well . well. >> good afternoon britain . it's >> good afternoon britain. it's 2:00 on monday the 14th of october. i'm tom harwood and i'm emily carver. britain is open for business. yes, the prime minister is pledging to get rid of regulations that are holding back investment in britain . but back investment in britain. but can we believe him.7 >> can we believe him? >> and more historic reparations. a group of 15 canbbean reparations. a group of 15 caribbean nations will ask the king and sir keir starmer to pay £200 billion in slavery reparations , reparations. now, reparations, reparations. now, the foreign secretary has spoken very much in support of such a move in the past. will the government cave in this time and bnng government cave in this time and bring back british wood? >> yes. the restoration of lord nelson's warship hms victory has

sparked outrage due to its use of french oak. critics are upset that the foreign timber is being used on a symbol of britain's naval power . naval power. >> could we be getting a little bit closer , tom, to actually bit closer, tom, to actually paying bit closer, tom, to actually paying these reparations? other canbbean paying these reparations? other caribbean countries have been calling for huge amounts in reparations , compensation for reparations, compensation for the slave trade, and associated wrongs. 200 billion is the current figure, although there are some estimates trillions could run into the trillions. >> yeah, this is all about compound interest, which i think is a very peculiar way of working these things out. there was an academic who found that there was a there was a loan that wasn't that wasn't paid back in sort of the 1100s from from the brits to the french. and if you do the compound

interest calculations on that tiny amount of money and do it for a thousand years, it ends up worth more than the global economy. so when you're when you're talking in terms of hundreds of years and compound interest, you just get to pretend money. >> now, david lammy in 2018. huge speech in the house of commons demanding that canbbeans commons demanding that caribbeans get reparations for wrongdoing. past wrongdoing . wrongdoing. past wrongdoing. could it be that actually the government, you know, they've ceded sovereignty of the chagos islands? could this be next? next? could there be, you know, a push for reparations? could they actually agree to it? >> well, i'm sure there'll be a push for reparations. after all, that's what the countries are calling for. i just can't see how you can set out a framework whereby you can actually say, who gets reparations and who doesn't. i mean, do we ask the danish for reparations? i mean, they pillaged, they sent they sent viking hoards down the thames and sacked london. i mean, at what point do we say history stops and history

begins? >> i guess the difference is that our foreign secretary now believes in in reparations, or at least in theory anyway. gbnews.com/yoursay. get in touch. but let's get the headunes touch. but let's get the headlines with tatiana . headlines with tatiana. >> emily. thank you. the top stories. the prime minister says he will do everything in his power to galvanise economic growth. speaking at the international investment summit today, sir keir starmer said the government will make sure every regulator in the country takes growth as seriously as businesses. the government's unveiled investment deals worth billions of pounds in al, life sciences and infrastructure. it comes following a row over criticism of p&o ferries that reportedly jeopardised a £1 billion investment by its owner, dp world. that as four us tech firms have announced, plans to invest £63 billion in data centre infrastructure in the uk, a move the technology secretary calls a vote of confidence in the country. that announcement,

coming during today's summit. >> in times like this, economic growth is vital as it's always been. if we are to steer our way through a great period of insecurity and change and on to calmer waters because when working people benefit from that growth, when every community enjoys the fruits of wealth creation, it stops a country turning in on itself and against the world. and that in turn helps provide a stable foundation, breathing space for a country to take advantage of those opportunities for a better future . future. >> all right. some breaking news just to in us. the uk. has announced a fresh wave of sanctions against iranian military figures after the country's missile attack on israel, in which almost 200 ballistic missiles were fired towards israel around two weeks ago.the towards israel around two weeks ago. the uk foreign secretary,

david lammy, says following the attack on israel, we are holding iran to account and exposing those who facilitated these acts. well, that is four teenage idf soldiers have been killed and more than 60 wounded in a drone strike on an army base in northern israel. it's the deadliest attack on an israeli base since israel stepped up attacks on hezbollah in lebanon last month. lebanese terror group hezbollah have claimed responsibility for the attack. this comes as the un peacekeeping mission says israeli tanks have forcibly entered its base in southern lebanon. the health ministry there says 51 people were killed by israeli strikes across the country yesterday . a court has country yesterday. a court has heard that the father of sarah sharif fled to pakistan after allegedly killing the ten year old and called police to say, i legally punished her and she died. irfan sharif made the confession in an eight minute call, about an hour after his family's flight had landed in islamabad on the 10th of august last year, before sarah's body was found. he's on trial,

