lays out plans for government lays out plans for housing construction. but could this come at the expense of our countryside .7 and sara sharif's countryside? and sara sharif's tragic death has been linked with tears tragic death has been linked with fears about cultural sensitivity by her. local mp. will forster has suggested that her teachers were afraid to question why she began wearing a huab question why she began wearing a hijab after being seen with bruises. does this argument have merit, or should the focus be on the failure of social services to protect sara? and the prime minister is hoping for more defence cooperation with the eu in the face of increased global security concerns. so keir starmer has already promised to improve trade and political relations with the bloc. but will this new move be popular with voters? and a tax on burgers? that's the suggestion from britain's chief medical officer chris whitty's new report has recommended a levy on unhealthy food to tackle childhood obesity. is this a necessary step to protect children's health or the nanny state gone mad? that's all

coming up in the show. now, as always, i want to hear from you. so please do send your views and post your comments by visiting gbnews.com/yoursay. first, it's time for the news headlines with will hollis. >> thank you. miriam. >> thank you. miriam. >> your top story at 3:00, prime minister sir keir starmer says questions need to be answered over the awful case of ten year old sara sharif, who was murdered by her father and stepmother. >> describing the details as shocking. after years of what prosecutors called horrific abuse, three members of her family have now been convicted over her death. yesterday, sarah's father, irfan sharif, and stepmother bazball were found guilty of her murder. her

uncle, faisal malik, was convicted of causing or allowing her death. new findings, published a day after they were found guilty, show more than 480 children in england were affected by serious incidents between april 2023 and march last year. the prime minister says there needs to be safeguards for children, especially those being homeschooled like sarah. >> this is just the most awful case. it's very hard to see and to read about for many people who will be viewing this. just shocking. so that's where i start on this. obviously, there's going to be questions that need to be answered in relation to this case. i don't think that we should allow ourselves to think that whatever the rules on smacking are, that that's got anything to do with this case. this is about violence. it's about abuse. it's about making sure there's protection and safeguards for children. it'sjust protection and safeguards for children. it's just the most awful case that many people, many viewers will find very,

very, very hard to hear. >> the number of hospital beds in england occupied by patients with flu has increased by 70% in a week, according to nhs england, as it warns of a tidal wave of flu hitting hospitals. nhs leaders are warning hospitals are bracing for a so—called quad demic of disease over the winter months, with an increase in cases of flu and expected increases in covid 19. an average of 1861 patients with flu were in hospital every week last week, up from 1099 in the previous week and 3.5 times higher than the same period last yeah higher than the same period last year. well, health secretary wes streeting was urged, has urged people eligible for free vaccinations on the nhs to take them before it's too late. the government is today demanding

immediate mandatory housing targets from councils as part of its plan to build 1.5 million houses by the next general election. sir keir starmer is vowing to override blockers and put builders first as he prepares to unveil sweeping changes to the planning process. the new plans could mean increased developments on the green belt, though the government has pledged to prioritise brownfield sites, although the plans have been met with criticism. deputy prime minister angela rayner says it is a landmark overhaul to america now, where a few moments ago, president elect donald trump opened trading at the new york stock exchange. let's take a listen. to. well, earlier today, time magazine named

president elect donald trump as the person of the year. it's the second time he's been awarded this title. accepting the honour. he claims next year will be even bigger. >> it's i think we're going to have a tremendous run. we have to straighten out some problems, some big problems in the world. it's when we left we didn't have any of these problems. we didn't have russia with ukraine, we didn't have israel october 7th. we didn't have the afghanistan disaster. we didn't have inflation, we had no inflation, and we had a very strong economy. and we're going to do that again. but i think we're going to even up it because now we have experience that the prime minister has welcomed. >> european council president antonio costa to downing street, saying it was a great privilege. sir keir starmer said there were many things for us to discuss of mutual concern and interest. sir keir continues with what he's calling a reset of relations between the uk and eu. it's the first meeting of its kind since

brexit on monday. in a speech to eurozone finance ministers in brussels, chancellor rachel reeves said negotiations with the eu on a new trading relationship would start in the new year. in other news, a man who tried to set fire to a hotel housing asylum seekers has been jailed for nine years, the joint longest prison sentence in connection with the uk's summer of riots. levi fishlock smashed windows and stoked a flaming bin in at the holiday express inn in rotherham during a spate of disorder on the 4th of august. the 31 year old initially denied violent disorder and arson with intent to endanger life, but later pleaded guilty to the charges. jailing him, judge jeremy richardson kc said this is one of the worst cases of its kind stemming from the rotherham disorder. fishlock's sentence, which also includes a five year

licence period after he's released from jail, is the same as that of thomas burley, who was also part of the mob, some of whom attempted to torch the hotel in south yorkshire. and finally, drivers planning christmas getaways are being warned to expect long queues because of record traffic levels. the aa predicts that friday, december the 20th, will be the busiest day on the roads dunng be the busiest day on the roads during the festive period, with an estimated 223.7 million drivers making a trip that's more than the busiest christmas getaway day since any year since the 2010 data. the joint second worst days for traffic jams over the 2024 festive period are expected to be december 21st and monday, december 23rd, each with 22.7 million drivers on the road. amber traffic warnings have been issued by the aa for

all three days. those are your latest headlines. i'll be back a little bit later. >> welcome back to the martin daubney show. and labour have pledged to build 1.5 million homes in england, as the government attempts to solve the long running housing crisis. now the housing secretary, angela raynen the housing secretary, angela rayner, has supported the use of mandatory targets to deliver a total of 370,000 homes a year. but concerns have been raised over how many of these new houses will be built on existing green belt sites. the deputy prime minister, however, says that she plans a landmark overhaul of existing planning laws. we think this will streamline the system because there's far too much delays at there's far too much delays at the moment and therefore by having the policy framework nationally and the local plan means that you can plan for the houses in the place where local people have identified they want it. and more importantly, make sure we deliver the infrastructure. alongside that.

well, let's get the latest on this housing initiative with our political correspondent, katherine forster. catherine joins me in the studio. catherine, no one disagrees that we need more houses, but there's a lot of controversy over this particular method of delivering them. >> yes, there is, because they've said 1.5 million houses in england in this parliament thatis in england in this parliament that is considerably more than have been built over any previous parliament. and the government are pretty much saying, although they want to work with councils, they want to work with councils, they want to work with councils, they want to work with local people, that they will have the option of imposing building developments on areas even in the face of opposition, because they're very clear this was one of their biggest pledges. they said they would get britain building. they talk about, you know, unblocking, beating the blockers and so on and so forth. so

they're saying, yes, building on brownfield sites, of course. then they're talking about the green belt and they're saying that where necessary they may build on bits of it, but they're going to be building on what they're calling the grey belt. so they will define that as things like old car parks so they will define that as things like old car pa