>> it's 9 pm. i'm ben leo. tonight the secretive deal to give away the chagos islands to mauritius has been exposed. today in a shocking revelation, can you guess just how much british taxpayers could be forced to cough up every year forced to cough up every year for the privilege of giving away our overseas territory? the figure will rock you. also tonight, at least under blair, we were told things could only get better. now, a damning new poll reveals half of brits think next year will be worse than this year. so can sir keir starmer survive 2025? elsewhere,

the boats keep coming and the deaths continue. three more fatalities in the english channel this morning. so when do we start calling labour's smash the gangs policy a failure? and after a huge poll of 11,000 brits shows labour would lose 200 seats in a general election under a hung parliament, is it time for reform and the tories to end the squabbling for the sake of the nation? tonight's panel are ready to go. i'm joined by editor at large at the mail on sunday. charlotte griffiths, former conservative mp neil parish and the former labour adviser susie stride. and as starmer asks ofwat and ofgem for ideas on how to boost growth, was liz truss right after all? >> i'm afraid to say the right hon. gentleman doesn't understand aspiration. he doesn't understand opportunity.

>> the proposed cost of giving away the chagos islands to mauritius has been revealed today, and the figure i promise will stun you. that's next. but first, your news headlines with sam francis. >> very good evening to you from the newsroom. the top story tonight, the prime minister, sir keir starmer and the king have paid tribute to the victims of a plane crash in south korea that killed all 179 passengers and crew on board the boeing jet, carrying 181 people, skidded off the runway, crashed and crashed into a fence and caught fire after its landing gear failed to deploy. emergency responders rescued two members of the crew. while investigators now consider factors like a possible bird strike that could have caused engine failure. while the crash is one of south korea's deadliest, with only the tail of the aircraft now remaining recognisable. earlier, travel and aviation expert sally gethin

spoke to us about the events that led to the crash. >> seems to have suffered a catastrophic bird strike, which might sound nothing in the scheme of things. but actually, when you consider the powerful engines on board, any bird strike is very critical in a case like this. and that triggered a chain of events where the pilots could not keep in control, they could not deploy the landing gear in time. and then they ran out of runway effectively. at that point, they skidded off the runway and they ran right into a wall. but they have recovered one of the black boxes. once they've recovered both black boxes, the investigation will begin properly. >> the government says that ruthless criminals are responsible for the deaths of three migrants. after a small boat capsized in the channel this morning. a major rescue operation near calais saved 45 people, with four still in hospital. authorities warn the death toll could rise further.

it follows news that over 1300 migrants have now crossed the channel since christmas day, despite the government's promise to smash the gangs behind the crossings. labour is facing a countryside crisis as new polling has revealed that rural voters are angry over a planned tax raid on family farms. a poll in the telegraph newspaper suggested that only 1 in 5 believed that labour cares about countryside communities. sir keir starmer's approval ratings among rural voters are being described now as catastrophic, with concerns mounting over his so—called family farm tax. the prime minister is also under pressure to address backlash after a major speech called his plan for change. the education secretary says that tax breaks for private schools are a luxury we can't afford. ahead of a new policy coming into effect, bridget phillipson has defended the plan to end exemptions, claiming it will raise £1.8 billion each year to, she says, fund state schools and recruit more teachers. critics, though,

including the conservatives, say it's a vindictive policy that will only hurt children's education. the government insists the policy is supported by middle class parents, who are struggling with private school fees, and believe that better funding for state schools will improve life chances for everyone. and the uk has pledged millions more to help investigate russian war crimes investigate russian war crimes in ukraine. the government has announced an additional £4.5 million to support bodies like the ukrainian prosecutor general's office, in holding war criminals to account. it follows an earlier pledge of more than £6 million for war crime prosecutions. it comes as the united nations has already confirmed war crimes have been taking place during the conflict, citing evidence of executions and of torture. those are the latest headlines for now. plenty more still to come. i'll be back with you in an hour 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. keir starmer promised a government of transparency, but one of the biggest issues of our time is being carried out in secret. labour rushed to complete a cloak and daggers handover of the chagos islands before donald trump takes office in january. and in october, they'd finally come to an agreement that saw us surrender the british overseas territory to mauritius. just for clarity, mauritius has never owned these islands and they're only flimsy. connection to them is that nafive connection to them is that native chagossians were sent there when the british kicked them out in 1968. granted, it is a very complicated story that stretches back centuries, but the key issue here is that the islands are crucial to uk and us national security because it's home to the diego garcia naval base. here's where it gets messy. last month, the mauritius government that agreed the surrender deal with keir starmer and david lammy, they were defeated in a massive election

landslide. and on monday this week, their new administration pulled the plug completely on the old government's agreement, instead demanding even more money from british taxpayers to secure a 99 year lease on diego garcia. up until now, the figure we've been asked to cough up by mauritius has been kept secret 100 million, 200 million. nobody knew. and starmer's government hasn't divulged. that was until today. tim shipman, the chief political commentator at the sunday times, and his colleague caroline wheeler this morning dropped a bombshell piece that finally exposed how much british taxpayers could be fleeced for in the process of giving up their own valuable territory. are you ready for this? the figure is £800 million a year, £800 million a year for as long as we want to keep the base, plus billions of pounds in reparations on top. reparations aside, that's a staggering total of £79 billion for a 99 year lease being given to a country who we're stupidly handing over swathes of important land to.

unbelievable, one source told the times today. they wanted crazy money. they were talking £800 million a year for as long as we wanted to keep the base there, plus billions of pounds in reparations. it's unclear how much labour and keir starmer and david lammy will eventually agree to end up paying, and how much of the bill the us will shoulder too. but at a time when british pensioners are freezing to death because this government saw them game for a shakedown of the winter fuel payment, even coughing up a fraction of that figure would be an unforgivable betrayal of britain. the prime minister would also have absolutely no right to ever again mention a £22 billion black hole, or his go to excuse of difficult decisions ever again. and this wouldn't just be again. and this wouldn't just be a betrayal of britain, either. as shipman and wheeler wrote in the times today, it's also sparked tensions between britain and the united states. it is a secret deal which has huge implications for national security and global power dynamics. the rise of both china and india, and western influence in the indian ocean for the next

century. the international court of justice ruled in 2021 that britain has no sovereignty over the chagos islands. i say if keir starmer cared about this country, he'd stop the virtue signalling, tell the pointless and quite frankly, toothless icj to do one and save up to £79 billion in the process. but let's get the thoughts of my panel now. the editor at large at the mail on sunday, charlotte griffiths, former conservative mp neil parish and the former labour adviser susan mel stride. good evening to you all. talking of strides, let