syrian asylum freezes syrian asylum applications as fears grow. british jihadis could return to the uk following the collapse of the uk following the collapse of the assad regime. this comes as a former mi6 chief warns there could be a serious spike in the threat posed by islamic state in europe , and billionaire property europe, and billionaire property tycoon nick candy becomes the latest defector from the tory party. >> we'll be hearing from him and reform uk leader nigel farage in the next few minutes. >> yes, you won't want to miss that one. we're also going to be joined this hour by england rugby legend and world cup winner lawrence dallaglio , winner lawrence dallaglio, because he's campaigning against the widening gap between boys and girls in british education. it's a pretty alarming prospect, isn't to it, think that potentially the prisons have been released and potentially

british jihadis, people, extremists who've gone over to syria to fight for islamic state or whatever, could actually now be returning to britain. >> well, quite possibly a dozen hardened islamic state fighters is what the telegraph was reporting this morning. it is a huge issue, isn't it.7 particularly when we're going to have an influx of potential. lots of refugees from syria come across to the united kingdom, and are a few of these 12 jihadists going to potentially slip through the net.7 that jihadists going to potentially slip through the net? that is why security services have voiced their concerns this morning. >> and others for that matter. and of course, shamima begum, his lawyer , has come out his lawyer, has come out swinging, saying that she will have a stronger case to return to this country because of her human rights now. so where exactly do we stand at the moment? the labour government ? moment? the labour government? yes, they've frozen asylum claims. they want to assess the situation a little more. other european countries have done exactly the same. but austria is going further, aren't they? yeah. >> they are. austria is now deporting or planning to deport all syrian refugees from the

country. perhaps some would say that's a little bit too far. the uk government announced this morning a new deal with germany that germany's going to make it a specific criminal offence for people smuggling gangs to make people smuggling gangs to make people go across the border. the border , the english channel is border, the english channel is what i'm trying to say. >> yeah, no, but they are. they're doing yet another agreement. we shall see if anything, anything comes of it. cameron. i mean, we hear so much about this. i just wonder whether any of these little agreements with various countries on people smugglers or on the boats themselves will actually make a difference when there is absolutely no deterrent besides that treacherous journey to coming here? >> yeah. and as the home office minister, angela eagle was saying this morning, she conceded that it's a bit like playing whack a mole with these people smuggling gangs, you know, arrest a couple of them and another spring up over here. so it's really difficult. but she also says that that is not a reason to stop trying. yeah. >> i mean, what do you make of this threat that we're now facing? you know, people in the streets of britain were celebrating an across the world were celebrating the toppling of this this assad regime, a

butcher of his own people. but could the replacement be worse? and could we now be seeing more and more terror come to our shores? i hope not, but that's what the security services are warning gbnews.com/yoursay should we get the headlines with sam ? sam? >> cameron. emily, thank you very much indeed. just gone 12:00. the top story this hour. the uk and germany have struck a landmark deal to crack down on migrant smuggling ahead of a major meeting of european ministers in london earlier. germany has pledged to tighten its laws, making it easier to prosecute smugglers , enabling prosecute smugglers, enabling small boat crossings to britain. the agreement also includes intelligence sharing and removing smuggling content from social media to disrupt criminal networks. while speaking at that meeting with european leaders earlier, the home secretary, yvette cooper, said the plan will boost border security and save lives . save lives. >> gangs have been getting away

with it for far too long. >> that's why today's meeting is so important. in recent weeks, we have already seen the important impact of a collaboration across our countries. the significant arrest of a major suspect involved in smuggling engines and boats, involving collaboration between the netherlands, belgium and the uk. the series of arrests that have taken place across germany, with the french led operations in the last week, billionaire nick candy has pledged a seven figure donation to reform uk after announcing he'll become the party's new treasurer in the new yeah >> speaking with leader nigel farage in westminster in the last half hour or so, candy confirmed his commitment, calling reform the future of british politics. the property tycoon, who resigned from the conservative party over what he called too many broken promises, will now help raise funds ahead of may's local elections. the move comes as reform uk

continues to gain momentum, boosted by recent defections from the tories . boosted by recent defections from the tories. birmingham city council has reached a deal to settle historic equal pay claims, with liabilities of up to £760 million. the agreement, which involves 6000 low paid workers, is being hailed as a historic outcome for women employed by the council . employed by the council. settlement payments are expected to be up to four times higher than those first offered in 2021, with payouts due next yeah 2021, with payouts due next year. the labour led council has declared itself effectively bankrupt last year due to those pay bankrupt last year due to those pay claims, and has since implemented steep budget cuts and tax rises. councillorjohn and tax rises. councillor john cotton says the deal is a key step towards ending pay inequality in the uk, and cyprus have announced a new partnership to combat organised crime and illicit russian money. following sir keir starmer's visit to nicosia, the two nations agreed to share intelligence and expertise to enforce sanctions and tackle financial crime. cyprus has already frozen £1.5

billion of russian assets since the invasion of ukraine, and joined a uk led initiative to block vessels evading oil sanctions. while the deal marks the first uk high level meeting since 1971, the prime minister, sir keir starmer, says it's part of his plan to starve putin's war machine and protect global stability . the chancellor, stability. the chancellor, rachel reeves, says that every pound of taxpayers money will face scrutiny in a fresh spending review. she'll outline the approach alongside nhs workers today at maidstone hospital , workers today at maidstone hospital, promising savings and efficiencies to focus on the government's so—called plan for change. departments will be pushed to cut waste. aligning budgets with priorities set by prime minister sir keir starmer. the review kicks off as rachel reeves launches phase two of the spending review this afternoon . spending review this afternoon. the boss of thames water has defended paying executive bonuses as the firm pushes for a 59% hike in customer bills to

avoid collapse. chris weston says competitive packages are essential to attract top talent. despite a 40% rise in pollution incidents and debts now nearing £16 billion. the regulator , £16 billion. the regulator, ofwat, has already blocked thames from using bills payers money for bonuses and will decide next week if the new proposed increases can go ahead. critics , though, blame the water critics, though, blame the water industry's focus on profits for decades of neglect, with unions now calling for thames water to be taken back into public ownership. the firm, though, insists higher bills are crucial to secure funding and avoid running out of money by early next year . six people have been next year. six people have been charged with being members of a banned kurdistan terror group following an investigation by counter—terrorism police, the metropolitan police say the individuals, aged between 23 and 62, will appear at westminster magistrates court on tuesday. the kurdistan workers party, known as pkk , banned in the uk known as pkk, banned in the uk since 2001, has waged an armed

separatist campaign in turkey since the 1980s. officers have thanked the kurdish community in london for their patience during their ongoing inquiries. israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, is set to begin testifying today in a trial over charges of fraud, breach of trust and bribery. it's taking place today after a court rejected a request to postpone it until march 2025, despite the ongoing war in gaza. he's expected to arrive very shortly in court. netanyahu is facing charges in three cases, known as case 1000 2000 and case 4000. the trial venue has been moved from jerusalem to tel aviv for added security, with his testimony to be heard in a fortified underground hall . and fortified underground hall. and back here at home, hundreds of tractors are set to roll into westminster this week as farmers protest changes to agricultural inheritance tax. rally organisers say that october's budget proposal is a death knell

for british farming , limiting for british farming, limiting tax relief to the first £1 million of property. on wednesday, tractors from across the uk will line whitehall before taking a slow 1510 00:09:10