accused of her murder alongside sarah's stepmother, bannau batoul , and uncle faisal malik. batoul, and uncle faisal malik. opening their trial , the opening their trial, the prosecutor said all of the defendants have played a part in a campaign of abuse against sarah, leading to her death. he told jurors that doctors found sarah had dozens of injuries, burns and broken bones after her body was found in bed at her home in woking in surrey, on the 10th of august last year. in other news, the perfume bottle carrying the russian nerve agent that fatally poisoned a british woman contained enough poison to kill into her death has been told today. 43 dawn sturgess was pronounced dead at salisbury district hospital in july 2018. the novichok poisonings inquiry is to look at whether she died after she was caught in the crossfire of an illegal and outrageous international assassination attempt. she collapsed at her partner's home in 2018 after coming into

contact with the perfume bottle containing the substance. it followed the attempted murder of former spy sergei skripal and his daughter yulia, who were both poisoned in salisbury in march that year. both poisoned in salisbury in march that year . and finally, march that year. and finally, the snowman, who's being depicted on a new royal mint £0.50 coin with a gold version hidden in one of its advent calendars. for someone to discover on christmas eve . the discover on christmas eve. the mint said that to further celebrate the launch of the snowman , it's hidden a solid snowman, it's hidden a solid gold coin behind door number 24. in one limited edition the snowman advent calendar, offering someone the chance of striking gold. the advent calendars will be priced at £30, with a total of 3000 available, and only one will have a gold proof coin of the snowman hidden inside . and those are the latest inside. and those are the latest gb news headlines for now. i'm tatiana sanchez. more from me in half an hour .

half an hour. >> good afternoon, britain . it's >> good afternoon, britain. it's 2:07. now, the prime minister has set out his plans to rip up red tape in a bid to woo. good word. we should use woo. more global investors at his first international investment summit today. >> yes, sir keir starmer. he pledged to get rid of regulation that needlessly holds back investment. this is part of his plan for economic growth. >> well, it comes as four u.s. tech firms announced plans to invest £63 billion in the uk, data centre industry following the move by the tech secretary, which he's called a vote of confidence. >> okay, so is it a vote of confidence in our economy? gb news political editor christopher hope joins us now. christopher, it does strike me that the government want to project a more positive vision of this country. after talking it down for so long. >> yes. hi, tom. hi, emily. well, you blink your eyes and

listen to the message, and it is quite interesting how similar the language is to the last tory government. sir keir starmer telling the audience in his speech there, including eric schmidt from google, he says that they want to enforce regulators to put growth at the forefront of what they're doing, will make sure that every regulator in this country , regulator in this country, especially on the economics and competition regulators, take growth as seriously as this room does. now, many would say that those regulators like, for example, the competition and markets authority and other regulators in that space on competition, look after the interests of consumers, you and me, and stop us being exploited by companies. so, you know, shut your eyes. and that's kind of language which liz truss might have used. and you're hearing here from a labour prime minister, eric schmidt himself was quite surprised to hear the pm talking about growth. and eric schmidt, the google ceo, in a q&a after that said, why not have a minister for anti—regulation , which may go

anti—regulation, which may go somewhere? so you you're seeing a change in mood changing change in in in strategy here. i think in in in strategy here. i think in this government to go after the kind of capitalist money they need to get the growth going. the government is claiming as much as £60 billion worth of deals. you mentioned data centres . there's £1 billion data centres. there's £1 billion in stansted airport. some of these deals , as is being pointed these deals, as is being pointed out on twitter and x and elsewhere, have been talked about before , but in many ways about before, but in many ways they're being almost rubberstamped by the government today. so there have been around for a bit, but particularly the stansted investment was, i think, announced in november last year. but the government's confirming it today, as is so often the case with these projects, they get announced about 16 times by the government at various different points in their in their cycle. >> but chris, this is obviously a significant moment for this government. and is it this sort of refresh relaunch that keir starmer has been looking for after his pretty choppy first 100 days?

