here's dan poulter explaining his defection to the bbc�*s laura kuenssberg.ficult to look my nhs colleagues in the eye, my patients in the eye, and my constituents in the eye, with good conscience. and ifeel that the nhs deserves better than it has at the moment, in terms of how it is run and governed. the party i was elected into valued public services. it valued... it had a compassionate view about supporting the more disadvantaged in society. i think the conservative party today is in a very different place. its focus is not on delivering or supporting high quality public services. our political correspondent georgia roberts has more on the reaction to dan poulter�*s defection. yes, a big headache for rishi sunak this weekend, overshadowing the final weekend of campaigning ahead of the local elections which many polls suggest are going to be rocky for the conservatives and defections aren't common, often signalling bad feelings or something wrong in political parties and as well as dan poulter�*s criticisms on the nhs, he also talked about the conservative

let's have a listen to the home office minister, chris phelps, speaking to laura kuenssberg about dan poulter'sell, i don't accept what dan is saying at all. he talks about the nhs as a priority. the nhs was one of two departments that was protected during the years of spending restraint after the labour government bankrupted the country. we are now spending £165 billion on the nhs, a 13% increase above inflationjust over the last four or five years alone. injust the last year, the nhs has hired an extra 68,000 people of whom 7,000 are doctors, a net increase, and there are 21,000 more nurses today than there were a year ago. that isn't a sign of a party deprioritising the nhs, it's the sign of a political party, the conservatives, investing heavily in our nhs because it is a priority. in his defence of the conservatives' record, chris philp was backed up by his colleague, the former immigration minister robertjenrick who was speaking on the panel with laura kuenssberg and said dan poulter's comments were clearly wrong but that defection is clearly a big boom for the labour party ahead of local

has decided to join us not pleased that dan poulter has decided tojoin us on not pleased that dan poultero join us on this journey and dan poulter says he would like to see an election happen now. it is not about to, i don't think. the expectation sill is that the general election will probably be towards the autumn. he intends to stay in parliament. there is no requirement to have a by—election if there is a defection like this will stop he will now be sitting on labour's ranks. �* ., ., , will now be sitting on labour's ranks. �* . ., , ., , ., , ranks. and already the conservatives are facin: ranks. and already the conservatives are facing mass _ ranks. and already the conservatives are facing mass numbers _ ranks. and already the conservatives are facing mass numbers of - ranks. and already the conservatives are facing mass numbers of their- ranks. and already the conservatives l are facing mass numbers of their mps choosing not to stand at the next election for various reasons. which auain, is election for various reasons. which again, is indicative _ election for various reasons. wh

so, a lot of these things, i'm sure it's been happening in dan poulter�*s head and dan poulter�*s heartthere may be lots of things that were going on behind the scenes where it was a near—miss or whatever that we don't know about yet. but certainly in terms of their public achievement, it is a political and public coup for labour at the moment. but, you know, sometimes these things, sometimes what seems initially great successes in politics, before too long, actually turn into looking like something else. shall we listen to the man himself? well, i've been thinking about it for a little while. and it was... alongside my work as an mp, i still work as an nhs doctor and always have done. the health service that i saw under huge strain is very different to the health service of maybe a decade ago, and the struggles and the challenges that patients have been experiencing in accessing timely good care was something that really resonated with me and stayed with me. and i found it increasingly difficult to look my nhs colleagues in the eye, my patients in the eye and my constituents in the eye

>> well, lots of conservative mps have been murmuring that perhaps dan poulter just knows what side hisread is buttered and wants to defect to labour as quickly as possible to avoid going down with the ship. >> that said, poulter has a huge majority in his ipswich and suffolk constituency. a majority of 23,000 now. that's not a complete guarantee that he would be safe at the next election, but you know, it's not something that would be worth defecting to. labour to for on its own. as for his reasons behind the defection, i've heard conservatives argue, too, that actually labour is now probably best placed to deal with the nhs, mainly because labour can do the sort of reforms that would be impossible for the conservative to do, because there would be cries of privatisation . the nhs has privatisation. the nhs has become a really, really toxic issue for the conservatives whereas wes streeting, the shadow health secretary, has made all sorts of pronouncements for what he would do with the nhs , which the tories would nhs, which the tories would never be able to do. so you know , there is a

pleased that dan poulter has decided to join us on this journey and dan poulter says he would like to it is not about to, i don't think. the expectation still is that the general election will probably be towards the autumn. he intends to stay in parliament. there is no requirement to have a by—election if there is a defection like this but he will now be sitting in labour's ranks. and already the conservatives are facing mass numbers of their mps choosing not to stand at the next election for various reasons. which again, is indicative of a political cycle. i think it is about 70 have decided they would rather do other things after the next election, whoever wins. i think defections like this often seem to symbolise a moment as well. they are quite rare. this is the third defection from the conservative party that we have had since 2019. christian wakeford left the tories in 2022 when borisjohnson was still prime minister, during the partygate scandal. he switched to labour. just last month, lee anderson, former deputy chair of the party, was suspended and then went to join reform uk

keir starmer said it was fantastic to welcome dan poulter to the party.s the sort of thing that was happening in the 1990s, i mean, people may not remember but there was a former tory minister called alan howarth who defected to tony blair's labour party in 1995, shaun woodward, the better—known defection, that was actually after labour got into government. but all the traffic was in that direction at that time and the same thing seems to be happening again, and that will add to labour's confidence about the coming election. and we've got big local elections coming up in just a few days�* time. obviously, we don't know what is going to happen there, but if they are as bad for the tories as some are anticipating, does that again, combined with this, call rishi sunak�*s leadership into question in the coming weeks? i don't think so because i think the general election is not far away, whatever happens, i mean, it is going to be by the end of this year. conservative mps are divided into two groups. one group who recognise that it would just make the party ev

dan poulter has soken to just happened? dan poulter has spoken to laura _ just happened? has| spoken to laura kuenssberg and just happened? dan poulter has - spoken to laura kuenssberg and the full interview will be on bbc one tomorrow morning. it is a huge blow for rishi sunak. this is the first defection from the tories to labour that has happened on his watch since he became prime minister. dr poulter, who serves as still as a working mental health dr in the nhs, has decided that now is the time to cross the floor and join the labour party. he says he has no animosity to rishi sunak but feels the country needs an election now and says labour and needs an election now and says labourand keir needs an election now and says labour and keir starmer would be trusted to run the nhs and the country. he says he could no longer look people in the eye and stay on as a conservative. he feels that the tory party today is not focusing on delivering or supporting high quality public services. that is what he is saying. it will be a big blow to number ten, no doubt about that at all.

dan poulter told me that he had been thinking about it for the last couple of months.circle has been tiny because gossip isn'tjust the way of the world in westminster, it also has power and currency, right? who is talking to who and about what. so this is something that has been executed for the labour party, i think really quite, been executed by them very well but defections are so rare. partly because i think it is worth saying politics is a very emotional thing. it's very tribal, it's very emotional. to say to your colleagues, i've had enough of you, when you have walked through, think about what has happened in politics in the last ten years. it has been intense and crazy. they have walked through the fire together and actually to say, i've had enough of you, it's a really big deal. i mean, these things can be a more chaotic than they appear at the time. it looked incredibly smooth from the labour party yesterday. i remember when sort of subsequently, digging into the last defection, the christian wakeford one, which again looked pretty smooth on the day, they got

pleased that dan poulter has decided to join us on this journey and dan poulter says he would like to to, i don't think. the expectation still is that the general election will probably be towards the autumn. he intends to stay in parliament. there is no requirement to have a by—election if there is a defection like this but he will now be sitting in labour's ranks. and already the conservatives are facing mass numbers of their mps since we spoke to ben, the conservatives have issued a statement about mr poulter�*s defection. it says... let's get more from john rentoul, chief political commentator at the independent. good to see you, john. how big a blow is this for the tories? defections of the hard currency of politics and they don't happen very often and when they do, they are, as you were saying there with ben, they are designed to wound. so, yes, it is damaging. personally, i am surprised it has taken so long. there has only been one conservative to labour defection in this parliament so far and that is christian wakefield who defected some time ago, 2022, i think it was. and i w

dog says i'm resident out in dan poulter's constituency . in dan poulter's constituency.e mp who's defected to labour. the tories defected to laboun labour. the tories defected to labour. he's not liked by the locals , especially when he locals, especially when he blocked a much needed northern bypass , anyway, it goes on and bypass, anyway, it goes on and on and on, but not a fan of dan poulter , which is interesting poulter, which is interesting because obviously he's an mp who actually i mean, he also works in the health service and who has been very critical of the government for quite some time now. this isn't sort of out of the blue, it would seem . he's the blue, it would seem. he's not really, chiming with his, tory constituents anyway. >> yeah . and i wonder how the >> yeah. and i wonder how the constituents feel, considering they they voted tory and now they they voted tory and now they have a labour mp . they have a labour mp. >> yeah. do let us know what you think about that. >> if you live in ipswich or suffolk . suffolk. >> yeah, it's an interesting one. but

for dan poulter, the answer to that is now labour.t, bbc news. honduras is grappling with an epidemic of violence towards women, with the united nations warning of a femicide emergency. in 2022, six out of every 100,000 women in the central american country were killed because of their gender — and this figure is thought to be increasing. our latin america reporter mimi sway—bee has more. honduras is experiencing a femicide emergency, according to the united nations. with at least 66 women murdered so far this year, the country has the highest rate of femicide in latin america, and that's alongside some of the most restrictive laws against reproductive health, including a complete ban on abortion. in 2021, xiomara castro became the first female president of honduras, generating high hopes for change in attitude towards women. she promised to not fail them to defend their rights and that all women could count on her. however, little has changed. as in 2023, around 380 femicides were recorded, according to the observatory of violence of

for dan poulter, the answer to that is now labour.ot to do the same. helen catt, bbc news. the home office says it's entering the "final phase" of putting its rwanda policy into practice. a report in the guardian suggested detentions of asylum—seekers — ready for deportation — would begin on monday. a home office spokesperson said at some stage people would "inevitably" start being detained in preparation for the first flight, which is due to take off in 10 to 12 weeks. meanwhile, the irish prime minister has said foreign migration policies cannot be allowed to undermine those of ireland. simon harris said ireland "will not provide a loophole for anyone else's "migration challenges". his government'sjustice minister said there had been a rise in the number of people crossing from northern ireland to the republic of ireland. a uk government source said the uk "won't accept any asylum returns "from the eu via ireland" until the eu changes its policies. officials in kenya have warned about even heavier rainfall as downpours batter parts

for dan poulter, the answer to that is now labour.etre tall godzilla was projected on to buildings. the fictional radioactive monster is 70 years old this year. tourism bosses hope that projecting images of the beast onto buildings, in the shinjuku ward, will encourage visitors to flock to the area. �*digital godzilla' will be making three appearances a day at weekends and on national holidays. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. once again, we've had some really contrasting weather conditions across the country with a west—east divide. the best of the sunshine certainly in western areas, despite a few shower clouds brewing up through the afternoon. pleasant enough in morecambe, lancashire. different story to the east of the pennines, though. in leeds, an afternoon of heavy, persistent rain, blustery, cool winds as well. now, we're going to flip that while the story on its head into tomorrow, with the best of the sunshine out to the east. it will be a bright and breezy affair first thing in the morning. but this weather front

dan poulter has been the mp for central suffolk and north ipswich since the 2010 election.dicine as an nhs hospital doctor on a part—time basis. in an interview with laura kuenssberg, he confirmed he was defecting to labour. the prime minister under pressure. the doctor departing the tory tribe. dan poulter has been a doctor and a conservative mp for 1h years, but in that rare move, a political defection, he's quit and is joining labour too. i found it increasingly difficult to look my nhs colleagues in the eye, my patients in the eye, and my constituents in the eye with good conscience. and ifeel that the nhs deserves better than it has at the moment in terms of how its run and governed. since 2010, though, constituents in your suffolk home have chosen you, sent you to westminster as a conservative. some of them might be angry that you have left the party that they chose. what do you say to them? i thought about it and i thought, "well, what's the best thing or the right thing to do"? and on balance, i thought because there will be an election very, very soon. it makes sen

