>>a >> a very, very good afternoon and happy friday to you. it's 3 pm. and welcome to the martin daubney show here on gb news. we're broadcasting for you live from the heart of westminster and all across the uk. on today's show, the prime minister's former chief of staff and of course the partygate investigator, sue gray. cal surprise has been nominated to be a labour peer in the house of lords. we'll get full reaction to this breaking news story throughout the show. jobs for the boys and the girls. talking of which, lord peter mandelson is set to become the next uk ambassador to the united states. but as the former arch remainer and the man who once described the president elect donald trump as a danger to the world, really the right man for the job. and earlier today, i paid a seasonal visit to the bbc. it'll be. >> freezing this christmas without fuel at home.

>> they loved it. they were waving at us. seriously? well, i think they were waving. they were certainly giving us some hand gestures. yeah, that was me at the bbc headquarters earlier today, blasting out the song freezing this christmas ahead of the christmas charts countdown later on. can it make it to number one? it's round about 5:30 pm. this afternoon that's announced. i'll speak to the song's creator, chris middleton, to get his reaction. as soon as we have that announcement. that's all coming in today's show. what was the show? always a pleasure to have your company. can you believe that? the bbc has said they're going to refuse to play freezing this christmas? if it gets to number one? the bah humbug broadcasting corporation, they banned god save the queen by the sex pistols in 1977. too spicy, they said they banned relax by frankie goes to hollywood for

similar reasons. and now they're saying they're going to ban this. and that's because they simply don't like the message. that song could be this year's number one. in about 2.5 hours time, i'll have the creator of that song, chris middleton, on the show. whether he wins or whether he loses, many people think he's already a winner. he's raised getting on for £36,000 for old people, every single penny from the crowdfunder and every single penny from the proceeds of that song. sales will go towards helping british pensioners stay warm this winter. get in touch usual ways gbnews.com/yoursay. but now it's time for your headunes but now it's time for your headlines and here's mark white. >> good afternoon. it's just 3:02. two men have been charged with assaulting police officers following an incident at manchester airport in july. the

two men, mohamed himars, who is 20, is charged with two offences of causing actual bodily harm one charge of assaulting an emergency worker and another of common assault. 25 year old mohammad ahmad is charged with causing actual bodily harm. they will appear at liverpool magistrates court on the 16th of january. the crown prosecution service said no police officers would face criminal charges. however, the police watchdog has confirmed it's still investigating possible police misconduct. lord mandelson is to become the uk's next ambassador to the united states. the labour peen to the united states. the labour peer, who served under tony blair and gordon brown, will take up the washington appointment as donald trump returns to the white house. prime minister sir keir starmer is understood to believe the labour veteran has the trade expertise and networking abilities to bring the uk and

america closer together. dame karen pierce, the current ambassador, is expected to remain in post until donald trump's inauguration on the 20th of january. the met office and the rac are warning travellers to prepare for disruptive weather and extremely busy roads as the christmas holiday begins. yellow warnings for high winds have been issued and parts of the uk could see the gusts reaching up to 85 miles an hour. millions of drivers are now starting their journeys, with motoring agencies warning of very heavy congestion on main roads. the rac estimates that more than 29 million journeys will be made in the run up to christmas day, around half happening this weekend. well, today in particular has been branded frantic friday. national

highways said the agency will remove road restrictions on 95% of roads that they manage to help ease congestion. the prime minister says councils should get on with the job of fixing potholes plagued roads. sir keir starmer said damaged roads can risk lives and cost hundreds, if not thousands of pounds for car repairs. he made the comments as the department of transport announced how much each local authority in england will receive to maintain roads in the next financial year. the treasury announced in the budget in october that total local road maintenance funding for the next year will be nearly £1.6 billion, representing £500 million of an uplift compared with the previous 12 months. transport secretary heidi alexander said the increase should be enough to fix around 7

million potholes. >> we will be releasing 75% of this funding next year to start off with, and we withhold 25% to ensure that councils are reporting back to us on how they are using that money, because we know that some roads at the moment are like obstacle courses, aren't they? you've got huge craters in them. and so what we need to make sure is that those really big safety problems are being tackled first and foremost. but we want councils as well to think strategically about how they use this money in the best way, because it's really important that we get good value for money. >> the department for health and social care has announced a package of gps to help bring back the family doctor. the government is consulting with the british medical association on measures including the largest boost to gp funding in years, and reducing outdated targets to free up time. measures also include greater flexibility to employ doctors,

as a health secretary vows to reform general practice. health and social care minister stephen kinnock said the plans will deliver better outcomes for patients. >> package of £889 million of investment that we're bringing forward today is really going to help to fix that front door, but investment always has to come with reform. so the negotiations that we'll be launching with the bma will be based on busting all the bureaucracy and the red tape that they have to deal with. there'll be a patient's charter so patients know what they can expect from the practice that they're registered with. there's going to be much better online access. and we're going to bring back the family doctor. we're going to incentivise surgeries to ensure that people are seeing the same doctor, because that's what gets much better outcomes for them. >> and finally, a fully coloured waxwork of sir elton john performing his famous keyboard handstand has been unveiled at madame tussauds in london. the figure is being unveiled as the

77 year old superstar releases his disney+ documentary, celebrating the end of his lengthy touring career. madame tussauds said the waxwork is one of its most complex to date, having worked with sir elton since he sat for his first figure in 1976. it replicates sir elton with his legs in the air and his hands on his keyboard, as the midsummer music one day festival at wembley took place in 1975. not long before, of course, martin daubney gets his own waxwork. probably not a sparkly, but just as exciting, i'm sure. >> oh my, that was beautiful. mark white thank you very, very much. well, i'm not a waxworks dummy. look, someone's got their hand up my jacket, making me talk. let's move on quickly. sue gray, the civil servant who

investigated partygate and went on, of course, to become sir keir starmer's chief of staff. she's just been made a life peer as part of the prime minister's 30 new appointments, as he attempts to swing the house of lords towards his political leanings. and meanwhile, lord peter mandelson is set to become the next uk ambassador to the united states, with a cabinet minister describing him as a really good fit for the role. now lord mandelson, who served in the cabinet of sir tony blair and gordon brown, is poised to be the uk's next top diplomat in washington, marking a significant appointment as donald trump returns, of course, to the white house on january the 20th. however, is the man who once described donald trump as a danger to the world and little short of a white nationalist and a racist. really the right man to represent us in the right man to represent us in the united states? well, i'm delighted to say a christmas bonus. i'm joined by gb news political editor chris hope in the studio. chris, we said farewell yesterday. great to see

you. it was emotional. >> i couldn't stay away. martin. same here. 1507 00:10:02,856