she's the first female one. does that inspire you or not.7 and so many people jailed for what they tweeted and said during the southport riots. fascinating interview. i'll be speaking to one man tonight who says that he felt pressured into pleading guilty, but he refused. i'll bnng guilty, but he refused. i'll bring you his shocking story. and a pride poppy . a focus now

and a pride poppy. a focus now on things like diversity and inclusion. references to stonewall. what is going on with the royal british legion .7 all of the royal british legion? all of that and lots more. look who's keeping me company tonight. my panel keeping me company tonight. my panel. i've got ben habib, the former deputy leader of reform uk, and aaron bastani, the co—founder of novara media. but first up, let's get tonight's 6:00 news headlines . 6:00 news headlines. >> good evening. the main headunes >> good evening. the main headlines from the gb news centre. the chancellor has tonight defended her budget, which amounts to the biggest tax hike in a generation. rachel reeves told gb news that the £40 billion a year in extra tax was a one off. it would, she said, fix the fiscal black hole and provide a shot in the arm for the public services. >> this is a one off budget. it

is to wipe the slate clean and fix the foundations. after the black hole, we were left by the conservatives, but we're not going to need to come back in another budget and do anything like this again. we have now taken the action to get our pubuc taken the action to get our public finances on a stable path, and chris, we've set the spending envelope for the rest of this parliament, so we don't need to come back for more. and indeed, we've moved to annual budgets rather than having them twice a year. so families and businesses can have confidence we're not going to come back and ask for more money in the spring. like the conservatives kept doing. we have now set the budgets for public spending for this parliament, and you can watch that full interview with the chancellor shortly on dewbs& co. >> the spanish government has confirmed the death toll from the devastating floods in the country has risen to 158. rescue efforts are continuing as authorities deal with the worst flooding in the country in decades. dozens of people are

still missing after the huge floods that swept the eastern province of valencia and beyond. a 71 year old british man is among those killed. torrential rain inundated towns , dragging rain inundated towns, dragging cars, downing bridges and leaving some people trapped in floodwaters. spain's prime minister, pedro sanchez , has minister, pedro sanchez, has declared three days of national mourning as the extreme conditions continue , restricting conditions continue, restricting some of the rescue efforts. while hundreds of soldiers have now also been sent to valencia to help in those rescue and recovery operations . lawyers recovery operations. lawyers acting for alleged victims of mohamed al fayed have said they have now been contacted by 400 people. speaking at a news conference, dean armstrong kc said those who've contacted the justice for harrods survivors group are not just from harrods but from fulham fc and various

places associated with al fayed. a string of allegations have been made against the former harrods owner , following the harrods owner, following the release of a documentary about the businessman, who died last year. the businessman, who died last year . detectives investigating year. detectives investigating the theft of more than 22 tonnes of cheese have arrested a 63 year old man. scotland yard detectives spent the last ten days on the trail of the suspect after the theft from neal's yard dairy, an artisan cheese suppuer dairy, an artisan cheese supplier in south london. the theft traumatised the cheese loving world, with even the celebrity chef jamie oliver urging his followers on social media to be alert for lorry loads of posh cheese being sold on the cheap . nothing cheesy on the cheap. nothing cheesy about michel jubes. of course she comes up now .

she comes up now. >> nothing cheesy about me , >> nothing cheesy about me, that's for sure. but if i was presented with a good deal on some posh cheese, i think i would have to politely decline because i'm quite a simple person. just mature cheddar would do it for me. what about you? look, i am michelle dewberry. i'm with you till 7:00 tonight alongside me. my panel. ben habib, the former deputy leader of reform uk, and aaron bastani, the co—founder of novara media. welcome to both of you. evening. you could be out trick or treating, but you're not. you're here talking about serious matters. we appreciate it. >> it's a bit of it.— >> it's a bit of a horror it. >> it's a bit of a horror story, isn't it? >> for many it is, but for others, less so. what do you think to all the goings on in the world today, we'll look in a second. we'll be talking to rachel reeves . i also i've got rachel reeves. i also i've got a fascinating story to share with you tonight. so many people behind bars because of things that they had to say about the goings on surrounding the horrendous situation in southport. i'll be talking to

someone who was very much caught up in that. you can get in touch with me all the usual ways. email gb views @gbnews. com you can go to the website gbnews.com/yoursay or you can tweet or text me. but look, it is the day after the budget and lots of people with different opinions. but look, our political editor , christopher political editor, christopher hope sat down with the chancellor , rachel reeves. let's listen. >> rachel reeves, thank you for joining us today. tonight on gb news. how did it feel being the first female chancellor ever to do your budget? >> well, i felt a huge pride in being the first ever female chancellor of the exchequer. this role has existed now for 800 years, and never a woman has done it. and to stand there at the despatch box, and i hope, send a signal to young women and girls that there should be no ceiling on their ambitions. and to smash that glass ceiling. it's a big deal, and i'm proud to have done it . to have done it. >> that's a limit on your ambition. or is there one more job you want in government? the

bigger job? job you want in government? the biggerjob? i've always wanted to be chancellor of the exchequer. >> i think that's everyone knows that. i started my career as an economist at the bank of england. i worked in the private sector, in financial services. after that. this is a job that i've always wanted to do, and it's great to finally be here, evenin it's great to finally be here, even in quite challenging circumstances. >> of course, you're coming to gb news viewers 24 hours after the budget. you couldn't meet us or talk to us on the breakfast show today. some disappointment. you do care about our viewers @gbnews, don't you? >> yes, and we've done these interviews on many occasions since i've become chancellor of the exchequer, and i look forward to many more. >> your manifesto says you won't increase tax on working people, and that's why you're not going to increase national insurance. you just hiked it by up to £25 billion. how can voters trust you? >> well, we were clear in our manifesto that the key taxes that working people pay, income tax and national insurance and vat, we wouldn't increase . and vat, we wouldn't increase. and we haven't increased income tax on working people, but we have increased income tax on business. now, i do recognise that that will have sorry, we have increased national insurance on business and i do recognise that that will have an

impact on on people. right across the economy. but we faced across the economy. but we faced a situation where there was a big black hole in the public finances, and i made a commitment. the number one commitment. the number one commitment was to bring stability back after the chaos and the instability. we've experienced the last few years, and that meant having to increase taxes to fill that black hole, to put our public finances back on a firm footing. it's so important to do that. otherwise, you have what we've had in the last few years, which is volatility in financial markets and playing fast and loose with the public finances. it is, in the end, working people who pay the price for that. >> the obr says it will that real wages will stall in 2026 2027 as firms pass on their margins and the cost of higher employer nics. is it right then, that people are going to get a bit poorer under your plans? >> well, the office for budget responsibility forecast that real household disposable income is going to increase by an average of 0.5% a year through this parliament. and that compares, chris to the last parliament where living

standards stagnated. so it's a world away from the stagnant living standards. real terms increases. and what families have in their bank accounts and in their pockets. but do i want to go further and faster and better improve the living standards of working people? absolutely. it's why we hosted just two weeks ago the first international investment summit of this government, where £635 of this government, where £63.5 billion of investment by the private sector was unlocked. and that was great news because that