gb news. >> good afternoon britain. it's 12:00 on thursday the 29th of august. i'm tom harwood and i'm emily carver pm on the ropes. sir keir starmer's approval rating has plummeted to its lowest level on record. why have things turned so sour, so soon? >> authoritarian nightmare coming. smoking is set to be bannedin coming. smoking is set to be banned in pub gardens as well as outside football grounds and nightclubs. >> why war on motorists? keir starmer has opened the door to a rise in fuel duty in this autumn's budget, rise in fuel duty in this autumn's budget , despite rise in fuel duty in this autumn's budget, despite his pledging not to increase taxes on working people, the prime minister suggested an increase in the levy, paid by millions of motorists is on the table. >> oh, and what a load of rubbish. thames water wants to

raise customers bills by more than £260 a year, warning it will struggle to fund itself unless the inflation busting increase is approved. but can you afford it ? you afford it? >> now? this is a pretty stark set of numbers for this prime minister approval. according to yougov, at just 23%, that's lower than any prime minister in their first couple of months this century , except for theresa this century, except for theresa may. after she lost her majority. >> i'm not a great start. if you take these approval ratings to heart as fact, but we want to know why you think that is, because there's lots of theories. some people saying he's coming across rather authoritarian on certain things, perhaps free speech, some people saying he hasn't recognised the

issue of immigration as he should, and just how strongly people feel about it who aren't far right. some people saying just his demeanour, that miserable speech that he gave telling the country that things are going to get worse before they get better. what is it for you? what is it for you? has this prime minister done something catastrophically wrong to achieve such low ratings in such a short time? what's it about? >> or is it. is it simply the fact that he was only elected on 34% of the to vote start with, he really needed to build up from that in order to sort of grow a support base beyond the sort of precarious coalition that was put together to win the large majority in the house of commons that he did, and instead of trying to grow that coalition, what he has done in terms of what's been announced, so far is potentially shrink it by by going back on some tax promises, by withdrawing winter fuel allowance, from, from pensioners. i mean, this is

something that the lib dems are talking about today. it's the first time that the lib dems have actually criticised. >> they don't do that very often. >> they really don't. so, you know, you've really crossed a line when that happens. >> and also pledging to transform government, get rid of all cronyism and then to have your own headlines on that very issue probably is cutting threw a little party activists and party donors two positions within the impartial civil service. >> if you're going to present yourself as mr squeaky clean, if you're going to present yourself as mr i'm going to clean up the mess, the cronyism at the heart of government and then to appoint people who bought your shiny suits and thousands of pounds of eyewear and all the rest of it sponging off this guy for his wardrobe. and now he's got passes to the heart of downing street, although, strangely, as soon as those reports appeared in the papers, the pass was withdrawn . but it the pass was withdrawn. but it just gives this sense of sort of murkiness around this government that they aren't the sort of shiny, shiny new, whiter than white, cleaner than clean sort of government that they sort of presented themselves at. to start with.

>> let us know your thoughts. perhaps you think it's something completely different to what we've been suggesting. gbnews.com forward slash your say get in your theory. why is keir starmer's popularity plummeted to this new record low? gbnews.com/yoursay. but shall we get the headlines with sam francis ? sam francis? >> tom emily, thank you very much. and good afternoon to you. just coming up to 12:05 and the top story this lunchtime. well, the prime minister is in paris for talks with emmanuel macron. but earlier he's also commented that smoking needs to be banned outside areas of the country. reports suggest the government could put a ban on lighting up in outside spaces . pub gardens in outside spaces. pub gardens and playgrounds are among some of the areas where new restrictions could be introduced, according to the sun newspaper. they've called it secret whitehall papers. hospitality bosses say, though it would cost jobs. well, as we'll hear from sir keir starmer

later this hour, he is insisting action is needed . meanwhile, as action is needed. meanwhile, as i mentioned, the prime minister is currently in paris for talks with emmanuel macron as part of a wider push to rebuild post—brexit relations with the eu. sir keir starmers talks with french leaders will focus on a new treaty expected to take six months to finalise, with hopes for a 2025 signing. illegal migration is also understood to be on the agenda, as leaders there aim to enhance sharing of intelligence to tackle smuggling gangs. and earlier, the prime minister also met british paralympians after attending last night's opening ceremony in paris . here, a van driver has paris. here, a van driver has been convicted for smuggling a group of migrants in a hidden compartment who were found banging and screaming for help inside a van as they were slowly starved of oxygen. jurors at lewes crown court unanimously found. anas al—mustafa, a father of two, was guilty of trafficking seven people in that specially adapted van on board a ferry to newhaven from france.

crew members on that ship had to use an axe to free the migrants. after hearing their pleas for help, the 43 year old will be sentenced next friday. and just a breaking line from london this afternoon. detectives in the city are appealing for information after a top chef has been left fighting for his life after he was attacked near notting hill carnival on monday. police found machete musa qala in nato unconscious on the street in queensway before paramedics arrived . a 31 year paramedics arrived. a 31 year old man has now been arrested on suspicion of murder. however, police are still looking for witnesses who may have seen mousey between 1:00 on monday and the time of the attack . that and the time of the attack. that was just before 1130 in the evening. two men have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a wheelchair user was stabbed in east london. police found jade anthony barnett was injured after being called to a fight. the 38 year old, who lost his leg in a motorbike accident

in two thousand and seven, sadly died at the scene in clapton. he's been described by friends and family as cheerful and caring , well troubled. thames caring, well troubled. thames water has said it needs to hike customer bills by nearly 60% by 2030, or warns it will become uninvestable. britain's biggest water supplier made the demand in its response to regulator ofwat's proposals to cap household water charges. our reporter charlie peters , is at reporter charlie peters, is at the headquarters of the firm in reading, with more for us. >> thames water said that off what's proposed cap is not tenable and renders our plan uninvestable and could prevent the turnaround and recovery of the turnaround and recovery of the company. well, as this row continues between the largest water utilities company and the regulator , some concerns have regulator, some concerns have been raised about the bonuses for the chief financial officer and the ceo of thames water, stretching over into the millions. >> and more from charlie

throughout the rest of today. from reading well, a financial watchdog says woeful budgeting at the home office is causing repeated overspends on the asylum system . for the past asylum system. for the past three years, the department set aside £110 million for asylum operations . however, data from operations. however, data from the institute for fiscal studies suggest the actual spend averaged £2.6 billion a year dunng averaged £2.6 billion a year during that time, while labour has insisted it is cleaning up what it calls the mess to deliver controlled and managed borders , experts are warning borders, experts are warning that we could face a surge in measles cases across the country , measles cases across the country, as children are set to return to school in the coming days. as children are set to return to school in the coming days . the school in the coming days. the uk health security agency is urgently asking to parents make sure their children are protected against the illness . protected against the illness. figures have shown outbreaks since autumn 2023 have resulted in the highest number of measles cases in the country since 2012. turning to international news, and the world food programme says it has paused the movement of its workers in gaza until

further notice after one of its teams came under fire there. it happened close to an idf checkpoint just after they delivered a convoy of humanitarian aid into the strip. israel claims its it has commenced a fully fledged war. it's underway in the west bank as it targets so—called islamic iranian terrorists . palestinian iranian terrorists. palestinian authorities have also said hospitals are under siege in the us. the cia has said suspects who plotted to attack taylor swift's concerts in austria set out to kill tens of thousands of people. david cohen, the agency's deputy head, says intelligence has now uncovered quite advanced plans. the singer's three shows in vienna were cancelled and three teenagers have been arrested here, a charity is warning that teenagers in the uk are among the unhappiest in europe. the children's society's annual report identified deepening levels of stress and unhappiness

in young people. it also suggests a quarter have low life satisfaction, nearly nine points higher than the european average . higher than the european average. and although not a single ticket has been sold so far, oasis is still expecting a sold out tour, adding three extra dates to the uk leg of that tour next year. noel gallagher says unprecedented demand has prompted that decision, with shows now expected in manchester, in london and in edinburgh. tickets for the tour go on sale on saturday. those are the latest headlines for now. i'll be back with you in just over half an hour for the very latest gb news direct to your smartphone, sign up to news alerts by scanning the qr code, or go to gbnews.com forward slash alerts . slash alerts. >> good afternoon britain. it is ten minutes past midday. now the

prime minister's approval rating has dropped to its lowest level on record. >> yes, it comes as the government is hit with accusations of cronyism. the prime minister, facing questions over various appointments. party loyalists to senior roles in the civil service. >> well, this new poll shows that two thirds of voters now think the government is more interested in serving its own interests than the interests of ordinary people. >> yes, and according to the survey, two sir keir starmer personal approval rating has plunged to a record low of —16. that's a drop off of 27 points from his post—election high of plus 11 just last month. >> that is a remarkable scale of fall in such a short period of time . we're joined now by our time. we're joined now by our political correspondent katherine forster. it seems like perhaps all of our talk about a honeymoon period has been misplaced. it's already over. >> i think it is. yes. good afternoon , tom and emily. new

afternoon, tom and emily. new governments, new leaders tend to have a honeymoon period, don't they? where the public give them they? where the public give them the benefit of the doubt. now, let's face it. in labour's defence, it was always going to be difficult for them. they're coming in at a time that many people feel like the country is fundamentally broken . public fundamentally broken. public finances are in a dire state, etcetera, etcetera. and of course they've got this huge majority, not because of any wild enthusiasm for them, but largely because so many people were just massively cross with the conservatives, but yeah , if the conservatives, but yeah, if there was ever a honeymoon period, it was very , very brief period, it was very, very brief and certainly although sir keir starmer briefly , briefly was up starmer briefly, briefly was up at plus 11 shortly after he was elected, you know, a drop of 27 points within a couple of months is quite something isn't it? and of course, we had the speech the other day very , very, gloomy.

other day very, very, gloomy. now labour would say, we're just trying to be honest with people. this is really difficult. there's huge challenges. the tories broke the country , tories broke the country, etcetera, etcetera. but people need a little bit of hope, don't they? there doesn't seem to be much of that around. at the moment. and also looking at some of these other figures from the more in common survey , and 53% more in common survey, and 53% of people surveyed think that labouris of people surveyed think that labour is somewhat or very corrupt. that's against two thirds who think the same of the conservatives. now of course, people were cross with the conservatives and labour said change. they won on that one word. didn't they change? they said country before party that they would do things differently. they'd clean up politics. but it does seem like

the public are really not buying that. it seems a little bit like a plague on both your houses. a huge disaffection voter turnout was low, so i think these figures , will be worrying for figures, will be worrying for the government. and of course , the government. and of course, they haven't helped themselves, have they, with this cronyism row all these appointments and donors , labour donors, people donors, labour donors, people given civil service roles, who had close links to labour, etcetera, etcetera, and also of course, the, the means testing of the winter fuel allowance is proving to be exceedingly unpopular . proving to be exceedingly unpopular. so, proving to be exceedingly unpopular . so, yeah, if there unpopular. so, yeah, if there was a honeymoon period, it's well and truly over. >> well, thank you very much indeed. katherine forster our political correspondent in westminster. thank you very much, lots of you are getting in touch with your theories about why keir starmer has gone down so much in the approval ratings. bcb, hsp gw that's his username

says hi, tom and emily. what starmer has done to deserve the low approval is not answering a single question that he is asked with a clear, objective response, too many people are left guessing who our prime minister is and what he actually stands for. i think that's a good point. he does very much stick to the script, doesn't he? and he won't deviate or doesn't appear to want to deviate and it's fine being well, it's not fine, but it's electorally successful. >> being vague in opposition, all you have to do is oppose what the government's doing. you don't really have to set out your own agenda or be particularly detailed. trouble is, when you're prime minister, there is a hell of a lot more scrutiny. or perhaps there should be, and maybe, maybe he's finding this this winning tactic is less winning. >> yeah. and susan says, i think it's a case of feeling like keir is trying to rule over us dictating what we do instead of working for us. i think people feel he's not genuine and pushing his personal agenda. i mean, if a lot of people are feeling that way, then he's got

to do something about that, doesn't he? >> well, let's get on to some of that agenda because smoking could now be banned in pub gardens , outdoor restaurants and gardens, outdoor restaurants and outside stadiums. >> that's according to reports this morning. yes. >> the measures are currently being considered by ministers. according to the sun newspaper, the prime minister says the move will reduce the burden on the nhs. >> my starting point on this is to remind everyone that over 80,000 people lose their lives every year because of smoking. that's a preventable death. it's a huge burden on the nhs and of course it's a burden on the taxpayer. so yes, we are going to take decisions in this space. more details will be revealed. but this is a preventable series of deaths, and we've got to take the action to reduce the burden on the nhs and reduce the burden on the nhs and reduce the burden on the nhs and reduce the burden on the taxpayer . on the taxpayer. >> i mean, talk about fiddling while rome burns. anyway, we're joined by the editor of spiked, tom slater, who's against this ban and hypnotherapist steve miller, who's in favour of the

ban. okay, steve, make the case for this authoritarian nonsense. >> well, i don't think it's authoritarian . i just think, to authoritarian. i just think, to be fair, and i'm no pro nanny state person, but i think this is common sense. what he's actually proposing is that there would be a ban on smoking in pub gardens, where a lot of children play. outside nightclubs where a lot of people gather restaurant terraces. i don't know about you, but i don't want smoke in my face when i've paid a lot of money for a meal, open sports stadiums where a lot of people gather pavement by universities and hospitals and sushi bars. so actually, i, you know , i think actually, i, you know, i think it would be very easy to be dramatic about it and say , we've dramatic about it and say, we've got a nationwide ban on smoking. we haven't what he's doing is using, to be fair, some common sense. i'm not a fan of nanny state at all, but sometimes nanny has to come out. and what we do know is passive smoking does potentially kill people. >> yes, that's true tom, does nanny have to come out in this instance? >> absolutely not. i mean, and

it's also worth remembering that they also want to bring in a nationwide ban, albeit one that's going to be escalated through the age ranges. but taking that as it is, there is no real case for this, at least in terms of the arguments that are being made. the idea that smokers are a tremendous drain on the economy, on public services. numerous studies have shown now that actually non—smokers tend to cost the taxpayer more in terms of health care, in terms of social security, because they tend to live longer. that's just a simple fact. if you want to talk about the economic impact, it's going to lead to thousands more pubs closing and even the government's own impact assessments point to that happening. if you have an outdoor smoking ban, then there's the question of health. theidea there's the question of health. the idea that someone smoking within a few feet of you in a pub beer garden is of any threat to your health of whatever age range it is. nonsense. everyone knows that this is the case, and i think this fundamentally comes down to the fact that within government, within this party, as well as with its tory predecessors, there are just people who believe that it is their right that it is their job to impose their own tastes on the rest of us. that's what this

is about. smoking has been declining over many decades now, not because of nannying policies like this , but because of like this, but because of education, concerns about health, the rise of e—cigarettes, and so on. this is just about people , including just about people, including steve, i'm afraid to say, who have a visceral dislike of this habit and therefore would rather it was stamped out. i just think we should have live and let live and tolerance. wouldn't that be and tolerance. wouldn't that be a nice idea? >> yeah , i think in this country >> yeah, i think in this country a lot of people aren't live and let live. they quite like banning things. they don't personally partake in. but steve, okay, i will agree with kids parks . i think it would be kids parks. i think it would be i wouldn't find it very nice if i wouldn't find it very nice if i saw someone smoking in a children's park. i mean, that's just ridiculous, but i mean, outside a nightclub, you can't possibly agree with banning smoking outside a nightclub. come on. >> well , i come on. >> well, i mean, you talk about live and let live. what we do know is passive smoking is very dangerous. whether you know you like it or not. the truth is that this can affect especially pregnant women and children in particular. so live and let live is one thing, but the reality is another. the other thing that i

would say is, and this is where i agree with him when it comes to kids, parks and stuff like that, is the role modelling what child should be seeing a parent smoke their head off in front of them? we know that kids copy parents, so common sense says to me , actually, that's not a great me, actually, that's not a great role model to show. so we're not. and we have to remember we're not talking about a nationwide ban. we're talking about common sense. so actually that's why i agree with it. i think, you know, common sense to prevent passive smoking. and at the end of the day, on a, on a lighter note, anyway, i think we should be encouraging people to, to stop smoking. and if i'm on a night out outside a nightclub, the last thing i want to do is snog a smoker anyway. >> well, let's throw that to tom slater, because there is this argument about second—hand smoke that it isn't an individual decision . you're affecting other decision. you're affecting other people to kind of get highfalutin and talk about sort of philosophical positions on this. and the harm principle is that not an argument? >> well, the debate about

second—hand smoke is a lot more contested than people realise, but it's not contested. when you're talking about outdoor spaces. there is no solid evidence. there are no one really claiming that outdoor smoking in an open space is really going to be an impact on anyone else. this is just about as we've been talking about previously, a fact that some people have a visceral dislike of these kinds of habits and would rather they were they were crushed out. i mean, if steve is so worried about pregnant women inhaung so worried about pregnant women inhaling smoke, pregnant women don't tend to gather in the smoking areas outside nightclubs. that's not generally an issue. this is very disingenuous, this argument. and look, there are all kinds of lifestyle choices, habits, tastes that i find bemusing, you know, cycling teetotallers people who like paloma faith, i don't want to go around telling them that they can't enjoy these things. and that's what this is about. things. and that's what this is about . fundamentally, it's about about. fundamentally, it's about this desire to just impose one's own tastes on everyone else. >> yeah, but the thing there is teetotallers and cyclists, as you mention, aren't potentially going to be harming other people where smokers do potentially harm other people. and actually,

whether you need to look at the nhs website, mate, because you'll find out that a lot of harm is done through passive smoking and so. so again, i come back to the point what key is what key is recommending here is we ban smoking in place. >> and it's not going to end here though is it. gathering. it's not going to end there though is it. you know your junk though is it. you know yourjunk food are the things i don't know what else they could ban drinking. >> yeah, but if i buy it. listen, if i, if i buy a pie, that's not going to potentially harm you. it's going to harm me. but if i smoke in front of you, that's potentially going to harm you. >> yeah. okay. >> yeah. okay. >> well, gentlemen , thank you >> well, gentlemen, thank you both for joining >> well, gentlemen, thank you both forjoining us and talking both for joining us and talking through this issue. >> i'm sure it is not a debate that we will settle at at 12:22 here on this on this program, but perhaps not. well, i think it's going to roll and roll and roll. we look forward to the details . but tom slater and details. but tom slater and steve miller, thanks so much for talking through to me. >> it'sjust talking through to me. >> it's just being told what to do by the government as if they know best. it is strange,

doesn't know best. >> when tony blair brought in the smoking ban to start with, it was it will only be indoors. don't worry , we're not taking don't worry, we're not taking away any more rights from you or only be here and now. and now we're being told it will only be in these specific set of circumstances. i mean, we can clearly see the ratchet here. why don't why aren't they just honest? why aren't they just honest? why aren't they just honest? just just if you really want to ban smoking, just ban it. just say that's what you're doing, you know, don't try and doing, you know, don't try and do this by subterfuge. it's like they're trying to boil us in a pot as a frog, which is an urban legend. anyway. it doesn't work. you put a put a frog in a boiling piece of water. >> anyway, another thing that's going to wind up some of you , going to wind up some of you, sorry, is that it looks like fuel duty may well unfreeze and may actually go up come the budget. we'll get stuck into that the

break.

good afternoon britain, it's 12:26 now. the rac has issued a warning to drivers urging them to prepare for a potential fuel duty hike in this upcoming autumn budget. >> well, this comes despite the prime minister's promise to not raise taxes on working people . raise taxes on working people. >> however, sir keir starmer has hinted hinted that an increase in the levy paid by millions of motorists could be on the cards potentially ending a 14 year freeze on this particular duty under the conservatives. >> well, joining us to discuss this is the head of policy at net zero watch, harry wilkinson. harry, let's just get to the specifics of what this tax is. it was meant to be on a ratchet sort of rising year on year , sort of rising year on year, although the sort of what became although the sort of what became a very predictable rabbit out of a very predictable rabbit out of a hat at every single fiscal statement under the last, well, since 2010 has been we're choosing to freeze this duty so it stays at the same level . but it stays at the same level. but but the duty was always meant to

rise . therefore, isn't this just rise. therefore, isn't this just returning to the norm ? returning to the norm? >> well, only if you consider it rising as being some form of a necessity, which i don't think it is. we did have 14 years of freezes in the treasury's methodology. they did forecast for increases, but those still had to be implemented by the chancellor, who who had decided not to implement those rises in the past years. we have to remember our small lorries, our lorries, people who drive around. this activity is really vital for the economy. it keeps it running. it's lubricating the economy, getting people around to where they need to be, getting goods to where they need to be. so the fuel duty is really a tax on all this movement, which is generating economic activity in the country. so it is a tax that will have a very high economic

impact. of course, we have to be looking at all forms of transport. we've got to be looking at congestion. london is one of the most congested cities in the world, and this is having an enormous economic impact. but using drivers as a cash cow by raising the fuel duty , i don't raising the fuel duty, i don't think the overall impacts of that in the long term will pay for themselves, but they'll actually harm the economy, make us slower and make the situation even harder for drivers who are already facing the expansion of ulez congestion charge. so many taxes, you know, high insurance costs for vehicles. this is a hard time to be a motorist, and this is just something that will hit them even harder. >> yeah. so do you think this will actually end up costing the economy rather than bringing in more cash for the treasury to spend on? on whatever they wish it could actually, you know, reduce the, the tax take by damaging business, i guess . damaging business, i guess. >> well, i've not done the whole

calculations. you know, that would be a complex consideration to make. but in the overall picture, i think the benefits of having low taxes on motorists while dealing with congestion at the same time has to be really important . we look at our, you important. we look at our, you know , fellow countries like know, fellow countries like america, like the rest of europe, where actually the road networks are more advanced. you have toll systems for example, which can help manage congestion as well. but those might be some areas of taxation that we do need to look out to fix the very real congestion problems that we have. real congestion problems that we have . but this blanket fuel tax have. but this blanket fuel tax will make driving more expensive for everyone. apart from ev owners who, let's remember , have owners who, let's remember, have had grants, they've also had tax reliefs to help them with their vehicles. those >> this is the point, is it not, harry, that that that the people who are going to be hit by this

tax are probably going to be poorer people , because richer poorer people, because richer people are all going to be driving their teslas and not not going to have to pay a penny of extra fuel duty, whatever level it's set at. it's going to be people on middle incomes or in lower incomes who can't afford electric cars that are going to be hit by this. >> that's right. and this is one of the underappreciated elements of the underappreciated elements of the underappreciated elements of the green transition. ev owners tend to be wealthier, and yet they're being given grants. they're being given tax reliefs. you know, normally we think of the tax system as redistributing , the tax system as redistributing, redistributing wealth from the ficher redistributing wealth from the richer people to the poorer people. but when it comes to the green transition , we seem to be green transition, we seem to be seeing that happen the, the, the other way round. and that's very disturbing. those implications need to be thought through . need to be thought through. >> well, thank you very much indeed. harry wilkinson from net zero watch. great to have you on to discuss this. you can only punish people so much in the

pocket, can't you? you know, you're just trying to do your business, drive your van around. >> it's also such diminishing returns just from from a spreadsheet point of view. >> the government has all these targets to make sure everyone gets electric cars, but they're going to raise the taxes on the non—electric. i mean, raising these taxes, you're going to be probably if people are switching to electric cars at a certain percentage every year, you're getting diminishing returns from from fuel duty anyway. why are you just raising a raising the tax on a smaller percentage of the i mean , someone's got on the the i mean, someone's got on the spreadsheet, they've got to fill this enormous financial black hole, don't they . they'll have hole, don't they. they'll have to put it at 100%. i mean, otherwise in order to sort of even keep up with well, we don't know it's happening yet. >> we don't know. it's happening yet. but what we do know is when things aren't ruled out explicitly, they tend to happen. but yes, i think you could argue that that is a tax on working people. anyway, we've got lots more coming up on today's show. after the headlines, we're going to be talking about thames water . to be talking about thames water. apparently your bills could go up apparently your bills could go ”p by apparently your bills could go

up by 59%. >> a very good afternoon to you at 1232. exactly. and the top story this afternoon. the prime minister has confirmed his government will take decisions on a potential outdoor smoking ban, but says it's important to get the balance right. pubs restaurants and outdoor venues are warning, though, that jobs will be lost if that reported ban goes ahead. although sir keir starmer says it's important to relieve the burden on the nhs , to relieve the burden on the nhs, a driver has been convicted of trafficking a group of migrants into the uk in a van with a hidden compartment, 43 year old anas al mustafa was arrested in newhaven when seven people travelling from france were found smuggled into the back of that specially adapted van. crew members on board a ferry used an axe to free the migrants. after heanng axe to free the migrants. after hearing their pleas for help. the father of two is set to be sentenced next friday. the prime

minister has arrived in paris for talks with emmanuel macron as part of a wider push to rebuild relations with the eu. sir keir starmers talks with french leaders are expected to focus on a new treaty expected to take six months to finalise, with hopes for a signing in 2025. illegal migration is also on the agenda as leaders aim to enhance intelligence sharing to tackle smuggling gangs. and earlier, the prime minister met british paralympians after attending last night's opening ceremony . two men have been ceremony. two men have been arrested in london on suspicion of murder after a wheelchair user was stabbed in the east of the city. police found jade anthony barnett injured after being called to a fight. the 38 year old, who lost his leg in a motorbike accident in two thousand and seven, died at the scene in clapton. he's been described today by family and friends as cheerful and caring, troubled thames water has said it needs to hike customer bills

by nearly 60% by 2030, or warns it could become uninvestable. britain's biggest water supplier made the demand in its response to regulator ofwat's proposals to regulator ofwat's proposals to cap household water charges. the firm has said the restrictions from ofwat are untenable and could prevent the recovery of the company . and recovery of the company. and although not a single ticket has been sold so far, oasis are still expecting their tour to be sold out and they've now added three extra dates to the uk leg of that tour. noel gallagher says unprecedented demands prompted the decision to put on the three shows in manchester, london and in edinburgh. well, if you want to head along to one of those shows, tickets go on sale on saturday. those are the latest headlines from the gb newsroom. for now, i'll be back with you for a full update at 1:00 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

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>> good afternoon britain. it's 39 minutes past midday and sorry about this, but it's yet another story about just how expensive things are becoming in this country. >> yes, just as expensive. life is just living. living. thames water may hike customer bills by up to 59%, despite the company facing severe financial problems. ceo chris weston got a £195,000 bonus for his first three months in charge, so what exactly are the cost implications for you at home? >> well, we're joined by our national reporter now, charlie peters. charlie, why on earth are we seeing these bills rising by by perhaps such a high degree ? by by perhaps such a high degree? >> well, thames water will say that they're rising because

bills have been flat for a number of years between 2014 and 2021. they were quite straightforward. they didn't rise significantly. and they'll say that the strain from environmental regulation that's been put on by the government and demands to clean up the rivers that have also been put on the water utilities companies have increased their costs. and there's another thing. thames water is in £15 billion of debt. and so they say they need these bills to rise to pay for their infrastructure and to cover so many of those costs. and if they do rise by 59%, as they are proposing, that will see an average bill by 2030 of £696 for households. now, earlier in the yeanin households. now, earlier in the year, in april, they actually asked ofwat if they could raise them by 44%. so it's shot up quite a lot since then. ofwat had had proposed earlier in the year to permit bills being raised by just 23%. in the same time frame. i say just 23%.

that's still a very significant rise. of course, when we consider as well the gas and electric companies wanting to raise their bills. ofgem saying that the cap on that going to be raised in october. many of those utilities companies meeting with the government yesterday to set out how they can help millions of customers who are going to be facing those price hikes. but thames water, the largest of the water utilities companies, it has 16 million customers across london and the south east. its average bills in 2023 and 2024 for the entirety of the water utilities companies was about £433. so if we do see that rise to 696 for london and the south east, that is quite the hike. well, thames water said that off what's proposed cap is not tenable and renders its plan uninvestable. they said that it could prevent the turnaround and recovery of the company, referring to that £15 billion of debt. now, its chief executive, you've referred to the bonuses received by some of the senior

officers. well, chris weston said that the money they're asking for from customers will be invested in new infrastructure and improving our services for the benefit of households and the environment. they are not being asked to pay twice, but to make up for years of focus on keeping bills low. well whether or not it's for the focus on keeping bills low or to improve the infrastructure , improve the infrastructure, regardless of the inspiration for the rise, it does seem that either way, households are going to be hit by a significant price rise by 2030. >> yes, absolutely. thank you very much indeed. charlie peters there. our national reporter. shall we speak now to senior lecturer in natural sciences at bangor university? doctor christian dunn. christian, thank you very much for joining us christian dunn. christian, thank you very much forjoining us on you very much for joining us on this. can these price hikes be justified in your view? >> well, it does seem that thames water are giving a fantastic lesson on how not to run a company, let alone a water company, but it does present us with an issue is the fact that our bills and i'm not defending

the water companies at all, or the water companies at all, or the water companies at all, or the water industry, but water bills have been relatively low . bills have been relatively low. and, if we want cleaner water, etcetera, etcetera, better rivers, then we do have to accept that we have to pay for it. how we pay for that, whether we want that public ownership or whether we want it done by private industries, which then can obviously pay shareholders. that i think is an important national debate, which needs to be had and it needs to be had in a in a nuanced and a very sensible way , looking forward to sensible way, looking forward to our future, because what we've got presently when it comes to the water industry is not sustainable. and it's not what society society wants. and it's most certainly not what the environment needs. >> but in many ways , this is >> but in many ways, this is what the government has decided over the last few decades, the regulator has told thames water to keep bills low, and that means there hasn't been as much investment into water infrastructure as we would like. it means when there's a lot of rainfall, we end up with a lot of waste in our waterways. is it simply the case that we can choose to have low prices and

dirty rivers, or high prices and clean rivers? is there no other way ? way? >> there most certainly is another way. and that is we have to not just have this debate about our clean rivers, in terms of what the water industry has to do or can do, this has to be held across all sectors of society. the state of our rivers. we're just taking state of our rivers. you know, we're not talking about cleaning our kind of potable water, the water we drink, but the state of our rivers and our coasts is a result of decades of societal failure across many sectors, not just the water industry. and i stress again, i'm not here to defend the water industry at all. but what it is, it's due to how we use our land. it's how we build our new development. all of these have had a contribution to our poor quality and our rivers. for example, for the past 200 years we've got rid of over 75% of our wetland habitats. these marshes and these fens and those riparian, those river buffer strips along our rivers. we've just got rid

of them. we've drained them. we've tried to build on them, whatever those were nature's solution for cleaning our water. we could pump in a certain level of pollution to our rivers, as we have done for forever. but when we had those wetlands there act like, like, like like kidneys and they were cleaning our water, we've lost those. they also control water levels as well. and then when we have our new developments, our new buildings, we had not up until very recently really been considering what happens to that surface water. it was going into the drainage system, which was then going into the sewerage system, which was just overloading any system that we had to clean water. we needed to be separating those out, and we needed to be using the called sustainable drainage systems . sustainable drainage systems. it's basically allowing surface to water drain into the ground. if you go over to france at the present time, you can see they're digging up all car parks at the present time. and putting in permeable paving. it's things like that which we need to do as a society and christian. >> yeah, it's very clever. christian. just lastly, i sensed that perhaps you'd prefer water

to be under public ownership , to be under public ownership, nationalise the lot, but is that a guarantee that things would , a guarantee that things would, you know, run more efficiently, smoothly, more cheaply for people? >> oh my goodness, my personal views are on. whether it should be public or private are for not discussion at this point, but i think we need to be having those debates nationally. i think if it is under public ownership, they will benefit. but there are huge negatives as well. if we do that well then then water industry is then going to be vying for funds from defence from education, from. yeah, this is not a simple issue, but as a society we need to do we do we accept that some people make money from water or do we accept that actually, that's not the case. but then we're going to be saying, right, can i the nhs, please give us some for money our water? yeah. it's money comes from. >> it's such an important point because when, when the water was nationalised, the government would always read the water budget to give a bit more to the nhs, to give a bit more to elsewhere. whereas if it's if it's run by private companies, that's their job. they do the

water. the government can't raid the money in order to do other things. doctor christian dunne of bangor university, thank you so much for talking us through those issues . really appreciate those issues. really appreciate your time this afternoon. yes, interesting. >> those solutions in other countries. this is good afternoon britain . we're going afternoon britain. we're going to be back very shortly after the break, and we're going to be discussing the ulez expansion. it is the one year anniversary. has the air quality improved ?

>> good afternoon britain. it's 10 to 1. and the london mayor, sadiq khan, says that expanding the ultra low emission zone in the ultra low emission zone in the capital to all 32 boroughs last year is the most effective tool available to quickly and meaningfully cut air pollution. >> okay, well, a year later, he claims it's working better than expected, bringing cleaner air

to 5 million more londoners. >> but with ulez charges forcing many off the roads and onto the underground, how clean is the air on london's tube? well, ray addison went to find out . addison went to find out. >> transport for london calls it tube dust, a rather whimsical way of describing what's floating around in the air in the 161 year old underground system. tfl says the dust is a mix of metal particles, most of which are iron oxide , caused by which are iron oxide, caused by track and wheel wear and breaking organic matter like skin and hair and mineral dust. this air quality monitor measures the number of fine particles per cubic metre when you breathe them in. they're small enough to go into your lung and even enter your bloodstream, and have been associated with diseases including asthma, lung cancer and even alzheimer's. the world health organisation says

breathing an annual average of anything above five micrograms isn't safe right now, it's six. so let's go down into the underground and see how polluted it really is . we carried out it really is. we carried out tests at more than ten london underground stations, finding levels as high as 171 per cubic metre. i think maybe some improvements need to be done. >> i've got asthma , i am >> i've got asthma, i am a smoker as well and i feel that i die there, man. >> yeah, the tube's horrible . >> yeah, the tube's horrible. it's just musty and warm and feels dirty. it's just horrible. it sounds bad. >> it does, it should be filtered more. i guess. >> can't shut it down, can you? because you you need it. but they should do something about it. yeah. >> the mayor of london's been accused of expanding ulez simply to increase revenues, which he denies. however, if he continues to downplay air quality here on london's underground, londoners can be excused for having their doubts . i think can be excused for having their doubts. i think i'll can be excused for having their

doubts . i think i'll walk home. doubts. i think i'll walk home. ray addison gb news. >> oh, very good from ray there. so it's not very healthy taking the tube. oh, that's nice news, isn't it? >> well, i mean, it does sort of beg the question about how many people are actually now ingesting more particulates in the air than they were before, but i suppose we should say what lily mason, tfl's chief safety, health and environment officer, has said in a statement. in response to this report, she says our monitoring shows that dust levels on the tube remain well below the limits set by the health and safety executive. >> well, that's all right then . >> well, that's all right then. >> well, that's all right then. >> tfl's independent monitoring shows that in station, dust levels have reduced by 19% on the tube network since 2020, and that dust levels have reduced by 27% in the driver's cab since 2019. >> however, we're not complacent and have developed a number of innovative new cleaning regimes to reduce dust further. ooh, i wonder what these new cleaning

regimes are. >> yeah, although we'll get out your feather duster. it might make it more dusty . make it more dusty. >> yeah, probably. yeah, yeah. >> yeah, probably. yeah, yeah. >> i would be interested to see whether actually the ulez expansion has done all that much at all. after all, there are certain cars that are exempt if you have a classic car, no matter how gas guzzling and particulate spluttering it is, it's exempt. so clearly, if you want to drive, if you want to drive around without care, get myself one of those. go and drive a classic car. >> brilliant. well, after the break, we're going to be discussing keir starmer's appalling approval ratings . appalling approval ratings. >> a brighter outlook with boxt solar, sponsors of weather on gb news >> hello. welcome to your latest

gb news weather update brought to you from the met office. a fine and dry day for many of us today. feeling fairly warm in the sun, but definitely fresher than it was yesterday. and this evening is looking pretty cool as well. high pressure is starting to dominate. it's moving in from the south and west, but we've still got low pressure up to the north and some frontal systems that will bnng some frontal systems that will bring some further showers to parts of scotland, northern ireland and some areas of northern england through today. there could be quite heavy actually across northern areas of scotland. there's a risk of thunderstorms, possibly some hail and quite a brisk breeze here. different story elsewhere, even where we do see showers across northern areas of england , across northern areas of england, there'll still be plenty of sunny spells. and in the sunshine, as i said, still feeling fairly warm but cooler than yesterday , particularly in than yesterday, particularly in the south—east with 30 degrees in southeastern areas yesterday. 24 degrees is the max throughout today. so this evening still some showers across parts of scotland, particularly across the northern isles and northern areas of scotland. that's where we'll see the heaviest showers. they will tend to slowly ease into the evening, particularly compared to this morning. we'll

see some clearer skies starting to develop, but temperatures are going to fall away quite quickly through this evening. clear skies and the sun setting a little earlier than we're used to through the summer, means that temperatures will fall lower than recent nights. we could get down as low as 3 or 4 degrees rurally in some northern and eastern areas. the breeze, though, across northern areas of scotland, will hold temperatures up a little higher , with more in up a little higher, with more in the way of cloud and just a few showers lingering across the far north by friday morning. elsewhere, though , a dry night elsewhere, though, a dry night to come, but that will mean , to come, but that will mean, despite the chillier start, a sunny start to the day on friday, some patches of mist and fog around that may take a couple of hours to clear after sunrise , but once they do, sunrise, but once they do, there'll be plenty of long lived sunny spells through friday and it will feel pleasant enough in the sunshine once again. the winds will be quite light. perhaps some hazy sunshine approaching the south and east later in the afternoon, but still temperatures climbing towards the low 20s or the high teens quite widely. but by that warm feeling inside from boxt

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>> well . >> well. >> well. >> good afternoon britain. it's 1:00 on thursday the 29th of august. i'm emily carver and i'm tom harwood pm on the ropes, sir keir starmer's approval rating plummets to its lowest level on record. why have things turned sour quite so soon? >> authoritarian nightmare smoking is set to be banned in pub gardens as well as outside football grounds and even nightclubs and reeves versus the rich chancellor rachel reeves has been urged to launch a tax raid on wealthy southerners to rebalance the economy , and the rebalance the economy, and the met office has released their list of upcoming storm names for 2025. d0 list of upcoming storm names for 2025. do you share your name with a storm? >> storm tom moore .

>> storm tom moore. >> storm tom moore. >> oh, sorry. go on. >> i was gonna say i think storm emily sounds like it would reap quite a lot of damage. oh, it'd be vicious. i think storm tom sounds a bit plodding. it does. it's a bit of wind and maybe some light drizzle, i wouldn't be. >> well, storm harwood . no, that >> well, storm harwood. no, that sounds like it could do some damage. >> yeah, that that would definitely that would fell some trees. >> whip your roof off. whip your roof off. >> shall we get to the subject ? >> shall we get to the subject? >> shall we get to the subject? >> your windows shudder. just looking at the telegraph today, nigel farage has written an opinion piece. i'll never go to the pub again if outdoor smoking is banned. well, yes. i mean, if you smoke , you can't really go you smoke, you can't really go to a pub, but you have to walk sort of down the road and have cigarette. >> under this ban, a nearby field or i have seen quite a few people on social media. >> however , saying great, i was >> however, saying great, i was against, i was against the ban, but now i'm in favour of it. i'm not sure how, i'm not sure how genuine nigel is, that he'll never go to a pub again. and i'm

not sure how genuine people are that say they don't like the ban. but now, just because of this article, they like it, i think the most peculiar thing about it all is nightclubs, because nightclubs, smoking areas are an institution. it's where people meet the loves of their lives. it's where a human connection happens, and perhaps it couldn't happen in the same way, were it not for the fact it's a smoking area. >> i mean, it's like successive governments just want to absolutely destroy what's left of britain's, you know , of britain's, you know, nightlife, night time economy. 0h nightlife, night time economy. oh yeah , nightclubs and pubs and oh yeah, nightclubs and pubs and bars. >> they haven't been through enough with covid. they haven't been through enough with the energy crisis. they haven't been through enough over the last 3 or 4 years. so yeah, let's let's just take it at another sort of revenue stream away from them. i'm sure that'll be fine. >> let us know what you think. quite a few of you have been, have been in touch saying, i don't like smoking. i don't smoke myself, but this is totally authoritarian. and, you know, i respect other people's choices . i know, i respect other people's choices. i mean, nightclub is just ridiculous. also shisha

bar. well, what are you going to do then? they just close them all down? gbnews.com/yoursay get into . into. >> a very good afternoon to you. it's just after 1:00. and as we were hearing there from tom and emily, the prime minister has vowed to do more to reduce smoking, as reports out today suggest his government are set to ban it in some outside spaces. according to what the sun newspaper have said are secret whitehall papers. ministers are considering making it illegal to light up in outdoor restaurants in playgrounds and outside some nightclubs and stadiums. well, hospitality bosses say any new restrictions could cost jobs, but sir keir starmer is insisting action is needed . insisting action is needed. >> my starting point on this is to remind everyone that over 80 000 people lose their lives every year because of smoking. that's a preventable death. it's a huge burden on the nhs, and of

course it's a burden on the taxpayer. so yes, we are going to take decisions in this space. more details will be revealed. but this is a preventable series of deaths, and we've got to take the action to reduce the burden on the nhs and reduce the burden on the nhs and reduce the burden on the nhs and reduce the burden on the taxpayer. >> meanwhile, the prime minister is meeting with emmanuel macron in paris today as part of a wider push to rebuild relations with the european union. sir keir starmers talks with french leaders is set to focus on a new treaty, expected to take six months to finalise illegal migration is also on the agenda, as leaders are aiming to enhance their sharing of intelligence to tackle people smuggling gangs. it follows news that over 20,000 migrants have now crossed the engush migrants have now crossed the english channel into the uk so far this year, with hundreds arriving just yesterday . a van arriving just yesterday. a van driver has been convicted for smuggling a group of migrants into the uk in a hidden compartment. they were found banging and screaming for help

as they were reportedly slowly starved of oxygen. jurors at lewes crown court unanimously found anas al mustafa, a father of two, guilty of tracking trafficking. those seven people in a specially adapted van on board a ferry from france to newhaven in sussex. crew members on that ship had to use an axe to free the migrants. after heanng to free the migrants. after hearing their pleas for help, the 43 year old will be sentenced next friday. detectives are appealing for information after a top chef has been left fighting for his life after he was attacked near notting hill carnival in london. police found museum nato unconscious on the street in queensway before paramedics arrived. a 31 year old man has now been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, but police are still looking for any witnesses who may have seen moussi between 1:00 on monday afternoon and the time of the attack. that was just before 1130 in the evening, and two people have been arrested after a man on a mobility scooter was

