>>a >> a very, very good afternoon to you and a happy monday. it's 3:00 pm or welcome to the martin daubney show here on gb news. of course we're broadcasting live for you from the very heart of westminster and all across the uk. on today's show, a petition calling for a general election has now amassed over 2.2 million signatures and one of them was brit acting legend michael caine. but keir starmer, the politician, remember who campaigned for three years for a second brexit referendum? well, he simply brushed it aside. while those petitions powerful, or are they pointless and a storm babet finally blows over the great clean up operation

begins in earnest with at least four dead. flood damage and commuter chaos. we'll have the latest from our reporters live from the uk's heaviest impacted areas . and nigel farage has areas. and nigel farage has blasted the uk's new national security adviser for jetting to mauritius to surrender the chagos islands before trump's inauguration. the reform leader addsif inauguration. the reform leader adds if we treat the usa like this, can they still regard us as an ally? a labour on a collision course with the trump train. that's all coming up in your next hour . what's a show? your next hour. what's a show? always a pleasure to have your company on this beautiful monday afternoon now. here we go. 2.2 million people have signed that petition for another general election. now, i know these petitions are performative . petitions are perform ative. they're petitions are performative. they're largely pointless. but here's my point. for three years, sir keir starmer campaigned for a second

referendum on brexit, another roll of the dice when he didn't get his way and suddenly no, no, no, that's not how our system doesn't work that way here in britain. no, no, you had your chance for a vote and we must abide by it. double standards once again, do you think? not from sir keir starmer. he wanted a second vote when he didn't get the result. he wanted. and now millions of voters haven't got the result. they wanted. they want to roll the dice again. sir keir starmer completely does not want to play poker. what do you reckon? time for a second election. time to vote again or i'm afraid. is too it little, too late? there's no point crying about it after all, brexiteers were complaining about remainers wanting a second vote for all of those years. but don't forget this is the prime minister himself who wanted another election back in 2016. get in touch gbnews.com/yoursay. but now here's your headlines andifs but now here's your headlines and it's san francis . and it's san francis. >> martin, thank you very much .

>> martin, thank you very much. good afternoon to you. just after 3:00, the top story this afternoon, the environment secretary says the government stands ready to offer support to communities in wales, among the worst hit by severe flooding. multiple rail services are still cancelled , while more than 160 cancelled, while more than 160 flood warnings remain in place . flood warnings remain in place. a storm bird brings widespread disruption . hundreds of homes in disruption. hundreds of homes in south wales were left under water. roads have been turned into rivers and winds of more than 80 miles an hour were recorded across parts of the uk. a new yellow weather warning has been issued in scotland, and the met office is also warning of more heavy rain in northern parts that will last until midnight tonight. meanwhile, over 300 flights have been cancelled and it's only the second storm of the season so far. steve reid says the uk's flood defences are in the worst condition on record. but he added the government has committed £2.4 billion in upgrades . upgrades. >> well, i've been kept updated throughout the weekend on the situation that's going on and i've just come out of a meeting,

an emergency meeting with the environment agency. >> first thing to say is i want to offer my sympathies to everybody who's been affected , everybody who's been affected, affected by these floods. i know how devastating it is. if your home or your business in particular get affected in this way. but i'd also like to offer my thanks to the emergency services on the ground who have been out there straight away this weekend, making sure people are kept safe . are kept safe. >> kemi badenoch has pledged to slash red tape and to rewire the economy. that's as she sought to persuade businesses to back the conservative party. the annual cbi confederation of british industry conference has been taking place today as business chiefs unite to warn labour that their tax rises will stunt growth. cbi chief ray newton—smith says firms were caught off guard by the hike in national insurance contributions in the chancellor's recent budget . miss in the chancellor's recent budget. miss badenoch in the chancellor's recent budget . miss badenoch told the budget. miss badenoch told the conference that taxes must come down and that risk takers in business who create jobs should be rewarded. >> the new government believes that invisible businesses can

absorb these costs, but it is everyday people who bear the brunt, either in higher prices or lower wages , sometimes both. or lower wages, sometimes both. i'm often criticised for talking about capitalism. someone once told me that capitalism is old fashioned. i don't think so. i think it is important that we explain what capitalism in a free market environment means. capitalism is not a dirty word. wealth is not a dirty word . wealth is not a dirty word. profit is not a dirty word . but profit is not a dirty word. but we need to start explaining how these things deliver for the people out there . people out there. >> police say the eight year old girl, injured in a double shooting, was in a car with her parents and two year old sibling when a gunman opened fire. the met police says a 22 year old man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after that double shooting in west london. the girl's 34 year old father has also been left with potentially life changing injuries, and the girl was

undergoing surgery but is now in a stable condition. the pair were both taken to hospital after being shot in ladbroke grove just after 530 yesterday afternoon. we also understand a 32 year old woman was taken to hospital as a precaution after the incident, but was not hurt. well, let's get you an update now on the situation in egypt, where more than a dozen people are still missing after a tourist boat sank off the red sea. that's just off the coast there. search operations are continuing for the remaining passengers and some crew members. we understand the boat, named sea story, was carrying some 45 people, including 31 tourists of various nationalities and 14 crew. we will keep across that for you. bnng will keep across that for you. bring you any more details as they come into us. meanwhile, bar staff will be trained to here deal with incidents of dnnk here deal with incidents of drink spiking. under government plans to tackle violence against women and girls, number ten announced that workers in the night time economy will be instructed on how to spot to and prevent cases, as well as help

collect evidence . that's under collect evidence. that's under a new pilot scheme to be rolled out from december . the plan new pilot scheme to be rolled out from december. the plan is up for 10,000 bar staff across the country to be trained by spnng the country to be trained by spring of next year. further details have also been discussed today at a meeting in downing street between the prime minister, sir keir starmer, and chief constable's transport bosses and industry executives. the prime minister has reiterated his plans for spiking to become a specific offence , to become a specific offence, with hopes it will give people the confidence to come forward. he said, and told broadcasters this morning that the number of reported incidents is still way below the number of cases, while london's met police have said reports of spiking have increased by 13% in the last year. foreign increased by 13% in the last year . foreign secretary david year. foreign secretary david lammy says we will do all we can to offer support to a british man who has reportedly been captured by russian forces while fighting for ukraine. in a video circulating online, a man dressed in military clothing identifies himself as 22 year old james scott. rhys anderson

and says he formerly served in the british army. he speaks with an english accent in that video while appearing to have his hands tied. russian state news agency tass quotes a military source saying what they call a uk mercenary has been taken prisoner in the kursk area of russia, part of which ukraine has held since launching a surprise offensive in august . surprise offensive in august. and barbara taylor bradford, the best selling novelist who wrote a woman of substance, has sadly died today at the age of 91. the leeds born author, who sold more than 90 million books, died peacefully at her home yesterday after a short illness and was surrounded by loved ones to the very end. her family said. taylor bradford, who was often labelled the grand dame of blockbusters, hit the big time when a woman of substance was blockbusters, hit the big time published in 1979, making her an overnight success. those are the latest headlines for now. i'll be back with you for a full round up at the top of the hour.

>> thank you sam. now, many, many brits are indicating their anger and frustration with the current labour government by signing a petition calling for yet another general election. now, despite brits heading to the polls five times in the last ten years, they still want another go because over 2.2 million people have now signed this petition demanding yet another one which was launched, accusing the prime minister of going back on his manifesto commitments and currently, as you can see, there's a live ticker on your screen. it is at you can see, there's a live 2.209 578 signatures, and it's going up like a ticker tape. well, here's what the prime minister said when asked about this on itv this morning. >> look, i remind myself that very many people didn't vote labour at the last election. i don't i'm not surprised that many of them want a rerun. that isn't how our system works. there will be plenty of people who didn't want us in in the

first place. so look , what first place. so look, what i focus is on is the decisions that i have to make . that i have to make. >> well, there we go. joining us now is our political editor , now is our political editor, christopher hope chris, always an absolute delight to see you, especially on a monday. chris. that's not how our system works. the prime minister says. but he wasn't saying that in 2016. he wasn't saying that in 2016. he was the man who wanted a second referendum on brexit. he led the people's vote campaign to reverse the votes of 17.4 million. but now suddenly, no, no , that's not how we do it. is no, that's not how we do it. is this an example of another starmer u—turn ? starmer u—turn? >> i don't think so, martin. i mean , welcome again to your show mean, welcome again to your show on one monday. i mean, essentially back then he was told in no uncertain terms that keir starmer, you can't have a second referendum. that was a once in a generation moment. we were told by the tory government. so you can have a second vote and maybe even a best of three if you don't like

the response of the of the of the response of the of the of the second vote. this is very interesting. this petition, it's put on the parliament's website, it says i would like to be another general election. the petitioner says i believe the current labour government have gone back on their promises. they had laid out in lead up to the last election and to that point, 2.2 million people and counting have signed it in about 70 72 hours. now , if more than 70 72 hours. now, if more than 100,000 people sign a petition in parliament, martin, that means there must be a debate in parliament about that. so we wait to see when mps can have a debate about whether there should be an election . now, we should be an election. now, we asked the prime minister's official spokesman in in our meeting with him earlier, called the lobby meeting and asked him whether he felt there should be a an election now and we were told no, in no uncertain terms. also, we heard from keir starmer he was on this morning earlier

