is trump insider about what is about to happen in the united states of america. that is state of the nation with me. matt goodwin starts right now. now, i'll also be joined tonight by my panel columnist and former mep patrick o'flynn and historian and broadcaster tessa dunlop. as ever, let me know your views at gbnews.com/yoursay and hit me up on x at goodwin mj. but now it's time for the news bulletin with sam francis. >> matt, thank you and good evening to you. just after 8:00, the top story tonight, after 15 months of intense war, israel and hamas have now agreed to a ceasefire and hostage release deal ceasefire and hostage release deal. president biden in the united states confirmed that plan just moments ago, at long

last, i can announce a ceasefire and a 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. >> well, the deal, expected to start on sunday, involves releasing 33 israeli hostages in exchange for palestinian prisoners and a surge of humanitarian aid into gaza. negotiations for the next second phase, full troop withdrawal, more hostage releases and lasting peace are then set to begin. two weeks into that truce. here, meanwhile, sir keir starmer and kemi badenoch have

continued clashing over the economy today, trading blows on debt, tax hikes and leadership stability. badenoch warned the uk is spending more on debt than on schools and hospitals, and accused labour, the labour chancellor, 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? >> 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, though, defended rachel reeves, calling fiscal rules ironclad, but refused to rule out march tax hikes amid rising borrowing costs. >> we had to deal with the £22 billion black hole that they left. the chancellor will be in place for many, many years to come. she'll outstrip them and. >> mr speaker, if we all thought that politics was about cheap votes, i could criticise their chances. >> but i don't have enough time to go through all of the chancellors that they had. we have one budget. that is what we are committed to, strong fiscal rules, and we will stick to them. unlike the party opposite. >> police are investigating after a woman reported her drink was spiked in a bar at the houses of parliament. the parliamentary researcher made the complaint to staff and security on the 7th of january, just days after mps returned from their christmas break. well, the met police say they

are now supporting the victim and have confirmed an investigation is underway, though no arrests have been made so far. the home secretary, yvette cooper, has condemned the act as disturbing and serious, and the government is reviving a controversial free speech law for universities, just months after it was paused over concerns about protecting hate speech. the higher education freedom of speech act, passed in 2023, gave universities a duty to promote free speech and allow the regulator to fine institutions or student unions that failed to comply. critics, though, including education secretary bridget phillipson, paused that law last summer, warning it could expose universities to costly legal action. now, a government source says the act will be adjusted to balance academic freedom with a proper complaints process. those are the latest gb news headlines for now. i'll be back with you in an hour. now, though, it's over to matt 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. >> welcome back to state of the nafion >> welcome back to state of the nation with me, matt goodwin. now, after 15 months of war since the 7th of october attacks, a ceasefire deal between israel and hamas has been reached. the deal is expected to include the return of all of the israeli hostages held by hamas, with israel offering palestinian detainees in exchange. israeli soldiers will also be phased out of gaza. donald trump wrote on truth social we have a deal for the hostages in the middle east. they will be released shortly. thank you. now to discuss this, i'm joined by orit al fayed mish, co—founder of the 7th of october human chain, the organisation that has campaigned ever since. those hideous and

horrific attacks for the return of the hostages. ari, thank you for joining us tonight. can forjoining us tonight. can i just get your initial reaction to the events of today? as somebody who's campaigned for the return of the hostages, initial reaction is happiness mixed with anxiety and horror. >> to be honest, i am a mother of a 24 year old and a 22 year old. so they are the age of some of those hostages. this has been keeping me up at night for so long, and i can't even imagine what those parents must be feeling. so it's a mixture of happiness and satisfaction that we are finally there, but also great anxiety as to the state of those hostages, whether they are alive, whether they are dead, god forbid. and yeah, it's a turmoil of emotions, really. >> and just tell us a bit, if you can, about how you think

this is now going to play out in israel. i mean, for viewers who won't be familiar with the pubuc won't be familiar with the public mood in israel, particularly regarding the government, particularly regarding the future development of this issue. i mean, where do regarding the future development of this issue. i mean, where do you how do you see things you how do you see things unfolding over the coming weeks? unfolding over the coming weeks? >> i think what you need to >> i think what you need to understand about israel is that understand about israel is that at the end of the day, despite at the end of the day, despite the difference of opinions, and the difference of opinions, and there are many different there are many different opinions, those who oppose opinions, those who oppose netanyahu and those who support netanyahu and those who support netanyahu's government. and we netanyahu's government. and we are a young country. we are a are a young country. we are a country of people who came to country of people who came to israel from mostly unfortunate israel from mostly unfortunate circumstances. you know, my circumstances. you know, my parents and grandparents are parents and grandparents are holocaust survivors, and there holocaust survivors, and there is this a common understanding is this a common understanding that there isn't another place that there isn't another place for the jewish people. and when for the jewish people. and when things come to this kind of things come to this kind of existential threat, and despite existential threat, and despite

the differences, we all come the differences, we all come together. we all development together. we all fight together.

really in a hostile they are really in a hostile environment. how will these events today play into that? i mean, how is how is this going to affect the dynamics of this conflict here on the streets of britain? >> i think it will take time and for us to see the effect of what's been happening. it will also depend greatly on the results, on the outcome of this long and tedious and nerve wracking process that we are all which will hopefully start on sunday. and the anti the anti—semitism is a problem. it's anti—semitism is a problem. it's a genuine problem and whilst i can maybe understand why the issue had risen, i do not agree with with the way it's being done. and i think we are allowed to feel safe here in the same way that many others do, and we will, in the same way that the israeli nation will have to heal israeli nation will have to heal. i think that the jewish

people and the diaspora in the world will have to find a way to, to explain and to recover from, from, from all of this. and the muslims will also need to come to terms with the fact that israel and israelis are here to