and i've you. i've got a panel and i've got guests. do not go anywhere. we have a lot to discuss. but before we get stuck in, let's cross live and give you the latest news headlines. >> hello there. the latest headunes >> hello there. the latest headlines from the gb news centre. the reform mp rupert lowe has tonight been suspended from the party amid a number of bullying allegations. reform uk chairman zia yusuf confirmed the party had received complaints from two female employees about serious bullying. the complaints relate to allegations of workplace bullying and the targeting of female staff who raised concerns with reform say that the police have also been made aware of two other allegations that the chairman of the party was threatened by the mp on two separate occasions. in a statement this evening, mr

lowe said he was disappointed but not surprised to learn of what he said were false allegations. the metropolitan police has confirmed tonight that it received complaints of verbal threats made by a 67 year old man, and officers are carrying out an assessment to determine what further action may be required. we'll have lots more on this story, of course, throughout the evening on gb news now. donald trump says he's working hard to get a ukraine peace deal as soon as possible. the president was speaking in the white house after another major wave of russian attacks on its neighbour overnight. mr trump said that the ukraine was taking tremendous punishment and a peace deal was urgently needed. >> i want to settle the war. get it finished, because if i'm not here, nobody's going to settle it. and president macron has said that, and every president,

everybody said that the prime ministers and presidents. we're pushing very hard. that's all i'm thinking about now, as far as the question about security later, that's the easy part. the hard part is getting it settled. we got to get them. members of a russian run spy ring are facing lengthy jail terms for one of the largest and most complex enemy operations to be uncovered on uk soil. the three bulgarian nationals were found guilty at the old bailey of spying on an industrial scale and putting lives and national security at risk. well, commander dominic murphy, of the head of the metropolitan police counter—terror command, details the threat they posed. >> everything we've discovered the threat was quite broad, in fact. so, yes, they were gathering information, what you might call lifestyle surveillance against individuals here in the uk. my concern has always been, though, what was that lifestyle surveillance going to lead to.7 and we have

seen a long history of the russian state conducting operations here in the united kingdom, including lethal threat operations like the investigation in salisbury. so deeply worrying about the physical and information challenges created. >> the independent office for police conduct has reopened its investigation into previous assaults by nottingham killer valdo calocane, following representations from the victims families. the alleged assaults took place just a month before calocane killed ian coates, barnaby webber and grace o'malley—kumar. okay, you're right up to date with the latest gb news headlines. now a gb news special with michelle dewberry. looking at all of the fallout from the allegations against reform mp rupert lowe. >> 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/alerts. >> thank you very much for that, mark. and yes indeed a jury bonus. our what a friday treat. they don't make them like this very irregularly, do they? i am michelle dewberry and i am keeping you company for the next houn keeping you company for the next hour. as we look at the whole fallout, the goings on of the situation within reform uk, i've got the panel alongside me, the broadcaster and writer charlie downs and the former adviser to jeremy corbyn, james schneider alongside me. good evening gents, and each and every single one of you are very welcome indeed to join the conversation indeed to join the conversation in all the usual ways. you can email me gb views @gbnews. com you can go to the website at gbnews.com/yoursay. of course you can tweet or you can x me settle down and get comfortable while we try and make sense, if we can, of what on earth is

going on to help us along the way. our political editor, christopher hope joins me now. good evening. christopher. er, where do we even begin? bring the viewers up to speed, if you will. >> where we are right now is that the reform uk party, which is ahead in the polls, has lost a fifth of its mps in the house of commons. they had five mps. now they're down to four. that's because rupert lowe, one of their senior, one of the four mps, has had the whip suspended. he has lost the right to be a reform uk mp. he's the same as jeremy corbyn, if you like, in the house of commons. i'm sure james would like that reference. he's an independent mp in the house of commons, and that's because a massive civil war has broken out in this challenger party tonight. very briefly, he's been accused of serious bullying. there's a picture of him now on the screen and making two threats of physical violence against the chairman, zia yusuf.

thatis against the chairman, zia yusuf. that is now a police matter. the met police have issued a statement saying that on the 6th of march, that was yesterday, it received an allegation of verbal threats made by a 67 year old man back on friday, the 13th of december. officers are now carrying out an assessment of the allegations to determine what further action may be required. lowe has been at loggerheads with his leader, nigel farage, over the party's leadership. according to the party, he's been accused by two female employees of serious bullying in both his parliamentary and his constituency office out in great yarmouth. the complaints, which apparently include derogatory remarks about women and making reference to a perceived disability. they have been taken to the parliamentary authorities. lee anderson and lee anderson, who's the chief whip, and zia yusuf. they've appointed an independent king's counsel to review this. and they say that lowe is not helped to

work with the police. they say in a statement tonight they stand for the highest standards of conduct in public office, and they will apply these standards without fear or . without fear or. favour, including within their own party. now rupert lowe, for his part, is a very rich businessman. he says he's disappointed but not surprised to read these false and untrue allegations. he wants to be abundantly clear. this investigation, this investigation, this investigation is based on zero credible evidence against him and has been repeatedly stated, he says, by the neutral investigator, the allegations of physical threats are outrageous and entirely untrue. he says he's never made derogatory comments about or those comments about women or those with disabilities. that's a lie, he says. these allegations are not even referring to him. he says legal advice. says he's seeking legal advice. it's no surprise, he says, that this vexatious statement has been released after his reasonable and constructive questions about nigel farage and his reform structure. we cover those at length. on gb news

yesterday, he had no warning of the release of these statements on twitter tonight. all he wants, he says, is for communication in the party to improve delegation, to improve structure, to improve. he says. these are reasonable requests, he says, for a party that purports to form the next government, he stands by every word he says. he's been looking for reform within reform with zero success for many months. he says he's been cut out of meetings, policy discussions, press conferences and many, many more. he repeats he wants better communication within the party. honestly, he's tried. he says he's he says members voters deserve so much more from this challenger party, he says to reform supporters of his personally, he says stay within the party. they want to win the next election. there is no choice in fighting, only serves their enemies if you want to. if they want to kick me out over false claims, he says they'll have to find some credible evidence against him. a complete

inability to accept even the most mild , constructive most mild, constructive criticism without such a malicious reaction is . not malicious reaction is. not effective leadership. this is our party, says rupert lowe, as much as it is nigel farage. isn't it just finally, the people who are delighted by this chaotic ending to a working week in westminster are these this party's rivals, notably the labour party and the conservative party? there's a statement from the conservative party tonight and they have been made very, very clear. they think that rupert lowe has been hung out to dry. they are saying if these allegations are true and serious, as they claim, reform would remove the whip. well, they have done reform wo