of energy could make the difference for 20 or 30 seats, maybe for the tory party if the former prime minister bofis if the former prime minister boris johnson, chooses to get back involved, to be involved again. so far we're not seeing any indication he is. but clearly rishi sunak is keen to own some of that messaging coming out from boris johnson . coming out from boris johnson. >> yeah, it's interesting. i mean, boris johnson needs to come back from his family houdayin come back from his family holiday in sardinia first, chris, before he even thinks about joining the campaign trail. i was intrigued to read today that yougov still puts him as the most popular conservative politician in britain. he leads the way. he's ahead of even penny mordaunt, which is interesting if we're thinking at some point down the line, he stages that cincinnatus style

comeback . stages that cincinnatus style comeback. but stages that cincinnatus style comeback . but let's talk about comeback. but let's talk about another political showman, nigel farage, making this point today, that this lack of vetting of reform candidates. and let's be honest, there has been a lack of vetting because some of them have seemingly been appeared on ballot papers, despite saying some quite suspect stuff in the past . he's some quite suspect stuff in the past. he's blaming this on this vetting company that reformed asked to do the work and says that they haven't fulfilled their obligations. jones tell us more . more. >> half an hour. that's right. well, nigel farage, i've been following him in elections since 2010, 2015. he absolutely hates this. he's being judged on the private behaviour of other candidates who he knows nothing about. and it happened in 2015 when a dossier has emerged about previous social media posting internet comments by his candidates and they're all blamed on him as leader. and that's politics, by the way. but he hates it. so what happened back in april was reform uk paid a company called vetting comm

£144,000, according to reform uk, to weed out any embarrassing parliamentary candidates amongst its slate of 650 or so, or not as many as that , but over 600 as many as that, but over 600 candidates at the election , the candidates at the election, the contract was paid out, but vetting comm has admitted that the early election meant they couldn't do all the vetting they wanted to do. they couldn't get the details of dates of birth, the details of dates of birth, the agreement to look at personal data, to check who they've liked on twitter or facebook or any other social media platform . and that has media platform. and that has caused some embarrassment for the for the reform uk party. just today you heard, nigel farage being quizzed about remarks about hitler, and saying that we need to fight against, the nazis back in the back in the nazis back in the back in the second world war. i think tonight, another newspaper saying that another one of the candidates suggests that the king is controlled by some shadowy cabal from davos. so these are awkward things for

nigel farage to deal with. he doesn't like it. he hates it. he's now in a battle with this company called vetting. com which which reform says it had paid to do the vetting of for its part vetting. com and a further twist to it that it's founded by a former adviser to bofis founded by a former adviser to boris johnson. virgin.com fitspark says this adviser is politically it is it is politically it is it is politically neutral. and so is the adviser who set up the company . they're saying that company. they're saying that they did their best to try and check on the details. we don't want to litigate this in public and vetting. com say but they do send reform our best wishes as they shake up the uk political landscape. so a battle between this vetting company and reform uk over an embarrassment caused by these candidates . by these candidates. >> christopher hope, thank you very much. safe journey home on that conservative battle bus. loving your work as ever. thank you very much. joining me now to discuss this and other matters , discuss this and other matters, electoral and otherwise, is the

former labour mp and former defence secretary under tony blair, geoff hoon. lovely to have your company this evening geoff. thank you very much for joining me. good evening. first of all, i mean, i'm quite intrigued, actually, by what you make of nigel farage in general. you would have encountered him dunng you would have encountered him during your political career. he staged this comeback. what do you make of him on this electoral campaign? >> i met him in strasbourg when i was the europe minister. he certainly seemed to enjoy the life in strasbourg, even if he didn't like the european parliament much. he led a strange group. i'm not a i'm not a golfer. but my distinct impression was that they had moved straight from the golf club to the european parliament, elected for ukip. he clearly was head and shoulders above them. he was articulate and capable and very thoughtful and that was and very thoughtful and that was an interesting exercise in meeting someone who'd frankly been elected to the european parliament, even though he hated the whole place. >> yes, but then do you see his

