headlines with joe casper. >> good evening. it's 9:02. i'm joe casper in the gb newsroom. well, this evening the times is reporting that peter mandelson has been appointed the ambassador to the us by the prime minister. it comes as sir keir starmer prepares for donald trump's presidency. the newspaper reports that the prime prime minister. sorry. earlier today, the prime minister was facing questions from senior mps and government departments at the liaison committee this afternoon. the questioning focused on the state of the uk economy, potential trade deals for the country, housebuilding targets and the need for a ceasefire in gaza. at the end, the prime minister was asked if he would do anything differently following criticism for decisions including denying waspi women compensation and imposing new inheritance tax measures on farmers and the cut to winter fuel payments.

>> no, we had to do tough stuff. we're getting on with it and i'm very pleased to be delivering and delivering from a position of power rather than going around the division lobbies, losing every night. i've had too much of that . much of that. >> water bills in england and wales are to rise by an average of 36% over the next five years, water regulator ofwat announced today. that's the 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. four teenage boys have been detained for life for the murders of two best friends who were stabbed to death in a case of mistaken identity. mason rist, 15, and max dixon, 16, died from stab wounds after being chased by the four armed teenagers in the knowle west area of bristol at about 11 pm. on 27th of january this year. their attackers, riley toliver, 18, cody

westcott, 17, and two boys aged 15 and 16, who cannot be named due to their age, had been dnven due to their age, had been driven by anthony snook, 45. all five were convicted of two counts of murder last month following a six week trial at bristol crown court. snook was later jailed for life and ordered to serve a minimum of 38 years. mason risks uncle david knight spoke outside of court. >> no family should ever have to go through what our two families have gone through. these juveniles have not only destroyed our families, but to an extent, their own lives and that of their own families. and we hope that as they grow older and mature, hopefully in prison, they do fully come to realise they do fully come to realise the extent of what they have done. on that evening of saturday, the 27th of january, and they have to live with that for the rest of their lives. >> those were your latest gb

news headlines i'm jo casper. more than an hour now. >> back to ben 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. >> good evening. hope you're well. the stench of hypocrisy is wafting through britain tonight. in fact, let's be honest. it absolutely stinks because just days after nigel farage and nick candy met elon musk at mar—a—lago with reports suggesting the world's richest man could lump reform an £80 million donation, the establishment left are now frantically scurrying to change the law to ban political donations from overseas. here they are , pictured at donald they are, pictured at donald trump's florida home. never has a humble photograph sent so many people into a panic, not least today with the electoral commission, whose chief executive, vijay rangarajan, today called for the government

today called for the government to change the law to stop the likes of musk donating cash to uk political parties. in an interview with the guardian, obviously, he said it's crucial that uk voters have trust in the financing of our political system. okay, i get it. i understand now it's only a problem when right leaning parties get support from rich south africans, because i didn't hear the electoral commission complaining when south african businessman gary lubner, pictured here, gave the labour party £4.5 million ahead of the recent election to fund labour's war chest. and what about the £4 million donation from a firm based in the tax haven cayman islands quadrature capital, which labour only declared after the election? where was the electoral commission then? why wasn't it rolling up its sleeves, calling for overseas donations to be routed from british politics? i also didn't hear from the likes of tony blair sidekick alastair campbell complaining either. he tweeted funny how the people who used to scream and bawl about george soros don't mind oligarchy when it helps them. yeah, it is funny

isn't it, alasdair? it's funny how in that tweet alone you finally admit the hungarian billionaire george soros used his wealth to interfere in british politics because that idea used to be called a conspiracy theory by lazy commentators. but now elon musk is thinking about doing the same thing as soros. suddenly, now it's a problem to the likes of campbell and the electoral commission. oh, how the tables have turned. soros, of course, is the man who broke the bank of england, netting $1 billion by shorting the pound on black wednesday in 1992. this is a man who made his wealth off the back of britain's misery. i actually have no problem with that. i'm a capitalist, but i do have an issue with what soros went on to do with his fortune. in the uk, he funded anti—brexit campaigns, including calls for a second referendum. he explained in 2019. my contributions were not used for partisan or electoral purposes. they were used to educate the british public, educate the british public, educate the british public. yes, of course, because that's because you are too thick to know what you were voting for.

of course, in the us, soros has funded democratic candidates for national office and spent at least $50 million electing scores of woke social justice prosecutors and district attorneys all across the country, including, by the way, new york's alvin bragg, who suffers from a very severe case of trump derangement syndrome. george soros is also accused of wanting to see the fall of the west. he made his money trashing the uk. elon musk, meanwhile, builds rockets to expand humanity's presence in the universe. he creates brain implants to help people with degenerative diseases enjoy life again, and he makes the world's leading electric vehicles. and probably most importantly, he thinks free speech is worth saving and that banging people up for words online is wrong. so yes, i agree, maybe foreign money in british politics is a bad thing, but it's been happening for years and you're only crying now because the shady game you've been playing for decades is coming back to bite you tenfold. some, i guess, would call it karma. let's get

the thoughts now of my panel . the thoughts now of my panel. political consultant suzanne evans, tory peer lord shaun bailey and the former labour party adviser matthew laza. good evening to you all. thank you for your company tonight. merry christmas. it will be the last show we have before the new yeah show we have before the new year. matthew laza your lot are throwing their toys out the pram for something that they've been doing for many, many years now. >> no, no, no, that's not the case. look, i agree with you. may be surprised. i don't particularly want george soros trying to buy british elections. he hasn't given money to british political parties. he did put money into the referendum campaign. what's being proposed is, in my view, is quite sensible, which is that any company can continue to give political donations as it is now. but what you can't do is have a company that doesn't really trade here, that sort of, you know, a shell company, it's registered. it doesn't make any profits in the uk and therefore the money is coming in, is coming in from, from, from outside. and that seems and that would hit no. if any donations have gone to any existing

political party would fall foul of that, then good is what say. >> the point is, matthew, why now? why is the attention on this now just because it's happening in reverse? >> i mean, i, i actually think, well, the government is always the government was always clear it was going to reform party funding when it came in. so, i mean, look, you know, i don't know how much tesla makes here or how much x makes in the uk. it may be that it actually it wouldn't impact the donation directly or it wouldn't impact all of it i personally believe. remember we've got spending caps, which i don't think elon musk realises that we've got a spending cap. so the spending capsin spending cap. so the spending caps in the general election, which the tories put up ridiculously high, i think they should come back down again, not 1504 00:08:40,776 --> 00:08:40,