morning 930 on thursday 19th of december. live across the uk. this is britain's newsroom with andrew pierce and miriam cates is in for bev turner. >> well, there's a rebellion brewing within the labour ranks over the decision not to compensate the waspi women. take a listen to the veteran mp, diane abbott. >> we did promise them that we would give them justice. i understand the issue about the cost, but does the prime minister really understand how let down waspi women feel today? >> up to 100 labour mps could rebel against the decision to rule out spending up to £10 billion to compensate the waafs begum prime minister says it's unaffordable. >> i'm afraid to say the

taxpayer simply can't afford the tens of billions of pounds in compensation when the evidence does show that 90% of those impacted did know about it, that's because of the state of our economy, and the cost of living just got more expensive. >> as water bills will rise by 36% over the next five years, while 60,000 homes are without water in southern england. is britain's water supply broken? >> and more than 50 members from the extended royal family will have their traditional pre—christmas lunch at buckingham palace today. but the duke of york is not going to be there. it's his invitation lost in the post. >> well, i understand it was actually andrew's ex—wife, fergie, who persuaded him to stay away. so has the sarah, duchess of york been the christmas saviour and spared the king's blushes? >> and breaking news in france this morning. dominique pelicot has been found guilty of the drugging and mass rape of his then wife, gisele pelicot, as he is sentenced to 20 years in jail

and labours on the charm offensive as the prime minister's chief of staff hold a secret meeting with donald trump's top team to build bndges trump's top team to build bridges after, of course, labour people supported his election opponent earlier this year. >> but the water bill is huge. average increase of 36% over five years and inflation is 2.6%. astonishing savage blow for cost of living. some people's bills are going to go up hundreds of pounds a year. >> yeah, and although people don't think much about their water bill at the moment, it tends to be less than things like your electricity and your gas. yeah. yeah, i think some are going up almost 50% in some areas. it's absolutely huge. >> yeah. the biggest increase is southern ironically over 50%, where 60,000 homes don't have any water today. so how are they going to feel about paying all that extra money. >> and of course, these companies do have to invest in the infrastructure, but they're also paying themselves rather nice bonuses. they certainly

are. they've definitely got profits to spare. >> well, let us know what you think, send your views and post your comments by visiting draghi. visit gbnews.com/yoursay. but first, here's the news with katie bowen. >> miriam andrew, thank you and good morning. it's just gone 9:30. these are your latest headunes 9:30. these are your latest headlines from the gb newsroom. water bills in england and wales are to rise by an average of 36% over the next five years, water regulator ofwat has announced this morning. that's the equivalent of an extra £31 a yeah equivalent of an extra £31 a year. the regulator said the increase would pay for £104 billion upgrade of the water sector to deliver substantial, lasting improvements for customers and the environment. ofwat is already facing backlash, with liberal democrat environment spokesperson tim farron mp describing the regulator as toothless and defunct. it comes as around 58,000 homes in hampshire are without water today due to a technical issue. southern water are saying the response to the

incident is being coordinated by the government, while business secretary jonathan reynolds spoke about the increase earlier on. >> look, i think everyone recognises this is another absolutely dreadful inheritance the new government has and the changes that have been announced, the work that the department of the environment have been able to do on this means that we will tackle the horrendous problem of sewage in our waterways, that we will have a more efficient system. we will deliver the level of investment thatis deliver the level of investment that is required, and we will make sure that money is no longer leached out of the system by way of bonuses and dividends. when a good service that the pubuc when a good service that the public deserve is not being provided. so it's a set of changes that deliver that long term investment that will make sure these problems, which the british public are rightly angry about, will not happen again. >> and as you've been hearing some breaking news out of france this morning, gisele pelicot 72 year old ex—husband dominique has been found guilty of aggravated rapes and all other charges against him in the mass rape trial in france. and in the last few moments, he has been

sentenced to 20 years in prison. the french court in avignon has found 47 men guilty of rape, two guilty of attempted rape and two guilty of attempted rape and two guilty of attempted rape and two guilty of sexual assault. the pelicot case has made headlines after gisele waived her right to anonymity, saying she wanted to make shame swap sides from the victim to the rapist. we'll bnng victim to the rapist. we'll bring you more updates on those verdicts and sentences as they continue to happen. defence secretary john healey is visiting kyiv today as the uk announces a £225 million package of military support for the country, as he describes the situation as critical. mr healey will meet his ukrainian counterpart to discuss the latest battlefield battlefield situation and to set out five priority areas for uk defence support. the funding is expected to go towards new drones, boats and munitions. those are the latest gb news headlines. now let's go back to andrew and miriam 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. >> hello and welcome to britain's newsroom, live across the united kingdom on gb news with andrew pierce and miriam cates. >> so the talk with the guardian says it on its front page. up to 100 labour mps could vote against sir keir starmer's decision not to compensate those women bought in 1950s who were not aware of changes to the state pension age. >> well, the pm has defended the decision to do so, saying that we couldn't afford it due to the current state of the economy and of course, labour mps, including the mother of the house, diane abbott, got up to criticise that decision. >> political commentator matthew stadlen joins us. is it very difficult, isn't it? >> why do you always get me in for the most difficult stories? because there are so many these days. >> there are so many. >> there are so many. >> there are anyone who thought

that this wapping labour majority, which we know is very, very wide or ocean wide, but sort of pond thin, would lead to some sort of political stability or consensus in westminster. well, that's been blown out of the water, hasn't it? repeatedly. >> big majorities can be very difficult for the person leading the party. >> they can be if you don't lead a disciplined party. and if 100 mps were to vote against the government, that would obviously be very problematic indeed, not least because it could set a precedent. i think one of the reasons why there is no government can just not have vote. >> they control the agenda. >> they control the agenda. >> one of the reasons, i think, why there is or seems to be so little stability is because of social media. so now we all have a voice, don't we? so even if there are only 121 conservative mps and only five reform mps, they on social media, but also their supporters or people who are just angry with politics generally can make a big noise. and why has labour got itself into this problem? partly

naivety, partly because they were out of power for 14 years and forgot what it was actually like being in government, and partly because of social media as well as the mainstream media, the receipts are kept. so as soon as they decide not to compensate these women. and by the way, the ombudsman i think says that they should compensate the women on social media. and then the newspapers are flooded, aren't they, with images of starmer, of the deputy prime minister, angela rayner, and others standing in solidarity with these campaigners? >> yes, you're exactly right. because what happens is these campaign groups, some of which are hugely successful waspi women, is one of them. they come into parliament, they set up a stall in one of the parliamentary buildings, and they invite mps to come and have their picture taken with them, with their big stand, with their twitter hashtag, to prove to your constituents that you care about this issue. and of course, there's a very tempting thing to do as an mp, and there's a ver