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 discussing the bombshell poll, which spells tory ageddon for rishi sunak. >> we're also going to be speaking to the muslim entrepreneur who's decided to back reform rather than the tories . and we'll be speaking tories. and we'll be speaking about another bombshell this time. it's a book about the beckhams . beckhams. >> we'll also be joined by a leading tiktok star who'll be talking to us about child obesity. do get in touch with your thoughts on tonight's topics by visiting gbnews.com forward slash your say. but first, here's the news with polly middlehurst .

polly middlehurst. >> camilla thank you and good evening to you . will the top evening to you. will the top stories at 7:00 a police constable working as a part time member of the prime minister's close protection team has been arrested over alleged bets he made related to the timing of the general election. the met police is saying tonight the officer has been taken into custody on suspicion of misconduct in a public office and has since been bailed pending their further inquiries. this is just a developing story thatis this is just a developing story that is breaking tonight. we'll bnng that is breaking tonight. we'll bring you more detail on it as it comes to us. well, also new in the news tonight. a new poll is forecasting the worst election defeat for the conservative party in its nearly 200 year history. let's take a look. if you're watching on television at yougovs latest study, which projects for 125 seats for labour, which 125 more than they won in 2019. that

would leave the tories with just 108, with the liberal democrats on 67, 20 for the snp and five seats for reform uk . in news seats for reform uk. in news away from the election, the jury in the trial of constance marten and mark gordon has failed to reach verdicts today on charges related to the death of the couple's newborn child, their baby daughter victoria , was baby daughter victoria, was found dead on an allotment near brighton last year. they were later arrested following a high profile police manhunt. prosecutors will now determine whether or not to seek a retrial . a former fujitsu boss has denied any responsibility for the horizon scandal because, he says he was never made aware of problems with the software . problems with the software. richard christwho told the inquiry he feels aggrieved after initially believing the horizon system was one of the company's major successes. he was chief executive of the company between 2000 and 2004, and says he always regarded the post office

as a satisfied customer more than 700 subpostmasters were prosecuted by the post office and handed criminal convictions between 1999 and 2015. after fujitsu's faulty system made it look like money was missing from their branches , the economy and their branches, the economy and their branches, the economy and the first time in nearly three years, has seen inflation fall to the bank of england's target rate of 2, and that's boosted hopes of an interest rate cut in the coming months. most analysts were forecasting the drop down from 2.3 in april, but the chancellor, jeremy hunt, says it's not only great news, but he warned inflation could rise again if labour wins the general election. however, labour's shadow chancellor rachel reeves, warned the cost of living crisis is still isn't over and prices are still going up . the scottish are still going up. the scottish national party has promised another independence referendum and as well to fight for an end

to austerity and rejoin the european union, launching their manifesto today, the leader, john swinney, says he also wants to see an end to the two child benefit cap . scottish labour benefit cap. scottish labour criticised the first minister, saying he's woefully out of touch. and just lastly, prince william joined queen camilla in the royal procession today on day two of royal ascot. her majesty led the way in berkshire with the duke and duchess of edinburgh, who incidentally, are celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary today. the king was not in attendance, but the prince of wales travelled in the carriage with camilla. that's the news. for the latest stories do sign up to gb news alerts . do sign up to gb news alerts. scan the qr code on your screen or go to gb news. common alerts . or go to gb news. common alerts. >> thanks, polly. right, let's get into the details of this bombshell poll, this time for the telegraph. i appreciate there are a lot of polls out

saying many different things, but this one has been conducted by savanta. and what it concludes is, or at least it predicts, is that labour will win a historic 516 seats. so that's the biggest, i think , that's the biggest, i think, majority for a governing party in all of political history in this country. while the conservatives will be reduced to just 53. so that would be three seats ahead of the liberal democrats on 50. that's basically a tory wipe—out or near enough. the poll predicts no seats for reform , although, no seats for reform, although, as we'll discuss later, other polling is saying that their vote share has increased. it suggests that rishi sunak will become the first prime minister in history to lose his seat in richmond, north yorkshire. it predicts a cabinet wipe—out with the chancellor, jeremy hunt, the main leadership contender, penny mordaunt, and home secretary james cleverly all set to lose their seats of the remaining tories left. and don't forget that's just 53 of them. kemi badenoch appears to be the only

contender, at least, to unite the right for the tories. so the question i'm asking you this evening is , do you think rishi evening is, do you think rishi sunak deserves to lose his seat as the campaign for the tories been that bad.7 i appreciate you may have mixed feelings about the prime minister, but losing his seat after everything he's been campaigning for in recent weeks do get in touch . leave me weeks do get in touch. leave me a comment at gbnews.com/yoursay say with your views on that this evening and we'll come back to that a little later. but first we're joined by former conservative party leader lord howard. great to see you this evening. thank you . thank you evening. thank you. thank you very much indeed forjoining us. look, i appreciate lord howard. there's been lots of polling. what we can conclude, even though there's variance in the results that they're predicting, is that all of them seem to be pretty dire for the conservatives. we've had, i think now eight mrp polls and they're all suggesting that it's going to be a form of tory geddon with the tories reduced to in the most generous estimate

