i'm tom harwood don't september. i'm tom harwood don't know what that was about 13 i've emily carver left out in the cold breaking this hour. the prime minister has denied his government is dishing out a punishment beating to pensioners, but refuses to rule out scrapping the single person council tax discount. now this could impact millions of older people. >> it's being coined the widow tax. if it goes ahead and war with russia. vladimir putin warns britain. and if britain and america allow ukraine to use their weapons on russian soil, this would spark a war on the west. the prime minister is in washington, dc as we speak. watch this space. >> contributing or taking out . >> contributing or taking out. the office for budget responsibility says that low paid migrant workers are actually a net negative for the pubuc actually a net negative for the public purse, costing taxpayers more than £150,000 each in state subsidies by the time they hit

state pension age. >> yes, and more labour nanny state junk food adverts will be banned on social media and television next year. in the first of a raft of tough public health measures, sir keir starmer says are essential to save the nhs . save the n hs. >> save the nhs. >> well, famously , friday the >> well, famously, friday the 13th is a spooky day and i'm afraid we've got some spooky news for you in that the government is yet again refusing to rule out more tax hikes. >> is this a comedy sketch , tom.7 >> is this a comedy sketch, tom.7 no, it's a comedy sketch. this is a very serious new show. it is a very serious new show. it is friday the 13th, so hold on to your hats. >> i'm not wearing one anyway. >> i'm not wearing one anyway. >> anyway , i'm worried about >> anyway, i'm worried about this council tax exemption. now they have so far refused to rule out scrapping this. so at the moment, if you're a single household, you get 25% off. now

unsurprisingly, a lot of the people who are living in single households are pensioners , households are pensioners, widows, widowers, people who are just living alone, single households, people who probably don't have the highest of incomes. so this would batter those older people. >> again, it's a pretty extraordinary thing because of course, we remember during the election campaign, the shadow chancellor then now the chancellor then now the chancellor said again and again, no tax hikes on working people. and the and spelled out all of the different taxes that they would not raise. well, given that they have such history now of ruling out tax rises, our ears have to pick up when they refuse to rule out a tax hike. so we're going to have much, much more on this throughout the show. it's a bit of a bit of a scoop in terms of what's probably going to happen in that budget in october. but we want your say on all of it to gbnews.com/yoursay is the way to get involved? yes. >> would you be impacted by that single household council tax

scrappage of that 25% discount? it's going to affect a lot of people, millions of people if it happens. but first, the headunes happens. but first, the headlines with sam francis . headlines with sam francis. >> very good afternoon to you. it is just coming up to 12:04. the top stories from the newsroom this lunchtime. and we'll start with some breaking news coming to us out of rotherham this afternoon. the first of four, the first four, rather of seven men, have been sentenced for child sex abuse offences against teenage girls in rotherham. we have heard that mohammed amer , 42 year old, has mohammed amer, 42 year old, has been sentenced to 14 years in prison. yasser ajib, 39 years old, six years behind bars. mohammed sadiq, 15 years, and mohammed sadiq, 15 years, and mohammed sahib, 25 years in prison. today's sentencing is the result of a five year investigation by the national crime agency as part of operation stovewood , which

operation stovewood, which remains the single largest investigation of its kind in the uk, with more than 1150 victims potentially identified . we are potentially identified. we are heanng potentially identified. we are hearing that the court is now taking a short break before the remaining three of those seven suspects are sentenced, and we'll bring you more on that with our reporter, charlie peters, later this hour . in peters, later this hour. in other news, russia's claims against six british diplomats of espionage and sabotage are completely baseless. according to the foreign office, the fsb security service claims the diplomats actions prompted that response amid what it called numerous unfriendly steps by the uk. it comes as the prime minister, sir keir starmer, meets president joe biden in washington to discuss ukraine's request to use western weapons on russian soil, but concerns over escalation have delayed the approval for ukraine's use of those ballistic missiles. our political correspondent katherine forster is in washington dc. for us. >> volodymyr zelenskyy has made

it plain what further help he wants from the west . one of the wants from the west. one of the things is the ability to use british and french made storm shadow long—range cruise missiles and to send them to in russia itself. now that is something that up until now, the us has been against, and it sounds like that position is beginning to shift. we may hear a change in the coming days or weeks . weeks. >> katherine forster there for us in washington dc. back here, what would have been the uk's first coal mine in 30 years is now in legal limbo, as planning permission has been quashed today by the high court. climate campaigners had argued the decision to grant planning permission for the whitehaven coal mine in cumbria smacked of hypocrisy and said it contradicted the uk's climate commitments. the government had withdrawn its defence, but the

developer, west cumbria mining, still contested the claim. however, in today's ruling, the judge said giving the go ahead for the development was legally flawed . the prison population in flawed. the prison population in england and wales has dropped by over 2000. in just one week following the start of the government's early release scheme. today's figures are the first to be published since labour's plans took effect, reducing the number of prisoners now to just over 86,000. that's down from a record of 88,521 under the scheme implemented on tuesday of this week. about 1700 inmates were freed who had served 40% of their sentences on october, the 22nd. it will be the turn of those with sentences of five years or more, but the government insists it won't apply to the most serious offenders . robert jenrick. the offenders. robert jenrick. the leading candidate for the conservative party leadership is proposing to drastically limit the number of migrants entering the number of migrants entering the country. the former immigration minister told our political editor , chris hope,

political editor, chris hope, that he wants to see a cap of just a few thousand people per yeah just a few thousand people per year. if the conservatives win the next election. he discussed what he called a more controlled and restrictive approach to immigration on chopper's political podcast >> except that what i'm arguing for will not be plain sailing. it requires a big change in our economy, in our public services , economy, in our public services, but it is the right thing to do. >> if you get a gang of thousands, could it? could it? and net figure a thousand. >> well, i think we'd have to give that careful thought. but my point is that it should be in the tens of thousands or lower. >> in the us, donald trump says he's done debating and won't participate in another head to head before the november election, despite polls currently showing kamala harris won their first face off on truth social, trump boasted about his performance, but several top republicans said harris came out on top over 67 million viewers tuned in for the debate, but harris insists voters deserve a rematch, calling for another round here

assisted dying should be allowed, according to panels made up of public members, members of the public rather, after eight weeks of debate, a majority voted in favour. the top reasons for support were the need to stop pain and to allow a dignified death for the terminally ill, while 20 of the 28 jury members supported a change to the law. critics warn it could be misused and lead to reduced palliative care funding. the findings, commissioned by the nuffield council on bioethics, could also influence upcoming parliamentary debates, with a bill expected to be heard in november . with a bill expected to be heard in november. two men have been charged after a banksy painting was stolen from a gallery in london. gary fraser and james love were arrested and charged with burglary following the theft. the girl with balloon painting, which partially self—destructed during a £1.1 million auction, was recovered and will be returned to the gallery. it comes after banksy artworks have recently faced a string of threats, with several

pieces being moved for safe keeping , and the government has keeping, and the government has struck a £630 million deal to bnng struck a £630 million deal to bring part of the national grid's operations into public ownership. launching on the 1st of october, the new national energy system operator will help drive the uk's transition to clean energy and strengthen energy security. energy secretary ed miliband, hailing the move as a milestone which he claims will position the uk as a clean energy superpower. the national grid, though, said the final price could still change before the deal closes. those are the latest headlines for now. i'll be back with you for another roundup in around half another roundup in around 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. >> welcome back. it is now 1210, and the controversy around the government's plans to scrap winter fuel payments continues to heat up. >> now the prime minister is denying handing out a punishment beating to pensioners by taking the energy bill boost off around 10 million pensioners in the uk. >> and following sir keir starmer on his trip to the us capital is our political correspondent, katherine forster. she joins us now. catherine, you've been following the prime minister around on his trip to dc. what exactly did you ask him, and what did he say ? ask him, and what did he say? >> yes. good afternoon, tom and emily or good morning from washington. it's 7:00 here. so the prime minister is in washington very serious matters, of course, but a lot of the questions on the plane, on the way over were about pensioners. of course, the backlash to the cuts to winter fuel still going on. i asked him specifically

about the single, council tax discount if you live alone. and also i said to him, look, what's going on here. are you effectively giving some sort of punishment beating to pensioners who largely, we know tend not to vote labour, and of course, many of them also voted for brexit. to that he said no , absolutely to that he said no, absolutely not. but to the question of the single occupancy council tax discount, well, he was rather less clear. he said look, the budget is on october the 30th. i'm not going to tell you now what's going to be in it. he said, you know, you wouldn't expect me to, which is fair enough. but of course, the government do rule things out sometimes when it suits them. for instance, just the other day in an interview with our political editor christopher hope, and the chancellor, rachel reeves , ruled out that they reeves, ruled out that they would get rid of you know, free

bus travel or tv licences , etc. bus travel or tv licences, etc. so the fact that he won't rule it out, that does not, of course, mean that it's going to happen, but it certainly means that it might. happen, but it certainly means that it might . and, you know, that it might. and, you know, you get a quarter of your council tax bill if you are the only adult living in the house. and we know that pensioners particularly often live alone because, you know , quite often because, you know, quite often their husband or their wife may have died . so this is an have died. so this is an important break. an important benefit for them. so understandably, many of them will be worried if that is the next thing that the government could potentially take from them. >> catherine, it is extraordinary as you rightly say, the shadow, the chancellor, as i should say , has ruled out as i should say, has ruled out several benefit withdrawals. but the prime minister, speaking to you overnight would not rule out a new tax. a 25% extra tax placed upon those who live

alone. and of course, that will affect many, many pensioners if it happens. but it will also affect some working people, particularly people who might have just be living alone or might have had a loved one pass away. this could really become a very pernicious tax on working people, which goes against, if not the letter, the spirit of the labour party campaign, which of course promised to not raise taxes on working people . taxes on working people. >> yes it could. it could affect a lot of people and not only pensioners, as you say, tom. and of course, the government said repeatedly before the last election, we have no plans to raise taxes on working people. now pardon me. they're able to say, look, you know , we're not say, look, you know, we're not putting up income tax, national insurance , vat, but we don't insurance, vat, but we don't know. but we do suspect that they may be going to raise

things like, capital gains tax , things like, capital gains tax, inheritance tax, amongst other things, because they've made it clear that very difficult choices are coming now. there will be plenty of working people who pay capital gains tax and inheritance tax so that working people phrase and that no plans was doing quite a lot of work, wasn't it? >> yeah. i mean, catherine, we are being inundated with messages from people who are worried about this change, potentially in council tax for single households. lots of people are going to be impacted on this. and they say this could cost them far more than the scrapping of the winter fuel payment. this will be a massive hit for people's income , hit for people's income, disposable income and for their lifestyles of course, now you are in washington dc and there's been a huge amount of focus on ukraine and also russia. you've got the kremlin claiming our diplomats are spies. you've got putin threatening all out war

with britain. now we're still awaiting a decision on whether these long—range missiles will be allowed for use on russian soil. what's the latest ? soil. what's the latest? >> yes, well, it's a very delicate and very worrying situation here. frankly, it's only 7:00 in the morning, but later on, the prime minister said keir starmer will be heading to the white house. he'll be having, i understand, a sort of hour and a half meeting with the outgoing president, joe biden. of course , after november biden. of course, after november the 5th, who knows who will be in charge in the us? will it be the return of donald trump, or will it be kamala harris? things could for change ukraine and the united states policy. foreign policy , very dramatically at policy, very dramatically at that point. but in the meantime, the us and the uk really wanting to work very closely together on these very pressing challenges now, they're not going to only

be discussing ukraine, they're going to be talking about the middle east, they're going to be talking about the indo—pacific climate change and other matters. but certainly the situation in ukraine, absolutely top of the list. we had that, joint visit, didn't we, from the foreign secretary, david lammy, who's here, and the us secretary of state, antony blinken, to ukraine this week, where volodymyr zelenskyy made it plain they want permission to fire british, french made storm shadow long—range cruise missiles into russia itself. now, for that to happen , they now, for that to happen, they want the permission of the states, not just because they're our most important ally and they tend to sort of lead the world in the response. also, some of the components my understanding is, are made, in the united states and also they would need the use of united states radar

systems to enable those weapons to be used effectively. but certainly a very clear and sombre warning from russia saying that that would mean that nato countries are at war with russia and saying that russia will take corresponding decisions based on the threat that would be created . so we that would be created. so we have to hope that whatever decisions are made here in the coming days and weeks are the right ones for all of us. >> an absolutely momentous visit. catherine. thank you for being there for us. of course, we'll be back with you throughout the programme as these meetings take place. as these meetings take place. as the news develops. katherine forster. thank you. >> okay. well joining us now is defence and foreign affairs editor at the telegraph. con coughun editor at the telegraph. con coughlin con thank you very much indeed for joining coughlin con thank you very much indeed forjoining us this indeed for joining us this afternoon. big decisions to be made . made. >> yes. and long overdue in my estimation, we gave the ukrainians the storm shadow

missiles several months ago, but we haven't given them permission to use them, so. and in the meantime, the russians are launching missiles from russia at targets inside ukraine. we've discovered this week that some of these missiles have been suppued of these missiles have been supplied by iran, which is getting very close to russia these days. and so the ukrainians have every right to defend themselves by attacking these russian bases that are used to attack ukraine and the war. the war is at a very finely balanced moment, and this could war. the war is at a very finely balanced moment, and this could prove decisive if these prove decisive if these permissions are given in turning permissions are given in turning the tide of the war in ukraine's the tide of the war in ukraine's favour . so, you know, there's favour . so, you know, there's favour. so, you know, there's a lot to play for in washington in favour. so, you know, there's a lot to play for in washington in the next couple of days. the next couple of days. >> it is extraordinary to see >> it is extraordinary to see that russia has these sort of back a very finely that russia has these sort of missile launching sites in its missile launching sites in its own territory. fires at own territory. fires at ukrainian energy production, ukrainian energy production, ukrainian energy production, ukrainian energy production, ukrainian transport nodes, ukrainian transport nodes, ukrainian transport nodes, ukrainian transport nodes, ukrainian homes, even. and the ukrainian homes, even. and the ukrainians aren't allowed to hit ukrainians aren't allowed to hit

