r , richard tice, become law.7 well, richard tice, the deputy leader of the reform uk party, who is voting in favour of this controversial motion. he joins me in just a moment . and mps are voting this moment. and mps are voting this evening on whether to remove hereditary peers from the house of lords, with the 92 who do remain being the only ones to be elected to the upper chamber is this a necessary progression of democracy or a gratuitous socialist act of class warfare? and at cop29, the pointless cop29, the azerbaijani president blasted western nations for hypocrisy, buying his gas while preaching climate action, and even call fossil fuels a gift from the gods. the only. keir starmer, representing major western leaders . is starmer, representing major western leaders. is this a wake up call on the uk's net zero agenda? now that's an action packed menu. but before all of that, here's your headlines and it's sophie reaper.

>> thank you martin. it's just after 7:00. let's take a look at your latest gb news headlines in the last couple of hours. a spokesperson for avon and somerset police has given a statement following the death of a 17 year old girl on the m5 motorway last night. let's take a listen to what they had to say. >> this is a hugely distressing incident and one that will no doubt cause great shock amongst the public. our thoughts and our sympathies are first and foremost with the girl's family . foremost with the girl's family. a specially trained officer has been assigned to keep them, keep providing them with updates and support , not only today but in support, not only today but in the weeks ahead too. due to the seriousness of the incident and mandatory referral was made to the independent police office for police conduct in the early hours of the morning. the iopc has notified us that it will investigate the incident independently . independently. >> a spokesperson for the prime minister has said that sir keir

respects the decision of the archbishop of canterbury to resign. justin welby stepped down earlier this afternoon following a report into a prolific child abuser associated with the church of england. the reports concluded that welby had failed to act after learning about the abuse by john smyth qc. in 2013, terminally ill adults who are expected to die within six months would be able to request assistance to end their own life under the proposed end of life bill. but someone with a disability or mental health issues would not be eligible. the controversial bill has raised some concerns that people could feel pressured into ending their lives prematurely. mps will have their first vote on the proposal on the 29th of november, a once a day pill that could help tens of thousands of people give up cigarettes and prevent thousands of smoking related deaths each year will be rolled out on the nhs. the pill works by tackling nicotine cravings and also helps

with withdrawal symptoms such as irritability and trouble sleeping. official estimates say it could help more than 85,000 people give up on smoking over the next five years, as well as prevent up to 9500 smoking related deaths . queen camilla related deaths. queen camilla will return to public duties today after her chest infection. the queen will attend the booker prize reception at clarence house later today, but will meet guests for a shorter period than initially planned. she was forced to withdraw from her dufies forced to withdraw from her duties last week, as well as missing out on the weekend's remembrance day commemoration events . and gary lineker will events. and gary lineker will step down as the host of match of the day at the end of the current season. the 63 year old former england striker has presented match of the day since 1999, but now mark chapman, gabby logan and alex scott are the current front runners to replace the former england star. for now, those are the latest gb news headlines. i'm sophie

reaper more from me in the next houn >> for the very latest gb news direct to 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. >> thank you very much , sophie. >> thank you very much, sophie. now, justin welby, the archbishop of canterbury , has archbishop of canterbury, has announced his resignation today amid increasing pressure from both within the church of england and the public at large. the announcement follows revelations that he failed to disclose critical information about instances of child abuse within the church, a scandal that has sparked widespread outrage. as the highest ranking figure in the church of england, welby's decision to go appears to only have come after immense pressure from within his own clergy, rather than an admittance of failure or even of conscience. well, just on

friday, gb news approached lambeth palace for comment to which they responded the archbishop reiterates his horror at the scale of john smyth's abuse, as reflected in his pubuc abuse, as reflected in his public apology, and he said he would not be stepping down on this issue and rejects the claim that he was aware of the allegations or had any suspicion of the allegations before he was told in 2013. now, was welby's position completely untenable? was he right to go and what must the church of england do to fix it? so tonight i am asking you the big question. please get in touch. was the archbishop of canterbury right to resign over this abuse scandal? let me know by retweeting. by tweeting hashtag farage on gb news or email us at farage. as gb news .uk. well, to discuss this further, i'm now joined by the church of england vicar, the reverend dan beasley. reverend beasley , welcome to the show. beasley, welcome to the show. this is an enormous scandal and the archbishop has stepped down.

and there's a great feeling that he was shoved rather than going of his own accord. do you think it was the right thing for him to do, to have gone ? to do, to have gone? >> yeah. i think his position, as everybody had said at newcastle came out, which again, is unprecedented. it was untenable after he didn't follow up on the disclosure that was made in 2013. and i don't think there was anything else he could actually do. it . you know, he is actually do. it. you know, he is the head of the church of england. well, jesus, let's put that out. first of all, jesus is the head of the church, but he is leading the church of england. he is the leader of safeguarding. it has also improved under his tenure , but improved under his tenure, but to improve safeguarding while having this hanging over himself as well is it just made his position untenable. >> and of course, dan, the huge question is this time frame of when he knew and what he knew?

we don't know the details . 1981 we don't know the details. 1981 is the word. when he was first tipped off, something maybe going wrong. and we definitely know for sure that 2013, he knew . know for sure that 2013, he knew. and of course then in the intermittent five years john smyth passed away in cape town, in that precious five years, something perhaps could have been done even earlier. something could have been done to perhaps prevent the abuse of over 130 boys. this is a scandal that runs deep. this is the scandal that will cast a huge and long and dark shadow over the church of england. what can the church of england. what can the church do to salvage its shattered reputation ? shattered reputation? >> well, obviously there needs to be a change of culture because the safeguarding has improved and it has improved since the 70s. and 80s, when smyth and many other abusers have been in the church of england. and let's not forget, there's other denominations out there. these people will work their way in, and we have to

make safeguarding, you their way in, and we have to make safeguarding , you know, so make safeguarding, you know, so strong in our churches to make sure that they don't come in. and that's what we're doing today on the parish level. the safeguarding in parish churches is really strong . but let's talk is really strong. but let's talk in reality. there was a russian report back in 1982 that spoke about smyth , and this should about smyth, and this should have been stopped then. it should never got to 2013. and yet it did. and there were many instances across the that time, that time span, 40 years of abuse. he was able to do both in england and in zimbabwe and south africa. and every time he got caught, he he moved himself on.and got caught, he he moved himself on. and if the safeguarding was robust enough and referred to the police at the right time. so, you know, as safeguarding has improved through the church over the years , the question is over the years, the question is why hasn't people looked back? so the archbishop said he made a mistake or he didn't understand or whatever it was in 2013. a

safeguarding has got better. why did it take channel 4 in 2017 to bnng did it take channel 4 in 2017 to bring the smyth abuses to light? you know, as as we look back, we have to look back on those things as well. so a culture change really has to come in and we have to look at ourselves quite seriously and why we there's the its victims at the end of the day. and they have to be at the forefront. they've been let down time and time again and this cannot happen anymore. >> dan can i ask you a question about an attitude which many feel exemplifies now the church of england ? and it's one it's a of england? and it's one it's a phrase that involves moats and planks, holier than thou, holier than thou, about climate change, about racism, about immigration, about racism, about immigration, about vaccines, about brexit, about vaccines, about brexit, about lgbtq. you get my point. and yet, seemingly not having a houer and yet, seemingly not having a holier than thou attitude about the most important people in the church, and that is your own flock. where have you gone so

wrong ? wrong? >> again, i'm going to come back , >> again, i'm going to come back, andifs >> again, i'm going to come back, and it's been out there all afternoon since the archbishop's resignation. there seems a divide. what we are doing on the ground. and yes, there is that ideology in the church of england. but we got to get back to what is the church is called for and that's to preach the gospel and to be there for those who are most in need and to be in that public square, speaking out for those most vulnerable. so, for example, the pensioners who lost their heating allowance, you know why we need to be speaking about that. and just yes, that's the right things that we should be speaking about. but we're not houer speaking about. but we're not holier than now. we're all fallen. we that's that's our christian belief. we're all fallen, but we've got to rebuild. in that sense, the church we got to get rid of this divide. but again, the church is divided. we are divided over same sex blessings. divided. we are divided over same sex blessings . that's divided. we are divided over same sex blessings. that's going to come up next year again in the general synod, the job for the general synod, the job for the next, the next archbishop of canterbury is huge. but we have

to get back to what we are known for. so many people keep telling me, you know, you're christians, aren't you? why aren't you talking about the christian values which the country was built upon? why have you gone away from that? so maybe this is just a great opportunity for us to once again get into that pubuc to once again get into that public square, speak about the hope of jesus christ and speak against some of the values that are just come in, not to only society, but into the church as well. >> we have to leave it there. thanks for your expertise. and joining us tonight. that's the reverend dan beasley, church of england vicar. thank you very much. now let's get to my superstar panel. tonight. i'm joined by the former conservative mp ranil jayawardena and of course the former labour advisor matthew laws. gentlemen, welcome to studio. ranil, i'm going to start with you. what's your take on today's decision? he had to go. it was inevitable. but where doesit go. it was inevitable. but where does it leave the church? yeah. >> i mean, i think he clearly did have to go. and it's. it is at least good that he did take