worth as a political campaigner now? i mean , it's interesting. a now? i mean, it's interesting. a lot of people wrote him off after the brexit result. they said, well, that's a done deal. brexit has been done . boris brexit has been done. boris johnson promised to deliver it. whether you think that he did that or not is perhaps a moot point, but he's back now and he's talking about how he might be able to run to become prime minister in 2029, that he will be the effective leader of the opposition or an opposition to what we think might be a labour supermajority , and that he's the supermajority, and that he's the one who can unite the right . one who can unite the right. >> it's not for me to comment on events on the right of the political spectrum, except that i think it highly unlikely that the party he leads are going to win more than a handful of seats, even if they were to achieve, say, 20% of the poll. the chances are that will not win them many seats because their vote is spread so thinly across the country. therefore, l, across the country. therefore, i, i think he's being typically vainglorious about his prospects for the future. i suspect if

they don't win many seats, he will disappear yet again . he's will disappear yet again. he's got a habit of popping up and then disappearing when things don't quite go according to his plan , he said. plan, he said. >> he's in it for the duration and for the next five years. do you not see reform as a threat to labour, particularly in the red wall, as much as the tories? >> it certainly was in the past. i think that has changed. i've been doing a lot of canvassing, door knocking in the midlands andindeed door knocking in the midlands and indeed down here today. i pretty confident that those people who supported him in the past have returned to labour because they've seen the effect that the conservatives had in those constituencies. i can see that he will still continue to damage the right of the conservative party, not only in terms of votes, but actually in terms of votes, but actually in terms of votes, but actually in terms of pulling the conservative party to the right, which we've seen over a long penod which we've seen over a long period now. and i think that's probably the most dangerous development in british politics. i just bumped into

development in british politics. ijust bumped into michael i just bumped into michael portillo and it seems astonishing that the centre ground of the conservative party has all but disappeared. and i think that's very dangerous for british democracy. >> like the idea of you speaking to portillo , two former defence to portillo, two former defence secretaries together. and by the way, you're staying on because after the break we're going to be discussing sort of foreign affairs and i'm going to get you to put your defence hat back on for that. but for now, let's have your labour hat on, if you don't mind. is this reminding you of 1997, or is it more reminiscent of 1992, do you think when you were first elected? and i say that because farage has described starmer as blair without the flair, he hasn't got his personality and charisma, and there isn't that buzz on the streets that there was an advance of the 1997 election. would you agree with that ? that? >> i would agree with that, but i think the circumstances are very different. and funnily enough, following on from your conversation about boris johnson, the one thing that cuts through on the streets are people not wanting to see a return of either boris johnson

or liz truss. they have been hurt and damaged badly by the extreme policies that the conservative party pursued. and it's not something that you expect to get when you knock on doors, but it's come through very, very strongly in this campaign, and therefore i just don't see how the conservatives begging boris to return can do them any good. other than perhaps shoring up in safe seats already . already. >> but is it a good thing for starmer that he's winning this election by default? he's winning this election not necessarily on the back of some enthusiasm for him or his leadership or indeed his policies. but just because people are so fed up and angry with the tories, i don't think it's that. >> i think actually he demonstrates a degree of caution which the british people welcome. i think he demonstrates a degree of competence which, after recent prime ministers is something that most people welcome. i mean, people have said to me , oh, he's not said to me, oh, he's not exciting enough. but then on the doorstep, people have said , doorstep, people have said, well, we've had excitement. we've had people on zipwires flying around and falling off and not making it to the end.

we've had the disaster of liz truss and dreadful budget. the reality is i think people are looking for a degree of stability, which i think he exemplifies. >> but he's not the statesman that blair was, is he? and also, he might have a cabinet which is filled with people who have been doubtful on, you know, renewing trident and being pretty left wing in their approach to defence and security. that must worry you as a former defence secretary, my recollection actually is all these things were said about tony blair prior to the 1997 election. >> was he serious? was he a heavyweight politician ? could he heavyweight politician? could he deal with all of the crises in government and he demonstrated overwhelmingly that he could. and of course, one of the advantages is that keir starmer has is he's run a in effect, a government department. he's taken some really difficult decisions as dpp. so i don't think he'll be fazed by government . and again, government. and again, i strongly supported tony blair. i was privileged to be part of his government, did prop up corbyn as a former co—chair of the stop the war coalition . well, i think