, 150 seats, this one suggesting just 53. >> well, i mean, i can only talk from my own experience. i've been on the doorstep every day this week, and apart from today, when i had a very positive response on the other days , response on the other days, what's become clear is that there are very, very many people who haven't made up their minds, who haven't made up their minds, who are genuinely undecided. and i think the task that faces the conservative party in the two weeks that remain of the campaign is to persuade those people who haven't made up their minds, that we have genuinely turned a corner. we've now got the lowest inflation rate in the g7, apart from italy , the g7, apart from italy, the highest growth rate in the g7, apart from canada , which is the apart from canada, which is the same as ours. and after all, the hard times that we've been through because of covid, because of the war, because of the increase in the price of energy , we have now turned

energy, we have now turned a corner. we have a really good future ahead of us. if we stick to the conservative and stick to the plan, that's what we've got to try and persuade people of. in the two weeks that remain of the campaign. >> i mean, to be fairto rishi >> i mean, to be fair to rishi sunak, he's been hitting the campaign trail and trying to suggest that this is exactly the message that he wants to communicate to the electorate, right, that you're safer with the tories, you're less safe with labour. he's been hammering home those different messages about tough economic times dunng about tough economic times during the pandemic and because of the war in ukraine, and how he's repaired things . as he he's repaired things. as he said, stick with me. trust me. better the devil you know . better the devil you know. however, even though there may be encouraging mood music on the doorstep, lord howard and i have heard that from some of your former conservative colleagues. at the same time, these polls aren't moving. so what does he need to do.7 we've aren't moving. so what does he need to do? we've got 15 days left. what what can rishi sunak do to narrow this poll ? do to narrow this poll? >> well, he needs to redouble,

not not just rishi sunak, but we all need to redouble our efforts to get the message across. and of course, the evidence on inflation is new evidence. it only came out this morning. it came out after all these polls that you're talking about were taken. so as the evidence increases that we really have turned a corner, that there really is a good future for our country. if we stick with the plan and stick with the conservatives, there is still time to persuade people that they shouldn't throw it all away and risk the higher taxes that inevitably will come with a labour government. >> some people have suggested , >> some people have suggested, lord howard, that rishi sunak is playing queensberry rules and he needs to take the gloves off. he needs to take the gloves off. he needs to take the gloves off. he needs to really start attacking labourin needs to really start attacking labour in these last two weeks, land some blows and really make the public afraid of the prospect of a labour supermajority due to agree with that strategy, because there's been attacks on reform and

there's been a lot of restating of the conservative legacy, but people don't seem to be listening. should he just aim all of his attacks , fire at keir all of his attacks, fire at keir starmer now? >> well , i starmer now? >> well, i think he has been attacking labour and he has been attacking labour and he has been attacking keir starmer and pointing out, keir starmer's flip flops , someone you can't flip flops, someone you can't really, have any confidence in because he's changed his mind so often. he's the man who told us jeremy corbyn would make a brilliant prime minister and admits that he wasn't telling the truth, admits that that wasn't what he really thought and says he only said it because he thought labour would lose the last election. now we've been making all these points and there's still time for them to get home, so i think we certainly must continue to attack labour, but we must attack labour, but we must attack other parties too , attack other parties too, because the truth is that every vote that isn't a vote for the conservatives will let a labour government in. >> lord howard, thank you very much indeed forjoining me this much indeed for joining me this evening . evening. >> thank you camilla. >> thank you camilla. >> we're joined now by former

labour mp sean simon. lovely to see you this evening. what's your reaction to this polling? because of course it looks hugely positive doesn't it. all of these mrp polls coming out in favour of a massive super majority for labour. but then 516 seats. that's untrammelled power isn't it? on the back of actually a vote share that doesn't represent more than half of the country . you could have of the country. you could have labour on 516 seats, and yet the majority of the country would have voted for other parties . have voted for other parties. >> yeah. i don't think there's any chance that that's going to happen. any chance that that's going to happen . i mean, we've had we've happen. i mean, we've had we've had five of these mrp polls now and they all show a comfortable majority for labour. i don't think there are i don't think there are many people who don't think that labour is going to win this election, including rishi sunak and michael howard and everybody in the tory party but but there's wide variation between them in terms of how

much labour will win by and this poll is a real, real outlier at the very extreme end. with with an absurdly large majority. that's not going to happen. no chance.i that's not going to happen. no chance. i mean , it is it is chance. i mean, it is it is quite surprising, isn't it, to be looking at numbers , be looking at numbers, suggesting that kind of labour supermajority when people largely agree that keir starmer isn't blair, he hasn't got his personality or charisma. >> he's come unstuck a number of times on the campaign trail. i mean, he can't explain why on earth he decided to prop up jeremy corbyn. for four years, he struggled to define what a woman is . he can't tell us who woman is. he can't tell us who he'll tax, except that he won't tax working people. and yet he looks set to walk into number 10 with this massive super majority on the back of not much personal personal poll rating approval . personal poll rating approval. >> so it sounds like you're not a massive fan of keir starmer there. >> i'm merely stating the other , >> i'm merely stating the other, the other view to this idea that labour should just walk into number 10. i think i'm listing

legitimate criticisms of keir starmer in the interests of balance. i'm hoping you'll give me the counter view. sean. >> well, i'm going to agree with you on one level, which is that i don't think keir starmer or kind of labour strategists, i don't think they would claim that he has been kind of acclaimed in the way that blair was in the run up to 97, it, i think labour does understand that. what's going on here is more about a national reaction to the catastrophic reign of chaos we've had under 14 years of the conservatives than it is about, hugely warm affection for either labour corporately or keir starmer personally . but i keir starmer personally. but i think what he and labour has have done is made themselves. and i think the polls demonstrate this. and let's be clear, not just polls , but clear, not just polls, but umpteen by elections, council

elections , mayoral elections, elections, mayoral elections, lots and lots of real votes in real elections. they demonstrate that that people have do now feel that labour is a credible opposition. they're sick of the tories. they want to get the tories. they want to get the tories out and they feel that labouris tories out and they feel that labour is a reasonable, trustworthy, mainstream opposition that they can put their faith in. to have a go must be better than this terrible tory lock . terrible tory lock. >> all right, sean simon, thank you very much indeed for joining me this evening. i'm joined now from athens. would you believe, by pollster and academic professor matt goodwin? matt at, first of all, your reaction to this savanta poll ? i mean, it this savanta poll? i mean, it seems to be a bit of an outlier because we've had other mrp polling, which has forecast doom for the tories. there's no doubt about that. but not this bad. 53 seats, matt. >> sure. i mean , look, these are >> sure. i mean, look, these are historic numbers, camilla. i mean, it's difficult to know really what's accurate and what

isn't at this stage. if we take a step back and look at all of the polling overall, then i think we can actually see a number of , think we can actually see a number of, key themes coming out. one is the conservative vote does seem to be imploding. the average conservative support is down this week. it's lower than where it was at the beginning of the campaign. the second thing we can see is reform are doing much better now than they were at the beginning of the election campaign. and the third thing we can see is labour are holding on to these very big, impressive leads in the polling, a little bit of evidence that's coming down in some polls, but they're doing well, so this savanta pulp suggests that reform won't win any seats. but you've conducted polling with people , polling, polling with people, polling, which suggests that actually reform aren't doing too badly . reform aren't doing too badly. >> well, exclusively for your show, camilla. >> yeah, we've got a poll out today. >> yeah, we've got a poll out today . it was in the field today. it was in the field yesterday. this is about to drop on twitter , and i think it's on twitter, and i think it's going to cause a bit of a storm. let me give you the headline

numbers here, labour 35% reform, 24% conservative, 15. lib dems 12. yeah. this is this is higher than the previous peak we've had for reform with yougov on 19. this is reform going up to 24, let me explain what i think is going on here. camilla, okay. this is this is a week where we've seen the reform manifesto or contract release, this is a week where we've seen the leaders debates, the snapshot poll suggesting people thought nigel farage won that debate. this is the week where we've seen front page coverage of reform pretty much back to back in the national, papers and to be honest with you, if you look at all of the polling that we've had over the last week, the average reform vote has been inching up in every poll that we've had. every pollster , not we've had. every pollster, not just us, has had, record high vote shares for reform. not this high, but they've had record highs. so look, i mean, take

when you're dealing with polls , when you're dealing with polls, camilla. right. we take a single poll with a big dose of caution . poll with a big dose of caution. we say this is where we think maybe things are. what what i think is unquestionable, as i'm about to say in a piece i'm releasing online, is actually nigel farage and reform have had a very good election campaign, and i think that is now beyond beyond doubt. if these numbers are true, though, this is i mean, this is historic stuff. this is this is real history making stuff. >> all right, matt, thank you very much indeed for that. maybe nigel farage will end up being the actual leader of the opposition, as opposed to just one in a metaphorical sense. now, i need to read you out the other candidates who are standing in richmond and northallerton, which is rishi sunak seat for the conservatives, jason barnett is standing as an independent. count binface is , of course, count binface is, of course, standing for the count binface party. daniel callaghan is standing for the liberal democrats. angie campion is standing as an independent. louise dickens is for the

workers party of britain, and kevin foster is for the greens. and we have rio goldhammer for the yorkshire party and niko omilana an independent. we've also got brian richmond, another independent, sir archibald stanton, who's there for the monster raving loony party, leigh taylor for reform and we've got tom wilson for labour. coming up next, we're going to be talking about covid fines and whether it's right that those that were fined during the pandemic have been left a criminal record, don't anywhere

welcome back. now, earlier i asked you. does rishi sunak deserve to lose his seat? is this tory ageddon that is being predicted by the pollsters? fair. david says i do wish that poll predictions could be banned, as it could influence how people vote. yes, it could, but at the same time, i think people have formed their own opinions long before any of this

mrp polling has been hitting the airwaves. mark says yes , sunak airwaves. mark says yes, sunak thoroughly deserves to lose his seat here in north yorkshire . seat here in north yorkshire. another viewer says yes, sunak is utterly useless. get rid no appreciation at all. well, let's get on to the next story now, which is a talk about covid fines. i don't know if this is affected you directly, but you remember the controversy surrounding people being fined for having a coffee outside with a friend during that period of strict social distancing and other covid measures? well, the former justice secretary, sir robert buckland, who oversaw the courts during the pandemic, has called for an amnesty for the more than 29,000 people who were given criminal convictions for breaking covid rules during the pandemic. he said those fines should have their slates wiped clean rather than risk their career prospects being hampered by convictions handed out in an exceptional time. and he's basically making the point that the fines can stay. but at the time when the government came up with this new legislation , it with this new legislation, it was never intended for these criminal convictions to remain on people's records and then

affect them applying for jobs, becoming teachers and being in other roles where you have to undergo , drb checks. let's speak undergo, drb checks. let's speak to sir david davis about this now, former brexit secretary and a champion of civil liberties is david. i mean, it's all very well , sir david. i mean, it's all very well, sir robert buckland coming up with this now. i mean, he was justice secretary when these rules came in and was in the government that suggested it would be a good idea to find people sitting on a park bench trying to enjoy a socially distanced coffee. >> yeah. i mean, the truth is, this , this went wrong on day this, this went wrong on day one. i mean, you may not remember or your viewers may not remember, but on march 23rd, i think 2021, it was the, the, the government brought to the house of commons a bill they put through in one day, an emergency bill to give all those powers to the government without parliament being able to interfere. ridiculous really, because we already had a thing called a civil contingency bill,

which spent a year getting right, a decade or so earlier. but nevertheless, they did that. i think i was the only person to object at the time, even even labour accepted it, even the opposition accepted . and, it was opposition accepted. and, it was pretty obvious from the beginning it was going to go wrong. and we saw those ridiculous things. i mean, you may remember, you know, the derbyshire police putting up a drone to follow people while they walk dog on the i mean, what what more distanced thing can you do than go out in the peak district with your dog and nobody else? you know , but that nobody else? you know, but that sort of thing defines the fines. >> david will have been aimed at people, you know, organising illegal raves in london and mass gatherings. i mean, i think there was a little bit of a difference in urban areas. i think people tried to carry on as normal in rural areas. there was the there was the space for people to be socially distanced . people to be socially distanced. but the whole point was, was the idea of fines at all a good idea? obviously, partygate fines brought down boris johnson. i don't think buckland is

suggesting by the way, that these fines are just forgotten about. he thinks the fines should stay, but it shouldn't affect anybody trying to apply for a job or any other position that may require a criminal records check. >> yeah, i think that's a fair balance. the truth, truth be told.i balance. the truth, truth be told. i mean, it's really rather late to go back and revisit all these . as it stands, there are these. as it stands, there are still a hundred cases a month going through the courts. i mean, nobody in their right mind could have countenanced two years after it was all over, that we'd still be putting people through this torture. so, i mean, the and they were never intended to be recorded. they were never intended to be what they call recordable fines. those are things that sit on your record and as you say, come up in a crb check. so since they were never intended to be recorded, what's happened is the number of police forces have chosen to record them. that's another problem with this whole thing . it wasn't the same law in thing. it wasn't the same law in the whole country. you had one police force doing one thing, another police force doing another. so so i think it's a reasonable argument that roberts come up with, which is let's

just. all right, wipe the slate clean. from the point of view of a record, it was never intended to give you a criminal record we're talking about. could be as many as 29,000 cases, not all of them, but, you know, any any of them, but, you know, any any of them could come up at some point in time, anything that went through a magistrates court. so i think it's a reasonable balance to go down is what he said there. and, and leave the fines in place. but you know, the truth be told. so when somebody writes a history of this, they're going to view this whole policy as bonkers, because you've got people, you know, going on business trips to a country and coming back to the wrong airport because the country has been reclassified while they've been away, people being , done while they've been away, people being, done for exercising . and being, done for exercising. and a policeman says, well, you're not exercising, you're not sweating. i mean, that literally happened. i mean, things like this. it was a barking mad penod this. it was a barking mad period of time, really. but the but the truth is, what can we do? we can stop people having their lives ruined. and we should do that. >> all right. david davis, thank you very much indeed for joining me this evening. madness. really, when you think about it,

you reflect. i mean, i know it in the benefit of hindsight and all that, but the brits are a compliant nation anyway. i mean, we q we do what we're told largely did we need to have these draconian measures in the first place? we'll be debating that, i'm sure, for years to come. let's discuss, though, obesity in children. i was looking up. i was researching this subject because what's happenedis this subject because what's happened is that we've had the food foundation , which is an food foundation, which is an organisation saying that children in the uk are now shorter, fatter and sicker due to their poor diet, and shorter, fatter and sicker due to their poor diet , and they're to their poor diet, and they're attributing it to poverty. they say that children's height is shortened since 2013, and obesity among 11 and ten year olds has increased by 30% since 2006. and i thought , olds has increased by 30% since 2006. and i thought, i'll do some research on this. and i couldn't believe it when i read that back in 2000, no children were registered as having type 2 diabetes, which is obviously associated with obesity. and now 7000 children in the uk have

type 2 diabetes, according to diabetes uk. so to discuss this, i'm joined now by sonja van kampen, who's a tiktok star and tonic health founder and sinner. i know you go into supermarkets, don't you do this great thing where you say , well, this is where you say, well, this is what this looks like a healthy food. but if you drill down into the ingredients, you'll actually find that it's full of absolute rubbish , which i must say is rubbish, which i must say is invaluable to a mum like me when i'm trying to feed my children healthy snacks and healthy foods as much as i can during an election campaign when i can't get back to cook . but get back to cook. but regardless, what? why are kids now? and i think it's a 21st century phenomenon. really. it started in 2000, so much more overweight and unhealthy than they were . they were. >> well, it's firstly, the stats are absolutely shocking and it's all there to see in the data. it's clear we have the information and we need to do something drastically about it very quickly. why is it happening? i think, you know, there's an element of psychology, parenting,

convenience as well as big food and the problems that our food system are creating and the things we're putting in our food, because obviously , what food, because obviously, what a cost of living crisis has done is, is it drives affordability. so food manufacturers try and reengineer their products to make them more affordable and cheaper so more people can buy them . but then that leads to them. but then that leads to additives and cheaper production processes , and taking out real processes, and taking out real natural ingredients and putting in artificial additives and other things we don't want in our bodies. so there's a cost element. there is then also the psychology . i'm a parent myself psychology. i'm a parent myself andifs psychology. i'm a parent myself and it's difficult, right? we're busy . we work jobs. you know, we busy. we work jobs. you know, we used to have grandparents near used to have grandparents near us all the time that would help with the kids. and now most people move away. so then, you know, food becomes convenience and ease and speed, which then leads to the wrong choices as well, unfortunately. >> is it also due to inactivity vie in children? i mean, on one hand there are parents running around the country chasing after children, playing football ,

children, playing football, rugby, cricket, whatever. but on the other hand, it's not like the other hand, it's not like the old days where children would walk miles to get to school , for instance, would have school, for instance, would have to be outside. maybe it's due to safety concerns as well. you know, you don't want to let your kids outside late at night or on their bikes because you're worried about them. >> yeah, it is part of it. and exercise is 100% part of the conversation. but the whole premise of, you know, there's a saying in the industry that goes, you can't outrun a bad diet. and that is true . you diet. and that is true. you know, if you look at, you know, there's no exact number for this , but about 80% of our health is coming from food and 20% is exercise. so really the big problem is what are we feeding ourselves? how are we fuelling ourselves? how are we fuelling our bodies? because our body is a system. at the end of the day and food is fuel. it's not convenience , it's not taste, convenience, it's not taste, it's not anything else. it's nutrition . it's nourishment for nutrition. it's nourishment for our body, and it's the fuel that fuels ourselves . and you have to fuels ourselves. and you have to feed it the right foods. and i

mean, there are crazy studies which show kids in school who eat cereal for breakfast versus kids in school, who eat a low gi breakfast of, say , greek yoghurt breakfast of, say, greek yoghurt or eggs or something filling and protein and good fats. and the kids who eat the protein and the good fats for breakfast concentrate for longer , have concentrate for longer, have better attention and have enhanced recall and memory. so the food we eat on a daily basis affects everything we do and is fundamental to our lives. and you know, we have to change the way it's going because it's only going the wrong way. >> sinner van kampen , thank you >> sinner van kampen, thank you very much indeed for your expertise on that this evening. lovely to speak to you. >> thank you. camilla. >> thank you. camilla. >> well, coming up next, i'm going to be speaking to the muslim entrepreneur who has just become reform's biggest donor. he'll be joining me in the studio in just a jiffy. so don't go anywhere.

welcome back to vote 2024 with me. camilla tominey. now joining me. camilla tominey. now joining me now in the studio is muslim entrepreneur zi—a yusuf, who co—founded the luxury concierge brand velocity black. and then you sold it last year, i believe, for £233 million. you've made a large donation to reform and you had backed the conservatives, but now you're backing nigel farage's party. so isuppose backing nigel farage's party. so i suppose the obvious question . i suppose the obvious question. first of all, zia, if you don't mind me calling you, that is why i >> -- >> yeah. -_ >> yeah. so, look, just to be clear, you know, my i was a tory voter and a tory member. i've never donated to any political parties before. look, the simple answer for why i've done what i've done is, first and foremost, i'm british. i'm incredibly proud to be british. i owe so much to this country. and i feel very strongly that british values are actually the reason why so many people want to come here. britain has welcomed millions of immigrants, of all races, of all faiths over

the years and welcomed them wholeheartedly . the reality is wholeheartedly. the reality is that i don't see enough people , that i don't see enough people, making a full throated, wholehearted , celebration and wholehearted, celebration and protection of british values. i think that's really important. and by the way, those british values are things like freedom of religion, freedom of speech , of religion, freedom of speech, you know, love of country, equality before the law , equality before the law, innocence, the presumption of innocence. these are these are actually incredibly rare things historically. and something and things i think britain should be, really rather proud of. >> so, i mean, the conservative party would argue that they do protect those freedoms , look, my protect those freedoms, look, my issue with the conservative party is simply that they are so divided. so if you just look at them now going into the election, i think it's an objective statement. they are so divided that i simply don't see how they can govern effectively . how they can govern effectively. >> and i suppose if we look at your kind of life story , your cv your kind of life story, your cv on paper, the son of migrant parents who came here, and then you're born in this country or

indeedin you're born in this country or indeed in scotland, i believe, you're educated at private school. you then become an investment banker at goldman sachs on paper, especially as a man of colour, you would probably be seen to have more in common with rishi sunak than nigel farage. >> well, look, in terms of my own personal history, my parents came here, 40 odd years ago. they came here with nothing really to their name other than a newly minted medical degree, they have, since both between them given almost half a century, more than half a century, more than half a century of service to our nhs, so again, nobody knows or feels more strongly than i do about the contribution that immigrants can make and have made to this country, and by the way, you know, i've got a 50% scholarship to go to that private school, and both my parents had to work two jobs to get there. and so, you know, for example, if there were vat payable on those fees, i simply wouldn't have been able to go. it would have stretched my parents too far. so i'm incredibly grateful for all of those opportunities. and look, i think right now, we as a country have to play the ball where it

is on the field. and i think that this is an incredibly challenging time. having co—founded and run a business, i know how vital it is that to stare really challenging problems in the face and make difficult decisions, have difficult decisions, have difficult conversations and do that in a timely fashion. if you fail to do those things, you know, if you have a credit card debt and you simply don't open the mail and hope the whole things go thing goes right, that doesn't that doesn't help. at some point , those chickens come some point, those chickens come home to roost. and if you look at, in the mid 1980s when my parents came to this country , parents came to this country, net migration to the country was around 50,000 people a year. thatis around 50,000 people a year. that is a manageable number. it doesn't place enormous undue stress on public services. and it also allows those new arrivals, such as my parents, to assimilate comfortably . that assimilate comfortably. that number last year was 650,000. yes. so this is a conversation again about british values, which can be adhered to and are adhered to by the way of people of all races. and all faiths. that's really important. you know, this idea that when we talk about british values, only a certain race can subscribe to

those values? i think it's totally incorrect. i hope that people can see that. i am proof that that's not the case. and by the way, that is, i believe how, the way, that is, i believe how, the vast, vast majority of immigrants in this country are they're patriots, and they care deeply about this country. >> that's interesting, isn't it? because this idea that immigrants themselves might be worried about more immigration is something that probably isn't explored thoroughly enough. we witnessed this during the brexit campaign. i remember going up to grantham, margaret thatcher's old seat, and speaking to polish people who were worried about an influx of romanians . as in your influx of romanians. as in your cases, immigration or the lack of control of immigration by the conservatives over the last 14 years. the main motivating factor for you to for switching to reform. >> it's one of several motivating factors. i do think it's a vitally important issue if we cannot even secure our borders. we spent 50 more than £50 billion on defence last yean £50 billion on defence last year, and we cannot secure our borders and we're an island. this is unacceptable. and if a party has been in power for 14 years, look, i actually think

rishi sunak does actually believe what he's saying. sincerely. i actually do believe that, but i'm sorry we have to judge them on their track record because they've been in power for 14 years. and actually, to solve this problem, i do think it takes a lot of courage. i think it takes boldness. it takes decisiveness, frankly. it also takes a unified party who are going to support him. and, you know, the other point on that about immigration is you create a perverse incentive structure . you know, i don't structure. you know, i don't think these nuanced conversations are had enough, as you say. so if you have come here as a legal migrant , and we here as a legal migrant, and we can have a separate conversation about the numbers there. but the reality is we've come here legally. you've played by the rules. you've jumped through the hoops to do it, and then you see people who cross the channel illegally from france and they get treated exactly the same way. you create a perverse incentive. >> you've paid for visas, thousands of pounds and thousands of pounds and thousands of pounds here. >> and again, if you've contributed, contributed to the british tax system, you pay taxes all your life. again, regardless of your race, your religion. too often these conversations are boiled down into these oversimplifications. i think people feel a deep sense

of, injustice there and actually a sense of fair play is one of those british values i'm talking about. >> just briefly zi—a because we're running out of time, as is ever the case was always on this show because we have to cram in so much into an hour, there has been some criticism of nigel farage and indeed reform candidates rhetoric around muslims. what what's your response to that criticism? >> well, look, i think nigel farage, if you look at what he actually says and not the projections that people put on what he says, i sincerely believe this is my opinion. and i've historically have been a reasonably good judge of character, which is why i've had some success in business. for example, is that he wants what is best for british people regardless of their faith, regardless of their faith, regardless of their race. that is my sincere view with regard to the candidates. look clearly , to the candidates. look clearly, candidates have made some appalling remarks which, i think we can all condemn those remarks. let's not forget reform is a start—up . reform isn't 100 is a start—up. reform isn't100 year old party. and they had to stand up 650 candidates in like two weeks. as someone who started a business myself, you know how difficult that is. i

know how difficult that is. i know how difficult that is. i know how hard that is. and you can't maintain quality at 100% when you do it. i actually think despite the fact that those were appalling remarks, and nigel has, by the way, repudiated those , i actually think they've those, i actually think they've done a pretty good job overall of, of standing up those candidates. and as i said, reform is a start up. they're going to grow as a political force. >> can i be so bold and rude as to ask you how much money you've given? reform? >> it was meaningful . it's in >> it was meaningful. it's in the hundreds of thousands of pounds. and that's the that is testament to how important this is and how strongly i feel about it. >> all right . theo yusuf, lovely >> all right. theo yusuf, lovely to meet you. and thank you very much for coming into the studio tonight. >> thank you for having me. >> thank you for having me. >> thank you very much. well, coming up next, we're going to be discussing tom bower's new book about the beckhams. you won't want to miss it. don't go anywhere.

welcome back. right. let's get into this new biography, the house of beckham, which has been

written by tom bower , who joins written by tom bower, who joins me in the studio now. tom, it's not a flattering portrait. this is it. i mean, are you saying that the beckhams aren't all they seem? >> well, netflix was their version, and this book is the truth , that's that's okay. truth, that's that's okay. bottom line. >> i mean , in what respect >> i mean, in what respect aren't they? i mean, we get the kind of glossy , heavily kind of glossy, heavily controlled brand . beckham i controlled brand. beckham i mean, the image is perfectly honed, isn't it, for the public gaze. you've looked into them , gaze. you've looked into them, their lifestyle, their history. what have you concluded about this couple? >> well, they are a consummate act. they're an image pedlar and they are really terrific at projecting themselves and say very little . and they are very little. and they are a brand. and what they've done is they've survived, whereas most celebrities, after a year or two in the spotlight, collapse into anonymity, they profited and carried on soaring after 25 years, which is a great achievement. >> although , to be fair, to >> although, to be fair, to quote another subject of one of

your books, meghan markle, they haven't just survived, they thrived. absolutely i mean, they have made ever greater sums of money with every passing year. >> absolutely. and that's because they manage and they have very good managers to say very little and to look terrific . and as well there's an empathy. i mean, after all, the thing about david beckham is he was a beautiful man, a very handsome man. and he scored some spectacular goals. indeed. he missed hundreds more. but we only see the great successes . only see the great successes. and she was a very successful part of a spice girls singer. and she's very good at managing the chaos, the scandals and everything else. >> well, tell me about that. i mean, you speak in the book to a degree of media manipulation or at least picking favourites, having a good relationship with the sun newspaper, for instance. so if there's ever a bad headline, rebecca loos for instance, then suddenly there's a stage managed opportunity for posh and becks to try and change the narrative. >> absolutely . but of course, >> absolutely. but of course, the loose episode of 20 years

ago was a disaster for them and they survived it , although they survived it, although clearly they discussed divorce and everything and screamed at each other quite a lot. they survived it because victoria is steely , ambitious and knew that steely, ambitious and knew that without david she was going to fall down and persuaded david that without her he couldn't make any future fortune. and she was right. and in that sense, thatis was right. and in that sense, that is their strength and the strength is that we're always looking for heroes. we're always looking for heroes. we're always looking for heroes. we're always looking for people who can represent the self—made success that they've done. and that is their great, that's their great, fortune and their great nobility. but on the other hand, what my book shows is that there's another side and how they've done it. and where it's all gone wrong, and how they patch it up and how they control the fallout. and that's a fascinating story. >> you say that victoria steely, is it right that she once punched david in the face over all of the affair rumours? >> well, that's what man saw. a

journalist saw through the window. i'm sure she's punched him more than once, apparently. but, i mean, the point about him is he. was he was on the on the bad foot at the time. he'd been caught not with one, but many women. oh my goodness. and so it was he and he really didn't want to be caught out. but you know what's remarkable is not just the sex. and there's a lot of sex in this story , but it's sex in this story, but it's fashion, it's football, it's celebrity. and the football story is fascinating. the money story is fascinating. the money story is fascinating. the money story is equally fascinating because he's very tight fisted, but very yeah, well, he controls some examples of them both being quite stingy. >> she's claiming for a packet of crisps on expenses and he was to tip a waitress. >> they don't . they serve £2.99, >> they don't. they serve £2.99, tesco leapfrogged warm at their parties. i mean, they're not generous except to themselves, but that's because they come from a poor background. he does. and where money was tight. >> well, she doesn't i mean, famously in the documentary, she's making out, she's working class . and he reminds her that class. and he reminds her that her father used to roll up at school and collect her in a rolls royce. yeah, with a second hand. well, they go cheap.

second hand or not. i mean, but who wears the trousers in this relationship, would you say, tom? >> well, i think they both do . >> well, i think they both do. and they both wear the skirts, especially when he's in a sarong. but the point is the trousers and she picks the colour. perhaps they they mix and match, but the point is they're not that much together. i mean, the whole secret of their success is that he's travelling around the world in miami for his football team. brand ambassador. in other places, she's pursuing her fashion career, her fashion career alone is terribly interesting. yeah, go on. because, well, because it's such a failure. but it seems to be such a success and that is remarkable . by her pr, i mean, remarkable. by her pr, i mean, she has a turnover of 58 million a year. dior's turnover is 60 billion a year. i mean, she is nothing but well , everyone in nothing but well, everyone in britain. you think that she is a great, fashion. certainly. >> well, to be fair, she's certainly a style icon . and any certainly a style icon. and any woman that has used her eyeliners will vouch that they are very good. >> they do. and but the very few buy them. but she is an icon. and that is the genius and the

success of their media manipulation that in the end , manipulation that in the end, they're terrific at selling themselves and to a public who on the whole, worship them. but there are many people who are somewhat sceptical. >> so are you saying, come what may, this couple always stays together because of the brand? beckham? >> well, i hope they do because i think they can't live without each other. i think they need each other. i think they need each other, but they don't have to live with each other all the time. >> and how about this whole issue around david beckham's lack of a knighthood ? lack of a knighthood? >> well, i think the point is, hasn't he had. well, i think there are two reasons. one is quite clearly his tax affairs. i go into some detail, but it's fascinating story how he has created this network of 19 companies for just 40 created this network of 19 companies forjust 40 million companies for just 40 million turnover. if dior had the same number of companies for 60 billion, they have 30,000 active companies. they're all done to cast a smokescreen over his affairs and legally avoid tax . affairs and legally avoid tax. on the other hand, the other point is that very few footballers get knighthoods, and whereas he did score some spectacular goals, he missed hundreds more when he kicked the