on itv and he made very clear it's not going to happen. he says. it would be there before the choice was made back in july. i mean the nature of our democracy is there will be millions of people wanting an election right now because millions of people didn't vote for this government. he knows very well that only 1 in 3 of those who could vote voted for laboun those who could vote voted for labour, and just 1 in 2 of all adults in this country voted for this government. there's a long way to go, but what's driving the fury about this government so far is these changes that we didn't know were coming, were not set out in that manifesto. the government would say they warned about the increase in employers, national insurance. but for many, when they said no increase in national insurance, that was assumed to include the employer's contributions, and likewise with the issue with taking away the winter fuel allowance that was not forecast by by pre—election. so there is concerns and that's why you've got this interesting debate online. but for me, i'm afraid it's an academic debate, martin. it's not going to happen. >> and chris, you're there behind you at the cbi conference. of course , kemi

conference. of course, kemi badenoch, leader of the opposition, gave a speech earlier on. and all eyes now on the economy fix the foundations of the economy was the promise. but it has to be, said chris, those foundations feel like they've got a bit of a wobble. a lot of businesses queuing up today to say that britain is looking down the barrel of perhaps sliding into negative territory towards the recession. the mcvities boss, salman amin. he's the chief executive of the mcvitie's biscuit king. he makes more chocolate digestives than anybody. he's laying into the government saying it's become uninvestable in britain. chris, that comment takes the biscuit . that comment takes the biscuit. >> it does. and in fact they are giving away free mcvitie's biscuits here at the conference. martin, i'll bring you down a packet next time i see you. but yeah , there's no question. yeah, there's no question. number 10 have been criticised here by by the cbi. we've heard earlier from the director general and they made clear that

they felt that imposing all these tax increases, as we saw in that budget is not what was expected. they said that profits aren't something you can stash away in a pillow. that's money you can invest in, in employing more, employing employees. and that's what they feel is less likely because of all the not least the national insurance, but also other areas such as the angela rayner workers reforms. but number 10 have been very clear on that. also today they said that once that was a once in a parliament budget there to wipe the slate clean. we are heanng wipe the slate clean. we are hearing from rachel reeves at 4:10, i'll be in the hall there reporting back to you after 5:00. very interesting to see how that goes down. if she's booed, any heckling, any concern because, i mean that while while welcoming the stability you get from a landslide victory by a labour government and that was mentioned by the cbi earlier, they won't like the fact that those those taxes have mainly been levied on businesses . been levied on businesses. >> okay, chris. so we'll come back to you for 4:10 when rachel

reevesis back to you for 4:10 when rachel reeves is expected to speak, when you've finished hobnobbing with the biscuit barons and the rich and the powerful. chris hope always a pleasure to speak to you soon. i've got some breaking news for you now, and more than a dozen people are missing after a tourist boat sankin missing after a tourist boat sank in the red sea off the coast of egypt, the search operations continue for the remaining passengers and crew members, and the foreign office has said it is providing consular support to a number of british nationals and their families, amid reports that four britons are missing after a tourist yacht sank in the red sea off of egypt. the boat's named sea story was carrying 45 people, including 31 tourists of varying nationalities and indeed 14 additional crew. that's a breaking news story. we'll bring you more on that as we get more details here on gb news . you more on that as we get more details here on gb news. now let's get back to discussing the politics now. and i'm joined in the studio by anna gross, who's the studio by anna gross, who's the political correspondent at the political correspondent at the financial times. welcome to the financial times. welcome to the studio. always a pleasure ,

the studio. always a pleasure, anna, to have your company. so we're joking around . we're in we're joking around. we're in a jocular mood today, but 2.2 million people have signed this petition . we know they're petition. we know they're performative. we know they're they're constitutionally pointless. but do you think this government is having a fairly major wobble early term ? major wobble early term? >> yeah, i think this is a it's a pretty challenging time. i think there have been some big missteps. i think the very first was the winter fuel payments saga, then leaving it so long between the election and the budget, which just left ages without them actually releasing any policy. and then there's been this massive business backlash to the budget, to the national insurance increases, which chris was just telling us about. and it is challenging that the government is facing a hell of a lot of frustration, anger from many different quarters . and i think, you know, quarters. and i think, you know, that the 2 million people signing this petition, as you say, very unlikely to have any

impact whatsoever. it is barely going to even be publicly recognised by most of the cabinet. but it is a kind of a one of the more visible signs of this public anger. >> and it is worth pointing out that there is no duty to have even 2