the world. this is mark dolan tonight . an extraordinary row tonight. an extraordinary row has broken out after the bbc's comedy chief refuses to say that he finds mrs. brown's boys funny. the bbc's sneering attitude to its audience and to britain is no laughing matter. >> proud of the progress that we've made as a labour party, as labour governments in the past when it comes to women's rights , when it comes to women's rights, j.k. rowling does battle with sir keir starmer over women's rights. >> could a strike of her magic wand cast a spell on the leader of the opposition , national ipso of the opposition, national ipso national and dame emma thompson backs just stop oil days after they attack stonehenge? i'll be deaung they attack stonehenge? i'll be dealing with this millionaire eco hypocrite in no uncertain terms in my take at ten. very

excited about tonight's show. two hours of big opinion, big debate and big entertainment . debate and big entertainment. producer greg is in paddington. i'm in westminster. i can do what the hell i like. i'll see you after the news headlines with sophia wenzler. >> mark. thank you. good evening. i'm sophia wenzler and the gb newsroom. your top story this hour . the gb newsroom. your top story this hour. nigel farage has been criticised by the prime minister and the labour leader over his comments suggesting the west provoked russia's invasion of ukraine. rishi sunak says it was completely wrong. the reform uk leader made the claim during an interview with the bbc's nick robinson last night. interview with the bbc's nick robinson last night . mr farage robinson last night. mr farage said the expansion of the eu and nato gave putin a reason to tell the russian people they're coming for us again. the prime minister says the comments play into the russian president's hands, which the labour leader has echoed the farage's comments about russia and ukraine are

disgraceful. >> i have always been clear that putin bears responsibility , sole putin bears responsibility, sole responsibility for the russian aggression in ukraine, and we have always stood behind ukraine and supported ukraine, and so far we've done it united across parliament. i've made it my business to ensure that the opposition stood with the government on this issue. so seriously, did we take it? and of course, with our nato allies now, the scottish greens have urged the next uk government to lift the block on scotland's controversial gender reforms . controversial gender reforms. >> the proposed legislation would make it easier for people to legally change their gender, but uk ministers blocked the draft law, saying it would conflict with the equality act protections applying across great britain. scotland's first minister john swinney said he ministerjohn swinney said he agreed with the scottish green party. in other news, the search for british teenager jay slater, who went missing in tenerife, has entered its sixth day today. jay travelled for a music

festival on his first holiday without his parents. specialist dog teams have now joined police and firefighters in the search operation. the 19 year old has not been heard from since he called a friend shortly before 9:00 on monday morning, saying he was lost and needed water. he was last seen in the northwestern mountain village of masca, pro—palestinian protesters have sprayed red paint on a historic building at the university of cambridge. students and members of the palestine action group targeted senate house this afternoon, a building that has been used for graduation ceremonies since the 18th century. the group says the action marked the end of an academic year where the university of cambridge has funded, enabled and normalised the ongoing palestinian genocide. a spokesman for the university said they strongly condemned this act of vandalism. i'm and the prince of wales has thanked taylor swift for a great concert as he shared a photo of the pop superstar taking a

selfie with him and his children, prince george and princess charlotte, watching the us singer perform at wembley stadium . prince william was also stadium. prince william was also spotted shaking his arms to shakeit spotted shaking his arms to shake it off as he celebrated his 42nd birthday. swift posted her selfie with prince william , her selfie with prince william, george and charlotte alongside her boyfriend, nfl star travis kelce. and for the latest stories, sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen or go to gb news. common alerts. now it's back to . mark. >> good evening. good evening, and welcome to mark dolan tonight. in the big story, j.k rowling does battle with sir keir starmer over women's rights . could a strike of her magic wand cast a spell on the leader of the opposition in a mock meats special ? one of the most meats special? one of the most famous public intellectuals in the world? author of the god delusion and the selfish gene

theory, richard dawkins live on theory, richard dawkins live on the show before ten and dame emma thompson backs just stop oil days after they attack stonehenge. i'll be dealing with this millionaire eco hypocrite in no uncertain terms. it might take at ten. reacting to all of the big stories tonight are nina meshkov , mike reid and ricky meshkov, mike reid and ricky behson. meshkov, mike reid and ricky behson . plus, the most important behson. plus, the most important part of the show? your views. they come straight to my laptop. gbnews.com forward slash your say and this show has a golden rule. if you're tuning in for the first time, let me make a cast iron guarantee. we don't do boring. not on my watch. i just won't have it. a big two hours to come. dame emma thompson at ten hide behind the sofa for that one. but first, my big opinion . there is an allegation

opinion. there is an allegation that the bbc hates britain. i think that's a bit harsh, but it certainly has a history of sneering at a nation that it claims to represent. bbc breakfast tv presenters chuckling at a politician's decision to be interviewed next to the flag of this country. lol the corporation is preoccupied with the so—called legacy of empire. what is that legacy in reality? well, yes, great crimes were committed by every nation and every empire in history. absolutely appalling. but our legacy is the commonwealth, a friendly community of nations and a gift to the world of parliamentary democracy. the modern market economy, free trade, infrastructure projects , trade, infrastructure projects, industrial investments and the ending of slavery . you won't ending of slavery. you won't hear that on radio four. and then, of course, there was the bbc's decision to axe land of hope and glory from last night

of the proms before a hasty and embarrassed u—turn following a huge public backlash. funny that the public are quite patriotic, aren't they? seems like the bbc didn't get the memo, but they don't seem to think much of their comedy output either, because during a recent q and a session for the bbc comedy showcase , their director of showcase, their director of comedy refused to respond when asked whether mrs. brown's boys , asked whether mrs. brown's boys, the massively popular bbc sitcom, is actually funny . now sitcom, is actually funny. now the show is watched by millions. it's fronted by the hilarious and un—pc comedy actor brendan o'carroll , who plays the foul o'carroll, who plays the foul mouthed granny on the programme . mouthed granny on the programme. but when the bbc asked its comedy chief whether it was funny, the host of the event jumped in and said that's a trap, it's a trap. next question please asking whether a show that your channel airs is funny is hardly a trap, unless you're afraid of the answer. after

being contacted by the telegraph, the comedy boss completely changed his tune. he hailed mrs. brown as an iconic comedy character and said mrs. brown's boys is a bafta winning show and one of the bbc's most watched comedies ever. it has made me laugh, he said. many times , many times, indeed, it's times, many times, indeed, it's ultimately my view. with an intimate experience of the metropolitan media mindset. i've been on the box for over two decades that the bbc can't stand shows like mrs. brown's boys and commissions them whilst holding their noses. that's, of course, if they're not packed with cocaine at the time, these executives view shows like that as embarrassing, regressive tv diarrhoea for the masses to consume tv for the kind of people who put a flag of saint george in front of their house and voted for brexit. now, for the record, i think mrs. brown's boysis the record, i think mrs. brown's boys is hilarious. it's fearless, unapologetic comedy

with no political or cultural message. thank god. and if it wasn't so popular it would have been cancelled by now. and it almost certainly would not be commissioned today. so surprising that the bbc should be reluctant to put a bloke in a dress on television . i would dress on television. i would have thought that was on brand these days, and evidence of progress. all of this is the same reason why the bbc, in my view, couldn't stand top gear when it was hosted by the politically incorrect trio of hammond, clarkson and may. three men of a certain age who couldn't give a toss about offending anyone. yes clarkson punched a producer, but after an apology, he should have kept his job, and the original line—up should have stayed on air. instead, the bbc lost them to amazon and the grand tour. the bbc often take the axe to shows that the public love, which tells you a lot about their attitude to the audience. for example, dumping the brilliant

sue barker from a question of sport, presumably because of her age. even though the new incarnation presented by a trendy, younger comic is unwatchable and unwatched, it's the same contempt for the audience that saw the extraordinary ken bruce, the host of the biggest radio show in europe , being allowed to in europe, being allowed to leave radio two after little sign of a new contract . surely, sign of a new contract. surely, with the enormous following enjoyed by ken bruce, it should have been a job for life, but not at the bbc, where the programmes are made by very different people to the ones watching or listening. dusty old ken bruce didn't tick any boxes, did he? and neither does mrs. brown. probably best not to talk about her box, though. the bbc's attitude to comedy, like so much else besides, is no laughing matter . mrs.

else besides, is no laughing matter. mrs. brown's else besides, is no laughing matter . mrs. brown's box will matter. mrs. brown's box will you behave yourself ? it's you behave yourself? it's a family show. emma thompson at ten for my take at ten, you won't believe the eco hypocrisy, but your reaction to my big opinion. gbnews.com/yoursay. i'll get to your messages shortly. but first, tonight's top pundits . one of fleet top pundits. one of fleet street's finest nina myskow legendary radio dj and presenter. mike reid, of course, is a big bbc icon and leading writer and researcher. doctor raqib hassan. mike, i've got to start with you. you're almost a bbc lifer or i think you've since escaped the clutches of the organisation. how many years were you at radio 1 and radio two for for, quite a while. >> quite, quite a long while. decades. but they still see you as part of it. i remember when i joined and they said, it's not just about playing music. you're an ambassador as well. you'll be at buckingham palace, you'll be here. they'll be the guildhall. you're wearing the badge when you're out there. >> you're there to sort of represent the bbc. like like like jimmy savile and rolf harris, for example. >> not quite in the same way. hopefully not. what's your reaction to this director of

comedy? >> his job is comedy? >> hisjob is to comedy? >> his job is to work out what the viewers want to see. and he won't. he will not go on oath as saying he thinks it's funny. >> do they ever know? if you look at the rejection letters for fawlty towers? correct. it's exactly the same that they had no idea. exactly the same that they had noidea.so exactly the same that they had no idea. so my earpieces. well, that's right, because what happenedis that's right, because what happened is that john cleese sent the first script of pilot script of fawlty towers to the bbc. >> whatever head of comedy, and said, sorry, john, this is rubbish , and it will never rains. >> exactly. but that happens lot. >> we had that about this show. we're doing fine, i think. but i mean, look, am i being harsh on the bbc here, do you think. >> no you're not. i mean, we were doing with pop quiz on a saturday night. we were doing 10 million every saturday night, and they stopped it, you million every saturday night, and they stopped it , you know, and they stopped it, you know, why would you stop programme doing 10 million? so it's quite an interesting one. i think one of the problems when they compartmentalise the bbc, when it was one great unit and they worked alongside each other. right. but suddenly everyone had their own aims and projects. and i remember when i was doing wimbledon, initially you could go and say, could i get out? fred perry versus von cramm? yes, you can. we play it and

then it became it's £200 to get it out, £200 to listen to it, £500 if you want to use it or forget it, leave it in the archive. then you're right, no one's going to hear it. >> rikki neave i think it's an example of the culture of the bbc. it is programmed was made by people who are very different to an out of touch with the viewing audience. >> no, no, absolutely. >> no, no, absolutely. >> i think that there's a detached moment, you could say, between those who are designing those programmes and planning those programmes and planning those programmes and mainstream attitudes. more generally. in your monologue there, you talked about it's almost a cultural insecurity there, and you've seen that rise almost of sort of racial identity politics. these culturally fashionable trends which many people who watch the bbc or have done so over decades, can't really relate to. but i do think it certainly strikes alarm bells in my view, when you have the head of comedy unable to really give a straight answer in terms of whether or not he finds one of the flagship comedy shows broadcast by the bbc funny or not. >> yeah, i mean, nina, you're a

big supporter of the bbc and so am i. i want it to continue to exist. i'm a little doubtful about the licence fee, but, you know, the bbc is a national asset of which i am a fan, but i don't think stories like this cast them in a positive light. >> no they don't, and i think, i think the trouble is, as you say, there are commissioning editors and they are they have their own little kingdom where, as you say, when it was a big homogeneous , corporation, there homogeneous, corporation, there was , there was, there was was, there was, there was a style with a shared vision with a shared vision. but the problem is with comedy that it's a, it's a very individual thing. i mean, i am not going to die , defending i am not going to die, defending mrs. brown's boys. i've never laughed at it for an instant. i can't stand it. i mean, dame edna everage, if you're talking about a man in a frock. yeah. fabulous. right, and if you also look at gavin and stacey, gavin and stacey. absolutely wonderful . but comedy, as i say, is a very, not just a very individual thing, but there are, you know , thing, but there are, you know, it's got to go across all sorts of generations. so they have to try new things. they have to try

cutting edge things that, that perhaps older generations won't like, or more traditional viewers won't like. you've got to keep pushing, pushing the envelope. >> okay . what do you think, >> okay. what do you think, folks? the bbc could easily argue that their comedy output is watched and enjoyed by millions of people every week, on television and on the radio. so what do you think about that? do you enjoy the bbc's latest comedy? what do you think of mrs. brown's boys? mark no , mark mrs. brown's boys? mark no, mark @gbnews is the old address. it is gbnews.com forward slash your say. but next up in the big story jake rowling does battle with sir keir starmer over women's rights . could a strike women's rights. could a strike of her magic wand cast a spell on the leader of the opposition? and is he now a bit of a muggle? i'll see you in two.

welcome back to the show. well, a big response on the message

board to my big opinion. how about this from geraldine, who's about this from geraldine, who's a gb news member. she says mark personally , i do not like mrs. personally, i do not like mrs. brown's boys. but i did love fawlty towers. harsh words from saki. who says nina myskow has never laughed in her life. a sour faced leftie , let me tell sour faced leftie, let me tell you, i think. >> lovely. >> lovely. >> let me tell you that nina is neither sour nor sour faced. she's a very attractive lady and she's entitled to her view. but so are you, saki, because mark dolan tonight is the home of diverse opinion. keep it coming by the way, a couple of comments about the set and so by the way, fiona's got some support for you. nina myskow is absolutely right. mrs. brown's boys is bloody awful. georgia, i can't stand mrs. brown's boys. it's not at all funny. i don't know why it's still on. >> isn't it interesting? it's women who don't like it. well, exactly. >> maybe it's a bit sexist. last but not least , david >> maybe it's a bit sexist. last but not least, david has messaged in. he says, sorry, mark, i don't like the new desk setup. much more relaxed for evening viewing with the sofas. david, let me let you into a gb

news secret , which is we are news secret, which is we are decorating our main studios , so decorating our main studios, so we're in the westminster studio for one weekend only and we'll be back on the sofa from friday. it's time now for the big story. and sir keir starmer has defended labour's record on gender equality after jk rowling accused the party of abandoning women. the leader of the opposition said he was proud of his party's history on the subject after the harry potter. potter author wrote a2000 word essay in the times criticising his views. jk rowling has been outspoken in her belief that biological women should be able to have separate spaces to which trans women should not be allowed access in the article, she said that she would struggle to vote for labour at the election, having donated to the party in the past because of its dismissive stance on the issue , dismissive stance on the issue, and she had a poor opinion of the party leader's character. she's also criticised labour's treatment of mp rosie duffield, who has been forced to avoid election hustings after feeling

unsafe after expressing her views that there are two biological sexes. so could this issue impact support for labour in the days ahead? let's get the views of the former political editor of lbc, theo usherwood . editor of lbc, theo usherwood. theo. lovely to have you on the show. jk rowling is a former laboun show. jk rowling is a former labour. that's good to see. jk rowling is a former labour supporter. could this intervention be damaging thea? >> i think it's significant. i don't think keir starmer can underplay it because if you are a politician, a leading politician like sir keir starmer orindeed politician like sir keir starmer or indeed any politician, you expect you're going to be attacked and you know it's going to happen. and if it does happen, you want it to be from a political opponent, because then you can turn around and you can say, well, they would say that, wouldn't say what you don't want is you don't want it to be from somebody like jk rowling. she's an eminent author. she sold millions of copies of harry potter books that have been turned into award winning films. she is highly respected, and here she is, two weeks out from

the general election, criticising sir keir starmer's stance in the trans wow. this is a woman who previously voted laboun a woman who previously voted labour. she's now saying she's going to struggle to vote for laboun going to struggle to vote for labour. in 2008, she donated £1 million to the party. so it's not it's a it's an attack by a friend of the party on sir keir starmer and his leadership. and it's going to sting. and that's why he's he and his team have been fairly quick in coming out and saying and trying to defend their record when it comes to women's rights, is it going to change the weather in terms of the outcome of this election? i'm not sure it is. the outcome of this election? i'm not sure it is . but i'm not sure it is. but certainly if keir starmer thinks that simply by going into number 10 and as expected, it's with a huge majority, it's not going to make any difference as to whether this issue is going to go away. and the final thing i just say, just in opening is that keir starmer has actually softened his stance. he did it on thursday because he said he agreed with tony blair, who said former labour prime minister who

said by logically a woman has a vagina and a man has a penis, but that hasn't made any difference to jk rowling, who of course has published this article. in today's times, it's not dissuaded her from saying that she has a poor opinion of sir keir starmer. it's not dissuaded her from making her arguments against the labour leader, and it seems to be baked in that keir starmer hasn't got the right position on this particular issue with people who are very, very concerned about it. >> well, i agree, i mean, i think it's a concern that it's our former prime minister who has to work out what the definition of a woman is, rather than the man who likely will be our next prime minister. of course, there is a counter—argument to that , which counter—argument to that, which is that sir keir understands that the world has changed and that the world has changed and that some people identify by a different gender, and he wants to make sure they feel welcome and safe. but, theo, i want to ask you this. is it disingenuous of sir keir starmer to defend labour's record on gender equality in the past, when they've been in government? the criticism was about starmers

recent position, not the history of the labour party . of the labour party. >> he's trying to shift the debate with that statement . debate with that statement. there's no doubt about it. you can argue whether it's disingenuous , but what he's disingenuous, but what he's trying to say is let's have a broader conversation about women's rights. what actually jk rowling has said, what labour mp rosie duffield has said is actually it is a woman's right to be able to go to a woman only changing room. it is a woman's right when they go into an nhs ward to feel safe or into a rape crisis centre to feel safe. and keir starmer by, seemingly or being at least perceived to be equivocating on this particular issue, has undermined the argument of rosie duffield, of jk rowling and of many , many jk rowling and of many, many women up and down the country who are particularly concerned about this issue. and that's a problem for sir keir starmer and other mps. people like wes streeting, the health secretary, shadow health secretary, hasn't had a problem in outlining the position . tony blair hasn't had position. tony blair hasn't had a problem in saying what you

know , we all know to be true in know, we all know to be true in terms of biology and yet sir keir starmer is having to follow if he's going to be the he is the leader of the labour party. but if he's going to be prime minister, you would expect him at this stage to be leading. it should be others saying, oh, i've just seen what sir keir starmer has said . i think he's starmer has said. i think he's right, not sir keir starmer saying i've seen what tony blair said. i think he's right. do you see what i mean? it's the tail wagging the dog on this particular issue. >> absolutely. theo always enjoy listening to you on lbc. i hope we'll be seeing lots more of you on gb news. who's their former political editor? theo usherwood fascinating stuff. let's bring in my top pundits now. i'm delighted to have nina myskow , delighted to have nina myskow, mike reid and rakib hasan, nina is well, essentially has keir starmer been handbagged by jk rowling? >> he has actually. and the trouble is that when he made those remarks to rosie duffield, it was 2021. it was three years ago, and the atmosphere was very different then in the discussion about trans rights. >> so she said only women have a

cervix. and he said, you shouldn't say that. that's not something you should say. >> now, at that stage, he was trying to rebuild the party and make labour electable. he was seeing off the left wing and i think he , he, he, he, he came think he, he, he, he, he came down on the wrong side, actually in, in not supporting what rosie duffield said. but i think he was just trying to get as many votes as he could from whoever to get support. so, so the red wall people, he was not going to say that he wanted brexit. he wanted to go back into europe. and i think he's been caught out. and i think the what's what's the party has decided is that they'll use tony blair. they've probably discussed it with tony blair. what can i do to say we'll use me and tony blair as regard, you know, as a very successful prime minister, you know, kind of not quite father of the party at this stage. but, you know, if he says it, dodgy uncle . oh, not quite. it, dodgy uncle. oh, not quite. well, the iraq war. yes, i'm with you on that, but everything else is fine, so i think that was that was what they cooked up to make it sound okay. but on

the other hand, you know, labour did bring in equal pay for women. and i started when i started working, there was no equal pay for women and i was paid less than men. men i worked along. i got good news. >> you're on more tonight. mike read . to be fair to sir keir read. to be fair to sir keir starmer, it's quite clear he's got himself in a bit of a pickle over this because he's trying to be inclusive . he's trying to be inclusive. he's trying to understand that the world has changed. people have body dysmorphia and what he wants to do and has wanted to do throughout is detoxify this conversation. well it's bound to come up now, isn't it? >> i mean, everything is coming out now in these few weeks and being thrown at people, but, you know, i mean , in the garden of know, i mean, in the garden of eden, there were clearly other people with dysfunctional bodies hiding in places. as far as i knew, there was adam and eve , knew, there was adam and eve, and that was it. there were clearly other people lurking in the shrubbery with with appendages that we didn't know about. yes so and i earlier on, after a couple of cups of tea, you could appreciate this. i, i wanted to go to the loo and the nearest one was the ladies. so i went in there right unashamedly.

did you get any shrieks? no, there's nobody in there. okay. i went in six times and nothing happened. no, i went to the. it was the nearest one. >> well, there you go. that's your excuse. and you're sticking to it, i'll sort you out in court. listen, what do you think about this? raqeeb. is this a problem for keir starmer in the run up to polling day? >> i don't think he'll have much of an impact on the outcome of the general election. if truth be told, it is a problem. and i think that he hasn't been strong enough. he hasn't been robust enough. he hasn't been robust enoughin enough. he hasn't been robust enough in terms of pushing back on radical transgenderism . i on radical transgenderism. i think, to be honest, he's got himself in a tangle. i don't know why it's not very difficult to say, trans people , they to say, trans people, they should live a life which is free from victimisation , harassment, from victimisation, harassment, discrimination and violence. but you have to be very clear here that the preservation and the protection of sensitive female only spaces needs to be prioritised , whether that's rape prioritised, whether that's rape crisis centres, changing rooms, hospital wards or domestic violence sanctuaries. i think that's a very reasonable position to take, and i wish that he had struck that position

earlier on, as opposed to ultimately not striking a very good position, and also in a way, treating rosie duffield with a great deal of disrespect. >> in my view, what i think is perhaps most troubling for the leader of the opposition is the characterisation by jk rowling that he doesn't have the right makeup, the right character to be prime minister that she says. this whole debacle tells us something about keir starmer, the man. is that fair? >> i think there's a degree of truth in that. if i'm being honest, i think that labour looks very likely to win the forthcoming general election. but i don't think that's going to be so much a positive choice. i think that's more to down the fact that people are just tired of the conservative party, and they think that the conservative party could do with a spell in opposition. i think that, especially when it comes to the issue of women's rights, i think sir keir starmer has been left wanting , in my view, only wanting, in my view, only a couple of seconds. >> nina, what do you think? is there a concern over keir starmer's character as highlighted by jk rowling? and let's be honest, she knows about characters she's written for you. >> i don't think so. i think compared to the current tory shower, he is a man of

integrity. >> it's a low bar though, isn't it? it's a what? it's a very low bar though. comparing him to lots of people. >> he is basically a decent, good hearted man who has a vision and who's a better politician than people give him credit for. nina. >> keep drinking the kool—aid . >> keep drinking the kool—aid. coming up next lol. will joe biden be on drugs for his first tv showdown with donald trump? reacting to those explosive allegations, i'll be joined by leading psychiatrist

next. well, my listeners have. and viewers have responded strongly to our debate about j.k. rowling versus sir keir starmer. she's concerned about his attitude to biological women, his treatment of gender critical women who say there are two biological sexes and who believe that female sport should be respected and that females should have their own changing rooms and the rest

of it. stephen says yes. nina myskow starmer is a decent man who's changed his mind on every single policy he has ever supposedly believed in. how about this? i'm surprised, says eric, that keir starmer hasn't declared himself to be a woman so he can take credit for being the first female labour pm, and just catching up on this mark, mrs. brown's boys is not for snobs. need i say more? it's absolutely hilarious. and last but not least, john says mark, how can sir keir starmer be proud of women's rights if he can't tell the difference between a man and a woman? keep those views coming gbnews.com forward slash your say now folks, this week sees the first all important live presidential debate between joe biden and donald trump, with rumours abound that joe biden may be on some sort of medication for the appearance. speaking to cbs news, their white house correspondent said as well as preparations to get his arguments right, viewers can

expect a boosted physical performance from mr biden as well. this has to led wild speculation that the president will receive some kind of medicinal intervention . this medicinal intervention. this follows donald trump's remarks about joe biden using cocaine, with the former president also demanding a drug test before their upcoming tv contest. well, to deal with these extraordinary rumours, which have shocked america, i'm delighted to welcome leading political commentator and the woman known as america's psychiatrist, doctor carole lieberman . doctor doctor carole lieberman. doctor carole, great to see you again. have you seen any evidence that president biden has been on drugs in the past? >> yes , in my opinion, he has >> yes, in my opinion, he has there have been occasions where he has been given a little help, not necessarily cocaine, although they did find cocaine in the white house. so that really wasn't an unreasonable suggestion. but but an

amphetamine like adderall would be more likely. what? what they're talking about, you know, what is what is amphetamine? >> what is adderall ? >> what is adderall? >> what is adderall? >> well, it's something that usually it's given for people with adhd or add. add to help them focus. it's not something, though, that treats dementia. it's not a treating medication like. in other words, this wouldn't help biden in any way after it goes out of his system. but it can help someone to focus more at the moment, you know, for as long as the dose lasts. and we have had an experience not not long ago with the state of the union, where it certainly seemed like he was on something like an amphetamine, because he had glassy eyes, glassy stare, and he was emotionally volatile, he went from walking into the room, you know, bumbling being his usual bumbling self. and then he got on the podium and as it went on, he was getting more animated. and, you know, i mean,

that that couldn't be explained just by what he was saying , just by what he was saying, carol, joe biden, as you know, is 81. is it not normal for somebody of that vintage to be taking pills ? taking pills? >> not not amphetamines, not something to, you know, to the purpose of it is to make him look good on the stage, like for a state of the union, to have him look good, have him look, like he has more energy . vie, like he has more energy. vie, and he can be a better president. that's the point of it. that's why he's given these things. but, you know, even if you look back at the previous debates with trump, i mean, he was barely hanging in there then and now. of course , it's going and now. of course, it's going to be very interesting to see, exactly what happens. i, you know, biden has been on your show. i said a while ago that i didn't know if biden would make it till the election. and i'm still saying that because, in this past month, he has had time after time after time where he has done things that show that he's really losing it. he's

really, feeble. he's really, his cognitive abilities. he's really, for example, at west point, he was giving the speech at west point and he gave the speech, you know, with a teleprompter and so on. and then he was supposed to shake the graduates hands, and he was like, lost. and then in other example is d—day. i'm sure you watched how he stooped to sit in the middle of that. and then we have juneteenth , where he was have juneteenth, where he was just staring, you know, when people were dancing and so on. >> well, let's i think we've got that clip. actually, i think that clip. actually, i think that harry can play that one. >> let's take a look at this, just literally a week ago, joe biden had a music event on the front row . and he's rigid like a front row. and he's rigid like a waxwork doll. it's pretty unnerving. i mean, you are a doctor. you're a psychiatrist. what is your professional verdict on what's happening there? i mean, perhaps he's just enthralled to the music. carole. >> that's it? yes, no. you know, it's . well, you know, i've said it's. well, you know, i've said since 2020 that biden had at that time, i said he had encroaching dementia. the

dementia has increased since then. that could be either , you then. that could be either, you know, part of the dementia or it could be he has atrial fibrillation . it could be like fibrillation. it could be like a transient ischaemic attack. you know, where he's stopped? he's freezing in one moment, then of course, we also had the la fundraiser recently where, he did the typical thing when things when he's finished, you know, he, he he's lost. he doesn't know how to get off the stage. and obama had to, like, put his arm around him and lead him off the stage. and that's because the easter bunny wasn't available . available. >> yeah. i mean, look, the bottom line is, of course, joe biden is not here to defend himself. he would, i'm sure, reject any suggestion that he's on medication to boost his performance or indeed, that he's got dementia. you and i are not in a position, obviously, to diagnose it, but i understand that you're concerned about the symptoms. you're right to be concerned. this is the leader of the free world, the man with access to the nuclear codes. but here's the thing. he might be old and doddery, but isn't he

doing a brilliant job? after all, the economy is booming , all, the economy is booming, unemployment is low. he's. he's delivering his president, isn't he? >> oh, come on, you believe that? and i have a bridge to sell you. no, none of that . sell you. no, none of that. >> the economy is growing, isn't it ? it? >> the economy is growing, the migrants are growing, you know, they're everything. anything you want to look at as a measure, the white house twists these things, spins these things, and puts it like everything is good. you know, everything is going well. i mean, for example, they said , you know, you just have to said, you know, you just have to look at what he's done for the last three years. well, he's made a mess of america. is what he's done. and the reason why i've been talking about this since 2020, trying to warn people about it is because because he's, you know, he's not doing well. and it was obvious . doing well. and it was obvious. it was it was probable. it was, foreseeable . that's the word i'm foreseeable. that's the word i'm looking for that he wouldn't that this would happen because of how he started out in 2020. and our country is in more danger than ever before. there are more terrorists coming in

than ever before. there are all kinds of things. and he doesn't have the capacity. i mean, you don't have to be a psychiatrist to see this. now, he doesn't have the capacity to fix these things. >> where's your evidence that terrorists are coming into the country? >> oh, they've been it's been a long time, but they've been more recently. they've been finding more of them , are you talking more of them, are you talking about the open? >> the open border on the south? yes >> yes, yes, and the north. >> yes, yes, and the north. >> that is a concern. i think 3.5 million people entered america illegally last year. that's clearly a concern. >> there is so much concern. you know, prisoners rapists , know, prisoners rapists, murderers. i mean, we're seeing more and more crime now from these people who haven't been vetted, of course, in any way, and terrorists who are on the terrorist watch list. there was recently there were terrorists from isis coming in. i mean, it's just absurd. we're in so much danger, and we need somebody who, okay, who's going to be able to, first of all realise that we are in this

dangen realise that we are in this danger. and then second of all, do something about it. >> i'm also , can i ask you, >> i'm also, can i ask you, carol, about a shock new poll that shows donald trump trailing behind his opponents in the race for the white house. could this be the beginning of a trend? has donald trump blown it? >> no. i don't think he has. but the thing is, you know, if you google , beau biden trump polls, google, beau biden trump polls, there's really a mixture of results. and it depends upon who's doing the poll, who they're measuring, like what state, you know , they're state, you know, they're measuring. for example, in new york, biden went up 1. and that's a big deal because, you know, in new york to, to i mean, in various states, where where trump was leading . and then if trump was leading. and then if he goes down a bit. but at this point, really the margin of error statistically is too , you error statistically is too, you doesn't can't allow you to make a conclusion . it's too big. and a conclusion. it's too big. and the, the numbers the difference is, is 1, 2. so you can't really say anything about it. the key is going to be the debate that's

going to like affect it tremendously . tremendously. >> indeed, you'll be watching with an eagle eye. you're suggesting that joe biden has dementia. donald trump is crazy. it's not a great choice for america in november, is it? >> well , the people who vote for >> well, the people who vote for biden really , even the last biden really, even the last time, weren't really voting for biden. they were voting against trump. people who don't like trump. people who don't like trump vote for biden , listen, we trump vote for biden, listen, we always love having you on the show. and carol, i hope we catch up very soon. we'll certainly be talking in the run up to november's election. enjoy the tv debate this week . coming up, tv debate this week. coming up, dame emma thompson backs just stop oil days after the attack. stonehenge. are we dealing with this millionaire eco hypocrite? in no uncertain terms, it might take at ten. you won't want to miss it. but first, in a mark meets special, one of the most famous public intellectuals in the world, author of the god delusion and the selfish gene, richard dawkins in the age of reason . why is religion still

reason. why is religion still with us and is it a blessing or ia. or a curse? richard dawkins

next. emma thompson at ten. but it's time now for mark meets and one of the most revered public intellectuals in the world. evolutionary biologist, zoologist and best selling author richard dawkins , who is author richard dawkins, who is an emeritus fellow of new college, oxford . his 1976 book, college, oxford. his 1976 book, the selfish gene varne transformed thinking around evolution, highlighting the critical role played by our genetics and avowed atheist in his best selling book, the god delusion. dawkins wrote that a supernatural creator almost certainly does not exist and that religious faith is a delusion . he also founded the delusion. he also founded the richard dawkins foundation for reason and science, and in september he embarks on an international tour to promote his brand new book, the genetic

book of the dead, which will be available on september the 17th but which can be pre—ordered right now. richard dawkins, welcome to mark dolan tonight. have you always been sceptical about religion ? about religion? >> since i was about 15, i suppose , science and religious suppose, science and religious faith in any way compatible. is it possible to be a great scientist and believe in god? >> obviously it must be possible because there are many great scientists, or at least some great scientists who do , many of great scientists who do, many of them, if you actually ask them, they turn out to be sort of vaguely spiritual, not actually believing in any kind of particular religion. there are some who believe in a particular religion , in my own view is that religion, in my own view is that there is it's quite hard to make them compatible, but quite clearly some people disagree with that. and there are scientists who are religious . scientists who are religious. >> is atheism a religion in its own right? richard the view that there is no god being an active faith system in its own way ?

faith system in its own way? >> not really. i mean any more than belief that fairies don't exist or leprechauns don't exist or unicorns don't exist . or unicorns don't exist. >> i'm an irishman. >> i'm an irishman. >> be careful. richard. yeah, okay, fine . you you can't really okay, fine. you you can't really make a religion out of out of non—belief . and what you can do non—belief. and what you can do is say something like secular humanism is a moral system which assumes a secular world view, is can perform some of the functions of a religion , i suppose. >> tell me about your new book, richard . it sounds absolutely richard. it sounds absolutely fascinating. the genetic book of the dead. what sparked your interest in this subject , the dead. what sparked your interest in this subject, and what are the key themes , it's what are the key themes, it's aimed at the same audience as the selfish gene , which you the selfish gene, which you mentioned earlier, and it doesn't contradict the selfish gene, but it goes further in certain respects. assuming that darwin's theory of natural selection is correct , it the selection is correct, it the thesis is that every animal, every living creature is a book

which can be read as a description of the of the series of ancient worlds in which its ancestors survived. it's not possible at the moment, but i'm predicting that the zoologists of the future will be able to take any animal and read it as a story about its ancestral past and the idea that there isn't a sort of higher power, even if god doesn't exist , isn't god doesn't exist, isn't believing in him or her good. >> if it improves your quality of life, i suppose you could say that even if it's false, i personally believe in truth so much that i wouldn't regard that as a very good argument. >> i wouldn't regard simply improving your quality of life as being a good enough reason to believe in something that isn't true. if you think it is true, that's fine. but but, but you've put the question in the form of even if it's not true , isn't it even if it's not true, isn't it a good thing to believe it because it improves your quality of life ? i don't think it does of life? i don't think it does actually improve your quality of life, but even if it did, i

don't think it's a good argument, it certainly doesn't wouldn't improve mine. i mean, i think that, to face life squarely and honestly as devoid of supernatural beings is a, is a is a good thing and makes you happy, the thesis of the genetic book of the dead is very interesting. the idea that, you know, there's essentially one story per person . i think that's story per person. i think that's a very compelling idea. is there any way that we as individuals can break out from that genetic straitjacket ? straitjacket? >> yes, i think that we mustn't think of it as a genetic straitjacket , because humans straitjacket, because humans actually are rather special. and we have big brains, and we can learn to do things . we can plan learn to do things. we can plan ahead. we can we can do things that are selfish genes would not wish us to do, like use contraceptives, for example . so, contraceptives, for example. so, all sorts of things we do that are not in accordance with our genetic programming. so although we've been put into the world as a result of genetic programming and natural selection , we have

and natural selection, we have in a way rebelled against it. >> well, i suppose so. killing people could be in the in the genes, couldn't it? but i don't imagine you've murdered anyone too recently. >> no, we don't. we. it's right. we rebelled from the dictates of the genes and all sorts of ways. and that might be one of them. >> would you consider any other beliefs, such as trans ideology, the idea that you can change your biological, biological sex to be a form of religion , to to be a form of religion, to what is your attitude to this new idea that you might be born in the wrong body? that a man is a woman ? a woman? >> i think it's pretty well nonsense . and it's become. nonsense. and it's become. i mean, there may be 1 or 2 individuals who really do have a, a sort of , individuals who really do have a, a sort of, mental problem with being born and feeling they're born in the wrong body. but it's become a fashion now, especially among young people. i think that's pernicious , and as think that's pernicious, and as for newspapers reporting about, i don't know, a woman raping somebody with her penis, i mean,

thatis somebody with her penis, i mean, that is a debauchery of language . and i think it's shocking. and i strongly disapprove of it. >> richard, i don't want to drag you into the culture wars, but is so—called wokeism a religion? given that it seems that followers must adhere to a set of prescribed beliefs . of prescribed beliefs. >> it's not a religion in the sense that it's supernatural, but it has many of the attributes of a religion, in the sense that it's a kind of creed which people sign up to. and then, follow devotedly and punish heretics who don't believe in it, heretics like j.k. rowling and kathleen stock, who get pilloried mercilessly and viciously, because they don't subscribe to it. so i think in that respect, it is it is like a religion. >> yes, richard, it's been the deepest privilege to have you on the program. i'm hugely looking forward to the release of the new book. it is called the genetic book of the dead. it's out in september, but you can pre—order it right now at any of

your favourite bookshops, online or in store, and for details of richard's tour, head to richard dawkins tor.com. thanks, richard. we'll catch up soon. okay folks, strap yourselves in for my take at ten, because it's dame emma thompson who backs just stop oil days after they attack stonehenge. i'll be deaung attack stonehenge. i'll be dealing with this millionaire eco hypocrite in no uncertain terms next. >> that warm feeling inside from boxt boilers sponsors of weather on gb news. >> hi there and welcome to the latest update from the met office for gb news. the weather is turning warmer and sunnier dunng is turning warmer and sunnier during the next few days. there will be some cloudier spells for the next 24 hours or so before high pressure takes a firm hold across the uk and leads to a long settled spell. now this weak weather front is just edging into the west of scotland through the evening, as well as parts of northern ireland. some thicker cloud for a time , some

thicker cloud for a time, some patchy light rain and drizzle that will tend to sink into northern and western england, as well as wales extensive low cloud is expected here. some mist around the hills and coasts and some drizzle first thing sunday. otherwise increasingly sunny skies for scotland, northern ireland and for parts of east anglia as well as the south east. it's going to feel fresh first thing, but temperatures will rise quickly through the morning because of the sunnier skies. however we've got that mist around the coast of the southwest as well as parts of wales and drizzle over the hills, and that will take some time to clear up during the morning. northern england , morning. northern england, scotland, northern ireland increasingly sunny through the day and with that sunshine we're going to see some higher temperatures compared with much of june so far. but as i say, the mist and low cloud that will be lurking around southwestern shores could take some time to clear, and somewhere like torbay could keep that fog around the coast through the day, come

inland and skies will brighten nicely by the afternoon and with sunny spells developing widely, temperatures will reach 25 celsius in the south—east, 20 to 22 celsius generally elsewhere . 22 celsius generally elsewhere. monday morning starts off with a lot of cloud across western scotland and northern ireland. some patchy rain and drizzle elsewhere for another day of warm, sunny spells and increasing temperatures. we're looking at highs on monday into the high 20s, and by tuesday and wednesday the possibility of 30 degrees. >> looks like things are heating up. boxt boilers sponsors of weather

gb news. >> it's 10:00. on television. on >> it's10:00. on television. on radio and online in the united kingdom and across the world. this is mark dolan tonight

nafion this is mark dolan tonight nation now. ipso nation now. oh, dean nation now. ipso nation now. oh, dear. dame emma thompson backs just stop oil days after they attack stonehenge. i'll be deaung attack stonehenge. i'll be dealing with this millionaire eco hypocrite in no uncertain terms. in two minutes time. also tonight, george galloway has sensationally called for the eradication of the monarchy and to make princess anne president of the united kingdom . reacting of the united kingdom. reacting live in the studio. the queen of us royal reporting kinsey schofield . also developing schofield. also developing tonight, nigel farages comments about ukraine have made headunes about ukraine have made headlines around the world with angry condemnation from zelenskyy starmer and sunak. is this nigel farage's first election misstep or has he got exactly what he wanted ? plus, exactly what he wanted? plus, tomorrow's newspaper front pages. it's a packed show , lots pages. it's a packed show, lots to get through. dame emma thompson will be getting the

mark dolan treatment straight after the headlines, and sophia wenzler . wenzler. >> mark, thank you from the gb newsroom at 10:01. your headlines. nigel farage has been criticised by the prime minister and the labour leader over his comments suggesting the west provoked russia's invasion of ukraine. rishi sunak says it was completely wrong . the reform uk completely wrong. the reform uk leader made the claim during an interview with the bbc. nick robinson last night. mr farage said the expansion of the eu and nato gave putin a reason to tell the russian people they're coming for us again. the prime minister says the comments play into the russian president's hands, which the labour leader has echoed . the scottish greens has echoed. the scottish greens have urged the next uk government to lift the block on scotland's controversial gender reforms. the proposed legislation would make it easier for people to legally change their gender, but uk ministers

blocked the draft law, saying it would conflict with the equality act protections applying across great britain. scotland's first minister john swinney, said he ministerjohn swinney, said he agreed with the scottish green party >> the scottish parliament has legislated for the changes on gender recognition and i think it's important the democratic wishes of the scottish parliament are respected, but clearly there is a legal issue that has got to be addressed and that has got to be addressed and that can only be addressed by the united kingdom government. but i want the legislation that has been passed by the scottish parliament to be put into effect i >> -- >> in other news, the mother of jay slater has issued a direct plea to her missing son on the sixth day of the hunt for the british teenager, saying we just need you home. jay travelled for a music festival on his first houday a music festival on his first holiday without his parents special dog teams have now joined police and firefighters in the search operation. the 19 year old has not been heard from since . he called a friend since. he called a friend shortly before 9:00 monday morning, saying he was lost and needed water. he was last seen

in the north western mountain village of masca . village of masca. pro—palestinian protesters have sprayed red paint on a historic building at the university of cambridge. students and members of the palestine action group targeted senate house this afternoon. a building that's been used for graduation ceremonies since the 18th century. the group says the action marked the end of an academic year where the university of cambridge has funded, enabled and normalised the ongoing palestinian genocide. a spokesman for the university said they strongly condemned this act of vandalism , condemned this act of vandalism, and the prince of wales has thanked taylorswift for a great concert as he shared a photo of the pop superstar taking a selfie with him and his children, prince george and princess charlotte, watching the us singer perform at wembley stadium . prince william was also stadium. prince william was also spotted shaking his arms to shakeit spotted shaking his arms to shake it off as he celebrated his 42nd birthday. swift posted her selfie with prince william, george and charlotte alongside

her boyfriend, nfl star travis kelce . and for the latest story, kelce. and for the latest story, sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen or go to gbnews.com/alerts. now it's back to . mark. to. mark. >> thank you sofia. great job. we'll see you in an hour. welcome to mark dolan tonight george galloway has sensationally called for the eradication of the monarchy and to make princess anne the president of the united kingdom. reacting live in the studio, the queen of us royal reporting kinsey schofield also developing tonight, nigel farage's comments about ukraine have made headunes about ukraine have made headlines around the world, with angry condemnation from zelenskyy star and sunak. is this farage's first election misstep or has he got exactly what he wanted? plus, tomorrow's

newspaper front pages and live reaction in the studio from tonight's top pundits. nina meshkov, mike reid and doctor rakib ehsan . a packed hour. rakib ehsan. a packed hour. those papers are coming . but those papers are coming. but first my take at ten. just days after their horrific and dangerous attack on stonehenge , dangerous attack on stonehenge, one of the country's greatest and most precious historic treasures. right on. actress dame emma thompson has given her backing to just stop oil . today, backing to just stop oil. today, the oscar winning actress led thousands of people on a march in london aimed at persuading politicians to prioritise nature and climate . asked whether she and climate. asked whether she supports just stop oil, and climate. asked whether she supports just stop oil , she and climate. asked whether she supports just stop oil, she said i think i support anyone who fights this extraordinary battle. we cannot take any more

oil out of the ground . but battle. we cannot take any more oil out of the ground. but in the past. eco activist thompson, famous for playing the ugly nanny nanny mcphee on the big screen, showed her ugly hypocrisy cavorting on a vast gas guzzling 350 foot mega yacht owned by billionaire media tycoon barry diller. co—founder of fox news, whose right wing output i've got no doubt she despises what she didn't despise was the chilled champagne and caviar served up on this opulent vessel, one which carries two enormous diesel engines plus fossil fuel powered generators, presumably to put bubbles in the jacuzzi . of course, none of this jacuzzi. of course, none of this would matter if it wasn't for thompson's previous finger wagging pronouncements about the state of the environment . for state of the environment. for example, she was spotted jetting to new york in 2019, just days after backing extinction rebellion climate protests that

brought chaos to london. the mail newspaper report that she took a personal booth in the luxury cabin of a ba flight from heathrow to jfk, despite previously demanding we should all fly less now. first class ba flights to new york cost around £18,000 and generates nearly two tonnes of carbon dioxide for each passenger in the elite cabin , onlookers claim. the cabin, onlookers claim. the multi—millionaire activist also drank laurent—perrier champagne and dined on beef carpaccio, even though she has previously called on all of us to eat less meat all in the name of saving the planet. sorry, but you can't have it. both ways. you can't sit on board a £200 million super yacht whilst telling the great unwashed that we've got to take fewer flights, eat less meat and spend 20 grand on a new boiler. now i'm a huge fan of emma thompson, a brilliant writer and a gifted actress. she

is a true british national treasure and i suspect a very nice lady as well. but i'm afraid that if you enter the political arena, you will be called out for any double standards or hypocrisy on display . and i'm afraid to say display. and i'm afraid to say that she's got that in spades with a jet set lifestyle. more air miles than richard branson , air miles than richard branson, and she's someone who has owned homes all over the world. and despite owning a reportedly £3 million house in hampstead, north london, she famously called england a rainy corner of sort of europe a cake filled, misery laden , grey old island misery laden, grey old island charming. let me tell you, there isn't much grey misery to be found in the bustling boutiques of hampstead village. if her insane demand to stop drilling for oil was ever granted , it for oil was ever granted, it would destroy the country and wreck ordinary people's lives. but it wouldn't affect dame emma in her north london ivory tower. by in her north london ivory tower. by all means , protest. and yes,

by all means, protest. and yes, the environment is a worthy cause. the environment is a worthy cause . i don't doubt that dame cause. i don't doubt that dame emma is very sincere in her concerns and has been consistent on this over many years . i too on this over many years. i too believe that we must save the planet. but not but not by ending the use of fossil fuels next tuesday . and i'll take no next tuesday. and i'll take no lectures from multi—millionaire superstars who say one thing and do quite the opposite . emma do quite the opposite. emma thompson is a successful and highly decorated actress with an oscar to her name, but the only award she merits these days is world's biggest eco hypocrite . world's biggest eco hypocrite. sorry, folks, but her latest performance as the queen of double standards gets one star from me. but what's your view? gbnews.com/yoursay say i'll get to your opinions in a moment. but first, tonight's top pundits . fleet street's finest broadcasting legend as well.

nina myskow, former bbc star mike reid and leading writer and researcher doctor rakib hasan raqeeb. i'm all for saving the planet , but the double standards planet, but the double standards are too much for me here. double standards. what do you think ? standards. what do you think? >> well, i think it's deeply hypocritical, and i think that's the problem with the wider environmental movement that it's dominated by super wealthy individuals who are ultimately demanding ordinary working class people to make great sacrifices for the sake of the planet. but not setting an example for themselves, indulging in behaviours which are anything but environmentally friendly and i think more generally, if we're focusing on the uk, i'd actually say that we're one of the most environmentally conscious places on earth and i'm a bit concerned that with these net zero measures, which some of them are, in my view, quite radical, even if we were to stick to these very ambitious goals. firstly, we need to have the social infrastructure in place to meet those goals . and i think to meet those goals. and i think at the moment we have an issue

there in terms of mismatch between those goals and having the infrastructure in place to meet them. but even if we were to, i don't think that's going to, i don't think that's going to make a very serious impact in terms of improving global environment at large. >> i mean, do you think many would argue that it's not her fault that she's rich? she's very successful , very good at very successful, very good at what she does. but but she's using her platform to spread the message. herjob involves flying. what are you going to do? >> but i think that also, if you're going to promote that message , i think that in order message, i think that in order to increase the effectiveness of that message , i think you should that message, i think you should set a personal example yourself. that'd be my point. >> what are you going to do? i mean, if she has to go to hollywood , of course she's a hollywood, of course she's a star. she has to appear in a certain way. is she going to row the atlantic? >> no, no, i wouldn't expect her to row cycle from new york to la. then what? she. what she could do is maybe strike a more balanced view, not be so demanding of how other people should behave, and maybe strike a more balanced tone. well, because what she's asking for, it's important to look at the implications of what she's asking for, which is we stop drilling for oil straight away .

drilling for oil straight away. >> the impact on ordinary brits and the country would be devastating . devastating. >> but the thing is, she knows that's never going to happen. >> that's not why is she asking for it? >> then? because she wants to push it. you know, let's just look at it, focus on what's happening. i, you know, i'm very positive about emma. i think she's i think she's a wonderful actress and. >> well, she's probably a mate of yours up in hampstead. i would have thought. >> no, she's not a mate. if you see her in waitrose. no, i don't, i think she's in west hampstead , actually. hampstead, actually. >> okay. that's a bit cheaper than your area, isn't it? >> i don't know, it's not. it's not at all. no, she, she was one of my readers of jackie when i was the editor. she was. she was one of my readers. yes. she wrote to me when she was 12. we didn't know . wrote to me when she was 12. we didn't know. i didn't know she wasn't emma thompson. >> and was she banging on about the environment then? no she wasn't. >> she was writing about a lovely letter about her dad, who was a man called eric thompson, who did a series called the magic roundabout . right? yeah. magic roundabout. right? yeah. >> he created created that show, didn't he? >> so i think i think the thing is, it's very tricky if you if you have that sort of job and you've got to be, you know, you've got to be, you know, you've got to sometimes socialise with, with, you know, barry diller on his yacht, you

can't not you have to do these things . things. >> but i don't do you have to do you have to go on a yacht? i've never been forced on a yacht. >> i don't know, i mean, maybe she has to go on there to sign a contract. who knows? yeah, well, i think she she went on that particular cruise because her mate is diana von furstenberg, who's a sort of luxury designer, and they were at some kind of backslapping event . backslapping event. >> it's not mandatory. >> it's not mandatory. >> that's the point. she can't, you know, you know, what is she to do? dress in sackcloth and ashes and sit at home and watch the telly? no. why shouldn't she have a good time? but she's not telling people personally. you aren't living your life , right. aren't living your life, right. you know, she's saying to governments, she's saying to oil companies, look, this is the way the world should go . and, you the world should go. and, you know, she does an an incredible amount of charity work . she does. >> but isn't isn't there something authoritarian about this movement? i mean , they're this movement? i mean, they're spraying stonehenge, causing potential damage. they're splashing paint on the mona lisa. >> and to be fair to emma, she wasn't there spraying paint with them. sure, she and she was . them. sure, she and she was. >> she backs that organisation days after they did. >> she was she was she was put on the spot and she's there in