stabbed to death in clapton in east london yesterday. the victim has been named as 38 year old jade anthony barnett, who lost his leg in a motorbike accident in two thousand and seven. he's been described today by family and friends as cheerful and caring . troubled cheerful and caring. troubled thames water says it needs to hike customer bills by nearly 60% in the next five years. all warns it could become uninvestable. britain's biggest water supplier made those demands in in response to regulator ofwat's proposals to cap household water charges. our reporter charlie peters, has been outside the thames water headquarters in reading for more. >> thames water said that off what's proposed cap is not tenable and renders our plan uninvestable and could prevent the turnaround and recovery of the turnaround and recovery of the company. well, as this row continues between the largest water utilities company and the regulator , some concerns have regulator, some concerns have been raised about the bonuses

for the chief financial officer and the ceo of thames water, stretching over into the millions. >> a financial watchdog says woeful budgeting at the home office is causing repeated overspends on the asylum system. for the past three years, the department set aside £110 million for asylum operations. however, data from the institute for fiscal studies suggests the actual spend averaged £2.6 billion a year. during that time, while labour insists it is clearing up what it calls the asylum mess to deliver controlled and managed borders . controlled and managed borders. health experts are warning we could face a surge in measles cases as children set to return to school in the coming days. the uk's health security agency is urgently asking parents to make sure that their children are protected against the illness. figures show outbreaks since the autumn of 2023 have resulted in the highest number of measles cases in the country

since 2012. the charity is warning that teenagers here in the uk are among some of the unhappiest in europe. the children's society's annual report identified deepening levels of stress and unhappiness in young people and also suggests a quarter have low life satisfaction, nearly nine points higher than the european average . higher than the european average. and finally, manchester, london and edinburgh all get the chance to have another oasis gig in 2025 as the band has added three more dates to their uk tour. noel gallagher posted the news onune noel gallagher posted the news online this morning, saying it's due to unprecedented demand, even though tickets don't even go on sale until saturday. those are the latest headlines from the newsroom for now. i'll be back with you at half past one for the very latest gb news direct to your smartphone, sign up to news alerts by scanning the qr code or go to gbnews.com forward slash alerts .

forward slash alerts. >> good afternoon britain. it is 1:08. now sir keir starmer's approval rating has dropped to its lowest level on record. >> yes, it comes as the government is hit with accusations of cronyism. the prime minister is facing rather a lot of questions over various appointments of several party loyalists to senior roles within the civil service. >> and then, of course, there are the various taxes that are rumoured to be going up, the benefits that are being taken away from pensioners too. well, this new poll shows that almost two thirds of voters think the government is more interested in serving its own interests than those of ordinary people . those of ordinary people. >> yes. >> yes. >> and also, according to the survey, sir keir's personal approval rating has now plunged to a record low of minus 16. that's a drop of 27 points from his post—election high of plus 11. so how have things turned so

sour quite so quickly? >> well, we're joined now by the political commentator jack rowlett. jack thanks for joining us this afternoon. it's a pretty extraordinary drop. 27 points in just a couple of weeks for starmer himself and the government. an approval rating of just 23%. i mean, it beggars belief . belief. >> it does. and i think the real problem here is the lack of a clear vision from starmer and the government. >> i think in general, people are willing to make sacrifices if they can see that they're in pursuit of a greater goal , if pursuit of a greater goal, if they see them as a path to a better life . better life. >> and what we're seeing from the government so far is essentially a lot of negativity. although let's be honest, you know, they have inherited a massive mess , but not a lot of massive mess, but not a lot of vision about where they're trying to take the country. dufing trying to take the country. during the general election campaign , we kind of had some campaign, we kind of had some hints that labour had the right ideas about diagnosing the country's problems. you know,

they were promising planning reform. they were promising more housing and infrastructure . housing and infrastructure. they're promising to fix public services, saying that britain hadnt services, saying that britain hadn't had enough economic growth for a very long time. and now that they're in office, we're not really hearing much about the ways that they're going to try and stimulate the british economy or improve our lives. it's all about tax rises. it's all about, you know, what we're seeing today with the smoking ban in terms of taking away more freedoms from people rather than any sort of positive vision of how the country is going to be improved under their leadership. so starmer really needs to return to the vision. he really needs to set out where he wants to take the country, how he's going to improve people's lives, and there are policies that they can build that vision on. as i said, you know, they want to build more homes. they want to build more infrastructure. they want to fix the railways, fix public services. talk about that stuff and talk less about the failings of the conservative government. >> yeah , jack, at the moment >> yeah, jack, at the moment we've just been told how bad

things are going to be. i mean, we've put this to our viewers and listeners and it seems that, you know, one unlikeable, okay, there's not that much you can do about that refusal to acknowledge how important immigration is as an issue for normal people. they're not all far right . authoritarian far right. authoritarian tendencies, a perception of two two tier justice, winter fuel allowance. the cronyism stuff is cutting through as well . a cutting through as well. a perception that he wants to clamp down on things like free speech, potential eu sell out 11 billion to countries to spend on climate change around the world. i mean, there's quite a lot people are annoyed about . people are annoyed about. >> yeah, absolutely. and if you don't have a vision for the big the big picture for the big things , then people are more things, then people are more likely to be annoyed about their other concerns. you know, people are sort of more willing to say , are sort of more willing to say, okay, well, the government's you know, i care about a, b and c and maybe the government's not getting a right, but they do have a vision for b and c, but when the government isn't presenting a vision in any of those policy areas that you just mentioned, or the vision is very much kind of more control for

westminster, less control for people's lives, when that's the vision, people are more likely to drop support for the government. they need a clear plan and a clear vision for how they can improve people's lives. and my worry is that because the choices that they're having to make long term are so difficult that we're just going to see more of these smaller policies like the smoking ban , for like the smoking ban, for example, where it's sort of the politics of we must do something and we end up with these policies with, with unintended side effects that really reduce people's freedoms and that make life greyer and more miserable. >> i did see one slightly conspiratorial comment from someone on twitter earlier suggesting that this has been leaked. this smoking ban sort of policy, because it's a very divisive policy that the media loves to talk about. and that means we talk less about the civil service appointments and the sort of cronyism row that is going on a dead cat strategy. i don't know if that's a sort of trying to find too much within

that story, but jack rowlett, for now, political commentator, i appreciate you coming on this afternoon. thanks for your time. yes. >> was it a scoop or was it a leak? well, we're joined by our gb news political correspondent, katherine forster. catherine, thank you very much for joining us, what to say about these approval ratings? it's pretty clear that keir starmer has gone down, perhaps not so well in the last few weeks . last few weeks. >> yes, they're pretty dire, really , aren't they? i mean, really, aren't they? i mean, there's normally a honeymoon period. that honeymoon period is clearly well and truly over. and sir keir starmer hasn't even been prime minister for two months yet. and i think, you know, some of the other numbers are also very worrying. one of them is that 53% of people in this more in common poll thought that labour were somewhat or very corrupt, as opposed to two thirds of people thinking the same about the conservatives. now, i think that's a real worry for them because of course, one

of the reasons they got this huge majority is people were fed up with the conservatives, fed up with the conservatives, fed up with the various scandals, etc. and labour promised change. they promised to clean up politics. they promised to put country before party. and clearly a lot of people don't buy that. there was another yougov poll out a couple of days ago and that the government's approval rating on that has dropped 20% in just the last two weeks. now, of course, in labour's defence, governing is very, very difficult. of course, they've promised change. they can't wave a magic wand and make it all better, but of . course, it all better, but of. course, you know, they believe that sir keir starmer, being honest with people saying, look, things are really tough. there's difficult decisions that people will respect that as a change from , respect that as a change from, you know, boris johnson

overpromising and under—delivering. but i think the risk, of course, is that that speech in the rose garden was just so , so gloomy. people was just so, so gloomy. people do want to feel that things are going to get better and really, apart from the fact they've got apart from the fact they've got a huge majority in 1997, i think the similarities to that administration and tony blair coming in and there . coming in and there. >> in the run up to the election, they weren't saying, oh yes, change is coming. it's going to get worse and then get better. yes, it's a shift in tone once in government. catherine, thank you very much indeed. our political correspondent there. >> but it is interesting, isn't it? in the election campaign, starmer was talking in a more hopeful setting. it was hope and change. it was quite obama like in that way, although he has very few, very few of the qualities that obama has as a speaker and perhaps as an administrator. but i think what the previous guest, jack rowlett, was saying about sort of having having a vision, saying this is what i want the

country to be like. i mean, we haven't heard any of that from starmer. have we? it's just been things are terrible. wasn't the last lot terrible? everything's terrible. >> yeah, yeah. what is what is the vision. what is the vision? it just seems to be about control. anyway. smoking could be bad in pub gardens , outdoor be bad in pub gardens, outdoor restaurants, outside stadiums, outside nightclubs , outside outside nightclubs, outside hospitals. maybe you agree with that one. according to reports , that one. according to reports, the measures are currently being considered by ministers. that's according to the sun newspaper, and it does appear as though keir starmer has corroborated this and said yes, we are looking at this type of thing. so there you go. it's not just nonsense from the papers . nonsense from the papers. >> well, let's speak to the journalist and authorjulie cook on this issue because, julie, this is going to fundamentally change. well, how a lot of our society runs . society runs. >> yes, it will. >> yes, it will. >> i'm definitely not a labour fan. >> i think what's going on at the moment is quite terrifying. >> in general. however, this is one policy that i do actually agree with. i know our channel here is a free speech and all of

that and freedom of expression, of freedom of choice. but i do think that it's time we did this. i think, you know, california had the ban years and years and years ago, >> and they've had , you know, a >> and they've had, you know, a thriving economy there. >> i really disagree that it's going to put the nail in the coffin of our economy. i think certain places really do need this ban. for example, children's play parks outside hospitals. it just looks awful when you arrive at hospital and people are out there who clearly had awful treatment. >> god knows what done to them. >> god knows what done to them. >> and they're sitting in a wheelchair smoking. >> yeah, if you're an addict, if you're an addict, you need to have a smoke. so what are you going to do, roll yourself down? i don't know, a couple of roads away. i mean, it's just not practical, is it? there's got to be a little spot for smokers, of course, but i think the whole point here is that we need to stop being addicts. >> you know, it's a tremendous strain on our health resources. it's a tremendous strain on the nhs, going back to the california ban, i think there were studies done then in the 90s when they first banned it indoors. and then as they've subsequently gone more and more outdoors, as we're going to see

here, and they've noticed that their economy hasn't actually gone terribly down, restaurants receipts went up. i think it's not going to really damage us as much as we fear, as much as some of the perhaps publicans fear. and i think what we have to remember is that we're now veering away. the old man in the corner of the pub, smoking is a thing of the past. that's not going to come back. we have to start sort of stop lamenting that as a kind of wonderful golden past. we're much more health aware now. we're much more conscious that we have a responsibility for our own bodies. so why not ban it in pubuc bodies. so why not ban it in public areas? >> i feel like i need to for stand up the old, old men who sit in the corner of the pub and like and like to have a cigarette. but perhaps, perhaps i'll bring it to a more youthful point as well. smoking areas in nightclubs now. i still, every now and again do do go to a nightclub. and i have to say, i love smoking areas and nightclubs. i've never had a cigarette. well, i have had a cigarette, but i've never smoked. i'm not a smoker, never been a smoker. but i love a smoking area in a nightclub because it's somewhere to, you know, get outside, rest your eardrums, have a nice chat, have

a proper chat, now, if it was, if it wasn't a smoking area, if it was just a sort of rest area, fresh air zone, oh, it would be full of losers . whereas if it's full of losers. whereas if it's if it's a smoking area, you're going to find some interesting people there. >> you know , i think that's >> you know, i think that's a lovely a lovely thought there. but i really disagree. i don't think only smokers are interesting people. i think that's a myth again, a myth. along with the old man in the corner of the pub being a lovely, cosy age, people who who don't smoke can be interesting. people might be ex—smokers. i want to tell you all about how they've stopped and why they stopped, i don't think. >> why would they go to some sort of some sort of rest zone in a nightclub? why would people go there unless they were very, very dull people? i mean, the point of it being a smoking area is it's a focal point for people to go. and you don't have to say, i'm a sort of pathetic person in order to be there . person in order to be there. >> then don't have the rest zone. if you're going out to a nightclub, you should be wide awake enough to stay at the nightclub. i think this is a whole different debate. >> yeah. >> yeah. >> old man, who's the old man now? >> no no no no no no no no no no

>> no 110 110 110 110 110 110 110 110 110 110 ho. >> no no no no no no no no no no no no. this is an important cultural. it's the lie we tell ourselves that we're going to the smoking area so that we can, you know, go , go and smoke you know, go, go and smoke because people are smoking there, but actually they just want a rest. actually, they just want a rest. actually, they just want to chat, i fear i fear losing this most of all. >> do you see this? this i do have vague memories of this from my past, believe it or not. but i think it's again, if you if you're young and you're out in a nightclub, you're not really. you don't need a 20 minute rest to chat to people. if you're out, you're out. you're having a good time. again, i think we're clinging to sort of this mythical golden age ideas of smoking. at the end of the day, smoking. at the end of the day, smoking does kill. my father died of head and neck cancer. he didn't smoke. so i know this seems like a moot point, but he was on a ward with people who had smoked. and the deaths i saw and the way they ended their lives was horrific. i have always been against smoking since i saw that happen, and i tell my kids not to smoke and my son was caught, baby, i've been on this show before talking about that and how i went mad about that and how i went mad about that. i think we need as a society to understand smoking

causes death not just through smoking , cardiovascular strokes, smoking, cardiovascular strokes, all sorts of illnesses. we need to be honest with ourselves. >> i think for a lot of people, it's as simple as they just don't want to be dictated to. even if they don't smoke, they don't like the idea of, you know, keir starmer standing up outside number 10 and saying, from now on, thou shalt not smoke a cigarette outside a nightclub. i mean, it just sounds, you know, almost dystopian if you, if you put it in that way. anyway. judy cook, thank you very much. i do appreciate your opinion on this. there's a lot of people out there who agree with you. journalist and authorjulie cook. >> well, this is good afternoon britain on gb news. lots more coming up on today's program , coming up on today's program, including a tax raid. yes yet more spending. we've been talking about bills and tax and it's a oh goodness me. but this on people living in the south. what's going on that

next. good afternoon britain. it's 1:25. now the chancellor rachel reeves, is under pressure to implement an £18 billion tax raid targeting wealthy southerners in a bid to rebalance the economy and close the north—south divide. right. >> okay. well, the institute for pubuc >> okay. well, the institute for public policy research suggests that raising capital gains tax to align with income tax could double its annual revenue, providing apparently a powerful tool to tackle inequality directly. >> why is this the goal? >> why is this the goal? >> i know why, why, why , why are >> i know why, why, why, why are think tankers and politicians obsessed ? obsessed with the gap obsessed? obsessed with the gap between people who earn a lot and people who don't earn very much? why don't they care about the absolute level of wealth of the absolute level of wealth of the poorest? why do they care

about the gap? >> yes, obviously if you tax the rich loads and loads and loads, then you're going to everyone's going to be a bit more equal, but everyone will be a bit more poon but everyone will be a bit more poor. so there you go. >> in the house of commons, enough. in her last big appearance as prime minister, margaret thatcher did this sort of hand signal to simon hughes, who'd asked a question from the benches opposite, when she said, would you rather a society where the gap between rich and poor was smaller like that, but lower down, or the gap was larger, but all levels of income were better down, or the gap was larger, but all levels of income were better off? which of these two off? which of these two societies would you prefer? >> a lot of people would prefer societies would you prefer? >> a lot of people would prefer the former, where everyone's the former, where everyone's poorer. >> yeah, just so that there poorer. >> yeah, just so that there aren't rich people more equal. aren't rich people more equal. yeah. >> just so there aren't any rich yeah. >> just so there aren't any rich people. anyway, joining us now people. anyway, joining us now to discuss this is business and to discuss this is business and finance broadcaster michael gains but finance broadcaster michael wilson. michael, apologies for wilson. michael, apologies for that little, little rant before that little, little rant before we introduced you. but yes, this we introduced you. but yes, this report from this think tank report from this think tank suggesting that all we need to suggesting that all we need to do to make this wonderful, equal do to make this wonderful, equal society where there's no north society where there's no north and south divide is tax capital and south divide is tax capital

gains . gains. >> yeah, of course. >> yeah, of course. >> and i could have written that report as in the same way that you could . i have to say i think you could. i have to say i think it's, it's rubbish. i mean, the thing is of course you can tax people. of course people in the south east earn more than they do in the north. one of the reasons for that is that they have to spend a great deal more on property. they have to spend a great deal more on getting to work. and these are these are sort of equations that just exist . i sort of equations that just exist. i don't think that anybody can navigate those. what i'd much prefer to see is how

anybody can navigate those. what i'd much prto r to see is how anybody can navigate those. what i'd much prto another is how anybody can navigate those. what i'd much prto another is fine, the country to another is fine, and it probably it might work. i doubt it very much. i'd much rather see the really difficult thing about making jobs and incomes more and working lives more productive, whether it be pubuc more productive, whether it be public service or private service . service. >> it is fascinating. fascinating to hear this idea of sort of redistribution rather than growth, because i thought that the government sort of was saying that they'd want to see growth back in the economy. and surely the way to rebalance the nonh surely the way to rebalance the north and south divide is to make sure that we have more growth in the north, rather than try and rebalance, because we've seen we've tried this experiment before. there was a time just before. there was a time just before and just after the war that birmingham was the fastest growing city in the united kingdom, fastest growing region was the west midlands and the government. after the war, the attlee government decided it was going too fast. it had too many

factories and that we needed to move some of these factories elsewhere. so, so, so they , elsewhere. so, so, so they, they, they stopped through planning regulations, businesses opening large factories in birmingham. and guess what? they didn't move elsewhere. they just didn't move elsewhere. they just didn't open the factories. and so we're just poorer overall. do we risk making the same mistake we risk making the same mistake we made after the second world war? >> i'd love people in government to have some sort of business background, the kind of background, the kind of background that you've just been suggesting . i'd love them to suggesting. i'd love them to have a look at why it is that the majority of people want to move to london, or a lot of people want to move to london, and they put up with the fact that they can't afford to live anywhere, but they want to work in productive industries . now, in productive industries. now, where does that come from? i don't know, but i assume it happens and it happens because it happens and people come down to do the productive work where however they see it in in the south—east and the south—west.

now, if you're trying as a government to tax that particular part of the economy more, some people will begin to point out, hang on a second. so where does the tax actually go in this country? does it go to is it is it developed in the south—east and the south—west? yes it is. does it go to the north? yes it does. does it go to scotland ? yes it does. i mean to scotland? yes it does. i mean all those sorts of arguments are going to come out of this. i still stick to my absolute theme about this, that if you make industry and you make public services more productive, then you're going to have people earning more in all parts of the country. it does not work to take from one and to give to the other , because that simply other, because that simply engenders resentment . how much engenders resentment. how much nicer to engender something which is about productivity and saying, my job is actually worth something and i can take it

wherever it goes. that's where i come from on this. >> well, you put it very well. thank you very much indeed . thank you very much indeed. michael wilson, business and finance broadcaster. nice to speak to you. thank you very much. i also think there's a lack of knowledge about, you know, taxes like capital gains . know, taxes like capital gains. and people think, oh, it's only very rich people who pay that it has no impact on anyone else. it's a great thing to tax . but it's a great thing to tax. but actually these things have knock on effects. >> but we've tried these things before where we try and sort of stop economic activity in one place to engender it in the other place. >> the attlee government passed something called the distribution of industry act. >> oh my god, where micromanaging entrepreneurs had to get a certificate from the government before they opened a factory so that they could say, no more factories in birmingham. >> it's too big. we want you to go and do your business elsewhere. and the businesses stopped being made. >> oh, birmingham's doing a bit too well , isn't it? too well, isn't it? >> exactly. >> exactly. >> do you have some government bureaucrat looking at all the cities that each year and going, oh no, no, it's growing much too fast there. we can't possibly have that. i mean, this is literally what this country did after the war. it's one of the

reasons this country lost its status as a superpower, why we why we didn't grow as germany after the war. germany the defeated country in the second world war, grew about twice as fast as the victorious country. >> i once wrote a 3000 word essay in germany in german on exactly that. anyway, lots more coming up on today's show. we're going to be talking about the crazy overspending, the woeful budgeting within the home office, particularly on the asylum spend. there's some astonishing figures. stay tuned . astonishing figures. stay tuned. >> very good afternoon to you. 133 the top story this lunchtime, the prime minister says the government is going to take further action to tackle cigarette use. he's been responding to so—called secret whitehall papers, first reported in the sun newspaper, which would put a stop to people smoking outside nightclubs and restaurants . hospitality firms restaurants. hospitality firms are warning jobs will be lost, though, if those plans go ahead .

though, if those plans go ahead. a 43 year old van driver has been found guilty of attempting to smuggle seven people into the uk. anas al—mustafa has been convicted of assisting unlawful immigration after the group were found hidden in a compartment of the vehicle. the father of two is set to be sentenced next friday. in paris, the prime minister is holding talks with emmanuel macron as part of a wider push to rebuild relations with the eu. illegal migration is on the agenda there as leaders aim to boost intelligence sharing to tackle people smuggling gangs. it follows news that over 220,000 migrants have crossed the engush migrants have crossed the english channel into the uk this yean english channel into the uk this year, with hundreds arriving just yesterday . two men have just yesterday. two men have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a wheelchair user was stabbed in east london yesterday. police found jade anthony barnett injured after being called to a fight. the 38 year old, who lost his leg in a

motorbike accident in two thousand and seven, died at the scene in clapton . he's been scene in clapton. he's been described by family and friends as cheerful and caring . troubled as cheerful and caring. troubled thames water says it needs to hike customer bills by nearly 60% in the next five years, or warns it could become uninvestable. britain's biggest water supplier made the demand in its response to regulator ofwat's proposal to cap household water charges. our reporter, charlie peters, has been outside thames water's headquarters in reading and says that that plan may not work and not a single ticket has been sold. but oasis are still expecting a sold out tour , expecting a sold out tour, adding three extra dates in the uk next year. noel gallagher says unprecedented demand has prompted the decision to put on more gigs in manchester, one in london, another in edinburgh. but more importantly, how much is it going to set you back? well, prices have just been announced ahead of sales opening this weekend. the cheapest

ticket coming in at £73, and if you want access to a special pre—show party, you'll have to spend just over £500. good news, though, that one includes a seat. 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 your smartphone. >> sign up to news alerts by scanning the qr code, or go to gbnews.com. forward slash alerts . gbnews.com. forward slash alerts. >> cheers! >> cheers! >> britannia wine club proudly sponsors the gb news financial report , and here's an update on report, and here's an update on the markets as they stand this afternoon. >> the pound will buy you $11,192 >> the pound will buy you $1.3192 and ,1.1895. the price of gold , £1,911.34 per ounce, of gold, £1,911.34 per ounce, and the ftse 100 is at 8364 points. >> cheers. britannia wine club

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good afternoon britain. it's 20 to 2 now. a financial watchdog says that woeful budgeting at the home office is causing repeated overspends on the asylum system. >> yes. so for the past three years, the department set aside £110 million for asylum operations per year. however, get this data from the institute for fiscal studies suggests that the actual spend averaged £2.6 billion a year during that time. >> now, the government insists it is cleaning up what it calls the mess to deliver a controlled and managed borders. but joining us now to discuss this is the former home office adviser, claire pearsall, because claire, it does seem that the home

office has always been a mess. and frankly, it doesn't look like it's getting much better. >> it doesn't do wonders for the image of the home office in the slightest, and you have to wonder, who was it that signed these budgets off in the first place? >> so you have the civil service on the one side, but also which ministers or home secretary actually did sign these budget overspends off because it would have been obvious halfway through a year or even a few months, through a year, that you have this enormous overspend coming up, you would have seen that the budgets that you had set weren't going to be anywhere near good enough, and therefore you needed to amend them. so why wasn't the overspend picked up? was this from the civil service? was this from the civil service? was it from ministers ? and why was it from ministers? and why did the treasury keep signing off? three years worth of dipping into reserve funds? >> i mean, it's clear it's almost as if i set aside £10 for my grocery shop this week, and then it ended up being £1,000, and i and i was shocked by that.

i mean, this is really woeful to think it's going to cost 110 million, and then for it to cost 2.6 billion, i mean crazy. >> that's right . and you can >> that's right. and you can have the argument that in the sort of first year of it, you could budget for 110 million, and it was more than you expected. but to do that for successive years just looks like bad accounting . any other bad accounting. any other business in the private sector would have been hauled in by auditors and probably made bankrupt if they kept running to that level of overspend . you that level of overspend. you wouldn't do it in your personal life. businesses shouldn't do it, and the government certainly shouldn't do it with what is taxpayer's money. >> it makes me think, given that this was year after year, that there was something else going on here that they had to sort of squeeze under budgets or that they had to sort of try and present it, or that it was sort of advantageous to one part of the department to say, this is an overspend, because then they might get more money, i don't know, sort of how the behind the scenes things work, but it could be that someone knew that it was

going to be overspend. but for whatever reason, thought that that was a preferable outcome. >> well, you could well be right. i mean, the government's at the time wanted to make sure that it looked like it was in control of what was going on in the asylum system. it wanted to maintain, the image of being fiscally prudent as a conservative government. and also there was a lot of stock being held in the rwanda scheme , being held in the rwanda scheme, which would have seen a number of people removed if it had ever got off the ground. so i think that there was a little bit of hedging of bets going on. but for three successive years , i for three successive years, i don't think you can argue that these were unforeseen expenses when you knew full well that £110 million wasn't going to cut it, and rwanda wasn't up and running. you didn't have anywhere else to send people. so those costs were only going to increase year on year. so as i say, it really does come back to who is it that was signing these off. did anybody raise an alarm at how enormous this overspend

was? i mean, we aren't talking about a small rounding error. this is an extremely large amount of taxpayers money that is not being accounted for properly. so i think that when parliament returns next week, there are some really serious questions that need to be asked. >> yeah. i mean, when you have hotels, for example, costing roughly 7 million a day, how on earth they thought the whole thing would cost £110 million a year? is crazy. thank you very much. claire pearsall former home office adviser. great to speak to you. thank you. gosh just our taxpayers money. just, you know, 2.6 billion here. yeah. >> no, i worked for that. it's completely it's completely nuts. but also, i wonder whether there were ministers just saying. well, if you if you budget for this , that's an admission. we're this, that's an admission. we're going to be using more hotels next year and we're going to stop the boats. so we can't possibly budget for this. and then they don't stop the boats. and then they need to use the hotels. and then it's an overspend. could that be sort of the way that they don't want a

journalist to look through the accounts and go, they, they say they're going to stop the boats. but look, they've budgeted billions for hotels. >> that's totally crooked though. >> well it's government. >> well it's government. >> yeah, yeah. imagine if you did that with your overheads in your business. oh yeah. i know my costs are going to go down by 99% next year. 000 wait. they didn't. they actually skyrocketed. absolute nonsense . skyrocketed. absolute nonsense. this is good afternoon britain on gb news. we've got lots more coming up on today's show. apparently storms. there's a whole list of what are our stormy weathers are going to be called. storm. >> tom i'm looking forward to seeing if my name makes the list. if your name makes the list, perhaps . but perhaps list, perhaps. but perhaps they're quite peculiar. but sometimes there are some surprising

next. >> welcome back to good afternoon britain. now we were talking about the woeful budgeting within the home office when it comes to the asylum

system that spend woefully under budgeted for. and nils got in touch. he says two things, emily. firstly, the equivalent of 100 million turning into 2.5 billion is you budgeting £10 for your weekly shop. and it actually costing £250, not 1000. thank you very much for correcting me on that one. and secondly, asylum hotels were paid for by the overseas aid budget. so i suspect this whole story is a bit of out of context nonsense. well, this is the institute of fiscal studies who have looked at this and found that actually there was a bit of odd accounting going on within the home office. so it's not it's not out of context nonsense. it's clear that there was some under—budgeting going on for what reason? don't know. labouris on for what reason? don't know. labour is saying that it was to try and cover up the extent of the asylum crisis and how much these things were costing. >> well, frank has got in touch now he's he's an accountant. and he says after some years in accountancy, you can move figures around to say what you want as an outcome. >> right . okay. well, actually, >> right. okay. well, actually, would you like to do my account? >> i'm not sure if he is an

accountant. actually, it just says after some years in accountancy, you can. i assume he's speaking from authority. >> but frank, let us know. are you a trained accountant? a professional accountant? well, shall we get to storms now? >> because. have you been wondering if you share your name with a storm? oh, yes. >> every night before i go to sleep. well, the met office has revealed the full list of storm names for 2025, including storm florence, storm gerben and storm tilly. >> goodness me. well, in fact, the uk has had its greatest number of storms of named storms since the met office's naming system. first launched only in 2015. there have been 12 named storms over the past year, so guess. >> do you share a name with any upcoming storms? >> well, we're joined now by the meteorologist john kettley and john, why did we start naming these storms ? these storms? >> good afternoon. well, i think they're a very good idea, actually, because it does put it into perspective exactly how serious an event could well be. if you go back ten, 20 years, you'd probably be talking about a deepening centre of low

pressure coming off the eastern seaboard of america, getting involved in the jet stream sweeping across at 40 miles an hour and then producing some gale force winds across the country. so it's really simplified things. it's going to be in the psyche much better. the media love it. of course, if you can talk about a storm name coming in three days time, then that's definitely going to have some more impact. and i always think it's very useful after the event as well, because when people are bashing in their insurance claims, everybody knows, including the insurance company, which event they're talking about . so you don't need talking about. so you don't need to go through all the climate figures, all the back newspapers to find out exactly which event this was. this was an event which actually did occur on such and such a date. it was very serious. and that's why we've now got 3000 claims in our in—tray. >> i quite like it. i like that they have names. there's a storm, hugo, that will come about. that's a posh storm. you've got a storm, poppy, which sounds nice . sounds inoffensive. sounds nice. sounds inoffensive. >> storm poppy is not going to do a single bit of damage.

storm. storm wren , however, storm. storm wren, however, which is one of the other ones, like i can imagine storm wren doing a serious bit of damage , doing a serious bit of damage, >> storm lewis, our producer. >> storm lewis, our producer. >> john, do you think it would be, maybe i'm being facetious here, but but if it's a particularly flowery name, might people be less afraid of the wrath of the storm? that's coming? >> well, i would agree with that, tom. yes i mean, i could be facetious as well, but i thought when they go as far as wren, obviously they're throwing everything but the kitchen sink at this one. >> so very good, very good. >> so very good, very good. >> so very good, very good. >> so i so i think these things are well thought out. they're obviously, there's a committee that goes into this and people are actually putting in their own suggestions from the public in the, into the uk met office, into the irish met service and into the irish met service and into holland as well. so there is some thought going into it and they're coming up with the best solution of course, if it's a very, very serious storm, a real killer storm, which we don't tend to get in this country too much, thank

goodness, then eventually they will drop that name because it's got, you know, a bad connotation. so i think all in all, it's a it's a fine mixture of pleasant names, something that you'd like to be associated with. and, and also the threat, the threat possibly of a very nasty, severe sounding storm. >> i wonder if there's a, you know, people try and have a diverse range of names and inclusive range , but it's inclusive range, but it's fascinating that they drop the name if it becomes too dangerous. >> that's. i didn't know that that was the case. >> yeah, that's certainly been the case in america for many , the case in america for many, many years. indeed, you know, we've had these more serious storms in new orleans, for example, 20 years ago, i forgot the name of it. now, sadly, katrina, i should know it, but i think that one's gone now. and another one's in the past. and of course, it's all something that's very recent. as you mentioned, it came in in 2015in this country, but they've been doing it in america for the best part of 100 years, really. and i think it's fantastic. i mean, if you go back to our storms, the burns day storm, 1990, it's been so named and it's been

remembered because of some tying in with an event which occurred on the 25th of january. so i think it's a good idea. >> i suppose if it gets people more aware of what to do and, we only have we only. oh, in 10s, if you would. what should you do if you would. what should you do if a storm is coming your way? >> batten down the hatches. >> batten down the hatches. >> thank you so much for going out that day. >> no, that's. that's excellent advice. really appreciate your time. john kettley meteorologist. always a pleasure to have you on the program, >> yes. i think there has been a storm, emily. i think there has, there has. this is good afternoon, britain. we're on gb news. we've got lots more coming up on today's show. we're also going to have probably a little bit of an exclusive for you from the english channel. stay tuned . the english channel. stay tuned. >> for a brighter outlook with boxt solar sponsors of weather on gb news . on gb news. >> hello! welcome to your latest

gb news weather update brought to you from the met office. a fine and dry day for many of us today. feeling fairly warm in the sun, but definitely fresher than it was yesterday and this evening is looking pretty cool as well. high pressure is starting to dominate. it's moving in from the south and west, but we've still got low pressure up to the north and some frontal systems that will bnng some frontal systems that will bring some further showers to parts of scotland. northern ireland and some areas of northern england. through today. there could be quite heavy actually across northern areas of scotland there's a risk of thunderstorms, possibly some hail and quite a brisk breeze here. different story elsewhere. even where we do see showers across northern areas of england, there'll still be plenty of sunny spells. and in the sunshine, as i said, still feeling fairly warm but cooler than yesterday, particularly in the south—east with 30 degrees in southeastern areas. yesterday 24 degrees is the max throughout today. so this evening still some showers across parts of scotland, particularly across the northern isles and northern areas of scotland. that's where we'll see the heaviest showers. they will tend to slowly ease into the evening, particularly compared to this morning. we'll

see some clearer skies starting to develop, but temperatures are going to fall away quite quickly through this evening. clear skies and the sun setting a little earlier than we're used to through the summer, means that temperatures will fall lower than recent nights. we could get down as low as 3 or 4 degrees rurally in some northern and eastern areas. the breeze though across northern areas of scotland will hold temperatures up a little higher, with more in the way of cloud and just a few showers lingering across the far north by friday morning. elsewhere, though, a dry night to come. but that will mean, despite the chillier start, a sunny start to the day on friday, some patches of mist and fog around that may take a couple of hours to clear after sunrise, but once they do, there'll be plenty of long lived sunny spells through friday, and it will feel pleasant enough in the sunshine once again. the winds will be quite light. perhaps some hazy sunshine approaching the south and east later in the afternoon, but still temperatures climbing towards the low 20s or the high teens quite widely. but by that warm feeling inside from boxt

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gb news. >> good afternoon britain. it's 2:00 on thursday the 29th of august. >> i'm tom harwood and i'm emily carver pm on the ropes. >> sir keir starmer's approval rating has plummeted to its lowest level on record. why had things turned so sour so soon? >> authoritarian nightmare and smoking is set to be banned in pub gardens as well as outside football grounds and nightclubs . football grounds and nightclubs. what do you make of that war on motorists? >> keir starmer has opened the door to a rise in fuel duty in this autumn's budget, despite his pledge to not increase taxes on working people, the prime minister suggested an increase in the levy paid by millions of motorists is on the table , and

motorists is on the table, and haynes has released a £2 tinned spaghetti carbonara, an italian boss has called it a disgrace. >> but would you try it ? >> but would you try it? right, well, there's lots to go at this hour. keir starmers approval ratings tanking essentially , and hinds bringing essentially, and hinds bringing out new carbonara. >> we've got everything from all ends of the spectrum. >> everything. all ends of the spectrum. i'd try the spaghetti carbonara. why not? £2. nice meal . meal. >> maybe not. nice meal, but i would try it. i've had plenty of meals that are probably worse. i mean, i like i like a spaghetti hoop. >> well, exactly. they do spaghetti hoops quite nicely , so spaghetti hoops quite nicely, so why not try their hand at spaghetti carbonara? well, i think there's something just more gloopy about, you know, sort of a cheese based sauce. i doubt there's much bacon in it. yeah. that's true. or pancetta or whatever it's called. yeah. i

mean, i would try it, but i, i do appreciate that the italians out there, maybe you know, less than impressed by this, insulted even that heinz would think to do such a thing. >> but people are allowed to have lazy, disgusting food if they so wish. not not every meal needs to be michelin starred . needs to be michelin starred. >> no it doesn't. it doesn't. so yes, let us know if you try it. gbnews.com forward slash your save. please do get in touch, but it's your headlines with sam francis . francis. >> very good afternoon to you. as you tuck into your carbonara, let's take a look at the top stories. this hour. and the prime minister has vowed to do more to reduce smoking, as reports suggest his government could ban it in some outside spaces. according to what the sun newspaper says are secret whitehall papers , ministers are whitehall papers, ministers are considering making it illegal to light up in outdoor restaurants, playgrounds and outside

nightclubs and stadiums. hospital bosses say hospitality bosses rather say new restrictions would cost jobs. but sir keir starmer insists action is needed. >> my starting point on this is to remind everyone that over 80,000 people lose their lives every year because of smoking. that's a preventable death . it's that's a preventable death. it's a huge burden on the nhs and of course it's a burden on the taxpayer. so yes, we are going to take decisions in this space. more details will be revealed, but this is a preventable series of deaths and we've got to take the action to reduce the burden on the nhs and reduce the burden on the nhs and reduce the burden on the nhs and reduce the burden on the taxpayer . on the taxpayer. >> meanwhile, the prime minister is currently meeting with emmanuel macron in paris as part of a wider push to rebuild relations with the eu . sir keir relations with the eu. sir keir starmers talks with french leaders will focus on a new treaty, expected to take six months to finalise illegal migration is also on the agenda,

as leaders there aim to enhance intelligence sharing to tackle illegal smuggling gangs. it follows news that over 20,000 migrants have so far crossed the engush migrants have so far crossed the english channel into the uk this yean english channel into the uk this year, with hundreds arriving just yesterday. a van driver has been convicted for smuggling groups of migrants in a hidden compartment who were found banging and screaming for help as they were slowly starved of oxygen. jurors today at lewes crown court unanimously found anas al mustafa, a father of two, guilty of trafficking seven people in that specially adapted van on board a ferry from france to newhaven in sussex. crew members on that ship had to use an axe to free the migrants after hearing their pleas for help. the 43 year old will be sentenced next friday and in london, detectives are appealing for information after a top chef has been left fighting for his life after an attack near notting hill carnival. police found museum nato unconscious on the street in queensway before paramedics arrived. the 31 year

old man has now been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. however, police say they are still looking for witnesses who may have seen mousey between 1:00 on monday afternoon and the time of the attack just before 1130 in the evening, and two people have been arrested after a man on a mobility scooter was stabbed to death in clapton in east london yesterday. the victim has now been named as 38 year old jade anthony barnett, who lost his leg in a motorbike accident in two thousand and seven. he's been described today by family and friends as cheerful and caring . troubled cheerful and caring. troubled thames water says it needs to hike customer bills by nearly 60% by 2030, or warns it could become uninvestable. britain's biggest water supplier made the demand in its response to regulator ofwat's proposals to cap household water charges. our reporter, charlie peters, has been at thames water's headquarters in reading, giving more for us. >> thames water said that off

what's proposed cap is not tenable and renders our plan uninvestable and could prevent the turnaround and recovery of the turnaround and recovery of the company. well, as this row continues between the largest water utilities company and the regulator, some concerns have been raised about the bonuses for the chief financial officer and the ceo of thames water , and the ceo of thames water, stretching over into the millions . millions. >> health experts are rather. let's start with a different story. a financial watchdog says woeful budgeting at the home office is causing repeated overspends on the asylum system. for the past three years, the department set aside £110 million for asylum operations. however, data from the institute for fiscal studies suggest the actual spend averaged £2.6 billion a year. during that time. labour insists it is cleaning up what it has called the mess in the asylum system to deliver controlled and managed borders . health experts are borders. health experts are

warning we could face a surge in measles cases across the country, as children set to return to school in the coming days. the uk's health security agency is urgently asking parents to make sure their children are protected against the illness. figures show outbreaks since autumn 2023 have resulted in the highest number of cases in the country since 2012. and we'll just pull away from the bulletin update now and take you live to a tory leadership candidate. tom tugendhat. we can hear him now giving a speech. >> we need them all. today, though, i want to talk to you about government funded public services. government provided services. government provided services. although, to be honest, i should start by admitting that the phrase public services leaves me a little cold. it's like the old blairite shorthand of schools and

hospitals. it fails to carry the importance of what we mean. it doesn't capture the dedication that goes into educating a child. bringing up kids who can't live with their biological parents, or curing a patient or caring for somebody with dementia, or helping somebody into work, or keeping a local estate safe, or even putting a young offender back on track, or risking your life fighting a fire, or of course, engaging the enemy in defence of our country and its interests. when a family worries about granny, the bureaucrat talks about the system . but the family simply system. but the family simply wants to know that their grandmother will receive the care and be accorded the dignity that she deserves. when a neighbour sees crime on their street, professionals talk about mission boards and statistics. but that doesn't make us feel safe. we want to know that the law is on our side, that it will be fair and just, and that help is near. and when parents worry

about their child's education being disrupted or standards slipping, we don't want ideological policies to stop school exclusions. we don't want to be told that we're wrong to worry or indeed, what to think. we want a headteacher who understands that these moments are vital to our child's education and to their future, and a school leader who has the discretion to do what's right for the class. today we talk too much about systems and not enough about people, too much about centralised policies , about centralised policies, binding mandates and legal frameworks, and not enough about what makes professionals adapt and respond to a local need. too much about the state and not enough about those little platoons, the families, the communities, the charities, mutuals and small groups of pubuc mutuals and small groups of public servants who know better than whitehall how best to tackle the challenges before them . centralised and them. centralised and bureaucratic cultures always create a gravitational pull, drawing in more power if

unchecked. it's like the march of cultural marxism, which puts the system over the human forgetting that the government should serve the people and not force us into a system convenient for itself. in other words, we have too much bureaucracy and not enough humanity. we have too much state and not enough society. every system , however caring, system, however caring, naturally draws control into itself, and bureaucrats, however well intentioned , naturally well intentioned, naturally focus on the processes they can control and less on the outcomes that they cannot. we need to reform to remember purpose and not just process, to empower individuals, improve care and deliver the world class service that the british people deserve. as conservatives, we know that the best ideas only come when you trust people to act as they know best. when you take the politics out and put people back in charge. now i want to set out

the principles that shape how i think about investing, reforming and protecting our public services . and later on, i'll set services. and later on, i'll set out the seven principles that i think matter. i'll talk about the mission, the purpose money of course, the interconnections trust people and demand. but let me start by talking about something that as a father, matters to me very personally. schools. i'm very proud of what we've achieved in education and the recent exam results bear that out. i offer my congratulations to all those who did so well in t levels and a levels in btecs and in gcses. you told us what we all know. education in england has improved markedly over the last decade. now, thanks to conservative education reforms, conservative education reform s, engush conservative education reforms, english schools are among the best performing in the world. we remembered the purpose was to educate a generation and free teachers to teach and freed

parents to choose. that's why we have the best primary school readers in the western world, and secondary school students are 11th in the world in maths, up from 27th under labour, 13th in the world for science, up from 16th under labour and 13th in the world for reading, up from 25th under labour. 90% of state schools are now good or outstanding, up from 68% under laboun outstanding, up from 68% under labour, and we can see the difference very clearly because when labour and the snp have beenin when labour and the snp have been in charge in wales and in scotland, our successes have not been matched. they have let children down and then sought to blame others. in their first weeks in power, labour ministers rushed to tell us that many of the reforms behind the success story freedoms for headteachers, strict discipline policies, a clear inspection framework and a knowledge rich curriculum will now be scrapped. >> well, there's tory leadership contender tom tugendhat, with his big public services speech.

he doesn't want us to talk about pubuc he doesn't want us to talk about public services anymore. he wants us to talk about the specific rather than the general. he wants to us talk about people rather than systems and put our trust in systems and how schooling is very important and also social care. >> people deserve that kind of care and support. we will pick up on anything else that he says that to bring you as well. but yes, one of the contenders for that tory leadership, he's got a better backdrop than last time you criticised him for that last time he had an unironed cloth backdrop. >> it didn't look very edifying. he's found a wall. so it's better. and flags? yeah. shall we move on to sir keir starmer now? someone who actually has some power. his approval rating has dropped to its lowest level on record. >> yes. it comes as the government is hit with accusations of cronyism. the prime minister is facing rather a lot of questions over several appointments of party loyalists to senior roles in the civil

service. >> well, a new poll shows that almost two thirds of voters think that the government is more interested in serving its own interests than the interests of ordinary people. >> and also, according to this survey, sir keir's personal approval rating has plunged to a record low —16. that's a drop of 27 points from his post—election high of plus 11. so why have things turned sour quite so soon? >> well, we're joined by the political commentator peter spencen political commentator peter spencer. peter, can you remember a single government having such a single government having such a short honeymoon in, in in recent political history, in this country? >> one thinks of that wonderful line , nasty, brutish and short . line, nasty, brutish and short. >> i mean, i think the answer to your question is no, i can't remember quite such a short honeymoon in the past. >> but then again, when sir keir starmer delivered his i never promised you a rose garden speech, the blood, sweat , toil speech, the blood, sweat, toil and tears speech. >> it is to not be wondered at

that the punters didn't too take kindly to it. >> i mean, he was trying to create a narrative that that that basically the nation has been in, in a make do and mend mode for so long. and now finally , the bills are charging finally, the bills are charging in and it has to be sorted. >> and he is hoping that because the conservative party is engagedin the conservative party is engaged in a leadership contest, he can create the narrative and they won't have much of a say. >> i mean, i have to say that the same thing happened after the same thing happened after the big international financial crash of 2008. after that, there was a labour leadership contest, and it gave david cameron and the conservative party the chance to frame the narrative as the crisis made in downing and wall street was actually made in downing street. downing street, which was a complete nonsense, but without it being firmly rebutted , it stuck and by the rebutted, it stuck and by the

same token, keir starmer knows he's going to have a really beastly budget and no one's going to like it. one little bit. and he's trying to lay the blame very firmly on the previous conservative administration. and good luck with that. he can. but hope that the punters that the electorate will cut him enough slack and recognise that there have, that he has picked up a legacy of a whole tranche of really intractable problems. >> yeah, i mean , peter, lots of >> yeah, i mean, peter, lots of people are getting in touch. they've all got different theories as to why keir starmer has been going down in the polls, why people are switching off, perhaps from from what he's saying. lots of people talking about how, yes, he clamped down on the riots. good stuff. but he has so far refused to acknowledge some of the underlying tensions that there are and refuse to acknowledge just how big an issue immigration is for a lot of people in this country. he doesn't seem to want to talk about that. obviously, a lot of

people concerned by the decision to scrap the winter fuel allowance while at the same time boosting the coffers of the train drivers and such things. but yes , that miserable speech, but yes, that miserable speech, i mean, we have been we have received miserable speeches before, haven't we? i remember osborne and cameron telling us we're all going to have to tighten our belts. you know, there's not money to go around. but this seemed miserable to epic proportions . epic proportions. >> yes, indeed it did. >> yes, indeed it did. >> but then i think that is to do with the fact that that the, the mess that that the labour government has inherited is of epic proportions. i mean, you just wherever you look, you find there's crumbling schools, record waiting lists in hospitals. the prisons are full to bursting. >> and so it is little wonder that there's an awful lot of stuff is going to have to get fixed, and they have to get fixed, and they have to get fixed in the not too distant future, and it's going to cost a lot of money. >> here, though, that unlike in 2010, when the government said, we're all in this together and

there were some tax rises for people on high incomes, and there were wage freezes for other people, and everyone was or at least that was their narrative. that was the soundbite. we're all in this together. well, that's not the case now because you've seen bumper pay rises for doctors and train drivers and all public sector workers. well above inflation. and to pay for it, they're taking winter fuel payments from pensioners and are raising taxes purportedly on many different aspects, whether it's fuel duty, whether it's capital gains, whether it's all of the inheritance tax that we're expecting to come in october's budget. >> yes. i mean, we have to wait for the october budget to find out quite exactly where the axe is going to fall, but most. >> but to come back to your point , tom, >> but to come back to your point, tom, about the paying the money for people who've been on strike and threatening industrial action, it is worth remembering that under the conservatives there was a very large number of strikes and

different forms of industrial action taking place. and first of all, people were jolly cross with people for inconveniencing them. >> and but it didn't take very long before the attitude was , long before the attitude was, well, you know, you're the government, you really need to sort it . sort it. >> and the fact, i mean, there is a fair point to make that starmer does make, which is the fact that people really don't want to have to wait even longer for their hospital appointments, and they really do want to get towards the station and hop onto a train at the time it is supposed to be going. >> so you can. >> i mean, all governments are in a no win situation with this. >> frankly, they're caught between the scylla and charybdis. but, but his decision to sort of say, right, we're going to end all this strike stuff that's as viable as saying we're going to we're going to tough it out. >> well, thank you very much indeed. peter spencer , political indeed. peter spencer, political commentator. great to have you on the show. this afternoon. >> god bless you. it's a tricky in—tray for the for the government, no doubt. but

goodness me. 23% approval. 20. just 23% of the country thinks they're doing a good job. i mean , they're doing a good job. i mean, i just can't imagine standing up and telling the country that things are going to get worse before they get better. >> when i've just won a landslide majority. i mean, you know, he said change was afoot. >> well, i didn't say change for the better, did it anyway, but he probably did. much more coming up on today's show. i'm going to change things. i don't know. i don't know how i'm going to change. anyway, we're going to change. anyway, we're going to be talking about that smoking ban. that's a change we really could. we really face. pub gardens. pub gardens. >> pub gardens. >> pub gardens. >> smoking bans. >> smoking bans. >> nightclubs. >> nightclubs. >> that .

next. good afternoon. britain. it's

2:23. now the prime minister has confirmed that the government is looking at tougher rules to combat outdoor smoking. >> the menace that is outdoor smoking under new plan. smoking could be banned in pub gardens, outdoor restaurants outside hospitals and also sports grounds and even nightclubs and shisha bars. >> well , my shisha bars. >> well, my starting point on this is to remind everyone that over 80,000 people lose their lives every year because of smoking. >> that's a preventable death . >> that's a preventable death. it's a huge burden on the nhs and of course it's a burden on the taxpayer. so yes, we are going to take decisions in this space. more details will be revealed, but this is a preventable series of deaths and we've got to take the action to reduce the burden on the nhs and reduce the burden on the nhs and reduce the burden on the nhs and reduce the burden on the taxpayer. >> well, that was the keir starmer speaking from paris, where smoking definitely is allowed. >> definitely. in fact, encouraged almost anyway. gb news west midlands reporter jack

carson is not in paris. he's in a pub garden in staffordshire for us. jack very interested to know how the punters there, what they make of this potential outdoor smoking ban . outdoor smoking ban. >> yeah, well of course this report in the newspapers and essentially almost confirmed by starmer today that they would be looking at this. >> let's get some reaction, shall we, to this possible ban, which would include we think, banning smoking in outdoor areas, outdoor spaces like pub beer gardens where we are here at the elms in shareshill. we're joined by katie mcphillamy from davenports brewery, who this the company own now. just give us your reaction really to this to this smoking ban which would mean that, you know, your punters here wouldn't be able to smoke in outdoor spaces like this. >> well, it's beyond belief to start with because it's an abuse of social freedoms and power and more importantly, another nail in the coffin for the hospitality industry, which is already facing really tough times.

>> and in enough legislation to cope with in its own rights. >> yeah. >> yeah. >> i mean , have you had problems >> i mean, have you had problems here where people have complained about people smoking in these pub gardens? is this something that you see regularly ? something that you see regularly? so i can understand maybe why this ban is being brought in? >> listen, i understand his sentiments in terms of the burden on the nhs, but we're talking about a social environment for people that that smoke, whether that be because years ago some of our customers are of that age where it was a trendy thing to do. >> so they've smoked and they still smoke. personal choice. and we should have those social freedoms, but we don't have people complaining. >> and you know, when they when they stop people smoking indoors. >> years ago we saw some pubs close and you would see that effect again. >> and the ones that did remain open noticed an impact, about 15 to 20% drop in trade and, you know, people were driven outside. >> they were ostracising our customers come along covid, you know, we're forced to create spaces where people can and still exist outside and socialise. >> and that was a huge investment for pubs. you know, it's significant. you build it

into your business plan and over the years you have to reinvent it. so we've only just finished refreshing this garden last week , refreshing this garden last week, considerable investment that's built into a plan that must reward us in the long run. and so you created these spaces. so you weren't ostracising customers and now we're saying that investment that you've made in good faith might not exist anymore. >> and you'll see pubs closing. and i also think social impact is you'll just drive people to smoke elsewhere. >> they'll smoke in their own homes and pubs will close. so you're not going to stop it. you've got to educate people properly, but you don't just force their hand. we're not a nanny state, and if we start to act like that, then it's, you know, it's a it's a horrible shame on the uk. what does it say about us as a country. >> you mentioned there, you know, about the viability . know, about the viability. that's something that the chief executive of the british beer and pub association has said today is concerning about the viability there for the long term viability of pubs. do you really see this having having such an impact? you know, if people cannot come here to, to use these outdoor spaces to

socialise and maybe have a cigarette at the same time, we've got a great benchmark. >> look what happened in two thousand and seven when the legislation changed and they couldn't smoke inside , though it couldn't smoke inside, though it wasn't a knee jerk reaction. pubs closed that physically happened and trade dropped that physically happened. and so now you've got we've lived through covid, you know, social spaces, spaces and outside is so important to mental health and socialising in the community. these are seen pubs are seen as assets of community value for a reason, because we create environments where people can mix and do so. choosing to smoke or not smoke and we don't have complaints. we really don't. people that don't want to be in a smoking environment move to another area of the restaurant. they'll sit inside, you know, and look at, look at the problems you'll have within family units. so i don't smoke. i'm anti—smoking. family units. so i don't smoke. i'm anti—smoking . i've got i'm anti—smoking. i've got a partner that smokes and i've been with him for 19 years. so we've sustained that and you know, and we'll choose to eat outside where he can have a cigarette if he wants to. i'm in the fresh air. does it really

impact us? no, it doesn't, but take away that possibility. and what will we do? we might just socialise on our own back garden and. >> and this is the other thing, you know, it's really clear that this is , this is a real point this is, this is a real point that for pubs that are worrying . that for pubs that are worrying. and thank you so much for giving us your views on this today, because it's clear, you know, from katie that tom and emily that this, this could well really have an impact. and this legislation is something that of course, the government, when they bring it to parliament, are going to have to consider very carefully . carefully. >> so it's interesting to hear from someone who actually knows what they're talking about, what the impact might be on, on a pub. i wonder, would you bring back smoking in pubs inside, if would you bring it back? >> if a pub wants to have a smoking room, surely should be allowed to have. i mean, if they're in the pub, the government doesn't own the pub. well, should we speak to an owner of another pub now, the sandon pub ? kate stuart joins us sandon pub? kate stuart joins us now. kate thank you so much for making the time for us. how do you think a ban on smoking in

pub gardens would affect your industry? if it was, if it came into force? >> it's just another reason to destroy the hospitality sector. >> it's another massive nail in the coffin, which is already filled with nails. i heard starman say, you know, it's a burden on the nhs. >> it's a burden on the taxpayer. it's still going to be a burden on the taxpayer and the nhs, because all people are going to do is go to supermarkets, buy alcohol , smoke supermarkets, buy alcohol, smoke in their own homes and drink in at home as opposed to coming to at home as opposed to coming to a pub. nothing's going to change. it's an outdoor space, and smoking has been associated with alcohol for hundreds of years and it's not going to have a big effect whatsoever. and it's people's freedom of choice. if somebody's 13% of the population still smoke. so if somebody wants to smoke, they're going to smoke anyway. so by doing that, the only thing that's going to be destroyed is the hospitality sector. a sector that brings in over £20 billion

a year and employs over 3.5 million people. if this comes in another pathetic thing set out by parliament, another one, if this comes in, it's going to have a massive detrimental effect on the hospitality sector. pubs will close, jobs will be lost and revenue will be lost as well. going into the exchequer, because the hospitality sector isn't going to survive another another nail. >> yeah, i mean, i can hear from your voice just how frustrated your voice just how frustrated you are with this policy. if it does come into force, and i'm sure there will be a lot of people like you and, you know, the industry associations and all of that who will campaign strongly against this being implemented. just because of those costs. but there are some pubs that i've noticed that do have like a they have one side of the pub garden that is smoking and one side that isn't. is that practical in a pub like yours? i mean who's going to man this? >> so we already spend massive amounts on labour costs already. who is going to go outside and

man, what side you're standing on or whether you've lit up in that outside area , outside that outside area, outside spaces, outside space, two thousand and seven we banned smoking inside pubs . okay. fair smoking inside pubs. okay. fair enough. it was enclosed space. i get that it's outdoor, it's in fresh air. it's not contained, the smoke is not contained. i don't get whether standing on one side or the other is going to make a massive amount of difference. if someone's smoking and you don't want to be near them, move away. it's quite simple. >> well , kate simple. >> well, kate stuart, owner of the sandon pub, really appreciate your your thoughts, your expertise and your passion this afternoon. thanks for joining us. >> thank you very much. you know, you can you can hear that frustration. i mean, not another thing we have to deal with. you know pub pubs, they often don't make a huge amount of money. there's a huge amount of costs. you've got your energy bills. you've got your energy bills. you've obviously got to get in all the booze, the food, the staff, etc, etc. and two years when you couldn't open, two years when you couldn't open, you could sell, you know, at some points you could sell a takeaway pint. i mean, seriously ,

takeaway pint. i mean, seriously, kick them when they're down. well there you go. >> this is good afternoon britain on gb news. lots more coming up on today's show, including an exclusive from the engush including an exclusive from the english channel. that's after your news headlines . your news headlines. >> 233 and the top stories outside of that latest news on the smoking ban, a 43 year old van driver has been found guilty of attempting to smuggle seven people into the uk. anas al mustafa has been convicted of assisting unlawful immigration after a group were found hidden in a compartment of that vehicle. the father of two will be sentenced next friday. a former teacher has pleaded guilty to what a judge has described as serious sexual offences involving a teenage girl while she was a pupil at a school in nottinghamshire. 46 year old craig hill admitted to two counts of sexual activity with a child and one count of

inciting sexual activity while inciting sexual activity while in a position of trust. the incidents, reported years later by the victim, who felt she was groomed , took place while she groomed, took place while she was at hall park academy in eastwood . a man has been jailed eastwood. a man has been jailed for physically threatening to kill former labour leader ed miliband on a street in doncaster in march. michael donaldson shouted threats at miliband and his staff, leaving them shaken before being arrested. the 56 year old, who appeared intoxicated, had dismissed . the incident was dismissed. the incident was a joke but later pleaded guilty. today he was sentenced to three years in prison at sheffield crown court . not a single ticket crown court. not a single ticket has been sold, but oasis are expecting a sold out tour , expecting a sold out tour, adding three extra dates in the uk next year . adding three extra dates in the uk next year. noel gallagher says that unprecedented demand has prompted the decision to put on more shows in manchester, in london and in edinburgh. tickets go on sale on saturday, but the most expensive seat well, it

will set you back just over £500, although it does include a special pre—show party. and just a reminder on the news we've been bringing you from london. two men have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a wheelchair user was stabbed in the east of the city. police found jade anthony barnett injured after being called to a fight. the 38 year old, who lost his leg in a motorbike accident, died at the scene in clapton. he's been described today by his friends and family as cheerful and caring . those are the latest and caring. those are the latest headunes and caring. those are the latest headlines for now. sophia wenzler will be here with your next update at 3:00 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

>> some breaking >> some breaking news into us just now. for more, let's cross to our homeland security editor, mark white, because mark, the engush mark white, because mark, the english channel. >> yes, it just goes from bad to worse in terms of the numbers crossing. and we've reached another milestone today with the news that 7000 channel migrants have now crossed in just eight weeks since labour came to power, an indication that this particular crisis is not slowing down in any way, shape or form. and that 7000 figure is just being reached as we speak in the next few minutes, another border force vessel due into dover harbour with, we believe , at harbour with, we believe, at least 50 migrants on board that will take it to more than 150 today follows on from 614 who crossed yesterday 525 the day before. you can see where i'm

going with this. it's just never ending . 20,500 for the year so ending. 20,500 for the year so far as we were reporting exclusively here on gb news yesterday. now, this issue , yesterday. now, this issue, every time we bring it up in the eight weeks since labour came to power, gets all the fanboys and fangirls of the labour party very exorcised, saying how on earth can you possibly judge labour on the small boats crisis? they haven't had time to enact all the various plans that they want to, to stop the small boat. they want to, to stop the small boat . the fact is though, we boat. the fact is though, we held the previous government to account, we regularly reported on significant days of migrant crossings and milestones reached. we'll do exactly the same now that labour is in charge . charge. >> and so you should. and when you approach the government or the home office about these numbers, what is their general response? >> well, they say that everybody

wants to see a reduction in the number of small boats crossing the english channel, and that they are, to that end, in the process of recruiting 100 additional investigators to beef up the powers of the national crime agency to go after the gangs to . sir keir starmer puts gangs to. sir keir starmer puts it, smash the gangs a different approach from the conservatives, who wanted to have a system of deterrence with sending many of these small boat migrants off to rwanda. that's now been scrapped. >> but mark is, of course, you say the 50 or so people that are on board this boat as we speak, being escorted

on board this boat as we speak, being esthe ed on board this boat as we speak, being esthe normal processes of through the normal processes of applying for asylum in this country, who aren't going through the normal processes of using one of the schemes, one of the official channels, one of the official channels, one of the official channels, one of the official routes that has been laid down or set up the official routes that has been laid down or setup, the official routes that has been laid down or set up , people been laid down or set up, people who haven't applied to come here on a work visa, people who haven't done this legally and properly, that they nevertheless are escorted to this country and to accommodation paid for by the taxpayer. >> this is an issue and those facts that you set out there are facts that you set out there are facts that you set out there are facts that really anger people, right across the country as they look to what the uk government is doing and the likes of border force and indeed the rnli. and it's being accused of acting really, like a taxi service. as soon as anyone reaches uk waters, they're guaranteed to be picked up and taken to the uk. and what they would like many

people would like to see is perhaps a more robust approach that turns these boats back. that ensures they never get to uk waters in the first place. but then, of course, if a government does adopt these more robust tactics, they get criticised. the latest incident where a government is being criticised happened just recently off the coast of morocco, near a spanish enclave there, where a boat, a small migrant boat, was involved in an incident. i think we can show you some video of that now. a guardia civil vessel going at high speed was trying to intercept that migrant boat, and you can see the video there, but the migrant boat in question, it was only carrying four migrants, but it was clearly a power boat in terms of being able to zip

through the waters just near morocco, it was not compliant at all. it was trying to evade the spanish police patrol boat and the spanish police got in front of it, as you can see here. and at one point actually ended up partially on top of this small boat that you'll see in just a second or so. and in doing that, you can see just over the top of that boat. now that then partially sank this migrant vessel for people who were on board had to be rescued. one was slightly injured. but of course, guardia civil, the spanish government make no apologies for trying to prevent these illegal crossings into their water. now, as far as the uk is concerned, we ourselves looked at more robust tactics. it was two years ago i was down in dover and watched jet skis being used by

border force. we can hopefully show you those images as well. that jet skis that were used by border force vessels to intercept , these migrant boats intercept, these migrant boats intercept, these migrant boats in the water, these appear to be still images , but those jet skis still images, but those jet skis were being used out there. to rehearse for a tactic that was all about pushing the small boats back to france , but the boats back to france, but the advice from the lawyers was that they shouldn't go down this route, that it could be potentially illegal. and if they did that, they could get into trouble, so they abandoned it. >> mark, i'm sure you've had the same conversations with the home office that i have over the years , which tends to be when years, which tends to be when you ask about australia and their successful policy, about turning back the boats, that it was a lot easier for australia

to turn back the boats to countries that , frankly, have countries that, frankly, have very low gdps , don't have great very low gdps, don't have great control over their waters , and control over their waters, and also the fact that there are international waters there outside of australia, whereas the english channel is english until it is french and is a busy shipping lane and all the rest of it. i suppose the other issue with the spanish interception, as we saw there in moroccan waters, morocco, not a rich country, not a country that has clout on the international stage, not a permanent member of the un security council. they're not going to criticise the spanish in terms of what they do in their waters, in the same way that the french would criticise us. >> us. >> no, i mean, all of that is true . but at the end of the day, true. but at the end of the day, i mean, the australians were still very heavily criticised for what they did in international waters or not, and they had to take it back to another territory to indonesia. when they put these boats at the

end of the day, back onto that territory. so they decided that they were going to do it and be damned with the consequences. >> but of course, the consequences would have been i mean, indonesia could say, you know what? we'll slap some tariffs on you at australia. they won't really mind about that. if the french say, we'll close the english channel to you or, you know, we'll make things difficult for you in terms of trade or in terms of the channel tunnel. it's a different set of situation, sort of sort of consequences . consequences. >> to that end, the french have been robust themselves increasingly so of late, there are increasing violent incidents in northern france because despite the criticism that we level at the french for not doing enough over the years , doing enough over the years, their law enforcement are trying to puncture boats and intercept these vehicles that arrive with marine equipment to construct the boats . and they've also been the boats. and they've also been trying to stop some of the boats

coming off the coastline. i think we've got some more video that we can show you that shows a french rigid inflatable patrol boat that is in the process of trying to encircle a migrant boat, ensure that that boat does not get far enough off the shore to be able to make progress towards the uk. so they've been criticised for that as well. but that's the kind of tactics that many people would like to see. the uk adopt more regularly. >> very interesting indeed and keir starmer in germany, talking about how he's very concerned about how he's very concerned about the challenge of the far right and populism and nationalism. i wonder if he gave people a feeling of control over this issue, that maybe they wouldn't be pushed to that. >> well, much more coming up after this

>> okay. 251 is the time now. heinz has caved in to lazy gen z—ers with the launch of a £2 tinned carbonara. so would you try it? >> well, we're joined now by the retired chef tina pemberton. tina, thank you so much for making the time for us. this many people are saying it's an abomination. what do you make of it ? it? >> horrendous. i mean, it's something i would never, ever open. i've never opened a tin in my life. and i grew up in a i mean, my children grew up in a sort of open plan restaurant, which was a pop up restaurant. and when they wanted pasta, they just cooked pasta and threw fresh ingredients into it. >> they didn't really have to cook, cook , but that's what i cook, cook, but that's what i showed them to do. >> i never had a tin for them to open. >> but tina, this is, you know, this is innovative. this is progress. you can have a whole meal in a can for £2. >> well , i

meal in a can for £2. >> well, i wouldn't call it progress because i can't imagine what the flavours are like. it's like, just reminds me of cat food or dog food or. like, just reminds me of cat food or dog food or . you say food or dog food or. you say this , tina, but. this, tina, but. >> but of course, some serious spaghetti hoops are infinitely popular. the alphabetti spaghetti you get in a tin very, very popular. might this just be the next hit? >> no , i mean, first of all, if >> no, i mean, first of all, if people want to, you know, share something like this with a friend, i mean, if a friend of mine dish me this up, i'm not sure i'd be their friend anymore. >> and if a date dished it up, i'd run a mile. >> and if a date dished it up, i'd run a mile . so, i mean, how i'd run a mile. so, i mean, how can it be so much more expensive to cook the real thing? it's not really saving time. the time you've opened the can and i struggle so much opening cans . i struggle so much opening cans. i mean, you know, i've had gone sometimes even with a can of tomatoes, i've thought, oh, i'll just use fresh tomatoes. i break

the tin. i can't get the thing off. and in the end, that's the best way to be. imagine if imagine if you served your friend not even a whole tin half. >> thank you very much, tina pemberton. thank you very much for your time. retired chef. she found that quite funny, didn't she? >> soi she? >> so i think we all did. but, you know, come the nuclear apocalypse, it's the people with the tins who'll be laughing. there's always two servings, isn't it, in these tiny little cans. >> it's your little bit of carbonara. >> well, don't go anywhere. of course. that's it from us today. but martin daubney is up.

next. >> hello. welcome to your latest gb news weather update brought to you from the met office. a fine and dry day for many of us today. feeling fairly warm in the sun, but definitely fresher than it was yesterday. and this evening is looking pretty cool as well. high pressure is starting to dominate. it's moving in from the south and west, but we've still got low pressure up to the north and some frontal systems that will bnng some frontal systems that will bring some further showers to parts of scotland, northern ireland and some areas of northern england through today. there could be quite heavy actually across northern areas of scotland there's a risk of thunderstorms , possibly some thunderstorms, possibly some hail and quite a brisk breeze here. different story elsewhere, even where we do see showers across northern areas of england, there'll still be plenty of sunny spells. and in the sunshine, as i said, still feeling fairly warm but cooler than yesterday, particularly in the south—east with 30 degrees in southeastern areas. yesterday, 24 degrees is the max throughout today. so this evening still some showers across parts of scotland, particularly across the northern isles and northern areas of scotland. that's where we'll see the heaviest showers. they will tend to slowly ease into this

evening, particularly compared to this morning. we'll see some clearer skies starting to develop , but temperatures are develop, but temperatures are going to fall away quite quickly through this evening . clear through this evening. clear skies and the sun setting a little earlier than we're used to through the summer, means that temperatures will fall lower than recent nights. we could get down as low as 3 or 4 degrees rurally in some northern and eastern areas. the breeze though across northern areas of scotland will hold temperatures up a little higher , with more in up a little higher, with more in the way of cloud and just a few showers lingering across the far north by friday morning. elsewhere, though , a dry night elsewhere, though, a dry night to come, but that will mean , to come, but that will mean, despite the chillier start, a sunny start to the day on friday, some patches of mist and fog around that may take a couple of hours to clear after sunrise , but once they do, sunrise, but once they do, there'll be plenty of long lived sunny spells through friday and it will feel pleasant enough in the sunshine once again . the the sunshine once again. the winds will be quite light, perhaps some hazy sunshine approaching the south and east later in the afternoon, but still temperatures climbing towards the low 20s or the high teens quite widely . teens quite widely. >> but by that warm feeling

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gb news. >> a very good afternoon to you. it's 3 pm. a welcome to the martin daubney show on gb news. we're broadcasting live from the heart of westminster and all across the uk. on today's show, across the uk. on today's show, a video of a spanish coastguard boat ramming a small boat filled with illegal immigrants has gone viral as gb news today announces that more than 7000 illegal immigrants have crossed the channel since the labour party took power. >> today's question is this is it time for uk border force vessels to get tougher with the dinghies? >> just like this ? >> just like this? >> just like this? >> and the labour party promised us a champagne supernova. but it seems the fizz has gone flat on sir keir starmer's champagne socialism. his personal ratings have tanked an astonishing 27

points to —16 since the general election. is