mayor amy from local brussels mayor amy akuain from local brussels mayor amy akua in a move he said was to guarantee public safety, while belgium's prime minister has weighed in on this one as well. this afternoon, describing the mayor's actions as unacceptable and even unconstitutional, saying that the belgian constitution has guaranteed the freedom of speech and peaceful assembly in the country since 1830. well labour's jonathan ashworth questioned whether conservatives from the uk should have been there. >> i think some of the speakers, from what i understand, who have been advertised on the website for this conference, have very unsavoury views and rather surprised that suella braverman has been allowed to go and speak at this why is rishi at this event. why is rishi sunak not getting a grip of this situation? why is he not asking suella braverman to pull out of this event? because some of the characters involved, at least according website, have according to their website, have made comments , made all kinds of comments, which i don't think the rishi sunak party would want to sunak tory party would want to associate themselves with. >> ashworth and more

>> jonathan ashworth and more analysis on the natcon conference coming up in nigel's programme next. meanwhile, in other news today, the rwanda bill is back in the house of lords tonight after mps rejected a series of amendments they'd suggested with some conservatives calling those proposals ridiculous. let's show you the upper chamber right now where lords are maintaining their stand off with the government on its flagship migration policy. they voted down each government proposal once again tonight. downing street, though hoping to clear the final hurdle. they say this week and get flights off the ground within weeks. labour, still insisting scheme is still insisting the scheme is doomed fail . still insisting the scheme is doomed fail. the policing doomed to fail. the policing minister, chris philp, said today new powers for chief constables to sack rogue officers will root out those unfit to wear the badge. under the new powers, chief constables will be put in charge of misconduct hearings , making it misconduct hearings, making it easier to remove officers in their own force who are found guilty. the changes, which come into force next month, follows a

review into police dismissals after the conviction of david carrick for multiple sexual offences while serving as a police officer . the education police officer. the education secretary said today a court ruling dismissing a muslim student's challenge against her school prayer ban now gives school prayer ban now gives school heads confidence in making the right decisions to prioritise tolerance between those of different faiths. the student had argued that a no prayer ritual policy at a north london school was discriminatory, but the head teacher argued schools couldn't be forced to change their approach because one child or parent decided something parent decided it was something they like . well, the they didn't like. well, the judge upheld the school's position, there was position, saying there was a rational connection between the schools include jvt social cohesion and its prayer policy. kemi badenoch has become the first cabinet minister to reveal she won't be backing rishi sunak's proposal to ban young people from ever smoking. if you're watching on tv, let's

take a look inside the comments. nigel referred to it just now. they're still just coming back in from voting. it looks like that tobacco vapes bill is that tobacco and vapes bill is being before those mps being brought before those mps for the very first time, and if it becomes law, it would be an offence sell tobacco products offence to sell tobacco products to after the 1st of to anyone born after the 1st of january 2009. the health secretary , victoria atkins, said secretary, victoria atkins, said today that she denied a ban on tobacco and vape sales would cause a black market boom. that ongoing full updates throughout the rest of the evening right here on gb news. for the latest stories, do sign up to gb news alerts. scan the qr code on your screen right now or go to gb news. common alerts . news. common alerts. >> good evening. so on january the 30th, 2020, i stood up in the 30th, 2020, i stood up in the european parliament. i waved my union jack flag. i said goodbye, i caught eurostar and today is my first public return

today is my first public return to brussels in four years. now, ihadnt to brussels in four years. now, i hadn't expected to be welcomed exactly with open arms by this community. but what happened today was truly extraordinary. a conference being held by natcon national conservatism, run by the edmund burke society, based in washington, dc, bringing together conservative voices from america , the uk and the from america, the uk and the whole of europe , attending the whole of europe, attending the conference, members of european royal families, very senior businessmen and business women, elected representatives from national parliaments from the european parliament, leaders of political parties who will top the polls in at least nine countries in the european union. in the june elections of this year and tomorrow morning, due to speak, the prime minister of hungary , viktor orban. but of hungary, viktor orban. but of course, the devil of the whole piece is me, because the others are all sceptical about brussels. i'm the one that led a

campaign for us to leave it. indeed, i think the rest of europe should leave it . so indeed, i think the rest of europe should leave it. so i'm used to being treated badly. but what happened today to me and everybody else that expresses the view that ever closer political union is not a desirable goal is, i think, true , reminiscent in many ways of the old soviet union. if you don't toe the line , you're to be don't toe the line, you're to be banned. if you don't toe the line, you are mad , bad, probably line, you are mad, bad, probably mentally ill, and really quite dangerous . mentally ill, and really quite dangerous. so the mentally ill, and really quite dangerous . so the conference was dangerous. so the conference was planned a couple of months ago for 48 hours ago, the venue that was holding this conference, and that included a lunch and a big dinner, they were contacted by the mayor of brussels, the mayor of the whole city of brussels, a man who was very happy to have the mayor of tehran here last year as a guest. they were contacted and it was suggested

they shouldn't go ahead with the conference. they cancelled . we conference. they cancelled. we then moved on yesterday morning to a place, a sofitel in jordan , to a place, a sofitel in jordan, and last night, at about 7:30, the local mayor of that district of brussels, a belgian liberal, a friend of my friend guy verhofstadt, said the conference can't go ahead. at 9:00 last night, the natcon organisers found a venue in the saint—josse district of brussels run by a tunisian businessman . it's tunisian businessman. it's effectively a nightclub, he said. look, i don't care what your opinions are provided, you stick with them. a law and let's smash the place up. i'm very happy to have your business and yet and yet the local mayor of san jose , a man who has been san jose, a man who has been kicked out of the belgian socialist party because of his links with extremist islamist groups in turkey, applied

pressure on a level you can't believe directly telephoning the owner of the club, the owner's wife being threatened. online suppliers who were due to bring in cutlery, crockery , food, in cutlery, crockery, food, dnnks in cutlery, crockery, food, drinks for lunch, being told you deliver to this venue, to this event and you will go out of business. and i turned up in the middle of all of this and whilst i was on stage, the belgian police came into the venue with an instruction from the local mayor to close down the meeting. now there were only three of them. there were many , many high them. there were many, many high hundreds inside the room. there were tv cameras there from were also tv cameras there from all over the world, and the police kind of bottled out of doing it, but closed . the venue doing it, but closed. the venue didn't allow anyone else in, including former french presidential candidate eric zamore , who was denied entry to zamore, who was denied entry to the building . later on, the

the building. later on, the police were there in riot gear , police were there in riot gear, fearing for public order. now there was no danger of public order from within the room, but a counter demonstration was planned at which about 5 or 6 saddos turned up to say we shouldn't be there. we're not entitled to our views . it has entitled to our views. it has been truly the most extraordinary day in brussels. now, for me, this is nothing in my last years here, i was barred from coffee bars, barred from restaurants, even barred from a pub. i've been using for 20 years. but today they brought that cancel culture. they brought that intolerance onto the world stage. and now from british tv stations across america and the whole of europe, everyone can see the true face of this european union . and yet of this european union. and yet when we come to the british labour party, this is what jonathan ashworth ashworth had to say earlier on today.

>> i think some of the speakers, from what i understand, who have been advertised on the website for this conference, have very unsavoury and rather unsavoury views and rather surprised suella braverman surprised that suella braverman has to go and speak has been allowed to go and speak at this event. is rishi at this event. why is rishi sunak not getting a grip of this situation? why is he not asking suella braverman to pull out of this because some the this event? because some of the characters involved at least characters involved, at least according have according to their website, have made of comments, made all kinds of comments, which i don't think the rishi sunak party would want to sunak tory party would want to associate themselves with. >> and just to prove what the new labour government will be like, he was backed up by rising star of the labour movement wes streeting and of course , a streeting and of course, a source close to the right honourable member for fareham, who couldn't be here today with us, mr deputy speaker, because she in brussels she is currently in brussels surrounded police who surrounded by the police who are trying shut down the event trying to shut down the event she's attending with some far right fanatics with whom she has much in common. >> she said that she is not a fan of the bill. well now she knows how the rest of us feel

about the right honourable member for fareham to . member for fareham to. >> can you see what's coming down the line with the new labour government ? given that labour government? given that sir john curtice, the doyen of political commentators, says it's certain that that you it's 99% certain that that you know, the next time we have a prime minister, it is going to be keir starmer. well, i'm very pleased say that rishi sunaks pleased to say that rishi sunaks official spokesman said clearly these reports are extremely disturbing. even the prime minister of belgium, which is not a country i've always had great relations with, said what happened at the claridge? the name of the club today is unacceptable . notable yanis unacceptable. notable yanis varoufakis, the hard lefty who for a time was the finance minister in greece, has said i'm no political friend of nigel farage, but i would hate it if anyone like nigel was prevented from speaking merely because he may say things that may annoy among people . myself and among other people. myself and the prime minister of italy ,

the prime minister of italy, giorgia meloni has said what is happening in brussels leaves us in disbelief and dismay. so apart from apart from the nerdy, puritanical types that keir starmer wants to make our future, cabinet ministers across the board, across a wide political spectrum, what has happened today has met with absolute condemnation . and so it absolute condemnation. and so it should. let me tell you something . if at any point in something. if at any point in the last four years i'd ever, for one moment doubted brexit or at least doubted how it had been conducted by a conservative government what i saw today in brussels absolutely confirmed to me that leaving this monstrous union with its deep intolerance, with its refusal to accept that anybody else can have an alternative point of view today, proved to me that brexit absolutely was the right thing to do. next up on the stage after me was former british home

secretary suella braverman. i asked her a whole series of questions, especially about sunaks plan, whether leaving the echr was possible under a conservative government and were the brexit voters ought to feel betrayed by this conservative party all of that in just a moment

well, i was supposed to sit down at the back of the venue with the former british home secretary, suella braverman to have a chat with her. but of course, we left because we feared the police might storm the place at any moment. and the last thing either of wanted last thing either of us wanted to were to get involved in were fisticuffs kind. so we fisticuffs of any kind. so we went away to a hotel. why? i asked her a series of questions. her speech was very, very deeply critical of the european court of human rights, and in particular, the recent ruling, apropos switzerland, that says that any country that is signed up to the echr has but has to