back at them. it's almost as if the west has guaranteed mr putin his own virtual iron dome . his own virtual iron dome. >> yeah, and this has been going on since the start of the conflict. i mean, first of all, we had the arguments about giving the ukrainians tanks. thenit giving the ukrainians tanks. then it was the f—16s, and now it's the missiles. and at every step, the biden administration has been very hesitant because joe biden, the president, is worried about escalation. and every time, one, every time putin makes these threats about retaliation, biden takes them seriously and holds back from giving ukraine the weapons he wants. but as we've seen over the last two and a half years, this is all bluster by putin. he's threatened nuclear war and all sorts. but the fact is, he's not going to do that. he's in a very difficult position. he's lost sovereign territory in russia for the first time in the conflict. he's on the defensive, as i said, allowing the

ukrainians to use these missiles to strike deep inside russia. and neutralise these weapon systems that the russians are using against ukraine, could be very, very decisive in turning the tide of the war, and i think the tide of the war, and i think the biden administration should get over its hesitancy, realise that putin is just full of bluster, and give the ukrainians the weapons they need to win this war, because winning this war for ukraine is in nato's interests. this will send putin, teach putin a lesson and stop him from indulging in further acts of aggression in europe. >> con surely there are some people with reasonable concerns that by allowing the use of these british and american missiles in russian soil, that we will be escalating things, that there is now a threat of the west being perceived even more so as being a part of this war. surely those concerns are

reasonable . reasonable. >> well, they are concerns. i don't agree with them. i think i think if british and american forces were firing the weapons against russia, that would be a big escalation. but but we have every right to give the ukrainians weapons. iran, as i said , is giving russia weapons said, is giving russia weapons as is north korea, as is china, lots of countries are

sabre rattling about nuclear war and you're told it's a, it's a 0.5% chance that he'll do it, you know, 99.5% chance he won't press the nuclear button. there's going to be part of you that thinks, am i going to be the guy that takes that risk? and how would i be remembered in history if it was the 0.5% chance that it's easy? >> it's easy to say it's all it's all bluster from putin. but yes, there is always that what if question. but is it is it not the same thing providing the weapons and allowing them to use the weapons as using the weapons ourselves? is that not the same thing in putin's eyes? i think it is. >> it is clearly. i think it's very, very silly that we've given all these weapons that are long—range weapons, and we haven't said that they can be used for what they're meant to be used for. i think it's just to look at it seems inevitable that this decision will be reached this week, but we'll be back in dc. as and when we know more, we will indeed. >> this is good afternoon, britain on gb news. we've got lots more coming up on today's show. we're hearing news about a potential alternative to the failed project of hs2, a low

speed railway. you're very excited about this one. >> i love i love this, it's, you know, we can't do high speed rail in this country. why don't we try some low speed rail instead? more on that. after this.

>> okay. welcome back. it's 1226. you're watching or listening to good afternoon britain. now earlier in the show we were discussing the fact that keir starmer has so far refused to rule out essentially taxing people more who live alone. this is the council tax exemption. you get a 25% discount at the moment. it affects lots of pensioners, lots of people living on their own. widower's just single people, single parents, perhaps lots of people . parents, perhaps lots of people. i mean, jones says i'll be affected as an older person if the council tax discount is applied. i'm concerned also about young people who have strived to save for a mortgage,

and now if they're on their own, they'll have a 25% increase and pwc says, i live alone. it would be a big blow to my finances losing this. it's not fair that ihave losing this. it's not fair that i have to pay the same as someone with a house full of people. >> and maureen has written in to say that she's a widow, saying that if starmer does this, it's just another hit on pensioners . just another hit on pensioners. he's an absolute disgrace and not fit for office is the word of maureen. heather says that she would be affected if they took away this single household discount, saying i would not be able to afford to stay in my home. i think there is. there is a particularly gendered aspect to this tax rise. i think generally out of couples it tends to be, the husband that dies first in most cases. and for anyone who's reaching the later stages of life and has had the tragedy of losing a loved one, this is a hit. this the tragedy of losing a loved one, this is a hit . this is a one, this is a hit. this is a hit on widows. this is a hit on single people. it's a hit on

older people. it's a hit on vulnerable people. >> it would be a widow tax. it would absolutely . there are would absolutely. there are millions of pensioners who are living on their own currently. and sadly, a lot of a lot of pensioners can be quite lonely as well. we've got a loneliness epidemic as well. lots of you getting in touch . there seems to getting in touch. there seems to be a sense that you just believe the labour party are going to choose to punish pensioners. you say our homes will be next as suzan holder. >> it doesn't make sense if you live alone . are you using as live alone. are you using as much bin services? no. are you using the schools? no. are you using the schools? no. are you using the schools? no. are you using the facilities to the extent that a household full of people are using absolutely not. >> that's why there's a discount. anyway, we move on. keep your views coming in. >> the government has unveiled a proposal to build a new 50 mile railway line as a slower and cheaper alternative to a scrapped section of hs2. >> well, this comes after a report commissioned by the mayors of greater manchester and

the west midlands found that a link between the midlands and the north west is to critical enhance capacity for passengers. >> well, our reporter jack carson joins us now from birmingham. jack what are the details of this proposal ? details of this proposal? >> well, this is the midlands nonh >> well, this is the midlands north west rail link. it's been proposed by a group of a of a private consortium led by sir david higgins, the infrastructure expert. it was commissioned, as you remember, after rishi sunak, the then prime minister, scrapped the second leg of hs2 at the conservative party conference. he said that that £36 billion was going to be reinvested in different infrastructure, whether it's rail, whether it's road to better connect the north as well. but sir david higgins, who's been part of this report, he's leading this consortium, has said that doing nothing in this corridor between birmingham and manchester, he says, is not and manchester, he says, is not a viable option from an economic or operational perspective. so this is a 50 mile rail link that

is going to be slower than the planned hs2 second leg would be. it's going to run from just north here in birmingham, from lichfield going to the south, south—east of warrington in high leigh, and of course, this report was commissioned by the mayors of andy burnham and then conservative mayor of the west midlands, andy street. he's tweeted to this morning actually as well, to say he's pleased that the connectivity work that he and andy burnham commissioned has come to fruition. he says the decision over hs2 north was always wrong, and so he hopes this case for a new rail line, a railway line, will be brought to life in to order bring it to life. of course, it's going to need much of the funding now. the proposals for the funding is that the majority should be maximised from the private sector, and the report says with central and local governments partnering to try and fund the balance where they're trying to save costs is already using much of the land that's been bought up already for £2 billion by the

hs2 phase two. it says it will roughly deliver 85% of the benefits of hs2 at 60 to 75% of the cost, with journeys expected to only take 15 minutes more than they would have done if that hsz than they would have done if that hs2 second leg had gone ahead. i've been speaking to people here in birmingham high street today, trying to get a bit of reaction as to whether this is something that they like, something they like the sound of. i actually met somebody from manchester that had used the west coast main line to get down today. he's he says he's supportive of this second line. he told me today if it's cheap and if it doesn't cost the taxpayers too much money, i think that's the main thing here. if it's when it's up and running, it's affordable for people to actually use to use that link, as sir david higgins says, which would better economic prosperity within the midlands. and the north as well. andy burnham, of course, was part of the people that commissioned this report. he said that there's no way on god's earth that the current west coast main line and the m6

can be relied upon for decades, and the new mayor for the west midlands, labour's richard parker, says he's going to try and work on the government to get this done. >> i think anyone who's travelled on the west coast main line would probably agree with andy burnham's assessment there. it can be a frankly, it can be a bit rickety but remarkable if, if, if this costs half as much as hs2 and half of that is covered by the private sector, not the government. i mean, by my quick maths, that's a quarter of the cost of the second leg of hs2. >> as long as we, the taxpayers taxpayer, don't have to take all the risk and all the overflow costs. thank you. jack jack carson , you're in birmingham. carson, you're in birmingham. thank you very much for reporting on the potential slow rail instead of the high speed rail. >> 15 minutes slower if it connects up to hsi, i think, i think it could be good. >> it could be a good thing. it could be. well, we need some more capacity, don't we? anyway, this is good afternoon britain on gb news. we've got lots more coming up on today's show and i'll get this. apparently low

skilled workers or low skilled migrants are actually costing £150,000 each to the taxpayer. we'll reveal why after the . news. >> tom. emily, thank you very much indeed. good afternoon to you. it'sjust much indeed. good afternoon to you. it's just after 12:33. we'll start with the breaking news we brought you in the last half hour or so from south yorkshire, that the four first of seven men have been sentenced for child sex abuse offences against teenage girls in rotherham. today's sentencing is the result of a five year long investigation by the national crime agency as part of operation stovewood. it remains the single largest investigation of its kind in the uk, with more than 1150 potential victims identified. the court are now taking a short break before the remaining three suspects are sentenced, and we will, of course, bring you the latest lines from that sentencing with our reporter charlie peters later this afternoon . in other

later this afternoon. in other news, russia's claims against six british diplomats of espionage and sabotage are completely baseless. according to the foreign office. the fsb security service claims the diplomats actions prompted a response amid what it called numerous unfriendly steps by the uk . it comes as the labour uk. it comes as the labour leader and prime minister, sir keir starmer, meets president joe biden in washington to discuss ukraine's request to use western weapons on russian soil. concerns over escalation, though, have delayed the approval for ukraine's use of the ballistic missiles. our political correspondent katherine forster is currently in washington dc. for us, volodymyr zelenskyy has made it plain what further help he wants from the west. >> one of the things is the ability to use british and french made storm shadow long—range cruise missiles and to send them in to russia itself. now that is something

that up until now, the us has been against, and it sounds like that position is beginning to shift. we may hear a change in the coming days or weeks. >> what would have been the uk's first coal mine in 30 years is now in legal limbo, as planning permission has been quashed today by the high court. climate campaigners argue the decision to grant planning permission for the whitehaven coal mine in cumbria smacked of hypocrisy and said it contradicted the uk's climate commitments. the government had withdrawn its defence, but the developer , west defence, but the developer, west cumbria mining, still contested the claim. however, in today's ruling, the judge said giving the go ahead for the development was legally flawed . the prison was legally flawed. the prison population in england and wales has dropped by over 2000. in just one week following the start of the government's early release scheme. today's figures are the first to be published since labour's plans took

effect, reducing the number of prisoners now to just over 86,000, down from a record of 88,521. under the scheme implemented on tuesday this week, about 1700 inmates were freed . assisted dying should be freed. assisted dying should be allowed in england, according to allowed in england, according to a panel made up of members of the public. after eight weeks of debate, the top reasons for support were the need to stop pain and to allow a dignified death for the terminally ill, while 20 of the 28 jury members supported a law change, critics are warning it could be misused and lead to reduced palliative care funding . and in the us, care funding. and in the us, donald trump says he's done with debating and won't participate in another head to head before the election, despite polls showing kamala harris won their first face off on truth social . first face off on truth social. trump's boasted about his performance, but several top republicans said harris came out on top . over 67 million viewers on top. over 67 million viewers tuned in for the debate , but tuned in for the debate, but harris insists voters deserve a

rematch. those are the latest headunes rematch. those are the latest headlines for now. i'll be back at 1:00 with a full roundup for the very latest gb news direct to your smartphone , sign up to to your smartphone, sign up to news alerts by scanning the qr code, or go to gbnews.com >> forward slash alerts

>> good afternoon britain. it is now 20 to 1 and low skilled migrants are costing the uk taxpayer over £150,000 each over their lifetime. that's according to the new analysis from the office for budget responsibility. >> that's just before they turn state pension age. anyway, the report has intensified the debate over immigration policy as the government government faces rising pressure to reduce the number of low paid migrant workers. >> joining us is the research

director from the centre for migration control, robert bates. robert, this is a pretty stark chart when you look at it there in black and white. as soon as a low income migrant comes to the uk, they start costing the taxpayer money rather than contributing. >> yeah, so this is something that a lot of us have been highlighting for a very long time that the uk's current migration system is overwhelmingly skewed towards those that are low income, that are earning less than is needed to make a positive contribution to make a positive contribution to the treasury. >> the obr has actually, for a very long time, been one of the roadblocks for us having a meaningful debate about the costs of mass migration. it's clearly adopted a new methodology within this iteration of its report. and the results, as you say, are quite startling. you know, 150,000 before people reach the state pension age. and that's , of pension age. and that's, of course, excluding other key

factors such as the fact that many of these individuals are coming with dependants and family members and children and elderly relatives that impose an extra burden on the education system and on the healthcare system. it's also to say nothing of the remittances that are being sent abroad by those that come to the uk and work, which is around about 20 billion a yeah is around about 20 billion a year. and then let's also not forget that once an individual has spent five years in britain, they are then eligible for a whole host of benefits. and you know , we saw a report a couple know, we saw a report a couple of weeks ago that showed that there are currently 1.69 million migrants that are either economically inactive or unemployed in the uk as well. so i would argue that this figure is actually underselling the scale of the problem. >> i guess, robert, i guess the counter to what you're saying would be that low skilled british workers as well, will be costing the taxpayer a lot of money. >> well, yeah, but that's the nature of it. i mean, these are individuals that were born in the country. they are people that are part of our part of our country and that we should be

supporting. we should. that doesn't therefore mean that we should be compounding the problem by bringing in those that make no economic contribution. and i think that is absolute folly to go down that route. i mean, one of the arguments that we are always told is that migrants are needed in these low skilled roles because brits simply won't do the won't do the job. well. when you look at the number of economically inactive brits that we currently have in the uk, which is 9,009,000,000. so i would argue that there's a lot more that needs to be done to get them into work to and alleviate the problem as well, because let's not forget, for every migrant that's coming in and doing a low skilled role, there's one brit that might be potentially eligible for that role that's being displaced as well. so there's a whole secondary facet that we need to consider as well. >> now looking at low wage, low skilled migrants, clearly a cost to the taxpayer, a significant cost. but the obr also looked at the average migrant and the high skilled high wage migrants. now very obviously, the high skilled, high wage migrants are a net contribution to the uk treasury . but interestingly for treasury. but interestingly for the average migrant . so

the average migrant. so i suppose this this discounts those at the very top and those at the very bottom. they have to live to the age of 93 before they become a net drain on the uk treasury . the average migrant uk treasury. the average migrant is a net contributor right up until they live well beyond their life expectancy, surely that suggests that there's a part of our migration system thatis part of our migration system that is working well. >> so this is where i would quibble with the obr. i'd argue that the average migrant, you know, you look at the cohorts that have been entering in 2021 to through to 2023, and what we are seeing is fundamentally 70 to 80% of them are earning less than the migration advisory committee's own report suggest they need to be earning to make a net contribution, which is around between 38 and £45,000 a yean around between 38 and £45,000 a year, depending on the number of dependents that they bring. so although the obr's analysis of the costs of low skilled migration seems to be moving in the right direction, there's still a lot more that needs to

be done in our political establishment, in the quangos and in the in the whitehall chambers that are making decisions around this policy to actually make them truly alert to the problems that we are. we are facing with this mass migration experiment. >> well, it's good to have the transparency with these figures, at least , that the obr is at least, that the obr is looking into this and providing us with data so we can make actual, you know, informed opinions and hopefully inform informed policy decisions. robert bates, thank you very much indeed. you are the research director from the centre for migration control. so apparently, if you're a low wage migrant worker, £150,000, you cost the taxpayer until you reach the pension age 500,000. if you reach 80 years old, and 1 million plus if you reach 100. >> it does. it does show how much pensions cost. >> well , it does show how much >> well, it does show how much pensions cost, for sure, but it does just show the cost of pubuc does just show the cost of public services. you have to have a pretty good wage if you're going to be a net contributor .

