is it chinese espionage? plane? is it chinese espionage? just what is behind a spate of ufo sightings in the united states? president elect donald trump demands answers as he calls for these mysterious drones to be shot down. and could we really be seeing a three horse race at the top of british politics? a brand new poll has just put reform uk three points behind the tories, and i'm asking just how much of and i'm asking just how much of a threat nigel farage's party will be heading into 2025. i'm darren grimes and the weekend my friends starts here. now, as you know by now, this show is absolutely nothing without you and your views. let me know your thoughts on all of

the stories we'll be discussing today by visiting gbnews.com/yoursay. join the conversation there. now keeping me company on today's show is the political commentator matthew stadlen and the broadcaster charlie downs. but before we get stuck in to today's stories, here's your news headlines with sam francis. >> darren, thank you very much and good afternoon to you. fast approaching 1:02. well, the top story today. labour has claimed a record pace for removing migrants from the uk, but channel crossings are still at an all time high. the home office says nearly 13,500 people have been removed since labour's election win in july. that's the most in any six month period since 2019, but the number of channel crossings continues to rise, with now over 21,000 migrants arriving by small boats, including a record 609 on

thursday alone. home secretary yvette cooper says labour is intensifying border security, and she says cracking down on illegal working. but conservative leader kemi badenoch told us it's labour who is failing to control our borders. >> i'm not going to run away from the subject of immigration, inever from the subject of immigration, i never have. labour are pretending that they're tough on immigration, when actually they stopped us from doing quite a lot of things. it wasn't just the fact that we had a majority in the commons. we did not have a majority in the lords. so a lot of legislation, the rwanda legislation, even when we were putting it through, it was getting blocked elsewhere. so i'm not going to have keir starmer, who wanted foreign criminals to stay in this country, actively stop them from being deported, pretend that he is mr immigration. >> next, the latest developments in fiji, where at least seven tourists are now fighting for their life after a suspected mass alcohol poisoning at a luxury resort there. witnesses have described scenes as terrifying, claiming up to 12

people collapsed. one victim was seen suffering seizures and foaming at the mouth, according to reports, while a young girl, believed to be around eight years old, who took a sip from her mother's drink, is also reportedly among those fighting for her life. four australians, aged 18 to 56, are among those who have been rushed to hospital. the incident comes just weeks after the deaths of six other tourists in laos, also from a suspected alcohol poisoning incident, with british tourist simon white among those killed. an alleged chinese spy unked killed. an alleged chinese spy linked to the duke of york and two former prime ministers posed a national security risk, a tribunal has ruled. the businessman, known only as page six, was barred from the uk last year after reportedly infiltrating high profile circles, including attending events with david cameron and baroness may. home secretary yvette cooper says britain must maintain economic ties with china, but will act strongly against any security threats. but critics, including nigel

farage, are calling for the man to be named, while iain duncan smith is demanding a full investigation into his activities. the duke of york, though, insists no sensitive matters were ever discussed and says all contact stopped following government advice. an urgent manhunt is underway this afternoon for those responsible for a deadly shooting in northwest london last night. a woman in her 40s was shot and sadly died, while two men, both in their 30s, were injured, one of them critically. residents in brent say they heard five gunshots in quick succession and police have now cordoned off the area, with a number of officers still on the scene. detectives are now working to track down those behind the attack, and are urging anyone with information to come forward. water bills are set to rise by 20% to fix broken britain's broken sewage system, adding around £100 to the average household bill over the next five years. environment secretary steve reed admits the hikes will anger families, but

says they are essential to repair years of neglect and to prevent water rationing within 15 years. the regulator, ofwat, is expected to approve the increases this week, with some providers pushing for even steeper rises, some of up to 84%. the government, though, says the extra money will be ring fenced for fixing pipes and building reservoirs, with any unused funds refunded to customers. new laws are also being introduced to force water bosses to report sewage leaks, with tough penalties for non—compliance. and before i hand you back to darren news just into us from an area in the black sea where two russian tankers have reportedly sunk, spilling a large amount of oil and leaving almost 30 crew members stranded. that incident took place amid a heavy storm in the kerch strait, which separates russia from occupied crimea. we're hearing at least one crew member is believed to have died so far. authorities also investigating possible

criminal negligence. some unverified video appears to show one tanker split in half as oil starts to leak into the water. a rescue and clean up operation is now underway. more than 50 personnel on scene, including a number of tugboats and helicopters. at this stage, though, the full extent of that oil spill is still unknown. those are the latest headlines for now. more in half an hour. now, though, it's back to darren 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. >> cheers very much, sam. let's get stuck in to today's topics. the home secretary has refused to set herself a deadline to bnng to set herself a deadline to bring illegal migration to heel, despite admitting that the rate of illegal channel crossings is

far too high. yvette cooper criticised the tory government, saying slogans will simply not solve the small boats crisis. conservative party leader kemi badenoch spoke to camilla tominey on gb news this morning. let's have a little listen to what she had to say. >> i'm not going to run away from the subject of immigration, inever from the subject of immigration, i never have. labour are pretending that they're tough on immigration, when actually they stopped us from doing quite a lot of things. it wasn't just the fact that we had a majority in the commons. we did not have a majority in the lords. so a lot of legislation, the rwanda legislation, even when we were putting it through, it was getting blocked elsewhere. so i'm not going to have. keir starmer, who wanted foreign criminals to stay in this country, actively stop them from being deported, pretend that he is mr immigration. >> i know a lot of you at home aren't buying that. well, let's speak to one man who may not be buying it either. joining me now is the chairman of migration watch, alp mehmet alp. thank you very much for your company as

even very much for your company as ever. where do you draw the line here? because on both sides of the political fence you can say a plague on both their houses in this regard, can you not? >> you can. the fact is that the tories are history. they're not there any longer. it's now very much up to the labour government, to yvette cooper to do something about it. i was amused to say that she's not going to come up with with slogans. what is we're going to smash the gang's all about, then if that isn't a slogan, i don't know what is. but look, what we've heard today is very much of an expensive sham, in my view. when there was an announcement last month of around 10,000 being removed, we learned that only 2000, 2500

were in fact forced removals, which would have included former national offenders, prisoners , national offenders, prisoners, and the rest included 609 brazilians, all of whom and 100 and 109 children. i think if i remember rightly, all of them, including children, received £3,000 to go back to brazil. they were voluntary returns. the vast majority of these that we've heard about are voluntary returns. they're not forced returns. they're not forced returns. they're not forced returns. they're doing nothing to dissuade or deter those who are coming across the channel in , are coming across the channel in, in boats. so i frankly, i take all of what's been said today, as with a pinch of salt at the moment, people are not discouraged and they will continue to come in very high

numbers, 35 to 40,000 continue to c