as the most damaging pop cultural force in recent british history. but does this accusation really stack up, or is it just left wing cultural elites sneering at the working class? and as angela rayner lives it up in ibiza? keir starmer wants to ban smoking outside pubs. boris johnson has waded into the free speech row, but seemed to forget that he oversaw the creation of the authoritarian legislation that starmer will use to police our speech. starmer will use to police our speech . and elon musk's x, speech. and elon musk's x, formerly known as twitter , has formerly known as twitter, has been banned in brazil over a row about disinformation. it comes in the week when mark zuckerberg said the white house pressured facebook to censor legitimate content. do you believe that our political leaders are just keeping us safe from fake news, or do they want to control the narrative? this is your saturday night showdown .

night showdown. discussing all tonight's topics prices online. the warring gallagher iall hers are setting prices online. the warring gallagher iall tonight's;etting prices online. the warring gallagher iall tonight's topics with me are my brilliant panel. discussing all tonight's topics with me are my brilliant panel. joining me tonight are reem joining me tonight are reem ibrahim from the institute for ibrahim from the institute for economic affairs and comedian economic affairs and comedian jonathan kogan from the jonathan kogan from the institute for having a laugh. institute for having a laugh. but first, let's get your latest but first, let's get your latest news headlines from sophia news headlines from sophia wenzler . wenzler . wenzler. >> leo. wenzler. >> leo. >> leo. >> thank you. good evening from >> leo. >> thank you. good evening from the gb newsroom. it's just gone the gb newsroom. it's just gone 8:00. your top story this hour. 8:00. your top story this hour. all shows for oasis reunion tour all shows for oasis reunion tour in the uk and ireland have now in the uk and ireland have now sold out. after a long day of sold out. after a long day of queuing and website glitches. queuing and website glitches. the britpop band announced on x the britpop band announced on that there are now no more tickets available for general sale. the band also warned fans to be wary of counterfeit tickets being sold at inflated pnces tickets being sold at inflated prices online. the warring

gallagher brothers are setting

hate. in response, fake news and hate. in response, elon musk posted on x, calling the move an attack on the number one source of truth . right one source of truth. right leaning politicians are on the cusp of winning the most votes in german state elections for the first time since the second world war. the decade old afd is likely to win in former communist state of thuringia. whilst they are expected to tie in saxony. the anti—immigration party has been surging following support following a knife attack in western germany last week when three people were alleged to be killed by a member of the islamic state. however, the anti—establishment party is unlikely to have the seats needed to form a local government . and us rapper fatman government. and us rapper fatman scoop has died at the age of 53. that's according to his tour manager . that's according to his tour manager. bass drop. bass drop. the artist , whose

manager. bass drop. bass drop. the artist, whose real name was isaac freeman, had been taken to hospital after collapsing on stage during a performance in connecticut in the us on friday. scoop had success around the world and topped the uk singles chart in 2003 with be faithful , chart in 2003 with be faithful, and parts of england could see flooding this weekend as heavy rain and thunderstorms sweep across the south—west. the met office have issued a yellow warning for flooding, power cuts and travel disruption. up to 75mm of rain could fall in under an hour with lightning, hail and strong winds. also posing threats. despite the uncertainty, residents across southern and central england are being urged to stay alert for sudden severe weather. those are the latest gb news headlines for now. i'm sophia wenzler more in 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 gb news. >> com forward slash alerts .

>> com forward slash alerts. >> com forward slash alerts. >> thank you, sophia, and welcome to the saturday night showdown. oasis are reforming for live shows. liam and noel managed to bury the hatchet. i guess they've got mortgages to pal!- guess they've got mortgages to pay. and across the country, people are rejoicing at the chance to see the iconic band. well, some people are trying to get tickets and couldn't couldn't get them. half a million people trying to get tickets today, but not everybody is happy about the return of oasis. the guardian, that bastion of left wing elitism , bastion of left wing elitism, ran an article titled stop the celebrations. oasis are the most damaging pop cultural force in recent british history. dismal lyrics, plodding tunes and prehistoric political views. why is everyone so happy that the gallagher brothers are back? it's cheery stuff. it was written by simon price. it looks a bit like a poundshop keith flint. look at him there. it looks like sue pollard . here are looks like sue pollard. here are some choice excerpts from the

article. mr price accuses the gallagher brothers of homophobia, saying liam's use of the words queer and lesbian was the words queer and lesbian was the ugliest thing he's ever witnessed. but when ocean colour scenes simon fowler spoke to the new musical express about being outed as gay by tabloids in the 90s, he said that when it happened, the first thing liam gallagher did was come up and kiss me on the lips. doesn't sound very homophobic to me. the guardian article also claims that the gallagher brothers have prehistoric political views, because noel described ed miliband and jeremy corbyn as communists. jeremy corbyn has been pictured speaking surrounded by communist flags at may day parades in the past, so in my eyes, he is a communist. the article also bizarrely claims that oasis are a bad rock band because they don't do fast songs. yes they do. morning glory is 137 beats per minute. that's as fast as my heart when i log on to try and buy tickets. the whole article is pete guardian. there's open hatred

for the working class. there's a tubby, middle aged , joyless, tubby, middle aged, joyless, non—binary gimp with a face like a slap bum. there's policing of other peoples people's enjoyment, there's a ton of cultural elitism, and there's a fence. archaeology. digging back 30 years through the brothers tweets and comments to find something to get outraged about. of course, the guardian hate oasis. they're the wrong kind of working class. the guardian weren't working class people to be miserable and poverty stricken. liam and noel are full of swagger and say what they think. they're too big to cancel. they don't agonise over making sure they've got the approved opinions, and they're a reminder of when britain was great. now i'm joined tonight by communications adviser at the institute for economic affairs, reem ibrahim and comedian jonathan kogan, rhiannon. i'm going to start with you because you spent six hours today trying to get tickets. >> i did, and i was at lunch with my friends and they were saying, why are you still on your phone? i was like, i'm

still trying to get into the queue.i still trying to get into the queue. i think i was like 480,000 thousand in the queue, and i still had hope. i still had hope. i think oasis are absolutely brilliant and you're absolutely brilliant and you're absolutely right. i think this kind of guardian joy, a killjoy perspective is, is really quite just that . it sounds as though just that. it sounds as though a lot of the criticisms seem to be the use of language by the brothers, that the fact they used russian, they called russian football hooligans batty boys and used a home office move . boys and used a home office move. >> considering it's russian football hooligans. >> yes. i mean, they would beat you up. they would beat you up. and using the homophobic slur cathedral. yes, indeed. and using the homophobic slur bum chums is apparently completely abhorrent and deserving of this kind of this kind of criticism. i completely disagree. i think this is kind of killjoy nonsense, and i think we need to be allowing people to be happy. and this kind of perspective that actually working class people need to be miserable and poverty stricken, i think is entirely abhorrent as well. >> and i don't think it's to good use those homophobic slurs. but this was this was a long

time ago. >> and this show bum chums also , >> and this show bum chums also, the promo couldn't be broadcast, but the i mean, it's not a slur, i don't i don't believe it. >> i don't believe that it's a slur. it'sjust >> i don't believe that it's a slur. it's just a term that people use. and i think that there seems to be this kind of snowflake theory around a lot of this kind of language. the guardian in the guardian, but also in wider perspective. i mean, we shouldn't be calling it a what is a slur? a slur is just another word that you don't like. >> yeah, there seems to be too much focusing on on what people say and not enough focusing on what people do. i mean, liam by his actions, you know, kissing, kissing the guy from ocean colour scene when he came out and, you know, standing up for people like that in the media, he's obviously not racist or homophobic in any way. he's sometimes, you know, obviously he drinks a lot of booze, has some other fun as well. and, you know, might sometimes mouth off a little bit, but, you know, don't we all, you know, now things are preserved forever on twitter. >> look, there should be two tier policing for normal people and rock n roll star. you should be able to get away with what you want if you solve that many records. i don't make the rules.

that's just how it is. also their calling, oasis. the most damaging pop cultural force in recent british history. no. that's us. that is gb news. don't come for us, guardian. that's what we do . yeah. that's what we do. yeah. >> what an accolade to have. >> what an accolade to have. >> that's so true. i think it's so interesting just with the particular language that they've been using and this, this notion that there is this kind of two tier, not two tier policing, but two tier kind of double standard when it comes to pop culture and when it comes to pop culture and when it comes to pop culture and when it comes to celebrities, which i think is absolutely right. i agree. i think if you if you've sold that many records and if you've got me a 22 year old looking at you, looking at your tickets and trying to get just wasting them effectively my whole saturday, trying to get a ticket, i think it proves how valuable they are and just how brilliant they are. i mean, my god, oasis literally shook up the whole rock industry entirely and i think that this kind of killjoy and nonsense is total, total nonsense. i also think just on on that point about the language and these homophobic slurs and the use of the word queen slurs and the use of the word queer, my god, don't we all use language like that ? the majority language like that? the majority of the working class are not

politically correct. it's absurd. and god, if you listened, if you recalled things that happened down at the pub where i'm from, you , you they'd where i'm from, you, you they'd all be cancelled. >> well, i think i think people of all classes aren't as politically correct as the guardian would like. and do you think oasis hark back to a time when you know people just authentically, without feeling any shame, had pride in britain? >> absolutely, absolutely. and i think that we are sort of entering into a future in which people are less proud of britain, less proud of british culture. and i mean, again, the previous shows today spoke about the ban on outdoor smoking. i think that's such a good microcosm for this perspective that actually we don't care about british culture, we don't care about british pubs, by the way, british pubs and the pub industry and the hospitality industry and the hospitality industry itself will suffer as a result of this ban and this, this notion that we don't care, we just want to kill everybody's joy we just want to kill everybody's joy and actually tell people what they can and cannot do with their own bodies. despite the fact that they all know that smoking is bad for them. every aduu smoking is bad for them. every adult knows that. and it's the same thing, right? it's this, this perspective that you can't

possibly be happy if you believe any of these things and you can't possibly be politically correct, or you can't possibly be a good person if you use these, this kind of language, which i think is totally absurd. >> well, i think the last time i saw oasis , which was quite a saw oasis, which was quite a while ago, i think it was in 1996, i think you could actually smoke inside. i can't, i can't totally remember. >> well. >> well. >> so we so the, the indoor smoking ban, i quite liked, even though i smoked at the time because it meant you didn't have to constantly wash your clothes when you came back from the pub, you just started going to pubs. >> i think it was two thousand and seven. yeah, sort of 16, 17 and seven. yeah, sort of 16, 17 and then they got rid of it. but i don't think noel and liam ever stopped. i think they were doing whatever they want. all the time as private property as you should. >> and i think if you want to smoke in a pub, you should be allowed to. i think the government should scrap vaping in the studio all day. nobody said anything because the gb news they don't care. i also think there is an element of the fact that, you know, the indoor smoking ban had such a huge, disastrous impact on pubs and the pub industry itself. a quarter of pubs in the uk closed

down since the year 2000. the majority of that happened after 2006, when the ban was implemented. >> considering bringing in minimum prices as well. >> they are considering minimum pnces. prices. >> i mean, what pint of beer doesn't reach the minimum price? >> it's ridiculous. >> it's ridiculous. >> and it's also it also didn't work. they tried to implement it in scotland and it just didn't work. it didn't have an impact. >> it drove people into using harder drugs, which i guess oasis might approve of anyway, with the oasis revival, are some of our politicians trying to relive the glorious days of britpop? angela rayner was seen having it large in a dj booth in a club in ibiza, in front of a crowd of drugged up punters big fish, little fish, cardboard box bofis fish, little fish, cardboard box boris was also reliving the glory years of baggy trousers and white doves, posting this video speaking about his fears for freedom of speech and looking like the keyboard player from the inspiral carpets who slept in a hedge in keir starmer's britain. >> i'm worried for the first time in my life about freedom of speech.i time in my life about freedom of speech. i mean freedom of

everybody to say what they innocently think, even if it turns out not to be true and the freedom of people to use ordinary english words about subjects like illegal immigration when they know that they're telling the truth . they're telling the truth. >> he really does look like clint boon from the inspiral carpets. if clint boon got into pies instead of playing keyboards now, as boris fears over freedom of speech and keir starmer's authoritarian authoritarian ambitions, he's banned smoking outside pubs or he's thinking about banning smoking outside pubs, just as reem said, which isn't in the spirit of cigarettes and alcohol. but boris is the man who oversaw the creation of the online safety bill, which is the legislation that keir starmer is going to use to police the internet and restrict our freedoms. now back to my panel. jonathan. you were going to say some probably funny. >> yeah. although the moment's passed now, so that's fine. >> we'll just pretend. >> we'll just pretend. >> okay, what was i going to say? something about boris being probably naked from the waist

down from that video. that's all i could think of. but. yeah. so it's a bit, a bit much coming from him, as you say, somebody who drafted or put forward the online safety bill. yeah. now very concerned maybe not personally but at hampden on his watch and reem, you work for a think tank that exhorts the values of free markets and free speech. >> i mean, are you worried that the clampdown on free speech is also going to affect the economy? because if you if you can't think freely, if you can't discuss ideas freely , you can't discuss ideas freely, you can't express yourself freely, that also, you know , has an impact on also, you know, has an impact on on the on the free market. >> it does. i'm really quite terribly concerned about the threat to freedom of expression in this country under existing legislation. so any laws that are going to be implemented under a labour government are entirely separate, under existing legislation. we've already seen institutions use it against us. so, for example, thames valley police said back in 2019 that anybody that was to reproduce the oxford english dictionary definition of what a woman is, an adult human, female could be arrested . they could be could be arrested. they could be they could be liable to criminal

damages. so this notion, they're reproducing the oxford english dictionary by saying an adult human female, you could be arrested. yeah. it's mental. it's literally mental. this is the kind of thing we're seeing in the uk happening already under existing legislation. you mentioned the online safety bill. there is so much work that the iea did on this, but effectively they were looking at language like psychological harms. so if i decided that what you just said psychologically harmed me entirely subjective, if i decided that i could then take you to court and actually get you prosecuted under this bill, it is absolutely absurd. i'm really quite afraid for the future of freedom in general in this country, but definitely the future of freedom of expression. there's also the point to make. and margaret thatcher spoke about this all the time when she was prime minister, that the best way you get to the best ideasis best way you get to the best ideas is by weeding out the bad ones. and you must have a marketplace of ideas. you must allow people to say the most outrageous things so that we know what outrageous things look like. you have to allow people to say the most grotesque and horrendous things. otherwise, i hope it's not a bad sign. >> but keir just took down her

>> but keirjust took down her portrait so yes, well, if that thatis portrait so yes, well, if that that is definitely an anecdote and a microcosm for what the future of this country might look like. >> yeah, and there are no checks. it seems to be, you know, communist states. yeah. well exactly. margaret thatcher was the first female leader of the country, and keir starmer , the country, and keir starmer, to be fair, takes her portrait. >> they did replace the portrait with a picture of diane abbott as a mermaid . with a picture of diane abbott as a mermaid. i made the same joke on headliners last night. don't watch both shows. whatever you do, i'm a hack, but we're seeing we're seeing laws come in, particularly around speech, that are so vague. >> as reem says, they're so nebulous and poorly defined. you know, this idea that you know, causing psychological harm, but they can't define what that actually means. so everybody could possibly be guilty of breaking that law. and this is what this is what communist regimes have done. they create a law that everybody could be seen to have broken. so then everybody lives in fear of that law, and the state can pick and choose who. find me the man. >> i'll show you the crime. >> i'll show you the crime. >> exactly. >> exactly. as >> exactly. as comedians. >> exactly. as comedians. are you afraid of freedom of

expression being being entirely stamped out in this country? i mean, effectively, your job is more difficult. >> there's already comedians being investigated under hate speech laws. reginald d hunter was investigated. jerry sadowitz and these are, you know, these are comedians on the left. so, you know, lord knows what they're going to do to me anyway, coming up off to the gulag, the week's winners and losers in cursed versus blessed. see you in a couple of minutes

welcome back to the saturday night showdown with me leo kearse. it's now time to go through the winners and losers of the week in cursed versus blessed, the main suspect of the stabbing spree at a festival of diversity in germany recently has been reported to be a syrian refugee. he targeted people's throats, killing three people and seriously wounding eight others. the worst thing about this is that because it's a festival of diversity, victims might have thought he was the headune might have thought he was the headline act . oh, they've got headline act. oh, they've got immersive street theatre showing the downsides of diversity.

