donald trump gathering pace, the donald trump effect is already being felt. far from being a monster , the far from being a monster, the donald might just save the world in the big story is assisted dying a sin.7 i'll in the big story is assisted dying a sin? i'll be asking the former chaplain to queen elizabeth the second. also tonight, the chaos of sickness benefits which are trapping people they're supposed to help and they're bankrupting the country. fraser nelson, one of the country's finest journalists, tells tells me about his latest channel 4 film, all about this growing national scandal . and in an hour's time, scandal. and in an hour's time, in my take at ten, as the bbc is engulfed in yet another scandal, this time surrounding masterchef star gregg wallace, we get news that the licence fee is to rise to an eye—watering £174.50 from april. is it still worth the money? i'll be giving my verdict at ten.

with me tonight for ringside action. we have author and academic doctor lisa mckenzie, journalist and communications advisor linda jubilee, and writer and broadcaster peter lloyd. so two hours of big opinion, big debate and big mark dolan tonight is your perfect saturday night in. i'll be deaung saturday night in. i'll be dealing with the bbc in no uncertain terms at 10:00. but first the news headlines and joe casper . caspen >> thanks, mark. good evening. it's a minute past nine. i'm joe caspen it's a minute past nine. i'm joe casper. here are your top stories from the gb newsroom. some breaking news for you this evening. the sunday times is reporting that bbc executives warned gregg wallace about his alleged behaviour in 2017, saying it was unacceptable and

cannot continue. meanwhile, the sunday telegraph quotes a former producer saying she raised concerns about the masterchef presenter but was dismissed and the observer says a letter sent by a number of women to the bbc in 2022 reported multiple allegations of inappropriate behaviour by the host, but did not prompt further investigation. it comes after the masterchef producer, bannau uk, announced city law firm lewis silkin will investigate alleged misconduct by mr wallace. the bbc said if issues were raised with us, we have robust processes in place to deal with them swiftly and appropriately. mr wallace's lawyers insist the claims are entirely false, saying the suggestion that wallace, who has presented the popular bbc one cooking show alongside john torode since 2005, engages in behaviour of sexually harassing nature, was entirely false . a nature, was entirely false. a memorial service has been held today for first minister of

scotland alex salmond. his wife of more than 40 years and supporters arranged a remembrance service for him on saint andrew's day. mr salmond died last month in north macedonia at the age of 69. he was at a conference when he suffered a heart attack and was buned suffered a heart attack and was buried in a private family ceremony near his home in aberdeenshire at the end of october. a murder a murder investigation has been launched after the death of a woman in her 60s in south london. officers were called to an address in surrey quays at about 3 pm. on friday, after reports that a woman had been stabbed. the metropolitan police said the london ambulance service and london's air ambulance also attended, and the woman was taken to hospital, where she later died. a 61 year old man was arrested on suspicion of murder and remains in custody . murder and remains in custody. football action now and there were wins for brentford, nottingham forest and bournemouth in the premier league today. meanwhile, crystal palace scored a last minute equaliser to draw one all at home to newcastle in the

evening. kick off. arsenal thumped west ham five goals to two and england ladies ended usa's nine game winning streak with a goalless draw in a friendly at wembley . now to friendly at wembley. now to a story that a story that will sweeten your day. a woman has been awarded £2. a man has been awarded £2 in compensation after he complained about a smooth mars bar. harry seager, from buckinghamshire, picked up the chocolate treat at a service station in oxfordshire but contacted manufactures mars wrigley when he discovered it didn't have its signature ripple. in a letter, the firm apologised for his experience and closed a £2 voucher, but offered no explanation. mr seager said i think £2 is great. it will be two free. mars bars maybe. maybe they could have sent me more. but i'm not ungrateful . totally worth the ungrateful. totally worth the time and effort. those are the latest gb news headlines. for now, i'm joe casper. now back to mark dolan. and that pink shirt for the very latest gb news

direct to your smartphone, sign up to news alerts by scanning the qr code or go to gbnews.com/alerts . gbnews.com/alerts. >> nice to have joe casper with us this evening. he returns in an hour's time. we'll look at a really busy show. you might want to pour yourself a stiff one tonight, because we've got lots of stories to get through, including the absolute disaster of the sickness benefits regime, which is bankrupting the country. we'll hear from the brilliant journalist frazer nelson on that one. and in my take at ten, the bbc, greg wallace crisis deepens. all of that to come. but first, my big opinion . well, who'd have thunk opinion. well, who'd have thunk it? the bad orange man strikes again. donald trump isn't even in the white house . and talk of in the white house. and talk of a swift end to the conflict in

ukraine has gathered momentum. volodymyr zelenskyy said last night that he was willing to cede territory to russia to end the war, adding that after a ceasefire was agreed , kyiv could ceasefire was agreed, kyiv could negotiate the return of the territory in the east that is currently under russian control. wow. this follows comments zelenskyy made after the us election results on the 5th of november, saying that a diplomatic solution to this awful conflict, which has claimed the lives of 100,000 ukrainian soldiers , will now ukrainian soldiers, will now happen sooner. but i'm so confused. i thought donald trump was this terrible monster that was this terrible monster that was going to destroy america and the world. well , it seems not the world. well, it seems not since that seismic landslide on november the 5th, mexico have verbally agreed to block migrants from crossing the us southern border. major companies have given up their woke policies, and the us stock market has gone through the roof. meanwhile, israel lays

down arms with hezbollah and hamas want a peace deal in gaza. imagine the trump effect has also been felt here as well, with a sense that we in britain can now reject hated political correctness. the idea of 100 genders, people announcing their pronouns, race, grifters and the demonisation of western values and history. it can all go in the big fat dustbin of history. even keir starmer spoke out against the madness of open borders this week . better late borders this week. better late than never, sir keir talking common sense feels safer since the return of the orange one. a man tangoed at birth. i'll be honest, we all had a very lucky escape that the woke vice president, kamala harris, didn't win, especially following her extraordinary thanksgiving video this week in which she looks to have overindulged in the cooking sherry. talk about a stuffed turkey. gobble , gobble. turkey. gobble, gobble. >> i just have to remind you,

don't you ever let anybody take your power from you? you have the same power that you did before november 5th. >> heck, did i ever tell you that i love you? you're like a brother to me. >> blimey. it's like your dad's new girlfriend. after a long afternoon in wetherspoons . and afternoon in wetherspoons. and thank god the decrepit joe biden is about to leave office. given that he was responsible for the disastrous afghanistan surrender and has sought to ramp up the rhetoric in ukraine with talk of further missile strikes. in a move that can only provoke the russian bear. did the democratic party want to have a forever war? did they have a financial interest in that happening? you tell me. but arch capitalist donald trump has only ever spoken of peace. tell me one thing he says here that isn't good, that isn't moral. that you don't agree with. >> we have never been closer to

world war three than we are today under joe biden, a global today underjoe biden, a global conflict between nuclear armed powers would mean death and destruction on a scale unmatched in human history. it would be nuclear armageddon. nothing is more important than avoiding that nightmare. we will avoid it. but we need new leadership. every day this proxy battle in ukraine continues . we risk ukraine continues. we risk global war. we must be absolutely clear that our objective is to immediately have a total cessation of hostilities. all shooting has to stop. this is the central issue. we need peace without delay . we need peace without delay. >> now, i ought to add that donald clearly fell under the asleep under the sun bed for that particular video. but here's the point. the narrative of donald trump being hitler 2.0

doesn't really cut the mustard, given that he's the only post—war president that didn't start a single conflict whilst in office. look , he's not in office. look, he's not perfect. donald trump is a narcissist , a convicted narcissist, a convicted criminal, and an election denier. but unlike joe biden, at least his brain works correctly. and unlike kamala harris, at least he hasn't got a loyalty card at majestic wine. i'm feeling optimistic on first impressions, at least. president elect trump will make the world a safer and better place . that's right. the better place. that's right. the future's bright. the future's orange . okay, folks, your orange. okay, folks, your thoughts on that gbnews.com/yoursay? will donald trump make the world a safer place? first up, tonight's top pundits. we have author and academic doctor lisa mckenzie. journalist and communications advisor linda jubilee , and advisor linda jubilee, and fearless writer and broadcaster

peter lloyd. really good to see all three of you. >> you too. >> you too. >> lisa, let's talk about donald trump. i don't think he's a good human being , trump. i don't think he's a good human being, but i think he could be a very good president. >> yeah, i probably agree with that. i'm not sure about i don't know anymore, i feel absolutely hopeless about of a politician. you know, i'm not sure what any of them are doing. do i think donald trump is going to be better than biden? you know, of. of course. why do you say that? just because i think biden. i don't know, he was just he didn't do anything. he just sort of sat back and allowed things to happen. he pulled out of afghanistan. it caused chaos. it's caused the ripple has gone throughout the world that that has really caused chaos throughout the world. and even today, you know, sort of what's

happening in the middle east today is, you know , it kind of today is, you know, it kind of caught on. >> lots of bad things happened on his watch. the disastrous afghanistan withdrawal, the invasion of ukraine and october the 7th. many suggest that might not have happened if trump was in the white house at the time. >> i think there's a fear around trump. i think there's a definite fear around trump because i would just sort of saying when biden had won, there wasn't sort of a rush to be his friend. you know , we've got friend. you know, we've got every politician in the world now wanting to get trump onside, which is interesting because they didn't do that with biden, did they? >> no, i mean, peta if a war, the war in ukraine ends, let's say, within the next three months, do donald trump's critics deserve an apology or should they make an apology? >> i should say they should make an apology, absolutely. but of course, knowing the liberal left, they will never do that. >> they would they would never admit defeat or that they were wrong. they would never self—correct or analyse their own behaviour because that's just what they do. >> they they'd probably call a

peace deal, a sell out or something. >> exactly. but, you know, this is really unprecedented. trump isn't even in office yet, and he's already facilitating change. but we really shouldn't be surprised by this. >> back in 2009, trump brokered an unprecedented peace deal between israel and sudan. he did another one with israel and emirates and another one with israel and bahrain. so he's got form for doing this. >> he was the first us president to cross into north korean soil to cross into north korean soil to engage with kim jong un, right. they exchanged affectionate written correspondence. he called president xi his friend. he said he can do business with putin now. these are international bad actors. they are actually a threat to our western interests. but trump tries to engage, right. >> and he's also a strong leader and a strong man, and he's unapologetic about his strength in that regard. and that's what america needs. america is, you know, the tent pole of the free world. and we need somebody in there who's dynamic. you don't have to like him. he needs to be

strong. >> there's only one problem, linda . he's a lunatic. linda. he's a lunatic. >> no, i'm not sure that i'm not sure that he's a lunatic, but he's in a position of great power where ukraine is concerned because both putin and zelenskyy both want to talk to him. so he is the power broker. so we know that and we know also that he is the deal maker. he's different to most other politicians. he's motivated in a different way. he proceeds in a different way. i mean, i've worked for these guys. i worked for the ceo of sky television when it had to turn a huge corner earlier in its in its in the infancy of the channel. and i've watched these guys, these top businessmen work. they work in a totally different way to politicians. they get stuff done and they're dnven they get stuff done and they're driven by the deal. it fuels them and they like the deal making. they're not politicians who pull back because they're scared of saying something that holds them hostage to fortune , holds them hostage to fortune, and they talk a lot without actually saying anything . a deal

actually saying anything. a deal maker has to proceed in very firm terms and i think that's what trump is going to do in ukraine. >> now, lisa, there's a flip side to this. trump's critics would argue that his uneven personality, his mercurial nature is such that he's the guy that could start world war iii. >> yeah, i actually wouldn't say that. i wouldn't say that . but that. i wouldn't say that. but just because trump is america first, that's what he is. he's america first, which means he's looking after american interests and american people . that's what and american people. that's what he does. >> whether he goes with zelenskyy or putin will be about who suits america's aims. yes , who suits america's aims. yes, that's where he's going to go. >> i think the people of america are going to be quite safe with him because he's going to he puts america first. that's what he's that's what his game is. that's what he won the election. i'm not sure about the rest of the world, what he thinks about the world, what he thinks about the rest of us. >> if trump is successful with the us economy, if he stops these wars, what does that mean for british politics? >> well, really, it sets a precedent and kind of formulates a blueprint for what we need to