penalties and the rest. and he was a poor captain of england. i mean, england always lost in the internationals when he was captain, and he did very poorly. >> the point that bob kerslake, when he was considering knighthoods, thought that victoria was a bit too flashy ? victoria was a bit too flashy? >> well, she was, but there was a reason to give him a knighthood. i mean, he'd, he'd done his ambassadorship to get the olympics. he'd done he'd done also the best he could to get the world cup and failed. it wasn't his fault. but on the other hand, he was not a great captain of english football. he was just a great icon. he was . was just a great icon. he was. everyone loved, wasn't he? >> i mean, at the end of the day, people love him. they did well, yes, they did like. >> but just because you love someone doesn't mean you give them a knighthood. and the tax thing is a real, a real bugbear for you. >> so what's your prediction ? >> so what's your prediction? he'll never get a knighthood. >> i don't think he'll get an. >> i don't think he'll get an. >> even after he queued for the queen, even after he queued for tens of thousands, others queued and didn't get knighthoods. >> perhaps if he lives to 100, they might give him one out of some sort of sympathy. i mean, you very prolific in your writing, tom. >> have you set your sights on

next? have you got another? >> i do, actually, but i haven't signed the contract yet, so that will have to wait. >> top secret, we look forward to you coming back and discussing it. tom bower, thank you very much. thank you for having me. house of beckham sounds to me like a riveting summer. read the kind of book you want to take on your holibobs. i would imagine, are. michael portillo is back in the studio today . state of the studio today. state of the nation. lovely to see you chat. what have you got coming up on the show tonight? >> well, feeling shaken by a poll which suggests that rishi sunak might not hold his own seat, i'm going to reflect on the original portillo moment at some length. >> is it awful being reminded all the time ? all the time? >> no, i love it, i love it, you know, a place in history . as know, a place in history. as long as tom doesn't write a book about me. >> well, you've only thrived since that portillo moment, that's for sure. >> it's all been great happiness. i've got stephen dorrell coming in. he used to be in the cabinet with me. he used to be a conservative. he's now a liberal democrat. one of the things come out of this poll is it's not entirely clear who his majesty's loyal opposition would be, liberal democrats or conservatives. sir ed davey lie—in on a very sober note, i've got robert fox coming in to talk about this summit between putin and kim jong un. yes

that's his name, which i think is very, very grim, very, very portentous. so we're going to think about what that means for the world. >> it reminds me a little bit of doctor strangelove. i mean , it's doctor strangelove. i mean, it's a strange bromance, isn't it? but it's on a serious level. quite. >> i was going to say it looks like a joke, but it's very serious. >> very serious indeed. so michael's going to be presenting state of the nation next. but first, catch up on the weather. it's been a sunny day with aidan mcgivern and i'll be back tomorrow at 7 pm. >> looks like things are heating up boxt boilers. sponsors of weather on gb news is . weather on gb news is. >> hi there and welcome to the latest forecast from the met office for gb news. fine. for most of us during the next 24 hours. clear overnight and then warm sunshine to come for many on thursday. in fact, sunnier skies for the majority on thursday, although overnight there will be some thicker cloud

arriving into the north and northwest of scotland that will tend to sink south ever so slowly, with a fizzling band of light and patchy rain , the light and patchy rain, the breeze picking up that cloud and rain reaching northern ireland dunng rain reaching northern ireland during the early hours. england and wales, meanwhile, clearing skies and with light winds, temperatures falling into the single figures . in fact, in some single figures. in fact, in some spots 4 or 5 celsius by dawn . so spots 4 or 5 celsius by dawn. so a bit of a chill in the air once again , but it won't last long. again, but it won't last long. there's going to be plenty of sunshine for england and wales. same can't be said for much of scotland and northern ireland. northern scotland sees the best of the sunshine first thing, but for much of central and southern scotland we'll see thicker cloud and some light outbreaks of rain and some light outbreaks of rain and drizzle. at times . northern and drizzle. at times. northern ireland much of the rain will be towards the north and west, brighter skies towards the south and east. meanwhile, england and wales sunny skies, although there will be a veil of high cloud cirrus in the sky that will turn the sun a little hazy at times through the morning, temperatures rising quickly, then through the day. less cloud

around compared with wednesday. although there will be some fair weather cloud building across wales into the midlands couldn't rule out the odd light shower from this and later in the day, some heavy showers over the continent could just brush the far south—east. but where we've got the sunshine, temperatures up to 23 or 24 celsius. so a warm and fine day for the vast majority. friday begins with cloud once again pushing into western and northern scotland. northern ireland and some outbreaks of rain move in more persistent wet weather towards the end of the day. elsewhere staying warm and sunny once more. but for saturday we're going to see a band of showers move across before warm sunshine return on a brighter outlook , return on a brighter outlook, with boxt solar sponsors of weather on

gb news. >> hello. good evening. i am michael portillo, bringing you state of the nation. tonight we assess the poll that suggests that not one tory minister, not even the prime minister himself, is safe. i'll discuss whether election night will be a succession of portillo moments north of hadrian's wall. the scottish national party has issued its manifesto and boldly declared itself to be the most left wing party, and promised an independent scotland would re—enter the european union. i'll be looking at the match made in hell as vladimir putin visits north korea and signs a mutual defence pact with kim jong un, and our speech to the former lord chancellor, sir robert buckland, who has called for an amnesty for covid fines. state of the nation stars bts now . now. i'll be joined by my panel historian and broadcaster tessa

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