that's unexpected. what was expected , however, was that the expected, however, was that the police didn't release a description of the man, even though he was on the run, so he was still a threat to the public, despite witnesses giving a description of him to the press so the police could have circulated that description. so we all knew straight away it was an islamic extremist, because the police said it was just a man, just a generic man with no distinguishable features that might help you identify him. i also knew that within hours, the mainstream media would have worked out a way to blame the supposed far right. i even posted watch the media cycle within hours. it'll be far right. bigots exploit acceptable situation for their evil auntie getting stabbed in the neck agenda. i mean, never mind the relentless stream of people being stabbed in the neck and killed. the real problem is those horrible bigots who want to stop people being stabbed in the neck. a sky news guest said he was worried about how it could be used by people on the far right to stir up hatred, although he has since distanced himself from those comments. the financial times ran this headune financial times ran this headline why germany's stabbing attack has rekindled the eu's

far right fears. yeah, being worried about getting stabbed in the neck is now far right. apparently political, wailed german. far right seizes on knife attack ahead of crucial state elections. now, do you think that if this terrorist was motivated by the far right, the media would be tiptoeing around the issue and warning that the real problem is this being used by the far left? of course not. i mean, i thought the they're almost becoming banal, these attacks, stabbing attacks, particularly in germany, there are so many islamist stabbing attacks, but the media response is becoming so predictable and so ridiculous . so ridiculous. >> it is so predictable. you're absolutely right. and i think it's so tragic, isn't it? the fact that we can't then look at these particular situations and identify somebody on the basis that they might be coming across as being accused of being racist, this exact same thing happened with the grooming gangs in the uk. the reason why the police failed to investigate

early on is because they were afraid of being accused of being racist, and i think that there seems to be this fear of backlash. of course, we know with the southport killings in the uk that that person ended up not being an asylum seeker. but there are various different issues here, whether whoever they are and no matter where they are and no matter where they come from, i don't care. this particular person has attempted or has has indeed hurt somebody physically, and i don't care where they come from, but they need to be identified so that they could be found even further. as you said earlier on, i think that the fact that this particular person was still a threat to the public and they weren't being identified by the police, it's just absurd . and it police, it's just absurd. and it is genuinely, genuinely, quite scary where we are going at the moment. >> and i read a report that said that the i believe the government services tried to deport him and tried to find him, but they they legally weren't allowed to search his asylum accommodation. so he was still in the country. and obviously, you know, people, people have been fearing that it's going to lead to the rise of the far right. but the far

right seem to be the only people willing to do anything about the constant stream of people coming into the country, obviously, most of whom aren't going to stab anybody in the neck. but, you know, this was a syrian man who was in germany but hates germans so much he wanted to stab them. i don't understand why, you know, what's the benefit to germany of having him in germany? >> well, i mean, like i say, if the police aren't going to do anything, then what are people to do? but try and find a way to defend themselves? i mean, i'm not justifying any kind of racist attacks or anything like that, but yeah, i mean, people are going to feel scared and unprotected . but do you remember unprotected. but do you remember that norm macdonald said people are unaware they are for sure. do you remember that norm macdonald tweet? yeah, well, i can't remember, but about like the nukes or something. yeah. >> he says what he's afraid of most, you know, imagine if isis detonated a nuclear bomb and killed 50 million americans. imagine the backlash against peaceful muslims. and that was a satirical tweet. but it seems to be informing the media response in 2024. it's ridiculous. anyway, there was a glimpse into

britain's future as an authoritarian socialist state this week as brazil shut down twitter, also known as x, the brazilian supreme federal court justice alexandre de moraes ordered the immediate and complete suspension of the social media platform owned by elon musk. the row began in april with the judge ordering the suspension of dozens of x accounts for what the establishment in brazil say is spreading disinformation. however, others say the left wing brazilian establishment is censoring the brazilian right wing opposition without due process trials or even warrants under accusations of fake news. there is also a reminder of how the left force social media platforms to spread disinformation when they're in power, as mark zuckerberg says the biden administration officials pressured meta to censor content during the pandemic , and big tech has pandemic, and big tech has censored other valid news on behalf of left wing governments. as the new york post reported, the washington ruling class,

including career intelligence officials, the media and big tech , plotted well in advance to tech, plotted well in advance to suppress and discredit the fully authentic and legitimate hunter biden laptop story solely for the purpose of influencing the 2020 election. now, jonathan, i feel like this week we've had pavel durov, the founder of telegram , arrested. we've had, telegram, arrested. we've had, you know, musk threatened by the eu and now brazil banning twitter. it feels like there's a real restrictions being put on free speech on the internet. >> absolutely. and the worry is how far is this going to go? i mean, you think this kind of thing wouldn't happen over here, but then we're seeing people arrested and thrown in prison for tweets and for jokes arrested and thrown in prison for tweets and forjokes . and for tweets and for jokes. and you do worry this going to come to our shores. i mean, i hope not, because your twitter is basically what i need to get me riled up in the morning. i can't do any push ups. i'll read your twitter . twitter. >> it's mental. i'm going to say something a little bit optimistic here. now i know this is a very terrible story and this is clearly, clearly a case of an authoritarian zealot