contributor. >> although, although the average migrant is . average migrant is. >> yeah. well, we shall see. i don't know about that. in recent years. >> that's also due to the no recourse to public funds that recent migrants get. so there's a lot of state services that recent migrants can't get . recent migrants can't get. although if they're an approved refugee, of course they get that immediately. >> then there's the issue of independence, though. there's the issue of dependence. you may have lots of children once you come here. who knows? anyway, we've got lots more coming up on today's show. the nanny state. it's back in a big way. we'll reveal why.

okay. 1249 is the time now a landmark shift in public health policy is set to take effect next year. labour has confirmed a watershed ban on junk food advertising before 9:00, with onune advertising before 9:00, with online ads banned entirely.

>> extraordinary. can't make our own decisions. now the move marks the first in a series of measures aimed at tackling britain's worsening health crisis and kerbing soaring nhs spending, with sir keir starmer pledging further preventative steps now. take these pictures in. enjoy them while you still can. what we're showing you on your television screens will soon be illegal in this country. this is real pioneering broadcasting. >> yeah, we'll be taught that in history lessons. we'll be shown this. people will be able to see the pictures. >> you can't look at the doughnut. you're not allowed to see it. >> anyway, joining us now is former presenter of fat family steve miller, who no longer looks at doughnuts, no longer consumes them. of course you don't steve miller. steve let me know what you make of this. why 9:00? firstly, why is that the watershed? >> well, he obviously thinks that, you know, kids, go to bed at 9:00. i'm not sure about that. but, you know, we've got a prime minister here that actually should. he probably actually should. he probably actually should. he probably actually should have his address to changed ten banning street because over the last few weeks

we have had seriously, what have we have had seriously, what have we had? we've had the fuel allowance banned. we've had smoking in pub gardens banned. i had some sympathy with that. takeaways near schools , bands. takeaways near schools, bands. now we've got junk ads banned. what's he going to ban next. my sense of humour i don't know. but the thing is this i don't think is going to work because from television, first of all, kids generally don't watch television these days. traditionally they're what they're looking at. tick tock , they're looking at. tick tock, and they're on their games. they're on their apps. so i'm not sure it's going to have much power there. secondly, we have to remember that parents are the power when it comes to children and their weight and their health. so what what he shouldn't be doing is taking away that responsibility and blaming, blaming, advertising in this case. and then the third thing is, you know, you've got the whole environment. you've only got to go on to the street and straight in front of you with shops selling sweets , with shops selling sweets, chocolates and so—called junk food. so i know i'm not a fan of this one. i don't think it will

work, i just don't because the environment we've got this obesogenic environment anyway . obesogenic environment anyway. so i just think, i don't think nanny needs to come out for this. >> no, it is a remarkable list that you that you read out there at the top of all of these things that the government has banned. but of course, keir starmer might well be taking his cues from sadiq khan , who in cues from sadiq khan, who in london has already banned junk food adverts on the tube and on buses across transport for london services. >> but i feel skinnier already. >> but i feel skinnier already. >> but i feel skinnier already. >> but here's the thing i don't think london's any skinnier. and what's more peculiar is we had this example earlier this year of a comedian, a comedian by the name of ed gamble, who was advertising his stand up show. he wasn't advertising food . his he wasn't advertising food. his stand up show was called the hot diggity dog tour, and there was a picture of a hot dog. he wasn't allowed to show a hot dog on the advert . wasn't allowed to show a hot dog on the advert. it wasn't allowed to show a hot dog on the advert . it wasn't even an on the advert. it wasn't even an advert for food. i mean, this is where we're going nationally how.

>> now. >> what did he change it to? no. >> what did he change it to? no. >> and this and this and this is what's concerning me a bit now is that everything's about banning, and i don't know why i feel like control is coming in. i feel like i'm being suffocated. i mean, can you i mean, keir starmer just seems bothered about banning, banning, banning and rules. hang on steve, you were pro the outdoor smoking ban . yes i was, i was smoking ban. yes i was, i was pro that one. i'll hold my hands up to that one because i can't stand smoke in my face. the other thing i mean, can you imagine keir starmer at a party? i mean, how excited would he be when he just wants to ban everything? i mean, it'd be. so be like a funeral. listen, this is not going to work. britain needs to get rid of what he needs to get rid of what he needs to get rid of what he needs to ban. i'll tell you what he needs to ban that acceptance. that's what he needs to ban . you that's what he needs to ban. you know, going from the catwalk to the catwalk, all of that sort of stuff. that's what he needs to be saying, and he needs to be saying we have to be bolder when we're talking about weight and fat like they do in japan. japan have an obesity rate of around 5%. ours is in the mid 20s and

they they don't hold back. they say it as it is. the danger here is we're losing straight talking. coming back to this issue though. no i don't think it's going to work. kids don't watch telly . they're on. they're watch telly. they're on. they're on their games. they're out in the environment. they're going to see the sweets. they're going to see the sweets. they're going to see the burgers. they're going to smell the chips and i tell you what, it won't, it won't, it won't affect anything. all it will do is, is affect potentially affect. >> that's all we've got time for. but thank you so much for your thoughts on that. we'll be back of course, next hour on good afternoon britain with ukraine and russia. are we in for world war three? >> a brighter outlook with boxt solar sponsors of weather on gb news . news. >> hello. welcome along to the latest forecast from the met office for gb news. it's turned into a fine day for many of us. dry sunny spells. there is some rain turning up later and that's because of this weather front

coming along from the atlantic. and it's going to push cloud and outbreaks of rain and a freshening breeze into the west of scotland, parts of northern ireland. but for the vast majority, sunny spells through the rest of the afternoon into the rest of the afternoon into the early evening. and then any cloud that does appear through the day tends to fizzle out overnight for england and wales as a result. temperatures falling away once again. we've got relatively cold air in place, 1 or 2 mist and fog patches, but for scotland and northern ireland, the thicker cloud here, outbreaks of rain mean that it won't be quite as chilly. 10 to 12 celsius. meanwhile temperatures could be close to freezing in some parts of central and southern england and south wales, but that's where we've got the best of the sunshine first thing. a beautiful start to the day. there will be some high cloud around, but for much of england and wales, what a cracking start to the weekend now cumbria a bit more cloud and certainly for scotland and northern ireland. it is a cloudier start to the day. that means it's not going to be quite as chilly out there. temperatures typically in the double figures, but it's fairly dreary over the highlands, the

grampians, the southern uplands. a lot of low cloud, some patchy rain and drizzle. brighter skies for the east of scotland and certainly for much of england and wales. we keep the dry and bright weather through the day. some areas of medium and high cloud around, but otherwise it's set for western scotland and northern ireland. increasingly breezy, increasingly damp and as a result, it's not going to feel very pleasant as the winds pick up. but further south, a slightly warmer day compared with friday. highs of 18 to 19 celsius, and we keep the fine weather in the south into saturday night. but the weather front that's causing the damp weather in the north—west tends to sink south into northern england and parts of wales by sunday. to the north of that, some showers and to the south staying fine. higher pressure next week. >> that warm feeling inside from boxt boilers, sponsors of

>> good afternoon britain. it's 1:00 on friday the 13th of september. i'm emily carver. i'm tom harwood left out in the cold breaking this hour. the prime minister has denied that his government is dishing out a punishment beating to pensioners, but continues to refuse to rule out scrapping the single person council tax discount , single person council tax discount, which could impact millions of older people . millions of older people. >> war with russia vladimir putin warns britain and america it could well face that situation if they allow ukraine to use their weapons on russian soil, saying it could spark a war on the west. the prime minister is in washington dc as we speak. watch this space. >> yes, and the royal air force. see what we've done there. prince george is taking his first flying lesson at the young age of just 11. didn't know that was allowed. he's following a long line of royal aviators, including his father, prince william, and great grandfather, prince philip .

prince philip. >> 16 year olds voting, 11 year olds flying planes. what's this world coming to? >> do you think he actually does it on his own? i think it's probably going to be in a simulator, isn't it? or maybe a simulator. >> they stick you with theory for a little bit. >> or maybe, you know, in some planes you can do a little bit of the action, can't you, in the passenger seat. >> i can't imagine. even if he's. even if he's the heir to the throne, i can't imagine he'd be sitting up there in the cockpit of a real plane at the age of 11. >> but what if they own all the land that he's doing it in? then surely it's up to them. no, i mean personal responsibility. >> no, i think i think the aviation, the air belongs to rmt would would probably have something to say about it, i don't know. >> well, we're going to be speaking to an expert on this who can tell us exactly why he's allowed to go on a flying lesson, get rid of all the other news. >> i mean, world war iii, you know , tax rises for pensioners.

know, tax rises for pensioners. i mean, let's let's put all, all aside for one moment. i want an expert, i want i want to find out, can 11 year olds fly planes in this country? you just know there will be people who look at that headline and they're like, oh, the privilege. >> the privilege. it's like, yes, he's privileged. he's prince. >> yeah. although i suppose at least with our privileged people, they tend to be if they're in the royal family, their sort of duties expected of them. whereas if you look at the kardashians, and i've got nothing against the kardashians, but i don't know, i think they have perhaps less decorum. they've got large family . they've got large family. goodness me, i haven't been looking. well, much more to come in today's programme. and from everything from bottoms to aeroplanes, from tax rises for pensioners to the prospect of weapons being used on russian soil, do get in touch . soil, do get in touch. gbnews.com/yoursay is the way to get involved. >> it's your headlines.

>> it's your headlines. >> very good afternoon to you. it's just after 1:00. the top story this lunchtime, and we start with some breaking news out of south yorkshire, where seven men have been jailed for over 100 years after what the judge there described as harrowing crimes against girls in rotherham. we can take you live to our national reporter, charlie peters, who is outside sheffield crown court for us, charlie, today's sentencing coming at the end of a difficult and quite dramatic nine week trial . trial. >> that's right, sam, and a five year long investigation by the national crime agency with the judge here, mrjustice slater thanking the two victims as he wrapped up proceedings handing down over 106 years in sentences to seven defendants. today. they are mohammed omar, 42, convicted of two counts of indecent assault , 16 of two counts of indecent assault, 16 years imprisonment. yasser ajaib , one count of yasser ajaib, one count of indecent assault , 12 months on indecent assault, 12 months on an extended licence and six years imprisonment. mohammed

sadiq, 49. he was convicted of one count of rape and one count of sexual intercourse with a girl under 13. he was given 15 years imprisonment. some members of his family seen crying and shaking their heads in the pubuc shaking their heads in the public gallery as that sentence was delivered. mohammed shehab, convicted of two counts of rape and one count of sexual intercourse with a girl under 13 and a count of trafficking , was and a count of trafficking, was given 25 years imprisonment.

and a count of trafficking, was given 25 yearrnine risonment. and a count of trafficking, was given 25 yearrnine risonnoflt. he was given nine years of imprisonment. all of these sentences were observed by the two victims, with one of them also giving a very moving personal impact statement yesterday here at sheffield crown court. >> charlie, thanks very much . >> charlie, thanks very much. charlie peters there live for us outside sheffield crown court as that trial five weeks in the making, nine weeks in fact comes to an end . we will hear more to an end. we will hear more from charlie, no doubt, throughout the rest of this afternoon. in other news, russia is claiming that six british diplomats are guilty of espionage and sabotage, but the foreign office says that is completely baseless. the fsb claims the diplomats actions prompted them to be expelled from moscow amid what it called numerous unfriendly steps by the uk. it comes as the prime minister, sir keir starmer, is meeting with president joe biden in washington, along with his foreign secretary, david lammy, to discuss ukraine's request to use western weapons on russian soil. concerns over escalation, though, have delayed approval

for ukraine's use of those ballistic missiles. our political correspondent katherine forster is in washington for us, volodymyr zelenskyy has made it plain what further help he wants from the we st. west. >> one of the things is the ability to use british and french made storm shadow long—range cruise missiles and to send them in to russia itself. now that is something that up until now, the us has been against, and it sounds like that position is beginning to shift. we may hear a change in the coming days or weeks here. >> what would have been the uk's first coal mine in 30 years is now in legal limbo, as planning permission has been quashed by the high court. today, climate campaigners had argued the decision to grant planning permission for the whitehaven coal mine in cumbria, they said,

smacked of hypocrisy and contradicted the uk's climate commitments. the government had withdrawn its defence, but developer of west cumbria mining still contested the claim. however, in today's ruling, the judge said giving the go ahead for the development was legally flawed. the prison population in england and wales has dropped by over 2000. in just one week following the start of the government's early release scheme. today's figures are the first to be published since labour's plans took effect on tuesday, reducing the number of prisoners now to just over 86,000. that's down from a record of 88,521 under the scheme implemented. this week. about 1700 inmates were freed who had served 40% of their sentence , and robert jenrick, sentence, and robert jenrick, the leading candidate for the conservative party leadership, is proposing to drastically limit the number of migrants entering the country. the former immigration minister told our political editor chris hope he

wants to see a cap of just a few thousand people per year. if the conservatives win the next election. he discussed what he called a more controlled approach to immigration on chopper's political podcast. >> i accept that what i'm arguing for will not be plain sailing. it requires a big change in our economy, in our pubuc change in our economy, in our public services . but it is the public services. but it is the right thing to do to get a gang of thousands, could it, could it? >> and net figure. >> and net figure. >> well, i think we'd have to give that careful thought. but my point is that it should be in the tens of thousands or lower. >> those are the latest gb news headunes >> those are the latest gb news headlines for now. plenty more on that. breaking news from the rotherham sentencing at sheffield crown court later this houn sheffield crown court later this hour. for now , though, back to hour. for now, though, back to tom and emily for the very latest gb news direct to your smartphone . smartphone. >> sign up to news alerts by scanning the qr code, or go to gbnews.com forward slash alerts .