adopt net zero policies. and i went on to ask her whether rishi sunak had the courage to do anything about it. and i finished up by asking her effectively, had brexit voters been betrayed by the massive immigration numbers , escaped immigration numbers, escaped from claridge at some point this afternoon, the police will close it down. i escaped, but also i'm very pleased to say that safely escaped is the former home secretary, suella braverman, and we're here suella, because we were supposed to have a sit down in the venue. but kind of they wanted to close the conference. what do you make it? wanted to close the conference. wh it'so you make it? wanted to close the conference. wh it's prettymake it? wanted to close the conference. wh it's pretty astonishing, >> it's pretty astonishing, nigel, it , thankfully, you nigel, isn't it, thankfully, you and i got to make our speeches in favour of controlling our borders and protecting our communities amongst like minded democrats. many of us there are democratically elected politicians. many of us are leaders in our field. academics, thinkers, writers . and it's thinkers, writers. and it's frankly staggering that the mayor of brussels has deployed

his thought police to cancel what is a peaceful event , what is a peaceful event, focused on how we can better represent the millions of people around the european continent. >> i felt this morning if ever i doubted for a minute. not that i did really, but what brexit was about. the fact that this conference was questioning ever closer union within the european union and since the judgement, the swiss judgement recently , the swiss judgement recently, the swiss judgement recently, the role of the echr. didn't that really tell us we're on the right track? >> well, there's obviously that. i mean the hypocrisy is also astonishing. only last year the mayor of brussels hosted the mayor of brussels hosted the mayor of brussels hosted the mayor of tehran. here in brussels. so he's okay to have the mayor of an autocratic regime in his city. but those of us who want to talk about rights, radicalism, as i spoke about today or standing up for sovereignty and democracy, are , sovereignty and democracy, are, you know, they attempt to account. and i remember the words of mrs. thatcher, i'm going to misquote her now, but

she said she got cheered she said she always got cheered up her opponents up when she saw her opponents take ridiculous and take ever more ridiculous and extremist and far fetched attempts to shut her down, because it just shows they've lost the political argument. >> yeah, i'm used to it. i mean, i was barred here from restaurants, barred from coffee shops, but that was a shops, pubs, but that was a private thing. this was private thing. i mean, this was the media were there the global media were there seeing respectable, as seeing and very respectable, as you say, group of people. i mean, european royalty , prime mean, european royalty, prime minister coming tomorrow of hungary. it is truly, truly extraordinary. are we sort of in danger of slipping back to sort of communism and fascism? and how would you how would you characterise it? >> well, i think it's incredibly concerning that seen here concerning that we've seen here an attempt to snuff out and stamp out freedom of speech. you and i are, conservative politicians of centre right politicians of centre right politicians who voted to leave the european union through a democratic and legitimate process. and here we are trying to explore those ideas. me

talking about rights, radicalism and the overreach by the strasbourg court and the, totally unreasonable way in which human rights have taken over and stymied the government's ability to stop the boats. the reason why we've not managed to stop the boats in the uk is because the strasbourg court intervened at the 11th houn court intervened at the 11th hour, through an opaque process, without reason , to stop us without reason, to stop us sending flights to rwanda. that's what i was talking about here, speaking on our on behalf of the british people , on behalf of the british people, on behalf of the british people, on behalf of my constituents who sent me to parliament to stop the boats. and talking about that, surely cannot be a criminal activity. >> articles, by implication from a swiss ruling. now, as members of echr we have to pursue net zero policies. >> you're absolutely right . it >> you're absolutely right. it was an egregious decision that we saw a few weeks ago from the strasbourg court against the swiss government on climate change. the strasbourg court has totally overreached and usurped

the legitimate authority of democratically elected governments . the swiss people governments. the swiss people themselves voted in a referendum against so—called climate change net zero policies. and yet the strasbourg court overruled that democratic instruction and imposed its own rule on the swiss government , which really swiss government, which really does symbolise a kind of net zero madness. but that's that's simply symbolic and symptomatic of the broader problem. that's why i was calling today in my speech, that we need to leave the european convention of human rights, and we need to do it now. it's good putting it in now. it's no good putting it in a for the a manifest, though, for the conservative next conservative party at the next general good general election. it's no good putting off the debate we've had. we've had four years talking boats, talking talking about the boats, talking about illegal migration. we're now on our third act of parliament this week, voting on our third act of parliament. we've not succeeded in stopping the boats . the british people the boats. the british people are fed up with 30,000 people last year crossing the channel £6 million a day being spent on

the hotels. i tried and when i was home secretary to fix this. unfortunately i was blocked by the prime minister. but i've come to the view and i was calling for it since 2022 that we now need to leave the european convention on human rights. to now, rights. we need to do it now, but it's not to. but it's not going to. >> so it's not going to happen, is it? >> e- e— e listen, i will keep >> well, listen, i will keep calling it. and the prime calling for it. and if the prime minister serious about minister is serious about stopping he said stopping the boats, he said he would takes. would do whatever it takes. if he he means that he he if he really means that he will whatever it takes, that he if he really means that he will invokingr it takes, that he if he really means that he will invoking or takes, that he if he really means that he will invoking or triggeringt means invoking or triggering article 58 of the european convention human rights convention on human rights sending a letter which is six months, it? months months, isn't it? six months nofice months, isn't it? six months notice the of europe notice to the council of europe possibly passing an act of parliament, because we might need confirm that need to do that to confirm that the departure from the convention and actually delivering for the british people, because it's human rights it's strasbourg rights laws, it's a strasbourg judges, and it's this distorted approach to civil liberties that has stopped us from from delivering for the british people. and it's not just the boats, but it's on stopping

terrorists from being in the country. it's about deporting foreign paedophiles and drug dealers. >> abu qatada took ten years to remove from the country because of echr so i completely get where you're at. so if rishi sunakin where you're at. so if rishi sunak in the next manifesto says we will continue to pursue our policies. but if the echr defy us, we'll consider leaving. should we believe him? listen nigel, i worked very closely with the prime minister on this issue for over a year. >> and, you know, his view , as >> and, you know, his view, as expressed to me, was that he does not support leaving the european convention on human rights. and, you know, we're heanng rights. and, you know, we're hearing a lot of noises from him right now. believe the right now. i do believe the british people would see them as inauthentic. think he's inauthentic. i think if he's really serious about stopping the boats, he'll do what is necessary and what's necessary is invoking article 58 now, and he has a parliamentary majority, so he could do it . he has a parliamentary majority, so he could do it. he could do it, i believe he could do it and he could deliver for a withdrawal from the convention before the next election. let's fight the next election on it.

let's force keir starmer's hand, because i tell you, it would be great to see the labour party campaign to hand back control to strasbourg, hand back , you know, strasbourg, hand back, you know, control over our borders to a foreign court. let's let's have that debate. let's have that debate with the with the british public. but the prime minister has authority. he has has the authority. he has a majority , i believe, deliver majority, i believe, to deliver what's necessary to actually stop the. >> i will watch this space but not hold my breath. is it a betrayal? >> listen, i think that it's very disappointing. i myself have battled very hard within government, within government to lower migration . and what i've lower migration. and what i've come up against is institutional resistance , whether it's from resistance, whether it's from the obr, which as i said, takes a view. >> you're sounding you're sounding like liz truss, the obr takes a view which is very opposed to lower migration. so what how does the next election look as a as a sitting conservative member of parliament? is it going to be a bad night or a total catastrophe

? >> 7- >> listen, 7 >> listen, nigel, i've been very open about my profound concerns about the way the party is heading, and i've been very clear that the prime minister needs to change course. any poll that you look at, every day now suggests that we're heading for electoral defeat . and i am electoral defeat. and i am horrified, personally, by the prospect of a keir starmer government. he's someone who would reverse brexit. he's someone who campaigned for a second. >> are you saying constitutionally he'd reverse brexit by rejoining the eu? >> listen, i would not rule it out because he's someone who campaigned a second campaigned for a second referendum and all the indications from his shadow cabinet indeed and cabinet and indeed himself and his unguarded moments, that his unguarded moments, so that he closer alignment he does want closer alignment with european union, he with the european union, he would was achieved in would undo what was achieved in 2017. in that historic vote, he would oversee increased migration, and he would not apologise or try to hide it. >> well, i must say that was a very spin witted suella braverman. it really was. i'm joined down the line from london

by gb news senior political commentator nigel nelson. nigel your reaction to the police ? your reaction to the police? three mayors in brussels attempting to close down this meeting and, if i may, the response of a couple of labour frontbenchers. >> well, i think the first thing you need to do, nigel, is to go to the european court of human rights and complain about the mayors for trying to close down your speech. as far as far your free speech. as far as far as back in london goes, i think rishi sunak was right. no, it's appalling to do something like this. this was a matter of free speech. as far as i can understand, from a few hundred miles away , there was no miles away, there was no question of public disorder outside , so there was absolutely outside, so there was absolutely no reason to take the action. they did, and the other weird thing they've done is they've given you the oxygen of publicity. it's quite likely your conference would not have got the kind of reporting it has

had they not taken this action. >> no, that's absolutely right, nigel. i must say, when banks close my accounts or when the police move in during a speech i give, i generally find that i came out better than those that are trying to cancel me. but the attitude, i mean , come on, you attitude, i mean, come on, you know, john ashworth, wes streeting . i mean, this was real streeting. i mean, this was real sort of hair shirt, puritanism , sort of hair shirt, puritanism, that only our views acceptable, no one else should really say these things. i mean , is keir these things. i mean, is keir starmers labour party that politically correct and that intolerant? well no, i mean, i think that the answer was they should have ignored it completely, that they didn't have to make any comments about it probably better if they it and probably better if they if they hadn't. >> i mean, quite clearly, we're talking about a free speech issue here. and certainly that issue here. and certainly that is what keir starmer's labour party is committed to, which is

why there's not a row they needed to get into . needed to get into. >> no, i think that's right. better to have said nothing now. echr suella put echr right at the heart of her speech. she's urging sunak to do something about it. now. obviously he won't, but can you see echr becoming a big election issue in terms of manifestos ? terms of manifestos? >> well, it'll be an election issue because obviously immigration is going to be a fairly major election issue , but fairly major election issue, but it won't be the top one. i mean, i mean, the polls are fairly consistent, but what people most care about is the cost of living crisis . care about is the cost of living crisis. nhs's then care about is the cost of living crisis . nhs's then they care crisis. nhs's then they care about the nhs and not being able to get hospital ops and immigration comes below that. what it comes down to the echr rishi sunak is absolutely right. we should not be taking britain out of international law and our international obligations, which is what what would happen with the echr. he also has that huge

practical difficulty that if you do leave the echr, you would then undermine the good friday agreement. and it's very difficult to see how that could be put back together. if you went that route. what is more likely to do is ignore any more article 39 and just see what the european court does. that might be right. >> talking of international law, suella thinks that keir starmer might take us back into the european union. i have to say i view that as being unlikely , but view that as being unlikely, but i would go further and say it's complete and utter nonsense . complete and utter nonsense. >> yes. and she was saying that there were indications that the labour party were moving in that direction. they're not. i'd love to see the indications that that suella braverman was talking about brexit is done . and those about brexit is done. and those of us who are on the remain side, we lost . there's nothing side, we lost. there's nothing we can do about that. what we have to do is make the best of it, and that is the policy of the labour party .

the labour party. >> nigel nelson, as ever, thank you for joining >> nigel nelson, as ever, thank you forjoining me. well, as we speak in the house of commons, members of parliament, a labour party whip and most conservatives are voting to introduce a piece of legislation banning smoking for anybody aged 14 who will never be able to buy vapes or tobacco products for the rest of their lives. in a minute, we'll get a full analysis from christopher hope from the house of commons, from the palace of westminster, and a debate whether makes debate about whether it makes any at

all. we live in an age when banning things is incredibly popular. indeed. if you poll the british pubuc indeed. if you poll the british public on banning things, they say. yeah, ban everything. and of course, mps feel much the of course, our mps feel much the same way. so we have these votes that have been taking place tonight in the house of commons, about one of rishi sunak key

electoral promises, which is that anybody aged 14 will never, ever be able to buy a vape or a tobacco product. i personally think the whole thing is bonkers when you make things illegal, all you do is create a black market. but christopher hope our political editor, joins me from the palace of westminster . i the palace of westminster. i have no doubt our mps have voted overwhelmingly christopher, to ban . ban. >> nigel. that's right. there's been 383 mps voted in favour of the ban, 67 against most . most the ban, 67 against most. most tory mps appear to have abstained . labour, of course, abstained. labour, of course, whipped their mps to vote in favour of the ban. we've had kemi badenoch robert jenrick suella braverman , jacob suella braverman, jacob rees—mogg, liz truss and sir jake berry , the former party jake berry, the former party chairman. they all voted against robert jenrick is a big speech from the backbenches. robert jenrick speech was interesting for saying let's educate more and ban less. but with me now is

one of those mps who voted against sir jake one of those mps who voted against sirjake berry . sir against sirjake berry. sir jake, you gave a speech there in the commons which struck many as being almost a kind of, a cri de coeur for tory right wingers. what were you saying? >> what say , chris, look, to >> what i say, chris, look, to me, this is a debate about what sort country you want to live sort of country you want to live in. do you want to live in a country where the government tells buy, what tells you what car to buy, what central you can in tells you what car to buy, what centrphone you can in tells you what car to buy, what centrphone looks)u can in tells you what car to buy, what centrphone looks to can in tells you what car to buy, what centrphone looks to arrest in tells you what car to buy, what centrphone looks to arrest you1 your phone looks to arrest you for misgendering people? i believe in freedom, and if you are free as nation, you. it's are free as a nation, you. it's freedom to make good choices as well as bad choices. i know we're on nigel's show. i know he's likes the odd he's a he likes the odd cigarette. that may be a bad choice, he needs to be free choice, but he needs to be free to make and the idea that to make it. and the idea that we are different are going to create different levels for levels of freedom for our citizens, talk about this citizens, people talk about this as for 15 year old. what as a ban for a 15 year old. what will happen when 40? will happen when they're 40? forget they're chris. forget when they're 40, chris. they're in they're going to be 18 in 3 years so in three years years time. so in three years time, we're going to say to citizens, some you can smoke citizens, some of you can smoke and the freedom to make and have the freedom to make that hope they don't that decision. i hope they don't , but others of you , by the way, but others of you will never opportunity

will never have the opportunity to is slipping to do so. this is slipping towards a sort of social democratic socialist country. frankly, if all freedom means to you is, you have the freedom to do what the government tells you you can do, you may as well move to russia or china , because to russia or china, because they're the sort of regimes that take sort ridiculous take these sort of ridiculous powers over their people for the good themselves , to try and good of themselves, to try and stop them doing things like smoking. it'sjust stop them doing things like smoking. it's just crazy . and smoking. it's just crazy. and that's why i was proud to vote against this evening. against it this evening. >> why earth, as a tory >> so why on earth, as a tory government by rishi sunak government led by rishi sunak proposed and pushed this through parliament? >> well, you tell me. and the real question would also put real question i would also put to not put it in to them, why not put it in a manifesto? we are within just 3 to months of parliament to 4 months of parliament being dissolved . could to the dissolved. we could go to the people look, do you people and say, look, do you think is the right to think this is the right thing to do if majority of people do if the majority of people voted let's i wouldn't voted for it? let's i wouldn't be but i'd at least be happy, but i'd still at least say majority support. no say there's majority support. no member of parliament, prime member of parliament, no prime minister, leader of the minister, no leader of the opposition has a mandate to do this. this has fallen out of a blue it's sort of blue sky. it's sort of government itis. it's, you know,

