>> good afternoon britain. it's 12:00 on tuesday the 25th of february. i'm tom harwood. >> and i'm emily carver. >> and i'm emily carver. >> bad news. >> bad news. >> for brits. despite ed miliband's pledge to cut your bills, energy prices are unexpectedly up again. from april, the price cap will spike another £111 for the average family. >> oh dear. and in other news, nhs chief amanda pritchard is to step down from her role. yes, this comes after not one but two committees discussed her suitability to lead the health service through one of the biggest overhauls in its history. what does this mean for our nhs.7 >> elsewhere, environment secretary steve reed faces hundreds of angry farmers at the

national farmers union conference today as protesters interrupt his keynote speech. the environment secretary says he's sorry. >> and a teacher with more than 35 years in the job is sacked after a pupil misunderstood a joke about whacking him around the head. do students rule the roost in the uk and is it time to return to old school teaching? >> it's a busy news day today. not only has the environment secretary been heckled. no, not only are our energy bills shooting up, not only has kemi badenoch made a serious speech on security, but we're expecting the prime minister to stick his ear into it. and could we well see defence spending finally going up? >> there's a lot going on. isn't there a lot going on with the

energy bills? ed miliband okay, he says this is all because we're overreliant on fossil fuels. is it that or is it the dash to net zero? is it the fact that we don't dig up our own oil and gas? is it the fact that we're banning all sorts of fracking? is it the fact that we're taxing fossil fuels out of existence? >> yeah. i mean, we can. >> we can. >> we can. >> quite easily, i think, have a look at countries around the world. and because politicians are always. >> saying only fossil fuels. >> saying only fossil fuels. >> politicians always say this, right. you know, net zero is such an economic opportunity. i mean, we need to get away from fossil fuels. i mean, is saudi arabia poor? is the united states of america suffering under high energy costs? are the parts of the world that are, you know, building coal fired power stations? do they have cheaper or more expensive energy than the uk? is india, china, the united states, canada, norway, saudi arabia, the uae, oman? are these countries wallowing in energy poverty, or is it the

countries with the wind turbines? >> we're just the losers who have the highest energy bills in the in the world, don't we? >> yeah, we do. we do. certainly the highest industrial. >> energy in europe. not good for any of us. also want to know what you make of that teacher story about how a teacher has been sacked for making a joke about a little bit of violence? so we'll get into that because it sounds a bit suspicious. 35 years in service. but i do wonder what your experience at school was at home, whether there was a, you know, you were ruled by a ruler. a bit of corporate punishment was my dad always tells me that back in his day, corporal, not corporal. back in the day. back in the day. the teacher, you know, you did what the teacher said. otherwise, that was it. you're out. >> but i, frankly, is perhaps a child that needs to spend a bit more time in english class learning. learning what a metaphor is. because. because i think teachers should be able to use flowery language. oh, i should whack you around the

head. doesn't mean he's actually going to do it. anyway, your views very welcome. gbnews.com/yoursay all to come after your headlines with sam francis. >> very good afternoon to you from the newsroom. just after midday, we start with breaking news this lunchtime that sir keir starmer is reportedly expected to announce a major plan to boost defence spending to 2.5% of gdp, with a statement set for just after 12:30 to 2.5% of gdp, with a statement set forjust after 12:30 in to 2.5% of gdp, with a statement set for just after 12:30 in the commons, which we will of course be bringing to you live here on gb news. but that pledge has been slammed by critics as too little, too late, with calls for immediate action to strengthen military funding. the announcement comes just ahead of sir keir starmer's high stakes meeting with the us president, donald trump, who is demanding that european leaders ramp up their defence budgets. well, kemi badenoch badenoch rather argues that the 2.5% increase

isn't enough, pushing for faster military procurement and a more agile, well equipped uk military. in a major foreign policy speech this morning, the conservative leader said britain must not be weak as the world enters an era of change and the painful decisions on defence spending lie ahead. well, let's take a listen to what the conservative leader had to say earlier. >> we can no longer hide behind vapid statements that were, at best, ambitious 20 years ago and are now today outright irrelevant. it is time to speak the truth. the world has changed and the uk is not ready. >> in other news, energy bills are set to rise again, with ofgem confirming a higher than expected increase of more than £100 a year from april. the 6.4% hike will push annual bills for a typical household to £1,849, affecting 22 million homes across england, scotland and wales. the regulator says rising

wholesale costs are to blame and suggests customers consider fixing tariffs. but prices could fall again in july. standing charges are also going up for gas, and consumer groups are warning the increase will hit struggling families hard. the government, though, says it is extending help, with nearly 3 million more households set to get support with their energy bills next winter. those proposals would expand the warm home discount, offering £150 to 2.7 million extra homes, including nearly a million with children. the government says the plans will ease the impact of gas price spikes, and is also working with ofgem on a potential debt relief scheme. well, the energy secretary, ed miliband, says expanding the discount will help protect millions of families. but the deputy leader of the lib dems, daisy cooper, says vulnerable households can't afford to wait until next winter. >> the government should scrap the energy price bill increase for the almost 10 million pensioners who have had their winter fuel payments taken away.

we know from our own research that 9 in 10 people who are worried about energy bills have already changed their behaviour to try and keep their heating costs down. and now people are choosing between heating and eating. so we want the government to take action, not next winter, but right now. >> the national farmers union is calling for urgent action on what they call the family farm tax, warning that it puts elderly farmers at an impossible position. the president of the nfu, tom bradshaw, told the conference that the government had broken its promise by introducing inheritance tax on farming businesses. well, the environment secretary said in response that there is new support for farmers, including a five year extension to the seasonal workers scheme. but steve reed was briefly interrupted by a silent protest at the conference, as he told the room he would always show up for difficult conversations. and police will no longer need a warrant to search a property for a stolen phone under new crime fighting measures. officers will be able to act faster using phone tracking data to locate stolen goods with the approval

of a senior officer instead of a court. the government's new crime and policing bill also includes tougher knife crime laws, bans on face coverings at protests and new powers to tackle anti—social behaviour. home secretary yvette cooper says it's about taking back our streets and restoring law and order. that's the news on gb news. do stay with us for that. breaking news from the commons in around 20 minutes time now though, let's head straight back to tom and emily. >> 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/advent alerts. >> jim mcmahon. >> jim mcmahon. >> good afternoon britain. it's 12:08 and do stay with us. we're going to be live with the prime minister in around half an o in around 20 minutes time. could

defence spending rise by a prodigious amount and frankly, who will end up paying for it? but in the meantime, another blow to brits today is energy bills are set to rise again, this time by more than £100 a year from april. >> oh, brilliant. yes. during the election campaign, energy secretary ed miliband, he repeatedly promised his policies would save families, perhaps even £300 on their energy bills. >> only labour offers a plan for real change to cut energy bills for good with gb energy and new publicly owned energy company. >> well, since he took office, however, instead of bills going down, they've gone up. there's been not one, not two, but three rises in the energy price cap. >> yes, today's announcement will see the energy price cap rise by 6.4%. that's 28% higher than analysts had predicted. >> well, here's how the energy secretary reacted to the news. >> the news that energy bills are rising is going to be worrying for many families. it's happening because we're so reliant on fossil fuels, in

particular gas and the markets that determine the price of those fossil fuels are controlled by the decisions of states and dictators. so we've seen a 15% rise in the price of wholesale gas. what's government going to do? we're going to have your back. we're going to expand the warm homes discount to protect vulnerable families. we're going to insulate and have energy efficiency for more homes. and we're going to ensure that the regulator is really tough with those companies. so we get best value for money for consumers. and the truth is, the most important thing we can do is stick to our clean power mission home—grown clean power that we control solar, wind, nuclear. that's the way we get off the rollercoaster of fossil fuel prices. that's the way we take back control of our energy security. >> okay. are you convinced? >> okay. are you convinced? >> well, taking back control of energy security off the rollercoaster of gas prices.

let's discuss it all with the labour mp for chesterfield, toby perkins. toby, thanks for joining us. people will be worried today. worried that energy prices have shown no sign of going down, up, up, up in the last three assessments. i mean, it's not going well. >> no it's not. i think miliband is absolutely right to say we will constantly be in the. hands of. >> the international. >> the international. >> markets until. >> markets until. >> we're. >> we're. >> more energy independent. and that's why the approach that he's taking of massively looking to increase the amount of renewable energy is, is absolutely the right one. because, you know, we will see increases. we will hopefully in other occasions see decreases. but what we won't see is any kind of control over it. and ultimately we need to get energy independent. and that's the. >> sort of toby, sorry to jump in here. i think you make a very. ed miliband makes a very good point about nuclear power. it's stable and consistent. we know what we're going to pay for it. that's all grand. but he's

talking about the volatility of gas prices. how are renewable energy generation sites which we all know are intermittent. you know sometimes the wind blows sometimes it doesn't. sometimes it's sunny, sometimes it's not. how is that intermittency in generation going to be anything other than chaotic for our pnces? >> well, i mean, i think everyone recognises that there will always be some element of, of gas that will continue to be needed, not not just up till 2050, but probably even after that. but it's about reducing our, the amount of that that we have to use. actually, one of the parts of the government's clean power 2030 programme is about massively increasing the amount of battery storage we have, because you're right that on occasions we can have a surplus of renewable energy and sometimes we haven't got enough. so actually increasing the battery storage makes us much better able to harvest that wind

and solar when it's plentiful and solar when it's plentiful and store it for the future. so there's a fivefold increase in there's a fivefold increase in the battery storage, but it's about reducing the dependence on oil and gas as we head towards complete clean power. so, you know, actually, it's a perfectly sensible approach. >> yeah. toby, i'm just wondering if the labour government and yourself believe that we're going to be dependent in one way or another on gas for many years to come. why is ed miliband so adamant that it's the right decision to shut off exploration in this country? >> well, i mean, in terms of the gas, you know, the amount that the of gas that we expect to be using in 20 by 2030 is down to around 5% of our energy mix. so it's about massively reducing that amount and actually increasing the amount of energy we generate ourselves that's grown, that's produced here in the uk through wind, through solar and through other

renewable technologies. >> yeah, it's just we do have quite a lot of gas under our feet and in the north sea still. and it's always a bad news story when the price of gas increases in the uk. you know, we i'm sure you've spoken to other broadcasters today. we read in the papers it's a bad news story. how do we manage this awful rise in the price of gas? other countries celebrate it. the uae celebrates it. saudi arabia celebrates it. qatar celebrates it. much of the united states celebrates it. why? because they're net gas exporters. the price of gas going up for those countries is a good thing. >> but ultimately it's a bad thing for the globe. if we continue to be overly reliant on fossil fuels. so there's two elements to this. the first is around the price. and ultimately, if we produce where we produce gas or oil, which we produce both of those, it goes into the global marketplace. the amount of gas and oil that we

produce is a relatively small amount in comparison to the global amount. so it doesn't bnng global amount. so it doesn't bring down prices for consumers, us having a little bit more. but there is, of course an economic benefit for the country if we end up selling that gas and oil. but it's far better for us to increase our independence by having more renewable, which is good for the planet but also good for the planet but also good for the planet but also good for our long term energy security. >> okay, well, it's going to have to happen quite quickly because there were big, bold pledges made by ed miliband and the rest of the government back dunng the rest of the government back during the election campaign. it would be nice to see those energy bills go down at some point. toby perkins, we'll have to leave it there. labour mp for chesterfield. appreciate your time. thank you very much. oh, dean >> yeah. no, let's move on now though, because clearly, how are the public reacting to this news? we can go live to manchester to speak with gb news, north—west of england reporter sophie reaper, who is on the ground with, with well, the people of this country. sophie, take it away.

>> good afternoon to you both. yes. you mentioned the people there. this is something that is extremely concerning for members of the public all over the uk. given the news this morning that our energy bills are predicted to rise, are set to rise, i should say by around £111 every single, every single year. sorry. so to talk a little bit about that, i'm joined. now, some of our viewers who are watching this morning might remember we spoke to landlord. she's joining us and we're also joined by one of her tenants, beth croft. beth, thank you so much for joining beth croft. beth, thank you so much forjoining us once again much for joining us once again this morning. we were speaking about the issues you're facing between balancing being fair to your tenants, but also you as a business owner. beth is one of your tenants. talk to us about about that balancing act. >> we make sure we make sure that we have a really good relationship with our tenants, and we want our tenants to talk to us if there's any problems in the property at all. and that's critical, i think, for the landlord tenant relationship.

and of course, when electricity pnces and of course, when electricity prices are going up by so much, it really affects our tenants and therefore it really affects it can really affect our properties. so beth and i have had quite a lot of contact over this last year about this really challenging subject. >> beth, i want to bring you in now because i know this time last year you were facing an issue, weren't you, with condensation in the flat and you didn't want to put your heating on because of the cost of it, but that gave you an issue in itself, didn't it? yeah. i mean, when i first noted the condensation, i did flag it, but i didn't want to put the heating on because the bills are already so high. i started putting it on for half an hour in the morning, half an hour in the evening, but it just wasn't enough. and again, that means that the bills are going up. more more outgoings for me. so i was trying to put it off as much as possible. and then that's when the mould really started 3021 00:17: