>> good afternoon britain. it's 12:00 on tuesday, the 31st of december or on wednesday the 1st of december if you happen to be in new zealand. i'm tom harwood. i said december, i meant january. oh, well, we'll try that again next hour. arise, sir. sadiq khan reactions range from bemusement to fury as the prime minister is accused of rewarding failure, handing a knighthood to the london mayor who presided over a surging knife crime rate and broken promises. elsewhere, the former head of the uk border force says the government will never solve the government will never solve the small boat crisis unless it bnngsin the small boat crisis unless it brings in an effective deterrent, as nearly 37,000 people cross this year alone. and firework displays across the

country, from blackpool to edinburgh's annual hogmanay street party, have been cancelled due to severe weather conditions. more later. well, a very happy new year to you. throughout this program, we're going to be darting around the world seeing people who are already ringing in the new year. auckland in new zealand has celebrated. they did that around an hour ago and in just 59 minutes time will be live in sydney for their spectacular fireworks display as they ring in the new year in australia. it's an exciting time. it's only 12 hours to go now until we say happy new year here on greenwich mean time, but much more besides new year festivities today on good afternoon britain. some concerning news for health

services across the country, in england and in wales, critical incidents have been declared. we'll be looking closely at how the nhs is holding up this winter, but also too we'll be looking at those firework displays. where is okay, where is not. we're going to be talking to weather experts so you can plan your night accordingly. and we want to hear from you what what's going on in your part of the country. you can get involved. gbnews.com/yoursay is the way to get involved in that conversation. of course, one person who won't be worried about the weather is sir keir starmer. yes, the prime minister is in madeira. we'll be looking at a special video of his sunshine tobogganing a little bit later in the programme. all of that's to come after your very latest news headlines. >> good afternoon. it's just gone 12:00. these are your

headlines. former england football manager gareth southgate, actor stephen fry and gardener alan titchmarsh are among some of the famous names included on this year's new year's honours list. the mayor of london, sadiq khan, has also been knighted, sparking fury among some amid london's spiralling crime rate. sir keir starmer has been accused of rewarding failure as knife crime has increased in the capital by 50% since khan took office in 2016. the shadow home secretary, chris philp, said londoners would be furious. the london mayor was also responsible for rolling out the controversial ulez scheme in greater london, which critics say hit the poorest workers the hardest. meanwhile, the newly appointed sir sadiq said he was truly humbled to receive the honour. new zealand has ushered in the new year with a fireworks display in auckland. but as the world prepares to welcome in 2025, severe weather is set to hamper britain's new year's events. the edinburgh hogmanay

celebrations have been cancelled due to weather conditions. the met office have issued amber weather warnings as snow, gales and up to five inches of rain are set to batter the uk this new year. two fireworks displays planned for 6 pm. and midnight in newcastle's quayside have been cancelled because of the weather, while blackpool and nonh weather, while blackpool and north yorkshire are also reporting cancellations. meanwhile, city hall in london says they are monitoring weather conditions ahead of the caphaps conditions ahead of the capital's annual new year's eve fireworks display. in other news, tony blair's labour government pushed on with plans to open uk's borders to eastern europe despite mounting concerns from senior ministers. that's according to newly released official files. the national archives has published cabinet office files from 2003 to 2004, when tony blair was prime minister. the documents revealed the issue of immigration was top of the agenda, with senior ministers urging the then prime minister to delay granting

employment rights to eastern and central european workers. when the eu expanded in 2004. but mr blair's government went ahead with plans despite the warnings. the government will never solve the small boats crisis unless it bnngsin the small boats crisis unless it brings in an effective deterrent. gb news has been told. the former head of the uk border force says efforts by sir keir starmer to smash the gangs cannot succeed through law enforcement alone. it comes as the number of illegal migrants who cross the channel this year reached nearly 37,000. that's 25% higher than last year's total. tony smith told us more needs to be done to put an end to the crisis. >> what i haven't seen is a real deterrent. the only real change we've seen from this government is the abolition of the rwanda scheme, which would have said to people, look, i'm sorry, we're not going to consider your asylum application or your human rights application in this country. you can go to rwanda for that. i thought that was the boldest attempt since australia

to try and set up an interdiction policy, which would have been a deterrent and would have been a deterrent and would have made people, perhaps, who were already in a safe country, think twice about making that perilous journey. >> now, new year's eve revellers in wales are being urged to dnnk in wales are being urged to drink sensibly to help the country's ambulance service, which has declared a critical incident after a huge increase incident after a huge increase in demand. the service said there were 340 calls waiting to be answered when the incident was declared last night. at the same time, more than half of the trust's ambulance vehicles were waiting to hand over patients outside the hospitals . and after outside the hospitals. and after eight years in one of the longest and most bitter divorces in hollywood history, brad pitt and angelina jolie have reached and angelina jolie have reached a settlement. 49 year old jolie and 61 year old pitt were one of the hollywood's most prominent couples for 12 years. the two oscar winners, dubbed brangelina, have six children together. jolie filed for divorce in 2016 following a

private jet flight from europe, dunng private jet flight from europe, during which she said pitt was abusive towards her and their children. while jolie's lawyers have said a divorce settlement has now been reached, it is unclear whether it will end a long running legal battle between the pair over a french vineyard. those are the latest gb news headlines. now it's back to tom 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. >> well, good afternoon britain. it is 12:07 and a fury has erupted after london mayor sadiq khan was knighted in the king's new year honours list. well, sir keir starmer has been accused of rewarding failure as knife crime

has increased in the capital by 50% since sadiq khan took office back in 2016. the london mayor was also, of course, responsible for rolling out the controversial ulez scheme in greater london, which critics say hit poor workers the hardest. this all comes as the newly appointed knight knight of the realm said he was truly humbled to receive the honour. well, what is it about these new year's honours? do they always go to politicians friends? joining me now is the constitutional expert daniel britain. daniel, thanks so much for being in the studio. hi, tom. this afternoon, first of all, new year's honours. what's the history of this sort of annual peculiarity? >> i think it goes back to about 1890, which appears to be the first new year's honours list, and actually for the first 70, 80 odd years of it, it was declared on new year's day. actually, we got impatient with finding out who they were. so it keeps on getting earlier, which is why they come out before 1890

was the first date, but it didn't really get going in the present form until the middle of the first world war, 1917, when the first world war, 1917, when the government, the king thought what was needed was an honours system which awarded rewarded far bigger range of people, particularly people who had been working on the war effort at that time. and in 1917 the order of the british empire was established. not everyone likes that name. some people have turned down an honour because of it, but that's the standard issue award now. mbes, obe cbes. and then if you're very grand, kbe, cb, cbe and there is one gbe today, two gbs, one as a woman, jacqueline wilson, the author, she's been upgraded from author, she's been upgraded from a plain old dame to a dame grand cross. that's that's the top of the tree. >> of course it's top of the tree. it's got gb >> of course it's top