gb news. >> good afternoon britain . it's >> good afternoon britain. it's 12:00 on friday the 20th of september. i'm emily carver and i'm tom harwood. >> i'm at the reform uk party conference today, where leader nigel farage will be among the speakers at the two day event. it gets underway here in birmingham. >> good stuff. we'll be catching up with tom throughout the show. and starmer, he's in turmoil. a civil war brews in number 10 as the prime minister defends his decision to pay his chief of staff a salary that exceeds his own . and losing our englishness.

own. and losing our englishness. robert jenrick has today warned that mass immigration and woke culture have put england's national identity at risk. he's going to be with us, live . going to be with us, live. so as you can tell, there's a huge amount going on today. we're going to be reporting live from the reform conference with tom harwood there. of course we are. we're also going to be speaking to robert jenrick about his punchy piece in the daily mail. tom, what do you see is going to happen at the conference today? we've got a few speeches from the key contenders. what times nigel farage up ? yeah, i've just been farage up? yeah, i've just been down to the main hall where these speeches take place. >> i have to say it's a pretty impressive setup. it's so large. there's a double decker bus there next to the stage and huge raked seating. nigel farage is a little bit later this afternoon, but things are kicking off

around about now. there are all of the mps. speaking of course, five that they elected in the last general election, but also, of course, other voices too. you've got a chap from the sasse ann widdecombe will be about as well. there's lots going on here and we're at the heart of it. >> fantastic stuff. thank you. tom, we'll check in with you in a little bit . please do get in a little bit. please do get in touch if you're at home watching gbnews.com forward slash. your say is the way to do so, but let's get the news headlines with tatiana . with tatiana. >> emily. thank you. the top stories. one of mohamed al fayed alleged victims who went by the name natasha, has told a press conference the billionaire businessman was highly manipulative. he was described as a monster enabled by a system that pervaded harrods by lawyers representing 37 alleged victims of sexual assault. at that press conference in london today, dean armstrong kc said the case

combined some of the most horrific elements of those, including jimmy savile, jeffrey epstein and harvey weinstein. natasha described al fayed as a predator who preyed on the most vulnerable. >> we would be sent to see al fayed because he had a job for us to do. it was always more of a friendly chat than actual work, but then these private meetings turned into more a forced kiss , his hands gripping forced kiss, his hands gripping your face to his lips or pulling your face to his lips or pulling you down on his lap where his hands were free to explore any part of your body that he wished . part of your body that he wished. these incidents lasted seconds, but the fear instilled left me paralysed . al fayed brushed off paralysed. al fayed brushed off these moments like they had never happened, but i was always reminded not to mention them to anyone. he would know if i did . anyone. he would know if i did. >> a campaigner whose niece was killed by her ex—partner after calling the police multiple times, says domestic violence victims need to be heard. the

first time they call 999. nora norris, whose niece, raneem oudeh and sister were both murdered by masood's ex—partner in 2018, says those calling the police for help need to be given the opportunity to be saved. the home office says some police forces will start embedding domestic abuse specialists in their 999 control rooms early next year as part of raneem's law to transform the way the police handle cases of violence against women and girls. an inquest found mistakes made by west midlands police have materially contributed to miss odette and miss lie—ins deaths. home secretary yvette cooper says the government will ensure that things change. >> victims of domestic abuse need to know that the police will be there for them in an emergency that didn't happen for raneem oudeh when she lost her life, and that's why we're bringing domestic abuse experts into 999 control rooms like this, to make sure that the emergency response is right. we saw when raneem oudeh called 999 four times on the night she was

killed. no one came. we cannot let that happen again . so i'll let that happen again. so i'll begin with the first wave. then we want to roll this out right across the country so that domestic abuse victims can know the police will be there for them when they call. >> in other news, the foreign secretary last night demanded an immediate ceasefire between israel and the militant group hezbollah. after meeting allies in paris. david lammy is chairing meetings today on the evacuation of britons from lebanon following israeli airstrikes. israel carried out further strikes on southern lebanon overnight, saying its warplanes hit more than 100 hezbollah rocket launchers and other terrorist sites. the israel defence forces said the launchers were ready to be fired against israel. it wasn't immediately clear if there were any casualties. lebanon's state run national news agency said israel carried out at least 52 strikes in the south of the country last night, and that lebanon had also launched strikes on military sites in northern israel. earlier, the leader of the terrorist group hezbollah said deadly explosions earlier in the week crossed all

red lines, accusing israel of what he represented. he said represented a declaration of war. israel has not said it was behind the attacks which saw pages and walkie talkies explode across the country, and which lebanese authorities said killed 37 people and wounded 3000. tory party leader hopeful robert jenrick has warned that english identity is under threat. he claims that the ties that bind the nation together are beginning to fray due to mass immigration and woke culture. jenrick said the migration has had a clear impact on our culture, customs and cohesion . culture, customs and cohesion. mr jenrick also suggested it's mrjenrick also suggested it's a contributing factor to this summer's riots, with unrest spreading across the country in the wake of the southport knife attack, which killed three young girls and thunderstorms and lightning are set to batter the uk with up to 70mm of rainfall expected within a few hours after a spell of dry, warm weather. the met office has issued two yellow weather

warnings for thunderstorms for today and tomorrow, and said damage to buildings as a result of lightning strikes, disruption to public transport and flooding should be expected within the affected areas. today's alert covers most of the southwest of england, parts of wales, the midlands and west london and is in place from now until 8:00. the second warning is in place all of tomorrow from 1 am, and covers all of wales and southwest england, the midlands and parts of south east england. and those are the latest gb news headunes 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 the qr code, or go to gbnews.com. >> forward slash alerts . >> forward slash alerts. >> forward slash alerts. >> well good afternoon britain. it is 1207 now. today is the

first day of reform uk's annual conference. nigel farage is expected to issue a clarion call for change when he makes his keynote speech a little bit later on this afternoon. now the party is also expected to unveil its plan to win the 2029 general election, following its strong performance in july, where the party gained five mps and became the third biggest party in terms of vote share. they're very much hoping to build on that. and this all comes a day after nigel farage announced he would be relinquishing control of the party and giving ownership back to the party's members. okay, well, to tell us more is tom harwood who's on the ground ? harwood who's on the ground? tom, please do tell us more. is there a little bit of a battle going on behind the scenes when it comes to the party structure, its constitution and all of that ? its constitution and all of that? >> well, i was talking to some senior people in and around nigel farage's team last night, and i have to say, it does seem like there was a bit of wrangling. there has been a bit

of wrangling over what the party constitution should look like. how will the party be going forward ? how will it forward? how will it professionalise? how will it democratise ? after all, nigel democratise? after all, nigel farage became leader by a bloodless coup. one could say nigel farage just asserting that he, as the majority shareholder of the company, could be leader. and there it was. so there are democratising reforms taking place here to tell us a little bit more is christopher hope, our political editor , because, our political editor, because, chris, we were talking about this a bit last night. the new reforms will see party members be able to choose new leaders and even remove the current leader at high. >> tom. that's right. it's quite an important thing that it's a rule book which underlies this party. it's a company at the moment. nigel farage owns eight out of 15 shares, and that's not appropriate for a party which which pretends and says it wants to form a government in 2029. so it's turning into a party limited by guarantee. that means that members will get a stake in it if more than half those members, and there's currently 80,000 of them, want a vote of

no confidence in the leader, they can ask the board to vote on that. so there's a degree of democracy in it. not a lot, but some about as much as you have in the tories or labour party. >> and interestingly, there's a bit of ambition in this constitution as well. it says if the party has more than 100 mps, then mps themselves could force a vote of no more than half vote for it. >> so quite similar to where you have with the tory party, although it's 15% in that case. although it's15% in that case. but even so, half of 100 is quite a quite a big number. that ambition, though, is barely scratching the surface with nigel farage. he's just just arrived behind me at the conference and he's told me just now for gb news and the clip will play out shortly on the channel. he thinks his party can win in 2029. i said come off it, nigel. five mps to 326 mps. is that even possible? he thinks that even possible? he thinks that we are looking at a once in a century event in 2029 and not seen well for a long time. that is an extraordinary level of bravado. >> of course , we've seen parties >> of course, we've seen parties rise and fall in the history of

the united kingdom before. never have we seen a party go from one electoral cycle to the next. five mps to 360, 326. >> yeah, in a sense. i mean, behind you, there's a suite stand over there. there's a kind of sugar rush happening here amongst these members. they can't believe they've got five mps from zero mps back in july. they arrived. they want selfies with gb news colleagues. you've been asked. i've been asked for pictures with them. there's a feeling of optimism and i think, you know, you can almost forgive farage for being quite excited. but when he it might be difficult that i mean, he's got to get to get councillors elected next may some ams in the welsh parliament, some msps in scotland and build this force he's trying to do. but we are at the ground level and the first step is sorting out the rulebook , step is sorting out the rulebook, the parties, plumbing and that's what's been happening over the over the night and that is that is such a foundational step. >> if they want to professionalise the party, you've been coming to these sort of conferences for a long time. you went to them in the ukip days when nigel farage led that party. how does this feel different compared to that?

>> it's professionalised. i mean, back then it did feel a bit eccentric. some i mean, great people, but eccentric people, but good people all the same. this is much more professional. i think you're seeing people come up to you who are normal people from around the country. gb news viewers. many of them saying, i just can't say what i think this party allows me to do it. the 4000 members arriving here were in the nec. other parties have their events in cities easily accessible for corporates. but bosses, lobbyists, along with members. this is aimed squarely at membership. and that's why i think gives it a kind of a real a real vibrancy which you don't get in the other parties when they have their events. >> and this is interesting because we're, of course, heading to the labour party conference in just a day's time, i was expecting that potentially just two months after a landslide electoral victory in the house of commons, that the labour party might be feeling on cloud nine, that they'd be cheering and whooping their way back into government after 14 years in the wilderness. i get

the sense, though, from people i'm speaking to in the labour party, that that it's not a victory lap that will get in two days time. and actually, if anything, the party that only won five mps feels a lot more confident in itself. >> yes. i mean, both parties were probably surprised by what happened to them. i guess labour now they're in power. they're almost kind of thinking, gosh, it's quite hard doing the choice they've made already have been quite divisive, not least on the winter fuel allowance. and only 1 in 5 of all adults voted for this government, of course. so it's hardly a kind of coronation of everyone wanting this government in post. yeah, it is surprising, i think, and i think they'll try and change that mood music probably after the budget, but and there's some polling today saying that people are quite been feeling quite gloomy about the country. well, no surprise, given the language coming out from this government. >> do you think that's why nigel farage told you? just some minutes ago as you walked in and the reaction he got was, of course, as you'd expect, this is some people describe this party as a personality cult. i suppose that's why they're trying to move away from it with the democratising reforms. but do

you get the sense that this is actually that moment that nigel's told you about, that once in a hundred year moment where things feel in flux, where the old parties risk actually falling away completely, it is possible the parties as they stand are protected by the electoral reform system, which which rewards parties with long corporate memories, knows where the members are, have lots of data . data. >> if we went to a pr system, which was an option, had we had beenin which was an option, had we had been in a hung parliament with the lib dems supporting it, then i think what farage is saying is much more possible. but he's got a hell of a challenge. the problem with reform is they don't know where the supporters are. they, they just by force of personality of farage social media anger with the tory party gave them those five mps, but they won't have that in 2029. the tories will be organised. they'll be trying to chase down some of those 4 million voters who backed reform back in the election. we're seeing robert jenrick today talking again, really targeting those people concerned about immigration and the like. and i think you'll see

more of that. so it was a perfect storm to win just five mps. you need a hurricane to win more than 325, which would give them a majority in parliament. >> it is typical of nigel farage to make these big, grandiose gestures, to say, we're going to sweep into government in just five years time. he also said. coming up to this election, he'd get 6 or 7 million votes. in the end, he got 4 million votes. i mean, still an impressive total, the third highest number of votes of any party. but it was equivalent to what ukip was able to do in 2015. >> is their one mp is there a risk that, with all of the analysis that we're doing and looking at the spectacle here, that we overhype reform's prospects, because ultimately , prospects, because ultimately, is this more of a successor organisation to ukip than something particularly new? that's right. so is it is it is it ukip mark two or conservatives mark three? that's the question . they want to be the question. they want to be the question. they want to be the new conservative party and take away that support. but the system is weighted against them

in this country. and i think the kool—aid is being drunk. there's a taxi behind us with the new reform branding. there's a bus inside the arena you'll be seeing later on. gb news. so it is there's a real excitement here. i think, about this party, but whether that will turn into votes is a different, different question. and a real challenge. he knows that. but this is really, i think , farage's last really, i think, farage's last hurrah. he's going to go really hard into 2029 and give it one last shot, one last shot. >> five years away. well, emily, there is so much going on at this conference. we're going to bring it as we can, and i'm going to be having a little walk around in just a little while to show you more of what is going on here at the birmingham nec. >> i'm looking forward to your world famous walkarounds, tom, thank you very much indeed. and thank you very much indeed. and thank you very much indeed. and thank you to christopher hope. we'll check in with you a little bit later. so a big, ambitious goal for nigel farage in his party to win the next general election in 2029. so lots of work to do. but we'll be going

back to the conference. but we're going to turn our attention to the government for attention to the government for a moment because the labour peen a moment because the labour peer, lord ali. well, he's donated over £300,000 to senior labour ministers , including sir labour ministers, including sir keir starmer and angela rayner, over nearly two decades. so, yes, the money not only going to keir starmer, which we knew about with the wardrobe upgrades and the spectacles and all of that. but other cabinet ministers were in on it. contributions increasing under starmer's leadership . yes, the starmer's leadership. yes, the prime minister, he received over £155,000, while prime minister, he received over £155,000, while the deputy prime minister, angela rayner, got 72,000. rayner also welcomed the new year in a £2 million manhattan apartment owned by lord ali for five nights, raising questions about gift declarations amid labour's cronyism row. well, joining me now is political correspondent at the spectator, james hale. quite striking to read that seven labour cabinet ministers have taken donations from this one labour peer and donor.

