between two was first minister between two thousand and seven and 2014, leading the snp to historic victories, including a majority in the 2011 scottish parliament election. he was also instrumental in the 2014 independence referendum, a campaign that ultimately ended in defeat. following that defeat, salmon announced his resignation as first minister and snp leader. his deputy, nicola sturgeon succeeded him in both of those roles . tributes both of those roles. tributes are being paid across the political landscape this evening to salmon and a short while ago, scotland's first minister and the leader of the snp, john swinney, has said that he is deeply shocked and saddened at the untimely death of the former first minister, adding that alex made an enormous contribution to political life where he worked tirelessly and fought fearlessly for the country that he loved and for her independence . the and for her independence. the leader of the scottish conservatives, russell findlay , conservatives, russell findlay, has also just released a statement saying salmon will be

remembered as a formidable and impressive politician who made a lasting impact on our country. prime minister sir keir starmer has said alex salmond was a monumental figure of scottish and uk politics. he leaves behind a lasting legacy. he cared deeply about scotland's heritage, history and culture and the prime minister added on behalf of the uk government, he offers condolences to all those that knew who knew salmond , his that knew who knew salmond, his family and his loved ones. scottish labour leader anas sarwar has also paid tribute to salmond, describing him as a central figure in politics for over three decades. alex salmond, who has died today, 100 days in and sir keir starmer admits it hasn't been smooth sailing. in a video posted on social media, the prime minister has been reflecting on labour's landslide win in july, but acknowledged the choppy days since taking office. when asked if he thought his staff had been successful, his spokesman said it's up to the public to decide.

>> today marks 100 days of my labour government . before that, labour government. before that, 14 years of tory failure . 14 14 years of tory failure. 14 years is a long time to cause damage. 100 days isn't much time to fix it. i will level with you. the scale of the damage is huge. but i will take the tough decisions to fix the foundations of our country, to deliver the long term change. we need to change that you voted for. the next 100 days starts now, and i won't waste a moment, prime minister. >> and finally, for now , gb news >> and finally, for now, gb news can reveal that an average of 135 migrants have crossed the engush 135 migrants have crossed the english channel in small boats each day since prime minister keir starmer took office. over 13,500 have arrived since the 5th of july. today alone, more than 400 migrants made the perilous journey from france,

pushing the total for the year to nearly 27,200. a home office spokesman insists they're committed to dismantling people smuggling operations, saying the government will stop at nothing to bring these criminals to justice. a reminder of that breaking news this evening. former first minister of scotland alex salmond has died at the age of 69. we will bring you more on that as we get it. those are the latest news headunes those are the latest news headlines for now, i'm katie bowen. i'll be back with you in 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 gb news. >> .com. forward slash alerts . >> .com. forward slash alerts. >> .com. forward slash alerts. >> cheers very much katie. it's saturday night and you're with the saturday five. i'm darren grimes, and i can promise that you're in for a very lively houn you're in for a very lively hour. we're going to crack on

with tonight's big interview. now, there are a reminder there that alex salmond has passed away at the age of 69. but now i want to ask my guest about that, actually, because i think they were in parliament at the same time in the 80s. but he will put me right if i'm wrong. now, the next leader of the conservative party will either be kemi badenoch or robert jenrick . as badenoch or robert jenrick. as tory members continue to vote in an online ballot. going out, i believe next week, james cleverly was eliminated in the last round of voting. now, despite leading the previous round with reports of tactical voting having gone spectacularly wrong. well, the competition has heated up. you can watch robert jenrick and kemi badenoch battle it out in a special live event exclusively here on gb news on thursday evening at 7 pm, but who's more likely to win.7 and what do each of the two candidates really offer.7 to discuss this, i'm joined by the former tory mp and barrister gerry hayes, who has written well a scathing article on one

of the candidates in particular. welcome to the show , gerry. now, welcome to the show, gerry. now, gerry, can i first of all ask you that question about alex salmond.7 you were in parliament at the same time, if my math is correct. >> i was, i was, i was elected in 1983 and before alex was, was elected , actually, i knew him elected, actually, i knew him very well in those days. the snp were a bit of a joke. they just had a not even a handful of members. they had something like three members and he turned them into a proper political , into a proper political, credible force, which they hadnt credible force, which they hadn't been done before. they were just a joke. so a giant, he's gone and it's the end of the snp anyway. >> yeah. you think so.7 >> yeah. you think so? >> do you think actually his dream is never going to, you know, in our lifetimes come into fruition of independence? i mean i can't see it. he put it on the radar. didn't he. it came close. >> yeah, yeah. and then suddenly he left, started his own party, i think. his alba. yeah. and

then the whole party of snp under sturgeon just exploded and it's dead. and one of the reasons labour got such a large majority was because of the collapse of the snp. indeed. >> all right, gerry, thank you for that. we'll move on then to talking about the leadership election. now, you were pretty scathing in your assessment of robert jenrick. i mean , he was robert jenrick. i mean, he was a former remain campaigner. he backed david cameron once upon a time and now he's come out and he's sort of what would you call him? farage light maybe. >> and a poundshop farage. >> and a poundshop farage. >> is that what you called him , gerry? >> not not my words, i promise. not my words . not my words. >> your words. but you see, i think the thing about nigel. >> nigel, nigel's a friend. we disagree on a lot of things, but he believes he's . disagree on a lot of things, but he believes he's. he disagree on a lot of things, but he believes he's . he actually he believes he's. he actually believes in what he says. he does care about the dispossessed in places like ashfield and clacton. and they believe in

him. the trouble with politics nowadays and the reason politicians are so despised is most of them don't believe in anything at all. i mean, yeah, jenrick is just one of these shape shifting politicians. one day he's a cameroon pro—remain gets up and says it'll be terrible if we leave the eu. and then suddenly it all changes. well, and he said today , oh, i'm well, and he said today, oh, i'm going to get if i become prime minister, i'm going to get rid of a million immigrants. oh , of a million immigrants. oh, please. now the thing about kemi, she's authentic. now i'm on the left of the conservative party. >> well, i was about to say, are you just saying this, gerry? >> because i know, i know, i was about to say i was about to say you're wetter than an otter's pocket, gerry. is that right? is that why you're saying this ? that why you're saying this? >> no. it'sjust i want that why you're saying this? >> no. it's just i want the conservative party to win power. i want them to come back. the conservative party used to be the most i expert political

machine in the world, and we were actually getting into power more more than labour ever did. now we regard it as a joke. now we regard it as completely and utterly weird. and you don't. well, i'm going to say you don't get much weirder than generally it's not true. there's quite a few weirder people than him, but they don't want shape shifters . they don't want shape shifters. now, the thing about kemi is that she is authentic. she really is . really is. >> yeah. >> yeah. >> we've got one vote for kemi there then. gerry, i'm guessing by what you're saying. who does anyone disagree with gerry about the authenticity of robert jenrick? >> i don't disagree, but i do have a sort of a question to, to put to you as to whether, you know, it could be possible that and i agree with you. i think kemi has she has natural authority . she has stuck to her authority. she has stuck to her guns.the authority. she has stuck to her guns. the whole way through. and you do have to ask why jenrick

didn't say sooner, that he wanted to deport all didn't say sooner, that