>> hello. and a very warm welcome to gb news saturday, i'm darren grimes, and for the next three hours, i'll be keeping you company on tv, online and on digital radio. this show will keep you up to date on the stories that really matter to you. coming up this hour. are we about to see one of the biggest shocks in british political history .7 it's sadiq khan versus history? it's sadiq khan versus susan hall in the race for london mayor. sources say it's closer than anyone was expecting. i'll bring you the result as soon as it happens. and we'll be, of course, across all of the other mayoral results today with seven declarations taking place across england, will the two andys that street and burnham be victorious ? and and burnham be victorious? and what does it mean for politics on the national scale? has starmers labour party lost the muslim vote? is the right, and indeed now on the for wall rishi

sunak. we're asking all of those very big questions as. sunak. we're asking all of those very big questions as . and as very big questions as. and as even very big questions as. and as ever, this show is absolutely nothing without you and your views. let me know your thoughts on all of the stories we'll be discussing today by visiting gbnews.com forward slash yours. join that conversation there or message us on our socials. we're @gbnews first of all though, here's the news with ray addison i >> -- >> thanks, darren. good afternoon. 12:01 of our top stories. sir keir starmer says the tories don't deserve to be in government for a moment longer. that's after rishi sunak lost hundreds of councillors in the local elections, 102 of 107 councils have declared so far , councils have declared so far, with labour making major gains and the lib dems and the greens

also doing well. election expert sir john curtice says the final outcome could be the tories worst performance for 40 years, celebrating a mayoral victory in the east midlands, the labour leader said the tories time is up. >> i think the message here is very, very clear and i think across the east midlands there's been a sending of that message to the government, which is we're fed up with your division, with your chaos, with your failure 14 years and i'm sorry, i don't care which political party you support if you leave your country in a worse state than when you found it 14 years later, you do not deserve to be in government for a moment longer . longer. >> well, andrew griffith is minister for science, innovation and technology. he told us the pubuc and technology. he told us the public doesn't want labour's policies. >> look, it's a difficult set of results. i think that was what was expected going in. there's going to be a very, very simple choice at the next election. who walks through number 10 downing

street? is it rishi sunak with his plan? that's starting to work now, or is it keir with with no plan or where they do have plans that don't really go with the grain of what the british people want? >> sir keir starmer says he remains confident that sadiq khan can win a third term as london mayor. that's as the battle with tory challenger susan hall appears to be closer than expected. the count is underway and we could have a result this afternoon. in total, seven mayoral contests contests will be announced today. a narrow one is also expected for conservative mayor andy street in the west midlands. we'll also hear from eight of ten contests for police and crime commissioner boris johnson has thanked polling staff who refused to let him vote without id. the former prime minister was turned away from a polling station on thursday after he forgot valid identification. writing in the daily mail, mr johnson said the three villages were right to stick to the rules. the requirement to

provide photo id was introduced by mrjohnson provide photo id was introduced by mr johnson when provide photo id was introduced by mrjohnson when he occupied by mr johnson when he occupied number 10. a burst water main has left around 31,000 properties without water in east sussex. southern water says the disruption in saint leonards on sea and parts of hastings will continue into tomorrow. the issue was first reported on thursday, forcing the company to open water bottle stations, schools, a leisure centre and a theatre in the area have all been forced to close . three been forced to close. three people have been charged after protesters blocked a coach taking asylum seekers to the bibby stockholm barge. the met police arrested 45 people after officers were called on thursday morning to peckham, south—east london. the demonstrators could be heard chanting no borders, no nafions be heard chanting no borders, no nations stop deportations , as nations stop deportations, as three have now been charged with obstruction of the highway . obstruction of the highway. motorists are being warned to expect heavy traffic this bank houday expect heavy traffic this bank

holiday weekend, according to the rac, around 3 million vehicles will take to the roads today alone, an increase in day trips and short breaks could mean that local routes are congested . also, train strikes congested. also, train strikes between tuesday and the following saturday could lead to most roads being busier than usual. most roads being busier than usual . fuel prices have gone up usual. fuel prices have gone up by an average of £0.10 per litre so far this year. new figures are showing that the typical price for a litre of petrol reached £1.50 in april, whilst diesel came close to £1.58. the rise in prices have added around £5.50 to the cost of filling a typical family car. the rac is calling on the competition and markets authority to crack down on retailers over what they're calling unfair margins. the king is set to become the patron of the royal british legion. that's a role that the late queen held for more than 70 years. it follows a major review of more than 1000 royal patronages following the death of queen

elizabeth ii. charles will now be supporting a further 200 organisations. the decision comes as the armed forces charity prepares to mark the 80th anniversary of the second world war, d—day landings on june the 6th. for the latest stories, you can sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen or go to gb news. common. it's now back to . darren. >> thanks ever. so ray, let's get stuck in to today's topics after a bruising day for the conservatives in these local elections, will be hoping to turn their fortunes around in several key mayoral races today. meanwhile, the labour leader has been celebrating his party's big gains. sir keir starmer has been in the east midlands today, where labour secured a mayoral victory. and he had this to say in the last few hours . in the last few hours. >> i think the message here is very, very clear and i think across the east midlands there's

been a sending of that message to the government, which is we're fed up with your division , we're fed up with your division, with your chaos, with your failure. 14 years and i'm sorry, i don't care which political party you support if you leave your country in a worse state than when you found it 14 years later, you do not deserve to be in government for a moment longer . longer. >> well, joining me now to discuss this is gb news very own senior political commentator, nigel nelson . nigel, thank you nigel nelson. nigel, thank you for your time. as ever. this is quite seismic in and of itself, the east midlands, because ben bradley, who has ended up with more political positions than goodness, only knows what he was actually seeking that that job in order to actually strengthen the conservative outlet there and was bitterly disappointed, i think yesterday , not to win that think yesterday, not to win that vote. >> yes, that's right, and i think that the that, keir starmer has managed to pick up a

clutch of mayors in various parts of the country, which shows that labour are doing pretty well, it's not a total catastrophe for the tories. i mean, i think that if they'd lost 600 council seats , it would lost 600 council seats, it would have been. and the key obviously was ben houchen, the tees valley mayor. the fact they kept that was helpful. so i think that at least rishi sunak will live to fight another day. >> yeah. i mean, nigel, what did you make of the north east result? because obviously i was following that quite closely given, you know, that's where i voted. but i was really struck by the strength of force and feeling behind the independent candidate, who actually did really rather well over 100,000 votes. >> yes. i mean , i think that >> yes. i mean, i think that this is what happens in local elections if you get a strong independent candidate, they do tend to do well, which is why it's always dangerous to try to try and extrapolate to a general election result from, from local

figures. i mean, it was interesting. i think , with with interesting. i think, with with ben houchen in, in tees valley, he seemed to campaign virtually as an independent himself rather than as a, as a, as a tory mayor. >> well, the conservatives do deny that. they say, well, hang on a minute. you know, ben houchen had rishi sunak up their campaign and alongside of him , campaign and alongside of him, he listed a whole slew of things that they've done in office thanks to a conservative government. ben houchen was adamant that that wasn't the case. nigel, do you disagree? >> yes , i do, i'm sure the >> yes, i do, i'm sure the tories want to spin it, spin it the best way they can because ben houchen was absolutely key to rishi sunaks future , but the to rishi sunaks future, but the way that the campaign went seemed to be it was more on his own personal vote than it was for the party, interestingly , for the party, interestingly, forgot to wear his rosette at the end, he says that was just a slip rather than anything deliberate . but yeah, i do think

deliberate. but yeah, i do think that the that there was a certain feeling that the in many local areas, tory candidates were distancing themselves a bit from the national government, but i mean , you've got to but i mean, you've got to actually look at the final result, as i say, that the loss of, 460 odd, councillors for the tories , that's really bad, but tories, that's really bad, but not an absolute disaster. it puts them kind of on a par with 1995, when labour again were 20, were 21 points ahead in the polls, so i mean, nigel, given that we're previewing london, i know you're not mystic meg, but i'm about to ask you to be. >> where do you think we're going? here. because we're heanng going? here. because we're hearing from several sources on both sides that it could go either way. >> yeah, i'm genuinely surprised about that. the polls have been predicting an easy win for sadiq khan. clearly, the whole thing

is closer than we thought, and so we know that turnout is down. that may be of benefit to the tories in that the outlying tory areas might have actually turned out rather better than labour ones as as expected. so what it looks like at the moment, i'd have said sadiq khan will win. we'll have to see in a few hours time whether that's true, but quite clearly it's a lot closer than than we originally thought it ever would be. >> yeah. all right, nigel, we'll leave that there. thank you very much for your input. we'll be getting some more of that very soon indeed . well, joining me soon indeed. well, joining me now in the studio is the broadcaster and journalist claire muldoon and political commentator matthew stadlen. claire, i'll start with you first. where do you think we're going? here are you surprised by that? london is allegedly close is. no. >> well, yes. >> well, yes. >> no, i'm not surprised because if you look at the country, darren, the country is split 5050 and anything and even the brexit vote was very, very

close, independence for scotland was very, very close. >> it's always that 5050. i'm not surprised either about the low turnout. people are so apathetic. people are completely sick of politicians. people are sick of politicians. people are sick to the back teeth of not knowing and not being heard. that's the issue . but if you that's the issue. but if you look to the manifestos of both susan hall and, sadiq khan , when susan hall and, sadiq khan, when you erase the top headline grabbers susan hall, i'll scrap ulez, i've delivered thousands of pounds worth of free school meals to all state children in primary schools in london. if you look down, there are more or less saying the same thing . less saying the same thing. we'll increase police on the street. we will increase building of houses, we will protect renters , this, that and protect renters, this, that and the next thing. so there's not that much difference apart from the top two headline grabbers, so i'm not surprised . what i am so i'm not surprised. what i am surprised about, however, is the fact that they're still political. if you understand, i would prefer a mayor to be have

complete parity over all the panacea of all the political networking i think it would be better for them not to be lynched or attacked , but to lynched or attacked, but to a party, and therefore they'd have to feed into their narrative. i would prefer them to be independent candidates and to be able to liaise, almost like a house of lords crossbencher, to liaise between both sets of political, a planes and do the best for the people that have voted them in and are last are. and that is not the case when we go to the ballot box, we very rarely get what's best for us and what we've voted for. >> i mean, matthew , i'm assuming >> i mean, matthew, i'm assuming that you would say, well, hang on a minute, sadiq khan's done really great things in london. >> i'm really disappointed by how low the turnout was . how low the turnout was. >> it's not much lower than in 2021, but 40% when the mayor of london has control of our transport system and has influence at least . over issues

influence at least. over issues such as policing, which really matter to people. and i find that very, very shocking, actually, i went to the polling booth. i took my 19 month old son with me, and it was just a such a wonderful experience putting your x in those boxes . putting your x in those boxes. it feels to me. i mean, it should be a right, but it feels to me still like a privilege that so many people, just for example, the suffragettes who did so much to make sure that everyone has a say in how our society runs. but does that not suggest then there's a lack of support for sadiq khan? >> i suspect possibly he's turned off some some voters . turned off some some voters. >> i think that many people in inner city london might have assumed, because the polls had been at least until quite recently, firmly in his favour. they'd assumed maybe that he was going to win. so what was the point? that's always a mistake. and i think nationally the labour party can learn from that. i suspect they're on board with this idea that you can't take anything for granted. but if they weren't, this will be a

real lesson for them. if it's as close as some people are predicting. i just want to take us back though. pull us back a little bit. the lens back to the national picture of what happened yesterday. the big story is the tories have been crushed, not totally destroyed, but they've lost something like 450 odd councillors. labour have won 170 to 200 councillors so far, whatever that is . the far, whatever that is. the headuneis far, whatever that is. the headline is labour. whatever happensin headline is labour. whatever happens in these mayoral elections , labour is on course elections, labour is on course for power . for power. >> yes. well, i think we're probably agreed upon, i think i think, yes, i absolutely agree. >> and even the headlines that are coming out with where street winning , his mayoral candidacy winning, his mayoral candidacy and the, you know, the dreadful comments made from labour hq , comments made from labour hq, labour has predominantly had a stronghold in london, always because of the i think because of the wonderful characters that live in london, the beautiful differences that we have living in london. and i think in order

to work together, they've always voted labour. i am not a sadiq khan, supporter at all. >> do you think things getting less beautiful? >> absolutely it is. and it's getting more violent and it's getting more violent and it's getting increasing difficult to getting increasing difficult to get around to live . and you get around to live. and you know, we've got ulez, we've got people who can't drive. we've got people, people, key workers. and i'm talking about plumbers, electricians and people who care for people not being able to get to work without £12.50, fines being imposed on them. and then all that's done with the introduction of the ltns as well, which is in sadiq khan's back garden as well. that was him who started that and all he has done is displaced the traffic to arterial routes and it's ridiculous . it's ridiculous. >> could i come back on some of that? first of all, i'm a proud londoner born and bred here. i love our city and one of the great things i was talking to my kurdish taxi driver on the way to another tv studio yesterday. he said what? what makes london a great city is you could get

something of everything here, of every culture, every religion, every culture, every religion, every race, every cuisine, all of that. and i think that is fantastic. and by and large, londoners rub along together really, really well. there are some caveats. there are some caveats, some only. i've felt like anecdotally that there's been an increase in crime . well, been an increase in crime. well, petty petty crime. well, i indeed had my phone nicked off me from behind by someone. >> we're not still bringing that up on on on an electric bike. >> i didn't bring it up. claire. you did? darren. no darren just said that i had had experienced crime, so. but we've got to be careful with anecdote. we certainly have . certainly have. >> we have those. >> we have those. >> we have those. >> we certainly we certainly have issues with knife crime , have issues with knife crime, but we also had issues with serious issues with knife crime. when i kind of started out in politics 20 years ago, whoever is mayor has to do more if they're able to cut that, because it is a real it's a real blight. it's a real blight on our right. >> he's right. it is a real blight. but you know, sadiq khan

has said eight years to help sort this out. and he's not done it. >> we'll get more from the two of you on that. i can see that, heating up already. so thank you very much, claire. and matthew stadler in there. right. it's time for our the great british giveaway now, and your chance to win the biggest cash prize of the year so far. it's a whopping £20,000. imagine what you could do with all of that extra cash. here's how you could win it all. >> it's the biggest cash prize we've given away to date. an incredible £20,000 that you could use however you like . and could use however you like. and because it's totally tax free, every single penny will be in your bank account to do whatever your bank account to do whatever you like. with £20,000 in tax free cash, really could be yours this summer, but you've got to be in it to win it for another chance to win £20,000 in tax free cash. text win to 63232. text cost £2 plus one standard network rate message or post your name and number to gb05 , po

your name and number to gb05, po box 8690. derby de1 nine, double t, uk. only entrants must be 18 or over. lines closed at 5 pm. on the 31st of may. full terms and privacy notice @gbnews .com forward slash win. please check the closing time if listening or watching on demand. good luck . watching on demand. good luck. >> you're with me darren grimes on gb news saturday. thank you for your company. we've got loads more coming up on today's show. next we'll be crossing live to city hall. how close is susan hall to defeating sadiq khan ? we'll get the feeling on khan? we'll get the feeling on the ground. and after the conservatives worst election results in 40 years. is it time for rishi sunak to admit defeat? all of that and more to come. you're with gb news. britain's news channel .