gbnews.com forward slash alerts. >> okay, it is now 109 you're watching listening to good afternoon britain and we begin this hour with the controversy that's enveloping the government, their plans to scrap winter fuel payments. it is all heating up, heating up. it's not going anywhere, is it? >> ironically now? >> ironically now? >> ironically, yes. >> ironically, yes. >> the prime minister is denying handing out a punishment beating to pensioners by taking the energy bill. boost off around 10 million people receiving the state pension and following sir keir starmer on his trip to the us is our political correspondent, katherine forster, who joins us now. >> catherine, thank you very much indeed forjoining us. it is the morning over there. you've been following the prime minister on his big trip to the united states, and he's been asked many a question about the winter fuel payments and potential attacks on pensioners . potential attacks on pensioners. >> yes. good afternoon , tom and >> yes. good afternoon, tom and emily. it's 8:00 in the morning here. yes. the prime minister is here. yes. the prime minister is

here to talk about pressing global issues such as ukraine. but a lot of the questions that we journalists asked him on the plane, on the way over yesterday were about pensioners, the row about the winter fuel allowance goes on. it turns out that an impact assessment on the effect that that potentially could have on some pensioners has not been done by the government. ahead of making this decision . and i making this decision. and i asked him if basically the government were dishing out some sort of punishment, beating to pensioners due to the fact that they tend not to vote labour in very large numbers and of course, a lot of them voted for brexit as well. now, he said no, absolutely not. but i also asked about the possibility of reassuring pensioners about another thing that might be in the firing line, and that is the single occupancy council tax discount that you get if you are a single adult living alone, you

get 25% currently off your council tax bill. now, for many people, that's quite a lot of money. and of course, lots of pensioners do live on their own. often they've been bereaved, they've lost their husband or wife and are on their own for that reason. on that he didn't give me a clear answer. he basically said, look, the budget is on october the 30th. i'm not going to pre—empt anything in that. he said, don't take it from this that, you know, we're ruling it in or out. he's simply not going to say so. we don't know that it's going to happen, of course. but you know , a lot of course. but you know, a lot of course. but you know, a lot of pensioners, i think are very unhappy and very worried about how they're going to pay their fuel bills this winter. and of course, the government is saying so that 880,000 people not claiming pension credit, which would also entitle them to winter fuel allowance, get your application in, but also worried now about potential further hits to their incomes .

to their incomes. >> you know, it really does seem like it's a stark time for many people. this will not be a happy budget and it does really run against what the labour party was saying during the election campaign that they would not be raising any more than the specific taxes that they said they would raise on, on private schools and on non—doms. it seems like we're a world away now from that, where they really are going to be raising taxes on ordinary people who , frankly, ordinary people who, frankly, are not well off. >> well, yes, they said they had no plans. of course, plans can change, can't they? and as they've said repeatedly, they say that they found that the pubuc say that they found that the public finances were dramatically worse than they had realised before . they talk realised before. they talk repeatedly of this £22 billion black hole, they say, was left by the previous conservative government. worth pointing out that 9 billion of that is due to

a choice that the government has made in awarding public sector workers and above inflation pay rises, as recommended by the pay review bodies. but that is a choice that they have made. so yeah, they said no plans, but plans have changed. it seems, and we are being prepared over and we are being prepared over and over again for a difficult day. i think on october the 30th, lots of potentially hard decisions and tax rises and spending cuts , etc. rachel spending cuts, etc. rachel reeves has said she's going to stick to very strict fiscal rules. they don't want to do anything that's going to scare the markets and make them look like they're irresponsible. but clearly a lot of pain to come. >> yes. and we have been inundated with people who are very worried about particularly this council tax exemption being scrapped, because that will add a huge amount to people's bills and cut down their disposable

income quite dramatically, but you are in washington for other reasons. there's a lot of talk about ukraine and how to deal with russia. you've got the kremlin claiming our diplomats are spies and booting them out. you've got putin threatening an all out war with britain. if we allow these long—range missiles to be used on russian soil, where are we with it all? >> yes. very worrying . noises >> yes. very worrying. noises off. coming from russia . indeed. off. coming from russia. indeed. so the prime minister is here again in washington. it's his second trip. he was here for the nato summit shortly after he was elected . he's here for a meeting elected. he's here for a meeting with the outgoing president, joe biden . they will be meeting for biden. they will be meeting for about an hour and a half later on today. david lammy, the foreign secretary, is in attendance. tim barrow , the attendance. tim barrow, the national security adviser. we expect antony blinken, the us secretary of state also a meeting about shared global

challenges. so of course, largely ukraine, also the middle east, also the indo—pacific. but ukraine, absolutely top of the list because it is soon going to be coming into winter. they want to give ukraine what it needs to try to gain some sort of advantage going into the winter. worth saying that come november the 5th, when joe biden will no longer be president and either donald trump or kamala harris will take his place, things may change dramatically then, but at the moment, all the focus seems to be on ukraine's request to fire storm shadow long—range cruise missiles directly into russia to take out targets within russia that russia is using to attack ukraine. now the us has previously been very firm on saying they will not support this, but it does seem to be shifting now. we asked the prime minister in detail on the plane

yesterday about this. he does not want to go into any details , not want to go into any details, but clearly discussions are happening. i don't expect any announcement on that today. we've been told not to expect an announcement possible. we might hear something at the united nafions hear something at the united nations general assembly in a week or so, or perhaps more likely, we may know that permission has been given at the point that these weapons are actually used, because are you really going to want to signal to russia if you're going to use these missiles? are you really going to tell the world that you're about to do so? >> i wonder if the decision has already been taken. katherine forster, live from washington , forster, live from washington, dc.thank forster, live from washington, dc. thank you very much for all of that . joining us now is the of that. joining us now is the retired british army officer tim cross. tim, what's the what's the balance here. obviously this has been a decision that the united kingdom and united states hasn't taken until this point. what are they weighing up ?

what are they weighing up? >> well, there's obviously the issue of the to politics this. and some of that has just been covered in your in your correspondent from from a military point of view. let's be clear, there are three areas of a battlefield in the context of ukraine. there's the close battle, which is what's going on at the front line. the fighting between individual soldiers, you know, fighting in places like the donbas and kursk and so on. and that that is a obviously a crucial part of the ability to win a campaign. behind that is the rear battle, and the rear battle is what's in place to enable those people in the close battle to conduct that fight. the logistics, the lines of communication, the industrial base, the critical national infrastructure, and so on. and then at the front of the close battle is the deep battle, and the deep battle is the ability, our ability to strike at the enemy's lines of communication. logistic bases command and control centres, and so on to disrupt what they're able to do to maintain and sustain their close battle. now, thus far,

russia has been able to conduct operations in all three of those areas and has hit deeply into ukraine up to the western borders , odesa and so on and so borders, odesa and so on and so forth. now, when putin says that , forth. now, when putin says that, you know, if we attack russian soil with storm shadow and so on, then we need to be careful. but actually we've been doing that. crimea. putin considers crimea to be russian soil, yet we've been using storm shadow against crimea. and thus far that's as much as the western politicians have been prepared to allow ukraine to use. not just storm shadow, but other systems, too. now, if we do not allow ukraine to fight into that, into the russian rear areas, into that deep battle, then i think ukraine will continue to struggle and, you know, it's ridiculous not to allow them to do that . i mean, allow them to do that. i mean, in the context of this, i've used the analysis of in in 1940, the americans gave us or we bought from the americans, actually a whole pile of stuff under lend—lease. we had to pay

for it. and we didn't stop paying for it. and we didn't stop paying for it until a couple of decades ago. it was a huge amount of money. but when the americans gave us that military capability in 1940, they didn't say, okay, here it all is, but you can't use it to attack germany. i mean, it would have been a nonsense. and thus far we have been constraining ukraine from being able to conduct proper, you know, operations. and this deep battle is important. so it's a balance between that military piece and i don't dismiss it out of hand. the politicians concern of what putin may or may not do if we decide to allow that to happen. >> well, this is the thing we were hearing from con coughlin, who is the defence editor at the telegraph. he said that it's all just bluster from vladimir putin that he will not launch some kind of all out war on the west that we're not having . we're not that we're not having. we're not heading to world war iii over this. but considering all of the military support that we have been given ukraine from training their troops , giving them our their troops, giving them our expertise, our military

expertise, our military expertise to the to the billions in in military aid and financial aid , i guess you may as well aid, i guess you may as well allow them to go the whole hog and use the missiles in, in, in russian territory. >> well , clearly i russian territory. >> well, clearly i think so, you know , what will putin do about know, what will putin do about it? well, we don't know. it's possible he could do anything. it ranges from at the low end, continuing to use what we call the grey zone, cyber attacks and so on, undersea cables that people talk about and indeed arresting british citizens and holding them in jail and using them as a bargaining chip, which he's done with americans in the past. and he could, you know, he could certainly do that. and he's doing the cyber stuff day by day, you know, as you move further up that spectrum, obviously what people are worried about is the extreme end of that is the use of tactical nuclear weapons. but i my own view is that putin is not going to go that far. now, you know, he's a megalomaniac in many ways. we all know, you know, trying to understand what he thinks and so on is really difficult. and there's no doubt

that if we allow ukraine to use storm shadow to use scalp, the french equivalent, to use atacms to, to attack deep. and we're talking about 150, 165 miles deep into russia. you know, that will change the dynamic and it will change the dynamic and it will put him under more pressure, there's no doubt about that. but, you know, will he seriously take on nato in a military sense? i don't think he will. but i do think he will use some of that lower end spectrum stuff, so my own view is we should give ukraine the ability to do this . this thing is going to do this. this thing is going to do this. this thing is going to drag on anyway, i think for quite a long time to come. but if ukraine are going to be in a position in any, in any position to, you know, to retake some of this lost territory, to end up in a negotiated position where they've got some strength on that table, we've got to enable them to, you know, conduct this deep battle. well, tim cross, retired british army officer, really appreciate your perspective on this issue. >> it's a very , very serious one >> it's a very, very serious one indeed. >> there's no denying that people are nervous about this,

though, it's one thing helping with military aid. it's one thing training troops. but allowing missiles, british made missiles to be used. perhaps it is, you know , worrying, as tim is, you know, worrying, as tim says, you know, russia attacks us every day. >> yeah. we've seen all of the cyber attacks . we don't know how cyber attacks. we don't know how many of them are directly attributable to russia, but we know the nhs has been attacked. we also know that people have been killed on british soil using nerve agents. i mean, true, that was before the full scale invasion of ukraine. and vladimir putin was already killing people in this country. so i don't know. i mean, if he's already gone that far, how much further would he actually go? >> yeah. let us know your thoughts. i'm interested to know what you think at home. would you support the use of these british long—range missiles on russian territory, or do you think it's a step too far? let us know. gbnews.com/yoursay. we've got lots more coming up on today's show. it turns out, after all of this speculation that the government didn't

actually do an impact assessment into how cutting winter fuel payments would impact pensioners. go figure

okay. welcome back. it's good afternoon britain. it is 126 now. the government hasn't carried out an impact assessment on their decision to cut winter fuel payments for around 10 million pensioners as the prime minister travelled to washington dc. >> sir keir starmer admitted he hadnt >> sir keir starmer admitted he hadn't been given a report by civil servants on the potential risks, or indeed benefits , of risks, or indeed benefits, of his party's controversial policy . his party's controversial policy. >> this is very interesting, isn't it, because we were calling for the government, or people were calling for the government to publish this impact assessment? it turns out there wasn't one. >> it's standard practice to produce one, but should we get to the detail now with the

former labour spokesperson , former labour spokesperson, james matthewson james? this is a huge policy. why on earth wasn't the usual work done behind it ? behind it? >> yeah, absolutely fascinating. as you both rightly point out, this is the usual process and the fascinating thing that i'm finding with this is that my conversations with backbench labour mps the past couple of days and even, i mean, because i do regular tv slots like this one and radio and stuff that, you know , there are mailing you know, there are mailing lists which a lot of your viewers might not know that the party sends out lines, you know, on what it's doing to political commentators to keep them updated . those lines in the past updated. those lines in the past few days have themselves referenced an impact assessment. you know , and the fact that they you know, and the fact that they may release impacts when there was no impact assessment. so the press office for the labour team didn't actually know there was an impact assessment, that there was no impact assessment. they presumed there was one. so it just seems like this shows us time and time again with this

issue that they've been caught, unfortunately, as they are completely lacking on this, on this issue, because the preparation, the pr, the strategic timing for releasing it, all of it has just gone devastatingly wrong and it's completely the wrong issue for them to have gotten wrong at this crucial time. so i really do think there is just more and more pressure building, on the government from its backbench mps, from everybody in the in the labour party to say, you know, we need to try and, and dilute this in some way or roll back on it in some way. and they've got the chance to do that in the budget. >> yeah. i mean, it sounds like there's been a shocking lack of internal communication, perhaps misinformation being spread throughout the party. was there an impact assessment now there's no impact assessment. people being told to go on the media and say one thing when another thing is true. has there been anything on this council tax exemption for single households ?

exemption for single households? lots of our viewers have been getting in touch, very worried about this. this would impact a lot of widows, widowers, a lot of pensioners, a lot of just single people who probably aren't on huge incomes, any any word on that? >> yeah. it's another thing where i think i've tried to track down, you know, to do my research on where it's come from, what the source is. that's said that that's a potential, and from the government, other than the official lines that we've had behind the scenes, there has been no detail on it whatsoever. so i don't know if it was a deliberate leak to try and prepare people for that as a potential fact. but it's just going to add insult to injury, isn't it? and to try and kind of hammer home in the same area and potentially double down on something that may affect because let's not forget this, this whole issue with the pensioners and with the winter fuel allowance, single pensioners are some of those who were most disproportionately affected by this because of how pension credit works. so they are less entitled to pension credit because it doesn't disproportionately it doesn't, proportionately allocate for two people. so couples are better

off than single people already. and if this comes in, you know, about council tax single person exemption, that would be even more of a pressure on those people. and so i just don't see the optics of them being able to do it. my hope is that they've somebody leaked it to try and see what the reaction is to it. they've seen what the reaction is to it, and they'll roll back . is to it, and they'll roll back. but this whole thing, everything in preparation for this budget, just seems to be going topsy turvy at the moment . turvy at the moment. >> i'm really, really curious stuff. james matthewson thank you so much forjoining us and for peeling back the curtain a little bit on how the labour party briefs a lot of those people that pop up on the media with not so much the lines to take, but facts that might be useful, really interesting stuff. >> yeah. very interesting. i mean, james is a labour man, so he's talking about james when he's talking about james when he's still on the screen. james is a labour man. usually he's ready to defend, you know, what the labour party are doing. but on this one, this one is really impacting labour supporters. they don't want to back this. they don't want to back this.

they don't want to back this stuff. >> 50 labour mps didn't vote, decided that they had better places to be, frankly, than vote for removing the winter fuel allowance for pensioners. i wonder if we're going to see more and more labour mps not necessarily vote against the government, but just decide they don't have to be in parliament on the day of those crucial votes. >> well, exactly. now we've got lots more coming up on today's show. we're going to be checking in with our reporter , charlie in with our reporter, charlie peters, who's been at the sentencing of seven men, i believe, who have been jailed for a total of 106 years. this relates to the rotherham grooming scandal. next. >> very good afternoon to you. it's just after half past one, as emily said. plenty more on that breaking news from rotherham on the grooming gang scandal. but first a look at the other headlines making the news this hour. russia has claimed that six british diplomats are guilty of espionage and

sabotage, but the foreign office has said they are completely baseless allegations. the fsb security service claims the diplomats actions prompted the response, amid what it called numerous unfriendly steps by the uk. it comes as the prime minister, sir keir starmer, meets with president joe biden in washington today to discuss ukraine's request to use those weapons on russian soil concerns, though over escalation, have delayed the approval for ukraine's use of the ballistic missiles here. what would have been the uk's first coal mine in 30 years is now in legal limbo, as planning permission has been quashed by the high court. climate campaigners argued the decision to grant planning permission for the whitehaven coal mine in cumbria smacked of hypocrisy and said it contradicted the uk's climate commitments. the government had withdrawn its defence, but the developer, west cumbria mining, still contested the claim. however, in today's ruling, the judge said giving the go ahead for the development was legally flawed . the prison

was legally flawed. the prison population in england and wales has dropped today by over 2000. that's in the space of just one week following the start of the government's early release scheme. today's figures are the first to be published since labour's plans took effect, reducing the number of prisoners to now just over 86,000. under the scheme implemented this week, about 1700 inmates were freed who had served 40% of their sentences . assisted dying their sentences. assisted dying should be allowed in england, according to a panel made up of members of the public. after eight weeks of debate, the top reasons for support were the need to stop pain and to allow a dignified death for the terminally ill, while 20 of the 28 jury members supported a law change, critics could have warned it could be misused and lead to reduced palliative care funding . and donald trump says funding. and donald trump says he's done with debating and won't participate in another head to head before november's election, despite polls showing

kamala harris won their first face off on truth social , trump face off on truth social, trump boasted about his performance, but several top republicans said harris came out on top with one poll showing 53% of voters agree. over 67 million people tuned in for the debate. but harris insists voters deserve a rematch. those are the latest headunes rematch. those are the latest headlines for now. as i slowly decline in my chair, i will see you in half an hour for the very latest gb news direct to your smartphone, sign up to news alerts by scanning the qr code, or go to gbnews.com forward slash alerts . slash alerts. >> cheers! britannia wine club proudly sponsors the gb news financial report. >> here's a quick look at the markets as they stand just after 1:30. the pound will buy you 1.313. $5 and ,1.1842. the price of gold £1,955.24 per ounce. and

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>> good afternoon britain. it's 1:38 now. seven rotherham child abusers have been jailed for cumulatively over 100 years after harrowing crimes against girls. >> yes, today's sentencing is the result of a five year investigation by the national crime agency . this is part of crime agency. this is part of operation stovewood. >> well, let's get the very latest on this. our national reporter, charlie peters, is live for us at sheffield crown court. charlie, today, what happened ? happened? >> well, today the sentences were handed down. the judge

briefly refreshed the court on the case, reminding them of some of what we heard during that nine week trial, which concluded here in june. and he also thanked both of the survivors for being present in court, sat in the jury section underneath the public gallery. so they could watch the defendants, all seven being taken away to lengthy custodial sentences. and then those sentences were handed down because there were seven men and the crimes were so lengthy. the judge, mr justice slater, had to take a break after delivering four to summarise the other three. those seven men sent down today are mohammed amar. he was given 14 years imprisonment. yasser ajaib given six years imprisonment. mohammed zamir siddique, 15 years imprisonment . mohammed years imprisonment. mohammed shehab, 25 years imprisonment. he had to listen to his sentence being handed down by an urdu

interpreter who sat with him in the dock. when the sentence was handed down, there was an exasperated shock from the pubuc exasperated shock from the public gallery as one member of his family shouted i love you , his family shouted i love you, dad! the judge said he was a persistent and cruel sexual offender. he was 27 at the time offender. he was 27 at the time of the offending. from 2003 onwards. the girl he raped was 11 years old and she was sat in the court to watch as he was sent to down that shock from the pubuc sent to down that shock from the public gallery and then, after a break, mrjustice slater break, mr justice slater sentenced abid siddique, age 43, to 24 years imprisonment, another lengthy sentence. he said that he was a cunning and determined sexual predator despite his learning difficulties. he went on to say that he committed these crimes while he was under investigation for a separate set of sex offences. you knew what you were up to and you continued doing it was the line from his honour , was the line from his honour, judge michael slater. and then

two more had to be sentenced. tahir yasin, aged 38. he was given 13 years imprisonment and rahman barry was given nine years imprisonment. concluding the sentencing hearing at sheffield crown court. and those were for a string of child sexual offences, indecent insult, rape and also trafficking charges. some of the details of the harrowing and dehumanising abuse were reassessed in the court and resurfaced in the discussion by the judge, who pointed to them being abused in a cemetery, even behind a nursery in supermarket car parks, how they were trafficked out of rotherham, taken to hotels, how in one case, one of the victims was just a young teenager had to jump just a young teenager had to jump through the window of one of her abuser's homes to escape. and yesterday at sheffield crown court , i had one of the most court, i had one of the most moving experiences i've had as a journalist, watching one of those victims deliver her victim impact statement in person stood

at the witness box next to the judge while staring down all seven defendants who looked left, who looked right . they left, who looked right. they looked anywhere but towards her as she described how they had taken her childhood from her. she said, you stole my childhood. you stole my innocence. but she was taking control now. she said, 22 years ago you groomed me. ten years ago, i started my fight for justice. and now i am taking your freedom. i am your karma. the second victim had her victim impact statement read out by the prosecuting barrister. she said that she hoped those defendants now sending now preparing for lengthy jail sentences, would feel as vulnerable and as isolated as she had in the 20 years since the dehumanising and harrowing abuse had taken place . harrowing abuse had taken place. >> that is such a brave thing to do as a victim of such horrific crimes, to stand there and tell. give your victim's statement in front of seven men who abused

girls of such young ages for so long now, this all happened back in the early 2000, didn't it, charlie? it's taken this for long justice to be served. have we had any response from any of the victims or the victim's families on the sentencing ? families on the sentencing? >> not yet, but i expect i'll hear later from one of the survivors who i've met before and who i was expecting to be present in court today, to stare down those defendants as the sentences were delivered. but this is part of operation stovewood, the national crime agency's investigation into the historic nonfamilial abuse that took place in rotherham from 1997 to 2013. in 2014, the scandal was exposed in a report by alexis jay , a social worker, by alexis jay, a social worker, who found that some 1400 girls and some boys had been abused in the town by predominantly pakistani grooming gangs. sex

abuse gangs, and she found that many of the authorities involved in investigating did not do so. the local authorities looked the other way for fear of being accused of racist and in order to prioritise community cohesion over justice for girls who were left to the hands of these shocking predators. now operation stovewood was launched in 2014 to really fix what. south yorkshire police had failed during that period . failed during that period. they've identified some 1150 victims. they've made over 250 arrests. they've made 38 convictions from their prosecutions by my count, this is the second biggest set of prosecutions. they've achieved. previously, there was a 13 strong gang, but that was split across two different trials due to the size of that gang involved. so there have been some significant steps forward. but some survivors in the town have told me regularly that 38 prosecutions is not nearly enough. we have had some

reaction just in the last 15 minutes from the cps. they said that all children have the right to be safe and protected. they said that these seven men deliberately preyed on young girls they knew were vulnerable , girls they knew were vulnerable, and using drugs and alcohol, exploited them for their own sexual gratification and the nca said that they wanted to pay tribute to the victims who were brave enough to come forward and tell their stories and confront their abusers. that confrontation we saw yesterday, the nca added what happened to them can never be undone, but i hope the sentences handed down give them some closure and make them feel as though justice has been done well. >> charlie peters, thank you for that moving report. >> we'll be back with you of course, later in the program as well. i'm looking forward to heanng well. i'm looking forward to hearing more from some of those victims. it's a it's a truly shocking story, and i'm glad that some justice has been done today. >> it's hard to listen to those that that report actually just

to think of all of those girls who were treated just so despicably for so many years. and now to see that justice has been served, at least for these seven men that are going down for 106 years in total , yeah. for 106 years in total, yeah. appalling to be let down by so many adults at such a young age. you know, the various institutions that are supposed to look after you. >> but there was something chilling in what charlie said as well, though, that the son of one of these monsters who was convicted for raping an 11 year old girl shouted, i love you, dad as he was being sentenced. that suggests to me that this is a wider cultural issue, that perhaps lessons aren't being learned, that there isn't enough shame that has yet been delivered. >> it's just so brave to stand there and deliver your victim statement in the court , staring

statement in the court, staring down seven men who have abused you and other girls, well, that was charlie peters. thank you very much indeed , from sheffield very much indeed, from sheffield crown court. >> well, this is good afternoon, britain, and we will be back with more news the break. we're going to lighter stories. something royal for

good afternoon britain. it is 10 good afternoon britain. it is 10 to 2 now. prince george has to 2 now. prince george has embarked on his first flying embarked on his first flying lesson at the age of 11. yes, lesson at the age of 11. yes, the future king is the latest in the future king is the latest in a long line of royal aviators, a long line of royal aviators, including his father , prince including his father , prince including his father, prince william, and even his great including his father, prince william, and even his great grandfather , prince philip. grandfather , prince philip. grandfather, prince philip. >> yes, his parents, the prince grandfather, prince philip. >> yes, his parents, the prince and princess of wales , watched and princess of wales , watched and princess of wales, watched as their son soared into the air and princess of wales, watched as their son soared into the air from a berkshire airfield. from a berkshire airfield. prince george takes first prince george takes first flight. future king's first flight. future king's first aviation experience, and here we aviation experience, and here we are joined by cameron walker, are joined by cameron walker,

our royal correspondent, to tell our royal correspondent, to tell us more, so 11 years old. is that young to start flying? >> well, it's pretty young, but there's actually no rules against flying at any age, actually. but you can't log in the united kingdom, you're flying hours towards your private pilot's license until you are 14. so clearly, prince george starting young here, it was first reported in the sun newspaper. i understand the

it >> extraordinary that he does it quite so young. and i suppose it gives us a little, indication, perhaps, of his future ambitions. is he going to go off and join the raf , perhaps? and join the raf, perhaps? >> well, quite possibly. i mean, you have to remember that one day he's going to be king and therefore he's going to be head of the armed forces, which would, of course, include the royal air force. i suspect maybe we'll see him do a bit of training with the raf as he gets older. but there was that article, if you remember. i think it was earlier on this yean think it was earlier on this year, which suggested that prince george may not be forced to go into the british army or into the armed forces if he doesn't want to. that would be, completely going against the tradition of male members of the royal family. kensington palace did not comment on that at the time. they're clearly not commenting. commenting on it at the moment. but i think cup prince george, some slack here. he's only 11 years old. he's just clearly trying out different things to see what he likes and dislikes. it appears he likes this flying experience age 11, so we'll have to wait and see. watch this space. >> when he's a bit older, he can look forward to lots of opinion

pieces, lots of columns in the royal section of the papers on how prince george is going to be the best ever pilot we might be. >> i mean, clearly i was a little bit ignorant on this subject when we started the show. we were saying, how on earth can you, can you learn to fly at 11 years old? but, patricia got in touch saying she is a very proud grandmother of a grandson who also started flying at 11 years of age. they take controls , too, so she's saying controls, too, so she's saying it's not a particularly privileged thing to do because one of the discussions is, oh, what? i mean, prince , prince what? i mean, prince, prince george, of course, very privileged person. this couldn't be within reach of ordinary people. but clearly 11 year olds do. >> well, i think it depends how much money you've got to spend on all that learning. you've got to do. and of course, the aircraft itself, hiring the aircraft, the fuel as well, that will cost thousands of pounds if he is going towards his license. but this could have just been a special treat before prince george goes back to school, because it happened on tuesday last week. he went back to school lambrook wednesday last

week. so i think you need some finance behind it. i think you have to be relatively well off in order to afford for your child to learn to fly. >> yes , if you want to be a >> yes, if you want to be a pilot, you have to invest a lot before you, before you make a good wage after. but yes, i know sometimes the airlines can fund that. >> if you particularly if you show a talent. >> cameron walker, thank you very much indeed. we've got lots more coming up on today's show. don't go anywhere. we're going to be back with katherine forster, who's in washington for a brighter outlook with boxt solar, sponsors of weather on gb. >> news . >> news. >> news. >> hello. welcome along to the latest forecast from the met office for gb news. it's turned into a fine day for many of us. dry, sunny spells. there is some rain turning up later and that's because of this weather front coming along from the atlantic. and it's going to push cloud and outbreaks of rain and a freshening breeze into the west

of scotland, parts of northern ireland. but for the vast majority, sunny spells through the rest of the afternoon into the rest of the afternoon into the early evening, and then any cloud that does appear through the day tends to fizzle out overnight for england and wales. as a result, temperatures falling away once again. we've got relatively cold air in place, 1 or 2 mist and fog patches, but for scotland and northern ireland, the thicker cloud here, outbreaks of rain mean that it won't be quite as chilly. 10 to 12 celsius. meanwhile temperatures could be close to freezing in some parts of central and southern england and south wales. but that's where we've got the best of the sunshine. first thing a beautiful start to the day. there'll be some high cloud around, but for much of england and wales, what a cracking start to the weekend . now cumbria a to the weekend. now cumbria a bit more cloud and certainly for scotland and northern ireland. it is a cloudier start to the day. that means it's not going to be quite as chilly out there. temperatures typically in the double figures, but it's fairly dreary over the highlands, the grampians, the southern uplands. a lot of low cloud, some patchy rain and drizzle. brighter skies for the east of scotland and

certainly for much of england and wales. we keep the dry and bright weather through the day , bright weather through the day, some areas of medium and high cloud around, but otherwise it's set for western scotland and northern ireland. increasingly breezy, increasingly damp and as a result, it's not going to feel very pleasant as the winds pick up. but further south, a slightly warmer day compared with friday. highs of 18 to 19 celsius, and we keep the fine weather in the south into saturday night. but the weather front that's causing the damp weather in the north—west tends to sink south into northern england, and parts of wales by sunday. to the north of that, some showers and to the south staying fine. higher pressure next week . next week. >> that warm feeling inside from boxt boilers, sponsors of weather

gb news. >> good afternoon britain. it's

2:00 on friday the 13th of september. i'm tom harwood and i'm emily carver war with russia. vladimir putin warns britain and america allow to ukraine use their weapons on russian soil. this would spark a war on the west. the prime minister is in washington dc as we speak. we're there too. >> we are indeed. and a coal mine has been quashed. uk's first coal mine in 30 years is now in a legal limbo as planning permission is squashed, quashed by the high court. >> is trump a scaredy cat? see what we did there? cats. i'm eating them right. donald trump is running away from another presidential debate with democratic nominee and vice president kamala harris . president kamala harris. this coal mine in cumbria was a coking coal mine. it wasn't for

energy. it was for it wasn't for producing electricity. i should say. it was for , producing say. it was for, producing steel, things like that . it used steel, things like that. it used to be. it was going to be the cleanest coal mine on the face of planet earth . and instead of of planet earth. and instead of importing a little bit of coal from overseas, where they have big open minds, it would be a covered mine that actually protected a lot of the environment around it, created high quality jobs and allowed us to produce our own steel. so of course, the high court has said we can't do it. >> is there a dirtier word in modern britain than coal? lawyer, very good, very good. i mean, what happens next? well, we'll find out for you in this next hour. but what happens now? the high court have said absolutely not. you're not allowed to have this coking coal mine. >> do you know what happens next? the money, the jobs , the next? the money, the jobs, the investment, all goes overseas. >> oh , wonderful. and meanwhile,

>> oh, wonderful. and meanwhile, china continues to build and build and build coal mines, although they've slowed down. but that's not due to china's just done what i think is like not not that bad a policy which is just everything they're building loads of solar farms, they're building loads of wind farms, they're building loads of coal fired power stations , gas coal fired power stations, gas fired power stations, nuclear power stations. >> they're just saying just everything, okay? >> everything. it's not an even spread. i mean, it is massively coal and oil. >> they are producing more renewable energy than any other country i know. >> but proportionately, coal is still their big hitter. >> coal is still a huge part of their energy mix in a way that it isn't a big part of ours, but i mean, they've just got an all in energy policy. they just don't say no to anything. and that's produced huge, huge growth for them. unfortunately, we say we do say no to a lot of things. and, hence, hence low growth. >> anyway, gbnews.com/yoursay please do get in touch. but it is the news headlines with sam

francis . francis. >> very good afternoon to you from the newsroom just after 2:00. and the top story this houn 2:00. and the top story this hour, seven men who committed a string of child sex abuse offences against two teenage girls in rotherham have today been jailed for a total of 106 years. the seven men were all convicted after a nine week long trial at sheffield crown court , trial at sheffield crown court, which was the result of an investigation by the national crime agency called operation stovewood. the victims, who were aged between 11 and 16 at the time of those offences , were time of those offences, were both in care and were groomed and often plied with alcohol. the court heard, or cannabis before being raped or assaulted. they would often also be collected by their abusers from the children's homes where they lived at the time. over the course of the hearing at sheffield crown court, the seven men were handed jail sentences between seven and 25 years. russia's claims against six

british diplomats of espionage and sabotage are completely baseless , according to the baseless, according to the foreign office. the fsb security service claims the diplomats actions prompted a response amid what it called numerous unfriendly steps by the uk. it comes as the prime minister, sir keir starmer, is meeting with president joe biden this afternoon in washington to discuss ukraine's request to use western weapons. concerns though over escalation, have delayed approval for ukraine's use of ballistic missiles . what would ballistic missiles. what would have been the uk's first coal mine in 30 years is now in legal limbo, as planning permission has been quashed by the high court. climate campaigners had argued the decision to grant planning permission for the whitehaven coal mine in cumbria smacked of hypocrisy and said it contradicted the uk's climate commitments. the government had withdrawn its defence, but the developer , west cumbria mining, developer, west cumbria mining, still contested the claim. however, in today's ruling, the judge said giving the go ahead for the development was legally

flawed . the prison population in flawed. the prison population in england and wales has dropped by over 2000. in just one week. that follows the start of the government's early release scheme. today's figures are the first to be published since labour's plan took effect on tuesday of this week, reducing the number of prisoners now to just over 86,000. that's down from a record of 88,521 under the scheme. about 1700 inmates were freed who had served 40% of their sentences. now, on october their sentences. now, on october the 22nd, it will be the turn of those with sentences of five years or more. but the government insists it won't apply government insists it won't apply to most serious offenders . apply to most serious offenders. robert jenrick. the leading candidate for the conservative party leadership has proposed to drastically limit the number of migrants entering the country. the former immigration minister told our political editor, chris hope, that he wants to see a cap of just a few thousand people per year. that's if the

conservatives win the next election. he discussed what he called a more controlled approach to immigration on chopper's political podcast. >> i accept that what i'm arguing for will not be plain sailing. it requires a big change in our economy, in our pubuc change in our economy, in our public services. but it is the right thing to do to get a gang of thousands. >> could it, could it? and net figure i think we'd have to give that careful thought. >> but my point is that it should be in the tens of thousands or lower. >> assisted dying should be allowed in england, according to allowed in england, according to a panel made up of public members of the public. after eight weeks of debate, a majority of that panel voted in favour, with the top reasons for support being the need to stop pain and allow a dignified death for the terminally ill. while 20 of the 28 jury members supported a change to the law. critics warn it could be misused and lead to reduced palliative care funding. the findings , funding. the findings, commissioned by the nuffield council on bioethics, could also influence upcoming parliamentary debates, with a bill expected to

be heard in november. two men have been charged after a banksy painting was stolen from a london gallery. larry fraser and james love were arrested and charged with burglary following that theft. the girl with balloon painting, which partially self—destructed during a £1.1 million auction, was recovered and will be returned to the gallery. banksy's artwork has recently faced a string of threats, with several pieces moved for safe keeping. the 47 year old and 53 year old are expected to appear at kingston crown court next month . the crown court next month. the government has struck a £630 million deal to bring part of the national grid's operations into public ownership. launching on the 1st of october, the new national energy system operator will help drive the uk's transition to clean energy and strengthen energy security. energy secretary ed miliband hailing the move as a milestone which he claims will position the uk as a clean energy

superpower. the national grid, though, said the final price could still change before the deal closes . and finally, donald deal closes. and finally, donald trump says he's done with debating and won't participate in another head to head before the november election, despite polls showing kamala harris won the first face off on truth social. trump boasted about his performance, but several top republicans said harris came out on top. over 67 million viewers tuned in for that first debate, but harris says voters deserve a rematch . those are the latest gb rematch. those are the latest gb news headlines for now. i'll be back with you for one last update 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 is 2:09. now the president of russia, vladimir putin, is drawing new red lines with the west as he warns the uk against escalating the war with ukraine. >> yes , this as prime minister, >> yes, this as prime minister, sir keir starmer is in the united states to talk to president joe biden about lifting restrictions on weapons that can be used in the conflict. >> well, it's led to swift reaction from the kremlin, with six british diplomats being expelled by the kremlin for allegedly spying on russia. >> okay. well, following sir keir starmer on his trip to the united states is our political correspondent, katherine forster. catherine, thank you very much indeed forjoining us on the show. what updates can you give us on the talks that are ongoing ? yes. are ongoing? yes. >> hello, tom and emily. so sir keir starmer, david lammy, the foreign secretary, our national security adviser tim barrow, amongst others , will be meeting amongst others, will be meeting

the outgoing us president, amongst others, will be meeting the outgoing us president , joe the outgoing us president, joe biden this afternoon in the white house. they'll have a meeting of about an hour and a half. we then expect to hear words from the prime minister. following that, there is a huge amount of pressure being brought to bear externally on these leaders over ukraine. now, number 10 are kicking in to stress that this visit is not only about ukraine. they say it's broadly to work on shared global challenges, including the middle east, including the indo—pacific. but clearly the situation in ukraine becoming more and more pressing. we had david lammy, the foreign secretary, going with the us secretary, going with the us secretary of state, antony blinken , to ukraine earlier this blinken, to ukraine earlier this week , volodymyr zelenskyy making week, volodymyr zelenskyy making it clear that he wants permission to fire british and french made storm shadow

long—range cruise missiles into russia itself. now putin has hit back, saying that if that happens, it would mean that nato countries are at war with russia. now, last night, the prime minister confronted with that by journalists on the plane, said , look, russia plane, said, look, russia started this war. they can stop it straightaway if they want to. and we're not expecting an announcement on that today, but it looks like things are shifting in the united states. and, volodymyr zelenskyy has been tweeting just in the last few minutes, making it very, very clear what his stance is. he said it's difficult to repeatedly hear we are working on this. while putin continues to burn down our cities and villages, he doesn't need anyone's approval. putin interprets delays in helping us

and in making strong decisions for ukraine as permission to do whatever he wants. so number 10 will not be drawn on when and if the us will finally give the agreement that we want and need to go ahead with allowing ukraine to use these weapons, but volodymyr zelenskyy making it very, very plain what he wants and indeed expects. >> well, i wonder if this decision wasn't imminent, would this trip be happening? catherine, i know you've got your ear to the ground. we'll be following and catching up with you throughout the day here on gb news. thanks forjoining us live from washington dc. >> we will indeed, but joining us now is philip ingram, a former intelligence officer. philip, thank you very much for your time. this afternoon. big decisions to be made on both sides of the atlantic. >> well, very much so . and the >> well, very much so. and the decisions are late. you know, they should have been made weeks and weeks ago, every day that

these decisions are delayed are hundreds more ukrainians dying, and they are the frontline securing the peace for the rest of europe. and arguably the rest of europe. and arguably the rest of the world. >> now, this is of course, a contentious decision. of course, there have been many people who say, why give these long—range storm shadow missiles if you can't use them against the missile launchers that russia has been using against ukrainian homes, energy, infrastructure, transport, even hospitals? but there are others who say, well , there are others who say, well, look at what mr putin is saying. he is threatening that if this is allowed, this is in effect an attack by nato on russia, he could strike back at nato countries. >> well, i think president putin needs a new red crayon. he's drawn so many red lines so far that we have crossed and nothing has happened. you know , he's has happened. you know, he's threatened whenever we started training ukrainian troops, he threatened whenever we supplied main battle tanks. he threatened

whenever we supplied, f—16 aircraft. he threatened whenever we supplied atacms, this is yet another piece of rhetoric that's that's coming out of vladimir putin. he hasn't got the military wherewithal to escalate and to try and threaten nato. he knows if he attacked a nato country , then his military country, then his military capability would disintegrate in a relatively short period of time. and therefore, all he's got are words, and he's trying to use those words to scare people and scare the decision making. there's nothing else is going to come out of this. and what are ukraine's intentions with these missiles? >> they want to be able to use them on russian territory. what's what's the aim there? >> yeah, well, russia has been using the fact that the west hasn't allowed long—range missiles to attack into into targets in russia to put their airfields, their missile launch sites, in places where they can attack into ukraine with

