gb news. >> good morning. welcome to the camilla tominey show with me, christopher hope , while camilla christopher hope, while camilla is on a well—earned break. it's been a week full of strike announcements. labour's been plagued by its union paymasters. according to the new shadow home secretary, james cleverly, so is the government dealing well with the government dealing well with the pressure from the unions.7 richard tice. the deputy leader of reform uk will be here to share what he thinks on this. plus, after a week of tens of thousands of a—level students, they found out whether they're going to university. i'll be speaking to former minister of state for school skills, apprenticeships and higher education, robert halfon, about why he thinks his party was wrong to insult those doing mickey mouse degrees. i'll be joined too, by alan halsall, who dominic cummings claims played a

critical role in securing brexit and that if he'd not acted as the official responsible in electoral law for vote leave and the pro—brexit campaign may well have been lost. defence editor for the evening standard, robert fox, will be here too, with the latest developments in the middle east and the ukraine russian war and england's largest independent flower show is taking place this weekend in southport's , victoria park, as southport's, victoria park, as it celebrates a centenary year. it's hoped the flower show will be given a much needed boost for the seaside town following the tragic stabbing of three girls just three weeks ago. i'll be joined by that show's director, alan adams. we've got 90 minutes of punchy politics lined up for you. this morning, so please don't go anywhere and stay tuned . don't go anywhere and stay tuned. right. to go to the papers this

morning. i'm joined by by james price, a former senior government special adviser who i'd like to congratulate james on getting engaged. this weekend. >> thank you very much, my friend. thank you for having me. >> james, great to have you here. what's your first story in the papers? >> so i think we'll start with the mail on sunday front page. it says £14 billion bill for keir's shabby union cave in. is that fair? is that a cave in? i think it's more than fair. i mean, i think this idea that the trade unions are the secretly the people who control the labour party, it's not their voters, it's not the people out in the country. it's people secretly running the trade unions who bankrolled the labour party since its inception. blair managed to do a very good job historically, of making that not be the case and seeming to actually represent the whole country and care about these things and stand down the unions. but most other labour leaders seem to fall to it. and the bit that is most stupid, i think, for this is that they thought, oh, you know, when the grown ups, aka the labour party, when they come into government, all this industrial action will all this industrial action will all go away, whether it's the gps, whether it's other bits of

the nhs, the junior doctors, whether it's train drivers, all that will be sensible. we'll listen to their very reasonable demands, we'll come to a sensible compromise. and so on. that hasn't happened. they've given them everything they want and what has gone on instead. so we've lost this £14 billion, this huge, great fiscal black hole that rachel reeves, the chancellor, is fibbing basically, and saying, this is all the tories fault. it's not. and they have done this thinking it will end all the strikes. what's actually going to happen? no, the strikes are going to continue anyway. they've been played by the unions. >> they made you know, we say that, don't we. because aslef, the train drivers, are getting 14% gbs, 11 gps, 11% junior doctors, 22%, and we hear, don't we? reports from the pcs at the border in heathrow. they might be striking too. so there's lots of. and the point is there's no strings attached. by all accounts. so there's no demands for productivity, which the tories were asking for. >> absolutely right. this is the problem. you can't just go asking for above inflation pay increases. if you're not going to do anything to make that worthwhile. look perfectly understand that there are lots and lots of decent people who work in these sectors. most of

them. almost all of them. in fact, they do decent, important, necessary work. no one is saying that's not true. but at a time when, frankly, we've got to get real, that the united kingdom is just not a very rich country anymore, right? we're just not we haven't had significant growth. and that's been the problem of both parties. the tories haven't encouraged it enough either. we haven't had enough either. we haven't had enough growth to justify these kinds of things and all the spending. and of course, think about it strategically. as rudyard kipling once said, if you rudyard kipling once said, if you pay rudyard kipling once said, if you pay the danegeld, you'll never get rid of the dane. you give them all the money they want, you give them all their stuff. they're just going to come back and ask for more. >> there's a piece also in the in the sun newspaper saying that the public purse is being used like a union cashpoint, yeah, it can be seen that way. that's the problem that labour's got. spending money is always easy in government, as you know your time in the tory government. but saving it is much harder. yeah. absolutely. >> right. and i think it's very difficult to, to get on public day to day spending. that's very difficult because that gets baked in for ever and ever and even baked in for ever and ever and ever. it's easier to get money in for, for kind of capital infrastructure projects, right? whether it's roads and bridges and things like that, things

that last, you can make better arguments. it's easier to work out where the return on that money goes. the problem is, frankly, that you've got two 2000 very smart people in the treasury who basically control everything, and they have to say no to a lot of stupid stuff that other departments ask for. fair enough. that's an important thing for them to do. but they also then stop other useful things from happening as well. and that's the difficulty we've got in the kind of tension in the heart of government and politics is about choices and how you spend limited resources. >> look at the look at the express sunday express page one. how many oaps will freeze this winter? there's a choice being made here, isn't there? >> it's shocking. it's a great headune >> it's shocking. it's a great headline from the express and this idea of saying how many people will die. obviously, it's meant to be slightly relevant. hopefully the answer will be zero. i guess the problem is with the winter fuel allowance. this may not make me wholly popular, but that it was going out to absolutely everybody, so it would go to people who would be at risk of freezing if they didn't have it, and it was going to multi millionaires and billionaires and people like that. and we means test lots of benefits and lots of other ways. and so if the case that most

oaps are going to need this, then they'll mostly get it anyway. because if we move to a system where if you need it, you'll get it, if not, then they're not going to save any money anyway. and this is labour's problem. they keep saying we're going to save money with things that aren't actually going to save. >> this article in express talks about a report revealing the devastating impact of axing the winter fuel allowance. how many oaps will freeze this winter? is that over the top? do you think we might have some freezing rain this winter while public sector workers enjoy their pay rise? >> i'm definitely going to hope that none do. i'm sure we all do. but again, this as you say, this is about choices and this is why it's always so dangerous when we start bringing the labour party, start bringing in, oh, we're going to save this money here. we're not doing it there. it doesn't work like that. it's very easy when you're in opposition to just say these kinds of things and try and go for these nice headlines. now they're in government and it's coming back at them. they go, no, but we're the good people. we're not going to do the bad thing, are we? it doesn't work like that. >> talking of saving saving money. the observer, page one. it's time to end blame culture over benefits bill. the tories

were planning to cut back on their benefits bill, weren't they?if their benefits bill, weren't they? if they won power, they didn't. what will they do about that bill? and how big is it? >> it's going to get bigger and bigger and bigger. so in 2023. and by the way, numbers are very difficult for people to get their heads around, right? i don't know how i would spend £1 billion. right. but the benefits bill, the whole welfare budget from the department for work and pensions for last year was about over £285 billion. right. the idea that that isn't enough to look after lots of people, the idea that isn't absurdly generous. it includes pensions and pensions as well, and the universal credit bill itself is something like £80 billion. well, the smaller number here for the for the spending on incapacity and disability benefits will be £63 billion. >> and within six years by the end of this government. right. >> extraordinarily high. so this idea that the government are using anti—welfare rhetoric. the last government i mean, i just think this is absurd. and the fact that you've then got the health, the secretary for work and pensions saying the last parliament was the worst for economic inactivity on record. why do you think that might be? was it because everybody was locked in their homes and put on furlough for a couple of years through covid? it's that kind of mendacity. let's not call it

lying that gets in the way of policy. >> i mean, the real challenge for labour is dealing with the welfare bill because they're spending money on support of unions. members of that is okay, but this is much harder for them. >> exactly. and the problem is, of course, it's the natural idea that if you give out money to people, it's very, very hard to ever to take it away again because people start to feel they've earned it. they pay money in taxes and they feel, sadly, sometimes wrongly, that having paid into something all their life, they're entitled to get it back. the numbers don't quite work like that. and that's why, again, these things are so complicated. >> now, this month has been dominated by people being imprisoned for the riots. lots of arrests over a thousand arrests. i think half that number have been charged . page number have been charged. page 15 of the sunday times talks about from online posts to prison. james. >> yeah, it's a really tricky issue. it's a good piece by will lloyd. this is a really tricky one. you've got the idea that free speech is completely sacrosanct. i think that's really, really important. i don't like it when people say mean nasty things, but you should be able to do that in a free society because maybe those mean nasty things are useful.

the difficulty is, of course, when mean and nasty becomes illegal. now, i don't think anyone really is a kind of free speech absolutist. i don't think, you know, the old example is you shouldn't screaming fire in a crowded theatre leading to a stampede that causes deaths or shouting, hey, we don't like that guy over there. let's all go and kill him. obviously, a speech like that shouldn't be allowed . but when you have these allowed. but when you have these these new offences coming in for people saying stupid, nasty, maybe racist, whatever things on, on the internet and swift justice to i mean, are you comfortable? >> are you comfortable with this, james? >> i think i think i'm very comfortable with the swift justice for people who've been rioting in the streets and attacking hotels and things like that. i'm fairly comfortable with people saying stupid stuff onune with people saying stupid stuff online because you should be smart enough not to, but should they be jailed? >> you got the facebook lady in. >> you got the facebook lady in. >> i think that i think that we have so many suspended sentences for people who do violent acts, people who are let out on suspended sentences, that putting an idiot who tweets something stupid straight into prison to encourage other people whilst you're being so lenient in every other walk of life, seemingly with violent criminals. that seems wrong to me. >> this article starts with

juue >> this article starts with julie sweeney doesn't look like a thug, but she's to off prison for some remarks. they're so right and there are there are enough prison spaces. >> there are always 500 or so kept kept behind for emergencies like this. that was the last conservative government. people are added to the prisons minister who did that. that was really important. but you know, as you see, these people who are dozens and dozens and dozens of violent convictions for rape and burglary and all these things getting let out early on, not going to prison as they should. and then you see some idiot going to prison for tweeting something stupid. but you can understand why people think that's a bit of two tier justice. >> okay, now page one of the sunday telegraph clapping for the nhs is like a national, like a national religion is dangerous, says watchdog. >> i think this is a fantastic thing that this, this, this woman has said rebecca hilsenrath is very, very, very brave, as i know to my own detriment to ever criticise the nhs. this idea that it is a national religion, i think it was well, she calls it a national religion. i think it was former chancellor nigel lawson who said that the nhs was the closest thing britain had to a national religion, because we

all subscribed to it as your idea. right and i think it's completely dangerous. you try going on twitter to talk about saying things on twitter or facebook or down the pub and criticising the nhs, even though we have worse cancer survival rates than lots of central europe and more avoidable deaths, and everybody now has had a bad experience in it. this is not to criticise the doctors, it's not to criticise the nurses, to not criticise the people who clean it or anything like that. but the system fundamentally has so many flaws in it that if we don't talk about that, we're never going to get it better and patients will suffer. >> we should say, who, rachel hilsenrath is. she is the health ombudsman. so she's saying things here which the tories will be pilloried for. but she's almost making ground for allowing people to be criticised, criticise the nhs. yeah. >> exactly. right. and i think that to give, give some credit to labour wes streeting seems that he gets it. i think this is a chap who's very ambitious and he realises that if he can go and actually make some reforms, maybe it's only labour who can make reforms to the nhs. that idea that it was only richard nixon who could go to china back in the 70s, if he can make some of these reforms great, good for us all. >> well, exactly. >> well, exactly. >> and people might go, well,

but you just want the american system where people go, no, no, no, the american system is the only one in the developed world that's more dysfunctional than ours. you never hear people criticising european healthcare systems even as they try and get us to copy so many other european things. now, james, just finally the observer, page five. >> here comes the bride to the strains of bridgertons classical spin on pop. this is why we're getting married, james. >> it is indeed, and as you say, very kindly, i popped the question on friday afternoon . question on friday afternoon. >> she said, yes, she did. >> she said, yes, she did. >> that was the best bit of it to all ali. she's. she's not in politics. which is even better. yes that's the job. definitely. right. >> this article is about the kind of music you can have at in weddings. yeah, absolutely. >> i don't think i'm foolish enough to think that i'm going to be playing the leading role in organising my own wedding. i think i'll leave that up to ali. i like this idea here, though, that you can match up the traditional bridal march with earth, wind and fires 1978 hit september just on screen. >> there's a picture of a very happy young lady with you, james. i'm assuming that's your your your fiance. >> absolutely right. look at her, isn't she beautiful? >> but the idea of reworking weddings is increasingly a big

thing now. it's a huge industry. you'll be finding shortly, by the way. >> i know, i know, goodness me, it's going to be scary, isn't it? i think that we'll go as classic as possible, but it's a big day for people, and the amount of money that people are spending on them now is about to start discovering. >> what song would you like turned into strings for your wedding? james? >> oh blimey, i think i'll, i'll go. i'll have to go. some kind of classical hymns and something like that. yeah, but if i can think of a funny pop song, it's not going to be lady gaga or taylor swift, i'm afraid. >> okay, look, james price, congratulations from all our viewers here @gbnews and all our colleagues here. and yeah, stay around. maybe you can come to you later. thank you for joining. joining us today. thank you.thank joining. joining us today. thank you. thank you. now coming up next, the deputy leader of reform uk, richard tice, will be joining us live. stay tuned

welcome back to gb news. you're watching the camilla tominey

show with me, christopher hope. i'm delighted now to be joined by the deputy leader of reform uk and mp for boston and skegness, richard tice. richard, welcome to the program . welcome to the program. >> very good morning to you. beautiful sunny day . beautiful sunny day. >> beautiful day. it's been a busy week in august in politics. richard tice, do you think all of the six candidates were right to say they wouldn't do any deals with you or nigel farage this week ? this week? >> oh, look, i mean, they're all, frankly desperate in their own sort of sweet way. i think, frankly, no one's really interested in what's going on in the tory party. they got annihilated in the election. they seem completely invisible. we're the only people that are actually talking about immigration. priti patel seems to have completely given up on it. she's proud of her record of emboldening mass immigration between 2021 until now, and she won't even leave the echr. these

are things about which actually the majority of the british people, i think, are settled. and so i just think they're they're out of touch . and the they're out of touch. and the real issue , chris, is what the real issue, chris, is what the labour party is doing with taxpayers cash. we're now on a sort of an escalator ever upwards of union demands for ever bigger pay rises. and that's going to be a catastrophe for the uk's finances. that's going to be a catastrophe for the uk's finances . and we're for the uk's finances. and we're going to pay. would you do richard tice? >> what would you do? would you not honour the pay review bodies? that's the five and a half. the biggest number was the 5.5% pay rise, £10 billion cost. what would you do if you were in power? >> it's very simple what you do in the private sector when you talk about pay rises above inflation, you say, well, there's got to be some productivity improvements. there's got to be some performance related element to it and it works in the private sector, you get growth and

