deputy pm dowden: i know what an important piece of work this is, deputy pm dowden: i know what an importantfriend's commitment to campaigning for it. we have already provided substantial sums, and i am sure we will continue to do so. >> >> mr. seasons. >> thank you, mr. speaker. as the chair of the scottish arm of feeding britain, may i thank you, mr. speaker, and those on the front benches for their tributes to the great frank field? he chaired an all-party parliamentary inquiry 10 years ago on food poverty, and food bank use has increased relentlessly since then. so can i ask the government to consider in frank field's , memory, a cross-sector summit with the aim of helping communities to secure the resources to deliver food security programmes at the necessary scale? deputy pm dowden: i join the honorable gentleman in paying tribute to lord frank field's campaigning. it is actually the case that over the past couple of years, we have provided more than £108 billion-worth of support with the cost of living, including extra cost of living payments of £900 last year. the effect of all that

tell us more of what we heard from mr dowden. mr dowden. there has been a lot of discussion in _ mr dowden. there has been a lot of discussion in the _ mr dowden. there has been a lot of discussion in the uk _ mr dowden. there has been a lot of discussion in the uk about - mr dowden. there has been a lot of discussion in the uk about whetherl discussion in the uk about whether british companies should still be allowed to sell arms to israel, and that has heightened after the strike on the convoy of aid workers. oliver dowden, the deputy prime minister was pressed on this this morning. when you british company wants to sell arms, they have to have a licence from the government and it gets assessed against a number of criteria, some of which include the uk's obligations under international law and the risk that those products, those arms will be used to violate human rights. there have been questions over whether that should still apply for israel. the deputy prime minister oliver dowden was pressed on this this morning and said he

i'll be asking deputy prime i'll be asking the deputy prime minister, dowden, his minister, oliver dowden, for his thoughts the turmoil thoughts on all the tory turmoil with the cabinet currently split on and prime on israel and former prime ministers david cameron and bods ministers david cameron and boris poles apart on boris johnson. poles apart on the i'll be asking former the issue, i'll be asking former foreign minister tobias ellwood whether still be whether we should still be selling arms to israel in light of the death this week of three british aid workers in gaza. i'll also be speaking to tony blair's former political secretary, john mctiernan. as the poll suggests, labour the latest poll suggests, labour is win mammoth is on course to win a mammoth 400 does he think we're 400 seats. does he think we're going witness a 1997 style going to witness a 1997 style landslide? author and landslide? feminist author and journalist julie bindel will be sharing her thoughts on the arrest, threats facing jk rowling over her gender critical views in scotland, and whether the government has

the deputy prime minister, oliver dowden, has been answering questions on gaza.watching. the question was, for oliver dowden, specifically about what the advice, the legal advice, that the government had been given on whether israel was acting within international law, and of course that will have an impact on uk arms sales to israel, which have become a very, very live political issue here in the uk. so the deputy prime minister, as you say, oliver dowden, interviewed on sunday with laura kuenssberg here on the bbcjust a short while ago. here is what he had to say. have specific concerns about different areas of israel's conduct. we are raising those concerns with israel. by the way, it is so important to remember this, we have gone from the horrors of six months ago to holding israel to extraordinary high standards. it is right that we do so and it is right that we raise these concerns where we say, "look, what will you are doing "in respect of not getting aid in, or what you are doing in respect "of your targeting raises concerns for us, and we need "you to en

oliver dowden who's in germany.th a joke aimed at the labour deputy's tax affairs, suggesting she might claim the house of commons as her main residence. on the matter of defence, however, mr dowden said labour had been silent on whether it backs investment in the armed forces investment in the armed forces in an increasingly dangerous world. >> the prime minister was able to announce his plan for the biggest strength of defence spending in a generation , but it spending in a generation, but it should come as no surprise that the party opposite refused to say whether they back it or not, because this comes from the right honourable lady who voted to scrap trident and install in downing street someone who wanted to change the army into a peace corps. there you have it . peace corps. there you have it. >> angela rayner hit back, though, saying that mr dowden had been obsessing over her living arrangements while the government quietly cuts funds for the army. >> the difference is, is that we haven't cut the army to its

