>> good morning, pop sensation liam payne has died at the age of 31. >> the former one direction member is reported to have fallen from a hotel balcony in argentina on wednesday afternoon. >> tributes are flooding in for the hitmaker, who played a pivotal role in britain's biggest boy band. >> tonight concert conservative leadership hopefuls robert jenrick and kemi badenoch go head to head in a gb news special. but to either have what it takes to lead the embattled tories, scottish business leaders issue a new plea to labour not to increase alcohol duty for fears of crippling the industry. education secretary bridget phillipson joins us this morning as she launches a new funding programme as part of ambitious plans to open 3000 new nurseries. >> the king and queen head down

under in their most significant overseas tour since his cancer diagnosis. >> nearly 1 million brits living with dementia could soon be aided by an ai robot specialising in alzheimer's care. >> new government plans are going to offer unemployed brits discounted driving lessons, so we're debating this morning whether the jobless should get freebies. >> later this morning, britain's most decorated paralympian, dame sarah storey , divulges the sarah storey, divulges the secrets of her success and also in sport, the country is coming to terms with a german becoming the england manager. so ben ainslie's britannia is on new zealand's tail. or is it stern.7 or is it star.7 is it stern.7 stern.7 it's on the stern. and pickle paddle or tennis? which racquet sport is which and why? we'll discuss. >> following a gloomy wednesday with outbreaks of rain, for many of us, thursday is looking much brighter. i'll have the full forecast coming up very soon. >> it'sjust forecast coming up very soon. >> it's just gone. 7:00 i'm

stephen dixon, i'm ellie costello, and this is gb news breakfast. well, the news you're probably waking up to this morning is that one direction star liam payne has died at the age of just 31, apparently falling from the third floor of a hotel in buenos aires. >> well, fans across the world have come together to pay tribute to the star, who helped define a generation of pop music. >> well, he'd been in argentina supporting former bandmate niall horan, who was on tour there, and he had been posting on social media right before the shocking incident. >> well, joining us now is showbiz reporter stephanie takyi. good to see you this morning. good morning. it is just such shocking and tragic news, isn't it? >> it's devastating news. ellie, 31, is no age to go . but i think

31, is no age to go. but i think the circumstances which we're heanng the circumstances which we're hearing about how liam died is just dreadful. and i think , you just dreadful. and i think, you know, millions of fans across the globe, one direction fans are waking up to this news and trying to comprehend what's happened here. you know, he was a p0p happened here. you know, he was a pop icon. you can imagine, at the age of 16, finding fame at the age of 16, finding fame at the way he did with the rest of the way he did with the rest of the boys. they instantly rose to fame and they became these pop sensations. it had been the death of the boy band before they came back, and over the past few years he's been on a solo journey, you know, trying to find himself, trying to establish himself as a solo artist. he had moments where he was there and he was at the top of the game. maybe not like harry styles, but his career was always plagued with addiction , always plagued with addiction, stints in rehab, which he was quite open about. i've interviewed liam several times over the years and he's always struck me as a very kind and honest character, you know , he's honest character, you know, he's almost like a journalist stream

in the sense where there was nothing to hide about the problems he was going through , problems he was going through, and he was one of those things where i think, what's happened is like to find that fame at 16 and then to be out of the boy band by 21, it's like, how do you move on from that? >> i mean, this is the thing a lot of people have said as you did, that, you know, he was actually a nice person, a lovely person. >> i just think, you know, when you get fame that young, as i've seen with most of these pop stars, sometimes they become a bit egotistical and they lose their way. but that wasn't the case with liam. he was very warm hearted. i interviewed him just after he became a father and welcomed his son, bear with cheryl cole, and i could see it literally brought light into his life becoming a father. so i'm definitely thinking of cheryl and bear, who's just seven years old. so for them to come to terms with this is just going to be a hard road ahead for them. >> and we haven't heard from cheryl yet. i mean, you can only imagine the shock that she's going through. she's probably

going through. she's probably going to have to wake up this morning and tell her young son should be working out how to do that, and we haven't heard from the band mates yet, have we? because you can only imagine how they're feeling, especially niall, who was with just two weeks ago. >> and i think what's so haunting about this? like he was literally on social media just hours before his death, even an hours before his death, even an hour before his death. just posting up life was just as normal. he was there in argentina, supporting niall. but the thing is, you know, a lot of what people say online now is be kind, because over the past few weeks he has been ridiculed onune weeks he has been ridiculed online for some of his recent appearances , including one at appearances, including one at niall's concert where people were making fun of him , saying were making fun of him, saying he was acting a bit strange. he was also facing a potential legal case with some of one of his former lovers, so there was a lot of pressure on liam before his death , including he was his death, including he was working on a second album which had to be rewritten. so there was a lot going on and a lot of struggles with him. and i think as the days go by and the weeks go on, we will have more information on what's happened here. >> we don't know and we can't

speculate as exactly what has gone on. we do know that he's fallen off this balcony and which this is what i don't understand. it's very difficult to understand how this happens. and this is not an uncommon thing. i mean, we had a case not not that many days ago. >> it's horrific. stephen knight this week in showbiz, we've had another death of a dj in ibiza who apparently fell from a balcony as well . and i just balcony as well. and i just think when you hear these showbiz deaths, they're not like natural in the sense where they're very like freak accidents and trying to get your head around it. it'sjust a bit head around it. it's just a bit too shocking, especially for liam payne. i just think he was just such a lovable character and you really think he was battling through those demons and you were just hoping that he was going to get on the other side and there was plans for him to go on tour, and it just seems like everything has just been brought to a very sad halt. >> i've just seen harry styles mother post post a picture saying just a boy, obviously referencing the fact that he was so young, just 31.

>> well that's it. if you're seeing at the moment, if you see his first audition on x factor in 2008, he was just 14 years old and he had this incredible voice and he got rejected. but simon cowell said, come back in two years and he did come back in two years. and liam was quite open when he said, you know, when he got rejected from x factor, he felt like it was the end of the world. so for him to come back shows the determination he's had. but he's also been quite open in interviews where he says that aftercare duty must be provided for young artists who go on such reality shows, because can you imagine your big, successful career almost drawing to an end at the age of 21? like, where do you go? there? you've got all this money? >> i do sort of wonder if showbiz like that and this, i mean , this huge success is more mean, this huge success is more of a curse than anything else. >> steve and i often think of that, and i just think there is that, and i just think there is that price of fame, because you can get the money. and i think he loved his fans. i don't think it's about the fans that are the

problem here, but it's the other side of you've got this voice and you're no longer a part of the boyband that made you a success. what do you do next? he hasn't enjoyed the same success as harry styles, has he was like the breakout star, so you're kind of left to your own devices and you're surrounded by lots of yes people. so to break through that, you need an aftercare system. and i'm sure his family have always been there for him. but, you know, he's he was old enough to kind of make his own decisions, unfortunately. >> and there'll be fans all over the world this morning who will be so devastated. i mean, we've been seeing live pictures all morning outside the hotel. i mean, a vigil being held by fans there. >> well, day one directioners are not like other fans. you know, we hear about the swifties, but one direction does even since the band have been split, they still love one direction. they've been following all of them individually, so for them, it's almost like a cult for them, how much they love those stars. and i think you know, in the industry and with fans, there was always this hope that one direction was going to get back together. i think people were

just waiting for the right time for that, and now even if they do, unfortunately there's going to be one member missing. >> okay , steph, for now, thanks >> okay, steph, for now, thanks very much indeed . it's 7:09 now. very much indeed. it's 7:09 now. today is the day robert jenrick and kemi badenoch will face off in the first televised tory leadership event . leadership event. >> yes, christopher hope is presiding over the event as both politicians fight to prove themselves. >> well, let's get up to date with all the details you need to know with our reporter, adam cherry. morning to you, adam. i mean, it is going to be fascinating that they are facing off here. they're going to have to prove who's got the mettle . to prove who's got the mettle. >> yeah. that's right. so just take you through how this will work. so they'll both have five minutes to make their opening pitches. then they will individually take 40 minutes worth of questions from our political editor, christopher hope, and members of the live audience . now, they're not audience. now, they're not facing each other directly. it's not a head to head in that sense. they will instead just

take those questions throughout the show from the audience instead. what will be interesting to watch out for is even though they're not on the stage together, attacking each other , do they now? now that other, do they now? now that there's only two left, start to draw more direct comparisons with themselves against their opponent. do they get those little jabs in that we haven't seen so far ? it's all been very seen so far? it's all been very cordial and very friendly, partially because the party has imposed this yellow card system, which means these blue on blue attacks are discouraged because in 2022, that all got a little bit grizzly and undermine party unity. nonetheless, we are seeing a little bit of that creep back in already. we saw kemi badenoch at a grassroots virtual event with party members saying she's running a grassroots campaign. she's not running a campaign for the media and for the tv screens , which and for the tv screens, which for those who have been following this closely, might see that as a little bit of a jab at robert jenrick at her opponent, who is very keen to get in front of the camera, arguably a little bit more than she has been more recently. so watch out for that . but it will

watch out for that. but it will be certainly an interesting a box office moment moment for the for the party membership for the country and of course for gb news. >> i mean, it's a moment in time as well for the tory party. the biggest question is who is the tory party? what is the tory party now? i mean, only 121 mps left. what's it even stand for anymore? and i guess tonight people will be watching, thinking who out of the two of you is going to unite this embattled party? >> absolutely. and unity is crucial. i think they're both buoyed by the fact that the stumbling, the mistakes of this labour government in the first hundred days gives them a sense of hope in the future that perhaps, if they turn things around, they might be back in government in five years. at least that's what they're saying publicly on on that unity point, however, robert jenrick is saying that if he wins, it will be he will impose the policy position on all mps, all 121 of them. then they must commit to leaving the european court of

human rights. the echr. now that's interesting because that's interesting because that's not a universal position within the party. there are plenty. there's only 121 of them, but there are nonetheless still plenty who would oppose doing that? so that might create some tension further down the line if he were to win. not only because, let's not forget, neither of these candidates received a massive an overwhelming majority in the mps round. they both, at one stage or another, came first, but most mps will have voted for someone else at some point . else at some point. >> cherry there for us in westminster 7:12. >> let's have a look at some of the other stories heading into the other stories heading into the newsroom today. >> and un peacekeepers say an israeli tank has fired at one of its watchtowers in southern lebanon. meanwhile, the prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, has held an emergency meeting on increasing support for gaza after the us threatened to take away some military support unless israel boosted aid within 30 days. >> relatives of the menendez brothers, lyle and eric, have gathered in los angeles calling for their release. they're

currently serving life sentences for killing their parents back in 1989, but there has been a renewed interest in their case because of a netflix series . because of a netflix series. prosecutors have announced they are reviewing new evidence bison cattle introduced into blean woods in kent to help tackle the climate crisis, have welcomed two new calves, bringing the herd to eight. >> the project, run by kent wildlife trust and wildwood trust, aims to naturally manage the woodland and restore the ecosystem and support biodiversity . biodiversity. >> and that's lovely. i really like that. it's just it's to tackle the climate crisis thing. i just have a tackle the climate crisis thing. ijust have a real tackle the climate crisis thing. i just have a real problem with yeah, eight cows basically, which is effectively what they are eight. it's going to tackle the climate emergency. no it isn't. yeah. >> but then we're also told that cattle and the methane they produce is a big problem and a big problem .