do as a nation. because if america, we were probably in a worse state of affairs than we are, if they can turn it around, there's no excuse for starmer and his government not to be able to turn it around. >> and what you can be sure of is that trump will hold keir starmer's feet to the flames and so will elon musk, crucially. >> yeah. >> yeah. >> there you go. fantastic stuff. fascinating isn't it? could britain have a trump style revolution? only question is, who would be the donald trump figure in this country? >> well, i wonder who that might be. >> who's gaining power every day? >> let's make some calls. >> let's make some calls. >> mel. put some calls in. okay , >> mel. put some calls in. okay, folks, it is time now for our biggest and greatest british giveaway. that's right. this year it's your chance to win £50,000 in tax free cash. it's the biggest cash prize we've ever given away. and it could be yours. here's how you get hands on 50 grand. >> you could be joining the great british giveaway list of winners with your chance to grab a fantastic £50,000 in tax free cash. we've made loads of winners this year and you could be our next with our biggest

cash prize so far. >> hi, i'm angela from wigan and i want £30,000 with the great british giveaway. it happens to people like me for another chance to win £50,000. >> cash takes 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. go to gbnews.com/win. entries start from just £2. you can call 0903 6813232. calls cost £2 plus your network access charge or post your name and number two gb ten, po box 8690. derby de1 9tt uk only entrants must be 18 or over. lines close at 6 pm. on the 31st of january. please check the closing time if listening or watching on demand. good luck . watching on demand. good luck. >> okay folks, coming up in the big story is assisted dying a sin? i'll be asking the

chaplain to

okay, well, as we know, the assisted dying bill is making its way through parliament. but what about the spiritual implications of this? is it ungodly? is it a sin to end someone's life prematurely? who better to ask than gavin ashenden, who is the former chaplain to queen elizabeth the second? gavin, thank you so much for joining us. what is your forjoining us. what is your reaction to this vote in the house of commons that we've seen this week? >> now, i'm incredibly depressed. i mean, i don't think i've been this depressed for a very long time. i hoped you were going to ask me if it's a sin, because for one of the very few times in an interview , i was times in an interview, i was going to be able to give a categorical answer and without any equivocation and say, yes , any equivocation and say, yes, yes it is. i mean, the

background to that is that we get forgiven our sins. that's the relationship we have with god. but it's best that the problem with sin is that it's usually a matter where we're where we're invited not to, to hurt ourselves. and the problem with this is that we've gone after one very laudable aim, which is to prevent suffering. who? no one's against that. everyone wants to do that. there are ways of doing it. palliative care is the best way. we've chosen a shortcut. and so often shortcuts have unintended consequences. and the shortcut here is to give the state the power to kill us. there are all kinds of reasons why you don't want to trust the state, but to give. but it changes our relationship with the state. it changes our relationship with doctors who, who, who can become our killers instead of our healers. it changes our relationship with our families in case we find ourselves a burden on them. and we feel obligated to step out of the room. it changes our relationship with, with our neighbours . relationship with, with our neighbours. it suddenly relationship with, with our neighbours . it suddenly the neighbours. it suddenly the ground under our feet is very

thin indeed. and what i don't understand is i've talked to people about it is the trust they have in our legislators to frame laws that they think will keep us safe from abuse. there are 30 other legislators. they've all got different laws. we're not going to follow any of theirs. we're going to write our own . i started life as a lawyer. own. i started life as a lawyer. i know how very difficult it is to frame good legislation. do you know we spent 700 hours arguing about whether we should kill foxes or not? we spent six hours arguing about whether we should give the state the power to kill human beings who are suffering. we're doing this all wrong. >> will this change in the law make life difficult for priests and other religious figures? you know, faith, faith leaders who are seeking to, you know, support their congregation ? support their congregation? >> i think it will set us at odds with society because what it does is it changes the what we understand a human being to be. one of the reasons why you

don't kill people is because we're made in the image of god, and therefore all of us. if you like, has the stamp of holiness or or preciousness. we belong to god before we belong to anybody else. that means you have to treat your neighbour with care and respect. that's where it comes from. that's that's the driving understanding. if you take that away, then we become, we become utilitarian, we become consumer goods. there aren't enough children being born. that means the huge majority of elderly people will get rid of some of the elderly people. why don't you? it makes economic sense. it will balance the books. if human beings are just consumables, then you can do that kind of thing . but the that kind of thing. but the problem is by changing the law and by changing the rules and saying human beings are now people you can kill instead of people you can kill instead of people you can kill instead of people you must never kill. we're put into a different category and that just changes everything in terms of our relationship with the state and everybody else. so in the in the sense it puts it puts all it all, puts all priests and

