electoral fraud and tax evasion. >> and after yesterday's bedlam in brussels, where riot police targeted an event featuring nigel farage, a court has now overturned the ban on the national conservative conference to protect freedom of speech. >> we'll speak to one of the men behind the late night legal challenge and flying loud and proud in nottingham, but not everyone's happy with england's biggest saint george's cross. >> some locals are flagging up its size, saying get this, it's not big enough. now, also today we're going to be crossing over to dubai , where be crossing over to dubai, where the most extraordinary floods have taken place , leaving many have taken place, leaving many brits stranded. >> i mean, dubai has become a top destination for brits looking for a bit of winter sun,

looking for a bit of winter sun, looking for a bit of springtime sun as well. and now look at these scenes. torrential rain, people having their vehicles completely submerged. and the question is, isn't it, tom, whether this was self—inflicted.7 yeah. by dubai itself, i mean, i don't pretend to know everything in the world, but i didn't realise that the arabian desert had a monsoon season, but no, this is this is apparently due to the man made clouds that the miraculous technology in the uae has delivered. they've been trying to generate clouds and bnng trying to generate clouds and bring about rain, but it seems they've done it too successfully. >> so let us know if you're watching from dubai or you have a friend or a family member there. look at it's there. look at that. it's usually completely sunny, but there. look at that. it's usu recentlypletely sunny, but there. look at that. it's usu recently andely sunny, but there. look at that. it's usu recently and everyone but there. look at that. it's usu recently and everyone stuck not recently and everyone stuck there now. so yes, get in touch gbnews.com/yoursay or save. but let's headlines

let's get your headlines. >> emily, thank you very much. and good afternoon. the top stories from the gb newsroom. sir keir starmer has accused the prime minister of dodging questions over cutting the nhs or state pensions to cover the cost of scrapping national insurance. speaking during prime minister's questions, the labour leader criticised the conservatives for what he called their obsession with wild , their obsession with wild, unfunded tax cuts. but rishi sunak fought back, telling the commons it's always the same with labour, with higher taxes and working people paying the price . the exchange continued, price. the exchange continued, with sir keir starmer pointing out that no politician has put up taxes more times than the prime minister. >> i was a lawyer long enough to know when someone's avoiding the question, so i'm going to give him another chance. will he.7 now him another chance. will he? now rule out cuts to the nhs, cuts the state pension or putting up taxes to pay for his unfunded £46 billion promise to scrap

national insurance ? which is it? national insurance? which is it? we're >> while rishi sunak responded saying he makes no apology for wanting to end the unfairness of double taxation on work, the nhs is receiving record funding under this conservative government. >> pensioners have just received a £900 increase under this government . government. >> but if he wants to talk about tax, let's have a look at what labour's brand newly appointed tax adviser has to say. this adviser, this adviser thinks that supporting pensioners is a complete disgrace . mr speaker, complete disgrace. mr speaker, he believes their free tv licences are ridiculous and if it wasn't bad enough, this adviser has called for increases in income tax in national insurance and vat . it in income tax in national insurance and vat. it all makes sense now. that's who the shadow chancellor has been copying and pasting from . pasting from. >> hugh grant has settled a legal case against the publisher of the sun over claims

journalist used private investigators to tap his phone and burgle his house. the actor's lawsuit was one of those eligible to go on trial at the high court, but he's come to an agreement with news group newspapers. prince harry is among several other high profile figures also suing the newspaper group for alleged unlawful information gathering, which the publisher denies . the supreme publisher denies. the supreme court has ruled that the uk's trade union law does breach workers rights and encourages unfair and unreasonable conduct by employers. the case centred on fiona mercer , a care worker on fiona mercer, a care worker who was suspended for participating in a strike in 2019. this morning, five justices unanimously ruled the law breaches the uk's duties over the right to take part in lawful strikes and had a, quote, complete absence of protection for union members, campaigners have hailed the decision as a significant victory . the boss of significant victory. the boss of the post office has been

exonerated following an independent investigation into allegations of bullying. nick read has always rejected the claims. the firm says he has its full backing to lead the organisation, which continues to be under scrutiny over the honzon be under scrutiny over the horizon it scandal. hundreds of subpostmasters were wrongly convicted of theft and fraud because of a faulty it system . because of a faulty it system. some breaking news now in the last half an hour , the man last half an hour, the man behind the fake kidnapping of shannon matthews has died of cancer in the town where he'd been living since his release from prison in 2012. mick donovan held the schoolgirl captive for 24 days in 2008, devising a kidnapping hoax in an attempt to claim a £50,000 reward for her return . shannon reward for her return. shannon was nine at the time. she was found stuffed in a drawer under donovan's bed in a council flat just a few miles from where she first disappeared. in other news, the prime minister hailed

today's inflation figures, saying they demonstrate his economic plan is working. figures show the rate of inflation has fallen to its lowest level in two and a half years , down to 3.2% in march. years, down to 3.2% in march. that's compared to 3.4% the month before. economists say a dip in food prices is the main reason for the slowdown . the reason for the slowdown. the foreign secretary says israel is preparing to retaliate following missile and drone strikes over the weekend. lord cameron's in israel for talks with benjamin netanyahu is the israeli prime minister considers his response to the attack. he says more can and should be done to sanction iran . however, prime minister iran. however, prime minister rishi sunak told his israeli counterpart significant escalation is in no one's interest and would only deepen insecurity in the middle east. in the us, the first seven jurors for donald trump's hush money trial have been chosen. dufing money trial have been chosen. during selection, the jurors

were quizzed about social media posts, political views and whether they can judge the former president fairly. the judge overseeing the new york trial says opening statements could come on monday. however, trump has spoken out against the judge repeatedly, calling him conflicted . the prince of wales conflicted. the prince of wales has comforted bereaved armed forces, families affected by suicide by telling them you're not alone . prince william has not alone. prince william has written a foreword for a series of guides for military veterans and their loved ones, published by suicide bereavement uk. he stressed the power that comes from sharing experiences and how essential it was that the voices of those bereaved by suicide are heard . meanwhile, his brother heard. meanwhile, his brother prince harry says the travel industry must do more for local communities. speaking at an event for his eco travel group travalyst, the prince said local cultures must be protected to ensure the tourism industry can

thrive in the past, harry has faced criticism for his use of private jets . private jets. >> i urge you to focus on what more can be done to ensure the travel and tourism industry continues to have a license to operate . not one entity. entity operate. not one entity. entity can own sustainability. we need to work together to change the course and focus on how travel and tourism can bring prosperity to the whole entire system . to the whole entire system. >> for the latest stories, sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen, or go to gb news comment alerts. now it's back to emily and . now it's back to emily and. tom. >> good afternoon britain. it's 1:08 now. pressure is mounting on the labour party deputy leader angela rayner, after greater manchester police confirmed they're looking into multiple allegations that are not limited to potential electoral law offences. yes and

at least a dozen officers are reportedly examining tax matters and other issues on top of the question of whether angela rayner gave false information to the electoral register when she lived between two former council houses a decade ago. however, she, of course, has strenuously denied any wrongdoing and has promised to resign as labour's deputy leader if she if she's found by the police to have committed a crime. >> yes. and rishi sunak , he >> yes. and rishi sunak, he couldn't resist the opportunity to have a little dig at the labour deputy today at prime minister's questions. >> speaker all i'd say is he ought to spend a bit less time reading that book and a bit and a bit more and a bit more time reading the deputy leader's tax advice . advice. >> i have to say, the cheering , >> i have to say, the cheering, the cheering and jeering went on there for about a minute. the speaker had to halt proceedings, tell keir starmer to sit down and restore order. but let's get some more control on this now with our political correspondent olivia utley . olivia, this

olivia utley. olivia, this really set the house of commons ablaze . ablaze. >> it absolutely did. >> it absolutely did. >> and for the first time in a very long time, it really felt as though rishi sunak was wearing the trousers, if you like. >> he seemed very chipper indeed, and perhaps not surprisingly , the deputy leader surprisingly, the deputy leader of the labour party is being investigated by greater manchester police for not one but multiple , potential, law but multiple, potential, law breaking episodes. now, what do we know so far? james daly , a we know so far? james daly, a conservative mp, reported angela rayner to greater manchester police a while ago because , he police a while ago because, he believed that she had broken electoral law by not paying the capital gains on a house that she was or was not living in. the allegation here is that she wasn't living in the house, and if she wasn't living in the house, then she was eligible to pay house, then she was eligible to pay capital gains on it. at first, greater manchester police said that it wasn't worth investigating . then they changed investigating. then they changed

their minds on further evidence from daly . there were from james daly. there were neighbours of angela rayners who said not living said that she was not living there, but mile down the road there, but a mile down the road with husband, actually with her husband, and actually that brother living that her brother was living there was the landlord there and she was the landlord for brother . that is when for her brother. that is when greater manchester police took more interest decided more of an interest and decided to it to investigate it. now it emerges pretty huge emerges it's a pretty huge investigation. 12 police officers have been assigned to the case, and it's all going to take quite a while . what take quite a while. what prompted this huge scale up in the investigation? what if they found there are rumours that it's something about the, the state of her, council tax affairs, but that isn't yet confirmed . and so we're just confirmed. and so we're just waiting to find out exactly what this police investigation entails. at the moment, the head of greater manchester police is being very tight lipped about it , as you would expect. but he says there is a public says there is a big public interest case. another interest in this case. another question which raised question which has been raised is about andy burnham's role in all of this. he is the mayor of manchester. he is friends with

angela rayner and as mayor of manchester, he has the power to hire and fire the chief constable, nadine dorries. former mp nadine dorries has said that there could be a bit of a conflict of interest there, something that andy burnham vehemently denies. he says the police has full operational control. there's lots of questions swirling around this at the moment and as yet we don't have many answers. but i think that it's not surprising that rishi sunak and the conservatives have a bit of a spnng conservatives have a bit of a spring in their step at the moment. >> very interesting indeed. olivia, 12 or so police officers working on this case. it indicates this could be quite serious. at least they're taking it very seriously. one might ask whether it's good use of that whether it's a good use of that many officers times, but many police officers times, but i'll at be the i'll let people at home be the judge that, local elections judge of that, local elections coming could this, over coming up, could this, over shadow them for labour? >> well, we all assumed that , >> well, we all assumed that, rishi sunak would be in for a bit of a walloping at the local

elections in pretty much every by—election since the general election, the conservatives have done fact, done very badly. in fact, i think i'm right in saying that they've lost more by elections in the past 2 or 3 years than any sitting government ever. but this does throw a bit of a spannerin this does throw a bit of a spanner in the works. it sounds as though this police investigation, with all of those officers on the case is going to take quite a while, and it seems very likely that it will on very likely that it will drag on through the local elections. through to the local elections. and as we saw today, rishi sunak is afraid of taking a pop at is not afraid of taking a pop at angela rayner and rayner herself has painted herself into a corner a bit because when boris johnson was being investigated by the police for that partygate scandal, she said back in 2022 that he would have to resign immediately. well, she is now in exactly the same position and i think rishi sunak will be more than willing to remind her and labour and the voters of that in the run up to these local elections, so we could perhaps

be in for a bit of a surprise. i'm not expecting the conservatives to dominate, but it might not be the bloodbath that we were expecting. >> interesting there. >> interesting stuff there. although i suppose starmer although i suppose keir starmer has himself from has still insulated himself from all this by saying i haven't all of this by saying i haven't read the tax advice. i'm not going to read the tax advice. i don't need to read the tax advice. >> can he hold that position ? >> can he hold that position? can that position, what can he hold that position, what do of him saying do you make of him saying accusing prime of accusing the prime minister of smearing woman ? smearing a working class woman? does land? people care does that land? do people care that a working class woman that she's a working class woman 7 that she's a working class woman ? i that lammy is ? i know that david lammy is saying she was northern. as ? i know that david lammy is sathat she was northern. as ? i know that david lammy is sathat should e was northern. as ? i know that david lammy is sathat should protectiorthern. as ? i know that david lammy is sathat should protectiorthfrom, s if that should protect her from, you smears . you know, any smears. >> it's as if they wouldn't be doing this if she was anything else. yeah. i mean, of course they would. >> of course they would. >> of course they would. >> just. just because you're a woman you're working woman or because you're working class you had class or because you had red hair for that matter. yeah. doesn't insulate from the doesn't insulate you from the rules everyone rules by which everyone else plays, to plays, sadly. but thanks to olivia all that, olivia utley for all of that, we're going to move to brussels now controversy now because the controversy surrounding the shutdown the surrounding the shutdown of the national conservatism conference took a fresh twist overnight after a belgian court overturned

after a belgian court overturned a local mayor's decision to shut it down, saying there's no evidence the event was a threat to public order. >> yes. the court's ruling came shortly after belgium's prime minister alexander de croo, condemned mayor amir kyrees decision to send police in to shut down the conference. he called it unacceptable and unconstitutional . unconstitutional. >> well, let's cross to our man on the ground now where gb news reporter charlie peters is for us in brussels, and charlie , us in brussels, and charlie, this was a remarkable twisting and turning story last night, the historical . the historical. >> that's right, tom. and free speech has prevailed here in brussels, where an interesting discussion on immigration is taking place behind me. and that conversation that's going on is one of many that has been put forward today after a successful legal challenge was submitted to the highest court in belgium yesterday after the police were ordered by a district mayor to shut down this event, as you

said on supposed threats to pubuc said on supposed threats to public safety that mayor amir keir said that the far right were gathering in brussels language . that has actually been language. that has actually been echoed in britain by wes streeting, who said that far right fanatics were. at this meeting. organisers told me last night that they did not know that this event was going to go ahead until 2 am. this morning, when a judge issued a ruling. and i'm very glad to say that i'm joined now by paul coleman from international, the from adf international, the legal that legal organisation that challenged this ruling . and challenged this ruling. and paul challenged this ruling. and paul, talk, talk us through what happened last night. how did this challenge get set forward? >> well, it's been a crazy 24 hours. >> the challenge last night was actually the third legal challenge. we had three different legal challenges in three languages in 24 hours, the last of which was at 10 pm. last of which was at 10 pm. last night. it was an emergency heanng last night. it was an emergency hearing before the administrative tribunal here. the council of state, the court, to their great credit, convened

this emergency hearing. we had the judge and advocate general and many other members of staff there letting us into the courthouse at 10 pm. to argue the case and argue the fact that , what was happening. the mayor's decree had no lawful bafis. mayor's decree had no lawful basis . it was disproportionate, basis. it was disproportionate, and it needed to be suspended to enable this event to take place. and that's exactly what the judge ruled , as you say, at judge ruled, as you say, at about two in the morning this morning . morning. >> now, the belgian prime minister that the move was minister said that the move was unconstitutional . were you unconstitutional. were you surprised ruling? we surprised by the ruling? no, we were expecting it because what were expecting it because what we were surprised about is that the mayor had acted in such a way to shut this event down in the first place. >> it was really quite extraordinary. we talk all the time about cancel culture, but not many have experienced not many of us have experienced cancel where riot police cancel culture where riot police are by a public are deployed by a public official in order to block an event that is espousing views different to that of the person in power, in this case, the mayor. so it was quite extraordinary behaviour by the local mayor. and so when we were

finally able to get before a judge late last night, we were hopeful that when the case was actually properly scrutinised and looked at that freedom of speech, freedom of assembly would prevail. and that's exactly what happened. >> have you been concerned by the number of public officials who've remained silent after that chilling order was issued to shut down this event yesterday? just a couple of major figures intervening in this case. >> yes. so we've seen a lot of silence is often the case when something like this happens , something like this happens, when there is some form of censorship or cancellation, then a lot of times people assume that it must be for a reason. there must be something terrible happening they want happening here. they don't want to involved. i think to get involved. and i think people that people also assume that something will never something like that will never happen and so they happen to them. and so they don't engage form don't really engage in any form of solidarity . and so that of solidarity. and so that unfortunately, that silenced by a people power, is a lot of people in power, is quite in these quite typical in these situations. we were grateful situations. but we were grateful for of the prime for the remarks of the prime minister of belgium. we're also grateful, actually for the spokesperson on behalf of the british minister, rishi

british prime minister, rishi sunak, in sunak, who also stood up in support of this event and in solidarity. were some solidarity. so there were some encouraging made as encouraging remarks made as well. in fact, the remarks well. and in fact, the remarks of the spokesperson for of both the spokesperson for rishi sunak and the belgium prime were cited in prime minister were cited in court at 10 pm. last night in support of this event . support of this event. >> so the interventions from britain could have swayed this event into taking place today. >> it certainly became part of the legal proceedings late last night. >> brilliant. >> brilliant. >> thank you very much, mr coleman. thank you for your time. so this event now will continue. we've heard from viktor hungarian viktor orban, the hungarian prime minister in the last couple hours, one of many couple of hours, one of many speakers able to speak today despite an attempt to shut down this event. >> really interesting stuff there, charlie , that actually there, charlie, that actually there, charlie, that actually the words from british prime the words from the british prime minister could have been the crucial sort of element in all of this that swung this event back into action. really fascinating stuff. thank you for bringing us that live from the national conservatism conference. >> it's great, isn't it, that they managed get this done. they managed to get this done. so yeah, straight to so quickly. yeah, straight to

the the d'etat in the court. the conseil d'etat in brussels to sort this out. absolutely free speech prevails. >> but of course, not everyone was happy about this. in fact, the labour party frontbench yesterday, in parliament decided to in quite an extraordinary way , mock what was going on, mock the idea that this little mayor had decided to shut down a free and lawful event. should we take and lawful event. should we take a listen to what shadow health secretary wes streeting was saying in the midst of all of this? >> and of course, a source close to the right honourable member for fareham who couldn't be here today with us, mr deputy speaken today with us, mr deputy speaker, because she is currently brussels, currently in brussels, surrounded the police who are surrounded by the police who are trying shut the event trying to shut down the event she's attending with some far right fanatics with whom she has much common. 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 too. >> okay, it's okay to shut down free speech.

>> okay to joke and laugh >> it's okay to joke and laugh about the riot police being sent in to down a peaceful in to shut down a peaceful meeting. i mean, it's okay to laugh the idea that that laugh about the idea that that political opponents would be shut down, something that courts in europe have now said was utterly unconstitutional . and utterly unconstitutional. and you have the future shadow health secretary, the future health secretary, the future health secretary, the future health secretary a man who wants to run the nhs in this country, sort of laughing about it. >> sorry, wes streeting, but that very poorjudgement. and that is very poor judgement. and many people on the left have said exactly the same. this is not freedom of speech. you can't just shut down something and then the court to rule in favour of those who want to keep it open. of those who want to keep it open . oh, off the mark. there it open. oh, off the mark. there it is. mark there from wes . is. mark there from wes. >> and you're right to raise it, emily. it's commendable and right that there are actually many voices on the left have been speaking up today saying it's completely wrong to shut down. might absolutely, down. we might absolutely, profoundly disagree with the people gathering there .

people who are gathering there. exactly. might have complete disagreements with suella braverman and nigel farage and whomever else but their right to gather is a right that doesn't just protect them , it also just protect them, it also protects groups on the left. >> and it could be a left wing conference next time that gets shut or there's attempt shut down, or there's an attempt to down, things change, to shut one down, things change, don't politics, don't they? in politics, societies change, cultures change, politicians it change, politicians change. it could be you next. this is why we need to uphold freedom of speech. but there you go. where's is probably a regretting what said in the chamber what he said in the chamber there. coming up, us there. but coming up, let us know what make of it all. know what you make of it all. by the coming what's to the way, coming up, what's to blame extraordinary blame for that extraordinary weather dubai? we're going to weather in dubai? we're going to be that question be posing that question to an expert. torrential expert. it's been torrential rain, which in a desert is quite rare. watching. good rare. you're watching. good afternoon we're on

gb

news. well, it's 126. and, authorities and communities across the united arab emirates. we're clearing debris this morning because there was torrential rain that has killed at least one person and caused huge amounts of damage to homes and businesses. quite extraordinary scenes there. >> yes . the scenes there. >> yes. the united scenes there. >> yes . the united arab scenes there. >> yes. the united arab emirates witnessed a record rainfall, with 254mm falling on tuesday in less than 24 hours. now that's more than an entire year's rainfall in just one day. that's according to the national meteorology centre, which said it's the most since records began quite extraordinary in 1949, before the country was established in 1971. >> yes, it has a short history as a nation, but who's to blame for this all? should we speak with martin ambaum, who is a professor in atmospheric physics and dynamics, excellent stuff. martin tell us, was this self inflicted self inflicted in what way? >> its its weather. right. and

so we get we get the severe weather as well. and, and it was indeed quite a unique event. and for emirates of course, and for the emirates of course, and but apart from that it was a well forecast weather event that was predicted several days in advance, because there's a lot of discussion online about something known as cloud seeding, which is, well, perhaps you'd be best placed to explain it. it's something that the uae does to try and create more rain. >> absolutely . it's clear that >> absolutely. it's clear that for arid regions like the uae, where there's big cities like dubal where there's big cities like dubai, that any amount of additional rainfall amongst, above their normal amount of rainfall, which is absolutely very low and will be beneficial for them. and so they invest a lot of effort and money, in cloud seeding operations , which cloud seeding operations, which is to help the clouds that they do have there to help those clouds produce rain . clouds produce rain. >> but this particular this weather that we're seeing now ,

weather that we're seeing now, in just 24 hours, nearly a year and a half's , worth of rainfall and a half's, worth of rainfall in just 24 hours, you don't believe that that had anything to do with the cloud seeding? indeed >> this is from on a completely different scale. this is a properly big weather system, a mesoscale weather system . cloud mesoscale weather system. cloud seeding operates on individual clouds and tries to make those clouds and tries to make those clouds rain. in fact, my contacts at the national meteorological service in the in the emirates have told me that in this particular case, they actually did not send out cloud seeding flight. so there was no there was no, effect of that obviously, because no, no cloud seeding happened for this. and in any case, this this event was too big and too energetic for cloud seeding to have any , cloud seeding to have any, relevance or influence. so it didn't happen and it wouldn't have done anything anyway. >> some of the pictures that we're seeing are just extraordinary. it's clear that this is a, a city in dubai that

that just has not prepared for any sort of level of rainfall like this. there isn't adequate drainage. people are being trapped in their apartment buildings, cars floating away. it's really quite extraordinary. should you buy invest more in drainage? should they expect more weather events like this ? more weather events like this? >> well, we've been saying now for quite a few years, perhaps even decades, that that in a sort of changing climate that we do expect for good reasons, more extreme, events to pop up everywhere across the globe. and indeed, it is happening. indeed, as far as dubai is concerned , to as far as dubai is concerned, to be honest. i mean, it's a very dry and compact soil and it will always struggle with and with, with, getting rid of water. so as soon as there's substantial rainfall in areas like that, there will be sort of localised flash flooding. and in fact, it's not a very uncommon, occurrence for, for, for cities

like dubai or abu dhabi that they have localised flash flooding when, when there's severe weather. >> very interesting indeed . >> very interesting indeed. thank you so much for coming on the show this afternoon. martin ambaum, professor in atmospheric physics . it's physics and dynamics. it's interesting that he said this is not to do with the cloud seeding, that this is such a weather event that has nothing to do because some other experts have mentioned that, in the days before this unprecedented rainfall, there had been quite a lot of this cloud seeding going on a little bit, at least you could you could make an argument that, inducing rain beforehand because i think i think it didn't they didn't cloud seed on this day of the this particular day of the flood, they did day flood, but they did the day before. the day before that, >> and the day before that, perhaps filling up drains perhaps filling up the drains so that when big storm came, that when the big storm came, the infrastructure take the infrastructure couldn't take it. i'm maybe i'm to be fair. >> it's like it's like in this country when it gets a little bit hot or when there's a little bit hot or when there's a little bit of snow , everything breaks bit of snow, everything breaks down, everything breaks down. so there can't really there you go. we can't really blame the people of dubai, the

authorities not authorities of dubai, for not being prepared for this, because we're too, when we're a bit rubbish too, when there's i mean, there's floods there's a i mean, there's floods sometimes here. quite well. often. yeah. >> often. yeah. and the trains stop wrong kind of stop if it's the wrong kind of rain wrong kind of snow rain or the wrong kind of snow or leaves on the track, but no. there go. everything was broken. >> we always flooding in >> we always have flooding in this but, still to this country. but, still to come, new hate crime come, scotland's new hate crime law attack yet again, law is under attack yet again, this from the scottish this time from the scottish conservatives. see this time from the scottish con legislation see this time from the scottish con legislation scrapped see the legislation scrapped altogether. can they get it done? >> there's a vote in parliament today, but we'll get to that after your news headlines. >> tom, thank you very much and good afternoon. the top stories this hour. sir keir starmer has accused the prime minister of dodging questions over cutting the nhs or state pensions to cover the cost of scrapping national insurance . speaking national insurance. speaking dunng national insurance. speaking during prime minister's questions, the labour leader criticised the conservatives for what he called their obsession with wild, unfunded tax cuts.

but rishi sunak fought back, telling the commons it's always the same with labour, with higher taxes and working people paying higher taxes and working people paying the price . as hugh grant paying the price. as hugh grant has settled a legal case against the publisher of the sun over claims journalist used private investigators to tap his phone and burgle his house. the actor's lawsuit was one of those eligible to go to trial at the high court, but he's come to an agreement with news group newspapers. prince harry is among several other high profile figures also suing the newspaper group for alleged unlawful information gathering , which the information gathering, which the publisher . in other news, publisher denies. in other news, the prime minister has hailed today's inflation figures, saying they demonstrate his economic plan is working. figures show the rate of inflation has fallen to its lowest level in two and a half years, down to 3.2% in march. that's compared to 3.4% the month before. economists say a dip in food prices is the main reason for the slowdown . and as

reason for the slowdown. and as we've been hearing, thousands of uk passengers are suffering flight disruption after dubai international airport was flooded. emirates has cancelled a number of flights between the united arab emirates and the uk, with british airways also diverting some routes. the airport urged passengers to stay away unless absolutely necessary after it was hit by more than a year's average rainfall in just 24 hours. more torrential rain and thunderstorms are expected to cause severe disruption across the desert city in the coming days . across the desert city in the coming days. for the across the desert city in the coming days . for the latest coming days. for the latest stories, sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen or go to gb news. carmelites . carmelites. >> for a valuable legacy, your family can own, gold coins will always shine bright . rosalind always shine bright. rosalind gold proudly sponsors the gb news financial report. >> here's a quick snapshot of

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i >> -- >> good afternoon. britain. it's 1:37. now over to scotland. where humza yousaf's new hate crime law is under attack from the scottish conservatives . the scottish conservatives. they're tabling a motion today to try and scrap the legislation in its entirety. >> yes, since its implementation in more than 7000 police complaints have been made, raising concerns over its impact on freedom of speech, of course, and also the wasting of police

time. >> let's cross to our scotland reporter now, tony maguire, who joins us outside holyrood . tony, joins us outside holyrood. tony, what's going on today ? what's going on today? >> good afternoon. well, today isindeed >> good afternoon. well, today is indeed the second day back after the easter recess . after the easter recess. >> and of course, that april, the first date when we saw this hate crime legislation come in. >> and it's just a slight update on your numbers there. we're just sitting under 9000 complaints by this point . 9000 complaints by this point. 9000 reports and police scotland have told us that around 3.8% of them are actually leading to hate crimes being lodged by the police. now, of course , as our police. now, of course, as our msps were at home enjoying the break, they were able to see from afar the huge outcry against the damage to free speech, the damage to conversations that arguably the pubuc conversations that arguably the public weren't finished having yet about transgender issues. and today the scottish tories

will. they're taking this vote into parliament and they, as you said, are hoping to repeal it. now, i caught up with murdo fraser a little earlier today. he himself has had a brush with this legislation after he posted that he thought that choosing to identify as non—binary is as valid as choosing to identify as a cat . he later discovered, of a cat. he later discovered, of course, that a mark was put down as a non—crime hate crime incident, so i was keen to ask him just how much of an issue this is for free speech and the broader issue here in scotland . broader issue here in scotland. >> there was a whole suite of different policies and legislation that we are seeing, an attempt to close down debate on contentious areas. now, we know that the snp government's attempt to legislate for gender self—id was , is was blocked by self—id was, is was blocked by the uk government, a position that was backed by the scottish courts. but this seems an

attempt to reverse that by the back door, by bringing in other pieces of legislation that will have an impact and, for example, on on the proposed bill to outlaw misogyny. the suggestion is that now applies to transgender women, which again, has provoked a hugely negative reaction from jk rowling and others . others. >> and of course, if we can remember back, both labour and liberal democrats here in scotland supported the bill originally. but i can tell you that labour this afternoon , that labour this afternoon, they'll be hoping to reform the bill the legislation as an bill or the legislation as an act now, of course, and to include women as a protected characteristic. so we'll be keeping you updated as the day goes on, but very interesting indeed. >> thank you. tony mcguire there up outside holyrood. i mean, what are the chances of the scottish conservatives being able to get this legislation repealed? >> well, they're the second largest party in the scottish parliament, but quite a way behind the numbers that the snp

have. behind the numbers that the snp have . and it's quite a few years have. and it's quite a few years until next holyrood until the next holyrood election. i don't think they're going to have the numbers today, but be interesting to see but it'll be interesting to see how because there how that vote goes because there are in the snp who are some voices in the snp who sort perhaps the sort of are seeing perhaps the error yes. error of their ways. yes. >> liberal democrats >> and the liberal democrats wanting to be put the wanting women to be put in the now act . but wanting women to be put in the now act. but humza yousaf wanting women to be put in the now act . but humza yousaf wants now act. but humza yousaf wants to have this new misogyny law. and now there's a huge question over whether transgender women should be protected in the same category it's all category as women. it's all getting rather messy for humza yousaf. wonder if he'll regret yousaf. i wonder if he'll regret what he's what he's done here. if it's what he started to have the police sort of losing spending all their time on this stuff anyway. >> but let's move to some good news because inflation has fallen 3.2, lowest level fallen to 3.2, its lowest level since 2021. >> yes, the prime minister this morning said after a tough couple of years, our economic plan is working. >> but what do these figures mean for you out there in the country? us now from country? joining us now from edenbndge edenbridge is gb news national reporter . theo chikomba theo, reporter. theo chikomba theo, what people telling what have people been telling you ?

you? >> well, certainly good . news to >> well, certainly good. news to start with as inflation has gone down. but . people are now down. but. people are now turning their eyes to the 9th of may when that interest rate decision is going to be announced by the bank of england. this mean for announced by the bank of englistreet, this mean for announced by the bank of englistreet, particularly mean for announced by the bank of englistreet, particularly a1ean for announced by the bank of englistreet, particularly a lot1 for high street, particularly a lot of them, as you may be able to see, are just my shoulder. see, are just my right shoulder. there lots of buildings there are lots of buildings along this high street which have now closed, permanent early. but i've been speaking to people here, consumers and business owners, to see what this means for them. >> that average >> i'm not sure that the average person community will person in the community will recognise that as such. >> in print, but >> it's written in print, but what actually means in your what it actually means in your purse? i'm sure. what it actually means in your purjusti'm sure. what it actually means in your purjust being sure. what it actually means in your purjust being across to the >> just being across to the local shops for my, provisions for centre here, and for the centre here, and discovered that simple things like increased by a like bread have increased by a considerable amount. >> it's bound to help keep businesses going where we're

struggling in edenbridge to keep our businesses and our roman high street. >> and, anything that helps the businesses to cope will help the businesses to cope will help the businesses and also us general public. you have to be optimistic rather than pessimistic and my glass is always half full. >> . >> so. >> so. >> and that's what people want to see change on their high street. in recent years, spending habits have changed because people are having to spend less on treating themselves specifically. and of course , items in shops have also course, items in shops have also had to go up business owners are having to make difficult decisions as inflation is impacting them, and that's something they're having to pass to on customers. but for those who are closing their doors permanently , they'll be hoping permanently, they'll be hoping that this is a sign. perhaps of a rejuvenation for high streets like this one. all up and down the country. as they're saying, things are simply getting too expensive for those who live in this area. some say they're having to rely on online

shopping because they can't afford to go to nearby towns because of the transport services that are available here. but for now, though, inflation going down is good news. they're just hoping that this will help their town here in edenbridge. and i guess across the country as well to rejuvenate as well. >> thank you very much indeed, theo chikomba. they're to theo chikomba. they're great to speak hear some speak to you and hear some people there , lots of people people out there, lots of people being positive, cautiously being a positive, cautiously optimistic. although i guess that's just how have to be that's just how you have to be really life , isn't it? look really in life, isn't it? look on the positive side, a lot on the positive side, but a lot of saying, oh no, this of people saying, oh no, this isn't good because isn't good news because inflation dropped inflation should have dropped far more quickly than it has. >> for the first time today , >> but for the first time today, inflation in the uk is lower now than is in the united states. than it is in the united states. of course, the us saw its inflation go up last month. that was a huge, unexpected worry. worry for the global economy , worry for the global economy, really expecting that interest rates less quickly . rates would fall less quickly. vie but now that uk inflation is lower than that of us inflation, perhaps we'll buck the trend .

perhaps we'll buck the trend. perhaps our interest rates will fall before american rates do . fall before american rates do. >> i think that might be wishful thinking, tom, but perhaps you're right. well, perhaps you're right. well, perhaps you're thinking perhaps you're right thinking perhaps you're right thinking perhaps you're we'll find you're right, we'll, we'll find out, won't we? yeah, of course, time tell. now, coming up, time will tell. now, coming up, it flying loud and proud in it is flying loud and proud in nottingham , but not everyone's nottingham, but not everyone's happy with england's biggest saint george's cross. find out why after this short

well. welcome back. now a saint george's cross, which is believed to be the biggest in the world, was unveiled in nottingham yesterday . there it nottingham yesterday. there it is. but, not all residents are happy with it . some is. but, not all residents are happy with it. some think it could be bigger. >> well, the 60 foot long flag was installed on the front of the city council house as part of the city's build up to saint george's day next week. yes. >> for more on what the flag represents and if the 60 foot flag really is big enough, we can head to the now. we can head to the flag. now. we can head to the flag. now. we can live to the flag with our can go live to the flag with our reporter, will hollis, is it big enough you? will

enough for you? will >> yes. well, saint george's cross has been associated with england since at least the 1300s. and this enormous flag has been associated with nottingham since not quite as far back in our history, but at least 2010, it appears on the front of our council house building here in nottingham every single year, ahead of saint george's day. it's installed there by the council, as well as help , helped by local as well as help, helped by local organisations like the royal society of saint george encouraging the display of the royal saint george's cross, as well as local organisation that helped to fund and sponsor the flag being installed . but it is flag being installed. but it is 60ft wide. it's 26ft tall. but even as england's biggest flag as most people assess, it's not quite big enough for some people who say it should be bigger . and who say it should be bigger. and a week ahead of saint george's day, i've been speaking the day, i've been speaking to the people to find out people of nottingham to find out their on england's their thoughts on england's national and it flying here national flag and it flying here in the east midlands. i think

it's really good to see it up there. >> it's good to see a celebration of , of england, the celebration of, of england, the country. i think there's a lot of times we don't celebrate of times now we don't celebrate andifs of times now we don't celebrate and it's good to see. i think it's pretty good actually. it looks good. yeah. to looks pretty good. yeah. nice to support local, the local support the local, the local saint , so to speak. saint, so to speak. >> i think amazing. >> i think it's amazing. >> i think it's amazing. >> do , i think it's absolutely >> i do, i think it's absolutely amazing. and it's proud for something in our country. oh, yeah. proud to be english, of coui'se. >> course. >> absolutely brilliant. yeah. you should should, celebrate it more. you know what i mean ? yeah. >> does it make you feel proud to be english? >> oh, yeah. definitely. yeah >> oh, yeah. definitely. yeah >> yes. well, not everybody is excited , we'll say, because excited, we'll say, because yesterday i was speaking to one person, asking them, what do they think of saint george's cross? the gentleman said, well, it's just a flag. i hadn't even noficed it's just a flag. i hadn't even noticed it was there. i mean, i don't know how you can miss it when it is england's biggest flag. right in the centre of your city. but at the time when this has gone up in place ,

this has gone up in place, nottingham city council's leader has wishes everybody in has said he wishes everybody in nottingham and the country a happy saint george's day. >> oh brilliant stuff. >> oh brilliant stuff. >> well, thanks to our flag correspondent will hollis there with all our flag news in the run up to saint george's day. i do think that england is almost one of the only countries in the world where it's almost a bit awkward sometimes. you know what? >> that brought a tear to eye >> that brought a tear to my eye that just people that did. just seeing people looking up flag saying, looking up at the flag saying, you what? i am to be you know what? i am proud to be engush you know what? i am proud to be english the the english and i love the flag. the flag. know you think flag. let us know what you think about is it big enough? about it. is it big enough? gbnews.com/yoursay more gbnews.com/yoursay plenty more to the hour, to bring you in the next hour, including a debate whether we including a debate on whether we should rights? should scrap squatters rights? should be completely 100% should it be completely 100% illegal to squat in someone else's property ? else's property? >> a brighter outlook with boxt solar sponsors of weather on . gb news. >> afternoon. welcome to your

latest weather update from the met office here on gb news. going to be a cold one tonight where we have the clearest spells. we could some spells. we could see some pockets of frost. a fair few showers still around this evening , some quite heavy ones evening, some quite heavy ones over eastern england, grey and damp pembrokeshire, devon damp over pembrokeshire, devon and should and cornwall. that rain should clear . we'll keep some clear away. we'll keep some showers going over the east, but for many it will be dry and with the clearer skies over southern scotland, and scotland, northwest england and wales, we are wales, that's where we are likely a touch of frost. likely to see a touch of frost. certainly the countryside, certainly in the countryside, many just many towns and cities will just about above freezing, but about hover above freezing, but it is going to be a fairly cold start to thursday . most will start to thursday. most will have a dry and a bright start though with sunshine. could though with some sunshine. could be clouds over kent be some shower clouds over kent early certainly be early on. they'll certainly be some rain coming into the highlands the western highlands and the western isles, and spreads across of and that spreads across most of scotland. the scotland. by lunchtime, the north and east of northern ireland likely to see a little bit of rain times as well. bit of rain at times as well. and rain will spread into and that rain will spread into northern england, maybe north wales, the day. wales, by the end of the day. the south, though, generally the far south, though, generally stays . a fine day for east stays dry. a fine day for east anglia the london area. 15

anglia and the london area. 15 possible but elsewhere it possible here, but elsewhere it will cooler as the will be turning cooler as the cloud and the rain moves in. getting windy again through the day another day on day and another breezy day on friday mixture of friday with a mixture of sunshine and showers. generally a grey start south, a grey start in the south, perhaps brightening up little perhaps brightening up a little bit of the showers bit with most of the showers across and eastern across central and eastern parts. day for scotland parts. drier day for scotland and northern ireland, but not much temperatures in some much warmer temperatures in some places. single figures and even in into teens , but in the south into the teens, but feeling colder with the breeze. bye . bye for now. >> that warm feeling inside from boxt boiler as sponsors of weather on

gb news. >> good afternoon. britain. it's 2:00 on wednesday. the 17th of april. >> growing pressure on labour's labour's deputy leader. manchester police now say they're investigating multiple allegations against angela rayner following accusations of electoral fraud and tax evasion. >> after yesterday's bedlam in

brussels, where riot police targeted an event featuring nigel farage, a court overturns a ban on the national conservative conference to protect freedom of speech. we'll speak to one of the men behind the legal challenge and after pubs owned by celebrity chefs gordon ramsay and marco pierre white are invaded by squatters, we're asking, should squatting be a criminal offence in all circumstances and record rainfall in the united arab emirates , it's killed at least emirates, it's killed at least one person and caused damage to homes and businesses. we'll speak to a brit caught up in this terrible . this terrible. storm. now, lots of you have been in touch. now, lots of you have been in touch . it seems that everyone at touch. it seems that everyone at home loved the flag . that we saw

home loved the flag. that we saw at the end of last hour, just as much as emily and i did the biggest saint george's flag in the world. well paula says the engush the world. well paula says the english flag be in english flag should be flown in every public building england. yes, in france, can't, >> yes, in france, you can't, you can't the tricolour, you can't avoid the tricolour, can absolutely can you? it's absolutely everywhere. says , everywhere. and grant says, wonderful proud to be everywhere. and grant says, wo english proud to be everywhere. and grant says, wo english chap proud to be everywhere. and grant says, wo english chap . proud to be everywhere. and grant says, wo english chap . excellento be stuff. >> graham says. have to agree with tom sometimes it's a bit awkward to fly the saint george's cross, probably because it's been hijacked by the wrong people in america. they fly the stars and stripes everywhere. very patriotic. it would upset some here if we flew the union flag on town halls and other civil buildings . certainly upset civil buildings. certainly upset emily thornberry. back . in 2014. emily thornberry. back. in 2014. one own goal. she went to the rochester by—election, took a picture of an england flag outside a house to mock it. it seems it's in certain seems it's weird in certain areas british it areas of british society, it seems patriotism is seems that patriotism is embarrassing people. embarrassing to some people. >> with all >> but, you know what with all these sort of things, people take offence on behalf other take offence on behalf of other people. mean, at this. people. i mean, look at this. every person that will every single person that will our spoke was happy

our reporter spoke to was happy for there. i mean, look for it to be there. i mean, look at . it's majestic. it's like, at it. it's majestic. it's like, why not celebrate saint why not? why not celebrate saint george's day? why not celebrate being a part of a country that is pretty amazing? >> you know why we're not allowed to celebrate it? because. the because. because we were the most mean, we're most successful. i mean, we're the first country to industrialise. we the industrialise. we had the world's you're world's largest empire. you're not proud of that not allowed to be proud of that sort stuff. sort of stuff. >> well, i am. >> yeah, well, i am. are you at home, aren't you? if you're from england . england anyway. gbnews.com/yoursay. keep your views coming in and we'll be getting to that squatting. right? debate. should it just be banned entirely, it seems like i find extraordinary find it extraordinary that people are just to steal people are just allowed to steal other property. other people's property. >> extraordinary. other people's property. >> we'll(traordinary. other people's property. >> we'll havedinary. other people's property. >> we'll have someone who's defending just defending the squatters in just a it's first. it's your a sec. but it's first. it's your headunes. headlines. >> emily. thank you. and good afternoon. the top stories sir keir starmer has accused the prime minister of dodging questions over cutting the nhs or state pensions to cover the

cost of scrapping national insurance. speaking during prime minister's questions , the labour minister's questions, the labour leader criticised the conservatives for what he called their obsession with wild, unfunded tax cuts . but rishi unfunded tax cuts. but rishi sunak fought back, telling the commons it's always the same with labour, with higher taxes and working people paying the price. the exchange continued, with sir keir starmer pointing out that no politician has put up taxes more times than the prime minister. >> i was a lawyer long enough to know when someone's avoiding the question , so i'm going to give question, so i'm going to give him another chance . will he now him another chance. will he now rule out cuts the nhs, cuts the state pension or putting up taxes to pay for his unfunded £46 billion promise to scrap national insurance? which is it? >> however, rishi sunak responded , saying he makes no responded, saying he makes no apology for wanting to end the unfairness of double taxation on

work. the nhs is receiving record funding under this conservative government. >> pensioners have just received a £900 increase under this government. but if he wants to talk about tax, let's have a look at what labour's brand newly appointed tax adviser has to say. this adviser this adviser thinks that supporting pensioners is a complete disgrace. mr speaker, he believes their free tv licences are ridiculous . and if it wasn't are ridiculous. and if it wasn't bad enough, this adviser has called for increasing in income tax in national insurance and vat . it all makes sense now. vat. it all makes sense now. that's who the shadow chancellor has been copying and pasting from . from. >> in other news, the prime minister hailed today's inflation figures, saying they demonstrate his economic plan is working. figures show the rate of inflation has fallen to its lowest level in two and a half years, down to 3.2% in march. that's compared to 3.4% the month before. economists say a

dip in food prices is the main reason for the slowdown. while gb news has been speaking to people in market bosworth and leicestershire to hear their thoughts , it's better than it thoughts, it's better than it going the other way, that's for sure, i don't think it's sure, but i don't think it's going make massive going to make a massive difference in the street. >> no, i haven't really noticed. >> no, i haven't really noticed. >> i'm, with my shopping. i know exactly what i buy every week , exactly what i buy every week, so i know what my bills are every week. and at this point in time , i haven't seen them come down. >> it doesn't really make any difference. it is what it is. >> people want more increase in wages. things have got to go up and i'm afraid they'll have to put up with it . put up with it. >> some breaking news from south—east wales. we understand emergency response teams are attending the scene of an explosion at a munitions factory in monmouthshire. fire and rescue services were called at just after 1030 this morning, following reports of an incident at a site in the village of

glascoed belonging to the defence firm bae systems. it's understood a full investigation has been launched and an incident control post has been set up. we will keep across this incident throughout the afternoon and bring you more on this as we get it. hugh grant has settled a legal case against the publisher of the sun over claims journalists used private investigators to tap his phone and burgle his house. the actor's lawsuit was one of those eligible to go to trial the eligible to go to trial at the high court, but he's come to an agreement news group agreement with news group newspapers . prince harry is newspapers. prince harry is among several other high profile figures also suing the newspaper group for alleged unlawful information gathering, which the publisher has denied . the boss publisher has denied. the boss of the post office has been exonerated following an independent investigation into allegations of bullying. nick read has always rejected claims of misconduct. the firm says he has its full backing to lead the organisation, which continues to

be under scrutiny over the honzon be under scrutiny over the horizon scandal. hundreds of subpostmasters were wrongly convicted of theft and fraud because of an it system failure . because of an it system failure. paedophiles convicted of serious sexual offences could lose parental rights over their children. a proposed law change would stop offenders being able to decide where their children go to school, as well as important health and travel choices. only the most serious sexual offence, rape of a child under 13, would be covered under the new rule. however, labour mp harriet harman says the rule could be extended to cover less serious sexual offences against children in the future . in the children in the future. in the us, the first seven jurors for donald trump's hush money trial have been chosen. during selection, the jurors were quizzed about social media posts, political views and whether they judge the form whether they can judge the form of the judge of president fairly. the judge overseeing the new york trial says opening statements could come on monday.

says opening statements could come on monday . however, says opening statements could come on monday. however, trump's spoken out against judge, spoken out against the judge, repeatedly him repeatedly calling him conflicted and thousands of uk passengers are suffering flight disruption after dubai international airport was flooded. emirates has cancelled a number of flights between united arab emirates and the uk , united arab emirates and the uk, with british airways also diverting some routes. the airport urged passengers to stay away unless absolutely necessary, after it was hit by more than a year's average rainfall in just 24 hours. more torrential rain and thunderstorms are expected to cause severe disruption across the desert city in the coming days. for the latest stories, you can sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your or go to gb on your screen, or go to gb news. com slash alerts. now it's back to tom and . emily. back to tom and. emily. >> good afternoon britain. it's 2:09 now. labour's deputy leader

angela rayner is under increasing pressure after greater manchester police confirmed they're looking into multiple allegations against her that are not limited to potential electoral law breaches. >> yes, well, at least a dozen police officers are reportedly examining the tax matters and other on top of the other issues on top of the question of whether angela rayner gave false information to the electoral register a decade ago. >> however , she continues to >> however, she continues to deny any wrongdoing and has promised to resign as labour's deputy leader if she's found to have committed a crime. >> but rishi sunak , he couldn't >> but rishi sunak, he couldn't resist the opportunity to have a little dig at the labour deputy today at prime minister's questions. >> speaker all i'd say is he ought to spend a bit less time reading that book and a bit and a bit more and a bit more time reading the deputy leader's tax advice. >> now we've cut those cheers a little bit short. they went on for about a minute. the speaker had to tell starmer to sit back

down, had to calm down the house. so it really did. really did sort of set, set the commons alight in a, in a way of sort of guffawing that we haven't seen for time. for quite some time. >> mordaunt seem to >> penny mordaunt didn't seem to find it particularly funny. >> just took a second >> maybe she just took a second to. >> she wasn't listening. maybe she listening, shall we she wasn't listening, shall we discuss with gb discuss this further now with gb news correspondent news political correspondent olivia olivia, course. olivia utley, olivia, of course. the to the conservatives are trying to make a big deal of all this. is it cutting through ? it cutting through? >> well, i think it might be just beginning to cut through. this is a story which really raises more questions than it answers at first. greater manchester police weren't planning to look into these accusations. and then , because accusations. and then, because new evidence came to light, they decided not only would they investigate it, but they would put 12 officers on the case. what's been found? what are these other accusations other than electoral fraud , which than electoral fraud, which angela rayner is now being investigated for ? unfortunately investigated for? unfortunately for the labour party, it looks likely that this investigation

will now drag out with all of these police officers on the case, it feels pretty likely that it could extend over to the local election period . could local election period. could that have an impact on the elections? well if the headlines at the time are that, say the deputy leader of the labour party is being investigated for multiple offences, then it might not be the sort of bloodbath for the conservatives that we were all expecting at the moment. the greater manchester police is staying very tight lipped. we know that they're investigating. they won't really say more than that, they say it is a that, but they say it is a pubuc that, but they say it is a public story and they that, but they say it is a publkeep story and they that, but they say it is a publkeep all story and they that, but they say it is a publkeep all of tory and they that, but they say it is a publkeep all of theirind they that, but they say it is a publkeep all of their best, ey that, but they say it is a publkeep all of their best, men will keep all of their best, men and on it. will keep all of their best, men and onit.so will keep all of their best, men and on it. so we're going and women on it. so we're going to have to wait and see, watch and wait for the moment. rishi sunak and the conservatives have a real spring in their step for the first time in a very long time. >> and yet sir keir starmer has been studious in how un studious he's been on this whole issue. he's been, telling anyone who will listen, he hasn't seen any

advice that angela rayner has received. he hasn't asked to see it and he doesn't want to see it. i suppose he's sort of insulating himself there from any potential any sort of potential future scandal . scandal. >> well, exactly. and he does seem to be being extremely cautious . he said that he has cautious. he said that he has faith in his deputy leader, but he won't go much further than that. he's not committing absolute loyalty to her. and as you say, tom, he is very carefully not reading the advice that she that she's been given. we've known for quite a long time now that the that the sort of arranged marriage between angela rayner and keir starmer is far from perfect. and there are who say that angela are many who say that angela rayner on manoeuvres rayner is already on manoeuvres for after a general election. in some ways, perhaps , maybe it some ways, perhaps, maybe it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world for keir starmer if angela rayner had to step back from lead, from role as from her lead, from her role as deputy leader of the labour party. of course we're a party. but of course we're a long way from that. and if long way away from that. and if it turn out be a big it does turn out to be a big

scandal , well, i it does turn out to be a big scandal, well, i think it does turn out to be a big scandal , well, i think however scandal, well, i think however much keir starmer thinks he might have insulated himself from it, he will be very much implicated. >> i like that an arranged marriage between the two, is >> i like that an arranged mlittle|e between the two, is >> i like that an arranged mlittle bitetween the two, is >> i like that an arranged mlittle bit like een the two, is >> i like that an arranged mlittle bit like that. e two, is >> i like that an arranged mlittle bit like that. thank is a little bit like that. thank you very much. olivia olivia utley, our political correspondent . and there does correspondent. and there does seem to have been a sort of memo sent out that, all the labour party people need say this is party people need to say this is a against a working class a smear against a working class northern woman. it's a smear. it's a smear. >> working class northern women can't commit any wrong. anyone who suggests that they do, frankly, your classist, your regionalist, you're probably a racist as well. >> somehow you're an absolute snoot. that's what they're trying to say. so there you go. but in other news, unacceptable and unconstitutional . well, and unconstitutional. well, that's how the prime minister of belgium described a local mayor's call to shut down the national conservative conference in brussels yesterday before the country's highest court overturned his decision. >> however, whilst the court's ruling will undoubtedly come as a relief for free speech

advocates, a uk government spokesman described the very attempt to close down this conference. indeed, the police being sent in, as we can see here, well that was described as extremely disturbing. >> you can see why with that footage . footage. well, we can footage. footage. well, we can now cross to brussels and speak with gb news reporter charlie peters, who is inside at the conference. now, this all happened very, very late last night or very early this morning. was it 2:30 am. that the high court ruled in this emergency ruling? >> that's right. emily, that's when the ruling came through in the early hours. and it was at 4 am. this morning that we all actually got an email from the organisers here asking us to arrive at the venue as early as possible, just in case there was any attempt by the police to prevent people from entering, because that is what happened yesterday. people weren't allowed to enter this venue after a 15 minute end of the conference order was issued, and that was issued at the orders of

the district mayor, amir keir, who said that the mere holding of this event was a threat to pubuc of this event was a threat to public safety. well here, a day later, after winning that legal challenge against that regional mayor's order, it's been a peaceful conference. the keynote speakers that were anticipated did attend . we heard from viktor did attend. we heard from viktor orban, the prime minister of hungary, and right now we're just hearing the end of a speech by the former polish prime minister matthias morawski, who is various issues in is discussing various issues in europe. now, many people in britain have reacted quite strongly to the potential ban of this event. yesterday, where nigel farage was speaking on stage when that order came through. but at the same time , through. but at the same time, there has also been significant criticism about the relative silence on the continent about that order. why have so few world leaders stood up and opposed ? what organisers here opposed? what organisers here said was an extreme level of censorship ? censorship? >> all right. it's a really concerning example. even though it was overturned. thank you,

charlie, for bringing us that live from the conference. let's get the perspective now one get the perspective now of one of the event's organisers , the of the event's organisers, the associate professor at the university cambridge and associate professor at the univeofty cambridge and associate professor at the univeofty edmundige and associate professor at the univeofty edmund burked chair of the edmund burke foundation, james or james, thanks for joining us. foundation, james or james, thanks forjoining us. this foundation, james or james, thanks for joining us. this was the most extraordinary scene. we saw it live on this program yesterday. how did you feel as not one, not two, but eventually the third venue was, was was was shut down or attempted to be. so by, by, by a local mayor and the police sent in, well, good to be with you both. >> it's been . yesterday was a >> it's been. yesterday was a day of high drama, but really, it's been a week of high drama, it's been a week of high drama, it wasn't just one local mayor. we've had three cancellations in three different municipal districts in brussels . so three districts in brussels. so three separate mayors in effect have cancelled this . but what cancelled this. but what happened with the first two cancellations, in effect, is that the local authorities, the mayoralty, put so much pressure on the first two venues that, as

it were, it was the venues that got it in the neck and we were in contractual disputes with them. we tried to seek injunctive relief from the specific performance of the contract with the second venue. this was a, gosh, it was on monday afternoon. so 15 hours before the beginning of the conference, i was trying to arrange things from the eurostar on a very, very patchy, mobile phone network. we sought. we sought and failed to get injunctive relief. the judge denied our request on the basis extraordinarily early, that the civic authorities had intervened, and that therefore , intervened, and that therefore, there was a credible threat to in the judges view, the judge had to accept that there was a credible threat to public safety, from, people with mainstream conservative views coming together, assembling, peacefully, speaking peacefully, including many, many elected politicians, journalists, academics, so it was simply extraordinary. now, the difference with this third venue is that the owners of the venue

simply refused to buckle to pressure from the mayor and that forced the mayor to issue a police order. it turns out that in brussels, each local mayor has his own police force, a sort of almost a private militia, and so when the owners are wonderful family who are self—described free speech warriors, refused to buckle, the mayor issued an order and sent in 15 armed policemen, to bring the event to an end. now it didn't work. pretty tricky to get nigel farage off the stage, anyway, and i think the police realised what the difficult situation they had on their hands. so they turned on their heels, walked out and decided to set up a perimeter outside the front of the venue, preventing anyone from coming in and preventing anyone who any delegate who left from coming back in. and so i found myself in a rather unusual position yesterday afternoon of

trying to smuggle, three speakers. a british mp , a speakers. a british mp, a distinguished european aristocrat and a catholic cardinal in through, through an adjoining an adjoining property in disguise. it was like something out of mills and boon. >> so erwin james up of a joke doesn't it? >> what a story. i mean, james, i must ask you. you're a prominent academic, of course, and an organiser of this event. now, not all academics were felt the same way as you when this conference was to be shut down, the head of the equality and diversity unit at the university of oxford actually tweeted out these words. i applaud the mayor and police of brussels for their decision to close down this conference. does that reflect a wide held view in our institutions, in our top universities? >> well, i certainly think it reflects a pretty standard view within, as it were, the

diversity industrial complex as . diversity industrial complex as. >> i think it looks like a brussels mayor is trying to tamper with our connection here. we're going to have to what a shame. see if we can re—establish that connection. but was james chair of but that was james or, chair of the edmund foundation uk, the edmund burke foundation uk, one organisers of this one of the organisers of this conference. really appreciate, james, joining us. james, your you're joining us. sorry that it seems that the eu gremlins have been have been trying disrupt this conversation. >> yes, it quite >> well, yes, it is quite extraordinary that some academics would , would celebrate academics would, would celebrate this brussels mayor shutting down, a conference. >> yes. and it is odd political views. it is odd that you saw the shadow health secretary, wes streeting, the labour frontbench, laughing about all of this yesterday. and actually it took none other than owen jones on twitter today. the left wing polemicist, to say that actually, no shutting down your political opponents with the use of police forces is not a good

thing to do. >> well, yes, it only requires a little bit of foresight or historical knowledge to realise that it could happen to you, it could happen to your gathering, it could happen to your conference, could to conference, it could happen to your institution. whatever it is. isn't just a right wing is. this isn't just a right wing issue , is it? no. issue, is it? no. >> as owen jones said, if you support the right of the state to shut down your opponents, you legitimise the state wanting to shut you too. shut you down, too. >> well, you go. i didn't >> well, there you go. i didn't think you'd be approvingly quoting owen jones today, but there wise words. there you go. wise words. >> the way our debate >> well, on the way our debate this we're asking, should >> well, on the way our debate thisscrap we're asking, should >> well, on the way our debate thisscrap squatters> well, on the way our debate thisscrap squatters rights? ould we scrap squatters rights? should be illegal in all should it be illegal in all circumstances to squat in someone's property

? >> 7- >> good ? >> good afternoon. 7 >> good afternoon. britain. it's 2:25. now, gordon ramsay has launched a high court

proceedings after at least six professional squatters took over his north london pub . his north london pub. >> these aren't just any old squatter. they're professional squatters. it's understood that he called the police on wednesday to have them removed, but the met police officers refused to do so, stating that it was in fact a civil matter. >> and he's not the only celebrity chef to be targeted by squatters. it appears that a group of 400 squatters have moved from have also been removed from marco pierre white's abandoned london steak and pizza restaurant . well, and pizza restaurant. well, there you go. >> so today, for our debate, we want to ask should squatting in all circumstances be a criminal offence? >> well, let's get right into it. joining us is ex—treasury special adviser. director of government relations at the adam smith institute. now james price. he thinks squatters deserve to go to prison and contributing editor at novara media, michael water, michael walker he believes squatting rights places people provides

places for people to live in the midst of a housing crisis. okay well, james, you want the change here. so let's start with you . here. so let's start with you. why should squatters go to prison in all circumstances ? prison in all circumstances? well, i'm really interested to hear the arguments against this. >> i can kind of understand, in a sort of frontier society , like a sort of frontier society, like the united states, where, you know, you're out in the outbacks of the badlands north dakota of the badlands of north dakota and looking for somewhere of the badlands of north dakota and can)oking for somewhere of the badlands of north dakota and can see1g for somewhere of the badlands of north dakota and can see anor somewhere of the badlands of north dakota and can see an abandonedere and you can see an abandoned cabin up and you go and cabin up ahead and you go and stay that sort thing. stay there, that sort of thing. that's that's not what's happening as say, happening anymore. as you say, these are kind of these people are kind of professional are professional squatters who are trying to cause a trying to get either to cause a nuisance have to pay nuisance or to not have to pay rent or things like that, or eventually to try and take private property off of people. we've already seen in florida recently that governor ron desantis as been desantis has seen this as been a problem, just problem, and boom, he's just gone and changed the legislation. that's legislation. i think that's excellent. to excellent. and i'm speaking to you from the adam smith you today from the adam smith institute. i've got an adam smith protection smith quote here, the protection of property of every individual's property against attempt , against those who would attempt, either fraud, to either by violence or fraud, to take him, is one of the take it from him, is one of the chief tasks of government. i

think one the fewest chief tasks of government. i think that1e the fewest chief tasks of government. i think that that the fewest chief tasks of government. i think that that government things that that government should doing should definitely be doing to protect people's private property breaking property from squatters breaking in like this. >> em— >> well, there you go, michael, do believe in property do you believe in property rights , in most circumstances, rights, in most circumstances, yeah, think if you're not yeah, but i think if you're not using a piece of land, then it goes back very long, a long time into british tradition. we don't have to sort of hypothesise about what might have been the case in the american frontier . case in the american frontier. squatters rights were sort of central peasants revolt central to the peasants revolt and peasant peasants revolt. sorry. in the 1300s. the diggers in the 1600s, especially , in the 1600s, especially, actually the peak of squatting in the uk, was after the second world war, when you had lots of veterans, you had a big homelessness problem and you had lots empty buildings . now it lots of empty buildings. now it needs be understood. think needs to be understood. i think your be clear. your audience need to be clear. it's not to occupy it's not legal to occupy a building which is in use. right? if you if you try and occupy a building which is in use, then the police will kick you out. now, up until 2012, any building that wasn't in use that was empty on a long term basis, then

people. yes could go into that building and begin to use it, and it would then be a civil case, so it wouldn't be a criminal case. the owners of the building would take you building would have to take you to since 2012, to court. now since 2012, i think, unfortunately, the law was and as say, a law was changed. and as i say, a law that back hundreds of that goes back hundreds of years, so years, the law was changed. so it criminal offence to it became a criminal offence to squat. michael, it became a criminal offence to squat. michael , what if you squat. but michael, what if you haven't yet to do haven't decided yet what to do with haven't decided yet what to do witiyou know, you own a property >> you know, you own a property and you haven't quite decided whether you want make it into whether you want to make it into a you want to sell it or a bar or you want to sell it or you want to change it into a new restaurant, you can't just expect just rock up expect people to just rock up and it. well, i mean, and nick it. well, i mean, historically, the idea of squatting is that you occupy something that's been empty for a long time basis. >> so in this situation with gordon ramsay, as understand >> so in this situation with go iton ramsay, as understand >> so in this situation with go it hadn't say, as understand >> so in this situation with go it hadn't been|s understand >> so in this situation with go it hadn't been empterrstand >> so in this situation with go it hadn't been empty fortand it, it hadn't been empty for very long at all. and i assume that's why been incredibly that's why it's been incredibly easy for him to regain possession but you do possession of it. but you do have buildings which are empty for a very period of time. for a very long period of time. and think in the context where and i think in the context where you have a housing crisis, people a responsibility people do have a responsibility

to their buildings properly people do have a responsibility to tiit's buildings properly people do have a responsibility to tiit's not dings properly people do have a responsibility to tiit's not so gs properly people do have a responsibility to tiit's not so gs pro about because it's not so much about the bricks mortar. i'm not the bricks and mortar. i'm not really the bricks really fussed about the bricks and what i'm fussed really fussed about the bricks and is what i'm fussed really fussed about the bricks and is �*land,|'m fussed really fussed about the bricks and is �*land, because d really fussed about the bricks and is �*land, because land really fussed about the bricks arthisis �*land, because land really fussed about the bricks arthis incrediblyi, because land really fussed about the bricks arthis incredibly valuablez land is this incredibly valuable commodity, and you are really staking a claim on a part of a city if you're sitting on an empty property. >> so there you go . let's throw >> so there you go. let's throw that over to james. if you're not using your property, then anyone has any right to take it from . from you. >> well, certainly got some >> well, i've certainly got some some with the idea of some sympathy with the idea of there being a housing crisis we've got right now. >> and people should be making a lot more use of these things. and we'd probably all and i think we'd probably all agree we all, all get agree that we all, we all get very frustrated you see very frustrated when you see some that isn't some hideous building that isn't being be turned some hideous building that isn't bein much be turned some hideous building that isn't bein much more be turned some hideous building that isn't bein much more beautifulrned into much more beautiful accommodation a of accommodation, or a kind of horrible petrol that horrible old petrol station that is classified as greenbelt is being classified as greenbelt that being used. we all that isn't being used. we all get frustrated. think all four that isn't being used. we all ge us ustrated. think all four that isn't being used. we all ge us talkingi. think all four that isn't being used. we all ge us talking hereiink all four that isn't being used. we all ge us talking here aboutl four that isn't being used. we all ge us talking here about that, of us talking here about that, and we definitely do and we should definitely do a lot about it. but when lot more about it. but when you've got these kinds of shortages, way, shortages, which, by the way, are caused by government intervention, government rules that things being intervention, government rules that or things being intervention, government rules that or whatever things being intervention, government rules that or whatever elsejs being intervention, government rules that or whatever elsejs may; built or whatever else it may be, answer is not to allow be, the answer is not to allow people kind break in. you

people to kind of break in. you know, not got people, know, you've not got people, it's not veterans after the second world war, sounds second world war, which sounds like legitimate reason. like a fairly legitimate reason. these people these are professional people who've respect for who've got no respect for property breaking in. property rights. breaking in. they'll leaving rubbish. they'll be leaving rubbish. they'll be leaving rubbish. they'll hazards. they they'll be fire hazards. they could property could be criminal property problems all other issues problems. all these other issues that brought by the that get brought about by the kinds who are it kinds of people who are doing it today yeah, definitely, today. so yeah, definitely, let's houses. let's let's build more houses. let's build beautiful, build a more beautiful, wonderful britain. but let's not do that at the expense of private rights . private property rights. >> well, michael, i wonder if, in your vision of what society should look like and how we should look like and how we should be ruled, if someone has , should be ruled, if someone has, if they're living alone, but they're living in a six bedroom house, do you think that they should be turfed out to make way for better usage of that property ? how far would you go, property? how far would you go, so in terms of under occupation, which is a real issue, i don't think anyone should be turfed out of their homes, but i would say we should have a taxation system which encourages people to lots of to downsize. there are lots of large very small large families in very small flats and lots of people who, you know, their have maybe you know, their kids have maybe moved out, who in very large

houses. i don't think houses. now, i don't think the state and state should come along and force move out, but force people to move out, but i do think it would be good idea do think it would be a good idea if know, we had if you know, we had a proportionate council proportionate level of council tax. a massive tax. so if you're in a massive house, quite a of house, you pay quite a lot of tax and you're incentivised to downsize . i think it would also downsize. i think it would also be helpful if we made be very helpful if we made it easy for to downsize by easy for people to downsize by making there are lots making sure that there are lots of nearby. obviously, of flats nearby. obviously, i really don't want old people to have move of have to move out of their communities. i want people to live and in their live and stay in their neighbourhoods, that neighbourhoods, but that requires shed loads requires us to have shed loads of everywhere. of flats everywhere. now i should i don't think should say i don't think squatting solution to the squatting is the solution to the housing think the housing crisis. i think the solution housing solution to the housing crisis building houses, building shedloads more houses, especially council homes, but i think if anything, squatting marginally helps the housing crisis. i don't think it does anything, to make the housing crisis worse. >> well, let's throw that back to james, because after all, james, you're sitting there at the adam smith institute at adam smith, was the perhaps the father of modern capitalism. your your philosophy goes back, what, 300 odd years. but michael

walker here is talking about the peasants revolt. he's talking about wat tyler in the 1300s. surely that's an older tradition. shouldn't people be getting behind that sort of archbishop murdering sort of thing ? thing? >> we can go all the way back to the romans who thought that private property, at least for the romans, was, was absolutely sacrosanct a hero of mine, sacrosanct and a hero of mine, someone like cicero, even he managed to have a couple of different properties and, wouldn't too kindly wouldn't have taken too kindly to going and squatting to someone going and squatting in although think in his house. although i think actually exiled actually when claudius exiled him, they tore cicero's house down, of a mean down, which is a bit of a mean thing do. perhaps again, thing to do. perhaps i again, i want to agree partly with michael that again, michael here, that again, building houses is building more houses is definitely answer to this. definitely the answer to this. but starting hear but i was starting to hear michael the michael almost defending the old idea bedroom tax from the idea of the bedroom tax from the coalition days here. i mean, you had had council had people who had council houses have , many houses who didn't have, as many occupants rooms. occupants as there were rooms. they to kind of move they were asked to kind of move out of these sorts of places. and then the labour party was saying, this is a very terrible thing to move people out or the

rest it. so i think we can rest of it. so i think we can all agree that sort of supply and one the most and demand is one of the most powerful things adam powerful things here. adam smith definitely would have agreed with again, with that. but again, i just don't the right to don't think the right thing to don't think the right thing to do allow these kinds of do is to allow these kinds of people break property. people to break into property. that's help other that's not going to help other residents be more in favour of having building on. when residents be more in favour of having got.ding on. when residents be more in favour of having got a ng on. when residents be more in favour of having got a bunch on. when residents be more in favour of having got a bunch of on. when residents be more in favour of having got a bunch of squatters you've got a bunch of squatters who, let's face they're not who, let's face it, they're not going the merits going to be, debating the merits of adam smith and cicero. >> of time, i'm >> we've run out of time, i'm afraid. mean, i know that we afraid. i mean, i know that we could all talk about this just a quick you, michael, quick sentence to you, michael, to quote from to read out one more quote from adam to the adam smith adam smith to the adam smith institute. >> w- e the land of any >> as soon as the land of any country has become private country has all become private property, the landlords, like all men, love to reap all other men, love to reap where never sowed and where they have never sowed and demand a rent for demand a rent even for its natural so my natural produce. so that's my favourite adam smith quote. well, there we go. >> ended up in the >> we've we've ended up in the most debate think most nerdy debate i think we could have had. thank could have possibly had. thank you, joining us, you, gentlemen, forjoining us, interesting there, interesting stuff there, i think, i still think think, i think i still think that shouldn't be able to that you shouldn't be able to steal other people's things. >> if a >> well, go on then. if you're a political nerd at home, send us your favourite quote. your favourite adam smith quote. why all outwit each why not? let's all outwit each other this show. anyway, on other on this show. anyway, on the we'll discussing the way, we'll be discussing whether it is acceptable to

smack we're about smack children. we're all about the aren't the big questions today, aren't we? in we? the offence is illegal in scotland but doctors scotland and wales, but doctors are now calling this ban on are now calling on this ban on smacking to extend to smacking children to extend to england and northern ireland. what say you ? what say you? >> good afternoon. the top stories this afternoon . sir keir stories this afternoon. sir keir starmer has accused the prime minister of dodging questions over cutting the nhs or state pensions to cover the cost of scrapping national insurance. speaking during prime minister's questions, the labour leader criticised the conservatives for what he called their obsession with wild , unfunded tax cuts. with wild, unfunded tax cuts. but rishi sunak fought back, telling the commons it's always the same with labour, with higher taxes and working people paying higher taxes and working people paying the price . in other news, paying the price. in other news, the prime minister hailed today's inflation figures , today's inflation figures, saying they demonstrate his economic plan is working. figures show the rate of inflation has fallen to its lowest level in two and a half

years, down to 3.2% in march. that's compared to 3.4% the month before. economist say a dip in food prices is the main reason for the slowdown . reason for the slowdown. paedophiles convicted of serious sexual offences could lose parental rights over their children . a proposed law change children. a proposed law change would stop offenders being able to decide where their children go to school, as well as important health and travel choices. only the most serious sexual offence , rape of a child sexual offence, rape of a child under 13, would be covered under the new rule. however, labour mp harriet harman says the rule could be extended to cover less serious sexual offences against children in the future . and hugh children in the future. and hugh grant's settled a legal case against the publisher of the sun over claims journalists used private investigators to tap his phone and burgle his house. the actor's lawsuit was one of those eligible to go to trial at the high court, but he's come to an agreement with news group newspapers. prince harry is

among several other high profile figures also suing the newspaper group for alleged unlawful information gathering , which the information gathering, which the publisher . and as we've publisher denies. and as we've been hearing, thousands of uk passengers are suffering flight disruption after dubai international airport was flooded. emirates has cancelled a number of flights between united arab emirates and the uk, with british airways also diverting some routes. the airport urged passengers to stay away unless absolutely necessary, after it was hit by more than a year's average rainfall in just 24 hours. more torrential rain and thunderstorms are expected to cause severe disruption across the desert city in the coming days. for the latest stories, sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen or go to gb news. common alerts

i >> -- >> good afternoon. britain. it's 20 minutes to three. now. doctors are calling for hitting children to be banned in england and ireland. yes >> striking a child is already illegal in scotland and wales. and the government says parents are trusted to discipline their children . but the lack of children. but the lack of clarity between mild physical punishment and abuse is not legally clear enough , leading legally clear enough, leading for many physicians to call for a total ban. this is an interesting one, isn't it? and i'm sure lots of people watching this show today will have had a little , you know, a little hit, little, you know, a little hit, a little smack. >> as a child, i don't know many people who weren't who didn't have a bit of a, you know, taken upstairs just quick. >> there's a difference between a sort tap on the a little sort of tap on the hand, isn't there, and a full thumping. >> but the argument these >> but the argument of these doctors not. doctors is that it's not. there's legal clarity on the there's no legal clarity on the difference between hitting and child abuse. i would say any any anyone world can see the

anyone in the world can see the difference between a loving parent who hits their child if they've been naughty and child abuse. >> well, apparently not in scotland and wales. very clear there. anything at all. and even a tap on the hand outlawed, i have to say , just because homes have to say, just because homes are useless, government has done something isn't always the isn't always the best way to. >> i mean, just just just copy that. no >> well quite. well quite. >> well quite. well quite. >> and you've been getting in touch actually. touch on this actually. gbnews.com/yoursay say because christine has asked is smacking less violent than stoning, christine has asked is smacking less violent than stoning , which less violent than stoning, which i would argue. yes. >> tommy says that's stupid . >> tommy says that's stupid. smacking proposal is misdirected. it's child abuse that should be tackled, and a smacking law will have no impact on the scum that abused children, often their own. tommy, i think that is an absolutely excellent point. is this a just a distraction from the failure of the social services, the failure of the police, sometimes the failure of other institutions to actually

get to grips with the very real issue of child abuse. i mean, how many stories have there been of children who have been abused? the social services have come round. they've sort of thought that something was going on, but it hasn't properly been investigated . and oh my god. and investigated. and oh my god. and then it becomes worse and worse and worse and worse. >> of time will >> the amount of time that will now taken were this were now be taken up were this were this to be made law, this proposal to be made law, the amount targeting , the amount of time targeting, you know, perhaps quite strict parents, and loving parents, but good and loving parents, but good and loving parents when actually they should be going the should be going after the monsters. reg has a really monsters. but reg has a really interesting point, and i think it's worth dwelling we it's worth dwelling upon. we need reintroduce discipline need to reintroduce discipline and policy in and have a manners policy in every school, because how often do you hear of a situation where a teacher has has been afraid to even touch a child, whether that be to hug a child or to anything else? they're simply completely terrified from any sort of interaction a way that interaction in a way that we might usually or, or perhaps in past to expect. yes past have come to expect. yes it's very difficult actually for teachers naturally, teachers because naturally, sometimes you might want to just tap someone on the shoulder,

give a little bit of give them a little bit of comfort, could comfort, but the student could report , you report the teacher and say, you know, miss or sir was, was was touching me or whatever . touching me or whatever. >> and it goes from there, doesn't it really so afraid of all the sort of legal consequences of it all? >> and we all lived in this sort of parallel as a result. of parallel society as a result. >> carol says, yes, of >> i mean, carol says, yes, of course it's okay to smack kids. no one beat them up or no one would beat them up or smack so no wonder we smack them so hard. no wonder we have today. we are have unruly kids today. we are not to chastise them. not allowed to chastise them. i was me no harm. was smacked did me no harm. i guess the argument is from, you know, the parenting experts and some of these people is that it's not actually the best way of disciplining a child, and that could teach them that that it could teach them that violence answer to violence is the answer to resolve their problems. and violence the when violence is the answer. when you want discipline or want to discipline someone or tell off. perhaps tell someone off. and perhaps that will make them more likely to be violent in the future. but is that a stretch? >> i think i that is a >> i think i think that is a stretch because there's a difference lashing out difference between lashing out and i think when and something, and i think when the parent smacks a child, it is something ordered , it is something ordered, it is something ordered, it is something structured. it's

something structured. it's something saying, do that something saying, don't do that or i will hit you, you know, or on the on the behind and often, often, often it's the threat that's bad enough isn't it. >> yes. but to not do anything, it's sort of right over the knee. >> 1 or 2 slaps then. and then you're on. i mean that that's different from the sort of abuse that you would see with, with lashing out. >> and steve says smacking is not abuse. social services have failed so many children that have been abused. this is not the same. children are taking advantage of the law in wales and teenagers are now abusing the show some the parents. steve show me some evidence that, i can see evidence of that, but i can see how tables can turn with how the tables can turn with these kind of laws. yes, it puts all the power in the child's hands, doesn't it? >> and that just just completely upturns the order and the structure of things really concerning. indeed. structure of things really con but ing. indeed. structure of things really con but from indeed. structure of things really conbut from that, indeed. structure of things really conbut from that, rather�*d. >> but from that, rather worrying for fans of, of, worrying news for fans of, of, of where you going with this of where are you going with this ranting onto some onto some good news is where i was trying to make a nice little segue there. >> it didn't quite work. >> it didn't quite work. >> always to plan

>> they don't always go to plan this live television, but inflation fallen to 3.2. inflation has fallen to 3.2. >> that's the lowest level since 2021. >> yes. the prime minister this morning said after a tough couple of years, our economic plan is working. >> but what do these figures mean for you? well here to break it down is gb news business and economics editor liam halligan with reporter . with on the money reporter. >> the plan is working . >> the plan is working. inflation is falling faster than expected to the lowest level in nearly two and a half years, helping people's money go further. that's the message today from prime minister rishi sunak and chancellor jeremy hunt. but the reality is that inflation remains stubbornly high in the uk. let's have a look at the situation before the office for national statistics published their new inflation data at 7:00 this morning, inflation was down at 3.4% dunng inflation was down at 3.4% during the year to february 2024, having come all the way down from 11% back in october

2022. and then we got the inflation for number today. consumer price index rose 3.2% dunng consumer price index rose 3.2% during the year to march. so between march 2024 and march 2023, prices rose on average by 3.2. that's the lowest cpi inflation number since september 2021. it's down, as i said , from 2021. it's down, as i said, from over 11% in october 2022. but it's still higher than financial markets expect . and let's have markets expect. and let's have a look at some of the breakdown. food price inflation is now easing. back in march, food pnces easing. back in march, food prices on average were almost 20% higher than they were in march the year before. food price inflation in january and february fell from 7 to 5. and we just learned that food inflation during the year to march was 4, which is good news for shoppers filling their baskets and on their trolleys. how about petrol and diesel

pnces how about petrol and diesel prices ? well, the fall in petrol prices? well, the fall in petrol and diesel prices is now slowing down. motor fuels fell 6.5% dunng down. motor fuels fell 6.5% during the year to february, but they were down. we learned today only 3.7% during the year to march, so the fall is slowing and petrol and diesel prices have actually risen slightly over the last month. utility bills , gas and electricity also bills, gas and electricity also stubbornly high utility bills fell only 1.6% during the year to march , and they've actually to march, and they've actually risen over the last month as oil and gas prices have risen on world markets. we should say, though , that next month's though, that next month's inflation number, the april number, should see a fall in inflation because of a drop in the ofgem energy price cap. how about the big question? what does all this mean for interest rates? well, interest rates are currently at 5.25. the bank of england has kept them there since last august. that's the highest in 16 years. and the bank of england next meets on thursday, the 9th of may, to

decide interest rates. they will be considering the fact that inflation in the us is still high. it just rose to 3.5, higher than 3.2% here, and higher than 3.2% here, and higher than 3.2% here, and higher than inflation in the eurozone, which is 2.4. the fact that us inflation is actually rising means the federal reserve, the us central bank, is less likely to raise interest to lower interest rates any time soon, which makes life more complicated for the bank of england's rate setters. if they want to cut rates . and this is want to cut rates. and this is the problem the oil price, the price of energy that the world usesin price of energy that the world uses in mid—january , it was just uses in mid—january, it was just $73 a barrel. now it's $91 a barrel and that's 25% up over the last three months. that feeds into petrol. diesel prices, the prices of everything. and there's lots more geopolitical risk. of course , too. and this is why course, too. and this is why inflation remains stubbornly high. this welcome news comes on top of our cuts to national

insurance , say the tory high insurance, say the tory high command. so people should start to feel difference as well to feel the difference as well as they see it in their paycheques. but the reality is that interest rates, we thought they were going to fall in may or after this inflation or june after this inflation number, which is still higher than expected, we're more likely to look at july or august for that first interest rate cut all looking forward to that if and when it comes. >> although savers might not be. yeah, exactly. >> exactly. not everyone wants a rock bottom. interest rates only those with a big debts , big those with a big debts, big mortgages and the like . mortgages and the like. >> the country is so overwhelmingly indebted credit card that is that is most people just put it on the plastic. >> just put it on the plastic. that's what too many people say, isn't anyway anyway, we're isn't it? anyway anyway, we're going finish the heading going to finish the show heading back dubai because back to dubai because authorities and communities across emirates across the united arab emirates are having to clear away lots and lots of debris this morning . and lots of debris this morning. >> yes, following torrential rain, which has killed at least one person and caused damage to

homes and businesses, quite extraordinary scenes. >> uae witnessed a record >> the uae witnessed a record rainfall , with 254mm falling on rainfall, with 254mm falling on tuesday in less than 24 hours. that's according to the national meteorology centre, which was the most since records began. >> it's the equivalent of about a year and half of rainfall in a year and a half of rainfall in one day. >> amazing, amazing. should we cross to dubai and speak with jay is currently jay boisvert, who is currently out there on business, jay, can you describe what it's been like? were you taken aback by the scenes of this torrential biblical style rain or biblical? >> definitely be the word i'd use. use. >> use. >> so yeah, we're arrived yesterday morning for a three day, business trip , and the day, business trip, and the flight was a little bit bumpy. >> i have to say . and then we >> i have to say. and then we arrived yesterday afternoon. >> we had. >> we had. >> we had. >> we happen to have a meeting with investors on the 42nd with some investors on the 42nd floor yesterday afternoon in and around half two. >> this it literally turned black. >> the skies turned very dark grey. >> it looked like night time. and then it just unleashed. and ihave

and then it just unleashed. and i have to say, i've never seen anything like it in my life for about half an hour. just constant lightning, torrential rain, wind, it was unbelievable. i've never seen anything like it. >> and of course, we've been looking at some of the pictures of, the not just the torrential rain, but then the sort of rivers that form the lakes that form where once there were roads. i mean, this is extraordinary stuff we hear very sadly, one person has died , and, sadly, one person has died, and, the it's hard to know what dubai could have done to sort of prepare for this. it seems like such an out of the blue freak event. >> well, i mean, you know, i didn't realise anyone had passed away, so that's that's not good. i mean, dubai's you know, they're they're in the desert, so they're not exactly set up for , you know, rain like that. for, you know, rain like that. however, what i'd have to say is over the last 24 hours, what i've seen from the teams across dubal i've seen from the teams across dubai, clearing up these just absolute floods. you know, they're. i've seen six foot

water, eight foot water. it's been unbelievable. but over the last 24 hours, you know, they've got it and they've really got to it and they've really sort of started clearing the roads. last night you roads. i mean last night you know, one of my know, even, another one of my business was, was business partners was, was driving a meeting with driving back from a meeting with us stuck under a bridge us and got stuck under a bridge and literally it was like the start of a horror film. the he couldn't move anywhere. couldn't see torrential rain. the water was it's been was rising. it's been unbelievable, but like i said, you know, today you look out the window, now it's bright blue skies you would not really skies and you would not really know happened. know anything had happened. there's obviously still pockets of flooding in, of really severe flooding in, dips in roads, etc. and there's a lot of cars isolated that have obviously got in your picture. there have come out to the water, but it's, it's definitely clearing , so water, but it's, it's definitely clearing, so it's a good sign. >> yes. jay, i was just looking at the weather forecast before you came on the show. it's sunny with a moderate breeze. highs of 25 degrees today is very, very much changed. this was very much a flash event. but you're on business out there, a lot of brits who head out to dubai are just wanting a little bit of

winter sunshine , an escape from winter sunshine, an escape from the awful weather that we're having over here. and then to be met with this, someone's got in touch saying their son is off on a stag week in dubai, hoping that his snorkel that he's brought his snorkel and trunks. and swimming trunks. >> you don't >> well, i mean, you don't expect it , right? so, you know, expect it, right? so, you know, when booking the trip, when we were booking the trip, you to sort of you don't expect to sort of come, come across that sort of storm to be honest , i storm to be, to be honest, i it's something i've never seen before. so for for, us it was a bit like, you know, we were taken back. however, you know, it's it's back to it's two days and it's back to bright sky. so i think, you bright blue sky. so i think, you know, even you're in on know, even if you're over in on holiday, you know, you've got your blue skies back. >> also, there's something your blue skies back. >> also, abouts something your blue skies back. >> also, about storms.�*|ing your blue skies back. >> also, about storms. ing your blue skies back. >> also, about storms. i mean, amazing about storms. i mean, when you witness a storm, it's quite incredible, quite frightening, but quite incredible, quite frightening , but powerful. yeah. quite incredible, quite frigit's1ing , but powerful. yeah. quite incredible, quite frigit's sort, but powerful. yeah. quite incredible, quite frigit's sort of ut powerful. yeah. quite incredible, quite frigit's sort of ut p it's sort of you can sort of see, see the sort of majesty of nature. but jay , thank you so nature. but jay, thank you so much for joining nature. but jay, thank you so much forjoining us. and i hope you can get back to blighty safe and soon, but, but that's it from us today. it's been an eclectic show. we've been all over the world and even, talking

about some of the most, hotly contested debates. >> yes . and you won't see me >> yes. and you won't see me tomorrow. i'm going on a little trip, but i'll be back next week on wednesday. >> you're seeking some sun , so >> you're seeking some sun, so you'll have emma webb instead tomorrow, which will be rather nice. >> yes it will. >> yes it will. >> well, i'll miss you. and i hope you don't get flooded on houday hope you don't get flooded on holiday like jay did, but. >> and i get a break from him. excellent stuff. >> the thing of let's >> the best thing of all. let's go martin daubney go over to martin daubney now. you're what's you're up next, martin. what's up ? up? >> yeah. >> yeah. >> will the rwanda >> so, will the rwanda bill finally voted through? finally get voted through? >> will a finally get voted through? >> willa single flight finally get voted through? >> will a single flight ever go off? plus, nottingham is full of fun, now it's home the fun, and now it's home to the biggest saint george's cross in the land. we'll be there talking to locals. that's coming up on my show. after your weather forecast. >> a brighter outlook with boxt solar sponsors of weather on . gb news. >> afternoon. welcome to your latest weather update from the met office here on gb news. it's

going to be a cold one tonight where we have the clearest spells we could see some pockets of frost, a fair few showers still around this evening, some quite heavy ones over eastern england . grey and damp over england. grey and damp over pembrokeshire, devon and cornwall. should clear cornwall. that rain should clear away. keep showers away. we'll keep some showers going but for going over the east, but for many it will dry and with the many it will be dry and with the clearer skies over southern scotland, england and scotland, northwest england and wales, where we are wales, that's where we are likely touch of frost. likely to see a touch of frost. certainly the countryside, certainly in the countryside, many cities will just many towns and cities will just about above freezing, about hover above freezing, but it be a fairly cold it is going to be a fairly cold start to thursday. most will have a dry and a bright start though with some sunshine. could be some shower clouds over kent early they'll certainly be early on. they'll certainly be some into the some rain coming into the highlands and western isles, highlands and the western isles, and across most of and that spreads across most of scotland . by lunchtime, the scotland. by lunchtime, the north east northern north and east of northern ireland likely to see a little bit of rain at times as well, and that rain will spread into northern england, maybe north wales, by the end of the day. the though generally the far south, though generally stays for east stays dry. a fine day for east anglia and london area 15 anglia and the london area 15 possible but elsewhere it possible here, but elsewhere it will the

will be turning cooler as the cloud moves in. cloud and the rain moves in. getting again through the getting windy again through the day another breezy day day and another breezy day on friday of friday with a mixture of sunshine and showers. generally a grey start in the south, perhaps brightening up a little bit most of showers bit with most of the showers across eastern across central and eastern parts. day scotland parts. drier day for scotland and northern ireland, not and northern ireland, but not much temperatures in some much warmer temperatures in some places. single figures and even much warmer temperatures in some thhe. single figures and even much warmer temperatures in some thhe south.e figures and even much warmer temperatures in some pl.the south int0|ures and even much warmer temperatures in some pl.the south into the; and even much warmer temperatures in some pl.the south into the teens even much warmer temperatures in some pl.the south into the teens ,yen much warmer temperatures in some pl.the south into the teens , but in the south into the teens, but feeling colder the breeze. feeling colder with the breeze. bye . bye for now. >> that warm feeling inside from boxt boiler , sponsors of weather boxt boiler, sponsors of weather on

gb news. >> hey. very good afternoon to you. >> it's 3 pm. >> and welcome to the martin daubney show on gb news broadcasting live from the heart of westminster all across the uk . on today's show, could the rwanda bill be a step nearer being made into law later on today ? as you can see on screen

today? as you can see on screen now, mps are debating it right now. yet another lords revolt couldn't stop it. but the big question is will a single flight ever take off to rwanda? yesterday a riot police in brussels dramatically attempted to close down the national conservatism conference. they not only failed , but at 2 am, not only failed, but at 2 am, a judge spectacularly overturned and that ban will be live from the scene for all the latest on the scene for all the latest on the clampdown on free speech in brussels and also later on today, almost half a million welsh people have now signed a petition to scrap the country's punitive 20 mile an hour speed limits later in the show , we'll limits later in the show, we'll cross live to the welsh senate, where a ban is being debated to overturn that ruling and finally, patriots prepare to be massively excited because nottingham city council, that's my home city, has hoisted the nation's biggest saint. george's flag on the council house will be live from the market square,