a damning new tonight's show, a damning new report shows the horrifying extent of sharia courts taking place across britain. how has this been allowed to happen? i'll be joined by the two report's authors. and is rachel from accounts about to get the boot? while keir starmer says he has full confidence in his team. but is this is the chancellor's job in peril? plus, is the prime minister about to face a reform tory headache? a double whammy? could there be a poll? and a groundbreaking new dutch study has sparked global debate by being the first to map how immigrants from various countries either contribute to the economy or place a huge burden on taxpayers. the results may surprise you, or perhaps they might not. and all the graves of our glorious war dead at risk from west yorkshire authorities, in fact, from across the entire country. plus, with elections possibly being cancelled up and down the country in the local elections in may, is democracy itself at

risk? that's all coming soon. all this and more. but first, here's your headlines with kate bowen. >> martin, thank you and good evening. it'sjust >> martin, thank you and good evening. it's just gone 7:00. these are your latest headlines from the gb newsroom. sir keir starmer says he's completely confident in his team, with his spokesman saying today that rachel reeves will stay on as chancellor until the next general election following turmoil in the markets. the pm's official spokesman added that sir keir starmer has full confidence in rachel reeves, and he'll be working with her for the whole of the parliament. in the whole of the parliament. in the past week, there's been a drop in the pound and an increase in borrowing costs, with downing street saying nothing is off the table as government departments consider where to cut spending. ms reeves has been in china bolstering ties with the nation, which senior cabinet minister pat mcfadden has said today was in the national interest. shadow business secretary andrew griffith said that the chancellor failed to make some vital decisions in her budget.

speaking in the house of commons this afternoon, home office minister jess phillips said work to implement recommendations made by the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse will be completed as quickly as can possibly be done. that comes as also this afternoon, the labour mp for rotherham, sarah champion, has called for a national inquiry into grooming gangs. in a statement posted to x, the mp said that local inquiries do not have the power to compel witnesses or evidence and would not satisfy the public concern of cover ups. over the weekend, another labour mp, dan carden, also broke ranks with sir keir starmer to call for an inquiry. he's urging the prime minister to use the full power of the state to deliver justice. officials in los angeles said at a press conference today that severe fire weather conditions will continue until wednesday. la mayor karen bass said that close to hurricane force winds have been predicted. at least 24 people have been killed and thousands evacuated as fires

rage on in california. 23 people, all adults, remain missing and more than 92,000 people are currently under evacuation orders, officials have said. la county sheriff robert luna also added that at least 34 people have been arrested. meanwhile, us president elect donald trump has called politicians in california incompetent over their handling of the fires. the prime minister says i is a force for change that will transform the lives of working people for the better. in a speech this afternoon, sir keir starmer promised investment, jobs and economic growth due to a boom in the sector. labour claimed that if ai is fully embraced, it could bnng ai is fully embraced, it could bring £47 billion to the economy every year. well, shadow technology secretary alan mak has accused labour of squandering the position it inherited from the previous government, with al. those are the latest gb news headlines. now let's go back to martin 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. >> thank you katie. now welcome back to farage with me martin daubney. now, many people think that sharia councils in britain are undermining the rule of law. and a damning new report out today exposes shocking failures, including their mishandling of domestic violence cases and overreach into child custody disputes, all while leaving many muslim women unaware of their actual legal rights under british law. how has this parallel system of so—called justice been allowed to take root in the united kingdom, and is it time to call time on it? well, i'm joined now in the studio by the authors of the report, the head of domestic policy at the pickthall house, and that's jacob williams and the think tank's director,

mustafa kwasi. gentlemen, welcome to the show. i'll start with you, if i could, jacob williams. many people watching this show will think there are 85 sharia courts in the uk, and many will think they have no place being here whatsoever. so tell us about the main findings of your report. >> this report has shown that these sharia courts are councils that operate as voluntary arbitration tribunals. and i want to stress that, first of all, although there are many abuses and many problems, the principle under english common law confirmed in the 1996 arbitration act is very simple that all british citizens have the right to conduct alternative dispute resolutions. they have the right to go to voluntary tribunals that may or may not have a religious ethos. but these tribunals have absolutely no legal authority. they are not courts. and our report is very clear that if they refer to themselves as courts or imply they have legal authority, that should not be permitted. >> okay, mustafa warsi, let's bnng >> okay, mustafa warsi, let's bring you in at this point, in which case, what's the point of them if they if they are, you know, beneath british law in

terms of the, the legal hierarchy, which they should be, then why do they even exist at all? surely it's time just to get rid of them. >> it is important to recognise that there are lots of different you know, britain is an incredibly diverse country. there are lots of different people that hold a whole, a whole host of moral and social views, have a range of beliefs about how best to organise their own lives and the lives of their families. most meaningfully, a significant section of those people believe that sharia courts or sharia councils rather do in fact provide a service insofar as it helps them organise their lives in a way that best accords with their deepest held beliefs. now, while it might be the case that this results in injustice at times, that by itself the fact that there exists injustice, or the fact that there exists particular instances where bad things have happened does not contradict the general principle that in a liberal society,

people should in fact be free to organise as they like. >> but we're a liberal society within reasons. we have rule of law, we have supremacy of british law. there are manifest occasions where we've heard of shana occasions where we've heard of sharia courts. councils call them what you like being misogynistic, blatantly favouring men, giving women little say. that's totally contrary to what we stand for in terms of british values. >> so if it is ever the case that cases emerge where women have in fact been abused or crimes have been committed, and in fact their legal rights have been contravened, then it sort of doesn't really matter whether or not this is a muslim women that has received advice from a shana that has received advice from a sharia court or otherwise, it could be somebody in a total from a totally different community, if there is in fact a crime that was committed for other communities. >> there's a british court which which has supremacy, but it doesn't matter. there are no courts for catholics. >> there are no courts there called dioceses and tribunals. >> they're also called, but they're not supreme to british

law. >> none of these. neither are shana >> none of these. neither are sharia councils. none of them are, nor should they be. >> you're making a case for shana >> you're making a case for sharia courts in britain. why? >> in a case for sharia councils, i defend the rights of all british citizens to conduct the basic principle of voluntary arbitration if they wish to. what's very important, however, is that it's genuinely voluntary, so that we actually ensure that women are aware of their legal rights, that sharia councils have an obligation to inform them of their legal rights, and that if there are issues of communication. >> muslim women, you know, we hear all the time, you know, of living under a patriarchy. the muslim elders, all the laws are made by men, am i wrong? >> well, you're sounding like a bit of a woke feminist there. i'm not sure how talking about. >> i'm talking about women's rights being dictated 1516 00:08:40,696