bishops and christians in a sense, against the state, because the state has decided to downgrade the value of human beings. and we know that the, you know, the only people who did that in the last 200 years were the nazis. we we've thrown that word around with casual abandonin that word around with casual abandon in the political. but for once, for once, this is a nazi act. this is they're the only people who did this. >> although would it be god's will for people to suffer, which is of course, what this legislation is all about? gavin . legislation is all about? gavin. >> so this is a very good question. and for people who who bandy these things around, there are two aspects of god's will. one is permissive and the other is prescriptive. so the god has a prescriptive will. there are things he wants us to do. he wants us to forgive each other. he wants to us love each other. he wants to us love each other. he wants to us love each other. he wants us to act with honour. but god also permits things to go wrong because that's the price of not making us robots. we could be made robots and be programmed, but then we'd lose our humanity, the cost of our humanity is allowing things to

go wrong. god allows that death, suffering are things that god allows , but he he tells us it's allows, but he he tells us it's allows, but he he tells us it's all worth it. and that's you know, there was a wonderful engush know, there was a wonderful english mystic called julian of norwich in the, in the 1400s. and she had these visions with god. and she said , really? you god. and she said, really? you know, there's the black death around the inquisition . life is around the inquisition. life is around the inquisition. life is a bit nasty. are you sure you knew what you were doing when you gave us free will? and god says, as in a way that's consistent with everything that jesus teaches. you'll see it's worth it. so this is one of the reasons why human beings have hope. it's worth being alive . hope. it's worth being alive. it's worth receiving our humanity. it's worth keeping going. it's worth putting up with with the dreadful stuff. and one of the things that the christians have experienced is very often god takes bad stuff and brings good out of it, and that includes suffering. i have a very close friend whose mother got brain cancer, and for the last six months of her life, she nursed her and loved her. and she says that those six months were the most precious months of her whole life. as she gave back to her mother something her

mother gave to her because her mother gave to her because her mother had been advised to abort her, hadn't aborted her, had brought her into life. and now the daughter spent six months nursing her through brain cancen nursing her through brain cancer. well, she could have taken a pill and cut the whole thing out. but actually, in the terms of the way we human beings work and the way we're the way we're built to love and care, that suffering had gold in it somewhere. and that's that's why it's that's why things are more complicated than the than the terribly able haute bourgeoisie who just want a life of convenience and say, you know, i'm not going to i'm not going to risk any suffering. i want to under my way and my terms. but they make they make other people pay they make they make other people pay the price for it. >> doctor ashenden, do you stay with us? let's bring in my punst with us? let's bring in my pundits this evening, if we can. linda. jubilee. peter lloyd and lisa mckenzie. lisa, what's your view? do you agree with gavin ashenden? >> i do , actually, i'm. i'm an >> i do, actually, i'm. i'm an atheist. i'm an anarchist. i believe in human autonomy, but i also believe in community,

family and love. i do believe that. so i am very much in agreement. actually, i'm quite surprised how much commonality there is between my anarchist atheist principles and the principles of, of atheist principles and the principles of , of the church . principles of, of the church. >> actually, how about you, the anarchist at heart? >> oh yeah, i completely agree . >> oh yeah, i completely agree. and i speak as someone whose mother is in end stage palliative care right now , and palliative care right now, and she has been very, very sick with pulmonary fibrosis, terminal pulmonary fibrosis for at least the last year. and my me and my brothers and my cousins, we've all come together to be at her bedside. and for us, that's a really , really us, that's a really, really important process as a family. and only this week i went to see my parish priest. i'm a catholic, and i spoke to him about this . and really the thing about this. and really the thing about this. and really the thing about this. and really the thing about this bill, which is so

important , is about this bill, which is so important, is it hits at the heart of humanity. it hits at the heart of civilisation. the hippocratic oath says , first, do hippocratic oath says, first, do no harm. and i think that this bill really, really upsets the relationship between the doctor and the patient. a lot of the time . but the bill, to be time. but the bill, to be specific, is ambiguous in its in its opening, it gives a five year review, and i think there should be a review after the first year or maybe two years. it it is not even precise about the administering of the lethal dose, which is done in a room without medical supervision and, and i without medical supervision and