is making a lot of government is making a lot of announcements on new homes policies, we'll be asking is the king getting a bit bold on his political involvement? and i'll be revealing his plans to bring the devolved leaders of the uk under one roof. all this to come, but first, the news with tatiana sanchez. >> good evening. the top stories from the gb newsroom. 11 labour councillors have been suspended from the party as part of its investigation into a whatsapp group containing offensive messages, which saw a former minister sacked and a second mp lose the whip. a labour spokesperson has said swift action will always be taken where individuals are found to have breached the high standards expected of them, as labour party members. burnley mp oliver ryan was the second mp to be suspended. he has apologised for comments made in that whatsapp group. he followed andrew

gwynne, who was also sacked as a health minister. gerald cooney, the former labour leader of tameside council, said he raised concerns about gwynne's remarks several times in the past year. labour sources said no formal complaint had been received. in other news, the national police chiefs council spokesperson said police officers and staff should always be held to the highest standards and we must ensure that only those who are suitable to wear the uniform enter and remain in policing. the comments come as the high court ruled the met police cannot dismiss officers by removing their vetting clearance. sergeant lino di maria successfully mounted a legal challenge after having his vetting removed over sexual assault allegations, which he denies. he was found to have no case to answer in respect of the allegations, and argued that having his vetting removed without the accusations being proved is a breach of his right to a fair trial. met police commissioner sir mark rowley said the force will be seeking an appeal on the judgement. >> today's ruling on the law has left policing in a hopeless

position. we now have no mechanism to rid the met officers who are not fit to hold, vetting those who cannot be trusted to work with women, or those who cannot be trusted to enter the homes of vulnerable people. it is absolutely absurd that we cannot lawfully sack them. >> israel's prime minister says the gaza ceasefire will end if hamas does not return israeli hostages by midday on saturday, benjamin netanyahu warned of intense fighting if the hostages are not released. his comments echo those of us president donald trump, who earlier said the israel—hamas ceasefire should be cancelled if hostages held in gaza are not returned on time. terror group hamas announced last night that they will delay hostage releases planned for saturday until further notice. and finally, sir alex ferguson led the tributes to denis law as the football community paid their final respects, saying he was one of the greatest players ever at man

united. ferguson, the former manchester united manager, was in attendance alongside several other united greats including ruud van nistelrooy and paul scholes. hundreds of fans and members of the public also paid their respects, lining the streets as the hearse drove past, and old trafford projected a tribute to the late footballer. law remains the only scottish player to have ever won the ballon d'or, and no man has scored more goals for the national team. he died last month at the age of 84. and those are the latest gb news headunes those are the latest gb news headlines for now. more news 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 back to farage with me christopher hope. now, the

government's flagship immigration legislation has cleared its first commons hurdle as the tories branded the proposals the border surrender bill. the bill aims to introduce new offences and counter—terror style measures to tackle people smugglers bringing migrants across the english channel. but the bill repeals the tories plan to deport asylum seekers to rwanda, something which many believe could have been a disincentive, disincentive to those coming here illegally. is this enough to win over votes in the red wall, which appear to be shifting towards reform uk? i'm really pleased to be joined now in the studio @gbnews by jo white, the labour mp and leader of a really influential group in this new labour government, the red wall caucus of red wall, labour mps in parliament as well as my panel as ever, jo phillips, the journalist and former former press secretary to paddy ashdown. paddy ashdown, the former, the late lib dem leader and of course, sir ranil jayawardena, a former tory mp and a minister. welcome both. but to you first, jo white, if i

can get your reaction straight away to that top of the news there. 11 councillors suspended over that whatsapp group. what's your reaction? >> well, i think they deserve to go. i have obviously don't know what they said, but clearly they crossed a line. that whatsapp group was set up in 2009 during the trigger ballot post process. >> called trigger me timbers. >> called trigger me timbers. >> exactly, yeah. >> exactly, yeah. >> so that's why. >> so that's why. >> yes, it's a play on words. and so under jeremy corbyn, and so underjeremy corbyn, every mp had to go through a trigger ballot process and andrew gwynne i understand, was under threat. and so he tried to set up a group of supporters. supporters friends. yes. and so he felt in that environment he could cross the line and he was holding them in. i believe this is my interpretation with jokes and attacks on members of the public. >> trying to get them all jolly along, and they just went too far in what's called banter. >> exactly. so when it came out, the news broke on saturday, i said to my labour colleagues, the labour party is not a home for people who have views like that, and i'm pleased he got suspended. and as an mp, i

believe there are times when you, you stand outside the crowd and you stand outside the crowd and you call out language and behaviours like that, and he actually got swept in and was stirring the pot and. >> and he's paid the price and of course. as another mp now, he was an mp at the time but worked for andrew gwynne has also been suspended. oliver ryan is. is that do you understand is a bit harsh on him or do you think? >> i know oliver, he's part of the red wall group. yeah. he was. he's now been suspended. he has to be duly punished. he said inappropriate things. he's a grown up. when he said that. you can't dismiss that. but he was also an employee. and he was running that group, organising that group on behalf of his boss. >> so yeah, difficult. but sir keir starmer responded quickly, didn't he. >> yes, he did, very appropriately so. >> perhaps that might go well down, gone down well with the red wall people you represent, they'll sing that standards being enforced by number 10. >> absolutely. that's what people expect of keir. he's. and

since his leadership he has come down on hard on members hard when they've crossed the line. and that's what i 100% support. >> there's a ruthless side to him, possibly. >> i think he's incredibly ruthless. is he? oh, yes. yes. why do you think he's a leader of our party? >> that's right. just on the issue of this immigration legislation, will it be enough to win over the red wall, the red wall, the people who are flocking towards reform uk because they think that no one, the tories nor labour, are tough enough on immigration? >> well, in bassetlaw, people voted for me because they were concerned about levels of illegal immigration. they are fed up with the small boats coming over. they, they nobody believed in that. rwanda solution , £700 million we sent. solution, £700 million we sent. well, they sent the government. the previous government sent four people over a cost of £140,000, £150,000 each that will pay for private education, private health and their housing. and if they're going to send more. >> it was a it could have put them off though. i mean, bring in ranil jayawardena. you were a

minister at the time you voted it through. what do you what's your take on what jo white is saying? >> i mean, it is a surrender of our borders because it would have been a disincentive to people coming here in the first place. and, you know, the reason that the costs were high was because there had to be the facilities built and we're going to use them. other european nafions to use them. other european nations are now looking at rwanda, at the facilities that were put in as a solution to their problems. so this is a big mistake by labour. >> yeah. jo white would have been wise to allow it to work. >> well at the cost of 700 million. look, this country is in chaos because of the amount of debt that we're in. that 700 million could be used to fund our nhs, to fund our services and actually fix those roads, potholes. and another big issue in my constituency. so but the focus has to be on stopping the gangs. and this government is committed to using terrorist powers to how we deal with terrorists in order to capture them. and we will. we are already doing deals with countries like iraq, where they're originating from, and we're tracking them down, and

we'll use our international partners and our crime agencies here in order to break them apart and smash the gangs. that's our whole focus. >> and this this will work. do you think locally, it's what it's what people are saying to you on the doorstep every weekend. >> they they tell me it's a number one issue. also obviously the there are other issues, but it is a key issue and i'm committed to focusing hard on it. and i will keep challenging government until we see those numbers coming down. >> is your group happy? that's 40 or so labour mps, isn't it? facing these , this resurgent facing these, this resurgent reform uk party? >> i believe we're up to the challenge and our demand of government is that they start to deliver in our constituents constituencies. so it's not just about reform, it's about delivering on the economy. people need to feel more wealthy. they need to have money in their pockets. >> feeling secure. >> feeling secure. >> yes, we need to deliver and improve our health services. we need investment in our areas. we need investment in our areas. we need to improve the skills opportunities. so every time a

new announcement announcement comes through, we're looking at how it's going to be played out in our constituencies. so our challenge to keir starmer is don't go for the low hanging fruit in the south like oxford or cambridge is what we last. >> week. the train line. >> week. the train line. >> yes, exactly. come to the north. there's plenty of good stories, plenty of businesses that want to invest. they just need that encouragement from government. i ask is come to the nonh government. i ask is come to the north and tell our story. >> tell the story. what about brexit? do you think it's time that the labour government just embraced the opportunity of brexit? the brexit has allowed the government, hasn't it, to add vat to private school fees, for example, rather than see it as just own it, own the issue? i think that would discombobulate reform possibly. >> yeah, i believe yes, we've had more freedoms. we couldn't have done that without coming out of the eu. i think i do talk to local businesses and they do want better. they're fed up with the custom, the ties and customs filling out loads and loads of forms. we can make that easier. and that's what our government is negotiating on, is getting better trade between here and

the european union. what people don't want is those those ties that tied us into those, that legislation that actually constricted the work that we did in terms of building trade opportunities. >> just while i've got you a jo ann, great to see you here on assisted dying. you're a supporter of this private member's bill, aren't you, kim leadbeater. >> yes, i it's a lot of thought. i talked to a lot of people and listened to a lot of different views before i made my decision. it wasn't until the day of the vote that i decided to vote in favour of it. >> and. and are you are you happy that the idea of a judge having checking whether someone's being pressured to kill themselves is appropriate is now a panel that's been watered down since the vote in the commons? >> that was one of my big concerns, because i anticipated that it would actually be a hearing, and that would actually take time. they'd have to hear the cases on both sides. and also we are our courts are already snarled up with too many cases and it could actually mean delays. so i think this is a way

through. and so that it can actually have a psychiatrist and actually have a psychiatrist and a social worker listening carefully. not. and the other issue is coercion. >> no, that's the big worry. >> no, that's the big worry. >> i think. exactly. and so they're actually be listening and understanding whether this is this has been a decision on a person's individual's free will. and there's not been anybody forcing them from behind. >> are you happy for the government to be neutral? they're not getting involved. they're not getting involved. they're not. it's a private member's bill. they're letting parliament do it. is that right, do you think? i mean, why why is wes streeting against it? he's in charge of the health service. shabana mahmood, in charge of the justice system. she's against it, too. >> it is a moral choice. it's a bit like the legislation on abortion. it's about what we personally believe. and i and i welcome that because i, it gave me the time to think and listen to people. and i've listened to my constituents as well. so it was a difficult one. but i understand wes streeting concerns is about there is a potential additional burden on the nhs when we've got to sort it out, and that is our big focus. but at the same time,

there are people who are facing certain death and i feel they should have more, much more control, some choice ends. >> some agency. >> some agency. >> about it. exactly. and, and there also has to be far better palliative care so that they can have a better choice about how how their life will end. >> well, joe phillips, you mentioned mentioned there palliative care. did joe mention it. there is the worry that it's not good enough. and so the choice is a false choice because you haven't got good enough quality end of life care. >> i think the palliative care it is very important. but i think it's also a slight red herring. and i don't think wes streeting should have actually got involved in this because as joe says, it is such a matter of conscience. and actually, chris, you know, we talked about it on this programme. you were in parliament. it was when parliament. it was when parliament was at its best. nobody was trying to score points. nobody was trying to make political capital. it's a really big issue and it will set the tone for years to come and generations. just as david steel's abortion act in 1967 did, and various. >> be changed quite a lot, the

abortion law did change a lot. >> since then, and i think that's what people are concerned about that, you know, if you have this in law that we might go down the route of canada, that it's not just people with six months to live, it's people with a terminal diagnosis and so on and so forth. but i think, you know, as joe says, it's a matter of conscience. and i think it makes a lot more sense for a social workers and psychiatrists who can look at this really big issue of coercion than a judge. >> yes, sir. alan jayawardene, how would you have voted if you were still an mp in this? >> i've made my view very clear. i'd have been absolutely against it. i think there are huge risks from this process, and i'm. >> giving control to people near the end of their lives. >> well, i'm sorry to say that what was promised at second reading has not now emerged. so this there was great weight put behind the fact that there would behind the fact that there would be a judge looking at it, even if someone was in favour of it. there are plenty of people now saying that they're not so sure. and beyond that, i mean, i think the panel that now is being proposed, these are three people

who are now going to be predisposed to accepting that someone should be ending their own life, not necessarily a judge would have been more impartial. >> jo white is that right? then the panel might not be balanced enough to get a. >> true true. it will ultimately be the judge who takes the final decision. >> but there's no judge. >> but there's no judge. >> no, the. >> no, the. >> judge will be. there'll be a lawyer. there'll be a lawyer, not a judge. there's a big difference. >> there's no there's no presumption that they'd be predisposed. and potentially. >> who's appointing this. >> who's appointing this. >> panel potentially with a high court judge? no, there was always the risk that they could be predisposed anyway. so i think there's much more independence when there's different there's different people coming in and actually listening and understanding whether this person is the right choice for that person, because it's a choice that they've made and not being made on their behalf by their editors. >> well, that's not what a lot of people who voted for it at second reading, wishing it to get a proper hearing, to be looked at closely. that's not what they're saying. they're now very concerned that what's been promised is not emanating from the committee. >> ranil hasn't got a vote

anymore. but in parliament at third reading, is there a risk that by changing these key elements of it, you might lose the third reading? >> i doubt it. i think most people there are people who had concerns who voted in favour of the bill. i think this actually addresses those issues. and you have to bear in mind that this is a committee, a panel of people who've actually had people who've actually had people coming in giving evidence. so they've taken those views to see how they can strengthen and improve the bill. >> okay. well, jo white, thank you for coming in. great to see you for coming in. great to see you the first time in the studio. do come back again. and of course, joe phillips, the former press secretary for paddy ashdown, and sir ranil jayawardena, the former conservative minister. thank you both. now it's great. now coming up next, the previous tory government spent £1.3 million on priority diversity projects in mauritius whilst negotiating the chagos deal. yes, that deal again, i'll be joined by the former security minister and a former security minister and a former tory leadership candidate, tom tugendhat, with questions who questions why this

deal

welcome back to farage with me, christopher hope. now, the previous conservative government took £1.3 million of taxpayers money out of the foreign aid budget and gave it to fund a diversity scheme in mauritius whilst they continue negotiations over the sovereignty of the chagos islands. you couldn't make it up sometimes, could you? the scheme was apparently a priority for ministers, which increased the representation of women in the mauritian renewable energy sector. that was despite mauritius and their demands to hand over the territory. let's find out from the security minister at the time, tom tugendhat, what happened there? tom, welcome to farage. just briefly on on that issue. i know you were security minister at the time. why were we giving aid money to mauritius while trying to get a good deal from them

over the chagos islands? >> look, i afraid i can't answer that. it sounds absolutely daft to me. i have no idea. that. it sounds absolutely daft to me. i have no idea . whoever to me. i have no idea. whoever was overseeing that at the time has clearly spent £1.3 million of public money on a scheme that, frankly, demands some real questions. i mean, this is this is, frankly, not just on mauritius. you know, we have seen, sadly, that aid money has not always gone on the people's priorities and has sometimes gone on schemes that frankly, looked at not very much harder, do not bear very much scrutiny. >> is that the is it the problem of ministers like yourself and your colleagues, or is it just happening below the line and you're not seeing enough of it? because, i mean, any reasonable person would challenge that, wouldn't they? if they're aware of it, as you would have done had you been aware of it when you were in the home office as security minister? >> well, as security minister, i pulled funding on a couple of programmes that had been going on for a while. i forgive me, they're a bit different programmes, so i can't tell you

what they were. but had i been in the foreign office, i can't see how that would have gone through. but look, i don't know how the spending was done in the foreign office. i wasn't a foreign office. i wasn't a foreign office. i wasn't a foreign office official, but when i was chairing the foreign affairs committee, we questioned an awful lot of decisions taken by the foreign office. and you'll remember, i was hugely critical of many different aspects of the way in which the foreign office ran itself. i'm afraid i've not been very impressed over many years at the way that the foreign office prioritises its spending, its resources and even its training. >> so if we turn briefly, then to this, this chagos deal. now, you said on x on twitter last week that you came across the government's the reasoning for handing over security of the , of handing over security of the, of the islands to, to mauritius and then renting back diego garcia. it's because there's a big radio mask on there, and we need that access to that mask exclusively to communicate to other to our assets in the south pacific. but you questioned if that is a reason to hand over security of

the islands to mauritius. is that right? >> sorry. look, i'm not going to go into the reasoning behind. all i'm going to say is that the idea that if we don't hand over islands that have been british for over 200 years have never seriously been claimed by mauritius, nobody pretends a part of mauritius except in recent years, that the international telecoms union, which is a un agency which has been going for in fact since before the un existed, it was rolled into the un and is under chinese chairmanship that they will somehow block the digital spectrum. it's complete nonsense. it's absolute nonsense. it's absolute nonsense. and these stories are being made up as though there's some sort of, you know, secret security reason. no, this is a daft deal being done to assuage some sort of, you know, colonial guilt or something. i don't know what. and sort of . it's what. and sort of. it's completely ridiculous. the reality is, this deal should never have started. yes, i know it happened when we were in government. we shouldn't have

allowed it. david cameron stopped it. you know, first of all, when he was prime minister, he didn't allow the conversations to happen. they started after he was prime minister. when he came back as foreign secretary, he stopped them. you know, the idea that these are somehow national, you know, necessary for national security is rubbish. they undermine it. chris, it's like you deciding to give away your house and then paying to rent it. it's completely insane. you wouldn't say that. that made your living arrangements more secure, would you? your family wouldn't thank you for it. you end up with less and you're paying end up with less and you're paying for the privilege. >> so why on earth? why on earth? tom tugendhat i mean, i think many will be nodding in agreement to you saying this. why are we doing it? >> well, i don't think we should be. i mean, i think it's ridiculous. look, i think that there's a few people who have somehow convinced officials that this is the sort of thing you need to do in order to look good at the un. well, i'm sorry, the job of the british government not to look good at the un. the job of the british government is to defend the british people. that's it. right. and, you know,

of course, we've got to uphold the law. of course we've got to make sure we stand by our treaties. but this isn't even doing that. the international court of justice is much more like marriage counselling between states. if you don't accept the marriage counsellor, the counselling doesn't work. >> now, tom tugendhat, you mentioned china just then. i want to just then i want to play a clip now of what you're up to at the weekend. >> why are you all here? why am i here? why are we here? why are we so interested in what could go on behind us? because we know that when the chinese communist party puts up walls, what goes on inside them is never in britain's interest. we know that when the chinese communist party closes doors, the only thing they trap is. >> okay, that's you at the weekend outside the planned site

for a new super embassy for china. but isn't it right that now the world's second biggest economy has a big embassy in london, tom tugendhat? >> look, there's nothing wrong with the chinese having an embassy in london. they've got an embassy in london. in fact, they've got embassy locations in different parts of london. what i question is the need for a super embassy and a super embassy right there. look, the royal mint and just opposite the tower of london have guarded britain's economy. they've been the centre for printing or or striking coins for a thousand years. and the idea that we should be handing over those sites to a country that is not just not just undermining our national security in various different ways, but threatening our economy. look, there are many people who will be watching your show tonight who are worried about their business, worried about their business, worried about their jobs, worried about their jobs, worried about their future because their company has been hacked, because their ip has been stolen, because their ideas have been taken away and sent to china. now, that isn't right.

now, of course, there's more that the british government can do. we've got to make sure we're bringing jobs home and stopping these daft environmental regulations that mean that they can't be made by clean gas and instead are being made by dirty coalin instead are being made by dirty coal in china? of course, we've got to do that, but we've also got to do that, but we've also got to do that, but we've also got to stand up to people who are setting up illegal police stations in the uk, who are bullying people in the uk, and who are trying to steal our economic future. >> but but why not focus on those? why not focus on the alleged espionage that the groups you're describing? there is not a distraction to worry about. and we haven't even mentioned the issue of the windmills for the north sea made made possibly by a chinese company. are these all distractions? yes, china is an issue, but let's not get distracted by everything. chinese? >> no. look, all of these things are connected. and the point about the embassy there is it sits at a location where protests outside it are going to disturb the british economy. you saw. i mean, i don't know what you were doing on saturday. my wife wasn't desperately pleased that i went to a protest, but the protest was very large. there was there was 4 or 5000 people there, maybe more. and

effectively it closed the roads. now it was a saturday. it doesn't matter too much, but you can imagine that happening on a weekday that will cost the british economy. that's not the right place for it. and around that area there have been various different reports going in, pointing out various elements of the security challenge that that raises. that's why it's not the right location. of course, the chinese should have an embassy, but that doesn't mean that we should have the ccp able to close down our city and able to put controls on our people. >> the planning process starts today. as you know, the final decision is made probably by angela rayner, who's a local government and housing secretary. do you have faith in her in making the right decision as you would see it? >> well, look, i think there's been a long tradition in labour of standing up for the british national interest. it was, after all, after clement attlee that we got the nuclear deterrent, the british nuclear deterrent. that was a labour plan. it was labour who signed us up to labour who signed us up to labour to nato. sorry. negotiated by winston churchill of course, but but signed up to by labour. so look, i have faith that there are labour voices who

can stand up for britain's national interest. i really hope that angela is going to be one of them. >> well, tom tugendhat, former security minister, tory mp, thank you for joining security minister, tory mp, thank you forjoining us security minister, tory mp, thank you for joining us tonight on farage. great to see you. thank you very much for coming on. coming up next, is the king risking getting involved in politics after he was seen on a joint visit to a housing development with the pm and the deputy, pm, angela rayner. in a week of announcements on new homes. and should we be creating a doge department just like elon musk to tackle cost cutting by the uk government? i'll have an example of the latest questionable spending from officials. that's next. >> can't wait to get in that sea. >> lovely and warm. >> lovely and warm. >> just like the feeling of having great travel insurance. >> allclear travel insurance sponsors gb news travel destinations forecast. >> plenty of cloud elsewhere across europe could also turn showery at times, these showers turning increasingly thundery as

we head into thursday for some largely dry across madeira and tenerife, though it could be breezy at times across the canary islands. but as we move our way further east, much more cloud. also some showers at times these could start to turn thundery across parts of croatia, albania and also parts of greece as we head into thursday. so those showers continuing for some drier elsewhere, with the best of the temperatures across tenerife. allclear travel sponsoi's sponsors gb news travel

>> and welcome back to farage with me christopher hope. now, king charles has given prime minister sir keir starmer and his deputy, angela rayner, a guided tour of his environmentally friendly sustainable housing project in cornwall in a very rare joint visit for those three individuals, the visit leaves the impression that his majesty the impression that his majesty the king endorses the government's policy on new homes

and new towns, which both the palace and number 10th may not object to, but still presents a risk of sorts for the monarch. i can also reveal this hour the king is hosting the prime minister and the leaders of our devolved nations in windsor castle tomorrow night, and even some of them are staying for a sleepover. imagine the pyjamas. so what's going on? is the king's increasing involvement in politics a risk to the monarchy, which normally remains above the political fray? i'm joined now by the former royal butler to the king when his prince of wales grant, harold grant. is this a difficult water for the king to be swimming in? it's getting more and more political. >> thank you for having me on. you're right. there's always been this fine line. i think you agree with this historically, where the king, even as prince of wales, there was certain people would say that he got too involved in politics. and it is a fine line because obviously, as king, part of his duty, his job is meeting with the prime minister every week, which is

what his late mother did. obviously, it's an opportunity. the prime minister has always said, especially with the late queen, it was a chance for them to be able to kind of share their views, their feelings and get her experience. she's allowed to guide them. she's not allowed to guide them. she's not allowed to guide them. she's not allowed to tell them what to do. obviously, that's where that was the queen's role. same as the king. i think getting them to go round and see his housing project is there's two parts to it really. one part is he's proud of what he's achieved and what he's doing. the fact that it is sustainability. it's to do with providing jobs. it's providing jobs in the community, andifs providing jobs in the community, and it's using traditional building skills, which he's very fond of. now he's aware that the government are building these new homes, and it's not to say that he's trying to get involved in it. he's probably wanting to kind of say, look, this is what i've done. this is how i've done it. given them maybe ideas more than anything, i think. >> but, but, but it's in a week when we're having a lot of housing announcements from the prime minister, a summer event on thursday, we think earlier this week we had on sunday making it easier to buy a new home. more plans announced probably this week on council

housing. i mean, i think the problem is, yes, it's great what the king is doing, but if you augn the king is doing, but if you align it too closely to what the government wants to do, then people might be asking, well, why not support the farmers? why not support with their battle with inheritance tax? why not speak out for other communities? why choose housing? your majesty? >> absolutely. and you know, a lot of those things you've just mentioned. he's very, very, very passionate about. but as you as you said, he won't get he can't get involved. and historically, as we know, when kings get involved with politics in the past, one of our kings lost his head. so it's not advisable for him to get too involved. >> he won't go that far. but thank you for joining >> he won't go that far. but thank you forjoining us thank you for joining us tonight, grant harold, to give that what the king might be thinking, what he's up to. on to my panel now for the reaction to joe phillips and sir ronald jayawardena. joe phillips, are you comfortable with the king being more politically engaged? >> yes, i am. i mean, you know, he didn't come to the throne until he was in his 70s, as we know. and we know that he's never made a secret about his concern for the environment, for

architecture, for other things. he we were talking earlier with tom tugendhat about the potential building of the chinese embassy. he got very involved when he was the prince of wales with paternoster square in london and plans for building there. i think it is significant and i have noticed, not that i'm and i have noticed, not that i'm an avid royal watcher, you understand, but i have noticed there is an ease, i think, between the king and keir starmer. >> and is he a labour supporter, you're saying? >> no, i'm not saying that at all. but i do think it's interesting and i gather that that actual visit to his place in cornwall was in the diary before the election anyway. oh, really? so i don't think it's suddenly been all, let's do it this week because we're making housing announcements. the other thing that he's done, which i think is important to mention, is that he's reintroduced what the late queen did, which is to have fairly regular meetings with the leader of the opposition. and that happened with kemi badenoch last week. >> so ronald jayawardena, if it was actually scheduled a long time away, should this government have not put it into a meeting, into a week stuffed

with housing announcements, it looks like it's all connected. >> well, i mean, we're all going to have our own views of particular issues that his majesty might or might not support. but on this, my personal view is that his majesty has actually led the way on architecture. poundbury is a great example of what modern development can be, drawing on the best of our past. unlike, i'm sorry to say, some of the boxes that are built by some of our big volume housebuilders. and so actually, if the one thing that comes out of this is that sir keir starmer and angela rayner are inspired by proper architecture based on our history, then his majesty has done a great job for the country. >> and it's about skills as well, because that's the other thing. and the other thing i would say just very quickly, don't forget very quickly after the election, the king sat down with the home secretary and keir starmer and idris elba to talk about knife crime. so it's not the first time he's got involved. >> well, ronald and joe, thank you. now moving on. hundreds of thousands of procurement contracts are being searched and

exposed for potential wasteful spending. it comes as the twitter owner, elon musk, his doge department, begins slashing the size of the state over in america. so does whitehall need its own woke waste crackdown to save taxpayers cash? joining me now to discuss this is gb news reporter adam cherry. and of course joe phillips remains here. and also reynolds ranil jayawardena. but to you, adam, what have you found out from searching around the internet? >> well, there's a lot of this going around at the moment. so the likes of guido fawkes wokeist charlotte gill was on the channel earlier today. procurement files. everyone is digging into this stuff and we're going to talk about the crown prosecution service specifically because a written answer by lord ponsonby in parliament reveals the crown prosecution service has 27 staff who are permitted to undertake diversity related network time dunng diversity related network time during their core working hours. there is no and there are eight staff networks allocated to this. overall, there's no specific specified maximum percentage of work time to spend

on this network activity, but the maximum allocated to any one individual in this financial yearis individual in this financial year is 177 hours and 2425. there are three over 3000 hours allocated in total. so we approached the cps for comment about this. is this an effective use of taxpayer's time? >> what do they say? >> what do they say? >> they say having a workforce which represents people from different walks of life, may help make sure our prosecutions are fair for all. we employ well over 7000 members of staff and those colleagues, those 27 colleagues who spend a small portion of their time on this work make up significantly less than 1% of our headcount now. fine. but the point is, individually, these may not seem like huge sums, but collectively across government and across whitehall, these procurement contracts, it adds up to a lot. >> and this happened probably on the day the tory government watch, i'm guessing. >> i believe so, yeah. i'm just clarify exactly on that because. >> you say.

>> you say. >> it raises actually makes a good point. good point here because this stuff has existed for a long time and carries over between governments, not just here. >> worse things. adam. you know there are dodgy well, not dodgy contracts. there are contracts with people like fujitsu, for instance, who are the bad guys at the middle of the post office. >> government contracts. >> government contracts. >> they've been kicked off, but they were awarded the contract for special. >> if i can ask the former conservative minister ranil jayawardena, why on earth is this stuff happening when you were i don't know if that's on a tory government watch or labour watch, but it never happened. when you were there, did you ever try and stop it happening? this spending on dei projects, when there's a big queue for cases in in the court service? >> yeah. i mean, as you say, i don't know the particular details of this written answer, but i'm not going to defend it whether it was on the conservative watch or under this new government. the truth is that we do need a doge in this country to really go through government spending and also the structure of government, you know, government is too wide. >> but aren't mps aren't mps are own doge. there's a pac, the

pubuc own doge. there's a pac, the public accounts committee. >> the public accounts committee has some responsibility. but actually getting into the nuts and bolts of government spending and bolts of government spending and streamlining government, including a number of departments like miley has done in argentina, i think there's a lot to be said for that. >> well, listen, thank you randall. thank you joe. there's more of this on gb news website, of course, gb news dot com. and until we have a doge established, we've got our own adam cherry who will be leading it all. do it all for you. stay tuned. coming up next. it's been 50 years since thatcher was elected leader of the conservative party. will we ever see a leader like her again? would how would you cope with the politics of

welcome back to farage with me christopher hope. now it's 50

years ago today since margaret thatcher won the conservative leadership, race and history of this country changed gb news reporter adam cherry spoke to those who knew her or were inspired by her. >> the problems that will face us when we return to power, the problems that will face us in turning round a whole economy. >> today marks 50 years since margaret thatcher became the leader of the conservative party, with the prime minister, sir keir starmer, now invoking his inner thatcher in a vow to cut red tape in pursuit of growth and her name still lionised amongst the conservative faithful, thatcher remains very much at the centre of political conversation. but who was the real margaret thatcher, and how did she embody conservative values? what is her true legacy? margaret thatcher, born in grantham in 1925 as the daughter of a grocer, rose from modest beginnings to become leader of the conservative party and leader of the opposition on

the 11th of february 1975, defeating ted heath in the leadership contest. >> the result of the first ballot in the leadership contest when she challenged ted heath, and in a way it was the more important of the two because it's the night she beat ted heath. this was a great surprise to most people, and she had broken through, and because of that victory, he had to resign. and she had the momentum so that when the final ballot, the second ballot was the following, a week later, she was up against willie whitelaw and several others, but the tide was going with her. >> she then went on to make history by becoming the united kingdom's first female prime minister in 1979. >> the queen has asked me to form a new administration, and i have accepted. >> and led the country for over a decade until 1990. thatcher's tenure was marked by a radical transformation of britain's economy and political landscape. she championed free markets, privatisation and a reduction in the power of trade unions,

reshaping the country's economic model after years of stagnation. throughout the 1970s. >> all points of the political spectrum still speak in reverent tones, not about everything about margaret thatcher. it's basically because she won the argument, particularly on economics and on free markets and on choice. that discussion sort of over. >> domestically, she is best known for her battles with the unions, her controversial poll tax policy, and her commitment to limited government intervention internationally, she played a key role in the cold war, aligning closely with us president ronald reagan, and was instrumental in the falklands war victory in 1982. >> now, i'm from a working class family background in lincolnshire, born on october the 13th, by the way, i should say as well. so i share a birthday with this great lady. my birthday with this great lady. my dad was a labour voting trade union activist, worked in a factory. my mum worked on the tills at asda when i was formulating my views and opinions. it was this positive, can do aspirational attitude that she articulated so well.

that really resonated with me and those values, those principles, the things she said are as true today as they were when i first heard them many years ago, and is why i'm here now. i mean, i can absolutely say this. i would not be here now, standing, talking to you as the co—chair of the conservative party, had it not been for margaret thatcher. >> margaret thatcher isn't everyone's cup of tea. but 50 years on from her election as the first female leader of the conservative party, the fact that she is still at the centre of political conversation is perhaps her strongest legacy. adam cherry, gb news. >> great work from my colleague there. gb news reporter adam cherry. joining me now in the studio, of course, is joe and our panel tonight, and of course, jacob rees—mogg, the former conservative cabinet minister. to you first, though, sir ranil jayawardena, do you think her legacy is being sort of trashed? i mean, is she a value in the tory party nowadays or is it still is what she stood for important? >> well, of course we have to