big problem. >> so you just can't make it up can you? i think it's lovely to have them there. >> i'll tell you something though. they're very cute. >> very cute. and it's, you know, it's lovely. it's just the fact that how it's pitched, it just drives me slightly . just drives me slightly. crackers. yeah. anyway, let's see what the weather's going to do for you today. here's aidan. >> heavy showers first thing will be followed by a warm, cosy day. boxt boilers sponsors of weather on gb news . weather on gb news. >> hi there and welcome to the latest update from the met office for gb news. a much brighter day today for most of us.sunny brighter day today for most of us. sunny spells far and wide. still some showers around, particularly across some western parts, but actually for many it's a dry start to the day. we've got the last of thursday or wednesday's rain clearing from the northern isles and just some showers following for in northern ireland, parts of southern and western scotland, wales and the southwest. these showers will be hit and miss in between there'll be some

sunshine, the best of the sunshine, the best of the sunshine across the midlands, eastern and southeastern england and it will feel mild once again. but not quite as mild as wednesday, so highs of 16 to 19 celsius. there is the chance of some thicker cloud and some outbreaks of rain moving into the far southeast by the end of the far southeast by the end of the day, and we'll still have those showers affecting parts of central and western scotland as well. but as you can see, plenty of clear spells as we go into the evening . northern ireland the evening. northern ireland mixture of clear spells and showers. 1 or 2 showers for cumbria, parts of wales and the southwest, but plenty of fine weather through central and eastern parts of the uk now with clear skies widely overnight, it's going to be a cooler night compared with recent nights. a few mist and fog patches are possible and some patchy cloud, particularly across western parts, especially of the hills. otherwise, for many, it's a fine start to friday. temperatures of 8 to 12 celsius, typically first thing and feeling pleasant

enoughin thing and feeling pleasant enough in any early sunshine. but things are going to turn more unsettled initially for northern ireland and western scotland. we'll see rain and wind arrive through the morning. the rain moves into wales and the southwest, the rest of scotland and eventually northern england, whilst the winds strengthen across many western and northwestern parts. 60 mile and northwestern parts. 60 mile an hour wind gusts for north—west scotland, but it stays sunny with lighter winds in the southeast . in the southeast. >> a nice bright morning will generate a lovely warm day right through to the evening. boxt solar sponsors of weather on gb news . news. >> now time is ticking on for your chance to win £36,000 worth in cash. in fact, you've got it marked in your diary. how long have they got? >> it's one week tomorrow. >> it's one week tomorrow. >> there you go. so you need to get a wiggle on. make sure you don't miss out. here are all the details that you need. >> we love making our audience big cash winners, and you really could be next. >> with £36,000 tax free cash in

your bank account. >> hi, i'm angela from wigan and i want £30,000. i'd say to people who want to enter or are wondering whether to enter to do it, and if i can win, anyone can win. >> for another chance to win £36,000 in tax free cash text cash to 632321. entry cost £2 plus one standard network rate message or text bonus to 632325 entries. cost £5 plus one standard network rate message. you can enter online at gbnews.com/win. entries start from just £2 or post your name and number to gb zero eight, po box 8690. derby d19, double two, uk. only entrants must be 18 or oven uk. only entrants must be 18 or over. lines close at 5 pm. on the 25th of october. please check the closing time if listening or watching on demand. good luck. >> now still to come, we're going to be talking to the director of the world's first

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>> conservative mps have finally chosen their top two for the leadership. and now it's over to the members. join me. christopher hope tonight 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 with a live studio audience and a star panel as we discuss what it means for the conservative party and what it means for you . it means for you. >> decision time, the race to lead from 7:00 pm tonight. only on gb news, the people's channel. britain's news channel . channel. britain's news channel. >> 7:21. now this is a cracker. it's the first of its kind. and it's the first of its kind. and i avatar, which has been released to support people

living with dementia and alzheimer's. >> yes . the machine alzheimer's. >> yes. the machine is called live and will use real life experiences to communicate with patients. >> the goal is to increase the brain's ability to cope with a disease . slow down the disease. slow down the progression of the symptoms. >> well, we're joined now by the director of innovative innovations in dementia, steve milton. good to see you this morning, steve. and tell us about live . about live. >> hi. good morning. about live. >> hi. good morning . well, live >> hi. good morning. well, live has been built from a project of ours called dementia diaries. and for eight years we've been collecting audio and video video diaries of people with dementia talking not just about dementia, but about holidays , politics, but about holidays, politics, cooking and just generally living their lives. then lenovo came to us and said, how would you like us to turn all of this experience, all of this wisdom , experience, all of this wisdom, all of this compassion into a virtual avatar which can be there to support people with

dementia who might just have come home from their diagnosis and be sitting there wondering what to do. because we know from people with dementia that when they get their diagnosis, they often have a sense that their life is over. and what we hope live will be able to do is to give them a sense that it is. it is possible to live a good life, even with dementia. >> so but it's steve. in what sense? i mean, that all sounds like a very sort of positive messaging, if you like, but but what advantage is there to having all these , all this stuff having all these, all this stuff programmed into an avatar ? how programmed into an avatar? how do you interact with it ? do you interact with it? >> well, live is a talking avatar, so you don't you don't type in like with chatgpt. you just ask it a question and it responds straight back to you . responds straight back to you. now, one of the things which is often missing from the

information and the support that people with dementia get at the point of diagnosis is the perspective of real people living with dementia. and unlike chatgpt and other forms of ai, which which draw from the entire internet, good and bad, live has been trained specifically through the use of dementia diaries through many, many focus groups that we've held with people with dementia. so if you like, it's a it's a direct connection between people who've been living often for many, many years with dementia and someone starting at the beginning of that journey . and we think that journey. and we think that's, that's, that's a, that's a really positive step forward and a really positive way to support people who are wondering what to do with their lives at this point. >> but steve, there'll be people watching and listening today thinking, surely nothing beats human connection to face face connection. and the social interaction is key, isn't it? the wellbeing of people with dementia? >> absolutely, absolutely,

ellie. and one of the things that we hear all the time from the people that we work with, is that one of the key moments for them was when they started to meet up with other people living with dementia, and that happened an awful lot during during covid, and obviously a lot of that was was , was was virtual that was was, was was virtual groups on online. and one of our projects is running a network of these , these national groups these, these national groups called deep, where people come together now live can't replace that. but what live is doing is drawing on all of that wisdom and all of that experience. but again, it's not meant to be. it's certainly not a replacement for medical advice, that's for sure. it's not a replacement for human contact, but it is a 20. what we what we hope ultimately will be available 24 hour a day source of advice and compassionate support. drawing on the real experience of people who've actually been there . who've actually been there. >> trying to get my head around it. so, so in a sense, what

you're saying is for those people who are newly diagnosed, they could have immediately someone in effect, someone who has been there, been through it, who can, who can offer advice from day one? >> yeah , absolutely. absolutely. >> yeah, absolutely. absolutely. absolutely. yeah . now at the at absolutely. yeah. now at the at the moment, if you if you've just again people with dementia tell us that when they get their diagnosis, they often go home and they feel completely lost. they feel completely bereft and, and often come away with the sense, as i said, that their life is over now that that that might come from the way that the diagnosis has been communicated. but it also comes from our kind of cultural and media stereotypes of people with dementia, often as very elderly, often with very advanced dementia . but many, many, many dementia. but many, many, many people are getting their diagnosis at a point when they've got years and years and in some cases , decades of life in some cases, decades of life ahead of them . and what we hope ahead of them. and what we hope live can do is to provide that

just that slightly different perspective , where people can perspective, where people can get the idea that it is possible to live with hope, to live with a sense of agency and, crucially, retain your place at the human table. >> yeah, it's a really important message. steve milton, good to see you this morning. thank you very much indeed. >> thank you. i think stuff like thatis >> thank you. i think stuff like that is fascinating and amazing because as you say , it's just because as you say, it's just providing that it's like a friend, isn't it, who understands what you're going through and who you can. those questions that are going to pop up and you can get proper, decent, well rehearsed, well researched answers, well rehearsed as well . so that could rehearsed as well. so that could be really useful. it's just fascinating, isn't it? stuff like that. it'd be interesting to see what impact it does have. >> yeah, absolutely. it's such a cruel disease as well. so there's some positive news for once, right? should we have a look at the weather? >> no. we're going to have. tell what we're going to do though