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

us that they managed to demonstrate, despite there being what they said were antagonistic counter—protesters from outside of the area. and taylor swift's tour resumes in london today. it's her first show since the failed terror plot in vienna. they'll be beefed up security measures in place and will be live from wembley. all of this between now and 6:00. what's a show? always a delight to have your company. well, rachel reeves said they inherited a £21 billion black hole from the conservatives, but the labour party's black hole looks to become a super black hole with bumper payouts for their union mates and the rails in the teaching unions in the nhs, junior doctors. who's next? who else will be queuing up for their pay packet at number 10? meanwhile, the winter fuel allowance was axed for

pensioners. do you think this is fair? do you think this endless giveaway to public sector workers is hitting you in the pocket, hitting you as a pensioner? and what's going to pay pensioner? and what's going to pay for this? a magic money tree or inevitable tax rises? let me know your views . the usual ways know your views. the usual ways gbnews.com/yoursay but now it's your headlines with tatiana sanchez. >> martin. thank you and good afternoon. the top stories. and as you've been hearing, 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, who is from sunderland, will appear at south tyneside youth court today where he'll be asked to enter a plea. more information on that story as we get it. in other news, 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 government. however, 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 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. however, shadow chief secretary to 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 . british 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 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 military west. israel's military offensive in the gaza strip has killed at least 40,000

palestinians and wounded more than 92,000 since the attacks on october 7th, 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. back here, the government is pledging £13.5 million in funding to support supply chain businesses and workers affected by tata steel's decision to transition to greener steelmaking, which is expected to lead to job losses. it's understood more than 50 businesses so far have signed a pledge to support any workers forced to leave their jobs in the steelworks. negotiations between the uk government and tata steel regarding the future of the port talbot works is continuing. separately, secretary of for state wales jo stevens blames the previous government for the current job losses within the industry. well, we certainly are

committing to jobs, so you know, as well as the negotiations about investment by government into the steel industry to secure the future of the steel industry, not just here in port talbot across the united kingdom, the £135 million that i've announced today directly to help the supply chain businesses and the people who work in the supply chain, including contractors who work at the steelworks, is real money out of doon steelworks, is real money out of door. within six weeks of this coming into government, you know, we've had 14 years of the previous government sitting back and watching the steel industry decline . our drivers are being decline. our 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 payments only with cash, cards or official apps. recently fraudsters have been placing stickers featuring qr codes on parking signs and locations across the country , taking across the country, taking victims to fake websites to input their card details before spending money from their accounts . royal news now on the

accounts. royal news now on 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 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. these are live pictures where thousands of fans are expected to attend later. they've already started gathering in their thousands. at the moment it is the first time she's returned to the uk since, of course, paying tribute to the victims of the southport attack last month, where three little girls died in a mass stabbing at a dance class that was featuring her music earlier this month. taylor swift was forced to cancel three shows in vienna after a suspected islamist

terror plot . those are the terror plot. those are the latest gb news headlines for now, i'm tatiana sanchez. more from me in half an hour for the very latest gb news direct to your smartphone, sign up to news alerts by scanning the qr code , alerts by scanning the qr code, or go to gbnews.com. >> forward slash alerts . >> forward slash alerts. >> forward slash alerts. >> thank you tatyana. now we have some breaking news for you now. and the us media is reporting that multiple arrests have been made in connection with the death of friends star matthew perry. the american actor died last october due to the acute effects of ketamine. he was aged just 54, and the website tmz is reporting that at least one doctor and some dealers have now been arrested. they say warrants and seized computers, phones and other

electronic equipment are being searched to determine who suppued searched to determine who supplied perry. the friends star was on ketamine infusion therapy for anxiety and depression. we'll have more on that story later in the show . moving on to later in the show. moving on to our top story this hour. and train drivers from the aslef union have reached a deal with the government that could finally bring an end to strike action that has at times crippled britain's rail network. but here's the big question at what cost will the deal, which would see train drivers receive a pay would see train drivers receive a pay rise of 14% over three years, is estimated to cost the treasury a whopping £100 million. now, there have only beenin million. now, there have only been in power the labour party a month and already labour seem to be spending their way to popularity , certainly with their popularity, certainly with their union and public sector bodies. so far they have signed off for 5.5% pay rise for public sector workers, and that will cost about £10 billion. they've

agreed a 22.5% pay increase for junior doctors pay, which is estimated to cost up to £530 million. although some people say it's as high as 13 billion. if you add in future pension liabilities. if you add in future pension liabilities . well, so much for liabilities. well, so much for plugging that £20 billion black hole seems to be getting even bigger. i'm joined in the studio now by gb news political editor chris hope. chris, a bumper payday chris hope. chris, a bumper payday for the rail unions. let's start with that . let's start with that. >> it seems that way, doesn't it? 5% pay rise this year 4.75% next year , 4.5% the following next year, 4.5% the following yean next year, 4.5% the following year, probably at least twice inflation for these aslef train drivers. anyone stuck on the trains, though, knows that when the train drivers go out or virtually the entire route gnnds virtually the entire route grinds to a halt when the rmt, the maintenance workers were on strike, there were some train services, but not one that the aslef are striking. we've heard from louise hague. she's the new transport secretary, she said. i wanted to move fast and fix things, fix things. she said the tories were happy to see

taxpayers pay the price as strikes dragged on and on and passengers suffered. but there was a cost here. there were no demands here for any strings attached . it will increase the attached. it will increase the average 15% pay rise over three years will push up the average salary salary to £70,000 for a train driver from £60,000 aslef say there are no strings attached. helen whately she's the shadow transport secretary. she says this no strings deal means that we'll be paying for it by passengers and taxpayers into the future, yeah. i mean, it's a very generous deal. it comes after, as you as you say, the junior doctors got 22% pay rise, millions of public sector workers got 5.5% costing £10 billion. >> lots of questions here. lots of details to unpick. let's start with the first one. some of this is backdated. so they're getting they're getting a bump a pay getting they're getting a bump a pay rise all the way back to 2019 for not having done anything. here's the point though on on your show on pmqs, louise hague in the studio announced the rails are going to

be nationalised. does that mean that this now becomes a public employee liability? >> she was in this very chair when she told us that, didn't she? and it was quite a big story at the time. made front page news elsewhere. yeah, exactly. i think, yes, there is no the money they're offering is far more than inflation. and that's the worry . there's no that's the worry. there's no attempt to try and link it to any kind of improvement. there is a worry. there will be a worry. it will fuel inflation. we heard that earlier this week. inflation is now 2.2% in august, set to rise to 2.75% by the end of the year. we know that's a problem for everybody. it means we things cost more going into christmas after that, falling to 2% next year. but these big pay increases are a problem, and it's very easy to set to give money out with no strings attached. the tory government, to its credit, was trying to get some idea of productivity improvement that has not happened. >> so we've had the trains, we've had the teachers, we've had the doctors, we've had the junior doctors, nhs doctors who next? this sends out a message, doesit next? this sends out a message, does it not, that the labour

party is very much an open chequebook. if you're a public sector worker or a union that represents them and what happens next year, will there be bigger increases then the tuc meet in september. >> we'll be there for gb news. there'll be more demands for more pay rises. it's a ratchet which this government has got to prove. it can get a grip on. >> now another story you've got for us now, chris, i know you've just got this as a little exclusive for us. we've been talking on this show for weeks now. if only we had an effective prime minister who wasn't in beverly hills, you know, cashing in his air miles. but actually somebody having these kind of battles on the front line. instead, we've got this protracted , drawn out leadership protracted, drawn out leadership process. will it get any sooner? will we know who's going to lead the party? any time before november? >> the answer to that is no. there was speculation today elsewhere that they may bring forward the end of the tory leadership contest from november. the second to before october the 30th, which is the date of the budget. bob blackman, who's the 1922 committee chairman, he's the returning officer for the lord

tory leadership contest. he has told me moments ago, i'm in charge of the process and we have not discussed it. it's not going to happen. it's thought that maybe some teams around the various six leadership candidates had discussed bringing it forward to allow the new leader to be the person to take on rachel reeves in what could be a big tax increasing budget. that's not going to happen. so it'll be either rishi sunak back from his holidays, or jeremy hunt, who's a shadow chancellor. i should say both sunak and hunt are both former former chancellors. they know how to argue a case against tax rises. i should also say that i'm getting an indication of how the next few months will play out. very briefly, the tory party conference will have a morning devoted to each leadership contest. the final four monday morning, monday afternoon, tuesday morning, tuesday afternoon and then a four way hustings. and then it sounds like a single two way, single, two way debate between the final two. and we hope, hopefully bring all this to you on gb news superb , chris. on gb news superb, chris. >> now stick around because i'm now joined by the former rmt

secretary, steve hadley. steve welcome to the show. so, steve, there's a bumper pay rise, double the rate of inflation for train drivers today. you must be over the moon, mate. >> well, i don't know if , if >> well, i don't know if, if you've looked at the figures for these five years, we'll start off in 2019 when inflation was 3%, rpi was 3%, 2020 1.5%, 2021 2.9%, 2022 a bumper 13.8% and 20 23 11.6%. so you've got about 30% of a of a pay pay deduction because of course , inflation because of course, inflation goes up, real wages go down. and these drivers haven't had a pay rise in all that time. and what we have here is a recuperation of about 10% for those past wages. and the promise of 4.5% going forward for one year. so if you take that into calculation, people have lost

about 15% of their wages. so i don't think it's a it's a great deal at all. i think it's a terrible deal. and i think the aslef drivers should think long and hard about rejecting this deal >> so you think even though this pay >> so you think even though this pay rise today is double the rate of inflation, it's going to be locked in for the future? that's just this. this could become steve. this could become a public liability if louise hague's plan to nationalise the rails comes into fruition. this is 100 million and rising. the pubuc is 100 million and rising. the public sector pay rises, £10 billion for teachers, nhs workers, junior doctors , a workers, junior doctors, a further half a billion, as we just said, 13 billion. if you factor in the future pension liabilities , that's a black hole liabilities, that's a black hole that dwarfs the black hole that rachel reeves invented. the simple question is this steve hadley? how do we pay for this? do we go down? your old mate jeremy corbyn's allotment and dig up a magic money tree? or is it going to be inevitable? tax rises? >> well, what we don't do is adopt your mate liz truss's

policies, which are car crash the economy and cut taxes for the economy and cut taxes for the rich . what you do is the the rich. what you do is the absolute reverse of that. you have make the rich pay their fair taxes closed down the tax loopholes, make them pay and let's let's get this straight, because you seem to have skipped over the fact that these drivers hadnt over the fact that these drivers hadn't had a pay rise in five years. you seem to skipped over the fact that inflation in that time comes to 30%. so it's not an above inflation pay raise. it's a it's a half the inflation pay it's a it's a half the inflation pay rise. so it's only half of what inflation is. so they've taken a 15% cut in real terms even with this deal. and we're now in this ridiculous situation that you're trying to pass it off as this year it's a bumper pay off as this year it's a bumper pay rise. it's not a bumper pay rise. it hasn't. >> steve. steve i'll put it. i'll put it to you. i'll put it to you. that train drivers, you know, form a hugely important job. but 70 grand is now the average salary . 70 grand. that's average salary. 70 grand. that's more than double the price of a

school teacher. more than much more than double the price of a nurse. train drivers are already sitting pretty. they get public sector pension paid for by taxpayers. are you seriously suggesting they should still reject this pay the train drivers ? drivers? >> actually, a lot of them don't get a public sector pension at all. they work for train operating companies. so i think that you should check out your facts before making statements like that. >> but they're about to nationalise the rail, >> but they're about to nationalise the rail , steve, >> but they're about to nationalise the rail, steve, as you know, as you know, we've had a privatisation, disastrous privatisation where no drivers went on strike by the government's own figures . government's own figures. >> it cost over £1 billion. hugh merriman back in 2023, said it would have been far, far cheaper to settle the strikes than actually carry it on and it was political intransigence on behalf of the tory government that got us into this mess. so if you take 25 million on a weekday and 15 million on a weekend , that's what the weekend, that's what the concrete costs the economy. it costs the economy for a train strike. so this could have been settled a long time ago and all

that money saved. and it's an absolutely ridiculous argument. they argued that other public sector workers shouldn't get paid more. of course they should . paid more. of course they should. we should have doctors and nurses and all those public sector workers paid more as we should more workers in general. and what that will mean is a massive redistribution of wealth from the parasitic elite, like your boss, rupert murdoch entity to rupert murdoch. >> isn't my boss. sorry, rupert murdoch has nothing to do with gb news. you might want to check your facts, steve. he must be the one who's. >> who's your boss and some other parasites. >> not rupert murdoch, billionaire parasite, is it? >> yeah, i'd imagine he's put on 70 grand a year anyway. is he or pubuc 70 grand a year anyway. is he or public sector money? >> i'd imagine he's a biggins. has that got to do with it? let's stay on point about train drivers putting away a lot of money every week. >> steve clive, tax, steve, steve, chris hope here in the studio with martin. can i break into your chat there to ask you a question? do you your experience in industrial relations, do you think then

that aslef members might turn this offer down despite the fact it's twice inflation? >> well, it's not twice inflation. we've already explained that we've they haven't had a pay rise in five years. if you add up the inflation over that time it comes to well over 30%. this doesn't even come to 15%. so it's a 15% real terms pay cut . it's a 15% real terms pay cut. so it's a ridiculous argument that you keep repeating that it's an above inflation deal. it's not above inflation deal . it's not above inflation deal. and i think that aslef workers would be very, very entitled to turn this deal down because in real terms, they've taken a 15% pay real terms, they've taken a 15% pay cut, even if this is all factored in over those five years. >> well, steve hadley, superb , >> well, steve hadley, superb, £100 million of other people's money. and you're still not happy. the face of socialism. thank you. steve always a pleasure to have you on the show. now is it still worth it to go to university? i'm martin daubney on gb news, britain's news channel

welcome back. it's almost 324. i'm martin daubney on gb news now. we'll bring you reaction to the breaking news that an arrest has been made in connection with friends star matthew perry's overdose death last october, but first, the day is finally here. yes a—level results day is upon us. congrats to everyone who received their grades today for and many, the next step will be university . next step will be university. but with many courses dismissed as mickey mouse degrees. is it worth it anymore? now, if you look at this list on your screen, are the geography. and that's apparently the second worst for value money degree of them all beaten only by drama. and i do like a bit of drama too. well, joining me now to discuss this is kazim chowdhury, who's an apprenticeship and enterprise ambassador from the pathway group. welcome to the

show . thanks for your company, show. thanks for your company, kassim. it has to be said , ucas kassim. it has to be said, ucas this week, the university admissions board, of course, they were saying do whatever you you like. that's your passion. pursue your passion. but the fact of the matter is, we have degrees now in minecraft. the video game, a degree in eastenders, the soap opera and the degree in surf science. now, kassim, before their money or easily parted, it's their choice to do so, of course. but in terms of future earning potentials , a lot of people are potentials, a lot of people are asking is university worth it? what's your take? >> i think we've got to look at university as a whole, you know, is university as a whole delivering for the skills that we need in work today? >> and while a lot of people do choose to go on to do degrees that they're passionate about and study subjects that they're passionate about, that might not necessarily link directly to a job they do.

>> i mean, i did a degree that had a route into employment. >> i did a law degree, but i'm not working in law today. and, you know, you go to university to study, to then get onto the career ladder. >> and actually that's changing. >> and actually that's changing. >> now, a lot of people are doing degrees that they don't necessarily then follow on and go into a career in. now it's to down each individual's choice in terms of what they feel is for value money. personally, do i feel i got for value money for my law degree? probably not, because i didn't go on to, into the field of law . so it's not the field of law. so it's not just as as it's been termed in the news today, mickey mouse degrees that are in question. >> it's university as a whole, and with the huge skills gap that we've got in our economy at the moment , that we've got in our economy at the moment, we do need to look at other options for young people to go into after completing their btecs or a—levels. >> and i think, you know , >> and i think, you know, there's a there's a strong focus. we call it a levels, results day . but a lot of young

results day. but a lot of young people aren't doing a—levels, they're doing btecs, they're doing higher education, so further education courses equivalent to a—levels . equivalent to a—levels. >> so kasseem i've got kids, my boy starts his gcses, which are preparing young people just about to say i've got kids . my about to say i've got kids. my boy starts his gcses next year. he's thinking about a—levels already. university isn't for everybody. it certainly isn't increasingly for the working classes. they are terrified by the amount of debt they have to take on board. could be 50 or 60 grand and rising by the time they graduate. they're paying off debts. for many years. i'm fascinated about where kids should be putting their energies . should be putting their energies. instead, you're in. apprenticeships are your thing. what's a good thing for kids to be pursuing? if viewers watching now got kids of a certain age getting down towards this, thinking about university, what should they be looking at? instead, we hear about the worst value. what's the best value use of their time? cassini >> the best value use of your

time is experience. you can't beat experience. and you know we talk about it time and time again, you know, graduates leaving university without any experience and not being able to get a job. now if you want your child to get a job, get them into work, get them into work as soon as possible, even if it is just a weekend job or any type of job. when i'm out there talking to people, i often say, i started my career in retail. you know, i used to serve teas and coffees to people at a train station. but what did that teach me about life ? how many me about life? how many different people did i have to meet and serve and speak to, and i think, you know, you people's passions change over time. but i think what we need to get young people doing is we need to get them into the world of work, and we need to get them into the world of work. a lot earlier, you know, we need to get them into work or doing some work experience at the age of 16 so they can understand what they want to do, whether they want to go to university, whether they want to do an apprenticeship, whether they want to do a traineeship or a t level, it

comes down to them having the knowledge and experience and having the opportunities. so as you said to me, what is the best value for money? well, you tell me if you was to apply for an apprenticeship and you got a fully funded degree alongside that apprenticeship, well, actually that's great value for money because you'll be on a course for four years, as well as working for four years. so you'll get four years practical experience with an organisation as well as a degree at the end of it . but where i think people of it. but where i think people don't see the value of apprenticeships is at the lower levels. so lower level, two, levels. so lower level, two, level three, level four, and that's because people fail to see progression within apprenticeships. so a big misconception about apprenticeships is, is if you're only doing a level three, oh that's the be all and end all of your apprenticeship . but no, you your apprenticeship. but no, you start an apprenticeship at level two. you can go up to level three, level four, level five, level six, all the way up to an mba, master's degree through the apprenticeship route, which is all fully funded by, the government and also employers as well . so there's government and also employers as well. so there's a government and also employers as well . so there's a strong focus well. so there's a strong focus on employers to do more to

support apprenticeships. and there's the apprenticeship levy, which forces companies to either pay a which forces companies to either pay a tax or pay for training. and apprenticeship opportunities, either for their existing staff or new staff. so there's a lot of schemes out there's a lot of schemes out there to support people with apprenticeships, but i think it's the knowledge for parents, as you could say, you know, understanding what is actually out there and what's available is still a big issue. >> you know, kasim, i am smiling here from ear to ear because i just love your attitude . you just love your attitude. you know, you've gone on your bike attitude and, you know, i was the same. i worked in a lace factory in nottingham when i was 13 as a saturday job, sweeping floors , clearing up. i started floors, clearing up. i started in journalism, sweeping floors, making sandwiches, making the tea , fetching, carrying the tea, fetching, carrying the power of a pound . note power of a pound. note understanding what money is worth. so many people graduate now. they've never done a real day's work in their life. they don't understand the value of money. they don't have social

skills. kassim choudhury , skills. kassim choudhury, absolutely magnificent. thanks for joining us today on the show and the very best of luck with your work there at the pathway group. don't think you have to go to university to get on in life. you can do it by any means necessary. if you've got the will. there's a way . graft is will. there's a way. graft is the answer. superb. now coming up next, we'll get more on the breaking news that there have been arrests in the matthew perry death investigation. but first is your headlines with tatiana sanchez . tatiana sanchez. >> martin. thank you. the top stories. 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, who is from sunderland, will appear at south tyneside youth court today where he is expected to ask to enter a plea . expected to ask to enter a plea. in other news, 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 wales, england 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 . that is according of university. that is 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 for office national statistics says. gdp increased by nought point 6% between april and june . between april and june. conservatives claim today's figures are further proof that labour has inherited a growing and resilient economy. but chancellor rachel reeves has said she's inherited more than a decade of low economic growth from the tories . british from the tories. 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 , escalation of tensions between russia and the west, and an arrest has been made in connection with the overdose death of actor matthew perry. that's according to us media. the friends actor was found dead in a swimming pool at his home in a swimming pool at his home in california in october last year. in california in october last year . the los angeles county year. the los angeles county medical examiner's office according to law that's according to law enforcement , and those are the enforcement, and those are the latest gb news headlines. for now, i'm tatiana sanchez. more from me 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. >> thank you tatiana. now, if you want to get in touch with me here @gbnews, then simply get yourself to gbnews.com forward, slash your save, get in touch and read out the best of your comments. a little later the show, i'm martin daubney

welcome back. your time is 337. i'm martin daubney on gb news now. us media is reporting multiple arrests have been made in connection with the death of friends star matthew perry. the american actor died, of course, last october due to the acute effects of ketamine, and he was aged just 54. let's cross now the pond to la to join. showbiz reporter. great friend of the show kinsey schofield kinsey.

welcome to the show. you and i spoke last october on the day that matthew perry was tragically taken from us. so soon, of course, he battled with addiction publicly for many, many years , and indeed, acute many years, and indeed, acute effects of ketamine was listed in the toxicology reports. and now we have a dramatic development. tell us more. >> that's right. and at the time, i don't know if you remember this. >> we really hesitated to go into any details around drug use. >> use. >> we were we use. >> we were we were 50 concerned >> we were we were so concerned about tainting this legacy that he'd started to build for himself as somebody that was sober and had fought these demons. perry had been getting ketamine infused therapy for anxiety and depression around the time that he passed away . the time that he passed away. but his last therapy was a week and a half before his death. so the ketamine in his system was not doctor prescribed. he had the same level of ketamine in his system that is used for

general anaesthesia in surgery. so the ketamine ingested was not legally prescribed in multiple agencies, including the dea, the us. agencies, including the dea, the us postal service and lapd had been conducting a criminal investigation for months now. at least one doctor has been arrested. associated with matthew perry's death, along with several dealers who helped arrange and deliver ketamine to perry . in the search warrant perry. in the search warrant that they used text messages revealed discussions perry and the ketamine dealers had talked about how they would deliver it to him, what the price was going to him, what the price was going to be so very good on on these investigators for tracking down the individuals responsible for this. >> and of course , the important >> and of course, the important to point out, kinsey, that ketamine, of course , is ketamine, of course, is a tranquilliser. it was originally a horse tranquilliser a veterinary drug and as a consequence it has a tranquillising effect. if misused in humans, it effectively shuts down the respiratory system. it appears

at the point of death. that's what happened. he was in a hot tub. right. and so he kind of went under. is that correct? >> yeah. he was it was so sad to see too, because there was a haunting image that he had posted within just a few days before his death of him in that exact jet. you know , jacuzzi. so exact jet. you know, jacuzzi. so that was the picture that circulated around at the time of his death . authorities in los his death. authorities in los angeles are making it a priority to go after doctors and dealers who illegally push drugs. we just saw one dealer get an 11 year sentence. he was the middleman who delivered drugs that were laced with fentanyl to mac miller, resulting in that rapper's death . so, i mean, drug rapper's death. so, i mean, drug dealers beware in los angeles. this is serious. this is being taken very seriously. >> and kinsey, is it the case? just so we're clear with his in here in britain, is it the case that it here in britain, is it the case thatitis here in britain, is it the case that it is legal to be prescribed ketamine from an authorised doctor in controlled amounts? is that the case?

>> yes. and he was working with a doctor to get some of that ketamine for therapy for anxiety and depression. but they realised that this was not something that was coming from a doctor. this was not being prescribed by a doctor legally, that there were middlemen involved, and that they were getting this illegally from somebody. and of course, they were for perry. he wanted all of this off the record because he was to the public living this brand new, clean life. >> yeah. so it's a tragic story and a dramatic development. of course, we'll keep a close eye on that story. and thanks for bringing us all the latest from los angeles showbiz reporter and as a great friend of the show, kinsey schofield , thank you for kinsey schofield, thank you for that. now, is it time to renationalise our steel industry? well, my view might surprise you on this. i'm martin daubney on gb news britain's news channel

welcome back. your time is 344. i'm martin daubney on gb news now. we'll bring you more reaction to the news that the government has reached a deal with the aslef train union that could see an end to the train drivers two years of industrial action. but at what pnce? industrial action. but at what price? but before that, the government is giving £13.5 million to businesses and workers affected by job losses at tata steel after the company's decision to transition to greener steelmaking. welsh secretary jo stevens has been speaking to reporters in port talbot, and here's what she had to say . to say. >> well, we certainly are committing to jobs. so you know as well as the negotiations about investment by government into the steel industry to secure the future of the steel industry, not just here in port talbot, across the united kingdom, the £135 million that i've announced today directly to help the supply chain businesses and the people who work in the

supply chain, including contractors who work at the steelworks, is real money out of the door within six weeks of this coming into government, you know , we've had 14 years of the know, we've had 14 years of the previous government sitting back and watching the steel industry decline, but it's pumping £13 million into steel. >> enough. is it time some more radical? is it time to take back control and renationalise british steel? it's time for a chunky debate on this now, and i'm joined by the deputy leader for reform uk, richard tice mp and also malcolm grimston, a senior research fellow at imperial college london centre for energy policy and technology . for energy policy and technology. let's start with you, mr tice. so we've been hearing a lot about the railways being renationalised something i think someone from your political background might not be in favour of. but what about steel ? favour of. but what about steel? >> well, i've been talking about concerns of overseas ownership of our two remaining critical steel plants in scunthorpe,

british steel and down here in port talbot with tata . and this port talbot with tata. and this relentless drive towards net zero means the previous government committed about 500 million to tata to replace the blast furnaces that make the strongest steel with electric arc furnaces. and they're going to have to give about a similar sort of 500 million or so to british steel in the north east. but here's the real danger, martin, which is that the blast furnaces, both of them will be closed by the late autumn, and yet they're not going to begin construction, as i understand of the new electric arc furnaces until this time. next year. my real concern is that they never build the electric arc furnaces. they may or may not bank some or all of the 500 million. but i mean, steel is a strategically important national industry and we cannot run the risk of these

furnaces being shut without a guarantee that they are not going to be rebuilt. i mean, frankly, if there had been no net zero, there would have been no need for these electric arc furnaces. i think we are seriously exposed and we could be heading towards total reliance on overseas steelmakers to make the strongest steel malcolm grimston don't think that's a fair point. >> if we want to supply british jobs and be self—sufficient , jobs and be self—sufficient, sovereign in producing our own steel , it's a wise sovereign in producing our own steel, it's a wise thing to take back control and renationalise it. what's your take? >> there are certainly serious points to bear in mind . >> there are certainly serious points to bear in mind. i >> there are certainly serious points to bear in mind . i think points to bear in mind. i think where i'd be cautious about this approach is, is twofold. nationalisation of something like the rail network or the water network. it's a different argument. those are natural monopolies. there's no competition in the water business. there's no competition between rail tracks and therefore a central government involvement in that is very important because they are of

strategic importance. now steel isn't like that. there is an enormous global steel industry, of which the uk is now a tiny, tiny part. >> we may bemoan that as the first industrial nation, but it is a fact and unfortunately, experience of nationalised industries is that things don't turn out in the way that you would have expected. >> we had a nationalised coal industry for many years, far from that , providing security in from that, providing security in our power supplies. we actually became so dependent on national union of mineworkers that we had major power cuts for two years in the 70s and a year long strike in the 1980s, steel was in effect nationalised in 1967. before then, it had been a heavily profit making company. quite quickly it went into losses because nationalised industries tend to get focused on the jobs they can provide and their position in the national infrastructure, and kind of lose sight of what nationalised industries have to do, which is focus on the consumer and the end use people. so from that

point of view, i can understand the motivation. it's certainly worrying if as a country, particularly for defence, we need high grade steel and making it at home does make a considerable amount of sense. but nationalisation, generally speaking, doesn't deliver those benefits. >> so richard tice yeah, there's actually a good halfway house here, which is that the government should have a meaningful stake. we could debate whether it's 30, 40, possibly 50%, probably no more in such a strategically important industry. and then you have, for example , british have, for example, british pension funds on behalf of british pensioners owning the rest privately managed. as malcolm says, governments are very good at funding things . very good at funding things. they're generally very bad at running things. so you try and get the best of both worlds. you get the best of both worlds. you get private sector management, you get that long term strategic ownership pension funds also can think very long term, but fundamentally you have actually got to it's got to be professionally managed. but also we've got to be willing to buy

british and we have to buy our own strong steel, whether it's for tanks, whether it's for other critically important high strength requirements. and if you're reliant on, producers from overseas , you know, when from overseas, you know, when things go wrong, when there's stress in the world, geopolitics, covid, whatever, that sort of crisis, all of a sudden you find you can't get strong steel, you can't build your buildings or whatever. and then we're in a very, very bad place. >> and malcolm grimston , isn't >> and malcolm grimston, isn't that the point? it's all fair and well to have a green steel industry. but if the quality of the steel produced a it's reliant on recycling, which is a finite resource. b it's not strong enough for the severe implications and requirements of structural engineering, and that simply places at the mercy of importing. it doesn't cut down on net zero, it simply offshores it . and is it is it this it. and is it is it this obsession with our own carbon emissions? that's actually the problem. it's killing our steel

industry. it won't. it's killing our oil industry. it won't allow the drilling of shale that's protected america from global shocks such as the ukraine war. and this higher slavery to net zero. actually is what's hampering us. >> well, i mean, i do think there is a climate emergency. >> and i do think globally we have to address it, but equivalently, it doesn't help climate change if we're importing vast amounts, say, of natural gas, that we could be producing here, that adds to the that actually adds to the carbon footprint from the transportation and doesn't do us any good as a country. so i think there is certainly an important argument to be had in there, and it is about the high quality steel that we're talking about. but companies out there don't sell steel to us for our benefit. they sell steel to us because they make money out of it, and it's in their interest to do so. and this is why international trade works , is international trade works, is that it's we go back to adam smith. you know, the baker doesn't make his bread for his for our benefit. he makes it

because he makes money out of it. and so the idea that the international steel industry is suddenly going to grind to a halt, for even for quite severe geopolitics, it's not entirely clear that that would happen. there are many people out there, and the british steel industry was was collapsing long before climate change came onto the picture. we were one of the major steel producers in the iron and steel producers in the world in the 19th century and early 20th century. by 1967, it was in a position that privatisation was, nationalisation was needed and it's continued to decline then. so the idea that the decline of the british steel industry is solely because of net zero, i think doesn't stand up to the to the historical record. >> okay. final word to you , >> okay. final word to you, richard tice. >> there's an interesting point, which is that the majority of the new steel making capacity being built around the world is in asia, and over 95% of that new capacity is blast furnaces because it's the strongest steel. and i think that that

that tells us all we need to know. it's insanity to be relying on these electric arc furnaces, spending huge subsidies when actually it's not going to make any difference to carbon emissions globally because of what's being done elsewhere . elsewhere. >> superb. so thank you, gentlemen. that's richard tice, who's the deputy? the chairman of bebe party, deputy leader of reform uk and also mp for boston and skegness. and thank you also to malcolm grimston senior research fellow at imperial college london, centre for energy policy and technology. now to get in touch, send me your views. gbnews.com forward slash your say what do you think on that. but next as labour cave in to rail unions, have they created an even bigger financial black hole than they inherited? have they created a super black hole? i'm martin daubney on gb news british news channel. not sure whether alex bercow . sure whether alex bercow. >> has a brighter outlook with boxt solar sponsors of weather

on gb. >> news . >> news. >> news. >> hello again. looking ahead, there's quite a bit of fine weather to come as we go through the end of the week, but before then we do have some rain around at the moment that is going to push its way southeastwards, clearing as we go overnight. that rain is in association with a frontal system that has pushed its way in across northwestern parts of the uk already today, bringing quite a bit of wet weather across scotland and northern ireland. it has now cleared away from those areas and is now pushing its way southeastwards across much of england and wales. as we go through this evening and overnight, do watch out for some heavy bursts, particularly in the southeast, in association with this system. but elsewhere, once that front pushes through, we will have some drier, clearer weather developing and under the clear skies it could turn a little fresh, a little cool for some of us. first thing tomorrow morning, it could still be a bit cloudy and a bit wet across parts of the southeast. still some heavy bursts perhaps for kent early on, but that rain

will quickly clear away. and then the sunnier skies across other parts of the uk will spread their way across the southeast through the day. we are going to see a few showers across parts of scotland through the morning, and i think these showers may become a little bit more frequent, perhaps a bit more frequent, perhaps a bit more intense as we go through the afternoon. but towards eastern parts of scotland, northern england, northern ireland and across much of central england, wales and the southwest, it is actually looking like a largely fine day, plenty of sunshine around. and with that, yes, there will be some blustery winds towards the north with the showers, but elsewhere the winds are generally going to be quite light and so it is going to feel pleasantly warm. temperatures similar to today, really looking at highs in the mid 20 celsius towards the southeast . mid to towards the southeast. mid to high teens further north. more showers to come as we go through the evening tomorrow across parts of scotland in particular further south. sticking with that dry theme . so a fine end to that dry theme. so a fine end to the day for most of us. however, as we go into the weekend, the fine weather will continue with

lots of sunshine on offer at times and just some showers towards the north, but some rain likely early next week. >> but by that warm feeling inside from boxt boilers ,

off. >> welcome to the martin daubney show on gb news. we're broadcasting live from the heart of westminster all across the uk. on today's show , labour uk. on today's show, labour finally caved in to the rail unions. today in a move set to cost us half £1 billion. added to the £10 billion for public sector workers , half £1 billion sector workers, half £1 billion for junior doctors, whilst 13 billion, if you add future pension liabilities and an additional 6.6 billion in hidden asylum costs. have the labour party created an even bigger black hole than they inherited? next up, reports from the usa

say multiple arrests made in connection with the death of friends star matthew perry have been made and another peaceful protest took place in aldershot last night about asylum seekers in a hotel there. we'll speak to a local who tell us that they managed to demonstrate, despite there being a counter protest group, and he claims outsiders came from london to agitate them down there. next up, taylor swift's tour resumes in london today. it's her first show since the failed terror plot that cancelled three shows in vienna. they'll be beefed up security measures in place and will be live from wembley. all of this between now and 6:00. of the show. always a pleasure to have your company. well, rachel reeves gave us a big lecture on the state of the nation's finances. £21 billion. she claimed the black hole

inevitably would lead to more tax rises. and yet they seem to be on a bumper giveaway, do they not? half £1 billion to the train drivers today we had a union rep on earlier who said that wasn't enough. £100 million. beg your pardon? there's been £10 billion to teachers and nhs workers, half £1 billion to the junior doctors. this keeps adding up. perhaps that goes to jeremy corbyn's allotment and dig up a magic money tree. get in touch your usual ways. gbnews.com/yoursay but first it's gbnews.com/yoursay but first wsfime gbnews.com/yoursay but first it's time for your latest news headunes. headlines. >> martin, thank you very much and good afternoon. the top stories. 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'll be asked to enter a plea . today, where he'll be asked to enter a plea. in today, where he'll be asked to enter a plea . in other news, the enter a plea. in other news, 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 government . but education 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, 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 on to achieve in life . the 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 says 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. however, shadow chief secretary to the treasury laura trott earlier said the economic growth is thanks to previous tory policies . british previous tory policies. 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 . staying with international west. staying with international news and hezbollah has launched more than 25 rockets and a suspected drone at northern israel , suspected drone at northern israel, according to israel's military. the strikes are a significant escalation, but not the attack that israel's been

anticipating since the assassination of senior figures from hamas and hezbollah two weeks ago. the southern lebanon based terror group has been steadily stepping up attacks against israel in recent days. just after 2:00 local time this afternoon, a suspected drone entered israeli airspace from lebanon and was shot down over the golan heights. according to the golan heights. according to the idf . meanwhile, a man has the idf. meanwhile, a man has been charged with an anti—semitic hate crime over comments he made during a speech at a pro—palestine protest in leeds. 65 year old hisham bin abdullah has been charged with racially and religiously aggravated harassment in relation to a speech made during opposing protests outside leeds. art gallery on the 11th of may, which was attended by around 400 people. west yorkshire police received a number of complaints in relation to those comments which led to his arrest. he is due to appear in court next month. meanwhile, israel's military offensive in the gaza strip has killed at least 40,000

palestinians and wounded more than 92,000 since those attacks on the 7th of october. that is according to the hamas run health ministry. a new round of ceasefire talks is taking place in the qatari capital of doha, in the qatari capital of doha, in an effort to end ten months of fighting in the palestinian enclave and bring 115 israeli and foreign hostages home. while back home, the government is pledging £13.5 million in funding to support supply chain businesses and workers affected by tata steel's decision to transition to greener steelmaking, which is expected to lead to job losses. it's understood more than 50 businesses so far have signed a pledge to support any workers forced to leave their jobs in the steelworks. negotiations between the uk government and tata steel regarding the future of port talbot works is continuing . separately, continuing. separately, secretary of state for wales jo stevens blames the previous government for the current job losses within the industry. well, we certainly are

committing to jobs, so you know, as well as the negotiations about investment by government into the steel industry to secure the future of the steel industry, not just here in port talbot, across the united kingdom, the £135 million that i've announced today directly to help the supply chain businesses and the people who work in the supply chain, including contractors who work at the steelworks, is real money out of the door within six weeks of us coming into government. you know, we've had 14 years of the previous government sitting back and watching the steel industry decline . now, an arrest has been decline. now, an arrest has been made in connection with the overdose death of actor matthew perry , according to us media. perry, according to us media. the friends actor was found dead in a swimming pool at his home in a swimming pool at his home in california in october last yeah in california in october last year. the los angeles county medical examiner's office attributed his death to the acute effects of ketamine, a sedative that can be used as a recreational drug as well as to treat depression. an individual was reportedly arrested in

southern california today . and southern california today. and global superstar taylor swift is closing the european leg of her eras tour with five nights at london's wembley stadium . these london's wembley stadium. these are live pictures now where thousands of fans are expected to attend later tonight. the first time she has returned to the uk since paying tribute to those 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 . those are islamist terror plot. those are the latest gb news headlines for now. i'm tatiana sanchez. more from me 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. >> thank you very much, tatiana. now train drivers from the aslef union have reached a deal with the government that could finally bring an end to strike action that has at times crippled britain's rail network. but at what cost? the deal, which could see train drivers receive a bumper pay rise of 14% over three years, is estimated to cost the treasury a whopping £100 million. well they've only beenin £100 million. well they've only been in power a month and already labour seem to be spending their way to popularity. so far, they've given away this. they've signed off for 5.5% rise for public sector workers. that will cost us around £10 billion. they've also agreed a 22% increase for junior doctors, and that is estimated to stingers. around £530 million. that's half a billion. so much for plugging that 20 billion black hole. well, i'm joined now in the

studio by gb news political editor chris hope. chris welcome to the show. so rachel reeves was at first. old mother hubbard very, very prudent financially until they got in power. now it seems that whichever union knocks at the door of number 10 gets a bag of silver. let's start with the trains. >> it does feel that way. the trains deal is the most recent one.the trains deal is the most recent one. the train drivers, aslef union. they've been striking for the best part of two years over pay, the best part of two years over pay, and they've been given a 15% pay rise over three years, taking the average driver pay to £70,000 a year from £60,000 a yean £70,000 a year from £60,000 a year, big increase. louise. louise hague, the transport secretary, says i wanted to move fast and fix things. fair enough tory. she said the tories were happy to see taxpayers pay the price as strikes dragged on, and on and passengers suffered. it's easy spending money, it's harder saving money and it's very hard attacking , attaching strings to attacking, attaching strings to deals. there's no strings attached here. in this deal, the

tories say helen whately, the shadow transport secretary. no strings deal means that this will be paid for by, by, by passengers and by taxpayers, she says. it comes after, as you said , there in that graphic, 22% said, there in that graphic, 22% pay said, there in that graphic, 22% pay rise for junior doctors , pay rise for junior doctors, 5.5% pay rise for millions of pubuc 5.5% pay rise for millions of public sector workers, £10 billion cost. there are choices being made here by this government that will are going to cause issues for it. they've taken away the winter fuel payment from pensioners completely at the same time as giving a pay rise to public sector workers twice inflation, inflation this week, 2.2% sector workers twice inflation, inflation this week, 22% set to go inflation this week, 22% set to 9° up inflation this week, 22% set to go up to two and 2.75% later this year, and then 2% next yeah this year, and then 2% next year. that's where it should be. the bank of england is that's where its target is. so these pay where its target is. so these pay rises are far greater. you heard earlier though from that, former rmt general secretary. you're all there steve hadley. and he made the point that there's been, you know, 3% inflation in 19, 1.5% in 2020, 13.8% in 2022, 11.6%, 23. so

over the piece, it's really restoring pay to where it should be. that's what they would be arguing. but the worry is going to be that these these double inflation pay rises going forward could have a bearing on inflation. and that's bad for all of us. >> and in fact, steve hadley astonishingly said that he would reject the £100 million. and that's what i said. you know , a that's what i said. you know, a socialist not happy with the £100 million. but that's of other people's money. >> that's the point. you picked him up on that correctly because where does it end? i mean, we have heard these rumours that that, junior doctors might have another go next year. when will this, this government start to show a bit of steel on these pay offers? so far, they've had quite a good run of it. >> and louise hague, you mentioned there now the transport secretary sat in that very chair when she announced that the labour party wanted to nationalise the railways. does that mean that all of these pay rises will become a public liability? a public sector taxpayers would argue they are already are. >> martin, given the state of the that they rely on on the on

the that they rely on on the on the generosity of the public purse to run these services, what's going to happen is as these franchises come to an end, they'll fall back into public ownership. so after 5 or 10 years, maybe the entire network is back, as it used to be under british rail before it became railtrack. and then network rail was floated off, may, may work. it may not. i think it hasn't really worked. privatisation on on the rail network in the same way it hasn't worked with water companies. there's not enough competition. >> and we're about to talk to the taxpayers alliance in a short while, stick around for that. but where's this money going to come from. and another story i want to talk to you about was if only we had a prime minister in place, who would be shouting and biting back about all of this. but we don't. we seem to have rishi sunak, who's gone awol in beverly hills, and we have six anti—fascists scrapping it out, and we won't know who's actually going to be taking these kind of battles until november , or are they until november, or are they going to get their act together and do it sooner? >> november the 6th is a date. now, there has been chatter today that they might bring that

forward to before the october 30th budget, because we've had rachel reeves talking today about difficult choices in hinting at big tax rises in october 30th, the some campaigns wanted to have their the winner selected. of the six mps trying to succeed rishi sunak by the october 30th. but i have been told by bob blackman that he's won't be known to viewers necessarily , but he's the 1922 necessarily, but he's the 1922 committee chairman. he's the returning officer on the entire contest. that will not happen , contest. that will not happen, he says to me. they're going to get down to two candidates by about very early october, and then it's quite important that members get a long chance to have a look at those two final candidates, and we'll bring it to all our viewers live on gb news. >> a lot of infighting at a time when they should probably be fighting the labour party. stick around because we are going to join now the taxpayers alliance, the head of campaigns. elliott. elliott. always a pleasure to have you on the show. so let's do some sums, shall we? now, i'm not as good as maths at you are, but this adds up to a whole flipping great wad of cash. £100

million for the rail unions , £10 million for the rail unions, £10 billion for the public sector workers. that's nhs workers and teachers, junior doctors, half a billion. some people say it's as high as 13 billion. if you add in future pensions liabilities, that's a lot of money, elliott. and sure as night follows day, surely the only way this can be paid for is with tax rises . paid for is with tax rises. >> well, a very good afternoon, martin. and we're certainly seeing a disturbing pattern emerging. the thing we have to remember, of course, with the railways is that the only way that they're able to run is because of the enormous subsidies that they're handed. it's about £11 billion a year. it's about £11 billion a year. it's well over half their income. so they don't actually have enough to money cover the cost of providing those services. and yet the new labour government has decided, rather than looking at reforming the railways, changing the way they work, rather than looking at increases in productivity, they've simply given away vast amounts of cash. and it will be taxpayers that will pay. yes, you're right. i think

unfortunately, through tax rises, as rachel reeves has said, but it will also be commuters who pay through increased rail fares . increased rail fares. >> elliott is chris hope here in the studio with martin. can i ask you a question which is not entirely clear cut as far as i can see. are these double inflation pay rises? are they inflationary? and if so, how much will they add to it to the cpi rate of inflation. do you think ? think? >> well listen, it's impossible to say an exact amount but what we do know is the public sector take in about 48% of overall government revenue. the public sector pay bill is an absolutely vast one. so whenever you start hiking public sector pay by significant amounts, and of course, we already are seeing some inflationary pressures starting to return. we saw inflation tick up just in the last couple of days. so whenever you make such significant pay rises to such a significant part of the workforce and a workforce that isn't seeing productivity improvements and hasn't seen productivity improvements, really for decades, and undoubtedly there is a risk that it could be inflationary. >> and there's a feeling ,

>> and there's a feeling, elliot, that there will be a growing queue because the message that's being sent out by number 10 takes us back, i believe, to the 1970s. let's have some sandwiches . let's have have some sandwiches. let's have some warm beer. let's ask for a pay some warm beer. let's ask for a pay rise. and we've already seen a whole host of unions coming through the door. this surely sends out the message that the labour party will welcome any other union into number 10 or number 11, to talk about their bag of silver. >> well , absolutely. bag of silver. >> well, absolutely. martin, you refer back, of course, to the 19705. refer back, of course, to the 1970s. which of course ended in the winter of discontent and at one point had inflation of 25%. of course, we had inflation of 11%, but it was actually double that in the 1970s. and i think you're right, at the moment, labouris you're right, at the moment, labour is showing that they're caving in to every single demand. and the real problem with that, and something i mentioned a moment ago, is that it's no strings attached. and that's actually how it's been described in the media today, no strings attached. there isn't any productivity requirements. there isn't any reforms being made. and we have to remember the reason why we have a

productivity crisis in this country is not to do with the private sector. they have actually seen pretty good productivity improvements in the last few years. the problem is almost entirely the public sector. and if you're throwing huge amounts of money at public sector pay without productivity improvements, you're not going to see any improvements in service, and you could end up seeing inflation. >> now, elliot kack, the chancellor, has said there won't be an interest or a tax rise on income tax. there won't be vat rises. there won't be national insurance rises. but to be missy elliott for a minute, i mean, they've got to raise taxes somewhere. is a direction of travel a flash of the ankle if you like the winter fuel payment, £4 billion of savings. they're looking at pensioners looking at the better off who do you think the labour party will be going after in terms of filling their black hole? >> well, we've already seen them of course, significantly reduce the scope of winter fuel payments . you're absolutely payments. you're absolutely right to point that out. i think there's something else that i'm

really concerned about. i know they've explicitly ruled it out, but i'm looking at national insurance and i'm wondering whether they're starting to think about that, because capital gains tax, a tax that they've said they want to raise their own figures say that that's not going to raise any money. that £20 billion black hole could. i'm very unfortunate to say it could immediately be filled by reversing the £0.04 cut to national insurance. and while they have ruled it out so far, at the moment, they've got a bit of a record of breaking promises over the last month. >> and if you look closely at the £20 billion black hole, which the rachel reeves said she'd found, have you looked at it? is it real? >> well, it's certainly debateable the problem is with the black hole is so much of it has been created by the fact that labour wants to increase spending, so much so it is in many respects a self manufactured black hole that isn't to deny the state of the pubuc isn't to deny the state of the public finances. the tpa are running a campaign at the moment on the national debt. it is over 2.5 trillion. so there is a problem with the public finances . problem with the public finances. but that specific 20 billion figure is driven in large part by the labour party's own, you know, desire to splash the cash. >> okay. thank you very much for

joining us. that's elliot cook, the head of campaigns at the taxpayers alliance. and also, of course, thank you, chris hope, for joining me in the studio. forjoining me in the studio. now, what's that sound ? play now, what's that sound? play play now, what's that sound? play play play play play . play play play play. >> and the haters gonna hate, hate hate hate hate baby i'm just gonna. >> well, we got there in the end. it is of course, taylor swift. she's performing in london tonight . and the sold out london tonight. and the sold out show will see 90,000 fans make their way to wembley. it comes after three of a planned concerts. of course, in vienna, were cancelled last week when police unearthed plans for a islamic terrorist attack. well, gb news reporter and keen swiftie, i'm told adam cherry is in wembley and adam joins us now . in wembley and adam joins us now. there you are. adam cherry, you are totally in the mood. totally in the zone. tell us, what's it like down there? >> it's going to be another magnificent. >> well, martin taylor's not on

stage for another three hours or so, but already here on olympic way. you can see behind me those watching on television. very, very busy here. in fact, we're going to go on a little bit of a wander. so you'll see just over my right shoulder as we come around here, wembley stadium behind me. as you said, 90,000 people are here. it's been we've been for here several hours and it's a great atmosphere already. the tensions over the security issues and what happened in vienna, you know, there is enhanced security here, but still everyone's having a great time. i've got all my friendship bracelets. i'm a swiftie in training, martin. so i'm learning on the job. i've got a few friendship bracelets here, and i spoke to a few people a few swifties earlier today who explained what it's all about and what we can expect tonight from the gig. so why don't we take a listen to what those guys had to say? i think it's a lyric in one of her songs. >> so like, people started making them for the tour and handing them out. >> yeah, we've got to try and

get some later. >> definitely. do you want one? >> definitely. do you want one? >> i haven't got any trade. can i get? can i get some? guys, we're getting the bracelets. this is fantastic. i was challenged to do this. >> and already there's your first one of the day. >> brilliant. what a treat. yes >> brilliant. what a treat. yes >> debut my first bracelet. first concert. i'm ready for it. i'm ready for it. >> i think it's going to be really good because we're down in the standing bit as well, aren't we? so we're going to be quite close, i think, to a fan. >> have you got friendship bracelets? i've just picked up my first one. oh, you've got to get on it. yeah. >> i've never really done that sort of thing for concerts before. i haven't been to many concerts, so this is like the biggest i've ever been to. i'm really excited. yeah, we're just tired. we've already done , but tired. we've already done, but we're knackered. oh my god, so tired . tired. >> but, like, have you got any merchandise or is this just. >> this is just food. this is just food for the tea. we're going to go wait in the queue for standing now. >> yeah. friendship bracelet. you see. i love it . you see. i love it. >> yeah, i've got some. i stole some of hers . some of hers. >> there you go. my stuff just in the last few minutes. i've

got another one, so i've got four. now, if you want one, martin can bring one back for you. >> well, they suit you better than me, but, adam, cherry on on a more serious point. of course, this will be the first time that taylor swift has appeared in pubuc taylor swift has appeared in public since the tragedy in southport. of course, that was at a taylor swift dance event. do you think we can expect some kind of touching message or acknowledgement of that tonight at wembley ? at wembley? >> yeah, i think you can expect so. yeah. as you say, it's the first time she's appeared since that. and of course, as we mentioned since the events in vienna. so there's a lot, a lot riding on this gig in certain respects it will mean a lot to a lot of people . and just i'll lot of people. and just i'll just touch briefly on the security measures here because it is relevant. they're telling people you can only bring one bag in, has to be about the size of an a4 piece of paper. so a very small bag. everything's being checked as we enter, as you would expect, and you're not allowed to congregate outside of the venue either, as people often usually do actually at these gigs and sing along if they haven't got tickets. but people are going to be moved on if they try to do that. so there

are some some lingering issues over this gig, but actually it's a nice thing and i think people will be really excited for it. >> supervisor adam cherry in the in the element there. we're back to you later in the show for more now still to come, sadiq khanis more now still to come, sadiq khan is apparently plotting to impose rent controls in london. what fresh madness is that? i'm martin daubney on gb news business news channel on the wide we are

>> welcome back. it's 427 on martin daubney on gb news now , martin daubney on gb news now, sidique khan is apparently plotting to impose rent controls in london. well, this is a move that could slash landlords incomes by thousands of pounds a yeah incomes by thousands of pounds a year. can it possibly work? well joining me now to discuss this is a man who knows the answer to that question is a property expert, russell quirk. russell, welcome to the show. not the

first time that sadiq khan has said this . in fact, his friend said this. in fact, his friend jeremy corbyn has banged this tub in the past. what's it all about? can it work and will it ever happen ? ever happen? >> well, i hope it doesn't. >> well, i hope it doesn't. >> and it's look, martin, frankly, this is just cheap posturing politics on the part of sadiq khan. >> so to just reassure london landlords, sadiq khan doesn't have the power to do this as london mayor. but of course his friends, as in keir starmer etc. are now in number 10. so of course he will be lobbying his mates to try and have the power to do this so effectively. what he wants to do is to cap the amount that landlords can charge, or indeed the rate of increase that landlords can impose on tenants. now, that sounds like a great idea, doesn't it? you know, on face value. but think about this for a second. if you're a landlord and bearing in mind most landlords, martin, are not big corporate ogres. they are individuals that have put their savings into between 1 and 3

properties only. they're struggling right now because of increasing legislation from government, the past government, and more of that to come. i'm sure with the current government, but also because of interest rates biting and so on. so what will happen if you say to your landlords that you are now limited in terms of you being able to match the market in terms of market movements, as rents obviously would increase naturally as demand increases , naturally as demand increases, those landlords, frankly, are going to flee the sector. there's already data saying that last year, 70,000 landlords exhed last year, 70,000 landlords exited the private rental sector. so sadiq khan needs to be very, very careful what he wishes for. now, all he's concerned about, frankly, is the pr opportunity here. how this looks to his electorate. labour voters and tenants. but mark my words, in every place that this has been tried. so as an example, scotland and berlin, this has failed mainly because you see an exodus of landlords. and the other thing just to say, martin, is the, the brass neck

of sadiq khan knows no bounds, only yesterday it was revealed that he, in the previous quarter only succeeded in delivering 2% of the affordable homes that he was slated to deliver. so only 150 out of 3000 homes that his target was set at. so for him to have the gall for him to have the brass neck, to say that landlords should now suffer well , landlords should now suffer well, frankly, i'd suggest to sadiq khan martin that if he built the houses that he damn well committed to, you wouldn't have to worry about capping rents because there'd be more properties and the market would look after itself. >> now , russell sadiq khan would >> now, russell sadiq khan would no doubt say this is about fairness , it's about fairness, it's about affordability. he's also said he has no plans to do it imminently. but let's trace back to may when probed on this, sir keir starmer said that we have to stop landlords ripping people off and we can pass legislation if necessary. rachel reeves, before the election, then said i think that should be up to local

areas to decide. well, london is areas to decide. well, london is a local area. if you add all of this together, you can see that the political will does seem to be there , but it's really cloth be there, but it's really cloth eared. >> i mean, it's really it's incompetent, frankly , of incompetent, frankly, of a government or a local authority to think that the long term answer to the problems within the private rental sector are to cap rents because it simply drives landlords away. now, if the government either this one or the previous one or the one before that had built enough homes, enough rental homes and so on, then there'd be enough to go round and this wouldn't be a problem. but landlords are the ones that are having to fill the gap ' ones that are having to fill the gap , frankly, in the homes that gap, frankly, in the homes that aren't built. you know, we all know that we have a deficit in terms of new home delivery in this country. but in particular social homes, you know, you've got millions of landlords now that are renting properties to people on housing benefit. those landlords , martin, are just

landlords, martin, are just going to have enough. they're going to have enough. they're going to have enough. they're going to say, look, i might as well put my money into gold or classic cars or, you know, some other investment vehicle, because this private rental sector thing just isn't worth our while anymore. and that will create a shortage, which means effectively, sadiq khan will be turning people out on the streets because there won't be the rental homes for them to live in. it's a no brainer to not do this, but i'm afraid labour politicians, as we well know they think about ideology and populism rather than the unintended consequences that they then later responsible for. >> okay, russell quirk, a font of knowledge on point. as ever. thank you very much for joining us on the show. always an absolute pleasure. and now it's your latest news headlines with tatiana sanchez . tatiana sanchez. >> martin, thank you and good afternoon. the top stories. 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 is, according to the crown

prosecution service. the boy, who is from sunderland, will appearin who is from sunderland, will appear in court today where he'll be asked to enter a plea. in other news, 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 ons says gdp increased by 0.6% between april and june. conservatives claim today's figures are further proof that labour has inherited a growing and resilient economy. but chancellor rachel reeves has said she's inherited more than a decade of low economic growth from the tories . an arrest has from the tories. an arrest has been made in connection with the overdose death of actor matthew

perry, to according us media. the friends actor was found dead in a swimming pool at his home in a swimming pool at his home in california in october last yeah in california in october last year. the los angeles county medical examiner's office attributed his death to the acute effects of ketamine, a sedative that can be used as a recreational drug as well as to treat depression. an individual was reportedly arrested in southern california today , and southern california today, and the duke and duchess of sussex have been welcomed to colombia as they begin their four day tour of the south american nation. harry and meghan were met in the capital, bogota, by colombia's vice president francia marquez and her husband. they spent around half an hour at the vice president's residence , where they exchanged residence, where they exchanged welcome gifts and were offered tea , coffee and traditional tea, coffee and traditional colombian cheese bread. it's understood they'll focus on the impact of the digital world on young people. the military community and female empowerment. the duke and duchess will also explore colombia's history and culture. those are the latest gb news headlines. for now, i'm tatiana

sanchez. more from me 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 . forward slash alerts. >> thank you tatiana. now, if you want to get in touch with me here @gbnews, you know what to do. simply go to gb news. com forward slash your say, ping your best comments and i'll read some out before the end of the show. i'm martin daubney on

welcome back. it's 438. i'm martin daubney on gb news now. shortly we'll be discussing the beginning of meghan and harry's tour of colombia. but before that, it's another day. another horrific video of street crime in britain that's gone viral. now let's take a look at this as

this cyclist bravely fights off a group of armed thieves, you can see here the bike is pushed to the ground. this is a polish gentleman and they have weapons, hammers. he sprays a dye at them to try and dye their clothes. they leg it off. he makes it through and lives to tell the tale. but that's not always the case.in tale. but that's not always the case. in lawless britain, because while the overall number of knife crime offences has slightly decreased since last yeah slightly decreased since last year, the number of offences resulting in immediate custody has decreased by a staggering 14%. so is this a sign that we're being too soft on knife crime? a topic we talk about way too often on this show, and i'm joined now by gaynor bell, a knife crime campaigner, after her son stefan was stabbed to death. more than 20 years ago, gaynor , welcome to the show, gaynor, welcome to the show, here we are again. the lack of

action, the lack of firm action on knife crime . back in the news on knife crime. back in the news once again. would you mind , once again. would you mind, please? i know it's painful as it is to share with us the story of what happened to stefan , of what happened to stefan, >> well, stefan was sitting in an office of his place where he partly owned, and one of the ex—employees came in behind him, and cowardly stabbed him. i only found out a couple of weeks ago because he was on his parole. i'll explain in a second. he stabbed him in his back, his head, and his face, >> that, to me, is an absolute coward. unprovoked. no reason at all. >> no fight. i'll keep it brief as i can, because it's a very long story , after doing his time long story, after doing his time in jail, which was just over 15 years, he was let out. he committed another crime. i don't know what it was, but, i was told while he was locked up for that 18 months, waiting for his

parole, he was unruly. i also found out just a week before his parole hearing, he'd committed something like 14 previous crimes. two assaulting two officers, 14 crimes before he reached 20. really bad behaviour in prison, bullying . had a in prison, bullying. had a phone. it's a list of all sorts. i was told of three days ago that this vicious thug is being let out on our streets once again . now, to me , i go on. i do again. now, to me, i go on. i do believe in restorative justice. i really do , because i've been i really do, because i've been working with not just people who have committed crimes. i've been working with young people that have carried knives. there's so many different categories and reasons, and i've heard quite a few people on your show, and a lot of them speak a lot of sense, a lot of them speak a lot

of rubbish . one of the things i of rubbish. one of the things i say all the time is education, education, not throwing money at a school for five minutes. now those pupils going out on the streets a year later, they've forgotten all about it. and he's pushing into the head all the time . when is one of these time. when is one of these governments going to listen to somebody like myself and many people like me who have been out to the schools, i've supported over 300 people who have suffered a loss of at knife crime with losing their children and unless you hear, you know, these poor, unbelievable poor angels that have just been killed, you never , ever think killed, you never, ever think it's going to happen to you. but when it does, your life is never the same . there's hundreds of the same. there's hundreds of parents out there , people who parents out there, people who have lost their children through knife crime. when, when, when is this government going to stand up and do something proper about

it ? it? >> gaynor you know, it's a very moving tale and you've been amazing with your work, trying to intervene and save lives . to intervene and save lives. undoubtedly. you know, you have done that , but you raise a done that, but you raise a hugely valid question there. what will it take, do you think what happened in southport hopefully could be some kind of line in the sand? and if so, education is one aspect getting in early, but when that doesn't work, when we see people carrying knives with impunity, what would you like to see done to them? today's report shows that there has been a 14% decrease in the amount of custodial sentences for knife carrying. would you like to see people carrying knives just giving an immediate sentence 100%. >> you know , as i've said to >> you know, as i've said to you, there's a lot of different stories out there. one young boy i went to in see in who was locked up, he was in a detention place and he honestly, it was a lovely young boy and he was

locked up for carrying , carrying locked up for carrying, carrying a knife. i said, why did you go out with a knife ? he said, well, out with a knife? he said, well, last time i went out and he pulled his trousers down and showed me the slash across his backside. he said, i've got my bike stolen. and this happened. he said, so next time i had no intentions of going. i wasn't using it . i intentions of going. i wasn't using it. i took it out to protect myself. he didn't kill anybody. he didn't use the knife. but yes, he was caught . knife. but yes, he was caught. he did get detention. i could tell you so many stories of families. i've spoken to whose child on both sides of the coin, families who have had their children locked up because they've used a knife or killed somebody, but also, children that have been out with knives to protect themselves . and more to protect themselves. and more often than not, they've turned that knife around, you know, and it's been used on them . a lot of it's been used on them. a lot of them honestly have gone out for protection . we i used to do a protection. we i used to do a scenario with a friend, and we used to sort of do like, play

acting and i'd say to them, hey, mate, your girlfriend's either someone could get a knife and come out, oh, i can't, i'm used to saying to a hundred excuses why you can't pick that knife up, because once you go out with a knife, there's more times than not that you will use it . you not that you will use it. you might mean to, but it will happen. might mean to, but it will happen . so i just think that happen. so i just think that yes, there should be the government have stepped down now on all this writing. i'm done very , very well. why can't they very, very well. why can't they show what they've done to do about knife crime? how many more mothers , how many more fathers? mothers, how many more fathers? it's such a big ripple effect. these young girls that have been killed . i won't say not only killed. i won't say not only it's affected their parents really bad, but that's a ripple effect. a massive ripple effect of friends, family and the community. it's wrecking people's lives and any government. i just wish one of these days one of them will listen to somebody who's gone through it and knows the answers .

through it and knows the answers. because i have been in, i've actually supported people who have had their children killed. i've been into the prisons, i've been into the detention centres, and there is answers and there's and there is answers and there's a lot of people out there that have got valid answers. >> okay. gaynor bowie , it's >> okay. gaynor bowie, it's deeply inspiring story. i'm so sorry for your loss. i hope. hope, stefan, rest in peace. but you know what can i say? you know, you're you're amazing. i just hope i know that they watch this program in politics. i hope, and i pray that they just listen to people like you. gaynor bell, thank you so much for sharing your your story and your wisdom. thank you. you're very welcome . very welcome. >> thank you for having me. >> thank you for having me. >> it's an absolute delight. thank you . now more on the royal thank you. now more on the royal tour to colombia next. seems piffling in comparison. anyway, i'm martin daubney on gb news business news

channel. welcome back. your time is 449. i'm martin daubney on gb news now. today marks the marks day one of prince harry and meghan markle's tour of columbia. yes, i know, contain your excitement. the pair will spend visit will visit notable leaders and women's rights activists in the south american country on what's being called a quasi royal trip. well, joining us now to discuss this is the former royal photographer, ian lloyd. ian, welcome to the show. so there's been a lot of criticism ahead of the tour. it's been called a phoney tour. a faux tour because of course they're not actually royals . they're demi royals at royals. they're demi royals at best. a lot of talk around the complaints that are making about not coming back to britain for harry's uncle's funeral because of security risks. and yet, of course, columbia is renowned for

being incredibly safe, isn't it ? being incredibly safe, isn't it? but putting all that to one side, the tour is underway. tell us, what can we expect ? us, what can we expect? >> hi, martin. good afternoon, it is a quasi royal tour. i mean, they're going to visit three cities. bogota. cartagena and cali. >> and they are experiencing cultural, sort of highlights of what it's like to be in colombia and the, the, the heritage, the african and, colombian heritage . african and, colombian heritage. and they're looking at well, he said mental health is , digital said mental health is, digital literacy. there's all kind of causes. so it's very like a royal tour, the only thing that is missing is a british angle, of course, because there's been no national anthem, no visit to the ambassador. >> there will be no state banquet. >> there'll be no trade thing, which is a very important for britain. >> the royal family to go abroad. there's usually a boost in trade when they've returned, but there's none of that kind of angle. so it's kind of it's more

sort of selfish. >> i suppose, to promote themselves rather than obviously anything to do to help britain. >> so isn't that the point then? this is a global publicity tour for the sussexes. the precise thing that south park parodied all that time ago is like, stop intruding our privacy by the way, we're on another personal tour and even if it's not about drumming up business for the united kingdom or the royal family, surely it's just about drumming up business for themselves ? themselves? >> well, it is, and also for the for the country they're visiting because, the, the royal family don't necessarily have a choice of the countries they go to. they're advised by the foreign office. so they may not be going to colombia for ten or 20 or 30 years. i don't know, but, to colombia for ten or 20 or 30 years. i don't know, but , they, years. i don't know, but, they, harry can, can accept that kind of thing and meghan can accept that thing from, from a country that thing from, from a country that wants to promote its image. they already did it in nigeria, didn't they? in the spring. so and they give good optics that the tour would be widely

covered. >> and what also happens is the positively covered about fashion and the optics. >> and then the minute the tour ends, they get pulled to pieces by the same newspaper that's just been, you know, lauding their, their, the tour itself. you know, i mean, so it's kind of a, it's a, well, a two way thing, but it's also a bit dangerous. i think, because there's always the danger that they could stick their foot in it, or they could do like the late duke of windsor, who memorably , after having memorably, after having abdicated as king of england or britain, he, he visited adolf hitler with his duchess on the eve of the second world war. that was quite a dangerous thing. so therefore, during the war, they sent him off to the bahamas. somewhere out of the way , you know. way, you know. >> so there is a danger about having the king of, king charles's son on the world stage. >> and we've got a live picture there in colombia. it looks like an airport. maybe we're expecting the sussexes to land pretty soon. it's interesting thought you brought there, ian lloyd, that perhaps they get in

a bunch of money from the colombian tourism industry. the tourism, the government itself come to colombia , say the come to colombia, say the sussexes. could it be that in a nutshell ? nutshell? >> well, i don't know. i have no idea about that. whether it would be or not. but certainly the helping colombia and colombia is helping them. so it's a win win for them. i think, and also keeping, you know, their face in the paper because otherwise, all the causes that we were led to believe they would do as a, as international diplomats and political roles and that don't materialise. >> so. okay ian lloyd, i'm afraid we have to leave it there. we've simply run out of time. but thanks for joining there. we've simply run out of time. but thanks forjoining us. time. but thanks for joining us. now, there was another peaceful protest in aldershot last night. we'll speak to a local next who believes they were provoked by outsiders. i'm martin daubney on gb news now. here's your weather with alex burkill . with alex burkill. >> that warm feeling inside from boxt boilers .

boxt boilers. >> sponsors of weather on . gb. news >> hello again. looking ahead, there's quite a bit of fine weather to come as we go through the end of the week, but before then we do have some rain around at the moment that is going to push its way south eastwards, clearing as we go overnight that rain is in association with a frontal system that has pushed its way in across northwestern parts of the uk already today , parts of the uk already today, bringing quite a bit of wet weather across scotland and northern ireland. it has now cleared away from those areas and is now pushing its way southeastwards across much of england and wales. as we go through this evening and overnight, do watch out for some heavy bursts, particularly in the southeast, in association with this system. but elsewhere, once that front pushes through, we will have some drier, clearer weather developing and under the clear skies it could turn a little fresh, a little cool for some of us first thing tomorrow morning. it could still be a bit cloudy and a bit wet across parts of the southeast. still some heavy bursts perhaps for kent early on, but that rain

will quickly clear away. and then the sunnier skies across other parts of the uk will spread their way across the southeast through the day. we are going to see a few showers across parts of scotland through the morning, and i think these showers may become a little bit more frequent. perhaps a bit more frequent. perhaps a bit more intense as we go through the afternoon. but towards eastern parts of scotland, northern england, northern ireland and across much of central england, wales and the south west, it is actually looking like a largely fine day. plenty of sunshine around. and with that, yes, there will be some blustery winds towards the north with the showers, but elsewhere the winds are generally going to be quite light and so it is going to feel pleasantly warm. temperatures similar to today really looking at highs in the mid 20 celsius towards the southeast, mid to high teens further north. more showers to come as we go through the evening tomorrow. across parts of scotland in particular further south. sticking with that dry theme. so a fine end to the day for most of us. however, as we go into the weekend, the fine weather will continue with lots of sunshine on offer at

times and just some showers towards the north, but some rain likely early next week . likely early next week. >> by by looks like things are heating up. boxt boilers sponsors of

gb news. >> a very, very good afternoon to you. it's 5:00 pm and welcome to you. it's 5:00 pm and welcome to the martin daubney show on gb news we're broadcasting live from the heart of westminster all across the uk. on today's show, labour caved in to the rail unions today in a move that is set to cost half £1 billion. added to the £10 billion of pubuc added to the £10 billion of public sector workers, half a billion pounds for junior doctors and an additional £6.6 billion in hidden asylum costs. that we revealed on gb news this week. have labour created an even bigger financial black hole than they inherited? we'll talk

to a former union boss and reports from the us say multiple arrests made in connection with the death of friends star matthew perry are imminent. and also coming up an exclusive. another peaceful protest took place in aldershot last night and we'll speak to a local who will tell us that they managed to demonstrate , despite they to demonstrate, despite they claim, being provoked from people from outside of the area . people from outside of the area. now, have you ever gone on a date? and when you turn up, your opposing number is shorter than his online profile claimed him to be? well, would you run a mile or give them the benefit of the doubt? guess what new i can reveal the true height of a man. is it time to reveal the true weight , potentially, of is it time to reveal the true weight, potentially, of women? see how they like it. and taylor swift's tour resumes in london today. it's her first show, of course, since the failed terror plot in vienna. they'll be beefed up security measures in place and will be live from

wembley. all that come in between now and 6 pm. and i want to hear from you . send your want to hear from you. send your views the usual way. post your comments by going to gbnews.com/yoursay. now we're about to speak to a gentleman who protested in aldershot last night, a very peaceful protest. there have been many , many there have been many, many peaceful protests in aldershot over the months. in fact, for more than a year we've featured it regularly on this show. last week, of course, there were seven arrests in the area, including a 13 year old girl, but the locals wanted to show that they were perfectly capable of protesting peacefully. and so last night they did that. except people turned up to provoke them. we'll have the exclusive story after this, but first, it's story after this, but first, wsfime story after this, but first, it's time for your headlines. what happened there ? what happened there? >> martin, thank you and good afternoon. the top story is the

15 year old boy from sunderland has become the first person in england to be charged with more serious offence of riots over recent unrest in the uk. that's according to the crown prosecution service , in which prosecution service, in which that incident occurred on the 2nd of august, the boy, who is from sunderland, will appear at south tyneside youth court today where he will be asked to enter a plea . the proportion of a plea. 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 government . but education government. but education secretary bridget phillipson says there is 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. in other news, the economy is continuing its recovery from last year's recession, with growth extending over the latest quarter, according to official data . the ons said gross data. the ons said gross domestic product increased by 0.6% between april and june. labour's darren jones, the chief secretary to the treasury, says the government inherited a huge financial challenge from the tories. however, shadow chief secretary to the treasury laura trott says the economic growth is thanks to previous tory policies . british challenger two policies. 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 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 , between russia and the west, staying with international news and hezbollah has launched more than 25 rockets and a suspected drone at northern israel , drone at northern israel, according to israel's military. the strikes are a significant escalation, but not the attack that israel's been anticipating since the assassination of senior figures from hamas and hezbollah two weeks ago. the southern lebanon based terror group has been steadily stepping up attacks against israel in recent days . just after 2 pm. recent days. just after 2 pm. local time today, a suspected drone entered israeli airspace from lebanon and was shot down over the golan heights, according to the idf , in the according to the idf, in the last hour or so . foreign last hour or so. foreign secretary david lammy has said that resumed talks aimed at halting the israel—hamas war could define the future of the middle east, he said, and his comments come as it was earlier reported that israel's military offensive in the gaza strip has killed at least 40,000 palestinians and wounded more

than 92,000 since the october seventh attacks, according to the hamas run health ministry. seventh attacks, according to the hamas run health ministry . a 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. the government is pledging £13.5 million in funding to support supply chain businesses and workers affected by tata steel's decision to transition to greener steelmaking, which is expected to lead to job losses. it's understood more than 50 businesses so far have signed a pledge to support any workers forced to leave their jobs in the steelworks. negotiations between the uk government and tata steel regarding the future of port talbot works is continuing separately , secretary continuing separately, secretary of state for wales jo stevens blames the previous government for the job losses . well, we for the job losses. well, we certainly are committing to jobs. >> so you know, as well as the negotiations about investment by

government into the steel industry to secure the future of the steel industry, not just here in port talbot across the united kingdom, the £135 million that i've announced today directly to help the supply chain businesses and the people who work in the supply chain, including contractors who work at the steelworks, is real money out of the door. within six weeks of us coming into government, you know, we've had 14 years of the previous government sitting back and watching the steel industry decline . decline. >> us news now, an arrest has been made in connection with the overdose death of actor matthew perry, according to us media. the friends actor was found dead in a swimming pool at his home in a swimming pool at his home in california in october last yeah in california in october last year. the los angeles county medical examiner's office attributed his death to the acute effects of ketamine, a sedative that can be used as a recreational drug, as well as to treat depression. an individual was reportedly arrested in southern california today . the southern california today. the duke and duchess of sussex have

been welcomed to colombia as they begin their four day tour of the south american nation. harry and meghan were met in the caphal harry and meghan were met in the capital, bogota, by colombia's vice president francia marquez and her husband . they spent and her husband. they spent around half an hour at the vice president's residence, where they exchanged welcome gifts and were offered tea, coffee and traditional colombian cheese bread. it's understood they'll focus on the impact of the digital world on young people. the military community 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. these are live pictures now where thousands of her fans have already been gathering today. have already been gathering today . it's the first time she's today. it's the first time she's returned to the uk of course, since paying tribute to the victims of the southport attack last month, where three little

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 . suspected islamist terror plot. those are the latest gb news headunes those are the latest gb news headlines for now, i'm tatiana sanchez. more from me 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 . >> forward slash alerts. >> forward slash alerts. >> thank you tatiana. now we're going to talk about the trains for a bit. and we've got a corking new line from this man, chris hoban a minute about sir keir starmer appears to have done a massive u—turn on his position on social media from 2013 to the current state. but before that, train drivers from the aslef union have reached a deal with the government that could finally bring an end to

the strike action that has at times crippled britain's rail network. but at what cost? the deal network. but at what cost? the deal, which would see train drivers receive a pay rise of a whopping 14% over three years, is estimated to cost you, the taxpayer, a whopping £100 million. now, there have only beenin million. now, there have only been in power a month and already labour seem to be spending their way to popularity at least with the public sector workers so far. let's have a look. they've signed off a 5.5% pay look. they've signed off a 5.5% pay rise for public sector workers . that's nhs pay rise for public sector workers. that's nhs and teachers. that will cost us a staggering £10 billion. they've also agreed a 22% pay increase for junior doctors, which is estimated to cost up to £530 million. it's actually 13 billion if you factor in future pension liabilities. well, so much for plugging that £20 billion black hole. the labour party seems to have created a super black hole of their own.

and to discuss this, i'm now joined by gb news political editor chris hope. chris, the numbers are eye—watering. let's quickly start with the rail network. they're the latest to have got a pay increase . if you have got a pay increase. if you ask me. unions left, right and centre might be queuing up to knock at the door for number 11. the labour party seems to be in pretty generous mood. >> it looks like it. martin aslef, the train drivers have been on strike for about two years off and on, losing lots of days to travel. if you commute anywhere in the uk. i commute into london daily. it's difficult. if the aslef are out, there's no service at all, less, less so severe with the rmt , but less so severe with the rmt, but it has been a problem. louis hague, the new transport secretary, comes in and she says and she's having a little issue with your mic, chris, you seem to have sat on it's fallen off. >> we'll come back to you in a minute. but the point is this we spoke to steve hadley earlier . spoke to steve hadley earlier. he's a former rmt union chief. and basically he still wasn't

happy. £100 million is what they have been offered . he wasn't have been offered. he wasn't happy with the £100 million. he said they should reject the offer and still go back for more and i put it, i put it to him, i put it to him that £100 million and rising wasn't enough for him as a socialist. and i said to him, as you well recall, chris hope. steve hadley, £100 million of other people's money. still not enough for a socialist. we have the technology . chris, hope have the technology. chris, hope back to you. >> exactly right. so you heard there from steve hadley. he's a former general secretary of the rmt. he's he thinks that this money isn't enough for the for the train. the train drivers, 14%, huge, huge numbers here. i mean, 5%. 4.5%, 4.4 4.5% over three years. very difficult for to some justify that. there was no strings attached to it . the no strings attached to it. the tories, helen whately, she's a shadow. transport secretary. secretary. she says this no strings deal means that the this

cost will be paid for by passengers and by taxpayers for many years to come . louise hay, many years to come. louise hay, she's the transport secretary. she says she wants to move on and fix things quickly, but with no strings attached. why won't they come back again? >> okay, now let's move on to a story that you've just brought me in this last few moments. chris, an excellent piece of archaeology here, because sir keir starmer is often accused of being mr flip flop. the big story of her time at the moment, of course, is people being sent to jail for social media posts. a tough line from the prime minister. now he's in power , but minister. now he's in power, but a very different position back in 2013. >> tell us more so back in the day, sir keir starmer was the director of public prosecutions. he led the cps, which prosecutes everybody most recently in those riots and the result of those riots. and we're seeing 1000 people or so arrested and hundreds charged, he said . hundreds charged, he said. interestingly, back in in 2013,

in an article in the telegraph, that he was worried that too many investigations into comments on networks like twitter had a chilling effect on free speech. he said it was relevant for police to look at how quickly a tweet had been deleted before deciding on action, back then, back in 2013, prosecutions for crimes involving social media sites twitter and facebook and the like have gone up by 800% in four years. but he said this fascinating language here. he said, i think there are too many investigations and too many cases coming to court that can have a chilling effect on free speech. martin. it's about getting the balance right, he said. making sure time and resources are spent on cases that really do need to be in court, not spent on cases which people might think would be better dealt with. a swift apology and removal of the offending tweet . and he said, offending tweet. and he said, finally, there's a lot of stuff out there that's highly offensive, that's put out on a spontaneous basis, and it's taken down pretty quickly. and the view is that those sort of remarks don't necessarily need to be prosecuted now. all right.

we are seeing cases going through the courts now. >> we can't before we before we get to that, let's just let's just analyse what he actually said in 2013. the headline is you can put it on the screen there. too many twitter prosecutions could damage free speech, says keir starmer. in 2013. that refers specifically here, to chris, a case where a man was convicted for joking about blowing up an airport. he had his conviction overturned on appeal and keir starmer said ruling on the case that people twitter users should be free to speak what they feel. in 2013, keir starmer said it was okay to joke on social media about blowing up an airport. let's be absolutely clear, he said that was acceptable. >> he didn't refer to that exact case. that was the case mentioned in this piece. >> now let's fast forward to where we are today. chris. we've seen this week two men jailed for facebook posts pertaining to

riots . we saw a woman yesterday riots. we saw a woman yesterday jailed for saying we should blow up mosques with people inside. ridiculous comment. but she's been sent to jail . a woman is been sent to jail. a woman is likely to go to jail for posting the incorrect name of who she believed had carried out the southport killings . she was southport killings. she was totally wrong on that. but she's staring down the barrel of a custodial sentence . these are custodial sentence. these are very, very different positions. >> they are. he also said sir keir starmer is not a get out of jail free card, but it's highly relevant stuff. the stuff that goes up on a friday and saturday night and can can come down next morning, he said that, you know, people will say that we do see people will say that we do see people tweeting, tweeting in haste and repenting in leisure. now, 2013, the world was different , martin. now, 2013, the world was different, martin. i had brown hair, wasn't as grey as i am now before brexit, before the kind of the tension you get now on social media and social media is

not the entire country, but i think it's fascinating that the dpp sir keir starmer the person who has been, ensuring that there has been swift justice handed out to people for actions on twitter and elsewhere, was saying a different thing back in 2013. >> and is that case of another sir flip flop? is it a case of changing your mind once you're in power, or is it just adapting to a more robust social media world? chris. hope the viewers out there can make up their own minds on that one. always a pleasure to have you in the studio now. moving on. my next guest is andy purdy, who was part of the peaceful anti—immigration protests in aldershot last night. andy welcome to the show. it's a pleasure to have you here. i've seen some footage from that demonstration last night. it looked very, very peaceful. let's start by the fact that you decided to protest in aldershot at the holiday. the hotel there, the potters inn hotel, i believe

it is, even though there were seven arrests last week, including a 13 year old girl. tell me why you decided to protest and tell me how it went . protest and tell me how it went. >> good afternoon. martin. >> good afternoon. martin. >> i felt i had to go down. >> i felt i had to go down. >> because all the protests that i've been seeing, whether they're local or around the country, the last few, last week or so, there's been lots of counter protests, and that just made me more determined to go and join, because i thought the counter protests are possibly not getting the point of what what the protests were about. >> and , so i thought, there's a >> and, so i thought, there's a guy called jez who's been doing this protest outside the potters international hotel, >> he's been organising it for a long time . long time. >> so, andy, we've got some footage on screen there. this was on a piece of grass. this was on a piece of grass. this was all arranged with the police. there was full permission opposite over it. >> hence i went down opposite

the hotel there, andy, and tell me about the counter protests that you've been witnessing. >> and tell me about some of the kind of things bear in mind, we're on television, some of the kind of things that they've been shouting at you. and tell me about how you feel that that has impacted you and how unfair you think that is. >> well, they were using things like fascist, far right, >> well, they were using things like fascist, far right , fascist like fascist, far right, fascist and all that. >> that doesn't bother me in the slightest , but there was >> that doesn't bother me in the slightest, but there was an old boy there who was with us, i don't know him. i met him there . don't know him. i met him there. he. he's a nice chap. my partner met him last week at one of these she went to and, i would say i'm not a young man, but he was quite a bit older than me, so i'd say he was well into his 70s. and he said to me, i don't like them saying that. and he had his beret on and he was obviously an ex—military guy , i obviously an ex—military guy, i would say probably a parrot or something like that. and he said, my father, and others. and he lost two members of his family fighting the fascists in the war. and he said, i find

this very hurtful. >> and i think, andy, a lot of people watching would agree with that. words like fascist and nazi. some of the shouts we heard last time, it was fascist scum off our streets, and it's important to bear in mind that i know a lot of the individuals who've been organising these protests. they have veteran and military connections. >> yeah, there was obviously it's in aldershot. >> so i mean, i know there's not as much military there as there was, but there's a lot of people who have retired from it and they try and, they came along and there was some younger guys. it was surprising people in their 20s. it wasn't old people like me. it was a wide range of people, but we were all there, >> some had posters up and the cars were tooting as they say, toot your horn. >> if you agree. there's loads of cars, whether it be a van, whether it be a scruffy old car, whether it be a scruffy old car, whether it be a scruffy old car, whether it would be a nearly new car. it was a right mix of people who were, a large mix of people who were, a large mix of people who were sort of tooting with approval. i did feel a little bit, for want of a better

word, not intimidated. i wasn't intimidated at all, but quite a few of the people that you just got on your screen now, they were wearing hoodies, as you can see, one in the black there, and masks or scarves to cover their faces, which to me is very strange . strange. >> now, andy, one of the allegations, even from your local member of parliament, is that people protesting against the hotel and of course, there are also the apartments. there are also the apartments. there are over 100 apartments in rushmoor nearby that have been earmarked for asylum seekers. they accuse far right people of being shipped in from outside the area, but you have told me earlier on you believe that people from the left, people from the other side were shipped in from outside the area to shout at you lot. >> well, the people who were there that i spoke to were definitely locals, the people on the protest side of our side, the protest side of our side, the people on the other side, i know i'm restricted on what i can say, but one of the reasons

that made me want to go yesterday was that the people who are on the counter side tend to have these signs, which are all very similar. whether you look at it, whether it's in walthamstow, whether it was in brighton, they've all got very similar signs provided by some sort of body that they're using that's providing this form. >> i know that you're allowed to say who you think they were, andy. >> well , i andy. >> well, i think they were socialist worker signs . i socialist worker signs. i couldn't say that. that's what it said on the ones last night, because it didn't actually look like it. and i couldn't get close enough, because we, you know, we weren't allowed to walk down to their bit, but they were still the blue, the sorry, the red with the yellow top, and, you know, obviously that's an extreme communist thing. so if people who protest and complain are far right, then the counter protestors, if they're carrying socialist worker banners, are definitely far left. they're not

middle of the road people. and i wouldn't say we were far right. we're pretty much middle of the road people. we're just not happy with what's going on. >> and so do you believe then , >> and so do you believe then, that outsiders are coming in to, i mean, particularly considering that people were arrested, including that 13 year old girl last week? and i know, having spoken to people in the area, people are very traumatised by what's happened in that respect. do you feel it's very inappropriate for people to be coming outside at this time , coming outside at this time, specifically to try and goad you like this ? like this? >> well, if there's people complaining about a specific hotel , which complaining about a specific hotel, which is this one, and these brand new £350,000, when they were on the market, apartments that are brand new, so obviously good quality apartments , are being housed, apartments, are being housed, are being used to house these people. it'd be the local people who are offended , not people who are offended, not people from outside. so if people are being shipped in and the fact that they've all got very similar signs to all these different times, that would suggest that your guy, i think he's charlie was there last

week. i didn't go to that, but i saw it on your television program and he followed people to the station and they were actually getting back on the train to go back to london. they said, whether that's just to then divert out into the rest of then divert out into the rest of the country. i'm not saying they're all from london for one minute, but they seem strange . minute, but they seem strange. >> okay, andy purdy, we have to leave it there. thanks very much for joining us. and we've got forjoining us. and we've got a statement now from the socialist worker, who told gb news that there were members of the anti—immigration protests. well, they're not anti—immigration protests. they are protesting about asylum seekers in the hotel nearby who had travelled down to aldershot from london. they did not deny the accusations that gb news put to them, including that members had travelled from the capital to counter protest. and the spokesman then went on to ask our reporter how he slept at night , our reporter how he slept at night, knowing our reporter how he slept at night , knowing that our reporter how he slept at night, knowing that this channel had encouraged the riots. that's an outrageous accusation . now

an outrageous accusation. now our reporter asked for this evidence and there was no reply to this because there isn't any evidence . we've been covering evidence. we've been covering these protests peacefully over many, many months. there's been no incident until recently. and all i would say is that it's probably not a good idea to go to a military town and call people fascists and nazis. bear in mind, a lot of them have armed forces experience and their relatives died fighting actual fascists. and please come on the show socialist worker party, come and sit in this chair and let's have a debate. while you think that that is a good tactic, tell me why i'm wrong. there's the chair. point to it. there that chair is waiting for you. come on. this channel and let's have this conversation mano a mano or mano to woman. whatever. let's have this chat. because i don't think it's acceptable to call people fascists or nazis or racists when all they want is a safe community. come and tell me i'm wrong. it's an open invite. come

on, you've got the guts. now, up next. have you ever gone on a date? and when you turn up, you're opposing. number is shorter than his online profile. well, i haven't, i martin daubney on gb news, britain's news channel

welcome up. it's 529. i'm martin daubney on gb news now. the duke and duchess of sussex. harry and meghan have landed in bogota, colombia. they were welcomed by the vice president, francia marquez, with whom they share coffee. as you can see, they're being welcomed. they also had a cup of tea and the traditional colombian cheese bread. nice work if you can get it. now. both parties exchanged gifts to mark the start of the couple's four day visit to the country . now, miss marquez told country. now, miss marquez told members of the press , i saw the members of the press, i saw the netflix series about their life,

their story, and that moved me and it motivated me to say that this is a woman who deserves to come to our country and tell her story , and her exchange will story, and her exchange will undoubtedly be an empowerment to so many women in the world. so there you go. the first lady of colombia saw that netflix series and was so moved by it invited the sussexes to her country. they've just landed . they've had they've just landed. they've had a cup of tea, a cup of coffee and some cheese bread. so no doubt the rest of the tour will unroll. sounds like a rolling buffet so far. now lots more still to come between now and 6:00, including can you believe it? the rise, the rise of the xl bully cat. but before that, hundreds of you have been getting in touch with your series. now, we spoke to a mother of a boy who was tragically killed by a knife crime. her name was gaynor bell. her son son stefan, was stabbed to death in 2000. we talked to her about what can be done about

rising knife crime . liza was rising knife crime. liza was moved to write in and say this my heart goes out to this lady. but unfortunately, the law and justice system, if you can call it that in this country, is not on her side. if it is something stupid written on social media, expect the full force of the law to be upon you. but for murder and rape and other despicable crimes, well, it doesn't seem to be a lot of hope for those impacted . now, also on teenage impacted. now, also on teenage arrests, michelle says this and now the government. this is about the older shot, the 13 year old being arrested and also young people across britain . young people across britain. michelle adds this and now this government are ruining those depnved government are ruining those deprived children's lives by giving them a criminal record and dragging them through the courts. they don't seem to care about our kids on on rent cap sadiq khan apparently planning to talk about at least introducing a rent cap in london so landlords can't fleece tenants. sounds great, but it destroys markets, sylvia says

this rent controls failed in sweden. they failed in finland, finland. they failed in edinburgh. mark my words , they edinburgh. mark my words, they would fail in london too. they are a terrible idea. well, that's sadiq khan told, isn't it? now it's time for your latest news headlines. and here's tatiana sanchez . here's tatiana sanchez. >> martin, thank you and good afternoon. the top stories from the gb newsroom. a 15 year old boy from sunderland has become the first person in england to be charged with the more serious offence of riot over recent unrest in the uk. that's according to the crown prosecution service, in which the incident occurred on the 2nd of august. whether the boy has appeared in court today and the case was adjourned for two weeks following what a judge called a surprise charging decision . the surprise charging decision. 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 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 department for education, which also warns there are still inequalities in the system. the economy is continuing its recovery from last year's recession, with growth extending over the latest quarter , the over the latest quarter, the office for national statistics says gdp increased by 0.6% between april and june. conservatives claim today's figures are further proof that labour has inherited a growing and resilient economy. but chancellor rachel reeves has said she's inherited more than a decade of low economic growth from the tories . an arrest has from the tories. an arrest has been made in connection with the overdose death of actor matthew perry, to according us media. the friends actor was found dead in a swimming pool at his home in a swimming pool at his home in california in october last yeah in california in october last year. the los angeles county

medical examiner's office attributed his death to the acute effects of ketamine, a sedative that can be used as a recreational drug as well as to treat depression. an individual was reportedly arrested in southern california today , and southern california today, and the duke and duchess of sussex have been welcomed to columbia as they begin their four day tour of the south american nafion tour of the south american nation . harry and meghan were nation. harry and meghan were met in the capital bogota, by colombia's vice president francia marquez and her husband. they spent around half an hour at the vice president's residence, where they exchanged welcome gifts and were offered tea, coffee and traditional colombian cheese bread. it's understood they'll focus on the impact of the digital world on young people. the military community and female empowerment. the duke and duchess will also explore colombia's history and culture, and those are the latest gb news headlines. for now, i'm tatiana sanchez. more from me in half an hour for the very latest gb news

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>> welcome back. it's 538. we're on the final furlong. i'm martin daubney on gb news now . daubney on gb news now. returning to the breaking news from earlier in the program , and from earlier in the program, and us media is reporting that multiple arrests have been made in connection with the death of the friends star, matthew perry. the american actor died last october due to the acute effects of ketamine, and he was aged just 54. now, let's speak to the broadcaster , paula london. broadcaster, paula london. paula, welcome to the show. so the tragic death last october of mr perry was bad enough. and now there have been arrests. tell us more . more. >> yeah. first of all, there was

just one arrest, apparently a doctor. but now more arrests have happened, and it looks like these guys are suspected drug dealers. and we don't have the suspects names yet. we don't know the charges, but these arrests have come just under a year after his untimely death . year after his untimely death. >> he was found unresponsive in a jacuzzi, and he had very high levels of ketamine in his body. >> the same level that someone would have if they were under general anaesthesia . general anaesthesia. >> so huge levels. and it's not the first time a celebrity has passed in america because of prescription drugs. we've seen it happen time and time again, and a lot of people are passing that aren't celebrities, but we aren't hearing about them. the main problem is in america. i lived there about ten years ago for a while, so i know firsthand what goes on. so many people have so many different doctors , have so many different doctors, so they're getting prescription drugs from multiple doctors . a drugs from multiple doctors. a lot of the doctors are under huge amounts of pressure from the celebs and their agents, and managers to keep on prescribing

these medicines, but now people are dying. so it's about time doctors are held responsible. if they are indeed at fault. >> and paula, you know, for many, many years doctors have had doctor feelgood's that write them scripts. the same happened in london, like rod stewart and all that lot. but in this instance and we saw the same with michael jackson. we have private doctors giving out medication, but in this instance as well as i understand it, that was supplemented by street bought ketamine. and that is why we're now seeing these multiple arrests. a combination of those two factors may have been why matthew perry perished the way he did . he did. >> indeed, these arrests have only happened because of messages. text messages have become unearthed. so it looks like there was a combination of ketamine and some street drugs. but these days in america, actual drug dealers will sell prescription drugs as well. so it's not just they don't just sell street drugs, they can sell everything. but the only reason

they're able to sell them is because they're getting prescriptions from doctors . prescriptions from doctors. hence why one doctor at least has been arrested. and it looks like a few suspected drug dealers. so it seems like these people are in things together. but it's about time that there's a clampdown on this, because the doctors in america is completely different, because in england we have a gp or you have a private doctor. in america, people are getting multiple medicines and so many people are dying, so many in america. and i worry it's going to happen here. we're going to have a ketamine problem as well. >> okay , paul, and thank you for >> okay, paul, and thank you for that update. always a pleasure to have you on the show. thank you. now moving on. experts are warning against buying and breeding so—called xl bully cats as they suffer from serious health issues. now these cats are hairless with look at that with short bowed legs and heavily wrinkled skin. now some experts have even gone as far as to describe breeding them as being cruel. well, let's get

more on this now with the animal behaviourist, anna webb. anna, welcome to the show. well, i'm a cat lover. i absolutely adore cats. these cats give me nightmares to look at them. but, you know, one man's passion is another man's poison. it's not about the fact that they are visually challenged. it's not. it's about the fact, is it not, anna, that to get them like this, they have to be bred and is breeding them in this way, actually incredibly cruel? tell me more. >> well, absolutely. >> well, absolutely. >> look, we've seen it in a way with dogs where certain breeds of dogs have exaggerated features, >> a lot of flat faced dogs do have quite wrinkly faces. and that can lead to a lot of infections being caught in their wrinkles. but the this bully cat is extraordinary. it seems to me that it's, some kind of, you know, not mutation, but it's been bred from the sphynx cat , been bred from the sphynx cat, which is hairless. but the fact that it's hairless, in itself, i just feel is so wrong for a cat

because cats need to regulate their body temperature. cats need to be cats. they need to go through bushes, and they need to be outside, you can have indoor cats, of course , but this with cats, of course, but this with this cat, they can hurt themselves indoors by falling off. you know, being hairless, just doesn't seem right to me, but it's the bowed legs, martin, that you saw in the picture. just then. that's just extraordinary. and that's why they're being called the bully cats. because they're supposed to resemble the xl bully , which, to resemble the xl bully, which, of course, is now a banned breed in the uk . but again, of course, is now a banned breed in the uk. but again, these bowed legs, they just don't go with what a cat should be. you know, a cat should be agile. it should be able to climb and jump and, and you know , catch prey. and, and you know, catch prey. but with those bandy legs, you know, it's not going to be able to express its natural cat behaviour. >> i mean, you're absolutely right. i mean , if people go right. i mean, if people go online, if we can get that picture back on the screen there now, but if you go online and look at one of these cats, it's front area looks like a chicken. look at it. it's like a bare

chicken with short little stumpy legs coming off the side of its body. now they're bred. they're selectively bred using animals that have those characteristics and they're bred and they're bred and they're bred until we end up with what looks like something out of a horror movie . something out of a horror movie. but as you say, anna, this is a cat that can't enjoy the quality of life, of jumping around and trotting about like a normal cat would because it's bred to be a mutated, you know, it's got stumpy legs . and how can that be stumpy legs. and how can that be kind from an animal welfare point of view? and with that, in mind, anna, would you like to see these breeds outlawed ? see these breeds outlawed? >> oh, totally. i think this is totally wrong. you know, it's like a designer crossbreed, which in fact, you know, the xl bully is a combination of different breeds to have created their look, you know, with those bandy legs and it is it's basically inhumane, you know, i know that the sphynx cat , if it know that the sphynx cat, if it is bred from the sphynx cat,

does have some health issues already. so you're just, you know , exacerbating a cat that if know, exacerbating a cat that if you like, isn't fit for purpose to be a cat. not like my moggie here. >> yeah. i mean, i've got moggie just like that. i've. i've got a rescue cat from battersea, harry and again, he's just a he's just and again, he's just a he's just a dozy old moggie. they're the best. but the royal veterinary college, the ovc, they said it's heartbreaking to see cats being bred like this suffering the same genetic changes, the same damages as dogs by humans who are simply fascinated by extreme body shapes and of course, this has been driven by social media vanity. it's like, look at my look at my cat . this is this look at my cat. this is this really buying a cat for the joy of stroking a cat and owning a cat? or is it like, look at this. it's unusual for my social media clicks. >> well, you've hit on a really good point there , martin. it is good point there, martin. it is this this status symbol that so

many people are getting dogs for, you know , dogs are now also for, you know, dogs are now also considered as a must have in with the in crowd accessory. and you know, i feel pained that cats are going to follow suit because cats are in a way less domesticated than dogs. but both, you know , have the ability both, you know, have the ability to bring great pleasure to humans. so i feel it's this we're letting nature down. we're letting the creatures that offer us so much in companionship. we're just letting them down. and all for this social media bravado. really? >> yeah. anna webb , can i just >> yeah. anna webb, can i just have a quick look at your moggie there? because i can't unsee that. he's legged it. yeah, they always do. look, you can't unsee that. you can't unsee that xl bully cat that's going to haunt me as i go to sleep tonight. anna webb, thank you so much for your compassion and joining us on the show. now, have you ever been disappointed by a date who was taller or even fatter than what they said they were online?

well, there might be a solution in the form of ai. i'm martin daubney on gb news, britain's news channel

welcome back. your time is 5.50. it's the final final furlong with me martin daubney here on gb news now then have you ever met a date who turned out to be shorter than their online profile claimed? well justine moore, an american. her tweets went viral this week when she discovered that chatgpt can accurately estimate a date's height from their photographs. yes, has artificial intelligence put an end to blokes telling fibs about their all important vital stats and measurements? well, to rule a thumb over this, i'm joined now by the comedian

diane spencer. diane. so this is a bit of fun on the surface, but what is it about women on on dating apps that demand men who are six feet tall? the average is five foot ten. in britain, and five foot nine in the usa is eye height shaming men like this? the way forward , this? the way forward, >> i don't think that i revealing the truth can be called height shaming, and i find this unusual because, my friend who is single loves short men. >> oh my gosh, she's obsessed with them. >> the littler the better . >> the littler the better. >> the littler the better. >> so, i can understand because people have always lied on their dating profiles , but it's it dating profiles, but it's it never works out. well because surely you want to put up a worse picture of yourself. so when you turn up, people are pleasantly surprised. i've never understood the lying. anyway, i think it's important that people

learn to tell the truth, but everybody's lying on both sides, so the men are lying about their height , and so the men are lying about their height, and apparently the women are lying about their age . so if are lying about their age. so if everybody's just lying to each other . other. >> what? >> what? >> what's going on? >> what's going on? >> why don't we expect people to be honest? >> why don't how come the first time we meet people, they reveal that they've lied to us? >> i mean, we're all used to like the idea of catfishing that's been around for a long time. you know , the idea that time. you know, the idea that you put up a completely different picture and now there's fat fishing where somebody makes sure that they take lots of strange angles, and then they slim themselves down in the picture. >> and of course , hat fishing, >> and of course, hat fishing, which is where you wear a hat to hide any kind of hair loss, but you're going to be found out. >> that's what i don't get, martin. >> like, have you ever lied knowing you're going to be found out ? out? >> no. varne itself was just was just a lie. look, the point of this, right is how would the women like it if the boot were

on the other foot? i don't onune on the other foot? i don't online date. i pre—date all of that. my method is . do you fancy that. my method is. do you fancy a pint, love? that's probably a hate crime. these days. i don't do any of this. i business, but how would the women like it if the fellas were using ai how would the women like it if the fellas were using al to get the fellas were using al to get the true weight of women? because fellas that i know that use online dating apps, they often are rather larger size woman or variant of the one that they saw on the profile rocks up. now, how would the women like it if they were weight shamed by ai? >> well, again , i don't think >> well, again, i don't think it's shaming. if you're called out on something that you are actively lying about. >> i don't think. >> i don't think. >> i don't think. >> i don't think you can call it shaming, really, >> i mean , surely the human eye >> i mean, surely the human eye as well can tell that there's some funny shenanigans going on. >> i don't think it's like the whole of womankind has got together and said, right, let's investigate the men and let's

lie to them at the same time. i don't think that's what's going on. i think that if you're willing to snoop on somebody and you're willing to do this, you should be for prepared other people to do it to you. and what i think, what i like about your hate crime approach, which i enjoy, i always think that actually just meeting someone, going for a drink , seeing how going for a drink, seeing how things progress is actually the way forward, i think that maybe in the future because, you know, keir starmer is turning us into a communist state, maybe we should just all have just our passport. >> diane, we've got to leave it there. i'm afraid we're out of time. but that's all from me now. dewbs & co is up next now. dewbs& co is up next breakfast, 6 am, and then, of course , it's newsroom 930, and course, it's newsroom 930, and then at midday, it's tom and emily hand. i'll be back tonight at seven. i'm coming for farage. but now it's your weather with alex burkill . alex burkill. >> looks like things are heating

up . boxt boilers sponsors of up. boxt boilers sponsors of weather on gb news. >> hello again. looking ahead, there's quite a bit of fine weather to come as we go through the end of the week, but before then, we do have some rain around at the moment that is going to push its way south eastwards, clearing as we go overnight. that rain is in association with a frontal system that has pushed its way in across northwestern parts of the uk already today, bringing quite a bit of wet weather across scotland and northern ireland. it has now cleared away from those areas and is now pushing its way southeastwards across much of england and wales. as we go through this evening and overnight, do watch out for some heavy bursts , out for some heavy bursts, particularly in the southeast. in association with this system. but elsewhere, once that front pushes through, we will have some drier, clearer weather developing and under the clear skies it could turn a little fresher, a little cool for some of us first thing tomorrow morning, it could still be a bit cloudy and a bit wet across parts of the southeast. still some heavy bursts perhaps for

kent early on, but that rain will quickly clear away. and then the sunnier skies across other parts of the uk will spread their way across the southeast through the day. we are going to see a few showers across parts of scotland through the morning, and i think these showers may become a little bit more frequent, perhaps a bit more frequent, perhaps a bit more intense as we go through the afternoon. but towards eastern parts of scotland, northern england, northern ireland and across much of central england, wales and the southwest, it is actually looking like a largely fine day. plenty of sunshine around. and with that, yes, there will be some blustery winds towards the north with the showers, but elsewhere the winds are generally going to be quite light and so it is going to feel pleasantly warm. temperatures similar to today really looking at highs in the mid 20 celsius towards the southeast, mid to high teens further north. more showers to come as we go through the evening tomorrow. across parts of scotland in particular further south. sticking with that dry theme. so a fine end to the day for most of us. however, as we go into the weekend, the

fine weather will continue with lots of sunshine on offer at times and just some showers towards the north, but some rain likely early next week. by that warm feeling inside from

but the tory plans for so—called mega prisons , where labour is mega prisons, where labour is being urged to scrap those plans and instead spend that money on things like prevention and rehabilitation, instead , should rehabilitation, instead, should they? and speaking of law and order, jess phillips has apologised for the comments that she made when many people said she made when many people said she basically was excusing people taking to the streets to batter white people. your thoughts? and the transport secretary said, i quote, she's going to move fast and fix things in relation to this train

strikes. while she's achieved that by giving