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tv   Nana Akua  GB News  August 25, 2024 3:00pm-6:01pm BST

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disagreeing. >> joining me for the next three hours are the former special adviser to michael gove, charlie rowley and the co—founder of novara media, aaron bastani. >> now, before we get started, we're going to get your news headunes we're going to get your news headlines with sam francis . headlines with sam francis. >> darren, thank you very much indeed. just coming up to 3:01 and the top story this afternoon, the suspect in the western germany knife attack is due before a judge this afternoon. police have said the 26 year old turned himself in and admitted to the crime. the syrian, who's accused of killing three people and injuring eight at a cultural festival in the town, had applied for asylum in germany. we understand the islamic state terror group has since claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was carried out by one of its members. well, today a church service has been taking place to remember and to pay respect to
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those who lost their lives. currently four of those wounded remain in a life threatening condition. officials from hezbollah insist the militant group isn't looking for a full scale war. that's after a rocket and drone attack against israel this morning. they say it was in retaliation for the killing of a top commander last month. israel has launched pre—emptive strikes on southern lebanon in what it has called an act of self—defence. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has also said that israel would take all measures necessary to defend itself . and today's attack came itself. and today's attack came as egypt hosts a new round of talks aimed at ending israel's war with hamas . well, we're just war with hamas. well, we're just heanng war with hamas. well, we're just hearing an update from ukraine that a british man is currently missing, feared buried under rubble after a russian missile hit a hotel used by journalists in the east of ukraine. we understand he was part of a six strong team from the reuters news agency . a ukrainian and a news agency. a ukrainian and a us national were also injured .
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us national were also injured. if you're watching on television, you can see the latest pictures of emergency workers as they scour the wreckage of that hotel. reuters have released a statement there saying they are urgently seeking more information, working with authorities in kramatorsk and supporting colleagues and their families here. sir keir starmer is set to warn that life in the uk is going to get worse before it improves. in his first major speech as prime minister, he'll repeat claims that the tories left a £22 billion black hole in the country's finances. the conservatives, though, say a soft touch labour chancellor, is putting the country's finances at risk . putting the country's finances at risk. immigration enforcement officers have detained 75 suspected illegal workers as part of a week long crackdown across the country. officers visited more than 225 businesses in the past week, particularly car washes with over 120 receiving civil penalties for
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employing illegal workers, according to the home office. home secretary yvette cooper says the government will make sure that those who break the rules face the full force of the law. businesses found to be employing people illegally face fines of up to £45,000. that's per worker for the first offence and then up to £60,000 per worker for any repeat offences . worker for any repeat offences. the billionaire founder of encrypted messaging app telegram has been arrested in france, according to local reports. pavel durov was detained after his private jet landed at an airport in paris, to according officials there. the 39 year old was arrested under a warrant for offences related rather to the popular messaging app. russia's embassy in france is taking immediate steps, they say, to clarify that situation. that's according to the state news agency in russia . telegram is agency in russia. telegram is particularly popular in the country and also in ukraine and former soviet union states . the former soviet union states. the royal navy warship has conducted
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a major drugs bust in the caribbean. cocaine worth a street value of more than £40 million, has been seized, and three alleged smugglers have also been handed over to us authorities for prosecution. it's the sixth drugs bust made by hms trent so far this year, seizing close to seven tonnes of drugs worth more than £500 million from traffickers . a million from traffickers. a plume of sulphur dioxide is currently crossing the country, spreading from a volcano in iceland, the met office says, though it should clear to the south—east of the uk in the coming hours. and because it's high up in the atmosphere, they say it shouldn't affect our air quality too much . and finally, quality too much. and finally, around a million people are currently descending on west london for this year's notting hill carnival that's now underway. a celebration of canbbean underway. a celebration of caribbean culture. it's europe's biggest street festival and aims to unite the capital's diverse communities through colourful costumes , extravagant floats and costumes, extravagant floats and vibrant music . those are the
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vibrant music. those are the latest headlines for now. i'll be back with you 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 the qr code, or go to gbnews.com forward slash alerts . forward slash alerts. >> hello and good good afternoon. >> that's the word i was looking for there. i'm not nana akua as you can probably tell, but i am darren grimes and we're going to be discussing today. >> we've still got nigel. >> we've still got nigel. >> we've still got nigel. >> we haven't let you go. nigel, have we.7 but >> we haven't let you go. nigel, have we? but nigel's going to explain the fact that hundreds of employers face hefty fines after at least 75 illegal migrants were held in a home office blitz on dodgy businesses . office blitz on dodgy businesses. so can labour really smash the gangs? well, nigel nelson joins us now to explain what's going on here. now, nigel, this looks like good pr does it not for the
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labour party, a party that which let's not forget, doesn't exactly have a gleaming track record when it comes to tackling the issue of migration, does it? >> well, and the home office is very keen to get this one out. so they wanted as much publicity as possible. 75 doesn't sound like an awful lot of people, but bearin like an awful lot of people, but bear in mind this was the first week of a crackdown, so that was the haul after the first week, as you've just said, that people will be will businesses will face £45,000 fines for a first offence. it goes up to £60,000 if they do it too often. so it's quite a hefty penalty for the business doing it. the whole intention is this is the starting point for dealing with the gangs, that most of these people are brought over by the gangs. they don't even get minimum wage payments that they have to pay back the gangmasters for bringing them here. and they live in pretty awful conditions. it's really modern slavery. so getting stopping this kind of
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thing does them some good for a start. you get the you get illegal workers who will also be illegal workers who will also be illegal migrants. so there's a question about getting them out of the country. it's a starting point rather than something that is a huge success so far. >> yes . and nigel archewell, >> yes. and nigel archewell, i mean, you would have to do many more raids like this to, to actually tackle the issue. but i was reading in the brussels times, i believe it was that actually there are illegal migrants using lodgings for other people on delivery apps, whether that be or there are a whole host of these food delivery services and actually working that way, earning an income that way . so you might income that way. so you might find that we are in a scenario in which there are people being put up in hotels, for example, that have crossed the english channel using log ins to make cash from these delivery apps. so how on earth can the government tackle so many issues when it seems to be pretty systemic? >> well, i mean, what you're talking about criminality. there
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so criminal all criminals can can find different ways around crackdowns that are launched against them. so this would be an example of one of them. i mean, i think that when it comes down to how we actually deal with in the long run, bear in mind we're not going to stop boats crossing the channel immediately. it's going to take time to be able to do it. and the best i think that the government can do is reduce the number that come across. but if you could actually tackle the smuggling gangs upstream, you can catch the right people who are behind it. and the difference between this government and the last is they'll use counter—terror laws to do it. have some spies from mi5 to do it. have some spies from m15 who are experts in this and see if they can do it that way. it won't end what's going on, but it might make things a bit better. >> so the issue is, though, once they actually arrive here, you know, our labour, not de facto granting them amnesty to remain in the country. no it's not an amnesty. >> i mean, the problem you had
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previously was that the illegal migration act, although it didn't make it illegal to cross the channel, it made the people who did cross the channel inadmissible in britain. so what we had, in fact, the tories were doing quite well to actually reduce the backlog of people in the system. and suddenly it grew. the latest figures last week. it's now 119,000. and what these people are, that they are people who can't be admitted to britain, but they can't leave ehhen britain, but they can't leave either. so something's got to be done to try and reduce that backlog. otherwise it just grows as more people cross the channel. so the idea, the idea there is that you will you will process them, process the asylum claims , which they're entitled claims, which they're entitled to have processed anyway. and see which ones are legitimate to stay here and which ones you send home. >> i have you any faith in the fact that i mean the british people. if you look at the polling on this, the list of concerns that the public actually have immigration is on an upward trajectory. we saw
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after 2016, when the british pubuc after 2016, when the british public voted for brexit, that actually support or concern around migration went down quite significantly. actually. it's now shooting all the way back up. have you any confidence whatsoever that the labour government can actually buck that trend and start to have the british people feel that there is control over this, because right now the narrative very much is that the southern border is a complete free for all. >> well, i wouldn't go as far as a free for all, but i mean, but it is going to be difficult to, to, to do it . it is going to be difficult to, to, to do it. this it is going to be difficult to, to, to do it . this is what to, to do it. this is what i mean about don't expect the boats to stop. it was it was reckless of rishi sunak to promise that as an absolute did it. >> though we are an island nation, it's not beyond the wit of man. >> surely true. i mean , >> surely true. i mean, australia did did do that, but there are huge differences . so there are huge differences. so first of all, in the english channel there is no there are no international waters between dover and calais. so that's international waters between dover and calais . so that's the dover and calais. so that's the first problem in australia. you're talking about 150 miles
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of international waters between australia and indonesia. the second thing there is because of the kind of distances the boats were travelling, the australians could simply turn them back because they were bigger boats. what we can't do in the english channelis what we can't do in the english channel is simply turn a boat, a boat back because they're tiny and they'll capsize and people will die . will die. >> okay. yeah. but i mean, so you have no truck whatsoever with the idea that leaving the echr would actually give the british public a say in who can and can't come here? >> no, i don't, because i don't . >> no, i don't, because i don't. i think that would be irrelevant where the, the echr was relevant would be over rwanda. so, so if the rwanda policy had been stopped by echr at the moment, there's an emergency stop on it. we don't know if the european court would have actually stopped it. i can see a purpose to the argument . stopped it. i can see a purpose to the argument. i don't think we should. i think that britain, as a country that should obey international law and the echr polices international law. so i
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didn't want us to leave anyway. but the whole point was i don't think it would have helped. >> well, i mean, i imagine many viewers , nigel, would argue that viewers, nigel, would argue that the british don't exactly need a european court on how to actually enact law and obey law. you know , as people like to say. you know, as people like to say. so often when people make that argument, churchill was one of the founding, you know , the founding, you know, participants in the echr creating the echr itself as a living, breathing document. but, i mean, the idea that we can't we are not some law abiding nation. we just want to be able to have some semblance of control. and i don't think that's asking for the world. >> we wouldn't be a law abiding nafion >> we wouldn't be a law abiding nation if we then broke international law. so if we were , international law. so if we were, if we chose to leave the european convention on human rights, we'd be joining russia and belarus as the other people who also don't obey international law . international law. >> i imagine there's quite a difference between what we would do and what they do, though, nigel. but we'll leave it there.
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nigel. but we'll leave it there. nigel nelson, thank you very much for i do appreciate you joining me, especially after you've been on there for the last two hours. right, folks, we're going to bring in the former police officer and border control expert, henry bolton. henry thank you very much for your company. you've heard what nigel has had to say there, his analysis. what's your take? >> well, you know, starting with echr and belarus and russia. >> i mean, you know, most of the world is not part of the signatory to the european convention on human rights. you know, let's be clear on that. it's not about breaking international law. it's about removing ourselves from a convention that, whilst we're part of it , is convention that, whilst we're part of it, is international. for those countries that are signatories to it . so nobody's signatories to it. so nobody's talking about breaking international law or violating international law or violating international law. it's simply withdrawing from a convention that has a legal status. >> so let's clear that up, >> so let's clear that up, >> the going going back to the, if i may, the 75 illegal workers who've been detained, the 220 businesses that are now being
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fined, so actually 220 businesses have been now detected as having employed workers illegally . only 75 workers illegally. only 75 workers illegally. only 75 workers have been detained. but something that's important to note about this is that the measures that are being implemented now are measures that aren't new. these are measures that were brought in by robert jenrick when he was immigration minister on the 8th of august. i think it was 7th or 8th of august last year. so there's nothing new in this. the labour government is trying to get a load of pr out of it. i understand that that's politics. but the reality is that there's nothing new about this approach and that those, those fines, if you like, were established a year ago by the conservative government. and the other thing is, we shouldn't be seeing an operation of this sort, a sort of surge. this sort of activity should be ongoing 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. and then there might be
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a year. and then there might be a deterrent to these businesses. and indeed, the migrants working illegally in this way. so there's a whole lot of things there. i mean, there's nothing you know, there's nothing special about what's being been happening now . it should be happening now. it should be happening now. it should be happening every day. >> now, henry, one of our viewers, alison, says when we voted for brexit, i, for one, expected us to be able to deport criminals and people who have absolutely no right to be here. how have we ended up in this scenario in which the united kingdom is rendered completely unable to actually deport people, you know, 100,000 who may well be given the right to stay here, no questions asked. throwing their papers overboard upon entry . how on earth have we upon entry. how on earth have we ended up in this scenario in which human rights law has been utterly twisted to render us completely useless when it comes to border management? >> well, the first thing to say
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about brexit is brexit gave us control of our borders and of our immigration to a large extent. there are some interventions we know about the refugee convention, we know about the european convention of human rights. there are some some various sort of pieces that that that mean that what i'm going to say is not 100%, but it largely brexit largely gave us control over our borders and over our immigration policy. what we failed to do is plan and prepare for to take that control. and i would argue that we still haven't actually taken control . so, it's been a control. so, it's been a failure, not of brexit, but of our own leaders, our own government, both the conservative government and now the labour government and i don't expect the labour government to really seize this opportunity with with both hands and huge enthusiasm. so i don't think it's going to happen, the what needs to happen is that we actually need to, as you say, start deporting people. but to do that, you need a coordinated
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approach to, to agreements with the countries that these people come from. so you need a national strategy that pulls all the various various strands of government together. that creates a unified effort against directed sort of or objectives from the prime minister, from the cabinet, if you like. so what we've not had up until now is the diplomatic effort of the foreign office , combined with foreign office, combined with the operational efforts of the home office and so on, working together as one team, we've seen two different teams working sort of in a disjointed manner. but the other thing to say, so that needs to change and i hope i don't know who it's going to be, but i hope the new border security commander, has the vision and the ability and the competence and the knowledge and the experience to actually pull that and the authority to pull that and the authority to pull that together. we will see. but the other thing is that we have to recognise that we cannot send people back to countries that we have no relations with, and that
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we can't ourselves go to. so afghanistan, iran, north korea and so on. and so there is a problem with these with people who come here from those countries. we can't send them back. there's not a practical, legal or diplomatic way of doing it. so what should we do? well, that was the reason that the previous government came up with rwanda. we would then have somewhere to send this particular category of people , particular category of people, people who are we're not giving them leave to remain , but we them leave to remain, but we can't send them back to their home country. so where can we send them? rwanda was a solution. this government has abandoned rwanda. so the plan now of the home secretary, as i understand it, is to allow these people not not to get rid of them, but to allow them. this is them, but to allow them. this is the effective amnesty effective. so it's an amnesty in all but word and name, to allow them to enter the community, live in the community. they will now have equal priority over housing to british people. they will have access to the welfare and benefits system and they will be able to work. that is the plan. so we'll have that, will have a
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knock over the lifetime of the people who are already in that category. it's about £18 billion that that's been estimated to have an impact on the on the, on the welfare budget. so 18 billion. so, you know , this is billion. so, you know, this is where we're going with it. there is no coherent national strategy pulling all all the various strands and efforts of government together, the various departments and so on. there is no clear set of objectives, and we still haven't heard from the present government what they want to achieve by this in terms of the small boats or in terms of the small boats or in terms of the small boats or in terms of the overall figures of net immigration. absolutely. >> and i think it's rather telling that they've struggled to actually employ someone to be chief of this new border command operation. so, henry, we'll leave it there. i think i would make you the head of the border command, henry bolton . that's command, henry bolton. that's what i would do. >> but i did apply for it. >> but i did apply for it. >> darren. >> darren. >> yeah. oh, you did, did you? >> yeah. oh, you did, did you? >> i did , and i was told that i >> i did, and i was told that i have no relevant experience , and have no relevant experience, and i didn't even get an interview.
