speech. legal but harmful speech. >> and the mercury rises today could be the hottest day of the yeah could be the hottest day of the year. we're looking at live pictures here from london's beautiful primrose hill, where temperatures could reach 33 degrees. are you feeling the heat? where you are? what a scorcher . scorcher. >> now we want to talk to you today about free speech, the state of free speech in this country, and whether you are worried about it, whether you're worried about it, whether you're worried about it, whether you're worried about potential crackdowns. because there's been a lot made of this, hasn't there? we've seen elon musk, the billionaire owner of twitter, very much. well, almost goading keir starmer on the issue of free speech. he's saying, you know, that in in britain now, you could be banged up for a meme and there are people who

say all they've done is copied and pasted what's been termed as disinformation on twitter. >> there have been people who've posted some pretty nasty things on twitter, but things that would be legal to say in the united states. but get a knock on your door from the police in the united kingdom. we're having a pretty rude awakening that our level of free speech is very, very different in the united kingdom to that in the united states. and it could be getting worse. woi'se. >> worse. >> yeah, it could be getting worse. how worried are you about this? we're also seeing that the government want there to be disinformation lessons for children, as young as five years old. how do you feel about that? because one person could think something's disinformation, and one person might think it's the truth. do you trust teachers to be able to differentiate? and what could that mean for freedom of speech or a culture of constantly being worried about what might one might say or post? it's all a little bit dystopian, perhaps, if you think about it for longer than a minute. >> it's like what's been

happening in wales in the senate, where they're sort of being able to say what is truthful and not truthful. who decides ? politicians decide and decides? politicians decide and when you have that sort of set up, you kind of start to get regulated speech, policed speech. is that really the kind of country we want to be? >> and censorship of things that the government don't want you to see, rather than that are legitimately dangerous or illegal even. but yes, send us your views. what do you make of it? are you worried about the state of free speech in this country? gbnews.com/yoursay is the way to get in touch. but shall we get the headlines with cameron ? cameron? >> thanks, emily. good afternoon. it is 12:03. i'm cameron walker here in the gb newsroom. now, more than 18,000 small boats. migrants have crossed the english channel. so far this year. that's after 703 migrants crossed on sunday. the highest number on a single day since the keir starmer became

prime minister yesterday. two migrants died attempting to reach the uk in a small boat. the uk could see its hottest day of the year today, with temperatures reaching up to 35 c. central england is expected to feel the most intense conditions now. we did . intense conditions now. we did. you may have seen earlier. there's some live shots of primrose hill in north london where they'll be on gb. news, social media channels if you want to take a look. but at blackpool zoo some pregnant elephants nooran and aysha have been calling themselves off in their own swimming pool. that looks lovely for them. but further north, the met office has issued a yellow weather warning for thunderstorms , flash warning for thunderstorms, flash flooding and travel disruptions alongside northern ireland and scotland. meteorologist jim dale says the high temperatures are consistent with the summer season. >> we've seen 30 degrees now about 6 or 7 times somewhere in the uk on separate days, so it's not like we haven't had a summer, we certainly have. and

if it's if we're talking about 3334 air, well, in places like paris, madrid and rome, we're talking about 37, 38 a lot hotter there. and that's going to test some people . to test some people. >> a boy has died after being pulled from a canal in wolverhampton. west midlands ambulance service was called to a canal off hendon avenue in ettingshall, just after 6 pm. last night. police officers pulled the boy from the water before paramedics and a trauma doctor arrived , but despite doctor arrived, but despite their best efforts, he could not be saved and was confirmed dead at the scene . three men have at the scene. three men have been charged with allegedly intending to stir up racial hatred online during the recent riots. james aspin, from blyth, nonh riots. james aspin, from blyth, north northumberland, was charged in relation to an alleged video published on tiktok on or before the 8th of august 2024. garrett boyce and jamie michael, from south wales, have both been charged in relation to an alleged publication of threatening facebook material. all three

will appeal in court, appear in court today. train delays caused by signal failures have cost passengers almost 1,000,000 minutes since the 20 1819 financial year. that's according to network rail figures provided to network rail figures provided to the liberal democrats . after to the liberal democrats. after a freedom of information request, the party is calling for a freeze on rail fares in response to poor services. labour has promised to bring all passenger railway services back into public ownership and customers receiving poor services from water companies could get more than double the usual compensation under a new government's proposal. the list of circumstances that can trigger compensation could also be expanded under the plans, including automatic payments for those issued boil notices . those issued boil notices. environment secretary steve reed said the government hopes to turn the tide on the destruction of our waterways . the prime of our waterways. the prime minister has joined french and german leaders in a call for de—escalation and regional stability in the middle east, in

a joint statement with france's emmanuel macron and germany's olaf scholz, sir keir starmer has urged iran and its allies not to jeopardise the opportunity to agree a ceasefire and the release of hostages in gaza. the pm spoke with leaders in the middle east last week dunng in the middle east last week during a call with the president of egypt , abdel fattah el—sisi, of egypt, abdel fattah el—sisi, and in downing street with sultan haitham bin tariq al—said of oman . england's cricketer of oman. england's cricketer graham thorpe took his own life after battling years of anxiety and depression, according to his family, in a statement, his wife amanda says she and graham's two daughters are devastated. he took his own life earlier this month following an earlier suicide attempt in 2022. thorpe, who died aged 55, has been hailed as one of england's best cricket players with a distinguished international career, hitting 16 test hundreds for england . team gb athletes for england. team gb athletes are set to return home after a successful paris olympics. great

britain ended the games with 65 medals, the same number won at london 2012, and second best ever tally on a on foreign soil. last night the king and queen sent their warmest congratulations and his majesty hailed team gb athletes as an inspiration. the prince and princess of wales also congratulated team gb in a special video featuring snoop dogg and david beckham. >> greetings loved ones from all of us watching at home. congratulations to team gb! >> well done on all you've achieved. you've been an inspiration to us all. >> yeah, prince william sporting a new beard there as well. well those are your latest gb news headunes those are your latest gb news headlines for now i'm cameron walker. more in half an hour for the very latest gb news direct to your smartphone. >> sign up to news alerts by scanning the qr code , or go to scanning the qr code, or go to gbnews.com forward slash alerts .

gbnews.com forward slash alerts. >> more than 18,000 small boat migrants have crossed the engush migrants have crossed the english channel so far this yean english channel so far this year, with official figures from the home office showing 11 boats made it to the uk waters yesterday. they carried 703 migrants. >> well, joining us now is our home and security editor, mark white. talk us through these rather alarming figures, mark 703 in 1 day. is that a record, >> it's close to a record, yes, it's certainly the biggest single day of arrivals since labour came to power, more than 800 came earlier in the year under the conservative government. but it's up there. and of course, as the weather is warm in the channel, it's more actually to do with the winds as the winds die down, it allows the winds die down, it allows the small boats to push off and come over. we have had almost a week of bad weather, which meant that no small boats came across. >> and mark, i think one of the things that people are very concerned about when it comes to

this issue is that we haven't had the sort of focus on this issue for the last week, really, the whole focus has been on what's happening domestically, and it has been a very serious situation with regard to the home and the security elements of all the rioting that we've seen. but it has meant that i think many people have taken their eye off what has continued to go on across the channel, because it wasn't just yesterday, with 703 individuals coming across on boats, we have seen day after day, after day of this sort of thing. >> yes. i mean, to be fair, obviously over the last week there was a bit of windy weather in the channel, so we wouldn't have been reporting on much anyway. but given all of the riots and the aftermath, the fallout from that, it's understandable that the focus has not been on the channel. but the two are not unrelated. a lot of the tensions that we're seeing in communities up and down the country , although the

down the country, although the government is doing its very best not to talk about this, but a lot of the tensions in these communities have been sparked by the on going issue of mass migration , but in particular the migration, but in particular the issue around small boats where the hotels have been requisitioned up and down the country, more than 450 hotels has barely a community in the country that hasn't seen a hotel in its area being handed over for use by asylum seekers. and of course, not just the fact that the hotel is being taken out of commission , but hundreds out of commission, but hundreds of mainly young men out of those hotels hanging around the streets and causing a great deal of concern in those communities. and do we have any idea yet where these latest arrivals have come from? >> what countries ? >> what countries? >> what countries? >> well, interestingly, the breakdown shows that we we're much along the same lines as we always traditionally have been

in terms of migrant arrivals. so they come from countries like iran and afghanistan and iraq and syria, there has been of late a significant number of vietnamese now for the government that is probably good news in terms of the makeup of those on small boats, because they're much easier to be able to get returned to vietnam . but to get returned to vietnam. but the other countries i've just listed, you can't return them to those countries. clearly, no court in the land would allow that because of the dangerous nature of those countries. >> now, yvette cooper in the run up to the election, the now home secretary, when we put that point to her, she said, we'll just work harder. point to her, she said, we'll just work harder . we'll be able just work harder. we'll be able to send people back because we'll work harder on it. >> talk to assad, talk to the taliban, talk to the taliban, and we'll sort it out. >> we'll sort it out. is there any, i don't know, real suggestion that that might be the case? >> well, you know, to be honest,

i was completely disingenuous to say that you can work harder and solve this issue because you can't because we don't have returns agreements with those countries and for a very good reason. you know, they are dangerous places with dysfunctional or unfriendly governments that you wouldn't be able to send these people to anyway. so what will happen further down the road when they expedite the process of deciding who gets asylum and who doesn't? those who don't get asylum, if they come from those countries, will get leave to remain anyway. it will happen because we have no agreement with a third country as the previous government had with rwanda . that government had with rwanda. that wasn't just going to be the deterrent to small boat crossings, but was going to give them the ability to send people who are immigration offenders. foreign national offenders and the like, people who've overstayed their visas but can't be returned to unsafe countries. the option would to be send them

to a safe third country like rwanda. mark just quickly, what then happens to someone who's come across in a small boat? >> it's been determined that they're not a legitimate refugee, but they're given leave to remain. i mean, is that any different from being given refugee status ? refugee status? >> it's exactly the same. you know, if you're given leave to remain, you'll be able to enter the system in the country, it'll be, you know , temporary leave to be, you know, temporary leave to remain, then indefinite leave to remain, then indefinite leave to remain . and you'll be able to remain. and you'll be able to get a job and accommodation. you'll have to be looked after initially by the state, and then at some point, you'll get a job and contribute. >> it's interesting you say that because robert jenrick, who of course, is running for the tory leadership, he's just tweeted about 12 minutes ago, he says, studies show each of the 703 people that have come to the uk illegally yesterday will cost the taxpayer roughly £400,000 over their lifetime. so the cost of not having a border for one day was £280,000,281 million. i don't know exactly how he comes

to those figures, but it is true that this is going to be very costly. >> yeah, i mean, unless these people get into a position where they're earning and earning significant numbers, significant , significant numbers, significant, significant numbers, significant, significant amounts of money, then the cost of actually initially, keeping them in the asylum system is going to be significant. i think what labour would say in response to what robert jenrick is saying is that we'll get them processed so much quicker than you would. of course, it's costing hundreds of thousands of pounds if you keep them in the asylum system for not weeks or months, but years at a time. if labour, as they say, will get them through the asylum system in just weeks to months , then the sort of burden months, then the sort of burden on the taxpayer they believe will be less . will be less. >> well, thank you very much indeed for talking us through those , statistics. yeah. those, statistics. yeah. >> it's really concerning picture out there. >> mark white our home and security editor . security editor. >> well, should we move on to a different concerning picture ?

different concerning picture? quite frankly, because schools across the uk are cracking down on what they call fake news and anti—extremism content. >> yes. this is because the education secretary, bridget phillipson, she's saying that teachers should use subjects such as english, ict and maths to arm pupils against in quotes. putrid conspiracy theories. >> well, the curriculum revamp follows last week's riots and the shocking scenes up and down this country. but is this the right way to tackle that? >> well, should we pose that question to the editor of spiked online, tom slater? i have, this isn't tom slater, is it, online, tom slater? i have, this isn't tom slater, is it , no, isn't tom slater, is it, no, it's not tom. no, i'm terribly sorry. please introduce yourself . sorry. please introduce yourself. >> that's peter kirkham. >> that's peter kirkham. >> yeah, we've got peter kirkham there. i'm not quite sure why, but you know what? we can talk. we can talk through this issue. >> so this sent alarm bells ringing for me because the government now wants essentially teachers to, teach small

children what is misinformation? what is a conspiracy theory? now, as we know, there are many controversial issues in this country. current affairs is very complicated. our teachers really are going to be able to tell students exactly what is disinformation, what is misinformation. all this actually just, i don't know, be another attack of free speech. in a way. i suppose. >> on the one hand, you could have an almost approved list of bogus conspiracy theories. that man didn't land on the moon. the titanic never sunk. i mean, if it's that level, i can see that that sort of that sort of. okay, okay, you can spot the sort of cranky, actually , i'm sure that cranky, actually, i'm sure that some people are going to, you know, tell me off for that. but, but i think but i think it is i wonder how much sort of movement there would be around that . how there would be around that. how how limited would the tramlines of that conversation be and how very easily could this spill

into politics? and i worry when you have teachers, particularly at primary school level, sort of how do you keep your own personal views separate from what you're teaching to very young and impressionable children? >> i think it's very difficult indeed.i >> i think it's very difficult indeed. i think inevitably it will come politicised for example, what if there's misinformation about net zero or relating to climate change? will teachers tell children that they shouldn't see that type of content, and that that is that counts as extremist content or perhaps with the relation to immigration, will they be told that that's extremist content if it's not pro—immigration ? it's not pro—immigration? >> so interesting, particularly with the climate change argument . with the climate change argument. i mean, i think just about everyone accepts that more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has a heating effect on the planet . very few people disagree planet. very few people disagree with that. but the people that sort of argue most about this say, if you if you disagree with a policy response to that fact,

that that policy preference could be disinformation in and of itself and in a democratic society, a policy response. how is that information or disinformation? oh my goodness me. >> well, we're now going to speak to peter kirkham. we are indeed, because yvette cooper has pledged to restore the public's faith in law and order after two weeks of unrest. she says the riots show the uk has completely lost respect for the police, and that the recent disorder shows people believe crime now has no consequence. >> well, joining us is, of course, the former detective chief inspector for the met police, peter kirkham , peter, police, peter kirkham, peter, i'm happy we've got a small glimpse of you a little bit earlier, but nice to have you. now properly. is the home secretary right , secretary right, >> yes, very much so, it's something that's been building for a long time, and i don't think it's, wholly to do with the police. i think there's a question of people having respect for authority, within the country at the moment and

the country at the moment and the way they, deal with all authority figures, be they parking wardens or teachers or librarians or bus conductors or whatever it might be that has been on a steady downward slope, basically, for as long as i can remember from the 80s onwards, but what she's sort of drawing attention to, particularly in relation to the police, is the badmouthing of police by some, politicians. and that does undoubtedly, provide an environment in which people feel able to attack the police, to ignore the police . ignore the police. >> hang on, peter, hang on. peter, if people are seeing with their own eyes that the police don't turn up when anti—social behaviour is reported , they behaviour is reported, they don't turn up to the burglary of their neighbour down the road. they don't get involved and try and recover a burgled car for

example. and then you add to this the perception of two tier policing, wrongly or rightly, when it comes to protests dependent on the cause or dependent on the cause or dependent on the cause or dependent on those taking part, then surely that's to blame rather than some politician saying something anti—police? >> well , yes, saying something anti—police? >> well, yes, obviously saying something anti—police? >> well , yes, obviously the >> well, yes, obviously the pubuc >> well, yes, obviously the public see things with their own eyes and they have their own experiences. but the reason the police aren't turning up to reported crimes isn't because the police don't want to turn up. it's because since 2010, there have been consistent cuts to the numbers of officers , to the numbers of officers, despite the fact the population has increased over that time and various crimes have increased over that time. and the complexity of dealing with them has increased with ever more calls for accountability . which calls for accountability. which means writing, either with a pen or with a keyboard. >> yes, but we've also found that those things have happened. we've also found out. sorry to interrupt you, but we've also found out that we've got, you

know, numbers of specialist police officers whose only job now is to scour the internet for tweets. >> not very many, not very many. a handful , >> not very many, not very many. a handful, and the >> not very many, not very many. a handful , and the internet >> not very many, not very many. a handful, and the internet is a place where serious crimes happen, death threats, rape threats, and such, like, it's not just the lower level things that we always hear. the stories about, about someone being a bit rude on facebook or something. yes, there are plenty of those out there, but there's very little police time wasted looking for those proactively. and if they're reported by somebody, then they're treated in the same way as if they happen face to face in a public place, because effectively, the internet is a public place, the same way treated the same way. yeah ideally. but again, it's getting the time to do those things at the bottom end of the scale. if you haven't got enough officers to do everything, you start at the top of the murders

and such like, and work your way down. and when you run out of officers, what hasn't made the cut doesn't get done or doesn't get done as well as it should be. and so they tend to drop off the bottom an awful lot. >> of course, the metropolitan police specifically has come under a huge amount of criticism from just about all angles. the way they approach various different issues from the low level to the public order events and, and everything in between. but it does seem to be that there is a level of incompetence in the met that you don't see necessarily in some other police forces. i notice particularly the difference and sorry to be to metropolitan london about this, the difference between the city of london police and the metropolitan police. the city of london police seem to be very adept at chasing down, thieves who ride around on motorcycles and snatch mobile phones out of people's hands. and the metropolitan police seem useless about it. >> you need to look at the demands that different forces have on their time, and you need

to look at the numbers of officers. most rural forces have got a real problem compared to the met in terms of the area they cover, but workloads tend to be lower, than in the met and the city of london is a classic example. it polices a square mile, with relatively few residents, relatively little anything other than the city banks and financial institutions, which obviously close, early evening. they go for a few glasses of wine in the wine bar, and suddenly the place is a bit of a ghost town. and so you you need to look at the calls on their time compared to the number of officers they have, and the met is a really, really complex beast. it's got a lot of officers, but it's also got a shedload of demand on its time. >> all right. well, thank you very much, peter kirkham. thank you for your time, former detective chief inspector for the metropolitan police. thank you. >> i think really sensible

points there, actually. and i wonder if there was a bit more resourcing . would would these resourcing. would would these conversations be a bit different? >> hang on. you know, a lot of women, for example, don't feel safe on the streets of london. surely surely real life crime has to be taken more seriously than online. >> yes, surely. unless unless the online crime is someone saying i've. i've seen this person on the street and i'm going to if it's predictive of something that might happen. >> we've seen the police go round someone's house for an offensive tweet. i mean, come on, when there are people being stabbed on the streets. anyway, that's my view. let us know what you make of it. gbnews.com/yoursay. but coming up, the education secretary calls on schools to arm pupils against putrid conspiracy theories. that's following the nationwide rise last week. we'll have more on that

>> good afternoon britain. it's

12:28 us and schools across the uk are cracking down. >> or they're being told to crack down on so—called fake news and anti—extremism extremism content, or indeed extremist content . extremist content. >> now, education secretary bridget phillipson says teachers will use subjects such as english, ict and maths to arm pupils arm pupils against putrid conspiracy theories. yes interesting. >> the curriculum revamp follows last week's riots of course, and the shocking scenes seen up and down the country. but is this the right move? >> well, let's pose that question to the editor of spiked online, tom slater. tom, i thought maths was about maths, but but clearly not. >> apparently not. no, i mean, this is one in a long line of things that schools are being required to do, and i think it's just drags them into quite politically contested territory. to be frank, we all think we know fake news and extremism when we see it. there's certainly been a lot of it onune certainly been a lot of it online and off over the course of the past couple of weeks. but, you know, if you wrote a fake news, class for young

people four years ago, you might be talking about the lab leak theory of covid, which is now at that point was considered a kind of racist conspiracy theory, is now endorsed by various us agencies. so these things are never as clear cut as they seem. and there's always the danger that rather than it being arming students to deal with fake news or extremism, it's kind of arming students to deal with political arguments that whoever's drawing up this curriculum happens to dislike. so i think it would be much better just to let schools teach maths and english and all those things that they should be focusing on, rather than dragging them into this kind of territory. >> yes, it's rather alarming, actually, because would it be left to say, mrs. smith and her engush left to say, mrs. smith and her english class? what is extremist? could it be something about immigration that's just a popular view? could it be something about net zero? that, again, is a popular view , again, is a popular view, something that mrs. smith doesn't approve of . doesn't approve of. >> that's definitely a danger. i think the other danger is that when you've seen things like sex and relationships, education or kind of anti—racism education in

schools as well, it often gets farmed out to third party organisations. there's a big scandal, actually, at the beginning of last year where the department for education had to intervene to say that it was wrong for these companies to say that they couldn't release sex and education materials to parents who were concerned about its content for commercial reasons. so there's a kind of thriving sector of this kind of thing. but again, we don't necessarily know what organisations will be supplying this materials, what political or personal biases might feed in to what it is that they're doing. and i think if we're, you know, concerned that , whether know, concerned that, whether it's young people or anyone are being subjected to or kind of hoovering up information without looking at it particularly critically, we should just encourage a broader kind of culture of debate and discussion and thrashing things out. i mean, coming up with a kind of curriculum that just dictates them how they should read the news and what they should be sceptical of doesn't seem to me to be the right way to go about this at all. >> now, on the other hand, clearly there's a lot of nonsense out there. clearly there is a lot of fake news ai

generated pictures for example, that are becoming more and more prevalent. wouldn't it be sensible to find a way to teach children who might be very impressionable how to spot, you know, look out for the number of fingers on this hand to tell if this is a real image or not? could it be as innocuous as that ? could it be as innocuous as that? >> it could, but it rarely is, i think. is the point. and also, i'm quite struck by the fact that kind of generation z, the zoomers, as it were, are actually a lot more savvy about what it is that they engage with online, their parents, grandparents, you know , really grandparents, you know, really it's the kind of slightly older social media user, shall we say , social media user, shall we say, who are sharing that misinformation sometimes. so i think it's just about making sure that as a society, we're aware of these problems, that we have a discussion about to how tell fact from fiction, that we generally develop norms around, not just sharing information that you've found on a questionable looking website that you've never read before, but that's not necessarily a role for schools who, quite frankly, have got enough to be getting on with rather than wading into these kinds of areas. >> yeah. so i'm sure you're

right. thank you very much indeed. tom slater, editor of spiked online, great to speak to you is i mean, just from a teaching perspective. i mean, how much time is there in the day? >> and it's going to it's going to be another thing that you'll have to write up at the end of the day and check box off that you've done all the right. i mean, teachers have enough paperwork to go through, so you have to have some knowledge first before you learn critical thinking. >> surely . >> surely. >> surely. >> now, very excitingly, up next we'll be speaking to our own political editor. he's just been with the government's official spokesperson, the prime minister's official spokesman. he's got some interesting words for us, we'll be with that after your news headlines . your news headlines. >> good afternoon. it's 1233. i'm cameron walker here in the gb newsroom. more than 18,000 small boats. migrants have crossed the english channel so far this year. that's asked for 703 migrants crossed on sunday, the highest number on a single day since sir keir starmer became prime minister yesterday.

two migrants died attempting to reach the uk in small boats . the reach the uk in small boats. the uk could see its hottest day of the year today, with temperatures reaching up to 35 c. central england is expected to feel the most intense conditions now. this is a live view from primrose hill in north london, showing some of the famous landmarks basking in the famous landmarks basking in the sunshine and some sunbathers there as well . elsewhere at there as well. elsewhere at blackpool zoo, some pregnant elephants they have been calling themselves off in their own personal swimming pool. lucky them. further north, however, them. further north, however, the met office has issued a yellow weather warning for thunderstorms, flash flooding and travel disruptions alongside northern ireland and scotland. meteorologist jim dale says the high temperatures are consistent with the summer season . a 12 with the summer season. a 12 year old boy from southport has become the youngest person to be charged with alleged violent disorder in the aftermath of the southport attack. meanwhile, three adults have been charged with allegedly intending to stir up racial hatred online. james

aspin, from blyth , aspin, from blyth, northumberland, was charged in relation to an alleged video published on tiktok on or before the 8th of august, 2024. geraint boyce and jamie michael, the 8th of august, 2024. geraint boyce and jamie michael , from boyce and jamie michael, from south wales, have both been charged in relation to the alleged publication of threatening facebook material. all three will appear in court today. all three will appear in court today . train delays caused by today. train delays caused by signal failures have cost passengers almost 1,000,000 minutes since the 20 1819 financial year. that's according to network rail figures provided to network rail figures provided to the liberal democrats after a freedom of information request, the party is calling for a freeze on rail fares in response to poor services. labour has promised to bring all passenger railway services back into pubuc railway services back into public ownership . customers public ownership. customers receiving poor services from water companies could get more than double the usual compensation under new government proposals. the list of circumstances that can trigger compensation could also be expanded under the plans. environment secretary steve reed said the government hopes to

turn the tide on the destruction of our waterways . england of our waterways. england cricketer graham thorpe took his own life after battling years of anxiety and depression, according to his family. in a statement , according to his family. in a statement, his according to his family. in a statement , his wife according to his family. in a statement, his wife amanda said she and graham's two daughters are devastated and said he felt they'd be better off without him. thorpe, who died aged 55, has been hailed one of england's best cricket players with a distinguished international career, hitting 16 tests hundred for england . and team gb for england. and team gb athletes are set to return home after a successful paris olympics. great britain ended the games with 65 medals, the same number won at london 2012, and second best ever tally on foreign soil. last night's the king and queen sent their warmest congratulations and his majesty hailed team gb athletes as an inspiration. the prince and princess of wales also congratulated team gb and a special video featuring snoop dogg and david beckham . will. dogg and david beckham. will. those are your latest gb news

headunes those are your latest gb news headlines for now and cameron walker more in half an hour for the very latest gb news direct to your smartphone, sign up to news alerts by scanning the qr code, or go to gbnews.com forward

>> good afternoon britain. it's 12:39 and we're going to head straight to westminster now with our political editor, christopher hope, who's just beenin christopher hope, who's just been in an official briefing with the prime minister's spokesman. chris, what have you learned ? learned? >> hi, tom. yeah, welcome from the green here outside parliament. yeah. keir starmer has cancelled his summer holiday. he was dup to be away this week . instead, he'll spend this week. instead, he'll spend his time between downing street and chequers, which is the prime minister's official residence. he is working. he's not. he's

doing it almost a work from home as opposed to being on being up, being away from on a staycation. the pm's deputy spokesman said the pm is not alone on this. we've seen many having their leave cancelled as work continues with battling the aftermath of the riots last week, number 10 said today the pm and his whole team is on high alert. we're not we're not complacent, they said about the end of the riots. the work is not over, number 10 also degree disagreed fundamentally, tom, with the claim by nigel farage that keir starmer is the biggest threat to free speech in our history. the spokesman said no. he said that because of course, the crackdown on those using the internet and social media to pass on, discuss what are called conspiracy theories about the reason why the riots started, he thinks that that is wrong very interesting indeed, >> any talk of , interesting indeed, >> any talk of, immigration? of course. we've seen not a record,

but a record. this, this year anyway, of crossing 703 in 1 day. >> that's right. emily well, we did ask about the 703 people who came over yesterday across the channel by small boat. and whether that number is larger than usual because of the cancellation of the tory party's rwanda plan to deport illegally arrived migrants to rwanda, the government says no, they say they are. they recognise there are concerns about immigration. they are legitimate but illegal immigration particularly, and they're working to tackle that. at the border. they talked about the idea of a new border command, about increased , command, about increased, tackling the criminal gangs at source, but in terms of reaching out maybe to communities, who were involved, who saw the riots last week, not those involved, of course. those those are being deau of course. those those are being dealt with by the criminal justice system in short order. but the wider concerns that we see in the gb news postbag

onune see in the gb news postbag online about immigration, and it's not far right to be concerned about immigration, those issues are not being addressed yet by the government that can focus now is dealing with the threat of riots that that still hangs over from last week, >> interesting that they still think it's a live possibility that there could be more riots. but, there's been another issue that has been perhaps dogging the prime minister, at least in the prime minister, at least in the online world. and that's, international perceptions of the prime minister's attitude towards free speech, elon musk, the world's richest man, has seemed obsessed with the united kingdom over the last 4 or 5 days, tweeting repeatedly about keir starmer and free speech in the uk, even replying to a tweet of nigel farage, who said keir starmer is the biggest threat to free speech in history, does, keir starmer agree ? keir starmer agree? >> well, his team tom, won't comment on what elon musk says. they don't want to get into a war of words. i should say that

peter kyle, who's the science secretary, he met with social media companies last week, and he's going to be meeting with social media companies this week. and we think that does include x or twitter, as it used to be known. now, amazon did say that in the wake of the riots, they are looking further at social media. that could mean applying more measures in the onune applying more measures in the online harms bill or the online harms act. i should say, they are looking more closely at the way that having more engagement, it says here of the quotes here from the from the, the speaker, the deputy deputy, spokesman, he said that we are going to look more broadly at social media after the disorder. clearly they're worried that, people use x and social media and twitter to promulgate ideas which aren't right. but they were asked at the meeting , will you stop using the meeting, will you stop using x? because, of course, we do know that sir keir starmer uses x. the answer to that is no r. >> very interesting. that's a

great question. i know a lot of mps are saying how how much of a cesspit it is, and now they want to bolt from the platform and all of this. >> they're taking to the platform to say, oh, i really i really hate doing this. so funny. oh, i'm not so funny. >> just one last thing. we heard a lot last week. really about this early release scheme for prisoners and the question was whether some of the rioters will actually benefit from the early release scheme, that they may not be there for the 20 months, the 24 months, the three years that they've been sentenced to anything on that ? anything on that? >> yeah. the answer, emily, is yes , rioters. anybody, sentenced yes, rioters. anybody, sentenced subject to the exemptions or already in there for less than four years, is open to leave at the 4,040% of their term served , the 4,040% of their term served, not 50%. so next month, the first of 5000, offenders are set to be released, and some could include people jailed for parts

of the rioting. if they're very violent people, of course, they are jailed for more than more than for more than four years, and there are exemptions around that. but yes, people jailed under the summary justice we've seen in the past few days, some of them could be released early. and of course that has political risk. and you might even say emily and tom, that that slightly goes against what, yvette cooper said in today's telegraph. she blamed, the lack of trust in the policing. she said that, charge rates have allowed to fall, court delays have grown , there needs to be a have grown, there needs to be a respect for the law. she said that people feel as though crime has no consequences . well, you has no consequences. well, you could argue, couldn't you, that if you're released after serving just for for, 40% of your time inside, that means there's not much consequence for what you've done. so is this government about to do something next month? it says this month is the problem. >> yeah. i mean, it'd be quite something if some of the rioters who they've put in jail. so quickly are then released early. christopher. thank you very

much. christopher hope, our political editor there in westminster, just out of that lobby briefing with the prime minister's spokesperson. >> now, this is good afternoon, britain on gb news. and in case you haven't noticed , it is you haven't noticed, it is pretty hot today. >> yes, these are live shots that you can see from primrose hill in london. quite a nice spot to have a little bit of a sunbathe. if you're in the capital it could reach a whopping 33 degrees. i've heard from the met office that it might even reach 34 sweltering. is it warmer? you are. i know it's not warm. absolutely everywhere in the country it seems to be the south east of the country that is having these extreme temperatures. but are you feeling the heat? >> i think i think that's someone in the left there, sitting down without a without a shirt on. i'm quite can't quite see from where i am. it's an outrage. but i do apologise. this is before the watershed, but but are you feeling shorts on? are you feeling the heat? where you are? much more on the weather after this

good afternoon. britain. it's 10 to 1 and britain is braced for the hottest day of the year, with parts of the uk set to hit by 33, maybe even 34 c hit by 34 degrees, or just to hit it. >> this is expected to be the hottest day of the year so far. people are being urged, of course, to take the proper measures, proper precautions to look after themselves in the sweltering temperatures. >> do we really need to be urged, urged, apparently so. >> we need to be told, goodness me. >> well, gb news reporter and anna riley is live from scarborough for us. and anna, what's what's it like where you are ? are? >> well, we've certainly not got those sweltering temperatures that you've talked about. it's around 21 degrees at the moment here in scarborough. and actually there's been a yellow weather warning in place for

thunderstorms for the north of england that finishes at 1:00. so ten minutes left. but we've had a little bit of rain, but the sun is trying to come out andifs the sun is trying to come out and it's been a fantastic day . and it's been a fantastic day. nevertheless, even though we've not got scorching temperatures , not got scorching temperatures, we can just see here people getting off the pirate ship. they've been out and about around the harbour enjoying the sun. of course it's summer houday sun. of course it's summer holiday time, so we've got a lot of families that have been coming along to scarborough enjoying it. it's actually the oldest coastal seaside resort in britain. it was 1660s that people started coming here when they learned about the healing waters of the spa, and then from 1845, it became a real holiday destination when the railway line came here. so it can just see here we can see these lobster and crab pots in the distance as well. and fishermen still going out, getting a lot of shellfish. and if we just pan round here we can see it as

well. the delicious fish and chips you can get from here. winking. willy's just opposite. they're real famous fish and chip shop. of course you can get your ice cream. i had an ice cream for breakfast earlier. that was delicious. you can obviously come and come along to the seaside. get your rock, further along here, we've got more ice cream shops. and of course, we've got the amusements as well . we've been out speaking as well. we've been out speaking to people about what they enjoy about scarborough, what's brought them out today. and this is what they told us. >> on a day like today , when the >> on a day like today, when the sun comes out, you. sun comes out, you. >> sun comes out, you. >> it's like the mediterranean, isn't it? so it's lovely. >> oh, it's just great, isn't it? saves going abroad, which is what everybody wants, isn't it? so yeah. makes you feel happy, doesn't it? >> we've always lived on the north of england, so it's our sort of favourite place to go at the seaside. >> so we just love it . >> so we just love it. >> so we just love it. >> so we just love it. >> so people, they're just saying how much they love

scarborough, how much as well. it can be like the mediterranean. certainly when you get the sun, it is trying and we'd be with you later this afternoon. >> well, thank you very much indeed. anna riley there live in scarborough, a good stuff. it's good to show that it's not, you know, 34 degrees everywhere in the country. >> warnings as well. my goodness. although, hopefully everyone will be off the pirate ships by the time that the lightning and the storms hit. >> now coming up, if you're not, you know , permanently online. i you know, permanently online. i like this one, you may not have noticed, but the billionaire elon musk, he's been getting very angry indeed about the uk government and a perceived crackdown on free speech. free speech. we're going to show you some of his latest tweets targeting keir starmer. and also, he's had quite a few things to say about the former first minister of scotland to, well, goodness me, all of that to come. >> don't go anywhere . because is >> don't go anywhere. because is it a concern that the world's richest man, the man who owns half of all satellites that orbit this planet, has it in for this new government that .

this new government that. next? >> 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. hottest day of the year so far is likely today. very strong sunshine, particularly across southern areas, but there is a risk of some thunderstorms. we've already seen some thundery downpours across northern areas. low pressure still in charge across northwestern areas, so it's rather windy across western areas of scotland into this afternoon, and heavy rain and thunderstorms will continue across eastern areas of scotland, northeastern england. there's a warning in force at first this afternoon. they should ease though, after lunchtime. however, there is a risk of some thunderstorms breaking out across eastern england in particular, so do keep an eye on the forecast

through the day for these areas. elsewhere though, should stay dry and it will feel very warm or hot in that sunshine. as i said, we could see the hottest day of the year so far, 34 or 35 degrees is expected for central and eastern areas of england. further north, though definitely a fresher feel, but it will turn much drier into this evening. across much of scotland, temperatures in the high teens for some, so pretty fine end to the day, but still a bit of a breeze across the far north of scotland, northern ireland, much northern england and wales seeing a fine end of the day as well. very strong sunshine lasting into the evening as well, so you'll need some protection through much of the day. however, it is going to be a fresher night tonight. it was a fresher night tonight. it was a very warm night last night, but temperatures will be a little bit lower, so it could be a slightly more comfortable night for many of us. i think across the far southeast though, will still hold on to that humidity, but it should stay dry for most areas away from the far west . so said temperatures west. so said temperatures a little lower than last night, 12 to 14 degrees for many of us, a little higher than that in the south and east. now the next weather front is on the way for

tuesday. that will spread into many western areas through tuesday morning, bringing a risk of some heavier outbreaks of rain. the rain and cloud will unger rain. the rain and cloud will linger through across much of wales. the west country, northern england and scotland through the day . and once again through the day. and once again we'll see some quite strong winds across the far northwest of scotland. so a fresher feel here, but still in the southeast, temperatures climbing towards the high 20s by that warm feeling inside from boxt boilers . sponsors of weather on boilers. sponsors of weather on gb

>> well . >> well. >> well. >> good afternoon britain. it's 1:00 on monday the 12th of august. >> i'm emily carver and i'm tom harvard number 10 says it disagrees with the claim by nigel farage that keir starmer is the biggest threat to free speech in our history. >> it comes as it's revealed schools could have disinformation lessons as the government plans to regulate legal but harmful speech.

>> 703 that's the shocking number of people who crossed the channel just yesterday. we'll have the latest pictures from the cliffs of dover and the mercury rises. >> today could be the hottest day of the year in some parts of the united kingdom. live shots here from primrose hill in central london, where temperatures could reach a whopping 34 degrees. are you feeling the heat where you are? let us know . let us know. yes, sir nigel farage did make that quite extraordinary claim that quite extraordinary claim that keir starmer is the biggest threat to free speech in our entire history. >> i mean, i hate to sort of, you know, trample over the words of a colleague, but i think, i think oliver cromwell might, might have been a bit, a bit more of a stickler against against free speech. no i think

so. >> do you think it was a bit of an exaggeration there? >> i think it might have been a bit of political hyperbole, a little bit of political hyperbole. >> but there is a question over what free speech is going to look like under keir starmer. of course we had riots. we had a huge amount of misinformation, disinformation, whatever you want to call it, going around people sharing things about riots that didn't come to pass, people sharing things about the identity of the southport killer and the like that were found to be completely untrue, baseless claims. this is obviously provided a justification for the government now to rethink the way we regulate online material . way we regulate online material. and the issue always is, do you end up trampling on our basic rights to freedom of speech ? do rights to freedom of speech? do we need some kind of bill of rights, like in the united states, where your freedom of speech is protected in the constitution? well the think tank, the adam smith institute actually wrote up a draft freedom of speech bill for the uk, a few years ago that would enshrine sort of american style free speech, which i think it's not said enough.

>> we often say that the uk has free speech. it doesn't. we don't have free speech in the uk. no european country has free speech in the way that the united states of america has free speech. there are some things that aren't directly, directly inciting of violence that are to illegal say in this country. and i don't like living in a society like that. >> no, i mean, it can be very chilling. and it seems at the moment that a lot of people don't know exactly what is legal and what is illegal, what you're allowed to say, what you're allowed to say, what you're allowed to say, what you're allowed to post, what you're allowed to post, what you're allowed to post, what you're allowed to comment, what you're allowed to comment, what you're allowed to comment, what you're allowed to retweet, etc. etc. online. there needs to , you online. there needs to, you know, be some clarity there, i'm sure. but this idea of legal but harmful speech that is curious sounds a little dystopian i would say, but that could be back on the online safety act . back on the online safety act. >> yes, that is being floated that they're going to have this new category of speech that isn't quite illegal and it isn't quite legal, but it will be banned online. i mean, my goodness me , it's post goodness me, it's post orwellian. this but what do you

think gbnews.com/yoursay is the way to get involved? elon musk, an elon musk certainly isn't having any of it. no. and keir starmer hasn't shut down the gb news comments quite yet, so get in there while you still can. >> let's get the headlines with cameron . cameron. >> thanks both. it's 3:01. sorry, 1:03 even i'm cameron walker here in the gb newsroom , walker here in the gb newsroom, more than 18,000 small boats migrants have crossed the engush migrants have crossed the english channel so far this yeah english channel so far this year. that's according. that's after 703 migrants crossed on sunday. the highest number on a single day since sir keir starmer became prime minister yesterday. two migrants died attempting to reach the uk in a small boat. the prime minister has joined french and german leaders in a call for de—escalation and regional stability in the middle east, in a joint statement with france's emmanuel macron and germany's olaf scholz, sir keir starmer has urged iran and its allies

not to jeopardise the opportunity to agree a ceasefire and the release of hostages in gaza. the pm spoke with leaders in the middle east last week dunng in the middle east last week during a call with the president of egypt, abdel fattah el—sisi, and in downing street with sultan haitham bin tariq al—said of oman. foreign office minister hamish faulkner says the joint statement sends a strong message to the region. >> so the statement from the prime minister and the leaders of france and germany just underlines how concerned we are about the risks of escalation in the region. we're making a strong statement of the need for calm in the region and to iran in particular, not to escalate the situation . the situation. >> the uk could see its hottest day of the year today, with temperatures reaching up to 35 c. central england is expected to feel the most intense conditions. this is the view here of primrose hill in north london, showing some of the famous landmarks basking in the famous landmarks basking in the sunshine, as well as 1 or 2 sunbathers at blackpool zoo. some pregnant elephants. they have been cooling off themselves

in their own personal swimming pool further north, however, the met office has issued a yellow weather warning for thunderstorm s, weather warning for thunderstorms, flash flooding and travel disruptions alongside northern ireland and scotland. a boy has died after being pulled from a canal in wolverhampton . from a canal in wolverhampton. west midlands ambulance service was called to a canal off hendon avenue in ettingshall just after 6 pm. last night. police officers pulled the boy from the water before paramedics and a trauma doctor arrived , but trauma doctor arrived, but despite their best efforts, he could not be saved and was confirmed dead at the scene . a confirmed dead at the scene. a 12 year old boy from southport has become the youngest person to be charged with violent disorder in the aftermath of the southport attacks. meanwhile, three men have been charged with allegedly intending to stir up racial hatred online during the recent riots. james aspin, from blyth, northumberland, was charged in relation to an alleged video published on tiktok on or before the 8th of august, 2024. garrett boyce and jamie michael, from south wales, have both been charged in

relation to an alleged publication of threatening facebook material. all four are appearing in court today. now. train delays caused by signal failures has cost passengers almost 1,000,000 minutes since the 2018 2019 financial year. that's to according network rail figures provided to the liberal democrats after a freedom of information request, the party is calling for a freeze on rail fares in response to poor services. labour have promised to bring all passenger railway services back into public ownership . russia has evacuated ownership. russia has evacuated 11,000 people from parts of the belgorod region as ukrainian forces ramp up military efforts at the border. it comes just days after parts of another russian region were were evacuated following ukraine's biggest attack on sovereign russian territory since the start of the 2022 war. ukrainian forces rammed through the border last tuesday in a surprise attack that may be aimed at gaining an advantage in a possible ceasefire talks after the us election . england

the us election. england cricketer graham thorpe took his own life after battling years of anxiety and depression, according to his family. in a statement, his wife amanda says she and graham's two daughters are devastated he took his own life earlier this month following an earlier attempt. a suicide attempt in 2022. thorpe, who died aged 55, has been jailed. hailed even as one of england's best cricket players with a distinguished international career, hitting 16 test hundreds for england . and test hundreds for england. and team gb athletes are set to return home after a successful paris olympics. great britain ended the games with 65 medals, the same number won at london 2012, and second best ever tally on foreign soil. last night, the king and queen sent their warmest congratulations and his majesty hailed team gb athletes as an inspiration. the prince and princess of wales also congratulated team gb in a special video featuring snoop dogg and david beckham.

>> greetings loved ones from all of us watching at home. >> congratulations to team gb! >> congratulations to team gb! >> well done on all you've achieved. you've been an inspiration to us all. >> prince william sporting his new beard there as well. will those other latest headlines for now i'm cameron walker more in half an hour for the very latest gb news direct to your smartphone, sign up to news alerts by scanning the qr code, or go to gbnews.com forward slash alerts . slash alerts. >> good afternoon britain. it's 1:08 now. more than 18,000 small boat migrants have crossed the engush boat migrants have crossed the english channel so far this yean english channel so far this year, with the official figures from the home office showing 11 boats made it into the uk yesterday carrying 703 migrants. >> well, joining us now is our home and security editor, mark white, a huge number, 703. but

considering the calm waters and the balmy weather, perhaps unsurprising. >> yeah, we were always , i >> yeah, we were always, i think, looking at significant numbers crossing the channel, as we do see every summer when the weather is better, when the winds in particular die down. interestingly, the former home secretary, james cleverly, has been tweeting about this, saying ever since labour got into power and scrapped the rwanda deterrent. the numbers have just gone up and up and that's really due to them, really just giving a sort of a signal to people willing to cross the channel that they'll be welcome with open arms. and i'm not sure how true that is. i think if the rwanda deterrent had been there, we would probably still going to see if the conservatives had remained in power, a significant upsurge in those coming across dunng upsurge in those coming across during the summer months. anyway, i think what it does

show, though, is just how really complex and difficult a problem this will be for the labour government to try to solve, and just going after the people smugglers, as they tell us they will do with the creation of this border security command, i think is going to be incredibly difficult to achieve. >> and this new border security command isn't particularly new, is it? it's sort of just shuffling people around in different jobs that were basically doing the same thing before . before. >> well, labour would disagree. they would say that there is a renewed focus on going after the people smugglers. but you're right to say , under the previous right to say, under the previous government, we already had a rebranding and a restructuring to create the a small boats operational command, and it as part of its duties, had a focus on going after the people smugglers. and they had some successes. but it's such a lucrative trade netting millions

of pounds on a busy week for the people smugglers that there will always be those in the criminal fraternity willing to take over. if you take one particular people smuggling gang out of the picture, just like with the war on drugs, it has its successes. but really, we get nowhere in cunng but really, we get nowhere in curing the overall problem. i think the people smuggling issue will be a such a complex and difficult one to really make any meaningful inroads on, and we know there are tens of thousands of migrants who were earmarked to go to rwanda, under the last government. >> of course, that never happened. once, while the conservatives were in power, but they were earmarked . there were they were earmarked. there were some who were being rounded up by the home office and the associated authorities. what happens with all of those people now? >> well, sadly, as you say, we will never know. just whether this scheme would have been the

deterrent. the previous government said it would because it was stopped just short of those first planes being able to take off and heading to rwanda. but in terms of what will happen to these people, many of them, if not the majority of them will end up either getting asylum or being given leave to remain because there is this intractable problem where you just cannot remove the majority of people to unsafe countries. no court would allow that to happen. so even if you decide that they're not eligible for asylum, they still have to be given leave to remain in this country. so effectively, the same thing. >> and this is all under that 1951 convention that we and many other countries are bound into, that basically says, if you come from a dangerous country, you have an absolute right to settle

in a non—dangerous country that has signed up to this convention. the entire population of afghanistan under that treaty could theoretically come to the uk. no problem. >> you're absolutely right . and >> you're absolutely right. and it's not just those coming here illegally , it's those people illegally, it's those people from these countries that might have come here as asylum seekers or as you know, legal immigrants, and have then committed crimes, very serious crimes that we can't get return to these countries because they can still argue in those very same courts that it would be too dangerous to send them back to a dysfunctional country like afghanistan or iran or syria or indeed the united kingdom now. >> and there's been a bit of a rebrand, hasn't there? from illegal migrant to irregular migrant. does that show that perhaps during the election campaign, labour spoke tough on illegal migration to an extent. but perhaps in government there's a softer, softer approach. maybe

>> yeah, but this language is only that. it's the government's preferred choice of language. the fact is, they are illegal immigrants because the previous government passed the illegal migration bill, which ensured that anyone crossing by irregular means was deemed to be an illegal immigrant. and then not, worthy of being considered for asylum. so unless the new government actually enacts anything and changes the law, then these people are still illegal immigrants. >> so they might they might go to international law instead. and then there's the complexity there. thank you very much indeed. mark white, our home and security editor. thank you. >> well, let's turn to schools now because educational establishments across the uk are being urged to crack down on so—called fake news and online extremist content . yes. extremist content. yes. >> so the education secretary, bridget phillipson, has said schools should use subjects such as english, ict and maths to arm

pupils against putrid conspiracy theories. >> her words well, the curriculum revamp follows last week's riots and the shocking scenes up and down the country , scenes up and down the country, but is changing how we teach maths really the right way to tackle that? >> well, let's get the thoughts of teacher and co—organiser of the academy of ideas education forum, gareth sturdy. gareth, thank you very much indeed. what should we make of this? the government essentially telling teachers that they have a duty to teach very young children. what is misinformation and what is extremist? >> i mean, they really don't have that duty to teach children in that way, and this just represents some dangerous politicisation, of the of the school curriculum , school curriculum, >> gareth, i'm going to have to. so sorry , but but leave it so sorry, but but leave it there. we've just heard some breaking news. we're getting our home and security editor right back into the studio. we're heanng

back into the studio. we're hearing of two stabbings in central london, in leicester square, a tourist destination, of course, a busy part of london. mark, thank you for coming back in at such short nofice. coming back in at such short notice . what do we know? notice. what do we know? >> well, an 11 year old girl, we're told, and a 34 year old woman have been stabbed in this attack in leicester square. we are waiting on word because we're in a very early stages of this unfolding incident to determine the nature of the injuries inflicted on these two, this girl and this woman. but this girl and this woman. but this happened, right? of course, in the middle of leicester square. anyone who knows london knows that it's one of the busiest parts of the capital, a mecca for tourists from all around the world. and what we have now is a very significant emergency service response with police and paramedics on scene trying to deal with the

aftermath of this incident. i've not heard yet anything about a suspect , but i'm not heard yet anything about a suspect, but i'm just looking. >> we understand our man has been arrested right after this 11 year old girl and 34 year old woman were stabbed in london's leicester square. now presumably in broad daylight, as you say, one of the biggest hubs for tourists and residents alike. a shopping district, lots of entertainment, lots of shops, lots of restaurants, lots of everything. right slap bang in the middle of the capital. two people stabbed. yeah, just to repeat that is one arrest of a man after he stabbed an 11 year old girl and a 34 year old woman. >> that's a that's an assume an assumption and a statement from the metropolitan police. a suspect has been arrested. a man after an 11 year old girl and a 34 year old woman were stabbed. i should say shocking breaking news to bring you .

news to bring you. >> mark, is that all we know at this stage? >> well, certainly the statement from the metropolitan police, the westminster unit says that a man has been arrested and is in custody at the moment . they are custody at the moment. they are saying we don't believe there are any outstanding suspects, which is one positive element to this. there are not multiple people. attackers from the information we have, the two victims confirming that an 11 year old girl and a 34 year old woman have been taken to hospital. but they say we await an update on their condition . an update on their condition. >> and, as we know, knife crime is an issue that blights the caphal is an issue that blights the capital. but shocking to hear that a stabbing has taken place in what is essentially the heart of london. and just two weeks after three little girls were stabbed and killed, in

southport, an 11 year old girl being stabbed in central london along with a 34 year old woman. >> i mean, this is becoming more of a story about violence, particularly against women and against girls. >> yes. i mean, there's no doubt that, in these stabbing incidents that you see, often targeted, are the most vulnerable in society , be that vulnerable in society, be that young people, the elderly, as well, on this occasion, it's a young girl and a 34 year old woman. we never know the nature of an attack like this or the motivation in the early stages and bearing in mind what happenedin and bearing in mind what happened in the aftermath of the stabbings in southport, we need to be careful in terms of putting information out there that we do not know for certain ourselves. so no word on the

motivation, just that information really coming through from the metropolitan police. that one person is in custody and they don't believe there is any outstanding suspects, but what they haven't done at this early stage anyway is given us any indication about a motive. >> well, mark, to just read out that statement in full from westminster police, they say officers are at the scene of a stabbing in leicester square. a man has been arrested and is in custody. we don't believe there are any outstanding suspects. two victims, an 11 year old girl and a 34 year old woman have been taken to hospital and we await an update on their condition. i suppose the whole country will be waiting for that update . hoping, praying that update. hoping, praying that that this that they pull through. but i again , this is a through. but i again, this is a very, very shocking story. we i feel like i've sat behind this

desk and spoken about stabbing after stabbing after stabbing , after stabbing after stabbing, but it perhaps it is so , so, so but it perhaps it is so, so, so it's such a strange thing to think that this is such a central part of the country, such a busy part of the country somewhere where hollywood film premieres take place, where, is completely busy with with tourists , with so many people tourists, with so many people around, it's a very strange place to have a stabbing . unless place to have a stabbing. unless there are perhaps motivations behind that stabbing. i don't want to speculate too far, but i suppose people will be thinking in their minds. is this terror? >> yes. and i mean, that's a legitimate concern. and, you know, we can certainly talk about the potential for terrorist acts without saying that we have any information that we have any information that this is one thing or another, and we know that areas like leicester square are what they call crowded places in

security parlance , is, a high security parlance, is, a high risk area because it attracts so many people and you're right, not just an area where you can go and see movie premieres, but right in the heart of leicester square there they'll put funfairs in and special events , funfairs in and special events, especially for the. yeah, especially for the. yeah, especially for the tourists. so it's an area that lots of people want to come and see and to come around because it's so very easy then to access the areas around, channg then to access the areas around, charing cross and whitehall down towards westminster from that area. and so of course, there area. and so of course, there are additional police patrols in any of these central london, crowded places because of that additional risk. but we must caveat that as we always do, with the, news, that from our point of view, there is no confirmation of any motivation here at all, there could be a

number of reasons behind , or, number of reasons behind, or, you know, potential motivations, motivations for such a terrible event. >> and we don't know if there's a relationship between the 11 year old girl and the 34 year old woman. we don't, as it stands , know anything about the stands, know anything about the victims of this stabbing, as i understand just that it is an 11 year old girl and a 34 year old woman who have been victim to this stabbing in london's leicester square, no idea of a motive. no idea who the suspect is other than he is a man. >> and that is it. and it's always the same, in the early stages of an incident like this, where we are as in the dark as everybody else about potential motivation. and actually all of the facts. i mean, it seems to have been contained in terms of it being one girl and one, 34 year old woman. it might point

to the fact that this was a very localised incident. it might be people that are known to each other . the police are alive to other. the police are alive to this as well. and hopefully, you know, the police and they've told me, as much the national police chiefs council, that they are learning lessons from southport and the, the, the very slow nature of some of the information that came out there that allowed this vacuum, to be filled with a lot of online speculation that was not helpful andindeed speculation that was not helpful and indeed was actually wholly inaccurate in many respects . so inaccurate in many respects. so i'm sure a life to that , the i'm sure a life to that, the police will be and we await further word from the metropolitan police. >> i would be very surprised if the if the police didn't release details about this man that they have in custody . i mean, clearly have in custody. i mean, clearly they've got him there . i would they've got him there. i would be very surprised if we didn't see details from that very, very

shortly, which of course, we will share here on gb news as soon as we have them. but again, this is such a it's hard to overstate how central this is to the capital city of the united kingdom. you can't get more central london than leicester square. you can't get more busy and crowded. and frankly , there and crowded. and frankly, there will also have been police there. yeah. which is probably likely or certainly nearby quickly. >> yeah, certainly nearby . i >> yeah, certainly nearby. i mean, the thing i would say, you know , about london and central know, about london and central london or any parts of london is we have a very significant knife crime problem in london, so it's not unusual for people in even in these tourist spots like leicester square or oxford street quite often, areas like that to see knife crime, to see people, young people in particular, to be caught up in stabbings. of course, those are related often to gangs and

criminal activity , and we have criminal activity, and we have no indication yet what this attack might have been linked to and something we haven't mentioned yet , perhaps because mentioned yet, perhaps because it's so obvious, is the time , it's so obvious, is the time, andifs it's so obvious, is the time, and it's not even 1:30 in the afternoon . afternoon. >> this, this sort of thing went on in broad daylight in the centre of one of the busiest capitals on the face of the earth. i'm reminded of the bizarre sort of machete brawl that we saw in southend a couple of weeks ago, in broad daylight again, i, i am, i am i being wrong to think that this is perhaps a more modern phenomenon of these sorts of stabbings taking place in broad daylight? >> well, i mean, i think what the authorities will tell you in terms of knife crime is that overall knife crime figures are down. but that really doesn't give. i think , a proper overview

give. i think, a proper overview of what we're seeing in knife crime, which is significant numbers of young people now feeling that it is perfectly in order for them to carry weapons and then getting involved in some pretty horrific high profile incidents which are often caught on camera and then are shown on social media and people get an indication of levels of violence that maybe are not borne out by the stats, but they are still deeply alarming and show that we have a very significant issue around knife crime in this country. >> yeah, i think the word perhaps becoming far more brazen, people carrying knives, as you say , lunchtime, as you say, lunchtime, lunchtime, hour. there are many offices around that area, as well as all the tourist activities, the shops, the event halls, whatever restaurants and the like. lots of normal london residents as well will be passing through leicester square

as they do every work day and at the weekend to an 11 year old girl and a 34 year old woman. now we report often on knife attacks as as tom said, but this is this is quite extraordinary that it happened in broad daylight in central london, where there will have been police if not right there in the vicinity of that area, of course, because it is central london, mark, the metropolitan police have just put out a statement saying there is nothing to suggest a terrorist connection to the stabbings of an 11 year old girl and 34 year old woman in leicester square, >> nothing more on that at this stage, but this is our senior home and security producer, tom fredericks, who has been speaking to, sources at counter—terror command at the metropolitan police in scotland yard, who have said at this stage the guidance they're

giving is nothing to suggest a terrorist connection to the stabbings. at this stage i'm just looking out for any response from sadiq khan. >> not yet. the mayor of london, nothing from the home secretary as yet, but we will let you know if anyone in government or indeed the mayor of london, puts out some kind of statement. they often do. when something like this happens, it is of course, less than an hour since this happened. >> we're talking in the early, early minutes of this event, but we are getting more information as mark white has been telling us throughout this so far. nothing to suggest a terrorist link, but we're not told any information beyond that as we were saying earlier, i think we would all be very, very surprised if in the next hour or so the police were not to say any more information on this suspect, who they have said is in custody . one man who has been in custody. one man who has been arrested following that stabbing of an 11 year old girl and a 34

year old woman in london's leicester square. >> that's according to the metropolitan police. we'll bring you any updates as and when we get them, but let's get your headunes. headlines. >> good afternoon. it's 130. headlines. >> good afternoon. it's130. i'm >> good afternoon. it's 130. i'm cameron walker here in the gb newsroom. and as you've been hearing, an 11 year old girl and 34 year old woman have been stabbed in london's leicester square and have been taken to hospital , police officers hospital, police officers arrested a man who's been taken into custody . the condition of into custody. the condition of the two victims is currently unknown . leicester square is in unknown. leicester square is in the busy heart of london's theatre district, which is popular with tourists. officers don't believe there are any other suspects . more than 18,000 other suspects. more than 18,000 small boat migrants have crossed the english channel so far this yeah the english channel so far this year. that's after 703 migrants crossed on sunday, the highest number on a single day since the keir starmer became prime minister yesterday, two migrants died attempting to reach the uk in a small boat. the uk could

see its hottest day of the year today, with temperatures reaching up to 35 c. central england is expected to feel the most intense conditions. now we believe we may have a live shot of primrose hill in north london, showing some of the famous landmarks basking in the sunshine and lots and lots of sunbathers as well. up north at blackpool zoo, some pregnant elephants they have been calling themselves off in their own personal swimming pool, and the met office has also issued in the north of england, a yellow weather warning for thunderstorm s, weather warning for thunderstorms, flash flooding and travel disruption alongside northern ireland and scotland . a northern ireland and scotland. a 12 year old boy from southport has become the youngest person to be charged with violent disorder in the aftermath of the southport attack. meanwhile, three men have been charged with allegedly intending to stir up racial hatred online during the recent riots . james aspin, from recent riots. james aspin, from blyth, northumberland, was charged in relation to an alleged video published on

tiktok on or before the 8th of august 2024. garrett boyce and jamie michael, from south wales, have both been charged in relation to the alleged publication of threatening facebook material. all four are appearing in court today. now train delays caused by signal failures has cost passengers almost 1,000,000 minutes since the 20 1819 financial year. that's to according network rail figures provided to the liberal democrats after a freedom of information request, the party is calling for a freeze on rail fares in response to poor services . labour fares in response to poor services. labour has promised to bnng services. labour has promised to bring all passenger railway services back into public ownership . customers receiving ownership. customers receiving poor services from water companies could get more than double the usual compensation under new government proposals. the list of circumstances that can trigger compensation could also be expanded under the plans . also be expanded under the plans. environment secretary steve reed said the government's hopes to turn the tide on the disruption destruction of our waterways .

destruction of our waterways. england cricketer graham thorpe took his own life after battling years of anxiety and depression, according to his family. in a statement, his wife amanda said she and graham's two daughters are devastated and said he felt they'd that he they'd be better off without him . thorpe, who off without him. thorpe, who died aged 55, has has been hailed as one of england's best cricket players with a distinguished international career, hitting 16 test hundreds for england . and team gb for england. and team gb athletes are returning home after a successful paris olympics. great britain ended the games with 65 medals, the same number won at london 2012, and the second best ever tally on foreign soil. last night, the king and queen sent their warmest congratulations and his majesty hailed team gb athletes as an inspiration. the prince and princess of wales also congratulated team gb in a special video featuring snoop dogg and david beckham . well, dogg and david beckham. well, those are the latest gb news

headunes those are the latest gb news headlines for now and cameron walker back in half an hour for the very latest gb news direct to your smartphone, sign up to news alerts by scanning the qr code, or go to gbnews.com forward

right? well, let's return to that breaking news. a man has been arrested after an 11 year old girl and a 34 year old woman, both stabbed in london's leicester square. that's according to the metropolitan police. we have just obtained this video of the scene of the incident. the scene of the crime. here you can see leicester square, a large area of that central london square covered in cordons from the police officers there, and the crowd has obviously dispersed.

thatis crowd has obviously dispersed. that is usually a very busy area of london, >> and of course, apologies if any viewers find this distressing, this is, of course, the aftermath of, of a daylight stabbing in central london, the hat of the attacker is left there just sort of lying in the middle of this crime scene. of course, a man has been arrested, is in police custody. and of course, the area is cordoned off. hard to overstate how central this is, a short walk from downing street, a very popular tourist destination. the site of film premieres, lots of cinemas and attractions. we understand that this particular site here is just outside lego world. there it is. this is a place for families. this is a place for families. this is a place for families. this is a place for tourists. this is a thriving and busy place, particularly during the summer

holidays for schools, as we are now to emphasise, that's an 11 year old girl as well, as well as a 39 year old woman. >> now the london ambulance service, have released a statement as well. the spokesperson , they said we were spokesperson, they said we were called at 1136 on monday, the 12th of august today to reports of a stabbing at leicester square. we sent resources to the scene, including an ambulance crew, an advanced paramedic and an incident response officer. we also dispatched members of our tactical response unit. we treated a child and an adult at the scene and took them to a major trauma centre. and yes, as you can see, this police cordon has been put in place, surrounding those major shops, the twig tea shop , surrounding those major shops, the twig tea shop, as surrounding those major shops, the twig tea shop , as well surrounding those major shops, the twig tea shop, as well as the twig tea shop, as well as the lego store and in front of the lego store and in front of the m&m store. apparently also families and tourists are still standing in queues for each , so standing in queues for each, so hasn't been completely shut off from tourists and people. but as you can see, a large area there cordoned off by the police. >> very, very shocking and

indeed that news that the two victims have been taken to a major trauma centre does perhaps give us an indication of the severity of this stabbing. of course, a deep , deeply, deeply course, a deep, deeply, deeply severe incident , course, a deep, deeply, deeply severe incident, and just to correct myself, i believe i said a 39 year old woman, a little bit earlier, a 34 year old woman was the other victim, an 11 year old girl and a 34 year old woman. >> shocking. we're now joined by former scotland yard detective. peter bleksley, peter to hear of yet another stabbing incident in our capital made all the more shocking that this incident, broad daylight . 11 2636 the broad daylight. 11 2636 the ambulance were called to the scene, a broad daylight in the very centre of our capital. >> here we go again. very centre of our capital. >> here we go again . regrettably >> here we go again. regrettably lawless britain. the absolute epidemic of knife crime that

plagues our nation. building on what tom said leicester square. yes, world renowned cinemas, theatres, restaurants , casinos theatres, restaurants, casinos and far more tourist attractions. it is the epicentre of the tourist industry for the uk and headlines of this dreadful attack. and of course, i wish both of the victims all the very best in their recovery. ihope the very best in their recovery. i hope headlines of this will go around the world simply. every corner of the earth , because corner of the earth, because leicester square is world renowned once again, lawless britain having its shredded reputation shattered . reputation shattered. >> it is worth emphasising how how shocking this is. peter, in your experience , daylight your experience, daylight stabbings like this . my goodness stabbings like this. my goodness me, i can only think back to , me, i can only think back to, what we saw two weeks ago. in in

southport , i it just it harks southport, i it just it harks back particularly because the victims are a woman and a girl and it happened . well, at 1136 and it happened. well, at 1136 in the morning, i remember sitting here at this desk two weeks ago when the southport stabbings happened . that was at stabbings happened. that was at 1156. if i remember correctly. again, broad daylight. is this a new phenomenon in britain ? new phenomenon in britain? >> i don't think it's a new phenomenon, but it's a growing scourge, as you clearly said, only two weeks after southport, here we are again . and yet here we are again. and yet leicester square is the centre of so much crime. pickpocketing pickpocketing, robbery , pickpocketing, robbery, anti—social behaviour and much , anti—social behaviour and much, much more. and unfortunately it is largely left to private security companies to try and keep leicester square safe. it should be an area with a 24 hour

police presence. now we know thousands of police officers are elsewhere on standby for any other outbreaks of violent disorder, rioting , in other disorder, rioting, in other words. but even when they're not, this area is not regularly foot patrolled by the police. and is yet, regrettably, another example of the police in the uk surrendering the streets to the criminals. and this, sadly, is the lawlessness that follows. >> i mean, peter, people who don't regularly go into leicester square or central london will probably be taken aback by what you've just said , aback by what you've just said, that this area of central london, where there are so many businesses, so many tourists, local residents to the epicentre of our cultural life here, we're just looking at live pictures of leicester square. as you can see, the police have cordoned off a large area, right, slap bangin off a large area, right, slap bang in the middle of leicester square by that lego store and

buy a big tea shop there as well. there's the m&m store there close by as well. but you say that this isn't regularly or continuously policed . continuously policed. >> no, it's down to private security companies that actually arrest , detain a lot of people arrest, detain a lot of people in and around leicester square because so many tourists go there. criminals know, criminals know that they can prey upon them there. and it really is an area of central london for all the attractions, for all the joy that can be rinsed out of a trip going there, you have to be on red alert for your safety and the safety of others with you. i'm afraid that yet again is another state of our lawless nation. >> and yet, peter , there is >> and yet, peter, there is a suspect who has been, apprehended who is in custody as we speak. i mean , this could we speak. i mean, this could potentially have been a lot worse had there not been police

who were able to get there, presumably in reasonable time given given the arrest, we presumably in reasonable time given given the arrest , we still given given the arrest, we still have to wait and see. >> details are very scant at the moment. but if i was a gambling man, of which i'm not, i would suspect that the original detention of this person might well have come from security. private security teams. >> and peter, of course, our first thoughts are with the victims, one of whom is very young indeed. just 11 years old, and also a 34 year old woman. but you mentioned to the impact this has on our international reputation. i mean, looking at the level of crime and what appears to be an increase in knife crime, particularly in our caphal knife crime, particularly in our capital, it doesn't serve our country well, does it, peter? >> not just an increase in knife crime in our capital, but throughout so many of our major cities across the uk. and i have been speaking to yourselves and

many others for some years now about this scourge of knife crime, what our police and what our cps and what our courts have shown recently is that when there is the political will, they can act swiftly to arrest , they can act swiftly to arrest, detain, gather evidence, prosecute and see people convicted in the courts. it is rampant neglect by our criminal justice system that has allowed the knife crime surge to get to where it is , a 78% increase in where it is, a 78% increase in the last decade. and that's just the last decade. and that's just the recorded crimes that they know about. it is long overdue for our entire criminal justice system and the politicians to put as much effort into the knife crime epidemic as they has recently done to the rioting on the streets of the uk. it is that serious now, peter. >> of course we're looking at

live pictures of leicester square of the scene of this incident. right here. talk us through what we're seeing. the police have obviously cordoned off a large area of a very, very busy square, what will the police response be doing here? presumably forensics and working out precisely what went on? >> yes. i cordoned off an area here, and clearly they've gone for safety first in terms of trying to preserve any forensic evidence there would appear to be some material left by paramedics . be some material left by paramedics. i would suggest, as they were treating the victims of this awful stabbing. so in time, when the resources are available, they will attend the scene and see if there's any forensic examination that can be done. we don't yet know, of course, whether any weapon has been retrieved. we might find those details out later on. forensics these days, a huge part of modern investigations

and this scene clearly needs to be examined, even though to many of your viewers watching, it looks like bit of a desolate area with not much there perhaps to be found , you will be to be found, you will be surprised in terms of perhaps blood spatter, what that can tell us. we know that there's a helmet lying in the road, and all of these things need to be preserved because forensics are so important. >> yes. and as we understand, the two victims have been taken to a major trauma centre, which may indicate that the injuries could be quite severe, but, peter, you point out that only two weeks ago, we saw three girls, three very young girls stabbed to death. and now and now this. and in the meantime, of course, there will have been other knife crime events as well. is it time for this to be treated as an emergency? >> yes , it's way overdue. >> yes, it's way overdue. hundreds upon hundreds of lives have been lost in recent years due to knife crime. and why is

that? well, in part because the police do not patrol the streets anymore on foot. they're always busy in cars, going from one call to another call. so in essence, the streets have been surrendered to the criminals. it's why we've seen increasing lawlessness, not only with regards to knife crime, but crime shop shoplifting and many others. it is time for the police to show the same resolve towards tackling this. never ending tide of bloodshed, as they have done recently to the rioting. get the police on the streets, regain some semblance of control, creates deterrence to stop people from carrying knives and a really good deterrent is to stop them, search them, seize the knife and get them in front of a court. make sure that the courts support the police by handing down appropriate sentences. we've had far too many promises from politicians over the years , from politicians over the years, all of which rang hollow. we

never got what they promised. let's put as much effort, vigour , let's put as much effort, vigour, money in to tackling the knife crime, knife crime scourge that in many, many places is ruining the united kingdom and taking lives. >> peter, what is the status of stop and search in london? i know that the mayor has been in conflict with the previous government over the utility of it, over the impression of stop and search among certain communities in our capital city. but but how regularly is this tool of the police actually used nick gibb finger pointed up into the air and see which way the wind is blowing. >> because politicians are continually changing their tune. although many, as you say , like although many, as you say, like sadiq khan, have relished in seeing stop and search reduced, he has had to change his tune. and of course, theresa may has the most damaging home secretary and prime minister to policing in the history of modern

policing. reduced stop and search hugely and what has happened since then ? yes, knife happened since then? yes, knife crime has gone up. incidences of people carrying knives has just increased hugely and so many people now carry a knife routinely out onto the streets, because stop and search has had bit of a coloured checkered past, should i say . that doesn't past, should i say. that doesn't mean to say that police officers should shy away from doing it in the future . i know as a fact the future. i know as a fact that many police officers, good operational police officers that once were, have now moved into back office jobs so they don't have to go out on the streets and commit, stop and search, carry out , stop and commit, stop and search, carry out, stop and and commit, stop and search, carry out , stop and search carry out, stop and search because they fear that their supervisors and managers won't support them, politicians won't support them, politicians won't support them, politicians won't support them, courts won't support them, courts won't support them, courts won't support them, and they might find themselves, in trouble and losing their pensions. and as

such, like it's scandalous. stop and search is a very, very valuable tool and needs to be used far more than it is now. >> now, we've seen crime go up to one of the top concerns now of the public when it comes to political concerns, who should be held accountable ? be held accountable? >> ultimately, it's the police's job to do stop and search to tackle crime, to investigate crime. of course , politicians of crime. of course, politicians of various colours and persuasions have a responsibility. there was 20,000 police jobs cut back in the age of austerity. but that's ancient history. now, policing needs to move on. it has shown that it can mobilise in large numbers when there's a political will. the money to pick up the overtime bill and the policing will to do it , it overtime bill and the policing will to do it, it needs to be done at the same sort of level . done at the same sort of level. now, regarding knife crime, if it doesn't , it will amount to an it doesn't, it will amount to an absolute dereliction of duty and

standing by while britons die. thatis standing by while britons die. that is not good enough . police that is not good enough. police have to take this on as an absolute number one unshakeable priority . priority. >> well, peter bleksley, you speak with great authority and i'm sure many people will be nodding, nodding along sagely to what you have been saying. thank you so much forjoining us there, peter bleksley, formerly of the metropolitan police. >> yes. now, after the break, we are going to be speaking to the shop owner of tt dougie beattie, one of the shops there in leicester square that i believe has its entrance currently cordoned off or at least is very close to the incident there. as you can see, we're going to be speaking to that, of course, just to summarise, an 11 year old girl and a 34 year old woman have been taken to a major trauma centre after being stabbed in london's leicester square. we know that a man has been arrested and taken into custody. stay with us. we're going to be live on the scene after this .

after this. >> a brighter outlook with boxt solar, sponsors of weather on gb news . hello. good afternoon. news. hello. good afternoon. welcome to your latest gb news, weather update brought to you from the met office through the rest of today. should stay fairly dry and sunny for many of us, but there is still a risk of thunderstorms after the rather wet start this morning. for some of us seeing cold front move through today, that's bringing the spell of wet weather, particularly to northern areas, but also into parts of central and southern areas of england . and southern areas of england. some showery outbreaks of thundery rain still possible into this evening, but once it does clear away to the east, it will be a dry and clear night. it's going to be a fresher night than last night as well. temperatures will fall away a little lower and that might make for a good meteor shower viewing conditions as well. with those clear skies as well, we'll turn a bit cloudier from the west. the temperatures starting to rise across western areas by tomorrow morning. but for most

of us, as i said, a much fresher night to come. now wet weather is going to spread in from the west through tuesday, so still a pretty bright start across eastern areas, much of southern england seeing plenty of sunshine. first thing, and temperatures around 15 or 16 degrees. good few degrees cooler than it was first thing this morning. eastern scotland, as well as north eastern england, still seeing plenty of sunshine too, but northern ireland and western areas of scotland, perhaps some heavy bursts of rain and the winds are going to really start to pick up around this area of rain out to the northwest of scotland. that's an area of low pressure that's going to be bringing this unsettled weather across western areas through tuesday. however, across the east it should stay largely dry and bright, at least until the middle part of the afternoon. quite a lot of cloud, though across parts of wales , though across parts of wales, south—west england, northern england and scotland as well. and as i said, it does remain quite breezy across the far northwest, so definitely a fresher feel for most of us will be a good 5 or 6 degrees cooler tomorrow compared to today, but in the south and east, still a very warm day and still quite humid here as well. tuesday

evening sees this rain spread into southeastern areas so that fresher air will arrive over tuesday night and into wednesday, and that will likely unger wednesday, and that will likely linger across eastern areas through wednesday. thursday looks a bit more widely wet, and then friday it looks drier and warmer once again. by that warm feeling inside. from boxt boilers , sponsors of weather on boilers, sponsors of weather on gb

>> well . >> well. >> well. >> good afternoon britain. it's 2:00 on monday the 12th of august. i'm tom harwood and i'm emily carver. breaking news. an 11 year old girl and a 34 year old woman have reportedly been taken to a major trauma centre after being stabbed in london's leicester square. a man has been arrested. >> as you can see, we're looking at pictures of leicester square where a large area right in the centre has been cordoned off. at least six police officers

manning that area , two people, a manning that area, two people, a young girl and a woman, have been taken to that major trauma centre and will be live on the scene for you very shortly. but in the meantime, let's get your headunes. headlines. >> good afternoon. it's 2:00. i'm cameron walker here in the gb newsroom. now, as you've been heanng gb newsroom. now, as you've been hearing an 11 year old girl and a 34 year old woman have been taken to hospital after a stabbing in london's leicester square. police officers arrested a man who's been taken into custody. the condition of the two victims is currently unknown . two victims is currently unknown. now leicester square, as you can see, live pictures of here, is in the busy heart of london's theatre district, which is very popular with tourists. officers don't believe there are any outstanding suspects and do not believe there's a terrorist connection . more than 18,000 connection. more than 18,000 small boats migrants have crossed the english channel so

far this year. that's after 703 migrants crossed on sunday, the highest number on a single day since the keir starmer became prime minister yesterday, two migrants died attempting to reach the uk in small boats . the reach the uk in small boats. the prime minister has joined french and german leaders in a call for de—escalation and regional stability in the middle east, in a joint statement with france's emmanuel macron and germany's olaf scholz, sir keir starmer has urged iran and its allies not to jeopardise the opportunity to agree a ceasefire and the release of hostages in gaza. and the release of hostages in gaza . the pm spoke with leaders gaza. the pm spoke with leaders in the middle east last week dunng in the middle east last week during a call with the president of egypt, abdel fattah el—sisi, and in downing street with sultan haitham bin tariq al said of oman. >> so the statement from the prime minister and the leaders of france and germany just underlines how concerned we are about the risks of escalation in the region. we're making a strong statement of the need for calm in the region and to iran in particular, not to escalate the situation . the situation. >> the uk could see its hottest

day of the year today, with temperatures reaching up to 35 c. central england is expected to feel the most intense conditions now. this is a live view of primrose hill in north london, showing some of the famous landmarks basking in the famous landmarks basking in the sunshine and 1 or 2 walkers, as well as blackpool zoo . some as well as blackpool zoo. some pregnant elephants have been calling themselves off in their own personal swimming pool as well. but in the north of england, the met office has issued a yellow weather warning for thunderstorms, flash flooding and travel disruptions alongside northern ireland and scotland . a boy has died after scotland. a boy has died after being pulled from a canal in wolverhampton, west midlands ambulance service was called to a canal off hendon avenue in ettingshall just after 6:00 last night. police officers pulled the boy from the water before paramedics and a trauma doctor arrived. but despite their best efforts, he could not be saved and was confirmed dead at the scene . the home secretary has scene. the home secretary has said respects for the police must be restored after they faced brazen abuse and contempt dunng faced brazen abuse and contempt

during rioting . yvette cooper during rioting. yvette cooper says it's crucial to maintain a strong police response on the ground and keep up the pace of arrests and prosecutions. police remained on high alert over the weekend, but there was no widespread unrest . train delays widespread unrest. train delays caused by signal failures have cost passengers almost 1,000,000 minutes since the 20 1819 financial year. that's to according network rail figures provided to the liberal democrats after a freedom of information request, the party is calling for a freeze on rail fares in response to poor services. labour has promised to bnng services. labour has promised to bring all passenger railway services back into public ownership and customers receiving poor services from water companies could get more than double the usual compensation under new government proposals. the list of circumstances that can trigger compensation could also be expanded under the new plans , be expanded under the new plans, including automatic payments for those issued boil notices. environment secretary steve reed said the government hopes to turn the tide on the destruction of our waterways . russia has

of our waterways. russia has evacuated 11,000 people from parts of the belgorod region as ukrainian forces ramp up military activity near the border. it comes just days after parts of another russian region was evacuated following ukraine's biggest attack on sovereign russian territory since the start of the war in 2022. ukrainian forces rammed through the border last tuesday in a surprise attack that may be aimed at gaining an advantage in possible ceasefire talks after the us election . england the us election. england cricketer graham thorpe took his own life after battling years of anxiety and depression, according to his family. in a statement, his wife amanda says she and graham's two daughters are devastated and said he felt they'd be better off without him. thorpe, who died aged 55, has been hailed as one of england's best cricket players with a distinguished international career, hitting 16 test hundreds for england . and test hundreds for england. and team gb athletes are returning

home after a successful paris olympics. great britain ended the games with 65 medals, the same number won at london 2012, and second best ever tally on foreign soil. last night, the king and queen sent their warmest congratulations and his majesty hailed team gb athletes as an inspiration. the prince and princess of wales also congratulated team gb and a special video featuring snoop dogg and david beckham. >> greetings loved ones from all of us watching at home. >> congratulations to team gb! >> congratulations to team gb! >> well done on all you've achieved. you've been an inspiration to us all. >> well those are the latest gb news headlines. for now i'm cameron walker. more in half an hour for the very latest gb news direct to your smartphone, sign up to news alerts by scanning the qr code or go to gbnews.com forward slash alerts . forward slash alerts. >> good afternoon britain. it's

2:06 and we're going to jump back straight to that breaking news. a man has been arrested after an 11 year old girl and 34 year old woman were stabbed in london's leicester square . london's leicester square. they've both now been taken to a major trauma centre. >> well, joining us now from the scene is our home and security edhoh scene is our home and security editor, mark white. mark, thank you very much, can you tell us what the latest is ? what the latest is? >> well, right here at the scene , >> well, right here at the scene, the rays are, as you would imagine, a crime scene that has been set up localised crime scene, but just around the area of the stabbing, you can see a number of metropolitan police officers there. they have, just with the usual sort of crime scene tape, sealed off this immediate area. but it is strange in the sense that, of course, you have all around us hundreds of tourists who are passing, some stopping to look to see what is going on here.

many will be, of course , many will be, of course, completely unaware of the news. the news that just after 1130 this morning that incident unfolded here, just outside the t twigg tea shop and next to the legoland shop as well . that legoland shop as well. that particular area , as i say, has particular area, as i say, has now been cordoned off, but that area was one that the emergency services rushed to just after 1130 with the news very concerning , news that an 11 year concerning, news that an 11 year old girl and a 34 year old woman had been stabbed. now the london ambulance service have put out a statement saying that they sent a number of resources to the scene, including, of course, paramedics and land ambulances and rapid response vehicles , a and rapid response vehicles, a tactical support unit as well.

they treated those who had been stabbed at the scene here. they've now been taken to a major trauma centre, but no more information at this stage on the conditions of the two. the 11 year old girl and the 34 year old woman . no update on their old woman. no update on their medical condition as yet. we can say that a man, a suspect has been arrested at the scene and the police say at this stage they are not looking for any outstanding suspects . and an outstanding suspects. and an important element to add to this as well. having spoken to scotland yard , they are telling scotland yard, they are telling us that there is nothing at this stage that indicates a terrorist motivation. >> now , this is of course >> now, this is of course shocking for people to see. one of the most heart wrenching things really looking at this

scene is just how many children, how many families are out today in this. i mean, we're talking in this. i mean, we're talking in the middle of august, the middle of the school holidays . middle of the school holidays. and of course, one of the victims was an 11 year old girl alongside a 34 year old woman , alongside a 34 year old woman, the atmosphere here, seeing so many tourists, so many families, so many children around is, is really quite well. it emphasises the horror . the horror. >> well yes. i think you make a very pertinent point there in terms of the number of people around. if steve, our cameraman , around. if steve, our cameraman, can get you shot, a wider view of the number of people here. if i tell you that every week, 2.5 million people pass through this area of central london, it's very popular because there are so many bars, cafes around here.

other shops that people can pop into . and of course, into. and of course, particularly shops like legoland and the m and m's store nearby that are in essence, particularly catering for younger people, for children . younger people, for children. and not just that, you have the various cinemas around leicester square where they have, very regularly these , sort of regularly these, sort of premieres that take place for various films that are showing with vips in attendance there that always brings in a crowd. but regardless, even if there's not a movie premiere on, it's such a popular area of central london for people to visit because they are so well catered for in terms of the facilities that are on offer here. but in addition to that, of course, this area of central london having such high footfall, being

what they call in security parlance, a crowded area has very significant police resources around this area as well. so the police would have been nearby and able to respond pretty quickly to this incident. but as we say, and it's worth repeating the information from scotland yard to us directly is that as yet they have no indication of any terrorist motivation for what unfolded here. just after 1130 this morning. still a horrific attack on an 11 year old girl and a 34 year old woman. >> well, thank you very much indeed. mark white, our home and security editor there on the scene in leicester square. and it's worth noting, too, that leicester square is just a stone's throw really away from the heart of westminster whitehall. you've got buckingham palace nearby to of course, covent garden isn't very far at

all, so this really is the major hub, really, of central london, particularly for tourism and of course, we'll be back with mark throughout the programme live from the scene. >> but joining us now is the former police officer, graham wettone, because graham working off the information that we know with regard to this, well, tragedy really, it seems that one suspect has been arrested and detained and there is it's not an ongoing incident that must have been fairly rapid action by by the police or security services . security services. >> yeah. good afternoon, yeah, it seems so . it seems so. >> and looking at just looking at the pictures, mark was just showing there from the scene that's a fairly contained crime scene. >> and as, as mark as well mentioned, the west end team, the town , the town centre team, the town, the town centre team, the town, the town centre team, the team that deals with policing, in that area, charing cross police station. isn't that far away. i know they have a significantly resourced team

that that patrol regularly. >> leicester square, piccadilly circus, so there are frequently officers on foot patrol in those areas. >> so that suggests to me that was a very swift response, >> the suspect has been one suspect arrested. it suggests to me he was he was detained very close to the actual scene itself, because that scene is so tight, as in, it's very controlled, >> and for people looking at it, if they were trying to picture it as i was when i first heard leicester square, it's directly as you come from piccadilly circus and heroes walk towards leicester square itself, where the swiss clock is. >> you've got chinatown to your left, leicester square tube station directly ahead of you, and the actual premises on the right hand side. so they've used a swiss clock as part of the, cordon officers are on scene securing that crime scene, waiting for forensic detectives to arrive and start forensics in the scene. >> and it seems to suggest that the actual shop itself may have been involved in whatever incident happened, because it's shot. >> they got cordoned off. >> they got cordoned off. >> you can see officers on scene . >> you can see officers on scene. >> there's one officer there

with what looks appears to be a c log that they are updating and detailing as they're there. but they'll they'll hold that crime scene and wait for the forensic officers to turn up, start gathering all the forensic evidence they can. >> and they've also got this one suspect detained. >> and in custody, i mean, graham, not to to, contradict you, but we were talking to peter bleksley a little earlier. >> who said that? actually, there isn't really a regular patrol of police officers , and a patrol of police officers, and a lot of the policing and security is done by private security services in this area, are you saying the reverse that actually there's a there's a lot of police patrolling that area constantly. >> i was up there about two weeks ago. >> there are there are frequent patrols from the from charing cross police station in and around that area. i know some of the officers on the on the team itself, >> you see the officers outside the shop, piccadilly circus, leicester square does have regular foot patrols. >> charing cross police station is a stone's throw from that location. so, you know, depending on on what time of day where you are, there is a and again, look at what we've been

what we've just come out with the, the resourcing needed for to dealing with disorder. >> so over the last week or so they may not have had as many officers as they used to, but that area is fairly well policed with a number of officers patrolling it. and again, going back to briefly, i think i heard the tail end of that. >> they are out on foot patrolling that area. they're not driving around dealing with calls. they regularly patrol on foot throughout that area. >> and graham, you were saying that the size of the crime scene here suggests that this was contained fairly quickly? >> i suppose if there had been a longer time between the apprehension of the suspect and the stabbing itself, the crime scene would be a lot larger . scene would be a lot larger. >> i'm saying that because it seems to be fairly well contained around the shop itself, around that venue. so it doesn't suggest that the suspect has been detained, left and normally you would secure either the exit route for your suspect, because if your suspect leaves the premises and say for example, goes goes off towards tottenham

court, leicester square tube station, you would probably have to secure the whole that whole route. so this suggests to me that there was a very quick response, maybe, possibly. and again , speculation isn't isn't again, speculation isn't isn't always helpful on these because we'll wait for the facts from the police. but that looks like a fairly secure and fairly limited or restricted crime scene around the shop premises itself and directly outside . itself and directly outside. which suggests to me, looking at that, that's the only cordon they've got in place that everything was, was in or around those premises. >> absolutely. we don't have any information yet on the prime suspect who has been apprehended, nor do we have any information on a motive here. but, graham, what we do know is that we have a serious knife crime issue, not only in our capital but across the country. what do we need to do to get this under control? because a lot of people watching this will be despairing. >> i think that's a question for, for, politicians or people within society, for society itself as well as policing. clearly policing has got a key, a key role to play in this. in,

detecting when knives, knives on the street and before they're being used. but the actual prevention side isn't just a policing role. prevention comes from things like stop and search and legislation where you actually but but you need some background, some information, some intelligence. the location, the time, the type of person before you can use some of those powers. which is. right. that's, that's, that's right and proper. but actually stopping people coming out on the streets, carrying knives, deterring them at the, at the initial stages. for me, that's a larger society issue. it's down to parents. >> but graham would not a stronger approach on stop and search or help. and that's something that is, you know, within police control as well as politicians. of course it can. >> but it's again , and we've >> but it's again, and we've seen what happens when you bring in, you know , much more stricter in, you know, much more stricter stop and search powers , etc, stop and search powers, etc, without if you don't find the knife on every single search, you end up alienating parts of society. so there has to be a balance with it. it's an

essential tool in policing. stop and search. and for me it has to be carried out. officers must be supported when they're doing it, so long as they're doing it professionally and correctly. but by the same token, there has to be a balanced approach. you can't just have a blanket stop, search everybody coming out of leicester square tube station into that area or piccadilly circus because it's, you know, the volume is such that you couldn't physically carry it out and it takes time to do it. so there has to be a balance for me in applying it. but we need to support policing in applying things like stop and search. but it is a wider question for society as to why people are now fairly regularly carrying knives and weapons onto the street, and are also quite happy or content to use them whenever a confrontation or other incident occurs. that that for me is a wider aspect for society as a whole. and to stop it, we then go into the justice system and when people are found to be in possession of a knife and possibly even have used it on the street, there needs to be a deterrent for them. because so many and i dealt with many in my policing career, so many go to court and get either a fine or

some community service or a, conditional discharge or whatever. there's you know, the, the so much punishment. but the deterrent factor when you commit these offences and they will tell you this when you stop them, even if you arrest me now and i go to court, i'll be out. i'll be out day after and i'll probably do it again. >> and graham, we've seen how swiftly the criminal justice system can work in response to the violent disorder we've seen across the country with regards to riots. so it can be done. but thank you very much . graham thank you very much. graham wettone former police officer. thank you. really interesting to get your your view on this. >> well, joining us now for more is the former police sergeant, former firearms officer harry tangye, harry, i honestly, i sort of despair because we've spoken so many times on this program and every time it's a new incident of unrest, of criminality , of violence. and criminality, of violence. and i think the last time we spoke was

in around two weeks ago when, when more young girls were killed. and today we know that two well, one young girl and one woman has been taken to a major trauma centre. we really hope they pull through. but my goodness me, what does this say about the country? >> yes. hi, tom and emily, >> yes. hi, tom and emily, >> it is, it's very frustrating and very sad, isn't it? and this is an area where probably we all know we've all been . i was there know we've all been. i was there a couple of weeks ago, and i agree with graham there was it was good foot patrol around the area. we don't know yet whether the mother and the girl were related. i don't think so. we don't know. and if they are or if they're not, we don't know if it's domestic related yet. we have to wait and just await patiently for the facts to come through. or whether it was a random attack, of course, which would be a, more concerning for other public, because it means that it could have been any of us involved, selfishly speaking. now they've they've taken

terrorism out of the equation at the moment. and i think we need to respect that. there's nothing to respect that. there's nothing to head towards that i would like to say that, thank goodness in this country, and this is not just london, this is anywhere in any country force the advanced paramedic service you get at scenes like this is phenomenal. and i've been i mean, i've literally been on a stretcher under a motorway bridge as the helmet guy is, is doing open heart surgery on someone. it's phenomenal. so we should be very grateful for that, if it is life threatening, there'll be family liaison officer will be, given as a go between, between the family and the police . so. and family and the police. so. and they will tell them the procedures involved and things , procedures involved and things, but hopefully it's not life threatening and we can get to the bottom of this very quickly. >> yes, harry, we're just hearing, from pa media, a security guard at one of the shops there, the tw dougie beattie shop. he's spoken to pa and he said he jumped on and took a knife from the man who stabbed the child and woman in

leicester square, just 29. abdullah he's worked in security at the shop for the past 7 to 8 months, he says. and so he jumped in and intervened. clearly, if that is true, a very brave thing to do when faced with such violence and a violent threat. in that way, it often comes to this, doesn't it, that, general public or a security guard in this case, steps in? >> we hear so many times, don't we, that the public not wanting to step in actually because they're fearful of the repercussions. security. we've seen the shoplifting and they walk past security. i mean they're on very little wages. they've been told by head office not to intervene because there could be knives involved. abdul, i think you said seems to be an absolute hero because what he has done is put himself in danger for probably not a big wage. he didn't know he was going to actually deal with this today. of course , he's today. of course, he's spontaneously reacted and possibly saved an awful lot of trouble for and injuries and

perhaps fatalities. we don't know yet, certainly the. sorry. >> i'm sorry to interrupt. i'll just give a little bit more detail about what he's said to pa news agency. he says, i heard a scream at that moment. i saw there was one person roughly in their mid 30s or early 30s, and he was like stabbing a kid. i jumped on him, held the hand in which he was carrying a knife, and just put him down on the floor and just held him and took the knife away from him. then a couple of more people joined as well, and we just held him until the police came. it took maybe 3 to 4 minutes for the police to arrive and then they just took him into custody. and apparently he and his colleagues gave first aid to the child before the before the police joined in. he says, i just saw a kid getting stabbed, and i just tried to save her. is my duty to just save her. is my duty to just save them . clearly an save them. clearly an instinctive response. >> well, i've always said , you >> well, i've always said, you join the police, you have , you join the police, you have, you see the worst and the best of

humanity . and the, the worst humanity. and the, the worst part is there is such a knife crime issue. i agree with graham before the police officer, former police officer before . i former police officer before. i mean, sometimes you're just not going to stop it if somebody is so determined, especially if it's like domestic related. it's not random. but here we go. we've got the worst of society and then we've got the best. we've got abdul and we've got other members of the public who are jumping in and who knows who could have prevented an even longer attack on that. on that child, so isn't it it's heartwarming to see that. and 3 to 4 minutes before police arrived, you know, there is hope, isn't there? there's hope for the uk. we hear so much bad news. london has had quite a bad press , even, internationally. so press, even, internationally. so this isn't going to help. but when you've got members of pubuc when you've got members of public security guards like that. abdul, thank goodness that these people still exist in society too. >> yes, i should just say it is abdullah, who is 29, to just make that correction, but yeah , make that correction, but yeah, i mean, it is harry. i mean, the question that everyone is asking is, what on earth do we do about

this scourge of knife crime on our streets? of course, it is not just the capital that's impacted, it's cities across the country. we've also of course, thinking of southport and the stabbings of those, well, the stabbings of those, well, the stabbing of several children , stabbing of several children, but three stabbed to death. it's just shocking. and it does feel as though there is an increase in a sense of lawlessness in this country. what do the police have to do to restore that faith? what does the government have to do? >> i think we need to stop directly looking at the police as the solution of everything. this is again referring back to graham, a societal issue. and we have to have more responsibility. and as the home secretary has just said, more respect for the police, police authority. but consider a third of our resources in the police now are under three years experience. so we've got to give them time to get up to speed, as well as a lot of experience has gone.the well as a lot of experience has gone. the stop search. i'm a little bit more sort of the pubuc little bit more sort of the public have got to understand,

we might, communities might be upset and think that certain communities are being picked on, but ultimately, the statistics coming through with stop check are pretty good. and i'm sorry, even if it's a 1 in 10, i've searched a group of six youths, found a knife on one. that means there's five negatives and one positives, and we've got to educate the public to say this is what it is. no one. police officers don't want to stop search people for the hell of it. it's dirty. it's dangerous. you can prick your fingers on on syringes. it's not a nice thing to do . and you're putting to do. and you're putting yourself forward for potential complaints . yourself forward for potential complaints. so yourself forward for potential complaints . so really, to complaints. so really, to educate the public on, we don't want to do this, but if we want to stop people walking through our streets feeling safe enough to have a machete down their their trousers, for example, if that's the case, or a small knife when they really shouldn't have, we need to have. yes, the prevention , but also the prevention, but also the deterrent. and like you said, with what's happened recently with what's happened recently with the riots, it can be done.

swift justice. >> i mean, this is just the most extraordinary story. and, and it does emphasise a feeling, i think, that the country has that there is a breakdown in one of there is a breakdown in one of the core tenets that you should expect in any developed democratic society. and that is law and order. it feels that it's been slipping away , whether it's been slipping away, whether it's been slipping away, whether it's people rioting and throwing things at, shops and trying to torch hotels, or whether it's the stabbings over and over again, or machete fights in south end, stabbings in south port and now stabbings in leicester square . two i there is leicester square. two i there is a sense that the sort of social fabnc a sense that the sort of social fabric that sort of holds this country together is really fraying. >> i think this is tom moore where we've really just got to be a little bit patient and see what the circumstances are around this, because if this is around this, because if this is

a domestic incident, and for, for example, then that is. yes, it's a societal thing because domestic, abuse is rife and it's being tackled to a very high level, by the police . but what level, by the police. but what happens behind closed doors and things is where it needs to be made. so society is very clear on how we look down on this sort of aspect. if it's not a domestic incident, which is just as bad for the victims involved, let's be very clear about this. but if it's more random , then we but if it's more random, then we need to of course, look at our mental health procedures and care in the community. we remember was one aspect where care and community were basically abandoned in the community. and i've dealt with numerous, i mean, literally numerous. i've talked many a person down off a motorway bndge person down off a motorway bridge , etc, and a multi—storey bridge, etc, and a multi—storey car park, and i failed after an hour with someone who did jump in front of me and this is a

societal issue. the other alternative, of course, is where we had those awful things , where we had those awful things, where in mental hospitals, as they called them, where people were locked away and quite frankly abused. a lot of the time. so it is tricky. and this is what we rely on our politicians to help support and guide us. and recently, i think people are really looking elsewhere because the politicians don't seem to be as quite as professional as they used to. i don't know if that's the feeling with everyone, but that's what i'm getting thick and fast . and fast. >> crime and knife attacks. are they usually targeted ? they usually targeted? >> there is a lot of . excuse me, >> there is a lot of. excuse me, it can't be underemphasised the domestic disputes. there's a lot of stabbings involved, which rarely hit the paper. or if they do, especially if it's not life threatening or, a fatality involved would hardly reach the papers . these involved would hardly reach the papers. these things go on an awful lot of time. random extremely rare and terrorism. we

all know when they happen, so it does tend to be domestic related. it is mental health. it's drugs , it's alcohol. it's it's drugs, it's alcohol. it's a huge mess of complication that nobody's managed to figure out yet. and so i think another way is where the police are now trying to empower victims to come forward. so that can sort of be prevented in the first place. and so they can avoid where everything comes to a catalyst, because quite frankly, in my view, people say, well, can people be, you know, they go to prison, can they come out reform characters? there comes a point where police will tell you , point where police will tell you, there comes a point where that doesn't matter anymore. lock them away. and that saves the rest of us being used as guinea pigs. it's a terrible having to say that . but if people are not say that. but if people are not wanting to be reformed, then we need to make our streets safe. and that's a very high responsibility to decide, you know, for the judicial system, mental health service, to decide how that happens and have

everyone's freedom. taken into account as well, of course. >> well, harry, harry, tanguy, thank you so much for talking us through this developing situation in leicester square. former police officer, of course. >> yes. thank you very much. now we're going to be hearing from an eyewitness in just a few moments. but first, your headunes moments. but first, your headlines with cameron . headlines with cameron. >> good afternoon. it's 231. i'm cameron walker here in the gb newsroom. well, as you've been heanng newsroom. well, as you've been hearing , an 11 year old girl and hearing, an 11 year old girl and a 34 year old woman have been stabbed in london's leicester square and taken to hospital . square and taken to hospital. police officers arrested a man who's been taken into custody. the condition of the two victims is currently unknown. well, this is currently unknown. well, this is the live situation in leicester square, where a police cordon remains in place. it's in the busy heart of london's theatre district and very popular with tourists. officers don't believe there are any outstanding suspects and do not believe there is anything to

suggest there is a terrorist connection . more than 18,000 connection. more than 18,000 small boats migrants have crossed the english channel so far this year. that's after 703 crossed on sunday, the highest number on a single day since sir keir starmer became prime minister yesterday. two migrants died, attempted attempting to reach the uk in small boats . the reach the uk in small boats. the uk could see the hottest day of the year today, with temperatures reaching up to 35 c. central england is expected to feel the most intense conditions further north. the met office has issued a yellow weather warning for thunderstorms, flash flooding and travel disruptions along alongside northern ireland and scotland. a 12 year old boy from southport has become the youngest person to be charged with violent disorder in the aftermath of the southport attacks. meanwhile, three men have been charged with allegedly intending to stir up racial hatred online during the recent

riots. james aspin, from blyth, northumberland, was charged in relation to an alleged video published on tiktok on or before the 8th of august 2024. garrett boyce and jamie michael, from south wales, have both been charged in relation to the alleged publication of threatening facebook material. all four are appearing in court today. all four are appearing in court today . now train delays caused today. now train delays caused by signal failures have cost passengers almost 1,000,000 minutes since the 20 1819 financial year. that's to according network rail figures provided to the liberal democrats after a freedom of information request, the party is calling for a freeze on rail fares in response to poor services . labour fares in response to poor services. labour has promised to bnng services. labour has promised to bring all passenger railway services back into public ownership and customers receiving poor services from water companies could get more than double the usual compensation under new government proposals. the list of circumstances that can trigger compensation could also be expanded under the plans. environment secretary steve reed said the government hopes to turn the tide on the destruction

of our waterways , and team gb of our waterways, and team gb athletes have returned home after a successful paris olympics. great britain ended the games with 65 medals, the same number won at london 2012 and the second best ever tally on foreign soil last night. the king and queen sent their warmest congratulations in his majesty hailed team gb athletes as an inspiration. the prince and princess of wales also congratulated team gb and a special video featuring snoop dogg and david beckham . will. dogg and david beckham. will. those are your latest gb news headunes those are your latest gb news headlines for now i'm cameron walker. now it's back to tom and emily for the very latest gb news direct to your smartphone, sign up to news alerts by scanning the qr code or go to gbnews.com forward