the war coalition. well, i think he's given some explanations for that already , and i'm not going that already, and i'm not going to try and do better than he's done. but the reality is all of these things were said about tony blair before 1997. and the reality is he demonstrated what a great prime minister he was, but he took him time. he also has written that the first 12 months or so were very difficult , but i actually think keir starmer is better prepared than we were in 1997. >> okay, hold that thought. because we're going to be speaking a bit later in the show about putin and what on earth he's doing in north korea. so stay where you are, jeff, just to say, because we've mentioned geoff hoon, former defence secretary and other former defence secretary, will be presenting state of the nation. michael portillo. so do stay tuned for that tonight. he's also here tomorrow night at 8 pm. right here on gb news. and p.m. right here on gb news. and i'll be talking to him towards the end of the show about what he's got coming up. but as i say next, we're going to be discussing what on earth vladimir putin is doing, trying to engage in a with nonh with north korean dictator kim jong un. don't go

welcome back to vote 2024 with me. camilla tominey. tonight, i'm asking you, would boris johnson be a help or hindrance on the campaign trail? lie—in says boris is not an asset. he became an out and out social democrat. vince says i voted for bofis democrat. vince says i voted for boris before because it is better the fool. you know than the fool you don't. the conservatives then voted him out . patricia says boris should not help the conservative party who treated him so badly. the conservative party only want to bnng conservative party only want to bring him down with their now sinking ship . well, let's get sinking ship. well, let's get into the story that has been dominating at least the foreign pages today. and it's vladimir putin's decision to go and see nonh putin's decision to go and see north korean dictator kim jong un. that's his first visit to nonh un. that's his first visit to north korea in 24 years. we're joined by doctor edward howell, lecturer in politics at the university of oxford and the korea foundation fellow at chatham house. lovely to see you

this evening. thank you very much indeed forjoining me. what's putin trying to achieve with this visit ? with this visit? >> good evening, and thank you very much for having me. this visit was not unexpected, we know that kim jong un met putin in russia last september, and this was an act of reciprocity. what it highlights , though, is what it highlights, though, is that this is both a transaction relationship between russia and nonh relationship between russia and north korea. kim jong un gets cash, he gets food assistance. he also gets satellite technology and advanced missile technology. and crucially for putin, well, russia gets cheap weapons, a cheap supply of artillery and even ballistic missiles to use in his ongoing war against ukraine. and recently , we have seen evidence recently, we have seen evidence that debris from north korean short range ballistic missiles have been found in kharkiv and in other areas of ukraine. >> doctor howard, does this

confirm, though, putin's sort of panah confirm, though, putin's sort of pariah status on the international stage? it wasn't that long ago. i was thinking back to the olympics, 2012. he's at the judo with david cameron. the following year there's the 68, the following year there's the g8, which he's included in, and now the only friend he can find in the world is in north korea. >> it highlights putin's isolation , the fact that he's isolation, the fact that he's had to reach out to, well , the had to reach out to, well, the soviet union's former cold war client of north korea is an act of desperation that . that said, of desperation that. that said, i think we need to look at the longer term consequences, both going back and moving forward. you know, it was putin who agreed to write off the vast majority of north korea's sovereign era debt in the early 2010s and moving forward, even if the ukraine war were to end and russia were to not need a supply of, well, a lot of over a million rounds of artillery, there is something about this relationship that highlights there is a potential for a longer term, broader, anti—u.s,

anti—war eastern coalition, which is concerning. so actually, even if the two countries don't sign, a military pact , as has countries don't sign, a military pact, as has been touted by putin's policy advisers as of late, that doesn't mean to say that we should be completely unconcerned and indeed not. >> right. thank you very much indeed for joining >> right. thank you very much indeed forjoining me, doctor edward howell. thank you. still with me is geoff hoon, the former defence secretary under tony blair, longest serving defence secretary since denis healey. i think you've still got that record, haven't you, geoff? i think so, yes, iain duncan smith wrote for the telegraph today warning of the resurgence of a new axis of evil naming russia, china, north korea and iran. he's saying it's the most dangerous time for the western world since the cold war. do you agree with that analysis? >> it's certainly a real risk that these countries, particularly countries like nonh particularly countries like north korea and russia, are getting together is a very real threat. i think probably vie i

wouldn't go quite as far as doctor howell in the sense that i don't see any prospect of a some kind of military alliance. i think this is entirely pragmatic by putin. this is a source of artillery shells that he can use in ukraine. and one of the problems for ukrainian defenders in recent times has been they've simply been outgunned by huge amounts of artillery fire coming in from the russian side. >> what's your assessment of ukraine? i'd be intrigued to know how you think . for know how you think. for instance, tony blair might have reacted to the invasion in and whether you support the government's action in support with aid and weaponry and rishi sunak entire approach . sunak entire approach. >> when i was europe minister in 2006, i actually visited the next wave of countries who were thinking about joining the european union. places like ukraine, georgia, moldova, armenia and what i discovered in 2006 was that those countries

either toed the line in moscow or they were destabilise by moscow, eventually culminating in the invasion of georgia, which really should have been a sign to the west that we had a problem, and countries like moldova were constantly disrupted by agents of moscow , disrupted by agents of moscow, by people who were taking their instructions from the kremlin and in a sense, ukraine is a logical development. from the kremlin's perspective of that policy. they thought that the west and indeed ukraine, would simply roll over and allow him to do what he did in georgia, which was to take control of sovereign territory internationally recognised, which again, of course , he's which again, of course, he's donein which again, of course, he's done in ukraine. so it's vitally important that we support ukraine. it's vitally important that we back them militarily in the way that the government has done. do you think blair would have taken that boris johnson robust approach, supporting

zelenskyy not entertaining, really , as actually nigel farage really, as actually nigel farage has done in the last 24 to 48 hours an idea of sort of carving up land and a settlement, i'm absolutely sure, from watching tony blair in action in a whole range of international situations , that he would have situations, that he would have stood by ukraine. absolutely. day in, day out, because he would recognise that we cannot allow, in effect, a dictator like president putin to take territory to subjugate people and to destroy an emerging democracy . democracy. >> you appear to have sort of suggested that the west might have been asleep at the wheel when it came to russia and sensing what was happening in georgia, and indeed crimea in 2014. while i've got the benefit of you in the studio, i wanted to just ask you about the withdrawal from afghanistan in 2021. d0 withdrawal from afghanistan in 2021. do you think that was a source of western shame, or was it just the acceptance that actually, you know, an admission of failure in that region? >> post—iraq we weren't really

hard from the first time the british troops were deployed. i spent christmas 2001, ensuring that there was a large peacekeeping force in and around kabul peacekeeping force in and around kabul. we then sought to extend that by supporting the democratically elected government in different parts of afghanistan. the real problem, though, was that we never had the support and consent of all of the people, and too often the afghans themselves were not prepared to stand up to the taliban, not prepared to support women, to support education for girls . and sadly, whilst it was girls. and sadly, whilst it was a failure of the west, i can't avoid that. it was also a failure for the afghan people themselves. >> geoff hoon, thank you very much indeed forjoining me this much indeed for joining me this evening. great to speak to you. some breaking news for you. now, the channel migrant crisis deepened today with a number of record number of people making the illegal crossing from

france. gb news can reveal that at least 750 small boat migrants arrived in the uk today. that number surpasses the previous one day record of 711. small boat migrants who arrived on may the 1st. it takes the total number of migrants who have crossed this year to almost 12,200. you can see the footage there of those channel migrants coming in that daily record now having been surpassed last. okay. coming up next, we're going to be speaking about far left extremism. we've got an exclusive gb news documentary r , and i'm going to be speaking to charlie peters, who have done

welcome back to vote 2024 with me. camilla tominey. let's have a discussion now about labour's plans to introduce banking hubs.

so the labour party has set up plans for 350 banking hubs to be openedin plans for 350 banking hubs to be opened in towns and villages across britain over the next five years. if it wins the next general election. the party said the proposal would breathe new life back into britain's high streets. the banking hubs would allow staff from several different banks to share the same space, helping to fill gaps left in the system from branch closures. there would be a counter service operated by the post office, allowing customers to conduct routine banking transactions. well, to discuss this, let's bring professor daniel hodson into the conversation. for me, a deputy ceo of nationwide. lovely to see you this evening, ceo of nationwide. lovely to see you this evening , professor you this evening, professor amin, which has suggested that there have been now over 6000 bank closures since 2015. what do you make of this idea? are hubs the solution? >> well , first of all, it's >> well, first of all, it's worth saying that there are still quite a lot of branches operating about 6000, so there are quite a few. and i think