this morning _ these words from dan poulter this morning of— these words from dan poulter this morningat is politics _ place. thank you very much, george roberts. that is politics focused - place. thank you very much, george roberts. that is politics focused on | roberts. that is politics focused on westminster but elsewhere there is also lots of political stories do discuss. , ., ., also lots of political stories do discuss. , . ., , also lots of political stories do discuss. , . ., discuss. yes, and a bit of intrigue at the moment _ discuss. yes, and a bit of intrigue at the moment around _ discuss. yes, and a bit of intrigue at the moment around holyrood i discuss. yes, and a bit of intrigue| at the moment around holyrood at discuss. yes, and a bit of intrigue - at the moment around holyrood at the moment _ that's because scotland's first minister humza yousaf- faces a no confidence vote this week after ending a power—sharing deal- with the scottish greens. humza yousaf has reached out to opposition leaders - to find common ground — - but a source close to him says the first ministe

for dan poulter, the answer to that is now labour.ame. helen catt, bbc news. officials in kenya have warned about even heavier rainfall as downpours batter parts of east africa. more than 150 people have been killed in neighbouring tanzania, while hundreds of thousands have been displaced in burundi and uganda. there are also fears that five key dams on the tana river — kenya's longest — could overflow in the coming days, with people in affected areas advised to move to higher ground. these pictures are from kenya's makueni county south—east of nairobi — so far, at least 76 people have died there, with a further 130,000 displaced. meanwhile in tanzania, flood waters have engulfed houses in the capital dar es salaam and displaced more than 200,000 throughout the country. tanzania's prime minister has blamed "environmental degradation" for the severity of the damage. 0ur correspondent anita nkonge is in nairobi and gave us this update. we continue to see heavy rainfall this weekend. just last night, we saw such heavy rainfall here in ke

did labour offer any future bobbles to dan poulter get him to defect? he has been very clear that he is - poulter get him to defect? he has been very clear that he is going i been very clear that he is going back to the nhs full—time. he is not standing for parliament at the next election, this idea that he isjust abandoning the sinking conservative ship to save itself is nonsense. he has abandoned the conservative party to save the nhs. i think there are millions of conservative voters across the country feeling politically hopeless you can see the chaos and the failure to deliver of now five conservative prime ministers who are now looking for an alternative. i hope they will trust the doctor who has seen the conservative party up close in parliament and also the changed labour party up close in parliament and i hope they will give change a chance at the next general election by following dan poulter backing labour so we can get our nhs back on its feet and fit for the future, sort out our economy and get britain's future back. i sort out our economy

but anyway, so this is, this comes as ex—health minister dan poulter , announced minister dan poulter on saturday he was defecting from the tories to labour, and he urged mr sunak to call a general election as soon as possible. and i think, dan, you know, he's all like, i'm doing this because i'm so principled. no, you're doing it because you want a job after, you know, at the end of the year, like he's, you know, i can't look my constituents in the eye. no, you don't want to look people in the eye down at the job centre. you know you're going to lose your job as a tory so. >> well, although to be fair, he said he wasn't going to stand at the next election anyway, so he was never going to be a politician after the next election. >> i was going to dump you anyway. >> that's what he said. no, he'd already said it. i think there is. you know, it's not like, oh, did no one notice when i mentioned this before? he'd already said it. but, the line where he said he couldn't look his patients in the eye so he couldn't look his fellow workers in the nhs in the eye. now, do you not think. i thin

shadow health secretary wes streeting says doctor dan poulter has not been offered a peerage to defect to the labour party. speaking to gb news, camilla tominey, mr streeting defended the move and the nhs , admitting there are the nhs, admitting there are challenges in the health service but those are mainly down to the conservative party. conservative mp doctor dan poulter said he'd sit as a labour mp until the general election, then stand down. he described the nhs as being in chaos. the decision comes just days before local elections across england and wales on may the 2nd. the prime minister has again this morning refused to rule out a general election in july , amid election in july, amid speculation a disastrous set of local election results for the tories could force his hand, while the shadow health secretary told gb news this morning that doctor poulter isn't defecting to save his seat. rather, he's defecting to save the nhs . save the n hs. >> save the nhs. >> so there would be millions of people, disaffected conservative voters like dan poulter out there, who can see the cha

dan poulter has been speaking to laura kuenssberg. the prime minister under pressure.olleagues in the eye, my patients in the eye, and my constituents in the eye with good conscience. and i feel that the nhs deserves better than it has at the moment in terms of how its run and governed. since 2010, though, constituents in your suffolk home have chosen you, sent you to westminster as a conservative. some of them might be angry that you have left the party that they chose. what do you say to them? i thought about it and i thought, "well, what's the best thing or the right thing to do"? and on balance, i thought because there will be an election very, very soon. it makes sense to have a by—election. i thought, on balance, it was better to continue to work diligently for my constituents through until the end of this parliament. a conservative spokesperson said, "what dan says is wrong. sir keir starmer has no plan for our nhs under the conservatives. we are raising nhs funding to a record £165 billion a year, helping it recover from the effects of the pandemic and driving

