well, i've got an idea. before any of these politicians sign our kids up for war, how about they send their own kids there first, and then we'll see how keen they are on on these kind of forever wars. also keir starmer. he's issuing a statement about ukraine imminently. we'll bring you that. and good news the labour party have met their election pledge to add 2 million new appointments to our nhs. is this finally, then the start of a corner being turned or not.7 and this weekend, in an exclusive interview with gb news, a middle eastern specialist has told us that we have more islamist extremists in the uk than they do in the middle east. great. we've got all of that and lots more to debate tonight. and alongside me, my panel, i've got

zia yousef, the chairman of reform uk, and barry gardiner, the labour mp for brent west. but before we get stuck in, let's cross live and give you your 6:00 news headlines. >> michelle, thank you and good evening. it's 6:01. i'm katie bowen in the gb news room. european leaders, including sir keir starmer, have been meeting in paris this afternoon for an emergency summit on the situation in ukraine. the prime minister said this morning that he is ready and willing to put british troops into ukraine if a peace deal is reached. he added this afternoon that any settlement needs to be a lasting peace deal, not just a pause for putin to come again, warning that the uk and europe are facing a generational challenge and need to do more to support ukraine. leaders from germany, italy, poland and spain, among others, alongside the nato secretary general and president of the eu council and

commission, have attended the emergency summit. it comes as a separate meeting of the united nafions separate meeting of the united nations security council is also meeting to discuss threats to international peace and security. sir keir starmer set out his position on ukraine earlier on. >> and we must continue to put ukraine in the strongest possible position, whatever happens next, and to make sure that if there is peace and we all want peace, that it is lasting. i think there's a bigger piece here as well, which is that this isn't just about the front line in ukraine, it's the front line in ukraine, it's the front line of europe and of the front line of europe and of the united kingdom. it's about our national security. and i think that we need to do more. we need to step up in terms of our collective response in europe. >> well, the summit comes as it was announced this afternoon that sir keir starmer will meet with president trump in washington, dc next week in what will be their first meeting since mr trump became president. the prime minister's official spokesman said it was a bid to

deepen the special relationship. the us top diplomat, marco rubio, met with saudi arabia counterparts this morning ahead of talks between the us and russia. speaking this afternoon, us special envoy keith kellogg said that no one will impose a peace deal on zelenskyy and he and the people of ukraine will the people make that call. tithat sople tithat call. >> well, thank you very much. make that call. >> well, thank you very much. it's an honour. it's an honour. >> a brief bit of breaking news >> a brief bit of breaking news coming out of the middle east coming out of the middle east this afternoon. israel is this afternoon. israel is preparing to receive the bodies preparing to receive the bodies of four hostages from gaza on of four hostages from gaza on thursday, and is working on thursday, and is working on bringing back six living bringing back six living hostages on saturday, an israeli hostages on saturday, an israeli security official said earlier security official said earlier today. we'll bring you more on today. we'll bring you more on that developing story as we get that developing story as we it. doctors have had to change today. we'll bring you more on thedoctors)ping story as we today. we'll bring you more on thedoctors have story as we today. we'll bring you more on thedoctors have had/ as we today. we'll bring you more on thedoctors have had tos we today. we'll bring you more on thedoctors have had to change treatment for pope francis's it. doctors have had to change treatment for pope francis's respiratory tract infection to respiratory tract infection to tackle what they call is a tackle what they call is complex clinical situation. the clinical situation. the 88 year old pontiff has been complex clinical situation. the 88 year old pontiff has been suffering from a respiratory suffering from a respiratory infection for more than a week, infection for more than a week, and was admitted to rome's admitted to rome's and was admitted to rome's gemelli hospital on friday. the gemelli hospital on friday. the

vatican has said that he will vatican has said that he will remain in hospital for as long remain in hospital for as long as necessary, but he is in good as necessary, but he is in good spirits. chagossian those are spirits. chagossian those are the latest gb news headlines. the latest gb news headlines. now let's go back to michelle. now let's go back to michelle. >> for the very latest gb news. >> for the very latest gb news. direct your smartphone. sign up direct your smartphone. to news alerts by scanning the >> for the very latest gb news. di|news»ur smartphone. sign...” ”w ,,, >> for the very latest gb news. di|news alertsartphone. sign,,,,,, ”w ,,, >> for the very latest gb news. qr code or go to di|news alerts by»hone. sign,,,,,, ”w ,,, gbnews.com/advent. >> thank you very much for that. my >> thank you very much for that. my name is michelle dewberry. this is dewbs& co with you till 7:00 tonight alongside me, my panel 7:00 tonight alongside me, my panel, zia yousef, the chairman of reform uk, and alongside him barry gardner, the labour mp for brent west. good evening gents, you're very welcome tonight. are you're very welcome tonight. are you just reacting to that story about the pope? there'll be a lot of people really praying this evening, barry. >> yeah, absolutely. well, i certainly would pray for his health. i think he's been a remarkable individual. he's led

an amazing life, and he's given

>> for the very latest gb news. di|news alerts by»hon> that's right. we're expecting to hear very shortly, michel, from keir starmer. he's spoken to reporters after that emergency meeting of other senior eu leaders. who's there? germany, italy, spain, france, of course. netherlands. the president of the european union, the president of the european council, the nato chief mark rutte. a really important meeting here ahead of wednesday, of course, when we're expecting zelenskyy to be in saudi arabia with with russia and the us, as they try to hammer out a the outlines of a deal. now, what that means for britain is not clear just yet. we that means for britain is not clearjust yet. we heard from clear just yet. we heard from number 10 earlier. they told us that europe must take on a greater role. it must step up to meet the demands of its own security, i.e. stop relying on, on on the us to guarantee security here. but having said that, they recognise that that security guarantee is crucial to securing world peace on screen. now you see, of course, keir starmer meeting with emmanuel macron there at the elysee. my colleague katherine forster has been out there all day. the

question about whether we get a say over this is yet to come. number 10 wouldn't rule out a vote of mps. barry gardiner may have a view on this when this moment comes. we have previously voted on when to deploy troops overseas. that may come again. i expect it to go through parliament. i think the issue of sovereignty invading a sovereign territory by russia in europe means there's lots of sympathy in this country. i think it's not like in 2003 with the iraq invasion, the iraq war, it wasn't really clear why the uk had to get involved in that one. i think it's a much clearer, clearer here with, with the, with with ukraine. but for this final big question i think is how this happens. if the uk does deploy forces to ukraine, under what flag will they be there? will it be a un flag? will it be a nato flag or an eu flag? it's unlikely. i think russia will allow nato to be so close to their border. so more likely is a un flag. lots of questions will emerge through this week, starting on wednesday in saudi

arabia. >> and just before i let you go, christopher, if you will, because there will be many people sitting there thinking, whatever the scope of it looks like. do we even have an armed forces now that have got enough personnel to even be involved in this stuff? >> well, if you talk the experts, we haven't. richard dannatt, the former head of the army, says you'd need tens of thousands of forces to rotate on a six month troop rotation. we can't really do that. the current numbers of the size of the army, i think, is around 80,000. not possible at the moment. but again, we're looking forward into a spending review on defence as much as all of whitehall. the target for this government is to get a 2.5% of our gdp spent on defence. trump wants to double that to 5%, but of course the us is just over 3%. so big pressure i think, on the armed forces, the peace dividend we've known for two, 2 or 3 decades now that is fast coming to an end. >> interesting coming to an end. >> i