and energy from the enthusiasm and energy from the government today. talk of margaret thatcher, talk of deregulation. i'll bring you the details shortly. >> pensioners and the unite union are protesting against the winter fuel payment cut in westminster this morning. they say some elderly people are now skipping meals just to pay for their heating. truly shocking. >> a christian preacher arrested outside a cathedral with a placard saying love muslims, ban islam. the religion of terror has lost a legal claim that he was unlawfully detained by police in 2017. we'll explain more on that. >> and it's been revealed that a basket of healthy food costs more than double that of unhealthy options. is it, frankly, too expensive to eat healthily? we'll debate that issue. >> and royal navy chiefs have dropped plans to name a new submarine after the battle of agincourt, in which england defeated france. why are we so weak? >> and the xl bully burden one

year on from the ban. and police admit it's harder than ever to police those dangerous dogs. >> the financial costs to policing for just veterinary and kennelling alone is going to be in excess of £25 million, of which no police forces have received any additional budget for. >> she's back. >> she's back. >> oh, it's lovely to. >> oh, it's lovely to. >> be back. she's been in washington. what a great time to be there. i mean, amazing. and the extraordinary enthusiasm generated by trump. like him or loathe him, i don't particularly like him, but i think what he's saying and doing in the first few days is amazing. >> yeah, it really is. we will tell you, i'll pepper the morning with some little anecdotes from washington. we'd love to hear from you as well. of course, this morning. gbnews.com/yoursay. first though, the very latest news with aaron armstrong.

with aaron arm strong. >> with aaron armstrong. >> hi there. very good morning to you. our top stories. the chancellor is expected to back the expansion of heathrow airport in a speech this morning outlining her plans to boost economic growth. rachel reeves will also announce measures aimed at creating a european silicon valley by investing in a so—called growth corridor. improving transport links between oxford and cambridge. theideais between oxford and cambridge. the idea is to boost life sciences and ai businesses, and the number of flights at heathrow, though, could rise to nearly 2000 per day. the announcement, alongside confirmation of the expansion of other london airports, is likely to be met with fierce opposition, including from within her own party. writing in the times today, sir keir starmer has pledged to cut through what he calls the thickets of red tape to clear the way for growth, and has compared his government's drive for growth to margaret thatcher's deregulation of the financial sector in the 1980s. meanwhile, the government is facing a growing cyber security

threat, according to the public spending watchdog. the national audit office says the uk has a shortage of cyber skills and a dependence on old it systems, making us more vulnerable to attacks. earlier this week, china's new ai software deepseek triggered a plunge in us tech stocks as a direct competition to openai's chatgpt. the report has found more than 50% of cybersecurity roles in the uk are vacant, which it says should serve as a wake up call with the threat described as severe and advancing quickly. enforcing a ban on xl bully dogs is placing a huge burden on policing, with millions of pounds spent on veterinary bills and kennelling. the national police chiefs council says kennel spaces are reaching capacity and costs are increasing by the day. almost a year on from the ban on the breed, the policy the policing body estimates it costs around £1,000 per month to keep an xl bully in kennels, with the overall figure expected to hit

almost £25 million per year in 2015. a 500% increase from 2018, and at least 15 people have been killed and many more injured dunng killed and many more injured during a stampede at a hindu festival in northern india. tens of millions had gathered to take a holy dip at the maha kumbh mela in uttar pradesh when chaos erupted around 1:30 am. at the kumbh mela, which is held every 12 years. it's considered to be the largest human gathering on earth. it celebrates india's cultural and spiritual traditions. much more to come as we go through the morning. but those are the latest gb news headunes those are the latest gb news headlines for the moment. more from me in less than half an houn >> 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.

>> good morning. welcome to britain's newsroom live across the uk with me, bev turner and andrew. if you're listening on the radio, andrew pierce is wearing one of those pathetic blue masks which do nothing. never did anything. >> she's had the flu. >> she's had the flu. >> i got a rumour. >> i got a rumour. >> there's a rumour she had covid and we know her view of covid. >> what's covid? there we are. listen, i worked hard. i played hard in dc. it's slightly caught up on me the last few days of my trip, but i'm fine. i might have a little bit of. no, no, no, keep on, keep on, keep it on. >> she wants me to keep it on. people can't hear me. >> keep it on midday. you've only got 2.5 hours to carry on wearing that. it gives me ptsd looking at those masks, honestly. but no, it was an amazing trip. but it is lovely to be back. i am a little. i've got a little post—viral cough, but i will keep it under control, don't you worry. >> you could feel the enthusiasm from trump across the across the across the pond. it was it was extraordinary. >> oh, look, i'm on the telly and i haven't seen any of this. actually, let me just tell you,

it was absolutely freezing. i can't explain how cold it was. it was about sort of minus six, minus seven degrees some of those. >> days, which is why the inauguration was held indoors for the first time since reagan. >> that's right. but it didn't stop the enthusiasm of the american people who'd gone to dc that weekend. there i am, interview nigel farage. there was a big stars and stripes and union jack party on the friday night that kicked off the weekend, and the impact of the brits in america must not be underestimated. there is a real force out there, it feels that is combining those two forces, the british political landscape, with america, because of course, we're watching very closely to see what happens now, all the same issues which matter in america are the same as here. it is illegal migration on their southern border. it is fossil fuels versus renewables. it is the obesity crisis, all the same issues. >> but look how he's dealing with the immigration crisis. two planeloads landed already in colombia. the colombians said you can't do it okay. tariffs back down immediately. >> immediately. >> immediately. >> can we have some of that here please. >> because what he's done, he's actually created a deterrent

because people know. and it's effectively what would have been our rwanda scheme. he's created a deterrent. if you get here you come illegally. we'll send you straight back. and it's working. within the first few days, the numbers of people actually arriving has significantly gone down. so let's see what happens here. let's see if starmer and rachel reeves can follow anything that's happening over there. >> everything you know about what's wrong with this government, look at this ridiculous row, which i'm sorry. i'm not saying i do not believe the king decided that hms agincourt should be the name of this submarine. should be taken away because it would offend the french. the. we have had an hms agincourt for 200 years. so what, 200 years? >> so, is this story true or not? i mean, it's ridiculous. >> it's the government and it has to be passed by the king because he is the commander in chief. so he's going to do what his government says. so he signs it off. this is a this is a typical labour government woke decision. and here's the thing. it's being renamed. it's being renamed hms achilles. achilles. all to do with trojans. achilles

heel all to do with trojans. achilles heel. hms achilles sank the admiral graf spee in 1939, a german cruiser killing dozens, if not hundreds of servicemen. so we don't care about offending the germans, do we? it is. there's no logic to it. >> it's nonsense, isn't it? and also, why would you call a submarine after achilles, which is literally means a weak spot, a weak spot, a weak spot. this is our submarine. this is our weak spot. it doesn't make any kind of sense to me. it is. >> completely idiotic. and as if the as if the french would care. as if many people in french. by the way, if you go to agincourt, which i have, it's a boring field. it's a boring field.