>>a >> a very, very. >>— >> a very, very. >> good afternoon to you. >> good afternoon to you. >> it's 3:00 pm and welcome. >> it's 3:00 pm and welcome. >> to the. >> to the. >> martin daubney show here on gb news. >> of course a broadcasting for. >> of course a broadcasting for. >> you live from the heart of westminster and all. >> across. >> across. >> the uk. on today's show, has the prime minister finally read. >> the room.7 >> the room.7 >> we will cut our spending on development assistance, moving from 0.5% of gnp today to 0.3% in 2027. >> yesterday. >> yesterday. >> sir. >> sir. >> keir starmer committed. >> keir starmer committed. >> to increasing defence spending to 2.5% by 2027. now, to pay for it, he pledged to make the difficult choice to cut foreign aid. is this common

sense policy a bid to muzzle reform? and might donald trump demand? britain pays 5% later this week. anyway, despite reform uk being met by a masked antifa thugs in cornwall last night, as you can see on your screen, look at the state of them. a new poll has declared that nigel farage is britain's most popular political leader, with the prime minister's popularity falling faster than a mike amesbury constituent. i'll be joined in the studio by the red wall rottweiler. and that, of course, is lee anderson. and a granny from stockport had two thoughts. police officers bang on her front door after a complaint about a private facebook post, where she demanded that a labour councillor resigned. while on today's show i'll be joined by that granny helen joyce, who calls this a chilling clampdown on free speech. and the environment secretary, steve reed, was today heckled, as you can see on your screen by protesters as they took to the stage at the national farmers

union. mr reed said sorry to british farmers, but he's dug in on labour's inheritance tax rate. on today's show, i'll be joined by a farmer who says it's time to up the ante. and that's all coming up in your next hour. so today, sir keir starmer appeared to wear the clothes of nigel farage. in fact, he directly replicated some reform uk policies. as i'll set out dunng uk policies. as i'll set out during the show. increase in defence 2.5% by year three, then 3% within six years. that's exactly the same as the reform policy to increase spending to 2.5% by 2027, and then 3%, and also pledging more or less halve foreign aid. that, again, is the same policy as reform. now, they say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but is this what right wing. is it

far right? is it dangerous? well, suddenly keir starmer is wearing the clothes of nigel farage. will it be enough to convince you to vote for the labour party? let me know. gbnews.com/yoursay. now is your headunes gbnews.com/yoursay. now is your headlines with sophia wenzler chris billam—smith? >> martin. >> martin. >> thank you. good afternoon. >> thank you. good afternoon. >> it'sjust >> thank you. good afternoon. >> it's just gone. >> it's just gone. >> 3:00. >> 3:00. >> these are. >> these are. >> your headlines. >> your headlines. >> sir keir starmer has announced a major. >> plan to increase defence spending. >> to. >> to. >> 2.5% of. >> 2.5% of. >> gdp by. >> gdp by. >> 2027. calling it the biggest sustained. >> increase since. >> increase since. >> increase since. >> the cold war. but to fund. >> the cold war. but to fund. >> it, the aid budget will be. >> it, the aid budget will be. >> slashed from. >> slashed from. >> 0.5% to 0.3% of national. >> 0.5% to 0.3% of national. >> income. sparking backlash from. charities who warn of. >> devastating consequences. >> devastating consequences. >> the institute for fiscal. studies disputes. >> starmer's claim. >> starmer's claim. >> that defence will rise. >> that defence will rise. >> by 13.4. >> by 13.4. >> million a year, saying. >> million a year, saying. >> the truth. >> the truth. >> truth will. >> truth will. >> increase is closer to 6 billion. the ifs is. >> warning that if defence

spending. goes beyond. >> 2.5%, further cuts or. >> 2.5%, further cuts or. >> tax rises. >> tax rises. >> may be needed. the prime minister says the move is needed to counter vladimir putin and uncertainty over us support, ahead of talks with donald trump this week. >> starting today, i can announce this government will begin the biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of the cold war. the. we will deliver our commitment to spend 2.5% of gdp on defence, but we will bring it forward so that we reach that level in 2027. >> here, here. >> here, here. >> and we will maintain that for the rest of this parliament. >> now, energy bills. >> now, energy bills. >> are set to rise again, with ofgem confirming a higher than expected increase of more. than £100 a year from april. the 2.4% 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, and they warn the increase will hit struggling families the hardest. meanwhile, the government says it is extending aid, with nearly 3 million more households set to get help with their energy bills next winter under new government plans. the proposals would. >> expand the. >> 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. energy secretary ed miliband says expanding the discount will help protect millions of families from rising costs.

however, deputy. leader of the liberal democrats daisy cooper told us 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. >> in other news, members of an organised criminal gang have been convicted of forcing migrants into working in cannabis farms across england. the gang smuggled dozens of vietnamese nationals into the uk on small boats and in the backs of lorries. the migrants were then made to work on illegal drugs farms, in often squalid conditions, to pay off their debts to the smuggling gangs. our home security editor, mark white, has the details. >> on a residential street in hartlepool. police forced their

way into a suspected cannabis farm. >> i know you don't fully. understand me, but we'll get a translator as soon as possible, okay. >> arresting a vietnamese man looking after this criminal enterprise. within seconds, officers find the first room with dozens of immature plants. >> wow. >> wow. >> right next door. another room stuffed full of plants. the stench of cannabis is overwhelming. >> oh, wow. >> oh, wow. >> this is just one of dozens of cannabis farms in the west midlands, derbyshire, cheshire, teesside and london. the national crime agency investigators identified as they smashed a criminal racket of in forced labour. >> listen to me. at this time you are under arrest for the cultivation of cannabis. >> this is one of those gang members, taswir hussein, outside a cannabis farm in east london. four vietnamese nationals were found inside. like so many others, they'd been smuggled into the uk and forced to pay

off their debt to the traffickers by working in the farms for little to no money. the six members of this gang, who exploited and threatened dozens of migrants to work for them, will be sentenced in july. mark white gb news. >> and the bbc has issued a pubuc >> and the bbc has issued a public apology after a review revealed missed opportunities to address concerns over former radio 1 dj tim westwood's conduct. while the report found no widespread knowledge of serious allegations, the broadcaster admits it fell short of its values, apologising to those affected and promising changes to prevent future failures. westwood, who strongly denies all allegations, was accused of creating a toxic work environment during his time at the bbc. the £3.3 million review also outlined steps the bbc has already taken to tackle bullying and harassment. those are the latest gb news headlines. now it's back to martin.

>> 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. >> malcolm grimston. >> malcolm grimston. >> thank you sophie. now let's crack on with the show because keir starmer is to cut the uk's foreign aid budget in order to boost defence spending by 2.5% of gdp by 2027. now, the prime minister said the government will deliver the biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of the cold war era. but it can only be funded by diverting resources from elsewhere. let's remind you of the moment of that announcement earlier today. >> we will cut our spending on development assistance, moving from 0.5% of gnp today to 0.3% in 2027. >> well, let's speak now with gb news political editor,

christopher hope. chris, welcome to the show. so a lot of people are saying this is a whiff of common sense, the kind of policy that might tempt the red wall voters to vote for the labour party, except chris hope, they bear more than a passing similarity to the exact same announcements made by the reform 1560