>> policy team good morning. >> policy team good morning. >> 930 on monday the 23rd september live across the uk. this is britain's newsroom with andrew pierce. i'm at the labour conference in liverpool and bev turner. >> good morning. so tough times ahead. >> good morning. so tough times ahead . chancellor rachel reeves ahead. chancellor rachel reeves will tell the nation to accept hardship or face ruin at the labour party conference later today. do you trust this government to rebuild britain .7 government to rebuild britain? and labour's freebie fiasco sir keir starmer and his chancellor declare that they will no longer accept donations for clothes as deputy prime minister angela rayneris deputy prime minister angela rayner is blasted for her £68,000 a year vanity. photographer and a small boat surge 25,000 migrants have crossed the channel this year, with half of those arrivals coming since labour came to

power . and a very wet weather power. and a very wet weather warning. england is set to be battered by heavy rain today as flood warnings are issued. let us know if you've been affected and are we making a lot of nothing over a bit of rain and roofers , plasterers and roofers, plasterers and plumbers, your country needs you. as britain faces a shortage, over1 million skilled workers where have they gone ? workers where have they gone? >> well, good morning to you. i'm here at the labour party conference in liverpool. an historic moment for labour. their first party conference since winning power. the last time labour gathered together when they were in government was 2009. so you would imagine it would be a buoyant, optimistic, triumphant mood , but actually triumphant mood, but actually not a bit of it. the party is engulfed with rows over the decision madness, in my view, to

get rid of the winter fuel allowance and of course, the ongoing rows over cronyism and sleaze. front page of the mail. today i've written the story the deputy prime minister, angela raynen deputy prime minister, angela rayner, who was the hammer of the tories on sleaze and cronyism when they were in government . she's hired her own government. she's hired her own vanhy government. she's hired her own vanity photographer , the first vanity photographer, the first deputy prime minister, to ever have their own personal photographer. £68,000 a year. although they have corrected me the government, it's actually 66,500 pounds. sorry, i got that slightly wrong. so. and what is the brief of the photographer to make angela rayner look good, to make angela rayner look good, to make her look powerful? she's very resentful of the profile that the chancellor has got rachel reeves, but actually people watching this programme and listening to this programme probably think that 66,500 pounds could be spent on something more worthwhile than a vanhy something more worthwhile than a vanity project for rayner. and before we move off, that subject, somebody pointed out a tweet that angela rayner sent in 2021. she's talking about boris johnson. instead of spending more taxpayers money on more

photographers for the sake of his own vanity, the prime minister should prioritise blah blah blah, double standards and hypocrisy. there you go , andrew. hypocrisy. there you go, andrew. >> we've got a lot to get through . through. >> francis . >> francis. >> francis. >> very good morning to you from the newsroom. a look at the headunes the newsroom. a look at the headlines just after 9:30. no return to austerity. that's the message from the chancellor. this morning as rachel reeves gears up to address the labour party conference later, she's promising real terms increases to government spending and vowed no cuts. >> her speech comes, though, as questions swirl about gifts and hospitality received by some major labour figures, including clothing , football tickets and clothing, football tickets and concert passes. however, she's insisting the row over those freebies is because labour have been transparent about donations. her first budget, on october the 30th, is expected to focus on living standards, health care and investment. well, meanwhile, the labour

leadership is gearing up today for a major conference showdown over cuts to the winter fuel payment. trade unions are demanding a u—turn on the policy, which removes payments from some 10 million pensioners. unite has launched a billboard campaign and is set to hold a protest outside the conference in liverpool, calling those cuts politically inept. chancellor rachel reeves , though, insists rachel reeves, though, insists the move is necessary to fix a £22 billion budget shortfall . £22 billion budget shortfall. international news and israel has launched a wave of intense airstrikes on hezbollah targets in southern lebanon, warning civilians to evacuate areas within a kilometre of the group's posts . an israeli group's posts. an israeli military spokesperson has declined to rule out a possible ground incursion, saying they'll do whatever is needed to protect israel from further hezbollah attacks. residents in southern lebanon have also reported receiving calls telling them to leave with warnings also broadcast across some lebanese media. both sides now bracing for a long conflict with

hezbollah vowing to fight until a ceasefire in gaza is reached. and heavy rain is battering parts of england today, with some areas bracing for more than a month's worth of rainfall in just 24 hours. an amber warning is in force for worcester, birmingham, nottingham and hull until 9:00 tonight, while the rest of the midlands, southern england , wales and the north england, wales and the north west are under a yellow alert. the environment agency warns of significant surface flooding, with road closures already in place in bedfordshire. residents are being urged to avoid the floodwaters, with just 30cm deep enough to float cars and stay updated through official websites. more rain expected throughout the rest of this week . throughout the rest of this week. those are the latest top stories for now. i'll be back with you for now. i'll be back with you for a full round up at 10:00 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. >> very good morning. welcome to britain's newsroom live across the uk on gb news. i am bev turner in the studio in london and andrew pierce is at the labour party conference in liverpool this morning. andrew i imagine there's a lot to get . imagine there's a lot to get. there's a lot to get through this morning, isn't there? and i'm looking at the front page of the guardian here, which is labour to investigate £600 million covid contracts given under tories. it looks as though labour's approach now is attack to defend because they have frankly , quite a lot that they frankly, quite a lot that they need to defend. >> yeah, there's going to be a big part of rachel reeves the chancellor's speech, she speaks to the conference at noon today. she's very keen to get back on the front foot because as we know, this government has been buffeted for a couple of weeks now by rows over who paid for clothes. rachel reeves, of course, always looks very smart, doesn't she? we now have. we've discovered that wahid ali lord alli, who's been giving money

left, right and centre, paid for 7500 pounds of these outfits, which were declared initially by the chancellor as money for parliamentary parliamentary services. that's now been clarified. actually, it was for free clothes, so she wants to talk about the covid scandal, where there was the apparent friends of friends of, for instance, matt hancock, the health secretary. didn't his pub landlord get a contract? that's what they want to talk about. big money, hundreds of millions of pounds. we know there was huge fraud as well in the in the in the money that the chancellor was giving out. that's what labour wants to talk about. and also, of course, they want to distract from the simmering rebellion on the floor of the conference today from the unite trade union, which is tabling a motion effectively to have a vote on on, on why they think the government should drop its plan to abandon the cancelling winter fuel for 10 million pensioners, even if that vote is carried bev, it will make no difference that that policy has now happened. the die is cast. >> yeah. okay. all right. we'll be coming back to andrew throughout the morning. but we

need to move on. summer is officially over . intense officially over. intense thunderstorms battered the country over the weekend, and we're in the midst of what's being called a mega storm. who thinks up these words? an amber warning for flooding is in place for the midlands. a wider weather warning for heavy rain covers almost all of england. let's talk to senior meteorologist for british weather services jim dale , jim, weather services jim dale, jim, i can hear the nation groaning when i say your name because they think that you're going to just be the doom monger and tell us this is all the fault of man to create all of this weather change. is that what's going on here, jim? >> well, good morning, beth, no, not quite . no, look, this is not quite. no, look, this is autumn time. let's let's put things straight. this moment in time. what we're seeing in the uk , i would say, is standard, uk, i would say, is standard, but obviously unusual in terms of the areas that are getting the rain at this moment. and if you've seen pictures from dunstable and luton , you'll dunstable and luton, you'll understand that they're having a hard time of it this morning. and let's face it, people travelling around in most parts of england and now and now

south—east wales. yeah, it's difficult, but it goes with, it goes with autumn. so i guess we're in the, in the right department. but look, bev, you've just got to look east and see what happened in europe in the weeks time. sorry, a week ago and understand that that was ago and understand that that was a different category completely . a different category completely. that was climate induced, these storms happen anyway. but what what climate does the climate exaggeration does is that it is that it adds to the pile, if you like. so yeah, it's a difficult, well, let's just say another difficult 12 to 18 hours of, of rainfall to come, the amber warning, by the way, has now been centred on oxford. i think that's about right. i think they had it wrong this morning and i was i was on the programme this morning saying i think it was a bit too far north. so oxford is the sort of centre of that. and 50 miles away, 50 miles around it is about right. and you've seen pictures of these cars stranded now , there'll be a bit stranded now, there'll be a bit more of that today. i don't

know. i said this morning, don't drive into flooded water. your car won't make it. for the most part, it's a foolish thing to do. >> but jim isn't part of the problem here. that these drains have not been dredged. it's been that time of the year. we've had some leaves falling off trees. we have all the debris that goes into grids, and councils just aren't cleaning them out. and so the roads become flooded. there is something we can do to help. this, isn't there. >> there is a bit of that. you've got to say. occasionally you do get the drains that get flooded and, you know, this time of year with the least starting to fall. not, not not overly yet, but anyway, they're getting in their first big event. that's the problem that it's the first major impactful event that we've actually seen for, well, for six months, let's just say, so always when it comes to the first time around, it's always a little bit more difficult for people to negotiate, even for the land to, to take it in, you know, the runoff water, etc, on a dry ground for the most part, you know, then we get rivers swollen in the, in the in the aftermath, as the rain builds

up. so it's always going to be the case that first time around is going to be more difficult. it comes as a little bit of a shock to the system. i hate to say it, but i think we've got more of this to come, >> we saw these extraordinary floods, didn't we, in dubai earlier this year , a country earlier this year, a country that we don't associate with having this sort of very wet weather. and the government said the uae , the united arab the uae, the united arab emirates, they've they've admitted that they used this technique of cloud seeding to address water shortages during in that part of the world, and that might have contributed to this . could that might have contributed to this. could that that might have contributed to this . could that play that might have contributed to this. could that play any part across the world with floods that we see here? >> no, no, this is this is not the case. so let me try and put it in context for you. cloud seeding is a very local local effect. it's supposed to like like on stadiums. they want to keep the rain away from, say , an keep the rain away from, say, an olympic event or something of that nature. so they see down downwind, let the rain fall downwind. if it works, that is, and sometimes it doesn't . so and sometimes it doesn't. so it's quite immature in terms of

where we are with cloud seeding, but it has nothing to do with it. what, what is happening around the world. and you mentioned dubai. i'll also mentioned dubai. i'll also mention north carolina. i'll mention north carolina. i'll mention , japan over the weekend . mention, japan over the weekend. four cities, four cities in japan. virtually evacuated due to the sort of thing that you were seeing in europe, europe devastated in terms of certain parts of europe, devastating. what happened? all of that essentially is down to ocean temperatures being at or above record levels, and therefore you're putting more energy into the atmosphere. the atmosphere can hold more water. and when these storms come along, as they naturally do, they hold more water. they're more, they're more they're more impactful in terms of what they then give to you . and that's that's all about you. and that's that's all about it's all about our atmosphere and our oceans heating up and doing what they're doing, even, even though we did have a lot of rain over the weekend, it was very mild, jim, particularly down here in london, it was it

was very mild weather. >> is the weather going to turn colder now because we just about tolerate the rain. if it's not also freezing cold, have we got also freezing cold, have we got a little bit longer of this mild weather with us, >> you've got about a couple of days actually. so by the time. yeah, but look what a sea change. so, so we're going to see this rain now . it'll peter see this rain now. it'll peter out tomorrow. so hopefully by tomorrow it'll be a better day for, for most of us, by the time we get to wednesday, we've got another rain system coming in. and then behind that, when we get the cold weather coming in on thursday and particularly on friday. so there will be frost in in parts of the glens and northern england, the low lying areas, the valleys, this sort of thing. so it's a complete sea change, a northerly airstream, an arctic airstream. we saw it a couple or three weeks ago. we're going to get an action replay, and then we're going to go back again and see more of the rain in the in the following days. so look, this is autumn. we've got the winter's to come. i feel it's going to be a long old time for us to get through all of this. and there's, you know, i'm not even mentioning the fact

that watch, the americas in the next few days , by friday, major next few days, by friday, major hurricane going into florida. just watch that one as well. we've got to have our eyes everywhere at the moment . everywhere at the moment. >> all right. thank you jim. good to see you jim. dale there . good to see you jim. dale there. get in touch this morning gbnews.com/yoursay. we're going to be going to andrew at the labour party conference to see what mischief he's creating up in liverpool . before that in liverpool. before that though, here is a little bit more weather. here's . jonathan. more weather. here's. jonathan. >> a brighter outlook with boxt solar sponsors of weather on gb news . news. >> hello there. good morning to you. this is your gb news weather report provided by the met office. we do have quite an unsettled week of weather to come, with most of us seeing rain at some point, but for monday it is wales and england that are the focus point with this area of low pressure across these regions, this will be bringing some very heavy pulses of rain around at times. the

potential is certainly there for some localised flooding, disruption to services and very difficult driving conditions. so do take care over the course of the day. this will be mulling their way around, but we could see some slightly brighter spells developing across the far south—east later on in the afternoon. temperatures here in that sunshine climb to 21 c elsewhere. it's a reasonably cool day around 13 to 15 c. there is a broad yellow rain warning in force for much of england and wales , but we do england and wales, but we do also have an enhanced amber rain warning, also in force for parts of gloucestershire, herefordshire up towards the wash and the humber. this is where we could see over a month's worth of rain falling dunng month's worth of rain falling during the day, and some disruption is certainly likely here, so please do take care. generally, a cloudy day for northern ireland, a few sunny spells trying to break their way through for dumfries and galloway. but we've got a band of rain pushing into the far north of scotland, and they'll also be turning things fairly damp as it moves. its way slowly southwards, with some brisk winds around at times as we head towards the end of the day on monday. also for most of us, overnight it is going to be rather cloudy. that rain

gradually pushing its way eastwards across eastern parts of england. and underneath that cloud, though it will be still relatively mild 10 to 12 c. but we're starting to see some cooler , colder conditions moving cooler, colder conditions moving into the far north of scotland as northerly winds from the arctic begin to push their way in. that rain will spread its way into other areas of scotland dunng way into other areas of scotland during the day, but things will generally turn a bit calmer for northern ireland. england, wales compared to what we will see today. a bit drier but generally still rather cloudy. any bright spells? still fairly limited. starting to cool down for all of us now as those northerly winds set their way in generally between 10 and 18 c, and that cooling trend will continue over the course of the next week, with temperatures dropping below average for many of us. enjoy your day. >> that warm feeling inside from boxt boilers sponsors of weather on gb

>> good morning. it's 949. this is britain's newsroom on gb news. joining me live from the labour party conference is the mp for dover and deal mike tap mike tap. good morning to you. that's a very nice suit you're wearing. did you pay for it yourself or did you get a donor to pay for it. i bought this myself. that's very unusual for labour isn't it? >> two for one deal. right bargain. very good. very happy with that? >> yes. right. are you . are you >> yes. right. are you. are you uneasy and anxious about the spate of stories about senior cabinet ministers, including the chancellor, having their clothes bought for them by the multi multi multi—millionaire lord alli? >> i think, it's a nature of the fact that we are being extremely transparent with all donations and spending, so that the public have the opportunity to critique and, and i welcome that critique. and, you know, people aren't happy with these sort of donations. they're well and truly in their right to not be happy and going forward. it might change some of the behaviour of some mps, not as transparent as they should be, though, because rachel reeves had declared money from lord

alli as support for parliamentary work, it turns out that 7500 pounds of that money from lord alli was, in fact to pay from lord alli was, in fact to pay for her wardrobe for her outfits. >> shouldn't she have been clear about that in the beginning? >> i think the fact that we're talking about it shows that that transparency is there, but it wasn't . wasn't. >> there was it wasn't initially. well, it declared it as something completely different. right. >> so i actually, in all honesty, haven't seen that. but the fact that we're talking about showing you, she said clearly in a completely different way, and it was 7500 pounds not for parliamentary work to assist her in her parliamentary duties. >> it was for her very smart trouser suit. >> so and we're talking about it now, which means that if there were any errors made, that's been rectified and we get to critique that, that those donations and the spending of mps. and that's really important, that transparency is vital. >> and angela, angela rayner, she's got now her own personal photographer paid for by the taxpayer, 66,500 pounds . in taxpayer, 66,500 pounds. in 2021, she attacked boris johnson for instead of spending money. and i'm quoting her thousands of

pounds of taxpayers money on for vanhy pounds of taxpayers money on for vanity photographers double standards. >> i think most departments have photographers paid for within deputy prime minister had never had their own vanity, never had their own photographer before. so my understanding of departments is that they all have their photographers. so i don't understand how that is different if it is, to be honest. >> okay, let's talk about you. you're the mp for dover and deal you're the mp for dover and deal. we've been reporting on gb news this morning. 25,000 migrants have crossed the channel this year. 11,000, 11,000 in the 80s since labour came to power. and we know in those days some of them migrants have drowned. why did you cancel the rwanda scheme? it may just have been mike tap may just have been a deterrent. well, 400 crossed in 2018. >> since then we've had 136,000 crossing that was on the conservative watch. but they've opened the borders . they've opened the borders. they've opened the borders. they've opened the borders. they've opened the borders. >> you can't keep that. >> you can't keep that. >> we've inherited. so what we can't do is turn back time and

undo the mistakes that the conservatives have presented us with. instead, moving forward, we will look to fix that. and that's why we're investing in new border security command. now that's really important. and i have to stress, i've worked against criminal gangs with the national crime agency. and in a counter—terror role. and i see the difference that bringing in mi5 the difference that bringing in m15 and the intelligence services, those extra counter—terror powers and tools, and that disruptive, culture has and that disruptive, culture has a massive impact. but also could be really clear. we're taking it very seriously as those that do arrive. and that shouldn't be here. and we've had the largest flight off the ground deporting those that shouldn't be here on record. the conservatives didn't do that. they sent four people to rwanda. it's an absolute gimmick. >> but you could have tried it, couldn't you? well, having spent all that fat taxpayers money, just try it and see if you can get a plane in the air and see if it had worked. >> you don't try something that's clearly not going to work. it would have taken 100 years to deport those that are crossed in that way. we've had the largest deportation flight off the ground. and also, i'd be really clear, and i have been to

my constituents, that people who raise this as a concern are valid. and it's not racist. and that's why we're taking it so seriously and looking to secure the borders. >> let's talk about the conference here. rachel reeves. the chancellor, she's trying to get on the front foot. she's going to talk about the amount of money that was squandered in fraud during the furlough scheme. billions of pounds. she's also talking about the dodgy ppe contracts . but the dodgy ppe contracts. but the whole speech, of course, mike is going to be overshadowed by the row over the decision to cancel the winter fuel payment for pensioners. the unite union, one of the biggest unions in the country, tabling a motion effectively calling for the winter fuel plan to be dropped. it's probably going to carry here today. do you understand why the unite trade union are tabling that motion? >> so we've we've inherited an absolute mess. and you've heard this many times and we say it because it's a fact. it's a £22 billion hidden black hole. that's what we've inherited. and that's why things have felt pretty negative. so far. because we're talking reality here. we can't bury our heads in the sand and say that we'll carry on down

that route, because that's not fair on the british public. so we've got to fix that. and a part of that is making savings. so we're means testing a benefit. but i've been really clear to my constituents that if you feel you're on that line between receiving and not, then please get in touch because over nine, over 800,000 haven't signed up to pensions credit. so there's help that you can receive there. but also, you know, there's a £900 increase in pension last year. we're likely to see about £500 this year. and as we fix the economy we'll have that stability and growth. and that's really important . that's really important. >> you don't really support it do you? look, i haven't when i talk to labour mps privately, they say it's a disastrous decision. and sharon graham from the unite trade union said this government is pickpocketing the pockets of pensioners. >> no, that's not the case. look i support delivering on the manifesto, which is a stable economy and setting the conditions for growth, and that's really important. that's what we are voted to deliver and that's what we will deliver. >> okay. that's mike tap. he is the labour mp for dover. and

deal your first conference as an mp. are you enjoying it? >> i am absolutely loving it so far. yeah yeah. thank you. and you're enjoying liverpool? i love liverpool. >> did you bring an umbrella? >> did you bring an umbrella? >> i did, yeah so did i. >> i did, yeah so did i. >> it's not working. i've been drown. so we've got we've got coming up. we're talking to a general secretary of the national education union. the teacher's biggest union, talking to him later. and my old sparring partner kevin maguire is coming on, too. plenty more coming up on britain's newsroom on gb news. i'm here in the labour party conference. lucky old me. i'd do the tory conference next week too . and conference next week too. and bev, of course, is in the studio london, so plenty more to come on britain's

us. good morning. it's 10 am. on monday, the 23rd of september, live across the uk. this is britain's newsroom with me andrew pierce at the labour party conference in liverpool and bev turner in london. >> very good morning. so tough times ahead. chancellor rachel

reeves will tell the nation that we have to accept hardship or face ruin when she speaks later at the labour party conference today. do you trust them to be completely straight with you and winter fuel rebellion trade unions are set to force a vote on this very controversial policy to scrap the winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners today , and there's pensioners today, and there's been a small boat surge, 25,000 migrants have crossed the channel this year, with half of those arrivals coming since labour came to power. mark white has more . has more. >> and still the boats keep on coming. another two this morning with around 100 small boat migrants. one of those boats almost made it to the kent coast before it was spotted, and the rescue services attended and tradespeople shortage rufus plasterers, plumbers , plasterers, plumbers, electricians your country needs you. >> britain is facing a shortage

of over 1 >> britain is facing a shortage of over1 million skilled workers. we'll be talking to one builder about how to solve this problem . problem. >> well, i'm here at the labour party conference and of course , party conference and of course, we'd love to hear what you think. send your views, post your comments by visiting gbnews.com/yoursay but first, here's the news with sam francis . here's the news with sam francis. >> andrew, thank you very much. and good morning to you. just coming up to 10:02. no return to austerity. that's the message from the chancellor this morning, as rachel reeves is geanng morning, as rachel reeves is gearing up to address the labour party conference in liverpool later, she's promising real terms increases to government spending and vowed this morning no cuts. her speech, though, comes as questions swirl about thousands of pounds worth of

free gifts. sir keir starmer and his top team have received , his top team have received, including the chancellor herself. however, speaking to us this morning, labour minister darren jones defended rachel reeves and told us the row over those freebies is because labour have been transparent about donations. >> this is not funded by parliamentary budgets, it's not funded by ministerial budgets. this was a donation from a friend to the chancellor to help cover the cost that she incurred performing her duties. the shadow chancellor of the exchequer during the election campaign, when she was on the road around the country. this happens all the time for parties in opposition. that's how they fund their activities . and it fund their activities. and it was declared in the proper way. that's why you can see it. that's why you can see it. that's why you can see it. that's why it was transparently reported, which i might say is very different to the undercover work that journalists had to do to reveal the parties in number 10 under the last government. and these crony contracts that were given out during the covid penod were given out during the covid period to friends and donors of the conservative party >> meanwhile, the labour leadership is gearing up for a major conference showdown today over cuts to the winter fuel

payment. trade unions are demanding a u—turn on the policy, which removes payments from 10 million pensioners. unite has launched a billboard campaign and is set to hold a protest outside the conference today, calling the cuts cruel and politically inept. the government, though, insists the move is necessary to fix a £22 billion budget shortfall. however, shadow treasury minister gareth davies told us this morning the tories would not have made the same decision. >> what? this is really all about, which is a political choice for the labour government, they have chosen, on the one hand to hand, massive pay the one hand to hand, massive pay rises to the unions, while at the same time taking away support for pensioners ahead of winter. that is a political choice, as i say, that is not a choice, as i say, that is not a choice that we would have made. >> israel has launched a wave of intense airstrikes on hezbollah targets in southern lebanon, warning some civilians to evacuate areas, as israeli military spokesperson has declined to rule out a ground incursion. they've said that they will do whatever is needed to protect israel from further

attacks. residents in southern lebanon have reported receiving calls telling them to leave, with warnings also broadcast across lebanese media. both sides are now bracing for a long conflict, with hezbollah vowing to fight until a ceasefire in gazais to fight until a ceasefire in gaza is reached . and back here gaza is reached. and back here at home, heavy rain is battering parts of the country today, with some areas bracing for more than a month's worth of rainfall in just 24 hours. an amber weather warnings in force for worcester, birmingham , nottingham and hull birmingham, nottingham and hull until 9:00 tonight, while the rest of the midlands, southern england, wales and the north west are also under a yellow alert. the environment agency is warning of significant surface flooding, with road closures already in place in bedfordshire. residents are being urged to avoid the floodwaters with a caution that just 30cm is deep enough to float cars. more rain is also expected throughout the rest of this week. those are the latest headunes this week. those are the latest headlines for now. i'll be back with you in half an hour for the

very latest gb news direct to your smartphone , sign up to news your smartphone, sign up to news alerts by scanning the qr code, or go to gbnews.com forward slash alerts . slash alerts. >> good morning. welcome to britain's newsroom live. across the uk on gb news bev turner in london, andrew pierce at the labour party conference in liverpool. andrew how has it been so far? did you get a good night's sleep in the quiet city of liverpool? >> well, apart from the fact i couldn't close the window of my hotel and there was a rather noisy domestic going on and the noise, most of it was coming from the drunken woman. apart from the drunken woman. apart from that, it was fine. but i did have a little exchange, bev, with the prime minister, because i was in the conference hotel and he surprisingly came down for dinner. you knew he was on his way because there was a huge buzz or buzz in the room. he had

all his security guards with him. he had. i'm trying to see if he was drinking alcohol, but couldn't see from where i was sitting. anyway, as he was walking past, i felt this arm on my shoulder. hey tory boy, he said in his usual dynamic, interesting voice. are you being nice about me or awful about me? i said, well, frankly, prime minister it's not difficult to be difficult for the for the government at the moment because you're making it rather easy for us. he changed the subject to talk about the football, which of course lost me, but i did because arsenal were playing yesterday. manchester city and liverpool. i don't know who they were playing. but anyway, i said, did you go and see the game? and he looked at me and said, i don't think that would be appropriate at the moment to you. probably not. when you see all the crowds he's got into about accepting thousands of pounds worth of free tickets from arsenal football club, but isn't that funny ? isn't that funny? >> like what we accuse him of is not being able to read the room and being tone deaf. anybody that knows anything about you, andrew pierce, will know that he's not reading the room. if he's not reading the room. if he's talking to you about football, you know it tells you quite a lot about the man,

doesn't it? that particular anecdote. but listen, i'm interested in this. angela rayner photographer being paid this enormous amount of money. do we know exactly what that job description is? because if they try and excuse this, i was listening to rachel reeves this morning. i think it was talking this morning about the fact that every department has a photographer. well, you know what? you can do these days. you can just take excellent footage on a mobile phone. it doesn't need somebody with a lens to create pictures of housing estates or whatever it is she's talking about . talking about. >> this is all about brand and the fact is, bev, before the general election , this post did general election, this post did not exist. the previous deputy prime minister oliver dowden, a man who so people wouldn't know outside his front door, frankly so boring. but he did not have a personal photographer. the most famous deputy prime minister, nick clegg, did not have a personal photographer. but quietly, in august, angela rayner appointed a personal photographer. his title is chief photographer. his title is chief photographer to the deputy prime minister of the united kingdom, and he works for the housing department, where she's housing secretary. hisjob is department, where she's housing secretary. his job is to create brand ange, and i just think ,

brand ange, and i just think, frankly, the 66.5, 67, £68,000 on his salary. small beer in terms of the trillion pound economy. but it's a perception , economy. but it's a perception, isn't it? should that money being spent on a photographer, that money could be spent on so many other things, particularly when we've got the biggest housing crisis in the land and actually bev to in 2021, she flayed boris johnson over the fact he had appointed an official photographer at taxpayers expense. and she called it a vanity photographer . called it a vanity photographer. those in glass houses stop throwing stones, and that's what's causing so much problems for labour. they went for the tories in a big way over the perception of cronyism and sleaze, and it's come back to bite them in a big way. and i can tell you, boris johnson's wife, carrie johnson, did not have rich donors buying clothes for her. if you recall, she hired her outfits for the big occasions and paid for them herself and samantha cameron made her own clothes because she was so fed up of criticism about what she's spending too much on an outfit or too little. and we

saw rachel reeves this morning saying, oh no, we're not taking any more clothes now. we're in government. why were they taking them when they were in opposition? >> yeah, it all is a little bit shabby and lacks dignity. i think. but in terms of their policies, andrew, they've got this hideous fight on their hands about the winter fuel payment that has not gone away. and one of our viewers, in fact, a lot of our viewers this morning getting in touch, and one particularly margaret, i think it was who was saying, wherever she goes, that's what people are talking about everywhere i go, says margaret . everywhere i go, says margaret. village hall event, grocery shopping, coffee. morning. the subject is all about winter fuel allowance and labour's bungling and sleazy freebies. it is dominating the conversation. it's extraordinary that it has fallen so far out of labour's grasp when they've only been in power for a matter of weeks , 80, power for a matter of weeks, 80, 80 days. >> and this, this, these, these sleazy stories. they've, in my experience, really cut through because people just get it. so a government that is cutting the winter fuel allowance for

pensioners, some of whom are on very low incomes, up to £300 a yean very low incomes, up to £300 a year, we could have a very cold winter. and yet the very woman who's instituted this change, the chancellor of the exchequer, rachel reeves, stands there in her outfit. the outfit she's wearing today. did lord alli pay for that, that trouser suit, because we now know 7500 pounds went her way for free clothes. and yet she described it in her declaration of interest as support for my parliamentary work. that is at best dissembling, at worst not telling the truth . and now it's telling the truth. and now it's all come out and there are now all come out and there are now all saying, oh no, we're not going to take any more clothes. it's because they've been found out. that's the truth. and let's be honest, most people in this country wouldn't have known the name. >> the name lord alli . they >> the name lord alli. they would have no idea that somebody was exerting this sort of influence on the labour party behind the scenes. so they're now in a position where they have to justify it. and of course, his motives may have just been to support the political party that he wants in power. that has been going on since the beginning of time. but

the fact that somebody was exerting such a lot of financial influence, but is not known to the voting electorate, that's what will stick here, because it then raises the question, well, can we trust them who have we actually elected into government? yeah. >> and where is lord alli? he was at this labour conference. well, i've been coming to labour conference for years. i never saw him anywhere. and he's already been and gone . sue gray, already been and gone. sue gray, by the way, who's also in all sorts of trouble, the chief of staff never showed up. but what people are saying to me is there's no such thing as a free lunch. okay? lord alli already has his peerage. he's a very rich man. but why was he spending all this money to. to curry favour with labour mates. and let's not forget, he had an all access pass to number 10 for all access pass to number 10 for a week. i suspect that pass was only cancelled when it came out in the newspapers that he'd got that pass. otherwise he might still be going in and out to number 10 as and when he wanted. is that what you get if you write cheques for the prime minister? the prime minister's wife and the chancellor's nice

outfits. and by the way, i saw the prime minister dressed last night. i thought i thought, what's what's all the fuss about? what are you wearing, mate? i wouldn't be seen dead in what the prime minister is wearing last night. and i buy my own clothes. >> you need a donor, andrew. listen, what time is rachel reeves talking today? because no doubt she's on at 12. >> yeah. it'll be. it's the big event. 12 noon today. all eyes will be on her. she's done the broadcast round. she's been very frustrated that most of the questions have been about donations, outfits, clothes , but donations, outfits, clothes, but they've brought it on themselves, i'm afraid. and of course , the winter fuel course, the winter fuel allowance. they want to talk about covid and fraud . but about covid and fraud. but that's not the agenda here. >> yeah, okay. andrew behave yourself up there, won't you? i don't know why i bother saying that. it's the last thing he's going to do. right. we'll be talking to andrew in just a little while. but gb news can exclusively reveal that 25,000 small boat migrants have crossed the channel so far this year, and half of them in the 11 weeks since labour took power. gb news homeland security editor mark

white joins us now. good morning mark. good morning. just explain the detail of this a little bit. if you would, for our viewers and our listeners. >> well, it is a grim milestone, an extraordinary figure to have reached already 25,000 and really just over or under 4000 to go until we surpass the total number who arrived for the whole of last year. and of course, we've still got three and a bit months of this year still to run. they're coming by every time the weather improves. but even when the weather is not that great, the crossing at the weekend and we've got some exclusive images of a small boat out in the middle of the english channel that we filmed on sunday. that show that small boat passing a p&o ferry on its way to uk waters. even in the kind of conditions we had over

the weekend, which was heavy thunderstorms and quite strong winds at times in the channel, we had 707 that crossed on saturday and then again yesterday our kent producer was counting as well. over 700 arrived in uk waters and were taken to dover harbour and once again this morning we are seeing more small boat arrivals. the weather conditions are appalling in the channel today, but still two small boats have arrived with more than 100 people on board. and as you said in your introduction, i think what's noteworthy as well, okay, we're in the summer months when it's traditionally a bit busier , but traditionally a bit busier, but half the total for those who have come across the english channelin have come across the english channel in small boats have come in just 11 weeks since labour came to power. >> gosh, one of our viewers,

mark, has been in touch. east coast guy and he says the labour conference, not labour. labour conference. ask them how many gangs have been smashed. and that's the issue, isn't it, that the labour party have bet everything on this idea that they can smash the gangs? there is no other deterrent and yet they don't appear to be doing so at the moment. mark >> yeah, that's absolutely the pertinent question. bev we to be fair to the government, we saw some action over the weekend with coordinated immigration raids that took place in liverpool, luton, belfast, a number of other cities in which 31 people were arrested on suspicion of being involved in people smuggling. but to be fair to the previous government, that kind of action was taking place under the conservatives as well. and that point you made is exactly , as i say, the right exactly, as i say, the right point to make that this government has bet the house on smashing the gangs. there is no

deterrent. the conservatives believe the rwanda scheme would have been a deterrent. we'll never know because it was scrapped on the first day that sir keir starmer came into office. >> that's right. and there appears to be no other deterrent because mark, of course , we've because mark, of course, we've seen significant loss of lives as well with people making this crossing in the last 3 or 4 months. actually, if that isn't a deterrent, what could be, you might say these people are some of them are extremely desperate to get to the uk , where we look to get to the uk, where we look after people incredibly well who arrive on these boats. and do you think keir starmer will look across at the likes of maloney and some of the other european leaders to start processing overseas? is that the only opfion overseas? is that the only option he's got left now ? option he's got left now? >> well, it's interesting you say that because giorgia meloni remember told the press just recently after that visit that sir keir starmer made to rome

and his discussions with the italian prime minister she said that he seemed very interested in her deterrence scheme for albania . but that would be albania. but that would be incredible to think that after many millions of pounds have been spent on a rwanda scheme, that that was scrapped only to then reinvest presumably many millions more in having the similar type of scheme operating in albania . in albania. >> okay. all right. thank you. mark mark white there gb news home and security editor. let's see a little bit about what you've been saying at home. depher says i'm writing a new book for the labour party to victory. i'm thinking of calling it lord alli and the 40 thieves taking names for buyers when it's published, from a former labour voter. from a labour voter. keep up the good work gb news. this labour party stink with corruption. that is a former labour voter. lord alli in the firing line. nobody mentions lord mandelson lurking around westminster, even sacked peters is no stranger to the

yacht of an oligarch. and yet he has immunity. why is that? well, i think we've seen, haven't we, over the years, as we say, there are often these characters around politics who are wielding influence and making donations. i think the difference is that on this occasion, we very much thought that labour were going to come out of, come out swinging and be cleaner than clean because of all of the force that andrew said, all of the focus they placed upon the conservative party when they were in opposition for doing this same sort of thing. and now they're trying to investigate these £600 million covid contracts, which were given under the tories, they're saying, which looks very much like attacking to defend themselves when at the time they were very much on board with all of that covid policy and of demanding that people were given money to stay off work. so let us know your thoughts this morning, gbnews.com/yoursay. but up next, find out how much taxpayer money deputy prime minister angela rayner is spending on her chief

photographer. what exactly does she need? a photographer for? this is britain's newsroom on

gb news. >> it is 1022. >> it is 1022. >> this is britain's newsroom. that little voice you just heard then. that was andrew pierce. he's in liverpool. we're going to be going back to him in just a moment. but i'm in the studio all morning and i'm delighted to say that i'm no longer alone. i'm joined by former labour adviser matthew laza and writer and journalist emma woolf morning, both. right. shall we talk about angela rayner and this what they're calling this vanhy this what they're calling this vanity photographer? surely, emma, if she's working for the department of housing, they need great images for their instagram accounts, for their twitter accounts. she needs to go and take pictures of all these wonderful housing estates that she's going to be building with drone footage above the top where they, you know , bulldozed where they, you know, bulldozed through farmers land and stuff

like that. you know, this stuff needs to be documented, doesn't it? >> that's not what this is about. this is a personal photographer. i think you and andrew, you had a brilliant discussion just now. and also andrew's piece in the daily mail absolutely nails it. this is about brand and if you follow it through and it's boring detail, tony blair tried to get one his his senior civil servant, his permanent secretary said no i'm sorry. that is an unacceptable waste of taxpayers money. david cameron did appoint a personal photographer. he then got rid of his personal photographer. he realised in austerity that was not acceptable. there hasn't been one. oliver dowden didn't have one as deputy pm and boris johnson have one. i think. rishi. >> rishi. boris johnson rishi. >> rishi. borisjohnson and >> rishi. boris johnson and rishi sunak both had a personal photographer and he's not her personal photographer as as the prime minister. >> yes, that is normal. angela rayner as deputy pm. that is not normal. and she quietly appointed this man on £68,000 a yearin appointed this man on £68,000 a year in the summer. right? that is more than twice the national average person is earning in this country. i also worked out by the way, how many £300 winter

fuel payments, that is. it's something like 250 pensioners. this is not acceptable at a time when we are all being told to tighten our belts. >> what is this person's job then, matt? >> if they are so. so let's clarify it. they first of all, the issue about photographers generally is we now live in an age of social media. you absolutely correctly said bev. you know, websites , instagram, you know, websites, instagram, twitter, whatever you want to call it are all key part of how we communicate now and how government gets its message out. whoever the government , whoever whoever the government, whoever is in power. so this photographer, who is actually the guy who was rishi sunak's photographer, is now the official photographer for the department of housing and local government, of which angela rayneris government, of which angela rayner is the secretary of state. so obviously there's quite a lot of the time he's taking pictures of angela rayner because she's the boss of the department, but it's not a personal photographer just for her. so yes, he will be taking pictures of housing, estate, hopefully of all these houses, in an age where everybody has a camera, there are images everywhere. >> yesterday , starmer and rayner >> yesterday, starmer and rayner turning up at the conference. or