taking too much of this power. however, one thing i will say is that technological advancements and the rise of social media and the impact that it has had on so many people across the world means that actually it is becoming increasingly difficult for governments to censor anything. so of course , we know anything. so of course, we know that x has been banned in brazil, but there are other social media platforms, and i guarantee that many, many people will be able to get onto the sort of black market of, of the, of the internet illegally. >> but he's threatening they're threatening fines of i think it's about $8,000 if anybody accesses twitter or x through a vpn. so through something that would allow you to access it. >> yeah. it's disgusting and it's authoritarian. it's disgraceful. but i do feel optimistic about the fact that social media and these kind of private initiatives have actually allowed people to resist authoritarian regimes. i mean , a really good example. mean, a really good example. arab spring? absolutely. i don't know, i'm half egyptian, half moroccan, and my egyptian side, we talk about this all the time,

about the impact of the arab spnngin about the impact of the arab spring in egypt. the revolution was actually dubbed the facebook revolution because the protests and the organisers were actually using social media platforms like facebook in to order organise the protests, which are fundamentally against an authoritarian regime. very similar things actually happened.the similar things actually happened. the arab spring started in tunisia, after the government effectively took away the light. also that this guy didn't have a license. mohamed bouazizi said he didn't have a license for his fruit stall. and so the police seized it from him. so he set himself on fire in protest of that, he set himself on fire in protest of an authoritarian regime. and that spurred it was the catalyst for protests across all of north africa. these protests much, you know, the government will try and ban them and try and restrict them. but social media allowed them to have the freedom to do so. and that's why i feel a bit more optimistic. >> and also people in the west applauded. the social media was allowing people to do that in the arab spring, and now they're trying to stop it for their own citizens moving on a scottish drag queen who co—authored a

guide for trans youth for a major lgbt charity, has been convicted of distributing child pornography. andrew easton groomed a 13 year old boy for indecent images. the sunday post revealed how the man, 39, wrote a coming out guide given to school kids as young as 13. the sunday post also reported that lgbt youth scotland, the charity he was involved with, boasted that they have trained thousands of teachers over lgbt inclusivity schools. local authorities, the care inspectorate and government run health and social care authorities made the guide available to children from the age of 13. now andrew easton isn't the first paedophile to be unked isn't the first paedophile to be linked to lgbt youth scotland. the organisation's first chief executive, james renee, was found guilty in 2009 of possessing child pornography and running scotland's largest paedophile network, using company resources. to paraphrase oscar wilde, there's one person convicted of paedophilia may be regarded as a misfortune. to

have two looks like carelessness andifs have two looks like carelessness and it's all funded by us. lgbt youth scotland received £700,000 in funding from the scottish government and other parts of the state in 2019. now i'm worried about this because unqualified lobby groups and ngos and all these activists seem to have incredible contact with the government and ability to shape legislation . and to shape legislation. and there's not much in the way of oversight making sure that they don't don't contain wrongdoings, such as andrew easton . such as andrew easton. >> absolutely. no, you're absolutely right. and there seems to be a huge amount of oversight in these organisations, and a lot of them are funded by the taxpayer. there was a really good website. i don't know if it still exists. it was called fake charities, where they would effectively list all of these charities that were actually funded by the government, and action on smoking and health. the organisation that has proposed a lot of these sort of interventionist schemes in in tobacco harm reduction, like banning alcohol, about banning smoking outside of pubs , they smoking outside of pubs, they

are funded by the taxpayer. so they are one group that recommends these things. now i don't think they should be shut down. i think that again, in a marketplace of ideas, you should allow these organisations to say what they want to say. they let the government cheat because i mean, in ireland and scotland, obviously in the westminster as well. >> the government funds ngos and funds charities who then lobby the government charities. they basically buy ideas. the charities lobby the government with, you know, with, with ideas and say, you know, this is what we want. they're paid by the government to do that. the government to do that. the government and then the government and then the government can say, this is what people want, and it's not what people want, and it's not what people want, and it's not what people want, it's what you've paid them to do. >> that is genius. i mean, it's despicable, but they've really hacked the system, haven't they? okay, well, no more diddlers in children's charities . that's my rule. >> know about that? for a for a law, you can run for election on that. jonathan. next on the saturday night showdown, we've got culture coroner this week. we've got american athlete elena maier. the latest from the taylor swift terror plot and a new computer game that is making waves for all the wrong reasons. see you in couple of

welcome back to the saturday night showdown. it's time now for culture corner. elena maier, the american rugby star. i mean, she's american and she plays rugby. they haven't invented a new sport called american rugby, like american football, which, funnily enough, is a bit like rugby. well, she has become a sports illustrated swimsuit model and she looks great. she's an athlete at the peak of her game. that's not her in the swimsuit. that would be a very strange suit to go swimming in. i don't think we've got the copyright to show the actual picture, but she's just helped america score a bronze medal in the olympics. but the article in the olympics. but the article in the in the guardian, i think it is, describes her body positivity and says that she's a feminist trailblazer. and this is i mean, everybody knows that if you're described as feminist or body positive in the guardian, it means you're either shaped like lizzo or have a

penis. now, reem, this this woman alone is she genuinely looked amazing. she's, you know, she's at the peak of her athletic prowess. you know, she's obviously she's a she's a strong woman. she's a rugby player. but she looked brilliant. why are they calling her stunning and brave, which we all know means fat. >> it's we all. we all do know that stunning and brave means you need to lose a bit of weight. i think it's so. it's so funny because i think there seems to be this kind of political correctness when it comes to talking about women's bodies very specifically. now, don't get me wrong, i do understand that body dysmorphia and, you know, teenagers, you know, i was a female teenager. and you know, that kind of perspective on the way in which women growing up or everybody growing up feels very insecure about their bodies. but there is this there is this ironic irony around this. i mean, women in the media that have been, you know, their their bodies have been talked about. she very clearly knew that people were going to be commenting on her body because she modelled in a swimsuit and this, this, this entire notion, if you call her stunning and brave , the