welcome back to gb news saturday with me, darren grimes. on your tv, online and on digital radio. now, lots of you have been getting in touch with your thoughts. thank you very much for doing so . well. very much for doing so. well. peter says. oh, if you, dear people of london, if you vote sadiq khan then you deserve everything you get. he's not holding back, is peter. and actually there's a fair few comments pushed back against what matt stadlen was saying and the claire's face wear claire's face when matthew's mugging was mentioned, which i brought up, i brought up, i did bring that up. now there's a fair few comments actually questioning the need for devolution in general. do we actually need all of these mayors? a few of you are questioning the actual premise of the mayoralty in general, so we'll discuss that potentially later in the show. but also the fact that there are a few fringe

party votes yet reform doing quite well in places like blackpool, and you've got the green party doing well even in places like tyneside. so there are a few questions to be answered. there continue to get in touch though folks. it's gbnews.com forward slash york. join that conversation or message us on our socials. we're @gbnews now . counting is @gbnews now. counting is underway in the london mayoral race with the results set to be on a knife edge between sadiq khan and susan hall. could ulez be what's about to catch up with sadiq khan? well, joining me now is gb news political correspondent olivia utley, who's at city hall. olivia what's the latest there? and are you hearing any movement candidates for the mayor of london? >> well, we are just hearing right behind me now . you can right behind me now. you can probably hear it pretty loudly. the results from each of the 14 london constituencies, greenwich and lewisham is being read out now. my constituency, as a matter of fact , the excitement matter of fact, the excitement in the susan hall camp about the

conservative possibly scraping a surprise win is dying down a little bit. the labour party is looking more confident that sadiq khan is going to win, but it does look much, much closer than was being predicted. just a week ago. the outer doughnut of london, as it's called, the sort of commuter areas surrounding london, bexley, dagenham, bromley had a much higher turnout over 40% than the inner areas of london, like camden and hammersmith , islington and hammersmith, islington and traditionally the outer areas of london. those who drive cars, those who tend to be more small c conservative in mindset, are sway more towards the conservative party, which is why susan hall's team were looking pretty enthusiastic if, as expected, what happens is that sadiq just manages to win. but the susan hall camp does pretty well. there will be questions in the conservative party over whether they should have picked a stronger candidate. susan hall has a very , very vocal supporter has a very, very vocal supporter , gang of supporters, very loud

gang of supporters. but, her campaign has been said to be pretty gaffe prone, meanwhile , pretty gaffe prone, meanwhile, sadiq khan has obviously run a pretty slick, smooth campaign . pretty slick, smooth campaign. so if it does turn out that sadiq khan only just wins , i sadiq khan only just wins, i think the conservative party is going to be giving giving itself a long, hard look. >> yes, i mean, olivia, some of the comments are saying , >> yes, i mean, olivia, some of the comments are saying, is it an intentional pun that we're saying it's on a knife's edge? and i think that tells you a lot about the fact that people are really disturbed by the levels of crime in london. i mean, you've got crime, you've got ulez, you've got low traffic neighbourhoods. all of these things are having a knock on effect. what people are saying in other parts of the country, i can't understand what london's thinking at 53. >> well, we'll have to wait and see what is going to happen. it might still be that susan hall just about scrapes through. it does seem as though sadiq khan's popularity has taken a bit of a hit. if he does manage to win a

third term, we are expecting it to be with a decreased majority . to be with a decreased majority. that said, obviously any candidate fighting for a third term is going to struggle. just look at the conservatives at the moment, looking at the general election, but it will be fascinating to see in just a couple of hours time what the result will actually be and just how close it's going to get. in fact, there are rumours that the result is going to be a little bit later this afternoon, more like 4:00 rather than 130 as was originally being predicted. is that because it's looking closer than originally expected? another factor. let's just remember , is that if susan hall remember, is that if susan hall does manage to scrape this victory, it will be one of the biggest polling disasters in uk history. right? until last week, sadiq khan was polling 22. but we're all getting ahead of ourselves . let's see what ourselves. let's see what happensin ourselves. let's see what happens in the next few hours. >> absolutely. olivia olivia, you'll be there to take us all through it and hold our hand . through it and hold our hand. i'm shaking with excitement. it could actually be the biggest polling upset since brexit, but we'll see. olivia utley there at city hall. we'll be hearing more from olivia throughout the day.

now folks. the times reports that tory rebels have laid down their arms and they're prepared to put up with rishi sunak until the next election. now, after ben houchen made a big hold for the conservatives the prime minister was quick to revel in the success at tees valley and he narrowly avoided a humiliating third place finish in the blackpool south by—election just there, pippen reform uk well , joining me to reform uk well, joining me to discuss this is the visiting professor at london south bank university, james woodhouse. james, thank you very much for your company. now, are you of the view here that reform is a serious challenger to the conservative party because at a general election that starts to look more perilous, does it not? >> well, i think first past the post makes it very difficult for reform. i think in terms of ideas, the tories are so exhausted that reform is a challenge and i think the vote for the green party shows that really everybody in the country. darren loves david cameron, they

love ed miliband, they love ed davey. if they can remember who he is , they love their local he is, they love their local authority and the councillors who do so much and they love their mayors, you know, so , all their mayors, you know, so, all bets are off. really? >> yeah. well, i mean, yeah, there's a fair few comments to there's a fair few comments to the contrary, but yes, i'm sure that's true. and there's a fair few people saying actually , the few people saying actually, the only reason i know ed davey is because of the post office scandal , and because of the post office scandal, and that's really put his name on the map. i doubt that's very good pr for the liberal democrats, but i guess the question there with the greens there an interesting one, because you've got those in the sort of leafy suburbs of, of conservative heartlands saying, i'm voting green because i quite like the idea of not building any new housing and all these other things. and then in the parts of the country like that, where i am from, you had places in tyneside that were voting for the greens and green councillors elected, and that's more to do

with, well, i don't know who to vote for here, actually there's the gaza element for the green party as well, where people are saying, i'm not going to vote laboun saying, i'm not going to vote labour, but i want to punish them. for what? their stance on gaza. i'm going to vote green because they're pretty hardline on that. that's an interesting dynamic in and of itself. >> well, i think one thing it shows, darren, is that the muslim vote is, you know, not a concept that i want to go along with because different muslims vote for different parties , vote for different parties, including the green party. there's a green muslim councillor being elected, so i think it's very wrong to just sort of in a racial manner, really, or an ethnic manner to just talk about the muslim vote. i think what we're seeing is really not so much apathy as one of your previous speakers said, although the turnout is always low and particularly low in this local election. but we're seeing a lot of disgust with the establishment . my earlier establishment. my earlier remarks were meant to be ironical. oh, i know, i know , ironical. oh, i know, i know, don't worry, i hope so. but, so

it would only take another post office scandal for a whole lot more turmoil to break out. and there's going to be another scandal like that. we're not going to stay grey forever . and going to stay grey forever. and people are fed up with grey. the old distinctions between left and right don't matter because you're previous speaker, the lady said. there's not much difference . that's true. difference. that's true. everybody sees that. everybody's bored and exasperated by that. it can't go on. >> i think you're right, james, actually in the inbox is filling up to that effect. but, james woodhouse there, thank you very much as ever. now, folks , you're much as ever. now, folks, you're with me. darren grimes on gb news saturday. we've got lots more coming up on today's show now. up next, the result of the london mayoral election that's fast approaching. we don't know what time we're going to get it, but we know we're going to get it this afternoon. so bear with us. and i'm going to be speaking to the man who knows exactly what it's like to run against sadiq khan . that's right. lord sadiq khan. that's right. lord shaun bailey is live in the studio. that's up next. first of

all, though, here's the news with ray addison. >> thanks, darren. it's 1231. >> thanks, darren. it's1231. good afternoon, sir keir starmer says the tories don't deserve to be in government for a moment longer. that's after rishi sunak lost hundreds of councillors in the local elections. 103 of 107 councils declared so far , with councils declared so far, with labour making major gains. election experts sir john curtis says the final outcome could be the tories worst performance for 40 years, celebrating a mayoral victory in the east midlands, the labour leader said the tories time is up well. sir keir starmer says he remains confident that sadiq khan can win a third term as london mayor. that's as the battle with tory challenger susan hall appears to be closer than expected , and the count is well expected, and the count is well underway and we could have a result very soon. in total, seven mayoral contests will be

announced today. a narrow one is also expected for conservative mayor andy. streets in the west midlands . we'll also be hearing midlands. we'll also be hearing from eight of ten contests for police and crime commissioner. a burst water main has left around 31,000 properties without water in east sussex , causing a in east sussex, causing a drastic impact on businesses. southern water says the disruption in saint leonards on sea and parts of hastings will continue into tomorrow. the issue was first reported on thursday, forcing the company to open water bottle stations, schools, a leisure centre and a theatre in the area have all been forced to close and motorists are being warned to expect heavy traffic this bank houday expect heavy traffic this bank holiday weekend, according to the rac, around 3 million vehicles are taking to the roads today alone, an increase in day trips and short breaks could mean local routes are congested. also, train strikes between this coming tuesday and the following saturday could lead to most roads being busier. well,

saturday could lead to most roads being busier . well, for roads being busier. well, for the latest stories, you can sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen, or go to gb news. carmelites back to . to. darren. >> cheers very much right now. remember folks, you can let me know all your thoughts on today's stories we've been discussing by visiting gbnews.com/yoursay. join that conversation there or message us on our socials. we're @gbnews now. coming up next, i speak to the man who knows exactly what it's like to run against sadiq khan. lord shaun bailey is here live in the studio. all of that and more to come. i'm darren grimes and you're with gb news, britain's news

>> 2024 a battleground year. >> 2024 a battleground year. >> the year the nation decides. >> the year the nation decides. >> as the parties gear up their campaigns for the next general election. >> who will be left standing

when the british people make one of the biggest decisions of their lives? who will rise and who will fall? >> let's find out together for every moment. >> the highs, the lows, the twists and turns. >> we'll be with you for every step of this journey in 2024. >> gb news is britain's election . channel. >> a very warm welcome back to gb news. saturday with me, darren grimes on your tv, online and on digital radio. now some breaking news. labour's steve rotheram has been re—elected as mayor of the liverpool city region. now we're just moments away from hearing who will be the next london mayor. it was the next london mayor. it was the lowest turnout since 2012 and there's growing noise that the conservative candidate, susan hall, could be about to spnng susan hall, could be about to spring an almighty upset. here's

her rival sadiq khan, speaking on the campaign trail. >> we've been both tough on the complex causes of crime, deprivation, alienation , deprivation, alienation, poverty, lack of opportunities and tough on the causes of crime, supporting the police who've made good progress. so we've invested in record numbers of youth clubs, youth workers , of youth clubs, youth workers, young people, but also the police. >> and so since 2016, notwithstanding, government austerity notwithstanding , our austerity notwithstanding, our population going up by more than a million homicides are down. >> gun crime is down. >> gun crime is down. >> the number of young people injured with a knife is down, burglaries down, according to the office for national statistics. not my figures. the ons figures you're less likely to be the victim of violence in london than the rest of the country. you're less likely to be injured as a consequence of violence in london than the rest of the country . of the country. >> right. well, lord bailey pushed sher khan close in the 2012 2021 rather mayoral election , and he joins me now. election, and he joins me now. i'm delighted to say shaun , i'm delighted to say shaun, thank you very much for your company pleasure. i want to start off by asking you, do you feel susan's being let down? let down by perhaps some even within

our own party sort of sneered at, do you think actually the media have done a fair bit of sneering? i know the political class within the labour party, they've certainly done it. wes streeting tweeted a win for susan hall and the conservatives is a win for racists, white supremacists and islamophobes the world over. i mean , that the world over. i mean, that kind of rhetoric is just deeply alarming , is kind of rhetoric is just deeply alarming, is it not? >> look where to start. firstly, to address wes streeting comments, because for me personally, they're a really offensive. >> one of the growing trends in london is the fact that communities are at each other's throats. >> and it's comments like that from people like wes streeting that don't help. >> i was born and raised in london. >> i'm 52 years old. racism now is more of an issue between communities than it's ever been, and i believe it's the likes of wes, who, on one end are seen as respectable and knowledgeable, pumping nonsense like this very offensive statement. and i'd say to wes , does he consider me a to wes, does he consider me a white supremacist because dont? >> well , you know, i really >> well, you know, i really don't consider myself that. no. and i think it's offensive to do that. that's the first thing i think on a, on a sort of more

personal level. susan hall is a colleague of mine . and yes, she colleague of mine. and yes, she is not your very slick politician. she's never claimed to be. she doesn't want to be. susan is a woman who listens to people. susan is a feisty woman. susan's a woman about family , susan's a woman about family, about safety. and that's what she's been trying to portray through her campaign. she's had so many sinner attacks. people saying if there was a better candidate, well, i'll tell you something now, as someone who fought to be mayor for three years, a very long campaign , years, a very long campaign, i've looked at what susan has done. and i tell you right now, she's worked her socks off. and when the media, the mainstream media treated her very badly, as they do most tory candidates, she did a very clever thing of switching to a guerrilla campaign. and what i mean by thatis campaign. and what i mean by that is she went to the doorsteps. so if she runs sadiq khan close now, it's a demonstration of her smart political nous, because she started knocking on doors in huge numbers to say to people, that's what they're saying about me. this is what i'm saying about myself. and i think that's been effective. now. >> some people would argue she's had a gaffe laden campaign. i mean, would you agree with that, those sentiments, or do you

think actually she's been pretty decent? >> what i'd say is actually it's a double standard if you're a tory, almost anywhere in the country and definitely in london, you are treated differently by the press. that's a fact. and if they pick up all the supposed gaffes, she's had fine , i get it. well, why have fine, i get it. well, why have they not done the same to sadiq khan? he's had many a gaffe. he's had many things go wrong and he seems to just, you know, he seems to glide across it. i remember one of my colleagues saying he's teflon. and another colleague interjected saying, actually, the press are defending him. that's how most of the mainstream press have supported him, really, by not pointing out his gaffes in a way they may have done susan's. >> do you know, i was really struck by an interview, a debate rather between the two of them and, susan hall raised the point of saying you know, there are people walking around the streets of london with machetes for goodness sake. and sadiq khan's reply was a very , sort of khan's reply was a very, sort of sharp and snappy. well it's not an episode of the wire. london isn't an episode of the wire, as if susan hall was talking absolute nonsense, but there are

people who won't come to london from my part of the world. jenny finley, fearful that london is awash with crime . and they're correct. >> let's be very clear, sadiq khan sneered . dismissive tone khan sneered. dismissive tone shows something he doesn't understand crime. i remember when he first became tried to become mayor, he ran on a campaign that he'd get rid of, stop and search, etc, etc. and he did that. he really lowered the figures. but what he did was make sure we had two record years for teenage knife deaths. that's under him. we've had a massive spike in crime. so when susan says, actually, we need to look at what's going on in the street. when i ran my campaign, i said, we need to do much more stop and search. he misunderstood. he was saying stop and search is not effective for boosting arrest number. it's not about arrest numbers , it's not about arrest numbers, it's about presence. it's about showing people if you're nervous and you carry a knife, you'll get caught by the police. if you're out and out, villain and you're out and out, villain and you carry enough, you'll get caught by the police. this reduces the temperature on the street and the fact that he doesn't know that it's cost lives in london and that's sneering for me, it's so it's so

painful because in the black community in particular, our teenagers have been murdered at such a rate. and it's because we need a mayor who gets on top of that crime. >> all right. how much did just briefly, how much do you think actually gaza has impacted upon sadiq khan's vote? >> i think very little. in some communities. it is really , communities. it is really, really important, but in most communities it isn't a subject that would change their vote, sadiq khan talked about it a bit in the beginning, but i think this, this election here is about ulez. it's about safety in london, and it's about how much it costs to live in london. that's really what people are voting on. yeah i mean they'll on those points. >> then the ulez 1250 a day for people who perhaps don't have 1250 a day, to be frank. now, many in other parts of the country are saying this is just a plan to get people out of their cars. no part of an overall green agenda . and then overall green agenda. and then secondly, i mean, building houses. secondly, i mean, building houses . he's promised the land houses. he's promised the land of milk and honey that hasn't happened. >> look, to address those two things. the mayor only hit his

housing target because he went back to the government and negotiated downwards twice. the government were very generous to him and lowered the target, but he never mentioned that once. he all he did was say , well, all he did was say, well, they've missed their own target. well, they're a bit tougher on their own target than it was on his. he has failed to deliver housing in london. i'll say one more thing in his favour. it is tough. it is tough. but he definitely could have done better. for instance, he keeps asking for more money. he hasn't spent the £4 billion they've given him already. so you know , given him already. so you know, spend that and then ask for more would be my would what i say about that with the ulez? it's simple. sadiq khan didn't understand that london isn't an island. london is connected to the whole country , particularly the whole country, particularly the whole country, particularly the southeast of the country, and the economy of the outer london boroughs relies on that exchange of people and goods . exchange of people and goods. and he disrupted that. and that's why people are so angry . that's why people are so angry. and that's before you get into the disruption it's made to families, charities and just generally moving around in london. and you saw in shrewsbury election, it made a material difference. and i think it's one of the big things where

it's one of the big things where it's allowed susan to get much closer because she was aware of it, because she listened. >> yeah. i mean, do you think if bofis >> yeah. i mean, do you think if boris had stood again in uxbndge boris had stood again in uxbridge that he would have won that seat on that ? absolutely, liz. >> he would. he would have won because he's boris. i want to be very clear, part of the mess that the tory party is in now. yeah. was done when we removed bofis. yeah. was done when we removed boris . let's make no mistake, boris. let's make no mistake, one of the biggest majorities we've had since the second world war. it was something to do with bofis. war. it was something to do with boris . if you look at the boris. if you look at the council election results, they have been pretty bad to say the least. luckily, boris was so affected . we started from a high affected. we started from a high point so we've lost some and my heart goes out to those councils. >> but he won in 2012, right? with some people saying maybe he wouldn't do it. but in 2012, turnout was low and with turnouts low today as well , it's turnouts low today as well, it's the lowest since 2012. and that actually helps the conservatives doesit actually helps the conservatives does it not? >> look, a lower turnout suggests that it would help susan, but we have to we have to be careful because is that a low turnout across the board, which basically means stalemate is a lower turnout and a conservative vote, because people want to send a message before the

general election? we don't know. ispoke general election? we don't know. i spoke to members of susan's team and they said, look, we're cautiously optimistic. we ran our campaign , we hit our goals. our campaign, we hit our goals. we are now just seeing what londoners think. so let's see how that low turnout affects. all right. >> we'll see. sean because neither of us, unfortunately, are mystic meg. my crystal ball i know i left it in. >> i left it in my bag. >> i left it in my bag. >> you'll have to bring it next time. i will do you a shaun bailey. thank you very much for your time. now, folks. you're with me. darren grimes on gb news saturday. we've got lots more coming up on today's show. our reform , plotting a takeover our reform, plotting a takeover of the conservative party while john redwood mp will join me to give his analysis on a set of bleak election results for the conservatives. you're with gb news, britain's news channel .

welcome back to gb news saturday

with me. darren grimes on your tv, online and on digital radio. thanks, as ever, for your company. now the conservatives have suffered their worst set of local election results in over 40 years. and if the polls are to be believed, they could face a wipe—out at the next general election. well, joining me now is the political commentator matthew stadlen . matthew, the matthew stadlen. matthew, the interesting element for me is the fact that you've got the green party nibbling at the labour vote. shaun bailey just said that that's the interesting dynamic in this election. that could have hurt sadiq khan. but you've also got the reform vote in parts of the country evidently nibbling away at the conservative party's vote. do you think actually there is going to be a fracturing of the main political parties , or is main political parties, or is this just back to politics as normal? i think labour of the two parties are clearly in better shape. >> they no doubt are concerned

about some of the very, very early statements made about the war in gaza. what i would think most believe was a slip up on the part of keir starmer when he was talking about international law and aid and switching off gas and electricity. and so forth. so that that has obviously had some impact on the vote. but by far the bigger question is , come the general question is, come the general election, what sort of damage will reform due to the conservative vote? >> well, let's ask a man who may have 1 or 2 interests in this very question. joining me now is the former minister and conservative mp, john redwood . i conservative mp, john redwood. i mean, john, do you agree with matthew's analysis there? do you think actually reform are your biggest threat when it comes to securing and keeping hold of seats? you already have ? seats? you already have? >> well, when you get to a general election, people have to make a real choice and the choice will be between a labour led government by starmer or a conservative government. >> and i think in that context ,

>> and i think in that context, people, of a conservative disposition would be very wise to go with the conservative party even though they're critical of it at the moment when you have by elections or local elections and people are faced with the choice between reform and conservative, some vote reform because they think that will, persuade the conservative party to be more conservative. >> and i can understand why they do that, but i don't think they would want to do that in a general election, because they would end up with a labour government. >> yeah . >> yeah. >> yeah. >> i mean, john, a lot of the comments from our viewers are saying things like, i'm so tired, sick and tired of being told not to for vote reform because that will harm the conservative party they're saying, why doesn't the conservative party just offer us a prospectus that we can actually vote for? dare i say , actually vote for? dare i say, be conservative again? that's what they're saying, john. >> well, i very much in favour of that. >> as you you well know, and i've put forward a lot of conservative ideas , being of conservative ideas, being of goodwill towards conservative government because i was elected

as a conservative mp and i'm hoping they will adopt more of them. >> they've adopted some of them in the last few weeks , which is in the last few weeks, which is very welcome. i think the climate realism is a step in the right direction. both what the prime minister and the secretary of state has said is a welcome change from the impractical and damaging net zero policies of the left wing parties. they are now tax cutters. we've had two fiscal events with tax cuts. i think we need a third one before the general election. i've got ideas on how you pay for those tax cuts and how they should not just relate to people at work, but also savers and pensioners and a number of issues over standing up to wokery , where standing up to wokery, where some of the ministers are now saying the right thing. so i think the government is on a journey which i and conservatives think is very necessary one. but i repeat the point. i'm not lecturing people on how they vote. i'm a great believer in democratic will of the people. they'll all come to their own decisions. but john, it would be a bit odd if they

all decided we'll have to leave it there. john, over government running out of time. >> thank you very much for your time, though. as ever, you're with me. darren grimes on gb news saturday. lots more coming up on today's show. first of all though, we're going have a though, we're going to have a look the weather. look at the weather. >> a brighter outlook with boxt solar sponsors of weather on gb news. >> hello there. welcome to your latest weather for gb news. >> it's a mixed outlook , largely >> it's a mixed outlook, largely cloudy over the next 24 hours, particularly across the north of the uk. >> best of the sunshine in the south. why? well generally low pressure dominates the weather pattern. this system bringing some heavier rain through bank houday some heavier rain through bank holiday monday , showers holiday monday, showers elsewhere and through the rest of the day. we've got this area of the day. we've got this area of cloud across northern ireland, northern england into scotland, giving some showery outbreaks of rain. this heavy at times clearing skies overnight elsewhere with light winds . elsewhere with light winds. we'll see some mist and fog patches forming later on. this weather system starts to increase the cloud and bring

some rain across the far southwest under the clear skies. temperatures in single figures, so a chilly start to sunday morning. some mist and fog patches quickly clearing , then patches quickly clearing, then plenty of sunshine through this central swathe of the uk . it central swathe of the uk. it remains generally cloudy across northern ireland, northern england and scotland through the day. some patchy rain possible here. some heavier showers later and this weather system slowly pushes northeastwards inland a little further, bringing cloud and rain to some southern parts of england and wales and the best of the sunshine. temperatures approaching 19 or 20 celsius under the cloud, still feeling quite chilly and a misty, murky start to bank houday misty, murky start to bank holiday monday. but again, this central part of the uk seeing the best of the sunshine as that morning mist and murk disappears. and then over the next few days we'll see high pressure starting to build in. it will settle down. we'll see more in the way of sunny spells and temperatures begin to rise. looks like things are heating up. >> boxt boilers spot hours of weather on

gb news. way >> hello and welcome to gb views saturday, i'm darren grimes, and for the next two hours, i'll be keeping you company on tv, onune keeping you company on tv, online and on digital radio. we'll keep you up to date on the stories that really matter to you coming up in this hour. are we about to see one of the biggest shocks in british political history ? vie it's political history? vie it's making brexit look like child's play. it's sadiq khan versus susan hall. sources say it's closer than anyone was expecting. but are the tories going to fall just short? we'll bnng going to fall just short? we'll bring you those results as soon as it happens. now we'll also be of course , across the mayoral of course, across the mayoral results today with seven declarations taking place across england. will andy street be victorious in the west midlands ? victorious in the west midlands? and then there's politics on the national scale. has starmers labour party lost? the muslim vote? is the writing on the wall

for rishi sunak? where's reformat ? we're asking all of reformat? we're asking all of the big questions. now this show is nothing without you and your views. let me know your thoughts on all the stories we'll be discussing today by visiting gbnews.com/yoursay sandra has written in and sandra is a bit annoyed that i cut john redwood off. we were limited on time because we're having some tech issues, so i do apologise for that, but we'll get john back in the not too distant future. or you can tweet us on our socials folks, we're @gbnews. first of all though, here's your news with ray addison . with ray addison. >> cheers, darren. good afternoon. 1:01. our top stories this hour. sir keir starmer says the tories don't deserve to be in government for a moment longer. that's after rishi sunak lost hundreds of councillors in the local elections. 103 of 107

councils have declared so far, with labour making major gains. election expert sir john curtice says the final outcome could be the tories worst performance for 40 years, celebrating a mayoral victory in the east midlands, the labour leader said the tories time is up. >> i think the message here is very, very clear and i think across the east midlands there's been a sending of that message to the government, which is we're fed up with your division, with your chaos, with your failure 14 years and i'm sorry i don't care which political party you support if you leave your country in a worse state than when you found it 14 years later, you do not deserve to be in government for a moment longer . longer. >> andrew griffiths is minister for science, innovation and technology. he told us the pubuc technology. he told us the public simply don't want labour's policies. >> look, it's a difficult set of results . i >> look, it's a difficult set of results. i think >> look, it's a difficult set of results . i think that >> look, it's a difficult set of results. i think that was >> look, it's a difficult set of

results . i think that was what results. i think that was what was expected going in. there's going to be a very, very simple choice at the next election. who walks through number 10, downing street? is it rishi sunak with his plan that's starting to work now, or is it keir with with no plan or where they do have plans that don't really go with the grain of what the british people want. >> so keir starmer says he remains confident that sadiq khan can win a third term as london mayor. that's as the battle with tory challenger susan hall appears to be closer than expected . the count is well than expected. the count is well underway and we could have a final result this afternoon. so far, mayor khan's won greenwich and lewisham. that's the first london borough to declare . in london borough to declare. in total, seven mayoral contests will be announced today. so far, labour has retained liverpool city region and south yorkshire. a narrow contest is expected for conservative mayor andy street in the west midlands. we'll also be hearing from eight of ten contests for police and crime commissioner boris johnson has thanked polling staff who refused to let him vote without

an id. the former prime minister was turned away from a polling station on thursday after he forgot valid identification. writing in the daily mail, mr johnson said the three villagers were right to stick to the rules. the requirement to provide photo id was actually introduced by mrjohnson provide photo id was actually introduced by mr johnson when provide photo id was actually introduced by mrjohnson when he occupied number 10. a burst water main has left around 31,000 properties without running water in east sussex, causing a drastic impact on businesses . southern water says businesses. southern water says the disruption in saint leonards on sea and parts of hastings will continue into sunday. the issue was first reported thursday, forcing the company to open water bottle stations, schools, a leisure centre and a theatre in the area have all been forced to close . dozens of been forced to close. dozens of migrants in two small boats have crossed the channel today from france . drone footage shows a france. drone footage shows a french naval vessel following them until they reached english waters. they're largely male.

passengers were taken aboard a british border force vessel off the coast of dover. more than 8000 people have arrived so far this year. that's a new record for this period . three people for this period. three people have been charged after protesters blocked a coach taking asylum seekers to the bibby stockholm barge. the met police arrested 45 people after officers were called thursday morning to peckham, south—east london. the demonstrators could be heard chanting no borders, no nafions be heard chanting no borders, no nations stop deportations. three have now been charged with obstruction of the highway. motorists are being warned to expect heavy traffic this bank houday expect heavy traffic this bank holiday weekend, according to the rac, around 3 million vehicles will take to the roads today alone. an increase in day trips and short breaks could mean local routes are congested. also train strikes between tuesday and the following saturday could lead to most roads being busier than usual. and finally, the king is set to become the patron of the royal

british legion. that's a role that the late queen held for more than 70 years. it follows a major review of more than a thousand royal patronages. excuse me ? following the death excuse me? following the death of queen elizabeth ii, charles will now be supporting a further 200 organisations. the decision comes as the armed forces charity prepares to mark the 80th anniversary of the second world war. d—day landings on june the 6th. well, for all our top stories, sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen right now, or go to gb news. common shirts back now to . darren. now to. darren. >> thank you as ever, ray. let's get stuck in today's topics. now, those mayoral results are continuing to come in thick and fast across england today. the declaration in the west midlands is fast approaching , where is fast approaching, where conservative andy street is fighting tooth and nail to be re—elected. well, joining me now

from birmingham is gb news very own reporter, jeff moody geoff, what's the latest ? what's the latest? >> well, as you say, counting is underway here. we're expecting the result in a couple of hours. what we do know at this early stage is, is that it's very close . to give you some idea, close. to give you some idea, back in 2021, the last time this was fought, it was 54% for the tory candidate and 46% for laboun tory candidate and 46% for labour. but this time it's expected to be a considerable amount closer than that. well the front runner who we still think is going to win is andy street. he's the conservative candidate. he's been mayor here for the last two terms and he's been standing for a third term. and i think what's very interesting about andy street is that he's nicknamed brand andy. his campaign has been very much about him and about what he has done for the west midlands, not so much about his role within the conservative party. in fact,

if you look at his leafleting , if you look at his leafleting, you wouldn't even know that he was a conservative. there's no blue on it at all. it's all branded in a nice green colour. and he talks exclusively about what he has done for the area, his achievements in the past two terms and they have been great. he's been many people do believe he has been a very successful mayor he's brought a lot of business and enterprise into the area too, and quite crucially, he's not charged a mayoral tax. he's he has the power to charge a mayoral tax, but he hasn't done so in the last two terms. and he says he's not going to in the next term. two, he's very, very good on transport. a lot of people are saying lots of work on buses. he's got a very good record on housing, too. he's he claims he's very proud of the fact that he's only built houses on brownfield sites . now, one of on brownfield sites. now, one of the things that he has said, his main message in the run up to today, he says, you either get me or you get birmingham city

council. now what he means by that, of course, is birmingham city council was labour run and has recently declared itself bankrupt , as has recently declared itself bankrupt, as we has recently declared itself bankrupt , as we know. so he's bankrupt, as we know. so he's basically saying, look, if you go with the labour candidate, you get more of the same bankruptcy . well, the labour bankruptcy. well, the labour candidate who is certainly snapping at his heels is richard parker. he says, look, that's absolutely rubbish. the reason birmingham city council went bankrupt is because funding was, was was capped and dropped from westminster from the tory government. that's why he himself has a very good record in business. he was ceo of john lewis , very proud of that lewis, very proud of that record. but what i think is interesting about him is looking to see whether his campaign will be marred by the middle east, a labour campaigner said on twitter a couple of days ago it's the middle east, not the west midlands, that will have won andy street, the mayoral team, once again, hamas are the real villains. well, that tweet was very quickly taken down and,

labour itself has been distancing itself from that tweet, first of all, because it kind of concedes defeat very early on, but also because it it's claiming that people are moving away from labour because of the middle east. well, if they are moving away from laboun they are moving away from labour, they'll move towards the independent. ahmed yaqoob . he's independent. ahmed yaqoob. he's standing on a pro—palestinian ticket, so it will be very interesting to find out exactly how big his support is and how much he has taken away from laboun much he has taken away from labour. we should hopefully know at all at around 3:00 this afternoon. >> all right geoff, thanks ever so for that brilliant analysis. we'll see what happens in a couple of hours now folks. as well as that, the london mayoral results, they're on a knife edge between sadiq khan and susan hall. could ulez be about to catch up with sadiq khan now joining me is gb news political correspondent, olivia utley . correspondent, olivia utley. olivia. i've just seen there there's been a swing from to labour the conservatives in some of the latest election results .

of the latest election results. >> there has been a swing from, there's been a swing in sadiq khan's favour in a couple of the inner london constituencies , inner london constituencies, lewisham and greenwich among them. it is now looking pretty good for sadiq khan, sources have told gb news from the sadiq khan team that they are pretty chipper at the moment. khan team that they are pretty chipper at the moment . there khan team that they are pretty chipper at the moment. there was a lot of excitement late last night about susan hall potentially , snatching victory potentially, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat , but from the jaws of defeat, but that has all died down a little bit this morning. there are swings of 4.5% and 5% to sadiq khanin swings of 4.5% and 5% to sadiq khan in wandsworth and merton and greenwich and lewisham, respectively . if we see swings respectively. if we see swings like that across the rest of london, then it looks like it's going to be a pretty easy win for sadiq khan. of course, it is quite possible that in some of those outer london constituencies, the doughnut constituencies, the doughnut constituencies, as they're called in in bromley, bexley, dagenham, the conservative vote could go up because of, as you mentioned, ulez ulez is deeply, deeply unpopular. and susan hall, the conservative candidate

has been campaigning on a very much anti ulez ticket . so it much anti ulez ticket. so it could be that she increases her share of the vote in areas like that, but it now looks as though to win this mayoral election, she would have to get very , very she would have to get very, very lucky and some really extraordinary things would have to happen in the remaining constituencies. left to declare , constituencies. left to declare, all right, olivia utley will be coming back to you. >> i've no doubt about that. thank you very much as ever. joining me now, though , is my joining me now, though, is my fellow saturday five presenters, albie amankona and benjamin butterworth. now folks, i mean, heanng butterworth. now folks, i mean, hearing that there that excitement does seem ipp to have died down ever so slightly , died down ever so slightly, perhaps this happens every time. doesit perhaps this happens every time. does it not? where there's a flutter of excitement saying, oh, could they do it? shaun bailey i remember the same things being said about him. >> well , exactly. i think look, >> well, exactly. i think look, we will find out the results of what happened with the london mayoral election later on today. i think , as our colleague olivia i think, as our colleague olivia said, it is looking more

difficult for susan hall to find a path to victory. now but i think just from my perspective, of course, as someone who is on the centre right of british politics and has looked at sadiq khan's record over his time as mayor, it looked like londoners are going to be rewarding failure because ultimately what has sadiq khan actually achieved dunng has sadiq khan actually achieved during his time in as london mayor? we're seeing sky high levels of crime , sky low levels levels of crime, sky low levels of housebuilding, the nightlife in london is completely dead after 11:00, despite the fact he's paying his knight chief zaha, £116,000 a year to do what i don't really know. so i think for a lot of us who were quite excited last night when we heard those rumours about perhaps it being quite close and now feeling quite disappointed now, i mean, benjamin butterworth , i mean, benjamin butterworth, have you rewarded failure? >> well, look , i mean, it's >> well, look, i mean, it's interesting because there has been a swing towards sadiq khan in merton and wandsworth now olivia utley is obviously right that in inner london, but it's an area that until quite

recently was more conservative than labour. it's a part of london that the conservatives should win because it's quite wealthy. it's a bit older, it's quite middle class. and so if susan hall is doing worse than shaun bailey did there for the tories three years ago, then that's a sign that i think the kind of extraordinary results in outer london aren't going to happen. now >> the difference in turnout between bexley and bromley out of london and tower hamlets, probably the safest place for labourin probably the safest place for labour in london. well, it's 17% labour in london. well, it's17% higher in the more tory area than the more labour area. so that does suggest that if she's done well there, it could be much closer than expected. >> i think the reality is that it looks like sadiq khan will probably win based on the earliest indications, but labour in london has been receiving poll numbers higher than it did in the 1990s under blair. >> for the last couple of years. and i suspect what you'll see today is a much closer margin between the tories and labour for mayor than what labour is.

polling generally , which would polling generally, which would say that sadiq khan isn't personally popular. >> i'll be on that point that you heard earlier from jeff moody where someone within labour had said, if actually andrew street wins it, it'll be hamas that won it for the conservatives. i mean , others conservatives. i mean, others have actually challenged that and declared it as racism by suggesting that there's an entire bloc of voters who will only vote one way. where do you stand on that ? do you think it stand on that? do you think it was a racist statement to make, or do you think actually there's an element of truth to it? >> i believe it might have even been a labour mp who called it out as being racist. if i remember correctly. look, it seems to me a little bit of an odd comment to say that if a tory person wins the mayoralty of the west midlands , it is a of the west midlands, it is a win for hamas. it's not a win for hamas, it's a win for the conservative party. and i think we've got to be very careful in the united kingdom not to start importing this sectarian style politics from abroad. all right.

there is a independent candidate in the west midlands who is pro—palestine and who is doing very well with a certain demographic demographic of voters in the west midlands, but ultimately they are voting against a foreign policy decision that a british government has made. and perhaps if a british government made a different foreign policy decision, that candidate wouldn't be so attractive. so i worry about when people start saying things like, it's a win for hamas, when actually what they're voting against is a british foreign policy decision. >> but benjamin, you must be worried, though, about the religious sectarian element, given that george galloway campaigning exclusively , it campaigning exclusively, it seems to me anyway, on a ticket. and he said explicitly , this is and he said explicitly, this is for gaza. >> he did. >> he did. >> and in rochdale the seat that he won not long ago, he said we're going to wipe labour off the map where labour won. >> i forget where it's 42 or 44 of the 60 seats on that council. so he won two councillors there. >> so i think while labour definitely has problems with apathy and opposition from

sections of the muslim community that had always usually voted for labour, there's definitely been eaten away at. >> but actually it's not nearly as significant as people like george galloway tried to claim. look at burnley, where lots of labour councillors, i think ten labour councillors, i think ten labour councillors, i think ten labour councillors resigned in opposition to labour's position on gaza. well, actually labour won several of those seats back with the people. they replaced the defectors with. >> all right, okay, i've got a statement here from the labour party. a spokesman has said the labour party has strongly condemned this racist quote, which has not come from anyone who is speaking on behalf of the party or whose values are welcome in the party. well sadiq khan.the welcome in the party. well sadiq khan. the us defended his record as mayor. here's what he had to say . say. >> we've been both tough on the complex causes of crime, deprivation , alienation, deprivation, alienation, poverty, lack of opportunities, and tough on the causes of crime, supporting the police who've made good progress . so who've made good progress. so we've invested in record numbers of youth clubs, youth workers ,

of youth clubs, youth workers, young people, but also the police. and so since 2016, notwithstanding, government austerity notwithstanding , our austerity notwithstanding, our population going up by more than a million homicides are down. gun crime is down. the number of young people injured with the knife is down, burglaries down, according to the office for national statistics. not my figures. the ons figures you're less likely to be the victim of violence in london than the rest of the country. you're less likely to be injured as a consequence of violence in london than the rest of the country . country. >> all right, now, time for the latest great british giveaway. it's our biggest cash prize to date . it's an incredible £20,000 date. it's an incredible £20,000 in tax free cash and it could be all yours. here's the details. you need to enter the next great british giveaway winner. >> could be you with a massive £20,000 in tax free cash to be won. imagine how you'd react getting that winning call from us. >> us. >> hi, my name's phil cox and i won the great british giveaway. i'd say why not? it's what? what is it? the price of a text and £2 to enter. and if i can win it

, anybody can win it. and they're going to get even more money this time round. so why wouldn't you go in the draw for another chance to win £20,000 in tax free cash ? tax free cash? >> text win to 63232. text cost £2 plus one standard network rate message or post your name and number to gb05, po box 8690. derby de19, double t, uk only entrants must be 18 or over. lines closed at 5 pm. on the sist lines closed at 5 pm. on the 31st of may. full terms and privacy notice at gbnews.com/win. please check the closing time if listening or watching on demand. good luck . watching on demand. good luck. >> well, hey, you're all the gb views are coming in thick and fast there. it always happens when benjamin butterworth's on the come up. now you're with me, darren grimes on gb news saturday. lourdes moore coming up.can saturday. lourdes moore coming up. can londoners survive another term of mayor sadiq khan 7 another term of mayor sadiq khan ? and should labour be cock a

hoop at their performance in the local elections? i'm going to speak to a former labour minister, shaun woodward, next. you don't want to miss that. all of that and more to come. you're with gb news. britain's news channel.

welcome back to gb news saturday with me, darren grimes. on your tv, online and on digital radio. now, lots of you have been getting in touch. sending in your thoughts. yours are buzzing. online are layers is written in. i don't know where les is from in the country, but les says you would have to pay me mega bucks to live in lawless london or even to visit it. and that's a sentiment that i hear from anecdotally from many members of my own family. anecdotally from many members of my own family . and actually my own family. and actually basically susan said , london is basically susan said, london is really abysmal at the moment, and she dreads the fact of another four years of sadiq khan

others . there's i support, others. there's i support, obviously, from the likes of benjamin butterworth for the record of the mayor over the past few years, and a lot of people are concerned about the rise of, of religious sectarianism and whether or not that's playing a role in the vote and makeup and voting decisions up and down the country . is gaza having more of country. is gaza having more of an impact than perhaps issues pertaining to the british people and british local electorates? miss said that they removed all assets from london and got the hell out . khan has completely hell out. khan has completely destroyed it. harsh words indeed. but keith says if london votes khan, you get what you deserve. so, there's no forgiveness from keith now, folks, let me know all of your thoughts. throughout on the stories we've been discussing, you can visit gbnews.com forward slash your say join that conversation. there i am getting involved. or message me on our socials @gbnews now. yesterday

labour were celebrating big victories in the blackpool south by—election and the mayoral elections in places such as york and north yorkshire and the nonh and north yorkshire and the north east. here's keir starmer speaking today in the east midlands, where they were also victorious . victorious. >> i think the message here is very, very clear and i think across the east midlands there's been a sending of that message to the government, which is we're fed up with your division , we're fed up with your division, with your chaos, with your failure. 14 years and i'm sorry, i don't care which political party you support if you leave your country in a worse state than when you found it 14 years later, you do not deserve to be in government for a moment longer . longer. >> well, let's find out what my guests thinks. joining me now is the former labour mp and secretary of state for northern ireland, shaun woodward. sean, thank you very much for your company. what have you made of the results? so far? i mean, do

you think it's sirjohn the results? so far? i mean, do you think it's sir john curtice predicted, you know, complete annihilation potentially of the conservatives. do you think actually they've done better with results like ben houchen, dare i say in tees valley ? okay. dare i say in tees valley? okay. >> i think it's been a pretty good set of results for keir starmer and for the labour party under his leadership. >> i mean, we've seen an extraordinary result again in blackpool. that result a 20% swing to labour, we've seen that now as a pattern. it's the fifth by—election where we've seen swings of that kind. i think we've also got to remember , we've also got to remember, darren, that, you know, these are taking place not in the middle of a parliament. they're not mid—term. this is on the eve of a general election. and i think there is a pattern here. and the pattern, i think fundamentally, is that people are fed up with the government. they think the tories have failed and it's time for a change. and i think whatever way you carve this, however you look at it, and of course you can

pick out extreme examples of a result in teesside, for example, which is a good result for the conservatives. but at the end of the day, these are one and a few amongst a pattern which is not in the conservative party's favour. they've lost 500 councillors nearly, they've lost 12 councils. they're doing very, very badly. and of course the reform party is making that worse for them . so there's no worse for them. so there's no complacency here. i think the labour party, after the terrible defeat suffered under jeremy corbyn, is clearly back in the game at the next general election in a very competitive place . but i think election in a very competitive place. but i think keir and election in a very competitive place . but i think keir and the place. but i think keir and the whole labour party takes nothing for granted at this point. >> yeah, i mean, sean, janet's just written in and janet says, sorry, i have to mute starmer. he sounds like a drone. i mean, do you think that there is a groundswell of love and admiration for sir keir starmer, or is there just a real falling out of love and favour with the conservative party

>> well, by and large, in general elections , governments general elections, governments lose them, oppositions don't win them. and if you look at the history of britain in the last 50 years, that's the way it goes , but i do think that keir starmer is onto a number of things when he talks about what he wants to do with the country. and i think the country has made a verdict on the conservative party and no matter what rishi sunak has done in the last year , sunak has done in the last year, we've seen all of his attempts to effectively bribe the electorate in budgets fail. we've seen his policies fail. we've seen his policies fail. we've seen his boat's policy fail . we've seen his rwanda fail. we've seen his rwanda policy, which is absolutely absurd in terms of dealing with the hundred thousand plus people in the backlog. it's never going to touch that. that was delayed and pretty much looks like a failure. i think the country does feel the conservative party has run out of steam, run out of ideas , and it's very divided. ideas, and it's very divided. and i think we've only got to look at the reform party , which look at the reform party, which is haemorrhaging large numbers of supporters from the conservative party to see that

in many ways, if rishi sunak doesn't go to the polls very soon, and that would be my advice. and i'm saying that because the longer he leaves it, the stronger i think reform will become in the country that will divide the conservative voting constituencies. and in our first past the post system, that means the other parties will probably do a great deal better, and the major party that will do best in thatis major party that will do best in that is the labour party. >> yeah . where are you at, sean? >> yeah. where are you at, sean? on the idea that the comment that was made by someone within connected to the labour party, that actually saying, you know, the hamas comment actually it will be hamas what won it for andy street. and that was actually viewed as a racist comment. where do you stand on that? >> well, i think it was a stupid remark to make, look what's happening in the middle east is, is deeply upsetting. whichever side you may sit on. i mean, the fact of the matter is, we need an immediate ceasefire, in that

area of the world. we need to see the hostages released. and let's remember again, in all of this, there are still hostages which have been taken in october of last year, and they still haven't been released. and we know that a number have died while they've been held. so let's not forget about those hostages , too. and on all of hostages, too. and on all of this, keir starmer has laid out a message for the labour party and very, very clearly from some of the results we saw yesterday, some people don't like it, don't agree with it. that doesn't mean to say the message should change. it doesn't mean to say the policy should change and the policy is clear. we need a ceasefire immediately. now in gaza, we need to stop the murder . in some cases, the deaths of many, many women and children. that has to end. we need humanitarian aid in there, but we also need the hostages released and what we need to effectively have, therefore, is a peace process . and as somebody a peace process. and as somebody who conducted the peace process in northern ireland, however difficult it may be, i believe

it is possible . but that doesn't it is possible. but that doesn't mean to say that keir starmer is wrong to have sent the message he's done. >> okay. all right. i mean, i can foresee a lot of divisions over that. sean. i don't think it's going to be a nest of singing birds, put it that way, because i think you're absolutely right. you're absolutely right. you're absolutely right, sean. we are going to have to leave it there, though, unfortunately. but thank you very much for your time. that's shaun woodward there. former northern ireland secretary. now folks . so with gb secretary. now folks. so with gb news with me, darren grimes gb news with me, darren grimes gb news saturday, there's massive results from the mayoral election still to come . we're election still to come. we're going to be crossing live to manchester in just a few moments. and i'll be asking , moments. and i'll be asking, does camilla deserve to be known as queen or queen consort? where do you stand on that? let me know . first of all, though, know. first of all, though, here's the news with ray addison i >> -- >> good afternoon. 131 i'm ray addison in the gb newsroom . our

addison in the gb newsroom. our top stories sir keir starmer says the tories don't deserve to be in government for a moment longer. that's after rishi sunak lost hundreds of councillors in the local elections . currently, the local elections. currently, 103 of 107 councils have declared so far, with labour making major gains. election experts sir john curtice says the final outcome could be the tories worst performance for 40 years. sir keir starmer says he remains confident that sadiq khan can win a third term as london mayor, as has the battle with tory challenger susan hall appears to be closer than previously expected . the count previously expected. the count is well underway and we could have a final result soon. so far, mayor khan has won greenwich and lewisham. that's the first london borough to declare. in total, seven mayoral contests are being announced today, with labour already retaining liverpool city region and south yorkshire two. a narrow contest is expected for conservative mayor andy street in the west midlands.

conservative mayor andy street in the west midlands . we'll also in the west midlands. we'll also be hearing from eight of ten contests for police and crime commissioner. contests for police and crime commissioner . a burst water main commissioner. a burst water main has left around 31,000 properties without running water in east sussex, causing a drastic impact on businesses there. southern water say the disruption in saint leonards on sea and parts of hastings will continue into tomorrow. the issue first started on thursday , issue first started on thursday, forcing the company to open water bottle stations, schools , water bottle stations, schools, leisure centre and a theatre in the area have all been forced to close and dozens of migrants in two small boats have crossed the channel today from france . drone channel today from france. drone footage shows a french naval vessel following them until they reached english waters. they're largely male. passengers were taken aboard a british border force vessel off the coast of dover. force vessel off the coast of dover . for the latest stories, dover. for the latest stories, you can sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen, or go to gb news .com/ alerts.

>> thank you very much, ray. now remember, folks, let me know your thoughts on all the stories we've been discussing today by visiting gbnews.com forward slash kwasi. join the conversation there or message me on our socials. we're @gbnews

>> 2020. for a battleground yeah >> the year the nation decides . >> the year the nation decides. >> the year the nation decides. >> as the parties gear up their campaigns for the next general election. >> who will be left standing when the british people make one of the biggest decisions of their lives? >> who will rise and who will fall? >> let's find out together. >> let's find out together. >> for every moment. the highs, the lows, the twists and turns, we'll be with you for every step of this journey. in 2024. gb news is britain's election .

channel. >> welcome back to gb news saturday with me, darren grimes and not dawn neesom. i promise i'm not selfies identifying this weekend. what? where on your tv onune weekend. what? where on your tv online and on digital radio. lots of you have been sending in your thoughts. thank you very much for doing so. tim says we are free to vote reform, but we all know that this time around, it will not make much difference. we may have to hold our conservative noses for maybe even two terms of labour and a lot of you are actually irate about the idea that we should call camilla, queen camilla and not queen consort camilla, which a lot of you are identifying as the wishes of our late and great queen elizabeth the second. and jennifer says a lot of people have left london because of what khan has done. if he wins london again, it will be finished completely . just very briefly, completely. just very briefly, wombat says the recent tweet from wes streeting regarding a

vote for susan hall tells you all you need to know about labouh all you need to know about labour. that annoyed a lot of people now folks. mayoral results will continue to come in thick and fast across england and over in manchester, the so—called king of the north, andy burnham, has gone into battle at the ballot box, joining me from manchester is gb news reporterjack joining me from manchester is gb news reporter jack carson joining me from manchester is gb news reporterjack carson award news reporter jack carson award winning reporter. as i always say, jack, a pleasure to be with you. what's the latest ? you. what's the latest? >> well, really interesting actually. over the last couple of hours what labour here at the council have been saying about just how well they believe andy burnham might well have done . burnham might well have done. certainly. still, it does look like andy burnham will win a third term here in manchester. got a big majority last time out in 2021, winning 67% of the vote here, winning by more than 300,000 votes. turnout was low as it traditionally is in this local authority or mayoral authority election , only about authority election, only about 35% last year. we're awaiting to

hear just what the turnout was this year. labour kind of saying here that they don't believe andy burnham will do as well as 2021 and getting 67% of the vote. they do believe he has dropped down. they are . did say dropped down. they are. did say they were worried about a few wards particularly, around oldham. now of course we saw in the local election results on friday and overnight from from thursday that there were some independent candidates using that international issue of what's going on between israel and hamas that were taking votes away from labour. so they're believing that there could be a few wards that andy burnham has lost support in, but still predicting that he will be, getting enough support, much enough support. they say good day for them would be between 50 to 60% of the vote share, but also interesting as well . we're also interesting as well. we're heanng also interesting as well. we're hearing that reform could well beat the conservatives here in manchester to second. now we've not got proper confirmation just how well exactly they've done. i

mean, the conservatives only got around 20% of the vote last time out just because of, of course, how dominant andy burnham has been as manchester mayor. but of course that split between reform and the conservatives could well see a bit of a shock. second place, here in manchester. but we are expecting the results very shortly . very shortly. >> all right. thank you very much. as ever there. jack will come back to you later on. joining me now from birmingham for the west midlands mayoral election is gb news reporter jeff moody. geoff, has there been any movement , yes. been any movement, yes. >> we think the votes have now been counted, but they're being collated, which is taking some time . we're expecting the result time. we're expecting the result in possibly half an hour, possibly up to an hour. so it is fairly imminent at the moment, we're still hearing that it is very, very close indeed. just to give you some idea, back in 2021, it was 54% for the tory candidate and 46% for the labour candidate. it's expected to be

considerably closer than that this time, but we're still heanng this time, but we're still hearing those rumours that andy street, the incumbent, will still have won. but exactly by how much we don't know. and of course, these things can change. these are just rumours that we're hearing here on the ground , he's been mayor for two terms. this is now his third term. and of course, what's interesting about his campaign brand, andy, he's been known as , is that he he's been known as, is that he has really distanced himself from the conservative party, his whole branding, his whole campaign, his whole literature, all of the pamphlets and leaflets, they're all a nice shade of green. there isn't a strip of blue on them. and interestingly, rishi sunak hasn't been to town . he's not hasn't been to town. he's not beenin hasn't been to town. he's not been in the west midlands, to try and shore up his candidate. so it really has been the case that that andy street has sort of distanced himself from the tories and has been looking very much at his own record, and he has quite a sizeable record. you know, he's been mayor here for two terms. he's been pointing to all of the achievements that he

has brought to the area. he's brought a lot of business to the area. a lot of entrepreneurial entrepreneurs ship to, major strides with housing. you know, he promised to keep housing to brownfield sites, and he certainly succeeded in that. and all of these things he's done, he's done without having to raise any form of tax. he is entitled to, to raise a mayoral tax. but he hasn't done that for his first two terms. and he says that if he wins a third term, he won't either. his big campaign slogan, if you like, is, you know , if you vote, you either know, if you vote, you either get me or you get birmingham city council. now what of course, he means by that is birmingham city council, which is labour recently declared itself bankrupt. so he's kind of saying that if you go for the labour candidate, richard parker, it's more of the same with labour. but richard parker is saying, you know, that's really unfair. it's not is saying, you know, that's really unfair . it's not the really unfair. it's not the fault of the council or the fault of the council or the fault of the labour party, that there wasn't enough money coming from central government, a

conservative government. well, richard parker also has a strong reputation in business. he was the ceo of john lewis for a considerable amount of time. but it'll be interesting to see how hampered his campaign has been by issues in the middle east. very recently, a labour campaigner tweeted it's the middle east, not the west midlands, that will have won andy street the mayoralty once again . hamas are the real again. hamas are the real villains. well, labour has distanced itself from that tweet completely, but it will be interesting to see how much of the vote goes to the independent candidate, ahmed yaqoob, who is standing on a pro—palestinian ticket. so all to watch out for, particularly what it means and we should know within an hour or two. >> absolutely. there's a lot to scrutinise there. jeff, thank you very much for taking us through that. that's jeff moody there in the west midlands folks. here's are with me darren grimes on gb news saturday. we've got lots more coming up on today's show, including this royal debate that has everyone

divided . does camilla deserved divided. does camilla deserved to be known as queen albie amankona and benjamin butterworth go head to head on that sparks will fly. all of that sparks will fly. all of that and more to come. you're with gb news, britain's news

welcome back to gb news saturday with me, darren grimes. on your tv, online and on digital radio. now, the question i'm asking, and it's got many of you very animated. queen camilla or queen consort now, courtiers have debated the matter in the months before the coronation, with some being concerned that this would set a precedent for future generations of the royal family. well, joining me to discuss this is my fellow saturday five presenters, albie amankona and benjamin butterworth. i'll be i'm going to start with you, but i must admit, i have been deeply

impressed and actually quite moved at the way in which camilla has thrown herself into the role and performed, i think, a real service. whilst his majesty the king has been out of pubuc majesty the king has been out of public duties during his cancer diagnosis. >> i completely agree . queen >> i completely agree. queen camilla, as she should be called and it is the tradition for the consort of the king, the wife of the king to be known as queen. and then their first name has done an amazing job. essentially being the figurehead of the royal family during what has been a very difficult time with catherine, princess of wales is diagnosis of cancer and of course, his majesty the king. charles's diagnosis with cancer. and now they're both, undergoing treatment and in recovery , thank treatment and in recovery, thank god. and the queen. queen camilla has done an amazing job leading the royal family supporting the royal family and also serving as a figurehead to the country during what is a really difficult time, which is why i find that the fact that

there was this discussion within there was this discussion within the palace about whether or not queen camilla should be known as queen camilla should be known as queen camilla should be known as queen camilla or queen consort is quite bizarre because we look to the royal family as sort of these beacons of tradition , and these beacons of tradition, and it is tradition that the wife of the king is known as the queen. it's as simple as that. do you, benjamin? >> do you think, actually, the problem here is, you know, i know, i know anecdotally , there know, i know anecdotally, there are still many members of my family who who hark back and say , well, i don't like what happened with princess diana . happened with princess diana. and also, is there an element of respect for our late and great queen elizabeth ii in who allegedly reportedly said queen consort is how camilla should be known? >> i mean, ipp talks about tradition . you know, it's tradition. you know, it's tradition. you know, it's tradition to have two people, not three in a marriage. and clearly, you know, diana famously felt that it was it was not a fair marriage . and it not a fair marriage. and it collapsed among the public's eyes. and i think that's why a lot of people, a lot of older people in this country in particular, who watch diana, the princess of wales, and fell in love with her and admired her and felt that she was mistreated

by the then prince of wales, have found it uncomfortable. >> i think there's no real doubt from what you read, that charles always wanted her to have the straightforward title queen. the question was, was whether the pubuc question was, was whether the public would accept it and you know, this piece in the times, looking at it today, talks about that anxiety about whether they could convince the public that she is simply queen. now. i think i found it very odd to call her the queen. i found it confusing because i don't think anybody that remembers the queen properly is the late queen. there you go . it's going to there you go. it's going to accept it. so i tried to call the queen camilla to distinguish, but i do think that the way she's behaved since they got married , the level of got married, the level of criticism that she's taken on the chin, her commitment to work in the last year, i think at the very least, it's not the toxic question that it was just a couple of years ago. i think the pubuc couple of years ago. i think the public quite admire her. she comes across as quite to down earth, having a sort of work ethic that her late majesty would admire. >> absolutely. i mean , it's >> absolutely. i mean, it's real. it's a real mixed bag of

comments going on here because, you know, diana's commented in saying queen camilla, absolutely she back. but it's not not that the latest princess a different diana . that would be a turnip diana. that would be a turnip for the books. i've got my ouija board out now and actually some of the comments saying, well, francis says very curtly, i think a commoner should only be consort, never queen. coi'isoi’t, never queen. >> consort, never queen. >> no, i couldn't disagree more with that comment. look, the wife of the king is known as the queen. there was a time at the beginning of the late queen's reign where there were actually three queens. there was queen mary, there was queen elizabeth, the queen mother, and there was the queen mother, and there was the queen, queen, the queen elizabeth, elizabeth the great, who has recently just passed away back in 2022. so the wife of the king is known as the queen. i completely understand what benjamin is saying and what some of our viewers and listeners are saying with regards to them not thinking that camilla should be known as

the queen because of what happened with the late princess of wales, diana . but tradition of wales, diana. but tradition must live on and the wife of the king is known as the queen, whether they're a commoner or not. >> but, you know, it was what? >> but, you know, it was what? >> february 2022, when her late majesty said that she hopes in the fullness of time she'll be called queen consort when charles ascended to the throne, he referred to queen consort. >> and so, you know, i think it is understandable that some people will be angry that that seems to have been overturned, a sort of unilateral change of that. >> the difficulty is that it kind of depends on what people think of camilla as an individual. you know, the princess of wales. catherine, i don't think many people would say that she should be called queen consort. she is a commoner. referring to that email you just had. you know, she's from a supposedly a middle class family, a lot richer than anyone i know. but, you know, not aristocracy. and i think the problem that the palace faced is that if they said that camilla was to be queen consort, would you then have to do the same for catherine? you know, in the in

maybe 20 years time? hopefully. and i think that would set a precedent issue that would cause issues down the generations . and issues down the generations. and you can also imagine, you know, would catherine, would william turn around and say, hang on, you know, i want her to be called just the queen. you're going to cause problems for us in a generations time. >> i mean, do you think prince harry has done the best pr job for queen camilla? there's me saying it now for the queen or queen consort that he ever could have possibly , she ever could have possibly, she ever could have possibly, she ever could have possibly, she ever could have possibly imagined. because i mean, him saying he dislikes or making out he dislikes camilla. well, most nations saying, well, i quite agree with her with camilla on harry. >> i just think what's happened with prince harry and the duchess of sussex and the rest of the royal family is so sad. and look, i think it does mean that there are other members of the royal family who previously weren't as popular looking more popular, perhaps, queen camilla. >> well, folks, i'll let you decide at home. let us know what you think. now, folks, we're expecting to bring you the live results from the west midlands and london in the next hour.

wait around for that. you won't want to miss it. first of all though, we're going to get a look at the weather with greg dewhurst . dewhurst. >> a brighter outlook with boxt solar . sponsors of weather on . solar. sponsors of weather on. gb news. >> hello there! welcome to your latest weather for gb news. it's a mixed outlook , largely cloudy a mixed outlook, largely cloudy over the next 24 hours, particularly across the north of the uk. best of the sunshine in the uk. best of the sunshine in the south. why? well generally low pressure dominates the weather pattern, this system bringing some heavier rain through a bank holiday monday. showers elsewhere and through the rest of the day. we've got this area of cloud across northern ireland, northern england into scotland, giving some showery outbreaks of rain. this heavy at times clearing skies overnight elsewhere with light winds. we'll see some mist and fog patches forming later on. this weather system starts to increase the cloud and bring some rain across the far southwest under the clear skies.

temperatures in single figures, so a chilly start to sunday morning. some mist and fog patches quickly clearing , then patches quickly clearing, then plenty of sunshine through this central swathe of the uk . it central swathe of the uk. it remains generally cloudy across northern ireland, northern england and scotland through the day. some patchy rain possible here. some heavier showers later and this weather system slowly pushes northeastwards inland a little further, bringing cloud and rain to some southern parts of england and wales and the best of the sunshine. temperatures approaching 19 or 20 celsius under the cloud, still feeling quite chilly and a misty, murky start to bank houday misty, murky start to bank holiday monday. but again, this central part of the uk seeing the best of the sunshine as that morning mist and murk disappears. and then over the next few days we'll see high pressure starting to build in. it will settle down. we'll see more in the way of sunny spells and temperatures begin to rise. that warm feeling inside from boxt boilers sponsor of weather on

gb news. >> hello and welcome back to gb news saturday. i'm darren grimes. thank you very much for your company. for the next hour, i'll be keeping you company on tv, online, and on digital radio. this show will keep you up to date on the stories that really matter to you. coming up. this hour, it's. sadiq khan births. susan hall sources say it's closer than anyone was expecting , but it's now looking expecting, but it's now looking like it's going to be labour's day in the capital. we've had one vote, another vote showing a 5% swing from conservative to labouh 5% swing from conservative to labour. we'll bring you that result as it happens. we'll of course be across all the major results today with seven declarations taking place across england. can andy street hold on to the west midlands for the tories were expecting that result in the next hour as well , result in the next hour as well, and as labour lose control of oldham council to independent

candidates and asking for her, starmer's party being punished over gaza and is the writing on the wall for rishi sunak. all of that and more to come in the next hour . now, as that and more to come in the next hour. now, as i that and more to come in the next hour . now, as i hope that and more to come in the next hour. now, as i hope you know, at home by now, this show is nothing without you and your views. let me know your thoughts on all of the stories we'll be discussing today by visiting gbnews.com. forward slash your say join the conversation there or message us on our socials. we're @gbnews. first of all though, it's your news headlines with ray allison . with ray allison. >> thanks, darren. 201 our top stories this hour. sir keir starmer says the tories don't deserve to be in government for a moment longer. that's after rishi sunak lost hundreds of councillors in the local

elections, 103 of 107 councils have now declared , with labour have now declared, with labour making major gains. election experts sir john curtice says the final outcome could be the tories worst performance for 40 years, celebrating a mayoral victory in the east midlands, the labour leader said the tories time is up. >> i think the message here is very, very clear and i think across the east midlands there's been a sending of that message to the government, which is we're fed up with your division, with your chaos, with your failure. 14 years and i'm sorry i don't care which political party you support if you leave your country in a worse state than when you found it 14 years later, you do not deserve to be in government for a moment longer . longer. >> andrew griffith is minister for science, innovation and technology. he told us the pubuc technology. he told us the public don't want labour's policies. >> look, it's a difficult set of results. >> i think that was what was

expected going in. >> there's going to be a very, very simple choice at the next election. who walks through number 10 downing street? is it rishi sunak with his plan that's starting to work now, or is it keir with with no plan or where they do have plans that that don't really go with the grain of what the british people want . of what the british people want. >> so keir starmer says he remains confident that sadiq khan can win a third term as london mayor. that's as the battle with tory challenger susan hall was said to be closer than previously expected. the countis than previously expected. the count is now well underway and so far mayor khan has won the first few london boroughs to declare. but we could have a final result very, very soon. in total, seven mayoral contests are being announced today, with labour already retaining liverpool city region and south yorkshire as well. a narrow contest is expected for conservative mayor andy street in the west midlands. conservative mayor andy street in the west midlands . we'll also in the west midlands. we'll also be hearing from eight of ten contests for police and crime commissioner boris johnson has thanked polling staff who refused to let him vote without

an id. the former prime minister was turned away from a polling station on thursday after he forgot valid identification . forgot valid identification. writing in the daily mail, mr johnson said the three villagers were right to stick to the rules . the requirement to provide photo id was introduced by mr johnson when he occupied number 10, a burst water main has left around 31,000 properties without water in east sussex, causing a drastic impact on local businesses. southern water says the disruption in saint leonards on sea and parts of hastings will continue into tomorrow . the will continue into tomorrow. the issue was first reported on thursday, forcing the company to open water bottle stations, schools , a leisure centre and schools, a leisure centre and a theatre in the area have all been forced to close. dozens of migrants in two small boats have crossed the channel today from france . drone footage showed france. drone footage showed a french naval vessel following them until they reached english waters. they're largely male.

passengers were taken aboard a british border force vessel off the coast of dover. more than 8000 people have arrived so far this year. that's a new record for this period . three people for this period. three people have been charged after protesters blocked a coach taking asylum seekers to the bibby stockholm barge. the met police arrested 45 people after officers were called on thursday morning to peckham south east london. the demonstrators could be heard chanting no borders, no nafions be heard chanting no borders, no nations stop deportations. three have now been charged with obstruction of the highway . obstruction of the highway. motorists are being warned to expect heavy traffic this bank houday expect heavy traffic this bank holiday weekend, according to the rac , around 3 million the rac, around 3 million vehicles will take to the roads today alone an increase in day trips and short breaks could mean local routes are congested. also, train strikes between tuesday and the following saturday could lead to most roads being busier than usual, and the king is set to become the patron of the royal british

legion. that's a role that the late queen held for more than 70 years. it follows a major review of more than a thousand royal patronages following the death of queen elizabeth ii. the decision comes as the armed forces charity prepares to mark the 80th anniversary of the second world war. d—day landings. on june sixth. well, for the latest stories , you can for the latest stories, you can sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen or go to gb news. com slash alerts back now to . darren. >> thank you very much, ray. let's get stuck in to today's topics. sadiq khan appears to be pulling ahead in initial results in the london mayoral race. it was thought the result could be closer than polls suggested, but hopes are now fading that susan hall could pull off a shock victory . well, joining me now to victory. well, joining me now to give us the latest from city hall is gb news political

correspondent olivia utley. olivia, are you hearing that labour sources are calling it ? labour sources are calling it? >> i think we can safely say that sadiq khan has won the london mayoral election. he has won in five of the 14 london constituencies, including west central, somewhere where the conservatives won in 2021, and the south—west of london, which is normally a lib dem stronghold. it is not even looking like it's going to be very much closer than the polls were predicting. so it feels as though that wave of excitement about the possibility of a shock susan hall victory has very much died away. now we should be absolutely sure in the next couple of hours, but sadiq khan is leading by 180,000 votes in london and on the whole swings towards the current incumbent mayor in in in solidly labour areas, there are swings of 5% towards sadiq khan. why is that? well, one reason is that the

green vote, which has been very strong in other parts of the country in the local elections, has collapsed in london. that could be because the greens are turning towards sadiq khan because of his ulez policy, which has obviously been deeply unpopular among conservative voters. and it could simply be because in london this is very much a two horse race. and so all of the parties that swing vaguely towards the left, the lib dems, the greens, etc. are all throwing their weight behind sadiq khan. it could be, too, that sadiq khan has been helped by the new voting system, which has eradicated second preferences. could be that all of those left wing parties are now just pushing sadiq khan first in what is so clearly a two horse race. whatever's happened, it seems pretty clear that sadiq khan has won in this race. and all of that excitement about the polls, perhaps about the results being closer than polls were predicting, doesn't really seem to have materialised. >> all right, olivia utley there. thank you very much. we'll come back to you for the official result. but as olivia says there, labour source is saying that sadiq khan has clinched it. for all the best

analysis and opinion on that story and more, you can go to our website fox gb news. com. well joining me now is the president of the conservative primrose league, henry bolton, and journalist and broadcaster benjamin butterworth. benjamin helen's written in and helen says, what have you done to benjamin. he's starting to talk sense and be nice . keep it up, sense and be nice. keep it up, benjamin. i may have to start listening to you so . so there's listening to you so. so there's some praise from helen at home now . i'm some praise from helen at home now. i'm wondering then. benjamin, are you about to disappoint helen? are you happier than a sort of pig in muck now? >> well , i muck now? >> well, i think the thing about being a responsible journalist and commentator is that you say what you think and not what the audience wants. >> i mean, look , you know, >> i mean, look, you know, labour has declared victory. obviously, the votes aren't all counted , but there's a clear counted, but there's a clear indication, i think, in the last sort of hour , west central, one sort of hour, west central, one of the constituent parts of city hall, has voted for sadiq khan, having never elected, having never had a majority for labour over the tories before, the conservatives have always won. it is a very wealthy part of

london. and so that says if those places are shifting towards labour, then the chances that susan hall, the tory candidate, can overcome that in outer london is nonsense . and i outer london is nonsense. and i don't think that should really be a surprise, because susan hall was an absolutely dire choice of candidate here is someone who has endorsed donald trump. that supported brexit, that had made, liked tweets complimenting enoch powell. now people can have their views, but the idea that that was going to convince londoners to vote conservative over sadiq khan was an absolutely ridiculous hypothesis, and you're seeing the consequences of. >> so before i bring henry in, then would you associate with yourself rafe with wes streeting comments where he said before the election , a win for susan the election, a win for susan hall and the conservatives is a win for racists , white win for racists, white supremacists and islamophobes the world over . the world over. >> well, i think a lot of those people will have liked susan hall. yes henry. >> i mean, come on, i think that's it was an outrageous comment to make. >> and i think it's slightly outrageous for you to, to, to in

any way defend it. if that had been the other way around for, you know, somebody on the centre right of politics had sent something of equivalent meaning and weight and insulting weight about sadiq khan, there would have been an absolute outcry. there's which illustrates the fact there's a great deal of hypocrisy on the left. i think there is no need whatsoever to bandy about words like racist and so on, when there is actually no grounds for doing so, somebody expresses an opinion that is not racist, but you don't like it, so you label it negatively because you want to try and gain the ascendancy in election. that is , is in election. that is, is a person who has no integrity, no honesty , and frankly, is the honesty, and frankly, is the sort of reason that people switch off to politics. i think it's disgusting. >> henry, are you optimistic ? >> henry, are you optimistic? before i go back to benjamin, are you optimistic about london's future ?

london's future? >> i think it's very difficult. >> i think it's very difficult. >> you, the london has huge challenges. >> and when you think about the fact that actually the mayor of london, whoever the mayor is, has, what, 17 billion budget, has, what, 17 billion budget, has huge leverage, huge power, but also is managing a massively complex society with all of the, the bits and pieces that go to support that society, policing and roads and everything else, it's a and transport. it's a massive thing and i so it's a big supertanker that you've got to turn around. i'm, i'm very pessimistic about the future about of london because i think that sadiq khan has done absolutely nothing but in many respects has encouraged but done nothing to stem this fly flood of flagrant abuse of, of british tradition . british laws, even.

tradition. british laws, even. i've called it cultural displacement. i think london is unrecognisable compared to what it was 20 years ago. he has encouraged that process . he has encouraged that process. he has facilitated that process. and i think that that's only going to go further in in the next ten years. >> all right. i mean, benjamin, come on, you're sadiq khan's biggest fan, are you? not? you must you must want to come. >> i wouldn't quite say that, to be honest, but. >> look, i don't know what you mean by the change in london in the last 20 years. are you referring to demographics and partly , yes. partly, yes. >> well, i am talking about demographics, but i'm also talking about cultural stuff. i'm talking about the old markets are going the, the, the entire character of the town has been changed. >> what about black cab drivers? >> what about black cab drivers? >> i mean, celebrating ramadan over easter things. >> precisely. and then you get this two tier policing. i suspect that. no, i'm you know, i'll put it out there. i suspect that sadiq khan knew perfectly well because he knows london, that a lot of his voters would be people who would support the palestinian cause in gaza, and

thatis palestinian cause in gaza, and that is why we've seen two tier policing. and he is he has benefited from that in this election. i think that is that is appalling politics and it's bringing in sectarianism and islamic politics as well, which carries with it a whole raft of serious issues. >> now, sadiq khan, of course, isn't here to defend himself or to verify that claim , but, well, to verify that claim, but, well, that would be a good one. but benjamin , i mean, do you do you benjamin, i mean, do you do you accept that london has changed in that respect? >> i mean, the great thing about london is its multiculturalism. it's the fact that the entire world lives in this city. you know, i did my undergraduate at the london school of economics, which has more nationalities than any university in the world, and they're all exceptionally talented. i think thatis exceptionally talented. i think that is a microcosm of what is brilliant about london. you know, bear in mind that there are only two regions of this country that put more tax in than they take out. that's london and the south east. so a lot of people attacking london should know that, you know, huge amounts of money come into this city which benefit the country.

now i don't think sadiq khan is anti—semitic. i don't think he was endorsing the allegation of two tier policing that was made against him. i think he's met with the jewish community extensively. i do also think that the met has been dealing with it badly. but i think to put that simply, at sadiq khan's door on what has been a very complicated situation, not just in london but in other parts of the country, is unfair. but what i would point out is that i still think, though, sadiq khan's going to win, you will see a much closer result than what labour is. polling generally , and i think that generally, and i think that should be a warning sign to sadiq khan that he's won a historic third term. the first three term mayor of london. but i suspect if the tories had a better candidate and maybe an incumbent labour government isn't that popular, you know, things could get tougher. >> i think a very briefly on that, the greens in some areas have been picking up support. the i don't know whether it's the case in london yet. it's too early to really tell. but in other parts of the country, the greens have been gaining

support, not on the basis of green policies or the green party's position on anything except on gaza. there are people who candidates who have been shouting out allahu akbar when they've been elected for the green party. now this , this is green party. now this, this is this is problematic because it leads . sorry. leads. sorry. >> leads. yeah. in leads. >> leads. yeah. in leads. >> yeah. in, leads. harehill and elsewhere, but i think that is massively we we've got a big dilemma. democracy and this is the london's pretty much in the lead in this democracy means, quite rightly. and i would defend it to my dying breath that we give people the opinion and the choices as to how they're governed and by who. but if in that process we then elect or a people are elected who fundamentally believe in the political approach or approach or the islamic approach to politics, that means that that .

politics, that means that that. because the reason the green party councillor, the quran in. well, i'm not talking about the green party, i'm talking about their candidates, i'm talking about their about the green party. i'm talking about their candidates. yeah. not the green party. i'm talking about their candidates here and if there are people being elected who believe that the government should be as interpreted from the quran then not so. you're governing on the bafis not so. you're governing on the basis of interpretation of what the quran's guidance says, rather than governing on the bafis rather than governing on the basis of what the people want government, government of the people, by the people , you know, people, by the people, you know, then you've got a problem. i see that i see that sectarianism and that i see that sectarianism and that political islam creeping in quite dramatically in this election. all right. i mean, you can accept, benjamin, that the weekly marches are becoming a bit much. >> really? >> really? >> yeah. i find that a very difficult question because i think the right to protest and protest should be uncomfortable, but clearly it's caused problems for jewish people going about

forjewish people going about their day to day lives, which is totally unacceptable , also costs totally unacceptable, also costs a fortune. so i think that's been a very difficult one. but i don't think it would have been any easier for a different mayor. >> okey doke. right, folks ? >> okey doke. right, folks? we'll leave it there. thank you very much to my panel. now, folks, it's time for the latest great british giveaway and your chance to win the biggest cash prize of the year so far. it's a whopping £20,000. imagine what you could do with all of that extra cash. here's how you could win it all. >> it's the biggest cash prize we've given away to date. an incredible £20,000 that you could use however you like . and could use however you like. and because it's totally tax free, every single penny will be in your bank account to do whatever your bank account to do whatever you like. with £20,000 in tax free cash, really could be yours this summer, but you've got to be in it to win it for another chance to win £20,000 in tax free cash. text win to 63232. text cost £2 plus one standard network rate message or post your name and number two gb05,

po box 8690. derby de19 jvt uk only entrance must be 18 or oveh only entrance must be 18 or over. lines close at 5 pm. on oveh lines close at 5 pm. on the 31st of may. full terms and privacy notice @gbnews .com forward slash win. please check the closing time if listening or watching on demand. good luck . watching on demand. good luck. >> you're with darren grimes folks on gb news saturday. lots more coming up on the show. can londoners survive another term of mayor sadiq khan and should labour be cock a hoop at their performance at the ballot box? i speak to former labour minister bill rammell next. all of that and more to come. you're with gb news, britain's news channel .

welcome back to gb news saturday with me, darren grimes . on your with me, darren grimes. on your tv, online and on digital radio. ithank tv, online and on digital radio. i thank you ever so for your company. now, lots of you have been getting in touch with your thoughts. very animated on that debate that we had between henry bolton and benjamin butterworth a moment ago . now, spencer says, a moment ago. now, spencer says, benjamin, you are so out of touch with london. it's lost its identity way before. 20 years ago, it was someone else's version to make us multicultural ism. none of us had a choice in the matter. and paula says what wes streeting has said was the nail in the coffin for me because i leaned to the right. it's made me feel vulnerable , it's made me feel vulnerable, you know that, paula? they actually saying that she feels by being dismissed as a as a racist and all these other things for disintegration, for disagreeing with someone i found that to be student politics, you know, wes streeting used to be in the national union of students. he's meant to not be anymore. i did find that deeply immature, to be perfectly honest

with you, and, well, another comment says the great thing about london is multiculturalism. ha is he kidding? it's destroyed london and others getting in touch and saying that , you know, london saying that, you know, london has perhaps had its day in not feeling comfortable to visit london but keep coming. your thoughts coming in thick and fast. let me know all your thoughts on the stories we've been discussing, by visiting gbnews.com forward slash york. join that conversation there or message us on our socials. we're @gbnews now , as i, as you might @gbnews now, as i, as you might have heard just a moment ago, sadiq khan appears to be pulling aheadin sadiq khan appears to be pulling ahead in the london mayoral race, but labour didn't make the gains that they had hoped to make in some areas. so have they suffered a loss of votes in the muslim community due to their stance on gaza? well, joining me now is former labour minister bill rammell. bill, thank you very much for your company. let's start on sadiq khan then.

i mean, do you it's looking like he's going to romp home today. do you think actually it's going to be closer than most were expecting though i actually don't i mean, there were some weird briefings coming out last night , weird briefings coming out last night, suggesting that it was going to be very close and that even susan hall could win. >> i mean, certainly based on the first 5 or 6 results i've seen, sadiq is going to, clearly win and probably win much more substantively than he did four years ago, and, you know, naturally, i think that is a good outcome. >> yeah. i mean , on that point >> yeah. i mean, on that point about my last guests would have beaten the prevalence of religious sectarianism within a lot of these, votes, not just in london, but in other parts of the country, too, with high muslim population . is that an muslim population. is that an element that labour are having to become more alive to? >> well, i was listening to that debate and i thought henry bolton's attack on sadiq

actually going as far as suggesting that he intervened in the operational independence of the operational independence of the metropolitan police to force them to police demonstrations in a certain way without a shred of evidence that was absolutely scandalous . but but undoubtedly, scandalous. but but undoubtedly, if you look at the results of the election last thursday across the country in communities where there are high, muslim population, then yes, the labour party has , yes, the labour party has, suffered a hit, because of what's happening in gaza. now. i think part of that problem is that there's some really scandelous campaigning, taking place with clipping things that keir starmer has said about, gaza and then putting it out on tweets, putting it out on instagram , we've got a battle, instagram, we've got a battle, against that. we've got to make clear exactly where we stand on

gaza, that we support the right of israel to exist . we support of israel to exist. we support them in defending themselves against the horror of what happened, last october. but we need a ceasefire, because, you know, the conditions , the plight know, the conditions, the plight of ordinary palestinians in gaza , is frankly, intolerable. so we need to make that clear. but even where we've lost votes, because of, high concentration of muslim voters, i don't think it's enough to hit us at the general election. >> yes, but, i mean, as that population grows, maybe that that could start to become a factor right in, in future elections, if not this year. but bill, what do you say to viewers who are messaging in now? many of them, by the way, will be labour supporters or in the past have been labour supporters . and have been labour supporters. and they're saying they're really concerned about what they've seen in london over , well, since seen in london over, well, since october 7th, basically, you know , that horrible terrorist atrocity in israel committed by

hamas. we've seen people on the streets calling for jihad, calling for intifada, and they're worried, actually that there's an element of two tier policing in london, for example , policing in london, for example, and they don't want labour to shift its stance to actually be more supportive of those that are viewed as more hardline . is are viewed as more hardline. is that a concern of yours, too ? that a concern of yours, too? >> i don't think we are going to be, supporting people who are more hardline. and there have been instances i mean, sorry, firstly, let me make clear, people have every right to demonstrate in support of palestinians in gaza , on the palestinians in gaza, on the streets of london. but some of the examples , you know, with the examples, you know, with people walking along with, nazi , people walking along with, nazi, swastikas and not being challenged by the organisers of the demonstration , i think that the demonstration, i think that is reprehensible. and the labour party and keir starmer thinks that that, is reprehensible . that that, is reprehensible. but, you know, there are passionately held views on both sides of the conflict and

peacefully and properly people have have to have the right to protest. and that's what the police in a very difficult job are trying to, to balance. they don't always get it right , but are trying to, to balance. they don't always get it right, but i think they've got to, you know, police it properly. and that's what sadiq khan has been saying. and that's what keir starmer has been saying. >> yes. i mean, the other results then across the piece, i mean tees valley , you know, ben mean tees valley, you know, ben houchen, the conservative mayor, clung on there. but you had places like north yorkshire and york going to the labour party that wasn't expected . i mean, i that wasn't expected. i mean, i certainly didn't expect it to happen, and actually the country does seem to be moving in one direction. is there a risk here that labour becomes complacent at? >> the labour party has lost too many elections for us to become , many elections for us to become, throughout our history to become complacent. but i think there is a pattern across these elections

i >> -- >> you know, you look at the local elections, it's the worst tory performance for about 40 years. you look at that astonishing result in the blackpool south, by—election, where we got a 26% swing, to labouh where we got a 26% swing, to labour, and then you're seeing a whole host of, labour mayors across the country being elected for the first time or being , for the first time or being, re—elected, and i think the pattern is clear and consistent andifs pattern is clear and consistent and it's all pointing to and you never take anything for granted, but it is pointing to a very substantial labour majority in the next general election. and, you know, why is that happening ? you know, why is that happening? it's happening because people are sick and tired of 14 years of chaos under the tories falling living standards. public services that have been cut to the bone. they're mortgages going up because of liz truss's mad , hang on where she was. mad, hang on where she was. >> oh, that's unfair, that's

unfair. mortgage rates went up in the united states of america. and i don't think america elected liz truss as the president of the united states . president of the united states. >> interest rates went up immediately following, the botched mini—budget that liz truss, put forward. yes, there have been , interest rate have been, interest rate pressures across the world, but i don't think anyone can deny that the cavalier manner in which she disregarded the need for proper, sensible budget , for proper, sensible budget, planning. okay. excluding the office for budget responsibility, sacking the permanent secretary at the treasury, all of which sent the markets into mayhem and have made our economy and our livelihoods more challenging. >> all right, well, there are a fair few viewers who would quite like to sack a few civil servants who are standing against certain policies , like, against certain policies, like, dare i say, rwanda bill, but i'll leave it there. thank you very much. that's the former labour minister, bill rammell there, giving his views on were

here. and sadiq khan has clinched it. folks, you're with me. darren grimes on gb news saturday. lord small coming up. first of all, lord, we're going to get the news with ray addison i >> -- >> thanks, darren. 232 our top stories and labour sources are saying that they are confident that sadiq khan has won the mayoral contest in london. that's despite the battle with tory challenger susan hall being said to be closer than previously expected. the count is well underway and so far mayor khan has won the first five of 14 london boroughs to declare , gaining almost double declare, gaining almost double the number of votes of his main challenger. officials have asked candidates to arrive at city hall for 430 this afternoon, so we could have a declaration very soon after that. now, in total, seven mayoral contests are being announced today, with labour already retaining liverpool city region and south yorkshire two.

a narrow contest is expected for conservative mayor andy street in the west midlands. we'll also be hearing from eight of ten contests for police and crime commissioner sir keir starmer says the tories don't deserve to be in government for a moment longer. that's after rishi sunak lost hundreds of councillors in the local elections, 103 of 107 councils have been declared so far, with labour making major gains . a burst water main has gains. a burst water main has left around 31,000 properties without running water in east sussex, causing a drastic impact on businesses. southern water says the disruption in saint leonards on sea and parts of hastings will continue into tomorrow. the issue was first reported on thursday, forcing the company to open water bottle stations, schools, a leisure centre and a theatre in the area have all been forced to close. and finally dozens of migrants in two small boats have crossed

the channel today from france . the channel today from france. drone footage showed a french naval vessel following them until they reached english waters. their largely male passengers were taken aboard a british border force vessel off the coast of dover. more than 8000 people have arrived so far this year. that's a new record for the period. for the latest stories, you can sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen or go to gb news. common. that's right. back to . darren. to. darren. >> thanks very much, ray . >> thanks very much, ray. there's plenty more coming up on today's show. but before i tell you what, we have lined up for you what, we have lined up for you on this show. well, i'm a man that likes his nana. and i've got the perfect manner with me right here and now. nana akua has joined me in the studio. nana, what have you got coming up on your show? >> well, we have a very busy one. we'll be talking to lee anderson because remember that ridiculous tweet from wes streeting ? yeah. calling people streeting? yeah. calling people who vote for suzanne hall, white

supremacists . unbelievable. supremacists. unbelievable. we're going to get his take on that because of course, he got in trouble for the comments that he made with regard to sadiq khan. he made with regard to sadiq khan . also, are you did you ever khan. also, are you did you ever watch married? at first sight? yes. well, do you remember ross ? yes. well, do you remember ross? right. when she sat at the dinner table and somebody was using a remote control? she is going to be here live as my guest at five, so i'm really looking forward to talking to her. so if you if you were a fan of married at first sight, i mean, i got addicted to the australian ones and then i couldn't help myself. oh, it's so good. one after the other after the other. she's going to be here, live in the studio, so i'm looking forward to her. but dunng i'm looking forward to her. but during our show , we suspect that during our show, we suspect that we will get the results for the london mayoral election. so we suspect we don't know . but suspect we don't know. but obviously there are 14 in total. we've already had 4 or 5, i think, of the results already. so coming up in my show, stay with me if you want to find out what that result might be, we might be able to reveal it. >> final confirmation. that's right. go into detail about it as well. nana. so lots to come. we'll see and enjoy that i'm

sure. thank you very much. nana akua. lots more coming up on today's show. we'll go live to london, west midlands and manchester to bring you all of those latest election results. and with the rise of migrant tent cities in ireland , might we tent cities in ireland, might we end up seeing the same in britain ? well, all of that and britain? well, all of that and more to come folks. i'm darren grimes and you're with gb news, britain's news channel

>> 2024 a battleground year. >> 2024 a battleground year. >> the year the nation decides. >> the year the nation decides. >> as the parties gear up their campaigns for the next general election. >> who will be left standing when the british people make one of the biggest decisions of their lives? who will rise and who will fall? >> let's find out together. >> let's find out together. >> for every moment the highs, the lows, the twists and turns. >> we'll be with you for every step of this journey in 2024. >> gb news is britain's election

. channel. >> welcome back to gb news saturday with me, darren grimes, on your tv, online and on digital radio. now continuing that trend of being britain's election channel, we're going to give you the mayoral results. they're continuing to come in thick and fast across england today in manchester, the so—called king of the north, andy burnham, has gone a battle at the ballot box. joining me now from manchester is gb news award winning reporter jack carson. jack what's the latest up there ? up there? >> well, we are expecting that result imminently, but labour sources are telling us that they do believe that andy burnham has once again won in manchester and the combined authority here, winning that mayoralty for the third term. he's got a big, ambitious plan for this third term. it seems to have gone down well with the voters . we are well with the voters. we are expecting that confirmation of his win short .

expecting that confirmation of his win short. but expecting that confirmation of his win short . but of expecting that confirmation of his win short. but of course he won very well here a few years ago back in 2021, receiving 67% of the vote on a 35% turnout. now labour telling us today they don't believe that it will be as high of a result, as high as a percentage and a win as much back in 2021, citing that it's always difficult for for a a mayor going into a third term to secure so much support, telling us there will always be things that burnham has done over the past couple of terms, that people will and won't be happy with, but they do believe that it could be within 50 to 60% still of the vote. but they were citing there were some concerns around some wards , particularly around some wards, particularly werneth in oldham. we were told of course we saw, didn't we, on thursday night into friday around their local council elections, particularly with a few independents standing on a more pro—palestine ticket, that there were votes being taken away from labour. of course, labour dropped out. a candidate in that area as as well. so we

do know that they've been struggling to pick up some votes in some of those wards. so struggling to pick up some votes in some of those wards . so there in some of those wards. so there were some of the concerns that the labour party have had here, whether andy burnham could engage with those communities. they told us that they do know they have to do more to win those votes back, to win and engage, to win and win that trust back from muslim communities here in manchester. but his big, ambitious plan seems to have gone down well with the voters now , where the with the voters now, where the likes of reform and conservatives come is going to be quite interesting when the results are declared shortly . we results are declared shortly. we had heard earlier particularly that maybe reform might have done a lot better than was hoped. of course, with burnham taking so much of that percentage, it really is down to you know, a lot very few votes that could decide who well, comes second in this contest. last year, the conservatives back in 2021, the conservatives got around 20% of the vote. but reform could well split that and could well come second here. so that will be one to certainly watch out for when we get the results here. but andy burnham, looking to have secured his third term as mayor

>> all right, jack, thank you very much for that update out now folks. meanwhile in birmingham, the declaration in the west midlands is expected imminently , where conservative imminently, where conservative andy street is fighting tooth and nail to be re—elected. joining me to give us the latest is gb news reporter jeff moody. hello again jeff. >> hello to you. well, there's general excitement here at the moment in the icc, but it's not for the mayoral election . it's for the mayoral election. it's for the mayoral election. it's for the mayoral election. it's for the police and crime commissioner. we've had some of the results in fact, most of the results for that have come through. we've still got a couple to declare. but if you have a look down there, all of the supporters of both of the main candidates are gathering . main candidates are gathering. the results are imminent. it looks like labour's incumbent police and crime commissioner for the west midlands will, will be on course to retain his post. that's simon foster, we know we've found out in the last sort of 20 minutes or so that he's

won 125,631 votes in the birmingham city council area , birmingham city council area, compared to just 77,798 for the conservative candidate, tom burn. mr foster has won a large majority in coventry . two majority in coventry. two 43,000, that does give him a commanding lead with only. but the boroughs of dudley, sandwell and walsall still to declare . so and walsall still to declare. so it's looking very likely that mr foster will continue in his role as police and crime commissioner. but of course, you know, we never know until the final results come through. as to the mayoral votes , well, to the mayoral votes, well, we're not sure when that will happen, but it will be shortly afterwards as the votes have been counted. they're just being collated now . so once they've collated now. so once they've got the police and crime commissioners results , that's commissioners results, that's when we'll hear the mayoral results. and we're still hearing that the incumbent will andy street, who's been there for two terms already. we're still heanng terms already. we're still hearing that he may just about pick the post again. >> all right. well well you'll

be there to keep us informed. so thank you very much jeff moody as ever. now folks, you're with me, darren grimes. thank you to you too. at home, we're on gb news saturday. there's lots more coming up on gb news saturday. the uk is now offered the repubuc the uk is now offered the republic of ireland the chance to get involved in the rwanda scheme amid a growing row between the two countries over asylum seeker returns. ain't it funny, folks? ireland has just discovered the merits of a border. all of that and more to come . you're with gb news, come. you're with gb news, britain's news

welcome back to gb news saturday with me, darren grimes. on your tv, onune me, darren grimes. on your tv, online and on digital radio. now, lots of you have been getting in touch . i thank you getting in touch. i thank you very much for doing so. there's a lot of, doom and gloom about london, actually , from a lot of london, actually, from a lot of you who are saying that you

don't feel that your, you're comfortable enough to, to actually visit london at the moment, and on island , actually moment, and on island, actually a lot of you are, well, not too impressed with the idea of migrants who have got from northern ireland to the republic of ireland actually being sent back to the united kingdom . so back to the united kingdom. so on that, let's discuss that story then. the uk has offered the republic of ireland the chance to get involved in the rwanda scheme, amid a growing row between those our two countries over asylum seeker return . is the prime minister return. is the prime minister made clear that the united kingdom will not, that is, will not accept migrants from ireland that follows a rise in migrant tent cities in dublin. for our radio listeners, we've just got scenes of these tents stacked outside of places. i heard that there were some tents being set outside of schools, which, if i was a parent, would not please

me one iota. the irish police have set about dismantling these tents. well, joining me now to discuss this is the president of the conservative primrose league , henry bolton, and journalist and broadcaster benjamin butterworth . i mean, henry, it's butterworth. i mean, henry, it's pretty inevitable that this will impact britain . i know they've impact britain. i know they've left britain, but i bet my bottom dollar they'll find their way back here. and if ireland send them back, we'll just say, oh, well, yeah, i mean they, they will come back if they wish to come back. >> really. i mean , just looking >> really. i mean, just looking at your footage just now, those tents all look remarkably similar to each other. i wonder where they've come from. but i think there is an opportunity in this, and it doesn't look as though rishi sunak has identified it or is taking it, the reason that ireland's got a problem is because we have the migrants have travelled from here to there , obviously, just here to there, obviously, just as they're travelling from france to here. what rishi sunak

should do is sit down with simon harris , the taoiseach, with, harris, the taoiseach, with, macron , with ursula von der macron, with ursula von der leyen and say, look, we have all got a massive problem here. this mass migration to europe is a risk in economic terms, in security terms , in all manner of security terms, in all manner of terms. we could go back to the previous conversation about political islam as well. to an extent, we need to find a solution to this instead of playing ping pong with asylum seekers, we need to come up with a regional strategy as to how we deal with the push pull factors and also the method of movement along the way. >> well, i can already hear benjamin butterworth saying, well, you henry supported brexit. so did that not i mean, yeah, but there's nothing, nothing to do with it, nothing to do. >> it's extraordinary to, you know, to hear the intern , ukip know, to hear the intern, ukip leader saying, what if we went and sat down with various european leaders and countries and had some kind of. but you don't economic agreement that had a deal on borders? >> well, i think we had

benjamin. >> i worked in brussels for three years. i was in the room when you had council meetings. i was in the room with heads of government . i was in the room in government. i was in the room in the political security committee. okay i the idea that the uk could actually exercise leadership of that sort . no, the leadership of that sort. no, the uk could raise issues, could raise concerns. it would be discussed, there would be a meeting of minds that is not leadership from outside the european union. we can say this is we're triggering it already with rwanda. i've got all sorts of issues with rwanda as a plan, but it's triggering a situation that can be mobilised, utilised to then say, right, we have a problem. we are going to invite you all to london to discuss it. you couldn't do that if you were in the eu. you simply couldn't. legally, you couldn't . legally, you couldn't. >> the foreign secretary, david cameron, said last week that the reason that we don't have a deal to exchange migrants is because of brexit. well, he's talking

out of his excuse me , but he out of his excuse me, but he well, he was he was asked if he wasn't saying that and he wouldn't dispute that that was his implication campaign. >> so i mean he's got i mean he is the foreign secretary. >> well hang on, can we deal with your point on that? because you're fundamentally wrong. >> so is he okay? people who say that dublin three enabled us to send people back to france are factually wrong. okay, dublin three enables us to send people back to the eu country that they'd entered the eu through. if we could identify if that country agreed, and if we've given them three consecutive opportunities to appeal the numbers were minuscule and we ended up taking more than we were. what i would say is islands, which is very much in the eu. >> you know, they're not able to say, here you go back to france with you. well what i mean, obviously what the irish government is saying is that they want to send these people back to the united kingdom. >> we've said no , because the >> we've said no, because the united kingdom has said we want to send them back to france. and france has said no. so you've definitely got a stalemate in this scenario. and i think it's totally legitimate that we refuse to take them because you're seeing the same thing. you know that ireland and france are both part of the eu, and

it's an eu decision to refuse that. >> so it's not an eu issue. >> no. >> no. >> it's that when we were in the eu, we were part of an agreement on how to make these exchanges. no, we were more diplomatic , but no, we were more diplomatic, but we weren't. now what a fallacy about what i would say about the idea that ireland should join the rwanda plan. well, there was a lot of headlines , conveniently a lot of headlines, conveniently before the local elections that they had sent the first migrant, but they hadn't. it was under a completely different scheme, and the estimated cost of that person is 140 grand with all the rehousing. >> so in a word , should ireland >> so in a word, should ireland join the rwanda scheme, we shouldn't join the rwanda scheme, let alone ireland . scheme, let alone ireland. should ireland join? >> no, i think it's the wrong approach. the approach is the one that i described earlier and they can't you can't have both together . together. >> okey doke. i thank you very much benjamin butterworth and henry bolton there for their insight. you've been with me. darren grimes on gb news saturday. thank you very much for your company. don't go anywhere though, because there's plenty more coming up on gb news today. in just a moment. it's fiery debate with nana akua, and at 6 pm, i'm back, you lucky lot. so is benjamin butterworth

for the saturday five. first of all, though, we're going to get all, though, we're going to get a look at the weather. >> a brighter outlook with boxt solar sponsors of weather on . gb news. >> hello there. welcome to your latest weather for gb news. it's a mixed outlook sukh largely cloudy over the next 24 hours, particularly across the north of the uk. best of the sunshine in the uk. best of the sunshine in the south. why? well generally low pressure dominates the weather pattern. this system bringing some heavier rain through bank holiday monday , through bank holiday monday, showers elsewhere and through the rest of the day. we've got this area of cloud across northern ireland, northern england into scotland, giving some showery outbreaks of rain. this heavy at times clearing skies overnight elsewhere with light winds. we'll see some mist and fog patches forming later on this weather system starts to increase the cloud and bring some rain across the far south—west. under the clear

skies, temperatures in single figures . so a skies, temperatures in single figures. so a chilly start to sunday morning. some mist and fog patches quickly clearing, then plenty of sunshine through this central swathe of the uk . this central swathe of the uk. it remains generally cloudy across northern ireland, northern england and scotland through the day. some patchy rain possible here. some heavier showers later and this weather system slowly pushes northeastwards inland a little further, bringing cloud and rain to some southern parts of england and wales and the best of the sunshine. temperatures approaching 19 or 20 celsius under the cloud, still feeling quite chilly and a misty, murky start to bank holiday monday. but again, this central part of the uk seeing the best of the sunshine as that morning mist and murk disappears. and then over the next few days we'll see high pressure starting to build in. it will settle down. we'll see more in the way of sunny spells and temperatures begin to rise . rise. >> that warm feeling inside from boxt boilers sponsors of weather on

gb news. >> hello. good afternoon, and welcome to gbd news on tv, onune welcome to gbd news on tv, online and on digital radio. i'm nana akua . and for the next few nana akua. and for the next few hours, me and my panel will be taking on some of the big topics hitting the headlines right now. the show is all about opinion. it's mine. it's theirs. and of course it's yours. we'll be debating, discussing and at times we will disagree , but no times we will disagree, but no one will be cancelled. so joining me in the next hour, broadcaster and columnist lizzie cundy and also former labour party adviser matthew laza coming up in a few moments time, i'll be mucking the week with gb news comedian bruce devlin and then stay tuned because on the show i'll be joined by lee anderson mp. he'll be shining a light on some of the latest stuff from westminster, including the little tweet that was sent by wes streeting. i'd love to get his thoughts . then love to get his thoughts. then we'll be discussing the tory

party. is it the end? as