civil servants sitting around thinking, what can we do to cock up the lives of ordinary british voters ? how can we make their voters? how can we make their lives more miserable? and tonight we've seen a majority of mps, me, going mps, frankly, not me, going along with it. and i think it says something really terrible about britain. chris >> well, sir jake about britain. chris >> well, sirjake berry about britain. chris >> well, sir jake berry there with remarks that with some real remarks that government titus has taken over the tory party nigel farage, just briefly, in other news here, as i forecast for gb news yesterday for amendments have come back to the house of commons. they will be voted on tomorrow on the safety of rwanda bill expectation here in bill and the expectation here in the palace of westminster is that the lords will fold tomorrow and that bill will become law. but the flights won't be taking off for a few weeks yet. nigel >> christopher hope and sirjake berry , thank you very much berry, thank you very much indeed. well, i'm very much in jake berry's camp, but somebody who i suspect is not is doctor rob branson, associate professor in tobacco control research at

the university of bath. the argument being made there by sir jake wasn't about the merits of smoking. it was about the merits of free choice. and i would just say this to you, rob, that in australia they have overtaxed tobacco . you know, a packet of tobacco. you know, a packet of fagsin tobacco. you know, a packet of fags in australia is now between 35 and £40 in sterling terms. as a result of this the gangs don't bother with cocaine anymore. waste of time . the money is now waste of time. the money is now in illegal cigarettes. waste of time. the money is now in illegal cigarettes . there in illegal cigarettes. there have been 27 fire bombings of shops in melbourne over the last few months , as gangs rival for few months, as gangs rival for who sells illegal tobacco . and who sells illegal tobacco. and so my argument to you is that creating a cliff edge from those that are 14 years old and 15 years old today, and as we go on, all it does is introduce a black market and criminality. and i just don't think this is the way forward. what say you ?

the way forward. what say you? >> well, unsurprisingly, nigel, i vehemently disagree , when the i vehemently disagree, when the uk changed the age of smoking from 16 to 18, there was no increase in the market for illicit tobacco. and actually, the market for illicit tobacco is quite a complicated one. and it seemed to be a matter of enforcement rather than the incentives that criminals have clearly , at the moment, we have, clearly, at the moment, we have, high taxation in the uk, which gives criminal gangs some degree of incentive to, offer under the counter illicit tobacco, which is tax free. and yet we see that it's still a relatively small part of the market. so, yes, you're right to be concerned that we do need to have some enforcement measures in place to make sure that illicit doesn't become a problem, actually become a problem, but i actually do think this is a policy that will work simply because we're talking about changing the age of buying tobacco products just by one year at a time. so just one generation can't smoke, so you as an individual will still be able to go into a store and legally buy tobacco products.

and that, i think, is the key reason why we shouldn't expect a huge tobacco to huge flood of illicit tobacco to be when this law be a problem when this law passes. >> well, actually, in the hand—rolling market, illicit tobacco is over half of the product sold . so there is a product sold. so there is a degree of that going on. nothing like the australian problem at this moment in time. i mean, let me ask you frankly, rob, would you like to ban smoking completely? >> i think banning smoking completely would be very difficult because we know there are still millions of people in the uk who smoke, and i think if we were simply to ban it overnight, that simply wouldn't work. and we would the work. and we would have the illicit problem you illicit problem that you mentioned earlier. me, mentioned earlier. so for me, this good policy because it this is a good policy because it introduces sale introduces the age of sale requirement to a group of people who aren't used to buying tobacco products where there are very few smokers. so i think thatis very few smokers. so i think that is the crucial difference. it's one of ability to enforce the law, where the law is sensible and recognises what

individuals are already doing. so personally, no, i don't want to ban smoking. i want to encourage individuals to make a choice that is good for them. okay final thought on this, robin. >> it's a rather important one that drugs , you know, from that drugs, you know, from cannabis all the way through to heroin are illegal have been illegal. there are sanctions, albeit they're a bit softer these days than they were despite it being illegal. there are millions, literally millions of people partaking of these things every week. doesn't the same argument apply to tobacco that actually illegality doesn't stop anybody? it's education and mindset . mindset. >> well, certainly education and mindset are important . and mindset are important. and that's why you see those health warning labels on tobacco products at the moment. but i think with tobacco it goes beyond mere education because we are dealing with product that are dealing with a product that is vehemently addictive. is so vehemently addictive. almost two thirds of people who have just one cigarette will go on to be daily smokers . so we on to be daily smokers. so we are dealing with a product that

is addictive, is designed to be addictive, where there chemicals that where there are chemicals that are to increase are added to tobacco to increase its addictiveness . and that, its addictiveness. and that, i think, very different think, makes it very different to recreational drugs that are indeed illegal because we know tobacco is a product that if it was invented today, if cigarettes were sort of tested, they would be illegal for the same reasons. so i think it's very easy to draw those parallels. but actually the products different and need products are different and need to differently to to be treated differently to recognise their different aspects . aspects. >> so the argument is that nicotine is more highly addictive than most of those other illegal drugs. >> i didn't say that , and i'm no >> i didn't say that, and i'm no medical doctor, so i wouldn't like to comment on the addictiveness of nicotine, but i've certainly read work that says there as being one says it's up there as being one of the most addictive compounds. and cigarettes are an and certainly cigarettes are an incredibly efficient way of delivering the body . and delivering that to the body. and unfortunately, have huge unfortunately, they have huge negative as . negative health consequences as. >> on that, i think we agree. rob branston thank you for joining me on the program and joining me on the program and

joining this. i think very important debate in a moment. we talk about economic inactivity due to sickness is the highest since records began. is this people just simply being lazy ? people just simply being lazy? what on earth are we going to do about it ? about it? >> i'm patrick christys tonight nine till 11 pm. brussels police attempt to shut down suella braverman and nigel farage. >> no alternative opinion allowed. this is the updated new form of communism . form of communism. >> has democracy died in europe? katharine birbalsingh ban on islamic prayer at the michaela school has been ruled as lawful by the high court. for once , has by the high court. for once, has common sense prevailed and i expose our idol home office as vietnam soars to the top of the list of small boat migrants. but what are they doing about it? don't miss patrick christys tonight, 9 to 11 pm. be there

i >> -- >> there is a new and growing burden on the state. indeed on you, the taxpayer. and it is the number of people on long term or short term sickness, disability. the numbers are literally mind blowing . economic inactivity due blowing. economic inactivity due to long time sickness now stands . at 2.83 million people. while the number not participating in the number not participating in the labour market due to long and short tum illnesses has now broken 3 million for the first time. the astonishing thing with this figure is that it's nearly four times higher than it was 40 years ago. and think about 40 years ago. and think about 40 years ago, people working in mines, people working in factories, a lot more genuine industrial injuries. most of this now is due to mental health or should i say, without wishing to appear too harsh, the overdiagnosis of what is mental illness? well, joining me to

discuss this problem and perhaps more importantly, what we can do about it, is chris thomas from the institute of public policy research is commission on health and prosperity. chris, these numbers have gone up alarmingly since the pandemic. >> they have. you're absolutely right, firstly, that they are alarming , right, firstly, that they are alarming, and yes, right, firstly, that they are alarming , and yes, they've gone alarming, and yes, they've gone up since the pandemic. what we saw from , kind of the 2000 saw from, kind of the 2000 onwards was actually an improvement . those numbers were improvement. those numbers were going down. but since 2019, in 2020, the numbers have shot up, and as you say , 3 million and as you say, 3 million people, economically inactive from a combined short term, long term sickness. that's the first time in the uk we've surpassed that figure, the highest since records began. that's having a profound impact on the economy. >> no, it. well not only >> yeah. no, it. well not only is it very expensive in terms of benefits , it's also massively benefits, it's also massively expensive in terms of the opportunity cost, loss of those

people being active within the economy. you see, i'm told that if you go on to mental health disability for depression or anxiety or whatever it may be, that you automatically qualify for another £390 a month in benefits with no obligation to go out and seek a job. and it's very difficult, you know, if you talk about this area, you can be seen to be heartless and harsh and cruel. but are we making it just too easy for not working due to depression or anxiety? as being a lifestyle choice ? being a lifestyle choice? >> so i think the really important thing here, nigel, is that , when we look at the that, when we look at the 3 million, we break down the 3 million. in fact, whilst mental health problems are very prevalent, you're right to say that they're very prevalent. the, the number of people with solely a mental health problem, i.e. being their

i.e. that being their only diagnosis, actually perishing really the vast really small. so the vast majority of people within that 3 million have, multiple health conditions, i.e. they have a mental health condition and a physical condition , and physical health condition, and in the majority have in fact, the majority have three, 4 or 5 health conditions. so i think there is a genuine complexity of need here that we're not, really adequately meeting . meeting. >> okay. now, we've just been talking about smoking and the long term effects that smoking can have, but things like obesity can have short term, serious health effects on very young people. has there been any analysis of these 3 million as to how many would be described as being clinically obese ? as being clinically obese? >> so the data doesn't break down by weight, i, i would strongly suspect and certainly there has been analysis of the interaction between obesity , the interaction between obesity, the labour market that shows that, yes, it is a profound challenge within the economy, so i would

suspect that there's something there that is at play. and i think that raises an incredibly, valid point that we have abjectly failed to get a grip on obesity in the last 20, 30, 40 years, it's remarkable to me that the obesity rate amongst children in the 1970s and 1980s was about 2. today we have about a fifth of, children entering primary school with obesity. and i don't think that's over the course of just 40 years in the span of history. i don't think that's a sudden moral failure of those people . i think that's those people. i think that's down to the fact that the food on our shelves has got significantly more unhealthy, and we haven't really intervened against that . against that. >> no. well, i wouldn't mind having a bet that if we actually got some proper figures of the number of people with multiple health conditions, including anxiety, etc, who were severely overweight , i anxiety, etc, who were severely overweight, i would bet the correlation would be very, very high. course we'd be high. but of course we'd be fattest to even suggest it. now, chris, come on. the ipp are very

respected, longstanding think tank. i want to hear from you one big idea of what we can do to try and improve this. >> so, like i said, complicated problem . but to give you one. problem. but to give you one. nigel, i think we need to finally get some long term aspiration into this . so what aspiration into this. so what we'd like to see is that we have a net zero for climate. that's a 30 year mission that , every 30 year mission that, every government department, every business, every individual has a role to play in bringing down. we know what the contributions are. we map it out, and we take it on as a societal mission. i'd like there to be a net zero for health. one is the 30 year aspiration for health, to make us the healthiest country in the world. and from that, what can every government department, every government department, every every every business, every individual, every community contribute to doing that? because, ultimately, i don't think there's a path to having a strong economy without sorting out the quite dire out the uk's quite dire population health. we the population health. we are the literal of europe as it literal sick man of europe as it stands . stands. >> now, i think you're right,

chris thomas, thank you very much indeed for coming on and talking about a very serious, very expensive, and indeed growing problem. i'd love to see those figures of how many of the 3 million are clinically obese. i think we'd all be very, very shocked at the number. now, joining me in the london studio , joining me in the london studio, somebody who wasn't cancelled today he come to today because he didn't come to brussels , but he would have been brussels, but he would have been cancelled he's a very, cancelled because he's a very, very human being who very bad human being who believes nation so believes in the nation state. so sir jacob, you would have been no doubt howled at by the brussels police. what did you make of what you saw in brussels today? >> oh, it's outrageous that it is such hostility to freedom of speech and opposing democratically elected politicians. and you would have thought that by virtue of being elected, you have some cachet, some ability to speak. and it's really appalling that brussels , really appalling that brussels, belgium, after all, a nation that we created after the napoleonic wars never existed

before we created it, should behave in this terrible way . behave in this terrible way. >> no, absolutely. jacob, apart from the smoking ban, what is coming up on your show this evening? >> well, i'm going to be talking about you and brussels and the smoking would the smoking smoking ban. would the smoking ban the tory ban bring you back to the tory party well, i have to say, under the current leadership, i think if rishi sunak had the choice, he'd probably ban alcohol, too. ihave he'd probably ban alcohol, too. i have no doubt about that whatsoever. well, let's have a look now at the all important . weather. >> looks like things are heating up. boxt boilers sponsors of weather on gb news. >> hello and welcome back to the latest update from the met office. some showers will continue overnight, but otherwise it turns drier with clear spells and it turns chilly in places. with our air now coming from the north, that's a

cold direction with isobars out opening out as well. lighter winds will mean a greater chance of a frost. there will be widespread clear skies across the uk as the showers fade away, although 1 or 2 showers will continue across northern ireland, parts of wales and the southwest , more especially for southwest, more especially for northeast scotland. the north sea well . some of the sea coast, as well. some of the showers in northern scotland will falling snow because will be falling as snow because it's be a cold night it's going to be a cold night touch frost here and there. touch of frost here and there. as start wednesday. but as we start off wednesday. but beautiful skies for many of beautiful blue skies for many of us, particularly through this central . i central swathe of the uk. i think still the north and east of scotland, eastern england, seeing a brisk breeze from the north and some showers. also some showers elsewhere from the word go, but generally turning dner word go, but generally turning drier in many places by the afternoon, albeit rather cloudy . afternoon, albeit rather cloudy. northern ireland seeing rain arrive and it will feel cold here. seven celsius not much better elsewhere. 11 to 13 degrees at their highest in the south. but thursday starts off bright once again chilly in places, and we keep the brightness across the south and

south—east well into the afternoon whilst the cloud thickens across the north and northwest, with outbreaks of rain moving south across scotland, northern ireland and northern england. the rain clears up on friday. the weekend looks very indeed. looks very nice indeed. a brighter outlook with boxt solar sponsors of weather on

gb news. >> hello. good evening . it's me, >> hello. good evening. it's me, jacob rees—mogg on state of the nation. tonight at a time when the conservative party is trailing labour by more than 20% in the opinion polls. why is a conservative government trying to ban smoking? the nanny state legislation faced the wrath of the commons today , and i'll be the commons today, and i'll be revealing how i voted on this authoritarian and absurd policy, which may give you a clue. the brussels natcon conference has been shut down by a rather pompous mayor. why is this mayor

of brussels happy to host the extremist mayor of tehran, but not gb news very own nigel farage? meanwhile, liz truss's new book has called for the dismantling of the leftist state and the restoration of democratic accountability. but an age still struggling with the bureaucratic legacy of new laboun do bureaucratic legacy of new labour. do true conservatives stand a chance? plus, as new figures break another record of those out of work because of long time sickness , i'll be long time sickness, i'll be joined by one of britain's greatest economic minds who may have an idea or two about how we can get britain back to work. state nation starts now state of the nation starts now. also be joined by my most theatrical panel, barrister and former tory mp jerry hayes, and the former labour aid and public affairs consultant suella santykiu. as always, i want to hear from you. it's a crucial part of the programme. email me mailmogg@gbnews.uk. com but now

it's your favourite part of the day. with polly day. the news with polly middleton first. >> jacob, thanks very much indeed. >> jacob, thanks very much indeed . well, the top story from indeed. well, the top story from the gp newsroom tonight is that the gp newsroom tonight is that the prime minister has told his israeli counterpart that now is a moment for calm heads, as israel considers its response to iran's missile and drone attack at the weekend . add rishi sunak at the weekend. add rishi sunak spoke by telephone to benjamin netanyahu on a call that was delayed for 24 hours yesterday. israeli media was reporting that mr netanyahu was refusing to take calls from world leaders seeking to influence his country's response. a downing street spokesperson said mr sunak reaffirmed the uk's support for israel's security and stability. meanwhile, the governments rwanda plan has been deau governments rwanda plan has been dealt a series of defeats once again by peers in the house of lords tonight, further delaying passage of the government's flagship policy through parliament. despite mps in the

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