>> yes, you're right, emily. i mean , this shows, i think, that mean, this shows, i think, that lord ali's support is not clearly based around the magic or alleged magic of keir starmer, but actually it's a long standing and wide reaching series of donations he's made. i think it was striking that, looking at the individual years in which lord ali was making his donations, they sort of dried up largely during the corbyn years when obviously a lot of people turned away. but of course, as soon as keir starmer looked like he was going to bring the party in a much more centrist direction and make them actually much more electable, then of course, the money taps were turned on once again. so i think this is a really interesting question about kind of the level of which it's sort of you're a peen of which it's sort of you're a peer, you're a labour parliamentarian, but also you're offering the use of your house both to the labour deputy leader, angela rayner. and of course, allowing the now prime minister to plot a selection campaign in his london house too. so a really interesting question around the nexus of influence and cash and long standing interest that surrounds keir starmer and the members of his frontbench that now are in the cabinet, and questions over just how comfortable they all felt taking money and trips from

this one man. >> i mean , he's not doing it out >> i mean, he's not doing it out of the goodness of his heart. i don't imagine. or is he james, just a nice guy ? just a nice guy? >> i think there's a bit of both in that. i think lord ali's conviction for labour is genuine and long rooted, but i also think that it's fair to say that this is someone who labour gave a peerage in the late 1990s, someone who obviously clearly was given a number 10 past downing street as well. and this is someone who obviously enjoys considerable influence if he's planning post—election parties, was involved in the so—called operation integrity within government. i mean, they couldn't make a more ironically named operation. they tried, but i think it shows a really interesting question of which what keir starmer was saying in 2021, 2022, when he was trying to attack boris johnson. how much was he actually using that for mere political rhetoric purposes? and how much of that was actually genuine principle? so he's obviously, you know, i think i don't think there's a huge amount of difference in terms of the person of integrity, which they claim lord ali is versus, say , lord ali is versus, say, lord brownlow, who a lot of labour people were attacking two years ago, and his name came out in

the boris johnson supposed scandal. so i think that there's an interesting kind of retrospective look at keir starmer's own decisions in terms of how he chose to conduct himself and his team over the past three years or so. >> yeah, it's not much fun for the likes of jess phillips this morning and the likes of angela eagle, the other day to have to answer all these questions relating to what keir starmer has received in gifts and donations. it's very awkward indeed when they were all very pious during the boris johnson years, when it came to gifts that he'd accepted, not least the wallpaper. but there's a little bit of confusion, isn't there, over angela rayner and this use of lord ali's luxury $2.5 million new york penthouse overlooking manhattan because, according to her parliamentary parliamentary declaration, she put that the stay was worth about £1,250. now, i haven't been to new york, but i imagine a very expensive manhattan flat was probably worth a little more than that for a few nights. stay >> well, of course, you may remember earlier this year, the scott benton scandal, when the former blackpool south mp was

filmed on camera saying that, you know, lots of mps register stuff as being worth less than £300 because £300 is the, the minimum amount you have to register to kind of put a donation forward in the register. so i think that angela rayner, this £1,250, i mean, that is a very good rate, shall we say. so either she's a very savvy operator, or perhaps the figures are not quite what you'd get on the market rate. >> perhaps you'd be lucky to get a premier inn for that on new year's eve. i would say, you know, the spiking of the dynamic pricing of these hotels and things. but just just lastly , things. but just just lastly, james, what should keir starmer do? because he's sort of defended these gifts and donations. he suggested that he'll continue to take them. nothing to see here. when it came to the football tickets. well, of course he can't go into the stands because that would cost the taxpayer for all the security needs and all of that, etc, but does he need to change the way he responds to these, these allegations, these accusations? >> i think so. and it's not just us saying this. of course. it's

in the press. it's, you know, harriet harman, baroness harman came out today and saying you'd stop apologising and just get on and change your behaviour in future. i think the big mistake that starmer and his team have made about all of this is they think that you know, oh well, the tories are doing it for years and now it's us. well, sorry you asked to be judged on a different standard. of course. the voters are just swept away the conservatives by a huge majority at the election. so i think that they need to realise that voters have a certain idea about what keir starmer was promising when he came into office, and they need to stick to that. and i think that going forward at the time when you're making decisions like the winter fuel allowance, it will be best to avoid suggesting anything that you're prioritising, either a section interest like the unions, or doing anything that you know you're taking with one hand and giving with another. so i think they've got to be very careful in future because these stories are not spending their political capital, they're squandering it. >> well, thank you very much indeed for your time. james heale political correspondent at the spectator magazine. good to speak to you. well, this is good afternoon, britain. we're on gb news. we've got lots more coming up on today's show. i don't know if you've seen, but government borrowing is spiralling out of

control. debt has hit 100% of national income for the first time since the 1960s. stay with

us. welcome back. it is now 1225 and the latest figures reveal that government borrowing in august reached its highest level for the month since the height of the month since the height of the covid pandemic in 2021. so borrowing lots of figures here, borrowing lots of figures here, borrowing rose to £137 borrowing lots of figures here, borrowing rose to £13.7 billion last month, 3.3 billion more than in august last year. last month, 3.3 billion more than in august last year . so, than in august last year. so, explaining the figures, the office for national statistics said that while tax income had grown strongly, this was outweighed by increased spending on benefits and public services , on benefits and public services, including those public sector pay including those public sector pay rises. okay, so let's get

the thoughts now with macroeconomist philip pilkington. philip, thank you very much indeed for your time. i mean, the headline that debt has hit 100% of national income for the first time since the 1960s, alarm bells . 1960s, alarm bells. >> well, yeah, definitely. i mean, look, labour, when they were coming into government, even during the campaign, did communicate to the public that the public finances were pretty bad . i don't think they were bad. i don't think they were quite honest about how bad they were , and i don't think they were, and i don't think they were, and i don't think they were honest that they were going to get in and impose probably the harshest austerity that the country has seen since the 19505, country has seen since the 1950s, after world war two. i don't think they told people that. and i think basically that's the problem that they're having that they they kind of communicated that the situation was quite bad, but they didn't say it was very bad. and so on. the one hand, they're kind of making cuts to winter fuel allowances and so on, which are obviously very difficult to do, especially for a labour government. but on the other hand, they're giving pay rises to public sector workers. so they clearly haven't found the right balance to achieve the

goals that they're they're willing to achieve. and i think this is also explains why keir starmer is absolutely tanking in the polls. to be honest . the polls. to be honest. >> well, yeah, it does seem that there's austerity for some i.e. pensioners, but not for others, including train drivers , i including train drivers, i guess, it's also been said that, rachel reeves has suddenly a £10 billion windfall and therefore she could u—turn on this winter fuel allowance decision that will hit pensioners so hard this winter. what's the what's the calculation behind that 10 billion windfall? is there one? >> i seriously doubt it. the obr, the office for budget responsibility, which kind of tracks public finances. they're a semi—independent body and they put out a report two weeks ago, and the headline of the report basically was that unless something drastically changes, britain is going to go from 100% of gdp, which we hit this month ,

of gdp, which we hit this month, to 270% of gdp in 2070. so nearly three times the income, the annual income of the country and what the obr is communicating to the public and to the politicians is effectively that there's going to be austerity for a very long time, there's going to be cuts to government for a very, very long time. and i think basically this was i mean, i'm speculating, but i think this was communicated to the to the labour government to some extent while they're running. and then it was put on their desk when they came in, probably. it was put on their desk when they came in, probably . and so they came in, probably. and so i don't really buy that there's 10 billion left of space. i mean maybe they can they can show it by doing some creative accounting . but if they're if accounting. but if they're if they're facing down this overall serious problem, then it's really they're going to have to be looking to save pennies everywhere. i wouldn't be surprised actually, if a year from now we're talking about, that they're doing things that they've actually said that they won't do, like raising capital gains tax and so on. they might

even be pushed at some point to raise taxes on workers, which they've explicitly said that they've explicitly said that they won't do. so my assumption is that they're going to have to do a lot of things that they don't want to do, and it's going to prove very unpopular in the next two years. >> yeah, there's lots of talks of inheritance tax changes to isas, which a lot of people have invested money in, changes to savings, changes to pensions, all sorts of things that could be coming down the line. but philip, just back to basics. why is having a high national debt a bad thing? because you do hear from some left wing economists that actually we don't need to worry about debt. >> yeah. >> yeah. >> so the argument there is basically that if you have your own currency, the bank of england can always buy the debt. and in a sense, that's true. but the issue is that if foreign purchasers sell the debt because britain runs a trade deficit, a very large trade deficit, if foreign investors get spooked and sell the debt, it can put massive pressure on sterling. and if sterling value falls,

import prices go up and inflation goes up because 30%, roughly speaking, 30% of goods bought and sold in the united kingdom are imports. because it's an island economy, it imports a lot from europe. it imports a lot from europe. it imports a lot from europe. it imports a lot from the united states. and so the people who are saying that the, the, the bank of england can engage in kind of qe to infinity, i think they have kind of, japan in mind. well, japan has a huge trade sector and runs a big current account surplus. so they can actually kind of monetise the debt. but for britain it's very difficult because if external buyers don't buy, as i said, the sterling will fall. and that doesn't just mean your houday and that doesn't just mean your holiday becomes more expensive , holiday becomes more expensive, it means a third of the things on the shelf become more expensive. and i think the treasury and the bank of england are aware of this, which is why they don't try the mad money policies. >> well, thank you very much indeed for talking us through all of that. philip pilkington, macro economist and macro economist. thank you very much indeed, the government have been talking down our economy since

that speech. rather miserable speech that keir starmer gave us all, telling us that things were going to get worse before they got better and just reading here that household confidence in the economy, consumer confidence has plunged. go figure. it's hardly surprising is it? are we putting off investment. are we encouraging people to up sticks and leave if they've got a bit of money, if they've got business interests and the like? i do worry about the state of things. then you see our national debt spiralling just when labour have been in power for two months. austerity 2.0, but not for public sector workers, it would seem. anyway, this is good afternoon britain on gb news. we've got lots more coming up on today's show. we are going to be checking in with tom harwood, who is of course at the reform conference. it's all geanng the reform conference. it's all gearing up for some punchy speeches, i imagine. but that's after your . news.

after your. news. >> good afternoon. the top stories. one of mohamed al fayed's alleged victims who went by the name natasha, has told a press conference today that the billionaire businessman was highly manipulative. he was described as a monster enabled by a system that pervaded harrods by lawyers representing 37 alleged victims of sexual abuse. at that press conference in london, dean armstrong kc said the case combined some of the most horrific elements of those, including jimmy savile, jeffrey epstein and harvey weinstein. natasha described al fayed as a predator who preyed on the most vulnerable . on the most vulnerable. >> we would be sent to see al fayed because he had a job for to us do. it was always more of a friendly chat than actual work. but then these private meetings turned into more a forced kiss. his hands gripping your face to his lips or pulling your face to his lips or pulling you down on his lap where his hands were to free explore any part of your body that he wished . part of your body that he wished. these incidents lasted seconds,

but the fear instilled left me paralysed . al fayed brushed off paralysed. al fayed brushed off these moments like they had never happened, but i was always reminded not to mention them to anyone. he would know if i did . anyone. he would know if i did. >> a campaigner whose niece was killed by her ex—partner after calling the police multiple times, says domestic violence victims need to be heard the first time they call 999. noor norris , whose niece raneem oudeh norris, whose niece raneem oudeh and sister were both murdered by miss o'day's ex—partner in 2018. she says those calling the police for help need to be given the opportunity to be saved. the home office says some police forces will start embedding domestic abuse specialists in their 999 control rooms early next year as part of raneem's law, to transform the way police handle cases of violence against women and girls. an inquest found mistakes made by west midlands police had materially contributed to the deaths. home secretary yvette cooper says the government will ensure that

things change, and tory party leader hopeful robert jenrick has warned that english identity is under threat. he claims the ties that bind the nation together are beginning to fray due to mass immigration and woke culture. jenrick says immigration has had a clear impact on our culture, customs and cohesion. mrjenrick also suggested it's a contributing factor to this summer's riots, with unrest spreading across the country in the wake of the southport knife attack, which killed three young girls. and those are the latest gb news headlines. for now i'm tatiana sanchez. i'll be back with more in half an hour for the very latest gb news direct to your smartphone , sign up to news smartphone, sign up to news alerts by scanning the qr code, or go to >> forward slash alerts

>> good afternoon britain. it is now 1238 and that means it's time to have a catch up with tom harwood, who is at the reform conference up in birmingham. tom, bring us the latest . tom, bring us the latest. >> yes. well, it's all got underway at 12:00. this conference started. i've got my hands on the on the official conference guide here, which i can show you actually means that we are currently in the middle of the welcome to conference. now we're in the middle of james murdoch, who of course, was the unexpected mp. the mp who was elected down in basildon , elected down in basildon, unexpectedly and late, if we remember on the election night, what happened was that, four reform mps were elected. there was nigel farage, rupert lowe richard tice and lee anderson . richard tice and lee anderson. and it wasn't until the next morning that they discovered that lo and behold, someone that they hadn't expected would be elected was indeed elected. so

he's kicking off the roster today. and then after that, it's ann widdecombe who is up on the stage. it's all going to culminate at 4:00 with nigel farage. but lots of other people speaking in between . but this speaking in between. but this isn't just about who is speaking this is about a party that is attempting to professionalise , attempting to professionalise, attempting to professionalise, attempting to professionalise, attempting to modernise. we can see on our screen nigel farage, farage arriving at the birmingham nec just some moments ago, being swamped with supporters, even though at this point the supporters have all been told to go to their stand to go to the arena to hear the speeches. some people, of course, stayed behind and wanted to say hello to nigel as he snuck in to what he hoped would be a bit of an empty hall. but clearly this is a moment for this party that won five members of parliament at the general election. 14% of the vote. the new chairman of reform uk is a guy called zia yusuf. now he has

been telling delegates today that things are on the up for a former uk. they're polling at 18% higher than the 14% they got at the election. and the membership, the number of membership, the number of members to this party has surpassed 80,000, according to the party chairman. now, that means that this conference is the biggest conference. the party or any of its forebears has held. we're expecting 4000 people here at the birmingham nec over the course of today and tomorrow. the question for reform uk, however, will be can it live up to the hype? it's spoken a lot about professionalising . it's spoken a professionalising. it's spoken a lot about growing its vote share. there will be a big, big test in the local elections as to whether it can live up to those big expectations. >> absolutely. there are big expectations and i must say it's a very attractive taxi behind you, all dressed up in the reform colours and the reform branding. very nice. on your left shoulder. i don't know if

you can shed any light on this. if you have any particular insight, but nigel farage, he's been doing quite a few media interviews recently and it's been commented upon that he's not doing in—person surgeries down at clacton. nigel farage said that's because of security concerns. he went as far as to say that the speaker's office had warned him against having these in—person surgeries. he cited what happened in southend to the mp there, david amess, any insight on on where we are with that one? >> yeah, as far as i understand, thatis >> yeah, as far as i understand, that is the case. the speaker's office does issue recommendations . to members of recommendations. to members of parliament. we've heard the stories before about how members of parliament have had security alarms installed in their homes. some of course, have been issued security nigel farage security has increased markedly in recent months. he's gone from just having two bodyguards around him

to having many, many more. and of course it does seem that it is on official recommendation that he doesn't host these in—person walk in surgeries simply due to the security situation around that. and of course, that's a sad indictment in terms of where we are as a country that, members of parliament who are seen to be on that higher risk register can't interact with people in the way that perhaps they would have done several decades ago. i know that nigel farage loves nothing more than going out into crowds and meeting people. and to some extent, that's why we've seen some of these, attacks on him, whether it was rubble being thrown at him on the reform bus or a milkshake being thrown at his face in his own constituency, we have seen that against nigel farage in a way that we haven't seen, against other party leaders. why is that? well, one of the reasons is that he does like to get out

there amongst people. there was a curious case of a rishi sunak impersonator around six months ago who got egged in the street because someone thought that it was actually rishi sunak, which perhaps tells you that if these other politicians had been doing these walkabouts as much as nigel farage, perhaps they would also have had the egg thrown at them in the way that he's had them in the way that he's had the milkshake thrown at him. of course, ed miliband had an egg thrown at him on a walkabout in and around doncaster in 2014 or 15. many politicians have, over the course of recent years, had things thrown at them, not least john prescott, who had a punch thrown at him famously in the 2001 general election . although 2001 general election. although the bigger scandal there, perhaps, is that he returned it. but yes, i mean, to return to the point there does seem to be a serious level of security concern, particularly around nigel farage, and his security has been increased . has been increased. >> and just lastly, tom, while i've got you, we're going to be

speaking to robert jenrick a little bit later. he's one of the tory leadership hopefuls. of course, he's got a bit of a blistering piece in the daily mail today about how mass immigration and woke culture are undermining english national identity. do you think the timing of that piece has anything to do with the reform party conference kicking off today ? today? >> oh, a cynic might suggest so. and a cynic would be entirely right. i mean, robert jenrick really does want to win back the 4 million people who voted for reform uk in the last election. he sees the path to conservative victory through winning back a huge number of those who voted for the reform party, as well as, of course, the huge number of people who sat on their hands and stayed at home as well. we saw turnout decrease at the last general election, which is another big issue, but it is clear and one of the big, big battlegrounds will for be the sort of centre right voter you've got. this party and some

of those candidates vying to lead the conservative party chasing after that pool of voters. i think we're going to see quite a lot of that from robert jenrick. it will be interesting to get his view on nigel farage, his view on what's going on in birmingham today. >> well, we'll certainly put it to him. thank you very much indeed. tom harwood there at the reform party uk conference. this is good afternoon britain. we're on gb news. we've got lots more coming up on today's show including a very curious one, a cornish town's long held tradition of lifting schoolchildren and bumping their heads on turf topped boundary stones has been halted. guess why? health and safety. stay tuned . tuned. >> this monday, the king of breakfast tv is back . that's breakfast tv is back. that's right, britain's favourite tv host eamonn holmes returns to

britain's hottest breakfast programme , breakfast, every day programme, breakfast, every day from 6 am. gb news. britain's news

>> okay good afternoon britain. it is now 1249 now health and safety is bringing an end to a cornish tradition that dates back to the rule of queen elizabeth the first. yes, beating the bounds. this sees schoolchildren given a tour of the boundary stones before being lifted and gently bounced on some turf, placed on top of them. but now this is all at risk , as a local town council in risk, as a local town council in helston unanimously voted to ban the event due to safeguarding concerns. joining us now is political commentator anna mcgovern to tell us a bit more and anna, is this a case of health and safety gone mad, or is this a rather bizarre

tradition ? tradition? >> no, i do absolutely think it's a case of health and safety gone completely mad. and what i'm seeing so much more now is that traditions that we hold so closely to are just slowly being stripped away further and further, with all of this red tape that continuously keeps being put in place. i think it's been a huge part of our history, and the fact that they've now voted to stop a tradition that so many people in the local community appreciate so much, i think is absolutely mad. >> the cornish are vehemently proud of their traditions. i mean , there are some cornish mean, there are some cornish people who want to be totally independent from the rest of england and the united kingdom, or so i've heard. but yes, it doesn't seem that this would actually hurt a child because there's a bit of turf. it's on top of the stones, and the children are lifted into a horizontal position by adults who can carry their weight, and they're just sort of bumped onto

they're just sort of bumped onto the turf. i mean, it's not something i did as a child, but my first impression is why not keep it going ? keep it going? >> yes, exactly. so i believe the child is actually held sideways and then it's a gentle bump three times on the head. so it's not like they're being smashed together or anything like that. this is something that's been a tradition for a very long time, and they know what they're doing. so i think this is again, another example where the council is just trying to have more control over people's lives. and i think, again, it just kind of represents what we're seeing, the trend of in society with the government, where we're just seeing continuously more red tape just being put in place and just decimating fun. yeah i mean, these councils, they do get involved in everything, don't they? >> so they unanimously voted that the helston town council to recommend that lifting of individuals no longer be an accepted practice at the beating the boundaries event for health

and safety and safeguarding reasons. i mean, i don't know if there were any examples of this going so terribly wrong that they must do it, or if they just didn't fancy it anymore. maybe they were outsiders at the town council and they didn't know about this tradition so much. i don't know . don't know. >> honestly, i wouldn't be surprised. and i think again , surprised. and i think again, you know what? we you know what we see. i remember the walkabouts, like king charles, that was recently. they're not using that term anymore, because it might be offensive. that's what they were doing their tour in australia, because it might be seen as offensive to some indigenous people in the community. and again, that's another closely held tradition. it's like the it's like this culture. it's controlling our language, controlling our lives and seeing so many more councils. now they're releasing these language guides to people as well, where they tell people what is and what isn't appropriate to say. and again, i just think this is another example of government and

council control. and it's absolutely ridiculous. >> like they want to create work for themselves. thank you very much indeed. anna mcgovern, political commentator. thank you very much indeed for your time. i mean, just just reading what some of the residents had to say. clare mcewan, she says it's a wonderful tradition and should be left alone. i remember beating the bounds as a kid and it was a fantastic experience, wonderful memories. i'll never forget where that boundary stone is. as far as i'm aware, there's been no long term damage to my noggin either. i mean, please do let me know if you're from the area and you've taken part in this in this tradition, would you be sad to see it go? should the council just stay out of it unless something awful happens and then couldn't you just ban that particular individual from doing it ? that particular individual from doing it? taking part? that particular individual from doing it ? taking part? anyway, doing it? taking part? anyway, this is good afternoon britain on gb news. we've got lots more coming up on today's show. we're going to be heading back up to birmingham for the reform uk conference. stay with us. after the weather. >> a brighter outlook with boxt

solar sponsors of weather on gb news . news. >> time for your latest weather update from the met office here on gb news. a dry for friday most, but we are going to see some big thunderstorms across parts of the south. the sunnier skies probably in western scotland. that's because we've got high pressure sitting to the north and generally an easterly wind. so with some shelter, say western scotland doing okay for sunshine, but also much of northern ireland and northwest england further south, things are brightening up. we've got . are brightening up. we've got. some sunny spells but that is sparking a few showers. much of northeast england and eastern scotland staying pretty drab, the showers in the south intensifying this afternoon, and some rumbles of thunder, lightning flashes and hailstones are likely temperatures in the sunny spells in the south. getting into the low 20s on the cool side, though, on these nonh cool side, though, on these north sea coast, where it stays fairly drab and a little drizzly with a brisk wind. now this is the thunderstorm warning area. not everywhere in this area will

see the thunderstorms. they will be hit and miss, but the potential for those thunderstorms to cause some problems. certainly a lot of spray and surface water on the roads further north. well, it's a fine friday across western scotland, northern ireland, staying pretty drab in eastern scotland, parts of northeast england where the cloud will be thick enough for a little drizzle here and there . but the drizzle here and there. but the heaviest rain in those thundery showers across parts of the south and west slowly fade as we go through this evening. for many, it will be a fine friday night , but notice further south night, but notice further south we are starting to import further heavy showers as we go through the early hours, and they could also cause some disruption during saturday. a fairly mild night for most with some clearer skies in western scotland. temperatures well down into single digits, but again here on saturday, a fine day, but again in the south we do need to watch out for thunderstorms again. lots of lightning , large hailstones, lightning, large hailstones, torrential downpours possible could cause some flooding and again a lot of spray and surface water on the roads won't rain all day. there will be somewhat

hit and miss and in the sunny spells again in the south, it will feel quite warm. bye for how. >> now. >> that warm feeling inside from boxt boilers sponsors of weather

gb news. away. >> good afternoon britain. it's 1:00 on friday. the 20th of september. i'm emily carver. >> and i'm tom harwood live here at the reform uk party conference, where today leader nigel farage will be amongst the speakers as this two day event gets underway here in birmingham. >> fantastic stuff. and starmer, he's in a bit of turmoil. a civil war is brewing in number 10 as the prime minister defends his decision to pay his chief of staff a salary that exceeds his own. and what of all those gifts and losing our englishness? robert jenrick has today warned

that mass immigration and woke culture have put england's national identity at risk. he'll be with us, live very . be with us, live very. soon. and tom, tell us a little bit more about the reform party conference while i've got you here. is it has there been a good turnout? what's the buzz like if there is one? >> well, reform uk say that there are 4000 people, up to 4000 people at this conference today. they say they've got 80,000 members and that polls, opinion polls now show an increase in the vote share . they increase in the vote share. they got 14% at the general election . got 14% at the general election. they now point to polls that show them at 18% or higher. they think they've got the momentum. nigel farage has been boasting about getting into government in just five years time. it has to be said there's a huge amount of

optimism here at this party conference. what we have to work out as journalists is, is this optimism misplaced? how reality based is this party still only five mps, an impressive feat, of course, to get that bridgehead in parliament. but just five members of parliament out of 650, they've got a mountain to climb . if they believe they're climb. if they believe they're going to get into government now , going to get into government now, this conference will be instituting democratic reforms to the party, an ability for party members to dislodge their leader to elect a new one. that's a contentious point, but it's part of the professionalisation of this party. that's what they're attempting to do in what has been so far the largest and most professional party conference that nigel farage has headed up . that nigel farage has headed up. >> very interesting indeed. yes, our voting system is quite difficult to break through, isn't it? thank you very much. we'll catch you a little bit later . gbnews.com/yoursay. later. gbnews.com/yoursay. please do get it. get in touch at home if you're watching the

show this afternoon. but let's get the headlines with tatiana sanchez. >> emily, thank you and good afternoon. the top story one of mohamed al—fayed's alleged victims who went by the name of natasha, has told a press conference the billionaire businessman was highly manipulative. he was described as a monster enabled by a system that pervaded harrods, by lawyers representing 37 alleged victims of sexual abuse. at that press conference in london, dean armstrong kc said the case combined some of the most horrific elements of those, including jimmy savile jeffrey epstein and harvey weinstein. natasha described al fayed as a predator who preyed on the most vulnerable. >> we would be sent to see al fayed because he had a job for us to do it was always more of a friendly chat than actual work, but then these private meetings turned into more a forced kiss, his hands gripping your to face

his hands gripping your to face his lips or pulling you down on his lips or pulling you down on his lap where his hands were free to explore any part of your body that he wished . these body that he wished. these incidents lasted seconds, but the fear instilled left me paralysed . al fayed brushed off paralysed. al fayed brushed off these moments like they had never happened , but i was always never happened, but i was always reminded not to mention them to anyone. he would know if i did. >> the government has announced new plans to tackle domestic violence. a campaigner whose niece was killed by her ex—partner after calling the police multiple times, says domestic violence victims need to be heard the first time they call 999. nora norris, whose niece, raneem oudeh and sister were both murdered by miss o'day's ex—partner in 2018. she says those calling the police for help need to be given the opportunity to be saved. the home office says some police forces will start embedding domestic abuse specialists in their 999 control rooms early next year as part of raneem's law, to transform the way the

police handle cases of violence against women and girls. an inquest found mistakes made by west midlands police had materially contributed to the deaths. home secretary yvette cooper says the government will ensure that things change. the foreign secretary last night demanded an immediate ceasefire between israel and the militant group hezbollah, after meeting allies in paris. david lammy is chairing meetings today on the evacuation of britons from lebanon following israeli airstrikes. israel carried out further strikes on southern lebanon overnight, saying its warplanes hit more than 100 hezbollah rocket launchers and other terrorist sites. the israel defence forces said the launchers were ready to be fired against israel. it wasn't immediately clear if there were any casualties. lebanon's state run national news agency said israel carried out at least 52 strikes in the south of the country last night, and that lebanon had also launched strikes on military sites in northern israel. earlier, the leader of the terrorist group hezbollah said deadly explosions earlier in the week crossed all

red lines, accusing israel of what he said represented a declaration of war. israel has not said it was behind the attacks, which saw pages and walkie talkies explode across the country , and which lebanese the country, and which lebanese authorities said killed 37 people and wounded 3000. >> victims of domestic abuse need to know that the police will be there for them in an emergency. that didn't happen for raneem oudeh when she lost her life. and that's why we're bringing domestic abuse experts into 999 control rooms like this, to make sure that the emergency response is right. we saw when raneem oudeh called 999 four times on the night she was killed. no one came. we cannot let that happen again. so we'll begin with the first wave. then we want to roll this out right across the country so that domestic abuse victims can know the police will be there for them when they call. >> that was the home secretary, yvette cooper, speaking there on the government , who have the government, who have announced new plans to tackle domestic violence . in other

domestic violence. in other news, tory party leader hopeful robert jenrick has warned that engush robert jenrick has warned that english identity is under threat. he claims the ties that bind the nation together are beginning to fray due to mass immigration and woke culture. jenrick says immigration has had a clear impact on our culture, customs and cohesion. mrjenrick also suggesting it's a contributing factor to this summer's riots, with unrest spreading across the country in the wake of the southport knife attack, which killed three young girls and thunderstorms and lightning are set to batter the uk with up to 70mm of rainfall expected within a few hours after a spell of dry, warm weather. the met office has issued two yellow weather warnings for thunderstorms for today and tomorrow, and said damage to buildings as a result of lightning strikes, disruption to public transport and flooding should be expected within the affected areas . today's alert affected areas. today's alert covers most of the south west england , parts of wales, the england, parts of wales, the midlands and west london and is in place until 8:00. the second warning is in place all of

tomorrow from 1 am. and covers all of wales, southwest england , all of wales, southwest england, the midlands and parts of south east england . and those are the east england. 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 slash alerts . slash alerts. >> thanks, tatiana. now welcome back to. good afternoon britain. it is 108 and ann widdecombe richard tice and nigel farage are among the keynote speakers at the reform uk conference today. the leader of the party is expected to issue a clarion call for change when he addresses the party faithful. a little bit later on this afternoon. now the party is also expected to unveil its plan to win the 2029 general election, following its strong performance

in july, where the party gained five mps and became the third biggest party in terms of vote share . but is that a realistic share. but is that a realistic ambition? let's cross over to birmingham now and speak to our political editor, christopher hope. christopher, these are quite lofty ambitions for what was for a party that hasn't been around for all that long. >> emily, that's so right. they've got five mps to win a majority in the house of commons. you need 326 mps. so another 321 mps to go is a long shot. but nigel farage, on arrival here for the reform uk conference, insists that his party can pull off a once in a century shock and form the next government, beating the tories out of out of sight, going where the lib dems are and becoming this party which can form a government extraordinary . but government extraordinary. but that's what he's saying. there's 4000 members here of reform uk at the nec and one new member is with me now. he's christopher hudson . christopher, until two

hudson. christopher, until two weeks ago you were a conservative councillor. why have you joined reform to get effective and positive change? >> christopher. we need to give the people a voice on the boats, taxes, all the capital taxes we really need to get back. i mean, this reminds me of a proper old conference from the 80s. it's positive we need change, not change for its own sake. but positive change is on tax on all the things we share. >> but there's a sweet stand over the corner there. christopher, do you worry this party is on a sugar rush? it's like toddlers gobbling down cola bottles and running around. how excited they all are when the real world goes. not it's not going to happen, is it really? >> well, 4000 is a very good start here today. and we've got 4 million. 4 million people who turned out at the general election. you could say small beginnings. i think it's the people are ready for a change. people are not listening to them. they are the masters. and we must listen to them. and they want change. >> in terms of the change in your life, how long have you were you a conservative member? >> i joined as a young man.

young boy at 15 and at university. and this reminds me back to maggie's days of the early conferences. then there was a positive vibe. >> so you've been a member since 2015? absolutely. you are now older than that. absolutely. let's say it's 50 years later. to be generous. you always moved on. you're quitting. you're moving on. yes emotional for you, i suppose. >> very emotional. but who was it who said when the events on the floor change, i change my opinion. >> but you're joining a party which essentially is a protest party defining itself against the main parties. is it a wasted vote you're doing here? >> no, it's a little more than that because it's the range of policies that are set out. and i await policies on local government which have a particular interest in as a county councillor, we are now at the start of the journey. overused word, but it's there. the people are there and you must have that vibe and it's with us. the people are demanding change and you and you and you maintain that you're still a suffolk county councillor . indeed still a suffolk county councillor. indeed i am until next may. and then the people

will decide whether to keep me there or whatever. >> and what was the moment when you thought, i'll jump ship? were you? would you have a chat with nigel farage richard tice lee anderson? >> i think it's i think yes, it's to do with all those personalities. >> so you've met them all, have you? >> i've met. i've met most of them, yes, but it's to do with them, yes, but it's to do with the fact that we need, you know, the fact that we need, you know, the boats, the immigration policy, the boats. >> you mean on the south coast? >> you mean on the south coast? >> yes. the illegals. we don't know who the hell is coming into the country, but only a government in power, which is going to probably be labour or the tories. >> really, frankly, looking at our system can do that. so why are you joining a party with no hope of power? >> a week is a long time in politics. things are changing. it's a mass movement and things are changing and they need to change more urgently. yes, but it's there, i feel it. i feel the vibe. >> it's quite different to ukip, isn't it ? i mean, you when you isn't it? i mean, you when you were a tory member and a councillor, you looked at ukip, thought, well, that's a bit a bit different to the tories. >> it was very focused on getting us out of the nightmare that was the brexiteer. >> are you a brexiteer? >> are you a brexiteer? >> i am a yes , absolutely. and i

>> i am a yes, absolutely. and i wonder, i want to ask the people what they want. we've got technology. let's ask them are you in favour of mass uncontrolled immigration? are you in favour of lower capital taxes? this is how we'll do it. and the tax policy is the first £20,000. these are vote winners . £20,000. these are vote winners. let's put it to the people. let's put it to the people. let's change. >> that's the tax threshold going from 14,000 to 20,000. >> that's got to be good. >> that's got to be good. >> yeah. and you mentioned just finally you mentioned there net immigration. you've got robert jenrick saying today he's making a real pitch. there isn't he. >> for he's not the leader. >> for he's not the leader. >> reform voters. yeah. >> reform voters. yeah. >> half the conservative party is. now i would say liberals. and at the end of the day perhaps they should just join the liberal party because it's too wide a church without a common religion or prayer book. >> well, christopher hudson , a >> well, christopher hudson, a newly arrived member, a supporter of reform uk from the tories. thank you for joining us.thank tories. thank you for joining us. thank you. here in birmingham. back to you, emily. >> very much indeed, christopher. and also to councillor christopher hudson there as well. right. we're going to go speak to tom harwood. now, who's out and about at the conference? tom,

take us on a little journey around the conference. what's the atmosphere like ? the atmosphere like? >> i would love nothing more than to take you on a tour, actually. why don't we have a look behind the scenes at our own gb news stand? you can see chris hope just getting de—rigged there, which is a bit meta, a bit behind the scenes there, but if we walk around here, we can see one of the biggest exhibits here at the at the reform conference. and that's this splendid reform uk taxi , resplendent in turquoise taxi, resplendent in turquoise and clearly the chairman of the party there, yusuf, being being interviewed so will not try and disturb him too much. but this is a professionalising outfit. thatis is a professionalising outfit. that is the message that reform uk wants to get across today. that's the message that they've been trying to get across as they move forward to aiming to win more seats. they won, of course, five members of parliament at the election. some people thought they would win none. it's a bridgehead, but

it's not the huge amount that's needed to control the balance of power in parliament. and it's certainly a while away from if they want to win the next general election. clearly you can see that the movement is growing here. they say they've got 80,000 members, around 4000 of whom are here at the birmingham nec. but it's not just the members who are here, of course. there's also a little bit of a merchandise shop. should we have a look at the shop and see what you can get on offer here at the reform conference? it looks like some of these t shirts are popular. you can get yourself a tote bag , you can get yourself a tote bag, a rosette, a mug, or even a water bottle, all branded in the reform uk turquoise. now, i should say that currently people are spilling out of the main auditorium. there have been speeches all morning and people are just breaking for lunch, so i wonder if we can sneak into the auditorium and show you what's going on there. try and avoid the throngs of people , but

avoid the throngs of people, but it's just down here. so we're going to. i should mention as well that part of the professionalising ethos of this party is a new constitution, a new democratic way to install leaders, or indeed boot leaders out. the proposal is that half of party members, half of registered party members, would be able to dislodge a leader. and that would mean that nigel farage went from being in sole control of the party to the members being in control of the party, which would mean a more rigorous form of democracy than just nigel farage holding the majority shares in the company. here we are in the main arena. this is where the speeches have been happening all day and where the big speeches will happen into this afternoon as well. nigel farage speaking at 4:00, a date for your diary, a time for

your planner. now here is the reform uk bus . yes, they've reform uk bus. yes, they've dnven reform uk bus. yes, they've driven the bus right into the auditorium here a pretty, pretty impressive feat up there. you can just make out richard tice being interviewed at the top there, but i don't know. i'll see if i can just hop on down here in a second. and i'm inside the bus now. this is, of course, the bus now. this is, of course, the battle bus that went around various constituencies during the general election . but this the general election. but this is a big, big moment for reform uk. they're trying to professionalise they want to show themselves as the third largest party in british politics. of course, they won the third largest number of votes at the general election, of course, miles behind in terms of course, miles behind in terms of seats. now, can they do the trick that the lib dems managed to pull off in the last couple of decades? can they turn votes into seats? can they get more

efficient with where they campaign? and that is what the local elections are all about. that's why they're trying to form local groups, local chapters , and try and chapters, and try and professionalise in that way. try and make their vote much more efficient. but should we just look out to end here on the on the stage where no doubt we're going to see some more pyrotechnics from this party a little bit later and it does seem that this is a busy conference. i'm not sure that we can dispute the claim that thousands of people are here. >> yes , it does look very busy >> yes, it does look very busy indeed.i >> yes, it does look very busy indeed. i feel like i'm there. i feel like i'm there. thank you very much indeed. tom harwood. according to mark in our inbox, you've had your reform weetabix this morning and i think he's right. thank you very much indeed. tom harwood. we'll catch up with you in a little bit. well, it does look a pretty busy atmosphere at that conference. i've been to quieter conferences than that. it does seem to be buzzing. there we'll be catching up with tom and christopher as

the show goes on to see what's happening, but there you go. tom's very good at that, isn't he? weaving through the crowds, getting to where we want to see getting to where we want to see getting inside that bus. brilliant stuff. get in touch. get in touch. gbnews.com/yoursay. this is, of course, good afternoon, britain. we're on gb news. we've got lots more coming up on today's show, including that labour funding scandal. it's not going anywhere . scandal. it's not going anywhere. >> this monday, the king of breakfast tv is back. that's right. britain's favourite tv host eamonn holmes returns to britain's hottest breakfast programme, breakfast every day from 6 am. only on britain's news channel

>> welcome back. it's now 122 and lots of you have been getting in touch about tom harwood walk around at the reform uk. nicholas very much enjoyed it. excellent. he says. sir flip flop says it's fantastic to see tom get all excited. so there you go. he's knowledgeable and enthusiastic. well done tom. so some congratulations there. i do like to you know, see what it's actually like. the atmosphere at these types of conferences because they can be rather different sometimes there's no one in the main hall to see the speeches, and everyone's out in little fringe events. you call them, you know, talking amongst themselves, debating or their little drinks events. but it does seem like most of the action is in that main speech hall at the reform party conference, nigel farage will, of course, be speaking a little bit later on. some of you also not very impressed with this council's decision down in cornwall to axe this tradition,

saying that this is just health and safety gone mad, that they're trying to get rid of traditions for for, wokery instead. it does seem ridiculous that you know, a few people at a local council decide that a tradition that dates back to the 16th century isn't for good health and safety. ergo, we need to scrap the lot. it just doesn't seem to make sense to me ehhen doesn't seem to make sense to me either. this is the tradition of children essentially having their head patted against a wall, a stone with a bit of turf on the side. bizarre. certainly bizarre, but worth scrapping? i don't think so. anyway, let's move on, because the labour peen move on, because the labour peer, lord alli, has donated over £300,000 to senior labour ministers , including sir keir ministers, including sir keir starmer and angela rayner, over nearly two decades. contributions increased under starmer's leadership. this is very interesting indeed. we thought that keir starmer was the only one getting these donations, but actually it's seven of them. the prime minister received over 155,000. the deputy prime minister,

angela rayner, 72,000. it turns out that angela rayner also welcomed the new year in. she spent new year's eve in a £2 million manhattan flat owned by lord alli for five nights. she put it in her declaration that it was about £1,250. that's what it's worth. i'm not sure if that's the price going in manhattan for five nights over the new year , but anyway, it's the new year, but anyway, it's all raising questions about gift declarations amid what's being called labour's cronyism row. well, joining me now is the former special adviser to michael gove. charlie rowley i should put to you, charlie, that the conservatives were at this kind of thing as well. >> well, it's something that's been talked about for a long time, just to the extent of donations or gifts that are made to ministers, how they're declared, whether it's about transparency or whether it's about whether these gifts should be handed over in the first place. i mean, i think we've got to be, open minded about it on

the one level. so if you are an event holder and you're inviting a backbench mp for example, the reality is, without wanting to damage an mp's ego, you're probably just filling the quota of a public affairs agency just so they can go to their directors to say, oh, look, we know all of these different kinds of mps from different political backgrounds, aren't we great? it's a tick boxing exercise. more than more than anything else. and a little perk for the backbench mp to go along to an event which can be, you know, quite nice if it's very stressful job that you've got as an mp. however, when it comes to ministers and senior frontbench, members of parliament, whether on the government benches or on the opposition benches, the idea that you can have one person, one individual funding, bankrolling your, lifestyle, whether it's glasses or suits or frocks or gifts in terms of hospitality over a number of years, only then to be given also this guy, a parliament, a

pass, a downing street pass to go into number 10 and, you know, and who knows what he was doing. well, nobody knows because even the labour government couldn't justify or explain what he was doing, which is why that pass was redacted. and that raises serious questions about cash for access, cash for questions, cash for influence. and we are yet to hear the answers. and i hope that every , conservative that every, conservative opposition minister or anyone in the house of commons, for that matter, will be asking these questions of keir thelma when the conference season is over, should be writing to every one of those ministers that you just named there who received funding from lord alli to ask the questions, how many meetings have they had with him? on what basis? how long did they for ? basis? how long did they for? last what was his asks? what were his wants? because there's no such thing as a free lunch. >> yeah, i mean it's not a it's not a right, is it. to spend new year's eve in a beautiful manhattan apartment? it does appear as though some of these

labour politicians are just trying to live a more luxurious lifestyle than they can afford on on their salary. and when it is someone who's donating to the party, when it is someone who clearly would have some influence over a labour government who's been a long term supporter, you know , term supporter, you know, eyebrows are going to raise, but it's also a tricky one for the likes of jess phillips and angela eagle, who've been out on the media rounds having to try and handle questions on this, having to defend keir starmer and others who have been taking money and gifts and treats and whatever tickets and the like. i mean, jess phillips today, she said it's an annoying distraction having to talk about lord ali's donations to labour mps. yeah, i mean , it's annoying mps. yeah, i mean, it's annoying is one word for it, but it's also quite, quite important, is it to not people? people are seeing winter fuel payments being taken away from pensioners, at the same time as they're seeing keir starmer get thousands of pounds for

spectacles, you're absolutely right. >> and look, i mean , being prime >> and look, i mean, being prime minister isn't probably that easy, i would argue and if you're the prime minister and if the economy was firing on all cylinders and if you're able to come in and sort of if you take away the rwanda plan and replace it with something that actually is a deterrent, something that is a deterrent, something that is actually going to work, and you do stop the boats, something that this country is crying out for. if you can protect the winter fuel allowance for pensioners, if you can increase pensions, if you can increase pubuc pensions, if you can increase public sector pay, if you can cut taxes and allow the economy to flourish and grow and increase inward investment . increase inward investment. well, hey, i mean, give the prime minister what he wants. he can go to arsenal every day of the week. if you ask me if he wants to give him all the luxury suits and glasses, because he's doing a brilliant job regardless of their party persuasion gifts, you can take as many gifts as you can take as many gifts as you like, as long as you're doing a good job. >> as long as the economy is booming. >> exactly. but, but the reality is, because, you know, if you're doing a great job, nobody would argue. >> i'm sure there'd be people

that would be saying, god, look at that sexy starmer with those glasses. you know, couples might be screaming his name up and down the country because he's doing such. >> there was a time not that long ago where there were several columns by female journalists talking about how sexy. sir keir starmer and his wife were. those seem to have dned wife were. those seem to have dried up. >> well, well , quite. i mean, >> well, well, quite. i mean, i think the suits are about as dull as some of his speeches, but , but but dull as some of his speeches, but, but but this is the point. it's about political choices and it's about the optics and the opfics it's about the optics and the optics are obviously awful, but the choices are that keir starmer has accepted all of these gifts. the labour frontbench seem to have accepted all of these perks and hospitality at the very same time that they are penalising over 10 million of the poorest people in our country, those pensioners that will rely on their winter fuel payments. you can try and you know, say, well, you know, they're getting an increase in their pension anyway increase in their pension anyway in the years. so that covers the cost or covers the takeaway. we've got to make difficult decisions. and public sector workers have been underpaid for so many years. well that might be the case. but a public sector

worker that's on 5060 k a year, which is above the national average, getting a pay increase at the same time as pensioners not having that winter fuel allowance at the same time as a chief of staff being paid more than the chief at the same time as the prime minister getting all of these perks and every other member of the cabinet, seems to me it is a political choice to take those. it's more than a distraction, and i feel sometimes with jess phillips and angela eagle who have to go and defend it because it is indefensible. and i think there are many, many more questions to answer. and those questions will keep on coming. >> okay. well, thank you very much indeed . charlie rowley much indeed. charlie rowley former special adviser to michael gove. thank you very much indeed. i guess some people will point to some of the sleaze allegations under the conservative party. i'm sure this is. good afternoon britain on gb news. we've got lots more coming up on today's show. we are going to be speaking to tory leadership hopeful robert jenrick after the news he's had, has had he had some things to say about english national identity. he believes it's under threat because of mass immigration and also the rise of woke culture that after the .

news. >> emily. thank you. the top stories this hour. one of mohamed al fayed's alleged victims who went by the name natasha, says the billionaire businessman was highly manipulative. he was described as a monster enabled by a system that pervaded harrods by lawyers representing 37 alleged victims of sexual abuse at a press conference in london today, dean armstrong kc said the case combined some of the most horrific elements of those, including jimmy savile, jeffrey epstein and harvey weinstein. natasha described al fayed as a predator who preyed on the most vulnerable. >> we would be sent to see al fayed because he had a job for us to do. it was always more of a friendly chat than actual work, but then these private meetings turned into more a forced kiss, his hands gripping your to face his lips or pulling your to face his lips or pulling you down on his lap where his hands were free to explore any part of your body that he wished .

part of your body that he wished. these incidents lasted seconds, but the fear instilled left me paralysed . al fayed brushed off paralysed. al fayed brushed off these moments like they had never happened, but i was always reminded not to mention them to anyone. he would know if i did . anyone. he would know if i did. >> the government has announced new plans to tackle domestic violence. a campaigner whose niece was killed by her ex—partner after calling the police multiple times, says domestic violence victims need to be heard the first time they call 999. noel norris, whose niece, raneem oudeh and sister were both murdered by masood's ex—partner in 2018. she says those calling the police for help need to be given the opportunity to be saved. the home office says some police forces will start embedding domestic abuse specialists in their 909 control rooms early next year as part of raneem's law to transform the way the police handle cases of violence against women and girls, an inquest found . mistakes made by

inquest found. mistakes made by west midlands police have materially contributed to the deaths. home secretary yvette cooper says the government will ensure that things change and reform. uk leader nigel farage received a standing ovation as he entered the main hall of the party's conference at the nec in birmingham yesterday. farage said the conference marks the coming of age of the party. earlier, deputy leader of reform uk richard tice said nigel farage's relationship with the former us president donald trump is to the benefit of this country. asked if he thought the party leader was distracted from his constituency duties by his trips to the us, mr tice told reporters far from it. farage will be addressing the gathering today and those are the latest gb news headlines. for now, i'm tatiana sanchez. i'll be back with more in half an hour for the very latest gb news direct to your smartphone, sign up to news alerts by scanning the qr code, or go to gbnews.com forward

>> good afternoon britain. it is now 137 and english identity is under threat. that's according to former immigration minister robert jenrick, as he continues to fight for the tory leadership. now he is putting this down to mass immigration and woke culture, he says. those things are breaking down the country's culture in various different ways. now he's talking about how we've had mass immigration at the same time as woke culture, which he says is undermining our sense of identity, and how this may have been partly behind some of those riots we saw during the summer months. he's saying that a frank discussion is going to be needed to have about the state of the nation. it's quite interesting the timing of this, isn't it? when we have day one of the reform uk party conference, is

that a coincidence or is that a timing that he chose specifically? perhaps he's looking to try and court some of those voters who shifted from the conservatives to reform at the conservatives to reform at the last election of course, he is at the moment a lot of people saying he is the front runner for the tory leadership so he could, if he wins the leadership of the conservatives, become our next prime minister. it's clear that he wants to make immigration one of the key areas, one of the key things that he's pledging to the country, i guess there's a question mark over how much trust there is, considering the conservatives oversaw such high levels of immigration for quite so long. but joining us now is the man himself, tory leader, hopeful . robert jenrick robert, hopeful. robert jenrick robert, thank you very much indeed for your time . appreciate it. you your time. appreciate it. you are a busy man. now you've written this this quite punchy. good afternoon. you've written this quite punchy piece in the daily mail today, talking about how you see english identity being under threat. should we

start by saying what do you mean exactly by english identity being under a threat? how do you believe it is ? believe it is? >> well, look, i'm a proud brit. i'm a proud unionist. i want a strong scotland, wales and northern ireland. but i'm also proud to be english. and i think we should be rightly proud of our distinct national identity. and i think influential people like politicians, the media, the civil service in england should say so as well . if we were say so as well. if we were scottish or welsh, of course, our politicians would rightly celebrate our distinctive history, our landscapes, our food, our customs and that is absolutely the right way forward. but i think in england, in particular, in recent decades, our identity has started to fray and we've seen that in our children not being taught to celebrate english history in our schools, our pubuc history in our schools, our public institutions, denigrating and dismissing our history and our identity . and as a result of

our identity. and as a result of illegal migration and legal migration, putting immense pressure on our ability to successfully integrate people into our country, and in particular in england and engush particular in england and english cities. the ties that bind us together as a nation and our english national identity have started to fray. and i don't think england is a country at ease with itself right now. and i think we've got to change that. and it begins with english politicians, just like those in scotland and wales. speaking about our national culture and identity and having pride in doing so. >> if the two problems are mass immigration and also the sort of woke establishment denigrating what it means to be english, history, culture, etc, not celebrating it in the same way as the scots or the welsh might do if those two things are the problem, then isn't that the legacy of your party? >> well, i think it actually

goes back much further than that. you know, george orwell spoke about this 80 years ago when he said that england was a country in which our politicians and public intellectuals were too quick to dismiss our national identity. and we've seen that throughout my lifetime. but i do think that this has been particularly prevalent in the last two decades, when we've lived through an era of unprecedented levels of mass migration, 100 times more people have come into our country, and in particular to england and english cities in the last 25 years than the 25 years before that. and that has put huge pressure on our culture and our identity and our ability to successfully integrate. and we've got to change that. and i think it begins with us talking about it freely. >> absolutely, robert, a lot of people watching will be frustrated, though, because they've voted time and time again for lower immigration. and what they've seen with the conservatives is immigration actually accelerate beyond the labour years before the

conservatives came into power in 2010, they've seen almost what they perceive as an open door policy when it comes to legal and also illegal immigration. jumping up, how can they trust the conservatives to get this right ? right? >> well, i share their anger and frustration. i fought relentlessly in government to reduce the numbers coming in to our country , and persuaded the our country, and persuaded the then prime minister to do a big package of reforms which will reduce legal migration by 300,000 every year. and i argued that we needed to have a strengthened rwanda policy. ultimately, i wasn't successful in persuading him of that, and that's why i resigned from the government at the turn of the yeah government at the turn of the year. so the public should know that i share their frustration. i want the conservative party to be different, to accept that it didn't get everything right when it was in government and now in opposition to have crystal clear positions on these issues. i want parliament to set a cap on

legal migration in the tens of thousands or lower. and i want us to strengthen, not scrap, the rwanda policy by leaving the european convention on human rights. if i'm lucky enough to lead the conservative party in the future, that is the way that i will proceed. and i think that slowly we can begin to regain the trust and the confidence of the trust and the confidence of the millions of people in our country who did lose faith in us as a result of the policies that we had in recent years. >> robert jenrick today, of course, is day one of the reform party's big conference, their big party conference. they're saying that they've got their their eyes set on the 2029 election. they think they can win it. they've got that that big ambition. the timing of this article was it to coincide with the reform conference, trying to win back some of those conservative voters that chose to chose to tick that box at the last election ? last election? >> no, this is something i've

been thinking about for a very long time. but look, i do want the conservative party to once again be the natural for home all small c conservatives in our country, people who love our national identity, whether that's british culture and identity or scotland , wales, identity or scotland, wales, northern ireland or england, i want it to be the home of everyone who wants secure borders. a tough approach to crime, respect for family and personal responsibility, strong defences, entrepreneurship and small state. those are my values. those are shared by millions of people across our country, some of whom have left the conservative party and gone to reform . my mission is to to reform. my mission is to bnng to reform. my mission is to bring those people back home to the conservative party. >> and how do you make sure that when you're talking about engush when you're talking about english identity, people don't see it as, excluding people of different skin colours, different skin colours, different faiths , different different faiths, different backgrounds? because that's the difficulty, isn't it? when . difficulty, isn't it? when. people talk about english

identity, they assume that it must be based on ethnicity. how do you make sure that that bnngs do you make sure that that brings everyone together so we can have this positive, cohesive society that you you clearly want ? want? >> well, look, england, like our whole united kingdom, is an open and tolerant nation. and it has welcomed people for generations of all ethnicities and all faiths. and that is absolutely right. that is the united country that i want to build. but it's only if we talk about our national identity and celebrate it, its history and everything that makes it so important that we can help to passit important that we can help to pass it on intact to future generations . and if we reduce generations. and if we reduce the number of people coming into our country to a sustainable level, that's the best way we can achieve that , because people can achieve that, because people don't arrive in our country imbued with our history and culture and identity . the minute culture and identity. the minute they come here. it takes time. and that means we have to have a much more careful approach to bringing people and integrating

them into this country. and i believe we can do it. but we have to be talking about it, and we have to be ensuring that our children are educated in our history, our institutions are celebrating and not denigrating it. that is the way we move forward. >> okay. well, thank you very much indeed for your time. robert jenrick tory leader hopeful former minister, thank you very much indeed for your time. well, this is good afternoon britain on gb news. we've got lots more coming up on today's show. the scandal around mohamed al fayed . the mohamed al fayed. the billionaire former boss of harrods passed away last year. but the allegations against his conduct, including rape and sexual assault, continue to gather pace, stay with

us. welcome back. it is now 150 on watching and listening to good afternoon britain . lots of you afternoon britain. lots of you getting in touch on that interview we just had with

robert jenrick. lots of people saying a little bit too late to hear that from him, but keep your views coming in. we will get to some of them in a little bit, but sleazebag, predator and a monster without a compass. those are just some of the ways former harrods boss mohamed al fayed has been described by the dozens of women who've now accused him of sexually assaulting them while he was running the world famous department store. now, speaking at a press conference earlier, the lawyers for the victims said harrods enabled the abuse the women suffered and had full culpability. well, let's discuss this further with our correspondent, cameron walker, who was at that press conference. cameron, what was said ? said? >> yes. some really, really serious allegations against mohamed al fayed, as you say, former chairman of harrods . he former chairman of harrods. he died last year at the age of 94. so he never faced charges. but 37 alleged victims or alleged survivors of al fayed are currently being represented by lawyers. but lawyers suggested

there could be many more victims that have not yet come forward. dean armstrong kc says it says al fayed's alleged abuse combines the very worst of jimmy savile. jeffrey epstein and harvey weinstein all, of course, known sexual predators . savile, known sexual predators. savile, because the institution knew about his behaviour, allegedly. harrods, jeffrey epstein because al fayed allegedly created a procurement system to find and enfice procurement system to find and entice young girls to be near him, and why harvey weinstein? because like i said, he is at the very top of an organisation allegedly abusing his power. now. lawyers described al fayed repeatedly . as a monster, and he repeatedly. as a monster, and he has been accused of serial rape, attempted rape and sexual abuse to name but a few. bruce drummond, who is a barrister, also at the press conference, he said this is one of the worst cases of corporate sexual exploitation i have ever seen and one survivor, natasha, very bravely shared her story with us and a warning what you're about

to hear does contain details of sexual abuse. >> we will be sent to see al fayed because he had a job for us to do. it was always more of a friendly chat than actual work. but then these private meetings turned into more a forced kiss. his hands gripping your face to his lips or pulling your face to his lips or pulling you down on his lap where his hands were to free explore any part of your body that he wished . part of your body that he wished. these incidents lasted seconds, but the fear instilled left me paralysed . al fayed brushed off paralysed. al fayed brushed off these moments like they had never happened. but i was always reminded not to mention them to anyone. he would know if i did . anyone. he would know if i did. >> well, harrods have released a statement following the bbc documentary which uncovered all of these allegations, and they said they are utterly appalled by the allegations, condemned them in the strongest possible terms and acknowledged that they failed their employees, who were al fayed's victims . and we al fayed's victims. and we sincerely apologise. harrods of today is very different to the

organisation owned and controlled by al fayed. between 1985 and 2010, litigation could well start very soon. >> thank you very much indeed. cameron walker, our correspondent there outside harrods in central london. some of the descriptions of the allegations against mohamed al fayed are pretty harrowing. of course, he passed away last yean course, he passed away last year, so there will never be real justice brought against him. but what's been alleged truly just disgusting. really stick with us though. we've got lots more coming up on today's show. we're going to check back in with tom harwood at the reform uk party conference. also get his view on what robert jenrick had to say in that interview a little bit earlier, but let's have a look at the weather . next. weather. next. >> a brighter outlook with boxt solar sponsors of weather on gb

news . news. >> afternoon. welcome to your latest weather update from the met office here on gb news. much of the uk having a fine friday, but we've already seen some thunderstorms and 1 or 2 more to come across the south this afternoon. we do have a met office yellow warning in place. not everywhere in the warning area will see a downpour, but where they occur. large hailstones . lots of lightning hailstones. lots of lightning could cause some issues. they tend to fade as we go through this evening, but more could rumble into parts of the south dunng rumble into parts of the south during the early hours. a bit of drizzle is possible on some eastern coasts, but generally the weather is dry across the north, with clearer skies in the northwest allowing temperatures to dip actually close to freezing in some rural spots . we freezing in some rural spots. we have another met office yellow warning in place for saturday as further thunderstorms develop again. hit and miss nature of the storms means that not everywhere in this warning area will catch a downpour, but where they occur tomorrow, they could cause some problems. meanwhile, further north, the weather's

much calmer but still quite grey and drab on some of these north sea coasts. western scotland. yes, it starts chilly, but here the lion's share of the sunshine once more during saturday, by and large, a fine day across northern ireland too. for england and wales. there will be sunny spells, but there will also be these heavy showers . also be these heavy showers. parts of the midlands, wales, southern england in particular. again lots of lightning, large hailstones possible, a lot of spray and surface water on the roads, but it won't rain all day and some places may dodge the downpours altogether. and in the sunshine, quite warm here again, temperatures into the mid 20s, perhaps much cooler on some of these north sea coasts where it stays drab with that breeze coming in, but quite warm again in western scotland by day. quite cool again to start sunday, but yet again here. another fine day again in the south. another day of watching some heavy downpours. a yellow warning for sunday. this is for rain at this time, or persistent and potentially again causing some flooding after the weekend's downpours, there will again be some sunshine in

western scotland and again in the south. temperatures may squeak over 20 degrees. >> that warm feeling inside from boxt boilers sponsors of weather on gb

>> well . >> well. >> well. >> good afternoon britain. it's 2:00 on friday the 20th of september. i'm emily carver and i'm tom harwood live here at the reform party conference, where later on today, the leader, nigel farage, will be among the speakers as this two day event gets underway here in birmingham . gets underway here in birmingham. excellent stuff. now starmer, he's in a bit of turmoil. a civil war brews in number 10 as the prime minister defends his decision to pay his chief of staff a salary that exceeds his own, and losing our englishness, robert jenrick has told gb news that mass immigration and woke

culture have put england's national identity at risk. we'll break down exactly what he had to say . to say. well, it seems as though you've amassed a crowd behind you, tom. >> yeah, i can't tell you the hubbubin >> yeah, i can't tell you the hubbub in this hall in the birmingham nec here in just a few minutes, i'm going to be standing up and having a bit of a walk around to show you more about what is going on here at this reform party conference. i've been told 4100 reform members are here in this hall. and the corresponding buildings, they're expecting perhaps up to 5000 people here over the course of this two day event. and the message that the reform party is trying to get across today is that they are a professionalising party, a party that's moving from a company

controlled by majority shareholder, mr nigel farage to a party controlled by its members . a party controlled by its members. that's a party controlled by its members . that's the a party controlled by its members. that's the mission of this conference. but also, of course, looking ahead to those crucial local elections, can they get the organisational structure required to build the fundamentally important grassroots movement that can build the councillors and then the members of parliament by 2029? they're attempting to do , 2029? they're attempting to do, in just five short years, what other parties took decades to achieve . achieve. >> well, that's a big, big task they have ahead of them . thank they have ahead of them. thank you very much indeed, tom harwood. and please do get in touch at home if you're watching and listening. gbnews.com/yoursay but let's get to the news headlines with tatiana sanchez . tatiana sanchez. >> emily, thank you and good afternoon . the top stories from afternoon. the top stories from the gb newsroom at one of mohamed al fayed's alleged victims who went by the name natasha, says the billionaire businessman was highly

manipulative. he was described as a monster enabled by a system that pervaded harrods by lawyers representing 37 alleged victims of sexual abuse at a press conference in london today, dean armstrong kc said the case combined some of the most horrific elements of those, including jimmy savile, jeffrey epstein and harvey weinstein. natasha described al fayed as a predator who preyed on the most vulnerable. >> we would be sent to see al fayed because he had a job for us to do. it was always more of a friendly chat than actual work. but then these private meetings turned into more a forced kiss , his hands gripping forced kiss, his hands gripping your face to his lips or pulling your face to his lips or pulling you down on his lap where his hands were free to explore any part of your body that he wished . part of your body that he wished. these incidents lasted seconds, but the fear instilled left me paralysed . al fayed brushed off paralysed. al fayed brushed off these moments like they had never happened, but i was always reminded not to mention them to

anyone. he would know if i did . anyone. he would know if i did. >> the government's announced new plans to tackle domestic violence. a campaigner whose niece was killed by her ex—partner after calling the police multiple times, says domestic violence victims need to be heard the first time they call 999. nor norris, whose niece, raneem oudeh and sister were both murdered by masood's ex—partner in 2018. she says those calling the police for help need to be given the opportunity to be saved. the home office says some police forces will start embedding domestic abuse specialists in their 999 control rooms early next year as part of raneem's law, to transform the way the police handle cases of violence against women and girls. an inquest found. mistakes made by west midlands police had materially contributed to the deaths. home secretary yvette cooper says the government will ensure that things will change. >> victims of domestic abuse need to know that the police will be there for them in an

emergency, that didn't happen for raneem oudeh when she lost her life , and that's why we're her life, and that's why we're bringing domestic abuse experts into 999 control rooms like this , into 999 control rooms like this, to make sure that the emergency response is right. to make sure that the emergency response is right . we saw when response is right. we saw when raneem oudeh called 999 four times on the night. she was killed. no one came. we cannot let that happen again. so we'll begin with the first wave. then we want to roll this out right across the country so that domestic abuse victims can know the police will be there for them when they call . them when they call. >> in other news, the terrorist group hezbollah has reportedly fired dozens of rockets into israel. the group says it's targeting israeli military sites. the idf says 140 missiles were launched , and that says were launched, and that says israel carried out further strikes on southern lebanon overnight, saying its warplanes hit more than 100 hezbollah rocket launchers and other terrorist sites. the idf said the launchers were ready to be fired against israel . lebanon's fired against israel. lebanon's state run national news agency said israel carried out at least

52 strikes in the south of the country last night. earlier, the leader of hezbollah said deadly explosions earlier in the week crossed all red lines, accusing israel of what he said represented a declaration of war. israel has not said it was behind those attacks which saw pages and walkie talkies explode across the country, and which lebanese authorities said killed 37 people and wounded 3000. reform uk leader nigel farage received a standing ovation as he entered the main hall of the party's conference at the nec in birmingham yesterday. farage said the conference marks the coming of age of the party. earlier deputy leader of reform uk, richard tice said nigel farage's relationship with the former us president donald trump is to the benefit of this country. asked if he thought the party leader was distracted from his constituency duties by his trips to the us, mr tice told reporters far from it. farage will be addressing the gathering today. will be addressing the gathering today . tory party leader hopeful

today. tory party leader hopeful robert jenrick has warned that engush robert jenrick has warned that english identity is under threat. he claims the ties that bind the nation together are beginning to fray due to mass immigration and woke culture. mr jenrick also suggested it's a contributing factor to this summer's riots, with unrest spreading across the country in the wake of the southport knife attack, which killed three young girls in england in particular in recent decades, are identity has started to fray and we've seen that in our children not being taught to celebrate engush being taught to celebrate english history in our schools, our public institutions, denigrating and dismissing our history and our identity . history and our identity. >> and as a result of illegal migration and legal migration, putting immense pressure on our ability to successfully integrate people into our country, and in particular in england and english cities. the ties that bind us together as a nafion ties that bind us together as a nation and our english national

identity have started to fray . identity have started to fray. and i don't think england is a country at ease with itself right now. >> and those are the latest gb news headlines. for now, i'm tatiana sanchez. more news 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. >> well good afternoon britain. it is 208 and nigel farage, he's going to address the reform uk conference later this afternoon. there he is. he's expected to issue a clarion call for change. the party is also expected to unveil its plan to win the 2029 general election, following what they see as a very strong performance back in july, where the party managed to gain five mps and became the third biggest party in terms of vote share. so

let's cross over to birmingham now and speak to our political edhon now and speak to our political editor, christopher hope. christopher, tell us. >> haaland. that's right. well, i'm joined now by ann widdecombe, the party's justice and home affairs immigration spokesman. forgive me of ann widdecombe. you've been around the house longer than i have. you've been part of a tory government. can this lot reform uk form a government in 2029? oh absolutely. absolutely. >> what we've got to do is persuade people to have the courage, because a lot of people last time wanted to vote for something just slightly scared at the last moment and either abstained or voted the other way . abstained or voted the other way. >> but if persuade people that we can really do this , and i we can really do this, and i think that's where getting five mps into parliament has helped hugely because people have said, oh yes, yeah, it'd be historic, wouldn't it, to get 321 more mps, enough to form a majority in the house of commons. >> i mean, it hasn't happened before on that scale. >> well, there's always a first time. >> and let's face it, we've come

from nothing to getting four over 4 million votes from nothing to over 4 million votes. we came ahead of the lib dems in share of the vote. you know, we were right behind the two major parties. tell me when that's been done before. >> but fewer mps because you and i know the system is weighted against small parties. without electoral reform, you haven't got a hope in hell, have you? oh, yes, of course we have. >> we've got five with the current system. if we can get five with the current system, we have 305 for the current system. come on. okay >> the issue though, we're here discussing the overhaul of the party's constitution. >> the rule book, to give members, many of them are standing watching this, watching you speak. >> now give them a chance to have a say over the running of the party. absolutely. ben habib, the former deputy leader, isn't happy. he said it doesn't go far enough. and in fact, the board can veto any vote of no confidence. he's right, isn't he? i think what ben habib really must recognise is that none of the other major parties

have a situation where the membership at large can mount a vote of no confidence in the leader. >> it's done by their mps. we've only got five mps. you can't have rules about percentages and letters and all this. you can't have rules when you've only got five mps. so i think i my plea to ben would ben be patient. you know we're democratising. we're setting up branches. we're doing all of this stuff. we've got a constitution for the first time, you know. so be be patient. and as we increase in parliamentary strength, we will be able to put into place the sorts of procedures he wants. >> the rules are, if you have 100 mp5 >> the rules are, if you have 100 mps in reform, you can have a vote of no confidence if half of them want it. so you have a degree of check on the power of the chairman of the leader. yes, ben habib has got a future in your party. >> oh yes. sniping from the sidelines is a bit annoying. >> oh come on, ben is also going and talking to a lot of branches. you know, our new

branches. you know, our new branches. he's finding, as he said the other day on wasn't on gb news. so i won't say what it was on. but he said the other day that he had talked to groups of 100. this is a brand new branch, branch 100 people there, you know, ha ha. the tories should be so lucky. >> so ground zero trying to construct your your party. that's what's going on. and you can win seats in the may elections and scottish and welsh elections. is that possible. >> that is possible. we'll certainly be concentrating on the local elections tremendously because we haven't concentrated there before because we couldn't we had to focus on what was important, which was getting a toehold in parliament. >> the tories are getting organised, aren't they? robert jenrick they're speaking earlier to emily on, on, on gb news. do you think they've got a chance when they get organised? won't they start peeling back some of they start peeling back some of the 4 million who supported your party at the election? >> i don't think they've got much chance at all because the fact is they are not saying the things that people want politicians not only to say but

to do, and they're not saying that. so but i mean, give jenrick his chance if he does get the leadership and out of the bunch that's there, he's probably the best. if he does get the leadership , let us see get the leadership, let us see exactly what he is going to promise to do. not pie in the sky, you know, labour control the gangs that will stop the boats. they might as well be king canute trying to turn back the tide. it's ridiculous. so? so let's hear so robert jenrick is the one you fear of those four candidates? i don't fear any of them . i don't fear the any of them. i don't fear the tories any more. you can't sleep at night. i'm not remotely worried by any of them. and that is perfectly truthful, because i think it's going to take them a very long time indeed, very long time to regain trust. >> okay, well, ann widdecombe now speaking to us here at the conference and earlier, she was on the stage there giving a speech on immigration and justice whittaker. >> she's not afraid of anyone,

is she? thank you very much indeed, christopher. hope there at the reform conference. well, we're going to check in with the tom harwood now, who has been out and about? oh, where are you now, tom? >> emily, i've. i've managed to wangle myself my way onto the top deck of the reform uk battle bus. that's right. they've parked the bus here in the at the edge of the auditorium. and from this perspective, we can look out and see all of these seats. just a few moments ago, all of these seats were full for the speeches they've broken for lunch. some people have been telling me that they're laying down sort of jackets on seats to behave like germans by a swimming pool, to make sure that they get the best spots. but there we go. actually, i'm going to head back down and see if we can have a look around the entire auditorium. now. excuse me. might i just pop out? i'm sorry. sorry, sorry, tom. thank you very much. cheers. well, here we are on the auditorium

floor and, yeah, this has been a pretty electric conference. they say 4100 people have turned up so far. perhaps 5000 over the course of the two days. that's out of a membership that the party chairman, yusuf, now says tops 80,000 members. that's not far off the parties that have formed governments in recent years. but the reform party wants to be able to win that 2029 general election. that's what nigel farage has been saying today. that's what he said when he arrived this morning. is it possible? well many people would look at the five mps that reform uk managed to win at the general election and say it's a pretty steep climb to go from 5 to 326, but, you know, there is a huge amount of optimism here. and they believe that to some extent they may be able to make it happen. it would be a remarkable thing, but let's have a look at what

else is on offer here at the reform party conference, because i'm going to take you to the shop. yes. they've been selling all sorts of trinkets . they've all sorts of trinkets. they've been selling all sorts of bits and bobs . been selling all sorts of bits and bobs. let's swing up here just past this fringe event. i don't know if we can say . and don't know if we can say. and what are they talking about here? i think they've been talking about the nanny state. that's something that is close to the heart of many gb news viewers. i am sure . but beyond viewers. i am sure. but beyond the little breakout fringe space there, we've got the shop here. it's always fun to see what sort of merchandise is on offer. and if you're a member here at the reform party conference, you could help yourself to a t shirt , could help yourself to a t shirt, a rosette. you could even get yourself a reform uk mug or water bottle. they offer caps as well, with the slogan let's save britain. and that takes us out to this breakout space. it is, of course, the lunch breakout. so let's swing around and try and find our way through all of

these people back to our own stand. i've got to say, i was expecting perhaps an older demographic here at the reform conference than that that we've found there are all ages here, and that's something that the reform party people i've been speaking to have wanted to stress. they really think that there's something going on in there's something going on in the body politic of the united kingdom , that this isn't just kingdom, that this isn't just sort of retired colonels in the home counties. this is something else. they believe it can be turned into a mass movement. and in that way they want to be able to stretch out and stretch beyond what the outfits, the various outfits that nigel farage has led have been able to do before. let's not forget that nigel farage was at the top of ukip for more than a decade. it had a huge amount of success, but only ever elected two members of parliament in by elections and one member of parliament at a general

election. he smashed through that number with reform uk. five members of parliament elected, but of course that was a very strange election and can it be sustainable? well, why don't we end here by taking a rest with the reform uk taxi in its marvellous blue out garb and i'll hand back to you, emily. it's a busy time here at the reform conference. >> fantastic. certainly a full room there, isn't it, with all the breakout zones , people of the breakout zones, people of all ages. i do remember during the campaign at the last election that there was quite a buzz on tiktok amongst some teenagers for the reform party, which was unexpected, perhaps for some. but tom harwood, thank you very much. as ever, our deputy political editor and also, of course, on good afternoon britain. thank you very much indeed. right well, lots to get through today. this is good afternoon britain on gb news. we're going to be talking about the ongoing labour funding scandal, particularly when it comes to these donations from big labour donor and peer.

lots more after

break. okay. welcome back to good afternoon britain. it is now 221. we were just checked in with christopher hope and tom harwood at the reform party conference. it did seem to be pretty full actually. sometimes these conferences are a little bit empty because they hire out these massive conference halls. these business centres, and if you don't pack it, it can feel a bit vast. but it did look like there was quite a buzz there. i do wonder whether, robert jenrick, who we spoke to earlier, tory leadership hopeful whether people are listening if he's trying to get back some of these reform voters. lots of you have been getting in touch about it. andy says jenrick. jenrick are the one nation conservative party. they need to own up to the demise of britain with the total annihilation of their

party. okay, strong stuff from from andy leaky bucket says what a principled man robert jenrick is. leaky bucket. i don't think that's actually your name, but there you go. you don't want to put your real name. fine by me. and others have said sadly for genencisifs and others have said sadly for generic is it's him and his party that have missed the boat when it comes to the immigration problem. so it's going to be quite difficult for robert jenrick to cut through the noise. i think when it comes to issues, to do with immigration, i mean, the conservatives, their legacy is one of very, very high immigration millions, i think since 2010, about 6 million people, the population has grown by in great thanks to high levels of immigration. so they've got a lot of trust to regain if they're going to win that back. but let's move on to, what's been encircling the labour government. a labour peen labour government. a labour peer, lord alli, who has donated over £300,000, it turns out not just keir starmer, but to senior

labour ministers, angela rayner as well as david lammy. you've got bridget phillipson, ed miliband , wes streeting, liz miliband, wes streeting, liz kendall, they've all taken money in donations from this guy this over nearly two decades. contributions have increased under keir starmer's leadership. so is he very much taking the lead from the front , setting a lead from the front, setting a bad example, setting the example to his team that it's absolutely fine, to receive whatever gifts, whatever donations, as long as you write them in down in the way that you should, it's all fine. it's all fine. take what you want. but the prime minister, he received over 155,000. deputy prime minister angela rayner, 72,000. it turns out also that angela rayner welcomed the new year in at a £2 million manhattan flat owned by you guessed it, lord alli for five nights. and that's raised some questions about gift declarations amid this cronyism row. so, joining me is political commentatorjonathan lis. jonathan, this doesn't seem to

be going anywhere. you've got ministers and senior mps having to answer all sorts of questions on this when they go on to the media. jess phillips, this morning you had angela eagle battling with these kind of questions as well. you've got harriet harman intervening as well too. i mean, where does keir starmer go from here? >> i think there are two distinct issues here, emily. >> the first is, about political donations, which are completely normal and an absolutely standard part of our democratic pi'ocess. >> process. >> we can have a conversation about how political parties are funded and about how politicians should be funded, because at the moment, parties have to rely on private donations effectively in to order survive, because we don't really have a taxpayer funded model in this country. so that's the first one. and obviously the second one, which has sort of become allied into this, is the issue of gifts, and whether that might constitute improper influence about whether the prime minister in particular is taking too many freebies , and

is taking too many freebies, and what that might say about the direction of the government and its compass and all the rest of it. i think there are two distinct issues. i don't have a problem with people taking donations. if they are declared in the proper way, £300,000 over two decades obviously. sounds like a lot of money, but in the broad context, it's not such a great deal of money. when you look at the number of people that the money has been given to and the length of time over which that money has been given. and obviously, you know, we saw there were plenty of donations given to people like boris johnson in the last government. the problem there being that they weren't properly declared or they were loans and there was some murkiness in that, this one, so long as they're properly declared, i don't see a problem with it. but i do think that labour needs to be a lot more wary of the optics of it, so to speak, about how it looks to the pubuc speak, about how it looks to the public and the rest of getting freebies, clothes, etc. while other people are struggling. >> i think you're right to differentiate between the two, between political donations for political activities and these

sort of freebies that have been highlighted in the press, i think it just gets to people, doesn't it, to see the prime minister of this country accepting donations for, you know, taylor swift tickets for the football because he can't go into the stands for spectacles , into the stands for spectacles, for a personal shopper, for his his wife . i do think the his wife. i do think the nickname sir keir scrounger or free gear keir. they're going to stick, aren't they ? jonathan. stick, aren't they? jonathan. >> they're the first i've heard this emily i don't think i don't think they will split particularly. we'll be talking about many more things in the next five years. as you know very well, >> do you think jonathan, he's got his hand out. he's got he's got his hand out. he's got he's got his hand out. >> are you right ? got his hand out. >> are you right? i got his hand out. >> are you right ? i look, got his hand out. >> are you right? i look, i think that the issue of getting concert tickets and stuff that is okay to an extent, i think that, you know, you're the prime minister will be seen at big events . and, you know, it's.

events. and, you know, it's. i think it's normal for senior politicians to accept hospitality, provided there is no conflict of interest. i think there is a difficulty in football when the prime minister is talking about setting up a new football regulator and that kind of thing, and that might take you into difficult grounds. and i think that there is also an argument which starmer raised himself about, the difficulty of being in the stands when you're the prime minister and if arsenal is laying on a box for him at no cost to the taxpayer, i don't see that there's a big problem with that. i don't know, because you've got a you've got a football regulator potentially going. >> that's what i'm saying, right? >> i'm saying there is there is a potential issue with that. but i don't think it's i don't think it's so terrible. i think there's another point, emily, which is that in a way these people can't win because if you go out wearing clothes that don't sort of, you know, pass , don't sort of, you know, pass, sort of cut the mustard. if you like people on this channel will complain about the prime minister looking scruffy and his wife not being well dressed. >> and you can get a lovely outfit for not thousands of

pounds, hundreds of pounds. >> when you're the prime minister, when you're the prime minister, when you're the prime minister or the spouse of a prime minister. i do think that there is an extra pressure to represent the country informally or formally. >> i think you're doing what baroness harman has told keir starmer not to do , which is to starmer not to do, which is to try and justify these gifts. >> i'm not trying to justify these gifts . these gifts. >> i'm suggesting that there might be there might be limited circumstances where it's okay to. for example, i think a lot of designers have offered victoria starmer, complimentary dresses. i think she turned them down. i think it would be completely fine to accept those, particularly if they're showcasing british style and so on, and you are representing the country in that capacity. >> jonathan. it's a bit weird, though, isn't it? i mean, getting i mean, we've spoken about this before, but the personal shopper for his wife, you know, again, the nickname lady victoria sponge comes to mind. i think that's unfair. i think, i mean, it might sound harsh, but it's true. is it not? jonathan. emily. >> it is what people would say.

you know what people would say if she was photographed by a hostile newspaper. oh, come on, they're millionaires. >> jonathan, they're not on the breadline. >> it's obviously there is. i think there's a there's a balance. there's no there's no absolute yes or no. this i think on the one hand there are rich enough to be buying their own clothes. absolutely. on the other hand they are in a new role now. they are absolutely front facing victoria starmer is not a publicity seeker, but she is the wife of the prime minister and she knows that she will be photographed out and about. and so there is nothing wrong with getting help or getting some free designs from people who obviously they want to showcase their designs and british talent. >> it does disproportionately seem to be coming from this one man, doesn't it though? >> i mean, look, if you look at the previous prime ministers, obviously the sunak angela rayner , you know, that's that's rayner, you know, that's that's again, i think it's completely fine if you have if you are, you know , a political donor and you know, a political donor and you have a relationship with a senior member of the cabinet or shadow cabinet, and you have a

property somewhere, you say, take my take this property, declare it in the normal way . declare it in the normal way. people have been doing that for a very long time. boris johnson had all of his holidays paid for and my goodness, he could afford to go on his own. >> i think she underplayed though, the value of that particular gift. five nights. was it in a in a luxury apartment overlooking manhattan? a little more than £1,200, i think , jonathan. but there you think, jonathan. but there you 90, think, jonathan. but there you go, jonathan. liz, thank you very much indeed. political commentator. good to speak to you. this is good afternoon, britain . we're on gb news. we've britain. we're on gb news. we've got lots more coming up on today's show. apparently kamala harris owns a gun , and she'd use harris owns a gun, and she'd use it if there was an intruder in her house. that next, after the news with mark . white. news with mark. white. >> good afternoon. >> good afternoon. >> the main headlines from the gb news centre, one of mohamed al fayed's alleged victims has said the billionaire businessman was highly manipulative, a london based news conference heard . heard. >> the former harrods owner, described as a monster enabled by a system that pervaded the

business. >> one lawyer said the case combined some of the most horrific elements of the jimmy savile jeffrey epstein and harvey weinstein abuse scandals. well, some breaking news in the israeli military has confirmed that the hezbollah terror group has fired more than 140 rockets into northern israel today. the barrage started a number of fires when some rockets landed in open areas of the israeli countryside . there are no countryside. there are no reports at this stage of any injuries. in response, israeli forces have targeted hezbollah. launch sites across southern lebanon and within the last houn lebanon and within the last hour, warplanes also bombed a hezbollah stronghold in the lebanese capital, beirut. the foreign secretary is urging british nationals in lebanon to leave while they can. a campaigner whose niece was killed by her ex—partner after

calling the police multiple times, says domestic violence victims need to be heard the first time they call 999. nora norris, whose niece raneem oudeh and sister were both murdered by masood's ex—partner in 2018. he says that calling the police for help need to be given the opportunity to be saved. the home office says some police forces will start embedding domestic abuse specialists in their 999 control rooms early next year as part of raneem's law , to transform the way the law, to transform the way the police handle cases of violence against women and girls . reform against women and girls. reform uk leader nigel farage received a standing ovation as he entered the main hall at the party's conference at the nec in birmingham , mr farage has said birmingham, mr farage has said the conference marks the coming of age of the party. earlier, reform's deputy leader, richard

tice , said nigel farage's tice, said nigel farage's relationship with former us president donald trump was to the benefit of this country . the benefit of this country. conservative leadership candidate robert jenrick has warned that english identity is under threat. he claims the ties that bind the nation together are beginning to fray due to mass immigration and woke culture. mrjenrick said culture. mr jenrick said immigration culture. mrjenrick said immigration has had a clear impact on our customs, culture and cohesion . mrjenrick also and cohesion. mrjenrick also suggested it was a contributing factor to this summer's riots and finally , anthony joshua is and finally, anthony joshua is ready to take revenge for coming off worse in a brutal sparring session against daniel dubois eight years ago, when the british rivals clashed at wembley tomorrow night, joshua admitted he was hurt by dubois when they duelled in training in team gb headquarters in

sheffield in 2016, the year he defeated charles martin to win his first world title. at the time, dubois was just 18 years old and still an amateur, but the power he displayed against the power he displayed against the olympic gold medallist that day convinced promoter frank warren to sign him up as professional. >> this press conference over there, you are. >> you're right up to date with the latest headlines. we're back with a full summary at 3:00 for the very latest gb news direct to your smartphone, sign up to news alerts by scanning the qr code, or go to gb news. >> dot com. forward slash

>> welcome back. it's now 238. you're watching or listening to good afternoon britain. now we've got a lot more coming up on today's show before we're

through. but before that, let's speak to martin daubney, who is up at 3:00. martin, what have you got in store for us? >> well, let's get ready to rumble. >> all eyes on birmingham as we build towards nigel farage making his keynote speech as the leader of the reform party, putting his pitch to be britain's next prime minister. before that, we'll have lee anderson will also speak to the party chairman later in the show. i'll be joined in the studio by gloria allred, an astonishing women's rights lawyer who took down harvey weinstein, now representing the alleged victims of mohammed al fayed, a woman on a mission. she'll join me in the studio and as the sun sets in arnhem, we'll join the 80th birthday commemorations over there to watch the wreaths being laid and listen to the pipes being played on those historic bridges on the battlefields of arnhem. that's all coming. three, two, six. all eyes on the reform conference. >> absolutely. and i'm sure that will be a very moving event to finish as well. martin, we're

going to have our eyes on your show, that's for sure. three till six. stay tuned for that. we're now going to have a little catch up with tom harwood. tom is at the reform conference. he's not going to be leaping around for us this time. i don't think he's staying put. but a little earlier we spoke to robert jenrick, didn't we? he has a bit of a punchy piece out in today's daily mail. he says the timing of it has nothing to do with the reform party conference, but i sense that maybe it did. and he's saying talking about national identity, talking about national identity, talking about national identity, talking about mass immigration, talking about mass immigration, talking about mass immigration, talking about woke culture. let's have a little listen. >> england in particular, in recent decades, our identity has started to fray. and we've seen that in our children not being taught to celebrate english history in our schools, our pubuc history in our schools, our public institutions , denigrating public institutions, denigrating and dismissing our history and our identity. and as a result of illegal migration and legal migration , putting immense migration, putting immense pressure on our ability to successfully integrate people

into our country, and in particular in england and engush particular in england and english cities. the ties that bind us together as a nation and our english national identity have started to fray. and i don't think england is a country at ease with itself right now . at ease with itself right now. >> well, tom, your reaction ? >> well, tom, your reaction? >> well, tom, your reaction? >> yeah, i think there is no coincidence that robert jenrick is setting out his stall on englishness at the same time as the reform party conference. now we know from psephological analysis that the areas of england that feel most english, that rate their english identity as highest were the areas that were most likely to vote to leave the european union and were the areas of the hottest heat map for both ukip and then the brexit party and now reform uk. there is something intrinsically english about the

support for this party and the 4 million voters who decided to back it, as opposed to another party on the centre right of politics. the conservative party clearly, robert jenrick thinks that englishness is one of those ways in which he can tap in to the sort of voter who turned their back on the conservatives and voted for reform uk instead . and voted for reform uk instead. and i do think that there is a lot of data to back him up on this, although there is a risk there is a risk on doubling down on englishness, as david cameron did. if you'll remember , after did. if you'll remember, after the 2014 scottish independence referendum, david cameron came out the morning after said right now we need to fix what's known as the west lothian question where scottish mps could, for example, vote on english laws that only affect england and didn't affect scotland due to devolution ? well, he brought in devolution? well, he brought in engush devolution? well, he brought in english votes for english laws,

but that then turned into a bit of constitutional wrangling. and is it? this is a big question. if we're going to go after questions of policy rather than identity, might that be a murky sort of quagmire to get stuck into with all sorts of constitutional backwards and forwards? might it be better to stick to those questions that, to be fair, robert jenrick was talking about of english identity in schools. >> well, thank you very much indeed. tom harwood there at the reform party conference. i guess if robert jenrick is trying to pitch, make a pitch to reform voters, a lot of people there may have voted conservative in the past. the question is , are the past. the question is, are they listening? but we're going to move to on the united states because the vice president, kamala harris , she's been kamala harris, she's been raising a few eyebrows because she she decided to say bluntly and publicly that she would shoot anyone who intruded into her home. she made the comments in an interview with oprah winfrey, no less . let's take

winfrey, no less. let's take a listen. >> i'm a gun owner. >> i'm a gun owner. >> tim walz is a gun. i know that, and i thought the breaks in my to house getting shot. >> sorry. yes, yes , i hear that. >> sorry. yes, yes, i hear that. >> i hear that probably should not have said that . not have said that. >> but my staff will deal with that later . yeah, well. that later. yeah, well. >> well , well that later. yeah, well. >> well, well very interesting indeed. so to discuss this further, i'm joined in the studio by the chair of republicans overseas, greg swenson. now, greg, i am not an american, but i sense instinctively that that might actually go down quite well. >> i don't think it will. >> i don't think it will. >> no, i don't think well, i don't think people are going to buy it. >> you know, she she even had the annoying cackle that everybody really hates. so it's kind of shameless. you know, she's been a radical opponent of gun ownership and very much opposed to the second amendment. and yet she's trying to pivot. now, i don't blame her for trying to pivot on some issues to the middle. and try to appeal to the middle. and try to appeal to independents and undecideds, but that's a little ridiculous. so you think that whole thing

that we just watched was was fake? >> yeah , i think it was phoney. >> yeah, i think it was phoney. and when she laughed and said, oh, i shouldn't have said that. you think that that was her acting some there's definitely some acting here. >> her whole campaign has been acting. i mean, she she just really relies on platitudes and doesn't really discuss issues . doesn't really discuss issues. now, she didn't address the obvious, which is her past radical opposition to gun ownership as well as tim walz. so she's got some baggage. i mean, she even recommended a few years ago, i think it was when she was running for president that she she endorsed going into people's homes to ensure that they they sold guns. if there's a required , you know, gun sale a required, you know, gun sale program. i mean, and then of course, tim walz is just as radical on gun ownership. it's a political loser for them. they would be better off just avoiding the topic. >> yeah, it is very odd that she's decided to come out as a gun owner and even explained how she would use her gun. i mean, how has this gone down with the with the gun owning community? >> i don't think that the gun owning community is going to

flip on that comment and vote for kamala. i mean, and they have they're totally incoherent as well. so they're saying that we believe in gun ownership and we believe in gun ownership and we have guns. you know, kamala says she has a handgun. tim walz says she has a handgun. tim walz says he has a handgun, but then they want to ban ar 15 and other sort of rifle weapons that are 25% of gun sales in the us, and people should be reminded that less than 1% of homicides are committed with assault rifles, less than 5% are with rifles at all. so it's kind of hypocritical to say i want to have my handgun when most of the handgun crime in america, or most of the gun crime is from handguns, it's just incoherent. >> greg, is there not a world in which perhaps this is the real kamala harris ? kamala harris? >> i doubt it, i really doubt it. and if it and if it is, it just shows how hypocritical she is. and that's one of the problems with the democrats right now, is they're sort of the elite. you know, the rules are for thee, for not me. they also are aligned with this sort of lakefront liberal that likes

to say, or limousine liberal. they like to say, oh, yeah, i'm against that . it sounds good at against that. it sounds good at against that. it sounds good at a cocktail party. but then if she does in fact have one again, which i doubt, it just shows the hypocrisy of it because they're all for gun control. hypocrisy of it because they're all for gun control . and then all for gun control. and then all for gun control. and then all of a sudden she's packing. not in my house. >> i don't buy it. not in my house, thank you very much indeed. we'll have to leave it there. greg swenson from republican overseas. thank you very much indeed for coming in. now, we've got lots more coming up on today's show. speaking of interviews with oprah winfrey, one woman who's done her fair share meghan markle. we've got an exclusive

next. welcome back to good afternoon britain. it is now 250 and we're going to bring you a gb news exclusive on meghan markle. yes, an insider working for archewell, the not for profit organisation run by the duchess of sussex and prince harry, says

quotes suggesting she's difficult are fabricated. okay, well let's break this down with our royal correspondent, cameron walker. cameron, what's the story here? >> yeah, very interesting scoop by our gb news digital reporter, james saunders here. but if you cast your mind back to 2018, when meghan markle started being a working member of the royal family, a couple of staffers alleged that she had bullying behaviour. and that prompted buckingham palace to launch an internal investigation. that investigation now concluded, but we know nothing else about it. if you remember, she allegedly was sending emails at 5 am. to staff demanding things . the staff demanding things. the hollywood reporter has now done a separate article speaking to unnamed sources, and they quote that everyone is terrified of meghan. still, she belittles people and that she marches around like a dictator in high heels , fuming and barking heels, fuming and barking orders. i've watched her reduce grown grown men to tears. that's what the hollywood reporter sources allege. but gb news has been speaking to some people very close to meghan markle, an

unnamed source from archewell who doesn't want who wants to remain anonymous, says these quotes were fabricated by someone lacking knowledge of our company because the duke and duchess work from montecito, whereas we are based in hollywood, which is clearly a different location . they likely different location. they likely think we're all in the same office, and that this quote would fly, but the circumstances don't even allow for it. if she's marching around and barking orders, no archewell employee could factually claim that it's total nonsense. and they also say that regarding the emails gb news, we have seen meghan markle's current email signature. you know the thing at the end of your email, which says who you work for, etc. and it says, and i quote, my working day may not be your working day. please do not feel obliged to reply to this email outside your normal working hours. so they seem to be refuting sources close to meghan markle, the duchess difficult term . but it's duchess difficult term. but it's really interesting that we seem to be getting this kind of information. they're actually wall of silence. >> yeah, they're usually a wall

of silence when it comes to meghan and harry, but so essentially archewell are saying nothing to see here. she's absolutely lovely as a boss. she doesn't spend much time here anyway. and, all of these sources are just a load of rubbish. >> exactly. two sides to every story is what i would add. i think clearly those close to meghan are going to be liking meghan are going to be liking meghan and wanting to defend her very well. hollywood reporting source reporter sources. whoever they are clearly have an agenda against harry and meghan. but remember, buckingham palace did launch an internal investigation into meghan markle. at the time, it was described by meghan's lawyers as a calculated smear campaign. but this could be a situation where some of the staff working for buckingham palace are a bit of a culture clash. perhaps she was american and buckingham palace clearly very british, very stiff upper lip. and now, of course, she's gone back to her home hometown of america, los angeles, a different staff working for her. so it seems to be a little bit of two sides to this story, and it's quite hard to see exactly where the truth lies. >> yeah, it is, but, you do nofice >> yeah, it is, but, you do notice just how many staffers

they go through, particularly senior ones, what was it, 18 staff? yes. >> we just yes, we just had josh kettler , who was one of harry's kettler, who was one of harry's kind of chief advisers. he left in august just before the columbia tour. and we've had a number of staff leave since meghan and harry left as working members of the royal family as well. but at the same time, there are a number of staff who clearly feel apparently feel happy to work for them. still so. 50. >> so. >> but she's not. so she's not a dragon in louboutins, according to these insiders. depends who you ask. the difficult duchess, or perhaps not. perhaps she's the best boss ever. i'll let you decide at home. thank you very much indeed, cameron walker. and thanks for watching. good afternoon. britain. don't go anywhere because it is martin daubney. up next, i will actually be back on your screens on sunday. i'm covering for michael portillo, so see you then. >> a brighter outlook with boxt solar sponsors of weather on . gb

news. >> afternoon. welcome to your latest weather update from the met office here on gb news. much of the uk having a fine friday, but we've already seen some thunderstorms and 1 or 2 more to come across the south this afternoon. we do have a met office yellow warning in place. not everywhere in the warning area will see a downpour, but where they occur. large hailstones . lots of lightning hailstones. lots of lightning could cause some issues. they tend to fade as we go through this evening, but more could rumble into parts of the south dunng rumble into parts of the south during the early hours. a bit of drizzle is possible on some eastern coasts, but generally the weather is dry across the north, with clearer skies in the northwest allowing temperatures to dip actually close to freezing in some rural spots . we freezing in some rural spots. we have another met office yellow warning in place for saturday as further thunderstorms develop again. hit and miss nature of the storms means that not everywhere in this warning area will catch a downpour, but where they occur tomorrow, they could cause some problems. meanwhile,

further north, the weather's much calmer but still quite grey and drab on some of these north sea coasts. western scotland. yes, it starts chilly, but here the lion's share of the sunshine once more during saturday, by and large, a fine day across northern ireland too. for england and wales. there will be sunny spells, but there will also be these heavy showers . also be these heavy showers. parts of the midlands, wales, southern england in particular. again lots of lightning, large hailstones possible, a lot of spray and surface water on the roads, but it won't rain all day and some places may dodge the downpours altogether. and in the sunshine, quite warm here again, temperatures into the mid 20s, perhaps much cooler on some of these north sea coasts where it stays drab with that breeze coming in, but quite warm again in western scotland by day. quite cool again to start sunday, but yet again here. another fine day again in the south. another day of watching some heavy downpours. a yellow warning for sunday. this is for rain at this time, or persistent and potentially again causing some flooding after the weekend's downpours, there will again be some sunshine in western scotland and again in

the south. temperatures may squeak over 20 degrees. >> that warm feeling inside from boxt boilers sponsors of weather on gb

>> well . >> well. >> well. >> a very, very good afternoon to you. >> it's 3:00 pm on friday afternoon and welcome to the martin daubney show on gb. >> news are broadcasting live from the heart of westminster and all across the uk today, with a special emphasis on birmingham, because the big question is can nigel farage be our next prime minister well, the reform party certainly think so. 50. >> so. >> and on today's show we'll be live from their party conference in birmingham in a short while across live to hear a speech by lee anderson, the party chief whip, and then later in the show, we'll hear from the man himself, reform party leader nigel farage, and barristers

have described former arizona mohamed al fayed