impunity, knowing ukraine can't respond this will force the russians to move their capabilities back even further, give the ukrainians greater notice, therefore, of attacks being launched and allow the ukrainians to have their air defences prepared and therefore to protect the civilian targets that russia seems to attack all of the time. and i think what ukraine will do is use these weapons, and i think this will be a caveat that will be put on by the uk, the us and france, they'll only use these weapons against legitimate military targets and, president zelenskyy has he went to the states last week? i think with a list of targets that he wanted to get approval for, to use these weapons against. and that will give a degree of confidence to joe biden and to the americans. >> well, it will be an absolutely fascinating few days. we'll be looking closely at any decisions that do come out of washington, dc today . although, washington, dc today. although, as we've been discussing earlier on the show, i think it's

probably more likely that these things will be used and will get the press release afterwards rather than press release. and then and then being used for licking. phillip ingram, former intelligence officer really appreciate your time this afternoon on. good afternoon. thank you. >> yes. well, in other news, a landmark shift in public health policy is set to take effect next year. that's as labour confirms a watershed ban on junk food advertising before 9:00 in the evening, with online ads banned entirely. >> extraordinary. this move marks the first in a series of measures aimed at tackling britain's worsening, worsening health crisis and kerbing soaring nhs spending with sir keir starmer pledging further preventative steps now. take a look at these pictures on your screens now we can get them back. we can get them back because. because these pictures are soon to become illegal on television. our time of day, will we even be able to show a burger? will we even be able to show? oh lovely smarties. i mean, enjoy this while you still can. we're a free country for a for a few days longer perhaps,

but soon all this will be taken from you dipping a chip into some ice cream. >> they're some soft whip ice cream. nice looking bag. oh, i'm getting hungry. it is lunchtime, this show. so, you know we do. we do without. we do without. but we have been out and about today actually to see what you you outside think about this decision. >> i don't think it's a bad idea. i think a lot of children have issues with high sugar content. also, this food is very cheap. a lot of people can't afford nutritious food for their children , so i don't think it's children, so i don't think it's a bad idea in principle. >> i don't think it's going to make a difference. like, i mean, bans are like they're quite okay in terms of they have their purpose, but we're in 2024. i think most of the children like younger than like, you know, there have spent times on iphones, ipads and iphones, you know, etc. and parents put them there . so i don't think it will there. so i don't think it will have that much of a difference. you know, i know there's two ways of looking at it, but to my, my own feeling is , it's got my, my own feeling is, it's got to such a state that somebody

has to say something, you know . has to say something, you know. >> i know it's very popular to say that. oh, it's so cheap. all of this fast food is cheap. it's not cheap. what's cheap is buying a bag of carrots for £0.20. what's cheap is buying some loose bananas. £0.20. what's cheap is buying some loose bananas . you can get some loose bananas. you can get them for pennies. you can't get a big mac for less than a fiver. >> okay. yeah that's true. and you know, if you chop up all your vegetables, you can make a hearty stew by £0.20 £0.20, buy some veg. but but but if density of calories, you see, if you get one mcdonald's, you get huge amount of sustenance, don't you. >> yeah, because it's a lot of food . food. >> carrots. it's more expensive. the sides are they. yeah. you couldn't live off carrots? i have lived off carrots. >> first move to london. tell you what, rent was through the roof. i wasn't paid very much. i was living off carrots every blooming day. baked beans? yeah. baked beans. carrots student. >> shall we speak to tom slater, our guest on this editor at spike magazine, tom, we're just joking about these. these adverts that will be banned. they'll be confined to the history books in the future.

what's this all about, do you think? i mean, keir starmer says it's all about saving the nhs. do you believe him? >> no, i think he's just a paternalist and a puritan. i think that's been made clear not just by this policy, but all the other ones that he's rolled out, when we've been talking in recent weeks about the smoking ban being extended to outdoor smoking areas, the prohibition of cigarettes, they want to do health mots in people's workplaces, as if you want to be weighed in front of your boss. it's going to be an attractive prospect to many people, and it's worth saying that this particular policy, it's been on the back burner for some time, both boris johnson and rishi sunak were signed up to this watershed ban for junk food advertising, and it just kept pushing it down the road, not least because it's a it's going to be a hell of a thing to pull off. what is junk food and what isn't. i mean, junk food is often just, it's a kind of class marker. a lot of the time they just think of big macs and so on. but even though you can get pret sandwiches, which are just as calorific, so it's something that's been coming down the pipe for some time. but i think the fact that starmer has grasped it so gleefully tells you something

about his his ideology and his view of the world, which is, as i say, very paternalistic here is that when keir starmer became prime minister, he stood on the steps of downing street and said i will lead a government that treads more lightly on your lives. >> i mean, he's doing precisely the opposite . the opposite. >> absolutely. and i think hopefully those words will come back to haunt him in one way, shape or form . i mean, you saw shape or form. i mean, you saw from your vox pops there that a lot of these policies, excuse me individually can be quite popular, but i think we're reaching a point where people are starting to think this is a bit much. we even saw that in response to the pub garden smoking ban. a kind of sense of is this really tipping from something that's just fair and about other people to just punishing people for their own lifestyles? and i think the problem is this is when you've got a government that doesn't really stand for very much, that doesn't have a lot of vision, which doesn't have a clear sense of where the country needs to, needs to go, which i think is very true of this government. in many ways. they tend to reach for this stuff in pursuit of a legacy. it gives them a purpose.

they give up their responsibilities about managing the country and decide it's their responsibility to manage our lifestyles. so i think because of all of that, we should expect more of this stuff from the labour party. the fact that we've seen so many, so much of it already is quite telling. i think. >> yeah, it's also easy. it's an easy lever to pull, isn't it? i mean, a regulation on junk food ads is far easier than dealing with the tremendous backlog in the nhs or or reform of the nhs, although to their credit, they are at least talking about reform. but pulling these little regulation levers is so easy and it's lazy. >> it's not going to do anything other than stop new entrants. i mean, no one's going to forget that mcdonald's exists. if anything, that's a good point. this has the point that it will it will entrench the big businesses that are already there. but heaven forfend someone new opens a new shop that might compete with the established players. i wouldn't be surprised if mcdonald's was in favour of this ad ban because it keeps the established players in place . in place. >> no, absolutely. and also who

really thinks this is going to have any impact really, if we're talking about children's health, as you say, they're not going to forget that mcdonald's exists. they're not going to not walk past the chicken shop on the way home from school, or that's something that they want to get very involved in, in terms of where fast food outlets can be. i mean, we have a junk food advertising ban on transport for london on the tube and the buses. and so on, childhood obesity went up in the two years after that. ban was brought into place in london and it led to this absurd situation of transport for london having to remove even its own advertisements because they had images of cakes in the shape of the underground logo. so it's one of those things where it doesn't work. it's going to put a lot of burden on industry and block out new entrants and it also projects such a low view of people that we really do just see a picture of a tantalising treat , and it see a picture of a tantalising treat, and it must therefore instantly run out and go and get it. and it's not just about children, this is their approach to everyone. i think. >> okay. well, thank you very much indeed, tom slater, editor at spiked. interesting that last comment. this is their approach

to everyone. >> yeah. well adults are going to be banned from smoking entirely soon as well. >> so i mean it is ridiculous. if you were banned from smoking outside a nightclub, i mean, what are you going to do? you're going to go for a walk 15 minutes down the road. oh, you can't do it in a park unless you were born after, what is it, two thousand and seven, in which case you will never be allowed to buy. oh, there's that as well. yes. all the incremental, the new zealand policy, which new zealand then scrapped. >> we're the only country in the world committing to, to a prohibition on cigarettes. >> my mum, who's watching just texted me. she said, you can eat cheaply. exclamation mark. lentils etc. cheap as chips and filling. yeah. so there you go, she told me. >> buy a sack of potatoes. but potatoes have loads of calories. you put it in the oven, put some cheese in it and some butter. you've got a baked potato done . you've got a baked potato done. potato, carrots, calories less than a quid. >> what mum doesn't know is that i just enjoy arguing with you. just being contrary. i just enjoy arguing with you. just being contrary . just being

just being contrary. just being contrary, isn't it? >> this is good afternoon, britain on gb news. lots more coming up on today's programme. yes. the new coal fired power station that was going to be built in cumbria now struck down. more on that after this

good afternoon. britain it's 2:27. now. the decision to approve the uk's first coal mine in 30 years has been thrown out by the high court. >> yes. climate campaigners, they launched legal action over they launched legal action over the plans for the whitehaven coal mine in cumbria. they argued the decision to grant planning permission contradicted the uk's climate commitments. >> well, the new labour government withdrew support for the project, which was approved by michael gove back in 2022. the developer , west cumbria

what we saw announced earlier this week for f, rt talbot what we saw announced earlier the developer, west cumbria mining, still contested that this week for f, west bot the developer, west cumbria mining, still contested that claim. claim. >> okay. well joining us now is >> okay. well joining us now is shadow parliamentary under shadow parliamentary under secretary for business and trade secretary for business and trade greg smith. i mean, was this greg smith. i mean, was this project going to fly in the face project going to fly in the face of our net zero goals? is this of our net zero goals? is this the only outcome there ever the only outcome there ever would be? would be? >> no, i don't think so. it's >> no, i don't think so. it's incredibly disappointing that incredibly disappointing that the high court have found, as the high court have found, as they have today, but actually they have today, but actually there's a net result of us not there's a net result of us not getting coking coal out of our getting coking coal out of our own ground. >> it's that it's going to have own ground. >> it's that it's going to have to be imported instead. so to be imported instead. so everyone that was making all of everyone that was making all of these claims that it flies in these claims that it flies in these claims that it flies in the face of environmental these claims that it flies in the face of environmental legislation and so on, is legislation and so on, is completely blind to the fact completely blind to the fact that the carbon footprint is that the carbon footprint is going to go up because of the going to go up because of the shipping impacts and of the shipping impacts and of the transportation impacts of transportation impacts of bringing coking coal into the bringing coking coal into the united kingdom from overseas. united kingdom from overseas. now, i know the labour now, i know the labour government is trying to shut government is trying to shut down any form of steel down any form of steel production at the moment from production at the moment from what we saw announced earlier what we saw announced earlier

this week for port talbot this week for port talbot and up in scunthorpe, they're very scared about job losses too, but it just doesn't make sense. it's like turning off the north sea oil plan with the last government had. it just means more imports from abroad, which actually means worse environmental impacts. >> it is it is depressing when we compare ourselves to the parts of the world that are actually growing. i mean, i watched the united states presidential debate earlier this week , and both the democrats and week, and both the democrats and the republicans were saying, we're going to drill more oil. we're going to extract more natural gas. we're going to also meet climate conditions, but we're going to, you know, have lots of energy production in our country. whereas we look across to the uk and the government so far has banned all new licences in the north sea, scrapped our only coal mine and continued what was, quite frankly, the terrible policy of the previous conservative government to not

extract any of our own natural gas either. surely

extract any of our own natural gégoing er. surely extract any of our own natural gégoing to surely extract any of our own natural gégoing to be 'ely extract any of our own natural gégoing to be detrimental to is going to be detrimental to the environment or future environment, and they use our own legal framework to do so. >> yeah. look, the lawyers clearly have done that . the clearly have done that. the hardcore environmental lobby have clearly found the money to get the lawyers to, to do those acrobatics and dance on the heads of those pins. but as i said, even when we get to 2050, there will still be a need and a requirement for oil. 2050. and the legislation that was passed doesn't mean oil suddenly gets stopped being used . full stop stopped being used. full stop penod stopped being used. full stop period forevermore. there will still be lots of things that need oil and natural gas going on from that date. so it brings me back full circle to the start of the argument. what are we going to do? are we going to use our own resources or as labour seem to want to do, import them all? >> now, of course, greg, the labour party is getting away with a lot of stuff without all that much opposition at the moment. your party is embroiled in what is a very, very long leadership contest. you're supporting one of the contenders

who is through to this final four stage that we're going to see an enormous beauty parade of these, of these candidates at these, of these candidates at the party conference in a couple of weeks. why are you supporting james cleverly? >> so i've known james a very long time . i actually think he long time. i actually think he is best placed to unite our party. when i was on the doorsteps in my constituency over the general election, the number one thing that came up, of course, people had individual policy gripes about gp appointments or potholes or immigration or whatever it may have been, but the number one gripe was you lot are fighting amongst yourselves. you're not united. amongst yourselves. you're not unhed.the amongst yourselves. you're not united. the coalition that is the conservative party and its various wings has fractured and can't work together anymore. and i think james is best placed to unite all wings of that coalition. the conservative party, and bring us together. because if we don't unite, frankly, we're going to go backwards and we're not going to be able to start that process of returning the right to be heard by the british public. but james is also he's given some superb speeches in recent weeks that

has really sunk to what i might call my brand of conservatism. the examples he's given going back to the point about the way places like canary wharf or the olympic park or what's happened in teesside have actually happenedis in teesside have actually happened is because the states got out of the way, because we've had less regulation, we've deregulated, we've let businesses get on with it. and that sings to my version of how you get economics to work, how you get economics to work, how you get economics to work, how you get growth in this country. >> and so he's free market or free market oriented is james cleverly. thank you so much greg smith. always great to speak to you. shadow parliamentary undersecretary for business and trade. >> well this is good afternoon britain on gb news. lots more coming up on today's show. we're going to be talking to charlie mullins, the millionaire plumber who's now quitting the uk. in light of these expected tax rises. that's after your . news. rises. that's after your. news. >> tom, thank you and good afternoon. >> the top stories .