british conservative mp dr dan poulter quits the party to join the opposition labour party. speaking to the bbc, he said the conservatives were no longerfocused on public services, and a general election was needed as soon as possible. ukraine says russia has carried out another air attack — narrowly missing a hospital. the us says it will "rush" patriot air defence missiles and ammunition to ukraine — president zelensky says they are "urgently" needed. hamas publishes a new video showing proof of life for two hostages in gaza. israel's foreign minister says it will defer the operation in rafah if a hostage deal is reached. and scotland's first minister seeks to save his political career, inviting leaders of other parties to talks — hoping to change their plans to oust him. humza yousaf insists he won't resign despite a week of political turmoil. hello and welcome to sportsday with me gavin ramjaun. a touchline spat between mo salah and jurgen klopp, and two points dropped at west ham in another disappointing day for liverpool. sheffield united are the first team relegated f

shadow health secretary wes streeting says doctor dan poulter has not been offered a peerage to defectnding doctor poulters decision, saying it shows only sir keir starmer can be trusted with the nhs . doctor. porter with the nhs. doctor. porter says he'll sit on the labour benches until the general election and then stand down. it comes just days before local elections across england and wales, and the pm refusing to rule out again this morning a general election in july. wes streeting says doctor poulter defected to save the nhs. >> there have been millions of people, disaffected conservative voters like dan porter out there, who can see the chaos and there, who can see the chaos and the conservative party see the failure to deliver and are looking at the alternative. and i'd ask those people to trust the doctor who seen the conservative party up close has seen the changed labour party of keir starmer up close, and has decided that ultimately we need a labour government in this country to get our nhs back on its feet, to turn the economy around and to make sure that we can look to th

here in the uk, senior conservatives have defended the prime minister after the tory mp, dan poulter,to labour. dr poulter — who also works for the nhs — accused the tories of no longer valuing public services. home office minister chris philp rejected the claim and said the government was spending more money than ever on the health service. our political correspondent georgia roberts reports. defections to other parties are fairly rare in uk politics but dan poulter says the conservatives are no longer the party he knew. i found it increasingly difficult to look my nhs colleagues in the eye, my patients in the eye and my constituents in the eye with good conscience, and i feel that the nhs deserves better than it has at the moment in terms of how its run and governed. a damaging blowjust days away from local elections. the government insisted the conservatives�* record on the nhs is a good one. i don't accept what dan is saying at all. he talked about the nhs as a priority. well, of course, the nhs was one of only two departments that was protected during those years of necessary spe

dan poulter says his former party is no longer focused on public services.e's allies to provide more air defences. and police have moved in to break up a pro—palestinian protest at northeastern university in boston. officials say 100 people were detained. we'll have the latest. hello, i'm samantha simmonds. we start in the middle east, where israel's foreign minister has said that his country's planned military incursion into rafah in gaza could be suspended if there is a deal to secure the release of the remaining hostages held by hamas. this comes after egyptian mediators arrived in israel with local media reporting there's been notable progress in finding common ground. in the last few hours, it's also been announced that

but i think that he he has i mean, basically, nobody knows dan poulter and they may knows dan poulterow the name. they may know he's a doctor , but he doesn't he's a doctor, but he doesn't turn up anywhere for the sort of parliamentary proceedings for which he was elected to perform , which he was elected to perform, he's a mysterious figure who spends more of his time pursuing his other role as a national health service doctor, which may be perfectly honourable if he isn't trying to be a politician representing his constituents. at the same time, i just think that this man is a fraud. he's been a fraud. i think right the way through his position as a laboun way through his position as a labour, a tory mp, and he's now returning to his normal natural right home in the labour party. now of course, as you'll understand, trevor, he's not here to defend himself. >> he would argue that he follows his principles. he did that when he backed the tories . that when he backed the tories. and he now does that as he backs laboun and he now does that as he backs labour. but you're entitled to your