>> yeah, tom, i think the relaunch is in two parts today. and then the budget on october 30th, i sat down with rachel reeves, the chancellor, moments ago, and we're playing out that interview at 5:00. we do discuss elements of the budget in that interview, which viewers might, might find quite interesting. but for me, if you look, take a step back from what's going on, andifs step back from what's going on, and it's a 101st day of this government today in a sense, we're still in a trailers phase. the kind of adverts of other films, other things, what the government might try and do. the actual movie, i think, starts on october the 30th or october the sist. october the 30th or october the 31st. that is the moment when this government sets out its tax and spend plans for five years. basically. i think that's the moment when the government starts work. they've waited and waited and waited to give the obr, the independent body, a chance to check the check, the budget check. and when it spooked the markets. but for me, the government's real work starts on october 31st. i mentioned that upstairs to a senior cabinet minister and they nodded, saying that's the way, the way they are going to be. they kind of almost re re

relaunch this government after that budget. >> and christopher, just while we've got you, there's been a lot of talk about reparations to canbbean lot of talk about reparations to caribbean nations. now i hear that number 10 have had to slap down the suggestion that up to £200 billion could be sent to canbbean £200 billion could be sent to caribbean countries for slavery compensation, essentially. but david lammy has been very pro this idea in the past. now, foreign secretary, might there be a bit of a rift? >> well, it could be. the timing is interesting. it comes ahead of chogm. the commonwealth heads of chogm. the commonwealth heads of government meeting next week out in in samoa. so in the middle of the pacific, a group of commonwealth nations are looking to try and get some money back from the uk. in terms of reparations, some individuals have already started started doing that. laura trevelyan, for example, the former bbc correspondent, has done that with some of her family money. the number is huge. it's 206 billion , up to £19 trillion is billion, up to £19 trillion is forecast to be to be owed. david lammy , the foreign secretary,

lammy, the foreign secretary, said in 2018 on social media and also said it in the house of commons. we don't just want an apology, we want reparations and compensation. it's very clear from number 10 today that's not going to happen. they're saying that's not on the agenda. a spokesman for the government says , just to be clear, says, just to be clear, reparations are not on the agenda of the commonwealth. heads of government meeting. technically, the government's position is this hasn't changed. we do not pay reparations. i also asked that question of the chancellor earlier , and her chancellor earlier, and her answer is quite interesting. at 5:00. >> oh well, stay tuned for that. thank you very much indeed. christopher hope, our political editor there at the investment wmmw >> yeah, and a lovely background as well . i'm >> yeah, and a lovely background as well. i'm glad. i'm glad that the government is hosting events in sort of nicer areas. it's very often these are in sort of bland conference centres and it's all concrete, but this is majestic. >> majestic. anyway, we're now joined by the chairman of gales bakery, luke johnson, in the studio with us to reflect on this investment summit. and i suppose the government's approach to business. you're the chairman of a very successful

bakery. what's the word for it chain . chain. there we go. chain. chain. there we go. across the country now . how do across the country now. how do you think it's going ? you think it's going? >> well, i think i have a degree of cynicism because no one in the cabinet, as far as i can tell, has any experience or understanding of business. they essentially all come from the pubuc essentially all come from the public sector or the political world. so i do wonder how far their understanding of business extends. and certainly to date, i think a lot of their focus has been on things like pay rises for public sector unions , which for public sector unions, which isn't exactly going to help the private sector. there was this phrase that the prime minister used earlier, talking about ripping out bureaucracy. sounds good. but the reality is last week they introduced a big new piece of legislation with significant additional employment regulations, which i think an awful lot of employers

would see as a burden rather than something to help employment or growth or attract investment. and also, i'm afraid to say this government are completely obsessed with net zero, which, as we know, means that energy costs in this country are higher than in any comparable country. and anything like manufacturing, for example , like manufacturing, for example, requires cheap energy, energy in this country is something like five times more expensive than it is in america. we cannot compete with that . and the mad compete with that. and the mad drive towards net zero by 2030, which is ahead of any other country, is only going to make us more and more disadvantaged in terms of attracting investment and developing our industry . so they they come out industry. so they they come out with these phrases and there's all this talk at this event, but

the reality of what they are proposing and all their actions is the reverse that they are anti the private sector anti—business don't understand it . and the idea that this would it. and the idea that this would promote growth is a delusion. >> would you go as far as to say that to some extent this government might be making the same mistake as the previous government? the previous government? the previous government spoke endlessly about reducing migration and they increased it . reducing migration and they increased it. this reducing migration and they increased it . this government increased it. this government speaking endlessly about cutting red tape. but from your experience, they're increasing it. >> yeah, they are, i'm afraid to say. and they've only been around for 100 days. the truth is that, for example, when it comes to employment legislation, the organisations that really suffer are smaller businesses but smaller businesses actually create most of the new jobs. they're disproportionately responsible for innovation . they responsible for innovation. they are the heartland of this country, but they can't necessarily afford highly paid lawyers and big hr departments, which is what you increasingly

needif which is what you increasingly need if you are to manage the swathe of regulation that surrounds employment these days. and you know, as i said earlier, i think this government, you know, are appear to be all show and, you know, form, not substance. >> i mean, if the chancellor in the business secretary were here, they'd say , we've sat down here, they'd say, we've sat down with small businesses, the small business federation, we've sat down with the various groups in business and, and we've decided on, on what is a fair package of workers rights. they say, you know, it's been it's been watered down somewhat, hasn't it? i mean, the union demands are far , far more far reaching are far, far more far reaching than what we've currently had set out. what is it exactly that's worrying you? is it the, you know, the right to for sue unfair dismissal from day one? or is it the default on flexible working, or is it more just the sound of it, the sort of direction of travel? >> it's all of it. ultimately ,

>> it's all of it. ultimately, countries are successful in economic terms, i think not so much because of government laws, but because of culture. it's the atmosphere. either they promote entrepreneurship and the idea that people should try to start businesses and get rich, or they are essentially much more interested in public spending and bigger government and more laws . and i worry that this laws. and i worry that this government are very much the latter. they are primarily interested in the public sector. they don't understand the private sector. they think business is there really to be tolerated. and all this talk of taxed and taxed and all this talk of more prosperity and growth is just that talk. >> can i ask one final question about the budget at the end of this month ? we've heard a lot this month? we've heard a lot from entrepreneurs about their

concerns over capital gains tax. i mean, taxes that to be honest, most people in the country don't pay, most people in the country don't pay, but those that create jobs do pay. are you fearful about the budget? at the end of this month, almost every successful entrepreneur i've spoken to in recent period is extremely anxious about what may be revealed in the budget because they take risks with their capital to try and grow businesses here, and i think to a fair degree, this has been a good place to develop companies. >> but i think that if risk takers and entrepreneurs are punished by much more onerous taxation, then they will not invest, they will not work as hard and some will leave. >> as gail's bakery held off on making certain decisions. >> we have not, because i think we're taking the optimistic view

that, you know, come what may, we will continue to do. okay . we will continue to do. okay. but for a lot of businesses out there, i know they are standing on the sidelines and waiting to see before they commit because they are nervous . they are nervous. >> well, there we go. luke johnson, thank you very much indeed. you're the chairman of gail's bakery. very interesting. >> absolutely fascinating. i think we're going to hear more of these stories in the run up to that big budget day, but plenty more coming up on today's programme. indeed, that contentious issue of slavery reparations and the caribbean. that's up next.

>> conservative mps have finally chosen their top two for the leadership. and now it's over to the members. join me christopher hope on thursday as kevin badenoch and robert jenrick are

quizzed by conservative party members and myself at our gb news leadership event and afterwards, join me patrick christys in the live studio audience and a star panel as we discuss what it means for the conservative party and what it means for you. >> decision time, the to race lead from 7 pm. this thursday only on gb news people's channel only on gb news people's channel, britain's news channel . channel, britain's news channel. >> okay, well good afternoon britain. it's now 224 now. sir hilary beckles, he now he's the chairman of the caricom reparations commission. well, he's urged the uk foreign secretary, david lammy, to lead efforts in securing reparations from britain for the transatlantic slave trade. >> well, if mr beckles says it , >> well, if mr beckles says it, i don't see how he could possibly refuse. beckles proposed a summit to develop a reparatory justice model, emphasising lammy's advocacy for

such reparations in the past. >> yes, the issue potentially amounting to £19 trillion. >> can we just can we just say, because these these numbers always sound ridiculous, brilliant. the uk, the entire uk economy is what, 2.7 trillion? >> just give it all away . just >> just give it all away. just give it all away. >> how many times more than like all of the money in the country do these caribbean countries want. >> so you just you just cripple bankrupt actually people of canbbean bankrupt actually people of caribbean heritage who are living here, if we if we pay £19 trillion, 19 minus two point seven, where are we at 15, 16, 17 we're going to be minus 16 trillion. >> we'll be very happy indeed. >> we'll be very happy indeed. >> how do you have a negative gdp? it's impossible. it's anyway, obviously we're deeply impartial on this channel. so we're going to hear both sides of the it's going to be expected to be a key topic at the upcoming commonwealth heads of government meeting. >> so here's what lamy had to say on the matter. a couple of years ago. >> people who have worked paid

their taxes , paid their national their taxes, paid their national insurance, and then denied nhs treatment. >> if you now have cancer , >> if you now have cancer, denied your pension, that you have contributed to, told that you are not now able to seek pubuc you are not now able to seek public funds, that you are not able to work in this country, i am afraid as caribbean people, we are not going to forget our history. we don't just want to hear an apology, we want reparations . reparations. >> we don't want an apology . we >> we don't want an apology. we want reparations. >> okay. well, joining us now to discuss this is historian and broadcaster rafe heydel—mankoo . broadcaster rafe heydel—mankoo. now, rafe, we must say that the number 10 spokesperson has just in the last hour or so, slapped down this saying that the policy hasn't changed. no reparations . hasn't changed. no reparations. but our foreign secretary, david lammy, appears to be very open

to this idea . to this idea. >> yeah, it's always great to hear from from david mastermind lammy , the idea that this is the lammy, the idea that this is the man who's now representing britain on the world stage. i mean, you would have hoped that elevation to the international platform would have made him a bit more measured in his tone. i hope that we will see some more measure given the statement from number 10, compared to what he has said in the past. because let's be clear here, britain does not owe a single penny to anybody in the caribbean nations. this is nothing more than you know, some sort of avaricious cash grab by, you know , by left wing activists in know, by left wing activists in the caribbean, but also bad faith political actors who are trying to really capitalise and exploit, you know, our current you know, sort of nihilistic wave of self—flagellation that we're enduring in this country. there are two key points here. firstly, we've more than paid our debt to the british government, paid £20 million in

1833 to free the slaves. that's a sum equivalent to £20 billion today. it was 40% of its budget in 1833. and yes, that money did have to be paid. it's all about realpolitik. if the law to get slavery abolished was going to pass, it meant that you did have to do a deal with the slave owners. that's just a sad reality of the situation in the 19th century, when, of course, you had rotten boroughs. and so forth. additionally, the british government spent 2% of gdp, a sum equivalent to our entire current defence budget on the west africa squadron. the royal navy fleet that went to enforce an abolition of the slave trade on the atlantic, not for just british ships, but actually seizing foreign ships and trying to stop africans because africans are actually one of the most vocal opponents of an end to the slave trade. and so the cost of actually ending slavery probably negated any of the profits that were achieved through slavery, because slavery

actually didn't contribute that much to the british economy. the second point to make is that there are no victims of slavery alive today. victims of british empire slavery, i should say. and this is key, because reparations are fundamentally an issue of tort law. that's tort tort law. and the purposes of reparations is to put the victim back into the position they were in before the harm occurred. so if we were talking about this in the 19th century and there were people alive, i would absolutely support reparations. but we're talking about 200 years ago, that's 6 or 7 generations, and no one can tell me that the great, great, great great grandchildren of slaves in the canbbean grandchildren of slaves in the caribbean have a worse life than if their ancestors had never left west africa, which is where they came from. rafe clearly what people are suggesting here with these these numbers, i mean, £19 trillion, that's more than the entire gdp of china. >> but perhaps, perhaps if the british never arrived in the

canbbean british never arrived in the caribbean and these people were left to set up their own country, perhaps it would have a bigger economy than china today. perhaps they would be the most powerful and most wealthy nation in the world, and the only thing that stops them, the only thing that stops them, the only thing that kept them less rich than than they might have been was the dastardly british. >> well, it's nice, but unfortunately, you know, wakanda wasn't built in. liberia wasn't built in ethiopia. the sad reality is there's no evidence to suggest that there would be any of the development that we've seen in africa or indeed anywhere amongst, you know, some of those colonies later on elsewhere in the pacific and so forth. were it for not colonialism? the first thing to say, of course, is that the slave trade ended before actually the european nations began developing their colonies in africa . so that's the first in africa. so that's the first point to make. the second thing is, of course , liberia and is, of course, liberia and ethiopia i mentioned, because they were never colonised. so those are two states in africa that never experienced colonisation. liberia was actually set up by by slaves.

but let's compare, for example