stunning and brave, the connotations of that just are you look a bit fat , which is you look a bit fat, which is obviously not true. yeah, you're brave to take your body out there. yeah. jonathan, people people say, i mean, reem'sjust people say, i mean, reem's just mentioned there's so much focus on women's bodies, but. >> oh yeah, if you want if you want to look at the ideals that make male children have to deal with. i remember having he—man dolls and it's like, how am i supposed to achieve that without steroids? >> well, i mean , look, no one >> well, i mean, look, no one cares about men. we've just got to deal with it. that's it. just don't complain. do whatever you want to do and just get away with it and don't complain. >> yeah, men's mental health just like, doesn't exist. it's not a thing. >> and somebody who slept with a few stunning and brave people in my town, i've got to say, i didn't feel that positive afterwards. well, one test came back, but that's something else . back, but that's something else. >> well, the cia say they foiled a huge plot to attack a taylor swift concert in vienna. three male teenage suspects were arrested in connection with the foiled attacks, allegedly inspired by the islamic state group. the cia say these men wanted to kill a huge number of

people at or outside the concerts, and 200,000 people had been expected to attend these three vienna concerts. the shows were scrapped the day before the first show was due to start . due first show was due to start. due to the terror plot, the ariana grande concert bombing in manchester in 2017, which killed 22 people and injured over a thousand, shows how devastating such islamist plots can be. the taylor swift plot is a reminder that the threat is still with us, and could be getting worse with the war in gaza and with 40,000 islamists on terror watch lists in the uk, let's hope that our security services are right every single time , because the every single time, because the terrorists only need to be right once. terrorists only need to be right once . i mean, reem, it seems to once. i mean, reem, it seems to be a bit self—defeating to allow an ideology into the country and have 40,000 islamists on terror watch lists and just have to somehow deal with that and juggle somehow deal with that and juggle it instead of, you somehow deal with that and juggle it instead of , you know, juggle it instead of, you know, doing something. >> you're absolutely right. i mean, it's so sad. i think there is a particular culture that is so pervasive and obviously incredibly damaging, and then you end up with these kind of very it's a very, very small

minority of people that are these, these terrible radicals that do actually want to hurt people. and it's so tragic . i people. and it's so tragic. i remember hearing the story of the eight year old girl, a girl that lost her life at the ariana grande concert, and it just absolutely broke my heart. it is so sad. these are real, you know, real people that are losing their lives as a result. and again, i mean, thank thank goodness that when it came to the taylor swift concert in vienna, the security services got it right. but they don't always get it right. and this is the problem. >> it's possible to get it right every single time. >> and this goes back to the earlier conversation we were having, right? i mean, i hate identity politics. i'm not i never mentioned this, but i did grow up in a muslim family. my family are muslim. and this kind of perspective that actually those particular people themselves, you know, law abiding muslims, you know, of grandparents, their grandparents came to this country and they call themselves british. they are british. those are the people that end up suffering as a result of our complete misguided ignorance when it comes to these particular people. they are those people , people. they are those people, my family, some of the most like anti—extremist people ever , anti—extremist people ever, because they get you end up getting roped in with everybody

else. >> yeah, regularly you see muslim countries, i mean, jordan , muslim countries, i mean, jordan, places like that, they know exactly how to deal with islamists and they deal with them pretty harshly. and also there are people upset at the taylor swift concert for other reasons. let's have a look at this . you know this. you know. that's a taylor swift fan who's not hearing a song that apparently moved her very deeply. have you ever cried like that to a song? >> only one i've written that i just want to. oh my god, no, i don't know. what do i think ? don't know. what do i think? look, they're not well, but at least they're they're not well at least they're like. at least they're spending money. >> honestly. >> honestly. >> at least they're spending money. now, our computer games being used by the woke establishment to push radical woke ideology onto us. the new a new video game called dustborn features a diverse gay and ethnic group of misfits who flee the police across the divided states of america, which,

according to one of the developers, is a parody of trump's america. in the game, you can use your special powers to and i'm not joking. trigger trigger or cancel people by calling them racist. i'm not joking. have a look at this . joking. have a look at this. >> well, you're with, the black kid dresses like a writer. does he know anything ? he know anything? >> you are racist. >> you are racist. >> oh, my god, i mean, that doesn't look like much fun. and it comes up with, >> finish them. >> finish them. >> yeah, yeah. what do you call them, you call them homophobic as well. and they're dustborn. doesn't seem to be going down well with the gaming community. it's tanked, launching with a peak concurrent player count of only 83 players playing around the world at once. to put this in context, a game released the day before called wukong, reached over 2 million concurrent players. that's 83 for dustborn and 2 million for a chinese chinese game about a monkey king or something. the

game has a current approval rating of just 4% and has been criticised by players for being anti—white. anti—male overtly political, and about as much fun as being slowly fed into a mincer. dustborn has also been criticised for allegedly using assets from other games, and worst of all, it was funded by the taxpayer. the norwegian film institute funded the game for 14 million kroner. that's roughly £1 million. and that's in addition to ,150,000 from the creative eu grant program. now, do you think that this is good use of taxpayers money? jonathan? >> i think they should have spent more money on. no, it's obviously it's obviously terrible as a as somebody who likes to create art, i do screenwriting, comedy, all kinds of things. music. i generally don't think the government should fund it because then you are essentially incentivised to just parrot whatever the whatever the government is doing. >> we've seen this in comedy and obviously it's a free market person. you should. i take it you're opposed to completely against it and you're absolutely right. >> it incentivises really,

really bad art . and effectively really bad art. and effectively i was when i first heard what you were saying about this game, i thought, oh, well, you know, it's another example of, of bad politics and a bad business. no, it was actually funded by taxpayers. and this is the problem, right? this is the problem, right? this is the problem because effectively the government intervening in these particular issues means that those particular businesses aren't allowed to fail. they're too big to fail. they're paid by the taxpayer, and so they're not allowed to fail. this is the problem. the reason why the market works so well is because if a business idea is really bad, it fails. people don't give them any money. would the government, you're forced to give them your money, which is why i believe taxation is theft. but that's an entirely different conversation. >> well, i think it is theft. if it's going to pay for ridiculous computer games that nobody wants to play anyway , next, on the to play anyway, next, on the saturday night showdown, it's time for world, where we'll dive into some of the

welcome back to the saturday night showdown with me, leo

carson. it's time now for clown that car at burning man when i was there . was (with out, that car at burning man when i was there . was (with me, night showdown with me, leo carson. it's time now for clown world and first up, this is a world and first up, this is a video of a russian army truck video of a russian army truck which has taken on a mad max which has taken on a mad max look . look . look. >> plus . its metal plus look. >> plus . its metal plus >> plus. its metal plus. the >> plus. its metal plus. the anas sarwar robert hur. anas sarwar robert hur. >> so there's a russian army >> so there's a russian army truck. but it's been. it's been truck. but it's been. it's been stapled all over with what looks stapled all over with what looks like stretched out car tires to like stretched out car tires to protect it from drones. protect it from drones. ukrainian drones have been ukrainian drones have been tearing russian vehicles apart. tearing russian vehicles apart. we've seen cages , nets and we've seen cages , nets and we've seen cages, nets and chains. this one, as well as the we've seen cages, nets and chains. this one, as well as the car tires, had chicken wire over car tires, had chicken wire over the windscreen. i mean, reem, do the windscreen. i mean, reem, do you think this is this is going you think this is this is going to do anything? do you think the to do anything? do you think the drones are going to bounce off drones are going to bounce off these car tires? these car tires? >> full disclosure i know >> full disclosure i know absolutely nothing about absolutely nothing about artillery or indeed about how wars are actually won. but my artillery or indeed about how wars are actually won. but i suspicion is no. >> yeah, i'm pretty sure i saw that car at burning man when i was there . was given out,

and the amount of money that i made versus the amount of money that the thin people made was not the same. sometimes people don't even feel comfortable, like putting the money in my underwear. >> oh my god, obviously. look at you. i mean, look at you. i'm not being horrible, but obviously you've been a little bit horrible . bit horrible. >> yeah, she she gave up pole dancing and she's now doing pillar dancing. >> i just want to know who installed the pole. that is i mean, that's that's some good structural engineering right there. >> you need some good structural integrity to hold that. >> do you think do you think thatis >> do you think do you think that is fatphobia. that's. >> i think fatphobia is good. i think that we should be more fat phobic. actually, there are two. i'm sorry, but there are too many fat people that think it's perfectly okay to live the way that they do. and look, i'm a look, i'm that they do. and look, i'm a libertarian. i think that if you libertarian. i think that if you want to live your life and you want to live your life and you want to live your life and you want to live your life and you want to look morbidly obese and look like that, then you should want to live your life and you want to live your life and you want to look morbidly obese and look like that, then you should be perfectly free to do so. but be perfectly free to do so. but i'm also free to be fat phobic. i'm also free to be fat phobic. i'm also free to be fat phobic. i think we need more of it. i'm also free to be fat phobic. i think we need more of it. >> my rule is you'd be like keir >> my rule is you'd be like keir starmer, but instead of banning starmer, but instead of banning smoking, you'd be encouraging smoking, you'd be encouraging smoking, you'd be encouraging smoking because that can help smoking, you'd be encouraging smoking because that can help

you lose weight and you'd be you lose weight and you'd be banning eating crisps. banning eating crisps. >> absolutely, absolutely. no >> absolutely, absolutely. no no, i wouldn't ban no, i no, i wouldn't ban no, i wouldn't ban crisps. no. again i wouldn't ban crisps. no. again i think people need to exercise think people need to exercise some self—restraint but don't know the thing that really some self—restraint but don't know the thing that really annoys me about that is she's annoys me about that is she's effectively saying that she expects people to want to give effectively saying that she expects people to want to give her money for the way that she her money for the way that she looks. i think that that kind of looks. i think that that kind of arrogance really, really annoys arrogance really, really annoys me. >> my rule is never get a lap me. >> my rule is never get a lap dance from somebody who needs dance from somebody who needs help back up. help back up. >> yeah, well, talking of ocean >> yeah, well, talking of ocean going mammals, we've finally got going mammals, we've finally got a rather overfriendly dolphin. a rather overfriendly dolphin. take a look at this . i'm not take a look at this . i'm not take a look at this. i'm not actually sure that that was take a look at this. i'm not actually sure that that was suitable for a pre—watershed suitable for a pre—watershed audience. that was a dolphin. i audience. that was a dolphin. i think it was just swimming, i think it was just swimming, i think. i think it was just think. i think it was just swimming. are you hard? but swimming. are you hard? but we've . one of the weirdest we've . one of the weirdest we've. one of the weirdest heckles i ever had was somebody we've. one of the weirdest heckles i ever had was somebody shouted dolphins or rapists at shouted dolphins or rapists at one of my shows because i was one of my shows because i was talking about dolphins. yeah, talking about dolphins. yeah, and i've got to be honest, he and i've got to be honest, he was right. it didn't go down too was right. it didn't go down too well. well, clearly. well. well, clearly. >> audience, clearly the >> audience, clearly the evidence is there. clearly it's evidence is there. clearly it's true. clearly that audience true. clearly that audience member knew more than we do. member knew more than we do.

>> yeah. well, and there have >> yeah. well, and there have been well catalogued, incidences of people having sexual congress with, with dolphins . not that with, with dolphins. not that i want to give you any ideas willingly or sort of. i'm not sure. can can a dolphin consent? i mean , it's a sort of animal, i mean, it's a sort of animal, say, sleeping with the fishes. >> that's a joke. >> that's a joke. >> well, there are certainly plenty of fish in the sea. >> very good, dolphin sex? no, that was that wasn't anything. >> yeah. >> yeah. >> okay. that's my time . >> okay. that's my time. >> okay. that's my time. >> all right, are we going to ben? leo? oh no. we're not. so. i mean, what's the weirdest heckle you've ever had ? jonathan, >> that was an old lady. i was doing quite well. i was doing, like, a ten minute set in surbiton. an old lady just goes, i go, i've got two minutes left. what should i do? and this really, really decrepit old lady goes, be funny . yeah. be goes, be funny. yeah. be youngen goes, be funny. yeah. be younger, you lizard . anyway. younger, you lizard. anyway. >> be younger. that's so mean . >> be younger. that's so mean. yeah, well, maybe you just weren't funny. >> yeah , yeah. that's true. it stung. >> you're funny looking, though.

what >> i had a i was performing an old folks home, and it was obviously a terrible missed booking , but they hated me so booking, but they hated me so much that people were getting up to leave. and i heard a clatter and somebody dropped their crutches. they hated me so much that somebody who couldn't even walk stop it had dropped. >> that is so funny, i dropped there. oh, that's really terrible. oh, god be a comedian is difficult, isn't it? you've really got to tonight. >> it is. >> it is. >> it's tough. yeah. see, i'm not funny, but i don't pretend to be. so i'm just sort of leave that to you guys. >> well, i don't know anything about economics. up next tonight, it's ben leo. >> tonight. what have you got for us? this evening, ben? >> hello, leo. cracking show, look, i've got an update on the small boats arrivals. hundreds more yesterday. i'll give you the exact number in just a tick. but the big question tomorrow in the telegraph, at least from our very own camilla tominey, is. where the hell are the tories? they're meant to be the majesty's. his majesty's official opposition. rishi sunak's eating frozen yoghurt in california by the pacific ocean. also, some detail about lee anderson, one of his online trolls who's been sending him

our south easterly flow allowing our south easterly flow to develop, and this warm front starting to introduce some cloud from the south. and that's certainly the case as we head for the evening into the overnight period, more in the way of cloud pushing northwards across england and wales. some showers starting to break out. so locally heavy, particularly towards the far south and southeast towards the end of the night, with the odd thunderstorms possible. so the clear skies lurking towards the northwest across parts of scotland and northern ireland, and here turning quite chilly in some rural spots into mid to upper single figures holding up, though in the south quite a humid night across some southern areas with lows in the high teens celsius. as for sunday, we'll start the day across the north and northwest of the uk on a fine note. any early mist and low cloud lifting to give some sunshine at times, but the sunniest weather towards the far north—west of scotland, heading further south into england and wales, more in the way of cloud around. and at this stage in the morning we'll start to see a few showers breaking out, but particularly across the central and southern part of england. here again, 1 or 2 heavy, even thundery showers are possible as we head through the day, those showers start to become more extensive across some central

and southern parts of england, eventually working their way north into parts of northern england into the afternoon too. so it's a north—west of the uk and across some western spots, seeing the best of the lingering brightness with 1 or 2 lighter showers here. but those showers across england and wales, there, eastern parts of wales, there luckily on the heavy side and could give some flooding in places as well. temperatures peaking in the south—east at a very warm and quite humid 27 celsius. as for monday, more low pressure will be in charge so it stays very unsettled, but we could see some further thundery showers across the east and northeast of the uk , with rain northeast of the uk, with rain also working its way in from the west, eventually turning fresher out across parts of northern ireland. temperatures here no better than 18 celsius in the afternoon. an unsettled start into the coming working week, but things perhaps turning a bit dner but things perhaps turning a bit drier towards the middle part of the week, with temperatures returning to the seasonal average. >> a brighter outlook with boxt solar sponsors of weather on

gb news. away.

>> it's 9:00 pm. away. >> it's 9:00pm. i'm away. >> it's 9:00 pm. i'm ben leo. >> it's 9:00pm. i'm ben leo. >> tonight i'm not going to take lectures from rishi sunak about our borders. record numbers of people are coming here in small boats. he's lost control of our borders. >> 400 more illegal migrants arrived in britain yesterday . arrived in britain yesterday. that's 1200 alone since wednesday. when is sir keir starmer going to finally deliver results? >> we have 48 hours to save britain from the danger of a labour government . labour government. >> he warned us about labour. now he's done a runner. so where the hell are the tories? his majesty's official opposition and not really going to take lectures on this from the people who dragged our country so far down in the last few years . it's down in the last few years. it's not taking lectures. this man, is he? the pm's done what he spent years complaining about. now the civil service regulator is launching a probe into labour's very own cronyism scandal. also, eight stabbings, 230 arrests and now, tragically,

two people dead after