see the uk officially left the european union after 47 years. i'll be bringing you reaction from former prime minister boris johnson and an interview with chief brexit negotiator lord david frost. plus, we'll be asking was leaving the eu the right decision? would you still vote the same way that you did in 2016? and labour's war with farmers continues, as more than 10% of farmland in england is

set to be axed for solar panels and nature reserves in order to achieve environmental targets. is the labour party's net zero ambition putting food supply at risk? and chancellor rachel reeves said on wednesday that economic growth is the number one mission of this government, as she unveiled a series of proposals designed to boost the economy. but as astrazeneca ditches a plan to invest £450 million in the uk will be asking if the chancellor's plans will work. and nearly half a million shoplifting offences were recorded by police in england and wales in a year, the highest 12 month total on record. is britain becoming a lawless country and how can we restore law and order? and joining me for a lively debate in the next houn pve for a lively debate in the next hour. i've got my panel tonight, writer and political commentator alex dean and labour activist chris worrell. but first, the latest news headlines with

tatiana sanchez. >> miriam, thank you very much. and good evening. the top stories. former prime minister bofis stories. former prime minister boris johnson has exclusively told gb news now is the time to double down on brexit and take advantage of our freedoms. from al to gene editing and financial services. he goes on to say we need a government that really believes in brexit and we need the british ruling class finally to match the bravery and imagination of the 17.4 million people who voted to leave. for supporters, the uk became a sovereign nation in charge of its own destiny. opponents believe it's isolated the country and damaged the economy. a tireless campaigner for brexit was reform uk leader nigel farage. here he is celebrating five years ago and today mr farage is holding a reform party conference in kemi badenoch constituency. he told martin daubney this afternoon that although it was the right thing to do, we haven't grasped the

opportunities that could have come with it. >> there were so many things that we stayed aligned to, including most of their rule book. now, clearly what keir starmer wants to do is in terms of, of defence and perhaps even foreign policy, tie us closer to the european union. from the sounds of it, he wants us to start mirroring the single market rulebook. i mean, none of thatis market rulebook. i mean, none of that is good. but is keir starmer going to take us back into the european union? no, he is not. so i just see this now as being unfinished business. you're quite right. starmer was an uber remainer. rejoiner wanted to have a second referendum. the tories, from what i can see now, never really believed in it. so reform are the only people who can finish the only people who can finish the job. >> despite the economic disadvantages, conservative leader kemi badenoch is remaining positive. >> five years ago we had what was the greatest vote of confidence in our country and as brexit secretary, i removed lots of eu regulations. i ended the

supremacy of the european court of justice. but there is still a lot more to do, like a trade deal with the us. that's a brexit opportunity that we need to take. we started those negotiations when president trump was last in power. he is back again. the biden administration didn't want it, i think. keir starmer needs to look at that. look at where the opportunities are. that's where the growth is going to be. >> liberal democrats leader sir ed davey criticised the conservative brexit deal as an utter disaster for our country. >> liberal democrats are going to lead the debate in britain to have a closer relationship with our european colleagues. it's great for our trade, our economy, it's good for our defence and our security and a customs union, which i've called for. the liberal democrats are championing would be great for growth, far better than anything the government has announced to date. we need to get rid of those trade barriers that the conservatives put up that are so hit. our small and medium sized businesses, our exporters. that's the way to grow our economy by having that closer relationship with europe. >> in other news, three judges

who oversaw court proceedings involving sara sharif in the years before she was murdered have been named for the first time judge alison raeside. judge peter nathan and judge sally williams were all involved in family court hearings related to the ten year old between 2013 and 2019, the last of three sets of proceedings saw sara placed in the home of her father, irfan shanf in the home of her father, irfan sharif, and her stepmother, banesh patel, who were jailed for life in december for her murder in 2023. in other news, tests are being carried out on the black boxes recovered from a passenger plane which collided with a us army helicopter yesterday, killing 67 people. officials in washington say they're going to attempt to salvage the wreckage of both aircrafts today. 40 bodies have now been found and 27 people are still unaccounted for. an investigation by the new york times claims the helicopter flew outside an approved flight path, and there were staffing

irregularities and air traffic control at reagan national airport, with one controller reportedly juggling two jobs, planes and helicopters at the same time. posting on his truth social media platform this evening, us president donald trump has said the blackhawk helicopter was flying too high by a lot. and if you're thinking about stocking up your wine cellar, then get on with it, because prices will rise tomorrow. alcohol tax itself will rise in line with the retail price index at 3.6%. but a new tax on wines and spirits based on strength comes in at the same time. this means the duty on a bottle of gin will rise by £0.32, and wine will increase by £0.54. however, in some relief to drinkers, duty on pints pulled in pubs will be cut by 1.7%. those are the latest gb news headlines for now. more from me in an hour. >> 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 to dewbs& co with me, miriam cates, and joining me until 7:00. i've got my panel writer and political commentator alex dean and labour activist chris worrall. and please, as always, do get your views in. let me know what you think about brexit and all the other topics we're going to be discussing tonight. gbnews.com/yoursay now, in the last hour, we've received reaction from the former prime minister boris johnson on the fifth anniversary of brexit. he's told gb news the following. don't listen to the pessimists and the knockers. from delivering the fastest vaccine rollout in europe, to cutting vat on tampons to free trade deals, brexit is already proving its worth. now is not the time to drift back into the clutches of brussels, as starmer is proposing. the eurozone is stagnant and germany has had two years of negative growth. now is

the time to double down on brexit and take advantage of our freedoms. from al to gene editing to financial services. we need a government that really believes in brexit, and we need the british ruling class finally, to match the bravery and imagination of the 17.4 million people who voted to leave. viva brexit! a very boris johnson statement there. alex, let's start with you. would you have expected him to say anything else? >> no. i was hoping you would say something in a different way. we debated whether you should do the impression, and you wimped out. you wimped out? i really was expecting a full blown sort of boris impression when you were reading that, which i would have, would have added greatly to the gaiety of nafions added greatly to the gaiety of nations had you done it. miriam. i think he is right. there is no point in leaving the euro on any view, whatever your view of brexit is and was. there's no point in leaving the eu if you don't, if you don't diverge, if you don't seek to take a different path. because if you're just going to leave the union but follow all the rules slavishly. there genuinely was

no point now that we have left. the right thing to do, whatever your view in the past was, is to pursue our own course, in our own best interests. the trouble for our former prime minister is many people will say, and i'm a conservative member, a member of the party myself. i ran for the conservative party at the last 1505 00:09:15,584 --> 00:09: