gb news. away. >> good afternoon. it's 1:00 on sunday, the >> good afternoon. it's1:00 on sunday, the 22nd of september and this is the weekend on gb news. and it's going to be a lively one. already having trouble with the panel right now. the only story in town today isn't it.7 the labour conference kicks off amid the ongoing row over freebies in fighting deputy prime minister angela rayner says she understands the anger. but sure supporters that now change begins. yeah, right. okay, we are live in liverpool covering everything that's happening there and this is shocking. prosecutors admit they failed not once but twice to bring charges against mohamed al—fayed, the former harrods owner stands accused of being a serial predator who sexually assaulted women over decades . assaulted women over decades. i'm speaking to a barrister to explain exactly how this has happened and yeah, did you watch it last night? anthony joshua

was dropped to the canvas multiple times before a fifth round knockout in front of a record 96,000 fans at wembley stadium last night. is this the end of the road for the boxing superstar, though? i'm dawn neesom and this is indeed the weekend . weekend. but if you were with me yesterday lunchtime and i hope you were, you know how much i love talking to you. slot and this show is all about you and your views and it's really, really simple to join in with us. let me know your thoughts on all the stories we're talking about today or anything you want to chat about. it is a sunday afternoon after all. it's really simple to do. you just gbnews.com/yoursay and join in our conversation. what we're chatting about. it's a great panel and we've already started talking about football, so we could just carry on. keeping me company on today's show is

political commentator matthew stadlen and social policy analyst stephen button. thank you very much for joining me, gentlemen. are you going to be behaving? aren't you know? oh, god. right. okay but before we get stuck into today's stories, let's have the news with the very lovely sophie reaper . very lovely sophie reaper. >> thank you. dawn, it's just after 1:00. and these are the latest headlines. the labour party conference has begun in liverpool today, with deputy pm angela rayner giving a speech. earlier on. she addressed concerns around the labour party whilst also hitting out at the previous conservative government. >> there will be no complacency. we've seen where that leads. don't forget what they did partygate, covid contracts, the lies division scapegoating and the unfunded tax cuts for the richest that crashed our economy. don't forget any of it. the tories failed britain and

they tried to cover it up. a crater in the heart of britain's economy, a puncture in the pocket of every working family and a £22 billion black hole . and a £22 billion black hole. >> and it could also be trouble for keir starmer elsewhere in the uk, as the snp's westminster leader, stephen flynn, has said that the new pm is failing to deliver on the change. he promised scotland in the general election. he claims that despite the snp being willing to work with labour, that sir keir is completely out of touch with scotland and the issues the country faces. this comes after the pm. pm has already faced criticism over cuts to the winter fuel allowance and his acceptance of clothing donations. earlier, our scotland reporter tony maguire asked the people of glasgow if they feel secure is delivering in three months, give or take this labour government. >> how do you think they are performing for scotland ? performing for scotland? >> one out of ten. really? >> one out of ten. really? >> yeah , again, i'm a pensioner.

>> yeah, again, i'm a pensioner. >> yeah, again, i'm a pensioner. >> they've taken my winter fuel allowance and it's wrong. >> i had high hopes for keir starmer and now it's all gone. >> has there been any. i haven't really noticed much, to be honest. >> i'm ashamed to say i'm a glaswegian, really, when i see the state of the place and i've watched 13 years of snp, we're in big, big trouble. well, no, no, we might be out of the trouble now with the labour run. i don't know, it's just a matter of wait and see. >> sticking with politics now, reform's leader nigel farage sat down with gb news political editor christopher hope at their party conference yesterday . party conference yesterday. speaking on chopper's political podcast, mr farage said in order for reform to make an impact at the local elections next may, the local elections next may, the party will have to complete ten years of evolution in the next six months. however, that hasn't stopped him from setting quite the target. >> we've got enough people to have 2300 candidates. the question is, are they the right 2300 candidates? because we will

be held to a higher standard than everybody else. and i'm aiming in those elections to win hundreds of seats. >> and you can listen to their full interview on chopper's political podcast, which you can find wherever you get your podcasts. it's been reported that four people have been killed and dozens of others have been wounded in a mass shooting in alabama. the birmingham police department has said they're at the scene of the attack, which took place in the five points south area at around 11:00 last night. authorities also believe multiple shooters were involved, but no arrests have been made as of yet, according to local media. responding officers found multiple victims at the scene. three were pronounced dead, whilst a fourth later died in hospital . the commemorations hospital. the commemorations marking the 80th anniversary of the battle of arnhem have continued in the netherlands today. this morning, continued in the netherlands today. this morning , veterans, today. this morning, veterans, armed forces personnel and the princess royal gathered at the oosterbeek war ceremony at war cemetery for the airborne memorial service. the event was closed by a fly—past from the battle of britain memorial

flight, and earlier her royal highness princess anne gave a reading to mark the 80th anniversary of operation market garden. >> he that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the almighty. i will say of the lord, he is my refuge and my fortress, my god, in him will i trust. >> and finally. trust. >> and finally . yes, today marks >> and finally. yes, today marks 30 years of one of the most iconic series of all time friends. the show premiered for the first time in the us back in 1994, fast becoming one of nbc's most watched programs and lasting for an entire ten series. those are your latest gb news headlines for now, i'm sophie reaper more from me 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 gbnews.com forward slash alerts . slash alerts. >> thank you very much, sophie and this is the weekend and i hope you are indeed having a lovely weekend out there. certainly. thank you for joining me on a sunday lunchtime. i'm going to start with you lot because you're the important ones and you're all talking about the labour party conference. lesley, i see angela rayneris conference. lesley, i see angela rayner is still mouthing off about partygate. if that's all she's got, she's in no position to point the finger at anyone. and henry, a bit of sarcasm here is starmer's boss, miss grey, speaking at the labour party conference. he always looks like a scared rabbit. rayner is waiting to pounce . right? okay. waiting to pounce. right? okay. interesting stuff, so let's get straight into it, shall we? the labour party conference has indeed kicked off in liverpool as a fresh football freebie row emerges for prime minister and his chief of staff. yes, that's sue gray deputy prime minister angela rayner has said she

understands the frustration over the sleaze row , but argued the sleaze row, but argued freebies have been a feature of our politics for a very long time . let's get more with our time. let's get more with our political editor. time. let's get more with our political editor . chris hope is political editor. chris hope is up in liverpool for us. mr hope, lovely to see you , christopher. lovely to see you, christopher. ihave lovely to see you, christopher. i have got so many questions. i could spend the next two hours talking to you about this conference. let's just start off with what's it actually like on the ground this morning? what is the ground this morning? what is the mood like there? >> well, the mood is optimistic and upbeat, i think. and dawn, welcome to liverpool here at lunchtime at the first day of this labour party conference, we've heard from angela rayner earlier i was in the hall for her speech. she talked about the plans on renters reform, on new employment rights and building more houses, more social houses too. but i think the mood rang a bit hollow when angela rayner tried to attack the tory party. over covid contracts, partygate and the like, because all these

members watching, listening have read the papers, know all about the donated spectacles and trainers clothes. lady starmer's clothes, keir starmer's clothes, the corporate box last weekend for a football game, the new york apartment for angela rayner and somebody else over the winter, the christmas break, the new year break. it does ring hollow. i think when this party does talks about that one standard for them. and this really should be the same standard for them. the defence appears to be that we have freebies in politics and get used to it, and will will continue to say when we have them. of course they have. the top government have said they won't take any more freebies, but this apparently is the nature of government . all that nature of government. all that is very well. but you set it against the removal of the winter fuel allowance from 10 million people. pensioners we're seeing in our inbox, aren't we? @gbnews the fury from people seeing that and laid against one rule for us, one rule for them,

very hard to explain. keir starmer has been spotted here. he's been on stage with angela rayner earlier, but he wasn't doing doing the traditional bbc interview. one broadcaster gets it normally is the bbc the first day of a labour conference, as the same with the lib dem and tory conference. he hasn't done it this time and it looks like, frankly, he's running scared from scrutiny because angela rayner went up instead on the bbc and she was grilled for quite a while about all these freebies . so yes, they've won freebies. so yes, they've won power ten with weeks in a five year government. but how much long term damage will this do? will it be seen as the £0.75 increase in the state pension by gordon brown that damaged labour so much in the 2000 and in fact gave birth to the winter fuel payment. don't forget that was a labouridea payment. don't forget that was a labour idea back then. will it be as bad as the tuition fee issue with with the lib dems? we'll wait and see. but i do think this party is having an uncertain start to its time in government. >> it's an optimistic time. they one or i know it was a fairly

low turnout, but they won with a landslide. they should be optimistic. instead, all we are all talking about certainly the viewers today is the mess ups they've made. i mean, the approval rating of keir starmer personally is through the floor. the approval rating of the party is through the floor. nobody appears to think. according to the latest polls, they're doing a good job. nobody has confidence that they will turn it round. and the unions, who are normally big supporters of labour as we know, are going to try and force a vote on the winter fuel payment this week, aren't they? i know it's not binding. they don't have to do anything with it. but the fact that the unions are having a go at the government, labour government. >> that's right. and the union you're talking about is unite, sharon graham is the general secretary. they did not sign off the unite union. one of the biggest top three donors of the party did not sign off on the manifesto. they are very, very concerned about this this winter fuel payment. i was talking last night to somebody very close to the national executive committee

of the labour party, and they were saying to me how this issue issue has been red flagged to the nec. it hasn't yet been raised. the nec, which is the body which we knew a lot about dunng body which we knew a lot about during the corbyn years, they are overseeing the whole party on behalf of members and unions and the like and mps, and they have red flagged this issue of this removal of this benefit. but they're worried that they step in now. it's too soon. ten, ten weeks into to a five year government. it might might make them the centre of, of this kind of opposition to keir starmer before this government's got going. so it's a big issue. and that's why i think we're hearing it from unite. there'll be a vote later. again, not binding from members here about that issue of this winter fuel payment, a massive miss, i would say a badly sold policy to the uk, given it was not even in the party. >> the party manifesto and just finally many of our readers readers, i keep saying that this newspaper background for you, chris, many of our viewers are asking, is there any sign of keir starmer's boss that sue

gray? yet there ? gray? yet there? >> she's not here. we understand now. i saw her this time last year at the labour conference. she's a politically appointed adviser. she can come. she's not adviser. she can come. she's not a civil servant any more in that sense. but she is not here, apparently. and as i say, sir keir starmer is yet to appear properly on the media rounds. i think that is interesting and does show they are slightly alarmed by the questioning they might get. but sue gray, apparently she ain't here. >> interesting . thank you very >> interesting. thank you very much. the wonderful christopher hope. much. the wonderful christopher hope . enjoy the rest of your hope. enjoy the rest of your afternoon. sounds like it's going to be a bit of an interesting one. okay, well, let's see what my panel make of this political commentator matthew stadlen and social policy analyst rakib hasan. thank you very much. lots of love in the room for you on here. ukip matthew, yeah. and a few comments about you as well. matthew. right. okay. we've kicked off the labour conference we've seen today, front page of many papers, actually, that not a lot of love in the room for laboun a lot of love in the room for labour. the honeymoon period.