deal with the situation that we find ourselves in. but she still provides some guiding lights, as it were, for us on policy in terms of, as katie lamb said, just there, the economic argument. she fixed some of britain's greatest challenges and she showed, unfortunately, that after things get bad under a labour government, they can be fixed by a conservative one. so things are not good right now for so many people up and down this country. cost of living continues to bite people's jobs. their wages aren't looking to grow because of the ni rise. and it may be that kimi can channel herinner it may be that kimi can channel her inner margaret thatcher. >> not going to the polls. joe phillips briefly. what did paddy ashdown think of margaret thatcher? >> i think he there was an admiration. i mean, you know, we didn't agree with her policies on everything. but i think the thing about her was you have to remember, you know, she was the first woman to be the leader of a party. she was a mother of two

children. she was scorned and sneered at by the aristocracy in so many ways. and, you know, the power of that persistence. but she surrounded herself with people with huge brains. you know, people like keith joseph, people like michael heseltine. that helped. and i think that makes a huge difference. but i think the significant thing that many of the clips have played today give me time. give me time today give me time. give me time to prove. >> my kemi badenoch once. but she may not get time because the reform uk. >> also what keir starmer needs. >> also what keir starmer needs. >> well, he won't get it either. sir jacob rees—mogg would margaret thatcher have handed over the chagos islands to mauritius? >> no, of course she wouldn't. she wouldn't even have considered it. and only a civil servant who came to her and suggested it would have been out on his ear in seconds, and no minister would have survived with such silliness. she was forthright. she understood the needs of the british people. she believed people could run their own lives better than it could be run for them by the state, and she believed people should keep their own money. >> made easier for her by having quite a strong left wing party to fight against. i think the

labour and tories seem so similar now. there's not the same leadership, is it? >> well, i think there's certainly been a problem, that there's been a consensus in british politics like butskellism that has failed. and margaret thatcher broke one consensus. we must now get rid of this current consensus that hasn't worked, hasn't delivered for british people. >> i must ask you thoughts on your show tonight. >> well, i will, of course, be talking about the 50th anniversary of margaret thatcher becoming leader of the party. arlene foster is coming on to discuss that. but i'm also going to be talking about some waste that margaret thatcher would have hated. we're apparently giving £15 million to uganda under our overseas aid budget to help them with climate change jobs. and you think this is the potty sort of stuff that donald trump has just stopped, and we should be doing the same. >> focusing on government waste often happens under a labour government, certainly historically, but it should happen. maybe under the tories too. well, thanks to my panel today, joe phillips and sir ranil jayawardena. great to have you here. coming up next, of course, is sirjacob rees—mogg, state of the nation. but first the weather and here's. >> even though we'll see a cloudy start, it'll be a bright

outlook for the rest of the day. boxt solar sponsors of weather on gb news. >> good evening. here's your latest gb news weather forecast from the met office. as we go through the next 24 hours, there's going to be plenty of cloud for many of us, albeit with a touch of frost possible when we get some clearer skies towards the west. most places though, under that easterly flow, continuing to push in plenty of cloud and also bringing some outbreaks of mostly light, drizzly rain. it will be in the east where these are most frequent. there could even be a bit of sleet, a bit of hill snow, perhaps over the higher ground of northern england and into scotland as well. most places though, staying with the cloudy skies overnight and that blanket of cloud will stop temperatures dropping a huge amount. but where we get those clearer skies in the west, we may see a touch of frost and perhaps even some fog or freezing fog patches. so in the southwest there could be some clear breaks to start the day. and with that, then some poor visibility issues. but these should gradually clear as we go through the day. a much

cloudier story across many other parts, and with that there will be some drizzly rain. a bit damp in places too. western scotland, perhaps having the best of the clear breaks overnight and therefore the brightest, start through tomorrow morning. with that, though, a bit of frost around and again some freezing fog patches quite possible. a cloudier story for more central eastern parts of scotland through the day tomorrow. some of the cloud, particularly across eastern areas, is going to be pretty stubborn so won't really clear staying grey and further outbreaks of drizzly rain quite likely otherwise. and further west there should be perhaps a bit more brightness breaking through compared to today. with that, temperatures are likely to be a degree or so higher for many of us. still a bit of a chilly feel, and if you're stuck under the cloud, it's going to feel even chillier. still, as we look ahead to thursday and again, a bit more brightness developing, perhaps always most likely towards western parts, eastern areas staying pretty grey, pretty murky. we do have some wet weather feeding in from the southwest, pushing into parts of cornwall and also the republic of ireland. otherwise, through

the end of the week, it looks like it's going to stay largely cloudy for many of us, and also staying chilly by. >> we'll see a cold snap which will quickly develop into a warm boxt boiler repairs

police officers cannot be sacked via vetting removal. instead, they're going to have to be put on paid leave. some are saying

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