helen — mr dowden was robust, defending the government's position on this.ing, and yes, he said that israel's war was legitimate, he also said that it was legitimate, he also said that it was the uk government's assessment that it was still legal for british companies to sell arms to israel. if a british company wants to do that it has to get an export licence from the government, and that takes into account criteria like the uk's international law obligations and the risk that any goods or products that are being sent to a country could be used to violate human rights. but mr dowden said was that the government's assessment of that had not changed and it was still legal. he also suggested that if that changed and israel was found to have broken international law, then those exports could stop. but he insisted, speaking to the bbc�*s laura kuenssberg earlier, that israel was being held to high standards. of course, we have concerns about the way in which israel is conducting itself. that is why we have raised issues, for example, in relation to aid and getti

i oliver dowden and david lammy had to sa ? ., ., _, oliver dowden and david lammy had to sa ?, one i say? i want to come back on two | points oliver dowden may, one in relation to the publication of legal advice. the public want to see legal advice. the public want to see legal advice because they have lost confidence in what the government is saying, we have seen that in the past. of course you want to keep that private, and confidential, but the reality is that this is about trust and confidence, not about the legal advice per se. and they're happy lots of examples where governments have been forced to publish that legal advice. i would say publish it and get it out of the way. and there have been lots of examples where governments have been forced to publish that legal advice. i would say publish it and get it out of the way. you were part of a government that watered publish legal advice. government that watered publish legaladvice. in government that watered publish legal advice. in the end we have you published. because the public had lost trust and confidence in thus it

however, the deputy prime minister, 0liver dowden, defended the uk's continued arms sales to israel. government to publish the legal advice it's had about whether israel's conduct in the war has breached international law. with the latest here's our political correspondent helen catt. he was pushed on this morning. and, yes, he said that israel's war was legitimate. he also said that it was the uk government's assessment that it was still legal for british companies to sell arms to israel. now, if a british company wants to do that, it has to get an export licence from the government and that takes into account criteria like the uk's international law obligations and the risk that any goods or products that are being sent to a country could be used to violate human rights. now what mr dowden said was that the government's assessment of that hadn't changed, that it was still legal. he also suggested that if that changed and israel was found to have broken international law, then those exports could stop. but he insisted, and speaking to the bbc�*s laura kuenssberg earlier, that israel

i mean, 0liver dowden was pushed on this repeatedly by our own laura kuenssberg. of course the uk will act in accordance with obligations under law, the way it works, he says, is the foreign secretary, lord cameron, is given advice, legal advice, he then forms a judgment and then he makes a recommendation and gives advice to the business secretary on whether those arms exports should be permitted. he said if it is the case that we cannot lawfully act in accordance with the law, of course we won't supply those arms. but an important caveat, he said, it is precisely the position, for example, even in respect of the united states or any other country around the world. let's look at the war in ukraine next. as of right now there is unfortunaly no end in sight. the head of nato, the defence alliance, was pushing for extra pounds, dollars and euros at a summit this week to help ukraine keep going on the battlefield. but as he prepares to step down, secretary generaljens stoltenberg told my colleague laura kuennesberg what's happening there is part of a dangerous chain o

i am sure oliver dowden will pick that up.he former labour mp, frank field, who we have learnt has died today. a widely respected figure across the political spectrum for his campaigning work on issues like child poverty and welfare. he represented birkenhead on merseyside for 40 years. he quit the labour party overjeremy corbyn. leadership and then served as a crossbench peer in the house of lords in his latter career but, as i say, really well liked, a very independently minded figure and that's why we have had tributes notjust figure and that's why we have had tributes not just from figure and that's why we have had tributes notjust from the labour party from the conservatives, too. rishi sunak saying he was a great parliamentarian. in terms of what angela rayner might be able to go on to perhaps score some hits today, perhaps housing. the housing secretary, michael gove, has said he cannot guarantee so—called no—fault evictions will come into effect by the time of the general election for the time of the general election f

know, i think she's a really strong parliamentary performer and i would not want to be in oliver dowden shoes facing her, though. >> it's journalists, isn't it.7 at the times , the mail on at the times, the mail on sunday, the telegraph, other, the sun are all asking neighbours about andrew bain. it's not tories, it's journalists. >> it's extraordinary. i mean, i saw her child's birth certificate printed in the newspaper and to be honest, that's where it lost me. this story. i thought, this is too much. they're hounding her, but the police are having a look. she's going to give anybody any answers that they want from the police or the tax authorities. you know, we'll get to the bottom of it. >> leo. >> leo. >> doctor, just quickly on you . >> doctor, just quickly on you. you've announced this. a huge amount of defence spending, but the army's tiny. is the money going on weapons or soldiers? >> it'll go on. all of that . >> it'll go on. all of that. >> it'll go on. all of that. >> it'll go on. all of that. >> it'll what soldiers to it'll. >> it'll what soldiers to it'll. >> it'll what so

and 0liver dowden, the deputy prime minister, was pressed on this morning. a licence from the government and it gets assessed against a number of criteria, some of which include the uk's obligations under international law, and also the risk that those products, those arms will be used to violate human rights. so there have been all these questions about whether that should still apply for israel. the deputy prime minister, 0liver dowden, was pushed on this, this morning, and he said that he believed it was still legal for arms to be sold from the uk to israel. ..have specific concerns about different areas of israel's conduct. we are raising those concerns with israel, but i think it's so important to remember this. we've gone from the horrors of six months ago to holding israel to extraordinary high standards. it's right that we do so and it's right that we raise these concerns where we say, "look what you're doing in respect "of not getting aid in or what you're doing "of your targeting raises concerns for us, "and we need you to engage." the way this pro

deputy prime minister oliver dowden that the uk dowden has said that the uk would stop selling arms toris johnson branded the end of weapons sales to israel as insane calls to stop supplying arms to israel have increased following the death of three british aid workers in gaza. so for the great british debate this hour, i'm asking our calls to end arms sales to israel. merely virtue signalling. well, joining to signalling. well, joining me to discuss political commentator andy mcdonald, house of broadcaster journalist danny broadcaster and journalist danny kelly. danny kelly, i'll kelly. right. danny kelly, i'll start with you, danny boy . start with you, danny boy. >> okay. the question is, is it virtue signalling ? is it virtue virtue signalling? is it virtue signalling? i think it's dangerous to even contemplate , dangerous to even contemplate, having an arms sale embargo until we know whether they're breaking international law . breaking international law. everything. this stems from the tragedy when seven people, seven aid workers were killed. and so , aid workers were killed. and

oliver dowden it was put on this repeatedly by laura kuenssberg.f the way it works is that the foreign secretary lord cameron is giving legal advice, secretary lord cameron is giving legaladvice, he secretary lord cameron is giving legal advice, he then forms a judgment and then he makes a gives advice to recommendation and gives advice to the business secretary on whether those arms exports should be permitted. he says if it's the case that we can't lawfully act in accordance with the law, of course we won't supply those arms. an important caveat, he said that is precisely a position even in respect of the united states or any other country around the world.- of the united states or any other country around the world. thank you for that. country around the world. thank you for that- of — country around the world. thank you for that. of course, _ country around the world. thank you for that. of course, the _ country around the world. thank you for that. of course, the us - country around the world. thank you for that. of course, the us is - for tha

steve emailed to say after listening to mr dowden, i'm totally shocked. tory party has lost control. three british nationals were killed. shame on the government for not suspending arms. but robert has a completely different view and lots of your messages have been on, you know, absolutely opposing sides. robert says, israel is a very important ally. britain must stand by them for their very existence. we are almost coming to a close today, but, jeremy, ijust wonder, can you give us and newscasters any hope at all? we like to try to find hope in something, even if we can't be cheerful, are there any glimmers of hope? and it's fine to say, no. if you're listening not watching, there was an absolutely amazing bowen eyeroll at my suggestion that there might be anything hopeful there. i'm sorry. hope — you've come to the wrong place. there is no hope here at the moment, i'd say, and i speak to a lot of people. i've reported from this place for a long time. let me give you one thing that for me really was particularly depressing. i went to see halil shikaki. h

the deputy prime minister, oliver dowden, has been answering questions on gaza.ver dowden, specifically about what the advice, the legal advice, that the government had been given on whether israel was acting

mr dowden did not directly deny how clean this morning.e government to publish a summary of the legal advice it has received, which the government says is confidential. the shadow foreign secretary says people could then be sure international law hadn't been broken. this is a very serious issue. it's now gone on for six months, on issues of proportionality, there are real concerns — notjust from judges, from the intelligence community, but the broader public. for that reason, let us be sure that we are not in breach. labour is not calling for arms sales to be suspended, as the lib dems and the snp have. the strike on the convoy won't be taken into account in a fresh assessment of the government's position on arms exports, which is thought to be due, as it's retrospective. the government's tone towards israel has changed in recent months, but as the war goes on, well its judgment of its action follow suit? helen catt, bbc news, westminster. ceremonies were held across rwanda on saturday to mark three decades since the start of the genocide

but oliver dowden will go away. but oliver dowden told gb news they're putting in the necessary work, but i don't know the specific incident that james was referring to. >> it is the case that we carry out wide scale , exercising out wide scale, exercising programmes across government. indeedi programmes across government. indeed i did one recently for a national power outage involving several thousand different people across government. now, of course, there is more work that we need to do across different areas, but we have stepped up considerably our effort. >> a man in his 20s has been arrested on suspicion of murder following the discovery of a human torso at a nature reserve in salford, greater manchester police launched a murder investigation after the body part was found wrapped in plastic at kersal wetlands. the victim is believed to have been older than 40. chief superintendent tony crowley says the suspect, who is from the local area, will be questioned today. local area, will be questioned today . two pe

, you've you've kind of dowden, you've you've kind of stabbed your , election winner, stabbed your,fis stabbed your, election winner, boris johnson in the back in order to back that pint sized loser. obviously she means rishi sunak. what do you think to that comment? aaron bastani very mean, i think i think the electorate likes a bit of, you know, they like a bit of tough stuff from politicians. >> but i think she went over the line from tough to unnecessarily mean. and i look the exact same. labour party would have criticised donald trump for calling various politicians little, little, little rocket man. he used to call he that was who was it? mike bloomberg, little mike used to call him. and the exact same labour party would say, this is outrageous populist demagogue. how unacceptable. she sort of done the exact same thing. >> what do you think to that? doesit >> what do you think to that? does it bother you? >> no . i think it's absolute >> no. i think it's absolute nonsense to even think about it. do you? i do, i mean, they had a good spat and obviously oliver had a good crack at

i think michael gow, oliver dowden and piriti patel are the same. piriti patel's trip to israel should be investigated again. we still don't know who paid for his trip. from his return trip, he tried to change the policies of the government . this was the result of his secret trip without informing his superiors or even the ambassador of our country report it there, he did it. if you look at wikipedia and read the explanations about tom togenhutt, who of course is also the british security minister, he wrote the things that i am going to read to you. he condemned the united nations for its official criticism of israel's actions in building settlements in the occupied palestinian territories. maybe this was said a few years ago, but his words have never been forgotten. he never changed his opinion . how can we have a security minister in the british government who does not believe in international laws? that too according to everyone the events that are going on, in my opinion, should be original. ward khamenei issued a decree that the army of the wo

he does not believe that settlement is wrong, in my opinion, michael gow, ver dowden and piriti. they should be the same piriti patel's trip to israel should be investigated again. we still don't know who paid for his trip. when he returned from his trip, he tried to change the policies of the government. this was the result of his secret trip, he did this without informing his superiors or even the ambassador of our country there. if you look at wikipedia and read the description of tom tugenhut, of course he is. the english security minister also wrote some things that i will read to you. he faces the united nations due to his official criticism of israel's actions in building settlements in the occupied palestinian territories condemned maybe this was said a few years ago , but his words have never been forgotten. he never changed his opinion. how can we have a security minister in the british government who does not believe in international laws? considering all the events that are going on. i think it should be original. do not post a photo of your iftar table in cyberspace.

