gb news. >> good afternoon britain. it's 12:00 on thursday the 15th of august. i'm tom harwood and i'm emily carver soft touch britain career criminals with over 100 convictions each. a spared jail as the government cracks down on keyboard warriors. could we be slapping the wrong wrists? >> them's the breaks. the government caves in to train driver pay demands. offering a 15% pay rise . this could end the 15% pay rise. this could end the rail strikes. but at what cost ? rail strikes. but at what cost? >> and we'll be joined by the tory leadership hopeful, tom tugendhat. what has he got to say on security, tax and .

immigration? >> i'm absolutely shocked by some of these statistics on our criminal justice system. i mean, just to begin with, police are only solving 5.5% of all crimes. 5.5%. now that is down dramatically on previous years. ten years ago, it was far more than that. but these career criminals imagine having 100 previous convictions. you get done for something else, you get brought into court and yet you still are spared jail. what is that about? >> it's quite, quite remarkable. you'd think that perhaps after the second time you're caught doing something, or the third or the fourth or the fifth, that perhaps the criminal justice system would get the message that this person isn't reforming the non—custodial sentence that has been handed down hasn't done the job. but by the hundredth time and still not a minute of prison . it boggles the mind. prison. it boggles the mind. >> i mean, you had yvette cooper

talking about how no one has any respect for the police anymore. well it's probably because if you offend or offend again, continue to reoffend, reoffend, reoffend, reoffend up 100 times. you can still end up walking the streets. >> and it's extraordinary. >> and it's extraordinary. >> it's not just the extreme end. there are what was it, 100 more than 100 criminals who have 100 convictions and have never been sent to prison, going through the criminal justice system , but not ending up in system, but not ending up in prison at the end of it. it's not just that . it's this graph not just that. it's this graph that you've got here, emily, from the telegraph. >> yes. so this graph and we're going to put this to, i believe, neil o'brien, who collated this data or at least asked for it in an foi of freedom of information essentially. >> average number of convictions before being jailed for theft 26. >> and you have to be caught and convicted 26 times. >> i find it hard to believe i actually find it hard to believe. we're going to put this to the former minister. minister

>> he was a health minister, but he's also been a minister in a number of different departments. but now he's a backbench opposition mp and he's putting his energies into getting some answers from the government. can that possibly be true? it's extraordinary. >> convicted 26 times of theft, yet not sentenced to jail. quite incredible. anyway, we're going to work out what's happening. and of course, we've seen a lot of online speech, a lot coming hard on that sort of thing. so we'll get to the bottom of it. but first, your headlines with cameron walker . cameron walker. >> thanks, emily. good afternoon . >> thanks, emily. good afternoon. it's 12:03. i'm cameron walker it's12:03. i'm cameron walker here in the gb newsroom. the proportion of a—level entries awarded top grades is up on last year and remains above pre—pandemic levels. hundreds of thousands of students in england, wales and northern ireland received their exam results today . more than three results today. more than three quarters of english 18 year old applicants have been accepted into their first choice of university, according to the department for education. gb news has spoken to students at

lichfield cathedral school. >> results have gone pretty well. i've gotten into the university. >> i've wanted to better than expected. >> it feels amazing and weird at the same time. >> i've had to do year 12 twice, but i'm finally here and i've actually gone and done it, so i'm really happy. >> but education secretary bridget phillipson says there are still inequalities in the education system. >> today is about celebrating the achievements of our young people, but i do recognise that the gaps that we've seen opening up under the last conservative government, where it comes to regional differences, are really stark and that gap is widening. there is an awful lot that we need to do and i want to make sure as education secretary, that we break down those barriers to opportunity for our young people, that where you're from doesn't determine what you can go to on achieve in life. >> the economy is continuing its recovery from last year's recession, with growth extending over the latest quarter, according to official data. the office for national statistics said gross domestic product increased by 0.6% between april and june. labour's darren jones,

chief secretary to the treasury, says the government inherited a huge financial challenge from the tories. >> the economic facts are clear because we have the highest debt burden that we've had for over 60 years and we're having to spend billions and billions of pounds on debt interest to pay that off every month. and because working people have got the highest tax burden since the 19405, the highest tax burden since the 1940s, people at home know and anyone can look at the statistics that what we inherited from the conservatives was the worst fiscal inheritance since the second world war. >> but shadow to chief secretary the treasury laura trott says the treasury laura trott says the economic growth is thanks to previous tory policies. >> these are really positive gdp figures this morning, but the only person who's not out celebrating them is the chancellor. >> rachel reeves, is sitting in the treasury fuming because this is yet more data to undermine her narrative that the economic inheritance was bad and she can no longer use that as a pretext for the tax rises that she was planning. all along. >> train drivers are to vote on a new offer aimed at ending their long running pay dispute, which has resulted in days of

strike action. the aslef union says the offer was made in talks with the department for transport, which started after labour won the general election. following months of stalemate under the conservatives. the drivers are being recommended to accept the offer, which could bnng accept the offer, which could bring an end to industrial action and overtime bans. drivers are being urged to avoid scanning qr codes to pay for parking, following a number of scams. the rac is advising drivers to make payments only with cash, cards or official apps. recently fraudsters have been placing stickers featuring qr codes on parking signs in locations across the country , locations across the country, taking victims to fake websites to input their card details before spending money from their accounts . women living with accounts. women living with breast cancer are being put at risk because of a shortage of staff who can deliver specialist scans. that's according to the society of radiographers, who have warned that a shortage of mammographers have reached critical levels in nhs england, leading to late diagnoses and treatment delays. the government says it will tackle these issues

head on to ensure the nhs has the staff it needs to be be there for all of us when we need it . and the princess royal. she it. and the princess royal. she is marking her 74th birthday today. the king's younger sister , today. the king's younger sister, frequently dubbed britain's hardest working royal, cheered on a number of team gb athletes at the paris olympics last week and her role as the british olympic association president earlier this summer. she was hospitalised with concussion and minor injuries after being kicked or headbutted by a horse. the duke and duchess of sussex, meanwhile, are expected to arrive in colombia after an official invitation by the country's vice president. it's understood prince harry and meghan will focus on the impact of the digital world on young people, the military community and female empowerment. the duke and female empowerment. the duke and duchess will also explore colombia's history and and duchess will also explore colombia's and ory and and duchess will also explore colombia's and globali and duchess will also explore colombia's and global superstar excuse me and global superstar taylor swift. she is closing the european leg of her eras tour with five nights at london's wembley stadium. it's the first time she's returned to the uk since paying tributes to the

victims of the southport attack last month, where three young girls died in a mass stabbing at a dance class featuring the stars. music. earlier this month, taylor swift was forced to cancel three shows in vienna after a suspected islamist terror plot. well, those are the latest gb news headlines. for now, i'm cameron walker. now it's back to tom and emily for the very latest gb news direct to your smartphone, sign up to news alerts by scanning the qr code , or go to gbnews.com code, or go to gbnews.com forward slash alerts . forward slash alerts. >> good afternoon britain. it's 12:08 now. dangerous career criminals with more than 100 convictions apiece are being spared jail time. >> yes, this is quite incredible. reports suggest the amount of people with multiple convictions avoiding prison has nearly tripled, from 1289 in two

thousand and seven to 3000 325 in 2023. >> well, this is all at a time when the state is cracking down on rioting, violent disorder and with some controversy surrounding sentencing for posts on social media. during those nationwide riots following the southport attack. >> yes, it's a complex picture, but joining us now is gb news national reporter charlie peters in the studio to break this down for us. so what's been revealed here? >> well, this is comprehensive data from the ministry of justice revealed through parliamentary questions by neil o'brien, a tory mp, a former minister. you've just gone through a couple of the quite stunning statistics from what mr o'brien has uncovered, but i think another key one is that offenders with more than 50 previous convictions have been spared jail in more than 50,000 cases since two thousand and seven. so lots of people with several and extensive rap sheets getting away from jail despite their chequered and colourful

criminal past. >> now, sorry charlie, let's just focus in on that for a second. that's 50 separate convictions applied to 50,000 people. they've gone through the criminal justice system, 50 times, and they're not being sent to prison. >> well, often there are multiple convictions in a single incident, but it does suggest it's very rare for someone to get 50 convictions in one case. okay. extremely rare . so it's okay. extremely rare. so it's highly likely that these are taking place over multiple different court cases and proceedings, mostly through the magistrates. now, mr o'brien has compiled an average list of how many offences you need to be convicted of before you are jailed according to each crime. now for burglary , you are jailed now for burglary, you are jailed for an average of 26 previous convictions for robbery. 14.5 previous convictions before you see any jail time assaulting a police officer, it's 19.6 previous convictions. that's how many prior convictions you need to have before you're sent behind bars for possession of an

offensive weapon. 14 previous convictions. all this discussion right now about knife crime. of course, a consistent cause of concern. well, you need to be seen with it 14 times before you're sent away on average. theft 26 convictions and sexual assault, five convictions. there was a big discussion yesterday. wasn't there, about sexual assault on trains and public transport. how that's rising. well, five prior convictions before you are jailed for that particular offence. i've got to say this is happening day in and day out in the magistrates. now, a lot of our reporters from gb news have spent a lot of time in courts over the last couple of weeks from this violent disorder and other associated issues. on tuesday, i was in westminster magistrates waiting for a charging of a romanian national for stabbing an australian schoolgirl. and that was a delayed start. and while i was waiting, i saw another few cases go through the magistrates. now, in the case prior to that charging a 19 year old girl was in the dock having pled guilty for common assault, having spat at an innocent bystander during at an innocent bystander during a bar fight, and then when a police officer was summoned to

the incident. she also pled guilty to assaulting an emergency worker. she hit the police officer and brought him to the ground. now this 19 year old girl , to the ground. now this 19 year old girl, having pled guilty to both those crimes, the spitting described as disgusting by the district judge. he then sentenced her to 80 hours of a community order and a fine no greater than £490. that was the sentence for spitting and assault. now that individual, that woman , had no prior that woman, had no prior convictions. other mitigating factors were her age . 19 is factors were her age. 19 is considered relatively youthful. you're still developing your mental faculties . and also she mental faculties. and also she was soon to start a degree. now those are the mitigating factors. now, based on what we now have learned from this data compiled by the former minister for assaulting a police officer, she'll need another 17.6 convictions. just the two she's got now before she might see jail time. this is quite incredible. >> i mean, what does this say about our criminal justice system? is this an issue with the lack of prison spaces? so it's actually quite hard to send

people away now to do jail time. now, we know that's a huge problem . we know how overfull problem. we know how overfull they are. we know that we've got this now early release scheme. so even if you are sentenced to jail, you may well be out in less than half of your sentence anyway, but is it also a cultural thing that we are actually just a bit soft on crime in this country? >> well, there are sentencing guidelines that judges have to follow. they can work to according the constraints within them. so they have some leeway, but they are quite tightly confined as to what they are allowed to do. and there is, of course, pressure on courts at the moment. a huge backlog in the moment. a huge backlog in the crown courts, in particular, and an extensive delay leading to the case that when many people finally find themselves in front of a crown court judge, they think, well, you've been in they think, well, you've been in the system for several years. that limits the need or the impulse to give them a custodial sentence. now, the home secretary, yvette cooper, has said and has admitted that this is an issue that too many people are feeling as though crime has no consequence. and with the statistics we're hearing today,

it's no surprise that she's saying that. but the custodial estate is absolutely slammed. there are so few prison spaces, but at the same time, with all this disorder, 400 charges put forward by the cps after the recent riots , we know that they recent riots, we know that they can find more space when they need to, when the political will is there. the state steps in, as they have done with these riots. perhaps they might be time to ask why won't you do that? for those with five prior sexual assault convictions, why is it five before you do that? why is it 20 before burglary? these are the questions i think, that the government needs to explain. >> absolutely they do. thank you very much, charlie peters. we'll catch up with you later. shocking statistics. really. >> well, let's speak now with retired scotland yard detective mike neville, because , mike, i mike neville, because, mike, i think a lot of people who don't have experience of the criminal justice system will think if you've been convicted for burglary, you should probably be banged up behind bars, not wait 26 times for 26 convictions before that happens. >> it's truly shocking, isn't it? >> i mean, i spoke to a career

criminal. i put in prison recently. >> you know, i've been now retired . retired. >> and he admitted committing ten times as many offences as he actually was, was charged with. so when somebody talks about 26 burglaries, you're probably talking the best, you know, three over 300 burglaries. and people will be rightfully shocked. >> and what they see is the, the sentences are so short if ever. >> and we're forever told by left wing academics, of course, that prison doesn't work. what they'll never tell you is that as you've read out, that people are not going to prison after ten, 20 and 30 offences, but what's really the hypocrisy of the left that we now see is that suddenly prison does seem to work. if they don't like the people they're sending there, if they have a certain political viewpoint or whatever. but the criminal justice system is just failing normal people who just want to live their lives be safe on the street, safe in their homes, and they're not being

allowed to do that because of a liberal elite who control the criminal justice system. >> well, mike, it does seem sometimes that we concentrate so much on the perpetrators of the crime and whether they're going to be rehabilitated in prison or whether they're going to come out and reoffend. >> most people want criminals to be put in jail so that they can't cause any further harm to the rest of us. and i think the focus needs to be far more on our own public safety and us feeling a sense of justice in that respect than necessarily what's going to happen for that particular criminal. but the other statistic that blows my mind, the police are only solving 5.5% of all crimes, so that's about 1 solving 5.5% of all crimes, so that's about1 in solving 5.5% of all crimes, so that's about 1 in 20, which is staggering 5.5%. it's almost as if there's no point calling the police. >> it's truly shocking. and today the metropolitan police had reports out saying, again, their investigation of crime is inadequate. i was proud to be a scotland yard detective, and i

saw my job as to protect people, to make sure they weren't being burgled or robbed or assaulted or whatever. i did a freedom of information act request that showed that 70% of the met hadnt showed that 70% of the met hadn't arrested anybody in one yeah hadn't arrested anybody in one year. how can that be? i've known officers to arrest four people in in one day. we can almost see why the police get demoralised. because you arrest a burglar. you put them before the court. oh, here's a community sentence. you go again . community sentence. you go again. so it's like some bizarre game where you have to catch people. but as soon as you catch them, they're running free. and it's just that it's the average people who get let down. you said there, emily, about it. normal people would think that you'd go to jail if you committed so many burglaries. the trouble is, is that the criminal justice system and the top echelons of the police are controlled by a liberal elite who think that prison doesn't work, who think that criminals apart from those who are on social media, are some kind of victims of society. and it lets us all down. >> it is extraordinary to look

at these numbers to and look at the consequence of what's going on. i think back to, was it the 1990s when the united states started being much, much more tough on incarcerating criminals and the homicide rate started to fall? the spike in, in, in crime that the united states saw through the late 70s and 1980s actually started to fall when they brought in all of these rules, like three strikes and you're out and the prison population really did expand. now, there's been a huge amount of criticism about the proportion of people in the united states in prison, but it seems to have correlated with a safer country . safer country. >> absolutely. and what you find is that if for 100 crimes, that doesn't mean there's100 doesn't mean there's 100 criminals, it's probably ten criminals, it's probably ten criminals committing ten crimes each. so there are a load of the crime is committed by nasty little individuals who are stealing, robbing, raping and whatever else. and they need to be locked away. but again, the

problem comes is this is that the people who decide whether they go to jail or not don't have to live with them. so they send them back to a council estate where they cause utter misery. to people who, you know, i was in the shop, local misery. to people who, you know, i was in the shop , local shop to i was in the shop, local shop to me, two old ladies like my mother really . and they were mother really. and they were people have been in there threatening them with needles and saying, i know where you live. so they could just steal from the shop. those ladies need protecting. those evil individuals need to be locked up.and individuals need to be locked up. and it's just a fear that it's the people in charge don't want to do this, but we've suddenly seen this reinvigoration that's a apparently prison does work. >> and mike, you can forget about getting a police officer around for antisocial behaviour. i mean, fat chance of that, at least in the capital anyway. but, mike, just lastly, what do you think about the accusation that the police are focusing too much on speech online? >> i think it's very worrying. i think that people do say stupid things online. we've just seen a woman sent to prison, no previous convictions for saying

she's going to blow up a mosque, which is a stupid and evil thing to say, but she had no ability to say, but she had no ability to carry out that threat, and she possibly should be given a caution or something. so her name is on record. but what people see is that she's given 15, 16 months people see is that she's given 15,16 months in prison and that somebody who's stolen, robbed , somebody who's stolen, robbed, burgled 20, 25 times isn't in prison. it seems perverse . and a prison. it seems perverse. and a really bad thing is, is when your average person thinks the system isn't working for me. and thatis system isn't working for me. and that is really dreadful, because that's when society starts to break down. >> well, mike neville, i think a lot of people will think that you're speaking a lot of sense there. thank you so much for joining us. retired scotland yard detective . yard detective. >> of course, it's a pretty bleak picture, isn't it, that when someone goes out there and commits multiple crimes, gets convicted of those crimes? so the police actually catch them? yeah. arrest them, charge them. they're convicted and they're given a £400 fine. so why would you. why would you give up a

career of criminality? you know , career of criminality? you know, i think you have to tackle the small crimes as well. >> yeah , i well, i would be very >> yeah, i well, i would be very surprised if those that are started off on the small crimes didn't then go into the larger crimes, especially if they're not slapped down quickly. >> if you get away with a mugging, will you move on to a, you know, a burglary, an armed burglary, whatever. anyway, this is good afternoon, britain. please do get in touch about what mike neville was saying. and also charlie peters. we've got lots more coming up. >> yes. have the rail strikes reached the end of the line? well, the government and the union aslef announced they've reached a deal. well, it's going to be 15% pay rises. could it bnng to be 15% pay rises. could it bring an end to the long running dispute? but what will it cost us? >> more on that after this short .

break. >> good afternoon britain. it's 12:24 now. the government is hailing a deal with the train drivers union aslef to stop the strikes. of course, it still has to be voted on by members of the union, but it's 15% pay rises union, but it's15% pay rises over three years, quite a hefty bit of money. >> it is quite a hefty bit of money, quite generous some might think. but let's speak to the former conservative mp, sirjohn former conservative mp, sir john redwood on this. john, this is a very generous pay offer, is it not? >> yeah, it looks like a good pay >> yeah, it looks like a good pay offer and i would imagine they would accept it. i have no problems with people earning good money, but i think what i do have a problem with is this deal when there are no productivity improvements, because this has got to be paid for. and the reason there have been strikes was the previous government and the previous management of the railways was saying there are improved working practices and improved flexibility so that we can run decent weekend services that we

needin decent weekend services that we need in return for decent increase in your pay . and those increase in your pay. and those have all been swept off the table by the labour government, who have shown that the railway is effectively nationalised already and they and their officials are supervised and no productivity increase deal on a pretty generous basis . and so pretty generous basis. and so the railway isn't going to solve its underlying problems. and my question to secretary of state, anybody sensible question to secretary of state today is who is going to pay this massive increase in in pay for drivers without any productivity gains to offset ? is it going to be to offset? is it going to be taxpayers with more subsidy or is it going to be passengers with higher fares? i presume it's going to be both . it's going to be both. >> well, i think that's probably not a bad assumption to make , not a bad assumption to make, given that we know that passengers riding on on the railways are down by a third since the pandemic , many people since the pandemic, many people who would be perhaps paying the most towards the railways, commuters and the like , well, commuters and the like, well, they're only coming in three out of five days now for the most part. so the amount of money

actually going in to the railways has fallen, whilst now the pay for the drivers will have risen by 15%. i mean, how does that maths work in any way, shape or form? >> well , the maths doesn't work >> well, the maths doesn't work and unless you say taxpayers fair fares are going to make a much bigger contribution and just to put this into perspective for your viewers and listeners , is that last year the listeners, is that last year the total cost to the taxpayer of all the capital investment put in and all of the subsidy to pay the losses was an astonishing £33 billion. and absolutely colossal budget already. and thatis colossal budget already. and that is why the secretary of state is being irresponsible. if she will not tell us today how this large pay award is going to be paid for, what mixture of taxpayer subsidy and what by fare payers? and if fare payers are going to be expected to pay more, people don't have to go to the office five days a week anymore, and people don't have

to undertake leisure travel journeys, as you rightly say, the railways are a lot less popular than it was in 2019. they should be putting all their energies, workforce and management. and now, above all, the government and directs the whole thing into saying how can we attract enough fare paying passengers so that these jobs can be sustainable and well rewarded ? rewarded? >> i mean, there's a picture here, isn't there a broader picture we've seen last month, junior doctors have been offered by this new government, a 22% increase over two years. that's a very large sum of money. 10 billion is going to be given to a 5.5% pay rise for millions of pubuc a 5.5% pay rise for millions of public sector workers as well. these are colossal amounts of money. it's going to be very tncky money. it's going to be very tricky for rachel reeves to stick to her pledge to not raise taxes on working people. >> well, she's certainly going to have to raise taxes somehow, because we now have £9 billion a year of unfunded extra pay

awards prior to any extra rail subsidy this award might require. and she's got to spell out sooner rather than later how she's going to raise that money. now, of course, she could reduce other items in the budget. i'm sure she'd look at some of those, but in the end, it's going to be taxpayers that pay now. i mean, she like me , thinks now. i mean, she like me, thinks the best way to pay for better pubuc the best way to pay for better public services, the best way to pay public services, the best way to pay for better pay is we need better pay for doctors, for example, is to grow the economy. but if she now picks on a set of tax rises that hit the people who save, invest, create the jobs, run the small companies. far from having faster growth, she's going to mess the economy up as well. and we won't be repeating the first and second quarter of this year when the uk economy is actually growing quite well. >> it is so interesting to look at the parallels between what's going on with our economy now, and what was going on in the 19805 and what was going on in the 1980s and the 1990s, the 90s, when you were in the cabinet, of course, which which showed that taking away the restrictive

practices that showed that allowing companies to modernise and not be controlled by the trade unions and, and the growth that that unleashed for the country. do you think in some ways we've gone backwards? >> well, of course we have. and indeed, i mean , rail indeed, i mean, rail privatisation, which is now much dended privatisation, which is now much derided and is largely abolished in its first decade, produced colossal growth in fare paying passengers because the services were improved and modernised and revised, and working practices were a bit more sensible. and even john prescott, you know, the doyen of public sector nationalised businesses, had to say, well, do you know what this private sector railway has done a good job and look at it now. it has been crippled. obviously the previous labour government nationalised the bulk of it because they took all the tracks, signals and stations into public ownership again. and then the last conservative government nationalised some of the franchises, but they might as well have nationalised the lot because the franchise holder now is told what timetable to

run and told what fares to charge on a lot of the routes . charge on a lot of the routes. so there's not a lot of flexibility anymore to innovate and above all, to save our railway and making it a really useful railway we're all proud of. we need to grow the freight side, we need to grow the leisure side, and we need to have sensible fare structures so that people go in 2 or 3 days a week at some discount for going in more than once on a regular route. and we don't seem to have that flair to win the public back. and to win the freight back, which is the only reason to have the railway in the first place. >> i mean, the only thing i would say is that of course, we have been blighted by endless strikes on the rail system, and perhaps rachel reeves is thinking this might save us some money in the long term, because the railways will run on time and the train drivers won't go on strike, you know, every other week. i mean, maybe that's a lovely world to live in, but i don't think it's going to be that simple. >> and i think the first round impact of this as the deafening silence from the government implies is true, is another big

bill, both for taxpayers and fare payers. and then when , when fare payers. and then when, when are we going to get reliability? because the dodging of the productivity measures means that you don't have a workforce that is prepared to work at weekends or whatever. >> so really, unless you want to make more sirjohn redwood, thank you so much for talking us through that. really appreciate your time this afternoon. >> thank you very much. >> thank you very much. >> well, we're now joined by the conservative party leadership candidate, tom tugendhat. and tom, we've got to start on this question of the railways, because this is a pretty large pay because this is a pretty large pay offer. is it, in your view, the right thing or the wrong thing? >> look, i think this is, again, the labour party feeding the union paymasters that they've always obeyed. >> and i'm afraid what this isn't focused on is the real need for massive investment that we need to make a commitment to in order to make sure that people, the travelling public, those people who are actually delivering the jobs and the opportunities that the british people need to survive and to do

to deliver the greater future that we have, that they actually have the full opportunity to enjoy the services that we need. now that's where the challenge comes. now, whenever we've done pay comes. now, whenever we've done pay rises, as conservatives, we've always asked for productivity benefits. we've always asked for transformations in working environments to make sure that we're getting more bang, as it were, for your buck. so that people's money. after all, it's not government money, it's your money actually goes further. >> but they kept saying no, didn't they? they kept saying no. and then continuing to threaten strike. >> well, the right thing to do is to be careful, emily, you know that it's to be careful with public money. you don't need me to tell you this. you you advocate it. both of you advocate it all the time. it's not my money. it's not our money as a government or our money as as a government or our money as a as elected officials. it's your money. it's the british people's money. and it's being spent on labour's union paymasters for them to settle their internal disputes. >> now we're going to move on to the issue of law, order, crime and justice. i'm sure you'll have read with great interest the work of your colleague neil

o'brien. the front page of the telegraph today , showing the telegraph today, showing the sheer number of times repeat criminals have to have a conviction before they're actually sent to prison. 26 times, on average. for people convicted of burglary. i mean, this is a shocking indictment, not just of the criminal justice system, but frankly, of your party's 13 years in power. >> tom. look, you know, you heard me calling this out myself on tuesday. >> very kindly. you commented on it at the time. you know, i call this out because actually, what we've got here is we've got a situation where we haven't got two tier justice, we've got completely inconsistent justice. we don't have police officers regularly arresting. and i don't blame the individual officers. this is a question of leadership. this is a question of making sure we get the right decisions by police leaders. and political leaders. and that's not what we've seen from keir starmer. it's not what we've seen from yvette cooper. and you're absolutely right. it didn't just start then. that's why we need to see some real

change. because it's not just about funding more police officers. we've done brilliantly on that. but it's not just that. it's also about prison places. and that's where we need to make a difference. >> yeah , absolutely. prison >> yeah, absolutely. prison places is a massive issue on this. but reading the statistic that only 5.5% of crimes are actually solved when they get to the police is quite incredible. i think a lot of people will read that statistic and be absolutely flabbergasted. i mean, what is going wrong there? >> well, look, this is this is why i've called for a change of leadership, because we need to look at the way in which the national police chiefs council and the college of policing are operating. we need to make sure we're getting the right leaders in, and we're getting the right effects now in somewhere like, our great capital in london, we know that the metropolitan police have two duties. they have one, which is obviously their territorial policing responsibility. you know, keeping people safe on the streets. and then they have the national responsibility , national responsibility, counter—terrorism, policing and so on. now, i think , frankly, so on. now, i think, frankly, that's just too great a span. i'd like to see new police

force, a national security police force set up so that it's actually able to operate , actually able to operate, supporting counter—terrorism operations around the united kingdom . and i'm afraid and, kingdom. and i'm afraid and, tom, you've heard me call this out in so many times, supporting us against the state threats that, sadly, we're seeing all too often. you've heard me saying how iranian agents have tried to do harm in our country. you've heard that the national security act that i introduced has already led to more arrests in my time as national security minister of chinese and russian agents than in the previous decade. you know, we need to be absolutely up to date on this and responsive to the threats that we really do face. >> absolutely . and looking at >> absolutely. and looking at those countries around the world, there's another thing that i think people worry about, and that's the controls that those countries iran, china, russia put on their people. they they limit their people's freedom of expression. for example, i noticed in your speech on monday, one of the really interesting lines was how you called out colleagues of

yours in the house of commons who, upon the callous islamist murder of your friend sir david amess, suddenly members of parliament started talking about how people needed to be nicer to each other, to each other on social media. not at all to do with the actual cause of that terrorist action, which was islamist terrorism, do you worry that the first lever politicians always for reach seems to be trying to limit freedom of expression, rather than tackling root issues? >> look, i completely agree with you, tom, and i'm grateful you noficed you, tom, and i'm grateful you noticed that because, you know, at the time of the 2011 riots, people were saying we needed to close down blackberry messenger. i mean, you know, seriously , i mean, you know, seriously, this isn't about the technology. it's about the root causes . we it's about the root causes. we need to make sure that the technology works, of course. and we you know, you and i would both argue that people should be civil online just as they should be civil in in person. of course we should . but that's not the we should. but that's not the root cause. the root cause is

that there are people with fanatical and hateful ideas in our country who are trying to divide us, who are sectarian of various different kinds, or who are trying to express political views through violence. now, that's just wrong . and it's also that's just wrong. and it's also wrong that we have got a series of criminals who simply haven't been detained over many years. and indeed, as you've already seen, and i know you've reported those who committed the riots in recent weeks have a pattern of crime , many of them for burglary crime, many of them for burglary and assault. and frankly, they should have been in prison years ago. and what they're doing is they're exploiting the opportunity to commit more crime. they're not particularly motivated. >> do you think that perhaps the police are focusing too much attention, and also the current government, too, on what people are saying online speech, online facebook posts , tweets and the facebook posts, tweets and the like rather than real crime on the streets? because it does appear that way to a lot of our viewers and listeners. >> well, look, i've always been in the opinion that, you know, what happens online is a bit different. twitter isn't britain, right? it's a perspective. it's a view . but

perspective. it's a view. but it's not the same thing. crime is actually happening on our streets. and i you know, i think there's priority to be made . there's priority to be made. >> now tom, you're talking to us today from anglesey , tell us, today from anglesey, tell us, tell us why you've travelled out to that isle. >> well, i'm on as as it's put on the island. i'm on eamonn. and it's an amazingly beautiful place. it is. it is raining a bit today, but it is an amazingly beautiful place. and it's not my first visit. i was here a little bit earlier this yean here a little bit earlier this year, and i've been here many times. in fact, i was here for the graduation of some raf pilots a number of years ago, and i had the great privilege of being in the back of a hawk jet as they were doing their graduation flight. it was fantastic. and i'm here because for me, unionism is absolutely indivisible from conservatism. you know, this is all about who we are as a country. we are so much stronger together. we are a fantastic country, but very sadly, the failures of the conservative party at the last election , that loss of trust election, that loss of trust that we all know about, that we've really got to fix, has led

to there being no conservative welsh mps. now we've got to turn that around. and that starts by listening to our members, listening to our members, listening to our members, listening to people on cien, listening to people on cien, listening to people in wales and across the united kingdom. >> okay. well, thank you very much indeed, tom tugendhat, you are a conservative party leadership candidate, as well as many other things. thank you very much indeed. yes. well, i'm not sure we got to the bottom of the free speech online issue. it's a very complex one. obviously, it's an online safety bill, act now , lots of talk of bill, act now, lots of talk of labour government wanting to crack down more on it. what's more important when it comes to policing ? policing? >> but i do think that what what tom was saying about the i think the, the impetus that politicians often have is misplaced. and i think that a lot of people would have, would have listened to that and thought, you know what? that seems to be right, that there's been too much focus on one side of the ledger and not enough on the other side of the ledger.

also, good to hear more prison places, i think. i think that's that's becoming more and more of a cross—party consensus because it's desperately needed in this country. >> yeah, it's just where they're going to build them. >> yeah. >> yeah. >> that's true. and who's going to say, absolutely no way. i don't want that anywhere near me. >> that's very, very true. >> that's very, very true. >> it's a difficulty, as always, isn't it. but let us know your thoughts. gbnews.com/yoursay now a london street sweeper whose bosses prevented him accepting £3,000 raised by his local community for the trip of a lifetime, can now go on his dream holiday. >> we mentioned this a little bit yesterday, but charlie peters has the story in full, hard earned holiday for a hard grafting street sweeper paul spiers is a much loved part of this south london community. >> he's spent years keeping the streets spotless while bringing joy streets spotless while bringing joy to the community. while playing elvis from his portable speaken >> when i first got here, it was so quiet and after three months i decided to buy myself a

speaken i decided to buy myself a speaker. i started playing music . speaker. i started playing music. everyone loved it. everyone loved the music. >> so when 200 residents from beckenham chipped in more than £3,000 to send the sweeper on a summer break to portugal, it was a moment of great local spirit. >> oh , overwhelmed with it. oh, >> oh, overwhelmed with it. oh, i'm just here to do a job to better my ability and way. they've reacted is brilliant. >> lisa knight, an estate agent, said she started the campaign after becoming friends with mr spears last monday. >> i bumped into him after work. it was a 30 degree day and he'd been working all day, so we stood and had a chat, like we often do , and he explained to me often do, and he explained to me that it was his birthday on tuesday and he wanted to save up to go to portugal because he's only ever been abroad once for his 60th birthday and after he left, i decided to make the go fund me, i, i checked with him that he was for happy me to do so before going live. he said

yes . so we shared it on the yes. so we shared it on the local beckenham appreciation group on facebook, which is huge, and is a real local community standpoint for us. and it just flew away, so many people got in touch, so many people got in touch, so many people donated. >> but mr spears was unable to make the trip due to his employer's rules on accepting gifts . veolia blamed its gifts. veolia blamed its contract with bromley council, but they said that it was a matter for the waste management firm. amid all of this bureaucratic bickering, a solution appeared when a travel company spotted an opportunity to help out on the beach. >> .com had an amazing idea to run a competition whereby paul would be the winner, he had to be aged between the age of 62 and 64. be loved in beckenham, have the surname spears and love elvis. he completed all of those and so he's won the holiday and he still gets to go on holiday. >> tough competition for him to win. >> he was really blown away, he said yesterday he forgot that

he'd entered it. >> i entered the competition and i forgot all about it, but then all of a sudden i said i won, got my £2,000 voucher, which they're going to send me when i can go on holiday and hopefully i'll be flying out saturday. >> paul told gb news he was delighted that he could take the houday delighted that he could take the holiday and is now set to take his brother david to albufeira in portugal. and viola has now stepped in and given paul some extra paid leave to take his holiday. >> i did say if i wanted to go two weeks, they paid me for the two weeks, they paid me for the two weeks, they paid me for the two weeks, but i'm going to try and split it. so i'll take a week now and maybe a week later. >> the company has also said it will match the £3,000 from lisa's fundraiser to spend on charity. >> we all have matched that £3,000 to a donated to who i

ever wanted nominated, and to i had cancer research, which they've already done , and they they've already done, and they said it'd take about 2 or 3 days to sort out. >> everyone likes to hear something nice and it was a nice thing to do, which is the whole reason we set it up. >> common sense and community spirit have prevailed . charlie spirit have prevailed. charlie peters gb news beckenham a nice story for august for the summer holidays. >> if you are on a summer houday >> if you are on a summer holiday at the moment, of course we've been talking about what's been called our soft criminal justice system. essentially people having racking up multiple, sometimes even 100 convictions. yet being spared from jail, steve says. so we now know why there is such a backlog in the courts. they're just seeing the same criminals over and over again. lock them up, clear the backlog and no brainer. shortly surely someone else has said the left says prison doesn't work. that's because they want it to be about rehabilitation. first. but prisons should be about punishment first, rehabilitation second. but it also should be

about just keeping them off the streets. >> well, i completely i think i don't care if prison is about this is going to sound odd. i don't i don't really care if it's about punishment or rehabilitation. i mean , a lot of rehabilitation. i mean, a lot of people will say prison needs to be the most sort of stark, horrific experience. no soft furnishings, no television, no gb news. but but i don't mind. i mean, as long as the bad people are kept separate from society, as long as these people can't walk the streets, give them an xbox, let them watch television, have a lovely little sofa and a table football table in the corner. have them build. build a disney world for them just as long as they're separate from civilised society. >> sometimes it feels like there's more sympathy for the perpetrators of crime and how they're doing in prison, and how they're doing in prison, and how they're going to get on in there , they're going to get on in there, than there is for some of the victims of crime. james says police is not the issue, it's the politicians. police will only do what they're asked to. they've got to follow the rules set by the politicians. if you

want real change in the current climate of problems, you need to seriously look at laws and our politicians. i think you make a good point. there really. but i also think it's a matter of resources , and also police resources, and also police priorities. >> but but it comes back to this fundamental point, isn't it? there's a small proportion of bad people, bad apples doing a huge proportion of bad things. and so if you actually stop letting these people out, and if you just find the whatever percentage of it is of the country, who are the unreformable , who are just the unreformable, who are just the fundamentally psychopathic or or troubled or bad people and keep them separate, then actually policing becomes so much easier. >> i mean, look at this. an e—bike mugger. you know, these people will just nick tons of phones and get away with it. just cycle off. would they get would they have to do it? you know , multiple times, multiple convictions. >> there was a there was a case in one of the london boroughs where there was a brilliant

individual police officer who went who, who did some investigative work, arrested. >> i think it was one bike theft thief. and suddenly half the bike thefts in the borough stopped, and you could walk around with your mobile phone in your hand and not fear for your safety. >> but there you go. keep your views coming in. this is good afternoon britain on gb news. we've got lots more coming up. >> well, taylor swift is back in london today as she continues her mammoth eras tour. security, of course, has been increased after three shows in vienna were cancelled called off as a result of a suspected terror plot . of a suspected terror plot. could the same be called in in britain? more on that ina

>> right. 1251 is the time and the american pop superstar tom taylor swift will perform in

london tonight. this comes after three of her planned concerts in vienna had to be cancelled last week because police unearthed plans for a suspected terror attack. >> well, the sold out show will see 90,000 fans making their way to wembley . so if you see lots to wembley. so if you see lots of people wearing cowboy boots and what's known as friendship bracelets in the capital today, that will be why yes. >> but the question remains are swift is going to be kept safe. should we find out more from gb news reporter and avid swifty or so i hear. adam. cherry. adam, what have you found out for us? >> yeah. that's right. avid swifty . indeed. emily, look, swifty. indeed. emily, look, there's lots of people here already. it's a great atmosphere. obviously, there are elevated security concerns because of those cancelled gigs in vienna. so traditionally dunng in vienna. so traditionally during this tour, lots of fans who don't have tickets gather outside the venue and sing along throughout the evening. you can't do that tonight. the security won't allow anyone to congregate outside. ticketed fans only. it's one small bag

per concert attendee and everything is going to be searched. but apart from that, it's business as usual. the show goes on. i have acquired one of these friendship bracelets, which i'm very happy about. it's my first one. it says debut, so that's very kind . i've been that's very kind. i've been speaking to people all morning and frankly, everyone is just looking forward to a good show. i don't think the unfortunate events in vienna are overshadowing tonight at all, to be honest. >> calling them friendship bracelets. they're swifty bracelets, are they? yes, they're swifty bracelets. you're supposed to exchange them with each other , aren't you? each other, aren't you? >> well, adam, clearly, because people aren't allowed to gather and sing, it seems that it's been a bit of a cruel summer for some of these fans, but there's a big blank space behind you because those people couldn't gather. never in my wildest dreams would i have thought this to be the case. perhaps we just need to tell everyone here you need to tell everyone here you need to tell everyone here you need to calm down. >> tom, you're burning through all of my puns here. what am i

meant to do? i already said guilty as sins of andrew and bev. i don't know anymore. look look what? you made me. just shakeit look what? you made me. just shake it off. there's one. there's one. oh. nice work. yeah. brilliant >> it up. oh, brilliant. >> it up. oh, brilliant. >> adam, thank you so much for being there outside wembley stadium. i'm very jealous, actually. i would love to have gone to that concert, but alas, i don't have any tickets. but we move on. we move on. >> absolutely. lots more to come on today's programme, not least returning to our top story crime. yes, 26 convictions on average needed to bang up a burglar five to make sure someone has committed sexual assault actually goes to prison. what on earth is going on in our criminal justice system? we'll be finding out after this . be finding out after this. >> a brighter outlook with boxt solar sponsors of weather on gb

news . news. >> hey there, here's your latest gb news, weather update coming to you from the met office. for many there will be some decent sunny spells around today, but also some blustery winds and a few showers in the north and there is a spell of rain pushing its way south eastwards that because of a frontal system that's currently marching across parts of scotland, northern ireland and into northern england. already having brought quite a bit of rain this morning and will continue to do so as it gradually makes its way across the country through the rest of today. the country through the rest of today . but like the country through the rest of today. but like i the country through the rest of today . but like i said, some today. but like i said, some sunny spells for many of us, especially across southern and eastern parts of england and generally feeling pretty warm here, temperatures getting into the mid 20s celsius a bit fresher than this. further north and west, even though there will be some sunny spells and just a few showers across parts of scotland. now as we head through this evening, that rain is going to continue to make its way south eastwards, but it will have cleared away from much of scotland. and so here it is just going to be a mixture of sunny

spells and some showers as we go through the end of the day. also a largely dry picture across much of northern ireland with that rain having cleared through and only 1 or 2 showers here. much cloudier, wetter story though across much of england and wales as that front gradually makes its way south eastwards but still clinging on to some fine weather across parts of the south—east for a little while longer. but that rain is going to push its way through as we go overnight, and it could actually invigorate a little bit more. so some heavy rain possible across the far southeast through the early hours of tomorrow morning. elsewhere, we will have dry and clear weather for many places, and so it could turn a little fresh for some of us. temperatures in some rural spots could drop into mid single figures, a bit of a wet start then possible across the far southeast first thing tomorrow morning, but that rain should quickly clear away and then otherwise it's looking like a pretty fine day . plenty of pretty fine day. plenty of sunshine around, just some blustery showers to watch out for, particularly towards the northwest of scotland, but most places avoiding these and temperatures relatively similar to today. again, we're looking

at highs in the mid 20s. see you later. >> that warm feeling inside from boxt boilers . sponsors of boxt boilers. sponsors of weather on

gb. news >> good afternoon britain. it's 1:00 on thursday the 15th of august. i'm emily carver and i'm tom harwood soft touch britain career criminals with over 100 convictions are spared jail as the government cracks down on keyboard warriors. could we be slapping the wrong list wrists? >> the end of the line. the government caves in to train driver pay demands, offering a 15% pay rise. this could spell the end of chaotic negotiations. but at what cost ? and there are but at what cost? and there are security fears with this taylor swift concert going ahead in wembley stadium tonight. >> lots and lots of resources to

make all the swifties there safe . make all the swifties there safe. it's quite easy to solve an industrial dispute if you're willing to people a bit of cash . willing to people a bit of cash. >> all it takes is a few billion quid. >> a few billion quid sorted. easy, easy. >> it is . it is such a bizarre >> it is. it is such a bizarre situation where we have perhaps some of the most antiquated working practices of any industry on the trains. you know, the kind of contracts that train drivers have , it doesn't train drivers have, it doesn't recognise it's a seven day a week industry. >> they get overtime if they work at the weekend. >> i mean, it is extraordinary . >> i mean, it is extraordinary. and yet even though you'd think that okay, let me put it like this. go on along the highways of california, okay. cars drive themselves, okay? they're not on

rails. there are lots of hazards around . and yet we have around. and yet we have sufficient artificial intelligence to drive these cars all around those roads. it's becoming more and more common. >> they're still drivers in those cars, though, aren't there? >> there are. >> there are. >> but the law is they have to sit behind. yep. but the capability is there. do you think it would be harder or easier if, if there was a if there was a train on tracks going from one point to another point with literally no obstacles in the way on a defined course, how is that harder to automate? >> i don't know, tom, but then i'm not a train driver. but what i'm not a train driver. but what i do know is that it's going to be awfully expensive. we also, we already subsidise the rail network to the tune of £13 billion a year on average. i believe it's a costly business. and also this no strings attached approach. you know, mark harper, the former transport secretary, he said you know, you've got to improve your

productivity. you've got to make changes to your working conditions. we've got to update things a little bit. if you want a pay things a little bit. if you want a pay rise. but no, no, the new government just have the cash. >> at the risk of sounding pretty obtuse, i mean, how hard is it to drive a train? >> well, i know how you feel about train drivers. well, i mean, do we why do we have to employ unionised employees here? >> couldn't couldn't i mean, some of these some of the train drivers are on, you know, six figure salaries. couldn't couldn't the government say, you know what, if you think you could do it for half the price and do just a good job, why don't you have a go? >> you can always sign up. no, you can't because it's so heavily unionised. anyway, get in touch. gbnews.com forward slash your sage. do you think this 15% pay rise is justified? is it the way to end the strike action? but first, the headlines with . catherine. with. catherine. >> thanks, emily. good afternoon. it is 1:03. i'm cameron walker here in the newsroom . the proportion of newsroom. the proportion of a—level entries awarded top grades is up on last year and

remains above pre—pandemic levels . remains above pre—pandemic levels. hundreds of remains above pre—pandemic levels . hundreds of thousands of levels. hundreds of thousands of students in england, wales and northern ireland have received their exam results today. more than three quarters of english 18 year old applicants have been accepted into their first choice of university, according to the government. but education secretary bridget phillipson says there are still inequalities in the education system. >> today. is about celebrating the achievements of our young people, but i do recognise that the gaps that we've seen opening up under the last conservative government when it comes to regional differences, are really stark and that gap is widening. there is an awful lot that we need to do, and i want to make sure, as education secretary that we break down those barriers to opportunity for our young people, that where you're from doesn't determine what you can go on to achieve in life. >> the economy is continuing its recovery from last year's recession, with growth extending over the latest quarter, according to official data. the office for national statistics said gross domestic products increased by 0.6% between april and june. former conservative chancellor jeremy and june. former conservative chancellorjeremy hunt says chancellor jeremy hunt says today's figures are further

proof. labour has inherited a growing and resilient economy. but labour's darren jones, chief secretary to the treasury, says the government inherited a huge financial challenge from the tories. >> the economic facts are clear because we have the highest debt burden that we've had for over 60 years and we're having to spend billions and billions of pounds on debt interest to pay that off every month . and that off every month. and because working people have got the highest tax burden since the 19405, people at home know and anyone can look at the statistics that what we inherited from the conservatives was the worst fiscal inheritance since the second world war. >> israel's military offensive in the gaza strip has killed at least 40,000 palestinians and wounded more than 92,000 since the october 7th attacks, according to the hamas run health ministry. a new round of ceasefire talks is taking place in the qatari capital, doha, in an effort to end ten months of fighting in the palestinian enclave and bringing and bringing 115 israeli and foreign hostages home, train drivers are to vote on a new offer aimed at

ending their long running pay dispute, which has resulted in days of strike action. the aslef union said the offer was made in talks at the department for transport, which started after labour won the general election following months of stalemate under the conservatives. the drivers are being recommended to accept the offer, which could bnng accept the offer, which could bring an end to industrial action and overtime bans and sticking with trains. thousands of prosecutions for alleged fare evasion brought by train companies are set to be declared void after a judge's ruling for train companies brought prosecutions against thousands of passengers using the single justice procedure, where minor offences are dealt with without defendants needing to go to court. that's despite train companies not being given permission to do so. the exact exact number of those affected is currently unknown , but a is currently unknown, but a previous hearing heard around 75,000 people could have been prosecuted for fare evasion under the system . drivers are under the system. drivers are being urged to avoid scanning qr

codes to pay for parking following a number of scams . the following a number of scams. the rac i5 following a number of scams. the rac is advising drivers to make payments only with cash, cards or official apps. recently fraudsters have been placing stickers featuring qr codes on parking signs in locations across the country, taking victims to fake websites to input their card details before spending money from their accounts . women living with accounts. women living with breast cancer are being put at risk because of a shortage of staff who can deliver specialist scans. that's according to the society of radiographers, who warned that a shortage of mammograms and mammography have reached critical levels in nhs england, leading to late diagnoses and treatment delays. the government says it will tackle these issues head on to ensure the nhs has the staff it needs to be there for all of us when we need it . the duke needs to be there for all of us when we need it. the duke and duchess of sussex are expected to arrive in colombia after an official invitation by the country's vice president. it's understood prince harry and meghan will focus on the impacts on the digital world of young people, the military community

and female empowerment. the duke and female empowerment. the duke and duchess will also explore colombia's history and culture, and global superstar taylor swift. she's closing the european leg of her eras tour with five nights at london's wembley stadium. these are live pictures where thousands of fans are already, by the looks of it, starting to gather outside the stadium ahead of tonight's concert. it's the first time taylor swift's returned to the uk since paying tribute to the victims of the southport attack last month, where three young girls died in a mass stabbing at a dance class featuring her music. earlier this month, taylor swift was also forced to cancel three shows in vienna after a suspected islamist terror plot. well, those are your latest gb news headlines for now. i'm cameron walker, back in half an hour for the very latest gb news direct to your smartphone, sign up to news alerts by scanning the qr code, or go to gbnews.com forward slash alerts .

slash alerts. >> good afternoon britain. it's 1:08. now. the long running pay dispute with train drivers could be finally about to end as they strike an expensive new pay deal with the government. >> an expensive new pay deal? well, yes, the deal, which must now be approved by members of the aslef union, will see train drivers receive a pay rise of 15% over three years. >> however, whilst it has been hailed as a good deal for the taxpayer, the chief secretary to the treasury, darren jones, says that or by that by the chief secretary to the treasury. ministers have been accused of being a soft touch for supposedly caving in to union demands. okay. >> well to discuss this further, we're joined by gb news political editor christopher hope. it's amazing what you can do to end an industrial dispute, isn't it? when you were young, quite a big pay offer. >> yeah. hi, tom. hi, emily. yeah, that's the concern that the tories have. they say

there's no request here for any productivity improvements. and there's no there's no strings attached to the money, it seems. and that's the worry, louise hague. she's the transport secretary. she says she wants to move fast and fix things. she said the tories were happy to see taxpayers pay the price as strikes dragged on and on, and passengers suffered. but it's hard to argue against the fact that the strikes have worked. and when the aslef union, the train drivers, when they go out, the strike is solid across the network. and i'm someone who commutes each day in on the train. when it's the rmt, the maintenance workers, there is a skeleton, normally a skeleton service, but when the train drivers strike, there's been no way to get in for lots of commuters around the country by train. and so it does appear to have worked, frankly, to put the pressure on the government and the new government's come in and settled it. the average pay rise for a train driver, tom was interested in that as a future career option. i noted their £60,000 to £70,000 a year. that's that's not bad. helen whately, she's the shadow

transport secretary. she says this no strings deal will be paid for by you and me. and taxpayers for years to come. earlier, you both interviewed tom tugendhat. he's one of six mps, tory mps, who wants to be the next leader of the tory party. and he had this to say. >> i think this is again the labour party feeding the union paymasters that they've always obeyed. and i'm afraid what this isn't focused on is the real need for massive investment that we need to make a commitment to, in order to make sure that people, the travelling public, those people who are actually delivering the jobs and the opportunities that the british people need to survive and to do to deliver the greater future that we have, that they actually have the full opportunity to enjoy the services that we need. now. that's where the challenge comes . comes. >> now, this deal, of course, is subject to a vote of aslef members, but there will be those worrying about the impact on inflation. now inflation ticked up to 2 to 2 point just 2%. this

in august. it should go maybe as high as 2.75% before the end of the year, then back towards 2%. 2% being the bank of england's inflation target. and there will be a worry that when you've got these big numbers being pushed out by this new labour government towards public sector workers, 5.5% pay rise for millions of public sector workers, costing £10 billion. of course, the 22% pay rise for junior doctors when these these big sums start to be felt in people's pockets. it's great for pubuc people's pockets. it's great for public sector workers. it may be a problem for inflation and keeping that under under wraps. we'll wait and see. >> it is extraordinary that so much money has been thrown about here, but perhaps more so that the conservative party were in power for 14 years and they still allowed unions to have such control over industries. i mean, the last time the conservatives were in power for a considerable period of time, you saw a mass sort of un

unionisation of the workforce when rupert murdoch was trying to print his newspapers and, and all of the unionised print workers unions would refuse to do so, or had all of these restrictive practices and tried to double the workforce and raise the pay. he moved it to wapping and swapped out the workforce. i mean, we haven't seen that sort of innovation at all. it feels like to some extent we're going backwards when it comes to industrial relations . relations. >> yeah. and you can't think of a better recruitment tool for being in a union than getting these big pay rises, having having been on strike. they have of course, not paid to go on strike workers. so it is a they are suffering from doing that. but the result is a big pay rise for, for train drivers. the junior doctors, public sector workers. they weren't on strike but they've they've had a big pay but they've they've had a big pay rise as the government honoured those pay review bodies. so yeah a concern. i mean even tom, as you know, the efforts by the government to

force, the train operators to provide a minimum service that was brought into that was passed into law by the last government and never used by the actual train operating companies. so although the worst, the worst, some levers there to get the network moving better and make these strikes less effective, they weren't used by the companies themselves, were they? >> christopher, just just very quickly, have you heard anything about these rumours that the conservatives are thinking about bringing forward the end date of their leadership contest, essentially deciding who should be the boss a little bit sooner ? be the boss a little bit sooner? this to reflect that the budget will be on october and they won't have a new leader by then . won't have a new leader by then. >> yeah, the key dates are here are october 30th, which is the date of the budget, and november the 2nd. a few days later when we find out who is the new leader of the tory party. now historically, in a march budget, you have the tory leader, the opposition leader responding in this case, rishi sunak. the autumn statement is normally the shadow chancellor, in this case jeremy hunt. now there's some

suggestion that they may bring forward the announcement or to before the october 30th by a week or so. so they've got the new leader to take on and take the fight to labour. the worry is going to be though, is they can't select the final two from the six candidates. of course, there'll be four by the party conference and then two. they can't do that until after the party conference ends. at the beginning of october. so if they bnng beginning of october. so if they bring forward the period by a week, it means you have less time for members to choose a new leader. and so it eats into the time when members the selectorate of the party can selectorate of the party can select the new leader. so it's mooted, and i've been trying to get hold of people from the 1922 committee and nothing yet, so i can't confirm it yet, but it would be a problem. i think , for would be a problem. i think, for the grassroots. >> and yet the other benefit of it might be that, currently the second, the 3rd of september, the 3rd of november, is it the conclusion date? that's just a day before the united states presidential election. so perhaps giving it a bit of a

week of space rather than just the day before would be, would give a bit more air time if you want a bit more media attention. >> yeah. christopher hope, thank you very much. our political editor there in westminster, now on to another topic , because on to another topic, because dangerous career criminals, some with more than 100 convictions, are being spared jail time reports suggesting the amount of people with multiple convictions avoiding prison nearly tripled from two thousand and seven to 2023. >> well , this is all at a time >> well, this is all at a time when the state is cracking down on rioting and violent disorder, with some controversy around sentencing for posts on social media during those nationwide riots. >> well, charlie peters is in the studio with us to tell us more. so what exactly do these statistics this data show? well, it's comprehensive data from the ministry of justice compiled by tory mp neil o'brien. >> through parliamentary questions, you've run out just now. a couple of the quite stunning statistics from this analysis. but here's another. offenders with more than 50 previous convictions have been spared jail in more than 50,000

cases since two thousand and seven. really laying bare so much of the so—called soft touch justice that's been a significant part of our national conversation in the last few weeks . even yvette cooper, the weeks. even yvette cooper, the home secretary, has said that soft touch justice has led many criminals to feel as though there are no consequences to crime . and what neil o'brien has crime. and what neil o'brien has uncovered that tory mp he's found several different offences where the number of times you have to be convicted for them is quite high before you are finally jailed. now for robbery, it's 14.5 finally jailed. now for robbery, it's14.5 previous convictions before you were jailed, someone jailed for burglary typically has to have an average of 26 pnor has to have an average of 26 prior convictions for any offence, assaulting a police officer, a serious crime in any jurisdiction. it's19.6 convictions on someone's criminal record before they're sent away. possession of an offensive weapon 14 convictions, theft 26. sexual assault, five

convictions. now, in light of all this , some comparisons are all this, some comparisons are being drawn to the current sentencing regime and the procedures in our criminal justice system with regards to these riots, the cps has made over 400 charges related to the nationwide disorder. over 400 charges related to the nationwide disorder . just in the nationwide disorder. just in the last half hour. i've had a statement from merseyside police confirming the 42nd person to be charged in relation to the disorder in southport. now the majority of those offences are violent disorder. the second most common is possession of an offensive weapon , but there have offensive weapon, but there have now been several, i think, quite controversial cases involving social media. i want to take you to the case of julie sweeney. now she is a carer for her husband and on facebook she wrote that a mosque needed to be blown up with the adults inside. she's been jailed for 15 months for that post. now it is a reprehensible comment in a facebook group that was swiftly deleted. but other members in that thousand strong group saw it and reported it to cheshire

police . now, when she was jailed police. now, when she was jailed a couple of days ago, she wiped away tears and thanked the judge for the sentence , appearing via for the sentence, appearing via video link from a jail nearby. but that 15 month sentence is her first ever conviction and sentencing, which does go into contrast against the say , 19 contrast against the say, 19 different convictions you might need before you're jailed for assaulting a police officer. and that's a crime of thought and writing, not intent. the maximum penalty for sending a grossly offensive or threatening communication is five years. so judges have quite a lot of leeway in what they can do with culpability and other aggravating or mitigating factors. but it is still quite stark. and it does show that when the political will is there, sentences can be stronger. perhaps an evidence of fashion catching up with these cases? another one i'd like to draw your attention to john can. he was involved in the disorder in plymouth. he's a repeat offender. 26 convictions for 170 offences. he was caught on camera waving his prosthetic leg while engaging with protesters down in

the south—west. he threw a missile a firework and was jailed for it. he had a long list of previous convictions here. you might say there is someone who should go to jail, but here's a concerning remark that the judge made in the sentencing. the judge at plymouth crown court said you have no right whatsoever to say who should or should not be in this country. well, he does have that right. we all have that right. but it's a cool speech and an opinion is protected in the law here, potentially a sign i think some analysts might say, of political speech seeping into assessments and sentences being delivered by crown courts in this country at the moment. i think that's a very troubling statement. we've also had another sentencing for political and offensive messaging online. lee dunn, a man from whitehaven in the north—west. he works at sellafield, the nuclear power plant. he's pleaded guilty to one offence. he admitted sending a message that was grossly offensive or indecent, obscene

or menacing character at the end of july, after the southport disorder he shared three facebook posts. they depicted asian men on a beach and he captioned them coming to a town near you, eight weeks in jail for that. as far as i can tell, no prior convictions. so with neil o'brien uncovering the number of convictions you might need to be sent to jail for robbery, burglary, assaulting a police officer or indeed sexual assault. those are quite high. but for writing offensive messages online, well, it seems you might just need one conviction. >> fascinating the way you put it all together there for us, very interesting indeed. i think it is fair to make these types of comparisons when you see that so many crimes you have to be convicted of multiple, multiple , convicted of multiple, multiple, multiple times to see the inside of a jail. well very striking. >> what's the law behind this ? >> what's the law behind this? why? why are the nuts and bolts of our legal system working like this? let's ask the barrister, sam fowles, thank you so much for joining us here. hi there. forjoining us here. hi there. what is going on here? why does

it seem that some speech offences seem to carry harsher sentences than the average for burglary or assault or sexual assault or even possessing an offensive weapon ? offensive weapon? >> well, the blunt point is that, mass murder is worse than breeching a crossbow. and so the majority of those cases convicted that are the largest number of convictions that are cited by the telegraph are for breaches of an asbo , and the breaches of an asbo, and the first case cited by, by your colleague was an encouragement to blow up a mosque with multiple people in it. that's mass murder, i think. actually, she was incredibly fortunate in her and in her sentence, because she could have also been convicted under the terrorism act, and that carries a tariff of 15 years. and when do you think that that would. >> because obviously , incitement >> because obviously, incitement in any jurisdiction, incitement to violence is not considered protected even under the first

amendment of the united states of america. do you think that comment would have carried a sentence in the united states? >> i think it potentially could have. but again, the point i was going to make is that the where people of arab origin who are encouraging islamic terrorism have made similar comments. they have made similar comments. they have received much longer sentences, now , if i was in sentences, now, if i was in sentencing or arguing for the sentence, i would of course be be saying that this is one case that she's only made one post, and whereas in many cases where you're getting sentences of nine, ten or up to 15 years, those are for more than one post. and even if it's 4 or 5 posts, that's that's still that's still a big difference, right, but to get 15 months when you could have been charged with something that gets you, gets you up to 15 years, i think she will be very happy to have got got away with that, on that one.

>> okay. well let's take the conversation away from that particular case, because a lot of people are concerned that it's taking multiple convictions for a criminal to see the inside of a jail cell for very serious crimes. i mean, according to this information from the parliament website, this has been put together by neil o'brien and in the telegraph today, for burglary. according today, for burglary. according to this, the average number of convictions before the criminal is jailed is over 2526. the same with robbery. it's 14 criminal damage. 181718. with robbery. it's 14 criminal damage. 18 1718. assault with robbery. it's 14 criminal damage. 181718. assault on a police officer 19. this is quite incredible. what is this about? is this about a soft criminal justice system? is this about a lack of spaces in jails? i mean, what do you imagine it's about here? >> i think i'd be surprised if it were about a soft criminal justice system, because what the was left out of the telegraph's report on this was that we were also currently there are more

people in jail in the uk than at any point in our history , any point in our history, >> so there might be more criminals, sam. there might be more criminals. >> and clearly, clearly there are more, more criminals, but that's i think that's really important context, and i also think just this is my final health warning. it's quite dangerous to look at these. look at averages like this because every it's the law that every sentence has to be dealt with individually and according to the, the individual's, particular circumstances. so there are certainly no judges going. well that's that's 14 convictions. time for you to go to jail. that conversation will never be had in a court, although it is in the united states. >> of course, you've got the three strikes and you're out. rule in the us , which was rule in the us, which was correlated with with a drop in violent crime. >> and yet in the, in the uk when they've, they've looked at sentencing for knife crime, they've found that actually

putting people in jail for things like knife crime increases the chances that they're going to get going to commit further, further . commit further, further. >> well, we might we might be safer for a year or two. >> so the, and i mean , also the, >> so the, and i mean, also the, the statistic you've just cited also, was taken over a period where the economic circumstances of a lot of people improve. so the decline in violent, violent crime could have been because people were getting richer and their lives were getting better. >> so there's also interesting interesting to note demographics as well, that, fewer, fewer men between the ages of 16 and 30 is massively correlated with less violent crime . violent crime. >> i think people just i think people just want to know that if you commit a robbery, you're going to go to jail. i really think it is as simple as that for public trust in the criminal justice system, if you commit, commit a violent offence and you're convicted of it, you should go to jail. that's as bafic should go to jail. that's as basic as most people will see this, but, sam, we're going to have to leave it there . i'm have to leave it there. i'm sorry. i've been told we need to leave it there, but it's been great to talk about the rape statistics because they're even

worse. well, absolutely horrific. well, we'll speak again. we'll speak again? >> yes, sam, we'll have to have you back. thanks. thanks so much for joining us. this is good forjoining us. this is good afternoon britain on gb news. lots coming up. we're going be live in talbot after this

good afternoon britain. it's half past one emily is emily's eating . eating. >> what is an apple? an apple in my mouth. >> i'm terribly sorry. how rude. >> i'm terribly sorry. how rude. >> do you know what i've been having, jammie dodgers, so i'm so sorry. >> i get a little bit hungry. it is lunchtime. >> this is the problem with presenting a programme from the hours of 12 until three. >> you're either you are. you're just hungry. you're hungry the whole time. anyway, i'm terribly sorry. the british government is set to announce the release of £135 million to support £13.5 million to support businesses and workers affected by the tata steel company's decision to transition to

greener steelmaking. yes. >> so the support for workers forced to leave their jobs will range from guaranteed interviews to additional training and coaching. >> well, let's cross to port talbot now and speak to gb news political correspondent olivia utley, olivia , what's behind utley, olivia, what's behind this deal ? this deal? >> well, essentially , last year, >> well, essentially, last year, last september, tata steel announced that it would be closing its two major furnaces and replacing it with one electric furnace. now that put 2000 jobs at risk. tata steel said it was necessary for them to meet the government's net zero targets. and actually the tata steel plant here is responsible for an astonishing 2% of all of the uk's carbon emissions . so in order to meet emissions. so in order to meet the net zero target that the prime minister set out the previous prime minister set out tata steel, had to potentially risk 2000 jobs. now obviously that did not go down well in this town . this town is

this town. this town is completely dominated by the steelworks, and pretty much every single person here is affected in some way. the previous government, the conservative government, announced a £100 million package of support for both workers affected by the change and the companies which were reliant on tata steel . so companies companies which were reliant on tata steel. so companies in the supply chain chain, many of which are local, the place where we are now, where the secretary of for state wales will be doing a speech later, both is employing people who've lost theirjobs employing people who've lost their jobs from tata employing people who've lost theirjobs from tata steel and their jobs from tata steel and also accepts material from tata steel in their supply chain. so it's a perfect example of one company which has been affected . company which has been affected. previous government promised £100 million to the people who are affected, but nearly a year on, none of that money has yet been spent. the 13.5 million today that joe stevens , the today that joe stevens, the welsh secretary, is promising, is the first of that money which will be spent and it will go to all sorts of people who are affected by the closure of the steel plant. so workers,

contractors and the small businesses which which claim tata steel as a client . but this tata steel as a client. but this is by no means the end of the road. the idea of the loss of potentially 2800 jobs in this town is obviously still pretty shocking. and there are union members , some of whom i've members, some of whom i've spoken to this morning, who say that it spoken to this morning, who say thatitis spoken to this morning, who say that it is just not necessary to have that many redundancies. those unions are now in conversation with the labour government, but obviously reaching some sort of deal is very, very difficult indeed. tata steel has already made this plan . they say this plan is plan. they say this plan is absolutely necessary. if they are to meet the net zero targets that the government has set, and trying to find a way to give jobs to all of these people will be really difficult. although it does sound as though it might be possible that the government and the unions will be reaching a deal relatively soon. for now, there is a big package of money for these workers, contractors and businesses, and in the future, it could just be that not so many jobs are lost. after

all. >> well, interesting stuff there, olivia. thank you for bringing us the very latest. we'll be back with you a little bit later in the program. >> we will indeed. >> we will indeed. >> now we've got lots more coming up on today's show, including including drumroll, the huge news, the ginormous news that molly—mae hague and tommy fury set social media ablaze yesterday because they announced they're ending their relationship after five years together. they were engaged only one year ago, who who who? you. everyone at home knows who they are. surely not a clue. love island star match made in heaven but alas, not to be. stay tuned to learn more . to learn more. >> good afternoon. it's 134. to learn more. >> good afternoon. it's134. i'm >> good afternoon. it's 134. i'm karen walker here in the newsroom. the proportion of a—level entries awarded top grades is up on last year. and remains above pre—pandemic levels. hundreds of thousands of students in england, wales and northern ireland received their exam results today. more than

three quarters of english 18 year old applicants have been accepted into their first choice of university, according to the department for education, which also warns there are still inequalities in the system . the inequalities in the system. the economy is continuing its recovery from last year's recession, with growth extending over the latest quarter. the office for national statistics says gross domestic product increased by 0.6% between april and june. the former conservative chancellor, jeremy hunt, says today's figures are further proof labour has inherited a growing and resilient economy. but labour's chancellor, rachel reeves, says she has inherited more than a decade of low economic growth from the tories . train drivers from the tories. train drivers are to vote on a new offer aimed at ending their long running pay dispute, which has resulted in days of strike action. the aslef union said the offer was made in talks with the department for transport, which started after labour won the general election following months of stalemate under the conservatives. the drivers are being recommended to accept the offer , which could

accept the offer, which could bnng accept the offer, which could bring an end to industrial action and overtime bans. british challenger two tanks are thought to have been used in ukraine's surprise incursion into russia. it comes after the government confirmed kyiv was free to use uk weapons inside russian territory, with the exception of britain's powerful storm shadow missiles. the latest turn in the conflict has sparked concerns about a wider escalation of tensions between russia and the west . israel's russia and the west. israel's military offensive into the gaza strip has resulted in the deaths of at least 40,000 palestinians and wounded more than 92,000 since the october 7th attacks. that's according to the hamas run health ministry. a new round of ceasefire talks is taking place in the qatari capital, doha, in an effort to end ten months of fighting and bring 115 israeli and foreign hostages home. and global superstar taylor swift is closing the european leg of her eras tour with five nights at london's wembley stadium. now these are live pictures from outside the

stadium, where thousands of fans already appear to be gathering ahead of tonight's concert. it's the first time she's returned to the first time she's returned to the uk. taylor swift since paying the uk. taylor swift since paying tribute to the victims of the southport attack last month, where three young girls died in a mass stabbing at a dance class featuring her music earlier this month. taylor swift was forced to cancel three shows in vienna after a suspected islamist terror plot. well those are the latest gb news headlines for now. i'm cameron walker. more in half an hour for the very latest gb news direct to your smartphone, sign up to news alerts by scanning the qr code or go to gbnews.com forward slash alerts

>> good afternoon britain. it's 20 to 2 and now time for some

gargantuan showbiz news. i'm told that love island superstars molly—mae and tommy fury have broken up after five years together. >> devastating. >> devastating. >> devastating. >> apparently so. the formerly engaged couple, who share a daughter they rose to fame after finishing as runners up in the fifth season of the hit reality tv show, but they've gone on to make a huge amounts of money and they seem to have quite a rather lovely life. there's the engagement photo, black and white or beautiful? anyway, let's find out more from showbiz journalist julie—anne traynor. julie, what's the latest on this? it has shocked a lot of people. some of our viewers will be thinking, who are they? but they are. shall we start? >> shall we start with that? start with that . start with that. >> who are these people? >> who are these people? >> okay, so molly—mae hague and tommy fury and a lot of people might be wondering who they are, but they find love on love island five years ago and tommy is brother with tyson fury, the very famous boxer. >> so before he even went on to

the show, he already had a lot of publicity. and yes, the pair of publicity. and yes, the pair of them just hit it off. and, a lot of couples crack when they come out of the villa, but they actually went from strength to strength, and now they've got millions of followers online from all around the world and a sort of set up as this archetypal loved up couple. exactly. for instance, molly—mae has 8 million followers on instagram and tommy has over 5 million. so they're very, very popular and they just got engaged last year. they have a baby together and they have a £4 million mansion in chester , million mansion in chester, cheshire, so they've done very well from the show and a lot of people have been invested in their journey right from the start. so yesterday, whenever molly—mae announced that they had broken up, the internet just went into overdrive. >> it did. >> it did. >> it did the speculation because the statement was slightly revealing, wasn't it? from molly—mae? the suggestion there that perhaps it had something to do with something that tommy fury may have done.

>> absolutely . she signed it >> absolutely. she signed it very angry and really hurt. she said. never in a million years did i think i'd ever have to write this, and i never imagined our story would end, especially in this way. she also added, i am extremely upset to announce that we have broken up, so i think that's very telling and also a lot of couples, when they break up, they do a joint statement, they release it together and it's, you know, very amicable. but this one, yes, it was hot. and molly—mae, who announced it first, and then tommy, followed an hour later. >> what did tommy say afterwards? and an hour later is afterwards? and an hour later is a big gap. it sounds like it wasn't coordinated. >> exactly. that's what i mean. he said something quite similar, but his was more along the lines of we and respect our privacy. while she was more or less saying respect my privacy. so it sounds to me like she's very much distancing herself from him. >> but you know what? a lot of people look up to this couple. a lot of people idealise them.

they've got lots of money. molly—mae's got beautiful clothes. tommy fury's doing very well. there's a very attractive couple. they've got, you know, so much going for them. social media isn't always as it seems , media isn't always as it seems, clearly, because, you know, it was only a couple of days ago in the past week that they were posting, you know , my world with posting, you know, my world with a loving photo of the family. and they were at the sister's wedding with all these pictures of their loved up engagement and everything. like this. but clearly there was some things that weren't being talked about or were, but hadn't hit the surface yet. >> yes, well, i think the cracks are starting to show from last yeah are starting to show from last year. whenever tommy was pictured partying with chris brown in dubai and some girls. so i don't think that went down very well. >> not a great sign. >> not a great sign. >> no, and she's very much a homebody. she likes to sit at home. she's very much a devoted mother. and don't get me wrong, tommy seems like a lovely guy. but after that , then molly was but after that, then molly was pictured without her engagement ring on some occasions she was? yeah. so i think cracks have been starting to show over the

last few months, and now it's just come to a head. so and there is also a story that has broken. i sadly that apparently tommy cheated on her multiple times. i don't know how true thatis times. i don't know how true that is and she has kicked him out of her mansion. well, their mansion? >> you mean to tell me a celebrity boxer who parties in dubai with chris brown? yes. might have cheated on his fiancee. >> i know well , it's not a nice >> i know well, it's not a nice thought, but up until then, thought, but up until then, though , there really did seem though, there really did seem like the golden couple. >> you know they did. >> you know they did. >> but do you know what? and perhaps this is a bit harsh, i always thought. i always thought that molly—mae was perhaps a too smart, too intelligent, that molly—mae was perhaps a too smart, too intelligent , too smart, too intelligent, too focused on, you know, making her way in the industry. and she's had all of these brilliant jobs and things for, for tommy. tommy seemed a bit basic perhaps, but what is her job? on she was head of creative content at pretty little thing. she's an influencer. she does a youtube.

she's not an idiot. she's not an idiot. she's actually quite a smart cookie , isn't it? and smart cookie, isn't it? and she's a fan of margaret thatcher. or at least her ideas. tom. >> well, i'm sold. i do, i do remember, actually a story about that. >> a couple of she said people need to just work harder or something like that. >> and everyone called her molly thatcher. >> it spun out of control, no doubt. but of course, they've got a child and we've been looking at pictures of this. we've got to we can't forget the human tragedy here, really. >> and all tragedy. it was only as well last year that they they appeared in a netflix series called at home with the furies. so again, that really helped as well raise their profile with a lot of people . so it is really lot of people. so it is really sad. and i do think this will affect their brand as well. >> oh yes, it absolutely will. >> oh yes, it absolutely will. >> and it will have a knock on effect as well to, you know, their financial aspects. >> is there any precedent here though, because sometimes looking at bands when someone leaves the band they can go off and become much, much larger by

themselves. i'm thinking of harry styles. i'm thinking of john lennon. i'm not i'm not necessarily putting molly mae in that category. but but i mean, there is the opportunity. i mean, we're talking about her for the first time on this programme. she could actually do fairly well out of this , fairly well out of this, >> she could, but i think it's different when you're a couple. it's, you know, if you're in a band that's different, you can go on and have a solo career. but i think they were very much a unit and everyone has watched their journey right from the start. when they met, and a lot of people have followed that and fell in love with them through that. so i do think this might have an effect on their. >> interesting you say that popularity, i think i disagree . popularity, i think i disagree. i think molly may, because she already had a youtube, she already had a youtube, she already had a youtube, she already had lots of people following her before she went into love island. oh, and yeah, i think, i think she's going to step up to the plate and she'll manage just fine, but it must be a horrible shock now. >> it will be one to watch. we'll see. >> maybe you're right. >> maybe you're right. >> i'm not sure i'm going to

dive straight back into to following everything about molly may. but you know what? i'm sure you can follow it for me. >> i will do, i will do. thank you so much . thank you. julianne you so much. thank you. julianne trainor, showbiz journalist. thank you very much indeed. coming up, we're going to be speaking to our security editor because it's reported ukraine is using british tanks to invade russia. don't go anywhere

>> good afternoon britain. it's just gone 10 to 2 now. today marks day one of prince harry and meghan markle's tour of colombia. >> yes, the pair are going to spend the visit, meeting notable leaders and women's rights activists in the south american country on what's being called a quasi royal trip, but is definitely not a royal trip. >> it's a it's a quasi. yeah.

anyway definitely not one. no, no, we wouldn't dream of it. >> we can't be clear enough. >> we can't be clear enough. >> absolutely. there's literally nothing royal about it at all. well, joining us now is the former royal editor at the sun, duncan larcombe, duncan, this is a curious trip because of course, it comes the week that prince harry says he couldn't visit the uk because the uk is too dangerous. >> well, absolutely. i mean, this this trip raises so many questions , it's hard to fit them questions, it's hard to fit them all in. i mean, he's he says he can't come to great britain with meghan because it's too dangerous without his royal security . and yet he goes to security. and yet he goes to a country that i think i'm right in saying the foreign and commonwealth office warn british subjects, not to go there. >> oh, well, there you go. he believes suddenly that colombia is a safer country than this one, duncan, i also want to ask about this chief of staff that left after about three months from meghan and harry's enterprise, there seems to be

lots of rumours about why he actually left. what are they ? actually left. what are they? >> yeah, well, there are there are sort of suggestions, that , i are sort of suggestions, that, i mean, it just basically doesn't look good. i think the sun, tallied up that there have been 18 key members of staff that have left the employment of the sussexes. since they were back in the uk. and, i mean , it just in the uk. and, i mean, it just does not look good very good at all, is it because of the working schedules of meghan? is it just because these people get better offers and decide to work somewhere else, in this silence, sort of people make up their own mind. exactly what it's all about. so it's not a good look whatsoever. >> now it is very curious that this was an invitation of columbia. i don't think columbia often invites hollywood celebrities to come and visit the country and roll out the red carpet, for, which is why it sort of seems like they are

treating these non—royals as senior royals . senior royals. >> well, i mean, this is the thing. every time there's an official royal tour, an overseas visit , always, it's at the visit, always, it's at the request of the foreign and commonwealth office because of diplomatic , soft diplomacy. diplomatic, soft diplomacy. there's a reason why that's got to happen. harry and meghan, have effectively just decided to accept invitations. they went to nigeria earlier this year. again, that had nothing to do with the foreign and commonwealth office. it had nothing to do with their status as royals other than they were able to be, persuaded to go. and i think it the question that everyone's asking is why on earth are they there? what are they trying to achieve? well, that's what does it achieve . that's what does it achieve. >> that's a very good question, duncan. we'll see what they get up to in due course, i'm sure. duncan larcombe, thank you very much. former royal editor at the sun. we're just going to be back in a second after the weather and a brighter outlook with boxt

solar sponsors of weather on gb news . news. >> hey there, here's your latest gb news, weather update coming to you from the met office. for many, there will be some decent sunny spells around today, but also some blustery winds and a few showers in the north and there is a spell of rain pushing its way southeastwards. that's because of a frontal system that's currently marching across parts of scotland, northern ireland and into northern england . already having brought england. already having brought quite a bit of rain this morning and we'll continue to do so as it gradually makes its way across the country through the rest of today. but like i said, some sunny spells for many of us, especially across southern and eastern parts of england, and eastern parts of england, and generally feeling pretty warm here, temperatures getting into the mid 20s celsius, a bit fresher than this further north and west, even though there will be some sunny spells and just a few showers across parts of scotland as we head through this evening, that rain is going to continue to make its way southeastwards, but it will have cleared away from much of

scotland and so here it is just going to be a mixture of sunny spells and some showers. as we go through the end of the day. also a largely dry picture across much of northern ireland with that rain having cleared through and only1 with that rain having cleared through and only 1 or 2 showers here. much cloudier, wetter story though across much of england and wales as that front gradually makes its way southeastwards but still clinging on to some fine weather across parts of the southeast for a little while longer. but that rain is going to push its way through as we go overnight, and it could actually invigorate and it could actually invigorate a little bit more. so some heavy rain possible across the far southeast through the early hours of tomorrow morning . hours of tomorrow morning. elsewhere, we will have dry and clear weather for many places , clear weather for many places, and so it could turn a little fresh for some of us. temperatures in some rural spots could drop into mid single figures , a bit of a wet start figures, a bit of a wet start then possible across the far southeast first thing tomorrow morning, but that rain should quickly clear away and then otherwise it's looking like a pretty fine day . plenty of pretty fine day. plenty of sunshine around, just some blustery showers to watch out for, particularly towards the northwest of scotland, but most

places avoiding these and temperatures relatively similar to today. again, we're looking at highs in the mid 20s. see you later. >> that warm feeling inside from boxt boilers.

gb news. >> good afternoon britain. it's 2:00 on thursday the 15th of august. i'm tom harwood and i'm emily carver the end of the line. the government k's in to train driver pay demands, offering a 15% pay rise. this could spell the end of chaotic negotiations. but at what cost ? negotiations. but at what cost? >> and soft touch britain career criminals with over 100 convictions are spared jail as the government cracks down on keyboard warriors. could we be slapping the wrong wrists ? slapping the wrong wrists? >> and it's being reported that british challenger two tanks are now being used during the shock

ukrainian incursion into russia, the first such incursion from a sovereign state since the second . sovereign state since the second. world war. >> well, welcome back. >> well, welcome back. >> there's been quite shocking statistics that we've been talking about throughout the show, lots of you raising huge concerns about the fact that you can get multiple convictions up to 100 in some cases and still be spared jail. no, you won't have to, you know, go into a cell. you won't have to be completely separated from the rest of society. you won't need to be, you know , presumably to be, you know, presumably punished in any reasonable way that one might think you should be. no, you can just get away with it. you have to show that you have been well. you have to show that you've done the same crime again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and it does seem bonkers, but do. >> i do sort of understand the incentives where people are

being told short prison sentences don't have the same effect, and it's hard to put people away for a long time because there's no blooming space in the prisons. in in the pictures of the prisons that we were using in the in the menu there in the introduction, i thought, that's a good looking prison. it's symmetrical. it's got it was a very nice picture. and i realised it's because it was built over 100 years ago and we really haven't built any prisons in recent decades, not many at all. and it's so necessary to do so. our prison estate is crumbling, and i wonder how much of that is feeding into these decisions to go for non—custodial sentences that, frankly, don't keep people safe . safe. >> yeah, or it could be judges who decide to be lenient for one reason or another, or a combination of the two, most likely. but i mean, it's rather worrying that you've got people with multiple convictions, presumably roaming, you know, as free people in our society and going on to commit further crimes and not being thrown into jail. >> yeah. if you assault a police

officer, carry out sexual assault, or carry an offensive weapon and all you have to do is pick up some litter at the end of it, it's not the biggest. i mean, i think most people would would want to pick up litter. they walk past in the street anyway. at least you're a decent person. you would. >> and of course, the new government, they've banged up a lot of people following this recent disorder. >> of course . fine. good. in >> of course. fine. good. in many cases . but we see the many cases. but we see the system work very swiftly when it needs to. >> gbnews.com/yoursay >> gbnews.com/yoursay please >> gbnews.com/yoursay please do get in touch. but we're going to get in touch. but we're going to get the headlines with cameron walker . walker. >> thanks emily. good afternoon. it is 2:03. i'm cameron walker here in the gb newsroom. and we've got some breaking news to bnng we've got some breaking news to bring you. now a 15 year old boy has become the first to be charged with a more serious offence of rioting in relation to disorder in sunderland on the 2nd of august. that's according to the crown prosecution service. the boy from sunderland will appear at south tyneside youth court today, where he will

be asked to enter a plea. more information on that as we get it. meanwhile, the proportion of a—level entries awarded top grades is up on last year and remains above pre—pandemic levels. hundreds of thousands of students in england , wales and students in england, wales and northern ireland received their exam results today. more than three quarters of english 18 year old applicants have been accepted into their first choice of university, according to the government. but education secretary bridget phillipson says there are still inequalities in the education system. >> today is about celebrating the achievements of our young people, but i do recognise that the gaps that we've seen opening up under the last conservative government when it comes to regional differences are really stark and that gap is widening. there is an awful lot that we need to do, and i want to make sure as education secretary, that we break down those barriers to opportunity for our young people, that where you're from doesn't determine what you can go on to achieve in life. >> the economy is continuing its recovery from last year's recession , with growth extending recession, with growth extending over the latest quarter, according to official data. the office for national statistics

said gross domestic products increased by 0.6% between april and june. labour's darren jones, chief secretary to the treasury, says the government inherited a huge financial challenge from the tories but shadow chief secretary to the treasury laura trott says the economic growth is thanks to previous conservative policy. >> these are really positive gdp figures this morning, but the only person who's not out celebrating them is the chancellor. rachel reeves, is sitting in the treasury fuming because this is yet more data to undermine her narrative that the economic inheritance was bad and she can no longer use that as a pretext for the tax rises that she was planning all along. >> british challenger two tanks are thought to have been used in ukraine's surprise incursion into russia. it comes after the government's confirmed kyiv was free to use uk weapons inside russian territory , with the russian territory, with the exception of britain's powerful storm shadow missiles. the latest turn in the conflict has sparked concerns about a wider escalation of tensions between russia and the west . israel's

russia and the west. israel's military offensive in the gaza strip has killed at least 40,000 palestinians strip has killed at least 40,000 pall attacks. that's according to 7th attacks. that's according to the hamas run health ministry. a new round of ceasefire talks is taking place in the qatari caphal taking place in the qatari capital, doha, in an effort to end ten months of fighting in the palestinian enclave and bnng the palestinian enclave and bring 115 israeli and foreign hostages home. train drivers are to vote on a new offer aimed at ending their long running pay dispute, which has resulted in days of strike action. the aslef union said the offer was made in talks at the department for transport, which started after labour won the general election following months of stalemate under the conservatives. the drivers are being recommended to accept the offer, which could bnng accept the offer, which could bring an end to industrial action as well as overtime bans. drivers are being urged to avoid scanning qr codes to pay for parking, following a number of scams. the rac is advising drivers to make payments only with cash, cards or official

apps. with cash, cards or official apps . recently, fraudsters have apps. recently, fraudsters have been placing stickers featuring qr codes on parking signs in locations around the country , locations around the country, taking victims to fake websites to input their card details before spending money from their accounts . and the duke and accounts. and the duke and duchess of sussex. they are expected to arrive in colombia after an official invitation by the country's vice president. it'5 the country's vice president. it's understood prince harry and meghan will focus on the impact of the digital world on young people, the military community and female empowerment. the duke and female empowerment. the duke and duchess will also explore colombia's history and culture. and global superstar taylor swift is closing the european leg of her eras tour with five nights at london's wembley stadium. now these are hopefully live pictures where thousands of fans are expected to attend the concert later. it's the first time she's returned to the uk. taylor swift. since paying tribute to the victims of the southport attack last month, where three girls died in a mass

stabbing at a dance class featuring her music earlier this month, taylor swift was also forced to cancel three shows in vienna after a suspected islamist terror plot . well, islamist terror plot. well, those are the latest gb news headlines. for now, i'm cameron walker. now it's back to tom and emily for the very latest gb news direct to your smartphone, sign up to news alerts by scanning the qr code, or go to gbnews.com forward slash alerts . gbnews.com forward slash alerts. >> good afternoon britain. it's 2:08 now. could the rail strikes finally be reaching the end of the line? the long running pay dispute with train drivers could finally be about to end as the aslef union strikes a new pay deal , strikes aslef union strikes a new pay deal, strikes a aslef union strikes a new pay deal , strikes a new pay aslef union strikes a new pay deal, strikes a new pay deal with the government. >> see what we did there? the deal , which >> see what we did there? the deal, which must now be approved by members of the union, the aslef union, will see train

drivers receive a pay rise of 15% over 30 years, taking the average three years. three years. what did i say? 30. oh. i'm sorry. three. if only. yes. that wouldn't be very generous. over 30 years, should we get more from our political editor? who knows the numbers? perhaps a little better than i do. our political editor, christopher hope. 15% over three years, not 30 years. is this what they were actually demanding, or is this a completely new offer that the government came up with? >> it goes towards what they were demanding, that that's worth £60,000, increase. rise. forgive me. from £60,000 to the average driver to 70,000, criticism from the tory party. no strings. but you heard from louise hague. she's the transport secretary. she says she wanted to move fast and fix things when she became transport secretary just five short weeks ago . the tories, she says, were ago. the tories, she says, were happy to see taxpayers pay the price as strikes dragged on and

on and passengers suffered. and believe me , passengers did believe me, passengers did suffer. the aslef strikes were really hard . they were mainly really hard. they were mainly solid when they went on strike. often commuters couldn't get around the country. i certainly felt that living, living outside london, getting to work. so this is a good news for commuters, people trying to get around the country, maybe not so good news for those who worry about how pubuc for those who worry about how public money is being spent. the tories are saying helen whately, the shadow transport secretary, saying that this is a no strings deal that will be paid for by taxpayers and passengers in the future, because there's no demand to improve working time or anything. all the strings that were attached there by the tory party. and that's why the tory party. and that's why the tory government, that's why there was no deal. they haven't been been added in. we heard earlier from tom tugendhat. he's the tory, one of the tory leadership challengers. he was asked about this deal by you both on this programme. >> look, i think this is again the labour party feeding the union paymasters that they've always obeyed. and i'm afraid

what this isn't focused on is the real need for massive investment, that we need to make a commitment to in order to make sure that people, the travelling public, those people who are actually delivering the jobs and the opportunities that the british people need to survive to and do to deliver the greater future that we have, that they actually have the full opportunity to enjoy the services that we need. now. that's where the challenge comes . that's where the challenge comes. >> tom tugendhat, someone who one of the six candidates for the tory party leadership. this comes after a big deal for junior doctors. as you know, 22% pay junior doctors. as you know, 22% pay rise, millions of public sector workers getting 5.5% pay rise more than inflation, costing us £10 billion. fears of a lack of tax rises again from from the chancellor, rachel reeves, today in an interview looking into the october budget. and don't forget, we have got inflation starting to tick up again from 2% could be towards 2.75% by the end of the year. and the concern is that giving

big pay rises to public sector workers can be inflationary. so worries here but and no guarantees of any improvement in working practice either from from the train drivers £70,000 for pressing doors open doors closed. >> nice work if you can get it. well chris hope, thank you so much for joining well chris hope, thank you so much forjoining us and talking much for joining us and talking us through this extraordinary story. >> yeah, i do wonder when we're going to get all the efficiencies labour spoke about all these efficiencies that are going to save us billions and billions of pounds anyway. let's get the thoughts of travel correspondent at the independent, simon calder. simon, thank you very much indeed. simon, thank you very much indeed . 15%. is that the right indeed. 15%. is that the right approach? >> well, look, if you take the point of view of the union and the labour party, it absolutely is. this doesn't actually keep up with inflation during the years. well, actually , pretty years. well, actually, pretty much since 2019, you've seen inflation roughly 24% in that time. and the pay rise is going

to work out at 15%. so this is always what the union was after always what the union was after a clean, as they called it, no strings deal. >> whereas absolutely, a whole series of transport secretaries and prime ministers said the only way we can possibly afford to give you any increase at all is if you absolutely , radically is if you absolutely, radically change your working conditions. >> labour said. no need to do any of that. have the money. get back to work now. i'm talking to you here both as a passenger who for the past three years has seen my rail ticket be a bit of a lottery ticket. one day in seven has been affected by train drivers strike action and overtime bans. drivers strike action and overtime bans . and therefore, overtime bans. and therefore, i'm delighted to be able to plan more than two weeks ahead and know that at least a strike won't be getting me. also, though, as a taxpayer i'm thinking, okay, so we're collectively paying £240 per second to keep the railways

running. there'll be loads of gb news viewers who never go near a train who are thinking, how much am i paying, and the there is a serious problem where revenue on the railway is too low, costs are too high, and unreliability is, i'm afraid, pretty lousy, if i can just give you an example . i can just give you an example. just after they were shaking hands on this deal last night in the department for transport in westminster in london, just up the road, charing cross station , the road, charing cross station, thousands of commuters. their trains have been cancelled because of a signal failure. that was a network rail issue. then we got an announcement from northern trains saying you want to travel on the trains in north—west of england on sunday. oh, be be very worried about short notice cancellations and this morning the 633 from london to leeds cancelled because of staff shortage. now i give you all of those examples because all of those examples because all of those organisations are state owned already . and the state owned already. and the

idea that suddenly, as the labour party has been saying, we're going to nationalise everything, then it will all be fine. well, i'm afraid, although louise hague, the transport secretary, has fixed this pretty quickly, it's going to be very slow and very painful to get the railways to a state where people will actually want to come back to them. and you get you need people coming back to them, because of course, revenue has collapsed since covid. yes, i think a third fewer passengers now regularly on the railways, which is why the tories wanted these efficiencies , which now these efficiencies, which now haven't happened. >> but simon, you mentioned all of those problems that have prevented people travelling in the last few days, perhaps due to a lack, a lack of investment, updating that infrastructure. i wonder, are we going to swap one problem for another? yes, we'll have fewer days lost to strikes now, but maybe if that money is going to pay £70,000 per driver rather than upgrade the signalling or improve the

rolling stock or whatever else it is, we're going to get more days lost to travel for other reasons. >> really, really good cogent argument. now i think what the passenger wants to see, is , is passenger wants to see, is, is absolutely. yeah. pay the rail drivers, get them back working, stop this dispute . although if stop this dispute. although if you're watching in scotland, well first of all, lucky you for living in such a beautiful country. but be warned that there's going to be a ballot on industrial action by train drivers because this dispute is only entirely england, you are going to see, i hope, a gradual improvement. and yes, absolutely. you're both right. we need huge amounts of investment in the railway. now, we were getting that in the shape of hs2. very controversial. i know that . got controversial. i know that. got scrapped last october by rishi sunak, he also by the way , sunak, he also by the way, incentivised people switching from rail to air by cutting air passenger duty on, on, all kinds

of , on passenger duty on, on, all kinds of, on domestic flights. and so therefore it's been a real problem in terms of getting the right, get trains back on track. this is going to go a small way, but there really has to be a very, very serious conversation, between the government, between the unions, the rail companies , the unions, the rail companies, network rail to get things looking sensible. and that is going to include radical reform of working arrangements. and the unions have got used to a couple of things. first of all, yes, they will make changes, but they expect those to be paid for and consolidated into their pay. and secondly, they think that ultimately they will win every strike because the railways are exactly. >> i mean, if i was a union boss, i'd be thinking, well, three years time after this pay dealis three years time after this pay deal is over , i'll do the same deal is over, i'll do the same again. i'll do the same again. won't have any strings attached at that time either. and everything will just be lovely for me and my train drivers. anyway, thank you so much, simon. we'll have to leave it

there. we'll speak again though. travel correspondent at the independent. now we do have a your say here, and i believe it's for my co—presenter sat next to me. >> goodness i'm surprised about that. >> okay mike says two tom harwood all we do is open a doon harwood all we do is open a door. all you do is read an autocue. exclamation mark, exclamation mark, exclamation mark. >> i am very interested to see what the actual role of a train driver is. >> well, you should probably do that before you talk about it. >> no, i'm very interested to see because i know that tube drivers, for example, do operate the doors and on many lines the tubes are completely able to be automated . we see this on the automated. we see this on the docklands light railway. right. and it's only because of union action that drivers sit in there and drive these trains that are perfectly capable to be driven automatically. now, i know that artificial intelligence is quite good these days. >> i think it's time for him to read the autocue, but i'm. >> but i'm not. but i'm not entirely sure that that that newsreaders or indeed interviewers and all the other

roles of this job could be completely automated in the way that train drivers probably could. >> i don't know, it's a challenge for someone out there. we can have a little a little ai tom doing it all for us. >> would there be any difference? i don't know, anyway, in more serious matters, anyway, in more serious matters, a british tanks are now being used in russia . used in russia. >> yes. the uk government confirmed kyiv was free to use donated weapons, including challenger two tanks, in its invasion. so let's speak to our homeland security editor, mark white, about this . there were white, about this. there were huge concerns about the repercussions of british weaponry used on russian soil. >> yes , but the british >> yes, but the british government is quite clear. there has been no change in policy. >> the policy is that ukraine has the right to self—defence . has the right to self—defence. that includes going after logistics and bases that might be planning to or involved in directly attack .

directly attack. >> this is the line from the government, though. but is this not them trying to smooth over what has been a pretty audacious thing from the ukrainians calling the bluff of just about everyone? i mean, the 75 villages that the ukrainians have taken , 82, the 82. now, my have taken, 82, the 82. now, my data is out of date. the 82 they really are advancing, aren't they? the 82 villages that the ukrainians have now taken. they're not all involved in logistics and preparations for attacks. clearly, the british government's in favour of this incursion from the ukrainians. it seems like an audacious and probably quite a positive move in this war that had been static. but is it really credible to say , oh, we're credible to say, oh, we're completely we've always been fine with this. >> i'm sure that the government has taken legal advice on this and the operation into this area, the kursk region of russia, is aimed at going after those logistics and bases that are involved in attacking

ukraine. and as such, they believe that they're justified. and of course , on the way to and of course, on the way to doing that, they are advancing through and capturing settlements. 82 as i said, the very latest is the president, volodymyr zelenskyy, has confirmed that the town of slutsk, which is a town of about 6000 people, just 65 miles south—west of the regional caphal south—west of the regional capital, kursk city, so that just shows you just how far they are advancing . that is now under are advancing. that is now under ukrainian control. as well. and it's deeply embarrassing for president putin of russia, who does not appear to have any action, any answer to what ukraine is doing at the moment. it'5 ukraine is doing at the moment. it's not that easy. very rapidly to secure the defences in place to secure the defences in place to stop this advance. given that he has committed so many hundreds of thousands of troops to the main battle against ukraine. of course, in the

donetsk region and of course in the south and east of ukraine as well. >> will the uk government be privy to ukraine's military strategy here? >> to an extent . but you know, >> to an extent. but you know, the battleground decisions are being made by ukrainian commanders in conjunction with the, the, the political leaders in kyiv. so i'm sure there are military liaison officers who are if not on the ground, then are if not on the ground, then are fairly closely connected with those counterparts in ukraine. but i think it's very interesting, the fact that we have these challenger two tanks now operating on russian soil, british supplied tanks, main battle tanks that are very effective. i mean, we've moved now to developing the challenger three, which is the next the new generation . but even so, the generation. but even so, the challenger two is a very effective fighting machine. the

uk gave ukraine, donated 14 of these tanks. and you'll remember at the time, we were the first nafion at the time, we were the first nation to give them battle tanks and that pushed other nations forward into doing that, including germany, other european countries who provided the leopard 2 and leopard one tanks to ukraine, as well as of course, the us providing the abrams tanks. >> we're looking at. we're looking at our donated tanks on the screen. now they do seem like they go at quite a pace. and i wonder , this i'm starting and i wonder, this i'm starting to think, why on earth didn't ukraine do this before? for a year they've been stuck with static lines, trench warfare, and they've learned that they can just go around the edge. >> yes, because, i mean, it's clearly the last thing, really that the russians were preparing for. they thought that ukraine was just, busy enough and had all of its attention devoted to

trying to prevent the, the russian incursion into its territory , but actually taking territory, but actually taking the fight to russia clearly has taken the russians by surprise. it will take them, as we said, some significant time to be able to muster troops in that area to fight an effective defence. and by then maybe ukraine have withdrawn anyway because they've got some valuable troops there, including elite troops from the 82nd air assault brigade, who operate these challenger two tanks. and that's why we know and are aware that challenger two tanks are fighting in that area as well. now, what they're not using are the longer range weapons. so while the uk is saying it's okay to go after these targets and logistics that are targeting ukraine, if it involves attacking deep into russia with storm shadow missiles and the like, we're not willing to go quite that far yet. you never know, that might change, but this is quite far.

>> this is quite far, thank you very much indeed. mark white. our homeland security editor. let us know what you make of that gbnews.com/yoursay >> well, from military drones to civilian drones, how would you feel if your amazon parcel were delivered by drone? >> well, it could soon be a reality. prime air receives approval to trial its services in the uk, so you could be getting your big mac by a drone. we're speaking to the ceo of a drone delivery company. after this,

we. >> we. >> good afternoon britain. it's 2:28. now. would you be comfortable with an amazon drone delivering your next order? >> yes. >> yes. >> the company expects to launch the service by the end of this yeah the service by the end of this year, and prime air , that's what year, and prime air, that's what it's called, has received

approval to trial their service in britain. so it could be coming to you. >> well, goodness me, it's one of six schemes selected by the aerospace regulator in an effort to expand drone usage right across the uk. >> right. let's learn more about this. >> bobby healey has been running his drone delivery company in dubun his drone delivery company in dublin for the last three years, so he can speak to him now. thank you very much for joining us. so you're a step ahead of amazon on this front. have you been running your own drone delivery company for this long? how does it actually work and are there not some sort of health and safety hazards of having drones flying around with deliveries? >> yeah , autonomous flying >> yeah, autonomous flying robots have been real in ireland for over three years now. in dubun for over three years now. in dublin . we're also live in dublin. we're also live in texas, in dallas and in soon, helsinki. >> so they're real. >> so they're real. >> we'll be doing 2 million deliveries by the end of this yeah deliveries by the end of this year. so very, very real. so i think your listeners or viewers can expect to see nana in the uk as well this year. it's extremely exciting and the way it works is very simple. we fly at about 50 miles an hour as the

crow flies directly to your house. we hover at about 20m as you saw there amazon doing. and then we tethered the product down. so we, we fly quite a bit higher than the amazon drone. and to avoid coming too close to people. and then we literally drop the product at the speed of gravity. we slow it down just before it touches the ground . before it touches the ground. and fun fact coffee is the one number thing we deliver. 30% of our deliveries are cappuccinos . our deliveries are cappuccinos. >> in that case, i suppose you wouldn't recommend delivering glassware or anything intricate if you're dropping it. >> we've delivered pints of guinness , many, many pints of guinness, many, many pints of guinness, many, many pints of guinness in glass pint glasses. >> we do have to put a lid on them, but, it it's a very gentle process. so while we drop it quickly out of the aircraft after about four seconds, we slow it down so you could deliver a puppy with this system? we wouldn't. >> bobby, i'm a bit confused because i thought that drones weren't allowed to be used close to residential areas or, you know , overlooking other people. know, overlooking other people. >> how do you get around that? >> how do you get around that? >> yeah. so commercially

licensed operators like we are and we have a license for the whole of europe and the united states, we obviously obey privacy rules. so we don't have any recording equipment. we have no way to invade anyone's privacy. we don't even know your name , your phone number or name, your phone number or anything. when we fly to you, it's a completely anonymous private service secure, safe and quiet. so it's a million times better than the equivalent road based delivery where a person is knocking on your front door and delivering you a product. we delivering you a product. we deliver to your back garden and have absolutely no customer information. so it's extremely respectful of privacy. >> so that's one of the other big advantages for people that are out in the middle of the day. i can't count the number of little slips that have come through. come and pick up your parcel, go and wait in a queue. i mean, you might as well not have had it delivered. someone could just go in your not in your back garden, not in the back garden. >> no, that clip was in the front. >> that's true, that's true. do you exclusively deliver to back gardens then. is that how it works? >> back gardens, front gardens, roofs we've delivered onto the roofs we've delivered onto the roofs of cars, onto trampolines is very popular. so it doesn't

matter so long as it's a private place you control and the customer decides where we deliver to. and ultimately it's a gps coordinate for us. we don't care what it is as long as it's flat and inanimate. it works great. now our elderly customers will usually deliver to the back garden because they don't want to go out to the front door and but most, most people kind of half and half, front and back garden. i mean, bobby, what are all these people going to do who have jobs with deliveroo, with amazon delivery, with all of these different delivery companies, drones are just going to take over. >> it's going to be an awful lot ofjob >> it's going to be an awful lot of job losses. or are there lots of job losses. or are there lots ofjobs of job losses. or are there lots of jobs going at at your place? >> yeah, quite the opposite actually. if you think about it, our local bookstore that we power, i can access 250,000 customers with a three minute flight. so we're creating an enormous amount of jobs in the local economy by powering the small guy to do business, our ice cream producer, our restaurants that we power. suddenly, those businesses have doubled in volume. so we're a netjob doubled in volume. so we're a net job creator. yes we will remove some jobs like delivery driverjobs

remove some jobs like delivery driver jobs , but the delivery driverjobs, but the delivery driverjobs, but the delivery driver is six times more likely to be involved in a road collision than any other driver. so we think that's a good thing, to make the roads safer and make the planet greener at the same time. >> oh, bobby, you've got an answer to every question. thank you so much forjoining us and giving us a glimpse there of perhaps the future. >> yes. >> yes. >> thank you very much. bobby healy, founder and ceo of manna drone delivery. it's quite i mean, it's like something out of a cyber movie. >> and the thing is so quick, i mean, i think a lot of things that we interact with every day, i mean, the fact that we can just sort of chat to ai now or you're the only one who does that. okay. fair enough. that's, maybe i should get some more friends, but, but i mean, lots of things we interact with would have seemed mad ten years ago, but now . co—host. but now. co—host. >> anyway, coming up, a level results have been released across england today. i hope your children, grandchildren, your children, grandchildren, you yourself did well. revealing an increase in top grades awarded which remain above pre—pandemic levels. what's going on there ?

going on there? >> good afternoon. it's 233. i'm cameron walker here in the gb newsroom . and some breaking news newsroom. and some breaking news to bring you david taylor, who is 62, has been charged with the attempted murder of a greater manchester police officer who was stabbed in the chest inside the high security frankland prison last month. that's according to durham police. the officer suffered critical injuries and was taken to hospital by ambulance following treatment. he was discharged and is now recovering at home. taylor, formerly of willington, will appear in court on the 3rd of september. the proportion of a—level entries awarded top grades is up on last year and remains above pre—pandemic levels . remains above pre—pandemic levels. hundreds of remains above pre—pandemic levels . hundreds of thousands of levels. hundreds of thousands of students in england, wales and northern ireland received their exam results today. more than three quarters of english 18 year old applicants have been accepted into their first choice of university, according to the department for education, which also warns there's still inequalities in the system .

inequalities in the system. well, in the last hour, a 15 year old boy has become the first to be charged with the more serious offence of rioting in relation to disorder. in sunderland on the 2nd of august. that's according to the crown prosecution service. the boy from sunderland will appear at south tyneside youth court today, where he will be asked to enter a plea . the economy is enter a plea. the economy is continuing to recover from last year's recession , with growth year's recession, with growth extending over the latest quarter. the for office national statistics says gdp increased by 0.6% between april and june . 0.6% between april and june. conservatives claim today's figures are further proof that labour has inherited a growing and resilient economy . but and resilient economy. but chancellor rachel reeves says she she has inherited more than a decade of low economic growth from the tories . train drivers from the tories. train drivers are to vote on a new offer aimed at ending their long running pay disputes, which has resulted in days of strike action. the aslef union says the offer was made in

talks at the department for transport, which started after labour won the general election following months of stalemate under the conservatives. the drivers are being recommended to accept the offer, which could bnng accept the offer, which could bring an end to industrial action and overtime bans. now british challenger two tanks are thought to have been used in ukraine surprise incursion into russia. it comes after the government confirmed kyiv was free to use uk weapons inside russian territory, with the exception of british powerful storm shadow missiles. the latest turn in the conflict has sparked concerns about a wider escalation of tensions between russia and the west , escalation of tensions between russia and the west, and global superstar taylor swift. she's closing the european leg of her eras tour with five nights at london's wembley stadium. now we're bringing you live pictures here of thousands of fans already there waiting for the concert, which starts later on tonight. it's the first time she's returned to the uk taylor swift since paying tribute to the victims of the southport attack last month, where three young girls died in a mass

stabbing at a dance class featuring her music earlier this month. taylor swift was forced to cancel three shows in vienna after a suspected islamist terror plot . well, those are terror plot. well, those are your latest gb news headlines for now. i'm cameron walker. now it's back to tom and emily for the very latest gb news direct to your smartphone, sign up to news alerts by scanning the qr code, or go to gbnews.com forward alerts to say hello to

>> and it's time to say hello to martin daubney and find out what's coming up on his show. martin, tell us. >> well, have the labour party created a super black hole? never mind the black hole they inherited. they've created one even bigger in their first month. half £1 billion to their

mates in the train unions. half £1 billion to the junior doctors, 13 billion. >> if you factor in future pensions and 10 billion to teachers and nurses. >> not forgetting £6.5 billion in hidden asylum costs that we revealed earlier this week , that revealed earlier this week, that adds up to a £30 billion black hole and rising because guaranteed, as sure as night follows day, more unions will be beating their way to the door of number 10, asking for their bag of silver and aldershot protests. last week we saw a scoop of arrests, including a girl of 13. a peaceful protest took place in the area last night. the left were accusing locals of shipping in right wingers from outside. well, i'm going to be speaking to a local today who's got proof that it's the left who've been shipping in outsiders , including, we think, outsiders, including, we think, a corbynista from london hq specifically, and deliberately trying to antagonise locals . trying to antagonise locals. plus, a dating ai app promises

to weed out short men if you're less than six feet tall, you're not wanted. the app will height shame you and get rid of you. i'll be asking. you know what's coming? is it time for an app? does the same to women. let's see your body weight. let's see how you like being body shamed. all that coming three till six. >> mymy ma . that is outrageous. >> mymy ma. that is outrageous. >> mymy ma. that is outrageous. >> martin. and totally sexist. >> martin. and totally sexist. >> hang on. >> hang on. >> why is it any different from telling men that they can't be short? >> well, i don't think patrick is. anyway. he's not six foot, so it's just a setting on a dating app. it'sjust so it's just a setting on a dating app. it's just a setting on a dating app. nothing to see here, but yes, i don't think we should. none of us should. catfish >> no, no. and i'm six foot while i'm wearing shoes , so. while i'm wearing shoes, so. martin, we look forward to it . martin, we look forward to it. 3:00, yeah. no. we're cracking. show particularly the supermassive black hole , my supermassive black hole, my favourite thing about black holes is a process called spaghettification, where if you, if you go past the event

horizon, the photon sphere outside a black hole, because there's greater gravity on one part of your body than the other, you get stretched like spaghetti. >> you know what? my sister did her thesis on supermassive black holes. amazing. that is the technical term . so she could technical term. so she could probably tell you even more about spaghettification. >> look forward to it. >> look forward to it. >> anyway, it's a—level results day and 4 in 5 students have successfully got into their first choice of university . first choice of university. congratulations! hopefully many parents and teenagers will be celebrating right across england, wales and northern ireland today. >> so let's speak to the headteacher of lvs ascot, christine cunniffe. a happy day christine. >> a very happy day. >> a very happy day. >> well done to everybody today. >> well done to everybody today. >> it's a marvellous day . >> it's a marvellous day. >> it's a marvellous day. >> oh fantastic. how were the results at your school. >> yeah, very very good. >> yeah, very very good. >> i mean you just never know from one year to the other and obviously the schools received the day before. so we spent yesterday analysing the results and having a look, about what our pupils have achieved. and it's just absolutely fantastic. you know, they've done so well

and we're so, so proud of them. >> now , there is one bit of >> now, there is one bit of concern in the reporting today, which is that this year there are 5000 more a star grades that have been handed out than the year before. >> does that mean that they're 5000 times brighter? i don't know, i mean, is there a bit of grade inflation going on? >> i would have thought it's grade inflation. >> well, you'd hope not, especially after the last couple of years. but i think, you know, the children are achieving and it's just one of those years. i mean the overall pass rate is very similar to it has been over the last couple of years . so the last couple of years. so just because we're seeing the top end of the grades, i wouldn't see that as anything to be alarmed by. i think children achieve what they've set out to achieve what they've set out to achieve and they've they've worked hard. >> i always hear from older relatives, though , christine, relatives, though, christine, about how in my day exams were far harder. you know, the o—level, nothing like the gcse. this time. i have actually looked at old papers from 50 years ago, and they did seem a little bit trickier. or do you think that's rubbish , christine?

think that's rubbish, christine? >> well, i must admit, you're actually talking to one of those people because i'm an old o—level student, and i think i think they're just different. i think they're just different. i think they're just different. i think the world's changed, and you can't live in the past. we all, we all start to talk like our mothers eventually, don't we, about what it was like in our day. we can't take away from the young people. they're doing a great job. okay? the curriculum and exams need to change a bit. let's hope there will be some changes. but you know, let's celebrate today for what it is now. >> of course, a—level results day does mean lots of university choices, but also for some families , the frenetic process families, the frenetic process of clearing. what's your advice ? of clearing. what's your advice? >> so it's been a good year for getting into university, that's for sure. and you've just quoted the statistics . four out of five the statistics. four out of five got into their first choice. so it's an amazing day. and my advice would be be sure that this is the course that you want to take. make sure that this is where your passion lies. it's very easy to get caught up in what you think you should have got caught up in before christmas. when you applied. life changes, especially when you're at such a young age . so

you're at such a young age. so if it's if you're not sure, you can always decline that place and go through clearing, you can clear up, you can clear down, you can clear very many, many ways. but follow your heart, follow your passion because it's a long time to study and it's very expensive . very expensive. >> yes. and do you, do you advise pupils to go where their passion lies or do you talk to them about things like career progression and potential salaries and whether that whether that particular degree it might be your passion, but will it, you know, get you anywhere? do you talk in that way or is it, you know, just do the thing you love the most? >> i mean, i'm also a mum of three. grown up children have all been through university as well. and you know, we're all guilty of saying you need to do this because this is where the career progression is. you've got to guide them in the right way. you've got to guide them in the right way. that's going to make they need to be happy. and i don't agree with going for uni for the sake of it, because there's some wonderful apprenticeships out now, and you've got to it's about the individual and what they're looking for in life . looking for in life. >> and if you, if you're going to go and study advanced

mathematics but find you hate it and then drop out after a year or two, it's not going to do that much for your employment prospects. so finding a balance, i suppose, between the two is very important. pick on maths . very important. pick on maths. sorry, it was the maybe it's because it's the one that i didn't do. >> i think it was the one you didn't like. >> thank you so much, christine cunniffe. and. well done to all of your students. headteacher of lvs ascot school, yes. maths wasn't for you , was it? oh, wasn't for you, was it? oh, you're probably quite good at it. >> i was all right at it. ijust >> i was all right at it. i just preferred politics and history and thinking man. >> and english and english. >> and english and english. >> well, there you go. moving on. swiftly after the break, taylor swift is back in town. there she is, dancing, doing her thing. she's got an extraordinary number of songs and an extraordinary number of outfits to match. stay tuned .

>> good afternoon britain. it is 10 to 3 and taylor swift is back in town. yes, she continues her mammoth eras tour, but there are concerns about the safety of fans. after all, three of taylor swift's concerts were cancelled in vienna due to concerns of a terrorist attack. >> yes, but i believe we're now going to be going to adam cherry, who is there at wembley stadium for us now, i understand. oh, there you are in the thick of things, adam. i understand that swifties have been queuing for hours already. >> yeah, that's right guys , >> yeah, that's right guys, actually just behind me. behind me, over my shoulder. you'll see queues for the merchandise, the t shirts they're extending all around the block. i mean, it's getting very busy here very quickly. now, on that point on talking about merchandise. we both know that i'm a massive

swiftie, there's no doubt about that. but i don't necessarily look like one. so we've got a solution to that. so take a look over here. jerry over there has sorted us out with a hat, but i haven't actually chosen the one i want yet. so guys, i want you to help me. which one of these hats do you think would suit me the best as a massive swifty? >> adam? adam, is there a choice? the pink sparkles every day of the week. not even a choice . choice. >> all right. okay, well, let's go for it. if i can get it out. >> that's the one, princess. there we go. >> there we go. >> there we go. >> wow. >> wow. >> we're sorted . it's a bit >> we're sorted. it's a bit windy, so i might have to hold on to it, but i think we can agree this has been a huge success. >> how much did that cost you, adam? it is. how much did that set you back? >> cost just £20. just 20. just 20. >> no problem at all. fantastic. >> no problem at all. fantastic. >> well, that sounds like a great deal. let's hope there's not a blank space left in your wallet after that . wallet after that. >> look what you made me do. i said it last time. i'll say it again. yeah. don't shake it off. >> keep it on your head and you

know. >> thank you very much. >> thank you very much. >> it'll keep out the daylight. >> it'll keep out the daylight. >> it'll keep out the daylight. >> it will keep up the daylight. but, adam, on a more serious note, you may wish to take your hat off for this one, but on a more serious note, there have been some safety concerns. have the security been ramped up ? the security been ramped up? >> yeah. so you're only allowed they're announcing this over the tannoy as we speak. actually, you're only allowed to take in one small bag about the size of an a4 piece of paper per person, and you're not allowed to congregate, as many fans have previously outside the venue if you don't have a ticket. so you can't sing along outside. so there is a heightened sense of security here. but to be honest, everyone is still having a great time. it's not overshadowing the event at all. >> it's not become a cruel summer . summer. >> summer. >> so please. >> so please. >> well, you know, swifties are nothing if not resilient. tom, thank you very much indeed. adam. cherry, have a good rest of your evening. oh, let's see the hat again. >> it's. you look absolutely enchanted in the hat. there we go. >> beautiful. there we go. oh, brilliant mattresses. >> lovely pink shirt. well, there you go. bye, adam. good

stuff. i mean, it is packed out, isn't it? >> absolutely is. you'll be telling that hat you belong to me. it looks gorgeous, it's delicate. >> perhaps even here he goes. >> perhaps even here he goes. >> some might be guilty as sin. >> some might be guilty as sin. >> it is a shame that people can't sit and listen to the music outside of the stadium, because i've seen some extraordinary pictures , extraordinary pictures, particularly in the us, particularly in the us, particularly in the united states, where people have been on like bridges about 500m away from the stadium and still singing along, still singing along with their dads and in the rain and it's actually quite moving. you know, there are some things that are just nice. you know, we talk about doom and gloom all the time. you might make fun of taylor swift and all her little fans, but actually it's just a nice thing. it bnngs it's just a nice thing. it brings joy to so many people. you see the joy in these young girls eyes, don't you? >> yeah. absolutely do. >> yeah. absolutely do. >> well, dads who have to take them there. >> let's hope they all stay safe. up next, it's martin. >> a brighter outlook with boxt solar, sponsors of weather on .

solar, sponsors of weather on. gb news. >> hey there, here's your latest gb news weather update coming to you from the met office. for many, there will be some decent sunny spells around today, but also some blustery winds and a few showers in the north and there is a spell of rain pushing its way south eastwards. that's because of a frontal system that's currently marching across parts of scotland, northern ireland and into northern england. already having brought quite a bit of rain this morning, and will continue to do so as it gradually makes its way across the country through the rest of today . but like i said, rest of today. but like i said, some sunny spells for many of us, especially across southern and eastern parts of england and generally feeling pretty warm here, temperatures getting into the mid 20s celsius a bit fresher than this. further north and west, even though there will be some sunny spells and just a few showers across parts of scotland. as we head through this evening, that rain is going to continue to make its way south eastwards, but it will have cleared away from much of scotland. and so here it is just going to be a mixture of sunny

spells and some showers as we go through the end of the day. also a largely dry picture across much of northern ireland with that rain having cleared through and only 1 or 2 showers here. much cloudier , wetter story much cloudier, wetter story though across much of england and wales as that front gradually makes its way south eastwards but still clinging on to some fine weather across parts of the south—east for a little while longer. but that rain is going to push its way through as we go overnight, and it could actually invigorate a little bit more. so some heavy rain possible across the far southeast through the early hours of tomorrow morning. elsewhere, we will have dry and clear weather for many places, and so it could turn a little fresh for some of us. temperatures in some rural spots could drop into mid single figures , a bit of a wet start figures, a bit of a wet start then possible across the far southeast first thing tomorrow morning, but that rain should quickly clear away and then otherwise it's looking like a pretty fine day . plenty of pretty fine day. plenty of sunshine around, just some blustery showers to watch out for, particularly towards the northwest of scotland, but most places avoiding these and temperatures relatively similar

to today. again, we're looking at highs in the mid 20s. see you later. >> that warm feeling inside from boxt boilers. >> sponsors of weather on

gb news. go away . go away. >> a very good afternoon to you. it's 3 pm. and welcome to the martin daubney show on gb news, broadcasting live from the heart of westminster and all across the uk. on today's show, labour caved in to the rail unions today in a move set to cost half £1 billion. added to the £10 billion for the public sector workers. half a billion for junior doctors and an additional £6.6 billion for asylum. that we unveiled this week. have labour created an even bigger black hole than they inherited? we'll talk to a former union boss and another peaceful protest took place in aldershot last night.

we'll speak to a local who tell