that's what we need. we need some productivity and we need some productivity and we need some performance in the public sector. the truth is that as the wage bill goes up, as the number of people working in the public sector goes up, productivity is collapsing . and it is it is collapsing. and it is it is sending our taxes to 70 year highs and yet what works out there? the truth is , almost there? the truth is, almost nothing does work. and you're seeing a sort of just a never ending sort of, leapfrog process between the unions in the public sector to get ever higher pay rises. and this will be this is a serious, serious early warning sign for everybody . it's a it's sign for everybody. it's a it's a day, a week, a month, a quarter, a year of reckoning. frankly >> but what you're happening here, though, is the tory party is saying it can't work with you. don't you think you need to find some common cause with them to take on labour? >> well, look, the reality is that we did so well in the election because we set out

common sense policies about making work pay by lifting the income tax threshold to £20,000, about freezing immigration, so that again, you make work pay, you ease pressure on housing, on health care and these things and the tory party, they're not interested in any of that. they don't seem to want to control immigration at all. and so at the moment i'm sort of wondering, well, what do we have in common with them? and i think the answer is maybe less than people think. and do you know what? competition is a good thing. it's supposed to be a fundamental part of the philosophy of conservatism, but it's something that the tory leadership have completely abandoned. they don't own the right to be the alternative to laboun right to be the alternative to labour. they don't own the philosophy of conservatism. so if they don't perform, guess what? someone's going to come up and eat their lunch. that's how competition works. it's a very good thing. and we're very focused at reform on the may elections next year and growing

the party, as you've heard from, from, from nigel and our chairman zigi taking it to the next stage and we're, we're very excited. yeah >> richard tice you mentioned pay >> richard tice you mentioned pay there and i've got to ask you about the extra earnings earned by nigel farage from his media commitments, a 1.2 million a year. are you comfortable with your leader earning so much more, which doesn't rely on him being an mp ? being an mp? >> well, what it shows actually is that he has very strong appeal to huge numbers of people. and in a sense, that's one of the reasons why why he secured so many votes. he's he's very well known. he's a very strong celebrity in his own right. and that has a value. and i come back to what i previously said, you know, competition is a good thing. people performing, working very hard, earning things. we should aspire to that we want more of that. ironically, of course, it was

the labour party 20 years ago that was comfortable with that. but now we've sort of ended up in this ridiculous state of affairs where if you earn more than x, people sort of view it as well. that's a bad thing. maybe. actually we need to create some growth, some hard work, some aspiration, some motivation. because that's the thing in this economy , even with thing in this economy, even with you though, richard, richard, your you got four, four directorships, a partnership. >> you get £40,000 from a job that doesn't involve being an mp. are you focused on the job? >> hey, guess what? what that means is i'm in touch with the reality. i'm out there in the reality. i'm out there in the real world, helping , real world, helping, understanding, working hard. and you know what? if you want something doing, give it to a busy person. get some growth, get some action. i tell you what, if you talk to the constituents of boston and skegness, they've seen more of me in the last four weeks than i think they saw of their predecessor in nine years. >> they've heard you there a lot. do you live there? are you there? are you there a lot? literally >> i've literally i'm there every week. i've just found the property, to live there. at the,

in the constituency, which is great. and so, yeah, we're fully on and making some real, some great contacts . and yesterday i great contacts. and yesterday i was at a family event in, in the constituency in a wonderful town hall of kirton. so yeah, we're busy. we're getting stuck in and i think that's it. but equally having a second or a third job, it actually helps sometimes understanding what's going on, whether it's in healthcare , real whether it's in healthcare, real estate, media. you've got to know what's going on out there . know what's going on out there. >> richard, your colleague rupert lowe has given his mp salary to charity. he says why shouldn't nigel farage do the same? >> well, those are individual matters for individuals. that's again individual responsibility is a philosophy of conservatism believing in that. and that's a great thing . and that's great thing. and that's fantastic for what what rupert has done there. and i know he's working very hard in his constituency too. but fundamentally, i tell you what, i think the constituents of the five constituencies where we've

got mps, i think they'll see more action, more oomph, more challenge to the respective parts of the public sector to make sure stuff gets done. action happens and we create some growth, and that's what we've got to do, because without growth in those constituencies and around this country, we are heading to a very, very bad place. and if we don't grow, we're heading towards bankruptcy. >> yeah. richard tice just quick, quickly ask you about the claims of two tiered justice. are you comfortable with people being jailed for remarks on facebook and twitter, given the same kind of terms that are handed out to violent thugs? >> no, i think it's absolutely ridiculous. i've been one of the strongest critics of this policies. it seems that you can rape people and not go to jail, but if you put out a piece of information that you in all seriousness, thought was was genuine, it turns out to be incorrect. if you're from the right, then you get arrested . if right, then you get arrested. if you're from the left, from one

of those sort of various organisations like hope not hate , organisations like hope not hate, you put out deliberately misinformation like nick lowe's did, and then he didn't even apologise for it. did, and then he didn't even apologise for it . talk about apologise for it. talk about threatening him, acid being thrown over him and absolutely appalling. we've got two tier politics, two tier policing and two tier justice. and it's a very, very dangerous, slippery road to be going down and. >> oh we've lost their richard tice. he's frozen in mid mid flow there. i think we've got we've got the gist of what he's trying to say. there so thanks to richard tice will be back in the next hour. coming up i'll be joined by the former tory mp and ex—education minister robert halfon. back two. stay tuned

well welcome back. so much more to come. in the next hour, i'll

be joined by the former tory mp and education minister, robert halfon. but first, here's the news with sam francis . news with sam francis. >> chris, thank you very much indeed. >> and good morning to you. just after 10:00, the top story from the newsroom this morning, israeli airstrikes have killed dozens of people in gaza and in lebanon, while hezbollah has responded by firing 55 rockets into northern israel. world leaders have been urging restraint while ceasefire negotiations with hamas continue. the israeli prime minister has hinted those talks are, he says, heading in a positive direction, while his office has added that a joint proposal from the us, egypt and qatar do have components they say are acceptable to israel. but the militant group claims there's been no progress in reaching a deal. that would mean the release of hostages. meanwhile, president biden is claiming he is still optimistic that an agreement is closer than

ever. that an agreement is closer than ever . safety at the zaporizhzhia ever. safety at the zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in ukraine is deteriorating , according to the deteriorating, according to the international atomic energy agency. it's after an explosion just outside the site's protected area, although no casualties have been reported. the facility, the largest of its kind in europe, has been occupied by russian soldiers since the early stages of the war there. meanwhile, president zelenskyy is claiming kyivs military position in the kursk region is being strengthened here. the home secretary has announced a new crackdown on extremism, pledging to tackle harmful ideologies and address gapsin harmful ideologies and address gaps in current policies. the home office is launching a rapid sprint to analyse and recommend strategies for countering extremist threats , including extremist threats, including rising radicalisation among youth online. the initiative follows violent riots across england after the southport stabbings, now a few weeks ago, with so far over 460 people appearing in court , including

appearing in court, including more than 70 minors, yvette cooper says the new approach will target a spectrum of extremist ideologies . a manhunt extremist ideologies. a manhunt has been launched for a convicted murderer on the run in northern ireland. david mccord was in custody in one of the prisons in north belfast before disappearing on friday. the 54 year old is currently serving a life sentence for reportedly killing his girlfriend . in 2003, killing his girlfriend. in 2003, a biotech firm that produces an mpox vaccine is ramping up production after a new strain was found in europe. the clade one b strain has been confirmed in sweden after first being detected in the democratic repubuc detected in the democratic republic of congo . it is republic of congo. it is believed to be the most dangerous version of the disease so far, found . around 30 people so far, found. around 30 people have been left injured after two ferris wheels were caught on fire at a music festival in germany. you can see here on the

screen pictures showing that ride in flames at highfield festival in leipzig. festival organisers say 18 people are currently being treated in hospital following that blaze, though the cause of the fire at this stage is not yet known well. the european space agency's juice spacecraft will perform a world first lunar earth flyby tomorrow , marking a earth flyby tomorrow, marking a critical point in its journey to juphen critical point in its journey to jupiter. the manoeuvre will use the moon's gravity and then the earth as a natural brake before slingshotting juice towards venus, saving significant fuel. the high risk operation, guided by specialist flight controllers back here on earth, could determine the mission's success. although even a minor error would potentially end the mission. juices of course, equipped with uk developed instruments and is on a 4.1 billion mile trip to explore jupher billion mile trip to explore jupiter's moons. some sport for you and keely hodgkinson is

eyeing history after clinching gold at the 800m in paris. now she's setting her sights on smashing the 40 year old world record in the 800m. the 22 year old says her recent performance in london, where she ran less than a second over, has fuelled her confidence. she's not slowing down, though, with hodgkinson on set to compete until september, chasing a third diamond league title before a much needed break. >> it's been a long time before anyone's even hit the 53 seconds, so i'd love to do that, i think i can, i now believe i can do that, and i think now with the science that we have in the sport and the technology that we have that's up and coming, i think we should welcome it. and that's what's helping us get near to these records. and yeah, i'm all for it. so i'd love to see how close i can get to it. >> and finally, some news from the world of film. french actor alain delon has died at the age of 88. he hadn't been well since his stroke in 2019. that was the

year of his last major appearance, when he received an honour at the cannes film festival . the star was sometimes festival. the star was sometimes referred to as a french frank sinatra and was best known for films including purple noon and le samourai . those are the le samourai. those are the latest gb news headlines . for latest gb news headlines. for now, i'm sam francis. back now to chris 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 . gbnews.com forward slash alerts. >> welcome back to the camilla tominey show with me , tominey show with me, christopher. hope lots more still to come. in just one moment, i'll be joined by the former minister of state for skills, apprenticeships and higher education , robert halfon, higher education, robert halfon, as thousands of students receive their grades this week for their gcses. what does he make of

those? we'll also be joined by the author of a new book, alan halsall, a brexit campaigner who came under police investigation after being referred by the electoral commission. are we closer than ever to a peace deal in gaza as well? and what should we make of reports of uk tanks being used in ukraine's recent incursion into russian soil? defence editor of the evening standard, robert fox, will be here with us to giving us the latest. i'll be joined by the general manager of the southport flower show, which this weekend is celebrating its 100th year, bringing some light into the area following a very difficult time in southport after the recent tragic events, i'm joined now by the former tory minister of state for skills, apprenticeships and higher education, as well as a former conservative deputy chairman, robert halfon. robert great to see you here on gb news. thank you for joining see you here on gb news. thank you forjoining us. good morning. just a very briefly in today's sunday times, sir david behan from the office for students said that the golden age for education is over. is he

right ? right? >> well i wouldn't agree with that. i think that we should actually praise the fact that we've got more students than ever before going to university that are disadvantaged students, that are disadvantaged students, that are disadvantaged students, that are well over 70% more likely to go to standard in reading in the western world, we've created under the previous conservative government, over 5.8 million apprenticeships since 2010. we've got a huge skills programme . so i think skills programme. so i think there is of course there are problems, but there's a lot to celebrate in our education system. it's something that we should be rightly proud of. >> you're a former tory mp now, but you're well involved in education. you chaired the education select committee. what do you take of concerns about universities and whether they can stay in business? frankly, some might go bust and some may have to merge with bigger ones . have to merge with bigger ones. >> well, of course it's difficult for some universities,

but what i think we should recognise is that the higher education system as a whole , if education system as a whole, if you include the subsidies from the government or the taxpayer, if you include the student loans, if you include the research grant, their own private income, plus international students, they get about £40 billion a year. now thatis about £40 billion a year. now that is quite a huge sum of money and it pales into comparison if you look at the money that the fe sector gets, which is hugely transformative and ensures that many disadvantaged students can climb the ladder of opportunity. so of course there are problems. but what i think is that before we decide how we fund universities, there should be a royal commission or a big inquiry to look at what what is university going to look at look like over the next 50, 100 years? because a huge challenge is coming down the line in terms of degree apprenticeships, the office for students regulation, the fourth industrial revolution and artificial intelligence, the

lifelong learning entitlement, which will change the way adults do higher education because they won't have to stay there at a university for three years to do short courses at a time of their choosing. it's a huge challenge. so let's work out what the challenges are and then work out how to pay for them is almost certain. >> do you think that student fees might have to go up in this labour government ? labour government? >> well, i hope not. i don't think there's any justification for raising tuition fees and it will mean that more less disadvantaged people apply to university. i think there needs to be more specialisation amongst universities. if universities have to merge. and that i think might might happen, it wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing . but as i say, i think thing. but as i say, i think what we need to do is to work out what are the challenges, what should the university system look like and then decide to how how to pay for it. at the moment , university is not that moment, university is not that much different from when i was at university about 30 years

ago, and in some ways, the universities are still operating in a black club world when the rest of the world has moved to uber. rest of the world has moved to uber . and so what i think we uber. and so what i think we need to do, as i say , is have need to do, as i say, is have that inquiry, whether it's a royal commission or whatever it may be, and, and then work out how to pay for it. but increasing tuition fees, in my view, is not the answer to this. >> yeah, robert, just looking into this big exam weekend, isn't it a—levels? just on thursday this coming thursday gcse. and do you think there should be more allowance given to students who had their education disrupted by the issue of weakened concrete, the so—called rac concrete, at the start of the academic year ? start of the academic year? >> well, i think that's a very difficult issue . i think there difficult issue. i think there should it should be judged on a case by case basis, because in some schools they were able to move to alternate classrooms and carry on learning as normal. but where there has been significant disruption, or if students courses have not, you know, been disrupted while they've been learning, preparing for the exam ,

learning, preparing for the exam, then absolutely. i think there needs to be some consideration, taken by the exam regulators . taken by the exam regulators. >> and moving on, if i may, robert halfon , you're one of the robert halfon, you're one of the i can say, having observed politics for 20 years, the founders of blue collar conservatism, with your campaigning on fuel duty and the like over the past decade before you stood down as an mp just last month, what's your take on blue collar tories? that, that that that kind of constituency has disappeared. now post that labour landslide. and how can this party rebuild it and start speaking again to those communities ? communities? >> well, we need to be the party of workers. i've always felt that, you know, in my we'd be called the conservative workers party and that would be supporting lower tax for lower earners. it would be focusing relentlessly on cutting the cost of living for millions of people on around the country. it would focus on things like, you know, deaung focus on things like, you know, dealing with the waiting lists at gp surgeries. you know, these

are not this is not rocket science. it's day to day issues that affect ordinary folk up and down, down the land. and we have to speak to those people. we also have to regain the public's trust. i mean, trust is the most important political commodity in politics. and at the moment, the pubuc politics. and at the moment, the public don't trust the conservatives. so we have to force setting out a series of policies is show them that we can rebuild trust that we're credible, that we're a party free of scandal, free of squabbling, and then we can take the next steps in terms of working out what policies we should present at the next election. >> would you would you have a new logo for your conservative workers party? currently, it's an oak tree. well i've always, thought that the oak tree was, you know, didn't really represent anything. >> and most people don't understand what it looks like, let alone what it represents and what i want for our party is our symbol to be a ladder. because if anything conservative conservatism stands for, it's the ladder of opportunity. and my ladder would have hands round it because we bring people to

the ladder, we help people climb rung by rung. we're the party of aspiration, achievement, opportunity and community. and i think that our party symbol should be the ladder of opportunity. and i think symbolism is incredibly important, as is language and communication. and we need to get those things right before we start, having detailed policy discussions about what should be, on our platform or in the manifesto . manifesto. >> and you're backing mel stride for leader unshelved the mail, as they say in tory circles . as they say in tory circles. >> yeah, i realise that he is the underdog. but, you know, there's the old mark twain saying it's not the size of the dog, it's the size of the fight in the in the dog. and the reason why i mentioned to you trust there's two big problems. one, we've lost the trust of the public. and that is a huge problem, because if the public just don't trust us, they're going to either vote reform or liberal or labour and millions of people voted. sadly, former conservative voters either stay at home or voted for those

parties. and the second problem with trust is that our party activists on the ground, they've lost trust with the centre. they didn't see it as the conservative party, as a meritocratic party. they felt that we were a party of cronyism, putting a special favoured people into plum constituency seats to stand at the election. for example, they don't believe that the party is democratic. so on those two trust issues with the public and the members with the party, i think that mel stride does, you know, because he comes over as a conviction politician, but it's affable, it's likeable and is trusted. i think he's well placed to lead our party. and he did a lot as welfare secretary, cutting billions of pounds of waste in order to try and get people back into work. and i think he's the right person because he's affable and we need to be seen as a likeable party again. but he is a conviction politician as well. >> you can ask you about nigel farage and his outside earnings .

farage and his outside earnings. do you what's your take on outside earnings? i don't remember yours ever making making the headlines. he's on hundreds of thousands of pounds a year from work , not as an mp. a year from work, not as an mp. is it time he handed them to his mps? pay back . mps? pay back. >> well i mean just putting nigel farage aside for a moment. i don't have a problem with mps having outside earnings as long as they do a brilliant job in their local area and looking after their constituents, and that means answering emails. it means holding regular constituency surgeries. it means going to regular community events, something i tried to do in my 14 years as a member of parliament. so as long as mps are doing that and they'll be judged at the election, they'll be judged at the election. that's why we have elections, because not not just the national party is judged, but also the performance of the local mp as judge. but i think, you know, i have no problem with mps having outside earnings as long as they spend a significant time looking after their constituents . constituents. >> well, robert halfon, it's

obviously an issue there for the people of clacton at the next election maybe. thanks for joining us here on gb news today on camilla tominey show just one moment. i'll be speaking to alan halsall who's been hailed as a hero by the vote leave mastermind dominic cummings, who he was and who's a book out setting out why we're back

welcome back to the camilla tominey show on gb news with me, christopher hope. i'm delighted to be joined now by alan halsall, the author of last man standing memoirs from the front line of brexit. alan, it's great to see you here on gb news. thank you for joining to see you here on gb news. thank you forjoining us. thank thank you for joining us. thank you very much, chris. appreciate you.can you very much, chris. appreciate you. can you just can you briefly explain why you were involved with vote leave just briefly. and what and what your

job was there? >> well, basically i got i got involved because i'd always been interested in the brexit. well, the referendum argument, i'd always been interested in leaving the eu . and i got leaving the eu. and i got involved with business for britain in the first place with matthew elliott. and then eventually i, i was asked if i'd be interested in getting involved in vote leave. and that's what exactly what i decided to do. >> and your role there you were the person, the kind of member of the public on the border vote leave, weren't you? and you, i suppose you were in charge of how the money was being spent. but you, as soon as the vote finished, it unleashed a difficult time for you personally over the next five years. >> well, i had no idea when i took the job on chris what was going to happen to me, you're absolutely right. i was in charge of ensuring, as a responsible person for vote leave to ensure that we didn't overspend. i was in charge of making sure that the donations were correct. i was basically the financial man for vote

leave. and as a volunteer, i had noidea leave. and as a volunteer, i had no idea what was unleashing to me after the referendum, when the electoral commission, decided that on 3 or 4 different occasions, four different occasions, four different occasions, they should investigate myself and vote leave on the basis that we had overspent some some overspent overspent some some overspent over the £7 million limit each time. well, the first three times they found there was nothing, nothing there, but then they bought in. they then managed to speak to some whistleblowers . and as a result whistleblowers. and as a result of that, they decided that there was an issue. and in due course, we will find some money. vote leave will find some money. and then i was amazed to find that i was the lead item on the today programme, in after the, after they announced the fine and i

was, being reported to the metropolitan police for a criminal investigation, which absolutely horrified me. >> so the commission did find some wrongdoing. some wrongdoing was found by the commission. >> not well, some wrongdoing was found by the commission. we would like to have appealed. in fact, we wanted to appeal. but by this stage, we'd run out of money. i mean, people were not interested by by two years after the referendum and supporting us. so and, and the electoral commission refused our cost capping request as did the court. so we said can we have some cost caps? so we wouldn't we wouldn't be, held for enormous costs by, by the court and the electoral commission refused to grant us that . and refused to grant us that. and you have to remember that they, as a national body , were using as a national body, were using probably the most expensive barrister in the country at the time, james eadie. they were using it incredibly expensive. city lawyers . so we were in

city lawyers. so we were in a position where we had to pay, really pay the fine rather than appeal really pay the fine rather than appeal, because it was too expensive. >> the commission itself says that they open the investigations based on evidence. it's right that potential electoral offences are properly investigated. do you understand that? or do you think you were wrongly treated in this situation ? situation? >> well, i felt we were totally wrong . wrongly treated, we were wrong. wrongly treated, we were neven wrong. wrongly treated, we were never, ever given a chance to put our case to the electoral commission. this is what is really appalling. the electoral commission interviewed whistleblowers on two occasions. the electoral commission head of regulation, a girl called louise edwards, actually had a meeting with the whistleblowers, and discussed the political media strategy with them as to whether we're going to go to channel 4 news, the guardian, the bbc, the new york times and what is a director of regulation from the electoral commission doing discussing such political issues ? discussing such political issues? and then when the chief executive of the electoral

commission went on the radio, on radio four's today programme at 7:00, when they announced that i was to be criminally investigated , they she made a investigated, they she made a false allegation that we'd refused to be interviewed, she said, we refuse to be interviewed five times and in reality, in reality, we hadn't refused to be interviewed at all. we'd actually agreed to be interviewed both a vote leave lawyer contacted the electoral commission and also a lawyer for senior members of the vote leave team and the director of regulation. actually admitted admitted to that fact . so, you admitted to that fact. so, you know, to say to say that , there know, to say to say that, there was five refusals to interview was five refusals to interview was actually not correct at all. >> what kind of lessons it taught you think? alan halsall i mean, would you, going back now, would you have been so willing to get involved in the vote leave campaign? >> well, that's that's a very important question, chris, because i was a volunteer. and the point is we have to have

independent regulators. and this was a quango set up by tony blair, but they have to be independent. they have to show independence. and the public have to trust them. i trusted him implicitly when i became the responsible person for vote leave. but why would anybody volunteer? why would anybody volunteer? why would anybody volunteer at all to take on a role in in in another referendum when you can be persecuted. so much? i mean, it was a horrendous time. for four years, every time i looked at my phone, i was waiting to find out if the police were going to take me to court. i was cautioned i had to give, sorry. i was made a statement under caution, three hours in a police station in london. none of this. i expected when i volunteered to take on the role of, of responsible person for vote leave. purely simply, i was a volunteer, and i wrote the book to show to people actually what the electoral commission, how they behaved. the police, by the way, were

impeccable , the police actually impeccable, the police actually made allegations that , the made allegations that, the electoral commission hadn't even deau electoral commission hadn't even dealt with the evidence correctly. well, of course they hadn't, because they hadn't interviewed anybody. they interviewed anybody. they interviewed three whistleblowers. they take everything they say verbatim. they don't ask, vote, leave any questions at all. it was really i can't tell you how awful it was for me personally. and it cost me an awful lot of money and how awful it was for the senior people that vote leave. it was it was disgraceful. >> well, the book is on the screen now. it's called last man standing memoirs on the frontline of the brexit referendum. you mentioned there the personal toll on you, alan halsall. what has that been? how much money has it cost you and has it cost you? work or lost employment opportunities? >> well, no. no lost employment opportunities. two things. it's cost me. one is actual financial penalty. you know , money to penalty. you know, money to employ. my own lawyers and

barristers when the police started knocking on my door, to i had use, you know, criminal lawyer and barristers. and that wasn't cheap. it was hundreds of thousands of pounds. but more than that, it was my reputation. at 7:00 in the morning, listening to the today programme, i suddenly found i was being told that i was a subject of a police investigation. you know, i i'd like to think that that, it was for me personally , it was awful. for me personally, it was awful. it was a reputation stealer. and even to this day, i'm sure people think, well, he's guilty. he must be guilty. and it's been a very, very unpleasant time. >> what would you advise, alan halsall, looking back now, you'd say, don't do it, alan, >> i would like the reason i've written this book, the reason that i'm on with you today is i would like some changes to be made. i despair with quangos. we've had 12 new quangos. i understand since the new government took over . understand since the new government took over. i despair because it's very hard. as a colleague of mine, john

moynihan, said, who judges the judges , who does judge the judges, who does judge the judges? and when you have when my opinion is an electoral commission who without any question had i would suggest a remain bias. i'll say no more than that. then it's very difficult to trust the electoral commission to act impartially. i've asked some questions of the chief executive. i haven't had any satisfactory response, no answers to those questions. that's all i'd like. i'd like to know that there are going to be changes in the future. it's going to be easier to hold a body such as electoral commission, because if you think about it, they actually they actually are. and one of the most serious bodies in the country looking after the elections, they were only created 20 odd years ago. surely, surely, surely we can have some regulation to ensure that they are held to account. >> yeah, well, the commission itself says that since the referendum it has sought to improve its processes to bring a greater focus to the impact on investigations to those directly involved. and that's reflected

in, in its updated enforcement policy, because it really was a david and goliath situation. but you mentioned that, leave remain and that debate. why did you think it was that ? i mean, they think it was that? i mean, they were denied by the electoral commission. of course they would. but why do you think they were in favour of remain ? were in favour of remain? >> well, i don't know why they were in favour of and why i think why i think they were was because, i mean, you look at what happened with the remain campaign, you know, i, we instigated and we showed the electoral commission evidence from, from from a book all out war, and we pointed out the way that the remain group had set up, last minute campaigns to ensure they had money for extra money to spend, you none of those were investigated in the same way that i was investigated and vote leave were investigated, you know, as i said earlier , for investigations said earlier, for investigations on the same matter , and hours

on the same matter, and hours and hours of, of work required it just didn't happen for the remain camp. and also i would ask the question, why did some 80 peers and mps write to the police chasing for my prosecution? why did people like jennifer jones mp? why did people sorry in the lords? why did claire lucas, ben bradshaw, why were they chasing and trying to put the police under real pressure to prosecute me? >> well, they're not here to defend themselves, but i think you've made your point there about what you've been through in the book, your memoir of being, of the issue of being last man standing, memoir from the front line of brexit is out now. thanks again to alan halsall. now, coming up next, i'll be joined by the defence editor of the evening standard, robert fox. what does he make of joe biden's declaration that a gazan ceasefire is closer than even gazan ceasefire is closer than ever, and the reported use of british tanks by in its into russia? stay with

us. welcome back to the camilla tominey show on gb news with me, christopher hope. i'm joined now by the defence editor at the evening standard, robert fox. robert, thanks for coming to the studio. great to see you again . studio. great to see you again. the war, the world is uncertain. there's wars risk of war, war happening and risk of war elsewhere. just look at ukraine. what's your take on ukraine and is it a risk to the uk? the fact that there's reports that challenger two tanks have been used to support ukraine's incursion into russia this week? >> well, i wouldn't be at all surprised . and i should think surprised. and i should think that the self—propelled howitzers, the as90, which the brits more or less cleaned out their stock, which the ukrainians happen to like very much and they will be involved because they're highly mobile. and it's all about support and they are using all the equipment they are using all the equipment they can bring to the party. i think it's quite a sales point, says he, rather cynically, that at least the challenger two seem to work. >> but this is british armaments

being used to help with the invasion of russian soil. how is that? >> oh, and a lot, a lot of stuff. i think that this is where zelenskyy and syrskyi, who is his general, have been clever. they've got to use the best of what they've got and what is shaming for the west is that they have shown to how adapt and innovate in a way that almost all those armies that have supplied, including the us and the uk, would find very difficult to do because the procurement cycles and there would be red tape and then they would be red tape and then they would go back to whoever, and then you would get mps bickering about whether they knew best, and then you'd get newsnight involved in the thing and the economist. and there is so much backseat driving going on, and it's innovation . it's bodging it it's innovation. it's bodging it on a grand scale. >> the mps to be discussing the use of, of uk hardware in this way in the war because it has been previously on defence, hasn't it? defending ukraine is what we support. >> military building comes out of defence fundings of course they should. and of course there's a very big thing behind it, which is absolutely clear.

and on my x feed where you get some very, very bright people saying some interesting things that actually us, uk, france and germany, who are the real drivers in this? they haven't got a coherent strategy on ukraine. it's saying, look, what can you do? zelenskyy and seesahai this time this year you didn't quite deliver and you said you would last year. and then we complained about it and now we're complaining because you won't tell us this time. yes, it's really quite a muddle. there are funds going in and of course the deadline and the deaduneis course the deadline and the deadline is november the 5th, november the 6th, the united states, because there will be a different stance from the white house whoever wins the presidency. do you think there might be more activity with the west, support for ukraine before those us presidential elections and the this answers your point about biden, biden extraordinarily looks like a man in a big hurry. he wants a big win with legacy his legacy now isn't it? and it happens

actually to most presidents at the end of their last term. and this is his first term, but also his last term, >> the big issues there, we saw those pictures of the challenger two tanks. john healey, the defence secretary, says the uk should be proud of our support of ukraine. that's right, isn't it? i mean, we are proud of that, but it's how those weapons are used which could be tricky diplomatically. >> i think you and i might end up on different sides here because i think that i, i am very sceptical, should i say in a tactical battle, which is what it is not grand strategy. they're not going to advance on moscow or whatever. it's very difficult to draw red lines because we're looking so much at the ground war. we're seeing the bebe, the poor bloody infantry trying to take ground. but what's really happening, which is so interesting, so important in this sector, is what is happening in the air and in cyberspace. and that's where it really does look at the ukrainians have made a big

breakthrough because they've neutralised what the russians were becoming very good at. they were becoming very good at. they were very good at, for instance, tackling the american rocket artillery system called himars that has been working gangbusters by the look of it this time. and that's another point of controversy , because point of controversy, because those himars rockets, himars rockets will be firing into russian territory and i think that this is one of the zelenskyy requests, which is on the table for macron above all, for keir starmer for and giorgia meloni from italy . please let us meloni from italy. please let us use your storm shadows in a tactical situation, because unless we can stop the bombers dropping these dreadful glide bombs, old fashioned, retooled cruise bombs on big civilian populations, we're in real trouble. >> and so far this year, storm shadow hasn't been resolved, was it? it was a debate at the nato summit in washington, where i was there for gb news about whether keir starmer had said you can use them against russia.

and i think the uk clarified that you couldn't. >> i think this is the dull boy school of tactics and strategy. nudge, nudge, wink, say no more, squire. you know, you've got to make it work because they've only got a limited stock of this. but by the way, that the, the this kind of missile, which is quite old fashioned technology effective as we have discovered in crimea, the better version is, is an american version is, is an american version which they want, which is called the agm 158, etc. it's an air launched again . and the an air launched again. and the other thing by the way, as they come in slowly , not in great come in slowly, not in great number. the f—16 aircraft i think is going to be quite incisive if not decisive . incisive if not decisive. >> just stepping back from, from the war in to ukraine two, two years in who's winning, do you think? >> i think it's a slugfest and nobody is winning in military terms. and that is why the ground is slowly eroding, not that it's affecting him

domestically with putin, that it's zelenskyy has shown himself astonishingly successful at surviving how long he can survive. and it's a daily occupation with him. but such is the media operation, it's very interesting to watch with russia. it just will keep going. the pictures of russians willingness to surrender to the ukraines in kursk, conscripts, conscripts , conscripts, conscripts, conscripts, completely untrained, a lot of them, by all accounts. and that that must get through. there will be a drip, drip feed there this year. next year it will be. i think by the spring we'll be in a very different situation andifs in a very different situation and it's a slugfest that can go on. >> for how long do you think is it going to be several more years or when do you see the end of the war? >> can i can i resort to military jargon and then translate very quickly? >> there's a thing called the culmination point, which is the planned point where you will go to a certain point and then stop and do other things. that's

where the ukrainians have gotten cursed, by the way, or the culminating point, which is where you don't have the stuff, you're running out of ammunition, you're running out of manpower. now it looks as if the culminating point is going to be where they run out is going to be reach by ukraine before russia, but russia is exhausted. and although they're churning stuff up, it's old kit and their air force is not how long how long? >> it's months. it's months. you think it's months away from the end. >> i will give you milestones. one was, as we go into the winter mud, have a look at that. just see how much ukraine can manage to hold on to and keep its infrastructure going. and then i think will be somewhere different with the new president by the early spring. but by that time we will know more clearly what china is telling russia . what china is telling russia. and russia does not want this to china. beijing doesn't want it to be a pain in their back door. >> yeah, economically, as much as anything else. absolutely.

now looking at gaza very quick , now looking at gaza very quick, quickly, joe biden, the us president you mentioned there, mentioned a legacy. and he's suing for peace there. will there be a peace deal? he's sounding optimistic. >> there will be a peace some time. but i think such is the way these things are done, it won't be in biden's office. but then the problem with netanyahu is that, curiously, although he's known one of them, trump , he's known one of them, trump, he's known one of them, trump, he's got two complete unknowns of a trump, two presidency or a harris presidency . does he get harris presidency. does he get out? why? he can, but he wants to keep going because the war keeps him going. but the americans have been absolutely clear. his war aims cannot be achieved. he cannot totally destroy hamas and netanyahu , destroy hamas and netanyahu, unfortunately, has this habit of saying yes, yes, yes , but no. at saying yes, yes, yes, but no. at the last minute . and you've got the last minute. and you've got two very tricky personalities, politically speaking, because it

really matters if netanyahu says yes, and it really matters if josh howie sinwar, he's a leader of hamas who who designed the october, the october the 7th attack, the issue with israeli hostages haven't yet been resolved. >> they're still being held, or as far as we know, being held. >> that's why it's looking very it's looking quite difficult. they're talking about will there be a bridge solution as, as as they described it . so we'll have they described it. so we'll have an interim hostages come out temporary ceasefire. but then who runs gaza. because the israeli hardliners are saying we want nobody left in north gaza now. well, how are you going to manage that? and it is looking like and i think most, you know, this is what a lot of the demonstrations are about, not only the hostages. we do not want to occupy a gaza again. >> and a change in the white house. who will that benefit? it's hard to know. with trump against harris. i think netanyahu must worry . netanyahu must worry. >> worry about harris the most. >> worry about harris the most. >> he'll worry the most of that change. >> there's a form of very much

more successful than you give him credit to a prosecutor, and he is as mad as anything about the icc. that's why he wouldn't see david lammy, the uk foreign secretary. so yeah, i think that , secretary. so yeah, i think that, netanyahu must be more worried about a harris presidency. >> just, just, just just finally on, on uk defence, john healey there 2.5% of gdp is the target of this government. they won't say when they're going to get their spending on defence. of course, the tory government, tory government had planned to get there by 2028, 2029. our program is being cut back now because of that lack of a commitment to 2.5% of gdp. >> they're being told to do housekeeping savings yet again. but there is a fundamental cultural problem which nobody dares say because of the way the press you and i have worked for from the telegraph, the economist, all the way through, is structured. it's the way whitehall looks at defence. and the one who's in james thurber's catbird seat who's really running it is the treasury , running it is the treasury, always. and i had a former

senior member of the treasury wider thing saying, oh, we don't like them leaking the chief leaking to the daily telegraph. there's something that seems to me that, you know, that there's an element in the whitehall culture that doesn't get defence and security , least of all in and security, least of all in the cyber and cyber era, because the cyber and cyber era, because the big shock, which unites this says that what the friday surprise could be something like the houthis coming up and really knocking a hole in the whole concept of civil, commercial, maritime activity. >> so as things stand, programs are being cut. how much is being cut in year by already by some programs, because of the labour seat the alarm bells rang when they said, can you save a billion to the army alone ? billion to the army alone? >> if this really was an instruction, that's why i think there's slightly a mythical element to it that is simply nonsense. and if the treasury really thought they could do it, and if sue gray really thought they could do it again, whitehall culture, they really do not know what they're dealing

with. and the problem with defence, the whole structure of defence, the whole structure of defence, the whole structure of defence, the way it's run and financed before you dish out a lot of money, has got to be reformed. but there are too many people involved, too many cooks, but they're all from inside the game. they're all from the whitehall. let's be cautious. let's do this instead of and it's radicals that have reformed british forces in the past for the last two centuries. >> and it all hangs on this, this review being carried out in defence spending. yes. >> which is going to be extremely interesting because they've outsourced it to people not directly involved, which means they can ignore it if they don't like it . don't like it. >> there we are. well, robert fox, do come back with more analysis on defence and perhaps when that review comes out at that time as well. thank you for joining us today on camilla tominey show on gb news. up next, i'll be joined by the general manager of the southport flower show, which this weekend is celebrating its centenary and bringing some light into the seaside town. following a very, very difficult time of the recent tragic events

welcome back to the camilla tominey show on gb news with me , tominey show on gb news with me, christopher hope. i'm delighted to be joined now by alan adams, who's a general manager at the southport flower show. alan, welcome to gb news. it's great to have you on. it's also a personal moment for me. my first job in journalism was at the formby in southport globe, then it became the former the southport champion. i think if you know, are they still going these newspapers alan. >> yeah, unfortunately no. chris champion went to a couple of years ago. so we don't actually have any printed newspapers in the area at the moment. >> but i know your flower show very well, and i know new people would enter it and win awards. i mean, it's been a poignant time this time the centenary of the of the of the flower show. but also what's happened recently in

southport has made flowers even more important . more important. >> yeah, absolutely. chris, you know it's been horrendous time obviously here in southport over recent weeks. but our thoughts, you know from everybody here at the show go to the families that of those that we've lost and everybody who's been affected by recent terrible events i mean doing anything with the families. >> have you, have you asked because i think flowers can be can be supportive and can really make make people feel better about a difficult time? >> well, they can i mean, we've seen that with the tributes in the respective areas in town and certainly outside the town hall, where we've got some wonderful floral tributes and really kind of we've kind of used a bit of that certainly here at the show, because the show is all about flowers and about gardens. you know, we know that horticulture and flowers have been in the garden. it's good for your mind, body and soul. and, you know, we've used that to actually kind of use it as a community feel and give somewhere people a place to come and rest and relax and enjoy themselves this weekend. >> and i think you've got pink

fibbons >> and i think you've got pink ribbons around the flower show too. and that's, that's to symbolise the atrocity in the community coming together. >> yes, indeed we do. yeah we're not recognising, you know, with lots of different people and lots of different people and lots of different people and lots of traders, lots of exhibitors here are doing their own tributes to the show this yean own tributes to the show this year, but we felt the best tribute that we could do. chris, to be honest, is actually carry on with the show. you know, what southport needed most at the moment was actually that sense of community, a place to come and kind of try to take their mind away from recent events without of course, not forgetting those that we've lost. and everybody again, who's been affected by an incident . been affected by an incident. >> and i should be asking with that in mind, what have you on today? why why should people flock to southport flower show today? >> well, because we've got a great day out for all the family. we've got a wonderful we've got 19 show gardens, some that's been shown on the screen which are, which will amaze you, you know, and inspire you to actually create your gardens at home. we've got a wonderful floral art, grand floral marquees with professional growers. we have entertainment. we've got, cbeebies justin

fletcher here today. so if kids want to come along and watch that, we've got lots of entertainment for the kids. we have celebrity guests, we have cookery theatre, we have trade, we have food, we have drink. and also today at 4:00 at the great sell off, we've got a chance to grab yourself a bargain when you can walk away with some of the of the flowers and plants on display . display. >> and how's the weather? >> and how's the weather? >> the weather's not too bad. it's fair. it's i'd say bring a cardi, but it can be a little bit of a chill. but you know what, chris? after thursday, when unfortunately, you know, we had a bit of a bad weather on thursday. the crowds flocked here on friday and saturday and they'll come again today. but it's just it's just a great day out, great value. and, just somewhere to come along and just put a smile on people's faces . put a smile on people's faces. >> it's always bracing. on the southport coast, i remember, i remember vividly the wind can come off the mersey quite strongly. >> yeah, yeah indeed. yeah. but no today's okay really is. i'm just looking outside my window. i've been out in the park this

morning and it's great. listen, you just come along. it's the weather that we've had. obviously this year hasn't been the best, but southport today is absolutely fine. so come along to the show today okay. >> and you can get in on the door can you. >> you certainly can chris. yeah. if you ask me nicely i'm sure if you wanted to come up all the way from london then. >> look, alan, thank you for thank you for joining >> look, alan, thank you for thank you forjoining us. best thank you for joining us. best of luck with the show today. and to all my guests. thank you very much. camilla's back in a fortnight. emily carver is back here next week. but up next, it's my old friend michael portillo. thanks for joining it's my old friend michael portillo. thanks forjoining . us. >> a brighter outlook with boxt solar, sponsors of weather on gb news >> hello and welcome to your latest gb news. weather update from the met office . another from the met office. another fine day in store for sunday. dher fine day in store for sunday. drier for many with plenty of sunny spells around, although still quite breezy for scotland with some showers here too. but

for the bulk of the uk. lots of sunshine to start on sunday. a couple of showers across the west country, northern england and western scotland through the morning. but by the time we head into the afternoon , those into the afternoon, those showers largely dying away and lots of sunshine and clearer skies than we've seen recently here and generally a pretty good day across the board through sunday. temperatures into the low 20s, perhaps up to 25, close to london and a little bit cooler and still feeling quite chilly with that strong westerly breeze across northwest scotland. then through the afternoon we're going to see plenty of sunshine around, particularly for eastern scotland. there should be lots of sunny spells here, but it will be feeling cool. temperatures only into the mid teens across western parts of scotland, and with that breeze it still will be feeling quite cool, especially over higher ground. northern ireland seeing a brighter afternoon and evening than yesterday and there'll be plenty of sunshine across the board and most places across the southern half of the uk will be dry through sunday evening as well, so turning into clear spells overnight and that will be for much of the country, lots

of clear skies. but we do start to see this frontal system arriving from the west, cloud beginning to push in, particularly for northern ireland, scotland and into parts of the west country and wales. starting to see some drizzly conditions moving in for monday morning. cooler, though ahead of this , temperatures only just this, temperatures only just holding up into double figures and quite cool in the countryside. likely to be into the single figures here as well, but a dry and bright start across the east of the country, very much an east west split through monday, and we're going to start to see thickening cloud arriving from the west, strengthening wind, particularly through the irish sea, where we could see gales .bythe time we could see gales .by the time we get into the afternoon and we'll see some strong winds and some heavy rain here too cool underneath that rain, but there still will be some warmth in that sunshine the further south you are . you are. >> looks like things are heating up. boxt boilers sponsors of weather on gb

>> good morning and welcome to sunday with michael portillo . sunday with michael portillo. >> august is a deceptive month with much of the world on holiday. supposedly little happens, but on the contrary, it is often the month of choice for military action. on the 1st of august 1914, the german empire mobilised in 1939. on the 20th of august, the nazis and the soviets signed a pact that enabled them to dismember poland. the soviet union chose this month to snuff out the stirrings of freedom in czechoslovakia in 1968, and in august 2024, ukraine has stunned vladimir putin and impressed the democratic world with its incursion into russian territory . incursion into russian territory. sir keir starmer has been on political manoeuvres despite describing a frightful economic inheritance from the tories, his government has found the money to pay him inflationary increases to junior doctors, nurses , civil servants, nurses, civil servants, teachers, the armed forces, the

police and train drivers. i will ask my