the deputy prime minister oliver dowden has told the bbc he has concerns about the way israel is conducting advice saying israel has broken international law. sir keir said there is a precedent for the publication of a summary of such legal advice. well, yesterday was the six month anniversary of this awful conflict. and we've seen the continual holding of hostages. we've seen 33,000 people killed in this conflict, many of them women and children. so we need the conflict to end. we need that ceasefire. on the question of arms sales, there's a legal test for when sales should be suspended. the government's got advice on that. and so what the government should do is to publish that legal advice or at least a summary of it. they've published summaries before in response to the houthi attacks. so publish that so we can all see it, and that appropriate action can then be taken in relation to the sale of arms. here in the uk, a group of former senior diplomats and officials say the foreign office should be abolished, saying it's "rooted in the past". they want the ministry to be replaced by a new

the line walked by dowden morning's by oliver dowden this morning's interview talked interview roundsrael was fighting a about israel that was fighting a legitimate that, of legitimate campaign that, of course, we expect obligations of israel expect of israel that we don't expect of hamas, for instance, but also making are making clear that there are concerns, particularly around issues into issues around aid getting into the and so i think it's the country. and so i think it's about israel's self—interest the country. and so i think it's ab considerl's self—interest the country. and so i think it's ab consider the self—interest the country. and so i think it's ab consider the way;elf—interest the country. and so i think it's ab consider the way;el1which est to consider the way in which other countries responding other countries are responding to what happened last week, this week, monday, particularly week, on monday, particularly with of seven aid with the killing of seven aid workers. the workers. and you see the reaction in uk also, reaction here in the uk also, the comments of d

oliver dowden is defending the government after outgoing armed forces minister james heappey told thetelegraph only ministry of defence officials attended a wartime preparation exercise which was meant for the whole of government. former defence secretary ben wallace has backed him up, saying that too many in government are, quote, just hoping everything will go away . hoping everything will go away. but oliver dowden told gb news they're putting in the work . they're putting in the work. >> i don't know the specific incident that james was referring to. it is the case that we carry out wide scale, exercising programmes across government. indeed, i did one recently for a national power outage in involving several thousand different people across government. now, of course, there is more work that we need to do across different areas, but we have stepped up considerably. our effort. >> two people have been arrested on suspicion of murder after human remains were discovered in a park in south london, the met police say a 44 year old man and a 48 year old woman are now in custody after t

however, mr dowden said labour had been silent on whether it backs investment in the armed forces. >>increasingly dangerous world. the prime minister was able to announce his plan for the biggest strengthening of defence spending in a generation , but it should come as no surprise that the party opposite refused to say whether they back it or not, because this comes from the right hon. lady who voted to scrap trident and install in downing street someone who wanted to change the army into a peace corps. there you have it. >> angela rayner hit back, though, saying that mr dowden had been obsessing over her living arrangements while the government quietly cuts funds for the army . for the army. >> princess is that we haven't cut the army to its smallest size since napoleon . and, mr size since napoleon. and, mr speaken size since napoleon. and, mr speaker, i read with interest that the right honourable gentleman has been urging his neighbour in number 10 to call an election because he's worried they might get wiped out. has he finally realised that when he stabbed boris johnson in the b

however the deputy prime minister 0liver dowden has defended the uk's continued arms sales to israel.ls for the government published legal advice it has had whether israel's conduct in the war has breached international law. representatives of hamas, israel, qatarand representatives of hamas, israel, qatar and the united states met for ceasefire talks in cairo on the united states. on sunday. bill burns attended. he is seen here meeting with egypt's president al—sisi. 0ne egyptian news agency is reporting the qatari and hamas delegations are on their way home and could return to egypt within days to attempt to finalise the deal. more now with aaron david miller, a long—term negotiator and adviser at the us state department, now a senior fellow at the carnegie endowment for international peace. we thank you for being here. i would start with protest we saw. not only in the us but also in israel, calling for the hostages to be brought home. there was some anger at the israeli government as well. some families of hostages even accusing the prime list of prolonging the war to maintain pol

however the deputy prime minister 0liver dowden defended the uk's continued arms sales to israel.continued arms sales to israel. we have secific arms sales to israel. we have specific concerns. _ arms sales to israel. we have specific concerns. we - arms sales to israel. we have specific concerns. we have i arms sales to israel. we have i specific concerns. we have gone from the horrors of six months ago to holding israel to extraordinarily high standards, it is right we do so and raise these concerns where we say, look, what you are doing, in respect of not getting aid in, or what you are doing in respect of your targeting raises concerns for us, and we need you to engage. representatives of hamas, israel, qatarand representatives of hamas, israel, qatar and the united states met for talks on sunday. 0ne egyptian news agency is reporting that the qatari and have delegations are on their way home and could return to egypt within days to attempt to finalise the deal. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. now look at another story making use. police in bradford have

>> i'd ask oliver dowden, by the way. i think it's deeply unimpressive.migrants getting into those small boats across the channel? >> wow, beth, i'm probably on that similar theme . i would say that similar theme. i would say that similar theme. i would say that if the planes now take off for rwanda and if they prove not to be a deterrent, what is plan b ? b? >> plan b? well, good. very good question. you're getting better. >> things are getting better every week. stronger. >> stronger. but that's enough of bev and andrew. >> it's fast approaching midday. this is gb news. >> britain's election channel pmqs live starts right now. 57 on wednesday, the 24th of april. this is pmqs live on gb news with christopher hope and gloria de piero. >> in just one moment, the prime minister's deputy oliver dowden, and labour's deputy leader, angela rayner will go head to head at prime minister's questions in the house of commons. will our full coverage of every moment, every spit and cough and getting full reaction from armed forces minister leo docherty and shadow mini

oliver dowden is defending the government after outgoing armed forces minister james heappey told the telegraph only ministry of defence officials attended a war crime preparation exercise, which was meant for the whole of government. former defence secretary ben wallace has backed him up, saying too many in government are just hoping everything goes away . hoping everything goes away. police have named a man they're searching for after a woman was stabbed to death in broad daylight in bradford city centre. west yorkshire police detectives say they want to trace 25 year old habiba masum, who is from the oldham area. they were called to the city centre yesterday afternoon following reports of an attack by a man who fled the scene . the by a man who fled the scene. the woman was taken to hospital where died . and a british where she died. and a british man nicknamed hardest geezer has become the first person to run the length of africa. russell cook, from worthing in west sussex, crossed the finish line in tunisia today. he ran through 16 countries in 352 days. the 27 year old said he'd

the deputy prime minister, oliver dowden, has denied claims that the government is failing to preparewo former defence ministers say britain isn't ready for conflict , suggesting ready for conflict, suggesting some ministers are just hoping that threats will go away . james that threats will go away. james heappey and ben wallace cited examples from allies like sweden, where the public are given war preparation guidance , given war preparation guidance, including a booklet explaining what to do in time of war. the what to do in a time of war. the intervention from those two long serving ministers comes as rishi sunakis serving ministers comes as rishi sunak is facing pressure to increase defence spending . and increase defence spending. and finally, before we hand back to tom and emily tonight, tens of millions will be looking to the skies for what's set to be the most viewed total eclipse ever. while the weather might eclipse the , for some it's a the excitement, for some it's a different story in canada, where the clear skies are set to bring near perfect viewing conditions in niaga

i'll be asking deputy prime i'll be asking the deputy prime minister, dowden, his minister, oliver dowdenon and bons ministers david cameron and boris poles apart on boris johnson. poles apart on the i'll be asking former the issue, i'll be asking former foreign minister tobias ellwood whether still be whether we should still be selling arms to israel in light of the death this week of three british aid workers in gaza. i'll also be speaking to tony blair's former political secretary, john mctiernan. as the poll suggests, labour the latest poll suggests, labour is win mammoth

oliver dowden is defending the government after outgoing armed forces minister james heappey told the telegraph only ministry of defence officials attended a war time preparation exercise, which was meant for the whole of government. former defence secretary ben wallace has backed him up, saying too many in government are just hoping things go away . police hoping things go away. police have named a man they're searching for after a woman was stabbed to death in broad daylight in bradford city centre. west yorkshire police detectives say they want to trace 25 year old habiba masoom, who was from the oldham area. they were called to the city centre yesterday afternoon following reports of an attack by a man who then fled the scene. the woman was taken to hospital where she died . and a hospital where she died. and a british man nicknamed hardest geezer has become the first person to run the length of africa. russell cook , from africa. russell cook, from worthing in west sussex, crossed the finish line in tunisia today. he ran through 16 countries in 352 days. the 27 year old said he'd

investigators say that joel dowden was charged with one count.ning communications with intent to extort and assaulting a federal officer. if convicted. now faces a maximum sentence of 20 years for each count that he's charged with. prosecutors say he has been in federal custody since his arrest back in january. >> 4 is your local election headquarters. and after weeks of counting ballots in the race to succeed, congresswoman anna eshoo, it's a tie between assemblyman evan low and santa clara county supervisor. joe submitting it. candidates are now moving on from the primary. and joining former san jose mayor sam liccardo on that november ballot. most surprising the outcome. the thankful to voters i receive interest in a recount. instead, the focus on november issues they want to tackle and they remind voters why they are the candidates best selected for that seat. >> is there are a host of issues out there that are calling out for someone to be effective in congress. we've got a high cost of living. we've got climate change to tackle. we've got a

, we talk about oliver dowden, the deputy prime minister, who?nts the pm to been reported, wants the pm to go to the country in the summer. what's your reading of the situation ? situation? >> i think i think there's some truth in it , >> i think i think there's some truth in it, i'm not sure if it's oliver or or just other people in downing street who is listening to this argument came up earlier in the year when he was being pressured to go for may the 2nd. now, again, i ran a story a while back saying that they were going to press the button on that and go for may the 2nd, have a general election on the same day as the local elections, and it was only a last minute threat from a whole load of tory mps saying, we'll put in letters and have a leadership contest if you try this, but stopped it now, that may well happen again. if i try a summer election , because a summer election, because frankly, the same problem is going to happen. they are miles behind in the polls. they're going to get less than 100 seats unless something dramatically changes

we've talked about this before but this is oliver dowden, deputy pm, and he's met the vice chancellorsing universities, including oxford and cambridge , where you oxford and cambridge, where you probably went and i, i just had some weird humour to the story, but i went with a weird insult even.i but i went with a weird insult even. i know you went there as well, but anyway, the director of m15's got involved. they've taken a day off, listing their pronouns and that kind of thing, and they've decided to actually do some m15 work and they're all worried about it, and they're just saying we need to get more realistic about the threat from china infiltrating our universities. >> well, i mean, it's very real. you know, we've had complaints before about chinese investment in american universities. british universities, where the government, the chinese government, the chinese government is actually saying, oh, you can't teach that because that's against our values and they're going along with it because of the money. >> we're not talking here necessarily about ideological influence. we're li

oliver dowden is defending the government after outgoing armed forces minister james heappey told theelegraph only ministry of defence officials attended a wartime preparation exercise which was meant for the whole of government. former defence secretary ben wallace has backed him up, saying too many in government are just hoping everything goes away . hoping everything goes away. police have named a man they're searching for after a woman was stabbed to death in broad daylight in bradford city centre. west yorkshire police detectives say they want to trace 25 year old habiba masum , trace 25 year old habiba masum, who is from the oldham area. they were called to the city centre yesterday afternoon following reports of an attack by a who then fled the by a man who then fled the scene. the woman was taken to hospital where she died . and a hospital where she died. and a british man nicknamed hardest geezer has become the first person to run the length of africa . russell cooke, from africa. russell cooke, from worthing in west sussex, crossed the finish line in tunisia today. he ran th

oliver dowden's , defending the oliver dowden's, defending the government after the outgoing armed forcesames heappey, told the telegraph only the ministry of defence officials attended a wartime preparation exercise, which was meant for the whole of government. former defence secretary wallace has backed secretary ben wallace has backed him up, saying too many in government are just hoping everything away and everything goes away and a british man nicknamed hardest geezer has become the first person to run the length of africa . africa. >> russell cook, from worthing in west sussex, crossed the finish line in tunisia after running for get this 352 days. the 27 year old said he'd previously struggled with his mental health, gambling and drinking and wanted to make a difference. >> and as if running a marathon every day is not hard enough, he was also mugged whilst he was doing that and he was also kidnapped, faced a kidnapping as well in the congo and he's also run previously from asia to the uk and in total he's raised nearly £1 million single handedly. wonder he's handedly. so no wonder