not just well and truly over, but the honeymoon from hell. matthew, how do you make a the progress so far? >> well, i think there's sort of three main reasons for that. >> one is that people voted for change and they're not seeing the change yet. so that's not surprising too. if you tell people in your rose garden speeches keir starmer did that, things are going to get worse before they get better. that's not exactly a popular thing to say. and then three, there is the freebies . and i find the the freebies. and i find the freebies quite tricky to defend because i think if you are someone who comes into number 10 saying you're going to do things differently and you're going to kind of clean up politics, this is going to be a politics of service, a government of service. and then it turns out, to according analysis by sky news, that you are the mp who has received by far the most in freebies over the last five years, that seems to me to be problematic. and as christopher was saying there, it also is in rather stark contrast to a

labour prime minister who is means testing the winter fuel allowance now is part of this a rapacious appetite on the part of elements of the right wing press, not just the right wing press, not just the right wing press, but elements of the right wing press have been having a go at him all week. >> that's true. right wing. >> that's true. right wing. >> that's true. and i think it was the bbc who broke the sue gray story, if that is indeed a story. but of course, there are elements of the right wing press who are desperate to tear down this labour government. we should remember that it is in all of our interests. yes, of course, it needs to be scrutinised, as all governments do. and i've been critical of some things already myself. but it is in all of our interests that this government succeeds because our country is facing a series of major crises, which i'm sure will go into, but include by the way, housing. and that's something that angela rayner was addressing in her conference speech today. so i hope we can talk a bit about it. >> oh yeah, the slum landlords, of which i think we had a labour mp who was one of those, didn't we recently building more homes and improving and improving the

safety of our homes, both of which i would have thought is fairly uncontroversial. absolutely >> well, i just think it's absolutely remarkable how the labour government has started. i think that matthew correctly mentions the fact that when starmer was leader of the opposition, he really promoted this politics of integrity, honesty , decency, service and honesty, decency, service and duty. and i think that now justifying the freebies by saying, but this is a decades long feature of the westminster political system that doesn't nestle in with that message of change, doing things differently, serving the british people. so i think there's a great deal of hypocrisy here. and matthew also mentioned that is sir keir starmer himself, when he's the highest ranking mp in terms of these freebies. when you calculate them in a monetary sense. so i think that the prime minister himself has a very serious problem here and his approval ratings have tanked, if truth be told. but i think that the main point here is that the

labour party, even on election night, was not all that popular. i think you mentioned yourself that turnout didn't even hit 60%. if i remember correctly, was 59.9% and labour won in the region of 34% of the votes cast. which means that if you take the wider eligible electorate, only 21% of voters there, and then if you break down that 21% of voters and ask them, why did you voters and ask them, why did you vote for labour? this is where matthew is absolutely correct. it was more of an appetite for change, but it wasn't necessarily an optimistic vote, a positive vote. i think it was more about removing a very tired, beleaguered conservative party after 14 years of, my view, quite underwhelming , low view, quite underwhelming, low achieving tory rule. so i think that overall there wasn't much pubuc that overall there wasn't much public goodwill to begin with for the labour party and any sort of political capital that was there, that burning through it very quickly now, which is why we had a very positive reaction. >> we've just also had the reform party conference over the weekend and a very positive reaction, a lot more positivity

coming out of that. can you understand why so many people now are considering reform as a genuine alternative ? genuine alternative? >> i want you , stadler silenced. >> i want you, stadler silenced. i'm trying to work out what i think because of course, on one level i can understand the temptation. i couldn't be further from being tempted to vote for reform or support reform. and i think you say that they're positive. there's a lot of negativity because a lot of it is about the other thing about the conference, it was full of positivity. >> it was going to do this from what? >> from what i saw of it, from what i saw of it. >> it was cleverly stage managed. it was skilled. i mean, look, we all know that nigel farage is in many ways a very skilled political operator. i think the message is toxic. i don't think it is actually positive. and i think, by the way, when you only have five mps and there's almost 0.1 million votes, that's true. and don't forget ukip had 3.83.9 way back in about 2015. but i think when

there's no prospect of power, they would argue differently. it's much easier just to throw policies at the wall and claim to be positive when there is frustration with the two main parties. and raqeeb talked about the poor performance of the conservative party over 14 years, and we are seeing a labour government that, in the polls at least, is struggling at the moment. of course, there's a temptation for some to buy this siren messaging from the likes of richard tice and nigel farage. do i think that they're going to make our country better now? i think they're going to. they would drag our country backwards and they're just very quickly. if i may, to go back to these crisis crises that affect almost every single person watching and us as well. we have a crisis in the nhs, we have a crisis in social care. education, perhaps, is something that's doing well, possibly a legacy of new labour, because it takes time for changes to bed in. but we've got a crisis of housing, we've got a crisis of

living standards . we have got so living standards. we have got so many crises in this country which is why it is disappointing, although perhaps necessary, that we are talking about the culture of freebies because there are very real and very serious problems facing our country. reform don't have the answers to those. and as i said at the beginning, i hope, i hope that labour do because if they don't, we are all and everyone watching is in. even greater trouble than we already are. >> this is the problem. we stand. we're running out of time. so briefly, this is the problem we face. we? where are we with an alternative that is going to work? >> no , i think the main problem >> no, i think the main problem for labour is that they could lose support in a variety of ways. we're talking about reform. there could also be threatened by the greens, for example . and i think that what's example. and i think that what's really interesting with the winter fuel payment cuts is that the labour party has managed to unite left wing trade unionists and traditionally tory voting pensioners. and i think the one thing i'll point, i'll make this point very quickly, is that the prime minister's finest talent is that he's able to alienate a

variety of groups with alarming success. so it is a success. >> so keir starmer has had success. >> success. >> well, i mean, i don't think that'll be his definition of success, put it that way. >> no okay. we're running out of time on that. but we will be coming back to it throughout the show because obviously it's an ongoing, conference and we'll be going back to it live when and if something exciting happens. for all the best analysis and opinion on that though, please do go to our website which is @gbnews. com i'm dawn neesom and this is gb news and there's loads more coming up. it's a really packed show. the other big story in the papers today, prosecutors admit they not once but twice failed to bring charges against mohamed al fayed, who now stands accused of being a serial predator. predator who raped and sexually assaulted women over decades. we're talking to a lawyer about that very soon, and you won't want to miss what he has to say. this is gb news britain's news see you soon. go go too far.

welcome back to the weekend. i'm dawn neesom, and i hope you're having a lovely sunday afternoon out there. now, this story in the papers today. been around all week since the bbc documentary on it. absolutely horrific. the crown prosecution service has acknowledged that they failed to bring charges against mohamed al fayed, who stands accused of being a serial predator despite reports that prosecutors lack sufficient evidence to try him in 2009. the cps revealed yesterday that they also received a rape allegation filed from the metropolitan police in 2015. the former owner of harrods and fulham football club stands accused of being a serial predator who raped sexually assaulted and threatened women over decades. joining me now is public law barrister francis hoar to explain how this is even possible. francis, thank you very much for joining possible. francis, thank you very much forjoining me possible. francis, thank you very much for joining me this afternoon. francis, can you just

make sense of the insensible i don't understand how this was not prosecuted. >> well , not prosecuted. >> well, allegations surfaced about mr fayed . he just added about mr fayed. he just added the al incidentally, in 1998 with tom bower's biography. and interestingly, mr fayed threatened to prosecute him for defamation and didn't do so . and defamation and didn't do so. and the allegations were essentially some of those that were made that have been made now, including, calling up staff and abusing. i don't know whether mr bowers actually accused him of rape, but those allegations were certainly known about at the time. how can this come about? well, that that i can't answer, the cps might be able to. and the cps might be able to. and the police might be able to. what's interestingly to, to me is that the police seem to get it the wrong way around both ways. so with savile and fired and others, they didn't prosecute, but they did

prosecute. or they did rather investigate and torture and, harass , frankly, others who were harass, frankly, others who were accused by obvious conspiracy theorists. and i'm thinking of lord bramall , edward heath and lord bramall, edward heath and others. so they seem to get it wrong both ways, which is really unfortunate, what i think this doesn't show is it doesn't show that laws need to change, there were laws against all of those offences at the time. it does show clearly that in certain instances, the police need to have a very different attitude to those who are complainants, who are making accusations of rape. and obviously those accusations are not true until they proved in the courts, they shouldn't believe them too readily as they did in the operation, midwest midland, i think it was. and in those other allegations. and yet they shouldn't dismiss them too readily either, and in this case, there were corroborated allegations, i.e. allegations made by people independently of

one another. as i understand it, huge numbers of them for very difficult to explain for the cps and the police or for the police where they didn't investigate the cps, why they didn't prosecute. but again, i can't answer why that is. >> do you think? i mean, you know , in operation midland it know, in operation midland it was it was men making accusations against politicians mainly wasn't it, in this incident? it's the first allegation was from a young woman. she was 15 years old, a bit like rotherham. do you think it makes a difference who the complainants are when there are complaints of sexual abuse and sexual assault ? sexual assault? >> to be honest, i think it's very difficult to draw that conclusion, you could do , and, conclusion, you could do, and, and i think to some extent the operation midland was an overreaction to problems that the police had faced before , the police had faced before, which is that they too readily dismissed. complainants, which is the correct term for them.

it's a neutral term, and rather treating them as victims automatically when no allegations, of course, had been proven and particularly, disgracefully, frankly, in circumstances where you have an obvious conspiracy theorist and, and, somebody who was clearly had had problems with the truth and probably mental health problems, too. and he's now been languishing in prison for perverting the course of justice, so i don't i mean , the justice, so i don't i mean, the implication there is also that some were allegations were made by men and they were believed and others by women , and they and others by women, and they were not. i don't know whether that's the case. i certainly think, though, that back in the 19705 think, though, that back in the 1970s and 1980s, there was a very unfortunate culture of disbelieving young women and teenage girls. and also this probably feeds into the kind of culture, that unacceptable culture, that unacceptable culture of sexual harassment that existed throughout shop floors. offices in the 1980s and

the 1970s. and one can well see people saying, well, it's just a slap on the bottom or something like that. an unacceptable attitude , particularly because attitude, particularly because of course, things like that can very easily escalate. francis, just very quickly, we are running out of time. >> the crown prosecution service, which keir starmer infamously headed up, including infamously headed up, including in 2009 when jimmy savile and this weren't prosecuted. do you think the actual service itself is actually still fit for purpose ? purpose? >> i don't know, and i don't know that one can conclude that from things that they didn't do, a decade or more ago, i think it has huge problems with funding. i think the problem with one of the big problems with the criminal justice service is it has been underfunded for 20 to 30 years. and we have legal aid, barristers and solicitors leaving the profession in droves because they cannot afford to continue, particularly junior barristers who've had put vast and huge numbers of years. i

used to do crime. i don't do it, not for that reason. but many people i know have left incredibly good people who takes a huge amount of time to train up. but in both sides of the profession and the same applies to the cps. so unfortunately, if you are under—resourced to that extent, there are going to be problems. but this, it seems to me, was far more a culture of power, a culture of intimidation by people like fired and a culture of disbelieving young women and teenage girls, which was deplorable. perhaps a residue of the time, and one hopes very much will not be repeated. >> okay. thank you very much. that's public law, barrister francis hoare, thank you very much for joining francis hoare, thank you very much forjoining us and explaining that. and you hope things have changed, don't you? you have from francis there that, young women often aren't believed and there are problems in this service. but any case, we will talk to the panel after this because we first will go to the headlines with sophie reaper .

the headlines with sophie reaper. >> thank you. don. it's just after half past one. and these are your latest headlines. your top story. this afternoon the labour party conference has begunin labour party conference has begun in liverpool today, with deputy pm angela rayner giving her speech earlier this morning. over the coming days, there will likely be questions for the party's leader, sir keir starmer , party's leader, sir keir starmer, following an observer poll which found he is now less popular than rishi sunak, with his personal rating dropping by 45 points since july. earlier education secretary bridget phillipson defended the pm and the plans. the government have to make meaningful change. >> it feels at the minute that really a lot isn't working in our country. we are determined this week here in liverpool to talk about the change that we're delivering on that will make a difference. that will bring some hope and optimism back. but absolutely fixing the foundations of our economy , foundations of our economy, stabilising our economy is absolutely crucial because everything else has to flow from that. >> elsewhere in politics, reforms leader nigel farage sat down with gb news political

editor chris hope at their party conference yesterday. speaking on chopper's political podcast, mr farage gave the updated betting odds on him becoming pm in 2029 following a huge influx in 2029 following a huge influx in the party. in the number of party members over the past few days. >> 8 to 1 you've been you being prime minister. >> is this morning. and i can give you some up to date news if he wants it. 2700 people joined the party yesterday alone. we're now 6 to 1. and your numbers? you should have got on at eight, shouldn't you? i don't bet. i don't bet, and you can listen to their full interview on chopper's political podcast, which you can find wherever you get your podcasts from. >> some tragic news from the states today. it's been reported that four people have been killed and dozens of others have been wounded in a mass shooting in alabama. the birmingham police department have said the attack took place in the five points south area at around 11:00 last night. authorities also believe multiple shooters were involved, but no arrests have been made as of yet. according to local media, responding officers found

multiple victims at the scene. three were pronounced dead, while a fourth later died in hospital . the commemorations hospital. the commemorations marking the 80th anniversary of the battle of arnhem have continued in the netherlands today. this morning, veterans armed forces personnel and the princess royal gathered at the oosterbeek war cemetery for the airborne memorial service, with the event being closed by a fly—past from the battle of britain memorial flight and over to the world of sport. last night saw a historic fight for british boxing with anthony joshua taking on david dubois for the ibf heavyweight title, and despite much speculation that aj might take his third title, it was dubois that was victorious in the end with a fifth round knockout. those are the latest gb news headlines for now. i'm sophie reaper more from me in the next 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

>> hello there you are. welcome back to the weekend with me dawn neesom hope you're having a lovely sunday lunchtime out there. now before the break we heard from public law barrister francis hoar on the many accusations made against mohamed al—fayed . so we didn't have time al—fayed. so we didn't have time to talk to the panel. so i'm going to do that now. political commentator matthew stadlen and social policy analyst rakib the seine are still with me. matthew, i found what francis was saying illuminated a little bit shocking about how women in particular aren't taken seriously . but the cps, they seriously. but the cps, they they they let jimmy savile get away with that prosecution. and now we're saying exactly the same thing with mohamed al—fayed, who, to according the express today has been dubbed one of the world's worst sex predators. so what do you make of that? >> first of all, shock at what

these women have been through solidarity with them and also not to underestimate how difficult it must be and therefore how brave they are, even though these are historic crimes, to talk about them openly . my crimes, to talk about them openly. my biggest worry , in openly. my biggest worry, in a sense, is yes, there seem to have been failings in the past, certainly within harrods . i certainly within harrods. i can't say whether the cps failed in a negligent way or not, because there wasn't inside that organisation. but my biggest worry is that we have these stories. they keep recurring, and my worry is that they might be happening. right. almost certainly. are continuing to happen because what is at the heart? what is at the centre of all almost all of these cases, men , often men or almost always men, often men or almost always men, often men or almost always men in power . men, often men or almost always men in power. and why do we expect men are going to suddenly change their ways? i mean, we've

had scandals that have happened after the metoo movement and when the metoo movement was happening, and i was broadcasting twice a week on the radio during that period, the one thing you hoped would happen was that men would change their behaviour. not all men, obviously, but we hope a tiny minority of men. but you hope that through through, through exposure, through sunlight being shone on this being the best disinfectant that men in the future would behave differently. but we still have scandals. so we have to, as a society and our institutions and our journalists and our politicians have to be hyper vigilant. >> rikki neave i mean, it's an utterly depressing story. again, very similar to jimmy savile. a lot of people knew, a lot of people made complaints at the time. i was one of them. i had a young female journalist who went to interview al fayed. he said something completely, completely very wrong to her. she came back and complained. i made a

complaint. nothing happened exactly the same as jimmy savile. a lot of people knew, a lot of people said stuff. nothing happened. >> well, i think matthew pretty much mentioned what the key word is here power. and i think that a lot of people have been talking about two tier criminal justice. i think that the real how do you say source of tiered justice is based on class? i think in my view, and i think that all too often there are men in high positions of power economically powerful, incredibly wealthy, who in my view, they're not facing what they should be facing from a justice perspective, from a criminal justice perspective. and i think that's a very serious problem. i think here you also talk about almost saying victim blaming tendencies when it comes to young women making these kind of complaints rooted in sexual abuse and harassment. and i think that that still continues to this very day. i think you mentioned there cases of group based child sexual abuse. i think victim blaming tendencies certainly played a part in that. when you

look at the gross mismanagement of such cases. but i think that here i think we have a particular case where there's been numerous complaints which are now emerging. and i think that we really need to talk about power in this capacity. and i think matthew talked about the crown prosecution service. they're admitting themselves here, that there may have been two occasions where they personally, as an institution, failed to bring charges following these complaints, which were made. >> and 2015, the first case involved a 15 year old girl who was working at harrods. >> absolutely. >> absolutely. >> is their argument. not that they had to weigh up whether there was a realistic chance of successful prosecution. i'm not justifying the decisions , it's justifying the decisions, it's justifying the decisions, it's just difficult for me to criticise them from the outside unless they've admitted culpability, which i'm not sure they have. no, no, no, but but just to bring your point about about power, but also class up, i obviously i agree with you about power. i made the point. but on class this is not just about wealthy men. this is not just about powerful men in the

sense that they might be powerful in the workplace, or they might be career successful. we know that domestic abuse of women, and it's not just that way around. sometimes men can be abused as well, but we know that domestic abuse happens, don't we, right across society in all different communities, regardless of so—called class. anything else at the heart of it is men and men in. you know, you might be from a working class background, but in the home, if you're bigger and stronger than your partner or if you're if you earn the money because we know it's not just physical abuse, it's not just physical abuse, it's coercive abuse as well. coercive control, of course , coercive control, of course, so—called working class or lower income people can also men can also abuse that power. >> and that's a very important point. but the cps, it failed women and girls in jemmy savile's case, it failed women and girls in in in the al—fayed case and in both instances keir starmer was the director of

pubuc starmer was the director of public prosecutions in 2009 when this happened. now he did nothing wrong. he he said this file didn't come across my desk. he's not responsible for it. i'm not saying it's responsible. but again, it's another thing that isn't playing out well for our new prime minister. >> no it's not, but i think ultimately this is a problem that's much bigger than him. i think ultimately this is an institutional issue. and you talked about there is a crown prosecution service. is it fit for purpose? i think the institution needs to ask itself some very serious questions, especially. i think it is. i think in my view, there's been numerous failings. i think that's very clear. and the cps has even admitted that, as matthew mentioned , though, that matthew mentioned, though, that might have been because they had reservations in terms of securing a successful prosecution in this case. but i think that it's very clear here that many of our institutions are not are not performing as well as they should be. and i do think that includes the cps. so i think there needs to be a very serious, a serious period of self—reflection within that institution in terms of how it's

functioning. >> but the barrister made an important point, i thought, and that was one of funding. he wasn't prepared simply to dismiss the crown prosecution service. what he said is that there will be problems where the criminal justice system isn't properly funded. we know it's not properly funded. now we can have a massive debate and we probably should be having a massive debate on how we fund that. do we fund it with greater borrowing? is rachel reeves going to be too tight with her fiscal rules? do we need higher taxes? and yes, it is also very possibly or probably true that the nhs could reform in certain ways to use healthcare as an example of one of the failing organs of the state that affects almost all of us, but without money, you're not going to get the sort of services that we feel that we deserve. and that includes a criminal justice system that works in the best interests of victims , because if interests of victims, because if you're not properly funded, you can't do your job properly . if can't do yourjob properly. if gb news were not properly funded , gb news were not properly funded, then you wouldn't be held. then

you wouldn't have people to operate the cameras and so forth. if there was more money @gbnews, there'd be more researchers and so forth. most organisations would be would be performing better with more money. >> there does appear to be money when it's needed. however, money can be found for our for foreign aid, for example, which is another example that people mention here. >> well, i want well funded pubuc >> well, i want well funded public services. i want well funded police forces. the criminal justice system is very much bursting at the seams. i think the court system has been grossly underfunded. especially under 14 years of tory rule. as we discussed. but i think that as well as being well funded, we have to talk about the institutional culture as well. now, for example, if you talk about grooming gang scandals, the idea that if greater manchester police was well funded, they wouldn't have prematurely closed operation augusta. i don't buy that . so of augusta. i don't buy that. so of course i want to see these vital organs of the state well resourced. but on top of that, we have to talk about the

institutional culture as well. and in terms of protecting victims. >> and it shouldn't be the most vulnerable. >> we can't have an excuse culture. so i agree with that. >> but unfortunately we have run out of time again. used to make such brilliant points. we could talk all day about this particular subject. now, harrods are a different ownership than when al—fayed was there, obviously. they have issued a statement saying harrods today is a very different organisation to the one owned and controlled by al fayed between 1985 and 2010. it is one that seeks to put the welfare of our employees at the heart of everything we do. so just to make that clear, i'm dawn neesom and this is gb news now sport anthony joshua was dropped to the canvas multiple times during a fifth round knockout in front of a record 96,000 fans at wembley stadium last night. is this the end of the road for the boxing superstar, though? don't go too far. we'll you very

soon. hello. welcome back, you lot. this is the weekend and i'm dawn neesom. hope you're having a lovely sunday at lunchtime out there. and did you watch the sport last night? did you? there's only one bit of sport, isn't there? really? and that's the boxing, daniel du bois, i think he's a west ham boy from canning town, east london. so we're not talking about football, though, delivered a stunning fifth round knockout of a fellow brit, anthony joshua, in front of 96,000 fans at wembley stadium last night. the 27 year old dropped joshua multiple times to retain the ibf heavyweight title. joining me now is sports broadcaster aidan magee aidan. i. full confession i fell asleep before it started last night. >> did you i know, did you fall asleep during liam gallagher? did you. no no no no i didn't i didn't even make liam gallagher. got to sleep with the whole audience. >> was. he was. oh really? was he not good. >> well, you know what? i heard his part on the radio, and he didn't sound too bad, but everyone who was there just really, really criticised him.

and they said there'll be a lot of oasis tickets available on ebay this morning, right? yeah. let's have a quick search just in case. >> yeah. so was it a good fight? was it one that was. well yeah. >> look, it was watchable. yeah, i'd say so. there was a story around it. i knew that when it was finished i'd be talking about that and pretty much nothing else today, even though arsenal are playing man city at 430 later on. but look, i was with anthony at the very start of his career as he kind of went from went from the olympics to pro. >> you've got you've got before we start on everyone's everyone knows anthony joshua everyone. right okay. can you see that. you see that there. >> put your foot forward. that's it. yeah i can see it okay. >> that's matthew stadlen one of our brilliant panellists with anthony joshua in a boxing ring. itaught anthony joshua in a boxing ring. i taught him everything he knows, which is why i was so disappointed about last night. >> he's still hurting from that knockout you gave me. >> any case. so you've name dropped now? yeah. no, i think you'd like to say rikki neave. >> oh, no. i think that many people thought that this fight was going to last any longer than six rounds. yeah, but two very. >> but you don't know anthony joshua personally. no i don't i don't know him. >> right. okay. that's two of us at least know aiden. >> sorry, but look, he was the

overwhelming favourite. dubai had question marks around his his recent career as well, you know. is he a bit of a quitter? i'd never say a boxer was a quitter, ever, because of what they go through. but having said that, when joshua got into the ring, sometimes it's a bit like football. whoever scores the first goal is usually in the ascendancy. and. and dubois got the first punch in, got the first really hard right hander. and that knocked him back, same as it did with andy ruiz back in junior. back in 2019. he never recovered from that, but it was that repeated right hand. and to i've always felt that some of the areas of the boxing media not not not so much the promoters, because it's their job, but some of the media have kind of have kind of defended and protected and given him too readily an an, an easy hearing because i think that i look i look back last night and i just think to myself, yeah, he's brave getting up a few times. of course he was. but that was as one sided, a heavyweight fight as i've seen in quite a long time. >> just a question on boxing, right? because of course it's a sport and it's covered everywhere and all the media. i met the bloke quite liked him. yeah he's very likeable, interviewed him. i'm fascinated by it. on some level, yes. and yet you look at the pictures of, of his jaw taking that hit from

dubois and it is absolutely brutal. and of course he's done it to other people. and there is a sense in which we are watching. i don't watch it myself, but, you know, we're taking part in a sport where grown men and grown women are getting smashed in the face. and |, getting smashed in the face. and i, on some level, have a problem with it. >> yeah, i understand, you know, you wouldn't, to be fair, matthew, you wouldn't be. you wouldn't be the first. and the boxing fraternity are very defensive of that kind of, you know, those accusations because they point to their safety record, which is extremely good. you can also look at other sports as well. i mean, rugby has rugby. >> is it existential? >> is it existential? >> it's a little bit it's an existential crisis. it's not. it's also whataboutery by mentioning another sport isn't it. because i know it's a fair point. >> i can also throw in rugby fan andifs >> i can also throw in rugby fan and it's a fair point. >> i could also throw an f1, which is happening today as well, which is extremely dangerous. but having said that, you know, i can't think of any really in the last five years, i'd say i can't think of any really serious incidents in a boxing ring ring. the safety is far better than it was in the early 90s, when, of course, michael watson had his incident. but just getting back to last night and in terms of where anthony goes next, i mean i

think he'll take i think he'll take the rematch because there's a clause in there if he wins that he's only 34. dawn. and then what happens between usyk and fury? i think that he's so marketable that he could he could fight, he could do himself serious damage. >> i mean, if you look at the highlights of that , he was meant highlights of that, he was meant to be fighting tyson or something or other tyson fury, tyson fury. >> yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, well, yeah. look i mean, that fight should really have happened some time after lockdown. i would have thought probably about 3 or 4 years ago, but it hasn't happened. we do see these elite, these supposedly elite fights. they get stopped because of politics. but i think we do often. we do see them, but maybe not when they should happen. >> the one thing i want to talk to you about, because i found it slightly uncomfortable catching up on it this morning, was the fact that it was a it was a great british event. it was wembley. it's two british fighters. da da da da. but it was saudi arabia. we even had the saudi saudi national anthem. >> sportswashing. >> sportswashing. >> it is sportswashing, plain and simple. >> and anthony's been asked about it many times and he really struggled answering the question because they literally wait now, matthew, don't they? they wait until till riyadh season. they don't fight. and i mean, it's rare to see the elite

fight last night in wembley, but they made it clear it's our event and it's happening in your backyard and it's happening in newcastle as well. >> yes. >> yes. >> an example. yes. >> an example. yes. >> it's completely i mean it's football sportswashing and that's not whataboutery. >> it's another example of sportswashing what they're doing it all at once. >> and this is what the new government are going to get to gnps government are going to get to grips with. yeah. >> well newcastle. well supposedly via the football regulator. but money will talk in the end. but the newcastle case was, was really, really perplexing. and that is reason. >> there's another reason by the way in my view why keir starmer should be careful with the sorts of freebies he i was going there matthew stadler it raises questions doesn't it. >> it raises questions. but the saudis, the saudis, even if you even if you declare it, which is your responsibility and therefore you have done nothing wrong, the fact that you declare something i'm sorry does not mean that you're going to be immune from influence. >> right? right. >> right? right. >> and we've seen it. i mean, david lammy as well and now involved at the saudi, if i could just make one point, i think we haven't talked enough about. >> we haven't we haven't talked enough. oh that's true. >> this is a fair point. daniel anjorin emergence of a global sports star now life changing. >> yeah. and i think for him i think what i really liked after

he one very humble, very god fearing, family oriented, got his little brother there in celebration. >> he's fantastic. >> he's fantastic. >> thank

soon. well good afternoon. it's 2:00 on sunday, the 22nd of september, which is the ultimate equinox. evidently that's some are gone all two days of it. marvellous wasn't it? i hope you enjoyed it. this is the weekend on gb news now. politics. the labour conference kicks off amid the ongoing row over freebies and infighting. angela rayner says she understands the anger but assures supporters that now change begins. we're live in liverpool as foreign secretary david lammy gears up to address the conference in the next half hour and the horror story of the week. prosecutors admit they failed not once but twice to bnng failed not once but twice to bring charges against mohamed al fayed. the former harrods owner stands accused of being a serial predator who sexually assaulted

women over decades , and women over decades, and legendary sitcom friends turns 30 as strictly dancing foxtrots back into our lives as well. i'll be getting all the latest from the world of showbiz and entertainment. i'm dawn neesom and this is the weekend . and this is the weekend. but as i always say, this show isn't about me or our brilliant panellists. it's all about you and your opinion and i've got loads of messages from you. i'm going to read them out, but it's been so chatty with so much packed into this show. so if you want to get involved about all the stuff we're talking about or anything you want to chat about sunday afternoon, i hope you're chilling. just give us a call. let me know your thoughts on the stories we're discussing today. it's very simple to get involved. just visit gbnews.com/yoursay and join in our conversation. keeping me company still. they are still

both here is political commentator matthew stadlen and social policy analyst rakib hasan. thank you very much. and matthew's just spilled his water all over the table and i said, i wouldn't mention that, but i just have. so there you go. but before we get stuck, sorry, matthew, but before we get stuck into today's stories, here's the news headlines with sophie reaper. reapen >> thank you. don. it's 2:02. and these are your latest gb news headlines. the labour party conference has begun in liverpool today with deputy pm angela rayner giving her speech earlier on this morning . she earlier on this morning. she addressed concerns around the labour party whilst also hitting out at the previous conservative government >> there will be no complacency. we've seen where that leads. don't forget what they did partygate, covid contracts, the lies division scapegoating and the unfunded tax cuts for the richest that crashed our economy. don't forget any of it.

the tories failed britain and they tried to cover it up. a crater in the heart of britain's economy, a puncture in the pocket of every working family and a £22 billion black hole could be trouble for keir starmer. >> elsewhere in the uk, as the snp's westminster leader, stephen flynn, has said that the new pm is failing to deliver on the change he promised scotland in the general election . he in the general election. he claims that despite the snp being willing to work with laboun being willing to work with labour, that sir keir is completely out of touch with scotland and the issues the country faces . this comes after country faces. this comes after the pm has already faced criticism over cuts to the winter fuel allowance, and his acceptance of clothing donations. earlier, our scotland reporter tony maguire asked the people of glasgow if they feel secure is delivering in three months, give or take this labour government. >> how do you think they are performing for scotland ? performing for scotland? >> one out of ten. really? yeah

again, i'm a pensioner. they've taken my winter fuel allowance andifs taken my winter fuel allowance and it's wrong. >> i had high hopes for keir starmer and now it's all gone . starmer and now it's all gone. has there been any. >> i haven't really noticed much, to be honest. >> i'm ashamed to say i'm a glaswegian, really, when i see the state of the place and i've watched 13 years of snp, we're in big, big trouble. well, no, no, we might be out of the trouble now with the labour run. i don't know, it's just a matter of wait and see. >> elsewhere in politics, reform leader nigel farage sat down with gb. news, political editor chris hope at their party conference yesterday . speaking conference yesterday. speaking on chopper's political podcast, mr farage said in order for reform to make an impact at the local elections next may, the party will have to complete ten years of evolution in the next six months. however, that hasn't stopped him from setting quite the target . the target. >> we've got enough people to have 2300 candidates. the

question is, are they the right 2300 candidates? because we will be held to a higher standard than everybody else. and i'm aiming in those elections to win hundreds of seats. >> and you can listen to their interview in full on chopper's political podcast, which you can find wherever you get your podcasts from. it's been reported that four people have been killed and dozens of others have been wounded in a mass shooting in alabama , the shooting in alabama, the birmingham police department have said they are at the scene of the attack, which took place in the five points south area at around 11:00 last night. authorities also believe multiple shooters were involved, but no arrests have been made as of yet, according to local media. responding officers found multiple victims at the scene. three were pronounced dead, whilst a fourth later died in hospital . the commemorations hospital. the commemorations marking the 80th anniversary of the battle of arnhem have continued in the netherlands today. this morning, continued in the netherlands today. this morning , veterans, today. this morning, veterans, armed forces personnel and the princess royal gathered at the oosterbeek war cemetery for the airborne memorial service. the

event was closed by a fly—past from the battle of britain memorial flight, and earlier her royal highness princess anne gave a reading to mark the 80th anniversary of operation market garden. >> he that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the almighty . i will say of the the almighty. i will say of the lord, he is my refuge and my fortress, my god, in him will i trust . trust. >> and finally, they've always been there for . >> and finally, they've always been there for. us. that's for the past three decades. anyway as today marks the 30th birthday of one of the most iconic series of one of the most iconic series of all time friends, the show premiered for the first time in the us back in 1994, fast becoming one of nbc's most watched programs and lasting for ten series. those are your latest gb news headlines for now. i'm sophie reaper more from me in half an hour, but now it's

back to the fabulous dawn neesom for the very latest gb news direct to your smartphone, sign up to news alerts by scanning the qr code, or go to gbnews.com forward slash alerts . forward slash alerts. >> thank you very much, sophie. right before we get stuck into today's story, loads of your messages coming in, please, please do . gbnews.com/yoursay please do. gbnews.com/yoursay just want to read this one out. we were just discussing the al fayed case and the cps and whether they are indeed fit for purpose. and john, hello john, you're summing up what so many viewers and listeners are saying. john, you say, i find it impossible to believe how high profile names like saville and al fayed under investigation by the cps would not have been brought to the attention of the then boss to take care. funny how all the ones at the top of the post office never knew anything either. lots of you

agreeing with john there. substantiated. shush shush shush shush shush shush shush shush shush shush shush shush shush shush shush. >> it is unsubstantiated. we should say that. what? there is, there is no evidence whatsoever. >> we've said that. we've said very clearly that he didn't see these files. that is john's opinion and is echoing a lot of what people are saying. how can he, with these high profile names, not have seen these folders? in any case, we have to move on. we are going back up to the labour party conference, which has kicked off in liverpool. if you've been living under a rock, you might not know this , but it has come as a fresh this, but it has come as a fresh football . freebie row emerges football. freebie row emerges for the prime minister and his chief of staff sue gray, chief of staff, possibly boss. some would say , with accusations of would say, with accusations of turmoil inside number 10 and the sleaze row just not going away. what must starmer do over the next few days to ease the minds of his supporters, who better than to ask our very own tom harwood who is up in liverpool for us? tom. hello. hi tom. what's it? what's it? first of all, i'm asking what is the atmosphere like up there ?

atmosphere like up there? >> you know what? it's interesting. this is a party. of course, that has had a historic election victory just two months ago. more seats than the party has ever won in its history. a majority on the scale of that of tony blair in 1997. but asking people here whether they feel like they're riding on cloud nine as that victory might have suggested, you do get a more mixed response. there are, of course, huge challenges that this party faces in government and that this country faces as well. keir starmer has seen his popularity slide by double digits since becoming prime minister. the question mark is will he be able to recover and will he be able to recover and will he be able to deliver? but dawn, i'm speaking to you here from our shiny stand right at the heart of the labor party exhibition floor. at this conference, i want to show you around a little bit. let's have around a little bit. let's have a bit of a walk and just show you the context of where we are at this labor party conference. ihave at this labor party conference. i have to say, pride of place , i have to say, pride of place, because right next to us is the

entrance to where all of the speeches have been taking place, where angela rayner kicked off this conference as the deputy leader always does. at the start of each conference on the sunday. that is where she spoke. just a few hours ago. but we can go around to the floor and see sort of the scale of this conference as well. lots of different organisations exhibiting. you've got the national farmers union right next to us, some rival media organisations that we won't stay too long next to you. we've even got some, some, some cups, some, some football cups. it's pretty extraordinary stuff there. but of course, like every labor party conference, lots of people wanting to get close to those in positions of power. although i have to say, one person in a very senior position of power is not here today . yes. marking, not here today. yes. marking, perhaps by her absence . sue perhaps by her absence. sue gray, not at this conference. question marks, of course, over whether the advisor or the chief of staff becoming the story is a particularly sustainable thing for a government. we all

remember how when dominic cummings became the story in bofis cummings became the story in boris johnson's administration, he didn't last long. are there echoes now with the sort of disarray in number 10? but i have to say, you don't feel that much of that on the floor here at the labour party conference. people seem pretty engaged, pretty, pretty excited to be back in government after 14 years in the wilderness. who would have thought that the party would have been here after just a couple, just a couple of years ago ? with the party so far years ago? with the party so far down in the polls in the doldrums, back in, in the early days of boris johnson's premiership, what a turnaround. i just want to show you the shop here, because there are lots of trinkets that you can purchase . trinkets that you can purchase. if you're at the labour party conference, you can get yourself a nice little mug. these are less controversial than other mugs that were sold in earlier years of labour's opposition. there were some controversial mugs that ed miliband used to try to sell, but you can get t—shirts more mugs, glasses, even posters. and this is a particularly popular site. there have been a fewt particularly popular site. there have been a few t shirts around this conference showing just the

mathematics of the labour majority here. look at all of those red dots. that is the house of commons. a pretty extraordinary parliamentary wing win , although one number that win, although one number that doesn't appear here on this poster is 34.9%. that was the share of the vote that delivered the labour party. this stunning electoral victory. but lots and lots of things about. and even if you if you're so inclined, you can get a swanky, a swanky poster of keir starmer. i'm not sure who bought the clothes in this poster, but i suppose we'll have to submit a freedom of information request and find that all out. there's lots going on of course, at this conference, and we'll be keeping you up to date with everything as it goes on. but i did want to give you that taster that little that inside look of what it's like here on the floor of the conference. >> thank you so much for a guided to the labour party conference there. brilliant stuff. thank you very much. and we will be going back to liverpool ahead of david lammy's

speech in the next 20 minutes or so. tom is a dynamic character. he is brilliant. he's so. tom is a dynamic character. he is brilliant . he's really he is brilliant. he's really done a good job there. and you know the poster that's a bit scary. matthew, would you have that one on your wall? >> no, because i was worried ahead of this election that labour's majority would be very, very substantial indeed. and we need a functioning opposition. i think we'll talk about robert jenrick soon. >> we are going to talk about robert jenrick right now, because the former immigration minister and tory leadership candidate, robert jenrick, says dozens of terror suspects have walked right into the uk. he's warned the government that acts in the rwanda plan had left britain more vulnerable to terrorist attacks in future government sources have dismissed mrjenrick's government sources have dismissed mr jenrick's criticism and labelled the rwanda plan as laughable. so, as you've just heard, matthew is still here and as is raqib, now robert jenrick speaking out. when he was immigration minister, he was in power , why do you think he's power, why do you think he's suddenly saying this now? terror

suspects are walking in on the small boats, says jenrick. >> well, first i made the point. he actually resigned as immigration minister because he felt that the rwanda migration partnership wasn't tough enough for his liking. now he's the tory front runner in the leadership contest. and i think that what's very clear is that i think robert jenrick recognises or rather, he feels, that there's a very significant electoral threat in the form of reform. so i think that what he's trying to do, he's trying to provide very robust narratives, connected to immigration, asylum. but he also made a very interesting intervention this week. dawn, i'm sure you saw it on english identity as well, where he talked about the threat of mass immigration and so—called woke culture and how that's threatening and weakening engush threatening and weakening english identity. now, i authored a piece for unherd where i said that he made some reasonable points . where i said that he made some reasonable points. but i also think that when we talk about understanding english history, appreciating english heritage, and traditions, i think that's something that ethnically

engush something that ethnically english people, i think they need to take some responsibility for that as well. and i think that, you know, edward burke , that, you know, edward burke, edmund burke, sorry, the anglo engush edmund burke, sorry, the anglo english philosopher, he talked about the anglo—irish philosopher. he talked about those little platoons of church, family and local community. i think those little platoons are somewhat they're dying in england. so i think that what robert jenrick needs to do, i think he's making some very reasonable points, but i think he also needs to talk about some problematic social and cultural trends, which are very much taking hold in england. >> what's an ethnically english person? >> so in my view, i think that there is very clearly an indigenous population in england now . a lot of people will have now. a lot of people will have different views in terms of how you classify that. i think that when you're talking in my view, i identify more as i'm more comfortable identifying as british, are you english? i think that in a civic sense, i have a very strong connection to england. now when it comes to the sports teams, i support england. but i think that if you're talking about actual identity, i would say personally identify ultimately as british. and i think that the idea that

england doesn't have a titular nation, a dominant ethnic group, i think that's something that i would disagree with. >> would you identify as english, matthew? >> oh, very much so. i would see you as english. you're entitled not to see yourself as english, if that's what you want or to see yourself in any way you like. but i think english identity is perfectly strong. i think these days it tends to involve rallying around our sports teams , which i do, and sports teams, which i do, and sing the national anthem very proudly. i mean, i don't know about this , this ethnicity about this, this ethnicity attached to englishness because we've come from a history of various invasions from many, many centuries ago. so i'd be i'd be a bit curious and a bit and a bit cautious about this idea of ethnicity attached to englishness. >> we are getting off the subject slightly. >> well, he brought it up robert jenrick, didn't he? >> robert jenrick did bring it up, yes. no absolutely. but what do you make about what he's said about the small boats and robert jenrick was, as you say, he resigned from the rishi sunak government, in my view, because he was too extreme for the sunak government, which in this area i thought was extreme.

>> the idea of sending people to rwanda, which is a country as we know , that has a president who know, that has a president who won 99% of the vote, doesn't sound particularly democratic to me. this is our issue . it's for me. this is our issue. it's for our authorities to sort out. it's for our politicians to resolve with good relations and better relations with europe, with france, with italy, and elsewhere, specifically in this case with france, because we left the eu. and this is a post—brexit issue. we do need to try our very best to sort it out. carting people off to rwanda is, for me, if we're talking about english values or indeed british values, that if they exist, that is not a british value. >> when you mention the eu and the whole brexit situation, though, i mean , there are though, i mean, there are countries in the eu now that are clamping down much harder on migrants than we would be allowed to do with the fundamental . fundamental. >> there's even reports that the german federal government is striking deals with the taliban to return afghan citizens back

to return afghan citizens back to afghanistan. >> the fundamental problem that we have, i think, is that we are not, as i understand it, without the consent. richard tice disagrees with this, and i think he's simply wrong about it. but we are not, as i understand it, entitled to pick people up, rescue people, which we should be doing in the channel and take them back to french waters. take them back to french waters. take them back to the french shoreline without the consent of the french , and until and unless the french, and until and unless we have an agreement with the french that we can do that, this is going to continue to be a problem. do any of us want terrorists in this country? of course we don't. are there are there risks that some terrorists? how would you how would you stop there? are there are there are there risks that some terrorists will be arriving this shore ? yes. on these this shore? yes. on these shores, do we also have home—grown terrorists? yes. do i have any time for terrorists? absolutely not. but what is genenc absolutely not. but what is generic trying to do politically by starting to talk about engush by starting to talk about english identity and by his relentless focus on the boats , relentless focus on the boats, as you say correctly, he's very scared of reform. what he should remember is that reform have five p's and only one 4 million votes, and they are not a

blueprint to follow. if he wants to bring the tories back to power, the point i'd make there is that we also had 40% of eligible voters who didn't participate in the general election at all, and i think it'd be very interesting to understand their views and attitudes on issues such as immigration, asylum , integration immigration, asylum, integration and identity. >> now , matthew made some points >> now, matthew made some points there about identity. i think there about identity. i think the reality is i have a deep love and affection for england, but i wouldn't consider england to be my ancestral homeland. the reality is, my four grandparents are all buried in bangladesh. they're not buried in england. and i think that there is a point that there are certain communities just in terms of duration. they're far more established. but britain is your ancestral homeland either. >> but you feel british, right? >> but you feel british, right? >> no, absolutely. i do. what's the difference between britain and england? i think that ultimately when we're looking at identity, i think there's a point there that there is a dominant . point there that there is a dominant. ultimately, point there that there is a dominant . ultimately, have dominant. ultimately, have a nafive dominant. ultimately, have a native population, people, people. >> but what's britain because you feel british. well, britain.

what's britain? >> i think what's very interesting you very much treat britain and england interchangeably. and i think thatis interchangeably. and i think that is partly because i'm english, i'm british, i think i think that that is part of the problem though, because what england is, england is a constituent part of britain. britain also includes scotland. but you live in england now, live in britain. moving on to that point there, in terms of robert jenrick, i think that we do have a continued problem with the small boats emergency and there have been reports where you've had reports of islamist militants reportedly entering via the small boats. and i think thatis via the small boats. and i think that is a very serious problem. now, of course, we have an issue when it comes to home—grown islamist extremism, but that doesn't mean that we become complacent when it comes to the possibility and the risks of entering the small boats . entering the small boats. >> i i've never spoken to a single person who wants these boats to continue. the question is, how do we ethically stop the boats from coming ? and that is a boats from coming? and that is a problem that richard tice claims to have an answer for that reform and farage claim to have. i think more generally, in reality, i think more generally we have. >> i'll just make this point

very clear. i think that the uk is relationship when it comes to international refugee conventions. i think that needs to be re—examined by the british political establishment. i think that our human rights framework, if i'm being totally honest, it ought to often prioritises the rights of those who do pose a threat to the law abiding public, as opposed to protecting british citizens who have respect for the rule of law. so i think there's an example. i think i think there's very serious of that. >> there's plenty of there's plenty of it. there are plenty. >> there are there are plenty of examples. there is plenty of examples. there is plenty of examples. there is plenty of examples. there are plenty of examples. there are plenty of examples where you've had a situation where we've had foreign nationals commit crimes in the uk, but because they've cited human rights provisions, that has hindered and that has ultimately hampered the british state's ability to deport them. and if you're saying that that doesn't exist, you're talking about one example. there are there are there are there are plenty of examples. >> some people would some people would like foreign criminals to be deported before they serve a prison sentence, because they

don't want us as a country to have to foot the bill for their prison sentence. i would say our prisons are overcrowded. i would i would say to these people, the only way we can ensure that these criminals face justice and face time behind bars is by putting them behind bars in our country. if they get packed off to another country, there's no guarantee that they are going to go to prison. >> what about the fact that we don't have any prison spaces? >> that is a major failing of the conservative government because the very first duty of any government, as i'm sure you would agree, is to keep us safe. and that's safe from criminals within our own country, and it's safe from other countries where we are. >> so how does your solution of putting foreign prisoners in prison here work? if we don't have the spaces for them, our prison service doesn't work. >> whether we're talking about foreign criminals or british criminals. but my question, the question i asked is how are we going to put the foreign criminals in prison in this country and we don't have the spaces to do it. we're not at the moment putting enough criminals behind bars or rather, we are letting them out early because there aren't enough spaces that doesn't mean to say

i don't want foreign criminals to see justice. i want them to see justice. and the only way we can guarantee that is by them serving their prison sentences here. but that's that's slightly dodging your question, because your question was about prioritisation of human rights. and i would say to you, if someone is in this country and they commit a crime, they absolutely should face justice. that's been made harder because of the conservative government's failure on prisons . but i still failure on prisons. but i still don't think that someone who has committed a heinous crime that i condemn as much as you do, should be sent to a country where they themselves might be killed, because i don't believe, for example, in torture or the death penalty. >> i'll make this very quick point. i think, as it stands, how our current system works in terms of human rights. i think thatis terms of human rights. i think that is ultimately undermining our capability in terms of deporting what makes us great. >> it's one of the things that make us proud of being british. the numerous failings that we've had connected to the asylum system , which in some cases has system, which in some cases has very much cost the lives of british citizens, that doesn't mean we kill them. we could shoot them. i've been at a dinner party where someone said we should not say that. giving an extreme example, i want human

rights protect us as well as as well as others. i want an effective border security system and a deportation regime, which ultimately puts the safety and security of law abiding british citizens first. >> and i'm very unapologetic, and i'm unapologetic to say that part of what makes us a great country is that we do adhere to human rights legislation, and that we don't, for example, gun down boats in the channel. >> i'm not saying you're suggesting that that's an extreme example of sensible border security, but that does have a way of stopping it. >> right? okay. unfortunately gentlemen, we have to leave it. we'll probably come back to it because i have some breaking news. we have to go live to liverpool, where david lammy is speaking. let's see what he's got to say. >> person to register to vote. every supporter who endured the failing private train networks to campaign in an unfamiliar town. every single one of you who supported our leader, our prime minister keir starmer, you are the greatest advocates of our values, our missions and our

purpose. we are forever grateful, forever grateful to you for the greatest electoral turnaround in our party's history. from electoral oblivion. less than five years ago to a labour majority today . ago to a labour majority today. thank you. thank you . of course thank you. thank you. of course you, the party members in this room did not just change the fate of our party. you changed the fate of our country. now together, let's work to change the fate of our world conference for 14 long years, the conservative party misused the british state, handing out crony

contracts to their mates, crashing the economy with their delusional ideology . for 14 delusional ideology. for 14 years, the conservative party damaged our reputation abroad, threatening to break international law , threatening international law, threatening our european friends and treating them as our foes. for 14 long years, the conservative party abandoned our values, tearing up climate commitments, threatening to leave the european convention on human rights on my first weekend as foreign secretary, when i travelled to germany , to poland, travelled to germany, to poland, to sweden in less than 48 hours, i was proud to say britain is back.

i was proud to say britain is back . when keir back. when keir starmer and my dear friend john healey and i flew to washington dc a few days later to meet with world leaders and commit unshakeably to nato, we were proud to say britain is back when the labour government hosted 45 european leaders at blenheim palace to reset our relationship with europe, we said britain is back when we restored the funding to unrwa for their work in gaza. what did we say? conference britain is back and when we stood up for international law, when it was not easy, what did we say ? not easy, what did we say? britain is back in my first four months i visited ten countries, engaged over 20 world leaders and 40 foreign ministers. engaged over 20 world leaders and 40 foreign ministers . and and 40 foreign ministers. and what did i tell them? britain is

back and when, unlike rishi sunak last year, the prime minister and i travel later this week to the un general assembly. what will i say? i will say britain is back. britain is back, my friends. britain is back. conference. unlike the tories , we understand britain tories, we understand britain needs to work with its neighbours to flourish. we know that britain's strength is founded on its alliances. that's why we're resetting our relationship with europe . since relationship with europe. since july, we've launched negotiations on a wide ranging bilateral treaty with germany. i've been in a joint visit with the french foreign minister, the first of its kind. for more than a decade. i've welcomed the spanish, polish, foreign ministers to london. we will reduce trade barriers to help boost business jobs and economic

growth, and we will seek a new, broad, ambitious uk—eu security pact to strengthen cooperation on shared threats that we face, enshrining a new geopolitical partnership because britain is back a leading nation in europe once again . earlier this month once again. earlier this month i was in kyiv. >> that is david lammy, the foreign secretary, speaking at the labour party conference in liverpool today. britain is back, evidently. what do you make of that message? well, i didn't see much enthusiasm for that in that hall. it was a bit of a yeah, it seemed a bit drab there. >> i'm if truth be told, i think that the foreign secretary there is trying to present a very positive view of britain's role in the international system. but i think that there is there is a problem here in terms of more widely in the labour party, in terms of believing in britain's contributions to the world historically, but also in terms of being confident in terms of

what the modern day britain can offer in the global arena. i think what's very interesting next month we have the, the chogm in samoa, which is the commonwealth heads of government meeting, and i think that there's a very important discussion there to be had in terms of why are we so proud of being part of the commonwealth and having that leadership role and having that leadership role and then moving forwards? how can associations such as the commonwealth, especially in the post—brexit context, how can britain amplify its voice in the international system through associations such as the commonwealth? but i did find that overall, that's the kind of vibe there is, not necessarily one of high energy, put it that way. >> no, there wasn't a great reception. matthew was there. britain is back. >> it seems to be perfectly good reception and people were mouthing this idea of britain's back. it's interesting coming off the conversation we were having about what is it to be british? what is it to be english? i mean, for example, with rakib say that bukayo saka, one of our great english footballers, is he not english? the point about an english international footballer? >> yeah , i think he'd probably >> yeah, i think he'd probably say he's english and very proud

to be english and i'm proud of him for being english, but i'm sure he's delighted that you're speaking on his behalf. >> well, he's not here to speak on his behalf. we're having a debate about what does englishness mean, but the point about david lammy here saying britain is back. this is important because there has been a feeling, i think, in the international community, certainly in parts of it, that brexit was a way of almost sticking two fingers up to the international community, to the european community and what he is trying to do and what this labour government is trying to do. and i hope they're successful, is, in their words, to reset relations with europe and i'm sure to reset relations with the world because after brexit, which i didn't for , vote brexit, which i didn't for, vote but i certainly don't condemn those who did. but after brexit, there has been a very strong need to send a message to the world that we do not exist in a silo, in a silo, and we are prepared to work constructively with you. and i think with the baggage of brexit, the tory party was ineffective at doing that. and i hope that starmer and lammy are effective because

it's in our interests that they are. >> do you think it would be a good thing for the labour government to get back in bed more with the eu , as matthew more with the eu, as matthew seems to be interpreting this well , it seems to be interpreting this well, it depends on how you would want to make that relationship close again, in which domains. >> i think the point i make there is that there's a very big difference between the international community and the european community. there's a huge community outside of europe there, and i do think that there's no harm in the uk. of course, trying to have constructive relations with eu member states in the post—brexit context. but i think that the uk also should build closer relations , especially in terms relations, especially in terms of trade and investment, with youthful and energetic members of the commonwealth. for example. so i think that there's a balance to be struck there. i think there's no doubt that we do have shared interests with other eu member states, but i also think that when it comes to commonwealth, for example, we're talking about countries where

engush talking about countries where english tends to be the official language we have very similar legal and administrative systems, which provides that commonwealth trading advantage. so i think there there's existing advantages within associations such as the commonwealth that the uk should invest in and build on lots of people and lots of you. >> get in touch please do. gbnews.com/yoursay samantha clapping sills. no insult to sills there. sharon says the crowd do seem a bit asleep and not following him in chanting, do you think that david lammy is doing a good job as foreign secretary? >> i think on the issue of israel—palestine, that is such a difficult issue for any politician to get right, and he can be attacked by those who are very sympathetic to israel, and he can be attacked by those who are very sympathetic to gazans and palestinians more generally. it's really, really tricky. we can have a whole conversation on that. i certainly don't think he's doing a bad job, and i think, by the way, raqib is spot on. it is not just about the eu.

i focus there on brexit. when i was saying when i was talking and analysing his speech about britain is back, he was also talking about international law, which is something we were debating just now. britain has a very, very hard won strong reputation on international law and on respecting the rule of law within our own country. and what lammy was saying was when the tories were threatening to break international law, labour stood firm. and if you stand firm on that, it sends a message to our partners, not just europeans, but people in the commonwealth states, as you say, and elsewhere in the world, that we are a country that is serious, that can be taken seriously and that can be done business with. >> do you have confidence in him as a foreign secretary? >> i don't have confidence in the labour government, in general, if truth be told. and but i would say i'll make this point that i think that the foreign secretary finds himself in a very difficult situation. we have an ongoing hot war in europe with russia, ukraine. we have the ongoing situation in the middle east, which is very much on the verge of being a full blown regional war. if truth be told, with lebanon very

much being entangled in that . so much being entangled in that. so i want to give him a chance. there's no two ways i want to give the whole labour government a chance. truthfully and it's still very early days, but i think that matthew made this point in the previous hour, which is very important if you get yourself in these kind of sleaze related scandals, that is ultimately what saps media attention. >> and i think careful with the word scandal, though, because scandal is where they do where they actually do something wrong. they actually break the rules . rules. >> and yes, there were some scandal can also mean that there's a there's an ethical breach as well. and i think the point is, if you promote a politics yourself, which is rooted in honesty, integrity, responsibility, service and duty, you're saying a very high standard for yourself. and if you ultimately, if you disrespect your own standards and standards, then people will call it can set in. >> i think you are right on that. the rot can set in and you have to be robust and strong in the way that you conduct yourself as individual politicians and as a cabinet. if you then want to be taken seriously on the policies and it is a sticky start.

>> unfortunately for david lammy, who you can see on your screen is still speaking at the labour party conference. the cabinet in general is expected £800,000 in donations and freebies this year. david lammy, as foreign secretary, has received the most since the beginning of 2024, having accepted more than £150,000, including £2,500 worth of tickets to see tottenham hotspur. with the use of the hospitality box. matthew, you were talking about greenwash and sportswashing earlier on where politicians who are trying to regulate football, accepting hospitality worth thousands of pounds when ordinary people can't afford to go to football. this is dangerous, isn't it? >> there are two schools of thought, okay? it is, it is true. although i don't think it's a very effective defence by the government that this is not by any means unique to the labour party. okay. i'm not saying it is, but remember, remember , remember wallpaper. remember, remember wallpaper. yes. remember wallpaper. yeah. of course . so there's hypocrisy of course. so there's hypocrisy i would say on both sides of this. do i feel comfortable. it's one thing for politicians to accept donations or parties

to accept donations or parties to accept donations or parties to accept donations. they do look at who the tories accept donations from. concentrate on david lammy. i want to give a wider context because i'm not saying that we should definitely end all party donations now, otherwise it has to come out of our purses and the purses of gb news viewers this afternoon. so we should be clear on that. there has to be a way of funding politics, but should individual politicians accept gifts? i don't mean i've just spent the night in wiltshire with my family and friends. old school friends, right? but that's completely fine. there's no sense of i'm being donated something and i'd have them back. >> but david lammy , yes. >> but david lammy, yes. >> but david lammy, yes. >> is. do i have a problem with it? i think i do have a problem with it. it's not just labour, but we're talking about the government now. i think i do and i go back to my earlier point. my i go back to my earlier point. my earlier point was that just because you are within the rules, i wouldn't use the word scandal, but just because you are within the rules and you declare it as you are required to do. and i think there was a late declaration when it came to

starmer's wife's clothes. >> that was. yes but just because you declare it doesn't mean you are not going to be influenced nonetheless. >> and that for me is problematic. and there are all sorts of issues at the moment involving football, the premier league regulation, all of that stuff. and if you accept donations, say, from the premier league, i'm not sure about who who gave lammy his tickets. it was tottenham hotspur, right? yeah. and that's arguably different from the premier league then. that's that's that i think is problematic. >> rikki neave no, i mean i think that the issue here, we're talking about britain setting an example in international affairs. now, if you want to tackle or rather you want to condemn forms of cronyism, corruption. now i know that these are very loaded terms. i think that when you have these kind of rules, and indeed i would consider it to be scandals , would consider it to be scandals, i know that matthew has a difference of opinion. >> you wouldn't call this corrupt, though, would you? >> no, but but i think the point is, is that you're losing the moral high ground to a point. i think that if you want britain

to have, a leading role in international affairs, especially when it comes to matters of integrity, the robustness of the good governance, good. >> what do you say to those who say to about starmer in his defence? because i'm finding it difficult to defend him on this. those who would argue in his defence would say, hang on, he went to arsenal every week or every other week or whatever. he can't now because of security issues. so what's so wrong about him being able to go to a box? >> i think what's really telling there is the fact that the prime minister, the prime minister, is ultimately justifying, i need to be in this box tucked away from my own fans . my own fans. >> no, but that's a security issue. >> that's a security issue. i also think that there is a point to be made here about the disconnect between our leading politicians and the ordinary man. >> i would argue he's not entitled to go to the football. >> i'm sorry, just because you've been to the football before you were prime minister and now you can't for security reasons without accepting hospitality. i'm sorry mate, get on and be prime minister and wait till you finish being prime minister to go and watch the arsenal sunak, to be fair to rishi sunak, went to southampton and sat in the stands with his bodyguards. >> why can't sir keir starmer do

that? why does he need thousands of pounds of corporate hospitality, particularly with arsenal fans? >> because aren't they sort of mostly graphic designers now? i'm joking that that joke was doing the rounds. did did sunak. yes. someone else's joke. did sunak not did he not fly a helicopter at the public's expense? >> i'm not defending him, but he did sit in the stands with the fans. and when many, many, many of our viewers can't afford season tickets, especially, when was it in the fans or was it in a in a in a little box? >> there's another point, though. we're talking about a well, a traditionally a centre left party, right. and we're in the middle of an ongoing cost of living crisis. i agree that opfics living crisis. i agree that optics are bad when you're accepting these amounts of money from a particular. this amounts are bad from a particular donor for luxurious goods , luxurious for luxurious goods, luxurious clothing, fancy apartments abroad. i think that it i'll put it like this. the moral high ground is disappearing in terms of beneath the labour party, right . right. >> well, should we end this debate as friends? >> oh, we're definitely friends. we're good mates. there's no two ways about link. listen, the best mates are those that can accept robust disagreements to get along.

>> absolutely. >> absolutely. >> debate with as long as it doesn't get personal, which it doesn't. >> no no no no no okay. but friends was a seamless link and you both ruined it by being too much friends because we're going to talk showbiz. and i know you're big friends are of friends, aren't you? no, no, no , absolutely. >> any case, there is common ground there as well. yeah. >> me neither. but today marks 30 years since the launch of the famous sitcom friends. but it comes as fans and those who worked on the show continue to mourn star matthew perry. the friends creator said the 30th anniversary is a little fraught following his death. joining me now to discuss this is journalist sarah robertson . journalist sarah robertson. sarah, lovely to see you. thank you very much for joining us this afternoon. i'm afraid you are talking to three philistines here. none of us have ever watched friends. i am sorry, this is a big deal, watched friends. i am sorry, this is a big deal , though, this is a big deal, though, isn't it? >> it's a massive deal. yes. i mean , this comedy really sort of mean, this comedy really sort of set the standard for american comedy. really kind of becoming part of british life. i mean, when it started 30 years ago, it

really was the zeitgeist of , of really was the zeitgeist of, of the time, and it became just this institution . and there's this institution. and there's just so much has come from it that's become part of popular culture. and britain's just took to it. i mean, other countries did as well. but i think it really sort of landed well in the uk. and even to this day, people quote and as you say, the one where it's always one the this or the one that and the one where this happened and it's just sort of, you know, just seeps into into part of our history as well. and i think people really took the characters to their heart and especially the late matthew perry's character , chandler perry's character, chandler bing, who was always a favourite of mine for his dry, sarcastic, witty riposte to this sort of situational, drama. i mean, he was just absolutely outstanding in it. and i just think all of them, there was just everybody identified with one character in

particular, and you just sort of really honed in on that character. and really felt that character. and really felt that character was. was a friend of yours . yours. >> okay. i'm not going to ask the panel which character they identify with on the ground. that might be a bit tricky , you that might be a bit tricky, you want to say, okay, so sarah, maybe maybe we're on safer ground with talking about strictly come dancing. >> definitely. >> definitely. >> well, i mean, you just had david lammy waffling on before britain's back . well, i don't britain's back. well, i don't know about britain being back on, but i'll tell you what is back. strictly come dancing and it is back with a bang. all that unpleasantness that we saw obviously earlier this summer with the investigations into various abuses and alleged abuses, shall i say, on the show, it's like it's just been swept away like last year's contestants, which we've already forgotten about. and it's all about this year's. and it really did come back properly with a bang last night. i was great, and i mean already we've seen

some fantastic performances, but the star that really has stolen the star that really has stolen the show, and i'm predicting him now to be my winner is the comedian chris mccausland, who we know is, is challenged obviously with eyesight wise. and he was just you just would never know when he did that. cha cha cha with dianne buswell, his partner. i mean, she was hard on him, you know, he had to do that choreography. there was no you know, she gave him no allowances. they just went for it to twist and shout and i just thought, fair play to you, chris. he really is my favourite already, jb gill he's already gone to the top of the leaderboard with his waltz. we've seen fantastic performances, from tunisia . performances, from tunisia. guri. it has. it'sjust performances, from tunisia. guri. it has. it's just been a superb start to the show and even the judges themselves, they've been on fantastic form. craig as always, craig revel horwood with his saki saki responses and even the host tess

and claudia and claudia just, i mean, i think her inspiration . mean, i think her inspiration. well, i thought it was princess leia from star wars, she said. it was actually dead. no it wasn't, it was dennis rizzo's , wasn't, it was dennis rizzo's, can you remember in abigail's party? i mean, i love claudia. she could do no wrong. in my eyes, she's just fantastic. and so. yeah, so she just added to it. but i just thought, you know, this is why we need strictly. and it's interesting because earlier this year, they people that i was speaking to sort of behind the show and who'd been on the show, you know, when i was obviously as a journalist, investigative journalist, investigative journalist asking about what had gone on and reporting on it, they said, when strictly comes back, it'll all be forgotten. and it's just on to the next round of contestants. and i think it is just that much loved show that people just rally behind . i show that people just rally behind. i think this show that people just rally behind . i think this wants to behind. i think this wants to want to see to what watch, and it's brilliant. >> sarah and i think at this time of year we all need a bit of sparkle in our life, don't we? sparkle and sequins and glitter. >> a bit of glitter is what's

needed. perfect >> lovely. sarah robertson, thank you very much too for bringing us up to date on planet showbiz. right. well, i'm dawn neesom and this is gb news and there's loads more coming up in today's show. the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. prince harry is seemingly following in his mum's footsteps as he is set to attend a charity event to raise money for clearing landmines in africa . more of landmines in africa. more of that coming up very shortly. we'll see

soon. >> as well actually. >> as well actually. >> hello. welcome back to the weekend. i'm dawn neesom and i still have my wonderful panel, raqib and matthew and your your mother in law. mother in law, pauline. hello, pauline. >> and my stepfather in law, ken. and your big watchers , big ken. and your big watchers, big fans of gb news. >> hope you're enjoying the show. >> we don't share the same politics, but we love each other. >> okay, fine. thank you very much. well, we're moving on from planet showbiz . although raqib planet showbiz. although raqib is a huge fan of strictly come

dancing, i've just discovered . dancing, i've just discovered. so you're in the next season? >> oh, you know, i'd give it a go. i'd give it a go. i really would, really. i'd give it a go. i'm not. i'm not famous enough though. i need to work on that before i go. >> i don't know anyone that's in there at the moment. raqib. all right, so in any case, we're moving on from planet showbiz now. we're going to planet royal because there is a good news story about prince harry. i know, shocking. it's seemingly following in his mum princess diana's footsteps as he is set to attend a charity event to raise money for clearing landmines in africa. he is due to make an appearance on behalf of the diana award, which set up in and reflect the princess of wales belief that young people have the power to change the world. joining me now to discuss this is former royal butler grant. harold grant, lovely to see you. this afternoon. thank you very much for joining me. now often we talk to you about, you know, bad news stories about harry. but this is actually a genuinely lovely story . genuinely lovely story. >> well done. you're absolutely right. normally it's the kind of negative. well, this is interesting that this is, i think recently we actually spoke

i'm sure we spoke about what harry might do going forward. and this is maybe the answer. maybe he has decided with his team that the best way to go forward as a non—member, a non—working member of the royal family, is to continue his mother's legacy and maybe focus on the charities, the work, which is exactly what this is that she was involved in, because a lot of her work, obviously, after she died, came to an end because, you know, with royals normally patronages , with royals normally patronages, charities get passed on because with a lot of what she was doing as, again, a nun, no longer a member of the royal family, was very personal. it was personal things to her, a bit like what her son has done. so it kind of make sense that he therefore maybe feels that this is a way of going forward and it's halo is the charity, isn't it? >> i mean, we, we remember infamously diana with her, her body armour on and the mask walking across that live minefield. i think it was in angola, wasn't it ? angola, wasn't it? >> i think you're right. and it's can i say it's quite an iconic image, isn't it, because

there's not many images that we before saturday, before she died that we remember. but that is one that was very much in our minds . and as soon as you said minds. and as soon as you said it, i can literally see her walking across that, that minefield, minefield with the with the gear on, so you're absolutely right. and again, i think we've actually seen is it wimereux harry actually do the same be at the same spot and put the same kind of gear on. and so they've already kind of been, if you like, following in her footsteps . but obviously this is footsteps. but obviously this is slightly different because harry is obviously as a non member of the royal family, he wants to do this because maybe he feels it's a personal thing. and he was with his uncle princess diana's brother and family recently. so again maybe it was discussed the fact that a lot of what she was involved in, nobody's taken up and maybe he's thought , why and maybe he's thought, why don't i take that on, which is a is actually a do you know what the thing about him is? he has got an amazing platform because he is still a member of the royal family, and he's got, people do listen and want to know more about him and watch him, whether it be good or bad.

so this maybe is taking something that his mother put so much effort and work into and actually do something good. so this could be really exciting. this could be a way forward. >> that's lovely. thank you very much. that's grant harold , much. that's grant harold, former royal. thank you. thank you for joining former royal. thank you. thank you forjoining us former royal. thank you. thank you for joining us this afternoon. grant a gentleman. it's been an amazing show. we are running out of time on for you because you've both been so brilliant, do you have a quick word about this? it's a nice story about harry. yeah they're so rare. so rare. >> so rare. >> i'll just keep it very short and sweet. i think there's no greater honour for a man than to follow in the footsteps of a wonderful mother. >> a lovely thing to say. is your mum watching as well? >> no, i hope she is. and. and i think she's a wonderful woman. she's my role model. so i think this is a very heartening story here. >> oh, that's really lovely. rikki neave matthew ill judged book. >> spare didn't support that , >> spare didn't support that, but put his life on the line for the country in afghanistan. huge work with veterans , huge work on work with veterans, huge work on mental health. now this he's done a lot of good in his life. >> do you think it will help thaw relations with his family? >> i'm not entirely sure, to be honest. >> maybe if you stopped talking

about it, it might not. >> if i stopped talking your show, wouldn't that i blame you , show, wouldn't that i blame you, george? did you just tell me to shut up? matthew stadlen. well, actually, it's probably quite good timing, because i do have to shut up now, but i would just like to thank matthew stadlen and ricky the seine. thank you so much forjoining me. a great show. thanks to you too. and you lot out there. remember gbnews.com/yoursay. but don't go anywhere because there's loads more coming up on the on the channel today, we have nana akua coming up. she's on at 3:00 and you can actually message in gbnews.com/yoursay, that's it from me. thank you very much for watching. i hope you're having a wonderful weekend out there. and let's get the weather to find out how wonderful the rest of the weekend is going to be. i'm not holding my breath on this one.thank >> it looks like things are heating up boxt boilers sponsors of weather on gb news

>> hello there. good afternoon. welcome to your gb news weather forecast provided by the met office. quite an unsettled few days to come for many of us, with some heavy rain around . with some heavy rain around. we've already seen some of that over the course of this afternoon , with low pressure afternoon, with low pressure moving into southern areas of the uk. that's feeding in those heavy pulses. even some thunderstorms around hail continuing on as we head into the first part of this evening, there is a rain warning in force through the rest of today for wales central southern areas of england. so do continue to take care. it is a little bit drier further towards the north, but quite cloudy across eastern coastal areas that cloud beginning to move its way further inland. but we'll hold on to a few clear spells for parts of northwestern scotland, and it could turn a little bit chilly here, but otherwise quite a mild night elsewhere. 15 or 16 c as the lows for many of us. an amber weather warning then comes into force at 5:00 tomorrow morning. we could see some particularly potentially very heavy rain. so do take care as you head out first thing on monday morning, particularly across parts of wales into the central region, parts of lincolnshire and yorkshire as well. a few sunny spells trying

to break through for parts of eastern northern ireland into western scotland. but generally it will be a cloudier start to the day here compared to some recent days. we start to see some patchy rain moving into the far north of scotland as well. that will slowly push its way southwards during the course of the day, but the real focus for that heavy rain is those central regions. again, the amber weather warning in force for lincolnshire into the midlands areas where there could be some localised flooding and disruption over the course of the day . still, we'll see the day. still, we'll see temperatures climb to around 20 c across the far south if we see some sunshine breaking its way through, but generally temperatures around 13 to 15 c in the north, this rain will gradually move its way off towards the north sea as we head throughout the end of monday and into towards tuesday, but things generally are set to remain fairly unsettled as we head over the course of the next coming week, with further rain and strong winds at times, and things will also be turning cooler for all of us, with temperatures dropping below average for the time of year by the end. by by that warm feeling

inside from boxt boilers sponsors of weather on gb

>> well . >> well. >> well. >> hello. good afternoon and welcome to gb news. we are live on tv , online and on digital on tv, online and on digital radio. i'm nana akua and for the next few hours me and my panel will be taking on some of the big topics hitting the headlines right now . this show is all right now. this show is all about opinion. it's mine, it says. and of course it's yours. well, we are debating, discussing and at times we will disagree, but no one will be cancelled. so joining me throughout the show, broadcaster and journalist danny kelly and also author and broadcaster and commentator. she's not a competition, she's lizzie candy. right on today's show, the labour party kick off their conference in liverpool as deputy prime minister angela rayner delivered a keynote speech, fighting back tears as she took the stage amid their

party freebees and foreign and