was it the day before there was there were photographs of them all over. none of those were the professional photos. they were they were snaps that were put on twitter immediately. this is absolutely outrageous. we are in absolutely outrageous. we are in a time of severe austerity . we a time of severe austerity. we are being told about tough choices, unpopular decisions . i choices, unpopular decisions. i really, really fail to see how you can defend this matter. >> isn't it partly exactly the normal practice for the deputy prime minister for departments? he's not the photographer for the deputy prime minister. he's the deputy prime minister. he's the photographer for the department. and it's a very important department because we've seen the tories scandalous inability to you know what we know what else is an important department? >> stopping the boats is an important department. but you know what? they don't want to take photographs of that because that would look really bad. so why are we seeing a curated version. this is effectively what this is. this is just pr just polishing the messaging. and i understand that that has to exist in politics, but it doesn't feel terribly democratic. it feels a bit like they're pushing out the propaganda of what they want to us see and hiding away what they don't. >> i think it's really important. i agree with you. look, i was a spin doctor, and i

think it's really important that some of my colleagues get carried away and think, because, you know, we had an official labour party photographer all the parties have their own now we have videographers as well within the parties to do stuff for youtube for x and for tiktok. but i think what some of my colleagues said, oh, well, just invite, you know, we won't, we'll just send the official pictures out. and if you remember that sometimes under the tories there was a bit of that, that only the official photographer was allowed on trips, etc. i think that's wrong. i think you need to make sure that the press have access sometimes. frankly, the press don't want to come because there's a limited resources media companies have and they don't want some photographers , don't want some photographers, they don't send crews to everything. if angela rayner is doing a regional visit, they may not want to, you know, they may not want to, you know, they may not follow it. so therefore she's there. so there's a record of it and you can mark what's been done. >> but this is not this isn't he's not doing social media. >> to be clear, the pictures will be used on social media amongst others. so there'll be another person then to look at the pictures and upload them onto. well, that's the job of the press office. i think. i mean, yeah, i mean all the departments have take some pictures on their phones like everybody they do. i mean, a lot

of the time they do. i mean, this is one photographer for department. there are other ministers in the department. some of the time they'll be the press office will be doing that. but sometimes you need professional quality images. >> bev, can we just mention what is in the daily mail? we have a picture of angela rayner looking very cute, sipping a can of coke from from a straw, from a cocktail glass that is not what we need. and i think, matthew, the bigger picture here is that we are seeing a cabinet who think that thousands of pounds, whether it's £14,000 on someone's 40th birthday party, bridget phillipson, which seems like a lot of money for a birthday party to me. but whether it's thousands of pounds on their staff, on their gear, on their staff, on their gear, on their staff, on their gear, on their glasses, on their clothes, and then taking away very small sums which make a huge difference to people like pensioners. and i'm sorry , we're pensioners. and i'm sorry, we're talking about public money, which is, which is which is tough decisions being made. >> and this is for all of the things you mentioned, are money that came from a, from a, from a friend, from a friend, a waheed alli who gave money to support them in opposition . they've all them in opposition. they've all made clear that now they are in government, they won't be taking that support. and there's a big difference in opposition because you because you're facing

challenges, you're facing scrutiny. and also, frankly, on a basic fact, you don't get paid extra for doing a big job in opposition. you just get an mp salary and therefore sometimes they need support. they're now on ministerial salaries. they're able to do it themselves. and rachel's been saying make it absolutely clear today that she bought her. she's bought her own outfit. she's giving her speech in from hobbes out of her own cash. >> we should be talking about important things. and instead, every morning i'm very happy to talk about covid corruption, commissioner. >> they're going to announce today the government, who thinks thousands of pounds for them is absolutely fine and £300 for pensioners is not. it's a government that wants billions of the billions that were wasted dunng of the billions that were wasted during covid to be recovered. and the and the and the sleaze that we've never got to the bottom of to be investigated so taxpayers get value. >> right. let's move on to this story because it's still about the finances. rachel reeves is going to talk today at the labour party conference at midday. she's going to emphasise matthew, the necessity of stringent spending tax measures. she's not going to come out here with any positivity today, is she. >> well she well in this in her hobbs outfit. she's been giving a round of interviews this morning in which she has been

emphasising a the positivity and the upside. and i think it's absolutely right that she does so because i think it was right that she established where we were in the public finances. but it's absolutely essential that she and the prime minister, in his speech this week and her speech later this morning, give a positive message. so, i mean, she's she's been absolutely clear there's no return to austerity. some tough decisions will have to be made. and we're going to get the budget in a few weeks time, which we'll look at the tax rises, which the government has signalled, but not on working families . and, not on working families. and, and that, you know, by making difficult decisions . now she she difficult decisions. now she she has ended these interviews by saying the best days are yet to come. so i'm glad to hear the positivity at last. >> not no tax on working families as far as i can see, everybody is working, whether they have a family or not. not everybody, admittedly, but she's not going to be taxing those on benefits, let's be honest. so what does she mean by this when she's saying, i'm not going to attack working families? it's the middle classes who are going to get walloped this year. >> of course they are. and this is all just words. when matthew, when you say you know, no return to austerity, that's how it feels for people. that is how it feels for people. that is how it feels when everything is being

taken from them. she says things like everything isn't being taken from them. >> emma, let me just finish. >> emma, let me just finish. >> she's going to say meaningless things like the future has never had so much potential. it's up to us to seize it. >> god, it sounds like what it is. >> it's up to is.— >> it's up to us to is. >> it's up to us to make the right decisions. and those right decisions include making sure that the public finances are sustainable so we can invest so we can get betterjobs sustainable so we can invest so we can get better jobs across the country so we can see growth increase. and so we don't have the economic sclerosis. we've had over the past 14 years. >> so the prime minister came into number 10 and basically emphasised from day one doom and gloom. he was very, very negative about this country. now they've had, what, three months of scandals and disasters and they're suddenly desperate. >> he's not negative about the country. he's negative about the pubuc country. he's negative about the public finances, which were a complete mess. and that's absolutely what they're going to do. and that's why one of the tough decisions that was made was that before the for, not the poorest pensioners, but for other pensioners to take the winter fuel allowance, it wasn't it was it was the least worst of bad decisions to close that pubuc bad decisions to close that public hole. but public finance, black hole. >> there are decisions like

train drivers. there are decisions like junior doctors, both of whom which groups are being paid a decent. yeah. >> and you have to get. absolutely i mean i want the junior doctors back in hospitals doing their job rather than being on the picket line, which is what they were for months after the tory government. i want the 7 million people who are on the nhs waiting list. i want that number to come down. and rachel's been saying today we need reform as well as money in our public services. we can't just chuck money at it. we need to get them better. well, it's important to remember that the reason we're in this financial absolute mess is because of the amount that we spent during the pandemic. >> it was the half a trillion pounds that was printed and handed out whilst labour was saying people need more money and more support, more help, where's the state? where's the state? if you want to talk about that period of time, which the front page of the guardian today labour to investigate £600 million covid contracts. well, where were you saying they didn't know those contracts in the first place? >> absolute economic self—harm. >> absolute economic self—harm. >> emma. matthew, you'll be back in the next hour. thank you so much. we're going to go to sam francis. now who's got your headlines? here he is.

>> very good morning to you. just coming up to 1032 the top stories this morning. the chancellor is gearing up to address the labour conference in liverpool . later, with the liverpool. later, with the promise of real terms increases to government spending. and she says no return to austerity. ahead of that speech, she's pledged investment in jobs and infrastructure to win the global race for industries like life sciences and tech. her speech, though, comes as questions are swirling about thousands of pounds worth of free gifts that the prime minister and his top team have received , including team have received, including the chancellor herself. with her first budget set for the 30th of october, rachel reeves says now is the time to protect living standards and rebuild britain . standards and rebuild britain. meanwhile, boos have echoed through the conference hall this morning as delegates in liverpool claimed the labour leadership have attempted to take out the debate on cuts to the winter fuel payment. trade unions are demanding a u—turn on the policy, which removes payments from 10 million pensioners. unite's andy green

has called it an outrage that the unions motion on reversing the unions motion on reversing the cut wasn't on today's conference agenda, despite it being economy day, the government insists the move is necessary to fix a £22 billion budget shortfall . nearly 12,000 budget shortfall. nearly 12,000 migrants have crossed the channelin migrants have crossed the channel in small boats since labour took power. gb news can exclusively reveal this morning. despite worsening weather over 1900 migrants arrived in dover just this weekend, pushing this year's total to now over 25,000 people. smuggling gangs are taking greater risks, with close to 50 deaths already. this year in the channel, including eight just over a week ago . just over a week ago. authorities arrested 31 suspected smugglers in a crackdown over the weekend. but with crossings still surging, the government is facing a growing fight to stop the gangs. news in the middle east and israel has launched a wave of intense airstrikes on hezbollah targets in southern lebanon and warned civilians to evacuate an

israeli military spokesperson has declined to rule out a possible ground incursion, saying they will do whatever is needed to protect israel from further attacks. residents in southern lebanon have reported receiving calls telling them to leave, with warnings also broadcast across lebanese media. both sides are now bracing for a long conflict, with hezbollah vowing to fight until a ceasefire in gaza is reached and heavy rain is battering parts of england today, with some areas bracing for more than a month's worth of rainfall in just 24 hours. and amber warnings in force for worcester, birmingham, nottingham and hull until 9:00 tonight, while the rest of the midlands, southern england, wales and the north west are under a yellow alert. the environment agency warns of significant surface flooding, with road closures already in place in bedfordshire, and residents are being urged to avoid flood waters with a caution that just 30cm is deep enough to float cars more rain is expected throughout the rest of the week . those are the of the week. those are the latest headlines for now . i'll

latest headlines for now. i'll be back with you at the top of the hour. next, though, a look at the markets for the very latest gb news direct to your smartphone. >> sign up to news alerts by scanning the qr code or go to gbnews.com forward slash alerts . gbnews.com forward slash alerts. >> cheers! britannia wine club proudly sponsors the gb news financial report . financial report. >> well, let's take a look at the markets for you this morning. the pound will buy you $11,277 and morning. the pound will buy you $1.3277 and ,1.1966. the price of gold. this hour is £1,971. and £0.26 per ounce, and the ftse 100 is at 8200. >> and cheers, britannia wine club proudly sponsors the gb news financial report .

news financial report. >> well, up next here at the party conference. but look who i'm going to be joined by my old sparring partner. emphasis on the old kevin maguire, as he does his to best defend labour. i don't think he will try and defend them over the freebie fiasco that has actually dominated this party conference so far. this is britain's on gb news kevin will be with

as well joining me live at the labour party conference is the associate editor at the daily mirror, kevin maguire. kevin and ihave mirror, kevin maguire. kevin and i have been coming to these conferences. doesn't it show in how lined and grey we are now? i think since 1988? kevin, when i arrived yesterday, i was struck by how many people were already here. yeah this is the commercial area where people exhibit their wares. they might be there trying to make a case, often to ministers. you've got , often to ministers. you've got, products, councils, pressure

groups, but it's rammed because we've got a new labour government with a massive majority. but it's overshadowed by two things. it's overshadowed by two things. it's overshadowed by cronyism, donations, free clothes and the winter fuel thing, which is not going away. no all three things are true, actually. >> power, you know, wants to be next to the government. so that's why you get all the corporations used to be at the tory party conference. i suspect that will be a bit of a ghost town. yeah, i think it will be next week in in birmingham. and it would be. >> it would be quite in next year because people book in advance. yeah. so next year will be the one which will be deserted. >> this will be a huge money earner for, for labour. millions of pounds. >> you as an old lefty feel uncomfortable about it. i always have, yeah. >> when you see so many companies because you know what they're at and there's lobbying, it's the business day to day companies here. yeah, it's business day. >> you're uneasy about that. >> you're uneasy about that. >> and they charge thousands of quid. they could have sold the tickets ten times over if they didn't reduced oasis style surge pricing . yeah. the amount would

pricing. yeah. the amount would have gone up. yeah. because you know some of the companies are good, some will be less good. >> but you've also got an army of lobbyists here. >> explain to people, viewers and listeners what lobbyists do. >> yeah. >> yeah. >> well basically lobbyists get paid by companies to try and influence policy and they'll sidle up to ministers, mps, special advisers here, which is very easy if you try and do it outside of a party conference, there'll be civil servants around. ministers will be busy . around. ministers will be busy. it'll be on a on a tight timetable here. they wander around here, they do fringe meetings. they'll go to receptions. it's much easier to get to speak to them. so it's a it's a kind of underbelly of british politics, which has always been a bit difficult because you don't want undue influence to be exerted. and we don't always see who's chatting to who. you look, you and i try and go around and find out what's happening, who's speaking to who, and you hope they commit it to email and it sometimes appears later , but no, it's, the

appears later, but no, it's, the tories have had 14 years of it. labour will have at least five. >> and in the election, i predict in the next two years there will be a lobbying scandal. it will involve labour. labour are in power now. >> yeah , but it will be >> yeah, but it will be a suggestion because a lot of the people, lobbyists that often become mps and vice versa, a lot of mps. >> i'm thinking of jim murphy, for instance. there was the scottish secretary or scottish labour party. he's got one of the biggest lobbying companies here because he knows everybody now in power. that's right. great opportunity. i'm not saying he's doing anything wrong. no peter mandelson, we all know peter mandelson massive operation and all the tory companies. >> yeah. all the tory companies are now trying to hire labour people . yeah. all those tory mps people. yeah. all those tory mps who lost their seats, they'll say , oh, i can come and join say, oh, i can come and join your firm now, give you advice. they don't want them, they want labour people because the labour people will know the ministers and know the mps and they'll have the ins. yeah, it's a bit it's a bit of a dirty world in some ways. it's a legitimate side to it. that's perfectly acceptable. and then there's another side in the shadows.

>> you get worried about the you and i were sat next to it, stood next to the chancellor of the exchequer, rachel reeves. this morning she was doing an interview, and you and i could both sense her complete frustration. she was desperate to talk about her big speech today. she doesn't want to talk about the trade union motion to try and kill stone dead. the cancellation of winter fuel. that's going to happen. whatever. even if the motion is carried. she wanted to talk about the fraud that went on dunng about the fraud that went on during covid. the what did they say about the mates who were getting. >> yeah, the vip lanes, the cronyism. yeah. >> but she she wasn't able to do that because she was waylaid by angela rayner's holiday in york, paid for by this man lord alli by the fact she, she took 7500 pounds worth of clothes from, oh , pounds worth of clothes from, oh, yes, lord alli. but she didn't declare it as clothes. she declared it as something else. and she's she appeared to be saying, oh, we're not taking free clothes now. we're in government . it shouldn't have government. it shouldn't have been taking free clothes when they were in opposition. but beanng they were in opposition. but bearing in mind the abuse they levelled justifiably at. >> yeah, well, what happened is it the stick you use to beat

your opponents becomes a rod for your opponents becomes a rod for your own back ? if you're found your own back? if you're found to have done similar things now , to have done similar things now, we haven't had the scandal of , we haven't had the scandal of, say, boris johnson trying to hide the fact a tory donor was paying hide the fact a tory donor was paying for his wallpaper and the conservative party got fined by the electoral regulator for not disclosing the donation. we haven't had that . but if you get haven't had that. but if you get on a moral molehill, you've got to you've got to be holier than thou or you'll get knocked off. and what's happened is most people will just think you should buy your own clothes unless unless you're a doctor or an airline pilot or working in mcdonald's and you get a uniform, but you should buy your own clothes. and it's the case. and because they've been shown to have been taking these gifts from a very wealthy donor, he's worth about 200 million. labour party peer is a friend of many of them as well. it just sits badly when you've attacked the tories , but also you are taking tories, but also you are taking up to £300 away from 10 million pensioners by cutting the winter fuel allowance. >> and people will be watching

and listening to this, kevin, we'll be thinking, okay, lord alli has already got his peerage. he's a very rich man. there's no such thing as a free lunch. what did he. why was he doing it? he got his act free access pass to number 10 for a week. was that pass only cancelled when it came to light in the newspapers that he'd got the free pass? well, it was extraordinary. >> he got a pass. now, i'm sure this went on in the, in the tory era, but we never found out. we, we did wonder. we didn't know. we wondered about the interior decorator, but it was very difficult to find out. yeah, but they should not have got that pass. and yes, he's a friend of them and he's got a lot of money. but you've got to think how it looks when particularly when you say there's a 22 billion black hole, the economy is not in a great shape. the pubuc is not in a great shape. the public finances are knackered. there's all this demand for spending which you can't come up with, and you've got the winter fuel allowance going and then you're getting free, free dresses and suits. >> just very briefly , it's got >> just very briefly, it's got to go to a break. there's rachel reeves speech at 12:00, but there's going to be a vote here. the trade unions have got their vote through. the unite trade

union is effectively to cancel the winter fuel allowance decision. even if that vote is carried, labour is it's going to happen. >> it's not by it's not binding. it's not binding. but it will show that keir starmer and rachel reeves are at odds with the labour party, as well as the country as a whole. >> indeed. well, we'll bring you all of that here at the labour party conference. i'm here all week at the labour party conference. aren't i the lucky one? but up next, if you're struggling to get hold of a builder, you're not alone because britain is a huge shortage of this is britain's newsroom live

>> good morning. it's 1049. >> good morning. it's1049. this is britain's newsroom on gb news. and we just keep playing you a little bit of andrew pierce up in liverpool to just keep you hanging on because we are going to be going back to andrew at the labour party conference in a little while. but first of all, i'm sure there are a lot of people at home can relate to this. the uk is facing a critical shortage of skilled

tradespeople, and we're being warned this morning that 1.3 million new skilled workers and 350,000 apprentices are needed to meet the demand for them, we're joined now by founding director of sound design and build, alastair bowen. and i don't mind admitting because i'm a big fan of transparency. we've been talking about it all morning with the labour party. alastair is my own builder and i'm doing a renovation on my house at the moment, so i just want to put that out there now. i've known you a very long time, alastair, and you've built up a successful building company in west london. but how hard do you find it now to find decent tradespeople? and has it got more difficult? >> yes, it's definitely got more difficult over the last few years to find people that are motivated to sort of work within the industry. they want to learn, they want to sort of progress themselves through the industry, as opposed to it just being just a sort of a they can go off and get a job quite easily just to earn a bit of

money, just to see them through, so the last few years, it's become noticeably difficult trying to find people. we, a lot of the time employ staff through our staff. so it's hearing about someone that wants a job somewhere, finding out about their relevant skill sets, and then and then giving them a start and seeing how it goes, but i know it's a lot tighter than it used to be, for sure. >> and is that partly alastair? because over the last sort of 20 years, kids in education were told they had to go to university. it sort of started with tony blair, really. everybody should go to university . and people look down university. and people look down their noses at tradespeople as though being a plumber and electrician was just an underpaid job. well that wheel has certainly turned, hasn't it? what was your route into building? >> well, interesting you say that because i, i went to university, sort of part of the generation of you're going to uni as opposed to you know, do you want to go to uni? it was just one of those things which

it seemed to make perfect sense, i came out and i didn't really know what i wanted to do, and i ended up getting a job on a building site, so it was, it was a sort of slightly unconventional route for me . my unconventional route for me. my parents were slightly horrified, having studied law, and then going into building, but, yes, it's it was also always one of those industries that sort of, i remember back in the day, it was sort of it was the butt of people's jokes, but then as properties in london and certainly sort of in london, where i work as the prices of those were going up, sort of all the time, it became fairly obvious fairly quickly that it was becoming an industry that a lot of people wanted to get into and wanted to work in. and then, you know, in the sort of developing exploded, you know, the housing market really just was was growing exponentially . was was growing exponentially. and, you know, you'd hear a lot of stories about people leaving jobs in the city to go off and retrain as a plumber or an electrician or a bricklayer. i mean, it's certainly not the

industry that it used to be, like i said, the butt of people's jokes. it's you can make, you know, a really good living out of it. and, it's also really enjoyable thing to work in. it's, you know, it's sort of the work that we do, seeing the transformations of people's houses, it's a really nice process to be part of. >> do you are you optimistic that we will start educating our young people to go into trades now , because we've been reliant now, because we've been reliant on for so many years now on the eastern europeans, on the polish builders, the romanians, the bulgarians, who are very, very highly skilled, who come over and will put the hours in and will work really hard. are we doing enough to encourage young british kids to go into this industry? >> definitely not. no it's the building industry has been propped up by, very sort of, talented workforce from eastern europe for the last 20, 25 years, and unfortunately, they sort of filled that gap within the workforce, and i think that

it meant that there were a lot less people going into those kind of trades and looking to move into the construction industry. and you've kind of lost i would have said those 20 years because you don't now have those people coming through. so what you've got is typically a slightly, slightly elder, sort of population with who are running the business. this is, and so you've maybe got another ten, 15 years before a lot of those people are going to be hanging up there. okay. >> all right. we've run out of time. alistair and anyway, you've got to get back to my house and carry on renovating it. so thank you so much for joining us, alistair. from bowen design and build there. here's your weather report . your weather report. >> a brighter outlook with boxt solar sponsors of weather on . gb news. >> hello there there. good morning to you. this is your gb news weather report provided by the met office. we do have quite an unsettled week of weather to

come, with most of us seeing rain at some point, but for monday it is wales and england that are the focus point. with this area of low pressure across these regions, this will be bringing some very heavy pulses of rain around at times. the potential is certainly there for some localised flooding, disruption to services and very difficult driving conditions. so do take care over the course of the day. this will be mulling their way around, but we could see some slightly brighter spells developing across the far south—east later on in the afternoon. temperatures here in that sunshine climb to 21 c elsewhere. it's a reasonably cool day, around 13 to 15 c. there is a broad yellow rain warning in force for much of england and wales, but we do also have an enhanced amber rain warning, also in force for parts of gloucestershire , of gloucestershire, herefordshire up towards the wash and the humber. this is where we could see over a month's worth of rain falling dunng month's worth of rain falling during the day, and some disruption is certainly likely here, so please do take care. generally a cloudy day for northern ireland, a few sunny spells trying to break their way through for dumfries and galloway. but we've got a band of rain pushing into the far north of scotland, and they'll

also be turning things fairly damp as it moves its way slowly southwards with some brisk winds around at times as we head towards the end of the day on monday. also, for most of us, overnight it is going to be rather cloudy, that rain gradually pushing its way eastwards across eastern parts of england. and underneath that cloud, though it will be still relatively mild 10 to 12 c. but we're starting to see some cooler, colder conditions moving into the far north of scotland, as northerly winds from the arctic begin to push their way in, that rain will spread its way into other areas of scotland dunng way into other areas of scotland during the day, but things will generally turn a bit calmer for northern ireland, england, wales compared to what we will see today. a bit drier but generally still rather cloudy. any bright spells still fairly limited. starting to cool down for all of us now as those northerly winds set their way in. generally between 10 and 18 c, and that cooling trend will continue over the course of the next week, with temperatures dropping below average for many of us. enjoy your day ! your day! >> that warm feeling inside from boxt boilers sponsors of weather on gb

>> well . >> well. >> well. >> morning, 11 am. on monday, the 23rd of september, live across the uk. this is britain's newsroom with andrew pierce. i'm here at the labour conference in liverpool and bev turner in london. >> so tough times ahead. and i'm not just talking about andrew pierce being at the labour conference at midday. the chancellor, rachel reeves, is set to promise a budget that will rebuild britain. we will bnng will rebuild britain. we will bring you that live on gb news and labour's freebie fiasco, continues. deputy prime minister angela rayner has been blasted for her 66,500 pounds per year taxpayer funded vanity photographer. or are they just there to do a job for her department? and pubs are in peril. england and wales lost more than 50 pubs a month in the first half of 2024. concerns are growing that tax rises could

close even more. would that be devastating for you? and wet weather warning england is set to be battered by heavy rain today as flood warnings are issued. let us know if you've been affected . by . been affected. by. us. >> and of course we would love to hear what you think. you send your views and post your comments by visiting gbnews.com/yoursay but first, here are the headlines with sam francis . francis. >> andrew, thank you and very good morning to you. just coming up to 11:02. we start with news from liverpool at that conference where rachel reeves says no return to austerity. that's her message this morning ahead of her address to the labour party conference. she's

promising real terms increases to government spending and vowed no cuts. her speech comes as questions are swirling, though, about thousands of pounds worth of free gifts. the prime minister and his top team have received, including the chancellor herself. however, speaking to us this morning, labour minister darren jones defended rachel reeves and told us the row over those freebies is because labour have been transparent about donations. >> this is not funded by parliamentary budgets, it's not funded by ministerial budgets. this was a donation from a friend to the chancellor to help cover the cost that she incurred performing her duties as shadow chancellor of the exchequer dunng chancellor of the exchequer during the election campaign, when she was on the road around the country. this happens all the country. this happens all the time for parties in opposition. that's how they fund their activities, and it was declared in the proper way. that's why you can see it. that's why you can see it. that's why you can see it. that's why it was transparently reported, which i might say is very different to the undercover work that journalists had to do to reveal the parties in number 10 under the last government. and these crony contracts that were given out during the covid

penod were given out during the covid period to friends and donors of the conservative party. >> meanwhile, boos have echoed through the conference hall in liverpool as delegates claim the labour leadership there have attempted to take out the debate on cuts to the winter fuel payment. trade unions are demanding a u—turn on the policy, which removes payments from some 10 million pensioners. unite's andy green's called it an outrage that the unions motion on reversing the cut wasn't on today's conference agenda, despite it being economy day. the government insists the move is necessary to fix a £22 billion budget shortfall. however, shadow treasury minister gareth davies told us the tories wouldn't have made the tories wouldn't have made the same move. >> this is really all about which is a political choice for the labour government. they have chosen, on the one hand, to hand , chosen, on the one hand, to hand, massive pay rises to the unions, while at the same time taking away support for pensioners ahead of winter. that is a political choice, as i say, that is not a choice that we would have made . have made. >> in other news, almost half of the total number of migrants who

have crossed the english channel this year have arrived in the 11 weeks since labour came to power. gb news can exclusively reveal. despite worsening weather conditions, over 1400 migrants arrived in doverjust this weekend , pushing this this weekend, pushing this year's total to 25,000. 11,500 have now made the crossing in the space of just two and a half months since labour won the election in july. the latest total is more than a thousand, ahead of the number of migrants who arrived illegally in the uk at this point last year. who arrived illegally in the uk at this point last year . a 15 at this point last year. a 15 year old boy has died after being stabbed in south—east london. police were called to the attack in woolwich on sunday evening, where the boy was found with a stab wound and sadly died shortly after. a witness who tried to save him said the boy pleaded i'm 15, please don't let me die as she stemmed the bleeding. the victim's family has been informed, but no arrests have been made so far. a crime scene remains in place and their investigation is

continuing . israel has unleashed continuing. israel has unleashed its most widespread wave of airstrikes against hezbollah. this morning, and issued evacuation orders in areas where the terror group was believed to be storing weapons. an israeli military spokesperson has declined to rule out a ground incursion at this stage, saying they will do whatever is needed to protect israel from further attacks. residents in southern lebanon have reported receiving calls telling them to leave, with warnings also broadcast across lebanese media. both sides are now bracing for a long conflict, with hezbollah vowing to continue fighting until a ceasefire in gaza . and finally, ceasefire in gaza. and finally, heavy rain is battering parts of england today, with some areas bracing for more than a month's worth of rainfall in just 24 hours. areas of bedfordshire are already submerged, with police confirming a number of road closures. and you can see here footage shared on social media showing cars battling the high waters. and in north london, firefighters have been attending the scene of flooded homes, while an amber warning is in

force for worcester, birmingham, nottingham and hull. that's until 9:00 tonight, while the rest of the midlands, southern england, wales and the north west are all under a yellow alert. those are the latest headunes alert. those are the latest headlines for now. your next round up from me in just over half an hour for the very latest gb news direct to your smartphone, sign up to news alerts by scanning the qr code , alerts by scanning the qr code, or go to gbnews.com forward slash alerts . slash alerts. >> welcome back to britain's newsroom live across the uk. this is mid bev turner in london. andrew pierce is at the labour party conference in liverpool. so andrew i don't know whether you saw camilla tominey show yesterday on gb news and i would urge our viewers and listeners to go and look at it on the app because camilla had those mps absolutely on the ropes yesterday, because what the mps want to talk about, andrew, is policy and what they're having to do is defend

themselves. they are on the ropes about all of these issues, about sleaze and why so much money has been paid and received to the labour party, particularly by lord alli . by particularly by lord alli. by lord alli . lord alli. >> yeah, it was a she was in terrific form yesterday. bev turner and lord alli. where is lord alli? why doesn't he come and talk to us and explain why he was so generous to all these labour frontbenchers? he was here. he's been and gone already. and i mean, rachel reeves, the chancellor, the first woman chancellor. exchequer, an historic moment . exchequer, an historic moment. she's 55 minutes away from speaking to this conference, and they should be rapturous applause and an outpouring of love and affection and support. but there's real, palpable anger here, bev. talk to delegates, talk to activists. talk to mps what they really think as opposed to what they'll say on these programmes, is they are incandescent. they cannot believe the missteps this government have taken over winter fuel, but also the rows over cronyism, donations, free clothes, free holidays. angela

raynen clothes, free holidays. angela rayner, who's so proud of her working class upbringing, isn't she? how many times does she tell you i left school at 16, pregnant, with no qualifications. what was she doing in waheed ali's incredibly up—market apartment in new york over the christmas holiday when she's attacking the tories at every opportunity over sleeves? it's a big problem for them . and it's a big problem for them. and who have you? >> who have you got to be there with you today, andrew. who are you going to be to talking today? >> we're going to be talking to the general secretary of the national education union. and it's quite interesting that the local paper here, the liverpool echo, if i can find it, let me just find it for you, they've they've done a wrap round. and if you can see this, this is a wrap around of the local paper, the liverpool echo. stop the cuts to the winter fuel payment. this is what everybody is talking about here. that and the sleaze. so we're talking to the general secretary of the national education union, daniel kirby. he's not been on gb news before. be interesting to see. obviously i'll talk to you about what he wants from this government about schools, but i bet you he's going to have quite

a lot to say about labour, cronyism and of course, the winter fuel allowance, because we are going to get that vote later today. so whatever rachel reeves says today in that speech to the party conference, i don't think it's i don't think it's going to sway enough people because i think this vote opposing the winter fuel allowance will be carried here today. i'd be amazed if it isn't. that would be a huge embarrassment for keir starmer and rachel reeves because, as kevin maguire was saying earlier, it would show that the labour party here gathering for the first time since they've beenin the first time since they've been in power since 2009, do not approve of this policy. and yet it's going to go ahead come what may. who are they listening to, bev?if may. who are they listening to, bev? if they're not listening to their own people, they're not listening to us. they're not listening to us. they're not listening to us. they're not listening to the people who are writing to us. they're not listening to the labour party ehhen listening to the labour party either. they seem they seem to be in an echo chamber all of their own, and they've only been in power for 80 days and looking ahead to starmer's speech tomorrow, andrew, what can he possibly say to get the public back on side? >> get the public?

>> get the public? >> well, he's going to remind us of 14 years of tory misrule. that's what he'll say. he'll go on and on about the £22 billion black hole in finances. and he's going to say, we've got to take tough decisions, but i'm told they're going to he's going to try and be more upbeat because i think what he's been doing by banging on about the tough decisions ahead, he's effectively been talking the country down. we've seen reports of people fleeing the country, rich people fleeing the country, investment drying up, investment investment drying up, investment in the north sea, drying up because of decisions they've taken. i think he's going to have to strike a much more upbeat tone because look at that poll in the observer yesterday. that's the labour party supporting observer calamitous. it showed that starmer's support had fallen by 46 points, unheard of for a prime minister so new into an administration they normally have a honeymoon. well, you've been married before, bev. ihope you've been married before, bev. i hope your honeymoon was is a bit longer and happier than labour's, because the honeymoon is well and truly over. more like a nightmare . so, so , bev.

like a nightmare. so, so, bev. anyway, that's all coming up. we will be here for rachel reeves speech at midday. don't miss it. she will be, she will be. i think she's going to have a very tough time. and it'll be interesting to see if there's any jeering or booing in the audience. we'll keep you up to date. that's it. from me at liverpool. >> okay. thanks, andrea. we will be going back to him obviously throughout the next 50 minutes or so that we are on air. and then rachel reeves speech live at midday. adrian has said he's out for a walk with his gb news umbrella up. thank you adrian. also, a little weather check there. and ben says rachel thieves. reeves must be the most detested politician in britain at the moment. she's mismanaging at the moment. she's mismanaging a portfolio. she's deliberately and cruelly mugging off pensioners while taking free gifts of clothing and having her own heating bills paid for by the taxpayer. this winter. pensioners are going to die through hypothermia. how fair is that? how will she justify stopping the winter fuel payments to pensioners listening to rachel reeves talking this

morning, she was asked about how complicated the form is that pensioners have to fill in, and she said, well, it's the paper form that is complicated, but actually the online form is quite easy, but didn't really have a response to explain why that would work when so many pensioners might find it hard to find access to have access to the internet even, and to fill in all of that paperwork themselves. it's a diabolical situation, mary, said rayner. but what about the black hole? is the photographer a personal friend? it doesn't sit well, does it? when you've got to talk about this £22 billion black hole that they won't show us what that looks like, and yet employing what appears to be a vanhy employing what appears to be a vanity project , photographers vanity project, photographers and mark has echoed what i was just saying earlier, is that camilla tominey was on fire on her programme yesterday. well done. no photographer would be able to make angela rayner look good. i'm not sure that was entirely necessary, mark, but i would urge you, if you missed camilla's show yesterday to have a look at it on the gb news app or on our youtube channel. up

next though, we'll tell you why. civil servants have been ordered to rewrite a drink spiking

gb news. welcome back. it's 1116. this gb news. welcome back. it's1116. this is britain's newsroom live across the uk with me, bev turner and andrew pierce is in liverpool at the labour party conference. if you are just joining us now, we're also joined by former labour party adviser, matthew laza writer and journalist emma woolf here in the studio to go through some other stories of the day. emma, this is about dnnk the day. emma, this is about drink spiking. so for people who don't know, this is if you're out in a in a bar or club and somebody puts something in your dnnk somebody puts something in your drink , a sedative, maybe, so drink, a sedative, maybe, so that they can do unpleasant things to you. so a campaign has been written to warn people of the dangers of this, but they're having to rewrite it. why? >> so the minister for violence against women said that she was sent a script for this sort of warning, this campaign warning . warning, this campaign warning. and she didn't like the fact that the emphasis was on victim blaming. so she felt that the

emphasis was on women taking control of their own personal safety. covering up your drink, taking your drink with you, being careful. and she wanted the emphasis to be much more on, well, telling perpetrators . if well, telling perpetrators. if you do this, you will get done. you will get prosecuted. this is illegal. >> how reckless of her. >> how reckless of her. >> you see, i think it's a really interesting issue because i think both can be true. i think we absolutely need to send the message that this is a crime, that perpetrators will be absolutely punished, prosecuted, and they also have to undergo treatment. but i also think as a woman, i think you have to also be aware of your own personal safety. if i don't have daughters, but if i was a mum of daughters, but if i was a mum of daughters, i would say to my girls , do take your drink with girls, do take your drink with you when you go to the bathroom. i mean, we need to be aware of our own personal safety as well as sending a really clear message to men, mostly men, who would ever think of spiking a woman's drink. that that is, or a man's drink. that is a crime. >> so this is alex davies—jones, as you said, the minister for violence against women. and she

said this was at a fringe event yesterday at the labour party conference. the civil service brought me this script. one of the things they wanted me to talk about was how to keep ourselves safe from spiking, she said. cover your drink, make sure you look out for your friends and don't accept drink from a stranger, she said. i refused to do it. i said, we need to start reframing this. stop the culture of victim blaming. blaming. well, it's all very lovely to be preoccupied by reframing it. but as a mother of daughters, i want them to receive this advice. what's wrong with people, matthew? >> well, i think you need to do both. and it's not absolutely clear that she said that she didn't want to do. she's taken. i don't think she's taken all of that sensible advice out of the campaign, but she's most certainly added in, you know, she wants a campaign to make sure that, you know, is clear. it is not to okay even contemplate spiking a drink and that you need to attack the perpetrators. but yes, i mean, we need that sensible advice out there for everybody, to, you know, to be watching their drinks, not to accept drinks from strangers, etc. so i think you need to do both. i agree

with emma. you need to be both sensible advice. plus be as absolutely firm as possible on the perpetrators because this is this labour obsession at the moment with like punishments, with punitive, but who's more likely, who's more likely to listen to a campaign like this as a, as a former young woman, that kind of advice was really useful. >> don't go, you know, when you're waiting for a cab late at night, wait with your friends when you're, you know, get a little thing on your phone that you can ping if you're in trouble. that kind of advice, which shouldn't be necessary. we should be safe on the streets. we should be safe in a bar. we should be able to have a drink, leave it on the bar, wander off and come back. although i'm not sure that's a good idea anyway. but i think giving safety advice to young women, as well as making it completely clear that this is not acceptable because i'm not sure the men who are going out there and doing awful things and spiking drinks are listening, whereas i think young women who want to be able to go and enjoy themselves, you for , and enjoy themselves, you for, for, for your daughters, you want them to know this stuff. >> what's a hideous crime? and i want these people who do this. i

want these people who do this. i want them found. we need to be drug testing. when women turn up at hospitals in this situation, what is happening often now is they aren't being tested. they aren't having urine samples taken. and so doctors might say , taken. and so doctors might say, oh, well, she's just drunk. even if she's saying like work on that. like protect the. >> well, i think that's important. i mean, what's extraordinary is there were 6732 reports in the year ended april 23rd, for which the last one for the last year, for which figures are available. but 957 of them related to needle spiking, which is just really shocking. >> just explain what that is. >> just explain what that is. >> well, it's basically when people, you know, are spiking you with it, basically with a needle. so they've got a needle in there basically, >> so you might be in a packed bar or a restaurant in a club and somebody comes up behind you.so and somebody comes up behind you. so they literally inject you. >> that's what it seems. yeah, absolutely. and, it says that 74% of cases were women, but 10% of women and 5% of men say that they've had their drink spiked. so it's a really big issue. >> but it's also very hard to

detect because as you say, unless you're actually actively testing most people will think, oh, that was a weird night. you know, they have a horrible mercy thing. oh, i know and maybe they were drunk, which is totally fine. maybe they were drunk. so then their recollection, they don't necessarily go to hospital and report it. so it's a really difficult one to prosecute. >> and it is a simple crime because it's such a simple crime to enact to execute. i do tell my daughters , my 15 year old, my daughters, my 15 year old, who's just now sort of started going out to house parties, friends of friends, etc. and some of the parents, i mean, it's beggars belief to me. i wouldn't do it. i would not be serving alcohol at a party with 15 or 16 year olds there, but that's probably why we don't have parties, because no one would come. but and i say to her, just make sure you don't put leave a drink . yeah, and i put leave a drink. yeah, and i can't. how do i have to educate her on that? i can't just be i can't be there talking to the boys who might do it. she's the person i can talk to. >> but no. and even worse, out in public, in a bar in a busy town centre. you've got to be

aware of where your drink is. take it to the bathroom with you. make sure you know what you know what's going on. >> absolutely right, should we talk about donald trump setting up a colony on mars? i'm sorry. what? >> well, this is i mean, this is a fairly extraordinary story, andifs a fairly extraordinary story, and it's very simple and straightforward. one of his key election pledges. never mind what he's going to do about border security or the economy, is he is going to set up a colony on mars. if he's elected, he's going to do it with his mate elon. mr musk of, tesla and x slash twitter fame and infamy as well. so, you know, i mean , as well. so, you know, i mean, all i can say is i think it's a goodidea all i can say is i think it's a good idea as long as they both 90, good idea as long as they both go, as long as they both decide that mars is going to be their new home and get them out of our hair. >> elon musk is going to be the saviour of the western world. matthew laza i won't have that talk here. >> if you want free speech, why? >> if you want free speech, why? >> why is trump saying this? well, this is it because they have got such a bromance on board now ? board now? >> they have got a bromance, i think. i don't think it's about colonising mars. i think trump and we read the same piece, which let's be honest, was in the daily star, you know, the

future is orange or something like that. frankly, he wants to explore the red planet. he wants to do amazing things. he wants america to be at the absolute forefront of the next, you know , forefront of the next, you know, the next frontier of the space race and all of that. he just wants to go and explore the red planet. is he going to the end of his second term? >> is he going to brand it trump because he likes to put his name on everything? is it going to be trump? >> must be trump x or planning trump x? yeah, >> okay. talking of going to live in a different place because you're not happy with where you are. this is an extraordinary story, emma. this is about lots of britons who have taken up putin's offer of going to live in russia because things are so bad here. >> and putin said he changed the immigration rules and he said, guys, come over here. if you're sick of this wokester what did he actually say? he said, are you tired of the liberal agenda? that's how everybody who contacted the russian diplomatic mission, basically he's oh , no, mission, basically he's oh, no, he's saying putin said the aim of providing humanitarian aid was to save those who identify with russian spiritual and moral values from destructive neoliberal ideological

attitudes. but only this is really disappointing . only 34 really disappointing. only 34 people went only 34. yeah, it sounds so. >> the paper calling it doesn't, but it's actually two in a bit, doesn't i mean, in all seriousness, i mean, we are effectively at war with russia. certainly we are backing our key ally in ukraine. and, you know, we, people in the second world war, the people who went to fight british citizens, who went to fight on the wrong side, ended up being hung for treason. i'm not saying we should be hanging these people for treason, but i think we should be withdrawing their british passports if they want to go, fine, but they shouldn't be coming back. is this just putin playing mischief? >> do you think it was? yeah >> do you think it was? yeah >> how attractive. my very like small c conservative christian values sort of. you know this very old fashioned. we were a little bit 19505 very old fashioned. we were a little bit 1950s here. come to us actually okay. >> a lot of people maybe not russia, but a lot of people when this came out a few weeks back and putin said, come here. a lot of people said, you know what i am sick of the uk. i think it focuses that that feeling at the moment that our country, the country that we used to love and be proud of, really great

britain is no longer anything. it's such a depressing place at the moment. it is falling apart. >> well, i agree with you that the country, the country over the country, the country over the uk people are really depressed. >> we have no borders left, we have no moral values, we have crime on the streets, nothing works. >> i don't think that russia, with its moral values of invading an innocent country, is the place to go, even if you don't like, gender neutral bathrooms. i think going to a country that that where people, you know, where people are basically where there's no human rights and people are dragooned into fighting in, in a war of aggression is, is everybody's being made to fight. >> a turkish friend of mine went to russia last week and he said it was amazing. he said he was welcomed in. he was just welcomed in. he was just welcomed in. >> but they are still but it's still a country doing absolutely the wrong things and attacking and attacking a country, you know, invaded a country that we're supporting and where putin is. and no matter how angry you get, i think, you know, i mean, there was there was a i remember when i first joined the labour party, i was given a book that said, don't get angry, get organised. so you don't need to go to russia if you don't like

things here. let's take up politics, whatever your views. >> but there is this sense, isn't there, of people here? i mean, who'd have thought that you could just rewind a few years and say people would rather live in russia than live in the uk? i totally understand the appeal right now. i don't know whether you saw, but tucker carlson, obviously a right wing commentator in america, he did a visit to russia and sat down with putin, did an interview, and he went and he saw the streets and he saw the railway station. he talked about the efficiency of everything working. now, that may have been a slight. >> they used to take people to the soviet union in the 20s, and they just ignored the you know, i'm not saying there's a famine, but they ignored the poverty and deprivation. >> but what an interesting flip of the pr machine and the point being that this country is in a pretty dire state and people are not feeling upbeat or even proud of their country because it's been ground down. >> it's been allowed to fall not only into disrepair, but just we've sort of lost a sense of what it even means to be british, because it's been so diluted and underinvested and well wrecked by covid as well, >> right. let's look at this.

what is this story about abba star? >>i star? >> i know we've got to get this in abba's bjorn murray partner. >> so what? well. >> so what? well. >> so what? well, he's he's 79. he's his partner that he met in 2021. but the most exciting thing is, is that the british scandi hero heroine sandi sandi toksvig officiated in full robes in full, sort of clerical garb. >> so is this does she do this? >> so is this does she do this? >> so is this does she do this? >> so apparently she doesn't. we don't. we've been trying to get to the bottom of this, as far as we can tell. obviously, sandi toksvig is of danish heritage, and although danish and swedish are not the same, you can basically. i mean, she may well speak swedish as well. we're not, but she certainly. or they could have done it in english, but she's not actually an officiant. so it seems that there were two other people who were the legal were the legal officiants as alongside sandi and performed at the ceremony. but you know what? a bit of fun on a on a grim and grey monday morning. >> i love it when older people get married , i love it. i mean, get married, i love it. i mean, maybe third, third, fourth wedding is pushing it a bit. he looks he looks great.

>> doesn't he look amazing? >> doesn't he look amazing? >> 7979 and she was 51. so there you go. good. once again, good for them. >> exactly. absolutely. and you know, so i mean sandi toksvig is now available for weddings, bar mitzvahs, you name it. she's call her agent. she's available. she can officiate. >> right. >> right. >> brilliant. matthew emma, thank you so much. you will be. no, you won't be back in the last hour. >> we'll see you next week. >> we'll see you next week. >> it's gone quite quickly. we're off to watch rachel reeves. they're going to go and watch rachel reeves, of course, who is talking in half an hour. first, though, the very latest news headlines with san francisco. >> very good morning to you. it is fast approaching 11:30. a look at the top stories from the newsroom this morning. the chancellor is gearing up to address the labour conference in liverpool later, with a promise of real terms increases to government spending and no return to austerity. ahead of her speech, she's pledged investment in jobs and infrastructure to win the global race for industries like life sciences and tech. her speech, though, comes as questions swirl about thousands of pounds worth

of free gifts that sir keir starmer and his top team have received, including the chancellor herself. with her first budget set for the 30th of october, reeves says now is the time to protect living standards and rebuild britain. meanwhile, boos have echoed through the conference hall in liverpool as delegates this morning claim the labour leadership have attempted to take out the debate on cuts to take out the debate on cuts to the winter fuel payment trade unions are demanding a u—turn on the policy, which removes payments from 10 million pensioners. unite have called it an outrage that the unions motion on the reversing of the cut wasn't on today's conference agenda, despite it being economy day. the government, though, insists the move is necessary to fix a £22 billion shortfall in the budget . almost half of the the budget. almost half of the total number of migrants who've crossed the english channel. this year have arrived. in the 11 weeks since labour came to power, despite worsening weather, over 1900 migrants have arrived in doverjust this weekend, pushing this year's

total to now 25,000. 11,500 have now crossed in the space of just two and a half months since labour won the election in july. the latest total is more than a thousand, ahead of the number of migrants who arrived illegally in the uk at this point last year. in the uk at this point last year . israel in the uk at this point last year. israel has in the uk at this point last year . israel has launched in the uk at this point last year. israel has launched a in the uk at this point last year . israel has launched a wave year. israel has launched a wave of intense airstrikes on hezbollah targets in southern lebanon today, warning civilians to evacuate some areas. an israeli military spokesperson has declined to rule out a ground incursion, saying they will do whatever is needed to protect israel from further attacks. residents in southern lebanon have reported receiving calls telling them to leave, with warnings also broadcast across lebanese media. both sides are now bracing for a long conflict with the terror group hezbollah vowing to fight until a ceasefire in gaza is reached and finally back here at home. three men have been arrested in london after police uncovered a counterfeit air bag operation .

counterfeit air bag operation. raids in leyton and ilford led to the seizure of 500 fake air bags and £140,000 in cash, most of it hidden in nappies in a wall cavity. the men, aged 34, 36 and 51, are suspected of importing the airbags, air bags from china and selling them abroad. detectives are warning the public that the fake air bags do pose a serious safety risk, with some of them sold for just £25. the operation followed a tip off from us homeland security after fatal incidents involving substandard air bags involving substandard air bags in america. those are the latest headunes in america. those are the latest headlines for now. a full roundup at midday for the very latest gb news direct to your smartphone, sign up to news alerts by scanning the qr code, or go to gbnews.com forward slash alerts . slash alerts. >> cheers! britannia wine club proudly sponsors the gb news financial report , and let's take

financial report, and let's take another quick look at the markets for you just after 11:30. >> the pound will buy you $1.3297 and ,1.1967. the price of gold, £1,973.43 per ounce, and the ftse 100 is at 8227 points. >> cheers. britannia wine club proudly sponsors the gb news financial report . financial report. >> and it's a big day for the unions at the conference, as they want the government to reverse the cut to the winter fuel payment. i'm talking to the general

gb news. joining me live from the labour party conference is the general secretary of the national

education union. that is daniel dodi. you are in charge of the biggest teaching union in the country. we're going to hear the chancellor of the exchequer rachel reeves speak very shortly. you can feel the atmosphere, the excitement building. but a lot of people are talking about free gear. keir. >> well, i mean, it's been a very difficult week for this government. >> they when you walk into this room, you see change begins. but for many families, i don't think that's what they feel in reality. we're being met with austerity 2.0. we've seen the scrapping of the winter fuel allowance. did you think about that? i mean, i think it's a terrible decision. it is a real terrible decision. it is a real terrible decision. i think people would have bared it if they said we're scrapping the winter fuel allowance, but we're also going to end the two child benefit cap, and they're absolutely not going to do that. >> and that's a big part of your union's pitch. >> absolutely. so you know why why are people enduring this austerity. we're hearing about tough choices. tough decisions . tough choices. tough decisions. meanwhile we're seeing, you know, the prime minister receive hundreds of thousands of pounds

of donations. >> do you get the point of lord alli? why would he do you do you wonder why somebody as rich as he is, he's already got his peerage would want to be spending so much of his money lavishing gifts on politicians, people watching this programme, listening to this programme would think, what's in it for him? >> well, absolutely. i think they're right to question that. there's no such thing as a free lunch. people are donating gifts with a motive. they want to have some influence over people, and that's a problem for politics. >> you're part of the national education union. i was at the tuc conference last week. there was a lot of anger at the tuc last week. there's a lot of anger here. just so people don't think it's people like me in the media. stirring it up there genuinely is raw anger about the winter fuel and free gear. keir and angela rayner and her free holidays, and the chancellor of the exchequer and her free clothes, which she didn't quite declare. >> i mean, people have endured a decade of austerity cuts, their living standards have gone down. one thing that people absolutely

need to see is a change in direction. and i don't think anybody really feels like we're experiencing that just yet. >> well, i why what do you put it down to? the fact that they've gone for this policy of cutting winter fuel, because all the years i've been doing party conferences, politics, i can't remember what, in my view, is such a big misstep that is so out of sync with the country and the mood here. so this is the labour party conference, the motion by the unite trade union. my view is going to be carried overwhelmingly saying it's the wrong thing to do. so they're not listening to the labour party. they're not listening to people like you. >> that's right. i mean, nobody thinks it's an acceptable policy to cut the winter fuel from pensioners. and the reality is that there are people who die every year from not being able to turn their heating on. and this will make that situation worse for pensioners in poverty. we're hearing lots about tough economic choices , but there is economic choices, but there is

a, you know, a huge profits being made by energy companies at the moment. and it's really just a government that has got its priorities wrong. >> the new, of course . let's >> the new, of course. let's talk about your patch schools. you argue that 1 million children now are being taught in classes of 30 or more. that's the worst figure since 2001. what can this government do to change that? >> well, we really need to see a commitment from this government to invest in education. i mean, there are things that we are able to welcome from bridget phillipson, the secretary of state for education, some reforms that she's bringing in. but unless this government confront the reality that schools have been underfunded significantly for a significant penod significantly for a significant period of time, that we don't have enough teachers and support staff, any reforms really will just hit the sand and teachers are retiring at a rate of knots . are retiring at a rate of knots. >> and there's talk about letting some of them in the last week we heard the government

talking about perhaps they can do marking from home or do prep for classes from home. isn't the real problem about why teachers are retiring. they're fed up with the way children treat them. and more, more to the point the parents are not supportive of the teachers. >> so there's a number of issues that are contributing to the recruitment and retention crisis. pay. that's been held back, workloads that are very high, but also that lack of flexibility. graduates now are entering the workforce where there is an expectation that they can do 2 or 3 days a week at home teaching doesn't allow that. so the government do need to think quite radically about how it can inject some greater flexibility into the profession. >> some people listening will think, yeah, what you mean is you want a four day week? >> not at all. i think every teacher recognises that it's a labour intensive job, but teachers in england have some of the highest contact time with students in the world. there's not that space to plan and prepare high quality lessons. you know, you're constantly at the chalk face, quite literally.

and, you know, we just need to look at other countries like singapore where, where, where there is such greater time to have that planning and thinking, time that teachers don't have here. >> pay will be an issue. and you've got a 5.5% pay rise from the government that's smashed inflation. the government talk about a big black hole in finance. of course i would argue some of these pay rises have done that. but junior doctors got a 22.22% pay rise over two years. why are you the poor relation? >> well, the junior doctors took very significant levels of industrial action to achieve their their award, we have got their their award, we have got the first inflation plus pay award in real terms this year. it's our position that actually pay it's our position that actually pay needs to be corrected over the course of a parliament. so we'll be looking to work with government to ensure that we get another inflation plus pay award next year. and what if you don't ? next year. and what if you don't? well, i think the government would need to really consider

what that would mean. in england, teachers earn around £7,000 a year less than teachers in scotland in their fifth year of teaching. that's not fair, but it's not just about fairness. this government, if it wants to recruit and retain teachers to bring class sizes down to a more manageable , down to a more manageable, respectable level, then it does have to lift the pay of the teachers. >> let me ask you again, what if they don't ? did you do you they don't? did you do you reserve the right to consider or take industrial action? we've had industrial action in our schools before. when you're when under your predecessor. >> well, we would obviously consider what our members felt about any future pay award and then act accordingly. if the pay award was so insulting that, you know, it was a further pay cut, i could not envisage any other direction of travel that would lead to and would that be a work to rule or would you, would you actually put a vote for strike action? well, it would depend.

it's very hypothetical this andrew. but you know, if we were if we were to endure another pay cut , then i could see no other cut, then i could see no other opfion cut, then i could see no other option than to have another strike. >> have you met the new secretary of state, bridget phillipson? >> yes, i've met i've met the secretary of state and i must say that she has really worked hard to reset the relationship with the profession. she's really building trust with the profession, which is welcome. our concerns are around the treasury, really. we do need to see that investment in education. we need to see school funding go up. you have to bear in mind bhutan spends about 7% of gdp on education in britain . of gdp on education in britain. we just spend around 3.9% of gdp on education. >> well, you talk about the treasury. we're just about to hear from the chancellor. what do you want it to say? i would like to see that she is committed to breaking with the consensus, where you see wealth extracted from our communities to essentially line the pockets of the wealthy. >> she has to end the direction of travel, of austerity. people

have had enough of cuts. we need good jobs, good homes and good services. >> excuse me , i'm having >> excuse me, i'm having a coughing fit here, >> have you met the chancellor? >> have you met the chancellor? >> i've only met rachel briefly in passing, yes. >> were you at bridget philipson's 40th birthday party? >> i did, paid for by lord alli, so i, i, i believe i was actually, there was an invite to many, to many people in education and yeah , i went, just education and yeah, i went, just finally, this is , this is i'm finally, this is, this is i'm just going to be giving some water because i'm coughing my thank you very much. >> this doesn't look very don't worry. >> that's better. let's get back to it. so finally, this is a big moment for the labour party, a big moment for you. you support a labour government. the first speech to a labour conference by a chancellor of the exchequer since 2009. it's against a

backdrop of great unrest over winter fuel allowance . croney winter fuel allowance. croney gapes, he said. what can she do to turn it round? >> well, she has to absolutely change. people are crying out for change. we have change begins as a slogan here, but people absolutely need to see that as a material reality in their everyday lives, that their living standards are improving, that rents and mortgages are more affordable, that they've got money in their pockets and unless she can start to show that that is going to be the direction of travel, this government will become increasingly unpopular. >> gave sage warning i just finally, can i ask you a very personal question. you must be the youngest union general secretary. you are a mere 3037. are you too young for the job, >> i think i'm very lucky and honoured. and privileged to be in the position that i am in. teaching is a very young profession. these days, because many older teachers have been forced out of the profession. i

absolutely relish the opportunity that i have. i think i'm the second youngest, but yeah , i think that brings some youth. >> well, it's great to have you on the programme. this is daniel zebedee. he is the secretary, the general secretary of the national education union, the largest teaching union. you heard what he said. this government has got to listen. and so far they haven't been listening. and we're going to be listening. and we're going to be listening to the the chancellor of the very shortly. so stay tuned here with me,

next. >> jobs, a month are being lost in england and wales during the first half of 2024. why are pubs going so out of fashion and what can be done to turn their fortunes around? we're also just showing you some pictures here. of course we're going to be

going back to the labour party conference at some point , within conference at some point, within the next, probably within the next ten minutes while i'm still on air. rachel reeves is obviously talking at midday. the chancellor this is a big day for her. she's got to tell us what she's going to do to help us all feel like we've got a little bit more money in our pockets. well, people who don't have a lot of money in their pockets right now are pub owners, and we're joined now by the founder of city pub group, clive watson. good morning clive. anecdotally morning. anecdotally, we all know , don't we, that pubs appear know, don't we, that pubs appear to be closing on the high street, but when you see it in black and white like this at 50 pubs a month in england and wales, the start of 2024, you realise how serious this decline is, what can be done to turn this around? >> well, it's basically you've got to reduce taxation on the industry . got to reduce taxation on the industry. now, i got to reduce taxation on the industry . now, i know every industry. now, i know every industry. now, i know every industry says that, but the pub industry says that, but the pub industry is that one of the most overtaxed industries in the whole country. you know , beer, whole country. you know, beer, duty, vat, we employ a lot of

staff. so a lot. hi employers, national insurance, the national living wage going up by much more than inflation each year. all these extra costs on the business. you cannot squeeze that lemon much more because there's nothing left to come out of it. >> do you do you get the feeling maybe that this government just don't. really. and i would also say the previous government just don't really care about pubs , don't really care about pubs, because it's one of those businesses which does so much more than just quench people's thirsts. they are the heart of the community. it might be where you meet the person that you eventually marry and have a family with. pubs are important, but i get the feeling that the politicians just don't really share that sense of the belief in what they represent to us. >> yeah, i think that's right. i mean , look, i think the mean, look, i think the government, the last government was very good during covid. they gave a lot of support to the industry. but but once we came out of it, that support was withdrawn very quickly, the

current government, they're talking about banning smoking in beer gardens and things like that. it's almost like you say they don't really care about the social benefit that pubs give to communities. where else can people meet up and convivial environment. and as you say, meet, meet with potentially the next girlfriend or, or just, you know, the neighbours or whatever. why? why are we taxing something so hard which offers something so hard which offers so much? >> yeah, we've seen some pubs, clive have to pivot and be very inventive. and they were during the pandemic with outdoor areas and being able to order at the table. i mean, that's a divisive issue. a lot of people don't like the qr codes, do they? but is that the challenge effectively that pubs have to face? they've just got to start reinventing because things aren't staying the same, but they are . they are. >> they're evolving so quickly now and you know, they're using

technology to try and as you say, get the benefits of things like ordering on the app or pre—ordering and all the rest. but but at the end of the day, you need pubs are about hospitality and you customers like to engage with staff . so like to engage with staff. so you need that that workforce in the pub and that gets more and more expensive each year. now, i'm not saying national living wage shouldn't go up , i'm not saying national living wage shouldn't go up, i'm just saying that other taxes should therefore come down. you know, vat would be a good one. or like the last government increased beer duty or alcoholic duty a lot . and i think, i think in lot. and i think, i think in germany the duty on on alcohol is about one ninth of the duty in this country. so don't just look at this as a cash cow every yeah look at this as a cash cow every year. look at this as try and expand hospitality, not restrict it. >> look looking forward to her speech this afternoon. rachel reeves was speaking this morning

and she said we are not going to put up vat to help working people , but it's almost like people, but it's almost like they've completely ignoring the idea that that's not necessarily a win, but the vat coming down would really help pubs . we've would really help pubs. we've run out of time, clive, but listen, i wish you all the best there. clive watson there, the founder of city pub group. we are against the clock this morning because of course, as we've been saying all morning, rachel reeves is going to be taking to the stage to talk at the labour party conference. any minute now. but good afternoon, britain. we'll be taking you through that . so i will hand you through that. so i will hand you over to the very capable hands of emily and tom. here they are. >> we will indeed. tom harwood is in liverpool for the conference. >> of course he is. but yes, we will be bringing you the chancellor of the exchequer. rachel reeves speech live at midday. how will it go down in the room? there's a huge amount of anger inside the conference hall and outside the conference hall and outside the conference hall about the scrapping of winter fuel payments. and of course, there's a huge amount of anger and frustration over freebie gate, donor gate ,

freebie gate, donor gate, wardrobe gate, whatever you want to call it. there's a lot of angen to call it. there's a lot of anger. so how will that go down in the room? she supposedly going to adopt a more positive point of view. we'll

good afternoon britain. it's 12:00 on monday the 23rd of september. i'm emily carver and yes, in just a few minutes we're going to be live in liverpool because the chancellor, rachel reeves, will be delivering her speech at the labour conference it's been much awaited. she will aim, of course, to unite her party amid rather a few scandals. a bitter feud and discontent over the axing of winter fuel payments. we've seen anger within the conference hall this morning and there are protests due this lunchtime outside the conference hall as well. there's a huge amount, amount of pressure on rachel reeves to lift the mood. she's going to ensure that the work of

change has only just begun. okay, well, we're going to cross live to liverpool straightaway. tom harwood joins me at the labour conference. tom, what can we expect ? we expect? >> well, it's interesting , isn't >> well, it's interesting, isn't it? after two months of doom and gloom and what many people have said is amounting to talking down the british economy, might we see an about u—turn from the chancellor today, at least in terms of tone ? yes. all of the terms of tone? yes. all of the briefing that we've been hearing here at the conference is that the chancellor is going to try and be more optimistic in her speech today. and part of that might be because people have been feeling pretty down about the state of the economy , even the state of the economy, even though the economic fundamentals haven't really been that bad. the deficit is very low and there are many other very good signs in the economy. but ever since taking office, this government has, of course been talking down the inheritance that they got. and some economists have been saying that

has contributed to an unexpected fall in consumer confidence. consumer confidence had been climbing and climbing and climbing and climbing and climbing in the united kingdom until last month, when we saw a pretty precipitous dip that, of course, all coincided with the government saying how tough their inheritance was and how painful the coming budget will be. have they overdone it? have they talked down the british economy too much? that could be one of the reasons why we might well hear from the chancellor something more optimistic in the hall. i'm sat here just yards from where the chancellor will be speaking in any moment now, and i'm very interested to hear precisely what she says. will there be a rabbit out of the hat? sometimes, of course, there are big policy moments in these speeches. we have, of course, heard one moment of policy. so far at this conference a new planning passport that was announced slipped out on saturday night, where we learned

some of