>> good morning. it's 10:00 on thursday the >> good morning. it's10:00 on thursday the 17th of october live across the uk. this is britain's newsroom with andrew pierce and bev turner. >> former one direction singer liam payne has died aged just 31. his body was found outside a hotel in argentina. he fell from the from a third floor balcony . the from a third floor balcony. >> and is there a budget tax raid incoming? i think we can probably say yes. chancellor rachel reeves may well be the biggest tax raise in history in the upcoming budget. other cabinet ministers are apparently not happy about it. >> is hsz heading north after all? ministers have apparently had a rethink on the hsz train line and now will run, apparently between london euston and crewe. waste of money. i think so. >> and there are going to be royals down under. the king and queen are off to australia today, but every state leader has declined their invitation to a reception. why? more on that

to come . to come. >> and is britain the worst place to be a driver ? car place to be a driver? car insurance is rocketing, potholes are everywhere and cases of road rage are going up too. well, you tell us what your biggest bugbear is about britain's roads. and tonight the conservative leadership hopefuls robert jenrick and kemi badenoch go head to head. it's a gb news special at 7:00 pm. don't miss it . it. i'm going to be talking to chris hope about that. yeah . we are. >> yeah. christopher is hosting the event tonight. we're going to be talking to him in just a minute. he is rehearsing. maybe send us if you like . gb news. send us if you like. gb news. com send us the questions you would like us. exactly. >> and of course, we want to know what you think. send your views, your comments to gb news .com forward slash your save. but first, here's the news with sam francis. >> bev and andrew thank you and

good morning. it's just >> bev and andrew thank you and good morning. it'sjust coming good morning. it's just coming up to 10:02. start with a recap of the news we've been following over the last few hours. the tributes are continuing now to pourin tributes are continuing now to pour in for liam payne , as fans pour in for liam payne, as fans and fellow stars are remembering the former one direction singer after his death in buenos aires at the age of 31. his career soared during his time in one direction, but in recent years he did speak openly about struggles with mental health and addiction , admitting to hitting addiction, admitting to hitting rock bottom, social media has been flooded with tributes, with many sharing memories of his iconic performances and personal struggles. dermot o'leary is among them. he hosted payne's x factor debut, calling him humble, and said that he loved to sing. while fans have been seen lighting candles outside the hotel where he died . in the hotel where he died. in other news, thousands of uk troops are being put on standby to deploy to estonia's border

with russia, part of a crucial new agreement being signed today by the defence secretary, john healey. it would mean that the army's fourth brigade will remain on high readiness to defend against rising tensions from the ongoing war in ukraine. currently, about 1000 british soldiers are in estonia and if called upon, the fourth brigade could arrive within ten days. equipped with advanced tanks and missile systems as well as nato. ministers are gathering as we speak in brussels. the defence secretary has said has said in the last few minutes that that new deal will enhance the group's defences in the face of what he described as escalating global threats. >> the uk's unshakeable commitment to nato could never be more important, and at a time of growing russian aggression and increasing wider threats , and increasing wider threats, today we will make the commitment to reinforce nato's eastern flank with a new plan alongside estonia for our forces

there, and we will make a commitment, a uk commitment, to bolstering the future of europe's defences . europe's defences. >> thousands of migrants could be granted asylum here in the uk as the government's pushing to clear a huge backlog of applications. the refugee council has estimated that the number of pending asylum claims could reach almost 120,000 by january , following labour's january, following labour's decision to scrap the rwanda plan. new analysis suggests the processing of that backlog could see over 62,000 more people recognised as refugees in the uk. it comes as downing street says it is committed to ending the use of asylum hotels , the use of asylum hotels, despite recent reports that the home office may reopen, some that were previously closed . that were previously closed. kemi badenoch says that her bid for conservative leadership is a grassroots campaign taking aim at her rival, robert jenrick. more media focused approach as the two contenders compete to replace rishi sunak. the shadow

housing secretary says the tories need to regain voters that were lost to reform and the liberal democrats in july's election. meanwhile, robert jenrick outlined his vision for a smaller state and lower taxes , a smaller state and lower taxes, arguing that the return of spending on benefits could get back to pre—pandemic levels , back to pre—pandemic levels, helping for a tax cut from 7 pm. tonight, they will be p.m. tonight, they will be making their pitches to tory members in a special programme moderated by our political editor christopher hope. you can catch all of that action live here on gb news seven till nine tonight in decision time. the race to lead. well, the private sector landlords across the country are calling on the chancellor to give them urgent tax breaks to kerb soaring rents and tackle the housing crisis. in a letter to rachel reeves, industry leaders have highlighted the uncertainty facing their sector as average advertised rents have hit record highs with now 18% of homes on the sale market previously rented out. they're warning that rental taxation is driving

landlords to exit the market, undermining the very housing supply needed to help tenants. it comes as the chancellor is looking to raise £40 billion through tax hikes and spending cuts in the upcoming budget . a cuts in the upcoming budget. a new report has claimed the world bank has lost track of billions in climate finance. oxfam says that $41 billion, nearly 40% of climate funding from 2017 to 2023, is unaccounted for in the bank's records. the report suggests there is no public trace of how or if the money was even spent on climate projects. the world bank has yet to comment on those findings from oxfam . parliament's first oxfam. parliament's first bionic, bionic lord has pledged to battle the health secretary to battle the health secretary to raise awareness of sepsis to and improve prosthetics for amputees. lord craig mckinley, the first quadruple amputee to join the house of lords, takes his seat after being given a peerage in rishi sunak's dissolution honours. he says his new role gives him a new lease

of life following his near—death experience. in a 16 day coma. mckinley had both legs and arms amputated after contracting sepsis in 2023. he is now determined to use his position, he says, to make a difference and finally , electric wallpaper and finally, electric wallpaper could be the hottest new trend with a trial in full swing in properties in glasgow . with properties in glasgow. with scottish homes ranked among europe's oldest and worst insulated, it's hoped the new clean heat source could replace traditional central heating, which contributes over 35% of uk's carbon emissions. tenants are already raving about the excellent results, they say, since installation , installation since installation, installation and powered by cutting edge technology from the university of glasgow. the project also taps into ai and so—called internet of things to help measure energy efficiency, cost and comfort . definitely one for and comfort. definitely one for bev turner. a interior designer extraordinaire, those are the

latest headlines. for now. i'll hand you straight back to them . hand you straight back to them. >> electric wallpaper. i don't think i fancy that, do you? right. welcome back to britain's newsroom live. across the uk with bev turner and andrew pierce. >> lots of you getting in touch on gbnews.com/yoursay. yeah. >> i mean, a lot of you expressing your unhappiness about the death of liam payne this morning. a lot of people don't necessarily know who he was. he hasn't been really on the front of the papers or kind of in the public eye for, for a while, even though we had $70 million in the bank. it's the classic boy band story, isn't it? yeah, it really is. it's really sad when the fame goes, when the profile goes, they they struggle. >> and of course you have to say that he'd been behaving incredibly erratically. he'd smashed up his laptop, he'd had to be taken to his hotel room. and of course, we know that he'd had a long history of problems with drink and drugs. >> yeah, it's very difficult

this morning to pin down and verify the facts around the death of liam payne, because obviously these days on social media, you're never quite sure what's true and what's what's not. that there are rumours that he was his room was strewn with drug paraphernalia. his girlfriend , kate cassidy, had 151