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>> so they they know who they want. yeah. >> oh , absolutely. absolutely. >> oh, absolutely. absolutely. all right henry, thank you very much for that. now, folks, you're with me darren grimes on gb news on your tv and on digital radio. coming up as the world becomes more dangerous, is it actually time that we increase our defence spending ? increase our defence spending? and next i'll be asking whether labour has what it takes to actually smash those gangs. ultimately this is gb news. see you after this
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welcome back. you're with me. darren grimes in for nana akua on gb news on tv and on digital radio. all right, it's time for the great british debate this houn the great british debate this hour. and i'm asking the question, can labour smash the gangs fuelling illegal work in the united kingdom? it seems sir keir starmer may finally have
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something to celebrate as the home office crackdowns on illegal workers. over 120 employers have been fined and 75 illegal migrant workers detained. they particularly targeted car washes, a hotspot for off the books employment. but is labour's approach enough to actually dismantle the networks? these criminal networks? these criminal networks for good? so again, that question for the great british debate. can labour smash the gangs fuelling illegal work in the uk? well, joining me now is former special adviser to michael gove , charlie rowley and michael gove, charlie rowley and the co—founder of novara media, aaron bastani. charlie, i'll start with you. the conservatives obviously did a lot of work on this. they actually put in place measures. the conservative government passed a law on banning arrivals on small boats from claiming asylum for example. it actually had a duty to remove marking
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them for deportation either to rwanda or their home country. yvette cooper said she's repealing that, saying it would save the taxpayer £7 billion. well, how much is the taxpayer going to save when you get more people coming over ? because people coming over? because there's absolutely no deterrent to deter them from coming ? to deter them from coming? >> well, i think that's the ultimate point, isn't it, that on day one, the labour government came in and scrapped the rwanda scheme. and whatever you think about rwanda, however much it cost, it was set up also, not just to deport people that came into this country illegally, but to stop and to prevent other people making that that journey. now you've got two sides of the problem here where you've got the criminal gangs, the international criminal gangs that are providing a false hope, a false choice for people who want to carry out that sort of journey. it is a perilous journey. it is a perilous journey where people do put their lives in absolute danger. but you need to smash those gangs. yes, but you also need to make it absolutely clear to anybody that is even considering coming into the country, into the first place, illegally or by those means. and by those small boats that they will not be able to stay. now, i think it's
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important actually . and, you important actually. and, you know, over the weekend, yes, it's right that the police have gone into whether it's the car washes or whether it's sort of nail bars or whether it's anywhere else that you might see abuses of power or people trafficking or employing illegal workers. so of course, that needs to be clamped down and of course that needs to be smashed. but without a deterrent. the problem is only just going to get worse. you're going to get more people coming into the country illegally, and this problem is only just going to have a downward spiral. >> aaron, do you agree with those sentiments? do you think actually there will be this will become increasingly a major issue for the labour government, given that it is increasingly one of the top concerns. according to public polling. >> so a few months ago, just to pick up on that really important point, a few months ago, the two big concerns for the electorate were the economy quite understandably cost of living crisis in the nhs. and what's changed recently is law and order and migration. >> one might say, well, that's because the economy is slightly improving. >> people are feeling more optimistic. the weather's nice, so they turn their minds elsewhere. but regardless, you're right that they're much
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more salient. and i think as a result, labour feel like they have to be seen visibly to be doing stuff on this and that's why we're talking about this today, where i would depart from what was said a moment ago is, i think, a major problem for the conservatives. and look, we have the former adviser to michael gove to here maybe make the counter argument. they they didn't believe in funding enforcement agencies. so whether it was defra and agricultural waste being pumped into is whether it was things like this, whether it was things like this, whether it was council officers, very often people were doing things they shouldn't be doing, but it doesn't matter if it's in law. the point is, it wasn't being enforced. i mean, i went past the other day a shop which had been closed because they were selling illegally single use vapes, and i was so happy. i said, wow, i never see these kinds of things. somebody actually enforcing the law. and so i think a big point of difference between labour and the conservatives is that perhaps ideologically, labour believe in the power of the state to do certain things, and they're willing to give
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resources to state agencies to back that up. >> so you think actually they will get a grip on it? >> well, it's not about getting a grip on it because that's subjective. some people in this country want immigration zero. they want tens of thousands. i'll be honest. that's not going to happen for a bunch of reasons. but i do think in terms of undocumented migration, people working in the in the in the grey or the black economy, which isn't just people coming on boats, by the way, it's people overstaying visas or whatnot. i think labour probably are intellectually better equipped to deal with it. >> okay. do you agree with that, charlie? i mean, the example here were car washes where actually the home office went in and you need to either have a search warrant based on actual evidence that there are indeed people there or permission from the car wash. well, you ain't typically going to get permission from the car wash, so it's incredibly difficult for enforcement, you know, even if they've got the backing of the government to actually do these things . so really, unless government to actually do these things. so really, unless you actually deal with the root cause of them coming here at
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all, it's very hard to deal with the actual businesses that are employing these people off the books. i think that's absolutely right. >> it is that deterrent of stopping people coming into the country legally in the first place. but you're absolutely right. you know, there is a huge jump right. you know, there is a huge jump from just entering the country illegally and then sort of trying to either claim asylum or be put on a housing list or be detained in bibby stockholm as was once there, or in a hotel. there's a big jump from that situation to then being employed by unscrupulous , owner employed by unscrupulous, owner or shopkeeper or whatever they are who are paying you below minimum wage more often than not that are probably exploiting your the working hours of the any other ordinary worker would have in this country. so it is the owners of the businesses that are acting in an abusive way, just as it is the person that's coming into the country illegally. >> i mean, i would just very quickly say that there was a under the tories. >> i mean, there was the attempt to sort of shut down. you saw those sort of big candy stores that are, you know, bringing oxford street to sort of because
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they are, you know, arguably or had been sort of facades for other things that were that were, that were happening . that were, that were happening. that was just the start of the crackdown. but i do think, you know, police do have the power. and i think enforcement agencies do have the power, but sometimes maybe they've just not quite been a certain or assured of themselves as to how to go about it. and as you say, if you need a warrant to turn up at a car wash and say, well, i'm coming in tomorrow, well, of course you're going to tidy things up before the police arrive. so you do need to have, i think these, raids and whether it's dawn raids and whether it's dawn raids or others. but, you know, enforcement do have the powers, and they should continue the work that they're doing. >> arun, just finally and briefly, if you would, because we're running out of time. one of our viewers says that labour had a week long operation in london to catch a total sum of 75 people, which, in the grand scheme of things, isn't all that many, you find out they all come from afghanistan or other nations. and i think actually the people there were primarily romanian, but the fact of the matter is, with a country like afghanistan, we don't have a returns agreement and the viability of getting one from
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the taliban seems pretty remote . the taliban seems pretty remote. so labour are utterly powerless without any means of actually putting these people anywhere. so deportation isn't going to happen, is it? >> well, i think with afghanistan, there's this you just asked me to give a short answer. i'll try. people think. people think either you send them to afghanistan or they stay here and there are a ton of other options, too. you know, right now, pakistan is expelling several million afghans. and i think, frankly, european nation states should be giving resources and to money pakistan, to iran to be able to resettle. >> well, they wouldn't spend that money on resettling, though, would they? >> pakistan has had 2 million. >> pakistan has had 2 million. >> iran would say, oh, i've got an idea. iran's. >> iran's had about 5 million afghans there for a really long time. so pakistan, several million afghans too. so i think there are a bunch of measures here. and i think we need to think intelligently about them. and this idea that either they go back to afghanistan and we don't have diplomatic relations with kabul, like you say, or they remain here. i don't think that's necessarily why it's also
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afghanistan, to be frank, isn't really a very safe person if you're a woman or lgbt and i, i certainly wouldn't want to be in that country if i was, nor would either of those two groups. >> but it doesn't mean that we ought to bring everyone over there. no, no, that's my point. >> there are there are other measures as well. >> yeah. all right. well, i mean, to be honest with you, i think this is all a terrible mess. and i think a plague on both of their houses to be perfectly balanced. so there we are. there you go. we'll come back to our panel for more great british debate. but for now, though, are you with me? darren grimes in for nana akua on gb news on tv and digital radio. next up, as tensions escalate in the middle east, should we increase our defence spending ? increase our defence spending? it's a dangerous old world. first of all though, we're going to get your news headlines cheery as i'm sure they'll be with sam francis . with sam francis. >> very good afternoon to you from the newsroom. just coming up to 3:34. and the top story. we start in germany . the suspect we start in germany. the suspect in the western germany knife
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attack is due before a judge there this afternoon. police say there this afternoon. police say the 26 year old syrian, who is accused of killing three people and injuring eight others at a cultural festival, had reportedly applied for asylum in the country. a church service has been taking place today to remember and to pay respect to those who lost their lives in that attack. currently, four of the wounded are still in a life threatening condition . israel's threatening condition. israel's prime minister is warning attacks against hezbollah aren't the end of the story. its military carried out what it calls pre—emptive strikes in southern lebanon, as the iranian backed militants fired rockets and drones towards israel. meanwhile, a hezbollah official claims it's not looking for a full scale war. that comes as flights between the uk and israel have been cancelled today. an urgent search is now continuing for a missing british journalist who is believed to be trapped under the rubble of a bombed hotel in ukraine. he was part of a six strong team from
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the reuters news agency, caught in a russian missile strike in kramatorsk. the ukrainian and a us national were also injured . us national were also injured. here the prime minister is set to warn that things in britain will get worse before they get better. sir keir starmer will use a speech on tuesday this week to claim promises made by the labour government will take time because of an economic black hole left by the conservatives immigration enforcement officers have detained 75 suspected illegal workers as part of a week long crackdown. they visited more than 225 businesses, particularly car washes, with 122 of those receiving civil penalties. the home secretary, yvette cooper, says that those who break the rules will face the full force of the law . the full force of the law. russia are claiming the arrest of telegram's boss is a witch hunt by the west. they say pavel durov, who founded the encrypted messaging app, has been detained in france. local media there is
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reporting the platform is being investigated for potential criminal activity by some of its users. and a royal navy warship has conducted a major drugs bust in the caribbean. more than £40 million of cocaine that's street value has been seized , and three value has been seized, and three alleged smugglers have been handed over to us authorities for prosecution. so far this yean for prosecution. so far this year, hms trent has seized close to seven tonnes of drugs worth more than £500 million from traffickers . those are the traffickers. those are the latest headlines for now darren. up latest headlines for now darren. up next. first, though, this short break for the very latest gb news direct to your smartphone, sign up to news alerts by scanning the qr code or go to gbnews.com forward alerts
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>> welcome back. i'm still darren grimes and i'm still in
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for nana akua on gb news on tv and on digital radio. right in the great british debate this houn the great british debate this hour, the question is, does the united kingdom need to increase defence expenditure? the conflict between israel and hezbollah continues to escalate, of course, with hamas and the houthi rebels as well. israel's launching pre—emptive airstrikes in lebanon after detecting a planned attack, while hezbollah responded with a barrage of rockets and drones, marking a significant increase in hostilities. how bad is this going to get? could it escalate into a middle east conflict off the scale? i want to know, should we be reconsidering our involvement in that region and increasing our expenditure in defence altogether ? right. defence altogether? right. still, joining me is former special adviser to michael gove, charlie rowley and the co—founder of novara media, aaron bastani . charlie, let's aaron bastani. charlie, let's let's start with you then. i mean , the conservatives
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mean, the conservatives expenditure under them really. i mean, it's been a bit of a joke, right? we launched the queen elizabeth ii and well, it couldn't even get off the ground first. right. so it's been a bit of a mess defence on the, on the whole . and recruitment has been whole. and recruitment has been pretty bad too , it ain't looking pretty bad too, it ain't looking too healthy, right now. labour can argue that actually you've made it a real hash of it, do you think? >> well, i mean , ben wallace, >> well, i mean, ben wallace, when he was the former defence secretary, always seemed to have a way of cutting a deal with the treasury. >> but it did seem to always be the case that whenever there was a budget announcement coming up, that it was the defence budget that it was the defence budget that was always sort of looking like it might have had to be sort of trimmed or savings efficiency savings made. but ben wallace is actually very good at making sure that actually there was a maintenance of that spending there, and i think, look, you know, as a conservative, you want to see a defence spending not just maintained, but increased. i mean, at the last election, the conservatives pledged to increase it by 2.5% in terms of
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gdp. labour didn't commit to that. they said they would only when economic conditions allow. but i think, you know, there will never be the right time to, to not spend more money. you've got to keep spending money because of just the situation that you've talked about. now, with the conflict in the middle east that does impact on the uk, because it was british vessels that were being held up and cargo ships being held up in the red sea by the houthis. so, you know, that is uk trade at risk. you know, you're seeing energy bills in this country that had to increase, which at the last government did step in to protect because of the war with russia and its illegal invasion in ukraine, and not to mention then existential threats such as china and north korea. >> well , just before i bat that >> well, just before i bat that over to aaron, what do you think of the labour party's stance on the question of israel itself? because israel, right now is facing challenges on three fronts. you've got lebanon, you've got obviously the west bank as well, still an issue. and of course, the houthis are to the to the south. so those
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three fronts, with iran acting as the defender of the proxies, it's a real challenge . but the it's a real challenge. but the labour party doesn't seem to be all that keen to get behind them. do you think that that's going to make a market change and only get worse as time goes on? >> i mean, it could well do. >> i mean, it could well do. >> i mean, you've hit the nail on the head perfectly there because it is iran that is funding the proxies that are funding the proxies that are funding and training, you know, these kinds of individuals who go on to be the houthi rebels or part of hezbollah. and let's not forget, you know, hamas , who, forget, you know, hamas, who, you know, in the middle east, you know, in the middle east, you know, in the middle east, you know , infiltrate themselves you know, infiltrate themselves within hospitals, in schools, in pubuc within hospitals, in schools, in public buildings, which is why israel, in terms of defending itself on that terrible terrorist attack that took place on the 7th of october, it has had to try and go after these these terrorists who have, as i say, infiltrated themselves in pubuc say, infiltrated themselves in public buildings. so you are seeing , sadly, day after day, seeing, sadly, day after day, more deaths and more casualties. that has to be proportionate.
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and israel does have to have a responsibility to make sure that it is just targeting where those hamas terrorists are and not increasing any civilian lives to be lost where it isn't necessary. it's very difficult , necessary. it's very difficult, but it is incredibly difficult. civilian. exactly and as you say, as israel are going to be the chief defender for all of us in the west against iran and against hezbollah and against the houthis and against hamas. and, you know, the middle eastern situation that does impact on the uk. of course, we've got to increase our defence spending to make sure that we're match fit for any eventuality. >> yeah . i mean, aaron, first of >> yeah. i mean, aaron, first of all, do you agree with that last sentiment that actually increasing defence expenditure needs to happen and secondly, on the question of israel, do you think the labour party will make a marked change from the conservative stance? >> well, i certainly don't think britain should increase defence spending because of hamas. there is no threat from hamas to this. well, iran though . well, again, well, iran though. well, again, i just i well, iran though. well, again, ijust i don't personally well, iran though. well, again, i just i don't personally we can have that conversation. i think a far more relevant here is the fact that there's the ukraine,
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russia conflict, a huge conflict . russia conflict, a huge conflict. ukraine made a really effective excursion incursion into russian territory. let's underscore what that means. it means there was an invasion of a nuclear armed power on the doorstep of europe thatis power on the doorstep of europe that is really, really significant. so i think if we're having the conversation about increasing arms spending, that to me seems like a more sensible conversation than iran giving money to hamas to buy rpgs. i mean, i just don't they are not the same scale of challenge. and in terms of the actual funding , in terms of the actual funding, 2% is, of course, what nato members should be doing. we've met that for a very long time. many members of nato haven't been doing that. 2.5%, as you said, was what the conservatives were committed to. labour have kind of gestured to it, frankly, if the economy doesn't grow, it ain't happening. and i would say it shouldn't increase until we get procurement. right. you talked about the aircraft carriers. >> well, i do agree with you there. >> it's kind of it's kind of crazy. and actually, when you speak to sort of military theorists right now, there is a big conversation going on. the americans are really on top of it. what's more effective in terms of returns on investment?
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20,000 drones or an aircraft carrier? and actually the people say , drones, look what's going say, drones, look what's going on in yemen. so i think that to me seems like the place to start. that's not me saying you shouldn't increase our arms spending arms expenditure, but if it's in the wrong place, it doesn't matter. you know, you can dig a hole if it's in the wrong place. >> do you agree with dominic cummings, by the way? because he said all of this? >> i think dominic cummings speaksin >> i think dominic cummings speaks in so many things. but don't don't let anybody know that. >> good lord, pick that up, pick that up. keep that between us. >> yeah. >> yeah. >> all right. we'll leave that one there. thank you very much, aaron. thank you charlie. we'll come back to you shortly. next up folks, the race for the white house. well, it continues heating up. we're going to go to a specialist in us politics, professor scott lucas. he'll join us with his analysis. i'll see you after this short
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break. welcome back. many of you getting in touch. well, many
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pointing out that actually the uk has indeed increased defence spending . it'sjust uk has indeed increased defence spending . it's just the defence spending. it's just the defence of ukraine that the billions have went to. and then other comments pointing out that, well, if we are going to increase expenditure on anything, i'd really quite like to increase expenditure on ensuring that the united kingdom has some semblance of border security . keep those views security. keep those views coming in. thank you very much for them. i do appreciate it. right. we're going to get the latest in the united states. now who will win the race to the white house? robert f kennedy jr. s decision to endorse donald trump will hearten republicans, but kamala harris may be feeling rather chipper herself after enjoying a warm reception at the democratic national convention and finding a bump in the polls after, well, a bumping off of joe biden. so joining me is the us and international politics professor, scott lucas. scott. thank you very much for your
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company . give us your overview company. give us your overview of where you see us at right now. i mean , i've watched you on now. i mean, i've watched you on other media outlets and you basically are of the view, if i can speak for you, that the intervention from robert f kennedy jr won't make a jot of difference . difference. >> well, i think it remains to be seen if it makes difference. >> and that will only come in november. i think we can set these loans out, however, which is the first thing, is that after kamala harris replaced joe biden in late july, kennedy share of the national polls dropped from 8% to 4%. >> so he already had lost a lot of voters. now, the question is of voters. now, the question is of those 4%, how many of them would go to donald trump? and i think this cuts both ways. i think, clearly there are some voters who will go with robert kennedy to support donald trump because he's endorsed donald
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trump. but i think also robert kennedy is, let's say, a unique individual, with his particular views from the argument that he says unusual things because of worm ate his brain, from his argument that our brains are being weakened by the internet , being weakened by the internet, from the very unusual story about how he placed a dead bear in new york's central park from the claims of sexual harassment against him, his support may not be one which is seen by many undecided voters as being that of a stable individual for mr trump. >> well , that could actually >> well, that could actually sway voters the other way . you sway voters the other way. you could argue that. but i mean, i think there are many people that would argue that perhaps the internet is making us well, a bit more stupid, to be frank, you know, sat there glued to our phones, swiping through tiktok and all the rest of it. but the other argument, surely the kennedy name still holds great weight in american politics? >> well, that's not what kennedy said about the internet. you
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phrased it kindly what he said about the internet is, in fact, it's sending out waves that are affecting our brains, and that is, of course, i think a little bit more dubious argument. but in terms of the family name, again, if people simply take the family name, that's one thing. but five of robert kennedy's siblings, the sons of the late robert kennedy, the senator who was assassinated, sons and daughters of the late robert kennedy, who was assassinated in 1968, immediately separated themselves from robert f kennedy jr. and they said , look, there jr. and they said, look, there is no way that we support donald trump. and it would be a great sadness to our father to find that his son in fact, had done this, especially with such unusual rhetoric . so i think, unusual rhetoric. so i think, you know, the question of whether robert f kennedy jr, in fact, even has the support of the family and thus they give the family and thus they give the support to donald trump. that's that's not what's going to happen before. >> okay. >> okay. >> well, can you answer me this ? >> well, can you answer me this? the fact that kamala harris, for at least the first year of the joe biden administration was made border tsar, you know, and
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the southern border has seen predicted to be millions of people cross it. is there a problem here that actually the reputation of kamala harris herself and the fact that she's not doing any interviews right now or at least hasn't thus far, is because actually, there's a pretty poor record to defend that some would argue is pretty indefensible . indefensible. >> well, first of all, even if you say she was border tsar and that was actually a term that was made up by the trumpist , she was made up by the trumpist, she in fact, was never given overall command of the southern border. the facts are this that in 2024, migration across the mexico border to the united states has dropped by more than 50%. and also, i think this is the key argument. at the start of january, the biden administration, including kamala harris, had agreed to a proposal with the republicans for border security to be quite tough on the border while respecting the rights. >> well, it hasn't it hasn't worked yet. >> but what?
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>> but what? >> we'll have to leave it there , person. >> now, the person who torpedoed that deal was donald trump, right? >> right. professor scott lucas , >> right. professor scott lucas, thank you very much for your time. the weather's up next. >> it looks like things are heating up. >> boxt boilers sponsors of weather on gb news. >> hello there. welcome to your latest gb news weather forecast from the met office. showery rain starting to clear as we head into monday. rain starting to clear as we head into monday . a little drier head into monday. a little drier and brighter and warmer for many of us with the winds falling a little lighter. low pressure starting to move away. a brief ridge of high pressure moving in for monday, which is a bank houday for monday, which is a bank holiday for some of us ahead of further wet and windy weather moving in to the northwest later on in the day. for the end of sunday and overnight, we can see showery rain still affecting parts of northern ireland, southern scotland , northern southern scotland, northern england, elsewhere. clear spells and scattered showers. the breeze still fairly brisk around
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the coasts and that will keep temperatures up. temperatures for most of us 13 to 15 celsius, so a warmer start to monday compared to what we've seen over the weekend. this weather front will continue to give showery rain across southern scotland, northern england , across the northern england, across the rest of scotland, generally brighter with a few scattered showers. winds lighter. monday morning northern ireland also seeing some sunny spells. a few showers around temperatures across northern england around 14 or 15 celsius under the cloud. variable cloud across parts of wales. a few showers possible, whilst much of the rest of england generally dry, though some showers across southeast england clearing through monday morning and then through monday morning and then through the day. as that ridge of high pressure builds in, it largely stays dry and bright. there will be some sunny spells, but quite a bit of cloud around for most of us. showers across northern parts of the midlands, northern parts of the midlands, northern england into southern scotland, but most places staying dry and with lighter winds just feeling a bit warmer. temperatures high teens to low 20s. highs around 23 celsius
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towards the london area , so just towards the london area, so just a little improvement for some. then into the evening time further wet and windy weather starts to move back in across northern ireland, western parts of scotland. over the next few daysit of scotland. over the next few days it stays wet and windy across the northwest, but temperatures start to rise in the sunshine, particularly by midweek towards the southeast. highs around 28 celsius. that
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gb. news >> hello and a very warm welcome to gb news on your tv and on your digital radio. i'm darren grimes standing for in nana akua. if you've only just joined us, where have you been? and for the next few hours, me and my panel will be taking on some of the big topics hitting the headunes the big topics hitting the headlines right now . this show headlines right now. this show is all about opinion. mine theirs, and indeed yours will be debating and at times disagreeing. joining me for the
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next couple of hours are former adviser to michael gove , charlie adviser to michael gove, charlie rowley and the co—founder of novara media, aaron bastani. now, before we get started, we're going to get you news headunes we're going to get you news headlines with sam francis . headlines with sam francis. >> darren, thank you very much . >> darren, thank you very much. and good afternoon to you. 4:00. exactly. we start this hour with the latest breaking developments from germany, where prosecutors have now named the main suspect accused of carrying out a knife attack that killed three people and injured eight. his name is eissa al haq. his surname, though at this stage not known because of course of germany privacy laws. the 26 year old syrian national is accused of being a member of a terrorist organisation and of sharing islamic state ideology. if you just saw there on television his photo that has been released by german media, although at this
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stage we haven't yet verified if thatis stage we haven't yet verified if that is indeed the suspect. he has been charged though with three counts of murder and attempted murder. the suspect had also applied for asylum in germany and handed himself into police following the attack. well, a church service has been taking place today to remember and to pay respect to those who lost their lives. and those victims include a 56 year old woman and two men, aged 56 and 67. four of those wounded remain in a life threatening condition . in a life threatening condition. hezbollah officials have insisted a militant group isn't looking the militant group, rather, isn't looking for a full scale war. after a rocket and drone attack against israel, this morning, it was in retaliation for the killing of a top commander last month. israel launched pre—emptive strikes on southern lebanon in what it called an act of self—defence. israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, says israel
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will take all measures necessary to defend itself. today's attack comes as egypt is hosting a new round of talks aimed at ending the conflict between israel and hamas . a british man is missing, hamas. a british man is missing, feared, buried under rubble after russian missiles hit a hotel used by journalists in the east of ukraine. he was part of a six strong team from the reuters news agency. the ukrainian and a us national were also injured. they're now in hospital. reuters have released a statement . they say that they a statement. they say that they are urgently seeking more information and they're working with authorities in kramatorsk and supporting colleagues and their families . here, the prime their families. here, the prime minister is set to warn that things will get worse in the uk before they get better in a speech on tuesday. sir keir starmer is likely to say that there are no quick fixes to remedy what he'll call the rubble and ruin left by the conservatives. he'll also continue to argue that the latest government concealed the true state of public finances. but the conservatives have
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responded , accusing labour of responded, accusing labour of fabricating a financial black hole to clear the way for tax rises. they're also calling the prime minister calling for the prime minister calling for the prime minister calling for the prime minister to reverse cuts to winter fuel payments, arguing that they would leave pensioners in the cold. immigration enforcement officers have detained 75 suspected illegal workers as part of a week long crackdown. officers visited more than 200 businesses in the past week, particularly car washes, with over 120 of those receiving civil penalties for employing illegal workers. that's according to the home office, where the home secretary, yvette coopen where the home secretary, yvette cooper, has said the government will ensure that those who break the wall rules will face the full force of the law. businesses found to be employing people illegally face fines of up to £45,000 per worker for the first offence, and then up to £60,000 per worker for any repeat offences. the billionaire founder of encrypted messaging app founder of encrypted messaging app telegram has been arrested
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in france, according to local reports. pavel durov was detained after his private jet landed at an airport north of paris, to according officials. the 39 year old was arrested under a warrant for offences related to the popular messaging app.the related to the popular messaging app. the russian embassy in france, though, is taking immediate steps. it says, to clarify the situation. according to the russian state news agency. telegram is particularly popular in the country and also in ukraine, and former soviet union states. in ukraine, and former soviet union states . a royal navy union states. a royal navy warship has conducted a major drug bust in the caribbean. cocaine worth a street value of more than £40 million, has been seized, and three alleged smugglers have been handed over to us authorities. so far this yean to us authorities. so far this year, hms trent has seized close to seven tonnes of drugs worth more than £500 million. a plume of sulphur dioxide is currently crossing the uk's skies, spreading from a volcano in iceland, the met office says. thoughit iceland, the met office says. though it should clear in the coming hours and because it's
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high up in the atmosphere, it shouldn't affect air quality too much. and caribbean culture is being celebrated for the next two days in london, europe's biggest street festival . the biggest street festival. the notting hill carnival, of course, is underway. more than 7000 police officers are on duty , 7000 police officers are on duty, with around a million people expected to attend. those are the latest gb news headlines for now. plenty more on that breaking story from germany throughout the rest of this afternoon. i'll be back with you in half an hour for the very latest gb news direct to your smartphone , sign up to news 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, sam. now, before we get stuck into the debate, here's what's coming up today. some breaking news. the german prosecutors have
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identified the 26 year old stabbing suspect as eissa al hayat. it doesn't say anything else after that. so your guess is as good as mine. sam francis will remind you later on. hundreds of employers face hefty fines after at least 75 league goals were held in a home office blitz on dodgy businesses. so can labour actually smash those gangs? and let's not get our hopes up, folks, as sir keir starmer will warn this week that things will only get worse before they get better . well, i before they get better. well, i don't remember that one being in the manifesto . things will only the manifesto. things will only get worse in the immediate term. it's not quite the same hook, is it? and i'll be asking whether the prime minister has actually betrayed the nation. israel and hezbollah exchanged heavy fire as tensions escalate in the middle east, the world becomes more dangerous. is it actually time, folks? we prioritise defence over other expenditure, let's not forget. ed miliband has given £11 billion in the name of climate change abroad.
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that's all coming up in the next houn that's all coming up in the next hour. don't forget to send your views and post your comments by visiting gbnews.com/yoursay and you can tell us the name of that fellow if you want, and see you later . on. first of all, though, later. on. first of all, though, the prime minister, sir keir starmer, is set to warn the nafion starmer, is set to warn the nation that things are only going to get worse for the average people before they actually get better. that comes as labour confirm immigration officials confirm they've detained 75 illegal illegal workers in a crackdown that could scare off dodgy employers. i'm not sure it will, but joining me now is the political consultant and strategist peter barnes. peter, give us the latest on this story . latest on this story. >> good evening. good afternoon darren. >> how are we doing . >> how are we doing. >> how are we doing. >> it's quite somewhat of a something a nothing story. >> this really you know the latest this looks like the government kind of running around trying to take credit for. >> not very much. >> not very much. >> what taking 75 suspected
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illegal workers into into custody. >> congratulations. it doesn't really seem much to ring home about does it. >> the they went after 225 businesses in a week. and this was after by the way, yvette cooper said that this was going to be an intensive, operation. >> if 225 is intensive, i'd hate to see whether he put some real work in. i don't know about you, but, yeah . but, yeah. >> so it seems that they've got up to about 122 businesses have got civil, civil penalties. now, these are actually quite interesting because they kind of shifted the, the boundaries of what you could be fined. >> so the first instance is £45,000 per worker. if you get caught a second time, it's £60,000 per worker. and these changed in january under the last government. so we'll have to keep our eye out for the for this government taking credit for that. but, it wouldn't surprise me. but honestly, this just seems to be something and nothing. it looks like the labour party wanting to say that they're doing something when in reality they're doing absolutely nothing to really get to grips with the issue of illegal immigration. you know, this is
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number one for so many voters up and down the country and the and the government just is not really tackling. it's not tuned in to the issue because he doesn't know how to tackle this issue because in my opinion it's helped create this issue. >> so would you not argue then to play devil's advocate that the labour party saying they're going to put all this money into this new border command, that actually they are taking the issue seriously and they want to enable counter—extremism experts to actually infiltrate these criminal gangs. >> darren i'll believe it when i see it. let's not forget that, they've been after the head of this amazing goal. force command. you know, this new power ranger as he seems to be, for quite some time now. and yet they still can't seem to find anybody, and they're throwing everything but the kitchen sink to try and find someone. so, you know, is he telling me there's no one capable of doing it? you know, let's be real. you know, the labour party, you know, talk a good game on these kind of issues. but look at their history and opposition. they voted time after time after time against measures that would stop the gangs, that would stop criminal enterprise of this nature . and now they're saying,
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nature. and now they're saying, oh, this is a major victory. well i hate to break it. it's really not. you use the word blitz if this is a blitz, then i'm sorry. heaven help us all. >> yeah . all right, peter >> yeah. all right, peter barnes, thank you very much for that analysis there. now moving on, folks. a government assessment has actually revealed that labour's so—called amnesty for illegal migrants could actually add up to 44,000 people to britain's welfare bill. guess who pays for that? the tories say that will cost you at home £18 billion. so for more on this story, i'm going to be joined now by the research director at the centre for migration control, robert bates. robert thank you very much for your company. now many viewers are already incensed by the issue to find out that instead of focusing on issues where there is a chronic housing shortage in this country and the taxpayer cash that we're spending £18 billion on, people that are arriving here illegally. i tell you what, if there wasn't anger in the country before, there
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certainly will be. now >> it's a sickening figure, isn't it? absolutely sickening. >> and it comes at a time that, you know , rachel reeves is you know, rachel reeves is targeting oaps. >> she's targeting pensioners, she's cutting winter fuel allowance. >> we're going to be seeing and you know, keir starmer is going to be telling us on tuesday that things are going to get a lot worse as well. >> all the while, we're hearing that 18 billion of our taxpayers money will be going to putting these people up into a life of luxury , essentially a life of luxury, essentially a life of benefits relative to what they were previously encountering. i would actually argue that the figure will probably be a lot more than than the 18 billion, because obviously, once these people are given status, given these right to remain, we then have the whole family reunion route as well , which have the whole family reunion route as well, which is a in recent years, between 23 and 24 is increased threefold already as well. so i think the problem is actually being understated in these reports that we're hearing. >> yeah, i mean, the in the discussion, i just had earlier, you know, one of our viewers in response says labour found 75 illegal workers in one week. he says, i could walk around in my
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local city centre and find that many in two hours. and the fact of the matter is that, you know, we are basically dealing with an issue here that rome is burning and where. well, looking out the window, focusing on other issues, it just it the public are just really, really sick to death of the inaction. i know you're you're through your think tank. you're focusing on all of these issues. every single day. but what can we at home actually do about it, given that there is such loud public outcry ? such loud public outcry? >> well, we found out in recent in recent weeks that there isn't really much that we can do. >> i think people are being, you know, having the full force of the law thrown at them for making comments and trying to express that discontent. >> and i think, unfortunately, the fact that the labour were awarded such a huge majority, even though only 20% of the electorate actually voted for them, we're going to have them running the roost for the next five years. >> we'll see. >> we'll see. >> these kind of token measures. the 75 people that have been
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caughtin the 75 people that have been caught in car washes and deliveries and whatnot, and you know, plans to clamp down on another 14,000 and deport them as well. but the fact of the matter is that these measures are tinkering at the sides, as you say, rome is burning. and we're having from our home secretary and our prime minister really, really meagre offerings. and what the figure does show what the 18 billion will lead to. and you know, will inevitably result from this is a huge increase in those people looking to britain, seeing this as a soft touch, you know, there are hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people around the world, in the middle east and africa that are thinking , and africa that are thinking, you know what, i fancy trying to make a make a go of it and trying to get to britain. and i think the fact that we're now, effectively granting an amnesty to 60,000, 44,000 who the home office assesses is probably going to just fall into the welfare bill is staggering. and it shows that we have such a soft touch political class. i would argue that the conservatives are, you know , conservatives are, you know, just as culpable in that they obviously presided over the crisis since 2018. and under them, we were spending about 5.4 billion on the asylum system as well. so it doesn't really seem at the moment with the two
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parties that there's much of an opfion parties that there's much of an option for the british public to actually find an outlet for their anger. >> yeah. and robert, one of our other viewers, matthew, says , other viewers, matthew, says, how many of those illegal workers are actually going to be deported? and the key question there is where they come from or where they claim to come from, because if it is states that we don't have returns agreements with, well , labour ain't going with, well, labour ain't going to deport them because that would then be a breach of our human rights laws internationally. wouldn't it? >> well, absolutely. and the fact of the matter is that the labour party are absolutely repulsed by the very idea of deportations and without a real strong deterrent , without a strong deterrent, without a strong deterrent, without a strong message being sent to those that are considering of making the journey and coming over here, we will simply see more and more of these flows. we ultimately need to be considering as as some commentators have been calling it a shock in our approach to deportations, we need to be looking at getting those 90,000 that we know that are in the country without a legal right to asylum, claim out of the country, and quickly as possible, and send that message to those that are maybe thinking of making the journey that you're not welcome here. if you
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don't have a legitimate case. >> so what then? would you expect, given that there are pull factors now at play where if you arrive here effectively, you can stay, right? that is thatis you can stay, right? that is that is the message that i think certainly, in my opinion, has been sent out . what are you been sent out. what are you predicting will be the overall numbers that actually do ultimately end up coming here? are you of the view that labour can bring down the numbers of small boats , or are you small boats, or are you expecting the numbers to shoot up to record levels? >> there's no question that the numbers will diminish. it's simply off the table at the moment. it's simply off the table. we don't have a deterrent. we have a huge, huge honeypot that's effectively drawing these people in. and i would argue that in the next couple of years, we will see the figures reach 60 to 70,000 easily per annum. just because of the sheer, the sheer force of these pull factors that we have now put in play by electing a labour government. and i think it's an absolute travesty. as you said earlier, there's huge, huge concern about this. and let's not forget that as we're seeing events in germany and things like this, these are
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undocumented males in the large part, and there's a huge national security issue that's at stake here as well. and, you know, the fact that the labour party is now planning on scattering these chaps around the country as well and inflicting , unknown undocumented inflicting, unknown undocumented males in local communities is absolutely terrifying. so it's not just the fiscal costs that we need to bear in mind here as well. >> rob, i'm going to ask you a cheeky question. then. keir starmer says things are going to get worse before they get better. i mean, on the first part of that question, things are going to get worse. do you think they are? >> absolutely they will. i think we all knew that going into the general election, that a labour government were only going to put the crises that this country was facing, not just on immigration, but on other fronts, as well, on absolute steroids? and i think unfortunately , the next 4 or 5 unfortunately, the next 4 or 5 years are probably going to be quite unpleasant for those of us that are right minded and right thinking. >> yeah. one of our other viewers, robert , says we can't viewers, robert, says we can't afford this, and ultimately we don't have the land mass we're not building. we haven't got those houses , the housing stock those houses, the housing stock for even the people here. and then, you know, those earlier
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reports, which i think have since been u—turned on where people that arrive here would be prioritised for social housing over the british public already here. i just think the, the levels of, of discontent and the levels of, of discontent and the levels of, of anger that are growing throughout the country . growing throughout the country. i don't want to see that, you know, i don't i don't want to see the kinds of riots that we've seen in this country. so far. i've always condemned them. you know, i just would argue that if people think the ballot box is broken, what on earth do they do ? they do? >> you're right. and there's a real concern there. i mean, there was there was some polling out a couple of weeks ago that showed about 30% of people thought that, you know, if it was a if it was a viable route to, to remove asylum seekers from your local community, then they could maybe understand some of the behaviour that was being exerted. and that isn't the kind of country that we want to live in. that isn't the kind of country where people feel that the only option they do have is to take to the streets and, you know, engage in some of the behaviour that we saw over the last, the last few weeks. but i
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think ultimately the labour party have shown themselves to be so clotted on this, this issue, that people are going to be fermenting and people are going to be sat at home right now, and thinking, you know, i've been paying into this system for years. i've been playing by the rules. i've been doing everything right. and now my concerns, my legitimate concerns about the safety of my community, about where my taxpayers money is going, are being completely ignored. and i really, really think that there will be, you know, a continual ambulance throughout the, throughout the next five years. >> yeah. all right. well, robert, i have no doubt that you at the centre for migration control will continue speaking about this issue, even if certain political parties might would rather we spoke about anything else rather. but anyway, robert bates, thank you very much for your time in response to all of this, my friends, a labour spokesperson has said this under the tories , has said this under the tories, everyone who arrived here, no matter what their nationality was, were staying permanently in taxpayer funded accommodation , taxpayer funded accommodation, including asylum hotels with absolutely no prospect of
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removal. carrying on like this would have cost us between 30 to £40 billion, double our policing budget , goes £40 billion, double our policing budget, goes on to say. figures released last week show that their chaotic approach has created a record. asylum backlog. over 220,000 are now in the asylum system . that's their the asylum system. that's their response. all right, folks, thank you very much for your company with me, darren grimes on gb news on your tv and on digital radio. still to come, i'll be debating and asking whether sir keir starmer has actually betrayed the great british public as he appears to u—turn once again too many for a politician quickly ends up in the
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welcome back. you're with me . welcome back. you're with me. darren grimes on gb news, on tv and on digital radio. now german prosecutors have identified the
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26 year old suspect in the stabbing that killed three and injured eight. he's known as people by the authorities as isa al hage. now police say the man has admitted to the crime with islamic state terror group claiming responsibility for the attack course again. that attack killed three innocent people. a church service was held earlier in the city of solingen for people to actually pay their respects on another tragic knife attack. well, joining me now is the german journalist rob hyde, live from hamburg. rob, you're not actually german, so i do apologise for calling you a german journalist. you are a journalist in germany, but not actually german . i did check actually german. i did check that out earlier. >> i've actually got dual citizenship now, so i'm both. >> so don't worry. >> so don't worry. >> well, there we are . right. >> well, there we are. right. rob, could you give us the latest then on on what we're heanng? >> sure. well, as you said, i
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mean, it's an appalling situation. >> so the attack happened friday evening at around 937. and that was, as you said, in solingen, which is in the federal state of nonh which is in the federal state of north rhine—westphalia , not a north rhine—westphalia, not a particularly well known place, but 160,000 inhabitants, sort of the size of oxford , i suppose, the size of oxford, i suppose, and it happened during, the 60 650th anniversary of, of the town , and a band was playing and town, and a band was playing and the attacker then began stabbing people in the neck and, and injured three people. so there was two men, one aged 56, one aged 67, and a woman aged 56, who were murdered , as you who were murdered, as you rightly said, eight were injured , rightly said, eight were injured, two of them very seriously, and two of them very seriously, and two of them had minor injuries. and they're now, recovering in local hospitals.
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>> rob, there will be a fair few people looking at going back in time , not too far back and time, not too far back and looking at what angela merkel did in response to the crisis by assad in in syria and actually bringing a lot of people over from syria. do you think actually the, the rise of, of certain political parties in germany can be directly linked to the, to the anger that is felt in, in large parts of the country right now ? country right now? >> absolutely. i mean, i've been here 20 years and, as you as you rightly said. so it was 2015 when angela merkel, of the conservative christian democratic union , then made the democratic union, then made the decision to to, let in i mean, it was reported as being as her saying as many can come should come, but, and since then, i mean, this is a terrible, event.
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obviously it's not been the only one, unfortunately. of course. we had the famous christmas market attack that was in 2016, which which was also murderous. we had in 2016. so in the same yean we had in 2016. so in the same year, we had an attack on a train, with a man wielding an axe and a knife. in 2018, there was a man driving a van into a crowd in munster. and these are all people who either were members of isis or had expressed sympathy for it. there was a knife attack in hamburg in 2020 2021. in wurzburg, there was another stabbing and a killing. so this is really a pattern of, of, of similar behaviour. and as you as you said, i think it has fuelled support for, parties such as the afd. so the alternative fur deutschland, which is particularly strong in
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the east, what was interesting when you mentioned angela merkel is that she was from the conservatives or the christian democratic union, a conservative party. but today, friedrich mertz, who's, who's, head of that party, has actually called for policies which are nothing like what angela merkel said. he's actually demanding that there be an outright stop on anyone from syria or afghanistan. now coming into germany. >> now, why , then, is solingen >> now, why, then, is solingen in particular, is there is it there something around? what was going on in solingen at that time? why it was targeted in particular? or do you think this was just was this premeditated? basically >> it's hard to say. i mean , >> it's hard to say. i mean, it's not a particularly well—known place. i mean , it's well—known place. i mean, it's famous for cutlery. it's called, the city of the blades. but maybe, perhaps like sheffield, if you like. it is, however,
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sort of around 25 miles north of cologne , and that's got a very cologne, and that's got a very large, islamic population. and, and there have been events there , and there have been events there, obviously, you know, about the new year's attack. and what happened there, to the poor girls, so i guess you could speculate on them being some sort of link like that, but, there's no confirmation of that. and even though, as you know , and even though, as you know, isis have officially claimed. yeah, this this murderous attack, the german prosecutors are being notoriously tight upped are being notoriously tight lipped and saying this is still being investigated. >> yeah, but i mean, the fact that it was a festival of diversity, wasn't it? you know, that i mean, that as soon as i read that, i actually thought i must be reading a fake report when i read that. and you can understand why, right? >> absolutely. yeah i mean, 700
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children were supposed to have been going there as well. and this this brings back, eerie memories of something which wasn't that long ago, of course, with taylor swift and vienna and everything that happened there. so it's, it's chilling. >> no, it absolutely is. so what do you think will be the political response to this in in deutschland itself? do you think that there will be a clamour for, for more to be done? what will be the action here or will it be. well, let's not talk about it. let's talk about something else as is, i think in my personal opinion, all too often the case, unfortunately, that that often is the case and that that often is the case and that in turn fuels all of this frustration, >> i mean , markus soder, he's >> i mean, markus soder, he's he's the, the head in bavaria of the, of the conservative party, which is the christian socialist union, and that's the sister party to the, to the cdu. he's also called for , for this man to
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also called for, for this man to be deported immediately, no one else yet has, has, has made that claim. you've i mean , the claim. you've i mean, the president, so steinmeier has called for police to have greater powers, but hasn't specified what they are, but i do think it's quite telling, as i said, that friedrich merz, who's you know, head of the conservative christian democratic union, he's now said that a call for a complete stop on people from syria and afghanistan coming. and if you contrast that to angela merkel, even though it's the same party, i think we we're seeing a sense of people really getting that. you you need to toughen up if you're going to keep people happy. what's also very interesting, i feel, is that in eastern germany at the moment, which is, going to have its elections. so in the federal state of thuringia, just in a few days, the afd alternative for deutschland, who are anti—immigration, they're around 30%. it looks pretty clear that
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they're going to win that. but you've also got a lady from the radical left called sahra wagenknecht , and even she is now wagenknecht, and even she is now adopting pretty much the same policies when it comes to immigration, calling for a stop on it and for deportations and this type of thing. so even the left is now adopting these type of policies because they know that there's such a fierce demand for it. yeah >> all right. rob, thank you very much for that update. i do appreciate that. that's rob hide there. the journalist who joined us there from hamburg. now you're with me folks. darren grimes on gb news on tv and digital radio coming up, benjamin netanyahu says the attack on lebanon is not the end of the story. after strikes between israel and hezbollah. first of all, though, we're going to get the latest news with sam francis . with sam francis. >> for a good afternoon from the newsroom. 432 exactly. and the top story this hour, the man
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accused of killing three people at a cultural festival in western germany has, in the last hour or so, been confirmed as isa al hajj , and he has been isa al hajj, and he has been accused of being a member of a terrorist organisation. the 26 year old syrian has been identified by federal prosecutors and also charged with three counts of murder, attempted murder and dangerous bodily harm. islamic state has said it was behind friday's knife attack, which also left eight people injured . flights eight people injured. flights between israel and the uk have been cancelled after tensions in the middle east escalated last night. israel says it carried out strikes in southern lebanon in self—defence , while hezbollah in self—defence, while hezbollah fired rockets and drones in the other direction following the assassination of a senior commander. both sides are reported to have said that neither wants to see a full scale war. an urgent search is continuing for a missing british journalist, who is believed to be trapped under the rubble of a
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bombed hotel in ukraine. he was part of a six strong team from the reuters news agency , caught the reuters news agency, caught in a russian missile strike in kramatorsk . a ukrainian and a us kramatorsk. a ukrainian and a us national were also injured. the prime minister is set to warn that things in britain will get worse before they get better. sir keir starmer will use a speech on tuesday to claim promises made by labour will, he says, take time because of what he's calling an economic black hole left by the conservatives immigration enforcement officers have detained 75 suspected illegal workers as part of a week long crackdown. they visited more than 225 businesses, particularly car washes , with more than 100 washes, with more than 100 receiving civil penalties. the home office says those who break the rules will face the full force of the law. russia are claiming the arrest of telegram's boss is a witch hunt by the west. pavel durov, who founded the encrypted messaging app' founded the encrypted messaging app, has been detained in france. local media there is
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reporting the platforms being investigated for potential criminal activity by some users and a royal navy warship in the canbbean and a royal navy warship in the caribbean has conducted a major drugs bust . cocaine worth street drugs bust. cocaine worth street value of more than £40 million has been seized, and three alleged smugglers have been handed over to us authorities. it's the sixth drugs bust made by hms trent so far in 2024. those six seized come close to seven tonnes of drugs worth more than £500 million from traffickers . those are the traffickers. those are the latest headlines for now. i'm sam francis, back with you just after 5:00 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
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>> welcome back. thank you very much for your company. you're with me darren grimes in for nana akua on gb news on tv and on digital radio. it's time for the british, the great british, the british, the great british, the british, the great british, the british, the great british debate this hour and i'm asking, has sir keir starmer betrayed the british public? lots of you of that view in the comments section right now, some of you of the view that novara media is the best place to get your news. well, that's nice to hear. in the prime minister's first major speech since taking office, he's set to warn that things will only get will get worse before they get better. and surprise , they get better. and surprise, surprise, he's going to blame the tories for the state of our society and economy. well with starmer reaching 50 days in office, we've seen record migration figures, pensioners furious over winter fuel payments , shivering in the cold payments, shivering in the cold breeze to come and mass riots. is he u—turning on his key policies? he told you one thing,
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he's done another. or is his honesty refreshing? you tell me . honesty refreshing? you tell me. right. for the british great britain, i've done that again. british. the great british debate. has sir keir starmer betrayed the british public? still joining me is former special adviser to michael gove. charlie rowley and the co—founder of novara media, aaron bastani. i've started with him too much, it says to start with charlie, i want aaron coming to you. you're not exactly. i wouldn't put you in the labour camp and therefore do you think there is a problem when politicians say they're going to do one thing and then do the complete opposite? >> well , i do the complete opposite? >> well, i think it's good that he's being honest . i think that he's being honest. i think that this is probably about expectations. >> so you genuinely don't think he had any idea how bad the state of the finances were? >> i think he did. i think there was there was a great deal of deceit in the labour party campaign, but there's also a part that i, there's a part of me that says sometimes it's important that politicians should be able to relay bad news and not sugarcoat it to the
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electorate. whether or not that's appropriate here. i think that's appropriate here. i think that's appropriate here. i think that's a that's a broader point. so let's do a little spreadsheet here. what's the good news for labour? well migration is going to fall this year. legal migration is almost certainly going to fall this year. inflation is staying low. interest rates have been cut. gdp can make growth is really healthy. now the bad news for labouris healthy. now the bad news for labour is that none of that is because of them. right. so starmer's actually quite lucky insomuch as he's inheriting a pretty rosy situation. not over the last 14 years, the country has had a really tough 14 years, in my view, certainly since covid has had a really tough several years. but actually this year on those things i just mentioned, there is an upward trajectory. so on the one hand, labour have to sell this message of the country having a tough time since 2010. but at the same time, like i've said, that doesn't really tally with the actual experience we're going to see really this year, house pnces see really this year, house prices also likely to go up as well. for instance, if you're a homeowner , that's good news, and homeowner, that's good news, and so labour are in a bit of a pickle in that regard. at the same time, like i say, i think
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this is about expectations management. so labour towards the end of this year are going to be thinking house prices are going up, real wage growth, economic growth, inflation is still low. migration figures down and we'll still have more to offer. so i think it's relatively smart politics. but like you say and this is really this is really key. all those good things i just mentioned have literally nothing to do with keir starmer or the labour party. >> do you think that the you mentioned the migration figures, do you think they will go ahead with this rumoured plan to give the eu a little something, a little trinket and go ahead with free movement for the under 30s free movement for the under 30s free movement for the under 30s free movement of people that i don't think they will because they view it as too politically toxic. >> i personally think free movement for under 30 is perfectly. i think it's quite smart, actually. well, no, i think it's smart because look , think it's smart because look, if people might have noticed that our university system is on the brink of collapse, it's a bit of a hail mary, thank god. >> i think there are far too many of them. i say goodbye, well , that's the thing. well, that's the thing. >> the thing is, and even i'm sure some of your viewers and listeners think that the problem
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is many british towns are dependent upon their local university. and if you want there to be fewer universities, you want it to be a gradual process rather than a sort of collapse. and that would be a major problem, so, you know , i major problem, so, you know, i support that policy. i don't think it's gonna happen for the reasons i just said. and i do. but i do think immigration generally will be lower this year than last. >> i before i go to charlie, i want to ask you, yesterday, the telegraph reported that labour had got rid of the free speech bill that the tories had passed to bolster freedom of expression within university campuses. you mentioned universities that labour have said they're not. they're going to get rid of that. they're going to scrap that. they're going to scrap that. they're going to scrap that. the labour, the telegraph rather said that this was they were worried that actually it might , deter were worried that actually it might, deter chinese students and investment from getting involved with the university sector here in britain. should we really be saying that we don't have free speech in britain to actually bolster universities on behalf of the chinese communist party
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>> well, i don't know that about that particular reading of it, but it is pretty extraordinary how dependent our higher education system is in this country on on foreign students, particularly students from east asia , particularly obviously asia, particularly obviously from china. it's the largest east asian country . and that's east asian country. and that's obviously outrageous. i would say that actually that piece of legislation, i didn't really agree with it. why? because i think we should have a codified constitutional right to free speech. kids should be taught it at school. so i, i support free speech, but i don't think that piece of legislation went nearly far enough. >> okay. thank you charlie . the >> okay. thank you charlie. the renters just messaged saying, darren, you're talking too fast . darren, you're talking too fast. it must be all this caffeine. brenda, i do apologise , charlie. brenda, i do apologise, charlie. what you've heard from aaron there setting out a whole host of reasons why all of our viewers could well argue that there has been a betrayal by sir keir starmer , mentioning all keir starmer, mentioning all sorts of things from immigration to, the, the fact that he's got rid of the winter fuel payments for certain pensioners. and even
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if you are eligible to receive pension credit, there are many pensioners who don't know that they are actually eligible for pension credit . and even if pension credit. and even if you're a five or over the threshold, you might not get it, but you're still going to struggle to pay your energy bills when they go up by over £100. there are so many ways in which i can actually understand why so many are miffed. >> totally. and you know, we talked in the last segment, one of the debates that aaron was right to say, look, the number one issue in this country was about the economy and immigration. >> and yes, they've inherited, i think, quite a nice , you know, think, quite a nice, you know, difficult circumstances that tories had to , to deal with. but tories had to, to deal with. but the labour government have inherited quite a nice package with inflation coming down. it's now gone up. i think just a little bit, at the last sort of reading. but, you know, they scrapped the deterrent in terms of illegal migration on day one. you know , they've announced that you know, they've announced that they're going to have to effectively put taxes up to fund this, you know, 22 billion black hole that, you know, is suddenly there's just been discovered, which probably doesn't exist at
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the same time, taking away the winter fuel allowance , all the winter fuel allowance, all the while being in tune with your union paymasters, paying huge pubuc union paymasters, paying huge public sector pay rises when the rest of us don't see that you're now seeing, you're going to see more strikes on the back of that. and it is something that i think people will wake up and day after day reading headlines of what this labour government is doing and thinking, what on earth have we got ourselves in for? putting up taxes will choke off any growth that's been made in terms of the economy. what little growth there is, but it's got to go in that that trajectory . but choking that off trajectory. but choking that off won't be good for business. it won't be good for business. it won't be good for business. it won't be good for the economy. it won't be good for individuals. and as i say, scrapping the number one issue that this country faced, which was illegal migration, scrapping that deterrent, not having a replacement, i think we're just going to see this country go backwards . backwards. >> i can hear aaron bastani furiously scribbling away on that sheet of paper. i am going to come back to him in a second, but we are going to have to take a short commercial break. but thank you very much , aaron, and thank you very much, aaron, and thank you very much, aaron, and thank you very much, aaron, and thank you to charlie, who was right in war and peace there by the sounds of it, you're with
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me. darren grimes on gb news on tv and digital radio coming up in the next hour. another great british debate. i'm asking, is it time to stop mollycoddling our kids? all of them on these smartphones, glued to them, hopefully watching gb news. are we raising a generation of snowflakes ? let me know what you think and i'll see you after
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welcome back. are you with me? darren grimes on gb news on tv and on digital radio. now flights between the united kingdom and israel have been cancelled after tensions in the middle east escalated last night. israel says it carried out strikes in southern lebanon in self—defence, while hezbollah fired rockets and drones in the other direction following the assassination of a senior commander . assassination of a senior commander. both sides are said
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to have not been after a full scale war. well, joining me now is the historian, journalist and ex reserve officer, doctor peter caddick—adams. thank you very much for your company. >> hi, darren. >> hi, darren. >> are you of the view that this will break out into a full scale war? >> no . >> no. >> no. >> and i want to reassure you and our viewers that i don't think that's on the cards. both sides have said they don't want a full scale war, it's certainly not in israel's interests, and hezbollah, even though backed by iran , certainly can't maintain iran, certainly can't maintain a full scale war. and it is at home in the state of lebanon, and they don't want a full scale war either. so all the players are absolutely resolved to stop this from escalating. >> and how perilous is the situation for israel? because i think it's to easy forget that on all three fronts. you know, the sea on the other side, the
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hezbollah and the north, you've got the hamas in the south. exactly and the west bank is often volatile as well, and then all proxies of iran, the houthis, houthi rebels saying that they will fire and retaliate shortly, too. could you could you envisage a scenario in which the state of israel ceases to exist? >> well, this is what israel's been coping with since 1948, and the, the, the sort of deck of potential opponents shifts and morphs and changes, but it's always felt hemmed in by potential adversaries, and that's no different now. but i don't i don't see, any possibility that israel would cease to exist, and if pushed to an extreme, the rest of the world would come in in one way or another. so we're not dealing with that. >> well, that that is the question i want to hear you answer, because it looks to me as a observer of the news, that
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there is a real problem for israel on the cards and that is that in the likes of kamala harris in the likes of sir keir starmer, that there are growing tensions within their own domestic politics and political parties against any support for israel in its war against hamas? will that will that tension start to dissipate if actually it does break out and israel starts to be attacked on all three fronts by many opponents, right. >> well, i don't think it'll go there, but you're absolutely right in your incisive observation that the optics of this don't look very, very for good israel at all, and the sheer number, whatever the number is, even even if the numbers are inflated, i don't think they are, of palestinians being killed wherever, the, the opfics being killed wherever, the, the optics play out appallingly, at the moment , i optics play out appallingly, at the moment, i think israel has got got itself into a loop where it doesn't care, what it what
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it's struggling to do is find its way out of its own domestic political crisis, and that's how hezbollah and hamas are, have been included in the loop , but been included in the loop, but it's significant that that it's causing the most damage to the weakest of the two. hezbollah are much , much stronger. they've are much, much stronger. they've always had far more of a military capability. they're hiding in another country. so israel would have to invade lebanon again, which it can't really do. i mean, let's, let's, let's understand that. i mean, one of the drawbacks for israel in all of this, is that it's using a lot of reservists, most of its armed forces are reservists, and when they're in the armed forces, they're not in their hotels and their banks and their hotels and their banks and their advertising agencies and their advertising agencies and their schools doing their other jobs. and that's the crisis that's building up in israel. indeed. >> we'll have to get you back on, because i'm keen for more analysis on that. doctor peter caddick—adams, thank you for your analysis, folks. you're with me. darren grimes on gb news on your tv and digital
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radio is notting hill carnival the ultimate example of two tier policing? here's the weather with greg. >> a brighter outlook with boxt solar, sponsors of weather on gb news . news. >> hello there! welcome to your latest gb news. weather forecast from the met office. showery rain starting to clear as we head into monday. a little drier and brighter and warmer for many of us with the winds falling a little lighter, low pressure starting to move away, a brief ridging of high pressure moving in for monday, which is a bank houday in for monday, which is a bank holiday for some of us ahead of further wet and windy weather moving in to the northwest later on in the day for the end of sunday and overnight, we can see showery rain still affecting parts of northern ireland. southern scotland, northern england. elsewhere, clear spells and scattered showers, the breeze still fairly brisk around the coasts and that will keep temperatures up . temperatures temperatures up. temperatures for most of us 13 to 15 celsius.
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so a warmer start to monday compared to what we've seen over the weekend. this weather front will continue to give showery rain across southern scotland, northern england, across the rest of scotland generally brighter with a few scattered showers . winds light up monday showers. winds light up monday morning. northern ireland also seeing some sunny spells. a few showers around temperatures across northern england around 14 or 15 celsius under the cloud. variable cloud across parts of wales. a few showers possible , whilst much of the possible, whilst much of the rest of england generally dry, though some showers across southeast england clearing through monday morning and then through monday morning and then through the day as that ridge of high pressure builds in, it largely stays dry and bright. there will be some sunny spells, but quite a bit of cloud around for most of us. showers across northern parts of the midlands, northern parts of the midlands, northern england into southern scotland, but most places staying dry and with lighter winds just feeling a bit warmer. temperatures high teens to low 20s. highs around 23 celsius towards the london area. so just a little improvement for some.
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then into the evening time further wet and windy weather starts to move back in across northern ireland, western parts of scotland. over the next few daysit of scotland. over the next few days it stays wet and windy across the northwest, but temperatures start to rise in the sunshine, particularly by midweek towards the southeast. highs around 28 celsius. >> looks like things are heating up boxt boilers sponsors of weather on
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>> well . >> well. >> well. >> hello. and a very warm welcome to gb news with me darren grimes in for nana akua on tv and on digital radio. if you've only just joined us, how dare you ? and where have you dare you? and where have you been now for the next hour? me and my panel will be taking on some of the big topics. hitting the headlines. right now. i'm still joined by the former special adviser to michael gove. charlie rowley and the co—founder of novara media,
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aaron bastani. now, before we get started, we're going to get the latest news headlines with sam francis . sam francis. >> darren, thank you very much and good evening to you. 5:00 the top story tonight, german prosecutors have named the man suspected of carrying out a knife attack that sadly killed three and injured eight others as eissa al hajj, the 26 year old syrian national, is being accused of being a member of terrorist organisation overseas and sharing islamic state ideology. he's also been charged with three counts of murder and attempted murder. the suspect, who had applied for asylum in germany, handed himself in to police following that attack . police following that attack. well, a church service has been taking place today to remember and pay respect to those who lost their lives. three the victims include a 56 year old woman and two men, aged 56 and
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67. four of the others injured remain in a life threatening condition . officials from condition. officials from hezbollah insist the militant group isn't looking for a full scale war. after a rocket and drone attack against israel this morning. it was in retaliation, they say, for the killing of a top commander last month. israel, in response, launched pre—emptive strikes on southern lebanon in what it called an act of self—defence. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu says israel would take all measures necessary to defend itself. while today's attacks come as eqypt while today's attacks come as egyptis while today's attacks come as egypt is hosting a new round of talks aimed at ending the conflict between israel and hamas . the search is continuing hamas. the search is continuing for a british man who's missing and feared buried under the rubble after a russian missile hit a hotel used by journalists in the east of ukraine. he was part of a six strong team from the reuters news agency, a ukrainian and a us national were also injured in that attack. reuters have released a
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statement saying they are urgently seeking more information. working with authorities in kramatorsk and supporting their colleagues and the families here. the prime minister is set to warn that things will get worse in the uk before they get better. in a speech on tuesday this week, sir keir starmer is likely to say there are no quick fixes to remedy what he'll call the rubble and ruin left by the conservatives. he'll also continue to argue that the last government concealed the true state of public finances. but the conservatives have accused labour of fabricating a financial black hole to clear the way for tax rises. they're also calling for the prime minister to reverse cuts put in place by the chancellor to winter fuel payments, arguing that those would leave pensioners in the cold. immigration enforcement officers have detained 75 suspects of illegal workers as part of a week long crackdown. officers visited more than 225 businesses in the past week, particularly car washes, with over 120 of
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those receiving civil penalties for employing illegal workers. home secretary yvette cooper says the government will ensure that those who break the rules face the full force of the law, while businesses found to be employing people illegally face fines of up to £45,000 per worker. that's for the first offence and then up to £60,000 per worker for any repeat offenders. the billionaire founder of encrypted messaging app founder of encrypted messaging app telegram has been arrested in france, according to reports. pavel durov was detained after his private jet landed in paris, according to officials. the 39 year old was arrested under a warrant for offences related to that popular messaging app. russia's embassy in france, though, says it is taking immediate steps to clarify the situation . a royal navy warship situation. a royal navy warship has conducted a major drugs bust in the caribbean. cocaine, worth a street value of more than £4,040 million, has been seized
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and three alleged smugglers have been handed over to us authorities so far this year. hms trent has seized close to seven tonnes of drugs worth more than £500 million, taken from traffickers . caribbean culture traffickers. caribbean culture is being celebrated for the next two days in london, europe's biggest street festival, the notting hill carnival, of course, is underway. more than 7000 police officers are on duty on the streets, with around a million people expected to attend. and finally, quite possibly my favourite story of the day. hopefully yours too. a world war ii veteran celebrating her 102nd birthday has become britain's oldest parachutist. here's the moment she took that leap . well, you can see there leap. well, you can see there monette bale marked the milestone with that skydive, raising over £10,000 for charity. despite admitting the jump charity. despite admitting the jump was a bit scary, she encouraged others in their 80s and 90s to keep going. she said
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and 90s to keep going. she said and to never give up. i think we can also see the moment she landed the face of a very relieved 102 year old there and for her 100th birthday, she drove a ferrari on a racetrack. apparently. who knows what she'll do for 103? those are the latest gb news headlines for now, i'm sam francis, back with you 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, sam. nice to have some cheery news at the end there, wasn't it? this is gb news i'm darren grimes standing in for nana akua. here's what's coming up on this next hour. hundreds of employers face hefty fines after at least 75 illegal migrants were held in a home office blitz on dodgy
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businesses. so can labour actually smash the gangs as they promise? and let's not get our hopes up as prime minister. sir keir starmer will warn this week that things will only get worse before they get better. i don't remember seeing that in the old manifesto. now it's the first day of the notting hill carnival, and more than a million people are gathering in west london to celebrate canbbean west london to celebrate caribbean culture. but last yean caribbean culture. but last year, eight people were stabbed and 80 police officers were assaulted. so i'm asking the question, is the carnival the ultimate example of two tier policing ? and the tv presenter policing? and the tv presenter kirstie allsopp has been questioned by social services over her decision to let her 15 year old go interrailing. do we need to stop this culture of mollycoddling our kids? that's coming up in the next hour.
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don't forget to send your views and post your comments by visiting gbnews.com/yoursay . visiting gbnews.com/yoursay. prime minister sir keir starmer is set to warn the nation that things will get worse for ordinary people before they get better . this comes ordinary people before they get better. this comes as labour confirm immigration officials detained 75 illegal workers in a crackdown that could scare off dodgy employers. well, joining me now is the political consultant and strategist peter barnes. peter, thank you very much for your company. what is it exactly that has happened here? and is it a sign that we'll see further action in the not too distant future? >> well, if the labour party think this is a crackdown, i think this is a crackdown, i think there's a pair of crackpots running the country. so basically, what has happened is immigration enforcement, enforcement officers have detained 75 allegedly illegal
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workers after a week long, exercise by the ieo. into the kind of tackling this issue of illegal workers. they've got into 225 businesses in the last week targeting mainly cash in hand businesses such as car washes . and out of those, 122 washes. and out of those, 122 have received civil penalties. now, the way those work, interestingly, is if you get caught the first time, it's £45,000 per worker. if you get caught the second time, it's £60,000 per worker. and that was kind of upgraded in january from the last government for 15 to £20,000. so we have seen a bit of a step up here. but the reality is 75. is that really it? you've got yvette cooper doing victory laps, around the media circuit right now and i'm like, why? i'm sorry if we actually look at the figures here from march 2024, in the last, in the previous march to march, the issue had increased by 59%. and if we go back to
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january 2022 to now, it's 79, nearly 80% increase in the number of illegal workers in the united kingdom. and she's taking a victory like over 75. what we're really seeing here is the labour party yet again, taking a pr victory over over having done absolutely nothing, if we think that there's going to be any great increase in this issue. i'm sorry. i don't see it. this is sticking to politics because what it is, is to make the labour party look like they care about the issue of illegal immigration, and that they're doing something about illegal immigration. when in reality they have no plan and they have no clue what they're doing. >> all right. peter barnes, thank you very much for that take. we're going to go now to the immigration lawyer , ivan the immigration lawyer, ivan sampson. ivan is this a sign of a change within the home office, or do you think actually this is just more of what happened before? >> well , first of all, it is >> well, first of all, it is alleged illegal migrants there haven't been found to be that
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fast. >> but the employers have a strategy. >> duty to make right to work checks. and if they don't, they can face civil penalties. >> there's also criminal penalties , ultimately leading to penalties, ultimately leading to jail sentences for persistent offenders. >> but you see, the number of illegal migrants in the country. the lsc did the last sort of research on this is anything . research on this is anything. between 400,000 and 800,000 people living in the uk illegally either overstayed their visa or entered the uk illegally. now, even if the government removes 75 or catch 75 people every week, it would take about 120 years to get everyone. so it's just simply the numbers don't stack up. they can't possibly, solve this problem by catching and removing people. also, once you actually apprehend someone who is here illegally , the government have a
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illegally, the government have a right to detain them and to remove them from the to their country. many of these people don't have any passports, no documents at all. so it's actually cheaper leaving them in this out of the system because it costs a horrendous amount of money to keep them in detention where there's no prospect of ever removing them to any other country . that's another thing. country. that's another thing. and you can't detain people forever. i mean, you just can't do that at some point. they have they have human rights, and so it's a much bigger problem on top of that, the government admit that many of these people have been exploited, which means they have a right to claim that they have a right to claim that they are have been trafficked. therefore the government have a statutory duty to implement the national referral mechanism under the modern slavery slavery act. now, that could take several years. and if they're found to have been trafficked, they've got they may have a right to remain in the uk. so it's a lot more complex than
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what you see on the screen saying that 75, alleged migrants have been caught. >> all right, ivan, you're in islamabad, right now. if i was to make my way there and i was to make my way there and i was to throw my travel documents overboard and say, look, i want to stay here and there's nothing you can do about it. look, i've been trafficked. i, i am a vulnerable person. and actually, it's modern slavery. and that's the reason i'm here. what would happen to me in islamabad? >> well, when ? >> well, when? >> well, when? >> as far as i'm aware. and i could be wrong, but i don't think that pakistan is a member of the modern slavery. but i'm going to double check that. but if they were, they'd have to implement what's called the national referral mechanism, and that's a uk law. it's not really important what happens to them. islamabad. what's important? the question is what happens to them in the uk and what happens to them. >> it is important because they would say, actually, you have absolutely no right to be here. and they would very swiftly say sling your hook. and we simply
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do not do that in this country. you cannot say that these are vulnerable people when they are in france, which is a safe nafion in france, which is a safe nation . ivan, i think that nation. ivan, i think that actually you ought to understand the raw anger that's out there in the country at the injustice of, as you rightly say, between 400 and 800,000 people here without a right to actually be here, that we are having as taxpayers to fund it wouldn't happen to me in islamabad. that's the key point. >> no, i hear you what you're saying, and i and i fully understand people's concerns. we can only implement the law. we're a law abiding country. we have to implement the laws that we invoke. and theresa may was the instigator of the modern slavery act. and it was it was actually one of the great things that she achieved for those who are genuinely being trafficked, they have the right to seek protection from those exploiting them. we've got to then investigate and make a decision whether we believe they've been
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trafficked or not. if they have been trafficked , we've then got been trafficked, we've then got to make a decision whether we allow them to remain in the country. that's the law, i'm afraid, and we have to comply with it. but i understand people's concerns . and, look, people's concerns. and, look, we're the only country i believe, who let undocumented people enter our country. i disagree with that. i don't think we should. i don't think anyone should be allowed to come into the country, which who is undocumented , and there should undocumented, and there should be detention for those that come to this country without proof of identity and about having their backgrounds checked. so many of them may well be criminals for all we know. >> well, indeed , i agree, and >> well, indeed, i agree, and ivan is the problem. not if they if they arrive here undocumented and say, well, look, i'm from afghanistan . we don't have a afghanistan. we don't have a returns agreement with the taliban , so there's nothing you taliban, so there's nothing you can do at that point. is there ? can do at that point. is there? >> that is the problem. that's the key. and a lot of countries face that problem. but i must correct you on the issue about claiming asylum in france under the refugee convention they
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don't. that's the point. nigel and i have had many, many debates. we need to relook at the refugee convention. we need to re relook at and perhaps have a national statute dealing with asylum and perhaps even come out of the refugee convention because i agree, a lot of people take advantage of it. i mean, i'm a human rights lawyer, but i'm a human rights lawyer, but i'm also the father of children. and i'd like to know that those people coming to this country. well, i'd like to know who they are, that our children are protected from any potential dangers . they from these people. dangers. they from these people. >> yeah. well, ivan, it ain't going to happen under labour, is it? pulling out of the refugee convention? >> no, i like yvette cooper. and i think she's genuinely wants to address this problem. but at the end of the day, we're going to have to make treaties with the eu akin to the dublin convention, because under that convention, we were permitted to send people back to france if they claimed asylum in any eu or any member state of the refugee
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convention. we can't at the moment. and when we came out of brexit, people weren't really doing the thinking about this. we were so concerned at getting out of the eu that these little matters that were overlooked. so we it should have been in the withdrawal agreement, we should have kept the dublin convention in some form in the withdrawal agreement, and we could have returned to france. those people that come across from there at the moment, we can't unless we enter a new treaty. >> yeah, well, we must, must, must change the law if the law is the problem and i share those sentiments anyway. ivan thank you very much for your views. that's ivan sampson there and offering his take on what labour call a major crackdown on illegal migration. now folks, next up, after eight people were stabbed last year, we're asking, is notting hill carnival the ultimate example two tier policing? i'll see you after
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hello and welcome back. you're with me, darren grimes on gb news, on tv and on digital radio. now notting hill carnival starts today. more than 7000 police officers will be on duty as more than 1 million people are expected to descend on west london to celebrate caribbean culture. but last year there were more than , well, nearly 300 were more than, well, nearly 300 arrests. eight people were stabbed and around 80 officers were assaulted. now critics are branding the carnival the ultimate in two tier policing. they argue that if this kind of behaviour was replicated at football matches, for example , football matches, for example, well, it would be banned. so joining me to discuss this in the studio is the retired scotland yard detective, mike neville , and the former armed neville, and the former armed response sergeant and writer
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harry tang. thank you very much, harry tang. thank you very much, harry and mike, for your company. mike, i'll start with you in the studio. would you agree with those that argue that actually it would be better for safety of police officers and the public that it was banned? >> well, i don't know if it necessarily needs to be banned, but i think it needs to be moved somewhere like hyde park. the actual venue is a danger. it's a potential crush. there's the issue of the local residents who have to board their homes up often. they don't want their houses used as toilets area. and then there's the vast cost. it costs about £11 million and 7000 police officers. now, to put that into context , even that into context, even manchester and liverpool don't have 7000 police officers. they would be better deployed, i suppose, but it also was in hyde park. you could control it, you could make a small charge. people plane tickets to see football matches and therefore contribute towards the policing. and so i think it would be fairer and safer all round if it
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was moved, and then it could be more controlled by being in an open area. >> harry, if eight people were stabbed and 80 of police officers were injured at a football match, for example, let's say chelsea are playing, do you think actually there would be some calls for change were that to occur? >> yes and no. >> indeed. in the old maggie thatcher days, there was a big clampdown, wasn't there, on these footballers. >> i think it's a complicated problem. >> i mean, i'm a formula one fan and you've got monaco and there's no way on this earth that monaco would have been used for formula one cars if somebody came there today and said, let's, let's put a race here is on health and safety grounds, etcetera, etcetera. >> the problem we've got is where you've got a real bit of historical background and celebrating a culture that has gone on and there's many, many people enjoying themselves. what i would like to know , and where i would like to know, and where i would like to know, and where i agree with mike, is if it was in somewhere like hyde park and it was ticketed, even if it wasn't expensive, you would gain. >> well, are these 333,000
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people every day or, you know, making a million in three days that are attending or are they individuals? >> are they individuals? are they the same lot coming ? in they the same lot coming? in which case, you know, if it's a million people enjoying themselves, then we need to improve the safety because it seems to be there's an average of 250 arrests every year. but that doesn't really mean much because many of these arrests, many offences, go unchallenged because they're not even seen by the police officers. >> yeah , >> yeah, >> yeah, >> we had huge problems with gang crimes, didn't we, using that as, as the time to, to take revenge. it is a dangerous situation, but i don't think it's as simple as just saying. right. no more. and i think maybe a good compromise is to put it in some way that where is ticketed and very much more safeguarding involved. >> mike, what what is the reason that you have sort of gang culture at the carnival itself? and why is there a view that by
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those people that actually this is the place to enact your revenge? >> well, with the it's an afro—caribbean culture, a cultural affair . and many of cultural affair. and many of these young gang members are young black men who are attracted to this. they feel they can fade into the crowd. there are lots and lots of people who are simply there just to enjoy themselves. but some people will use that as a as a cover for criminality, for drug dealing, for using weapons and getting revenge on other people . getting revenge on other people. and this is the real problem. and this is the real problem. and my, my attitude about the football thing is that at that carnival, there'll be people openly smoking drugs, there'll be people abusing the police , be people abusing the police, dancing or twerking with female police officers to the point of indecent assault. and if any of those actions were done by working class white lads or any working class white lads or any working class white lads or any working class lads, whatever colour going to a football match, they would immediately be arrested and they would be swiftly arrested and dealt with. >> harry, given what mike has just said there, that's a
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pertinent point for much of our audience because harry, they would argue that what they've seen over recent weeks has been a clear cut case of two tier policing because of what goes on.the policing because of what goes on. the criminality at the carnival . so do you think carnival. so do you think there's a problem here for the police in general, not just by the assaults or offences that will take place at the carnival, but the optics to the whole nafion but the optics to the whole nation ? nafion? >>i nafion? >> i think the police are caught in the middle here because you've got a multicultural problem where integration no problem, everyone working with each other and no problems. you could have people from every background, every culture, every religion working together. it's when people step away , don't when people step away, don't learn english, step away, have communities that it then becomes a them and us. and then the police have to then come in and speak in community meetings. and of course, if you get liaisons in community meetings, you you get friendships, loyalties, and you start treating one community
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different from another. and this is where the complaint from, white english or even coloured, you know, black, brown, english people who are thinking, well, this is not fair, because if you think of the rally that was recently in london, it was immediately considered far right, even though there wasn't one arrest and it was extremely peaceful. you have people in wheelchairs celebrating britain . wheelchairs celebrating britain. maybe we should be allowed to celebrate being english and the culture of english without feeling as though we're going to be accused of being far right and racist by mainstream media, and racist by mainstream media, and even some political police officer leaders. >> well, harry, i was there, and i don't think i know i'm part of the what, national front or whatever else you might say. but mike, the pictures that we were just seeing a moment ago from the carnival, you may you look at those and you think, well, goodness me, gracious me, that looks incredibly peaceful. that looks incredibly peaceful. that looks like they're all just having a good time. how sort of concerned would you be if you were to just look at those
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pictures? >> well, you wouldn't be concerned at all. but the trouble comes that today is what they call the children's festival. it's very it's usually a lot quieter. but the trouble comes in the night when the dark descends. this is when often criminality really takes hold. >> so the pictures we were seeing is from the children's festival. >> so that's today. tomorrow is usually the worst day for crime. but we can't get away from this. for the last five years there have been an average of ten stabbings per per carnival. over five years, two of them fatal. and when they say, oh, there's been two, 300 arrests, if the same criteria for arrest that they use at football was used at they use at football was used at the carnival, i suggest there'd be thousands of arrests . and it be thousands of arrests. and it just demonstrates how things are policed differently . and this is policed differently. and this is bad for society, that we should have an even field. people should feel that the police are acting without fear or favour, and that everybody gets the same treatment, and that's a good society. it's a bad society when people think that others have a free ride and that just causes
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grievances. >> harry, do you reckon then at the event that you just mentioned, that rally that took place in london, if there were to be eight stabbings that took place at that and several hundred officers injured or assaulted or whatever else do you think people would be umming and ahhing over the question of banning it? >> i mean, if i'm just desperately trying to balance this. all right. it's difficult. darren. i'm trying. i think if a million people attended it, they they they wouldn't treat it quite as severely as if it was a, you know, 130,000 people. but this is why we need to know, are they the same 300,000 turning up or are they the same, you know , or are they the same, you know, same people every day, in which case you're talking for a much smaller number of the population that are getting an enjoyment from this. if i'm really honest. you know as well as i know it's an immediate accusation. it's a simple accusation to throw out. even i was listening to the prime minister's speech after those horrendous, murders of
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those horrendous, murders of those poor young girls and even i felt, oh, is he talking about me? you know , and that's not me? you know, and that's not being discussed. and that is where the problem is. and that's where the problem is. and that's where people think there's. it's just there's too many grievances going on. and we all need to come together a little bit more on this. >> yeah. mike, just before you, isend >> yeah. mike, just before you, i send you off. would you would you like to actually set out how you like to actually set out how you if i can put you on the spot ever so slightly, mike, because i didn't tell you i was going to ask this, but how would you actually restore trust in british policing and actually have the public not view them as two tier immediately? >> i would get the police to focus entirely on crime. any statistics around diversity? 1 would get rid of ? no one ever would get rid of? no one ever complains that i didn't like the colour , sexuality or the sex of colour, sexuality or the sex of the officer who came to help me. what they complain about is my house was burgled, my family were attacked, my car was stolen. all i got is a crime number, and the only people on a crime number are those who've got some insurance. the people
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who are poor and don't have insurance. they get a bad lot. and i think the absolute focus should be on catching criminals and preventing crime, making the streets and our homes safer. and that should they should be the only targets whatsoever. all this talk of any division must be removed and we must get back to policing by consent. and being a policing without fear or favour. >> harry, in a very brief sentence, do you agree with those sentiments? >> yeah, and i think unless i'm wrong , i. >> yeah, and i think unless i'm wrong , 1. manchester police are wrong, 1. manchester police are withdrawing from the pride marches. >> yeah, that is true. >> yeah, that is true. >> i think it's important that the police are approachable by everyone. so i totally get the fact that it's. yeah, if you're gay ' fact that it's. yeah, if you're gay , you can approach the gay, you can approach the police. it's not a problem. we're not going to demonise you like the old days and whatever, but then you go too far. like the old days and whatever, but then you go too far . you've but then you go too far. you've got to remain professional. you've got to remain impartial through fear nor favour you should act impartially. and we're missing that at the moment, i think. >> yeah, i agree, and that's what robert peel set up when he
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established the police. right. and that was a laudable and perfectly worthy and continued for all this time until recently when we decided that quackery and wokery was more important than law and order. but anyway, we'll leave it there. i've just started and we could have gone on and on with that. but harry tanguy, the former police sergeant, thank you very much for your time . and mike neville, for your time. and mike neville, the retired scotland yard detective . thanks to both of detective. thanks to both of them. now, folks, you're with me. darren grimes on gb news on tv and radio. still to come , tv and radio. still to come, we'll continue the great british debate where i'm asking , is it debate where i'm asking, is it time to stop mollycoddling our kids? let me know what you think. you'll hear the thoughts of my panel. former special adviser to michael gove, charlie rowley and co—founder of novara media, aaron bastani. first of all, though, it's your latest news headlines with sam francis . news headlines with sam francis. >> darren, thank you very much. good evening to you. just after 5:30, the top story tonight, the man accused of killing three people at a festival in western
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germany has been charged today with being a member of a terrorist organisation overseas. the 26 year old syrian, identified by prosecutors in germany as eissa al haj, has also been charged with three counts of murder, attempted murder and dangerous bodily harm. islamic state says it was behind friday's knife attack, which also left eight people injured . flights between the uk injured. flights between the uk and israel have been cancelled today after tensions in the middle east have escalated. israel says it carried out strikes in southern lebanon in self—defence, while hezbollah fired rockets and drones in the other direction following the assassination of a senior commander. both sides are reported to have said neither wants to see a full scale war. an urgent search is continuing for a missing british journalist, who is believed to be trapped under the rubble of a bombed hotel in ukraine. he was part of a six strong team from the reuters news agency. they were caught in a russian missile strike in kramatorsk. a
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ukrainian and a us national were also injured. here the prime minister is set to warn that things in britain will get worse before they get better. sir keir starmer will use a speech on tuesday this week to claim promises that are made by labour will, he says, take time because of a so—called economic black hole left by the conservatives immigration enforcement officers have detained 75 suspected illegal workers as part of a week long crackdown. they visited more than 225 businesses, particularly car washes, with 122 receiving civil penalties. the home secretary, yvette cooper, says that those who break the rules will face the full force of the law. and finally, a 102 year old world war two veteran has become britain's oldest parachutist. minette bailey, from suffolk, leapt out of a plane raising over £10,000 for charity. it's not even her first daredevil stunt to mark her 100th
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birthday. she raced around silverstone in a ferrari . wonder silverstone in a ferrari. wonder what she'll do to celebrate 103? we'll find out next year. those are the latest gb news headlines for now. i'll be back with you 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
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>> hello and welcome back. you're with darren grimes on gb news on tv and on digital radio. now for our great british debate. this hour. i'm asking, is it time to stop mollycoddling our kids? this comes after kirstie allsopp was outraged after she was quizzed by social services for allowing her 15 year old son to go into railing
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across europe. she called the council's actions orwellian and absolutely outrageous. so for the great british debate this houn the great british debate this hour, i'm asking my panel and you at home, is it time to stop mollycoddling our kids? do you have a problem with kirstie allsopp's actions? do we really want to raise a generation of snowflakes ? and there is snowflakes? and there is a problem actually, with young people not having social skills by being exposed to interaction with other people and, you know, people that you wouldn't see outside well, would see outside of the family home. well, joining me to discuss this is a man who often strayed away from home as a child. former special adviser to michael gordon, charlie rowley and the co—founder of novara media, aaron bastani. aaron, we'll start with you then . you're start with you then. you're a father. just about just about i mean, bit young now, but in the future, do you think you would allow a 15 year old to go
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inter—railing across europe? >> this is probably where i get cancelled. i don't know about interrailing and of course i have a daughter rather than a son, and that's variable. but i think i would let her go abroad. i mean, interrailing is obviously that could mean one week. it could mean three months, but i would certainly let her go abroad. i mean, i recall going to barcelona and madrid when i was 16, a few months after my birthday, and it was fine. and it's important to say, look, we have to have arbitrary boundaries around these things. but i think also there's common sense here, which is i believe that the son was a few months short of his birthday. he's going with a friend. i mean, i think that's sensible. at the same time , if sensible. at the same time, if there's a complaint made to a council's child protection services, they kind of have to do something because of course, if they don't follow up leads and something awful happens, people get in trouble. so i understand why they've paid the visit. the culprit for me, the villain in this piece for me is the person who's made this anonymous complaint about kirstie allsopp. >> well, i mean, they receive complaints all the time, right? true. they could have said there's nothing to. nothing to see here. >> true. but i mean, equally,
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you're kind of you're damned if you're kind of you're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't. as a child protection services. because of course they do let. they do let bad things happen and slip through the net. and of course, they're rightly called out for it. so look, it's frankly ridiculous. but to answer your point, i have no problem with it. >> yeah. i mean, charlie , were >> yeah. i mean, charlie, were you, god forbid, ever to be a father ? would you allow your father? would you allow your child to go galloping across europe at 15, >> i think i probably would, because i think also, the way in which, look, i mean, i think, you know, i was brought up and, look, the majority of people i think can bring up their kids in a way of knowing what is right. and wrong and the goods and bads and do's and don'ts of and i'm pretty sure, you know, i mean, making a sweeping assertion, but i'm pretty sure kirstie allsopp allsopp as you know, disciplined her child. you know, i mean, she seems a good person and very disciplined herself in terms of the things that she's. so, you know, i think i think it's fine. i think the council have an obugafion i think the council have an obligation to follow up a complaint like this. i think , complaint like this. i think, you know, if they don't and something happens and something had happened and there was
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actually sort of an abuse there or an element of child neglect if it came under that category and the council failed to look into it, or the police or social services or whoever. then of course, you know, we'd be sitting here tearing our hair out saying, well, you know, the council have failed in their duty of care or whoever it was. so i think it's right that they've done that. but i absolutely agree with aaron. i'm sorry. it's not much of a debate, but, you know, when it comes to, the, you know, the lockdown cancelled, this panel never again. but if you go back to covid, you know, kids had their lives affected. 1 know we all did. but in particular kids that didn't go to school, kids that didn't go to school, kids that didn't go to school, kids that didn't have that social, develop those social skills, that social interaction with other kids throughout that time. >> but do you think it's important, though, that kids do get out and about because you were like a cat? i totally, totally and i, you know, i never strayed for too long. >> i do, but i, you know, i always got hungry and you've got to go like you've got to come back. >> david wrote in, though, and said that i bet charlie was so
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precious his mother and father wouldn't let him go outside the garden gate until he went to university. >> well, i roamed a few gardens in my time, but, you know, it was theresa may running through fields of wheat. but but but it goes down. if you just take covid again, an example. kids haven't had that social interaction, but it was also a time when neighbours were , you time when neighbours were, you know, dobbing in their other neighbours or sort of, you know, calling up the police to say, oh, i think i've just seen, you know, our next door neighbour go out for three walks as opposed to two to walk their dog or whatever it is, and we're now into that maybe again where, you know, you want to see kids explore, but you don't want us to be snooping on our neighbours or calling the services that don't need to be called. >> aaron, one thing that i hear from parents is that, well, come on, darren, if you look at the constant slew of news that we're getting, you would look at the fact that there seems to be more paedophiles, they might argue, or there seems to be more in the way of, attacks on women, for example, in particular. and they look at the news headlines and think, i don't want my child
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leaving me and going into potential danger when actually i don't think the statistics would bear that out . but it the optics bear that out. but it the optics are that especially when you look at certain news channels , look at certain news channels, that things are getting worse. why would you want to expose your child to that? and how do we encourage people that your kids have to take risks in life? >> i think that's so true. but look, and what's the alternative, by the way, if you don't let them out and go and meet people, it's to go on a phone. it's to be online. and often that has its own risks. and i think that parents underprice risks online access to hard pornography for a young boy , or eating disorders for boy, or eating disorders for young girls. that's underpriced. and then, like you say, the risks of actual real world interactions are overpriced. they exist . i'm not suggesting they exist. i'm not suggesting throw caution to the wind, but you're absolutely right. there needs to be some balance there. and look, there are some very simple things we could do to make life much better for kids in this country. one is to expand playtimes at school, right? the actual amount of time they get to play at school is really, really constrained. why? because we have a culture of
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risk aversion, which is really grown over the last several decades, and the people that lose out the most from that are children, health and safety gone mad ? partly. mad? partly. >> would you agree with that? health and safety has gone mad with charlie rowley, >> i, i with charlie rowley, >> i, 1 whether it's gone mad or not, they're all safe, but they can't let the kids go out and play. >> they might bang their head. >> they might bang their head. >> it's raining. i mean, it's yes, it's spitting. >> it's spitting. >> it's spitting. >> everybody in? well, i think we are probably all three of us are actually of the last generation that didn't have sort of social media when we were growing up as kids. you still actually went to ride your bike down the, you know, the end of the road or kids came, you know, your school friends would come and knock for you in the morning and knock for you in the morning and you'd walk to school together. but now everybody is just tied to a phone or a tablet or or it is an online sort of, you know, virtual reality world that we live in. >> i used to climb the trees. now i climb the walls. >> well, yes, i want to do that. >> well, yes, i want to do that. >> whilst looking over my fence this morning. >> security right. >> security right. >> or thank you very much to my panel >> or thank you very much to my panel, aaron fryston and charlie rowley. they're now coming up the supplement sunday segment where i speak to the panel about
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some of the stories that have caught their eye today. let's see what they've got in store for us. see you
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welcome back. now it's time for the supplement sunday, where i ask my panel to prepare and discuss some news stories that have caught their eyes. joining me again is former special adviser to michael gove, charlie rowley and the co—founder of novara media, aaron bastani. charlie let's have a look at what? no, let's. should we not go to you first? no. you go where you like. he looks look like the cat that just saw the headlights. yes. well, we've. >> we were just talking in the break about different stories because, you know, banning mobile phones was was something that we touched on in the last
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debate. but there is another story that has come out in this weekend of pride bank holiday weekend. it's not just about being the operative word. >> absolutely. >> absolutely. >> it's not just notting hill carnival that's taking place that involves a police presence, but manchester pride big weekend for the lgbt community where the police have been instructing. i understand, instructed not to wear or to display a pride flag or a pride badge or anything that, feels as though it's sort of overly involved in the celebrations because they're there to police. now, i understand that actually, at times that the police. so if you take both pride and notting hill carnival, you're there to protect the public. ultimately, at all costs. and if a line is crossed, then obviously the police have to intervene to arrest people in order to protect the to public, maintain peace, to maintain the celebrations for everybody . if celebrations for everybody. if there is an issue, however, or to prevent tensions. and so if you can see the police enjoying a bit of notting hill carnival, or if you can see the police actually understanding that there is a community with its lgbt community or any other
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community that actually has more crime committed against it. so hate crime is up in those particular areas against those communities. the police showing a little bit of, you know, i was going to say a little bit of leg towards those communities to try and decrease any tension before it gets to maybe any arrest. 1 don't think it's a bad thing, but ultimately what you don't want to do is the police to be distracted by overly involving themselves in the celebrations, where they then may have to step in and make arrests to protect the public. >> well, aaron, the problem is that much of the public have seen videos on social media of the police dancing at pride parades or the police dancing at notting hill carnival, doing break dances and all these other things, and that to the public, just looks deeply unprofessional, does it not? >> well, yeah , these videos that >> well, yeah, these videos that come out every year of sort of police officers twerking at the notting hill carnival is quite absurd in terms of what you've been watching . so the, the been watching. so the, the political symbols thing is really interesting. my personal view is that is that police officers should be wearing no symbols whatsoever . that could symbols whatsoever. that could be from sporting the nhs. i
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really support the nhs to pride to the poppy . but of course then to the poppy. but of course then people would say, well, the poppy people would say, well, the poppy should be an exception and i see, i wouldn't see it as a political symbol. >> well, no. >> well, no. >> and that's reasonable. and i actually that's part of a national commemoration. i'm inclined to agree, but you can understand the counter—argument there, can't you? well, you're doing it for this thing, but not this thing. and if an lgbt person said, well, actually, this matters to me just as much as that matters to this other person, i'd say, get over yourself. well, i think you i think at that point you just can't make exceptions. so i personally think that the police shouldn't have any kind of political symbolism attached to them whatsoever i do. i'm sympathetic to your point about the poppy, but i think just for just for a sense of, just desserts and fairness, you'd probably have to do that. and in terms of these dances and whatnot , i personally think it whatnot, i personally think it undermines confidence in them. what you don't want is surly, standoffish police officers. you want thoughtful , affable, want thoughtful, affable, pleasant, smiling police officers. but i think this idea officers. but i think this idea of like twerking somehow helping community relations, if
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anything, actually , that's kind anything, actually, that's kind of deeply insulting to the communities you're talking about. >> all right, aaron, what have you got for us, then, >> i have a far less interesting story about a number 10 pass for a labour donor. a gentleman called waheed ali. he's 59, immensely successful man. how much did he give? well, he's given labour around £500,000. he's given starmer around, i think £50,000. he's worth £200 million. so lots of big numbers involved. he's had a pass to number 10 downing street since keir starmer became pm. and this is an extraordinary story in the sunday times. but here's a quick quote darren, i want to give you. yeah, yeah, a whitehall source with knowledge of number 10 staffing described the decision to grant ali a pass as a mystery to everyone in downing street , apart from the donor street, apart from the donor himself and whoever granted it. so it's quite extraordinary for somebody who's just walking around the hq of our government and actually people who work there say we have no idea how this has happened. >> who are you? >> who are you? >> yeah. so do you actually are you now of the view that labour have discredited all of their arguments about tory cronyism ,
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arguments about tory cronyism, >> i don't think it's quite. well, look, given it's what, 6 or 7 weeks ago, but they've been busy giving a damn. yeah, they're giving it a damn good try. i think between this, the worst story for me, actually, is the story with regards to rachel or rebecca. sergeant? yes. who's been together, wasn't it? >> yeah. >> yeah. >> she's been parachuted into the ethics of the people that oversee the rules at whitehall. >> and of course, sue grey, now, chief. >> this is worse. the sergeant story is extraordinary because effectively, it's like. it's like rigging. it's like rigging a police or a jury or a court system in one party's favour. you mean precisely. precisely >> yeah. charlie, just very briefly. sorry. we're running out of time. well all i know is i don't think i'll be getting my downing street pass back anytime , downing street pass back anytime, anytime soon. >> certainly in the next few years. >> not. no right. oh, thank you very much to my panel. charlie rowley. there and aaron bastani there for joining rowley. there and aaron bastani there forjoining me rowley. there and aaron bastani there for joining me today throughout the show. and thank you to you at home for your company. now though, i'm going to leave you with the weather forecast from greg dewhurst .
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forecast from greg dewhurst. >> a brighter outlook with boxt solar sponsors of weather on gb news >> hello there ! welcome to your >> hello there! welcome to your latest gb news weather forecast from the met office. showery rain starting to clear as we head into monday. a little drier and brighter and warmer for many of us with the winds falling a little lighter, low pressure starting to move away, a brief ridge of high pressure moving in for monday, which is a bank houday for monday, which is a bank holiday for some of us ahead of further wet and windy weather moving in to the northwest later on in the day . moving in to the northwest later on in the day. for moving in to the northwest later on in the day . for the moving in to the northwest later on in the day. for the end of sunday and overnight, we can see showery rain still affecting parts of northern ireland, southern scotland, northern england. elsewhere, clear spells and scattered showers. the breeze still fairly brisk around the coasts and that will keep temperatures up. temperatures for most of us 13 to 15 celsius.
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so a warmer start to monday compared to what we've seen over the weekend. this weather front will continue to give showery rain across southern scotland, northern england, across the rest of scotland generally brighter, with a few scattered showers. winds lighter monday morning. northern ireland also seeing some sunny spells. a few showers around temperatures across northern england around 14 or 15 celsius under the cloud. variable cloud across parts of wales. a few showers possible , whilst much of the possible, whilst much of the rest of england generally dry, though some showers across southeast england clearing through monday morning and then through monday morning and then through the day as that ridge of high pressure builds in, it largely stays dry and bright. there'll be some sunny spells, but quite a bit of cloud around for most of us. showers across northern parts of the midlands, northern parts of the midlands, northern england into southern scotland, but most places staying dry and with lighter winds just feeling a bit warmer. temperatures high, teens to low 20s. highs around 23 celsius towards the london area. so just a little improvement for some. then into the evening time.
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further wet and windy weather starts to move back in across northern ireland, western parts of scotland. over the next few daysit of scotland. over the next few days it stays wet and windy across the north—west, but temperatures start to rise in the sunshine, particularly by midweek towards the southeast. highs around 28 celsius. >> looks like things are heating up . boxt boilers sponsors of up. boxt boilers sponsors of weather
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good evening, lovely people. welcome along to the neil oliver show on gb news tv , radio and show on gb news tv, radio and onune show on gb news tv, radio and online tonight. on the show, i'll be speaking with andrew doyle about whether there is an ongoing erosion of freedom of speech in britain. 1 think we
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all have our suspicions there. former conservative and ukip mp douglas carswell will join me to discuss why we are seeing what is an apparent spiralling of anger across the country. north and south—east and west. and us podcast host kim iverson will join me to discuss the us democratic national convention. the spectacle that was as kamala harris promises, a new way forward. all of that and more coming up. but first, an update on the latest news headlines . on the latest news headlines. >> very good evening to you. back to neil oliver in just a few minutes. first, though, a look at the headlines at 6:00. german prosecutors have named the man suspected of carrying out a knife attack that killed three and injured eight others as isa al—haj. the 26 year old
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syrian national is accused of

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