we'll talk about cancelled know. we'll talk about cancelled elections. 10 million people have been denied their right on may the 1st to vote for their local county councillors. and lastly, we'll talk about gerry adams. is he in for a big taxpayer funded payout as a result of our membership of the european convention on human rights? all of that and much more. but first, let's get the news with sam francis. >> nigel, thank you very much indeed. 7:00 the top story tonight. well, it is breaking news from the middle east that after 467 days of brutal conflict, israel and hamas have now reached a ceasefire agreement. that breakthrough follows intense negotiations in qatar, where the qatari prime minister is now holding a news conference in doha. he has in the last few minutes announced that an agreement has indeed been reached between all sides involved. we understand now that the deal will come into effect

on sunday, the 19th of january. and the qatari prime minister also says that the first phase of that agreement will continue for 42 days, including both a pause in fighting and the withdrawal of israeli forces from populated areas of the gaza strip. well, as the news broke, celebrations erupted in gaza. palestinians seen cheering in the streets. meanwhile, in tel aviv and in jerusalem, demonstrators who have now long called for peace are holding on to hope that their loved ones will soon be home. the agreement must still, though, be approved by israel's security cabinet, which is set to meet tomorrow. here. sir keir starmer and kemi badenoch have clashed today over the economy at prime minister's questions. they traded blows on debt, tax hikes and leadership leadership stability. kemi badenoch warned the uk is now spending more on debt than on schools and hospitals, accusing the chancellor, rachel reeves, of being unqualified and planning costly tax rises.

>> his chancellor ignored all the warnings and ploughed ahead with an unprecedented borrowing spree, leaving all of us more vulnerable. now we have businesses saying they will raise prices to cover his jobs tax. we have an energy policy that will drive up bills and all the while we are spending more day to day on debt interest than we do on schools and universities. the prime minister, the prime minister, refused to repeat his chancellor's promise that she wouldn't come back for more. will he now rule out any new tax rises this year? yes. >> in response, sir keir starmer called the conservatives economic vandals and blamed them for a £22 billion black hole and what he described as the worst cost of living crisis in living memory. the prime minister also defended rachel reeves, calling fiscal rules ironclad, but he ruled refused to rule out march tax rises amid rising borrowing

costs. well, we're going to cross live now, in fact, to joe biden, president of the united states, giving a statement on that ceasefire announcement. >> it's a very good afternoon, because at long last, i can announce a ceasefire and hostage deal has been reached between israel and hamas for more than 15 months of conflict that began with hezbollah's brutal massacre on october the 7th. more than 15 months of terror for the hostages, their families, the israeli people, more than 15 months of suffering by the innocent people of gaza fighting innocent people of gaza fighting in gaza will stop. and soon the hostages will return home to their families. the elements of this deal were what i laid out in detail this past may, which was embraced by countries around the world and endorsed overwhelmingly by the un security council. the deal is

structured in three phases. phase one will last six weeks. it includes a full and complete ceasefire, a withdrawal of israeli forces from all the populated areas of gaza, and the release of a number of hostages held by hamas, including women and elderly and the wounded. and i'm proud to say americans will be part of that hostage release on phase one as well. and the vice president and i cannot wait to welcome them home. in exchange, israel released hundreds of palestinian prisoners. and during phase one, the palestinians can also return to their neighbourhoods in all the areas of gaza. and the surge humanitarian assistance into gaza will begin, and the innocent people can have a greater access to these vital supplies. you know, during the next six weeks, israel will negotiate the necessary arrangements to get phase two,

which is a permanent end of the war. let me say it again, a permanent end of the war. there are a number of details to negotiate, to move from phase one to phase two. but the plan says if negotiations take longer than six weeks, the ceasefire will continue as long as the negotiations continue. i have spoken to the mayor of kuwait and the president of egypt, and we have pledged to make sure the negotiations will keep moving forward for as long as it takes. then, when phase two begins, there will be an exchange of for release of the remaining living hostages, including male soldiers. and all remaining israeli forces will be withdrawn from gaza, and the temporary ceasefire will become permanent. and finally, phase three, any final remains of hostages who have been killed will be

returned to their families, and a major reconstruction plan for gaza will begin. this. this is the ceasefire agreement i introduced last spring. today, hamas and israel have agreed to that ceasefire agreement. and the whole ending the war. you know, those of you who have followed the negotiations can attest the road to this deal has not been easy. i've worked in foreign policy for decades. this is one of the toughest negotiations i've ever experienced. and we reached this point because because of the pressure that israel built on hamas, backed by the united states, hamas's longtime leader, sinwar, was killed. hamas's strongest supporter, iran, launched attacks on israel, and those attacks failed. after my administration organised a coalition of nations to stop them. and after i ordered the us. ships and planes to come to u.s. ships and planes to come to israel's defence. we also shape

israel's defence. we also shape israel's strong and calibrated response, destroying iran's air defences but avoiding an escalatory cycle of an all out war. the united states also organised a coalition of 20 countries to stand up to attacks by the houthis, including their missile attacks in israel. then hezbollah, another hamas's strongest backers, was significantly weakened on the battlefield and its leadership was destroyed. with our support, israel's israel negotiated a ceasefire with them, and after that, lebanon finally elected a new president who's not who's not beholden to hezbollah. and he began a new chapter for the lebanese people. all told, these developments in the region, which the united states helped to shape, change the equation. and so now the terror network that once protected and sustained hamas is far weaker,

iran is weaker, iran is weaker than it's been in decades. hezbollah is badly degraded. and after more than 15 months of war, hamas's senior leaders are dead. thousands of hamas fighters are dead, and the military formations have been destroyed. with nowhere to turn, hamas finally agreed to releasing hostages. you know, there was no other way for this war to end than with the hostage deal war to end than with the hostage deal. and i'm deeply satisfied this day has come, finally come . this day has come, finally come. for the sake of the people of israel and the families waiting in agony, and for the sake of the innocent people in gaza who suffered unimaginable devastation because of the war. the palestinian people have gone through hell. too many innocent people have died. too many communities have been destroyed in this deal. the people of gaza

can finally recover and rebuild. they can look to a future without hamas in power. you know, the bible says, blessed are the peacemakers. many peacemakers helped make this deal happen, including an extraordinary team of american diplomats who have worked non—stop for months to get this done. secretary blinken led the effort. secretary jake sullivan, is it not? national security adviser jake sullivan, is it not? national security adviserjake sullivan, bill adviser jake sullivan, bill burns, jon finer, brett mcgurk, amos hochstein and the vice president worked relentlessly as we work to deliver this deal. i'd also note that this deal was developed and negotiated under my administration, but its terms will be implemented for the most part by the next administration. in these past few days, we've been speaking as one team. this has been a time of real turmoil in the middle east. but as i prepare to leave office, our

friends are strong, our enemies are weak, and there's a genuine opportunities for a new future in lebanon. there's an opportunity for a future free from the grip of hezbollah in syria, a future free from the tyranny of assad. and for the palestinian people, a credible, a credible pathway to a state of their own and for 1496 00:10:25,336 --> 00: