>> hello. good evening. it's me, jacob rees—mogg on state of the nation. tonight, the taylor swift scandal is deeply demeaning for the prime minister's office. the idea that the head of government is prioritising celebrity glamour with a blue light escort for a p0p with a blue light escort for a pop star sends the wrong message. it undermines public trust and reinforces the notion of two sets of rules one for the rich and powerful and one for everyone else. the prime minister should be focused on the british people , not fawning the british people, not fawning over fame. in good economic news, inflation has fallen below i.7%, well below the incompetent bank of england's forecast of 2.1%. but the chancellor is said to be trying to find 40 or even £50 billion of tax rises for the budget. will labour's tax and spend never end as a prelude to

tomorrow's exclusive debate between robert jenrick and kemi badenoch.7 only on gb news? i'll badenoch? only on gb news? i'll be asking popcorn what it expects from our new leader in the return of the book club. i will also be asking how we can do better than rachel reeves with lord moynihan of chelsea, author of the compelling return to growth. addressing the uk's economic crisis. he warns of stagnant growth, rising debt and the urgent need for reform and discusses his solutions for reversing the decline and what it could mean for the future of the uk economy. state of the nafion the uk economy. state of the nation starts now . nation starts now. i'll also be joined by my formidable panel, former conservative mp sirjohn former conservative mp sir john redwood and historian and broadcaster doctor tessa dunlop . broadcaster doctor tessa dunlop. as ever, let me know your views. it's a crucial part of the programme. email me at mailmogg@gbnews.com but now it's your favourite time of the day.

the news bulletin with sophia wenzler . wenzler. >> jacob thank you. good evening. it'sjust >> jacob thank you. good evening. it's just gone. 8:00. these are your headlines from the gb newsroom. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has held an emergency meeting on increasing gaza aid. it comes after the us threatened to take away some military support unless israel boosted aid within 30 days. it comes as fighting continues in gaza, and israel also hit beirut for the first time in five days, while hezbollah has fired more rockets into northern israel, injuring at least two people. meanwhile, prime minister sir keir starmer has said he is looking at sanctioning two israeli cabinet members . now sanctioning two israeli cabinet members. now it's being reported that senior uk ministers have written to the prime minister expressing their alarm at the scale of spending cuts in the october budget. multiple members

of sir keir starmer's cabinet have sent formal letters to the prime minister about cuts they're being asked to make in they're being asked to make in the one year departmental spending review , to be announced spending review, to be announced alongside the budget . it comes alongside the budget. it comes as inflation has dropped below the 2% target for the first time in over three years. figures for september show it fell to i.7%, the lowest since april 2021. analysts had expected a smaller fall to 1.9%, and now warn inflation could rise again, with higher energy costs on the horizon. the government is scrambling to find more hotel spaces for migrants after a surge in small boat arrivals. almost 14,000 have arrived under laboun almost 14,000 have arrived under labour, overtaking the number of crossings under the previous government in 2024. meanwhile , government in 2024. meanwhile, italy has begun sending asylum seekers to albania under a controversial new plan, with a naval ship arriving on monday transferring 16 men from

bangladesh and egypt. italy says up to 36,000 asylum seekers could be sent to albania each year , but only non—vulnerable year, but only non—vulnerable men from safe countries will qualify. and finally, prince william has defended his work trying to tackle homelessness despite his own privileged royal life. in a new itv documentary, the prince of wales is quizzed about critics who might question whether he is the right person to lead the project , which whether he is the right person to lead the project, which is designed to eradicate homelessness in six locations around the uk. >> there will be some people who might question whether you're the right person to lead this project and its efforts to end homelessness . how would you homelessness. how would you respond to that? >> i think everyone having a right to a safe and stable home benefits us all. i come with no other agenda than desperately trying to help people who are in need , and i see that as part of need, and i see that as part of my role. is that why else would i be here if i'm not using this

role properly to influence and help people where i can? and i like a big challenge. i do like that, but i can't do it on my own . own. >> those are the latest gb news headlines. now it's back to jacob for the very latest gb news to direct 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. >> why does the reverend starmer behave like a lovesick teenager towards taylor swift? it is really extraordinary. he is the prime minister of the united kingdom of great britain and northern ireland. he holds one of the great offices, not just in this country, but globally. he is a serious, supposedly international figure. and yet for free tickets, he seems to be quite easily put in the pocket of promoters. he then gets lucky .

of promoters. he then gets lucky. lucky reverend starmer, ten minutes of her time. do you remember the humiliation of poor old gordon brown? rather distinguished figure in his way when he was desperate to see barack obama, and he managed to meet him in the kitchen of some swanky hotel for ten minutes as a brush past. well, at least barack obama was president of the united states. was important, had a global role to play important, had a global role to play . he wasn't important, had a global role to play. he wasn't some pop important, had a global role to play . he wasn't some pop star important, had a global role to play. he wasn't some pop star in return for this precious ten minutes, he provides police escorts. not only that, but about half the cabinet seemed to have lobbied for these police escorts. the home secretary, the law officers seem to have got involved with the police not being entirely happy with the whole setup, and this seems to me , frankly, embarrassing for me, frankly, embarrassing for a middle aged man to be behaving in this way. it's beneath his dignity , and it's certainly dignity, and it's certainly beneath the dignity of his office. and it then brushes up against the ministerial code. now remember the reverend

starmer, praise be, was going to make politics more honest. he was going to clean up the augean stables that the tories had left behind. he was going to be whiter than white, like caesar's wife. he was going to be above suspicion. but the ministerial code says that even the appearance of influence in return for hospitality is wrong, and on this occasion the appearance is extraordinarily clear. you've got not just one set of free tickets, but two sets of free tickets, and then a nice little brush past. and in return, miss swift got a police escort free tickets, and then you get an escort. but this surely is not what should happen, because it's about your concept of the individual and the state. in this country, the only people who get escorts are either foreign visitors who need it for their security reasons, or because of the state they

represent, and the king and the prime minister. very occasionally it's given to other ministers on urgent national business when they are doing something that is essential for the country, it's not given just to the wealthy, because if it could be bought, if it could be sold to the grand and the rich , sold to the grand and the rich, then all the rest of us are held up at their convenience on the king's highway. and this is clearly improper. every minute saved by taylor swift is thousands of minutes lost to the people who were held up. whilst this was going on. but surely that's not the sort of society we are . we are a democracy. we we are. we are a democracy. we are a free society where the state doesn't allow the rich to just trample on the rights of the many . but socialism always the many. but socialism always does , because socialism is does, because socialism is always about the collective rather than the individual. they are important and we, the little people are not. and they don't

care if it wastes police time and resources. that's not what matters. bear in mind, in the soviet times they had zil lanes for officials to go ahead of the people of moscow, and this is why it's such an affront to the people who were delayed. it is selling off the freedom of the british people , but it's also british people, but it's also selling it so cheaply for tickets and ten minutes, if you're going to be a bit dodgy , you're going to be a bit dodgy, you're going to be a bit dodgy, you ought at least to get something out of it. dodgy down market that, i'm afraid, is the reverend starmer , as ever. let reverend starmer, as ever. let me know what you think. email me mailmogg@gbnews.com. but i'm joined now by most mailmogg@gbnews.com. but i'm joine