an eco protest. you're not going to say i don't, i don't support, she said. i support everyone who tries . so she was dancing around tries. so she was dancing around it too. but she has. chris packham was there . oh. packham was there. oh. >> blimey, you're not selling it. >> no, it.- >> no, no, i it.— >> no, no, i mean it. >> no, no, i mean caroline lucas obviously. >> green you can spread. you can spread a pro—environment message without a cultural salt on british heritage. >> i think stonehenge was too far. >> mike, briefly, the bottom line is that emma thompson is very consistent about her concerns on the environment. she is using her fame and platform. many would argue she's you know, good on her for the comments she's made. >> yeah, she wants to leave the oil in the ground, which is not much use to anybody, if it's out of the ground, we can use it if it's in the ground. >> but she doesn't want to us use it. >> no, but what do we do with it? if it's in the ground, you use it at some point. but no. >> nobody keeps the oil and gas from vladimir putin. well, and what about those flaky renewables? >> it's the fact that we're in the renewables. >> we'll get less flaky. >> we'll get less flaky. >> it's the fact that we're in the media age now and everyone's talking about it, knowing about

it. but back in the day, when the romans were here, the northern hemisphere was much warmer. we had a mini ice age for 300 years, and no one talked about it. >> are you denying that that that there is in fact, climate change? >> i'm not denying it, but i'm saying it is cyclic , so you are saying it is cyclic, so you are denier. you're saying this is just part of a cycle. >> it can be part of a cycle when there were far more animals, the ozone layer was in dangen animals, the ozone layer was in danger. when there were millions and billions of animals. >> america had more livestock. 200 years ago than it has now. they killed all the bison . they killed all the bison. >> the actual protest she was on today, it was called something like protect nature now or renew nature now. >> restore nature now. >> restore nature now. >> and i saw a very good film this week called wilding, and it's about a couple in east sussex who put who got three, 3500 acres of hippies , a very 3500 acres of hippies, a very posh people actually, with a little castle , and they actually little castle, and they actually went back and they've rewilded it. they've reintroduced it. >> well, they were they on marijuana? >> they didn't appear to be. they were rather, rather sort of straight laced, in fact. but, you know, but inspiring message.

what they've done is extraordinary, extraordinary and if people want to talk about england and how wonderful england and how wonderful england was , they brought their england was, they brought their little corner back to what england . england. >> what's the film called? >> what's the film called? >> wilding. wilding? >> wilding. wilding? >> that sounds like a great recommendation. >> rewilding is good. someone who missed on that as well. >> well, listen, you're a wild bunch. i can't wait to bring my top pundits back at 1030 for tomorrow's papers, but coming up next, george galloway has sensationally called for the eradication of the monarchy. and to make princess anne the president of the united kingdom. reacting live in the studio. the queen of us royal reporting kinsey schofield. plus, don't forget , after 1030. nigel farage forget, after 1030. nigel farage in water. full reaction. see

has nigel farage made his first misstep of the election campaign? is he in hot water, or is it all by design ? we'll react is it all by design? we'll react to that story when the papers come in. in ten minutes time.

but first, us news with the queen of american showbiz and royal reporting live in our westminster studio. she's flown over just like dame emma overjust like dame emma thompson. i hope you travel first class, kinsey. >> absolutely not, but i love that it, says schofield. >> not stateside. >> not stateside. >> exactly right. look, the show is not just thrown together and let's have a look at prince william. of course, he is the he is the prince of wales. he's turned 42 this week and he celebrated in style with the world's most famous pop . star. world's most famous pop. star. garda siochana . so happy. 42nd garda siochana. so happy. 42nd to the prince of wales. so he's gone to the taylor swift gig. has he brought the whole family who went the kiddos went. >> we saw prince george and we saw princess charlotte. but do you remember the princess diana concert that they threw years ago ? michael jackson it wasn't ago? michael jackson it wasn't michael jackson, but during nelly , nelly furtado's maneater, nelly, nelly furtado's maneater,

they caught prince william dancing just like that. he's i mean, he's had that shoulder move for so long. i just love seeing him. blissful, gleeful. this has been a really hard year for them. this was his a big birthday celebration , ian. and birthday celebration, ian. and it just i mean, i'm never going to hear this song ever again and not think about prince william. definitely >> it's been a good month. he's had a good june trooping the colour in the company of his beautiful wife, who is hopefully recovering from her cancer diagnosis. he's 42. his relationship with his father has never been better. of course, megxit has brought the two of them together even more closely. do we know whether he spent time with taylor swift? and was kate nervous or jealous ? nervous or jealous? >> i mean, i'm sure that the princess of wales encouraged this and i wish so, i so desperate. would you leave a man alone with taylor swift , well, alone with taylor swift, well, travis kelce was there too. >> yeah, i know, but have you not read the lyrics of her songs?i not read the lyrics of her songs? i mean, i love she enjoys male company , let me tell you i male company, let me tell you i love i love them, i love her, i

think that it was probably he's probably spent a few minutes with her. we know that they took a selfie, she has spent time with him previously. there's great video of them singing with jon bon jovi at a charity event. now, remember, meghan markle had requested taylor be on her podcast. she wrote her a handwritten letter and taylor's team rejected it. meghan also later released through people magazine that she had spent some time at a taylor swift concert. so i think we are seeing team tate or taylor's side with team wales here right over the last few hours, and i'm kind of keen to it. and then also, you know, a lot of people pointing out the pictures of meghan and harry at the beyonce concert where harry looks pretty miserable versus prince william shaking his tail feather at the taylor swift concert. and you're just kind of seeing that prince william is he's pursuing joy. and i think that that's important. >> most definitely. i think actually that that concert at which diana was filmed dancing and enjoying herself, i think it was the prince's trust, and i

think it was a mixed bill of great artists. i think elton might have been there and a few others, and it's great to see, you know, her son, in a way, embodying that spirit of fun, and look, he's had a hard year, so he deserves to have a smile on his face with a lovely birthday message from catherine, his devoted wife. >> and we normally don't see pictures , there was a picture pictures, there was a picture posted on instagram and x we normally don't see pictures. >> i mean, this you think kate's had a go on the old photoshop with that one? >> i don't i think that this is authentic. >> i'm told she's bought new software. >> have you been? your sources are better than mine. but you know, we usually this is a really intimate , silly, fun really intimate, silly, fun moment. it's not as sharp and sophisticated as we have come to expect. much more modern and i think it's a reflection of this family and the direction that they would take when it, when and if it becomes their turn. >> the leader of the uk workers party is george galloway, and george galloway didn't expect him to come up in a chat about the royals, but he's made

headunes the royals, but he's made headlines because he thinks that the monarchy should be abolished. i don't think that's controversial. there are some who would like a republic, but he has nominated princess anne to be president of the united kingdom . now i'm interested. kingdom. now i'm interested. >> i think we all love and admire princess. she's the greatest. she is the hardest working royal, without a doubt , working royal, without a doubt, but. and i actually think that we expected this conversation to happen once the queen passed . happen once the queen passed. somebody was going to bring this up, but i don't know if you. i don't know if that she would. this country wants an elected leader in this way. i feel like the monarchy is. so think about how trooping the colour, even in this weird election season , how this weird election season, how trooping the colour brought everybody together and no matter who you plan to vote for in the next few weeks, everyone was in the street celebrating the monarchy. i think that that is something so unique that the united states doesn't have. >> most definitely. let's talk about princess anne's son. and that's peter phillips, who has

had a checkered love life, hasn't he? tell me more. >> i don't even care. i think he's handsome. >> he's had more partners than taylor swift. >> good for him. he's just living his best life. >> he's a he's a swiftae in his own way. he has in a bad way. he was, he was in a relationship that he recently just got out of. >> he's got a new girlfriend. she's an nhs nurse. >> he's got a new girlfriend. she's an nhs nurse . she's, you she's an nhs nurse. she's, you know, she's as you saw. >> that's not an outfit. oh no, i'm sure, i'm sure it's the real deal i'm sure, i'm sure it's the real deal. so he's dating a nurse now i >> -- >> he has a new girlfriend. she has, she's a bit of an aristocrat. she's got an aristocratic background. they look very lovey dovey. they. their big debut was at ascot, and i was a little disappointed , and i was a little disappointed, listen, he's a fine young man, isn't he? and, and he's watching. hello. he's a family man. and i think pretty close to his to his mother and his father, captain mark phillips, of course. >> apparently prince william, he's become very close to prince william since the falling out with prince harry. he's been there to support prince william. >> now we wish him well . >> now we wish him well. >> now we wish him well. >> and of course, it's a reminder that the royals, like the rest of us, have marriage problems. life happens to

everyone, doesn't it? >> it does. >> it does. >> yeah. and you know, we're there's a microscope on these poor people. and here we are . poor people. and here we are. thankfully, we don't have to deal with that much pressure. >> no relationships are hard. let me tell you, greg has never been happier with his missus. so, you know, it's fine. listen, before you go. you've been in london for how long now ? about london for how long now? about two weeks. >> yeah. >> yeah. >> trooping the colour. how has the whole experience been of coming to the uk? normally you're down the line in california. have you enjoyed it? >> i have, you have a beautiful country. i can't believe how. i mean the football, the football and taylor swift and trooping and taylor swift and trooping and ascot. i mean, does this town ever sleep? it's been. i'm exhausted. >> i hate to break it to you. >> i hate to break it to you. >> the uk is not a town, but i understand it's small compared to america. harsh but fair. and kinsey, you were at ascot . did kinsey, you were at ascot. did you have a big hat? >> i had a really cute hat. i'm very proud of my outfit. >> yes. there you go. >> yes. there you go. >> i think we might need to call up an image of that later in the program. actually, we'll do it in a week's time when you're back in america. okay, safe trip back in america. okay, safe trip back to california. my viewers and listeners are your number one fan. >> i love them, too. so there

you go. >> you're a critical part of mark dolan tonight, and we'll see you in a week's time down a computer screen. my thanks to the fabulous kinsey schofield. up, tomorrow's papers and nigel farage in hot

it's 1030. welcome to mark dolan it's1030. welcome to mark dolan tonight. in case you're just tuning in, we've not changed our set. our brilliant main studio is being decorated. we're back on air in our revamped set on monday. and, of course, friday night live and mark dolan tonight back next weekend in our traditional home. but lots to get through. it's time for tomorrow's front pages . so the tomorrow's front pages. so the mail on sunday world exclusive interview meghan's dad at 80, i'd love her to call on my birthday, but she won't. it's thomas markle there lamenting the lost relationship with his

daughter meghan. volodymyr zelenskyy . farage is infected zelenskyy. farage is infected with the virus of putin ukraine leader's fury after reform chief blames the west for the war as we expose party's pro—kremlin backer. we expose party's pro—kremlin backer . also tailor we expose party's pro—kremlin backer. also tailor made selfie for the royal swifties. that's the pop star taylor swift photographed with the prince of wales and two of his children. the observer. now, starmer's growth plan doomed without access to eu markets . well, access to eu markets. well, that's interesting because in the final part of the show, i'll be asking where the labour are going to reverse brexit. but the observer is saying a labour government under keir starmer will fail to maximise the uk's economic growth unless it takes the country back into wait for it. the european union's single market and customs union, 20,000. the major sewage leaks total in the past decade. absolute national scandal sunday times top tory placed dozens of bets on election dates. farage

repeats claim that the west provoked putin and a troubling yearin provoked putin and a troubling year in provence , the sunday year in provence, the sunday times writes as it turns to the hard right , times writes as it turns to the hard right, sunday telegraph handouts lack the dignity of wages, says sir keir starmer. state handouts offer people less dignity than earning a living through work. the labour leader said that working people want success more than state support, as he declared that if he's elected prime minister he'll put wealth creation front and centre. miliband vows to scrap tory gas boiler ban labour will scrap the tory party's 2035 target to ban new gas boilers. in an interview with the sunday telegraph, the shadow energy secretary said no one would be forced to rip out their boiler under labour's plan for reaching net zero. instead miliband will focus on financial incentives to encourage more people to install heat pumps . encourage more people to install heat pumps. sunak farage is playing into putin's hands and labour eu plan risks 100,000

illegal migrants sunday express labour's £2 billion black hole a special budget within weeks of victory predict the express. also, here's a quick selfie with the queen of pop . that's the the queen of pop. that's the prince of wales, two of his children and taylor swift , who children and taylor swift, who i'm told is a billionaire and the biggest music star in the world. the independent now poll exclusive the great turn off 40% of young people will not vote. well, david maddox has got the exclusive on that. he is the independent's political editor, and he joins me before 11. daily star sunday saw moon botherer uri geller, fierce intergalactic stick to do e.t rage at the henge tarquin's limey. i'll need a translator for that one. cutlery curler uri geller says the just stop oil tarquin's who sprayed orange powder paint over stonehenge could spark an alien attack. he reckons the ancient

colonists monoliths are how extraterrestrials phone home. fascinating stuff. well, listen, let me tell you that uri geller is an interesting guy, and he's a regular on nana akua show every saturday afternoon from three till six nana back tomorrow as well. but listen, folks, let's get a reaction to those front pages. in the company of my top pundits, i'm delighted to have nina meshkov, mike reid, and rakib hasan. and how about this story ? mike reid how about this story? mike reid volodymyr zelenskyy nigel farage is infected with the virus of putin, nigel farage has said that european expansionism, the expansion of the eu and nato has been a case of poking the russian bear. would you agree? >> i don't think the russian bear needs a lot of poking, somehow i didn't hear this. i've heard quite a bit of nigel's, speeches over the last couple of weeks, but this i didn't hear. so whether it's been taken slightly out of context or not, i don't know, he has always been

a fan of trump and putin, but i don't think it's fair to say he's a fan of putin. >> i think that might be he's distanced himself from vladimir putin. most recently he's written he has doubled down, regarding what he said to nick robinson on the bbc on panorama. but he has said that the west needs to examine why this invasion has happened and consider how they could prevent such a future action. >> yeah, and they had quite a lot of action towards nigel and arron banks, as do their russian connections at one time, and all of that been debunked. hasn't that been debunked, yes . that been debunked, yes. >> it went to court and they won. yeah. so but you you're suggesting that nigel is somehow a putin apologist or not, no i'm not. i didn't hear this speech, to be honest with you. so i don't know exactly what he said. no, whether the headline has been blown out of proportion , i been blown out of proportion, i suspect nigel will probably say that it has been blown out of proportion . proportion. >> he didn't say that. he's. >> he didn't say that. he's. >> what did he say? i didn't hear it. okay he said he's been

saying it since 2014. >> this has been a long established position of the. >> what he exactly said is, is this idea that the eu and nato expansion has given vladimir putin a reason to justify war. he's not defending it. he said the invasion is wrong. he's no fan of putin, but he's trying to establish a context as to why it may have happened. >> ricky, i think he's referring to the eu's eastward expansion and things like schemes like the eu neighbourhood policy as well, i think this is a position that he's held, as he said, since 2014. so he's held this position for over a decade. >> he also predicted that russia would invade ukraine. >> they said, firstly, we make the point that when it comes to the point that when it comes to the kremlin's invasion of ukraine, that responsibility lies with vladimir putin. now, to make that very clear. yeah, but i think what he's making is more of a geopolitical observation that ultimately, if you have this sort of eastward expansion of western institutions , and, and you have institutions, and, and you have those programs such as the eu neighbourhood policy , which may neighbourhood policy, which may come very close or indeed incorporate russia , or rather, incorporate russia, or rather, the kremlin's view of what its

sphere of influence should be, then this could be the end result. i think that that's just. >> but doesn't it play into putin's hands? isn't it a pr coup for putin to have nigel saying these things, even if there is some merit? >> i think at the moment, in terms of foreign policy , we, we terms of foreign policy, we, we have a mainstream consensus when it comes to the russia—ukraine conflict, the ongoing conflict . conflict, the ongoing conflict. so we have a bit of diversity of opinion now. it's other politicians are more than welcome to condemn that opinion . welcome to condemn that opinion. but i think that he's at least he's expressing his own view. he's being honest about what his personal it's about. >> it's about the builder, a disrupter . disrupter. >> and nigel wants to be the centre of attention. and he is . centre of attention. and he is. and by saying all these things, he knows exactly what he's doing . he doesn't say things that they things don't just slip out. he knows exactly what he's doing. and he's and he is, in a way, playing into putin's hands or whether he's doing it for putin. god knows. because what what putin would like to see is, is a is a is a as

what putin would like to see is, isaisaisaasa what putin would like to see is, is a is a is a as a disrupted west west where that's all odds with each other . and that's with each other. and that's exactly what's happening. >> well, are you suggesting that he's working for putin or helping putin? do you think he's a putin admirer ? a putin admirer? >> well, i think he's i think well, he's a he's a trump admirer. and you have to ask yourself, is trump a putin admirer? trump. >> trump is a democratically elected president. >> absolutely. trump is a democratically . democratically. >> and he's and he's been at odds with with vladimir putin. i mean, they fell out when he was president. >> but there is a connection. there is a connection. >> and you're comparing donald trump to vladimir putin. >> no, i am not comparing him to i'm absolutely not comparing them. but i'm saying he that farage is a disrupter , and he's farage is a disrupter, and he's the fact that we're talking about every headline is exactly what he wants. >> although don't you think that farage is critics are actually shooting the messenger. the bottom line is that he's trying to help the west understand why this has happened. and he suggested that these tensions around nato and eu expansion has certainly not helped. >> he's not trying to help the west. he's trying to help

himself. he's trying to help himself. >> i mean, why why do you deliberately disrupt i don't think he's deliberately of course he disrupts. >> but the thing is , if he's >> but the thing is, if he's been saying this since 2014, then it's not a new idea , is it? then it's not a new idea, is it? >> it's not a new idea. it's quite consistent. but. but he knows exactly. >> what are you saying? he's only saying it for shock value rather than conviction . rather than conviction. >> i think i think, i think that the shock value has a lot to do with it, i really do. >> i agree with you just now about about the build up. >> i mean, it's like if you're playing risk or you're playing strategy, you're aware of the build up elsewhere . so i think build up elsewhere. so i think that's probably what he's pointing out. the fact that that someone's got his eye on, on the build up, if you're playing risk, that's what you're doing. >> and i think we should also be clear that ukraine is hardly a bastion of liberal democratic values. if you understand the recent developments in the ukrainian political system before the invasion, we're not talking about flourishing liberal democracy. >> so you're so you're saying that that putin is justified? absolutely. >> i haven't said, well, let me let me quote nigel farage to give him the right of reply , it give him the right of reply, it doesn't change the facts. there's a writing in the telegraph. it doesn't change.

the fact that i saw this coming a decade ago, warned that it was coming. and one of the few political figures who's been consistently right and honest about russia's ukraine war. what i've been saying for the past ten years is that the west has played into putin's hands , played into putin's hands, giving him the excuse to do what he wanted to do anyway. >> the thing is, in saying this, he's got himself on the front pages, but also he's he's kind of, made sunak. pages, but also he's he's kind of, made sunak . and the tory of, made sunak. and the tory party realised that they can't just say they can't just dismiss nigel by saying, a vote for nigel by saying, a vote for nigel is a vote for keir starmer. basically, you'll let keir starmer and now they're saying seeing that that nigel is, is a is a bigger threat to them than that. yeah. and that's, that's what's, you know, that's, that's what's, you know, that's what's behind it all. okay. >> fascinating stuff. we'll return to that with the express's david maddox just after the break. but let's have after the break. but let's have a look now at, a couple of other stories floating around. and this one caught my eye. it's in the sunday telegraph . actually, the sunday telegraph. actually, ricky, handouts lack the dignity

of wages, says sir keir starmer, the labour leader says that redistribution alone is not enough to end britain's malaise. why do you think keir starmer has struck this tone? he sounds like an incoming conservative prime minister >> i have to say this is where i do like the messaging. if truth be told, at the end of the day is the labour party is not the welfare party. now, of course , welfare party. now, of course, we should have a welfare state in place which acts as an effective social safety net, especially when it comes to the most vulnerable members of society . but he's absolutely society. but he's absolutely right here, and i don't believe that most people who are on welfare are very pleased to live a life of welfare dependency. i see many communities where there are families which are trapped in a cycle of welfare dependency , but i don't think they're necessarily happy about it. now, if you actually look in the recent economic figures, we do have concerns over the rising unemployment. we need to talk about job creation, and we need to talk about giving left behind communities, the opportunities, the skills development , the

the skills development, the training opportunities, apprenticeships and all the rest of it. so people have a springboard towards fulfilling employment . employment. >> indeed. are you not worried that if labour win, they're going to clobber business with red tape and workers rights? no, that would be a disincentive to hire people, i think so, i think i think they're smarter than that. >> and i think rachel reeves is a very smart cookie, and i think between them, they will they've been wooing big business, you know, for months now . and i know, for months now. and i think they will they will try to do because they realise that growth is what's required. and they also realise that what's required is to get people back into work, and, and this is, you know, saying it in this way is actually very interesting, isn't it? >> well, it is because, mike, this isn't sustainable , is it? this isn't sustainable, is it? currently, over 5 million working age adults are not active in the economy. at some point, the, you know, the finances are not going to be viable, are they? well you need incentive. >> you need to get people back. you need to get people wanting to work and a reason to work, and they're going to earn more

money by working than not working all the time. you can earn more money by not working . earn more money by not working. why would a lot of people work? yeah, so you need incentive, inspiration , a reason, and to inspiration, a reason, and to create jobs and, you know, that's sort of the problem is, is this a mood music from keir starmer? >> do you think this will happen should he win ? should he win? >> who knows. in his last two really? >> is it in the dna of labour to sort of get people out to work and off welfare . and off welfare. >> yeah. i mean they haven't done brilliantly every time they've been in, to be honest, so heaven knows what's going to happen here and whether the tories will ever get back in again. who knows? >> i mean, well, i think under tony blair they were pretty damn successful. they brought the waiting lists of the nhs right down. >> you know, they i think the important thing here, mark, is that i think the labour party under starmer, they've done a great deal in terms of trying to woo big business. but i think in order to create those jobs that we're referring to in local communities, it needs to be trying to create more favourable conditions for small to medium sized enterprises, which can be the lifeblood of local communities across the country. i think the focus should be a

bit more on that, but is that going to happen if there's a increase in the national minimum wage, is that going to happen with red tape and the axing of zero hours contracts and making it harder to let people go? >> you know, i wonder whether a mixed message is being sent here. >> raqeeb i think that's a possibility. i think they'll have to look at those policies and see what's best for small to medium sized businesses. but i think the idea that you'd have to subscribe to those kind of neoliberal policies, and without those policies , you can't those policies, you can't generate local economic growth. i question that. i think you can strike the right balance there. >> well, it's interesting stuff. stick around , because in the stick around, because in the last word, a shock new poll reveals young people's voting intentions. plus, could labour reverse brexit if they win power? there's a lot of that in tomorrow's papers. we'll that with our top fleet street insider

next. okay. it's time now for the last

word. and a shock. new poll has revealed young people's voting intentions. and it's made a splash on the front page of the independent tomorrow. the polling reveals that around 4 in 10 people, 41% aged 18 to 34, have either not registered to vote or are registered, but have decided not to go to the ballot box next month . let's get box next month. let's get reaction from the man who broke the story. it's our top westminster insider. political editor of the independent, david maddox. david, it's a cracking scoop . what does it tell us scoop. what does it tell us about young people and their attitude to politics? >> hi there mark. yeah, well, look , the sceptics will say, look, the sceptics will say, well, young people are always the least likely to vote. and that's true if you look at past elections. but the point about this poll is that already before we get to polling day, 40, 41% are saying they're not going to vote. now, the pollster lord robert hayward has told us

that's what you'd expect on polling day. and in fact, that's the base level. and it will be much higher than that. so it's a high figure already. and the problem is basically the parties are just not addressing the issues that younger voters. i mean, we're talking up to people in their mid 30s here. so not just teenagers and people in their 20s, but just not addressing the issues. yeah. and where they are, you know it tends to be anti young people issues like you know like national service which apparently none of them want to do, so yeah , it, so there's do, so yeah, it, so there's a real problem. there's a real democratic deficit going on here and, and a feeling of disenfranchisement, actually. >> and david, what about this story in the mail on sunday? >> vladimir zelenskyy , the >> vladimir zelenskyy, the ukrainian prime minister, farage is infected with the virus of putin, many characterising nigel farage as a kremlin apologist.

how do you think this story is going to go down with your readers in the independent ? readers in the independent? >> well, the readers of the independent were never great fans of nigel anyway, so i don't think they were rushing to vote for reform. but i think the important thing about this and your panel were right earlier, he's held these views since 2014. but, you know, we've just been reminded of them as such. and the important thing is that, you know, this is going to make those people in the middle who were thinking about voting for, who were fed up with the conservatives, think twice about doing it . and, you know, nigel's doing it. and, you know, nigel's view, i've known it for a long time . he's spoken to me about it time. he's spoken to me about it before, is were actually much more nuanced than that headline suggests. but, you know, there's a there's a little bit of hubris here. he feels confident from the success he's been having in the success he's been having in the polls and in this campaign that he can go along with this, message, which i think endangers some of the momentum that's built up behind him in his

party. >> david, it looks like a really good paper tomorrow. >> grab your copy of the independent. david maddox is their political editor. of course, they're online now. what's, what's the, the web address for the independent onune? address for the independent online? david it's, w w dot independent.co.uk very easy. there you go . find us online. yeah. >> the boss will be happy with you. >> thanks , david. we'll catch up >> thanks, david. we'll catch up soon. let's get back to my punst soon. let's get back to my pundits now , because one last pundits now, because one last story, and i think it's absolutely fascinating. it's in the observer newspaper. mike read starmer's growth plan doomed without access to eu markets . this on the same day markets. this on the same day that kemi badenoch, the former business secretary, said that if labour win the election , they labour win the election, they will reverse brexit. will they ? will reverse brexit. will they? >> will they? there's a question. i mean, it hasn't been properly executed in the last six years. so how long will it take to reverse out of that? and

who knows? i mean, they're going to be loaded down when they get in, which they obviously will, with so many things to do , so with so many things to do, so many promises to keep, that we know, you know, the european rules and regs are phenomenal. i mean, to undo all that lot. i mean, to undo all that lot. i mean, who knows where they're going to start , what they're going to start, what they're going to start, what they're going to start on. and one thing ihave going to start on. and one thing i have noticed , is with the i have noticed, is with the conservatives in all the placards i've seen by the side of the road, they don't mention the word conservatives anymore. yeah, they've just got the name of the candidate and the tree and the colour blue, but the word conservative is not on the placards, which is interesting. yeah. >> therefore we change the colour. at some point it'll be nina myskow pink. >> are the. i will sue if they took my colour. i really wanted , took my colour. i really wanted, what do you think? >> i mean, our labour morally obuged >> i mean, our labour morally obliged to preserve brexit, given that people voted for it, they are, to a certain extent, but then many of the people who voted for it have changed their

minds. every poll tells us that, there's buyer's remorse, basically, and i think , you basically, and i think, you know, if, if they have to go back and, you know, there's nothing wrong with having a better relations with our closest trading partners, we need that . think of all the need that. think of all the disasters that that brexit has brought us, okay? >> i mean, we keep the clocks against us. do you think labour will backtrack on brexit? they might be in power for five or even ten years. >> i don't think so. i think that it's very clear that starmer was the chief architect of the second referendum policy . of the second referendum policy. but i think that he's very much distanced himself from his previous position. i actually think that a big part of the uk's growth plan is , and is uk's growth plan is, and is something that you talked about in your monologue actually about the commonwealth. we need to look to develop a trade and investment relations with rising emerging economies in the commonwealth, such as nigeria and india . in commonwealth, such as nigeria and india. in my view, that would be a good way forward. >> we have 53, 53 countries. >> we have 53, 53 countries. >> they've been desperate to have a trade deal with india and india won't play neither will

america. so you can say what they should have. they should have. >> well, i tell you what, if prime minister starmer can get those deals across the line, more power to him. of course, it's anyone's to win at the moment. thank you. to my brilliant pundits nina, mike and raqib . but tomorrow, former tory raqib. but tomorrow, former tory mp robert halfon, edwina currie and nigel nelson, britain's longest serving political editor . see you tomorrow at nine. thanks to the team headliners this next. >> that warm feeling inside from boxt boilers , sponsors of boxt boilers, sponsors of weather on . gb news. weather on. gb news. >> hi there and welcome to the latest update from the met office for gb news. the weather is turning warmer and sunnier dunng is turning warmer and sunnier during the next few days. there will be some cloudier spells for the next 24 hours or so before high pressure takes a firm hold across the uk and leads to a long settled spell. now, this weak weather front is just edging into the west of scotland through the evening, as well as parts of northern ireland. some

thicker cloud for a time, some patchy light rain and drizzle that will tend to sink into northern and western england as well as wales. extensive low cloud is expected here. some mist around the hills and coasts and some drizzle first thing sunday. otherwise, increasingly sunny skies for scotland , sunny skies for scotland, northern ireland and for parts of east anglia, as well as the south east. it's going to feel fresh first thing, but temperatures will rise quickly through the morning because of the sunnier skies. however we've got that mist around the coast of the southwest, as well as parts of wales and drizzle over the hills, and that will take some time to clear up during the morning. northern england, scotland, northern ireland increasingly sunny through the day and with that sunshine we're going to see some higher temperatures compared with much of june so far. but as i say, the mist and low cloud that will be lurking around southwestern shores could take some time to clear , and somewhere like torbay clear, and somewhere like torbay could keep that fog around the coast through the day, come

inland and skies will brighten nicely by the afternoon and with sunny spells developing widely, temperatures will reach 25 celsius in the south—east, 20 to 22 celsius generally elsewhere . 22 celsius generally elsewhere. monday morning starts off with a lot of cloud across western scotland and northern ireland. some patchy rain and drizzle elsewhere , another day of warm, elsewhere, another day of warm, sunny spells and increasing temperatures. we're looking at highs on monday into the high 20s and by tuesday and wednesday the possible city of 30 degrees looks like things are heating up. >> boxt boilers sponsors of weather on

gb news. >> good evening. i'm sophia wenzler in the gb newsroom. the

conservative party's chief data officer, nick mason, has taken a leave of absence . according to leave of absence. according to reports, amid claims he placed bets on the timing of the general election. it's understood nick mason has taken the time away from becoming the latest tory facing alleged allegations to have taken part in the betting . it comes as four in the betting. it comes as four people are being investigated by the gambling commission, including laura saunders, the wife of the tories campaign director, craig williams and other conservative candidate has also admitted to an error of judgement after placing a bet on when the election would take place . nigel farage has been place. nigel farage has been criticised by the prime minister and the labour leader over his comments, suggesting the west provoked russia's invasion of ukraine. rishi sunak says it was completely wrong. the reform uk leader made the claim during an interview with the bbc's nick robinson last night. mr farage said the expansion of the eu and nato gave putin a reason to tell the russian people they're

coming for us again. the prime