underway, police are manhunt underway, police are searching for an assailant after two schoolchildren and a member of staff were hospitalised following a suspected acid attack at a school in west london will be on the scene and shut for good. britain's only remaining coal power plant at ratcliffe on soar in nottinghamshire, has closed down after powering the united kingdom for 57 years, the end of an era. but how will this impact the area, and have we simply outsourced our carbon footprint .7 outsourced our carbon footprint? to well , tom, outsourced our carbon footprint? to well, tom, another busy day ahead at the conservative party conference there in birmingham . conference there in birmingham. >> that's right. a very busy day here in birmingham . here in birmingham. >> i'm at the tom tugendhat stall where the conservative leadership contender is releasing new merchandise. let's see if we can have a little look at this merchandise here. i'm

going to see if i can cheekily grab one. yes that's right, you can get a tom tugendhat . they can get a tom tugendhat. they love the puns here. i'm going to see if i can grab a quick word with tom. he's clearly doing some posing for some photographs here, but you can also see there are, actually, i'm fairly disappointed with the lack of the pun on a mug, but the hats, the pun on a mug, but the hats, the hats are fantastic . tom, the hats are fantastic. tom, tom, you're live on gb news. what is your favourite piece of merch? >> well, my favourite piece of merch has to be the tom tat that is now on richard's arm. there we go. branding. branding the journalist. are you going to have a tom tat? >> tom, i took a tom tat yesterday. i might have to get another one. i have to ask , have another one. i have to ask, have you had a tom tat? >> well, it would be indiscreet to say what my tom tat is. >> well, thank you very much. thanks very much. there we go. lots of fun here at the tom tugendhat stand. back to you, emily. >> goodness me, it would be indiscreet to say where the tom tat is . very interesting indeed. tat is. very interesting indeed. tom, thank you very much. we'll check in with you very shortly

indeed. it looks like there's quite the buzz going on over the merchandise desk. anyway, please do get in touch at home. you know, the way to do so. gbnews.com/yoursay. but let's get the news headlines with tatiana . tatiana. >> emily. thank you and good afternoon. the top stories from the gb newsroom. the foreign secretary has warned the situation in lebanon is volatile, as he repeated his call for britons to leave while they can. his comments come as they can. his comments come as the israeli army says it's begun a targeted ground operation against the iranian backed terror group hezbollah, with artillery fires reported in the southern parts of beirut. hezbollah has reportedly responded with artillery fire into israel. the lebanese prime minister has described this as one of the most dangerous moments in their history. it's the first time since 2006 that israel has had boots on the ground inside lebanon. this all comes as the uk government has chartered a commercial flight to help british nationals leave.

the plane is due to take off from beirut rafic hariri international airport tomorrow. david lammy says the situation could get much more dangerous and has called for an immediate ceasefire . ceasefire. >> position remains the same, having spoken to our american colleagues and other allies, we're calling for an immediate ceasefire. we need a diplomatic solution to the problems in lebanon so that israelis can go back to their home in northern israel and lebanese can return to their homes in southern israel. so at this time, we want to see a political solution. the amos hochstein plan, which is on the table from the americans and an immediate ceasefire. >> former british army spokesperson major michael shearer told gb news israel have had no choice. >> israel are fighting for their very existence since october 7th

last year and the day after , last year and the day after, when hezbollah got themselves involved in this and they've been raining rockets down on the israeli family, 60,000 of which are now displaced in their own country as a result, i think israel have got no , no choice israel have got no, no choice but to deal with this in the lebanon. i mean, they've given a year now for the lebanese authorities to do something about it who are clearly impotent and can't, can't do anything, and to influence hezbollah at all. >> tom tugendhat says he was extremely concerned by tory leadership . rival robert jenrick leadership. rival robert jenrick claim that special forces are killing rather than capturing terrorists, saying it demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of the law of armed conflict. mr tugendhat also told gb news there's a very clear argument that defence spending in the uk should be increased towards 3%. >> 25 years ago i joined the army and i swore allegiance to

her majesty the queen and i swore to protect our country and ihave swore to protect our country and i have always kept my promise. and what i've done is i've served on operations in iraq and afghanistan. i've been in combat and i've seen what this country needs to protect ourselves . so needs to protect ourselves. so today, what am i thinking about? i'm thinking about defence spending. i'm thinking about the fact that labour is making us less safe by not investing in the technology that we need for the technology that we need for the future . and so what you'll the future. and so what you'll get from me as a leader is a leader who can decide, a leader who will serve, and a leader who will always act in the national interest. >> in other news, former prime minister rishi sunak's slogan stop the boats has been described as an error and unachievable by former home secretary and leadership contender james cleverly. that's as he and fellow leadership contender robert jenrick will prepare to face questions from the membership at the conservative party, conservative party conference today. mr cleverly told gb news this morning that he's the right person to create optimism for the country about optimism. >> it's about a focus on the future. it's about paying less

tax. it's about more jobs and better jobs. these are the betterjobs. these are the things that i'm passionate about. these are the things i've always been passionate about. and if i become the leader of the party, i'm best placed to kick out labour and get this country headed back in the right direction. >> the metropolitan police have launched a manhunt after a suspected acid attack took place at a west london school yesterday afternoon. a 14 year old girl has been seriously injured after a substance believed to be acidic was thrown at her and two others outside of the westminster academy. the girl remains in hospital with potentially life changing injuries. a 16 year old boy also remains in hospital with non—life changing injuries, and a woman aged 27, has been sent home from hospital after also being hurt in that attack. elsewhere, changes to the price cap on consumer energy bills take effect from this month following the announcement by the regulator ofgem. a 10%

domestic gas and electricity price rise has taken effect as debate continues over the withdrawal of additional support. a household in england, wales and scotland, using a typical amount of gas and electricity, will pay £1,717 a year from now, a rise to the annual bill of £149. it comes as winter approaches without extra cost of living payments for those on low incomes, and as winter fuel payments are withdrawn for around 10 million pensioners. energy firms have said, though, that they're helping, struggling and vulnerable customers . and new vulnerable customers. and new rules have come into force banning businesses from withholding tips or service charges from their staff. firms, including restaurants , pubs, including restaurants, pubs, hairdressers and taxi operators are set to be impacted by the new law , requiring 100% of tips new law, requiring 100% of tips to be shared between employees from today. however, hospitality industry bosses say the move could hit under pressure. businesses with an additional

cost , and businesses with an additional cost, and those are the businesses with an additional cost , and those are the latest cost, and those are the latest gb news headlines. for now, i'm tatiana sanchez. more from me in half an hour for the very latest gb news direct to your smartphone, sign up to news alerts by scanning the qr code , alerts by scanning the qr code, or go to gbnews.com forward slash alerts . slash alerts. >> okay good afternoon britain. it is now 1208 and we're going to cross back over to birmingham, where the conservative party conference is getting into its second day, and we're going to cross to olivia utley, our political correspondent who is at the stand. olivia, thank you very much indeed. i believe you are with anna firth. is that right? >> hello? yes, i am with conservative mp anna firth. anna, thank you very much for joining us today. now you're

supporting james cleverly. the shadow home secretary. how do you think his campaign is going? extremely well, actually, no, we're having a very, very good conference. >> huge amount of interest. conference. >> huge amount of interest . and, >> huge amount of interest. and, you know, james is so experienced. he's the most experienced. he's the most experienced candidate by far. so, you know, he's very used to these to these events. and you know we're getting our message out there. he is the unity candidate. he is the candidate with the experience at winning elections. he is the candidate that wants to talk less and do more. >> are you at all worried about his momentum in this campaign? because between the first and the second votes, he didn't pick up any new votes, and there are some people suggesting that perhaps his vote could end up rolling into tom tugendhat, and he could be sidelined altogether. is that a worry? >> i don't see it that way at all. and actually, no, i'm not i'm not worried in the slightest. i mean, in the in the mp votes , there's an awful lot mp votes, there's an awful lot of votes being borrowed. votes being shared, votes being bought and we haven't done that in

james's campaign. you know, james's campaign. you know, james james's campaign is his votes are absolutely solid. and i think what we're going to see at the next vote is that james is going to be clearly, clearly up there and clearly make it through to the final two. and once he gets to the final two, i'm confident that he will go on and win that. >> how about his slight proneness for making gaffes? there was those comments that he made about the rwanda policy , made about the rwanda policy, which came out when he was home secretary. i don't think i can actually repeat it on air, but i hope you know what i'm talking about. do you need are you do you need with such a small opposition party, is it a bit of a worry having someone who could just put their foot in it at any moment? >> oh , i don't think don't think >> oh, i don't think don't think that that that's james at all. james is by far and away the best placed candidate to actually unite our party and bnng actually unite our party and bring all four wings together. and i've worked with him as the as a parliamentary private secretary in the home office. i've actually seen him do that . i've actually seen him do that. he was plucked out of the foreign office where he was

doing phenomenally well and put into the home office literally just two weeks before the first rwanda vote, which was incredibly controversial. people were saying, probably your station was saying, you know, the conservatives are split. we might have a general election before christmas or in january. we didn't. the reason we didn't was because james was able to bnng was because james was able to bring all four wings of the party together, and we actually got through those votes both before christmas and after. so i've actually seen the seen him unite our party, which is why i know, i know he is the one to unite us. >> conservative mps seem a little bit split on the timings for this election campaign. there are those. tom tugendhat yesterday was saying that it should be brought forwards and if he was the new leader, he would like to be the one responding to the budget on october the 30th. do you agree with that or do you think it's sensible to push it back until the 2nd of november, after the budget has already been done? >> well, initially, when the timetable was set, i thought it was absolutely the right the

right length of time. you know, we did lose. we did lose big, proper renewal, proper, proper, proper renewal, proper, proper, proper review. but none of us could have anticipated that labour were going to be as disastrous as they have turned out to be. you know , only today out to be. you know, only today they promised in their manifesto energy bills would come down today. announcement. energy bills are all going up by £150. you know, taking, taking freebies and robbing our old pensioners . none of freebies and robbing our old pensioners. none of us could have imagined they would be so bad. which means we do need that that person in place, we do need to challenge them. and so actually on this, i would agree with tom what i would like to see happen. and this is not my idea. this is ian dale's idea. we've got two parliamentary questions. two pmqs after this conference, after the next vote and before the members vote. the final two should be given the chance to challenge keir at the despatch box. and then we can really see what they're made of. >> well, that's a very interesting idea. thank you very

much . much. >> you're welcome. >> you're welcome. >> okay. well thank you very much indeed, olivia utley, for bringing us that interview. there you go. anna firth mp very much in favour of james cleverly being the next conservative leader. i mean, there's been a lot in the headlines from all of these different candidates. robert jenrick especially seems to be making the headlines and we're going to be speaking to him at about 2:00 in this show today. christopher hope has got many a question for him. he's been making all sorts of headlines, particularly over this, this suggestion. he's facing a backlash over what he said about the sas, how they're killing, not capturing terrorists. and this is the reason why we need to leave the echr. i'm going to get a little bit more detail on that from you about what exactly he's saying, because the former attorney general, dominic grieve, certainly has a lot to say about that particular claim, but we're going to get stuck into that. and many more things with tom harwood, our deputy political edhon harwood, our deputy political editor, and also, of course, my partner on the show who is in birmingham for us, tom, there's

lots of headlines going on from all of these different candidates, potentially a few gaffes. i am interested. what can you tell us about what robert jenrick had to say? i believe this was in a video that he put out on his social media. about the sas killing, not capturing terrorists. there's been some kind of backlash towards what he said . towards what he said. >> that's right. robert jenrick puts out a video yesterday on social media that went through all of the different issues, in his view, that there are with the european court of human rights and the convention. he spoke about how it was originally conceived with noble intentions , partly written and intentions, partly written and promoted, of course, by winston churchill. yet in the 1970s it was decided that this should be a living document rather than one frozen in time. what does that mean? that judges can interpret into what has been written before , things that written before, things that weren't originally intended, so

that it can move with the times so that the convention can stay up to date and without the need for formal amendments, could be the basis for adjudications on many different things that people in the 1950s couldn't possibly imagine. for the proponents of the echr, they say that's a wonderful thing . it's that's a wonderful thing. it's a living, breathing document, and the judges in strasbourg are able to determine their view on things that no one could have thought of 70 years ago. for those that disagree with the echr, however, this is the precise issue. the idea that the scope of the convention has grown and grown, and it started dictating policy and preventing things that people who wrote it could never have imagined. but more to that, in his video, robert jenrick spoke about how this has changed the way that we do things in the uk. he referenced 5 or 6 different

terrorists and terror suspects who have not been able to be deported due to their rights under the convention and more than that, he also spoke of british sas fighters having killed rather than captured terrorists because they would not be able to deport said terrorists had they been captured. this is the bit that has caused all of the controversy. tom tugendhat this morning hitting out at robert jenrick, saying he doesn't understand anything about the armed forces, and former attorney general dominic grieve also heavily criticising what robert jenrick said specifically about that operational practice. he alleged from the sas . now it he alleged from the sas. now it must be said robert jenrick hasn't taken down the video and he's sticking by his claims. >> robert jenrick has very much been leading his campaign on the issue of immigration. it seems every single day he's got a new revelation for the media to talk about. revelation for the media to talk about . mostly things that have

about. mostly things that have been going on in the home office and how he wants to clamp down on illegal migration and legal migration. do you think that is why kemi badenoch and other contenders are now talking more strongly about the issue of immigration? kemi badenoch she hasn't previously put a number on what she'd like to see when it comes to legal immigration, but now she's talking about a cap . cap. >> yes, it's interesting because kemi badenoch had been explicitly opposed to a cap up until very , very recently until very, very recently indeed. and now we hear about numbers. when i spoke to kemi on sunday, she said that it was wrong for her opponents to allege that she doesn't care about numbers, she does care about numbers, she does care about numbers, she does care about numbers and it seems that that there's been an evolution in her position over the last couple of days, talking much more strongly on that issue of migration. but of course, there are big, big issues here because robert jenrick has made migration the front and centre issue of his campaign since the start. other candidates have been focusing on other issues, but it does seem that today,

migration is the name of the game and all the candidates are saying more on this issue and let's turn our attention to james cleverly as well, because he's been making headlines saying that the stop the boats messaging, which i believe was his messaging, was an error. well, the stop the boats messaging originally developed under suella braverman, who then james cleverly replaced as home secretary. he kept the messaging, he kept the policy. but at the time there was a bit of consternation over the fact that james cleverly had reportedly been very rude about the rwanda policy, saying things that i'm not sure i can repeat at this time on television, and saying that it was a useless policy. but of course he has . saying that it was a useless policy. but of course he has. he stepped away from those reported comments, trying to explain them as about implementation rather than the idea of a deterrent, which he says he has always

supported. but yes, the message from james cleverly today is this idea that stop the boats as a slogan was achievable under the last parliament, set the conservative party up for failure because saying stop the boats would really imply hello would really imply that the boats could all have been stopped. i've just been photo bombed by tom tugendhat. i didn't expect that at this time. and you know, we've got to stop meeting each other this way. but yes , he has been thrown off track. >> the tory leadership candidates . candidates. >> yes. well, we did visit his stand earlier. so we want to be fair to everyone. but but yes, the idea that stop the boats as a slogan could be, could be achieved. really implied zero boats. so no matter how many boats. so no matter how many boats , how many fewer boats were boats, how many fewer boats were coming, it would never be enough because of that slogan. that seems to be the message from james cleverly . james cleverly. >> and just very, very quickly, we've seen the reform reform candidates. we've seen tory

candidates. we've seen tory candidates come out and say , candidates come out and say, absolutely, we will not have a merger with the reform party. absolutely not. a new survey out saying that conservative party members do back a merger with reform. should they just stay quiet on the issue ? quiet on the issue? >> it's interesting, isn't it? the conservative party members do back a merger, but it has to be said the reform party members don't. and when it comes to a merger, the issue will be are both parties agreeing? i can't see it happening in the next parliament. i can't see it being a live issue . it would be an a live issue. it would be an issue, i think, for the membership if one of the candidates had been in favour and the other three were against or something like that, but given that they are all taking a uniform position on this, this won't be a sort of wedge issue amongst the membership. it won't be a battleground in the votes going forward. >> yes. no one wants to be an outsider on that one. thank you very much indeed , tom harwood. very much indeed, tom harwood. we'll be back with you a little later in the show. there you go.

you never know who's going to p0p up you never know who's going to pop up behind you when it's live television. anyway, we've got lots more coming up on today's show. you're watching. good afternoon britain. israel has launched a ground invasion into southern lebanon. we'll bring

okay. welcome back to good afternoon britain. it is now 1224. and in what marks another major escalation in the conflict in the middle east, idf forces have entered lebanon and launched what israel describes as limited, targeted ground raids against the terrorist group hezbollah. both sides are also continuing to exchange intense artillery fire. air raid sirens ringing out across israel israel has also accused hezbollah of using lebanese civilians as human shields. meanwhile, uk foreign secretary david lammy is urging any british nationals still in lebanon to leave before it's too late, with more evacuation flights planned . well, for the flights planned. well, for the latest on all of this, i'm joined by gb news home and

security editor mark white. mark, let's begin with the brits who are in lebanon. they're being told to leave as soon as possible. how are we helping in that? >> well, there is an urgent effort now to try to convince people to get out , get out of people to get out, get out of harm's way. there are still thousands of either dual british nationals or british nationals who are living and working around lebanon itself. and we've got the foreign secretary, david lammy, once again urging people to get out while they can. the british government is helping charter civilian flights to go in, but this is what david lammy said. a short time ago about really real concerns about that airport closing very soon. >> have warned and cautioned now for months that we have seen in previous crisis between israel and lebanon. the airport close and lebanon. the airport close and we cannot guarantee that we will be able to get people out

in a speedy fashion and of course, this is now turning into a very, very concerning situation on the ground . situation on the ground. >> so that's the hope in terms of clearly utilising this civilian capacity. but once that airport closes, it's going to have to be a military effort. so in other words, we're going to put our troops in harm's way to get these people who haven't yet left out of lebanon, should they want to leave. and to that end, the cyprus mail has issued a front page showing a picture of the tents that are now at raf akrotiri. hopefully we can show you that image. there you can see it there, this is at the military base, raf akrotiri in cyprus, where these tents are there to house basically people while they're being processed, because it's not just a matter

of taking them out of lebanon. you have to check that they've got an entitlement to be returned to the uk. so border force personnel for instance, along with foreign office colleagues, are out in cyprus as well as they expect , probably well as they expect, probably over the coming days. thousands of dual national or british nationals in lebanon to make their way somehow to cyprus and then onward to the uk. >> and what is the scale of this latest invasion from israel, a ground invasion? could it be that we see a mass movement of people to neighbouring countries? >> well, this is the worry. and of course, that will impact us here because any time there's an international conflict, you've got people on the move and a significant number of them end up trying to get into europe , up up trying to get into europe, up to northern france and across the english channel, to the uk. and already we've got the

lebanese prime minister saying that a million plus people in lebanon are internally displaced. now, that doesn't mean that they've fled the country. they're they're in country. they're they're in country but not able to live in their homes at the moment. but it's clear that israel wants to continue this operation. it's a limited for the moment, but they are determined to push this terrorist group , hezbollah, back terrorist group, hezbollah, back from the southern border with northern israel because, according to rear admiral daniel hagari, the israeli military spokesman, they really have intelligence that points to the fact that hezbollah was planning an assault on northern israel. similar to the deadly assault that happened in gaza, and the surrounding communities surrounding communities surrounding gaza about a year ago. this is what daniel hagari said hezbollah turned lebanese villages next to israeli villages next to israeli villages into military bases.

>> all ready for an attack on israel. hezbollah had prepared to use those villages as staging grounds for an october 7th style invasion into israeli homes. hezbollah planned to invade israel, attack israeli communities, and massacre innocent men, women and children. they called this plan to conquer the galilee . to conquer the galilee. >> now it's clear the idf want to completely crush hezbollah. they've said it , they've had a they've said it, they've had a number of successes, huge successes, really taking out individual hezbollah operatives, including the leader. do we know that for a fact? >> yes. it's been confirmed by hezbollah themselves that hassan nasrallah is dead. his body has been recovered from this underground compound in the south of the lebanese capital, beirut . but south of the lebanese capital, beirut. but not just him. so many senior commanders have been taken out of the picture and of

course, it followed just a fortnight ago. those devastating attacks that israel has not accepted responsibility for because it neither confirms nor denies these covert operations. but that operation to blow up thousands of pagers and walkie talkies and other communications devices used by hezbollah resulted in about 3000 injuries and almost 50 hezbollah fighters being taken out of the picture. so while that's happened, you've got hezbollah in a state somewhat of disarray. the command and control structures of this organisation severely impacted. they are firing, of course, across the border because they are well equipped, well dug in movement. but it's no doubt from israel. israel's the israeli military point of

view that they've decided that now is the time to press ahead with the advantage that they have having, you know, dealt this to blow the upper structures of hezbollah. it's to get in there to try to push them back. >> okay. well, there's so much to talk to. we'll have to leave our conversation there , but our conversation there, but we'll speak again throughout the show. on the latest developments as that intense fighting continues between israel and hezbollah. this is good afternoon britain on gb news. we've got lots more coming up on today's show. there is a manhunt underway after three people, including two schoolchildren, were hospitalised after a suspected acid attack at a school in west london. that after this . after this. >> good afternoon. the top stories. the foreign secretary has warned the situation in lebanon is volatile , as he lebanon is volatile, as he repeated his calls for britons

to leave while they still can. his comments come as the israeli army says it's begun a targeted ground operation against the iranian backed terror group hezbollah, with artillery fires reported in the southern part of beirut. hezbollah has reportedly responded with artillery fire into israel. the lebanese prime minister has described this as one of the most dangerous moments in their history. it's the first time since 2006 that israel have had boots on the ground inside of lebanon. now this all comes as the uk government has chartered a commercial flight to help british nationals leave. the plane is due to take off from beirut rafic hariri international airport tomorrow. david lammy says the situation could get much more dangerous and has called for an immediate ceasefire. >> our position remains the same. having spoken to our american colleagues and other allies, we're calling for an immediate ceasefire. we need a diplomatic solution to the

problems in lebanon, so that israelis can go back to their homes in northern israel, and lebanese can return to their homes in southern israel . so at homes in southern israel. so at this time, we want to see a political solution. the amos hochstein plan, which is on the table from the americans and an immediate ceasefire. >> tom tugendhat says he was extremely concerned by tory leadership . rival robert jenrick leadership. rival robert jenrick claim that special forces are killing rather than capturing terrorists, saying it demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of the law of armed conflict. mr tugendhat also told gb news there's a very clear argument that defence spending in the uk should be increased towards 3% in 25 years ago i joined the army and i swore allegiance to her majesty the queen and i swore to protect our country and i have always kept my promise. >> and what i've done is i've served on operations in iraq and afghanistan. i've been in combat and i've seen what this country needs to protect ourselves. so

today, what am i thinking about? i'm thinking about defence spending. i'm thinking about the fact that labour is making us less safe by not investing in the technology that we need for the technology that we need for the future. and so what you'll get from me as a leader is a leader who can decide, a leader who will serve, and a leader who will always act in the national interest. >> in other news, former prime minister rishi sunak slogan of stop the boats has been described as an error and unachievable by former home secretary and leadership contender james cleverly . that's contender james cleverly. that's as he and robert jenrick will prepare to face questions from the membership at the conservative party conference today. on day three in birmingham, mr cleverly told gb news this morning that he's the right person to create optimism for the country about optimism . for the country about optimism. >> it's about a focus on the future. it's about paying less tax, it's about more jobs and better jobs . these are the betterjobs. these are the things that i'm passionate about. these are the things i've always been passionate about. and if i become the leader of the party, i'm best placed to kick out labour and get this country headed back in the right

direction . direction. >> and the metropolitan police have launched a manhunt after a suspected acid attack took place at a west london school yesterday afternoon. a 14 year old girl has been seriously injured after a substance believed to be acidic was thrown at her and two others outside the westminster academy. the girl remains in hospital with potentially life changing injuries. a 16 year old boy also remains in hospital with non—life changing injuries and a woman, aged 27, has been sent home from hospital after she was also hurt in that attack . and also hurt in that attack. and those are the latest gb news headlines. for now i'm tatiana sanchez. more from me in half an hour for the very latest gb news direct to your smartphone, sign up to news alerts by scanning the qr code or go to gbnews.com slash alerts

>> right. well we are going to go to our reporter outside the westminster academy where a suspected acid attack took place. but we're going to go first to my presenting partner tom harwood, who's been enjoying his freedom. the conservative party conference in birmingham. tom, tell me, how is it going? how's the atmosphere going? we're hearing that robert jenrick is the one to beat. is that so? does it feel that way ? that so? does it feel that way? >> it certainly feels that way when to talking all the analysts, all the journalists, all the members, they seem to think one thing. it's pretty certain robert jenrick will get through to the final two that get to be voted upon by the members, but who else is with him in that final two is up for grabs, meaning the race is still pretty wide open. i just wanted to show you this. a daily newspaper from robert jenrick being put around. there's also a daily paper of sorts from tom

tugendhat being put out, but pretty clear the message that he's giving to tory party members today. it's echr heavy that the that the party should, should leave it, that it should back leaving it formally. and i think that is very much a farage focused strategy squeezing reform in order to help win back many seats. but i have to say jenrick said something else just two days ago, that in many ways you have to get immigration done to then move on to other issues. so he wants to talk about health, he wants to talk about growing the economy , he wants to growing the economy, he wants to talk about all these other things. but unless you solve the immigration question, he argues, you can't get on to the others. it must be said the other candidates are now starting to talk a bit more about migration. as we've been discussing a little bit earlier. kemi badenoch of course, now talking about a cap on numbers . yes. about a cap on numbers. yes. >> that's very interesting, isn't it? he's been absolutely focused on immigration from the

very start, talking about leaving the echr, talking about having a cap on immigration, talking about stopping the boats, and then slowly and surely , the other contenders are surely, the other contenders are starting to catch up and putting their strong positions across on immigration. i guess the problem is, tom, if your whole thing is about immigration and you've been a former immigration minister and your track record. i mean , people will point to it. i mean, people will point to it. >> well, exactly. that is what nigel farage has been saying about robert jenrick this whole time, that he seems to have some have had some sort of damascene conversion. how much can he be trusted on the issue? what the genenc trusted on the issue? what the generic camp say is, of course, as migration minister, he instituted reforms that slashed migration. we are seeing the fruits of those reforms now. immigration is due to fall by the largest drop in in the history of migration in this country. but of course , that was country. but of course, that was that's still a historic highs

despite the despite the drop, he's always been seen as someone a bit more moderate. he's taken a bit more moderate. he's taken a big shift in his position after being migration minister. some say that's political positioning . others say, and he positioning. others say, and he says that that's because he saw how bad things were when he was in the home office. >> yes, he says he has his eye. he had his eyes open. other people say he was radicalised by the home office, seeing how things actually went down in that department. but thank you very much indeed, tom harwood. we'll catch up with you in a little bit. you are of course, live in birmingham at the conservative party conference. we are going to be hearing more from robert jenrick. that's why we're talking about him. 2:00 christopher hope, our political edhonis christopher hope, our political editor, is going to be sitting down with him for a q and a so that'll be very interesting indeed. we'll bring some of that to you live. but in other news, the metropolitan police have launched a manhunt after a suspected acid attack took place at the westminster academy school in central london yesterday. now, two pupils and one teacher are thought to be among the victims, with the injuries of a 14 year old girl described as possibly life

changing. this is a very tragic story as it stands and we understand a manhunt is underway. joining me is gb news reporter adam cherry. adam, can you please bring us the latest ? you please bring us the latest? >> yes. i'm standing outside westminster academy, the entrance of which is where the attack took place yesterday. >> officers called at around 442 yesterday afternoon , along with yesterday afternoon, along with paramedics, as you say, three victims, two pupils and one staff member. a 27 year old. a 16 year old and a 14 year old. the two pupils remain in hospital. the 14 year old girl is expected or may have life changing injuries. the 14 excuse me, the 16 year old is perhaps in slightly better condition and the 27 year old was discharged. now, in the last hour, you may be able to see over my shoulder. there are now police officers on the scene and they are. they are here and they are expected to be here and they are expected to be here for the rest of the day. the school also remains closed due to these circumstances, and we don't expect it to remain

open or to reopen for the rest of the day. manhunt is ongoing. it's not confirmed if it's an acid attack, but that is the going theory. and that is what is suspected at this time by the metropolitan police . metropolitan police. >> i mean, devastating to hear that such an attack could have happened right outside a school in pretty much central london. very shocking indeed. a manhunt underway. i mean, we've seen what appears to be an increase in these types of acid attacks. if it is, in fact an acid attack in this case, just the just the working hypothesis as it stands from the police. do we have any idea of how far the police have got in their investigation in this manhunt? >> not yet. it's still a preliminary investigation. and they are asking for witnesses or anyone with information to come forward and speak to them. it's interesting what you say about the increase in these sorts of attacks since we've been standing here. several people have come up to us and said, this is routine now. one person

even said, not even sure why you're here, because to them, this feels like an everyday occurrence. in their words . so occurrence. in their words. so of course it is devastating, but unfortunately it happens more often than it used to and more often than it used to and more often than it should. of course , often than it should. of course, very much indeed, adam. >> and i'm sure we'll find out what on earth the motivation could have been in the fullness of time. thank you very much, adam. we'll catch up with you later in the day, i'm sure. that's adam cherry, our reporter outside of westminster academy in paddington, central london. this all happened at about 440 in the afternoon yesterday . so in the afternoon yesterday. so that would have been broad daylight. quite extraordinary. a manhunt underway, and we'll bnng manhunt underway, and we'll bring you any developments as and when we get them. this is good afternoon britain on gb news. we've got lots more coming up on today's show. it looks like the only way is up when it comes to energy bills. yes. that ofgem price cap is on its way up on the same day as the last coal plant coal powered plant in the country

okay good afternoon britain. it's now 1249 and sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but energy bills for typical households in england , wales and households in england, wales and scotland are going to rise by £149 annually as of today, bringing the total to 1717 on average per year. pounds that is , average per year. pounds that is, and with the winter approaching, concerns, of course, are growing over the withdrawal of additional support for low income households and of course, those winter fuel payments for pensioners. so joining me now is the former chief executive of energy uk, angela knight. i mean we've got a lot coming at once. don't we angela. we've got the price cap going up. we've got winter fuel payments being taken away. and we're also hearing that the uk could be set for some of the coldest temperatures in europe in the next few months. it's going to be a difficult winter . difficult winter. >> sorry, emily, the earpiece fell out. let me have a go.

thoughi fell out. let me have a go. though i think i heard most of your question. i mean, the first thing is this was actually expected that the price was going to go up today, and we will probably see another price increase at the turn of the yeah >> it won't go back to those huge rises there. we saw a little while ago. so that at least is one good thing. but we are looking at £2,000 or thereabouts as being that average price that people will have to pay for their gas and electricity, and people will be concerned about this. and it does stand very badly with the proposal or the decision. i should say , of the government to should say, of the government to take away the winter fuel allowance from so many people. >> yes, absolutely. we've been promised from the new government that things like gb energy will result in lower bills across the board. what's the likelihood of that ? that? >> load of old rubbish. i'm afraid. let's just sort of pick the things apart. in fact, today that you may not have seen, but

there has also been another energy announcement. it is today, i believe, that what's called the energy or electricity systems operator, the esa gets taken into public ownership. thatis taken into public ownership. that is the government. ed miliband has bought the systems operator for 600 plus million pounds. it had been sitting alongside national grid. it was perfectly fine there. so, you know, there's a whole load of money that seems to be available for a bit of infrastructure that he wants to manipulate , and he wants to manipulate, and there isn't necessarily the for money those people who need it and their bills. but if we look ahead. gb energy in fact, the whole of the energy programme as it has been set out is going to add significantly to people's bills. unless there's a new way of paying for it. and the reason i say that is because every time you build a wind farm, because wind is renewable, it doesn't. yes, but it doesn't blow all the time. you've also got to have another something on standby built and ready to swing in on

those days where you need the power but you haven't got the wind and that's either by building them back up. and we haven't done that small scale nuclear power stations he talks about, but they're not underway. or you actually have to import. and then you're going to be on the wholesale price again. and that's going to put our prices up. so there's nothing that i've seen about this government's energy programme that makes sense from the perspective of keeping people's bills down. and frankly, i think it is deceptive and deception to tell people that's going to happen. you cannot build this amount of power. you cannot have it as intermittent . you cannot have to intermittent. you cannot have to spend as much money on the grid. you cannot avoid building backup in one way or another without it costing us a lot of money. >> angela, we don't have much time left, but a very interesting to pick up on the fact that ed miliband well, interesting to pick up on the fact that ed miliband well , the fact that ed miliband well, the government has chosen to buy out this electricity system operator

from the national grid for 630 million. i'm reading here. why would they do that? what's the point of that? from the government's perspective ? government's perspective? >> well, i've been wondering about that as well. i mean, it has been operating as a separate company, and i do appreciate under national grid . so there under national grid. so there are some conflicts there, but i can't see that this would be the time to buy that entity out. what it does is it is the entity at the moment that decides how much power is required at any 30 minute period in the country, and which generators it takes that power from. and of course, what it does is it takes the cheapest ones first and the most expensive one last. so it operates against an algorithm, and it has operated well. and the algorithm itself i and now the. >> sorry to interrupt angela. and now the government will. the government will be taking control of this. but, angela, i'm terribly sorry. we're going

to have to leave it there because we've come to the end of the hour. chief executive of energy uk, angela knight there. we'll continue that conversation. i'm sure, very soon this good afternoon britain on gb news. lots more coming up. stay with us. it's the weather. >> heavy showers. first thing will be followed by a warm, cosy day . boxt will be followed by a warm, cosy day. boxt boilers will be followed by a warm, cosy day . boxt boilers sponsors of day. boxt boilers sponsors of weather on gb news. >> hello and welcome to the latest update from the met office for gb news still further rain through the rest of the day across central and eastern parts of the country. drier elsewhere with the brightest weather expected in the west and most especially the north—west, western scotland and northern ireland as this area of high pressure builds in. but the low that we've had since the weekend is slow to clear and that's going to bring more persistent wet weather through northern england into the midlands and east anglia. and then this area, the rain heavy at times falling on top of saturated ground, could cause further issues . 1 or could cause further issues. 1 or 2 showers into north—east scotland, west wales , the

scotland, west wales, the south—west, but otherwise plenty of fine and bright weather towards the west. 1617 celsius possible, but not feeling pleasant where we've got the rain and a strong wind continuing for parts of eastern england, and those outbreaks of rain carry on into the evening for east anglia, london, the south east spells of rain moving through the midlands, parts of east wales as well, and northern england also seeing a few light showers. but scotland, northern ireland a beautiful end to the day. plenty of clear skies and as the sun goes down, most parts of the north will be increasingly dry. but we do have that rain and the thick cloud continuing across eastern parts of england into areas of the midlands, the south—east as well perhaps into central southern england. at times overnight, with all the cloud in central and eastern parts where it's going to stay at around 11 or 12 celsius, but a colder night to come for scotland and northern ireland. a few missed patches

and temperatures into the low single figures in some sheltered spots , but that's where we've spots, but that's where we've got the brightest skies on wednesday in northern ireland. scotland, plenty of sunshine and that sunshine extending into parts of northern england as well. still some showers for east anglia in the southeast, but less wet overall and for many other areas. it's a decent day.

>> good afternoon britain . it's >> good afternoon britain. it's 1:00 on tuesday the 1st of october. i'm emily carver and i'm tom harwood live from the conservative party conference where things are getting a little heated. >> ooh , israel invades. >> ooh, israel invades. >> ooh, israel invades. >> israeli troops have launched a ground invasion into southern lebanon in what the israeli military is calling a limited, localised and targeted ground operation against hezbollah. this just days after the assassination of the group's leader, hassan nasrallah, and

manhunt underway, police are searching for an assailant after two schoolchildren and a member of staff were hospitalised following a suspected acid attack at a school in west london. we're on the scene and shut for good britain's only remaining coal power plant at ratcliffe on soar in nottinghamshire , has closed down nottinghamshire, has closed down after powering the united kingdom for 57 years, the end of an era. how will this impact the area, and have we simply outsourced our carbon footprint ? outsourced our carbon footprint? okay, tom, you say things are heating up. how so ? heating up. how so? >> well, goodness me, it does seem that the candidates are going for one another in a way that i don't think they were previously in the start of this contest. you now have much heavier briefing candidates against candidate than you did at the start of the process. you

have teams behind the scenes pointing to comments that other candidates have made . but also candidates have made. but also what you have now is candidates popping what you have now is candidates popping out onto television and saying things directly about other candidates. so for example, tom tugendhat this morning saying directly that robert jenrick just didn't understand how the army worked after he alleged that the sas assassinates rather than capture people in case they were deported or prevented from being deported or prevented from being deported by the echr. >> yes, it seems a lot of people have a lot to say about those comments from robert jenrick. we'll delve into them a little deepeh we'll delve into them a little deeper, hopefully in this hour, but we'll come back to you very shortly indeed and please do at home. get in touch. gbnews.com forward slash your say. are you taken by any of these leadership candidates? is there one that you believe is the front runner? it does seem as though robert jenrick is ahead at the moment, but anything could change. there's still a little bit of time to go, but let's get the headunes time to go, but let's get the headlines with tatiana .

headlines with tatiana. >> emily, thank you and good afternoon . the top stories. the afternoon. the top stories. the foreign secretary has warned the situation in lebanon is volatile, as he repeated his call for britons to leave whilst they still can. his comments come as the israeli army says it's begun a targeted ground operation against the iranian backed terror group hezbollah, with artillery fires reported in the southern parts of beirut. hezbollah has reportedly responded with artillery fire into israel. the lebanese prime minister has described this as one of the most dangerous moments in their history. it's the first time since 2006 that israel has had boots on the ground inside lebanon. this all comes as the uk government has chartered a commercial flight to help british nationals leave lebanon. the plane is due to take off from beirut. rafic hann take off from beirut. rafic hariri international airport tomorrow. david lammy says the situation could get much more dangerous than has called for an immediate ceasefire . immediate ceasefire. >> our position remains the same. having spoken to our

american colleagues and other allies, we're calling for an immediate ceasefire. we need a diplomatic solution to the problems in lebanon so that israelis can go back to their homes in northern israel and lebanese can return to their homes in southern israel . so at homes in southern israel. so at this time, we want to see a political solution. the amos hochstein plan, which is on the table from the americans and an immediate ceasefire. >> former british army spokesperson major michael shearer told gb news israel have had no choice. >> israel are fighting for their very existence since october 7th last year and the day after , last year and the day after, when hezbollah got themselves involved in this and they've been raining rockets down on the israeli families, 60,000 of which are now displaced in their own country as a result, i think

israel have got no, no choice but to deal with this in the lebanon. i mean, they've given a year now for the lebanese authorities to do something about it who are clearly impotent and can't can't do anything, and to influence hezbollah at all. >> tom tugendhat says he was extremely concerned by tory leadership rival robert jenrick claim that special forces are killing rather than capturing terrorists, saying it demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of the law of armed conflict. mr tugendhat also told gb news there's a very clear argument that defence spending should be increased towards 3% now. >> 25 years ago i joined the army and i swore allegiance to her majesty the queen and i swore to protect our country and ihave swore to protect our country and i have always kept my promise. and what i've done is i've served on operations in iraq and afghanistan. i've been in combat and i've seen what this country needs to protect ourselves . so needs to protect ourselves. so today, what am i thinking about? i'm thinking about defence spending. i'm thinking about the fact that labour is making us

less safe by not investing in the technology that we need for the technology that we need for the future, and so what you'll get from me as a leader is a leader who can decide, a leader who will serve, and a leader who will always act in the national interest. >> former prime minister rishi sunak's slogan of stop the boats has been described as an error and unachievable by former home secretary and leadership contender james cleverly. that's as he and robert jenrick will prepare to face questions from the membership at the conservative party conference today. mr cleverly told gb news this morning that he's the right person to create optimism for the country about optimism. >> it's about a focus on the future. it's about paying less tax, it's about more jobs and better jobs. these are the betterjobs. these are the things that i'm passionate about. these are the things i've always been passionate about. and if i become the leader of the party, i'm best placed to kick out labour and get this country headed back in the right direction . direction. >> in other news, the metropolitan police have launched a manhunt after a suspected acid attack took place at a west london school

yesterday afternoon. a 14 year old girl has been seriously injured after a substance believed to be acidic was thrown at her and two others outside the westminster academy. the girl remains in hospital with potentially life changing injuries. a 16 year old boy also remains in hospital with non—life changing injuries and a woman, aged 27, has been sent home from hospital after also being hurt in the attack. home from hospital after also being hurt in the attack . and being hurt in the attack. and new rules have come into force, banning businesses from withholding tips or service charges from their staff. firms, including restaurants, pubs, hairdressers and taxi operators are set to be impacted by the new law , requiring 100% of tips new law, requiring 100% of tips to be shared between employees from today. however, hospitality industry bosses say the move could hit under—pressure businesses with an additional cost and those are the latest gb news headlines. for now, i'm tatiana sanchez. more from me in half an hour for the very latest

gb news direct to your smartphone, sign up to news alerts by scanning the qr code, or go to gbnews.com forward slash alerts . slash alerts. >> welcome back! it is now 107. you're watching listening to good afternoon britain. now rishi sunak slogan stop the boats has been called an error and unachievable by former home secretary and leadership contender james cleverly. cleverly now, he says, they focused far too much on those three words. >> we didn't tell the british people that our work with the french authorities stopped about half of the attempted boat crossings. we didn't really get a chance to talk about that because we kept using that slogan. the fact we were interrupting the supply of illicit outboard motors, which was making it harder for the people smugglers, the fact we

were interrupting their supplies of illicit finance. again, all these things were making the smuggling operation much harder for these criminals. >> that's as he and fellow leadership contender robert jenrick prepared questions from the membership at the conservative party conference. but mrjenrick is also facing but mr jenrick is also facing criticism for calling into question the practices of our armed forces after he claimed our special force soldiers were deliberately killing terrorists rather than capturing them. okay, well joining us live with all the latest from birmingham is my presenting partner , tom is my presenting partner, tom harwood tom, thank you very much indeed.i harwood tom, thank you very much indeed. i mean, there's a huge amount going on. these tory leadership candidates are saying a lot of things, but you're there with the conservative mp for mid leicestershire. i believe i am indeed peter bedford, the newly elected conservative mp, one of the lucky. >> i think there were around 30 of you who were in there for the for the first time as conservatives. first of all, just from your personal

experience, what's it like to be in such a small, relatively small parliamentary party? >> yeah, well, there were 26, actually 26 new conservative mps when we joined parliament that such a small group of us were all on the same hot desking room. so actually we're quite a close, tight knit group of mps. clearly, i wasn't in the parliamentary party before , so parliamentary party before, so i have nothing to compare it to. but yeah, certainly with with just 121, i'm sure each of us will have a quite a busy time over the next four years holding the government to account. >> now, since the start of the leadership contest, you've been backing robert jenrick. why is that? yes. >> well, i think i mean, i sat down with all all all the, all four of the finalists. i've had conversations with them about their policy agendas, where they want to go with the party. and i just felt that rob had the more cohesive, slick operation in terms of the direction the party needs to go in. he's very supportive of next generation conservatism in terms of ensuring that we appeal to younger voters. you know, at the last election, very few people under 40 backed the conservative party. we really need to get those voters back, you know, whether it be on lower taxation , whether it be on lower taxation, housing, apprentices skills, those kinds of policies i think

rob really buys into. so that's why i'm backing him . why i'm backing him. >> and yet you're talking about skills and all the rest of it and housing. we've basically not heard that from roberts. the whole of this campaign, he's been focused on one issue above all the rest immigration. >> well, you know, clearly the media, you guys, the public, you know, on the doorstep, that was a really big issue at the election. you know, in my constituency where historically the notional majority of 20,000 9000 votes from the conservative vote went to reform, clearly there's a big pressure from the pubucin there's a big pressure from the public in terms of our response to immigration. the conservative party didn't get it right. in the last parliament. there were policies we made, commitments we didn't keep. and, you know, rob, really recognises that. but in order to, you know, come together again, we really need together again, we really need to tackle the reform issue. >> now he's run a very slick operation. we've been looking at the generic post newspaper that has been going around this conference, but has he had his first slip up this idea that british special forces soldiers

have been deliberately killing rather than capturing terrorists, because otherwise the echr would get involved and set them free. we've had a lot of experts and military people saying, that's just not true. >> i don't think so. i think if you look at conference, you know, there are always comments made by each of the candidates. kimi had an issue with maternity pay- kimi had an issue with maternity pay. the other day. whatever the candidates say, the media do like to blow things out of proportion to try and create a story out of it. i don't think the public are at all interested in, you know, these kind of conversations at all. so no, i wouldn't say it's slip up. >> it is interesting that genenc >> it is interesting that generic has started talking more about the echr more explicitly at this stage in the contest. some people might think that conservative mps are less, in favour of leaving the echr than party members are. does his switch to talking now more about the echr and leaving it mean he thinks he's got it in the bag in terms of mps, and now needs to talk to members? >> i think i think all the way

through roberts. roberts considered the membership of the heart of the party. so the issues, as i mentioned earlier, the next generation stuff you know, ordering members are concerned about those issues as well. i don't think he's necessarily pivoting. i think he recognises that, you know, the party members will have the final say. they're really concerned like we are as mps. you know, we also get a vote of members in the final round in those issues. so immigration was a key issue in the general election. reform wouldn't be where it is today if we had if we'd have tackled immigration and, you know, the echr, the human rights act, the party has been making pledges on this for many, many years. you know, david cameron made pledges on these subjects many years ago. we didn't deliver on them. robert recognises that, you know, his time as an immigration minister, where he saw first hand the challenges posed by those pieces of legislation to his agenda. so i think it's right that he focuses on them. and, you know, the party mps as well as members are really interested. >> other candidates are saying that you shouldn't just go and leave the echr. there are lots of issues with that. it's part of issues with that. it's part of the good friday agreement. we know the trials and tribulations that the northern ireland issue led to in brexit negotiations is

the idea of leaving this institution not quite as simple as robert jenrick is trying to make out. >> so, you know, as we saw with brexit, clearly these great international agreements are very complicated, complex. but you know, as he's mentioned in his speeches, you know, getting unanimity from 46 other signatories to the to the treaty is going to be impossible to achieve. clearly, we're never going to reform it. so, you know, i come from a legal background before i became an accountant, i recognise, you know, the human rights act has been used internally in the united kingdom to basically be an activist tool for liberal liberal judges to get their way in formulating policy. the same could be said for the echr. so i totally get why it was established in the first place. but with evolution of new signatories and developments in law across across the globe, it really does need to be reformed. and unfortunately, without our own bill of rights, we can't achieve that. >> you've been speaking to meeting, socialising with your colleagues , your 120 colleagues colleagues, your 120 colleagues of conservative mps over the

last three months. do you really think that if robert jenrick wins this contest and makes it official conservative party policy to leave the echr, that all of your colleagues will be behind him on that? >> i would hope so. no, i would hope so because he would have the mandate not just from the parliamentary party, but from the membership at large. so, you know, the membership at large will elect the new leader of the party. hopefully robert will be successful if he is successful, he has that mandate from the party membership. it's quite clear what his policy is . if the clear what his policy is. if the members endorse that policy, the members endorse that policy, the members of parliament, like me, my colleagues should fall behind that policy. they should, and you'd imagine that they might, but that didn't happen with liz truss. >> she was elected by the membership by by a pretty large degree, promising to cut taxes. she did that in office, and many members of parliament were not supportive. >> sure. well, i think as you mentioned earlier in the interview, you know, there are far fewer conservative mps now

than there were before. and i think the election has been a real shock to many of those previously in the previous parliament. so they should recognise that actually coming together as a cohesive team, a single agenda, not going off piece, not having those internal divisions is key to ensuring that we return to government in four years time. >> well , peter bedford, four years time. >> well, peter bedford, thank you so much for talking us through those issues. it will be fascinating to see how this contest rolls out. and of course, those crucial 20 minute speeches from all of the candidates on wednesday. back to you, emily. >> absolutely . tom, i want to >> absolutely. tom, i want to keep you on the line because i've got a few questions for you.thank i've got a few questions for you. thank you for that interview with peter bedford, by the way. very interesting indeed. but yes, rishi sunak , indeed. but yes, rishi sunak, the leader of the conservative party as it stands, he left the conference a little bit earlier. but there's an interesting poll out today which shows that actually rishi sunak is more popular now than keir starmer. how can that be? >> yes, it does sound fantastical, doesn't it? the idea that rishi sunak has a

level of popularity higher than that of keir starmer, until you read the details of that poll, it's not popularity at all. it's unpopularity. what has happened is not that rishi sunak has gone into positive numbers. it's that keir starmer has sank even lower. so yes, by comparison, rishi sunakis so yes, by comparison, rishi sunak is now more popular, according to that poll, than keir starmer. but that doesn't mean either of them are popular. >> and jacob rees—mogg , our >> and jacob rees—mogg, our colleague, and of course, former conservative mp he's been making waves in the headlines again , waves in the headlines again, talking at conference about why the conservatives lost the last election. he says it's sunak's betrayal of boris johnson that helped doom to us defeat. is that rewriting history, or is that rewriting history, or is that there's some truth in that ? that there's some truth in that? >> well, the ghost of boris johnson looms large over this party. >> he , of course, is not here at >> he, of course, is not here at conservative party conference, but he will be gracing television screens fairly soon

on the sixth of this month. that is , on sunday morning. he'll is, on sunday morning. he'll appear on gb news talking to camilla tominey, who i'm sure will put that question to him. he's doing a round of interviews due to his new book that's coming out. that's being serialised in the daily mail. pretty salacious book saying some pretty extraordinary things, lifting the lid on life behind number 10. but i think there is a big, legitimate question that has been asked of many of the leadership candidates. kemi badenoch came under scrutiny yesterday for saying she felt a great sense of sadness when resigning from bofis sadness when resigning from boris johnson's cabinet, only then for screenshots of a whatsapp message to be shared where she seemed, well, the opposite of sad. within those screenshots. similarly, all these candidates have been asked in the various interviews they've been doing and in the hustings events. you know, would you welcome boris johnson back into the party? they try. they tend to tiptoe around that answer because they know that bofis answer because they know that boris johnson is still really quite popular with the

membership of the conservative party if not so with the parliamentary party. but yes, what jacob rees—mogg has been saying is a legitimate topic of debate. part of the reason why the conservative party lost so heavily at the last election was this sense of, of a carousel of leaders , first boris johnson, leaders, first boris johnson, then liz truss, then rishi sunak, that sense of chaos that had all led into . but i think it had all led into. but i think it would be a mistake to suggest that's the only reason the conservative party lost. one of the interesting things about this party conference and the mood on the floor, is everyone thinks this is going to be a one term labour government, because the last conservative government of a big majority swung so heavily to a large labour majority. is that the normal way of doing things? well, just look at what happened in the last five years. you had a global pandemic, a war in europe, double digit inflation, shooting up interest rates, political

scandals, partygate, resignation of ministers , defenestration of of ministers, defenestration of not one but two prime ministers. you had this conflagration of circumstance that led to that sense of chaos, doom and gloom and the fact that real incomes had fallen by the end of the parliament compared to where they started. now that is a once in a century, perhaps once in many century conflagration of circumstances. there are many conservatives here who talk about keir starmer's free glasses and gifted clothes. it's a scandal. it's a bad look for the labour government, but i think it's a stretch to say that that scandal meets the crescendo that scandal meets the crescendo that we saw under the last government to any, any conservative who thinks that the next election is in the bag. well, they've got a lot of work to do. >> yes, we know a week is a long time in politics. anything could happen, tom. just lastly, at these conferences, there's important people everywhere, including leadership candidates

who may just happen to find themselves in view of a camera and take that opportunity to photobomb certain tv presenters. look what happened to you a little earlier. >> did that stop the boats as a slogan was achievable under the last parliament set the conservative party up for failure because saying stop the boats would really imply hello would really imply that the boats could all have been stopped. i've just been photo bombed by tom tugendhat. i didn't expect that at this time. and you know, we've got to stop meeting each other this way. but yes, i've been thrown off track. theidea yes, i've been thrown off track. the idea never thrown off track. >> . tom >>. tom >>. tom >> do you know what i have? no, i just thought. i thought some random party member had come up behind me, and i was just thinking, what's going on? this is a bit annoying. and then i turned around you. i did a double take only for one of the leadership candidates to be there . clearly gb news is the

there. clearly gb news is the place to be. they want to be seen on this program. >> absolutely they do. on good afternoon britain . tom, thank afternoon britain. tom, thank you very much indeed for your time. i'll let you get back to business. whatever you're up to at the party conference, this is. good afternoon britain on gb news. we've got lots more coming up on today's show, including the very latest from israel and lebanon as that ground invasion takes place. that's

next. >> which is it can possibly take. >> good afternoon britain. it is now 125. now get out before it's too late. that's the warning of our foreign secretary, david lammy to any british nationals still in lebanon. that's as israel launches its long anticipated invasion of the country. this as part of its war with terrorist group hezbollah. now the invasion marks yet another major escalation in the conflict in the middle east. both sides are continuing to exchange intense artillery fire and air raid sirens are ringing

out across israel. israel has also accused hezbollah of using lebanese civilians as human shields. well, for the latest on all of this, i'm joined by gb news home security editor, mark white. mark, can you bring us the latest? >> well, we are continuing to see a build up of troops and tanksin see a build up of troops and tanks in northern israel with the expectation that this very limited incursion could expand depending on how israel is greeted in terms of hezbollah, the level of the resistance in the level of the resistance in the fighting as they go forward to try to push hezbollah further back. you can see these are movements of tanks up towards that northern border at night on the back of flatbed lorries. they're heading up a lot of these, tanks and personnel will have been involved in the operation around gaza over the last year. but as that is kind of winding down to an extent, that's enabled israel to push

its forces further north to deal with that very real threat from the terror group hezbollah , the terror group hezbollah, who've lobbed more than 8000 rockets and missiles and drones across at israel over the past yeah across at israel over the past year. and while this war clearly escalates, there is very real concern for the british nationals and dual british nationals and dual british nationals who are in lebanon at the moment , nationals who are in lebanon at the moment, numbering up to 10,000. and we've got the foreign secretary, david lammy, again urging people to get out while they can. the british government is chartering more flights, but it's not known just how long the airport in beirut will remain open. let's have a listen to what david lammy said . listen to what david lammy said. >> have warned and cautioned now for months that we have seen in previous crisis between israel and lebanon, the airport close

and lebanon, the airport close and we cannot guarantee that we will be able to get people out in a speedy fashion. and of course, this is now turning into a very, very concerning situation on the ground . situation on the ground. >> and then some of them became two storeyed tools. >> and that's why we are expecting, of course, the possibility now of british military troops going into harm's way to rescue some of these civilians that don't decide to evacuate while they can, we have extra, additional 700 british troops who have gone to back up the forces already there at raf akrotiri in cyprus , there at raf akrotiri in cyprus, because any operation it could because any operation it could be carried out by the raf in conjunction with those military personnel. also, the navy likely to be involved. we've got a type 45 destroyer in the area, as

well as a bay class landing ship that could well be used. and the picture you're looking at there is from the cyprus mail, their front page showing the tents that these military personnel have been erecting at raf akrotiri, expecting thousands of people across to be processed by border force and foreign office staff who will be there because they need to be checked to make sure that, you know, they have a valid passport, that they are british nationals or dual nationals that can be returned to the uk. >> emily, now we know israel have incredibly sophisticated military capabilities and intelligence services, and so on, but are they beginning to become quite stretched? i mean, they're fighting a war if you can call it that, on several fronts. >> now, i think if this had happened a year ago , then it happened a year ago, then it would be very difficult indeed for israel to try to fight a war on multiple fronts. they're

already doing that, of course, with the munitions that have been sent over from hezbollah, but not in terms of meaningfully going up and launching a ground incursion into southern lebanon to deal with hezbollah. but the fact is, in gaza now, that operation, which has been a very large scale operation to try to take out hamas in gaza, is kind of winding down a bit. it's still ongoing, but that's allowed them to put thousands of extra troops further north in these tanks, further north as well . and israel says that it's well. and israel says that it's been left with no choice but to take that fight to hezbollah in the north because their intelligence, to according rear admiral daniel hagari, the spokesman for the israeli military, is that hezbollah was planning another terrorist atrocity, such as the one on the 7th of october last year. hezbollah had been planning that .

hezbollah had been planning that. this is what daniel hagari said. >> hezbollah turned lebanese villages next to israeli villages next to israeli villages into military bases, all ready for an attack on israel. hezbollah had to prepared use those villages as staging grounds for an october 7th style invasion into israeli homes. hezbollah planned to invade israel, attack israeli communities and massacre innocent men, women and children. they called this plan conquer the galilee . conquer the galilee. >> now we're seeing the evacuation of huge numbers of people in lebanon . of course, people in lebanon. of course, there are huge numbers that have been displaced in northern israel as well. to more towards the south. could we see if this incursion does turn into a grander invasion of a of a larger scale? could we see a refugee crisis of sorts from this ? this? >> well, we absolutely could. and, you know, it's understandable that many of our audience really aren't that

engaged with yet more fighting in the middle east. they see it day in, day out. and really, it's a distant wah day in, day out. and really, it's a distant war. what impact is that really having back home? but it does have an impact. the refugee crisis absolutely is one way that this could manifest itself. we saw that, for instance, in syria and iraq and instance, in syria and iraq and in afghanistan, where more people were coming from these countries trying to get across the english channel. but it's not just that, emily. it's of course, the impact on fuel pnces course, the impact on fuel prices with the oil price rising amid those concerns, food prices as well , amid those concerns, food prices as well, ships that are transiting through that area, for instance, the red sea and the gulf of aden once again today, a ship has been targeted by another iran backed terrorist group. the houthis fired missiles and struck a ship there. so many ships are not going up. the suez canal, the shortest route to get to western

nations. they're having to go all the way around africa, which is adding very significantly to the costs of delivering those goods, which then ultimately will impact the prices that we pay will impact the prices that we pay back here at home in the uk. >> absolutely huge repercussions overin >> absolutely huge repercussions over in the west, in this country. and of course, community tensions flaring up as well, i'm sure. thank you very much indeed. mark white our haniyeh security editor, bringing us the latest from the middle east. we've got lots more to come on today's show. we're going to be catching up with our reporter outside westminster academy in paddington, central london, where a manhunt is underway for an assailant suspected of committing an acid attack. two school children and one member of staff were hospitalised that . next. hospitalised that. next. >> good afternoon. the top stories the foreign secretary has warned the situation in lebanon is volatile as he repeated his call for britons to leave while they still can. his

comments come as the israeli army says it's begun a targeted ground operation against the iranian backed terror group hezbollah, with artillery fires reported in the southern parts of beirut. hezbollah has reportedly responded with artillery fire into israel. it's the first time since 2006 that israel have had boots on the ground inside lebanon. this all comes as the uk government has chartered a commercial flight to help british nationals leave. the plane is due to take off from beirut rafic hariri international airport tomorrow . international airport tomorrow. david lammy says the situation could get much more dangerous and has called for an immediate ceasefire . ceasefire. >> opposition remains the same. having spoken to our american colleagues and other allies, we're calling for an immediate ceasefire. we need a diplomatic solution to the problems in lebanon so that israelis can go back to their homes in northern israel and lebanese can return to their homes in southern

israel. so at this time, we want to see a political solution. the amos hochstein plan, which is on the table from the americans and an immediate ceasefire . an immediate ceasefire. >> former prime minister rishi sunak slogan stop the boats has been described as an error and unachievable by former home secretary and leadership contender james cleverly. that's as he and robert jenrick will prepare to face questions from the from the membership at the conservative party conference today , mr cleverly told optimism today, mr cleverly told optimism it's about a focus on the future. >> it's about paying less tax, it's about more jobs and better jobs. these are the things that i'm passionate about. these are the things i've always been passionate about . and if passionate about. and if i become the leader of the party, i'm best placed to kick out labour and get this country headed back in the right direction . direction. >> the metropolitan police have launched a manhunt after a suspected acid attack at a school in west london yesterday afternoon. a 14 year old girl

has been seriously injured after a substance believed to be acidic was thrown at her and two others outside the westminster academy. the girl remains in hospital with potentially life changing injuries. a 16 year old boy also remains in hospital with non—life changing injuries, and a 27 year old woman has been discharged after being hurt in the attack . now some breaking the attack. now some breaking news this hour. singer martin lee, who was a member of the group brotherhood of man, who won the eurovision song contest for the uk in 1976, has died at the age of 77. the pop group won the age of 77. the pop group won the contest with the song save your kisses for me at the final in the netherlands. the song topped the table with 164 points. his band members have said this afternoon that he passed away peacefully from heart failure. after a short illness . and those are the illness. and those are the latest gb news headlines for now. i'm tatiana sanchez. more from me in half an hour for the

very latest gb news direct to your smartphone , sign up to news your smartphone, sign up to news alerts by scanning the qr code, or go to gbnews.com >> forward slash alerts

>> well good afternoon britain. it is 139. i think it's about time we checked up on my presenting partner, tom harwood. he's out and about at the conservative party conference, bringing us all the very latest. tom tell us how's it going ? tom tell us how's it going? >> there relatively surprisingly. got a sorry about that , there there does seem to that, there there does seem to be a bit of a bouncier mood than you might expect for a party that has just gone down to its

lowest number of seats in its history , history, >> i think we're losing you a little bit, tom. i think if we try and improve your signal, then we can come back to you. sorry about that. that was tom harwood. we will come back to him because he wants to show us. he wants to show us around the conference and point out some things that you may have missed. but we're going to cross over to our reporter, adam cherry. now in the meantime, because the metropolitan police have launched a manhunt after a suspected acid attack took place at the westminster academy school in central london, just yesterday. now, two pupils and one teacher are thought to be among the victims with the injuries of a 14 year old girl described as possibly life changing. joining me now is gb news reporter adam cherry adam, who is outside westminster academy. adam, i understand that a manhunt is underway for the assailant . that's right . assailant. that's right. >> anyone with information or

potential eyewitnesses to come forward and speak to them about what they saw yesterday at around 442, in the afternoon, as you say, three victims, one pupil. excuse me, one member of staff and two pupils. the pupils remain in hospital, one with potentially life changing injuries. in the last hour or so, we've received a statement from the principal of westminster academy, which remains closed, remains closed for the day. nehemiah anwar says this is a distressing incident and it will clearly be an unsettling time for the wider community and parents. and while police lead the investigation into this incident, i would urge everyone to avoid speculation. our focus remains on our students and staff members and thatis students and staff members and that is what we are concentrating on. they are expecting to reopen doors tomorrow. police officers are here guarding the area at the moment, but as i say, the investigation is ongoing. what is a suspected acid attack? although that is not confirmed yet. they are running tests on that and we'll have confirmation of that later on today, perhaps. yes, i understand that we

haven't heard from the metropolitan police a description of the suspect, a description of the suspect, a description of the suspected assailant , description of the suspected assailant, perhaps, that might indicate that they know already or have suspicions of. >> of who? that assailant could be. >> yeah. and we are expecting an update from the police at some point soon, perhaps with more information on that . there were information on that. there were several eyewitnesses here yesterday. we spoke to one earlier today who said it was overin earlier today who said it was over in a flash. one person, or at least one person scooting by and committing this offence . so, and committing this offence. so, as i say, perhaps in the fullness of time, this will become cleareh quite quickly. one one member of staff and two pupils at this time are, we understand, are are were injured by this and adam just explain to our viewers and listeners exactly where this school is situated, just the surrounding area. >> you're on a on a pretty main road, aren't you? in central london, adam? >> yeah. we're not far from

warwick avenue station. it's a very busy area. yesterday it would have been. it was just after school ended, so there would have been lots of pupils pounng would have been lots of pupils pouring out of the building, a very populated area. so, you know , it makes this all the more know, it makes this all the more bizarre and distressing. then of course it already is. but yeah, it would have been a thriving area. it doesn't make sense at all. >> absolutely. well, thank you very much indeed. adam cherry gb news reporter there outside westminster academy in the area of paddington. absolutely alarming story. the metropolitan police have said they are investigating, of course, to find the assailant, the suspect in this hideous crime. we believe it is an acid attack. we haven't had that 100% confirmed. but for this to happen at 440 in the afternoon outside a school in such a well populated area, there would have been huge amounts of traffic going past. it's quite extraordinary. but perhaps it's unsurprising in the time that we live that these types of attacks appear to be happening quite frequently. unfortunately, this is good

afternoon britain on gb news. we've got lots more coming up on today's show. yes, the big news today's show. yes, the big news today that the last coal fired power station in the united kingdom closed after 57 years. we'll have the latest

well good afternoon britain. it is now 147 and it's the end of an era because britain's final coal fired power station. that's generated electricity for the final time after powering the united kingdom for 57 years now, the closure of ratcliffe on soar is in line with the government's policy of phasing out coal altogether. and, of course, this is part of the push to reach net zero. it's been hailed by green campaigners as a major step in reducing the uk's carbon emissions, but it'll be very interesting to find out what impact this will have on the community, how many jobs have

been lost and there is a question over whether it's all well and good getting rid of coal powered plants from this country. that have served us for so long. but is there a question to be asked about whether we're just outsourcing our carbon footprint at this point? we still have manufacturing taking place overseas , which is powered place overseas, which is powered by coal . we know that china is by coal. we know that china is still in the process of building more coal fired power stations. we know that in the rush for green technology , sometimes we green technology, sometimes we have an intermittency problem when it comes to things like wind and other sources of energy, anthony's got in touch. he says it's a sad day to see the last power station close. so you don't agree with the green campaigners who are delighted by this? he says, i used to work at many power stations as an engineer to make sure the vehicles and screening plant kept working to keep removing the by—products from the ash. your gb viewers should be reminded that breeze blocks and the aggregate by—products from those power stations have been building our houses, our

schools, our hospitals and road drainage for years and years. very little pollution ended up out of the top of the towers. it was mainly just steam. my main concern, anthony says, are we importing ash from china's power stations to continue manufacturing these breeze blocks , making a mockery of blocks, making a mockery of reducing our footprint ? i think reducing our footprint? i think that's a good question. are we just outsourcing our carbon footprint to make ourselves feel better, and to make sure that we reach our various goals and our aims that are written into legislation are written into the statute book? this rush to net zero. but actually, are we making the world a cleaner place as a result? or can we just pat ourselves on the back that we don't have any coal left in the system or perhaps you think this is fantastic news that coal should have been. we should have transitioned away from coal years ago, years ago . but of years ago, years ago. but of course, the energy price cap also increases today. and the gas company cadent have partnered with an nhs foundation in birmingham to create a new scheme, which aims to offer advice and services to those

struggling with heating or electricity. now gb news west midlands reporterjack electricity. now gb news west midlands reporter jack carson electricity. now gb news west midlands reporterjack carson is midlands reporter jack carson is here to tell us more . here to tell us more. >> as the nights draw in and the weather takes a turn for the worse, keeping warm just got more expensive. from today, the energy price cap has increased by 10%, with a typical household seeing a £149 rise in their energy bills across the uk , energy bills across the uk, there are more than 3 million homes in fuel poverty, with 19.5% in the west midlands affected. mandeep from birmingham, was one of those who needed support for several months. she had no heating or hot water because she couldn't afford to have her boiler repaired. >> i was struggling really, with six kids is really hard. we had to fill up buckets of water to have a wash and keep warm. we looked online. they forced me to have a boiler. they said no, you can't have a boiler because you're not qualified for one. electric blankets to keep warm, electric heater to keep warm to keep the house warm, and myself

and my kids. >> she was helped by a new scheme operating in the community and across hospitals in birmingham. not a government initiative, but a £24 million grant from gas company cadent. mark bell, masca, director of social purpose and sustainability, explains because they can't get home to a warm, comfortable home or are sometimes living in a in such conditions that they're subjected to some health issues in the future . in the future. >> and we as an organisation, with our energy and utility background, we can then provide these individuals through this connection with new boilers, with services, with help with energy advice and also financial help to help them either not go into hospital in the first place or be able to return to a safe, warm home and live in independence and comfort. >> 100,000 across this city will start receiving the support in partnership with birmingham community healthcare services. suzanne cleary, chief officer for strategy and partnerships at the trust, says the team is vital for supporting the health of those struggling. >> it's both physical and mental

health, so obviously people can be worrying about the cost of energy. they can be worrying about how are they going to be able to have a hot meal, and they can be perhaps neglecting their health. a bit because that's not the biggest priority for them. and ultimately, if you're living in a cold home, it can actually make you unwell. and sadly, we do sometimes see people going into hospital because of the situation that they're living in. >> energy secretary ed miliband says the government's mission for clean home—grown power is the way to get bills down. but with prices going up now, more people will be looking for support. jack carson gb news. >> yeah, it could be quite a tough few months for people who are struggling with their electricity and gas bills. those pnces electricity and gas bills. those prices only seem to be going up. and what with the winter fuel payments being taken away from so many pensioners at such short nofice so many pensioners at such short notice as well, it's going to be a huge struggle. i should take this opportunity to plug the fundraiser that patrick christys is doing. i believe he's he's

managed to raise already £200,000 or so. that's for the friends of the elderly charity. just a little thought to those pensioners who may well be struggling and genuinely deciding about whether to heat their home or eat dinner, that night. it does appear that that is the state of affairs. i mean, 20% of households in birmingham are categorised as in in fuel poverty . it's quite poverty. it's quite extraordinary that this is the time when winter fuel payments will be taken away from some pensioners who desperately need that money to help them through the winter. we're also hearing that there's going to be a particular cold snap in this country. so if you do have a little bit of spare change, why not donate to justgiving.com, which is where patrick christys fundraiser can be found. you can find it on the website as well. this is good afternoon britain on gb news. we've got lots more coming up on today's show. we are of course going to be back in birmingham because christopher hope is going to be asking robert jenrick many questions about his leadership

contest. but first, let's take a look at the . look at the. weather. >> heavy showers first thing will be followed by a warm, cosy day. boxt boilers sponsors of weather on gb news. >> hello and welcome to the latest update from the met office for gb news. it's becoming drier from the west, but it's taking a time with still a lot of cloud across the uk and some showery rain. that rain, well, it's causing some issues across the east of england and it will continue into the evening as the area of low pressure that's been with us for some days slowly pulls away. so some wet weather to come for east anglia in the south—east overnight. otherwise the rain in the east tends to turn lighter and more showery as the night progresses. but we keep a lot of cloud for much of england and wales, the clearest skies overnight will be for scotland and northern ireland. 1 or 2

showers. otherwise. under those clear skies, temperatures falling into the mid or even low, single figures in some sheltered spots. that's where we've got the brightest weather to start off wednesday. northern ireland and scotland plenty of blue skies, quite a difference from much of central, eastern and southern england, where there's a lot of low cloud , some there's a lot of low cloud, some mist and murk and some drizzle. likewise for central and eastern wales. but west wales will see much brighter skies, northern england turning brighter through the morning. scotland and northern ireland. meanwhile, apart from 1 or 2 showers in the east, we'll see plenty of sunny skies and we keep the sunshine across western scotland and northern ireland throughout wednesday. that's the place to be for widespread blue skies and actually it's looking brighter for northern england and north wales. elsewhere. a lot of cloud cover and we've got these showers continuing to roll into east anglia. the east midlands and the southeast through the day . so that's and the southeast through the day. so that's going to make it feel a little less pleasant and brisk wind from the east. as well will hold temperatures back

in the mid teens , but elsewhere in the mid teens, but elsewhere feeling warm enough in any sunny spells. then going into the evening, the clear skies in the north will progress southwards and so a chilly start for many of us on thursday, but actually plenty of fine weather through the day. sunny spells and feeling pleasant. but into the weekend, more rain

gb news. >> well good afternoon britain. it's 2:00 on tuesday the 1st of october. i'm emily carver and i'm tom harwood live from the conservative party conference and in other news, israel invades. israeli troops have launched a ground invasion into southern lebanon in what the israeli military is calling a limited, localised and targeted ground operation against hezbollah. this just days after the assassination of the group's leader , hassan nasrallah , and a

leader, hassan nasrallah, and a manhunt is underway . police are manhunt is underway. police are searching for an assailant after two schoolchildren and a member of staff were hospitalised following a suspected acid attack at a school in west london will be on the scene . london will be on the scene. okay, well, tom, i understand that christopher hope is taking to the stage. he's going to be hosting a question and answer session with robert jenrick . session with robert jenrick. >> that's right. and of course , >> that's right. and of course, we saw christopher hope yesterday interviewing fairly expertly the previous two candidates, of course, kemi badenoch and tom tugendhat. there was a big turnout, i have to say the queues to get into the into the hall were enormous then, and it's no different now . then, and it's no different now. christopher hope will be expertly diving into the issues with robert jenrick, who has

been making some news of his own of course he's been talking about air, but also, has he supped about air, but also, has he slipped up, has he slipped up over this sas issue saying that british special forces kill rather than capture due to the issues with the echr giving them too many rights? many, many people condemning that, not least tom tugendhat condemning that on television this morning. let's listen to in chopper sven—goran eriksson . sven—goran eriksson. >> okay, here we go . robert >> okay, here we go. robert jenrick why do you want to be leader? >> well, good afternoon chris. >> well, good afternoon chris. >> it's a pleasure to be here. very good to see you all. >> look, i think our party has just suffered its worst ever

electoral defeat. >> the worst since 1832. >> the worst since 1832. >> in fact, i did an event in jacob's rees—mogg's constituency recently, and when i said that, he said it was since 1760. and then afterwards someone said to me in the audience, he was probably around in 1760. >> i hope jacob's not in the audience today, >> but but on a serious note , >> but but on a serious note, we've just suffered this terrible defeat . terrible defeat. >> and i think when a party suffers a defeat like that, when it's been rejected by the electorate , you can't continue electorate, you can't continue with the stale status quo that we've been on. >> you've got to change. >> you've got to change. >> i stand for change. i want to change the offer of our party to the public. i want to change the operation of our party. i believe i have a diagnosis of what has gone wrong . i believe

what has gone wrong. i believe i've set that out already. quite clearly, sometimes in the daily telegraph. sometimes on gb news. and i think i've got a very clear sense of where i want to take this party and where i want to take the country. >> what was that moment when you thought, i can do the top job? well, i didn't know i was even going to hold my constituency, to be honest, until the early hours of the morning after the general election. i'm the designated survivor of nottinghamshire and derbyshire, the only conservative member of parliament. but i did feel after the election that it is incumbent upon my generation of conservative members of parliament to step up, and i remember the first party conference i ever went to , which conference i ever went to, which was in 2005 when we had those memorable speeches by david cameron and david davis, and i was sat right at the back of the of the audience as a very young

conservative. and of course, i was impressed by david cameron's no notes performance. et cetera. et cetera . but the other emotion et cetera. but the other emotion i had was why have we wasted eight years waiting to get to this point? why have we wasted eight years to choose to change? to choose someone who could be our next prime minister, who will transform our party and get us back into contention? and so my very firm conviction is that someone's got to step up and lead this party, lead it back into government, and that's what i want to do. >> and you've got young, young family . you've got a young family. you've got a young family. you've got a young family . are they ready for the family. are they ready for the scrutiny you're going to get? >> well my i've got three young girls and they have all been reading the papers, watching the news. and one of them said to me the other day , does this mean the other day, does this mean we're going to get free tickets

to taylor swift . and. and to taylor swift. and. and i said to taylor swift. and. and i said to sophia, no, that's only for leaders of the labour party. >> so, so honestly , you'll >> so, so honestly, you'll you'll turn down freebies, will you, if you come leader. >> well, i will, i mean all three of these i will do, i will do, i will do, i will do, i will do, i will do, i will do, i will do, i will do, i will, i will do, i will do, i will, i will do, he said, i will do. the freebies are so good. incidentally, at this conference that it's only a matter of time before keir starmer turns up. >> i guess your daughter knew what was coming because what's her middle name? >> oh, you're embarrassing her now. it is margaret thatcher. it's not. it's thatcher, it's thatcher. she was born the year that margaret thatcher died. and so, as you know, i respect strong women. in fact, everyone is female in my house. got three daughters, my wife and two dogs, which are both female, but i thought it was a good way of reminding her of a great prime

minister. >> do you see yourself as a left or right wing politician? >> well, people. people speak of me as on the right of the party. but i actually don't think that characterisation, those labels are very accurate of anyone. frankly, i think they're a bit tired. what i'm interested in politics is the common ground. i don't believe in the centre ground of politics. the centre ground of politics. the centre ground is just equidistant between left and right, splitting the difference. it's trying to find unhappy consensus. i want to find the centre ground and the issues that i have campaigned on, certainly very prominently in the last year or so, like immigration, crime, extremism , defence. i would extremism, defence. i would argue that these are not left or right. these are issues that millions of our fellow countrymen and women care about. and this is exactly what the conservative party should stand for. >> okay, you . you decide to

>> okay, you. you decide to become a challenged leader the morning after the election. you weren't plotting to do it after you resigned, were you? in last last year? >> no, i wasn't, i mean, my, the decision to resign was a very sad one to me. i was a good friend of the prime minister rishi. and it's never easy to walk away in that sense . but i walk away in that sense. but i did feel it was the right thing to do. i felt very strongly about it, and that was because i didn't want to be just another minister who makes and breaks promises. and i felt that if i'd gone along with the rwanda bill, as it was at the time, i would have had to look my colleagues in parliament in the eye and all of you, the members of this party and tell you that black was white, i'd have to tell you, we're going to stop the boats. when i knew it wasn't going to happen, that this was a good bill, when i knew it was a bad

bill, when i knew it was a bad bill and that was wrong for me as an individual, wrong for our party. and wrong for our country. so i thought it was important to take a stand and i don't want our party to keep making and breaking promises on things that matter. so much to this country. that is immensely damaging to this party and immensely damaging to trust in politics more generally . politics more generally. >> but why? why not stay and fight to make rwanda work ? well, fight to make rwanda work? well, you basically you legged it when you basically you legged it when you could have stayed on the field of play. >> chris. that is that is completely, you know, fundamentally reject that. i spent a year in the home office . spent a year in the home office. i found it in really in ashes in my tenure . i fought relentlessly my tenure. i fought relentlessly for the biggest change to our legal migration system in my lifetime. it will reduce the number of people coming into our country legally by 300,000 every

year.| country legally by 300,000 every year . i also country legally by 300,000 every year. i also got country legally by 300,000 every year . i also got the country legally by 300,000 every year. i also got the number of people being deported from our country, up 80%, and i argued relentlessly, mostly in private , relentlessly, mostly in private, occasionally in the chamber and on the media that we had to stop the boats, that we had to have the boats, that we had to have the strengthened version of the rwanda policy that i knew we needed. ultimately i'm afraid to say, the government , the prime say, the government, the prime minister and the cabinet were not willing to do that . i got not willing to do that. i got the support of 60 colleagues, as you know , and i tried to set you know, and i tried to set this out in the to house of commons change the law so that we would take the european convention of human rights out of our ability to handle illegal migration. if we had done that. i am certain we would have got flights to off rwanda. i cannot predict what that would have meant for the general election, but i think i can confidently say it would have been a hell of a lot better than it was. >> but by leaving early . but but

>> but by leaving early. but but by resigning, you contributed to the defeat in july because you made, like a party that wasn't going to deliver on the key plank of its policies. >> i don't i don't accept that. i think that in politics you have to be a team player. and look, i served i think, i think i'm the only person in this leadership election who has served in the government of each of our last five conservative prime ministers, and i think we can all accept there were quite a varied group of people. so i got along with people. i was always the person on the media, you know, i did the covid press conferences. i was doing morning round after morning round, defending colleagues defending the party. i was known as someone who was immensely loyal to the party, and i remain so. i've been a member of this party since i was 16 years of age. i joined just after 1997, but i do think and the longer i've served in politics, the more strongly i felt this. you have to take a stand sometimes if you think something is in the national interest , you've got to take

interest, you've got to take a stand for it. and that was my view. i came to the conviction that illegal migration was doing immense harm to our country, not everybody sees that it's not there. you know, it's not their local hotel that's been taken over by illegal migrants. it's not their kids who are being knocked off a social housing waiting list. they don't live in the parts of our country. where are the community cohesion problems? but i saw those places, and i don't want that to be the country that my children and grandchildren grow up . in. and grandchildren grow up. in. >> and i just finally on rwanda, if you become leader, maybe prime minister, would you re—enact the version of it? >> look, i would do because i believe you have to have a deterrent. thank you. >> thank you . >> thank you. >> thank you. >> look, i worked very hard to do all the other things you need to do. i mean, you and i talked about this at the time i travelled around europe, i did diplomacy, i went to north africa, i signed the albania deal africa, i signed the albania deal. i worked with the national crime agency, the security service, you name it, it isn't

enough. you have to inject a deterrent into the system. but there is one further thing you've got to do. if you care about securing our borders, and thatis about securing our borders, and that is you do have to leave the european convention on human rights . rights. >> you say that and the members applause. but is that realistic? more than common polling finds that 2 to 1 of the public don't want it to happen. it's a basically a the reddest of red herrings. to quote robert buckland. i mean, why are you why are you doing it when you want an election and appeal to the wider country? >> well, sometimes you've got to do tough things, you know, look, my analysis of why we lost this election was not the tactical mistakes during the campaign, although some of them were very p00h although some of them were very poor. it was the fact we didn't deliver for the british public. we made big promises and didn't keep them. and if we are lucky enough to get back into government in the future, i never want to let down the british public again. if we are

given a second chance, we won't be given a third chance. so a party like ours has to stand for ending illegal migration, and the only way to do that is to get rid of this arsenal of laws that are used by illegal migrants to frustrate their removal from our country. you can't ignore the european court. we're a common law nation. you can't reform the court. it has 46 member states from iceland to hungary to andorra, you name it. it requires unanimity to do so . it requires unanimity to do so. it's a fantasy. it's it is in essence, leave or remain. i'm for leave . for leave. >> east park you said in a you said in a video yesterday that our special forces are killing rather than capturing terrorists because lawyers will set them

free under the european court. is that are you really mean that to you that that's i do i do, you know look our our very respected former colleague ben wallace, one of the best defence secretaries in modern times , secretaries in modern times, used his first intervention after leaving office to make this almost this very point. >> he said that he would think it was difficult for the uk , our it was difficult for the uk, our armed forces, to conduct a similar operation to the one that the united states did to kill or capture osama bin laden. that's wrong. i don't want our human rights apparatus to be standing in the way of taking the right operational decisions for our national security, and for our national security, and for protecting the lives of the brave men and women who serve in our special forces . our special forces. >> moving on to legal migration, you promised to cut it in 2015, 2017, 2019, 2024. when you stood as a tory candidate, you didn't do it . why didn't you? you were

do it. why didn't you? you were in government. >> well, i did when i was the minister responsible for it internally. for it. i look, i think everybody knows i fought pretty darn hard to get the changes. and i without lifting the veil entirely on what happened.the the veil entirely on what happened. the reason that we got the changes was because i sat in the changes was because i sat in the prime minister's office late at night and said to him, i'm not going to continue in this government unless we do this, because it felt it was so important to me. and i'll tell you why . in important to me. and i'll tell you why. in the 25 years prior to tony blair becoming our prime minister in 1997, net migration to our country was 69,000. in the 25 years afterwards, including much of the time, we were in office, it was 5.9 million. that has put immense pressure on housing on public services. it's undercut the wages of british workers, and it has made our country less united. you can't successfully integrate 1.2 million people a

year into a country as small as ours. something has to give . so ours. something has to give. so what i want us to do is to return to the historic norm. let's get net migration down to what i would do. the tens of thousands or fewer. >> so thousands, thousands . >> so thousands, thousands. >> so thousands, thousands. >> and the key thing here is you have to have a cap, because david cameron promised this . no david cameron promised this. no one believes us right now. what i've argued for consistently is that parliament sets a cap and that parliament sets a cap and thatis that parliament sets a cap and that is cast in iron, so that i can look you in the eyes and you can look you in the eyes and you can go out of this hall and look your friends, your neighbours, your friends, your neighbours, your constituents in the eyes and say with certainty that we mean it and we're going to do it this time. that is the only way we will rebuild trust and confidence on this issue .

confidence on this issue. >> move on to on to tax. are you happy with record tax levels since the second world war? >> look, i am i am not happy about it. i think it is very sad that we had a conservative government for 14 years and it has left the tax burden the highest it's ever been . now, highest it's ever been. now, what do you do about that is the real answer, isn't it? because we're all united, i think, in that sentiment . i believe in the that sentiment. i believe in the dynamic effect of taxes. when i persuaded rishi to cut stamp duty during the pandemic, it led to the highest number of transactions in our housing market in a single year. and the treasury got money from all manner of things. tradespeople, you name it, prospered. so it can be done , but it is the can be done, but it is the easiest thing in politics to pick your least favourite tax and say you're going to cut it the way that great reforms have happenedin the way that great reforms have happened in the past, like in the 1980s, is by economic

reforms, supply side reforms. and so what i've consistently argued for in government, as housing secretary, for example, and since leaving government, is that we need to be reformers again , we need to harness the again, we need to harness the energy of those great conservative ministers of the 19805 conservative ministers of the 1980s and get britain building change our energy policy, because it's one that is not working right now. and ed miliband is about to make it much worse. get people off welfare and into work. give our children real skills, not just low value degrees. >> would you cut the top rate of tax like liz truss wanted to do? >> look, i would like to do that. i don't think it would be sensible for me to, you know, make up our, our fiscal policy right now because actually, one of the big tasks for me or whoever leads this party beginning in november is to restore our economic credibility. so i will have to work extremely hard to restore that, because let's be honest with ourselves, we did lose some of that economic credibility in recent years, particularly

around the mini—budget. and so i want us to seem sober, competent, professional for our party to once again be the guardians of your savings, your pensions, your small business thatis pensions, your small business that is what people expect of our party. okay . our party. okay. >> just on on your your judgement , >> just on on your your judgement, your judgement, your character. you've taken £75,000 from a company that's got loans from a company that's got loans from a company that's got loans from a british virgin islands company. is that a good. are you defending that today? that was emerged overnight back in 2020. you got into a tangle over a property development. when you're the housing secretary, some would say that you know are you is your compass going the right way? all the time? you're getting into a bit of scrapes here involving money. >> i don't think so. i mean, it's a it's a fact of politics that our political parties are financed by donations. i would love to broaden the base of our party as you know, and get more, more members in. but you have to accept donations from

individuals and from companies. and that donation is from a, you know, pretty standard british business that employees, though apparently it's involved in the fitness industry and the guy who runs it has come out and explained exactly why he wants to support me. okay. >> in terms of labour, how are you going to beat them? i mean, who's who's your real enemy here? do you try and tack the right towards reform or to maybe to the centre ground where the lib dems are? >> i don't agree with that analysis . i >> i don't agree with that analysis. i don't think you have to pick a lane. what i want to do is win back the millions of voters we lost to reform and the millions of voters we lost to the labour party and the lib dems. if you look at the electorate today where they're reform voters, labour voters, lib dem voters , you name it, in lib dem voters, you name it, in all four nations of the united kingdom, the three issues that they talk of time and again are immigration, the economy and the nhs. now, i wrote an article not for the telegraph, i'm afraid. in the early hours after the general election for the times in which i said the reason we

lost the election is because we failed to deliver on those three things. that analysis remains as true today as it was then. people ordered them differently. but those are the those are the three big issues. so our party needs to be obsessed with how we can reform the nhs. don't treat it like a religion to be worshipped. treat it like a pubuc worshipped. treat it like a public service, to be reformed. don't just think about the inputs boasting about how much money you're putting in. think about the outputs and the experience of patients on the economy . on on the economy. economy. on on the economy. reclaim the mantle of low tax and pro—growth, which, if we're honest with ourselves, we have lost a bit in recent years and come forward with a proper plan as to how we get growth going real growth growing again in this country and in all parts of the country, incidentally, because whether disraeli called

it one nation or boris called it levelling up, i want everyone to have opportunity. i'm a lad who grew up ten miles down the road in wolverhampton. i represent a small town in north nottinghamshire. i believe in that vision of conservatism and then on immigration, you know where i stand. secure our borders, reduce legal migration. i think if we do those three things, we'll have a good chance of getting people back home to . us. >> and the nigel farage question, your predecessor , question, your predecessor, rishi sunak, said you're a broad church, suggesting he could be a tory again. is that possible under your leadership? >> well, i don't think the party can afford the bar bill. if we ianed can afford the bar bill. if we invited nigel farage back in, on a serious note, my view of reform is this. i think it's a symptom, not a cause. it exists in its current state because we failed. and by that, i don't

mean you, the members of the party. i mean we in westminster, we made promises we didn't keep them. so i'm not going to disparage reform. i think in a way that's denigrating the millions of people who vote for them, who are our people. what i am going to do is set out with your support to make them redundant, to retire nigel farage. and i think you do that by being crystal clear on where we stand on the issues that we have lost trust on legal migration, illegal migration, integration, extremism, policing . integration, extremism, policing. if we can do that, then we make our party what it was when i was growing up, the natural for home every small c conservative, the length and breadth of our country. let's do that. let's do that.

>> but what job would you give bofis >> but what job would you give boris johnson in your new in your new team? hard question . your new team? hard question. >> well, i haven't read his book yet , so i want to wait >> well, i haven't read his book yet, so i want to wait and see what he said about me before answering that question. so but you have actually asked me that question once before or something similar. and i said, i think i said this to you, the conservative party is in a hole right now. we need to get all of our best players on the pitch now. people can do that in many different ways in parliament and out of parliament. campaigning, advising. so if i was lucky enough to lead this party, boris penny mordant , andy street, you penny mordant, andy street, you name it, let's get the conservative family back together. let's get back in business again . business again. >> okay, well, there you go . >> okay, well, there you go. christopher hope, interviewing robert jenrick to a very large crowd of members and others who

were there at the party conference trying to decide who they were going to put their support behind for this tory leadership contest . but support behind for this tory leadership contest. but joining us live in birmingham is my presenting partner, tom harwood. tom, just hearing there what robert jenrick had to say. what did you take from that ? did you take from that? >> interesting. this is the same pitch that we've been hearing consistently from robert jenrick a pitch for change, but the sort of change that is spoken with the language of david cameron. but perhaps a policy agenda more akin to nigel farage. can that sort of melting pot? can that message work? big question marks there. but of course, christopher hope asking expertly and teasing out other different interesting tidbits. i didn't know that one of robert jenrick daughter's middle name was thatcher. well, that's something i think we'll all take from that . i think we'll all take from that. but also listening alongside me was the conservative councillor ron marchessault. ron, what did you make of what robert jenrick

had to say? >> well, i think like you said, it's the same message that he has been going through. >> it's been consistent with his message and that's that he wants change and so do all four candidates. so i'm pleased that he's saying that because we do need a change, we do need to appeal to the voters who had turned away from us after 14 years of stale of. of . years of stale of. of. instability. so i do agree with him on that. and i agree with quite a few of the messages that all four candidates have put forward so far at this conference. >> now, we were talking earlier and you revealed you're backing tom tugendhat. >> why is that so, for tom, me represents a complete contrast to what we have at the moment, what we've seen in the last few months of keir starmer. he is a man of public service, a public duty of integrity. and after for just 2 or 3 months of a labour government, we've seen with keir starmer that he is being propped up starmer that he is being propped ”p by starmer that he is being propped up by his friends and he, you know, he's getting all the freebies. but where someone like tom tugendhat, he wouldn't do that. he represents a man of

integrity, a man that has served this country 25 years militarily and also in westminster. >> it's interesting because tom tugendhat has the least government experience of any of the candidates standing. of course, robert jenrick, who we were listening to, has been a cabinet minister. kemi badenoch has been a cabinet minister. james cleverly has been has held two great offices of state as home secretary and foreign secretary. tom tugendhat has only ever been a minister who attends cabinet a junior minister. will that hold him back? >> well, listen, tom, let's not use the inexperience of james cleverly of kemi badenoch and of robert jenrick for a lack of military service or for lack of pubuc military service or for lack of public service. 25 years of service for the country in facing the military, facing the enemy. that's an experience that the other three don't have. but i won't use that against them. i think this is about the direction of the party, and i think we have four very interesting options, and i'm looking to support tom's option because i think that's the best

one. it represents integrity. it represents public service, something that i hold dearly. my dad was in the military back in uganda against idi amin. so i understand what it means to be patriotic to the country. we are now british citizens. i'm a british citizen now, and i think for me, when i listen to tom tugendhat, i see that patriotism seeping right through him. >> it's interesting. the other big issue that robert jenrick has been talking about is membership of the echr. tom tugendhat has sort of taken a policy that he would be willing to leave it, but doesn't want to make that the front stage. he wants to try and reform it first. jenrick was just saying on the stage, i mean, you've got 46 members of the echr. you need unanimity to agree any sort of reform. is that really possible? >> well, he's the adult in the room and that's tom tugendhat, because he knows that there are opfions because he knows that there are options on the table and it should be options on the table. it's not this is something that was written after world war ii. he says that, look, if we can reform it, he will. and if there is no room whatsoever to change anything of that of the

document, he will be willing to leave it . so he document, he will be willing to leave it. so he has document, he will be willing to leave it . so he has the option leave it. so he has the option of reforming. and if there is no action from there, he will leave. and i think that's an aduu leave. and i think that's an adult conversation to have, because if you can change from within, then you need to move out. >> okay. well ron mexico, thank you so much forjoining us here on gb news. really interesting to get your perspective. and of course, before listening to robert jenrick as well. back to you, emily. tom. just a quick question to you. >> where are we in terms of which mps are supporting which candidate who's in front, who's second, who's third, who's fourth, how important is it to have the backing of the actual mps in the party? >> yeah, really important to get the backing of those mps because of course, unless you get those, unless you get to the final two, you can't be voted on by the membership. now, the last time there was a vote, it was a little while ago now, but robert jenrick came up there in front, followed closely by kemi badenoch behind her on level

pegging, badenoch behind her on level pegging, where james cleverly and tom tugendhat and of course mel stride was a candidate at that point as well. he got knocked out. the next vote comes when parliament is back next week and we'll be able to see number one, where do all those mel stride votes go? where do those people who voted for mel stride? how do they redistribute amongst the mps? but more than that, this is of course a secret ballot amongst mps. that, this is of course a secret ballot amongst mps . people might ballot amongst mps. people might say they're publicly backing one candidate, but they might have voted for someone else behind the scenes. could there be any churn behind the scenes? could numbers go up or go down? aside from those that are being redistributed from mel stride, people say that the conservative parliamentary party is the most sophisticated electorate in the world. sophisticated here, perhaps, is another word for dualistic . dualistic. >> and there'll be there'll be a battle between the final two on gb news won't there, on october the 17th. is it, tom?

>> that sounds right. you know what? i don't have the date in front of me, but 17th sounds like a sounds like something i've heard before. and yes, we will be broadcasting live. the broadcast showdown of the final two candidates debating each other. >> fantastic stuff. tom. thank you very much indeed. now this is good afternoon , britain on gb is good afternoon, britain on gb news. we've got lots more coming up on today's show. news. we've got lots more coming up on today's show . we are going up on today's show. we are going to get an update from the middle east as israel's ground invasion into lebanon continues. that's after the news headlines with tatiana . tatiana. >> emily. thank you. the top stories robert jenrick has defended his comments on the special forces at the tory party conference in birmingham. asked whether he believes special forces are killing rather than capturing terrorists, this is what he had to say. >> he said that he would think it was difficult for the uk, our armed forces, to conduct a similar operation to the one that the united states did to kill or capture osama bin laden .

kill or capture osama bin laden. that's wrong. i don't want our human rights apparatus to be standing in the way of taking the right operational decisions for our national security and for our national security and for protecting the lives of the brave men and women who serve in our special forces . our special forces. >> the foreign secretary has warned. the situation in lebanon is volatile, as he repeated his call for britons to leave while they still can. his comments come as the israeli army says it's begun a targeted ground operation against the iranian backed terror group hezbollah, with artillery fires reported in the southern parts of beirut. hezbollah has reportedly responded with artillery fire into israel. it's the first time since 2006 that israel has had boots on the ground inside lebanon. this all comes as the uk government has chartered a commercial flight to help british nationals leave. the plane is due to take off from beirut rafic hariri international airport tomorrow . international airport tomorrow. david lammy says the situation could get much more dangerous and has called for an immediate

ceasefire . ceasefire. >> our position remains the same , >> our position remains the same, having spoken to our american colleagues and other allies, we're calling for an immediate ceasefire. we need a diplomatic solution to the problems in lebanon so that israelis can go back to their home in northern israel and lebanese can return to their homes in southern israel. so at this time, we want to see a political solution. the amos hochstein plan, which is on the table from the americans and an immediate ceasefire and the metropolitan police have launched a manhunt after a suspected acid attack at a school in west london yesterday afternoon. >> an investigation is now underway. a 14 year old girl has been seriously injured after a substance believed to be acid acidic was thrown at her and two others outside the westminster academy. the girl remains in hospital with potentially life changing injuries. a 16 year old

boy also remains in hospital with non—life changing injuries, and a 27 year old woman has been discharged after being hurt in the attack . and those are the the attack. and those are the latest gb news headlines for now. there's more news in half an hour for the very latest gb news direct to your smartphone , news direct to your smartphone, sign up to news alerts by scanning the qr code, or go to gbnews.com >> forward slash alerts

for >> welcome back. you're watching listening to good afternoon britain. it's now 238. now the metropolitan police have launched a manhunt after a suspected acid attack took place at the westminster academy school in central london yesterday. and we have an update from the metropolitan police to bnng from the metropolitan police to bring you mark white. our home security editor is in the studio with me, mark. >> well , really, it's

>> well, really, it's a description. for what it's worth, i mean, it's not much of a description, but the metropolitan police are saying that the suspect was a tall, slim, black man who was on an e—scooteh apparently face covered it seems so. not otherwise identifiable at this stage . now, it may be that we stage. now, it may be that we get more in the way of pictures cctv coming out. that gives us a better look and a better description of this individual. but apparently, according to the police, it was about a 4:45 yesterday afternoon on this main roadway outside this academy, westminster academy in west london. when this individual on the e—scooter approached a female, i think that was their school pupil, 14 years of age and through what police are

describing as an acid substance over this girl now, a boy who is not apparently , according to the not apparently, according to the academy, was not a pupil at the academy. a 16 year old boy was also injured and hospitalised. the 14 year old girl suffered potentially life changing injuries, is in clearly a serious condition. in hospital today. a woman believed to be a teacher 27 years old, was also injured in this incident. has since been released from hospital. as of , two police hospital. as of, two police officers who were there and intervened to try to help and were taken to hospital as well. so precaution? >> yes, and unfortunately, this description doesn't give too much away with a balaclava, a mask, riding an e—scooter, a tall, slim black male wearing dark clothing, face obscured, very difficult to track down,

just from that description, at least from the public's point of view. i mean, if anyone's been in central london, they will have seen, you know, many young men on these e—scooters. sometimes wearing balaclavas and things. >> yeah. i mean, i think many in our audience might ask and i don't blame them why it's taken so for long a very uncomplicated description to be put into the pubuc description to be put into the public realm. it's now taken them to what, after half past two in the afternoon, almost 24 hours after this incident unfolded, to actually put any kind of basic, description out there , but, hey, it's out there how. >> now. >> i mean, this school is on the harrow road that is a very busy road in a part of central london, there must be cctv, there must be cameras , not least there must be cameras, not least outside the school, as you would imagine . imagine. >> yes. and the detectives that

are investigating this will be now poring over all relevant cctv to now poring over all relevant ccrv to try now poring over all relevant cctv to try to trace the back movements, if you like, of this individual looking at cameras further and further back in the hope that at some point this man has taken that balaclava off before he put the balaclava on and so in order to do that, you know, that's going to take some time. and that's why we've got this very basic description that's now but hopefully depending on how their investigation goes, there'll be cctv or something out there so that the public can help, can join in to try to find this suspect. after a very, very worrying incident, these acid attacks is another example. of course , of the issue around course, of the issue around violent crime in this country. it's not just knives. it's not just guns, but they are regularly now people carrying bottles of corrosive substance,

either alkali or acid. there has been a 75% increase in acid attacks over a year . so from attacks over a year. so from 2022, 700 acid attacks across the uk last year, 1244 acid attacks that we know about, it had to be obtained through a freedom of information request. police scotland, for instance , police scotland, for instance, didn't issue any details with regard to that. so the number is going to be significantly higher than that and some instances might even go unreported . so might even go unreported. so there's a real concern around what you know, many people feel they can just do and get away with. it's very difficult to stop people getting under, you know, the kitchen sink and pounng know, the kitchen sink and pouring a corrosive substance into a bottle to take off and use it against an individual. >> yeah. i mean, that's a horrifying trend. if that

continues a 75% increase in in acid attacks over just continues a 75% increase in in acid attacks overjust a continues a 75% increase in in acid attacks over just a year , acid attacks over just a year, quite incredible. i mean, e—scooters , e—scooters are being e—scooters, e—scooters are being used for crime in particular phone snatching , e—scooters, phone snatching, e—scooters, e—bikes. that's a trend that we've seen in london. i'm sure it's a trend we're seeing elsewhere in the country to these are very nippy , small these are very nippy, small little vehicles. you can just grab them off the side of the street. i think you can use them for free for a little while. and you can just, you know, zoom around and quickly leave a crime scene. certainly. >> yeah. and it's very difficult for the police to pursue. we've had instances in the past, of course, and do still regularly get moped related crime, for instance, where exactly the same thing is happening. phones are snatched, you know, other items stolen robberies take place to get away on a two wheeled vehicle , like an e—scooter or vehicle, like an e—scooter or a motorbike. they shoot down

alleyways and then a pursuing police vehicle cannot get down that alleyway as well . and that alleyway as well. and they're off. it's a very big problem for the police. and of course, the latest , available course, the latest, available vehicle for them now is the likes of e—scooters. >> and in terms of you mentioned that it's taken nearly 24 hours to have this rough description of the suspect. that seems to be a trend. i mean, the amount of times we've been talking about a crime where it takes the police quite a while longer than you'd expect for the for the suspect to be released, a description, a picture by which time that person could be miles away. >> you're treading very carefully around this. let's just be blunt, okay? our audience and the wider public, there is a great deal of concern out there that they feel sometimes those in authority, suppress relevant information like someone's ethnicity ,

like someone's ethnicity, because they feel perhaps that those in authority feel they don't want to get this kind of description out there because it just potentially adds to community tensions. the kind of tensions that we've seen recently with riots in parts of the country . and maybe they've the country. and maybe they've got a point, maybe that has happened. certainly it was a big issue around the sex abuse that was taking place in northern towns by mainly people from a sort of pakistani heritage in these grooming gangs there. there was a big issue around that. so there are perhaps legitimate concerns and it is for the police, i think, to answer why we have waited almost 24 hours for the most basic of descriptions to come out, but i've been covering , you know, i've been covering, you know, the crime beat for many, many years and a description will often follow very quickly . with often follow very quickly. with the initial press release, nothing was mentioned about this individual and what particular

race ethnicity this individual was. and of course, now that information coming out delayed after the fact does show it was after the fact does show it was a black male. so, you know , that a black male. so, you know, that i think will only fuel concerns amongst those who do feel that perhaps those in authority do or are less willing to put out certain facts. we skirt around it. it's difficult. it's a difficult ground. >> and those in authority, i think people just want consistency. yes. don't they? and there's always the question of are the police just being slow in their operations, or are they purposefully choosing to hide this information from the pubuc hide this information from the public pending? i don't know what, but thank you very much. we'll have to leave it there. mark white our home and security edhoh mark white our home and security editor. there we go. that's the breaking news that we do have a description, of the suspect in this acid attack. you can get more on our website, gbnews.com. thank you very much indeed. well, we've got a lot more coming up on this show today. we're going to be talking about,

yes , there are new tipping laws yes, there are new tipping laws coming in. i believe this means that everyone will be able to keep all of their tips, and it won't go the boss more after

break. okay, it's 250. good afternoon britain. now new rules have come into force banning businesses from withholding tips from their staff . so the hospitality sector staff. so the hospitality sector restaurants, pubs, hairdressers, taxi operators are all set to be impacted by this change. so is it a good thing. joining me now is steve latto , owner of the is steve latto, owner of the criterion rest bar and rest in saint andrews. thank you very much indeed forjoining us. a fine establishment you have, steve. how will these changes impact you and your business? >> it doesn't make any difference from from us. >> we've we've always implemented this. >> so from we've had the for

business 13 years and our staff have always received 100% of the tips. we see it as an incentive for them to come into the hospitality industry . hospitality industry. >> and do you find that tips are forthcoming? a lot of people don't carry cash anymore. they might be reluctant to maybe tip via their card. or is that more difficult to work out from your point of view? >> how much i think that the systems now are a lot better. >> we've got a mixture of cash tipping and card tipping. the card machines now will offer a percentage, or a custom amount to the customer, and they can also choose no thanks as well. so it's actually become easier to tip for people as well. >> and also easier for the operator to separate out the tips and give them to the staff. >> okay, so that's actually an improvement then. and probably fairer in terms of dishing out the tips and allocating them. do people tip quite a bit? what's the standard sort of percentage that you see. so if i came in and my bill was £40, how much

would you expect me to tip one? >> that is never an expectation of tipping. we always say that if you've got the service, then please do even if you've got good service and don't tip, that's absolutely fine. as well. some people like to do it. some people don't. we're not in the american culture that you just get tipped for the sake of tipping. we want it to be an experience for the customer. so if the customer has had a good experience, by all means. tip the average we're probably looking at is about 10%. we've just ran our our trunk this morning , and just ran our our trunk this morning, and our just ran our our trunk this morning , and our staff will get morning, and our staff will get an extra £2.99 an hour for every hour they worked in september. so it works out to be about 25% more on their wage packet . and more on their wage packet. and at the end of the day, and steve, just just lastly you're up in scotland. >> you'll be impacted by this minimum unit pricing price of minimum unit pricing price of minimum price of alcohol rises by 30%. is that is that hitting

you. >> no. it actually benefits the on trade. so the off trade does get hit by that. so they'll see the supermarkets have got the minimum price and that's in there. so that's jumped quite substantially. it doesn't affect us because we are well above the minimum unit pricing. when it comes to it. so it actually in one way for certainly for the on trade, it gives it makes us better value for money versus the off trade. >> oh yes of course actually. so there may not be that much of a difference between coming to you and having a nice drink where you are and, and being at home with a bottle from the supermarket. so that's actually quite a good thing for you. thank you. absolutely. yeah. yeah. absolutely thank you very much. and if i'm in saint andrews, i look forward to coming by the criterion. thank you very much. steve latto in saint andrews. well, that's it from me and from tom as well. thanks for watching. good afternoon britain. we've got a lot more coming up this afternoon. it is, of course, as every day martin daubney up next. stay tuned for that .

next. stay tuned for that. >> heavy showers first thing will be followed by a warm, cosy day. boxt boilers sponsors of weather on gb news. >> hello and welcome to the latest update from the met office for gb news. it's becoming drier from the west, but it's taking a time with still a lot of cloud across the uk and some showery rain. that rain, well, it's causing some issues across the east of england and it will continue into the evening as the area of low pressure that's been with us for some days slowly pulls away. so some wet to weather come for east anglia and the south—east overnight. otherwise the rain in the east tends to turn lighter and more showery as the night progresses. but we keep a lot of cloud for much of england and wales, the clearest skies overnight will be for scotland and northern ireland. 1 or 2 showers otherwise , under those showers otherwise, under those clear skies, temperatures falling into the mid or even low single figures in some sheltered spots. that's where we've got

the brightest weather to start off wednesday. northern ireland and scotland plenty of blue skies , quite a difference from skies, quite a difference from much of central, eastern and southern england, where there's a lot of low cloud, some mist and murk and some drizzle. likewise for central and eastern wales . but west wales will see wales. but west wales will see much brighter skies , northern much brighter skies, northern england turning brighter through the morning . scotland and the morning. scotland and northern ireland. meanwhile, apart from 1 or 2 showers in the east, we'll see plenty of sunny skies and we keep the sunshine across western scotland and northern ireland throughout wednesday. that's the place to be for widespread blue skies and actually it's looking brighter for northern england and north wales. elsewhere. a lot of cloud cover and we've got these showers continuing to roll into east anglia. the east midlands and the southeast through the day . so that's and the southeast through the day. so that's going to make it feel a little less pleasant and brisk wind from the east as well will hold temperatures back in the mid teens , but elsewhere the mid teens, but elsewhere feeling warm enough in any sunny spells. then going into the

evening, the clear skies in the north will progress southwards and so a chilly start for many of us on thursday. but actually plenty of fine weather through the day. sunny spells and feeling pleasant. but into the weekend. more rain to come. >> expect a warm front moving from the kitchen right through to the rest of house. boxt boilers sponsors of weather

gb news. >> a very, very good afternoon to you. >> it's 3 pm. and welcome to the martin daubney show here on gb news. >> we're broadcasting live from the heart of westminster and all across the uk. on today's show in the past 30 minutes, tory leadership finest robert jenrick dramatically told gb news the political editor chris reform, is a symptom, not a cause. >> i want to retire nigel farage, but is that thing possible? nigel's hardly in pipe and slippers mode . and slippers mode. >> was it a wise thing to say? >> was it a wise thing to say?

>> we'll have all the latest from the tory party conference live from birmingham . and over live from birmingham. and over the past two days at the tory party conference, gb news political editor has grilled the final four tory leadership hopefuls. james cleverly is about to take the stage, so we'll find out soon who fared best. will get chopper's verdict as next. the two finalists will exclusively battle it out on gb news on october the 17th, and we've long suspected it. and now government data has proved that soaring immigration is making us all worse off. >> plus, despite pledging to end asylum hotels today, labour admitted they would rely on them at a cost of £8 million every single week for another three years. will our politicians ever take back control of our borders ? take back control of our borders? >> and a new survey by fairfueluk exclusively revealed today to gb news, shows that 85% of drivers fear the labour party will raise fuel duty in october

and 60% of all voters think