that, uk finance has said that 99% of people have some kind of access, but there is a problem, there's no doubt about that. there's a, there's a problem in small communities. there's a problem even amongst, small communities. there's a problem even amongst , the problem even amongst, the unbanked, unbanked. i think there's a particular problem also in terms of what you might call interpersonal banking, where, frankly, people don't have a chance to get to see anybody. and one of the things that this idea , these, these that this idea, these, these hubs would do and do actually , hubs would do and do actually, because they're about 100, well, they're about 50 something of them now , and they're plans to them now, and they're plans to bnng them now, and they're plans to bring that up to 130. leaving aside the bidding war, which has gone on between the tories and the labour party, i think it's tories , 150, labour 250 on that tories, 150, labour 250 on that at the moment in terms of the bidding . but the point is that bidding. but the point is that there is a need for a space for people to talk about mortgages and so on as they used to do. yes. and of course they can't. now, one of the problems with these fees go ahead, camilla, i

was just going to say, when you say that people watching and listening to this will be thinking to themselves, if we've recognised that there's an ongoing need, even with the advent of online banking, making things easier for customers to a certain extent , if we've certain extent, if we've realised there is this need and people want to be in touch with actual staff and speak to actual humans, why did the banks close down so many branches in the first place? i think that's a very good question , but i and very good question, but i and certainly it's to do with costs and all those sort of things and the digital change. and of course, we don't know how the digital world is actually going to change our lives in the future. it's happening. so fast, there is talk and the labour proposition talks about changing the qualifying , the qualifying the qualifying, the qualifying things you have to do in to order set up a hub. and i think that's a good idea. i think that if you could make it attractive to, some of the banks to reopen branches or alternatively to come into these hubs on a much bigger scale. and by the way,

we're talking about a very, very small number at the moment compared with the numbers they've lost, then i think this is a good this is a good step forward. but you're absolutely right. it should be organic. the bank should be interested in doing this . and all i can say is doing this. and all i can say is when i was, involved with nationwide, we used to go out on the, on the, on the round the branches twice, 2 or 3 days a week. all the directors did. and week. all the directors did. and we found out what was going on. i think the bank should be doing that a lot more, because they'd find out things about about their customers, which they certainly do in their offices, in their areas in the city of london. >> i mean, to be fairto >> i mean, to be fair to nationwide, they've now got the most bank branches in england. i believe. i mean, closely followed by lloyds. and that's no bad thing. in fact, they've been campaigning. they've been trying to win over new customers by saying we're going to close down fewer branches . but i think down fewer branches. but i think from the customers perspective and from the public's perspective, it's too little, too late because they're blaming banks and bank closures for decimating the high street . i

decimating the high street. i mean, if a high street loses a bank, it's a bit like it losing a major department store or a major supermarket. the whole high street falls. and it's quite difficult now to repair that damage. >> well, it certainly is . and, >> well, it certainly is. and, you know, i look around here, i live quite close to the sea in sussex, and you can see high streets which are damaged by this looking very weary. and it's very, very sad. i'm not convinced that bank hubs are going to necessarily prove a solution , but they will at least solution, but they will at least prove a partial solution if they can be done on a scale which attracts, as you rightly say, camilla, a much larger number of banks to participate and also , banks to participate and also, in my view, it's important that it provides opportunities for people to meet, as it were, their local bankers , and not their local bankers, and not just do business as it were, with a machine or just make a with a machine orjust make a cash transaction because things like mortgages and the sort of rather more sophisticated financial transactions , which financial transactions, which most people have to do these days at some time in their lives

, need the sort of personal service which you could have if this kind of thing works properly, but it's got to be done organically within the right regulatory environment. and that's another issue in terms of setting the regulation away, which isn't over prescriptive , which which makes prescriptive, which which makes sure that it recognises what the market need is and, and actually ensures that a lot of further, bank banking, interest is created in this in this very important issue actually, professor hudson, thank you very much indeed forjoining us this much indeed for joining us this evening. my pleasure. >> thank you. britain's far left activism activism has now been branded an issue of national security , as dozens of banks and security, as dozens of banks and factories have been vandalised across the country. gb news exclusive new documentary, britain's far left exposed tracks recent activism conducted by far left protesters, including palestine action and youth demand, an environmentalist group campaigning against israel's war with hamas. gb news reporter

charlie peters now joins me in the studio to discuss this. what have you discovered, charlie? >> well, several things. we've been tracking these protest groups is extreme protest groups for a number of months now , and for a number of months now, and we're looking into the extent to which they are having an effect, not only on our democracy, our ability to carry out our political processes, which some critics are saying is being threatened by coercion and threats. but also now increasingly threats to our national security . vie now, last national security. vie now, last week we saw one protest group called palestine action vandalised. some 20 barclays banks from the south of england all the way up to scotland. just one set of arrests in that action, and that was in the city of london, near bishopsgate. and yesterday we saw another set of barclays banks being vandalised in london. but also we saw in kent an arms factory linked to a company called instro precision that was sufficiently vandalised by a group of palestine action protesters who said they were targeting it because of its

links to elbit systems. now elbit systems is a big israeli security technology company. it's an arms maker , it deals it's an arms maker, it deals with drones and all the rest of it, but it also has a uk subsidiary and it's closely unked subsidiary and it's closely linked to the british armed forces . now, after this forces. now, after this vandalism yesterday and palestine action have been protesting outside this factory for years. the company instro precision said that it makes electro optics and night vision goggles for the british army and the british armed forces, and this sort of action was highly irresponsible during a time of global instability. irresponsible during a time of global instability . and this global instability. and this morning lord walney, who's the government's independent adviser on political violence and extremism, said that it was a threat to our national security. he told gb news that it was highly irresponsible to be engaging in that sort of stuff, and said that the government's process of arrests had not deterred the group. so we've been tracking these protests, these organisations and their direct action in recent years,

but in particular in recent months since the conflict flared up in the near east and among several discoveries, i think one is really key. and that's the link between environmentalist groups and now pro palestinian groups. so in the action we saw last week where those 20 banks were vandalised, it was run alongside by palestine action, but also another group called shut the system, which describes itself as an underground environmentalist cell. in april we revealed this new group called youth demand, which is a youth just stop oil movement being built up, in alignment with palestine action. they threw paint on the mod main building in april, and as you can imagine, with all of that sort of action taking place, we've heard quite some some strong criticism in the documentary which you can play for you now . for you now. >> i think more generally there is a nervousness and a hesitation within the institutions to take on forms of extremism that don't fit the prevailing narrative. i mean, the thing that i worry about is

the thing that i worry about is the possibility of them escalating. >> we have been willing to tolerate extremism , from some of tolerate extremism, from some of these groups, far too much. and these groups, far too much. and the authorities have taken completely the wrong approach. unfortunately, up until now . unfortunately, up until now. >> and as a part of that process, people are asking, why do they do this? why do palestine action keep getting away with this sort of protest and other groups? well fundamentally it works. elbit systems has shut down two of their factories and their subsidiaries in the midlands and also in kent as a consequence. sorry, in greater manchester as a consequence of these protests . a consequence of these protests. so it is working and they're making significant losses as a consequence . consequence. >> charlie, when can we see the documentary? >> the documentary is now live on the website exclusively for our members. >> brilliant. and we must read out a statement from palestine action in response to this documentary. instro precision is wholly owned by israel's largest weapons firm, elbit systems. the factory frequently exports

weaponry to israel, who are committing genocide in gaza as a party to the genocide convention, britain has a responsibility to prevent the occurrence of genocide when our government fails to abide by their legal and moral obligations, its responsibility of ordinary people to take direct action. there you have it, charlie. thank you very much indeed. it, charlie. thank you very much indeed . coming up next, we're indeed. coming up next, we're going to be speaking about drink driving. and the limits should be reduced, perhaps shouldn't drink anything if

welcome back to vote 2024. doctors have suggested that the dnnk doctors have suggested that the drink drive limit should be cut to a small glass of wine or beer . the limit in england, wales and northern ireland is currently the highest in europe, at 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood. the british medical foundation, the trade union for doctors, want it reduced to 50mg and 20mg for new and commercial

drivers . to discuss this, let's drivers. to discuss this, let's speak to nick lees, policy and standards director , iam standards director, iam roadsmart. nick, what do you reckon? i mean, in my mind, if you're going to have it reduced to that amount, that basically says to drivers , doesn't it says to drivers, doesn't it dnnk says to drivers, doesn't it drink nothing at all before you take to the wheel . take to the wheel. >> good evening. yes, i mean, it is the message that you might think that is the case. but unfortunately, when it comes to blood alcohol levels, the speed at which a body will break down alcohol, can vary significantly. so that's probably the reason why you shouldn't necessarily set a drink drive limit to zero. i think also what we've got to remember is that the uk has the highest , or remember is that the uk has the highest, or should i say england and wales has the highest drink drive limit in europe. and perhaps it is time to bring it down in line with the rest of europe at 50mg per 100 mils. >> yeah, it is difficult, isn't

it? because, i mean, i'm actually teetotal, but me drinking heavily and michael portillo is sitting next to me in the studio drinking heavily, might produce two very different readings on any breathalyser test just because of weight, age , tolerance and all the rest of it. but i suppose it seems somewhat out of line, doesn't it? i mean, we're still suffering terribly from record alcohol and drug related deaths . alcohol and drug related deaths. they've reached a record high in 2021 and 22. also, i'm reading here every year. we still have 200 people dying of drink driving related incidents on the roads , and a further 1600 roads, and a further 1600 seriously injured . even though, seriously injured. even though, nick, we've come a long way in recent decades , haven't we? i recent decades, haven't we? i mean, if you're drinking under the influence , driving under the the influence, driving under the influence these days, you know, you're treated like a pariah . you're treated like a pariah. there's been great messaging on it, but it clearly hasn't got through to all drivers. >> yeah, i think that's absolutely spot on. what you've seen since the 1970s is a clear reduction in the trends, and

dnnk reduction in the trends, and drink driving has become much more socially unacceptable. i think also, when you look at the data for those younger drivers, so the new drivers , which so the new drivers, which historically would have seen the highest levels of drink driving , highest levels of drink driving, are now actually lower than some people of working age . so the people of working age. so the message has got through even amongst generations . message has got through even amongst generations. lie—ins i think when you look at the statistics, though , you know, statistics, though, you know, 250 to 260 deaths per year where somebody is over the drink drive limit is an unacceptable amount . limit is an unacceptable amount. and when you look at other countries such as sweden, which has a lower drink drive limit, and also they have separate measures to combat drink driving, they have a much lower level. so there's clearly some lessons for the uk to learn from europe. it'sjust lessons for the uk to learn from europe. it's just a question of how we do it and when we do it. >> so nick, there is a correlation correlation there between a lower level and a lower number of fatalities, which is interesting. my brilliant producers on this show

and i were discussing just before we came on air, self breathalyser thing . i mean, is breathalyser thing. i mean, is that a good idea? you've had one drink. maybe you're worried . do drink. maybe you're worried. do they match up with what police readings might give you on their breathalysers? >> i think there's something to be said about this. it's something that we iam roadsmart have actually called for the government to look into as an opfion government to look into as an option alongside further drink, drive, rehabilitation courses . i drive, rehabilitation courses. i think that it will probably be most useful to have interlocks, alcohol interlocks as they're known as within commercial vehicles, and perhaps for those that have already offended. so we think that that could actually cut reoffending, and we think that it would reduce the incidence of drink driving among commercial drivers. but i think just going back to the point that i said just a moment ago , that i said just a moment ago, there is also a role here for drink, drive, rehabilitation courses. it's something where iam roadsmart we provide. there are other organisations out there that will do that and what

there that will do that and what the research has shown is that those that go on these drink drive rehabilitation courses are two and a half times less likely to reoffend, and that's where we need to get to often what you see in the data, camilla, is that the people that are drink driving or are caught drink driving or are caught drink driving have already got a historical conviction for doing so. that is very, very high on the stats and that's something that we really do need to tackle. >> all right. nick lies, thank you very much indeed for joining us this evening. especially relevant, this conversation when it comes to drink driving because the euros are on. we know it's tempting. go to the pub, watch the footy, have a couple of pints but you could be over the limit. so just be very, very careful. let's bring michael portillo in. good evening. lovely to see my sunday buddy and you're here on a what day is it? tuesday. tuesday, i believe. and you're covering state of the nation tonight and tomorrow night. yes. >> and a couple of times the following week as well, i think. >> glad to hear it. and you've been having a little tete a tete with geoff hoon there. your former defence secretary. well, successor obviously we have a

little club together. >> yes. >> yes. >> do you. yes. a defence secretaries club discussing things like russia and china and nonh things like russia and china and north korea. what have you got coming up tonight ? coming up tonight? >> well, it's quite interesting that reform has come out absolutely against net zero. obviously they're opening a second front here on the conservatives. my speculation is that quite a lot of conservative voters might be interested in that. we're going to be talking to george eustice, who's a former environment secretary for the conservative party, obviously not a candidate at this election . and i'm quite this election. and i'm quite interested in polls, not just what the polls are saying, but how they say it. i've got scarlett mccgwire coming on. who is a pollster, and i want to ask her about how the raw data that's collected in a poll is manipulated. yes what happens to it before it's published? for us? and there's a debate, by the way, going on on channel 4 at the moment that's been about immigration and law and order. we'll be reviewing that and seeing whether we can decide who's won. that's going to be with my political panel . and with my political panel. and right at the end, we're going to be looking at whether we care about beautiful architecture. for the example we have is the

great controversy about the marks and spencers in oxford street. yes. >> which michael gove has been railing against. >> i believe he did rail against, but michael gove is yesterday's man. >> he is yesterday's man. he stood down to avoid an embarrassing moment at the election. i do believe, michael, that we won't give a name to because we don't like to talk like that very much. looking forward to your show. stick with michael for 8:00 coming up next, of course. state of the nation, covering all of those very interesting topics. i'll be back here tomorrow night at seven as usual. but first, here's the weather with annie shuttleworth . weather with annie shuttleworth. >> looks like things are heating up . boxt boilers sponsors of up. boxt boilers sponsors of weather on gb news. >> good evening. welcome to your latest gb news weather update. it's staying fairly dry and fine as we head into wednesday. sunny spells for many of us. another dry day on the cards. however, across the far northwest there are weather fronts approaching, but for many of us, we've got

high pressure dominating across the uk and that's bringing all that dry and fine weather through this evening, though there's a risk of some heavy showers still continuing for some northern areas of england. but elsewhere a dry and clear night to come. for many of us, we will see the clearest skies across the far northwest of scotland , northern ireland two, scotland, northern ireland two, where temperatures could dip down into the low single figures. but for most of us to start the day, we'll be at around 10 or 11 degrees, a little bit fresher tomorrow morning than this morning, but still plenty of sunshine around . still plenty of sunshine around. let's take a closer look at how things look first thing tomorrow. and actually where it's been quite cloudy across the far north of scotland lately. it's going to be a much brighter start tomorrow, despite the chillier feel, and that sunshine will be spread quite widely across the uk into northern ireland. northern areas of england, north wales. there'll be some cloud around here and there, but generally wednesday is going to be a fairly fine day and actually onshore breeze across the far southeast could bring a slightly fresher feel here. but for most of us, plenty of sunshine to

come through tomorrow. sunny spells into the afternoon cloud will bubble up a little bit. that may allow the odd shower to break out here and there, perhaps across the south—west, but i think you'll be pretty unlucky to get caught out in a shower. however, a different story for the far northwest of scotland, into the western isles and the highlands, where a weather front is approaching now in the sunshine. highs of around 23 degrees to come in the southeast , but widely into the southeast, but widely into the high teens. for many of us, thursday is looking like another dry and bright day for the bulk of the uk. temperatures climbing towards 24, possibly 25 degrees on thursday. but weather fronts never too far away from the far northwest, which means it will be a little bit cloudier with a risk of rain here. but actually the further south and east you are, the more likely you are to see more in the way of sunshine and temperatures climbing by a brighter outlook with boxt solar sponsors of weather on gb news

news. >> hello. good evening, i'm michael portillo, bringing you a state of the nation tonight. as a former member of parliament with experience of general elections, i will be bringing you a story or two about the old days, which i'll relate to the unfolding events of today. the reform party has pledged to abandon net zero, prompting cries of climate denial from its most ferocious critics. but is there a method to this bold policy pledge? i'll speak to a former environment secretary this evening. seven senior politicians went head to head on the issues of immigration and law and order, and we will debate who won . plus, our debate who won. plus, our kafkaesque planning system might be the biggest obstacle to solving britain's housing crisis. but what role could beautiful architecture play? i'll be speaking to a man with a plan to make britain elegant again. state of the nation starts now .