>> the top stories. >> the top stories. >> first to some breaking news from sunderland, where a man has become the first person convicted for rioting in the city during the recent uk wide unrest. >> kieran usher admitted to charges at newcastle crown court after cctv captured him leading violence during the sunderland riots on the 2nd of august. all footage showed the 32 year old masked throwing missiles at police and inciting others to join in the violence caused significant damage to local businesses and forced police to briefly retreat . next to another briefly retreat. next to another breaking line that we're just heanng breaking line that we're just hearing now that the presenter, jay blades best known for his role on the bbc's the repair shop, has been charged with controlling and coercive behaviour against his estranged wife , court documents have wife, court documents have revealed. his charges include physical and emotional abuse. the 54 year old appeared in court this morning and he'll appearin court this morning and he'll appear in court again on the 11th of october. in other news,

seven men who had committed a string of child sex abuse offences against two teenage girls in rotherham have been jailed for a total of 106 years. the men were all convicted after a nine week trial at sheffield crown court, which was the result of an investigation by the national crime agency called operation stovewood. the victims, who were aged between 11 and 16 at the time of the offences and were both in care, were groomed and often plied with alcohol or cannabis before being raped or assaulted. they would often be collected by their abusers from the children's homes where they lived at the time . russia's lived at the time. russia's claims against six british diplomats of espionage and sabotage are completely baseless , sabotage are completely baseless, according to the foreign office, the fsb security service claims the fsb security service claims the diplomats actions prompted them to be expelled from moscow amid what it called numerous unfriendly steps by the uk. it comes as the prime minister, sir keir starmer, meets president joe biden in washington to discuss ukraine's request to use

western weapons on russian soil. concerns over escalation have delayed approval for ukraine's use of the ballistic missiles , use of the ballistic missiles, and what would have been the uk's first coal mine in 30 years is now in legal limbo as planning permission has been quashed by the high court. climate climate campaigners argued the decision to grant planning permission for the whitehaven coal mine in cumbria smacked of hypocrisy and contradicted the uk's climate commitments. the government had withdrawn its defence, but developer west cumbria mining still contested the claim. however, in today's ruling, the judge said giving the go ahead for the development was legally flawed and those are the latest gb news headlines. for now i'm tatiana sanchez. more from me 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

>> okay, 240 is the time. we've got plenty more coming up on today's show, including an interview with none other than charlie mullins off of pimlico plumbers, but it is martin daubney up next at 3:00. martin, what have you got for us? >> great show guys. well today we'll be crossing to donald trump's golf course in los angeles. he's giving his first press release since that bruising tv debates with kamala harris. no doubt he'll be taking swings at her. hopefully won't mention what's on the menu. hopefully not cats and dogs. also, everybody loves a story about neighbours at war. today we've got an astonishing story of a couple from east sussex who were banned from even looking into their neighbour's property for 11 years. they weren't in court the other day because they claim they were merely praying on the beach . you couldn't make

on the beach. you couldn't make it up. they'll be on my show exclusively live later on for a lovely bit of neighbours at war. coming 3 to 6. >> well, looking forward to it. we'll tune in from three. we will indeed. >> but first, britain's richest plumber , charlie mullins, has plumber, charlie mullins, has revealed his plans to leave the united kingdom, citing high taxes under the new labour government. >> well, after paying £120 million in taxes over his lifetime, the millionaire entrepreneur says he won't let any more of his wealth go to the treasury. >> yes, mullins, who sold pimlico plumbers for £145 million. he plans to move his assets to spain and dubai, where he believes ambition is better rewarded and appreciated. >> well, delighted to say he's joining us now in the studio. founder of pimlico plumbers, charlie mullins obe. charlie. why, tom? why you're quitting britain is there. is this is this not a bit unpatriotic of you? >> well, you call it what you want , but i'm >> well, you call it what you want, but i'm just not. i'm moving abroad to protect my assets for my family. i mean,

you know, they're going to increase inheritance tax, going to increase capital gains, you know, it's just destroying britain . it's, it's just not britain. it's, it's just not practical. no more to be here. and, you know, i've paid, they say, over 100 mil into the system. and i'm afraid to say that, you know, starmer is just driving away sort of investors, entrepreneurs, even just normal people that are on under 150 k, they also want to leave. it's they also want to leave. it's the wrong way to go about it. and unfortunately, they're very anti—business, you know , maybe anti—business, you know, maybe we're better off with the conservatives in, if i'm being honest, because at least they didn't have all this increase in taxes and the workers rights that, you know, i'm pretty sad to be leaving if i'm being honest. i mean, it's quite a big decision. but, you know, i'm no longer prepared to keep putting into the system and let them waste it. >> now, the tax burden was pretty shocking under the conservatives as well. were you considering it before this labour government came into power? >> not at all. >> not at all. >> no, no, no, you were you were

going to stay here. all your plans were to stay in the united kingdom. it is since starmer got into power and the fear of the budget. >> yeah. look of course conservatives have done a lot of damage over the years, but i just feel that labour are going to make it worse and just make it not practical to live here anymore. >> and i've already invested in a new business here, a family business, similar to the one before. but, you know, i'm not going to be on the payroll. i'm not going to be involved, other than, you know, my expertise. i'm just not prepared to give the government any more of my money. you know, and be treated the way we're treated. you know? >> i mean, it is extraordinary looking at all of the rumours, none of this is confirmed yet. but pretty much every financial analyst will tell you that the budget is likely to raise perhaps even double capital gains tax. now it's only paid by about 5% of people. but the people that pay it are the people that pay it are the people who create the jobs, the people who create the jobs, the people who create the jobs, the people who create the wealth, the people who invest in businesses. now if we go from 20% capital gains tax to 40% capital gains tax , they're going

capital gains tax, they're going to be a lot more people potentially following your lead. >> well, there is you're totally right there. and it's i mean, what's quite annoying is the labour government are denying that people are leaving. they've been moving their money out for six months. they're leaving left right and centre . and it will right and centre. and it will continue to happen that way. and he's coming up with he thinks that. what is it the uk is the best place to invest in business. i mean, he should do that on oath because that ain't right. >> that's what he said in response. or at least the number 10 spokesperson said that when it was put to them that you were going to be leaving this country, that's what they said. oh no, britain is the best place in the entire world to do business. >> immigration, the only countries that have more millionaire emigration than the uk are china and russia. >> yeah. look, as i say, we're not in a good position as it is, but these will absolutely destroy the economy. the country will go bankrupt and i think we'll be in recession very soon. and, you know, i was speaking to different billionaires and millionaires over the last week

and they're already gone. there's alfie best gone to monaco. there's other people that are leaving dubai , italy, that are leaving dubai, italy, anywhere but the uk because they just don't know how to look after people that are contributing to the economy. >> and landlords are selling up as well. pretty near to record rates , lots of new regulation rates, lots of new regulation coming their way too. people with assets may well be targeted come this. but do you think what do you think of this ? all this do you think of this? all this talk of this £22 billion financial black hole , this is financial black hole, this is being used as the justification to scrap the winter fuel payments, to slap taxes on wealth creators and people with investments and the like. have they actually managed to talk down the country so badly that now this is the reason why 9500 millionaires might leave the country this year? >> yeah, look, i mean, stuffed this up. they're using the black hole thing as as if it's never been there. but they say that 9 billion of that is down to pay rises. and costs of the civil

service, the fact that they're what they're doing to the pensions, i think that's the final straw. i mean, you know, how disrespectful is that? they've paid into the system all their life and they're i mean , their life and they're i mean, it's just like the new robin hood style money. it's robbing everybody to feed the migrants and the illegals. >> it is extraordinary, given that we have been here before as a country, we had net emigration until the 1980s. then we became a pro—business country. we saw canary wharf rocket up into the sky. we saw businesses like yours create wealth and jobs. we stood on our own two feet in the world again. do you think that we might be going back to those sort of dark days before the 19805, sort of dark days before the 1980s, before the wealth creation boom , where people used creation boom, where people used to more leave this country than come into it? yeah. well, undoubtedly. >> i mean, i think they've increased the tax rate there for the highest earners. a lot of people that went to america that, you know, had good money or was earning good money undoubtedly were going backwards. i mean, the best

times we had was when margaret thatcher was in there. and as she says, you know, we're going to run out of money. the socialists will run out of money, other people's money, not their own. >> i mean, when keir starmer stood up and said things are going to get worse before they get better, i thought there's going to be a lot of people with means who think, well, i don't want to stick around to see how worse it's going to get. thank you very much indeed. charlie mullins obe, founder of pimlico plumbers. well this is good afternoon, britain. >> although it feels like bad afternoon. >> yeah. sorry about that. >> yeah. sorry about that. >> but we're going to try and get some more positive stories coming for you. curious one coming for you. curious one coming up next is donald trump, a bit of a scaredy cat about refusing a third debate.

good afternoon britain. it's 10 to 3 and we're going to turn stateside now because the former president and now contender, donald trump, is refusing to

debate his opponent, kamala harris, once more. >> so is he a scaredy cat? joining us now is deputy editor at the spectator. freddie grey. is he running scared , is he running scared, >> no, i think it's probably a fair answer. >> i think one can fairly say quite a lot of negative things about donald trump, but i think scaredy cat is not one of them. >> i mean, this is a man who was shot through the ear and then stood up and started shouting, fight, fight, fight! >> and so i don't think he's coward, >> i think the question is whether it's a tactical mistake for him to shun another debate. >> if indeed a sincere offer of another debate is on offer , another debate is on offer, >> i think i can see why he isn't doing it, >> it sounds a bit like whining. >> it sounds a bit like whining. >> and it is when he says that the debate was unfair, but it was unfair. the moderators repeatedly fact checked him on various things, and they didn't fact check kamala harris, who talked a lot of porkies too, i think the reason why it might be a mistake , however, is that

a mistake, however, is that trump has in the past tended to do better in second debates, and he couldn't have done much worse than in the first debate, but the election is very tightly poised, i think, even though a large, large number, 67 million, i think it was, people watched that debate . i'm not sure it's that debate. i'm not sure it's going to have much of an impact on the polls, because even though there's a number of independents in america, a large number of independents , i don't number of independents, i don't think we're at a stage yet with donald trump and the sort of the sheer divisiveness of american politics where that many people will be swayed by a debate, particularly because they're both talking in completely different realities. donald trump does talk a lot of nonsense. there's no point denying that, but kamala harris talks complete nonsense, too. so debates presidential debates as things are in the current political climate, are sort of pointless. >> and yet it was donald trump's opportunity to define his opponent an opponent that not many americans know much about. an opponent who, of course, has

flip flopped on everything from defunding the police to banning fracking to banning plastic straws. one of my favourite things about visiting america is that you can actually drink a dnnk that you can actually drink a drink through a straw. anyway, freddy. he failed. frankly. he failed to pin her down and she was better trained. >> yes, it was his debate to win, really, and hers to lose. and he didn't win. and she didn't lose, he wasn't terrible. it wasn't a biden esque meltdown if you watched the whole thing. but he didn't land any blows. and probably the most crucial moment was where he got baited into a silly rant about the size of his rallies by kamala harris, and the actual question that he was responding to was about immigration, which should be his strongest suit. so he was bad, but he was incredibly bad against hillary clinton in 2016 because i'm such a nerd. i rewatched it before the debate, and he was really bad that night. i'd say worse possibly than he was on tuesday night. and yet he won that election. so

it sounds like it sounds like you think it's still all to play for this, all to play for. >> but, freddy, we're going to have to leave it there because we've come to the end of the show, very disappointing. but freddie grey, as always, great to speak to you. >> cut off by the moderators you have. >> i'm sorry. no. will mute your microphone. >> there we go . >> there we go. >> there we go. >> thank you for watching. good afternoon. britain. sorry to cut off renee there, but them's the breaks. >> them's the breaks. martin daubney is, of course, up . next. daubney is, of course, up. next. >> a brighter outlook with boxt solar, sponsors of weather on gb news . news. >> hello. welcome along to the latest forecast from the met office for gb news. it's turned into a fine day for many of us. dry sunny spells. there is some rain turning up later and that's because of this weather front coming along from the atlantic. and it's going to push cloud and outbreaks of rain and a

freshening breeze into the west of scotland, parts of northern ireland. but for the vast majority, sunny spells through the rest of the afternoon into the rest of the afternoon into the early evening. and then any cloud that does appear through the day tends to fizzle out overnight for england and wales as a result. temperatures falling away once again. we've got relatively cold air in place. 1 or 2 mist and fog patches, but for scotland and northern ireland, the thicker cloud here, outbreaks of rain mean that it won't be quite as chilly 10 to 12 celsius. meanwhile, temperatures could be close to freezing in some parts of central and southern england, and south wales. but that's where we've got the best of the sunshine first thing. a beautiful start to the day. there'll be some high cloud around, but for much of england and wales, what a cracking start to the weekend. now cumbria a bit more cloud and certainly for scotland and northern ireland. it is a cloudier start to the day. that means it's not going to be quite as chilly out there. temperatures typically in the double figures, but it's fairly dreary over the highlands, the grampians, the southern uplands. a lot of low cloud, some patchy rain and drizzle. brighter skies for the east of scotland and

certainly for much of england and wales. we keep the dry and bright weather through the day. some areas of medium and high cloud around, but otherwise it's set for western scotland and northern ireland. increasingly breezy, increasingly damp and as a result it's not going to feel very pleasant as the winds pick up. but further south, a slightly warmer day compared with friday. highs of 18 to 19 celsius, and we keep the fine weather in the south into saturday night. but the weather front that's causing the damp weather in the north—west tends to sink south into northern england and parts of wales by sunday. to the north of that, some showers and to the south staying fine. higher pressure next week . next week. >> that warm feeling inside from boxt boilers, sponsors of weather

gb news. away. >> a very good afternoon to you and a very happy friday. it's 3

pm. and welcome to the martin daubney show on gb news. we're broadcasting live from the heart of westminster. all across the uk. on today's show, with his popularity ratings at an all time low, keir starmer has jetted to the usa to offer british armed support to ukraine. but vladimir putin has issued an ominous warning, saying that would be a declaration of war. gb news will be live from washington dc as the prime minister faces his first major international test. and next, in a bid to plug a projected £100 billion black hole in the nhs budget, the labour party is planning to ban fast food tv ads before the 9 pm. watershed, following their p.m. watershed, following their outdoor smoking ban. is this a sensible nudge towards a healthier nation, or is it starmer's nanny state on steroids? up next, the uk's first new proposed coal mine in 30 years has bitten the dust after the high court slammed its net zero credentials. climate

campaigners are claiming a huge victory, but locals say