in washington? even lands in washington? >> i'm dealing with president zelenskyy. i'm dealing with president putin. i'm trying to get the money back. that or secured. >> well, the foreign secretary stands up to putin announcing the toughest sanctions on russia since the war began. >> concerns for the pope grow. the head of the catholic church in critical condition, as the vatican warns , things may not vatican warns, things may not improve. >> germany takes to the polls. it's election day in what could be the most consequential vote in generations. >> and as homes served by windfarms could pay less for their energy, we're asking, should you get a discount if you go green? >> good morning. england finally ended their scotland hoodoo by wresting back the calcutta cup with a 1615 victory of the six nafions with a 1615 victory of the six nations at twickenham's allianz

stadium. and in the premier league. it's advantage liverpool at the top as arsenal lose ground at home to west ham. >> good morning. after some welcome sunshine yesterday, it's return to wind and rain for most of us today. find out all the weather details with me a little later on. >> it's just gone. 6:00. i'm stephen dixon. >> and i'm anne diamond, and this is gb news breakfast. >> oh. you're poised. go on. >> no. you're poised. no. go on. >> no, you were poised. >> no, you were poised. >> mine was rubbish, though. >> mine was rubbish, though. >> so go on. well, mine might be. >> i preferred your poise. >> i preferred your poise. >> yeah. >> yeah. >> thank you very much. how kind. i was just going to say that one of our lovely viewers says that apparently easter eggs are already on sale, and now's the time to go and get them cheap. >> cheap? >> cheap? >> they're definitely on sale. >> they're definitely on sale. >> yeah, yeah. aren't they? yeah. >> they do start early, don't they? >>i they? >> i wouldn't. >> i wouldn't. >> say they're cheap.

>> say they're cheap. >> april the 20th. >> april the 20th. >> april the 20th. >> april 20th. >> april 20th. >> yes, april the 20th. >> yes, april the 20th. >> but they're not cheap. i wouldn't say they're cheap. no, i haven't seen. >> them cheap. >> them cheap. >> oh, well. >> oh, well. >> maybe you. >> maybe you. >> i thought i might buy a head. >> i thought i might buy a head. >> yes, exactly. >> yes, exactly. >> it depends what sort of eggs you're looking for. your bog standard eggs you normally get for a couple of quid, can't you? >> i remember buying. >> i remember buying. >> a chocolate. >> a chocolate. >> head one year. no, but you like. it's the actual chocolate of the egg. >> that's nice. yes, a very thin chocolate. >> but i bought a head one one year and obviously had to hide them from the kids. so i hid them from the kids. so i hid them behind the sofa in the living room, and the sun came in through the window and melted the lock. >> oh, no. >>- >> oh, no. >> so be careful where you hide them. yeah. oh, garage is a good place to hide them because at least it'd be cold at the moment. >> yeah. >> yeah. >> so apparently it's a good time to go out and buy your easter eggs already. >> well, i think. >> well, i think. >> there's a wide choice, but i've seen no evidence that the price is less. if anything, they're higher. >> really? >> really? >> well, they will. it will have gone over the last few years, but i mean, they're still. your standard easter eggs are expensive. you shouldn't be

buying that many of them anyway. but it's also. >> john's been in touch. morning. john says it's the national anthem. now i stand to attention. do you stand to attention? >> oh. good man. yeah, i can see that. not that we do, because we've sat down. >> with this desk we're tied in. >> with this desk we're tied in. >> we are tied. >> we are tied. >> we're not allowed to go. >> we're not allowed to go. >> literally have to strap us. in to stop us leaving the studio. >> if you had the chance, would you stand up? would you get out of bed? stand up. >> i have done in the past. >> i have done in the past. >> yeah. me too. >> yeah. me too. >> i think it's quite nice. i think it's quite nice as well to stand. you always used to stand up for the queen's speech at christmas. >> oh, yes. what? for the entire thing. >> it's only three minutes. >> it's only three minutes. >> oh, true. >> oh, true. >> is it? so. but yeah, i think it's nice. >> those nice old fashioned things. yeah. respectful things, which, frankly, are going out the window. at least you feel that way, don't you? so easter eggs and standing to attention for the national anthem. we'd love to hear your views. >> yes. louise haigh. gbnews.com/yoursay. now, the prime minister is apparently set to tell president trump that the uk is willing to step up defence spending. >> i wonder what you think of that, because, according to reports, the government is weighing up the possibility of increasing the military budget

from 2.3 to 2.5% of gdp within the next three years. >> well, overnight, president trump spoke at the conservative political action conference cpac in maryland, where he outlined his plan to bring peace to ukraine. >> i'm dealing with president zelenskyy. i'm dealing with president putin. i'm trying to get the money back. that or secured because, you know, europe has given $100 billion. the united states has given $350 billion because we had a stupid, incompetent president and administration. 350 but here's worse. europe gave it in the form of a loan. they get their money back. we gave it in the form of nothing. so i want them to give us something for all of the money that we put up. >> he has an interesting. >> he has an interesting.

>> way of speaking, doesn't he? i was watching the speech last night and he is very entertaining. you know, i mean, you tell me, who around else at the moment is that entertaining? a speaker he is. even if you don't like his politics, he's an entertaining speaker. he absolutely engages that audience. i mean, i know they're his followers at the moment, but. and i wonder when he goes off piste with the speech? >> yes. >> yes. >> because presumably he has a speech. and i was trying to figure out last night whether he actually does have what we call an autocue. you know, one of those things, what do they call them in out of television land? autocue. we call. >> a prompt, a prompt. >> a prompt, a prompt. >> a prompt, a prompt. >> a teleprompter. a teleprompter, yeah. and i think he does. but he must have a teleprompter operator who knows that when he goes off speech and just sort of chats to the audience and, and then gets back on line again, you can almost hear it. very interesting way he spoke. and he certainly had a lot to say last night.

>> he did. but of course, when it comes to ukraine, will he even wait to meet keir starmer on thursday? or could he storm ahead with his plans without any european support at all? let's talk to political commentator andy preston. morning to you, andy. look, i mean, the big thing i mean, from the uk perspective on all of this is defence spending. labour said it was always, always said it was going to put it up to 2.5%. we just didn't know. when we do at least think we might get a time line there. >> morning, steve and morning, ann. hi everyone. yes, absolutely. we're going to have to increase our defence spending and i think very, very rapidly. what's really interesting, though, is that the whole of europe is going to have to do this. you know, something that the uk spends about 2.3% of our gdp across europe. it's about 1.3%. donald trump has his fans and his his haters. and i'm taking a neutral stance on trump. but something he's completely, completely right

aboutis completely, completely right about is the uk. the usa has been taken for a ride. europe has freeloaded off the back of the usa since the second world war. they spend 5% of their gdp helping to keep us safe from from threats. and this is a big political win for trump. the uk increasing spending. europe will follow suit. it's a huge political win for the usa. it's a financial win also. so i think he's given europe the wake up call that we needed. and i think it's a victory for him. >> do you think i mean, it's interesting that the german elections are today. do you think it's not just us as a country, but the other countries? europe are going to have to sit up and think about this very hard. they're not going to get the automatic support from the us that they might have relied on before. >> completely an absolutely. the whole of europe is going to have to follow suit. anyone in, in, in nato and possibly some outside of nato also are going to have to really step up to the plate. this is a fantastic wake

up call for europe. you know, since the second world war, there hasn't been any major turmoil on western european soil. suddenly, we're feeling threatened. it's time to live in the real world. and trump has actually done a brilliant job. i think it's a political masterstroke from him. and i think that actually starmer could play this very well if he goes to trump and says how we are stepping up to the plate, we are stepping up to the plate, we are taking drastic and rapid action, and that starmer is going to lead action, and that st