the shadow etc deny speculation might�*ve also offered dan poulter any other inducements.bout how he might help, going back to the nhs full—time when parliament is dissolved which cannot come soon enough as far as we're concerned. dr poulter said the labour party had a "track record" of improving the nhs and that sir keir starmer could be "trusted" with the health service. his defection from the conservatives is the third since 2019. you're live with bbc news. officials in kenya have warned about even heavier rainfall as downpours flood parts of east africa. more than 150 people have been killed in neighbouring tanzania, while hundreds of thousands have been displaced in burundi and uganda. there is also growing concern that dams on kenya's longest river — the tana — could overflow in the coming days. these pictures are from kenya's makueni county south east of nairobi. so far, at least 76 people have died there and 130,000 have been displaced. our correspondent anita nkonge is in nairobi with more. we continue to see heavy rainfall this weekend. just last night, we saw su

what i found amusing about dan poulter's statement . he said the poulter's statement.the conservatives have become a nationalist party of the right . nationalist party of the right. i mean, arguably the most left wing government of all time. i mean, cameron's a—list obsession with diversity , proud of he was with diversity, proud of he was so proud of gay marriage as his main thing. higher immigration numbers than even tony blair dared to try. you know, diversity built britain coin highest taxes since the 40s by some metrics. what is right wing? what is conservative? david, tony blair actually tried to get those numbers down before. so saying that he was going for higher numbers isn't is actually false . he. is actually false. he. >> no, no, i'm i'm saying the same point as you i'm saying the tories have gone i've had higher immigration than even blair would dare to do or would have done. >> but no, but the idea is that it almost feels like you're trying to say that he would have wanted more when actually he didn't want more. >> no, i'm saying because someone said it t

the tory mp doctor dan poulter, he , mp doctor dan poulter, he, defected to the labour party over the long story over the weekend, long story short, he is a doctor. he was talking about . you know, i want talking about. you know, i want to be able to look my colleagues in the eye, so on and so forth. he then went on to say things like the tories, are a nationalist party of the uk . you nationalist party of the uk. you see, you know, eddie's had no problem looking his colleagues in the eye for the last god knows how many years. but i found it 14. yeah, i found it quite fascinating that now there's an election coming up because he's not going to stand again. i need to make that point clear. he wants to apparently focus on his work, all of a sudden he's got this thing that he can't look his colleagues in the eye. bit weird, but do you think you should be able to defect in this way because his constituents voted in a tory mp? yes. >> i think in the modern age, if you are elected in this country with a couple of very rare exceptions of which i don't think even dan would pretend to be one,

concern mp doctor dan poulter defected, saying the tories are now a nationalist party of the right doctorter said he'd sit as a labour mp until the general election , then stand down. his election, then stand down. his decision is another to blow the prime minister's authority. just days before the party faces local elections across england and wales on the 2nd of may. meanwhile, mr sunak has again this morning refused to rule out a general election in july amid speculation a disastrous set of local election results for the tories could force his hand. political commentator peter spencer says things could not be worse for the prime minister >> it is confidently predicted that the conservatives will lose hundreds and hundreds of seats and possibly two metro mayors, so we've been hearing in recent days about how sunak has had a reset, a yet another reset , reset, a yet another reset, sorting out welfare reforms and getting the lander through and increasing defence spending. but all that will just be blown right out of the water come friday, when the sums have been done and the tories realis

the shadow health secretary says doctor dan poulter has not been offered a peerage to defect from the. wes streeting is defending doctor poulter's decision, saying it shows only sir keir starmer can be trusted with the nhs . doctor. poulter with the nhs. doctor. poulter says he'll sit on the labour benches until the next general election and then stand down comes just days before local elections across england and wales. and the prime minister this morning refused to rule out a general election in july. wes streeting says doctor poulter defected to save the nhs. >> there have been millions of people, disaffected conservative voters like dan poulter out there, who can see the chaos, and the conservative party see the failure to deliver and are looking at the alternative . and looking at the alternative. and i'd ask those people to trust the doctor who's seen the conservative party up close. >> well, that's the labour view. policing minister chris philp is defending the government's handung defending the government's handling of the nhs, pointing to record levels of spending just in the