that decision. now rather than leaving it lingering any longer because it was bringing the church of england as a whole into disrepute. i do find i'm a pcc member, a parochial church council member myself, and i do find it rather at odds that we as pcc members, even if we have no ministry of our own, no care directly of any individual in our parish, we have to complete huge amounts of safeguarding paperwork and courses and so on. and yet it seems that there are all sorts of other things happening up the line at the centre of the church. and, you know, the church has been hugely centralised under archbishop justin welby. and i think it is now, as the reverend beazley said, an opportunity for the church to perhaps reset and to reflect on what it should be. for it is it's perfectly right that the church should express its views on certain issues, that it feels strongly about, but i'm afraid it has become far too political, and that has meant that many parishioners

feel very uncomfortable in what the archbishop, the titular titular head bar the king, of course, of the church of england, is saying on their behalf. >> matthew laza get your take on what you make of justin welby's resignation. but also this nofion resignation. but also this notion that in many ways, the church doesn't seem to represent any of the values of its flock any of the values of its flock any more. it's obsessed with identity politics, with issues. let's face it, most people go to church or pensioners. they're elderly , white british elderly, white british pensioners. that's the that's the demographic on the whole. outside of all this language about climate change, greta thunberg with a robe on is completely out of touch. yeah. >> well, look, i mean, i think clearly he had to go. i think the issue is that the church, it's not so much that the church is woke that the church ties itself in knots. i mean, one of the issues, you know, in all the reports, what's going to be in the inbox of the of the new incoming archbishop, one of the issues, of course, is that the church still ties itself in knots about things like lgbt rights. and, you know, justin

welby was very i mean, he got a bit better in his tenure, but he was very, very, you know, trying to hold a line and not have any blessing of same sex or committed same sex relationships in church . in church. >> well, not church care about this. >> well, some people do, but but what he was doing is he wasn't. whilst whilst he was tearing himself into knots about, you know, the sort of fourth line of a of an agreement of a declaration about lgbt rights, what he wasn't doing was asking enough questions about this guy and what i think is particularly scandalous tonight is let me make sure i get the bishop of lincoln's name right, which is bishop conway. bishop stephen conway, who is the bishop of lincoln , who is even more lincoln, who is even more heavily criticised in the report that criticised justin welby, where the report said that he was the person in a position. this is a quote to stop john smith bringing him to justice and he fundamentally failed tonight. he's not only still the bishop of lincoln, and this relates to the discussion we're going to have in a moment. he also sits in the house of lords. so i think we need further resignations from the church before we can say that this is in any way and all victim survivors groups are calling for the bishop of lincoln's

resignation tonight. >> but the leadership in the church, you know, under welby , church, you know, under welby, has focused on things like the two child benefit cap, which is very popular with the country. and yet he's decided to stand against it. he's stood up on issues like tax avoidance, when actually he should have been deaung actually he should have been dealing with people's lives, being damaged. and, you know, whether it's refugees, employment rights, these are not necessarily things that parishioners across the country want the to archbishop do. so he's he's had his eye off the ball. >> yeah, i think i mean, i think the problem is, is that, as you said in the interview with the reverend beasley, is that it's about the holier than thou attitude. sometimes i think it's perfectly okay to ask moral questions on these big issues, but to say that you have all the answers on things that are, you know, clearly some way away from scripture are very much about interpretation. >> i think, gentlemen, we have to leave it there. we have to call time and read out a statement from justin welby, who has said this. it is very clear that i must take personal and institutional responsibility for the long and retraumatising penod the long and retraumatising period between 2013 and 2024. i hope this decision today makes clear how seriously the church of england understands the need for change and our profound

commitment to creating a safer church . as i stepped down, i do church. as i stepped down, i do so in sorrow with all victims and survivors of abuse. i believe that stepping aside is in the best interests of the church of england, which i dearly love, and which i have been honoured to serve. i pray that this decision points us back towards the love that jesus christ has for every one of us. well, coming up next, the first draft of the controversial assisted dying bill was published yesterday as supporters reaffirmed the legitimacy and the robustness of safeguards within it. now, would they have been? but would they be enough not only to protect the most vulnerable, but also t