i'll be asking, is this a reward for failure? and newly released official files show tony blair's labour government pushed on with plans to open the uk borders to eastern europe, despite warnings migration would soar. was this one of the worst political miscalculations of all time? and ministers have been urged to get a grip after new data showed that public sector workers are three times more likely to take mental health sick days than private sector employees. but will they? we look ahead to 2025. yes, it's nearly here and

why next year promises plenty of political fireworks. all of that, and much, much more to come. but first, let's get the news headlines with sophia wenzler. >> dawn. thank you. it's just gone. 6:00. these are your headunes gone. 6:00. these are your headlines from the gb newsroom. japan, australia and new zealand were the first to ring in the new year, with celebrations and fireworks displays, followed by hong kong and taiwan, who in the last few hours celebrated the new year, and thailand, vietnam and indonesia have also rung in the new year in the past hour. but as the world welcomes in 2025, severe weather is set to hamper britain's new year's events. the edinburgh hogmanay celebrations have been cancelled due to severe weather conditions. heavy rain and high winds are causing disruption in

much of the country, with blizzards forecast in scotland and widespread travel disruption. fireworks displays in newcastle, blackpool and nonh in newcastle, blackpool and north yorkshire have all been cancelled. meanwhile, london's annual new year's eve fireworks display is going ahead this evening despite weather concerns. london mayor sadiq khan has received a knighthood in the new year's honours list, sparking fury among some amid his controversial ulez scheme and london's spiralling crime rates. 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. meanwhile, the newly appointed sir sadiq said he was truly humbled to receive the honour. in other news, tony blair's labour government pushed on with plans to open the 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 at the 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 the plans despite the warnings. new year's eve revellers in wales are being urged to drink sensibly, while ambulance chiefs have asked people only to call 999 in the case of an emergency to help reduce pressure on services across the country. in wales, the service said there were more than 340 calls waiting to be answered when the incident was declared last night. meanwhile, walsall healthcare nhs trust in the west midlands declared a

critical incident due to increased numbers of patients seeking hospital care for respiratory illnesses. the association of ambulance chief executives said teams are under severe pressure due to the time of year and high levels of covid 19, norovirus and flu, and johnnie walker has died at the age of 79. it comes two months after the radio presenter called time on his 58 year career because of ill health. dj bob harris, who took over bbc radio two's sound of the 70s show after walker's retirement, announced his former colleagues death live on the station today. tim davie, the bbc's director general, said we are deeply saddened by the news of johnny's passing and our thoughts are with his family and friends, as well as everyone at radio two. those are the latest gb news headlines. now it's back to dawn 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, welcome to dewbs& co with me dawn neesom and a very happy new year's eve to you. hope you're having a lovely evening out there. joining me until seven is my wonderful panel tonight, ben habib, a former reform uk co—leader, and paul richards, former labour adviser. gentlemen, thank you very much for joining adviser. gentlemen, thank you very much forjoining me on a special night and looking so smart as well. good to have your company. now this show is all about you, though it's not about us. so the most important thing to do on this show, remember, is get your views coming in and you do that very easily at gbnews.com/yoursay, it's all about you, remember. so get those views coming in now and we'll get through as many as we can, because we've got a cracking show and there's lots to talk about. now, how are you feeling about this one? there's

been a furious backlash to london mayor sadiq khan receiving a knighthood in the new year's honours list, pointing to spiralling knife crime and the much hated ulez expansion that has hammered the working classes. so has khan been rewarded for failure? ben habib and paul richards are going to debate this one now. new year's honours out today, ben. i can see from the look on your face which way this one is going to go. do you think sir sadiq khan has got a certain ring to it, ben? >> yeah, well, i mean, i don't know what that ring is, but i did a tweet earlier on today saying that i wasn't shocked by his knighthood. after all, tony blair got a knighthood and tony blair got a knighthood and tony blair was, in my view, guilty of not just being an awful prime minister and doing huge. to this country. he launched what i would call an illegal war and is guilty of crimes against

humanity. we all naturally are worried about the death toll in gaza, but the death toll that the united states and the united kingdom jointly delivered in iraq on an illegal premise that they had weapons that they could get to the united kingdom within 45 minutes was absolutely horrendous. i think it was pushing a million people. so we shouldn't be surprised when someone who hasn't actually done anything particularly remarkable is given a knighthood. i say i would say sadiq khan absolutely does not deserve one. obviously knife crime is up. as you've mentioned the ulez thing 61% increase in knife crime 61%. all crime is up and i've got martin daubney gesticulating at me from behind the studio. hi, martin. and you know, knife crime is up ulez. but he got imperial college to try. he tried to get imperial college to falsify the information so he could implement ulez. he tries to force us down the tube, down into tubes where the air quality is much worse than it is

actually on the streets. as you say, ulez did massive damage to the working classes, but he's he's much worse than that, isn't he? because leave aside his track record for a second. the thing that i think is so wrong about sadiq khan is the way that he plays identity politics all the time. the way he took the knee to blm, set up a commission to decide which of our great statues in this, in this country, in this capital, should come down £200 million on that commission, by the way, saying things like immigrants built london, which is patently not true. putting out a photograph of a white family and saying, this white family don't represent london, you know, all of these things that he does, which for me add up, like i say about keir starmer, they add up. oh, and by the way, going to the european union behind the backs of the elected officials in the united kingdom, undermining talks with the eu while we were trying to brexit, that's also sadiq khan. this man is anti the

united kingdom. that's the only way i can describe it. he doesn't like our history. he doesn't like our history. he doesn't like our people. he doesn't like our people. he doesn't actually take his job seriously. and for any number of reasons he should not have been given a knighthood. >> paul, there is a lot of controversy over this. a lot of people, you know aren't keen. and, you know, they're saying, name one thing that he has done thatis name one thing that he has done that is good for london. >> well, there's a lot of people who are delighted by this news as well. he is a significant pubuc as well. he is a significant public figure. he's been elected three times. he's got the biggest mandate of any elected politician in the united kingdom. and for that charge sheet that ben has just reeled off, you know, londoners have re—elected him time and time again. >> there was only 30% turnout in the vote. >> and by the way, the guy that he beat, shaun >> and by the way