>> it's 9:00 pm. >> i'm ben leo. >> tonight i want you to know how sad i am to be giving up the best job in the world. >> breaking tonight is news that kemi badenoch could face a tory leadership challenge within months. meanwhile, allies of bofis months. meanwhile, allies of boris johnson say he could be plotting a political comeback.

boris johnson say he could be plotting a political comelback in local media as farhad n. back in the uk, the suspect in the valentine's day shooting of a woman at a pub in kent may have entered the water at dartford crossing. according to the police, it's after a woman in her 40s died following the shooting at the three horseshoes pub around 7:00 last night. a murder investigation is now underway, with police confirming they found debate with,

we can conduct this debate with, you know, sorry. no, no, no, it's just no, no, no, i just a. >> woman can have a penis.

>> woman can have a penis. >> i don't think that discussing this issue in this way helps anyone in the long run. what? >> there we go. so why is any of this relevant? well, breaking tonight is news that tory leader kemi badenoch could face a leadership challenge within months after bombing at pmqs and struggling to see off reform in the polls. and almost by massive coincidence, boris johnson is also rumoured to be plotting a big political comeback too. as the daily telegraph reports today, five friends and allies of the former prime minister claim he's getting bored of life away from westminster, and he believes he has unfinished business in parliament. the friends believe he's only 5050 to make a comeback, and boris himself has reportedly not yet made up his mind. and when quizzed by the daily telegraph, mr johnson said i'm working flat mrjohnson said i'm working flat out on writing some books and building a new kitchen. i've heard of bizarre fantasies this week of a boris comeback that would see the tories merge with reform uk , without mentioning reform uk, without mentioning bofis reform uk, without mentioning

boris johnson, tory grandee sir edward leigh thinks the deal is on. >> and what are the odds on reform and the tories merging to be one party at the next election? oh. >> i think very high. i mean. >> i think very high. i mean. >> odds on. >> odds on. >> 70%, i should think. >> 70%, i should think. >> oh well, let's be honest, bofis >> oh well, let's be honest, boris johnson had tons of character. he still does. and he knew how to win elections. but the full effects of his disastrous leadership are now beginning to be felt all across britain, not least his obsession with net zero and his open door immigration policy that's changing the very fabric of our country. tory voters thought they were getting a libertarian conservative who had cut taxes and control our borders. boris had the power to do everything donald trump is doing right now in america. only six years earlier, he really could have taken back control, all of it. he could have been the best prime minister we ever had. instead, the reality is that he bottled it, and he chose to inflict an open borders experiment on britain, a deranged march to net zero and

devastating lockdowns. two ironically, he became one of the worst prime ministers this country has ever had. so, boris, don't even think about it. keep writing your books. stay in the kitchen. we're moving on without you and despite you. but i'm joined now by a former adviser to boris johnson. oscar. oscar. good evening. thank you for joining me. >> good evening. ben. >> good evening. ben. >> it all seems to be happening. what a coincidence. kemi is under pressure. there's a leadership coup potentially underway. and then talk of your old boss coming back into the fray. have you spoken to boris recently about this? >> not not. not recently. and certainly not since those rumours surrounding kemi have come to the fore. i think the message i have to the tory party quickly on that is calm down. i mean, it's quite a hard reality for the tory party to suck up, but we are in the wilderness. we are borderline irrelevant at the moment. the idea that we need to start chopping and changing and chucking leaders out already, or, you know, off the back of, you know, disappointing pmqs performances is insane. i mean, most people don't watch pmqs.

most people don't care about pmqs. most people don't care about the tory party right now. and

dejected and sad that yet another open goal had been missed. you know, the labour party is giving quite a few opportunities, let's face it, for robust opposition. and it just seems to be, you know, the low bar. she goes under it every week. and so it does set a tone so i can see why there are rumblings about kemi. i also agree with oscar that the barriers and hurdles that boris would have to overcome, he's not an mp. let's not forget, you know he's not even there. he'd have to come back as an mp. he'd have to come back as an mp. he'd have to come back as an mp. he'd have to get be elected as leader of the conservative party. he'd have to then go into a general election. i don't think he wants to do all of that. and i can't see the mechanism whereby that

that's how you get that's like, that's how you get the best out of him. and you try. and i mean, we look at keir starmer, for instance, who is someone who can hardly take one step in front of the other without, you know, a million advisers advising him how to do so. and it's painful to watch. and actually, i just found boris that star quality. you you leave it alone. you just got to let it do its thing. however, attention to detail probably wasn't his strong suit, but when we look at

the issues our country have now,

now ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy says the time has come for a european army, as he suggested the continent could no longer rely on the united states for its defence. >> many leaders have talked about europe that needs its own

military and army. an army of europe, and i. and i, i really i really believe that time has come. the armed forces of europe must be created. >> speaking at the munich security conference, he also said ukraine will never accept deals made behind our backs without our involvement. and it comes, of course, after growing talk of a the belgians

82 when the belgians wouldn't give the united kingdom 7.6 to ammunition when we were going to the falklands. that's just one that just one little moment in time that i remember very well. so on that point, no, it would be useless. we already have a european structure in place for want of a better expression. it's nato. yeah. now with donald. if donald trump wants to try and hold the dollar card up to us and say we're not, we'll do it when we want to do it.

that's not what nato is about. then leave donald or sorry. not. yes, leave. get out of the way. because then nato, which has has structure and a format that will work, is already in place. and by the way, we could do it without i don't i'm not saying that i. >> wish the us. >> wish the us. >> we could. we would just have to spend a lot more money. >> well yeah. the likes of germany and the uk would have to up our game in terms of finances, lieutenant. >> indeed. >> indeed. >> lieutenant colonel stuart crawford, we have got nato, haven't we. what's the difference? what is zelenskyy asking for in addition to nato by this proposal? >> well, first of all, just to. >> well, first of all, just to. >> say that i. >> say that i. >> agree with many of the. >> agree with many of the. >> things that. >> things that. >> mike has just said and that, you know, if the us. withdraws from nato, then. >> there are. >> there are. >> other countries that. are allies within nato could. >> probably do. >> probably do. >> it. >> it. >> themselves, but it. >> themselves, but it. >> would take some effort. >> would take some effort. >> but i think. >> but i think. >> what zelenskyy is

acknowledging is that given the statements from trump fans and hegseth. >> this week. >> this week. >> the us may no longer be a reliable ally ally for the rest of europe. and so we do need to look to see how we would compensate the united states, where to withdraw or withhold support. and his call for a european army or an army of european army or an army of europe is not too far off

european army or an army of europebecause oo far off european army or an army of europebecause neitherff is there, because neither side is prepared to give up what the other one wishes to, to accept. >> yeah. okay. great stuff. and it's saudi arabia they're meeting from monday i believe the us, ukraine and russia contingents. thank you both for your company tonight. former british army officer, lieutenant

colonel stuart crawford and former army spokesperson major mike shearer. thank you, shapps. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> right. coming up, ed miliband has said he'll ban fracking permanently just days after it's been discovered that we have a giant, absolutely massive gas field under lincolnshire that could power the entire country, the nation for a decade, £115 billion to gdp, a quarter of a million jobs. but miliband, he says, nah, we're going to we're going to ban it instead. is this insanity? this is ben leo tonight

evening. so apparently, according to reports, you have all this liquid 1530 00:39