>> good afternoon britain. it's 2:38. now we're going to go straight back to that breaking news. a man has been arrested after an 11 year old girl and a 34 year old woman were stabbed in london's leicester square. >> yes, they've both been taken to a major trauma centre. their injuries are not thought to be life threatening at this stage. but joining us now from the scene is our home and security edhoh scene is our home and security editor, mark white. mark, you're in leicester square. please bnng in leicester square. please bring us the latest . bring us the latest. >> well , people here bring us the latest. >> well, people here in leicester square, this very busy part of central london now trying to absorb the horrific news really, of the terrible events of 1130 this morning when that 11 year old girl and 34 year old woman were stabbed in this attack. i've been speaking to some of the people around here. i spoke to a street performer, local street performer, local street performer who didn't want to appear on camera, but he did

tell me that he saw he heard screams coming from the woman. he turned round to see that the young girl was being held by an attacker, and being stabbed multiple times. absolutely horrific events that he describes . he thought the girl, describes. he thought the girl, from what he could see, would have been quite badly injured by what had happened. but of course, unusual reporting there that the injuries don't appear to be life threatening at this time, which is good news coming out from the medical authorities. we also spoke to a security guard at the nearbyt gw t shop . it's right outside gw t shop. it's right outside this t shop that the event took place, that these two people were stabbed and this security guard, abdullah, who's been working here for about seven months, ran out and tackled the suspect. this is what he told

us. >> i jumped on him. hold the handin >> i jumped on him. hold the hand in which he wasn't having a knife, and he just put him down on the floor and just hold him and kicked the knife away from him. and then a couple of more people joined as well, and we just hold him until the police came. it took like maybe 3 to 4 minutes. police arrived and they just took him into custody. and the child, just like all my colleagues, they gave him first aid and the police came as well, and they just gave the first aid. >> so abdullah, they are telling us obviously that the police were on scene very quickly and that's no surprise. this very busy area of central london has significant policing presence because of course, there are something like 2.5 million people that come through this area of central london. every single week during the peak of the tourist season. it is an area that the authorities consider to be high risk and that's why you get significant numbers of police officers

nearby so they were able to get this suspect handcuffed and taken into custody fairly quickly. indeed, the street performer we were speaking to as well said that as well as local people or people that were passing by jumping on this suspect, he said the police were very quick on scene that the man was already on the ground, a man in his 30s, he believed, and they were able to put his hands behind his back very quickly and handcuff this suspect . at this handcuff this suspect. at this stage, scotland yard are saying there is nothing to suggest any terrorist motivation. we're still waiting really, to understand what the motivation could have been for such a senseless act. the stabbing repeatedly of an 11 year old girl and his 34 year old woman. >> well, thank you very much

indeed. mark white anne diamond, security editor there live on the scene in leicester square. thank you very much for bringing us those two eyewitness reports as well. >> absolutely. we'll be back with mark as more news develops, of course, in leicester square. but in the studio now with us is martin daubney. because martin, you're on air from three and no doubt we will be learning much more about leicester square throughout your airtime. yes. an astonishing story, a chilling reminder of what we saw in southport census violence, knife crime of women and girls. >> again, hats off to abdullah there. that that brave, heroic individual who stepped in to maybe even stop further bloodshed. >> that's the kind of hero we should be saluting on our streets. of course we're covering that as more information comes out . also on information comes out. also on the show yvette cooper blaming the show yvette cooper blaming the riots for the breakdown of respect in the police. >> what about ignoring grooming gangs? what about taking the knee to black lives matter? what about being the gestapo during lockdown? what about dancing the macarena at pride events? don't those things have a

ramification? perhaps the respect for the police was lost a long time ago and another cracking gb news exclusive we can reveal a 840% increase in the cost to the taxpayer of the asylum budget. now an astonishing £6.6 billion in the last tax year and rising. plus, we'll be live from claxton in norfolk, the town, the village of 300 that rose a union flag above its town hall. some said it was divisive. we're going to go there and say they are the very best of british. coming up 3 to 6. >> well, martin, we're going to jump >> well, martin, we're going to jump you to it because we're going to go there before you. i guess these are these residents in a norfolk village. they've erupted in fury , as you say, erupted in fury, as you say, over whether flying the union jack or the union flag is now divisive. >> goodness me. well, we'll be at that next. and of course, martin will be gracing our screens from 3:00 with all that and much, much more to see you after this

>> well, 247 is the time. good afternoon britain. now to something a little bit different. a residence in a leafy norfolk village have erupted in fury over whether flying the union flag is now divisive. now claxton, which has a population of just under 300 people, has found itself at the centre of a political row over plans to erect a flagpole outside the village hall. >> goodness me. well gb news national reporter charlie peters joins us live from norfolk. and, charlie, what on earth is going on with this peculiar story ? on with this peculiar story? >> afternoon, tom. afternoon, emily. >> yeah, that's a very good question, tom. what on earth is going on here? well, it's a debate around our national flag. >> is the union flag a symbol of unity or indeed, division? because that's the perspective that's been put forward here by

some locals in claxton. >> behind me is the village hall for here claxton and also saint peter carlton. nearby the village hall is used and run by the local committee to put on several events, and in may they decided they'd like to put up a flagpole here. >> now the limit is 4.2m tall. >> now the limit is 4.2m tall. >> flagpole any taller and you need to get permission from the central government. >> that's what the committee head told me about half an hour ago. >> but in order to put that up, you need to put it on local land. the land around me is owned by the parish council. so they went forward to a meeting in july. >> and last month some people urged the parish council to reconsider putting up a flagpole that would fly the union jack because they said it could be divisive . divisive. >> they said it had negative connotations and that the union flag could put people off away from visiting claxton. >> some people said there was a fine line between patriotism and

nationalism, and that the flag could be some concern. well, moments before we came to here, a man just drove past into village hall, asked why we're here. >> we explained that it was for this peculiar story, and he said that those who had opposed the motion were left wing extremists who had gone to ground in the town. >> they hadn't been heard from since having lost the votes in the parish council meeting. >> and that man, david, who just drove away, said that he wanted to see the national flag flying proudly in every village hall on a flagpole, if possible. >> it looks like it will go ahead. >> they won that vote in july, but the debate is not only about the flagpole being erected, but what other flags could be flown. the union flag, it seems, will see its day here. >> but saint george's cross, also under consideration. government, government buildings and those under public funding have to ask for permission if they want to fly flags beyond a set list. >> the nhs flag is okay. the rainbow flag is okay as well. that's permitted . but others you

that's permitted. but others you need a bit of permission. but here in claxton , a debate is here in claxton, a debate is still ongoing about whether the union flag is divisive. >> oh my goodness charlie. i mean, if you just go to france, you see the tricolour absolutely everywhere. it's like every village hall. it's in every town and village. it's in every city, of course, at every building, any building, really. you see it flying? i mean, seriously, is this where we are? is this where we are now? can't even fly a flag without someone saying, oh, you can't, it's racist . you can't, it's racist. >> yeah, quite. well. the local mp for the area , ben mp for the area, ben goldsborough, so big, has this local issue risen in local debate that he was actually asked about it by residents here. and he said it was up for the residents to decide. he didn't want to get involved in intervening with the parishioners. he left it kind of with them. didn't want to put his view on whether or not the union flag should be here, that newly elected labour mp. but for the people i've spoken to after being for here the last hour or

so, they're very keen that the flag should fly. they see the cloth of our country as a symbol of pride, not division, and that patriotism should be allowed to be flown and seen and appreciated here in claxton. >> jolly. i'm very surprised that that a member of parliament is sort of trying to both sides this argument seriously. so i, i can't i can't wade into this argument because clearly that would be taking a view on whether or not the flag of my country is racist . i whether or not the flag of my country is racist. i mean, surely members of parliament people might might expect that members of parliament would take a view on whether or not the flag. on goodness me . hope he flag. on goodness me. hope he wasn't crossing his fingers behind his back, charlie , what behind his back, charlie, what moves on from here? you say that the flag is not yet flying . the flag is not yet flying. >> that's right. well, they've ordered the flag pole. i mean , ordered the flag pole. i mean, knowing how long these sorts of processes can take, maybe the flag will be flying by 2027, but they have ordered it , the they have ordered it, the several meetings required to get it over the line after a village

committee vote, have been achieved. and just back on what you were talking about, the labour mp, i've got his full quotes here. he's not taken a side in the dispute and has urged the village locals to sort it out on their own terms. he said the most important thing is making sure that all residents feel listened to. there are people for and against this and they they all need to have some buy in in the process. well, the process has gone on here in claxton. there was that vote in the parish council last month. i'm told that the motion passed with total support, although one man who opposed spoke for 15 minutes, explaining why it shouldn't go ahead. i've had a look at the minutes on the pansh look at the minutes on the parish council website and it's quite an extensive speech where discussions of division and nationalism are raised extensively. but it does appear that here in claxton the union flag will be free to fly.

>> goodness me, with no help from the mp charlie peters. thank you so much for joining us. from the scene of that, that peculiar story. >> could you write a more inane statement for an mp? >> everyone must be heard. we've got a country's flag anyway. well, shall we move on from hot heads to hot weather? because britain is braced for a warm day today. parts of the uk set to hit 34 degrees. >> yes, it's expected to be the hottest day of the year, people are being urged, of course, to take proper measures to look after themselves in this heat . after themselves in this heat. now. gb news reporter anna riley has more live from scarborough. anna, how's the weather? >> welcome to sunny scarborough. the sun has well and truly come out. we're not reaching those, 35 degrees. it's around 24 degrees here. you might be able to see we've got union flags here as well. being proudly displayed all the way down the harbour. so we've not got any issues with the patriotism here. but what a fantastic day it is.

thousands of people have turned out holidaymakers, residents coming to enjoy the sunshine. we can just see the beautiful harbour here in front of us. and then behind that, all those great seaside shops, fish and chip shops , sticks of rock. if chip shops, sticks of rock. if you've got a sweet tooth arcades as well, plenty to do, we know as well, plenty to do, we know as well. scarborough is britain's oldest seaside resort. people have been coming here since the 1600s, especially for the scarborough scarborough spa as well, with the healing waters. we've also got the castle that we might just be able to see in shot as well. that scarborough is known for, as well as its north bay and south bay attractions. we're at the south bay at the moment, and then the pirate ships back out as well for people going out for as well for people going out for a trip around in the pirate boat, spotting some wildlife and a little bit further past here, we can just see that this boat here in front of us has actually

been turned into a bar. so if you want a beer by the harbour on a boat, what a fantastic place to come. and then just beyond this boat we can see out to the sea. and there are plenty of people that are cooling down having . a swim in the sea. it having. a swim in the sea. it looks fairly clean as well, so that's that is what you want when you want to do a little bit of swimming. so yeah, thousands of swimming. so yeah, thousands of people turned out a great day. real boost for tourism. a real boost for business, especially when we get hot days like this. >> well anna riley, thank you so much for bringing us that. and glorious to see the union flag flying there in all its pride and glory. >> divisive. tom, it's a bit divisive, a bit divisive. thank you very much . that's it from you very much. that's it from us. >> absolutely. you've been watching good afternoon britain. but please don't go anywhere because martin daubney is up next and he will have the very latest on the growing, growing number of, of, interviews and

news items that we have out of leicester square, really, really big national story there. and martin will have all of the latest information on that. but it's not just that. it's also going to continue to be sunny throughout the afternoon. >> and he's got that exclusive on the asylum bill that apparently has gone up 848%. he'll explain exactly how that number has come about, but it sounds rather shocking. so stay with us this afternoon. we'll be back tomorrow .

>> well . >> well. >> well. >> a very good afternoon to you. i'm back from my holiday. it's 3 pm. welcome to martin daubney p.m. welcome to martin daubney show on gb news today we're broadcasting live from the heart of paddington. all across the uk. breaking news as a man is arrested in london's famous leicester square after an 11 year old girl and a 34 year old woman were stabbed will be live on the scene . on the scene. >> well, this stabbing happened about 20 minutes before midday and at that time there were many hundreds of people here who saw this horrible event unfold with this horrible event unfold with this 11 year old girl. were told stabbed multiple times , and stabbed multiple times, and we'll cross the mark throughout the show of course. >> next question has britain lost respect for the police? while the home secretary, yvette coopeh while the home secretary, yvette cooper, has claimed last week's riots show the uk has lost

respect for the police. but