dan poulter, who is defected to laboun do poulter, who is defected to labour. do you have any. my understanding is he's done this because he thinks the tories have failed on the nhs. do you think that's it, or is he just running because he knows that he's on the losing team at the moment. >> what do you think? i wonder whether he's running because he's on the losing team. but it begs a bigger question about other tories. and as you say, how left wing they are, right? what other parties they might change to. >> yeah, i mean it's kind of reminiscent. do you remember change uk . yes. do you remember change uk. yes. do you remember that. yeah. >> oh yeah. >> oh yeah. >> just sort of ran over to this imaginary party and then they all just well, well then the imaginary party died in the 2019 election because nobody voted for them . for them. >> and i, dan poulter, isn't it? yes. i just don't i when i see anything like this, i think what do his constituents think the people that elected him in the first place, who voted it in a local council, conservative mp and now he's gone? well i'

yeah. certainly, dan poulter. yeah. saying that, you know, he works as an nhs doctor.so he got to a point that he couldn't look his constituents and colleagues in the eye. superb katherine forster great as ever. >> and viewers there would have seen pictures of sir keir starmer walking around with dan poulter pointing, probably saying where are the journalists 7 saying where are the journalists ? the journalists are all, documenting the spectacular downfall of humza yousaf. look, there was sir keir starmer. look, where are the journalists? i'm afraid they're all in edinburgh . thank you catherine. edinburgh. thank you catherine. excellent as ever. we'll have loads more on that story throughout the show of course, and there's plenty of coverage on our website, gbnews.com. and you've helped to make it the fastest growing national news website in the country. so thank you very much. now summer is just around the corner allegedly, and we want to make it sizzle for you with an incredible £20,000 in cash up for grabs in the newest , latest for grabs in the newest, latest grea

this, of course, following the defection of doctor dan poulter , defection of doctor dan poulter, a formerunak be gone in weeks with a new tory leader offering a more conservative policy agenda? let's get the views of tonight's newsmaker, ann widdecombe and great to see you as always. as a former long standing conservative mp yourself, you know how this party ticks . do know how this party ticks. do you think the knife will be wielded after this week's local elections? >> well, normally i would say do you know. of course not. don't be silly, they would be absolutely mad to have yet another, leadership bloodbath thatis another, leadership bloodbath that is what i would normally say. but the fact is, they have proved that they don't act in the same way that they're perfectly capable of doing that. and therefore, if you want me to say no, there are no circumstance under which they would wield the knife, i can no longer say it. i mean, i think it is completely irrational. they're not going to change their fortunes by changing their leader yet again. nobody is going to be taken in by a whole se

for dan poulter, the answer to that is now labour.n favour of freedom of speech. the australian government has been urging social media platform x to pull down videos of the bishop's attack. for us to say that free speech is dangerous, _ for us to say that free speech is dangerous, it cannot be possible in a democratic country, i'm yet to fathom — a democratic country, i'm yet to fathom this. i'm yet to fathom this. the grand final of one of the world's biggest competitive gaming competitions is under way in birmingham, where one team of professional gamers will win £800,000 in prize money. the esl 0ne tournament sees teams from all over the world compete in multiplayer role play arena game, dota 2. andrew rogers, from radio 1's newsbeat, is at the tournament. he joins us live now. good to see you. just tell how big this event is popular great to see you. things havejust wrapped up recently. that you. things have 'ust wrapped up recentl . �* ., recently. at the huge event, to answer question. _ recently. at the huge event, to answer q

are still in the fight. >> so he can't meet. >>— >> so he can't meet. >> do we have actual the dan poultereb . poulter speaking, to the beeb. >> the party he was elected into valued public services. it valued public services. it valued it had a compassionate view about supporting the more disadvantaged in society, i think the conservative party today is in a very different place. it's focus is not on delivering or supporting high quality public services. >> well, i'll tell you what. rat down a drain pipe springs to mind for me, because clearly he's getting on aboard the labour boat before the tory one goes, doolally. and down the plughole , i'm afraid. plughole, i'm afraid. >> well, i don't think it will go down, but, i mean, i struggle when i hear dan say that because i think you struggle a lot. it's unden i think you struggle a lot. it's under. it's under this guy. i struggle with you. but i think, look, it's under this government that it's dealt with some of the backlogs, backlogs in the nhs. okay. it's a government that has invested more than ever before invested more than ever before